luke_stevens

I think we have more space to play with. On my 33 I've used 1.5mm chassis parts made of plastic. If they were etched or cast one could easily get it down to 0.5mm From the outside of the 33 shell to the motor is around 4mm so there is lots of space to play with if being careful with material choice. Most British wagons / coaching stock are fundamentally flat planes or planes with a curve in one direction. Most diesel have compound curves in at least 2 directions. Apart from the 59/66 and 70 the can't really be made from flat plates. The nose on the Deltic, the nose and cab on a Western, the roof of a Hymek or the cab of a 26/27/33 all have curves in multiple directions and would have to be cast / printed. Hight quality 3d resin printing has no striation lines. Whilst there was work to do on the 33 it wasn't to do with this. An etched fold-up or pressure cast metal chassis with a printed resin body would easily be of a sufficiently high quality. Luke

That reminds me of the old MTK kits that usually had cast ends and etched brass (or stamped aluminium) sides :) If the bodyshell was resin cast in flat pieces they could be thinner. On the other hand if the chassis and body were produced by the same company the part thicknesses could be optimised. Luke

My thoughts on this is that if I could make a bogie frame looking as as good then I would. But at this stage I'm just happy to have a chassis that works :) I may try and scratch build something at some point (or see if I can deign something that can be 3d printed). Oddly I have a Shapeways Tu2 body which I stopped work on what I realised there weren't chassis frames available. But as RTmodels now offer a Tu2 kit I am tempted to try again as this kit looks better than the Shapeways Tu2 body. Diesel locomotive TU2 http://rtmodels.com.ua/product/tu2/ Luke

In terms of size the only reason I changed the motor is that it was too long for the Class 33. The width and height wouldn't have been a problem. My chassis made of plasticard is "larger" that it would have been if it was cast metal. Many years ago there was an American firm "Aztec" that made replacement cast metal frames for N gauge locos where you could take the parts from a inaccurate model and drop then into the new casting to make a model with an accurate chassis. This would be easy to do for the 33, if I had a large pressure casting machine :) Luke

Looking and sounding good! 1) Body shell is now just about level 2) And I thought it was me that couldn't get the body to fit evenly. Seems it is held off side by it's internal shape. 3) Without it's body but with tidied wiring. The running blue+ grey are for a capacitor, using the Youchoos Lifelink and caps but I'll want to do more running first :) Next week I'll spend some time working on the fuel tank detailing. The fuel tank was just tacked in pace for this test and needs to be better sealed as the sound is good but the horns are a little lacking. In the longer term I may do another body of two for this chassis as I don't really want to build another for a bit. I've also realised that 1) a Western is going to be a pain with it's narrow fuel tank and 2) an electric is going to struggle with head room. Maybe in their case the decoder would go between the bogies and the speaker(s) next to the flywheels? Luke

Is that the Midland version, the Western version or the Midland transferred to the Western version? 👼 Luke

For those of us working on models I just saw this on the West Hill Wagons website. https://www.westhillwagonworks.co.uk/hunt-couplings-c-2/coupling-accessories-c-25/009-narrow-gauge-nem-355-sockets-pack-of-16-p-343 They are under Narrow Gauge but are correct for TT... Not sure I have much room for the top of the bogies, but from underneath it may be possible... Luke

And now we have a Good News! Bad News story! Good News! The wiring is tied up, shortened and soldered in place, which looks much better and more organised... Bad News! The body no longer fits... Time for a re-plan! First thoughts: move the socket to the right, overhanging the flywheel (?) and the gear tower. This will mean the circuit board and decoder will be visible through the cab windows at one end... I'd always intended the loco to have a details buffer beam at one end, and now it is time to move on that. The printer circuit board strips along the mid-part of the chassis are actually the body supports as the "fit" against the roof support inside the body. Not a derailment, more of a scenic diversion :) Luke

I decided to ignore the 37, 50 and 55 until the Hornby 50 has come out and I can cannibalise that. But I'm considering (just considering mind you) using the same chassis for a Western... Luke

In terms of motors, I'm using an M.14/20 (~£23) from Branchlines (sales@branchlines.com) with Piko trucks, universals and flywheels. It a far better motor than the old BTTB one and compariable to the Piko motor supplied with the cannibalised model. Luke

I think it looks great! If I can get my 33 to the same standard of paint job I'll be happy! Luke

Rail-Tec do the numbers for a Hymek. At the moment they only do them in 7mm, 4mm, 3mm and 3.5mm (!) so it worth be with asking if they could do them in TT120 too. The pack that seems most useful is: https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=10393 Complete loco: BR blue class 35 Hymek w/ your number For headcodes I'd recommend getting in touch with Louise at Modern Transport Graphics (model.graphics@btinternet.com) This is the pack for the Hymek (but in 4mm) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153899827128?hash=item23d524ffb8:g:hjEAAOSwoSxi4QWc She reduced the 4mm set of SR late headocdes to TT120 for me for only a little more than the 4mm ones. I too am thinking Glue-and-Glaze for windows, unfortunately both my bottles of Microscale Krystal Clear have become sludgy over time. Luke

Trying desperately NOT to order anything until the 33 is finished! Don't want to get distracted :) Luke

Thanks! My major concern is the painting. I'm ok-ish with an air brush so have no worries about the base white coat, no the overall pre-85 warning panel yellow. I'm concerned about being able to correctly mask an apply the BR blue. Patience and care I suppose. And no, I'm not going to make it overall BR green with decals for the white lining! Luke

Building a speaker into the fuel tank sub frame :) I've had a chat with Richard from Road and Rails and he can do me a Next18 decoder with a Jamie Goodman Cl 33 sound file, so all is looking good! https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/collections/diesel-dcc-sound-decoders/products/loksound-5-decoder-for-Heljan-class-33 Luke

Usually with Beijiao, if it goes wrong the QJ takes out the tour bus... 🤣 L

Pretty much the same with Hatton. I'd be interested to know the price of the 7-plank 🤔 Luke

I'm certainly interested in getting some but it is frustrating that they don't seem to be on the Peco website 😕. My local model shop is interested too! Luke

This is just a proof of concept! The Next18 decoder is attached to a Lais Next18 socket with lots of flying leads taking up much to much room! https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/collections/accessories/products/next18-socket-with-solder-tabs The speaker "as" the fuel tank will get a much better enclosure and the wires will be trimmed to the actual length needed not the "about 3 inches" they currently are. There will also be a Youchoos LifeLink and some capacitors to improve contact. https://www.youchoos.co.uk/Index-Shop.php?CAT=StayAlive At the moment there isn't a lot of traction as it is particularly light. weight will come later... It's currently using the sound files from a German Br 218 diesel. I will get a decoder with the correct sound files once I've been paid!

Unfortunately it is not good. I saw that on the 247 Development website they make reference to "3mm(TT)" so I e-mailed to ask what scale they are to. Below is the answer. Luke From: orders.247developments <orders.247developments@btinternet.com> Sent: 20 January 2023 14:20 To: Luke Stevens <luke_stevens@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: A4 nameplate commission question in TT120 Hi Luke the stock plates we have are 3mm scale plates Regards 247 Developments ------ Original Message ------ From: "Luke Stevens" <luke_stevens@hotmail.com> To: "orders.247developments" <orders.247developments@btinternet.com> Sent: Friday, 20 Jan, 23 At 13:24 Subject: Re: A4 nameplate commission question in TT120 Hi Brian, I see from your website that you are now mentioning the plates in TT120. If I could have a copy of the list that would be most appreciated. I am slightly puzzled. The website says "3mm Scale (TT) plates" but these are not the same thing. 3mm is British TT3 at 1:101 whereas TT is global at 2.54mm and 1:120. To which scale are your plates? Thanks, Luke

I hadn't spotted that! But I'm sure the transformer would have been more difficult to rescue! Luke

Bikes - Artitec https://www.artitecshop.com/en/sport-bikes-23494130.html https://www.langleymodels.co.uk/awd1/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=8015&search=bike

And for the next exhibition every loco will be adorned with bicycles!

I asked about the chassis when I registered: "Powered bogies at moment" R-T-R would be best but kit would be ok. Luke

I'm sure we could get some etched bikes and could just drop the in place without Paul noticing! Luke