7mm Mickoo's Commercial Workbench
- Thread starter mickoo
- Start date
Lancastrian
Western Thunderer
Hmmmmmm, a little bit of Santana to keep the groove going ?....I hope it's copyright free 
mickoo
Western Thunderer
It probably is, but Google found it elsewhere and if I'd scrolled down it probably would have found it on Poppys website, I just clicked the first link and et viola 
I don't do it that way, I make my frames as two halves with axle boxes and all springs attached and then join them together, much more open access and no fighting down inside frames with soldering irons and fiddly tools; each to their own.
I also keep the driven axle rigid in a top hat, it tends to make setting up a chassis easier and they seem (subjective) to be smoother, the few that have had fully sprung through out take an age to set up and one just would not run smooth at all, a sage old hand whispered to me at a show, fix one axle and see what happens; so I did and it solved everything and without any other adjustments it ran smooth.
I don't do it that way, I make my frames as two halves with axle boxes and all springs attached and then join them together, much more open access and no fighting down inside frames with soldering irons and fiddly tools; each to their own.
I also keep the driven axle rigid in a top hat, it tends to make setting up a chassis easier and they seem (subjective) to be smoother, the few that have had fully sprung through out take an age to set up and one just would not run smooth at all, a sage old hand whispered to me at a show, fix one axle and see what happens; so I did and it solved everything and without any other adjustments it ran smooth.
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Rob R
Western Thunderer
Sorry.
My phone doesn't do links very well and I should have followed it up when I next got to a pc......
On the Poppys web page it is under the "Customers" tab, then under the "Loco Builders Boxes" tab and then there is a link (or two?) in Nick Dunhills paragraph.
All a bit academic now 'cos Mickoo has got there already
My phone doesn't do links very well and I should have followed it up when I next got to a pc......
On the Poppys web page it is under the "Customers" tab, then under the "Loco Builders Boxes" tab and then there is a link (or two?) in Nick Dunhills paragraph.
All a bit academic now 'cos Mickoo has got there already
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Right now it is, beer in Pontifract with Warren.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
All bar done, just waiting for the backhead paint to dry before adding the final bits and dropping in with a spot of glue.
Actually just spotted I need to blacken a few of the wheel screw heads, most will get covered when Warren weathers it be nice to know they're all done before hand.
Next up for re-assembly and DCC are the LMS 2P tank, the Garratt and then the 4MT for DCC. All will then go to Warren for various degrees of weathering.
I tend to group a batch of models for this sort of work as it requires a different workbench environment, it does mean models can sit here for several weeks (maybe a month or two) before final assembly and shipping, but I find this work flow works best this way for me.
I'm rather happy with the full 3D smoke box on this one and the dome really turned out super smooth, proof that material preparation is paramount.....yes, yes I know I do keep banging on about that
Actually just spotted I need to blacken a few of the wheel screw heads, most will get covered when Warren weathers it be nice to know they're all done before hand.
Next up for re-assembly and DCC are the LMS 2P tank, the Garratt and then the 4MT for DCC. All will then go to Warren for various degrees of weathering.
I tend to group a batch of models for this sort of work as it requires a different workbench environment, it does mean models can sit here for several weeks (maybe a month or two) before final assembly and shipping, but I find this work flow works best this way for me.
I'm rather happy with the full 3D smoke box on this one and the dome really turned out super smooth, proof that material preparation is paramount.....yes, yes I know I do keep banging on about that
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James Spooner
Western Thunderer
That’s a lovely finish overall, but it does demonstrate the effect you can get with well designed and executed 3D printing.
Nigel
Nigel
mickoo
Western Thunderer
St Moritz is a lovely station and certainly one worth modeling, the other one that tickles my fancy is Pontresina, that's where what little freight that goes over the Bernina pass changes engines from AC to DC.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Thank you, the hard part is getting a good surface finish, choice of resin is important as is orientation, but even then you may just have to accept that you might have to do some post processing to get the best result, often as not that doesn't happen and you don't get the best result possible.
ChrisBr
Western Thunderer
Having just done that trip yesterday, there were several freight and also mixed traffic trains running. It’s a busy line as well as being spectacular to travel over.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Another backlog reassembled and DCC installed. Just needs coal and backhead installing when final fittings arrive from LG.
For the record, Gladiator LMS 2P painted by Warren Haywood.
Quite a lot of remedial work as the kit boiler, firebox and tanks are too narrow (all well known issues) which leave big gaps between them.
Rolled a new boiler, 3D printed smokebox and firebox and scratch built new brass tank top, front and internal wall. Also added 3D cab internal tank/splasher/seat boxes and modified rear bulkhead to give shelf and handbrake stand. New sandboxes, revised brake gear and 3D auto coach control gear to top it all out.
Despite all that it is a very nice little model from an era long past.
Like the 3F it'll now go back to Warren for weathering and then back here for final photo shoot, test and delivery.
For the record, Gladiator LMS 2P painted by Warren Haywood.
Quite a lot of remedial work as the kit boiler, firebox and tanks are too narrow (all well known issues) which leave big gaps between them.
Rolled a new boiler, 3D printed smokebox and firebox and scratch built new brass tank top, front and internal wall. Also added 3D cab internal tank/splasher/seat boxes and modified rear bulkhead to give shelf and handbrake stand. New sandboxes, revised brake gear and 3D auto coach control gear to top it all out.
Despite all that it is a very nice little model from an era long past.
Like the 3F it'll now go back to Warren for weathering and then back here for final photo shoot, test and delivery.
Richard Gawler
Western Thunderer
How very true. I want to start building a wagon kit and its parts are all laid out neatly in a tray, but with woodworking stuff everywhere I have got to take the baseboards to some kind of "structural completion" before there is any sense in putting the tools away. The same happens swapping between styrene and brass, or between painting and anything. But somehow I feel, while I fancy a bigger room with a second workbench, I wouldn't enjoy it any more. The great benefit to a professional is, of course, the completed models go out of the door and leave
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Tony,
Not so much issues, just areas for enhancement, it is, in no way anything like the County, that was on a whole different level.
I was pre-warned by David (Gladiator) that the boiler and firebox were malnourished and it's not an unheard of fault on David Andrews designed models I hear, more so the less common (or not in preservation) prototypes.
Which to be fair, given their age and what information was available back then, is not surprising. Lots of historical information you find in books from the 80's quoted boiler diameters as built, not with clothing, you have to watch for that on Roche and I think some Isinglass drawings.
I'm not sure when NRM opened it drawings to the public, but even if it was in the 80's the number of drawings available or cataloged would be significantly below what's there now.
With the boiler set too small then the firebox had to follow as they're both the same width/diameter and with the tanks being too narrow the scene was set for a large gap twixt the two. It doesn't take much to roll a new boiler and 3D the firebox, I could have easily made that from sheet brass and the initial test piece was just that, a test piece; but it cleaned up well so seemed pointless making a brass one.
The cab rear was a tip off from Facebook, at that point I had no drawings but was given the nod that they're actually in one of the LMS Journals (duly purchased), however it came too late to correct other parts (nothing major) already built so they stayed.
The other changes were because I could, not because I had to.
To be fair these kits may not be uber accurate in some areas, but at least they all actually fit; I can't say the same for the Gibson 3F or the poor old Garratt.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
This is one of those Genie's that should have been left in the bottle.
It started out nothing more than an idle folly to fill some (rare) spare time over the weekend, a what if, a why the hell not sort of thing and now look what happened.
Essentially it's a Princess Coronation semi smokebox to plug onto the front of a Finney7 boiler, not that I needed one at the time I rubbed the magic lamp but things evolve in a strange twist of fate kind of way.
It's not a particularly hard shape to model, but orientation in the printer turned out to be a bit of a mare and the first one suffered terrible pressure waves in the surface, this one was better but they were still there, most have been sanded smooth but it's no where near as good as it can get....or I'd accept.
Both of these two now serve as paint pigs, a lot of the pressure lines can be filled with paint and then blown smooth, not an easy technique or even fool proof but shows promise. Pro painters will be giggling silly at my ham fisted efforts
I also realised after the second one when the front door didn't fit, that it's actually offset below the centre line, it's only 2" but it makes a huge difference to the visuals and rivet placement, all of that is corrected in Mk III.
As a learning tool for 3D CAD and print orientation it's been a massive learning exercise, a lot of which will come in handy for some more smokeboxes I do need and some combustion chamber fireboxes I may also need in the near future; other than that it stopped me getting bored over the weekend
It started out nothing more than an idle folly to fill some (rare) spare time over the weekend, a what if, a why the hell not sort of thing and now look what happened.
Essentially it's a Princess Coronation semi smokebox to plug onto the front of a Finney7 boiler, not that I needed one at the time I rubbed the magic lamp but things evolve in a strange twist of fate kind of way.
It's not a particularly hard shape to model, but orientation in the printer turned out to be a bit of a mare and the first one suffered terrible pressure waves in the surface, this one was better but they were still there, most have been sanded smooth but it's no where near as good as it can get....or I'd accept.
Both of these two now serve as paint pigs, a lot of the pressure lines can be filled with paint and then blown smooth, not an easy technique or even fool proof but shows promise. Pro painters will be giggling silly at my ham fisted efforts
I also realised after the second one when the front door didn't fit, that it's actually offset below the centre line, it's only 2" but it makes a huge difference to the visuals and rivet placement, all of that is corrected in Mk III.
As a learning tool for 3D CAD and print orientation it's been a massive learning exercise, a lot of which will come in handy for some more smokeboxes I do need and some combustion chamber fireboxes I may also need in the near future; other than that it stopped me getting bored over the weekend
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Some more progress on the full metal jacket BLP. Previously I'd rippled the right hand skin up under the gutter, it wasn't much but enough when you caught in the light, the only real solution was a new skin; they arrived last week so I had no excuse but to replace it.
With the new skin it was time to get to grips with the front end, specifically the door, the white metal one is quite chunky and the hinges wouldn't stand up to drilling and working hinges put in. It turned out that the 3D one wasn't much better either even when the hinge straps were pinned in the core.
The end result was a door with recesses where the straps poke out, into which 1.5 mm² brass bar was secured, new hinge posts in brass were also fabricated and fitted and amazingly it works and is strong enough. The only down side (and still left to do) is blend the 3D part of the strap with the brass and sand smooth to give a seamless flow to the strap.
Still to do is the locking bar and actual lock on the rear of the smokebox dart as well as a heat shield on the inside to hide all the ugly joints and bits. The lower left lamp iron hasn't had the tang folded yet as it needs to come out to get access to the lower strap for blending.
A couple of straps across the oil lines on the front face, hoses plus steps and drain cock pipe brackets will complete the front end.
The body is secured to the chassis (hence gaps) nor the 3D roof to the casing as the only way to get the door off to work on it is to draw the hinge pin all the way out the top.
It's taken nearly a year to get this far but the second one should take a few weeks to work up once all the bits and build process are worked out on the first one.
With the new skin it was time to get to grips with the front end, specifically the door, the white metal one is quite chunky and the hinges wouldn't stand up to drilling and working hinges put in. It turned out that the 3D one wasn't much better either even when the hinge straps were pinned in the core.
The end result was a door with recesses where the straps poke out, into which 1.5 mm² brass bar was secured, new hinge posts in brass were also fabricated and fitted and amazingly it works and is strong enough. The only down side (and still left to do) is blend the 3D part of the strap with the brass and sand smooth to give a seamless flow to the strap.
Still to do is the locking bar and actual lock on the rear of the smokebox dart as well as a heat shield on the inside to hide all the ugly joints and bits. The lower left lamp iron hasn't had the tang folded yet as it needs to come out to get access to the lower strap for blending.
A couple of straps across the oil lines on the front face, hoses plus steps and drain cock pipe brackets will complete the front end.
The body is secured to the chassis (hence gaps) nor the 3D roof to the casing as the only way to get the door off to work on it is to draw the hinge pin all the way out the top.
It's taken nearly a year to get this far but the second one should take a few weeks to work up once all the bits and build process are worked out on the first one.
david duxbury
Member
Fantastic work again Mick and well worth the wait. I have had three nickel silver door castings made so i`m hoping that they will stand drilling for the hinge pin and save on the additional work. Interested to see how you do the heat shield, locking bar and dart arrangements.
Dave.
Dave.