Saturday, July 11, 2015

First Prototype of Clayton #5843

I had a Shapeways order arrive yesterday which should give me even more things to blog about so you don't get bored with my bridge building experiments. There were parts for quite a few new models in the order but I'll start with showing the parts for the Clayton battery electric locomotive I described back at the end of May.


From an initial look at the parts they have printed quite well with only a few places that might need smoothing down before painting. I have, however, discovered two issues. Firstly with the print as I designed it I can't actually fit the motor, and the fixing between the top and bottom isn't perfect.

As the motor I'm using doesn't have any fixing holes built in I designed the mount to hold it in place with a friction fit. Unfortunately I didn't leave enough space to angle the motor down through the front part of the mount. Fortunately I think I'll be able to file down part of the mount to fit the motor, and then update the digital model when I know if that works or not.

While the top and bottom parts fir together well, the upper part is ever so slightly bowed. While only slight pressure is required to flatten it this isn't possible once the parts are fitted, and the mounting screw holes are at the wrong end to make any difference. Fortunately I think a slight redesign of the motor mount to provide a slightly tighter fit of the two parts would cure this so again not a real problem.

So even with those issues the model looks promising. I'll clean up the print and then start trying to build up the model. The bottom part will actually need painting before assembly (no way of painting behind those wheels among other things) but painting the top part will have to wait until the etched parts arrive. Anyway there is no rush as long as I'm enjoying myself.

2 comments:

  1. This looks very encouraging - and already looks right. Shame you had trouble with the motor fitting, all part of perfecting the model I guess and it's impossible to get it all perfect first time- I am still astonished by the whole process. I can see the finished loco now in front of a backscene of misty, damp moorland :-)

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    1. In retrospect the motor mount problem should have been obvious, but fortunately I think it should be easy to alter this version. I've also discovered that all the holes to take bearings are a little undersized but at least that means they are a tight push fit when opened out slightly, although the two for the layshaft are awkward to get to so might need opening up slightly on the digital model for next time.

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