Mickoo's BR modelling

[mickoo]

Those flat sides look flat Is this the Sunlu resin and were they printed flat?
They're quite the best looking prints I've seen for large flat surfaces.
Kev

Well they are flat....as flat as any resin print will allow. but they have been post processed which is why all the grills and window surrounds are extras fitted into recesses etc. I've a large block of wood 2x3x2" with sandpaper on to flatten the joints between the modules and they look okay until you do the rule/straight edge daylight gap check.

For my own use they're just fine, more than actually but for commercial work they're not flat enough and resin is not the right material to make masters from; at least not in the current design format/shape. Personally I'd prefer brass sides/floor with 3D/resin ends, the roof area being a combination of both; however brass sides dig up the cant rail bending demon and he is not to be trifled with.

Pretty much everything so far is SunLu except the buffer beams and grills where I need them to be straight....er and crisp detail. I could use FNG for the body but it would not gain anything in flatness or structure and cost twice as much.

The sections are not flat, each section is inclined to the optimum angle suited to the layer thickness.

 

[mickoo]

@mickoo that's looking great!

Are you going to tackle any mainline diesel types?

Cheers,

No, I don't have a need for any to be honest right now, but I may do a new class 40 nose end with the correct windscreen rake to drop onto my Heljan body.

 

[mickoo]

Not much happening over here right now, the AL project is shunted to one side temporarily as there are a few niggles I want to resolve. There's no immediate solution, so rather than waste time exploring solutions that will always be imperfect I prefer to wait it out, the solution always comes, just a matter of when.

Anyway I'd picked up a couple of Heljan 47's, this sample being the first up for a digital archiving. It's a lovely model and my only gnashing irritation are the two mould lines running down from horn grill on the cab roof, why oh why did Heljan not employ someone to just waft them smooth before paint

I do want some blue ones but I've a hankering for a two tone green with small yellow panel like this as a memory to a long gone Hornby model I had 45 years ago, 1V03 was the headcode I dimly recall.





I'm not a fan of the Heljan radiator shutter blades, I get the principle and the engineering aspect but the plastic is a bit soft so can sag at odd places along the length. In addition I wasn't aware that when opened you could see into the interior, that's something that certainly could be improved. Being as I'm only planning a small depot photo plank/train set sort of thing then closed grills will be the norm.

The other one will certainly get repainted and the Dot4 is on order, I've heard it's rather good at taking the paint off....one of the HO models (on the other channel) heading to the bin will be a good guinea pig.

 

[mickoo]

I decided it was time to let the BR blue monkeys out into the play pen and tackle something. One of the JLTRT models I got last year was just this, part built, no box or extras take it as it is 25/1.

Fundamentally it's all there but there's no cab interior and few detail extras like hoses and etches. Luckily I have a 25/2 intact so can use the cab bits as reference for new 3D bits on the 25/1, the hoses and fittings I'll have to source and the etches I can work up myself.

I did want to fit the correct wheels but the adhesive used by the previous builder is well and truly stuck, sometimes if superglue is used you can crack the joint and disassemble, it also means I'll have to leave one set of gears on one bogie as I don't need two motors.

Overall the build is neat, tidy and square but an elastic band had stuck to the side over one of the grills, gone hard and crystallized, removal damaged the grill fins so not really sure what to do here. I've seen photos of engines running with the odd missing grill so that might be an option with a little 3D printed module inside to replicate said space, or add a fictional temporary cover plate.

A good clean up in soapy water and a base coat of filler primer on the body reveals a few gaps to tend to, the bogies were just painted in matt black and gloss black in oily areas as a base for future weathering.

As an aside, all the B side grills have two oblong catches at the side of each grill, I'm guessing some sort of fixing for covers but only have one rather small image that sort of shows covers, so need to research that a bit more.

It'll probably sit like this for another year, but it's a start.

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

Hi Mick,

How's the meshing of the gears in the resin frames? On my EE Type 4 it was appalling, you could see brass filings falling from the gear wheel!
Quickly changed for a decent motor gearbox unit, in my case an ABC.

Tim

 

[mickoo]

Hi Mick,

How's the meshing of the gears in the resin frames? On my EE Type 4 it was appalling, you could see brass filings falling from the gear wheel!
Quickly changed for a decent motor gearbox unit, in my case an ABC.

Tim

No idea, haven't run it yet

 

[simond]

My Hymek has FDM 3DP bogies. I used a resin 3DP plate to support the motor, and so far it has proven satisfactory.

you can see it in my workbench thread here

SimonD’s workbench

 

[mickoo]

I'm informed that the B side grill latches are only on air braked versions, no idea why that might be as yet,

 

[mickoo]

My Hymek has FDM 3DP bogies. I used a resin 3DP plate to support the motor, and so far it has proven satisfactory.

you can see it in my workbench thread around page 103

Problem is I'd have to destroy these bogies to do anything with them

 

[Brian Daniels]

Those latches are on one side only on airbraked loco's as inside there are new air tank reservoirs for the extra air required and you could not get to the filters from inside so they are hinged from the outside to change the filters.

Those motors directly into the bogies was changed as the motors ran hot and deformed the resin which did not do a lot for the meshing.

 

[mickoo]

Those latches are on one side only on airbraked loco's as inside there are new air tank reservoirs for the extra air required and you could not get to the filters from inside so they are hinged from the outside to change the filters.

Those motors directly into the bogies was changed as the motors ran hot and deformed the resin which did not do a lot for the meshing.

Much appreciate the air tank info, always nice to know the back story to little differences.

I ran the powered bogie last night for over an hour and it seemed fine and not hot or a little pile of brass, mind it's not under load so that could change, but being as I'm only really planning ad hoc running or a small depot layout it'll do for the time being.

The big downside was the plunger spring strength, the idler bogie just skidded along the track from the plunger friction which leaves two choices (remembering I can't get into these to change anything) yank the plungers out and rely on power from the driven bogie (DCC and stay alive will help) or power the second bogie just to overcome the plunger tension.