murrayec

.....just thinking about it! I got that figure on parts completely wrong;- A fully loaded DART25 has 223 parts for the motor unit and 203 parts for the van- this includes all extra options, screws, connectors and wires. So a two car DART25 set has 426 parts!! Eoin

Hi Kirley I use a Keen Close Coupling plate stuck to the underside of the chassis with a four wire electrical coupler. Weshty With over 200 parts going into each set and 18 sets being worked on, there has to be some form of organisation, my workshop is smaller than most bathrooms and I spend a lot of time shoving boxes around the house!! Thanks all for looking and the great comments Eoin

Hi George No heat, just ingenuity, brute force and plenty of clamps- it takes 12 hours for the glue to set so I call it 'Cooking'!! Eoin

Hi All Here are a few photos of the current build, the chassis are now rolling with the under-frame detailing added. The glass structure, interior lights, ceiling, and roof former are complete on all sets and the printed body sheets are now being stuck on. After that the body detailing, interiors and wiring commences. A few more months to go and we will have running DARTS- all 18 sets of them! The first windowed Guinness DART just out of the wrapping jig - JHB should like this one! and another one in cooking! Eoin

Hi David Very, very nice Eoin

At last some movement, we were told over a year ago that consultants had been employed and preparing the proposal!! I had been watching the planning application list for the year..... Eoin

Hi Dave Looking good, very easy to operate, nice and clean looking Wish you the best for the launch Eoin

Next Show;-

Hi CM sent me a few photos of the layout- moody light n all, but looks great even though a lot more needs doing;- The back scene works very well, when the ground line disappears with some planting and scrub- it's going to work very well.... Eoin & CM

Hi I got a go at setting up the white metal bogie sides, made a few ladders, break lever shafts, and a bit of bogie piping n fittings;- The sides are held on with blu tack to get an idea of location and levels for tack soldering on, the motor out riggers are a bit to long and push the bogie sides out so a new set was made to tuck in under the body- don't want the ladders bashing off things. The under tank was made of black styrene, a mould will now be made from this for white metal casting. The ladders are .4mm NS wire soldered together in the same format as the real thing, small brass tube has been cut to make clevis for the break rods and fittings for the bogie pipes- soldering the ladders on is going to be fun!..... Eoin

Hi I had the parts out of the plastic bags on many an evening over the last month and got it to this point. The linkage sub assemblies ready to start fitting them up to the wheels n cylinders;- The nice little steel rivets work very nicely and give the real look;- The cylinder outer casing was epoxied on and the linkage support frame soldered to the main frames;- Many hours later the whole lot came together and ended up looking like this;- I supported the wheels off the ground and connected up the power- a slight difficulty at first but with some gentle persuasion, that main drive wheel linkage cam is a devil to get in the right position- trial and error succeeded, but because two axles are sprung, and not sitting on a track it was a bit clattery. Must set up that rolling road I have planned and it will run a lot better. Note; Some of the BA screws with the kit are not the same diameter size as the BA screws I have in stock so look out for this one if replacing the kit versions- they don't mix! There are a few points of this assembly that the instructions are a bit scarce on- so again double check everything. Eoin

Hi Dave & Dave Hope it's all going well- I'm just up and on my way to Bray Show!! Any pictures lads?? Eoin

Hi All Track is now cleaned up, new Multimause DCC controller installed, and a bit of programming done, we then set about test erecting the back scenes to see where the joins will be so we can work out masking them- it all worked perfectly the duplicate features in the back scenes line up with the bridges of the model with one requiring a large tree. We then ran trains and took a few photos;- Eoin & CM

Hi All Don't forget the Bray Show is on this coming Sunday from 10.00 till 2.00 Eoin

Hi Nelson I find it great, as I say better than the gas cooker The thermostat works and can go up to some temperature- not needed for this work. The pouring spout is very handy but its safer to use a ladle pre heated in the pot to do the pouring, no splashes. Though I do use the spout straight into the mould when I have a clen spout, it sometimes gets clogged up with dross so I made a few spikes and prods with wooden handles to clear things out- the method of doing this described in the instructions does not work very well. I like that I can work with it sitting down in the workshop and not swinging around with a pot of hot metal in the kitchen. Not an overly expensive bit of kit, if you have the dosh and want to do this stuff go for it, There are loads of youtube videos showing its use- American though so most of it is bullet making Eoin

Cool, nice little spot for the Wexford boys Hay wrennie do you remember her? Eoin

Hi Brian Thanks I'm now a fan of your work, when I saw the way you put the mould together I said 'he's done this before' - GRP - I did a bit of that years ago working on boats n stuff- a long time ago!! Even the master model for the mould is very neat Eoin

Hi brianmcs Yes, when I start moulding and the pot is up to temperature I lay the mould on wire mesh support on top of the pot. I let it get very hot- cant touch it 'Hot'. This needs to be done during moulding as it makes a noticeable difference doing so. I'm told 'blackening' the mould also helps but I cannot find a suppler of the material to do this Eoin

Hi Nelson I use a Lee melting pot, for making ones bullets you know!! I used to use the gas stove but this machine is much handier and cleaner. I've been looking at a dentist moulding centrifuge to add to the WM moulding experience, their not to expensive and would give far better castings, though only small moulds can be mounted in them which limits it a bit.... Eoin

Hi brianmcs The mould looks cool, though it looks like you had an air problem also! the silicone looks like it needs to be evacuated when mixed and before pouring to make the mould- this may help in casting bubble free casts. Also you could try a mould spray loubricator it may stop the plastic cast forming bubbles at the bubbles in the mould! if that makes sence? SSM do the bogies sides your looking for or you could the Y25 bogies from Bachmann which are a bit smaller then Irish ones Eoin

Thanks Guys brianmcs, Yes, air was one problem, cooling was the other- when one has a spru going to small parts the metal solidifies at the connection! I'm thinking on a differant location to fill the mould next time around, somewhere a bit thicker... Eoin

Hi Not had much time to work on this project, been tipping away at bits but nothing complete yet- though, here are a few photos of the white metal bogie sides fresh out of the mould, some cleaning up to do, make the ladders, a few pipe details, and then stick them on the motors. This should make a change to the model;- You can see a few mods made to the mould while trying to get it to work correctly. I'm fairly happy with the results but there are a few small snags in definition so may make another mould. I'll work with these for the time being.... Eoin

A little project for Sunday afternoon, getting ready to grass the Greystones layout- Static Grass Applicator a la 'Boulder Creek' Youtube video. Cost about €40.00 in bits and some items I already had;- Very simple to put together, all parts easily available Eoin

Cool, thanks Dave When one compares the photos in the previous Commuter post there is an incredible difference- no shiny bits, and the weathered track has a better scale, it looks real... well almost... well! Eoin