74009

Hi all,

It's a long, long time since I posted an update on this - progress has been very slow for an assortment of reasons, but I'm hoping to get back to it in earnest soon - maybe I can beat KR Models!  Below is a link to a short video of the unit on test, at the Chatham and district Model Railway Club.

Stuart

https://www.flickr.com/photos/74009/53570214438/in/dateposted-public/

Hi Mike / Darius,

In this case the hole positions are not marked at all so it's just a case of drilling through the full thickness (and it's particularly thick!) brass.  When the new drills arrive I'm thinking about preparing by supporting the back of the etch on an anvil or something then tapping it firmly from the front with a hammer on a sharp object to create a divot to work from.  

I can't remember where the drill bits came from - they were just 'in a box'.   The new ones I've ordered are a mixture of steel and tungsten carbide, and some have the 3mm shank.

Best regards

Stuart

After what seems like a whole weekend of filling, filing and sanding, the fit of the roofing is now like this.   I think that's about as good as I'm going to get it, although it will be much easier to see if there are any major issues once a coat of primer has been applied.

I started drilling out for the door handles but, with the brass being so hard and thick, I snapped 3 drills and achieved a total of 2 holes.  More drills, of a couple of different types, on order; fortunately the number of doors isn't huge.  I'll also fit all the roof detail before priming - drilling here will be much easier as the aluminium is very soft - plus the holes will be bigger.

My No1 choice for the next release would be Pinza in early 1978 condition - it was shortly ex-works and was bulled up to work the 'Man of Kent' railtour on 26th March 1978.

It could even be supplied with the headboard and flags  :)

Another good choice would be D9000 in its late 90s condition when it regularly worked the Birmingham - Ramsgate for Virgin trains.

Hi Fran,

Congratulations on the Deltics - they really are amazing.   

I'm looking at renumbering my late 70s 'MELD' to represent 'PINZA', and in your earlier post demonstrating removing the printed numbers, you mentioned "a mix of 99.9% IPA and a 6% water dilution".    Does this mean mostly IPA with a little (6%) of water in it or the other way around, mostly water with 6% IPA added?

Thanks and best regards

Stuart

This is the current state of play, with the cab fronts fitted and  frames added around the opening cab window and the headcode.  I quite liked the way that MTK dealt with the inset guard's doors - very easy to form and fit.  I'm considering now how I'm going to motorise this as it's pretty heavy - I'm hoping to be able to use a Replica motorised chassis if I can get one to fit.

13 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 it's been just over a year since I last looked at the 4DD.  In that time though I've produced an MJT VEP, 2 class 309s, an NNK 2-EPB, an MTK 4-EPB, an MTK Class 207 and I've re-built a 40-year old MTK 4-CEP, so I've been reasonably productive

 

I shudder to think what your output would be if you got a wiggle on!

 

Mike.

 

Thanks Mike.

Many years ago I was offered a job as a full time modelmaker by a shop that I used to do the occasional commission for.  At the time it wasn't the right thing for me and I also thought that if I was going to do that, it might be something to do independently rather than for an employer.  Maybe it'll be something to fall back on if I get made redundant, as I do tend to get things done quite quickly and doing it full time would increase output further.  As well as what's listed above I've also made good progress with models of the prototype HST 252001, an S.R. 'Z' class and a Craftsman Models class 119 DMU.   I'll put a thread up soon about the HST.

Stuart

Because of all the forming and hammering that's gone on, the top edges of the sides aren't entirely straight.  To help with this I clamped and soldered an H shaped brass beam along the whole length.  As well as adding strength there are two other benefits in doing this; firstly, I can cut a strip of plasticard of the correct width to slot into the sides of the H so that it forms a natural arch - this will be fairly strong and once it's in place I can glue it in and use it as a base to build up the roof on.  The H strip can be clearly seen on the middle vehicle in the picture.

The other side of the H will be above the upper deck windows so I can locate the glazing strip in this and put some kind of long bar below the lower deck windows to stand the bottom of the glazing strip on.  By cutting the glazing strip to the correct size, it will clip in between the two locating bars and this will press it tightly around the curve inside, giving a flush glazed appearance to the curved upper windows without the glazing always trying to pop off and straighten out.  

The end is slightly inset because I've got a thinner piece to us as an overlay which has the vertical ribs etched onto it.  This will cover up my untidy soldering and if I use epoxy resin I'll have time to make sure that all the corners are nice and neat.

So, having got sidetracked with some other projects I'm finally back to the 4DD project, and there's been some progress.  I soldered up one of the trailer coach bodies and it actually went together quite nicely.

Hi Halvarras, they were both fairly fast with their original Lima 33 motors.  Both now have 6v CD motors and Zimo chips - with these chips you can regulate the maximum voltage sent to the motor using CV57  (60 = 6v,  55 = 5½v etc.)  - so the top speed can be easily controlled using that CV without losing controllability across the rest of the speed range.

I'd like to see a RTR class 74  -  it was going to be done by DJ Models but sadly that never came to fruition.  I suppose Hornby might consider it - they already have the 71 so they could use the same chassis and update the bodyshell.

Thanks Oliver.  Yes there are plenty more MTK kits around here - the 4DD should be next to be finished and then I'm going to embark on a 6-car TransPennine DMU.

Stuart

On 18/01/2022 at 22:05, OliverSR said:

Going through my unmade kits I found the MTK SR 4 Sub “Sheba” kit which I thought might be interesting for people to see. Seems to have original instructions but I doubt the single tenshodo would be able to move a 4 car train. It’s been started and the builder has achieved a very smooth cab roof join on the ends.

This is probably destined for eBay or rehoming sooner or later as I doubt Ill ever finish it off(Interested parties form an orderly queue)

OliverSR

Hi OliverSR - if you do decide to re-home the Sheba I'd be interested in taking on the challenge

Stuart

Having a bit of a sort out recently and I unearthed 71010 and 74009, which I built from MTK kits about 35 years ago.  They each had a Lima 33 chassis so I've replaced the Lima armatures with CD motors and fitted 'Peter's Spares' wheels. Both now running nicely on DCC.

On 08/11/2021 at 22:52, muddy water said:

Lovely!

What motor  did you use to power them?

Thanks Muddy Water - sorry, I've only just seen your question.

The 2-EPB has a Black Beetle motor bogie, and also has pickups on 6 wheels of the motor coach and 4 wheels of the trailer.  It runs very well but is slightly noisier in one direction than the other - I'm hoping this will disappear with running in.

The 4-EPB actually has a chopped up chassis from a Hornby class 73.  The MTK bodies were quite narrow at the bottom and the 73 chassis, being of reduced width too, just about fit.  The motor is the later type, not the ringfield, and this runs very nicely.  I had to put a fair bit of weight in the power car to enable it to move the rest of the train (which is heavy) without slipping, but having done this the performance is good.

... and here is the first MTK kit I ever successfully built, back in the early 80s, of 4CEP unit 7101.

Being one of the 1956 prototype units it had all the roof trunking that later units didn't.  I remember choosing 7101 because it had no window frames, which suited the flat-sided MTK shell, but it also had Commonweath bogies which was what MTK had supplied in the kit.

More recently I refurbished this model a bit by replacing the original MTK ends with MJT castings and Bachmann corridor connectors.

Stuart

Hi all,

I'm sure that some of you will have seen these in the relevant threads, but these are my latest MTK builds.

Best regards,

Stuart

The shape is a pretty good match to what I guesstimated when I was panel-beating the sides - only two are done though so my current challenge is to get all 8 to match.

Hi all,

So, it's been just over a year since I last looked at the 4DD.  In that time though I've produced an MJT VEP, 2 class 309s, an NNK 2-EPB, an MTK 4-EPB, an MTK Class 207 and I've re-built a 40-year old MTK 4-CEP, so I've been reasonably productive

I decided on a final shape for the 4DD vehicle ends based on a very useful and clear photograph taken square on to the end, with almost no skew or perspective distortion.  One of my friends used this to produce a drawing for an etch, which includes cab ends, inner ends, bulkheads and frames for the cab windows and headcode panel.

The 207 is pretty much finished now.  There's a little bit more to do - I'll add a cab interior and maybe some lights, and I may redo the saloon glazing as it hasn't adhered that well and has started to pop away from the sides.

I actually fitted this with a sound chip - there was plenty of room inside for a big speaker, and this is situated under the roof grille above the engine room, so that lets the sound out nicely.  Has anyone else fitted sound to an MTK model?

As MTK kits go this one was pretty poor, but I'm happy with the final result.

The Bulleid EPBs are done too (other thread) - so I'm back to the 4-DD next.

There's a very full explanation (for ESU V4 decoders) here...

https://www.southwestdigital.co.uk/PDF/SWD LSV4 Motor back EMF Setup.pdf

Best regards

Stuart

Hi Keith,

The 207 is MTK as well - I've started a short thread about it here : 

Best regards

Stuart

Thanks John.  I always think that the cab ends are a particularly important part of a multiple unit and it's worth the effort of making them as good as possible - the face has to look right.  In the case of a 207 there's very little detail on the ends which makes it very much easier.