2mm Scale Ruston 165 - Judith Edge Etched Kit

[Bryn]

 

I was first drawn to 2mm finescale modelling back in the 1990s when viewing the Association's online gallery. What stood out to me was the excellent diesel shunters produced by Stephen Harris, compared to the original Poole Graham Farish 08 it was in a different league!

 

A couple of decades later I thought I'd turn my hand to making my first shunter. Inspired by the image below I ordered a Judith Edge Ruston 165 etched kit, a direct reduction of the 4mm kit without any castings. 

 

https://flic.kr/p/2kvFRqh - Dave Peachey Photograph

 

I'll update this thread with details of the build over the coming days.

 

Thank you to @Michael Edge for making this available in 2mm scale.

[Michael Edge]

Good to see this, we'll be following it with interest.

[Bryn]

 

First step was to get a feel for how large the space envelope would be for the mechanism and DCC components. From the start I knew I would be using the 6mm diameter coreless motor from the association shop and the Zimo MX615r decoder with additional stay alive capacitors.

 

I used the etched chassis in the kit to make a prototype chassis to help develop the final design.

 

 

The cab seemed the logical place for the stay alive circuit. I sandwiched three 470uF capacitors together with the Zimo SACC16 board. This all nicely sits below the cab window level.

 

 

The motor would easily fit within the bonnet with enough room for the DCC decoder. My only concern was adding as much weight ass possible to aid traction. 

 

As the jack cranks on the etch were different to the association wheels I would have to produce my own. The wheels used are 7mm mk5 wheels from thr Association shop, they should be 6mm but this isn't really noticeable.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Bryn

[Bryn]

 

After some design trial and error on AutoCAD I decided to produce my own chassis using laser cut 0.75mm brass. The benefit of the more common 0.25mm nickel silver etched chassis is the additional weight and no need for frame bushes as the brass can be reemed to the correct axle diameter. Of note, the new mk5 axles are steel. 

 

 

The main advantage of the 6mm motor is it's ability to sit down low between the frames. This gives much more room for additional weight in the bonnet above the centre of the locomotive.

 

 

The laser cut counter weight jack shaft drive was soldered to some brass tube to act as an axle. The connecting rods from the etch were laminated, drilled and reemed to fit. The sand boxes are plastic sections cut to shape by hand. 

 

 

The initial test on DC voltage looked promising, the crank pin washers were left until the end if the chassis needed adjustment later on.

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Bryn

[Bryn]

 

The 4mm scale artwork reduced quite nicely and the fit worked out well for 2mm. 

 

 

The the cab rood and bonnet tops were replaced with brass which I annealed to make shaping easier. The roof was made a little wider as the 4mm reduction came up a little short.

 

 

The laser cut chassis was soldered up to give the first glimpse of what the finished shunter will look like.

 

 

Van for scale, it's easy to forgot how little this Ruston is!

[Michael Edge]

This is very fast work - and looking good! Nickel silver is just as easy to anneal as brass and in this thickness should be easily workable.

[Bryn]

Hi Michael,

 

This is just a recap thread, the shunter is mostly completed at this stage. I'm just digging through the photo archives and updating it in small sections.

 

The issue I had with the roof and bonnet was trying to get a smooth radius with the half etched detail present. Most likely not an issue in 4mm, but was causing some kinks. I only selected brass as that is what I had to hand. 

 

Overall the kit scaled down well and I'll be coming back for some more! Thanks 😀 

[Michael Edge]

That explains the rapid progress! You may be right, the 4mm and 7mm kits are in brass which I do prefer for rolled/formed parts. The New Zealanders I have done work for in larger scales insist on n/s and this sort of thing is very difficult to work - they are in .022" thickness though.

[Bryn]

 

Foot steps are assembled from the parts supplied on the etch. I filed the curved cut out to suit my prototype.

 

 

Buffers are an industrial type from N brass, which require assembly. I turned down the buffer face in a collet chuck on the lathe and soldered each buffer together.

 

 

The cast builders logo was a delicate operation to fit, but worth the effort.

 

 

Handrail knobs are turned brass items from N brass. The foot steps were fitted with low melt solder to reduce the risk of part separation near by. 

[Bryn]

 

 

Test drive with the DCC equipment fitted. It was reassuring how slow and smooth it could operate with such a low single stage gearing. Coreless motors and DCC really have opened up new doors to the 2mm world.

 

[2mmMark]

22 hours ago, Bryn said:

 

As the jack cranks on the etch were different to the association wheels I would have to produce my own. The wheels used are 6mm mk5 wheels from thr Association shop, they should be 5mm but this isn't really noticeable.

 

I'm following this closely as I have an unbuilt 165DS etch.  The instructions for mine say 3ft 3in driving wheels. I'm a bit puzzled as 6mm driving wheels aren't listed in Shop 3 so I was planning to use 7mm with adjusted axle holes.

Where do you source your laser cut parts from?

I may build the little-known Wisbech & Upwell version that had plastic moulded cow-catchers...

[Bryn]

Mark,

 

Looks like a RMWeb issue, that was a typo I edited yesterday. No idea why you're still seeing the old text.

 

 

PPD Ltd offer the laser cutting service. Similar to the etching service where you just provide the artwork.

[Bryn]

 

Weight, weight and more weight!

 

Even though the Ruston is smaller than the Farish class 04 it now weighs more. Hopefully this will help it move a wagon or two 😉

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Bryn

[Bryn]

 

Using the original roof as a test piece to see if a working orange beacon could be installed.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Bryn

[Bryn]

Time for a few coats of paint. After degreasing, the model was given a coat of self etching primer from a spray can. The following layers are all Tamiya acrylics which I mixed into the custom colours required.

 

To paint the chevrons I used an Infini cutting matt to produce 1mm wide strips, the use of clear masking film helped with alignment. 

 

The I painted the handrails with enamel paint, this was I could clean up any rough edges with thinner on a brush as this won't damage the acrylic layers below.

[03060]

1 hour ago, Bryn said:

Time for a few coats of paint. After degreasing, the model was given a coat of self etching primer from a spray can. The following layers are all Tamiya acrylics which I mixed into the custom colours required.

 

To paint the chevrons I used an Infini cutting matt to produce 1mm wide strips, the use of clear masking film helped with alignment. 

 

The I painted the handrails with enamel paint, this was I could clean up any rough edges with thinner on a brush as this won't damage the acrylic layers below.

 

Superbly crisp lines on the chevrons and between the main body colours, thanks for showing us these photos, which can often be quite cruel when blown up in the smaller scales. This build is giving me great inspiration to finish my own 3mm version of Mike's kit .... which stalled about 10 years ago !!

 

Regards,

Ian.

[Bryn]

 

How much does three 470uF capacitors improve the running of small locomotives?

 

Remembering;

- No suspension 

- No Simpson springs 

- No rail wipers 

- Running through my dubious track 

[chrisveitch]

This is a very nice build, Bryn - even though I also initially thought it was in real time… :-(

 

The paintwork is beautifully crisp, I’m most impressed with the wasp stripes having had less success myself with water slide versions. 

[Nigelcliffe]

40 minutes ago, Bryn said:

How much does three 470uF capacitors improve the running of small locomotives?

 

Remembering;

- No suspension 

- No Simpson springs 

- No rail wipers 

- Running through my dubious track 

 

Answer = "Lots".     July 2013 was when I first wrote about using stay-alives in 2mm scale 0-4-0 shunters.

 

Its a really nice loco, I'm impressed.   I assume you'll be entering it in the online competition this year (entries close this weekend).  

 

 

- Nigel

 

 

[Ian Smith]

2 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said:

 I assume you'll be entering it in the online competition this year (entries close this weekend).  

- Nigel

I’d forgotten all about the online competition.  Just had a look on the Association website under Events only to find that “further details, including the 2022 model competition to follow”.

 

I guess I’d better dig out the last newsletter to see what the categories, etc are!!

Ian

[Nigelcliffe]

9 minutes ago, Ian Smith said:

I’d forgotten all about the online competition.  Just had a look on the Association website under Events only to find that “further details, including the 2022 model competition to follow”.

 

I guess I’d better dig out the last newsletter to see what the categories, etc are!!

Ian

 

Everyone who had said they were happy to receive association emails was sent one about the online competitions a few weeks ago.   

 

 

- Nigel

 

 

 

[Bryn]

3 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said:

Its a really nice loco, I'm impressed.   I assume you'll be entering it in the online competition this year (entries close this weekend). 

 

Thank you Nigel, kind words! Your class 02 has been a big inspiration of mine and inspired me to have a go myself.

 

Luckily Ive been watching my emails and will happily be entering the competition. I'll be taking some high quality images this weekend when I return from a work trip. 

[Bryn]

 

 

Testing the rotary beacon function on the Zimo decoder before the roof is glued down.

[Bryn]

 

Before the roof was fixed down glazing was installed and edge given a rust effect. 

 

 

Before weathering I like to make some paint card to test weathering techniques on before application to the final model.

 

 

Oil paint pallet set up.

 

 

Ready for action!

[Bryn]

And here we have what you have all been waiting for. DGs still requiring fitting but I've not decided which end the loop will be installed.