Class A ECMCHAS for Silver Fox Model

[murrayec]

I have the design of the chassis and running gear complete, but this project has been on the shelf while doing the DARTs, though I am tipping away at the bogie frame sides and here is the story so far;....

 

The motors will be Tenshodo Spuds with a little brass truck to carry the third axle, this affair will pivot off an etched brass side frame mount fixed to the Spud body- I've yet to make one of these to test.

 

So with that decided! I set about working up the patterns for the bogie sides which will be cast in white metal. The photos show the main side frames cut out and part cleaned up, cut from 1mm black styrene, it's a bit softer than the white stuff. Each frame is in two bits and will be stuck together to give 3d look. The white cut-out laid on top is cut from never-tare paper which will be used for detailing the frames, and the springs are made of plastic- cast from a mould made from a M3 bolt, only half the bolt is cast for making up the springs. M3 bolt thread is a bit small and not the right scale, I might re-visit that one....

 

 

 

Next step is to work out the shock absorbers and mounts and all should be ready to glue up!!

 

Eoin

[Mike 84C]

That's looking good. Eoin

[Kirley]

Delighted to see the progress you are making on these Eoin. Looking forward to seeing it in white metal.

[DiveController]

Delighted to see the progress you are making on these Eoin. Looking forward to seeing it in white metal.

+1

[Jimbo325ci]

Coming along nicely. Looking forward to the final product

[murrayec]

Hi

 

I have progressed a little further on the patterns

 

I re-made the springs with a coarser 3mm bolt which gives a better spring look and more to scale, the shots are of the components going together- some are glued down and others not until the glue is cleaned up....

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....There is not enough hours in the day!

 

Eoin

[irishthump]

Jayzus, that's stunning work, Eoin!

[Kirley]

The detail on the bogie side looks fantastic Eoin, once you are satisfied with the components is casting the next stage?

[Weshty]

Nice. I like your approach. Flashbacks to doing the old Y33...

[DiveController]

Jeepers! That's looking well now, Eoin=D

[murrayec]

Hi Kirley

 

These photos are for you to see progress, I'm about to clean the bogie side patterns up and give them a paint to see if any filling is required. Then its on to making moulds and doing some test casting....

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the photo quality, the phone has gone funny n all dark

 

Eoin

[John-r]

Superb work, well done Eoin .

[Noel]

Absolutely stunning Eoin. Had you considered the suitability of Black Beetle 27:1 gear ratio motor bogies for your A or C class projects? They are expensive but seem the biz.

[Kirley]

Thanks Eoin, they are just breath-taking in detail. Roll on the casting stage.

[murrayec]

Absolutely stunning Eoin. Had you considered the suitability of Black Beetle 27:1 gear ratio motor bogies for your A or C class projects? They are expensive but seem the biz.

 

Yes Noel

 

The Beetle requires more head room by either raising the chassis or having a cut out in the chassis the size of the Beetle! This is a problem in a Class C with holes in the floor and not much floor left for other stuff, especially with two motors. The Class A is not so bad as its longer but this all happens under the cabs in both models. As far as I can remember the Beetle does not have the axle spacing for an A, the Spud does!

 

The Spud fits nicely under the chassis and its more economical

 

Eoin

Edited May 5, 2017 by murrayec

[Weshty]

Ohhh I like those, especially the Dampers.

[DB JOE]

will those bogie sides be available for purchase??? will you be doing the C class sides also???? Stunning work

[Mike 84C]

They look really good, all of a sudden I am not so happy with the look of my A class

[DiveController]

will those bogie sides be available for purchase??? will you be doing the C class sides also???? Stunning work

He's doing a whole chassis. The bogie sides look great!

[murrayec]

will those bogie sides be available for purchase??? will you be doing the C class sides also???? Stunning work

 

Yes DB JOE, they will be available pretty soon - €25.00 for a loco set kit, and €25.00 for a detailing pack kit which includes 4 ladders and piping.

 

The Class C bogie sides are complete but I'm remaking the moulds with the A's above- I had a lot of trouble with the first moulds! There is info here for the Class C stuff;- http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/4121-Class-C-ECMCHAS-For-Silver-Fox-Kit?p=62234&viewfull=1#post62234

 

Eoin

[DB JOE]

brilliant will make a purchase for sure when both become available!! will you be making the chassis for the A and C with the twin motor bogies available too???? just had a look at that C class thread and it looks great

[murrayec]

Hi DB Joe

 

Yes both chassis will have two motors, its easier and more economical that way, and it has more power!

 

Eoin

[DB JOE]

HI Eoin, that's great when they become available ill put in an order

[murrayec]

Test etching of the bogie frames and third axle trucks was done today;-

 

Two brass .28mm sheets were prepared and artwork laser printed onto trannies, this caused a few irritations as the cheepo trannie film I have distorts with the heat of the printer, I got over this by printing each side artwork on separate sheets- seems to be less distortion in the middle of the sheet.

 

This is the brass with Puretch processed on, UV'd and developed- worked out pretty well. Puretch is a photoresist that comes in sheet form sandwiched between sheets of mylar, peel one side off and squeegee the exposed side onto the brass with distilled water- in the dark room of course. After UV exposure the second sheet is removed and then pop it in the developer solution.

 

Etching then took about 1 hour in 'Edinburgh Etch' - ferric chloride with a dash of citric acid, I found this idea online to enhance the ferric chloride action and make the ferric last longer. It cuts through fairly OK, a bit of a raggedy line but nothing a file cant clean up, the cusp has to be removed anyway.

 

 

All filed and cleaned up ready for soldering.

 

All soldered up and ready to pop in a pickle for the night. Some problems have come clear on assembly- might go for thicker brass sheet next time, I will add some gussets to this test to make the assembly more rigid!

 

 

You can sort of see the lay of the land in the second photo- the spud sits in the frame which is clamped on through the spud, the clamp will be the pivot support and fixing for the truck out front!

 

Looking forward to popping the spud in and giving it a wherrr....

 

Eoin

[murrayec]

Hi

 

Test assembly was done tonight, all went OK but those gussets mentioned earlier are required, could not face switching on the iron- been soldering DART stuff all day!

 

The front truck pivots on an axle bearing with a bolt down through a brass sleeve to hold the bottom clamping plate, the bolt will be the other way around on final assembly. A NS wire spring will push down on the truck and spring it centrally.

 

 

This shows the bottom clamping plate which will have a joggle in it to keep it centred on the edge of the Spud.

 

Articulation!

 

And some shots with the bogie side pattern blue-tacked on

 

 

Cant really run it until its beefed up

 

 

Eoin

[DiveController]

That's looking well, Eoin. Looking forward to seeing it in action over some pointwork.

[Kirley]

An excellent and innovative piece of engineering Eoin.

[Noel]

Stunning detail Eoin.

[StevieB]

Your arrangement with the leading axle effectively makes a Co-Co into a 1Bo-Bo1, although in reality the 1 indicated a non-powered axle.

 

Stephen

[Weshty]

That is a lovely piece of work Eoin. And home etched and everything, now THAT is impressive.

[murrayec]

Thanks all for the comments

 

Here is a video taken this evening of the first bogie beefed up and under test, all went well except it trips up on the insulated frog points as its not carrying any weight. The second bogie is nearly done so I can then attach them to the chassis plate with weight on and test again...

 

 

It does work rather well at speed, I'm going test putting some weight in the truck also

 

Eoin

Edited May 10, 2017 by murrayec

[Noel]

Thanks all for the comments

 

Here is a video taken this evening of the first bogie beefed up and under test, all went well except it trips up on the insulated frog points as its not carrying any weight. The second bogie is nearly done so I can then attach them to the chassis plate with weight on and test again...

 

 

It does work rather well at speed, I'm going test putting some weight in the truck also

 

Eoin

 

Interesting and good progress Eoin. Thanks for taking the time to post the video. Is the bogie 6 or 4 wheel pickup?

[murrayec]

Thanks Noel

 

Its 4 wheel pickup- the spud motor, but there's 2 motors in the chassis so overall the chassis will be 8 wheel pickup

 

Eoin

[popeye]

I was thinking that if the bogie sides were moulded from resin then maybe you

could attach the front axle to the bogie sides instead of the brass bracket.

[RichL]

Just wondering if this will have room to fit broad gauge wheelsets?