irishthump

I finally took the plunge with a Silverfox A class kit so decided to try to come up with a suitable chassis after seeing Dhu Varren's wonderful brass scratchbuilt job. I didn't fancy building my own as I'm not experienced with scratchbuilding in brass so the hunt was on for a donor chassis. I have a Hornby Railroadclass 55 and although this is a simple cut and shut and is DCC ready I decided against using it as it wouldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding! I have a growing collection of US HO locos so decided to look through them for a solution. According to Glenderg's excellent sticky'd thread, the RSD 4/5 is probably the best option but I found them hard to come by. The Athearn F7 looked about the right length and chassis has a decent amount of weight to start with. I cut out some sections of the underframe to make it more closely resemble the A class shape. I could simply attach the resin fuel tank castings when I'm ready. The fuel tank will end up slightly off centre but I think I can live with it. Only problem of course is the F7 is a Bo-Bo but I thought I might be able to switch out the bogies. I tried bogies from an Athearn SD40 but the bogie mounts are totally different so that idea had to be scrapped. However I had picked up an Atlas U36C chassis ages ago and these are a direct fit. I also had a spare motor and drive shafts from a Proto 1000 F3 which matched up to the Atlas bogies so I swapped this for the Athearn stock motor. The mounting holes for the motor don't line up perfectly so I glued in a piece of thick steel plate to mount the motor and also to add more weight. Fitted in the motor and drive shafts and attached the bogies. Not in the picture but the motor was fixed with a bead of silicon sealer. Gave it a quick test run and it ran very smoothly. Only problem was that bogies were too rigid which caused one to lift slightly when running over points and the loco would stall. This was easily fixed by trimming away a little of the plastic on the bottom of the worm clips which allowed the bogies to pivot sideways a little. More to follow. But progress is a little slow due to the arrival of a new family member......

A wash is basically very thin paint usually mixed around 10:1 with water in the case of acrylics and thinner or white spirits with enamels. The purpose of the wash is to tone down the base colour and for the paint to pool in recesses and around other small details to make them stand out and to give the impression of accumulated dirt in the details. When making an acrylic wash you also need to add something to break the surface tension and make the paint flow more freely. Some people use matte medium or a TINY amount of washing up liquid. I find enamel washes flow much better due to the fact that the paint is oil based. I make mine with mainly Humbrol paints thinned with ordinary white spirits. Humbrol also make washes which work well but I find them a little strong and thin them down further before using them. Another member on the site (Glenderg I think, sorry if I got the name wrong!) uses Gouache which is also water based and he gets some lovely results. The advantage of using a water based is that it can be removed easily if you don't like the result without damaging the underlying paint. Enamel washes have to be removed with thinners which can damage the base coat if you're not careful.

That wagon kit looks great. Give it a thin black/brown wash, that will tone down the silver and give it a lovely weathered look.

Fantastic! What decoders are you using? Is that a Loksound in the 141?

Damn that looks nice! Really jealous of your progress by the way!

Body mounting is the best way to go but I wouldn't use no.5's on a Dapol chassis as they are too short. You end up having to mount the coupler box proud of the edge of the chassis which looks a bit strange. I used Kadee 146's (long shank couplers) on some Dapol tanker wagon kits and when fitted directly to the chassis they are at the perfect height. Also, because the 146's have a longer shank than the no. 5's they handle curves better.

Just had a look but you would really need to see one of these in the flesh to know how good it is. Good to see they have bogie sides available but I guess glazing would be up to yourself. The cost would be around €100 without shipping.

I tell you I wouldn't have the heart to cut one up to make it fit in a 121!

The SW1500 is what's recommended for the MIR kit.

The 121 chassis is definitely shorter than the 141/181. It's noticeable in any photos showing a 121/141 double header.

Bear in mind the 121 chassis is shorter than the 141/181.

Great info, Dhu Varren. Thanks.

No problem. I've read you can use gloss spray varnish to seal them too.

What transfer paper do you use? Does it need to be sealed after printing?

For anyone interested, Lima "A" Class - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lima-class-33-Irish-HO-/291516199035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43dfb8307b

This will depend on how much current your LEDs draw and how much current your decoder function outputs can handle. LEDs draw roughly 20ma each (that's a very general estimation, it varies depending on size, colour etc.) while decoder outputs will handle anything from around 100ma on the cheaper ones up to 250ma on the more expensive sound decoders. Even 3 coaches with 6 LEDs each, not to mention any directional lights in the dummy power car would quickly add up and probably overload the decoder's outputs. You also have to consider how many amps your DCC system supplies to the track. Some more basic systems only put out 1 or 2 amps and like I said I rake of lit coaches can eat into this! You could probably control 2-3 coaches comfortably with one decoder, but then you've also got wiring between the coaches which can be a pain. The ideal solution is a decoder for each coach, but this gets expensive even with function only decoders. Personally I wouldn't bother with decoders at all, I'd have LEDs powered directly from the track pickups fitted with a flicker free circuit. You could also install a small switch in the underside of the coach to turn of the lights when not in use.

Wow! What a transformation! Looks great, can't wait to see more progress.....

He sells direct so just contact him on his website. Prices including shipping should be there.

Zimo decoders can use both 4ohm or 8ohm speakers.

That's grand, Garfield. Like I said I wasn't sure!

No problem, Mark. But those pics from Scahalane are better images than the one I remember from the book!

I believe there's a picture of the unloading station in the book "From CIE to IR", I'll check when I get home. Is it ok to reproduce photos from books on the forum?

Sewing machine oil is a good substitute for the name brand lubricants. Use light oil on the motor bearings (important but often overlooked, just needs the tiniest amount) and on the worm gear bearings. Some light grease is best on the worm gear itself and the drive wheel gearing.

This has me considering replacing all the other speakers with the sugarcube ones. They seem to sound the best of what I've tried so far and since they're suitable for N scale you'll never have an issue with installation space. I'm also going to try wiring a couple of these speakers together in the larger locos, such as a 201 and see how it sounds.

I know what you mean, I'd like to show the locos running round the layout but you'd never get a decent comparison if they were moving!