7mm Mickoo's Commercial Workbench

[mickoo]

Lovely bit of cad work, and probably took less time than knocking it up in brass?!

JB.

Certainly does, mind I've just had confirmation that the front steam pipes are corrugated so need a revision there once I find a decent photo.

I thought they were but the images I'd seen were pretty indistinct, some preserved engines have solid pipes so that's what I opted for; I'll keep these in case anyone wants to specifically model a preserved engine.

 

[7mmMick]

That’s spot on Mick, will make a real difference to the BLP front end. Hate looking down through the chimney and seeing the track bed !

 

[SimonT]

Hate looking down through the chimney and seeing the track bed

Do you look down the chimney on the real ones? What about the lack of smoke and steam on the model or are we going to start selling that with the Invisible Solder. There I was thinking you were Sensible Mick to Mad Viking Mick!

 

[mickoo]

Do you look down the chimney on the real ones? What about the lack of smoke and steam on the model or are we going to start selling that with the Invisible Solder. There I was thinking you were Sensible Mick to Mad Viking Mick!

I'll throw a bag of cinders in for free, then you can throw them at your face to mimic the real thing after looking down there

 

[Simon]

Hi Mick

I really like your Bulleid blastpipe bobbins box, what a clever idea and perfect for 3D printing, it looks very effective through what is a big hole.

Dare I ask is this the stupidly big Bulleid or the normally big Bulleid?

Either way, seeing what you have done gives me a real shot of "why aren't I building mine", could you print me one out in 1/32 scale? If yes, I guess I could do without the box if that made it easier for you to do?

By the way, everything else on this thread is awesome, a beautiful Hall (handsome engines), I really liked Larry's Murray rhyme - very true!

Simon

 

[mickoo]

Simon,

Much appreciated, I have a few other ideas I need to find time to work through as well.

This is the normal big Bulleid , the really big one is still in the loft, hopefully into the new lair shortly.

Scaling to 1/32 is no problem, just space in the machine volume wise to print it, let me do a test scaling and trial upload to the printer to see if it'll fit.

The walls can probably all stay on as it makes life easier. I'll have to extend them a fraction as the current module is suited to the thick resin walls in the Finney7 casing, I think yours will be metal skinned. You'd need to extend the floor at the front to close the gab up or if you give me a measurement from the inside face of your front plate to the middle of the chimney then I can extend the print accordingly.

Mick D

 

[neaston]

Way back at the tail end of 2019 I had a Bulleid Light Pacific (BLP) on the books and the track view through that big 'ole at the front was disturbing. To that end I knocked up a smoke box chamber which required the builder to cut and fold a shaped brass shell (an etch was considered if there had been more interest) and attach the 3D print, the associated pipes also needed adding.

Whilst it is pretty dark in there the blastpipe can be seen and once painted with a little weathering and highlighting is a whole lot better than the track view.

Fast forward almost exactly two years and another BLP has been added to the schedule, since increased to two and it was time to think about resurrecting the smoke box chamber module. That seed sat dormant until this week when someone required two more, they were happy to cut the metal and proceed as before, I being time short was not.

Long story short and several trial prints has seen the unit evolve into a virtual stand alone item, one only needs add the two blast pipe area pipes which are to small to support themselves printed, those being the blower ring pipework and vacuum ejector pipe.

The new unit has all the walls (whilst the rear wall top end cannot be seen, it does set the correct height of the unit and stabilise it in the casing) and floor added as one unit, simply paint, flip the casing upside down, drop in and glue; I also added a few more details which had since come to light. The unit is designed specifically for the Finney7 casing and to fit within the inner taper, though I'm sure it'll fit other models with a bit of adjustment.

The walls and floors do use more resin (expense) and increase the print time from 2 to 9 hours, but the time saved not having to cut out the metal shell or the expense of an etched shell then I think is worth it.

There is a slight error with the new unit shown, the floor over the middle cylinder has been accidentally raised, it should be lower and show the two longitudinal ribs in there as seen on the original design. That has been rectified and the first two production units have just finished in the printer as I write this.

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Must join the queue for one.
Nick

 

[mickoo]

Must join the queue for one.
Nick

Should have a batch ready next week all being well

 

[Dog Star]

Whilst I did make suitable noises on another channel, please include me in the list for goddies. Thank you.

 

[mickoo]

Whilst I did make suitable noises on another channel, please include me in the list for goddies. Thank you.

It has been noted there, and here

I need to crunch some numbers and work out material costs to get a sales figure out, but it'll be at or below £40 (Inc P&P) a unit, unfortunately resin for the Form isn't cheap, but then the detail you get is.... well..... it's what you pay for

 

[mickoo]

An update on the Bulleid Light Pacific (BLP) smoke box chamber.

A couple of points that need clarifying first;

1: This is a stand alone project, currently only available from myself, not Finney7, more later on that though.
2: Cost per unit is £35 inc P&P

Right, down to the nitty gritty, the petticoat unit has a revision and now has two securing ears to take self tapping screws. The reason for this is that the BLP casing resin is a witch to secure things to and the last thing you want is the petticoat rattling around in the chamber. Sods law will say that the module will stick fast, but the petticoat will come adrift and be inaccessible, the self tappers will eliminate that risk.

The revised (first four printing now for shipping this week) chamber module does not have the forward steam pipes or the recessed side wall they sit in; once the petticoat is added these features cannot be seen. Thus the two modules shown here are surplus, as are two further modules with plain pipes. If someone want's to make a sensible offer then they can have them, on the understanding that they are different from the production run and that the pipes will not be seen.

The Finney7 link, whilst I am part of Finney7 we don't not have sole rights to members activities, hence these initially being a solo venture.
However, there comes a point where it is sensible to consider longer (more economical) production runs if demand warrants it (BLP cab interior and wheel overlays being two previous examples). With that in mind we had a huddle at Chateau Finney this morning and we are going to explore getting these cast in the same resin as the casing.

There are several caveats with that, the design might have to be adjusted to suit the mould process rather than the print process. Typically the side cranked steam pipes might have to come off and be fitted post casting by the modeller, I suspect they will be supplied as stand alone resin parts and they will just need gluing into holes in the middle cylinder casting.

The other factor is time, it will take some time to work up these up for sale from Finney7, possible several months so until then the printed ones will be the only source.

Cost, the cost of the current printed ones is exactly the same as the future cast ones, it would be folly to contradict each other. It was the future casting avenue which defined the final cost, not the printed version which worked out slightly more.

P&P may not be included on Finney7 sales, that will be decided closer to the time and by others in darkened dungeons under the Chateau.

 

[Scanlon]

Mick,
would you count me in for one of these units please? May I collect at Kettering crossing your palm with pennies at the same time?
Cheers
Roger

 

[mickoo]

Mick,
would you count me in for one of these units please? May I collect at Kettering crossing your palm with pennies at the same time?
Cheers
Roger

Roger, it'll be my pleasure to vend said item at Kettering

I'll make sure one is packed away safe and ready for you.

Mick D

 

[Scanlon]

Thanks

 

[Dog Star]

Mick,

After consulting with Head Office, Spike (aka Peter) has decided that he wants one of your resin print upgrades in preference to a resin cast F7 alternative.... either with or without the corrugated front pipes.

No immediate need to supply, we can wait to see if show-collection becomes possible in the near future.

thank you, Graham

 

[mickoo]

Mick,

After consulting with Head Office, Spike (aka Peter) has decided that he wants one of your resin print upgrades in preference to a resin cast F7 alternative.... either with or without the corrugated front pipes.

No immediate need to supply, we can wait to see if show-collection becomes possible in the near future.

thank you, Graham

Graham,

Thank you and no problems, they all now come without front steam pipes, they cannot be seen once the petticoat is fitted so no need to model them.

I will be at Kettering and hopefully the rest of this years Guild shows.

All the best.

Mick

 

[mickoo]

All completed now, Finney7 GWR Hall class, a few extras added to modify the kit to a later built engine which the original kit does not offer.
It'll get stripped down now, ultrasonic cleaned and bagged up ready for paint, should see it back in a few months all painted and ready to be reassembled and run in.

The driving wheels will stay here and have the lead weighting added with milliput and sprayed up; then I'll do the back head as a mini project as a break from big bench builds.

Next up, more Garratt as that needs pushing along now, that'll be alongside a David Andrews Peppercorn A1 to keep the mind fresh. I've settled into a reasonable routine of two at a time, sometimes it can become a drudge banging on with just one model, so a short diversion for a few days keeps the mind fresh.

 

[LarryG]

If only the proprietary Hall's looked as good as this. Neither Hornby nor Bachmann can stand proud on this one.

 

[David B]

That really looks the part Mick - 5900 down the road at the GWS has been a favourite of mine for years and you’ve captured the look to perfection. That front end looks spot on - almost as elegant as a Saint and without the solid modern look of a Modified Hall or County. Beautiful.

 

[SimonT]

Mick,
you know the chamfered balance weight you printed for the 72 driven wheel? You might want to do similar for the Hall. Yorkshire Lad will probably want a set
Simon