Yorky D's Küchentisch - Jonny half-a-job...

[Yorkshire Dave]

Another loco was recently acquired - a Roco DBAG Br 212 (ex V100) in Orientrot livery.





It has already received some weathering using AK Interactive and Vallejo acrylic paint, Tamiya weathering powders and oil washes. I also attempted to fade some of the larger panels by rubbing in white Tamiya weathering powder which is subtle but noticeable.



While the loco was on the bench I added the Wendezug (push/pull) connections to the buffer beams andreplaced the flimsy end handrail stanchions with 0.45mm brass wire. The hand knobs at the top were formed with a drop of canopy glue.

Rust was dabbed along the sill to represent wear and tear.



One thing I'm toying with is removing the NEM coupler box from the bogies and mounting the coupler on the chassis which means I can install the four air hoses and steam heat hose on both ends.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Recently I've been messing around building a new small inglenook style shunting layout (which will double up as test track) on recycled baseboards.

It measures 1.7 x 0.27m overall (5' 7'' x 10'' in Librae, solidi & denarii) and uses up some Fleischmann HO Profi Flexgleis and points I've had kicking around for a while.



The bulk of the messy work has been done, roads, inset track, platform and first layer of ballasting around the track. More work will be done in these areas as it progresses. The road and platform surface are made from AK Interactive Terrain Asphalt paste.



The idea is to have an Olef (Eifel) style street (acting as the headshunt) opening out into a truncated station and yard.



Just the rest to do...

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Done some more foundation scenery work today with static grass, muddy paths and a pond.

Overall view



I've reworked the crossing to the grubbed out platform by repacing the tarmac with wood.




Driver's eye view - I've also moved the Fleischmann point motors to operate from underneath.



And finall two gratuitous photos....

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

These two show the Fleischmann point motors flipped to operate 'hidden'.

The first one shows the motor partially removed.



This shows the point motor pushed home.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

For those not familar with the Fleischmann HO Profi gleis this sequence shows how the point motors can be installed. Fleischmann HO Profi gleis ceased production when Fleischmann were aquired by Roco.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

No sooner had I acquired this Roco HO DB Br 290 (V90) earlier this week.....



It didn't last long in it's current state ...........

Some work was done around the both ends to make the base of the light boxes more prototypical at the base and the hand rails and stanchions were replaced with 0.45mm brass wire.



One of the modified ends painted.



Off came the moulded cab handrails and replaced with brass 0.45mm wire. The moulding windscreen wipers were carved off the glazing, remaining marks polished out and replaced with etched brass windscreen wipers.



The DB Keks was replaced with DBAG...... and of course weathered.



However I'm toying with replacing the head and tail lights with SML (surface mounted LEDs) which allows me to remove the chunky light guides behind the buffer beams. And replace the wheels to remove the traction tyres.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

A bit more work today.

Soldered up some new cab steps from 1mm brass angle, 0.45mm brass wire for the locating pegs and scrap etch for the steps. These replace the chunky Roco steps clipped to the bogies. Roco on the left and my replacement on the right. One has already fitted.



Locating holes were drilled into the chassis. Here is the loco on a Fleischmann Profi gleis 647mm radius curve.



And on a Fleischmann Profi gleis point. Just need to fill the original step loating holes in the bogie sandboxes.



While I was looking for other photographs I came across these in my collection. I was in Germany during the late 1990s visiting Nürnberg RBf (Rangierbahnhof).

This one had just pushed a van over the hump.



And this one was parked up at the Ringlokschuppen - which provided me with cab step details.







And another had arrived shunting a short train over the turntable.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The Württembergische station building was a bit too dominant for the layout so last week I built a waiting shelter based on Dalheim.

It's made from card rendered with Vallejo sandy paste and the roof is 5mm dense foamboard. All painted and weathered with acrylic washes.









And no - it won't turn into an insect .

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

One of the things I've been messing about with is the head and tail lights on the Br 290 (V90).

Firstly they were removed hollowed out and new surrounds made up from 2.4mm copper tube to make them look more in keeping with the prototype.





Two new L shaped circuit boards were made up and SMRs (Surface Mount Resistor) soldered on.



2mm lenses available as spare parts from Roco (for the Br 212 (V100)) were filed down on the reverse side, polished and inserted in the modified light housings. They are held in with canopy glue and three are shown here.




Red and white nano LEDS were stuck to thin strips of card so they can be inserted into the light housings.




Once inserted and the glue set they were mounted onto the footstep moulding (apologies for the quality of the next three photos as they were taken in low light)



While the footstep mouldings were off the chassis I drilled some holes in the lower part of the light housing to enable the wiring to be routed behind the buffer beam out of view.



And the wiring hidden from view.




And under test using the LED test function on my multimeter. Front....



.... and rear



Now to crack on with the speaker, decoder and stay-alive installation....

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Despite several attempts using the search facility at the top right of the webpage, I cannot find the images or indeed any reference to the rebuild of a Fleischmann T3 0-6-0t BR89 with a coreless motor.

I am waiting the arrival of a cheapo example for rebuilding and ‘chipping’, if I can relocate the images of your T3, I might even upgrade the motor.

Hi Tim

Here are the photos of the re-motored Fleischmann Br89. It was a 'I wonder if' experiment which worked.

The motor is a coreless 1015 which I mounted in a 10mm ID tube. The ensemble is held in place with Blu-Tac on the original motor mount I made up when I re-motored the loco for the first time with a small Mashima motor.







And is hidden from normal viewing angles.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

And now for something completely different. Another electric loco....how boringly uncool, yawn, yawn, I hear you say

Having acquired this kit a year ago and with my modelling mojo slowing returning after a heart op 15 months ago, I started faffing around wielding a hot stick .



The kit is a bit basic and is a scaled up version of the 4mm version with some panels being suitable for a battleship. The instructions are text (no pictures or drawings showing how parts go together) and relies on a degree of kitbuilding experience.

Firstly by building the truck inner frames, which already shows the bearings I'm using - 1/8'' roller/ball race bearings.



The instructions tell you to mount the frame stretcher to the inner frame and then solder the outer frames once you have inserted the wheels, gears etc. Something I'm not in favour of as it makes painting difficult. As can be seen in the photo above I made up some end stretchers from square brass tube for the inner frames.



The outer frames were made up and are mounted to the inner frames by M1.4 screws.



This shows the some of the components for the drive trucks. SDMP/Finney 7 gearboxes, Slaters wagon wheels (alas not the chocolate variety) and the Roxey universal joint drive shaft. Brass tube was used to sleeve from 1/8'' to 3/16'' for the gearboxes.



Before the one shot assembly the inner trucks were given a blast of etch primer. However, in a worst case scenario I can disassemble the trucks as the bearings are only an interference fit.





In between all of this I did make up the sill/underframe which also had a few modifications. I wanted a central motor drive - ideally all axle - but I settled for driving the two outer axles. As a result the motor does protrude above an below the sill and I lose some daylight underneath - one of the compromises I settled for.

The next sequence shows how the trucks appear in the sill/underframe and the scratchbuilt motor mount.







And sitting on a Peco Setrack curve.



And it does work under power, naturally........

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Further developments...

The 6 panels (2, cab ends, 2 sides and 2 bonnet/hood covers) were made up. The laminates were soldered using a blowtorch and the bonnet/hood covers were formed after annealing the half etch lines. This still resulted in a slightly multi faceted curve which I gently removed with a file. All the external details such as the handrails, vents and sand box covers were added before assembling the body.




Before adding the sand box covers on the bonnet/hood covers I drilled out a hole to aid soldering. In addition I also drilled out the coupling socket on the internal bufferbeam to take a coupling spring.




Of the additional external buffer beam detail the electric socket is a casting from Precision Scale I had in my 1/48 US parts.




The pantograph.... The lower arm etches have teeth which if built up as non-functional are fine as they do not engage.




However as I made mine functional I squeezed the two supports (blue) together to make the teeth (red) engage. This has greatly increased the stability of the structure and reduced the fore and aft motion of the pantograph so the head remains level whilst touching the contact wire thereby allowing for variations in the contact wire height. Later diamond pantographs have a wider base which allows for a link arm to be installed as base level to prevent the fore and aft motion and keep the structure stable.




While I was tinkering with the pantograph I also added two catches (one on each side) so it can be locked down.





On the prototype the pantograph is raised manually by an insulated rod fixed centrally to the pantograph head and through the cab roof. It's absence is a compromise I've made (thus far) as I have made the pantograph removable with a central screw.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The last few days have seen the brake gear added to the trucks/bogies..

.....and some details not provided for in the kit.

Sand pipes made up from 0.8mm brass wire fixed to the truck/bogie ends - one pair on the outer end of each truck/bogie.




The truck/bogie swing limiting chains (and I've just spotted EMD on the electrical connection socket!).




The one end of the chains are fixed to the truck frame via a bar. For the other ends I made up some small mounts from scrap etches and nickel silver wire to enable the chain to be fixed to the sill/chassis with a M1.4 screw.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

A few hours at the workbench today but not much to show...

The white lumps purport to be some of the underframe casting, together with the two white buttons/dots being the headlights .....

..... so I made up some better looking versions and more to scale from pieces of brass wire, tube and scrap brass etch..... The wires are deliberately long and will be bent and trimmed when the parts are fitted to the underframe.



It'd been better if this was included in the kit instead....


Just need to look at some of the other milky bar pieces in the kit....

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Another week, more hours at the workbench with not much to show.....

The fitting of Laurie Griffin lamp irons - I preferred these as they are a bit beefier and not likely to stab you (the kit supplied etch ones are thin and likely to do this!) - and my own home brewed headlamps.




As I wanted the roof to be removable I added a brass strip across the centre line. (The brake wheel is the kit one mounted on a cut down Laurie Griffin Holden tender brake stand - after I had opened out the side holes).



And the roof is held in by the pantograph retaining screw.




I also built up interior walls from styrene onto which the glazing is fixed. The walls are not fixed in and self lock so I can remove them - which I'll need to do as these are incorrect for the NER loco. A new set will easily be made up.




From scrap brass, brass wire and brass etch I made up a new switchgear board to replace the milky bar representation.



which is held in by a countersunk M1.4 screw in the cab floor.



Since the cab roof is removable I added spigots of 0.3mm brass wire to the roof fusebox bracket - made from scrap nickel silver etch - and the cab front.



Onto which I can mount 0.3mm I/D silicone carp fishing rig tube to represent the electric power cable from the pantograph.




And finally a comparison of scale with Met Bo-Bo Sir Ralph Verney.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Following on from and thanks to @Rob Pulham 's ES1 cab interior photos.....

I have made up new interior cab walls and ends from styrene, and additional switch gear boxes and panels from scrap brass etch and square tube plus a pair of gauges from brass tube, a slice of clear acrylic rod and a scrap brass backing (the latter by slipping a piece of this brass in an office hole punch). The wires will be formed to shape once I have made up the air brake operating stands. The red 'curtain' is made from tissue paper.

Top left is the kit supplied cab interior detail. Bottom left is ths 'A' end and bottom right is the 'B' end details I have made.



'B' end


'A' end


And a half-hearted attempt was made to try and give the bottom half of the cab ends a bit of illusional depth since the kit bulkhead is solid.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

For some unknown reason I have recently been struggling to get a 6 coupled chassis to run smoothly without binding.....

..... and it was a case of going back to basics so I aquired one of the Coinnessuer Models starter kits - namely the 0-4-0T industrial tank loco based loosely on the LSWR C14 and the Tri-ang Nellie (or Polly or Connie).

The chassis was built up broadly as per the instructions and my deviations were the fitting of roller bearings (ball race) and using SDMP/Finney7 Power gearbox to keep the motor low within the chassis. This also allows the body to be dedicated to DCC stuff - decoder, sound chamber, stay alive, etc.





At the end I had a sweetly running chassis with no binding.... a mega result for me.

Then my attention turned to the body and I spent a lot of time contemplating this as I did not want a dumpy british looking loco as if it had squashed itself by hitting the buffers....

After much bodgery (mainly altering the cab) I've ended up with this pseudo Teutonic-Dutch euro-lok....







I've used slightly smaller wheels which did mean moving the brake gear and added additional and adapted detail parts I had kicking around in my bits box. And yes - one buffer face on each end has been flattened.

Now painted Karminrot RAL 3000 (DB undeframe red) and Ferngrün RAL 6025 which is a close match for the green used on werklok. The frames under the smokebox are deliberately devoid of detail as I plan to install Walschaerts/Heusinger valve gear at some stage. The DCC stuff will be installed in due course as will be working head and tail lights.


At the end of the day I feels it's been a worthwhile exercise and provides a small fun non-serious 'neverwozzer' to mess about with.

..... and for some fun....