Model #8

I've ended up quite a few weeks behind with corss posting the YouTube videos to the blog -- still no idea how many of the people who read this blog have subscribed to the channel so apologies if you've all seen this already, but with model number 8 we get to the most recent locomotive model I've built...

Lots More Metal Forming

I don't know how many people read this blog without also subscribing to my YouTube channel, but if you've not seen them yet here are the most recent videos in the saga of metal forming.

Model #7

For some reason I forogt to post on Monday when I uploaded a new video looking at another model I've built. Anyway, here we are with another 16mm scale model which includes lots of additional detailing parts that I designed and 3D printed.

Models #4 and #5

Another day and another catch up post. This time two more episodes in the video series looking at models I've finished building from kits or kits I've finished designing. This time we have one of each, and an excursion into a bigger scale.

Metal Forming

I've just realised that I've not posted any if the video updates on the 16mm Hudson-Hunslet project to the blog recently. Hopefuly you are all subscribed to the YouTube channel so have seen them already but if not then there are three new episodes to bring you up to speed all of which revolve around metal shapes and metal forming.

Magnetic Side Panels

A short update on the 16mm scale Hudson-Hunslet build involving the side panels and some tiny magnets

Broken But Moving

It's taken a while (work and family commitments meant not much time for modelling) but U've finally got a little further with the 16mm scale build of the 24hp Hudson-Hunslet diesel loco.

Feet in the Footwell

Two videos in todays post, both of which are about finally sorting the footwell problem

Dots Per Inch

I now know why the paper test "etches" didn't fit properly...

Cast Off Parts, But a Working Model

So for part three of this design/build process I decied to see what would happen if I simply stuck all the parts I'd printed together, even though there is something wrong with nearly all of them.

I'm intending to post most of the videos for this project to the blog, but if you want to make sure you don't miss any then you can use this link to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Large Scale Progress

Having introduced the idea of building a 16mm scale version of the 24hp Hudson Hunslet in the previous post, I've now done a small amount more work. Specifically I've managed to print a chassis that will hold the wheels and motor.... although due to a slight design flaw it won't fit on the track yet! Rather than lots of text explaining things, and because no one complained about the last video post I did, here is the current state of play

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.

Gauge Adjustable

So I think I've now got the 16mm scale chassis from I P Engineering back to where it was before it suffered from rust. As well as painting it (to stop the rust reoccuring) I've also made some modifications and while I could write about them I thought I'd try something new and have shot a short video where I talk through the changes I've made.

I don't really like the sound of my voice when I hear it back, so I don't think this will become a frequent occurance, but it would be great to know what people think about the video and if they think I should do more posts like this.

Rust

Tidying up my study over the weekend I opened a box containing a locomotive build I started almost two years ago in December 2020, and which for some reason never made it to the blog. Given December 2020 was just a few months before our second son was born, my free time disappeared and I didn't get very far and the part built chassis get stored away in a box. Unfortunately time hasn't been particularly kind to the model, although it would appear that's my fault for not reading the instructions properly.

As you can probably tell from the photo this is the chassis for a 16mm scale locomotive, and it's constructed from laser cut steel pieces. Specifically this is one of I P Engineerings deluxe heavy duty dual gauge chassis. The kit this is part of has separate instruction sheets for the chassis and body and as I like to have the chassis running first I started by assembling the chassis.

The instructions were easy to follow and include numerous photos showing the chassis being built up with the raw steel pieces, and given that it will be completely hidden on the final model, I did just that and gave no thought to painting it. In retrospect I know steel rusts but this was the first time I'd used steel in a model build so didn't think anything of leaving it as it was. Clearly that was a mistake.

To be fair the first instruction on the sheet for building the body reads...

Start by preparing and painting the chassis components as the steel will eventually go rusty if it is not protected

which, as I now know, is completely accurate. But that brings us to something else I've never had to do before: remove rust from steel parts. There were some spare buffer plates in the kit which I don't need but which had also rusted so that gave me something to experiment on.

After a hunt around the Internet the most promising option, given what I had in the house, was just to spray on some WD-40 and then rub it down with a pan scrubber. As you can see this seems to work nicely. There is still some slight discoloration of the metal surface, but it looks pretty good to me. So next step for this kit will be to strip the chassis down completely, before removing all the rust, painting the parts and then re-assembly.

An Orange Simplex

I've not had much time for modelling lately so the work on completing the 16mm scale Simplex locomotive seems to have taken forever, but as you can see I finally got there.

Now I know most Simplex locos are painted a shade of green, but my four year old son was insistent that it had to be orange. I wasn't convinced by the idea at first but I'm actually really happy with how it looks and it certainly won't ever get lost in the garden! Strangely there is a prototype for painting Simplex locomotives this colour (in fact this exact shade of orange) as Alan Keef Ltd. paint their locos, inlcuding their hire locos, orange and over the years that has included a few Simplex locomotives.

So given the lack of dirt (I've not yet had the heart to weather the model) my back story is that it's just been over hauled and repainted by Alan Keef Ltd. and is now ready for it's first hire contract.

And to finish with here is a short video to show that it does actually work. Sorry about the shaky camera work, but I was controlling the locomotive via an app on my phone while also holding the camera and trying to ensure it didn't run off the end of the track!

Somewhere to Sit

One bit of detailing that you couldn't see in the previous post was the inside of the cab.

Now I know it's not the best of photos but hopefully you get the picture. As you can see I've retained the original brake stand and wheel from the kit, but the rest is all new. The kit originally had a flor cut to look like wooden planks which didn't seem to match any of the real locomotives so I switched this to some chequer plate. I was intending to use the seat that came in the kit as once the driver figure is in place you can't see it. I began to have second thoughts on this when I found it was a little tall and the roof wouldn't fit because the drivers head was too high. I was just going to trim the bottom of the parts to lower it down, but then discovered that I'd manage to loose one part of the seat. At this point I thought it was easier just to make a new one that more closely matched the real thing even if it will be completely hidden.

Oh and before anyone comments that the brake wheel is wonky, I know. I took the photo with the parts just resting together. When I glue it in place I'll make sure it's right.

A Simplex for the Garden

Having shown little bits and pieces related to the 16mm scale Simplex locomotive I'm currently building I thought I should really show some photos of the locomotive itself.

The model is based around a kit, designed by Phil Sharples, that I bought from eBay. I say "based around" as the kit consisted mostly of laser cut MDF parts and as you can see there are quite a few parts on mine which aren't MDF. I'd already shown sandboxes (not fitted in the photos) in a previous post, but you can see I've also printed a replacement radiator as well as coupling blocks, bolt heads and chassis side frames. There are also a few other detailing parts that I've replaced or added which you either can't see in the photo or which haven't been fitted yet. I've also replaced the plastic wheels that came with the kit with some nice steel ones. Still quite a lot of work to do but it's beginning to come together nicely and the 3D printer is proving very useful in helping me quickly producing detailing parts as I go along.

A Hi-Vis Makeover

Yet More Details

As at least one person spotted the sandboxes in the previous post are designed to fit on a Simplex locomotive. My original test print was designed mostly to check the shape and to see if the hinge would work. The next step was to finish the lids with the details seen on the real thing.

There appears to be two common types of lid, one showing the Simplex logo and one giving the company name, although I've yet to work out if there was any pattern to which was fitted or if it was pot luck. Looking at photos some have one of each (you can usually only see the front ones as the rear ones are often in shadow inside the cab) and some have two of the Motor Rail Ltd version. I think, now I've done the design work for both, that I'll go with one of each.

I received a few other comments about sandboxes, mostly people saying that they often contain anything but sand. Apparently they are a good place to store spare coupling pins or the starting handle. Also it's not unheard of to open one only to find a mouse nest.

Okay, so I'm insane, but the idea of a mouse inside one of them was too much to resist. Fortunately I didn't have to do much to achieve this as I found a nice model of a mouse on Thingiverse which I scaled down and printed. Because it was so small I printed it sat on a fake floor that would just slot into one of the printed sandboxes.

And with that I think the sandboxes are now complete.

Too Many Details?

I've heard people suggest that the larger modelling scales are easier as the pieces are larger and easier to see. I really don't think this is true. In my experience, and I've talked about this before, what tends to happen is that as the scale goes up you end up modelling smaller details that wouldn't be visible or possible in the smaller scales. I'm fairly certain that there should be a limit to this though, for my sanity if nothing else, but I'm still not sure where the line should be drawn.

Whilst I may not know where the line between sensible and ridiculous should be drawn, I think I've got quite close with the latest bit of detail work. I'm slowly gathering parts together to complement a 16mm scale kit I'm going to build and one of the kit parts I wanted to replace was the sandboxes. They aren't a particularly complex shape and I have prototype drawings so it was easy enough to produce some using my 3D printer.

So far so sane.... except....

Yes, I designed them so that the hinge would work, the lids would open, and they could actually hold sand. Now my problem is that I need to find some finer sand, but have I finally gone insane or is this a perfectly acceptable level of detail?