Jump to content
 

zarniwhoop

RMweb Premium
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    504

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by zarniwhoop

  1. zarniwhoop

    Bodging a blue VEP

    By zarniwhoop,

    For me, there are several inadequacies of the blue Hornby VEP, but since it's a lot better than I will ever manage with an MJT brass kit, I figured I'd better put my money where my mouth is.
     
    First up are the compartment sides. My skills are limited, and I don't have any quantity of spare 1st class BR Mk1 compartment interiors, so I've gone for cutting an aperture in the solid side, then putting a piece of 10 thou plasticard over it. I figured that cutting a series of rectangular windows would be pushing my luck, so I've gone for a T-strip - i.e. just leave the top part, with verticals either side of the door mirror. My theory is not that this will provide relief, merely that nobody will be able to see the detail!
     
    These two pics are before painting, so iit should be quite clear what I've done.
  2. zarniwhoop

    more VEP photos

    By zarniwhoop,


    Trying to replace missing photos
    For part three, pics with the temporary body fit

     
    Bogies for the fourth part (this doesn't add much!)

     
    And finally a couple of later photos, before I decided it had all gone pear-shaped (the 'meccano'
    fixings between the coaches, and the electrical connections) and put this back on the shelf of shame.

     
  5. zarniwhoop

    another photo

    By zarniwhoop,


    Trying to replace missing photos
    What should have been the first photo of the compartments before painting, with added
    corridor side to replace the solid block
     
  6. zarniwhoop

    Test, trying to reinstate photos

    By zarniwhoop,


    Trying to replace missing photos
    After failing miserably to reinstate the first photo, and noticing later entries did not even have the broken links, lemme see if I can add images in a new page.
     
    First, compartments before painting - these should be 750 pixels wide
     
     
  7. zarniwhoop
    Sorted, at least in principle, the trailer bogies. At the last Epsom show I bought a pair of Replica B4 bogies (assembled, with wheels) and a pair of B5 kits (no wheels). Actually, I thought I'd bought more than that, but for the moment those two pairs were all that came to hand.
     
    Looking at Replica's website the other day, only kits (without wheels) are available. So, for this first stab at getting it to run well (the DTC furthest from the MBSO) I've used a B4 at the cab end and a B5, with Bachmann wheels the other end (fit the wheels before superglueing the second side). Of course, these don't just push in to replace the Hornby bogies. I've used a razor saw to remove the spigot, opened the central hole in the bogie for an M3 bolt, fitted an M3 washer in the bottom of the bogie (unfortunately, that doesn't show in the pic) and araldited an M3 nut to what I think is an M5 washer (glue it to the stamped side) because the M3 nut doesn't give much surface to fit to the chassis (it doesn't fall into the existing hole, but not much of it will overlap).
     
    After all the angst that the bogies were pointing the wrong way, the Replica B4/B5 have the same problem. Fortunately, the tension lock needs to be removed, and I've filed the bogie ends to try to provide some clearance to the couplings.
     

     
    After this had set, I tried it with some bluetack to hold it (I had to razor saw away the ends of the underframe to leave room for the M5 washer) and was sufficiently encouraged to glue it.
     
    Today, it runs well - even by only changing two bogies, the whole unit now runs much better. In the early testing last night I noticed that both the MBSO and the TSO are very easy to mis-rail, and quite hard to get correctly railed, so I'm intending to do the other DTC and then the TSO once I've found, or bought, more Replica B5s / wheels.
     
    For the MBSO I'm increasingly tempted to try removing the motor and fit two black beetles, but reusing the Hornby bogie sideframes. Suspect it might need more weight, and is maybe not worth the candle. For the moment, I've got enough aggravations on getting this to look and run acceptably without doing this - particularly since it now does run a lot better.
     

     
    From this pic you can probably see that the detail on the Replica bogies isn't as good, so some work to do there as well as adding a current collector (apparently they *aren't* shoebeams on the CIGs and VEPs) - for the moment I've only got a stock of MJT shoebeams, I've already superglued the Hornby current collectors to their bogies because they kept coming off, so not yet quite sure where I'm going on that front.
     
    I've re-added the 'bodging' subtitle because this blog will be all about bodging (VEP, hopefully a CIG, ...) and in this case the word is doubly accurate. The inner nut isn't flat on its washer, which means the pivot bolt slopes out slightly. That doesn't really matter, the bolt is at 90 degrees to each side and the body isn't visibly troubled by this (although making sure the nut *was* in that position took some doing ;-) The other bodge is a bit worse - when I fixed the washers with bluetack for the first trial, I noticed that the ride height, at least at the inner end, was a little too high. Thought it was the thickness of the bluetack, but today it was still too high. What I've done is to file off a little of the face of each nut, and to file a little more from the top of the bogie around the pivot. Still not perfect, but the difference in the heights of the gangways is less than a millimetre.
     
    Not yet sure what I'll do for future pivots - to me, M3 seems a good size to use (although it's a lot bigger than what Bachmann use), and I've got nylon M3 bolts to minimise loosening (will probably use thread lock on brass bolts eventually, but before that I need to shorten the bolts and, worst case, fit pickups for the lighting (as I said in the Hornby board VEP forum, the couplings on my DTCs no longer make electrical contact). Perhaps I can manage to get half-height M3 nuts (I believe they are usually packaged with hens' teeth), or maybe I'll open out the pivot hole until the nut fits inside, now that I'm confident of the general approach, and use M3 washers as necessary for the spacing. The required amount of spacing will always be a matter of trial and error, but at least on the DTCs (with end couplings, and their fixing bolt, removed) there is no need to relieve the top of the bogie to clear the coupling bolt. If that turns out to be necessary for the TSO, it won't be a bag of laughs.
     
    Test running: I don't have any points I can use to test how this tracks (nor the space, at the moment), just an oval with 18" radius ends and short straights on its sides. On this, I've run this unit in both orientations (i.e. left to inside, and right to inside), each in both directions (motor pushing two and a half coaches / motor pushing one coach). The unmodified trailer bogies have previously been oiled, although it didn't improve things very much. So, I'm convinced this is worth doing for me, but as always YMMV.
  8. zarniwhoop

    intro

    By zarniwhoop,

    S'pose I'd better introduce myself. I came back to model railways about 4 years ago - initially for (mostly continental) narrow gauge. Trouble was, when I was last a modeller (early 1970s when I was a teenager), what I really wanted was Southern EMUs like I saw on the real railway. No money for what became the Phoenix 4-COR kit, and inadequate skills to try to make my own. And then Bachmann brought out the phase I 4-CEP.
     
    Now, I've got adequate cash, but my skills are still limited. So, these entries will generally be described as bodges, and undoubtedly some RTR stock will be harmed, and many people here will probably be disgusted by my lack of skills. That's ok, "I can't hear you" ;-)
     
    To be honest, I don't really want a blog, but I'll give this a try. My intention is to share my findings of what needs to be done, and what works for me (and also what doesn't), which sounds opinionated enough that a blog will be the proper place for it ;-)
     
    My overriding principles are:
     
    1. if it looks ok from 3 feet away, it will do.
     
    2. for 00, whatever I do has to negotiate the 18" radius curves ('corners') on my test track - looks horrible, of course, but one day, when I've got enough stock, I'll have to work out where I can fit a continuous-run layout, and space will be at a premium (particularly since I won't be able to use a duck-under to get into the middle of a layout - I'm disabled, although walking).
     
    3. for EMUs (and, potentially, DEMUs), I want separate examples for up and down trains, with the headcode at the leading end, and red blinds or tail lamps at the other end. So, I'm intending to create a lot of stock, and therefore I'm willing to use the first example of each as a prototype - hopefully, not too many will be destroyed.
     
    ĸen
  9. zarniwhoop

    compartments, 2

    By zarniwhoop,

    Continuing grumpily (ooh, I do hate having to learn new workflows - I much prefer regular threads where attached pics appear in the preview and can have commenting text added), this is what they look like after painting.
     
    Rail grey wall and second-class bulkheads, purple upholstery mixed from railmatch crimson and (less) rail blue - I think I'll use faded rail blue next time, and aluminium rack supports although those aren't noticeable. White antimacassars brushed on. For the moment, no mirrors, maybe I'll add some if I find suitable material, maybe I won't.
     
    The photos show that the base of the apertures I cut out is ragged where I used drills to break it off, and the verticals aren't, but I repeat that nobody will notice.
  10. zarniwhoop
    *very* grumpy now - prepared text for this post, went to attach photos, and lost it.
     
    For some reason, Hornby didn't print the corridor rails. microstrip 20 thou by 10 thou seems the right size, painted silver. I had thought I could hold this in place with bluetack, then use styrene cement. Unfortunately, although the piece to the left of the door (on corridor side) looks ok, the rail came away with the bluetack between the windows, and on the other side of the door it came away completely and smeared some paint and styrene adhesive onto the glass. For once, a close-up view in real life looks worse than the photo, this bodyshell might have to be orientated so that the compartment side is viewed!
     
    Second time, I put in two pieces of 20 thou styrene to hold the rail - the end by the door is just floating because there isn't room for a spacer (tried, but it was visible at an angle from either side of the door). Worryingly, to me the rail on the right looks good, but the rail with spacers looks too far back.
     
    When I get to the other end of the unit (and for subsequent units), I think I'll have to make a sacrifice to "her noodliness" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster ).
     
    The body is only refitted temporarily, I've got more work to do on the ends, the roof, and the footboards, as well as in the cab and adding a driver and some passengers. Like most of my projects, this will take a long time.
×
×
  • Create New...