waffles Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Hi I am enjoying reading about your projects think we are going to have to add four more hours to a day so you can get everything done ! Quote
murrayec Posted July 22, 2015 Author Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Hi I got a bit more done on the Daf conversion;- Motor mount made from .23mm brass sheet Mounting fits nicely into the chassis, attached with screws Now to fit the LiPo battery into the cab behind the seats Back-end of the glazing and plastic behind the seats is removed, and two lugs in the die-cast ground away and the battery fits snugly Battery in and leads extended, electrics board has started but I broke the reed switch so cannot complete it until I get a new one The board sits into the petrol tank The motor doesn't look to bad, and with the trailer on it will almost disappear- some paint will help! Eoin Edited July 22, 2015 by murrayec Quote
Broithe Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 Marvellous! How about recharging via a tiny socket in the fuel-cap..? Quote
murrayec Posted July 23, 2015 Author Posted July 23, 2015 How about recharging via a tiny socket in the fuel-cap..? Quote
Mike 84C Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 I like the innovative engineering. Why not put a catwalk across the chassis rails? Thenthe motor is pretty much hidden. Quote
murrayec Posted August 3, 2015 Author Posted August 3, 2015 Hi Thanks for watching and thanks for the great comments I got the truck complete to testing stage over the weekend, everything went smoothly except for an annoying 1mm screw breakage and a frustrating time getting it out! This is the trailer axle ball bearings going in, drilled out a 3mm recess to flush fit them. The plan is to set the rear axles of both trailers slightly lower than the others so that the load is on these axles only. The shot above is the front trailer sub-chassis. This is the rear trailer sub chassis getting the same treatment. All new axles and Faller wheels installed, the axles are 30mm long with a 3mm wide styrene sleeve behind all wheels to keep on centre. The non load carrying axle slots were opened up to a very loose fit so the wheels should run on the road with no weight. Just about to bolt it all together in this shot. A close up of the works, the little elec board is tucked into the petrol tank with the charging socket and the ON/OFF switch on-board. On the other side is the reed switch for the breaks- the reed has two outlet terminals when the breaks are on the second terminal is made live- Break Lights! Gears and bushes on the drive system were given some Loctite. That little hole in the steering beam is where the 1mm screw locked up and the head sheared off, this the mounting point for the Faller steering arm. This is the LiPo battery charging circuit with the leads installed, the 3 pin plug has double grounds on the outer pins so one cant plug it in the wrong way round. Charge it up ready for testing. I gave it a quick run on the kitchen floor and it works, it pulls itself and the trailer no problem! it does do bends but will need a bit of playing with, which is best done on a Faller Road. Now the other fun bit- road testing..... I will post the results soon... Eoin Quote
burnthebox Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 Brilliant workmanship Eoin, very well done, looking forward to the video, Quote
dave182 Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 Brilliant work Eoin! I genuinely didn't believe that the motor would have enough power to pull the heavier body. Quote
murrayec Posted August 6, 2015 Author Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) Hi Yes dave182, I was a slight worried about that one also- but alas, tonight I set-up a Faller Test Road with 150mm, 180mm and 200mm radius bends. The roadway was made from 1mm card 60mm wide, with a 3mm magnetic guide set in. A few stalls at first but out with the spanners and after about an hour or two- it's up and running with loads of power! Slight stalling or tramping on the 150mm & 180mm curves but still makes it around and the 40' trailer needs twice the road - swinging it's ass. The 200mm radius curve looks like the minimum, it swings around it with a slight hint of tramping but looks smooth and needs less additional road The video was taken after a good 1.5 hours running and when I quit there was still power left. Very pleased with the results and thoroughly enjoyed doing it.... Next one has got to have lights.... Eoin Edited August 6, 2015 by murrayec Quote
closetmodeller Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Fascinating test. Very impressive the way you tested the various radii. Well done. Quote
Broithe Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Great stuff. Will you have the area to create space should Operation Stack stretch that far..? Quote
Blaine Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Hmm, must see if it can do the return trip between D'Oiler Street and Parnell Square via O'Connell Street..... Quote
murrayec Posted October 15, 2015 Author Posted October 15, 2015 Hi All Here is a project for a client that hits the bench every so often;- It's a 'Build Your Own O-Gauge Model And Discover The History of Rail' magazine type thing- it's actually a DJH kit re-worked for issue through the post so some items were made in plastic- like boiler, fire box, tender body, and the footplate in some lightweight alloy metal. The client subscribed to the system and got stuck in as the issues arrived (fatal mistake), shortly in the issue mistakes were encountered and modifications made requiring the builder to go backwards and redo stuff with parts that came in later issues. He also had a frustrating time trying to get issues that did not arrive and in the early stages people did not understand that this was to be a display model only, there was discontent, so the publisher for an extra charge agreed to issue a motor, gearbox, and instructions on how to make it run. Frustrated and annoyed with the publisher and the tiny parts he gave up and asked me to assist. I recommend avoiding these publications systems for purchasing a model kit, you will pay nearly twice the cost of a kit on its own from a model shop! The magazine recommends epoxy and super-glue to put the kit together and when I received it it was in a pretty bad state. The client had never done this type of build before and neglected to remove cusps from all the parts and must have used a whole box of super-glue on the parts he did stick together. The chassis were rolling and the cab was constructed in a fashion! but there was not a square angle anywhere and the wheels were glued in by the break shoes.... anyway it was a bit of a mess. I avoid super-glue and epoxy on brass kits unless its absolute necessary, so I set about to dismantle it with acetone for SG and hot soldering iron for the epoxy. I first attacked the cab and spent considerable time getting all the parts salvaged, cusp removed, cleaned up, and then soldered it back together again. The cab is now looking very smart and it is at a point in the work to hold off on it until I get the main chassis sorted, I'm currently still cleaning the parts of SG as you can see in the shot of the main frames. I'm installing Slaters sprung horn-blocks in the chassis as a loco of this size without suspension has no chance staying on a track...... that will be the next instalment Eoin Quote
Riversuir226 Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 Eoin, i ve a few spares off the Mallard. I ll have a look for them later on tonight to see what exactly i have. Quote
Dunluce Castle Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 Funnily enough I can remember buying the first issue for 99p? And cutting the brass to use on other projects, that was ages ago haha. Looking forward to seeing this one progress Eoin! Quote
Kirley Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 You certainly like a challenge Eoin, hope all the parts are there. Quote
murrayec Posted October 16, 2015 Author Posted October 16, 2015 You certainly like a challenge Eoin, hope all the parts are there. Yes, I spent some time going through the whole thing- box of bits and mags, before committing to doing it. The only things that seem to be missing is the whitemetal wash-out plugs on the sides of the cab and electrical pick-up plunger yokes! There is a few other minor issues I have noticed- the tender axle bearings are way over size, and some of the parts the client played around with will have to be re-made- that's the fun bit of doing a project like this. As Nelson says- 'this subscription was some time back' so there are a few guys who posted up their builds on the web which is great info for having the go! Last thing- it's such a pity some of the bits are plastic..... Eoin Quote
David Holman Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 Am sure we will all look forward to seeing the silk purse emerge from the sow's ear! As you say, there is a definite pleasure is making something better, especially if it runs well too. Quote
murrayec Posted November 2, 2015 Author Posted November 2, 2015 So then, after a good clean up I started to look at the chassis, motor location, and suspension. The pictures show a dry assembly of the main frames, wheels, and motor plonked on top. The instructions have the motor on the centre drive axle, this is not the best location for a compensated chassis using the Mike Sharman 'Flexichas' system which I intend to use. Ideally I would like the motor on the rear drive axle so that it can be compensated with the pony truck but the rear frame spacer obstructs the gearbox! plus the compensation beam will have to come through the frame spacer!. I think a revised rear frame spacer is required, but main problem at the moment is the motor is to fat, it needs to swing a little and this wont happen wedged between the frames. More quiet thought to be done. Neither the bogie or pony carry any weight in the kit design, I intend to remedy this by including them in the compensation system so that they will be part of the loco and do the job of steering the chassis, every little bit helps! The bogie is a bit of a problem at the moment but in time a solution will present itself. I adjusted the front of the main frames for bogie wheel clearance as per an instructions 'mod' by removing 1mm around the arches but you can see in the photo the front of the frames are still a bit close, the splashers still have to be installed reducing the clearance further- more filing to be done. The coupling rods have been restored, as they will be required at this time to line up the hornblocks using chassis jigs, the two thickening parts had to be made again for one side, made from redundant etch frame. The kit provides white metal bolts to join the coupler rods!- how long would that last? so these parts will be steel riveted together instead. The Slater's brass hornblocks have been acquired, one is shown in the photos on front of the coupling rods.Very nice little brass castings with square slotted bearings and other little bits, 6 come in the pack. I'm now making up the chassis jigs- 3 of them to hold the hornblocks, and the bearings, with the coupling rods on the ends to solder the blocks in place and set the centres of the axles equal to centres of the rods....... Eoin Quote
Kirley Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Great to see your progress and problem solving becoming an essential part of this build. Good luck on your endeavors. Quote
WRENNEIRE Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 When you are finished with the chassis jigs I wonder if I could have one please Bit of Hornblock trouble Quote
Warbonnet Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Have you been able to solder the chassis Eoin or did they cover it with a coating like they have with their A4 to make gluing it easier? Quote
jhb171achill Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Martello towers? Wow - a fantastic and very atmospheric addition to any Dublin based layout! Question - is there anywhere else in Ireland where a Martello tower is within sight of the railway? I don't think there is..... Quote
minister_for_hardship Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) Martello towers? Wow - a fantastic and very atmospheric addition to any Dublin based layout! Question - is there anywhere else in Ireland where a Martello tower is within sight of the railway? I don't think there is..... There sure is! I can think of a location where there are two, one quite close to the line and the other maybe less than a km away as the crow flies. There's a third I just thought of, which can be seen approaching the terminus of this particular line... One privately owned, one is a museum and one is ruined with access cut off by the rail line. Edited November 3, 2015 by minister_for_hardship Quote
murrayec Posted November 3, 2015 Author Posted November 3, 2015 Hi Wrennie No problem, you can borrow the set as they have to be used in pairs to get the hornblocks set at the ctrs of the coupler rods. Warbonnet No, this kit was clean brass. But I do not recommend gluing the main frames, in the build of the Scot I reckon some had problems with super-glue because regularly later on in the instructions they are advised in applying thick beads of glue to key chassis areas and epoxy to other areas- I'd say chassis were falling apart on subscribers and this was the remedy! A chassis should be soldered as its the main structure that is going to take the bangs and twists. Also as I was undoing what the client stuck with SG all that was needed was to get the point of a blade under the glue and suddenly the part popped off with the shock! Also there is very poor frame spacers in the kit, I'm going to add more.... JHB Cork harbour was the first place to have about 5, they were built 5 months before construction started in Dublin. Cork has the only tower that saw action- fighting off a band of Fenians in 1867. I'd say these could be seen from the railways as the rails came along? Wexford has two, and Rosslare Point had one which fell into the sea- no railway at that time! Drogheda had one Galway Bay had three River Shannon had three Donegal & Derry had two They all date between 1804 to 1818 when there was no railways, and I'm not sure which ones exist now and can be seen from the rails now...... Eoin Quote
Warbonnet Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Cheers Eoin, their A4 has a coating on it that'll need to be stripped off if I want to solder it. I think it'll have to be done as gluing is not an option on a working model like that as you say. Quote
WRENNEIRE Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Hi Wrennie No problem, you can borrow the set as they have to be used in pairs to get the hornblocks set at the ctrs of the coupler rods. That was supposed to be a joke Eoin, Posted at about 1am after a gallon of Stout! Quote
murrayec Posted November 3, 2015 Author Posted November 3, 2015 Hey Fran Try acetone to remove it, if the coating is compatible with SG I'd say it would remove it... Did you see in one of my previous posts that there was problems with the Scot kit and subscribers had to undo their work- that's fine with glue but a different story with solder! so I recommend you hold off construction until your in possession of the full kit before you commence building- maybe you thought of this already... Eoin Quote
murrayec Posted November 3, 2015 Author Posted November 3, 2015 Hi That was supposed to be a joke Eoin, Posted at about 1am after a gallon of Stout! Yes, Dave I did think of that but a bit slow this morning and gave into doubt.... Eoin Quote
Warbonnet Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Hey Fran Try acetone to remove it, if the coating is compatible with SG I'd say it would remove it... Did you see in one of my previous posts that there was problems with the Scot kit and subscribers had to undo their work- that's fine with glue but a different story with solder! so I recommend you hold off construction until your in possession of the full kit before you commence building- maybe you thought of this already... Eoin I thought of that Eoin, collecting one set at the moment but havent done anything with them. Have a second body and I see C&L might be adapting their parts for the body which will be another option for the 2nd one. All in the 'to do' pile of course! Quote
.png.c363cdf5c3fb7955cd92a55eb6dbbae0.png){kind=logo}
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.