B101 class

[jhb171achill]

Looking at both the Studio Scale and Silverfox kits for B101s. The resin body for the former  looks a bit crude - others have commented on this too - though there are sets of parts available to tart them up a bit. The Silverfox one, from photos, LOOKS a bit better, but the cabs are too angular - the wrong shape, makes the thing look more like the British experimental "Leader".

So, my questions.

In either case. what type of chassis would be the best donor? It strike me that such a short chassis, but with six-wheel bogies, is not exactly a common type of British chassis design. Maybe get bogies off something like a British class 31 and scratchbuild a chassis?

Has anyone any decent photos from several different angles of either one of these models built and running?

How easy is it to put Dreaded Confusing Circuitry (DCC) into one of these?

Any thoughts / opinions / experience welcome.

PS: On neither the S'Fox or SSM website, or anywhere else, have I ever seen a model of one of these yokes with fully correct livery details! But that's another story.............

[DJ Dangerous]

Athearn SD9 and Hornby / Lima Class 55 chassis according to THIS thread.

[jhb171achill]

Now THAT looks like a brass kit - I thought the SSM one had a resin body? Is that wrong?

[GSR 800]

6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Now THAT looks like a brass kit - I thought the SSM one had a resin body? Is that wrong?

It was the brass master for the moulding

[DJ Dangerous]

Resin body with brass parts, according to the SSM website.

Possible that @Weshty switched from full brass to a hybrid resin / brass at some stage.

I’d assume that the chassis requirements are the same but would suggest contacting Dez to confirm, before taking his very last kit.

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

I bought one of the last SSM kits last year, but I confess I haven’t started it. 
Having looked at the parts and lots of photos and drawings of the real thing, I decided it would take a LOT of work to capture the shape of the real thing correctly, as well as the fine details on the slab sides. 
I think the same would be true of the Silver Fox model. 
I admire those who have put in that work to produce a decent model - there are some nice examples on forum threads. 

I did mull over the idea of doing entire etched sides, or even a complete etched body kit, but there are challenges there too.
I wonder whether 3D printed ends and etched sides/roof wrapper would be the optimum. 
Whatever method is used, one of the biggest challenges is the face - it is not as flat as it looks, there are lots of subtle curves, facets and rebates. 

Edited Saturday at 19:09 by Mol_PMB

[Darius43]

I built the Silver Fox resin bodied version a year or so ago, using a cut down Lima Class 55 chassis.

 

Cheers

Darius

Edited Saturday at 19:38 by Darius43

[Mol_PMB]

Nicely done.

Am I right in thinking that the Lima Deltic had HO scale bogies, making them too short for the Deltic model but conveniently a better match for the B101?

as a reminder, there are some drawings here:

 

[Darius43]

1 minute ago, Mol_PMB said:

Nicely done.

Am I right in thinking that the Lima Deltic had HO scale bogies, making them too short for the Deltic model but conveniently a better match for the B101?

Not sure but it sounds like something that the Lima of that time would do.

Cheers

Darius

[jhb171achill]

34 minutes ago, Darius43 said:

I built the Silver Fox resin bodied version a year or so ago, using a cut down Lima Class 55 chassis.

 

Cheers

Darius

That looks VERY well. 

[Mike 84C]

Heres mine, it now has windows and decals. Cutting the windows to fit was the most tedious job on the planet! But it does sound rather good with a 1250hp Sulzer sound file.

 Chopped Hornby Deltic chassis, detail filed off the bogies and whitemetal sideframes from the kit glued on. I'm not as brave as Darius with the close up shots! 

[dropshort105]

3 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Now THAT looks like a brass kit - I thought the SSM one had a resin body? Is that wrong?

Resin body, photo etched brass parts, mine runs on a cut down hornby class 55, not a bad little kit.

[jhb171achill]

That’s actually as good as I’ve seen. Now I’m tempted again. 

So it’s SSM? 

[dropshort105]

1 minute ago, jhb171achill said:

That’s actually as good as I’ve seen. Now I’m tempted again. 

So it’s SSM? 

Go on, splash out 

Mine originally ran on a lima 55 bogies on the supplied brass chassis, but not very well, replaced it with the cut down hornby 55 chassis runs fine now.

[Horsetan]

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Nicely done.

Am I right in thinking that the Lima Deltic had HO scale bogies, making them too short for the Deltic model but conveniently a better match for the B101?

as a reminder, there are some drawings here:

 

You need bogies with an overall wheelbase of 10ft 6ins. Coincidentally, the only British diesel to match this exactly is the Class 35 Hymek. So, if you can drill a centre axle in a Heljan Hymek bogie, you will have an instant bogie for a CIE Sulzer.

[Mol_PMB]

6 hours ago, Horsetan said:

You need bogies with an overall wheelbase of 10ft 6ins. Coincidentally, the only British diesel to match this exactly is the Class 35 Hymek. So, if you can drill a centre axle in a Heljan Hymek bogie, you will have an instant bogie for a CIE Sulzer.

I think both kits’ bogie sideframes are stretched slightly to suit the longer wheelbase of the SD9 or HO scale Deltic which are about 5-6mm longer than the true B101 wheelbase. 
So if you had a bogie of the correct wheelbase (which is unusually short) then the supplied sideframes would not line up with the wheels. 

[enniscorthyman]

I used the Hornby railroad Deltic cut and shut for my SSM machine.The chassis runs very well even at slow speeds.The SSM kit is not for the faint hearted, and as mentioned, trying to put glazing in the cab windows would drive you soft. 

[StevieB]

I have a couple of Silver Fox 101’s and I am very pleased with them. They are very heavy with excellent slow running.

Stephen

[Horsetan]

16 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I think both kits’ bogie sideframes are stretched slightly to suit the longer wheelbase of the SD9 or HO scale Deltic which are about 5-6mm longer than the true B101 wheelbase. 
So if you had a bogie of the correct wheelbase (which is unusually short) then the supplied sideframes would not line up with the wheels. 

It's better to have them too long, as then you have scope to shorten them.