Little and (Ridiculously) Large

Those of you who have been following my modelling for a while will know that the first locomotive I designed was for the rather small 24hp Hudson-Hunslet. This was an 009 kit and so given the small size of the prototype was absolutely tiny, ridiculously so. The kit has been wonderfully successful, but of course not everyone models in 009.

When I was producing the 16mm Simplex detailing parts I was asked if it was possible to scale the Hudson-Hunslet kit up to 16mm. My initial answer was... I've no idea. After a little thought I did wonder if I could use the P.S Models Hudson-Hunslet chassis kit and then design a body to fit. Unfortunately while the chassis is almost exactly the right length it's way, way too wide. Thinning it down might be possible, but it would involves taking a strip of each side of the footplate and both buffers and getting that all square sounds like a lot of hard work.

Now obviously given I already have the CAD files for the 4mm to the foot version I can just scale that up to make something four times as big and see if it would print. Unfortunately when I tried that I discovered that while the footplate will fit within my printer if I add the buffer beams (i.e. another 5mm or so) it won't fit. Fortunately with the way my CAD files work I can just remove pieces (like the buffers) and so as a test I printed two buffer beams, and then the central section and stuck them together. I also printed the radiator (including the parts that are etched on the 009 version) to give me a better idea of what a completed model might look like and well....

It's huge, at least in comparison to the 009 version; I'm not sure which end of the scale is the more ridiculous.

Having proven that I can at least print the parts and produce the chassis, I will probably keep going and produce a model for myself. While scaling the CAD for the body should be reasonably simple I need to design a new drive system and work out how it will all assemble, but it looks like I have another design project on the go.

And yes before anyone mentions it, I did take the photograph with the radiator balanced on the rear of the chassis not the front. Ooops.