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Fen End Pit

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  1. Fen End Pit

    16mm photo-plank - Pillar Drill and test wall

    By Fen End Pit,


    16mm photo-plank
    As I mentioned in my last blog the next bit of workshop machinery I fancied trying to reproduce was a pillar drill. This proved to be quite a tricky bit of modeling just because there were so many features. I'd taken a photograph of this drill in the shed at Thelkeld.
     
     

    It looked to me as if the drill was originally belt driven with a 'new' electric motor powering the original drive wheel at the bottom. There then seems to be a belt which takes the drive to the top of the drill via a choice of three pairs of pulleys depending on the speed you require. I could also see the interesting hand wheel which raises and lowers the platform on the pillar. I'm not really sure exactly what all the rest of the gubbins on the top of the drill is for. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. It looked to me as if there was a handle to pull down the drill head but it looks as if this can be reconfigured to give some kind of automatic geared lowering? It looks like you could set the machine up and leave it to drill down at a preset speed? Anyway, it had lots of interesting shapes and, while I've not exactly modeled it all precisely I hope I've captured the feel of the prototype.
     

    The main pillar was divided into two and the table and bottom drive wheels printed as separate parts. Also separate are the hand wheel to lift the table and the quadrant handle. The parts took just over 4 hours to print at .04mm layer height on the Anycubic Photon. The parts took a little cleaning up but I was blown away by the detail which came out. The toothed rack behind the drill head and the teeth of the gears came out remarkable well, even the lift rod on the table has a thread on it (albeit with a rather coarse pitch than the prototype).

     
     
     

    Please bear in mind that this part is only 35mm from front to back.
     

    I intend to make some drive belts out of paper in a bit.
     
    I found a rather nice Bachmann 16mm fireman and together with workbench you can get a sense of scale.
     
     

     
    The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that there is a section of wall behind the workbench rather that piece of MDF and I'd like your opinion on this. I've never been any good at trying to scribe random stone so I thought I'd try a rolling pin I downloaded from the thingiverse. This printed out on my Ender 5 and looks, well frankly, a bit weird. The roller is 86mm tall and ~25mm diameter so gives a repeat in the pattern at ~80mm. I laid down a 6mm thick of layer of Sculptamold and let it go off for about 30 minutes until it was firm but still 'green'. The roller was rolled into the surface and it took the pattern well. I then made the pattern slightly less patio and more wall by adding in some extra horizontal joints in the stonework. I also found I could smooth in a little extra Sculptamold to fill in some of the joints to make the pattern so it didn't repeat so obviously. Finally I found that a coarse old paint brush could be used to apply a little more texture and strata markings to individual rocks. Do you think this will work as the inside walls of the shed? Ultimately I want something which looks like old white-washed stone.

     
     
     
     
    Please let me know what you think.
     
    David
     

  2. Fen End Pit
    A few more printing projects over the last week. I found some nice pictures on the internet of the same sort of tortoise stove I'd seen at Thelkeld. The hardest bit to model up was the 'Celtic rope' design around the top, mind you I'm not sure drawing tortoises is my strong suite. The text around the top is tiny, the letters are .8mm tall and are have .25mm of relief. That they are visible once printed is nothing short of miraculous. I couldn't actually make out the text on the raw print and it only really became visible after painting and dry brushing.
     

     
    Owing to my stupidity with the support structure the flue didn't come out but I can add it with a piece of Plastruct tube. I'll probably have another go. Still, the occupants of my shed will now be able to keep warm and make some tea. For reference this stove is 36mm tall by 20mm in diameter.

    At the same time I printed a machinist vice for the pillar drill.

     
    While on the printer I also made a load of G-Clamps, as you know you can never have too many G-Clamps. I modeled one and adjusted the size by 10% up and down to give some different sizes. You can't quite make out the 'Made in England' legend but you can just make out there is something there.
     

     
    Finally I got a bit silly with the hand tools. The planes were based on a page from a Stanley catalogue I found online, the adze from a picture from my friend Alan who will be getting a few more tools in the post. The planes vary from 12 to 16mm (scale 9" to 12"). The adze has a scale 3' long handle.
     

     
    The garage has got too cold for printing now, the resin going extremely gloopy at low temperatures. Fortunately I was able to set the printer up inside and I tried the technology outlet's Premium Low Odour resin. I guess 'Low Odour' is a relative term but at least it didn't stink the house out.
     
    I've got some sculptamold on the Stour valley castle mount now. It looks ok but doesn't photograph too well in its white state. I'll post some pictures once it gets some brown undercoat on it.
     
    David
     
  3. Fen End Pit
    Over the past week I've managed a few more bits of 3D printing, pushing my 3D modeling skills and my Anycubic photon to the limit. The power hammer had lots of odd shapes to model up and my favourite feature, the large spring between the two parts of the hammer mechanism. I was astonished that the foot peddle which engages the clutch mechanism came out, this is only 1mmx.8mm in profile. I printed this in 4 pieces, the main frame casting, the two fly wheels and the main hammer mechanism.  This was printed with a .04mm layer height and took about 5 hours of print time. The wheels are on a brass rod axle.
     

    The operating gubbins shows the layer lines but these cleaned off quite easily, bear in mind this part is just 28mm across. The spring is made of .75mm coils and once the little bit of support structure was removed from the rear it actually springs freely.

     
     
    Once assembled the hammer was primed and then painted up. Just a reminder of the prototype.

    and my representation of it. I've added a little weathering to hopefully represent a work horse machine still in reasonable nick.
     

     

     
    Next up I've made some dustbins! Lots of fun modeling the various flutes and ribs on the bin and the lids. Three of these filled the print bed of the Photon nicely.
     

     
    A little bit of cleaning up was required, there was a slight issue about half way up the bins where there was a little bit of layer separation. Fortunately it wasn't enough to make the print fail and was pretty well hidden under a coat of primer. I was pushing the thickness (or actually thinness) of the parts on the printer. I hadn't allowed quite enough clearance on the rim of the lids so had to scrape some of the material off the inside to make them fit on the bases.
     

     
    With a little bit of sanding, painting a suitable grey and some weathering I think they look the part.
     

     
    The scene continues to come together, next up is the pillar drill.
     

     
    I've not been ignoring the Stour Valley during all this. I've been working mainly on wagon stock. I had the amusement of running stupidly long trains round and round just for the fun of it.
     
    David
     
  4. Fen End Pit

    Stour Valley Dream - Castle mound

    By Fen End Pit,


    Stour Valley
    Clare station was built in the bailey of Clare Castle (you could do that kind of thing in 1865!) and the castle motte is still present behind the goods shed. I don't have the space to model the whole mound but need to try to make something that gives the right feeling. There needs to be a bit of forced perspective going on too which complicates things. This section of the aerial photograph gives some idea of the scale of the real thing. To those who have visited over the last few years it will be clear that there are a lot more bushes and trees on the mound now than in 1947.
     

     
    I've made an attempt at getting a suitable shape in polystyrene and sculptamold and, as always, I'd appreciate the views of the RMWeb eyes.
     
     
    The main line in the foreground is curving around to Stoke at a steeper angle than the prototype because I have to make the layout fit in the room. These means that the area between the main line and the yard is bigger than on the prototype. It was mostly grass and waste ground. The scar on the motte is where the winding path up the side runs.
     

     
    From the opposite view the hill climbs up, with a flat area of goods yard and grass at its foot. The very top of the hill will have a number of bushes on it and possibly even a small section of wall.
     

     
    Moving back towards the station platforms you get a better view of the overall effect.
     

     
    The most obvious compression has been in the space between the goods shed and the mound, I've to bring the two closer together in order to get some degree of height to the hill. I'm hoping I can get away with it because of the viewing angle.
     

     
    Let me know what you think.
     
    David
  5. Fen End Pit

    Stour Valley Dream - Castle mound (mk. 2)

    By Fen End Pit,


    Stour Valley
    Taking onboard the comments on the mound I added the best part of another couple of inches to the top. I also altered the shape to I hope better match the rather pointed shape of the original. I've added an initial layer of static grass and made a couple of trial little bits of wall from Sculptamold (I just wanted to see if I could make a wall with it, I need to get the shapes better)
     
    I've got the goods shed bedded in a bit better (obviously still needs windows, capping stones etc. etc.) and also added the 3d printed yard crane in place. I don't think it looks too bad.
     

     
    There are still lots of flecks of polystyrene which seem to defy the hoover repeatedly!
     

     
    Looking in the other direction the cattle dock/grain loader is beginning to look more complete. The back siding got some static grass as it appeared to be pretty weedy by the mid 1950's.  The join between the back of the layout and the wall will mostly be a line of bushes.
     
     

     
    Now another question. This colour image of the goods shed seems to give the appearance that part of the brick wall was much paler than rest of the building, almost as if it had been whitewashed. There is no remains of the colour now on the building except perhaps just to the left of the top of the doorway. Any ideas what/why? I almost wondered if it was for sighting purposes but it never acted as the background for a signal.
     
     

     
     






  6. Fen End Pit
    In my previous blog on this subject I mentioned I'd 3D printed some wheel centres to fit into Alan Gibson 4'10" tyres. I put these into my test chassis and got it working but I was not entirely happy with the result. The issue I believe is that 'Gibson Style' wheels rely on having the centre molded out of a fairly 'grippy' plastic, the hole through the centre is designed to be a good tight fit on an 1/8th inch axle. even so most of us have had a wheel be a bit loose at times and some people resort to pinning the wheels to the axles. Those modelling in OO and EM have the opportunity to use wheels from Romford, now Markits which make use of an axle with a square end which fits into a square hole in the back of the wheel.
     
    I thought I'd try and replicate this with my wheel centre print so modified the wheel centre to match the style of a Romford wheel and I purchased some Markits EM axles. Obviously the P4 Back-to-Back is slightly wider than the EM one so my wheels needed a little section in the back to take their thickness out so that when fastened to the EM axles they present a P4 Back-to-Back. The drawing shows the rear of the wheel centre.
     

     
    Printing horizontally does mean that the back of the wheel has all the support structure which needs to be removed but it cleans up alright (photo taken half way through the process). The key is not to interfere with the central boss and just to make the rest of the wheel rear smooth. I've put a touch of black sharpie on the rear of the wheel to better show up the square whole. I had to play about a bit with the model to get the right size central boss.
     

     
    A little bit of trial and error was needed at this point but in the end I fitted all 3 axles to the test chassis and the quartering of the wheels worked from the get-go. Obviously I'll need to make some covers for the axle ends but the result took less effort than using my GW wheel press.
     

     
    I have now assembled the footplate and cab sides and it all fits together quite nicely with the 3D printed boiler though nothing is fastened down at this point.
     

     

     
    I've borrowed a GW models roller to roll the cab roof (thanks Middlepeak) so that is the next job on the cab. Although I have etched the brake gear I've also produced a 3D printed version of the brake hangers and brake blocks to see how they work and whether they are robust enough.
     

     
    I also need to make up the tender chassis, I've rubbed down the tender sides very slightly to remove a little bit of marking from the printing process.
     
    All together I think it is some good progress.
     
    David
     
  7. Fen End Pit
    I had a first go at weathering the Ferguson tractor. I don't really have much experience with weathering vehicles and even less experience with Vallejo acrylics. I think I'm fairly happy with the outcome but would welcome your opinions. I do note looking a the prices of tractors on Ebay that I have added a couple of thousand to the price by weathering it as it would appear that you pay less for a 'restored' tractor than you do for a 'barn find' by about £2000.
     

     
     

     
    David
  8. Fen End Pit

    More work on the Fergie

    By Fen End Pit,


    Fen End Pit
    I liked the look of the Fergie, but decided that the steering mechanism was very 'representational'. The 3D model just had a couple of bumps meant to represent the steering rod and axle supports. I decided to try and model a better mechanism. I was able to import the STL file into CAD and then try to draw up the extra parts. The original model was designed to be printed on a filament printer so the detail was quite simple.
     
    Ideally I would have removed the original features from the model but I'm finding that much more difficult than adding bits! If I try doing a boolean operation on the 3D model it makes a large hole in the surface but I can't see how to fill the gap back in. Onshape probably isn't the right tool for this but I tried Meshmixer too and got stuck with that. I'm not brave enough to attempt anything in Blender.  For now I just attacked the resulting resin with a scalpel!
     

     
     
    I think the result makes the front end look much more complete. You can image it being able to steer now.
     

     
    I was very pleased with the Vallejo 'Tire [SIC] black' which has given the wheels a really nice matt rubber look.
     


     
    I'm now going to have some fun weathering it, if I bog it up completely I can always print another one.
     
    David
  9. Fen End Pit

    Little Grey Fergie

    By Fen End Pit,


    Fen End Pit
    Techy bit ----
     
    So this weekend I took delivery of my shiny new Anycubic Photon M5S Pro and a Wash-and-cure station. This was ordered direct from Anycubic and arrived 5 days sooner that the original delivery date. The printer has a 10" build plate so it considerably larger than my old Phrozen Sonic mini 4K. It also has the advantage of wifi connectivity so I can monitor progress in the garage from my warm workbench in the house. The printer also comes with a heater which means I don't have to build another home-brew unit like I made for the Phrozen. The deal also provided a couple of bottles of Anycubics new 'rapid' resin which almost has the consistency of water, it is much thinner than conventional resins so it runs back into the voids faster as a layer is pealed.
     
    As usual for a new printer Anycubic provided a manual written in something which was almost English - why do manufactures never get a native speaker to even proof-read them? They also provided their own Anycubic Photon Workshop slicer, which I didn't really want to use because I am used to adding support and slicing in Chitubox. After printing one of the test models I tried to print 'the cones of knowledge' from Tableflip fountry. This is a little print which helps you calibrate the exact resin exposure time. I tried to create a Chitubox profile to match the M5S Pro because they didn't have one yet as the printer is so new. I was able to generate and print the cones and it took ~40minutes. Then I tried slicing the same model in Anycubic's slicer and got exactly the same part printed, with indistinguishable quality and it printed in ~19minutes. These were at the same layer height and exposure time so the saving was obviously in the other movements while printing. Long and short of it was I don't know what voodoo the printer is doing but boy does it print quickly! I think I'll still stick to slower times  and conventional resins most of the time as the rapid is a little more brittle than I'd like.
     
    The modeling bit ----
     
    I've rather fancied having a little tractor on Fen End Pit and even went as far as buying a Heller Kit for a TE-20 in 1:24 scale trying to convince myself that it wouldn't notice as underscale if it is was positioned at the back of the layout. Ten I found a rather nice model of one on the Thingiverse as a 3D print drawn up in 1:18. I'd downloaded this and rescaled to 1:19.05 for 16mm:1ft but then given up as on my previous printer it would have taken four print runs to get all the items printed and each run would have been 4-5 hours. I managed to get everything except the tyres in a single print and then the tyres on a second print. the first print took 1 hour 10 minutes and the second just over 50 minutes, so from ~16-20 hours down to 2 hours.
     
    The results aren't bad. I think I'll probably model up a few more bits of detail to make the steering rods look a bit better and add things like pedals but I think it is a pretty good starting point.
     

     
    The Wash-and-Cure station is quite something, the vat for the washing can hold 15ltrs of IPA (I've only put 5ltrs in for a start). It has a magnetic stirrer in the bottom which whirls around and get the liquid to woosh about a wash everything. Half way through the wash cycle the motor spins down and then reverses, sounding in the process just like a London underground train. Then you take the tank off and replace it with a dinky turntable (in background of photos) which then spins the part under some bright UV lights to finish curing the resin.
     
    Lots of fun to play with and obviously some things I didn't think I could print are now possible.
     
    Judging by what I've learnt so far I reckon I should be able to get two complete J17 kits on the bed at once, though it will be more sensible to print more of parts of the same height. All rather fun and exciting to play with.
     
    David
     
     
  10. Fen End Pit
    Following a request for some garden tools I took to the Thingiverse and found a couple of items to print. The spade, fork and grass rake were made for 12th scale but scaled down to 16mm without too much issue. I then drew up a rake and, because I couldn't find ones I like the look of, a watering can and plant pots.
     

     
    The nice thing about the plant pots was that I only had to draw one size and then scale them in the slicer on the printer to get a range of sizes.
     

     
    While in printing mode I also made the 56lb weights I wanted for my coal scales.

     
    Just for fun I tried assembling the weighbridge equipment in CAD and printing it at 4mm scale. Amazing it printed so I'll get in touch with the NEEAG and send them some for Lavenham. I think I'll stick one on the goods shed platform of Clare too. Sorry for the quality of the picture, trying to get the camera to focus on this tiny part was a bit tricky.
     

     
    Last I added some tortoise stoves to the build plate, in 16mm, 7mm and 4mm scales. In 16mm you can read the text, in 7mm you can just make out the tortoise logo. 
     

     
    I'm really happy with the improvement in the reliability of the resin print since I added a little heater to it. I've now had four or five print runs on cold evenings with no failures.
     
    David
     
  11. Fen End Pit

    Crowsnest inspired Weighbridge

    By Fen End Pit,


    16mm photo-plank
    Inspired by Roy Link's model documented in The Crowsnest Chronicles and at the request of a user on 'another well known Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling Online forum' I modeled up the weighing equipment to go into a weighbridge hut. I'm quite pleased with the result and it captures the prototype pretty well. I was amused that the drawing in Roy's book didn't actually match the model he'd built and I opted to cheat with a design for the scroll-work found for me by Google.
     
    First a couple of pictures of Roy's superb pantograph milled version. I suspect this took many, many ours.
     

     
    Second, my 3D printed version. In 16mm the scales stand 70mm tall.
     

     
    And with a Bachmann 16mm character for scale...
     

     
    I guess the 3D modeling took a couple of evenings and the parts took ~4 hours to print (for 2 copies)
     
    I was very tempted to model 'LINK' into the bottom as I remembered from all his wonderful plans in C 1978 Railway Modellers. Thanks for the inspiration Roy.
     
    David
  12. Fen End Pit

    16mm photo-plank - lathe completed

    By Fen End Pit,


    16mm photo-plank
    Work on the lathe continued, I had several more pieces to model up and a couple of changes to some of the first attempts at detail parts. The final CAD drawing looks quite attractive.
     

     
    To those who think 3D printing is 'cheating' I think I should point out this was more of 'home kit production' as the lathe has almost 30 separate pieces. The parts almost filled the build plate on my Anycubic photon twice over and each print job took about 4 1/2 hours.
     
    I got the parts assembled and painted, still need a bit of weathering, but I'm quite happy with the results.
     


     
    I intend to make another couple of chucks and a variety of tools to go with the lathe.
     
    Meanwhile, I needed a cup of tea so put the kettle on the stove.
     

     
    Now I just need to make a flue for the stove so I can light it !
     
    David
  13. Fen End Pit

    A scale set of scales

    By Fen End Pit,


    16mm photo-plank
    I was reminded of the rather nice drawing of a set of coal scales in Roy Link's superb Crowsnest Chronicles book and while I can't match his version with lots of beautifully panto-graph milled pieces I thought I'd have a go at modelling it up in CAD to 3D print. As this model is in 16mm:1ft scale it took a while to print (a little over 5 hours) at .03mm layer height on my Phrozen Sonic mini 4K. I printed double of some of the smaller pieces just in case there were issues.
     

     
    The first attempt has actually assembled into something that looks pretty good first time.  Sorry for the dust in the photo, I have sanded off the support structure and also lightly add a grain texture to the timber of the trolley.
     
     

     
    I'm looking forward to painting it now.
     
    edit (now painted)

     
     

     
    David
  14. Fen End Pit
    Blimey I've not put anything on the blog since August. I must be slacking... 
    There has been a fair amount going on but not much progress to write about.
     
    Progress on the Ivatt has been good, however I felt that the original Brassmasters pony truck, a work of art and perfectly good product, was in a different league to the rest of the EasiChas I had been designing. Discussing with the Brassmasters at Scaleforum we decided to try to design an 'EasiPonyTruck' with the aim to making an easy to assemble unit which would better match the rest of the kit. The revised version uses just two main parts together with wire sprung bearings for the axle.

     
    The original unit needed lots of tiny etched parts to make up the springs on the front and rear but I decided this could be more simply dealt with by a little 3D print.
     

     
    The complete loco is now running around Clare and looks rather good hauling a goods train.
     

     
    One of the best features of having put a new High Level motor and gearbox in the chassis is that the footplate can be cut away between the frames like the prototype.  This gap has a couple of addition bits of bracing which are just visible when the boiler is in place.
     

     
    The J17 project continues with the delivery of the second set of test etches. So far these have gone together well. One of the major design changes has been the decision to split the etches between nickel-silver and brass. There is now quite a difference in price and also some parts, notable the cab roof were a bit tricky to roll in nickel-silver. Also I've decided that rather than produce the tender as a single part, etching the outside frames and buffer beams will make for a stronger model. This also makes the tend much easier to print and clean up.
     

     
    Please note that isn't the tender riding too high the holes in the side frames are to locate the axlebox print and deliberately don't match the centre height of the axles. This version of the boiler has the vacuum brake pipe so this was one of the fitted J17s. I've also modified the 3D model to produce an earlier non-super heater version with a Ramsbottom safety valve rather than Ross Pops.
     

     
    In fact it is fair to say that I am getting quite a collection of J17s now...
     

     
    Other activities have included making a front end for a Wickham DMU at the request of a fellow member of the GERS who want one to go with some etched sides he had. This was a bit tricky with lots of compound curves and difficult shapes. I think I've made a half-decent fist of it and people I have shown it to have at least gone 'ah, a Wickham' so hopefully I'm not too far out.
     

     
    So now I have best part of two weeks off. I hope I can get this J17 build running and get a bit further with the instructions for the Ivatt.
     
    And I must put a few more blog entries up...
     
    David
  15. Fen End Pit
    During the week I assemble the chassis for the J17 tender which went together well apart from me drawing the holes for the brake hangers in the wrong place. Artwork correction took marginally longer than drilling 6 holes in the right places. I've stuck two pieces of copper-clad sleeper strip down the inside of the chassis and soldered the pickup wire onto these. While I have metal brake blocks and hangers on the etch I thought it would be interested to try 3D printing them and see how they worked too. The advantage of a 3D print being that there is no possibility of shorting anything out and, as the brakes are out of the way, they should not bee too fragile.
     

     
    The hand rails were added using Alan Gibson 'short' hand rail knobs. I thought these had a very chunky base so stuck them in a mini-drill and ground off just a little to make what I think looks a better size.
     

     
    The tops of the handrails on the front of the tender are a little vulnerable until the hand rail wire is fitted but it was possible to drill them out to .45 without breaking. The handrails on the front of the sides didn't have knobs for some reason.
     

     
    To get the power from the tender pickups (and chip) to the motor I wanted to get some very small plugs and sockets. I found a source from Micron Radio Control who have a wide range of connectors. These tiny 'UM' battery lead 1.25mm Plugs and Sockets can be purchased with different thicknesses of wire, I choose the thin stuff which is similar that used on DCC chip harnesses . I must congratulate them on their service, the bits arrived within 48 hours of being ordered and they refunded part of the cost of the P&P because the actual postage cost less than the minimum amount charged by their website.
     

     
    A view of the underneath of the tender gives some idea how this goes together.
     

     
    I have some P4 Markits axles on order now so I will have a go at another batch of loco wheels soon. The original ones using EM axles are ok but I think I can make them with less fiddling if I can use the P4 axles and just have a plain flat back to the wheel insert. I think the next challenge is to get the rest of the 'hot work' done on the locomotive body before sticking the 3d printed boiler on. This means the cab hand rails and rain strips, the brass buffer shanks and the lamp irons.
     
    David
  16. Fen End Pit
    Since I built my J17 by scrapping most of the parts of a PDK kit and making my own etched and 3D printed bits I have been thinking about the possibility of turning the result into a kit. A first draft of the artwork was turned into nickel-silver by PPD with help from my good friends at Brassmasters. (If this turns into a kit that will be where it will come from). The intention is the use etched metal for the chassis and thin bits like the cab and foot plate while 3D printing the complex shapes like the boiler and tender.
     
    The first test etch has turned out pretty well and I've had my first go at putting the chassis together, after the external Walschaerts  valve gear of the Ivatt this was nice and straight-forward. I've opted to design the chassis using what I have learnt from the design of Brassmasters' Easichas(sis). I've used their square hornblocks and run them in the chassis cut outs, adding an overlay which combines the cosmetic leave spring below the axlebox and a continuous springy beam (CSB) wire carrier above. Rather than have to solder hand rail knobs or the like into the chassis for the CSB wire pivots I have just located the chassis cross members in the right places and added holes for the wire. The result is a simple to assemble sprung chassis.
     

     
    Inspired by David Lane (BigCheeseplant) I had a go at 3D printing my own centres to convert Alan Gibson 16 spoke wheels into 15 spoke GER wheels. He kindly sent me a 3D model but in the end I went back to the Great Eastern Railway Society drawing and made my own. A friend with a lathe produced a nice little jig to allow me to assemble the wheel and tyre ensuing that everything is concentric. 
     

     
    The resulting chassis runs, I think I might have to look at pinning the wheels to the axles because the resin is not as 'grippy' as the Alan Gibson plastic. As per normal power is provide using High Level Models superb gearbox and motor.
     

     
    I printed the body work out yesterday. Five and half hours on the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K produced this lot, I will go back and do some modification in the slicer to modify some of the support, some is not needed and there are some bits where moving it would make removal easier. Still not bad for an afternoons' printing.

     
    Bearing in mind that the photograph above is BEFORE I've done anything to the surface finish, there really isn't that much required. After removing just a bit of support resin.....
     

     
    .... I was left with these pieces for the body and tender.
     

     
    and these for the inside motion (I've since realized I need to split these again because of one of the frame spaces)

     
    So now I have to solder up the footplate and cab etches and make the etched tender chassis.
     
     
    The etchings will allow for multiple variants of the body, I've already drawn up one version as vacuum fitted and one as steam braked only. I've got versions of the tender with and without the cut out for the token exchange equipment. It should be possible to do non-super heated version (shorted smokebox without rivets) and even a round topped boiler J16 version. I'll be interested to hear what folks think about a 'mixed media' kit like this so please let me know.
     
    David
  17. Fen End Pit

    A day out at Bressingham

    By Fen End Pit,


    Fen End Pit
    On Sunday Fen End Pit visited the Narrow Gauge show being organised at Bressingham Steam Museum in Norfolk. It was an excellent day out and thanks are due to the organising team for putting on a good show. We were able to set up on the Saturday evening which meant a much more relaxed setup and an extra hours' lie-in. The layout worked pretty well, no big issues which impacted operation. As usual my son produced a long list of 'improvements' to keep me busy for a few months.
     

     
    The room we were set up in is used as a creche so, if we got bored, we could play with the Brio or the play fire-engine! The artwork was attractive, even if not the most realistic clouds I've ever seen on a backscene!
     

     
    Operation was working so well that I was even able to leave the layout in the capable hands of 'the crew' while I sneaked out and had a run around on the Nursery line.

     
    Some of the crew got their own back and had a ride on the Gallopers in the background!
     

     
     
    On standard gauge duty was a Southern 'P' and we obviously went at paid our respects the 'Eric' the E4 and the J69 from the National Collection which were in the museum shed.
     
    If you haven't been to Bressingham it is certainly worth a visit, it was great to see so many people there and to hear that their programmes on channel 5  have had a positive impact on visitor numbers.
     
    Next to us in the creche was a lovely On14 layout Gweithdy Dyffryn which was featured quite recently in NG&IRM Review. The pretty much unique feature was the modelling of working stub points. It was the layout's first outing to a show and the owner said it was ok for me to include a couple of photos here.
     
     
     

     

    David
  18. Fen End Pit

    Progress on an Ivatt kit

    By Fen End Pit,


    Ivatt 2MT
    I've been working on a chassis and detailing kit for a Bachmann Ivatt class 2 2-6-0 tender loco for several years now with my friends from Brassmasters. Progress has been sporadic but we recently received another set of test etches from PPD and this time we got two copies, one is being build by one of the Brassmasters team using the full Easi-Chas approach using the Bachmann motor and gears and mine is being built using a High Level gearbox and motor. This later option allows you to fill in the front of the Belpaire firebox and move the backhead in the cab forward. 
     
    The basic 0-6-0 chassis s is fairly straight-forward sprung using the Brassmasters horn blocks and springs. With the fold up design of the side frames and the soldered on rear and front the unit comes out rather nicely.  You can see that the front crank pin has been reversed and slimmed down to get the clearance behind the crossheads, a perennial problem in P4, less so in EM. The coupling rods are jointed in the prototypical manner. The motor ends up vertical in the smokebox so the gearbox is not in the correct orientation in the photo.
     

     
    The cylinders are made up with brass tube for the piston and valve rods. Trying to design the etch to form the valve spindle rods/cover was a bit of a strain on the brain. Still I am quite pleased with the result.
     

     
    The slide bars are a fold up etch, one of several deliberately designed with a frame around them to make alignment easier and add additional strength while fettling. There is an alignment hole to aid soldering the unit at the right angle when you get to that stage.
     

     
    The cross-head may look ridiculously complicated but the fold up nature and the support/alignment frame actually make it relatively straight-forward. The parts can be tinned, folded, aligned with a couple of pairs of tweezers and then sweated together.

     
    The slidebars, cylinders and cross heads can then be test fitted before you start making the rest of the valve gear.

     
    I won't go blow-by-blow through the valve gear. I've been writing the instructions at the same time as building this and have probably gone a bit overboard with detail and photos of each bit of rod. Trying to remember your combination lever from your return crank from you radius rod is designed to exercise the grey matter. But if you go one bit at a time you hopefully end up with something that looks like this.
     

     
    As a bit of light relief I worked on the tender chassis, much less fiddly but also sprung with continuous springy beams. 
     
    Finally I have the chassis matched with the body, the brake-gear added and a Brassmasters Ivatt pony truck to match. The body is looking a bit mashed about as it has now been used and abused all the way through the design and build process. Also it is totally the wrong colour for Clare, deep in G.E.R. territory. Now I have a working chassis I intend to fit it under a second black Ivatt which will look much more appropriate.
     

     
    So what is still to do before we have something which could be a kit? Well, as usual at this stage we have a little 'snag list' mostly of the 'make this hole a bit bigger/smaller', 'move this slot by .5mm', add parts on the etch for the early/later version of X.
     
    But, it is coming along.....
     
    David
  19. Fen End Pit
    Yesterday we took Fen End Pit out to the Norfolk and Suffolk Narrow Gauge modellers open day in exotic Beccles and an excellent day was had by all. It took us a few minutes longer to put the layout up than it should. I'd forgotten which way around the legs went after nearly 3 years since the last show (must label them better!)  I'd checked each baseboard out and cleaned everything and everything worked pretty well.  We seemed to be appreciated by the public (several children not old enough to know better described the drag-line as 'really cool') and it was great to catch up with an natter to some old friends.
     

     
    Thanks are due to the organizing team for putting on such a fun and relaxed day.
     
    One thing we were able to play with was the new addition to the locomotive stud, a wireless controlled  Wingrove and Rogers battery electric locomotive. This ran nicely on the straight track but suffered with the overfine profile of the wheels on the nasty curves. I'd used Alan Gibson O gauge lowmac wheels for the basis of the drive wheels and while these seem fine on the skip wagons the act of driving them seems to make them climb over the rails on the sharpest points. Does anyone have a good source of a relatively coarse scale O gauge lowmac wheel? I've after ~20mm diameter with a rather heavy flange and tread?
     

     
    We need to get these battery locomotives working reliably if we are ever going to meet our Net-Zero targets!
     
    Meanwhile the Ruston LAT paused in the shed waiting for the battery to run our.

     
    <shameless plug mode>We came away rather looking forward to our next trip out to Bressingham on 9th July.</shameless plug mode>
     
    David
  20. Fen End Pit
    I'm really pleased that after having no shows for what seems like years owing to the pandemic we finally have the opportunity to take Fen End Pit out again.
     
    Next Saturday, 3rd June, we are going to the Norfolk and Suffolk Narrow Gauge Modellers' open day in Beccles.
    https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/event/y2023/25165-NorfolkSuffolkNarrowGaugeModellers_OpenDay
     
    Then, all being well, we are attending the Bressingham Narrow Gauge model railway show on Sunday 9th July.
    https://bressingham.co.uk/events/2023/narrow-gauge-model-railway-show
     

    Having had an excellent day out at RailEx today I really looking forward to taking my own layout out again.
    Looking forward to seeing people there...
     
    David
  21. Fen End Pit
    After several weeks and lots of help from RMwebber UAX6 I now finally have the Type A and Type B telephone exchange completed. For such relatively simple building there are some subtle details which are quite difficult to get right. The slight 'pagoda' look to the hip roof of the B and the little tiles on the quoins of the smaller Type A.
     
    There a a few very interesting websites with lots of photographs of different exchanges and these have lots of photographs of similar buildings from all over the country. It was quite common to have a pair together like this where the  equipment outgrew the original building.
     
    https://www.uax.me.uk/
    http://www.aeolian-hall.myzen.co.uk/
     
    I took more attempts than it should have taken to get a laser cutter drawing which I was happy with and now all I have to do is bed them into the layout.
     
     

     
    A visit to the March model railway exhibition turned up a Morris van in GPO guise and again UAX6 helped with some additional background I added wing mirrors and painted the hub caps black. It is interesting that when you look online for pictures all the 'preserved' moggies have lots of shiny chrome which isn't original.
     

     
    So now I have a load of work to do bedding them in, adding a bit of picket fencing and completing the ground texture in the goods yard.
     
    David
  22. Fen End Pit

    Stour Valley Dream - Driver's eye view

    By Fen End Pit,


    Stour Valley
    I had a bit of fun with a miniature camera.
     
     
     
    I've also continued to work on the low-relief malting buildings for the far corner of the layout. I'm rather pleased with the brickwork, just trying to pluck up the courage to add the mortar mix. The different colours of brickwork came out very well thanks to Tamiya masking tape.
     

     
    I'm quite pleased with the way the loading area looks. Even though you won't be able to see much of it in the end. I think there are going to be two roll shutter doors fitted over this.

     
    Once in-situ it looks about right and when I've completed the two telephone exchanges opposite it should really complete this corner.
     

     
    David
     
  23. Fen End Pit

    Clare Maltings and telephone exchanges

    By Fen End Pit,


    Stour Valley
    In my previous blog entry I talked about using planning records to help research buildings at Clare. These have certainly help but what has helped even more is the advice and assistance from another RMweb contributor. Uax6 immediately recognized two small builds as Type A and Type B telephone exchange buildings and was able to give me loads of information regarding their construction. The 16 page 1950's tender document informing contractors the requirements to build one of these buildings was fascinating. Unfortunately I have failed the process immediately by not constructing the required earth latrine for the contractors  to use while building the exchange!
     
    I've drawn out the parts in TurboCAD and have cut the parts in MDF. The central core is 3mm MDF for strength with the brick engraved layer in 1.5mm, just to keep things complicated the roof is cut from 1mm, the roof support from 2mm and the windows and surrounds from oiled manila card. Using lots of different thickness of material was probably overkill but I had all the different ones to hand. As usual I had to cut several parts more than once because I screwed my logic of which bit fitted around which other, I'd like to think I'm getting better and not making so many mistakes but I'm not so sure .
     

     
    I'll continue assembling the exchange and also try to draw out the other type of exchange with the hipped roof.
     
    The maltings building is also coming along. I revised my earlier drawing and shortened the model by one window bay because the original version was too long and left the end wall too far forward and in the wrong place relative to the goods yard. I'm still a bit too far forward but I think I'll live with it because shortening the building even more would not leave enough of it left to make sense.
     

     
    I was pleased with the way the windows for the maltings came out cut in the manila card. I drew the glazing bar lines at .7mm which has meant that the glazing bars when cut at .5mm wide.
     

     
    I've cut the windows in the 3mm inner layer to the size of these window components and the 1.5mm layer with the bricks engraved in it is 2mm smaller in each dimension. That means that the final window will have nice strong structure and I can cut some glazing material to fit.
     
    It has been a great deal of fun so far making these buildings and I'll post more as progress continues.
     
    David
  24. Fen End Pit
    So I'm finally making a start on the buildings adjacent to the goods yard at Clare. We have a large maltings, still existing as an antiques centre, and a pair of buildings, one with a hipped roof and the other with a pitched roof. One of these is marked on one site plan as 'telephone exchange'.

     
    The maltings has been heavily altered but the current 'Greek portico' is just an embellishment of the original loading area where lorries would reverse in to tip grain.
     

     
    A search on West Suffolk's public access planning application site found a recent application for converting some of the space from an antiques centre into flats and this application included some useful drawings. If you are thinking of modeling any building which existed until fairly recently it is worth looking to see if there are any planning applications available online. While searching for this I also found drawings of Clare station building (application to make changes to make it suitable to be a cafe) and Clare goods shed (application to add a toilet block).
     
    https://planning.westsuffolk.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=O18SI2PDMLV00&activeTab=summary
     
    However I would point out that some architects may not be as diligent and those of my acquaintance because the drawing incorrectly shows the windows on the top storey as the same height as on the ground and first floor. I guess they just didn't count the brick coarse correctly! Memo to self -  Cross-reference your sources!
     
    I had a go at cutting a 'first attempt' yesterday and then found loads of mistakes in the my drawing. I've hopefully corrected those and I'll have another go at cutting it later in the week. Although it is quite a large building I don't think it unbalances the corner too much. Obviously I've had to shorted it a bit because I couldn't fit the full length in.
     

     
    This then leave me thinking about the two little building opposite. What is currently there is a Scout hut which according the same West Suffolk planning site was granted permission to be converted from the old telephone exchange in 1983.
     

     
    https://planning.westsuffolk.gov.uk/online-applications/files/110212DD9A8AE2D70C6297425E509E6E/pdf/E_83_3477_P-DECISION_NOTICE-979890.pdf
     
    So I'm left wondering how this building relates to the two in the aerial photograph from 1949. It looks to me as if the building has been extended on the end nearest the camera as the brickwork has a distinct change. Could the remainder of the building be the pitched roof building?  The resolution of the aerial photo is not enough to be sure but it doesn't look to me as if the buildings had any obvious windows which I guess fits with a telephone exchange. Could both buildings have been something to do with the GPO?
     
    Any ideas welcome!
     
    Thanks
    David
     
  25. Fen End Pit

    Christmas engineering work

    By Fen End Pit,


    Stour Valley
    One of my Christmas presents this year was a Sunfounder 10' touch screen designed to fit a Raspberry Pi. How my wife knew I wanted one of these is a mystery, must have been something to do with the hints I dropped. Today I managed to get JMRI installed on it and make up a simple panel to show the fiddleyard of my Stour Valley layout. I intend to also try using it on Fen End Pit. The touch screen works rather well as just touching the point changes it, also if the point get changed by other means (such as using the DCC controller) the change is reflected on the display.
     

     
    The back of the screen has positions to bolt a Pi together with the electronics for the screen and touch inputs. It doesn't come with any cover so I laser cut a piece of acrylic to protect the back.
     

     
    On Boxing Day an enjoyable running session highlighted a couple of minor repairs which were required to track work. So this morning the soldering iron came out to fix a couple of misaligned rail joints. This was a good excuse to drive a few more trains around and take the opportunity to clean a few wheels. It is amazing how much better wagons run when the wheels aren't covered in muck! The J17 turned up on the regular pickup goods easing over the river bridge on its way past the goods yard. Will 2023 be the year I final get around to the buildings in the far corner?
     

     
    Costing past the station building into the platform...
     

     
    ...before coming to a stand next to the signalbox to hand the token to the bobby.
     

     
     
    My wife also managed to buy me a copy of the instruction manual for a Ruston 22RB which will be useful as she also booked an experience day at Rocks by Rail when I will be allowed to try driving one 'under close instruction' which I am much looking forward to!
     
    Season's greetings to you all.
    David
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