Another A1 Models diesel - part 7 interior detailing.

 With such a large cab and big windows there's really no choice but to add some interior detail. Firstly a floor was constructed from styrene sheet, raised to match the door bottom by glueing blocks underneath. At the same time lead was also glued under the floor, making use of the available space. A control panel was also knocked up from styrene, with an angled panel for gauges. The two gauges are made from slivers of round styrene bar. As this is quite a sizeable loco I decided to have two driving positions on either side of the desk, so there are two mirrored throttles, made from Markits N gauge handrail knobs and .33mm brass wire. In the middle of the control desk there's a forward/reverse lever, also from brass wire, and on the front a brake wheel from Cambrian's C42 set acts as a handbrake. Seats are made from L shaped styrene strip and round section, suitably filed to shape. The interior is my interpretation of a loco cab, and although this is a freelance loco I hope that it's reasonably realistic in its layout. 

Here are the parts laid out;

The floor is upside down, note the notch to clear the layshaft pulley and the lead weight.

This is how the interior will look;

I could have just used bent wire for the throttles, but making them from handrail knobs looks so much better. The two dials can just be made out on the triangular portion of the desk;

And temporarily fitted;

Those large windows give a good view, both in and out;

I enjoy this type of detailing even though it can be frustrating, not only from trying to work out what should be there but also from handling (and dropping!) tiny parts. But, the results can be worthwhile, not only because the extra detailing looks good but also because it's a chance to practice some fine modelmaking.

I'll paint these parts later when I paint the rest of the cab interior. The next job will be to get the body ready for undercoating. 

My apologies for the quality of the images, white plastic is a pig to photograph. To see older posts on this build click on the 'A1 Models' tag below.

Paul.

Another A1 Models diesel - part 6 exhaust.

I decided to route the exhaust up the front of the cab exiting through the roof. So, I made up a cowl from brass sheet and soldered it to the cab front;

A hole was drilled through the cab roof, and a short length of 1mm o/d brass tube soldered in;

The tube slots nicely into the cowl, helping to locate the roof in position;

I'm quite pleased with this, it's neat and adds interest to the bonnet and cab front;

Cab interior next.

Paul.

On the cover!

A while ago I built a narrow gauge Ruston 48DS, based on the preserved example at Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. I've always been rather pleased with it, in fact I'd say that its my best work to date. So, I wrote a short article on the build and sent it off to the editor of 009 News along with a few photographs. Yesterday the latest copy landed on my doorstep;

I have to say that I'm quite chuffed! Not only has my article appeared in print, but my loco made it onto the cover as well. Happy days!

Paul.

Another A1 Models diesel - part 5 bonnet.

Here's the bonnet etch;

I decided that the single large side grills were a bit too long, so I used strips of etch offcut to divide them into two smaller grills;

I did notice that one of the dividing strips was slightly off after I took the photo, but soldered joints can be re-set thankfully. I find that hiding the join when letting material in like this to be quite difficult, hopefully it won't look too bad once painted (half inch brush twenty year old pot of 'umbrol...).

I also scribed some panel lines onto the bonnet sides, using a scrawker;

The bonnet top panel had panel lines etched onto it already.

The very nicely etched grills are shown on the instructions as fitting on the outside of the bonnet. I decided that they'd look neater fitted from the inside;

I scribed a couple of lines inside the bonnet to help me get the grills level and central over the openings.

When folded up I found that the sides were about half a millimetre too deep, so once the bonnet assembly had been soldered up I filed the bottom of the sides down to suit the front panel.

Almost complete;

I'm unsure whether to add an exhaust or not, I quite like the clean lines and I'm reluctant to add anything else except of course couplings.

Although a works plate on the front might be a worthwhile addition, Narrow Planet list a 'Bagulay-Drewry' plate which would suit. Or perhaps a made up company?

With chassis and roof;

Somehow I think that it would have looked better with slightly larger wheels and a shorter wheelbase. But I'm not changing anything now.

All soldering done with my Antex XS25 and 145 degree solder, except the dividing bars on the bonnet sides where 188 degree solder was used.

Cab interior next.

Paul.

Another A1 Models diesel - part 4 cab.

Finally, onto the actual kit!

Before I did anything else I marked out the handrail and door handle positions on the cab sides, and drilled them .45mm.

Note the jewellers loupe (eyepiece), one of my favourite tools as I use it not only for marking out but for inspecting soldered joints and paint jobs. I favour the 'MRJ method' of marking out, using a sewing needle in a pin chuck instead of a traditional scriber and the loupe and a small drill (typically .45 or .5mm) to drill a start hole rather than use a centre pop. See 'Marking out a hole' by Mick Moore in issue 205. If that sounds a bit overkill, remember that wonky handrails can spoil a model. I also drilled holes for door handles at this stage.
Handrails and door handles were made from .45mm brass wire and fitted before the cab was soldered to the footplate, which made life easier as I could get the iron in from either the top or the bottom, and also get into the cab with flush cutting snips and a file to remove most of the handrail stub from inside the cab. I want to fit interior detail later on. Also note the two 'tabs' attached to the cab front and back sheets, these are made from scrap etch and are for the cab roof to be glued to after painting.

The roof has been folded up and the inner fold lines strengthened with solder. Rainstrips have been added as well, from .33mm brass wire, a small detail but one that I find quite satisfying.
I made the cut-out in the cab front a bit bigger, to help clear the motor wires.

Soldering the cab to the footplate took several attempts, tacking it in place, checking it, re-positioning it, before I was happy. For this I used 145 degree solder, the lower temperature needed being less likely to upset any of the footplate joints. In hindsight I think that I should have stuck to 188, as I find 188 flows better than 145.

Here it is in place,

And with the chassis fitted;

Its starting to look like a loco now;

Bonnet next.

Paul.

Another A1 Models diesel - part 3 footplate.

As I've scratchbuilt my own chassis rather than using the recommended Kato tram unit I've had to make up a replacement footplate. This does gave me the opportunity to slightly shorten the loco, hopefully improving the proportions. One thing that I was keen on from the start was that the loco would be inside framed, purely because I want to see the wheels on the train go round and round. Well, I did make them myself! And it gives the loco a slightly continental look, which I like.

The main footplate and the bufferbeams are cut from 1" x .016" brass strip, chosen simply because I had some in stock. Side and inner plates are from 8mm x .3mm strip.

I decided to cut out footsteps in the rear sideplates, which I made 4mm x 2mm, a scale 12" x 6", hopefully adequate for a 4mm scale foot to use safely. I first marked out the step, drilled a couple of 1.8mm holes then used square and triangular needle files to open out the steps to the correct size, checking all the time with a jewellers loupe. I did this before cutting the part from the strip of brass. It took no less than 4 attempts to make 2 that I was happy with. I didn't bother with front footsteps...
Valences are 1mm square brass strip, for strength.

I don't enjoy trying to solder brass nuts to footplates, so instead I used 2mm x 3mm brass strip, cut to 8mm long, drilled and tapped 10BA. The drilling and tapping was done before the piece was cut to length. There's more metal, which makes a better join, and its much easier than messing about with nuts and cocktail sticks...
Footplate and chassis together;

All soldering done with my trusty Antex XS25, 188 degree solder, and Eileen's Strong Flux.

Cab next.

Paul.

Another A1 models diesel - part 2 chassis.

This is my second home brewed 009 chassis, and in the main the chassis follows on from the my first attempt at a scratchbuilt 009 chassis, seen here.

The frames are made from 8mm x .3mm brass strip, two sides being soldered together so that they can be drilled for the axle bearings and spacer locating holes. Bearings were turned on the lathe as were the spacers, lathe ownership does of course mean that I can produce the parts that I want and not rely on commercial sources. These spacers (6mm wide) are both drilled through and crossed drilled so that they can be used to hold body and chassis in close harmony as well as hold both frame sides together for soldering. Here are the frames clamped together, bearings soldered in place, ready to have the spacers soldered up once I'm happy that everything is nice and square;

Note the lengths of 2mm dia. silver steel being used to check that both axles are in perfect alignment (I'm using 2mm axles).
However, when I test assembled the chassis with the layshaft loosely supported by the motor and bearing mounts it became obvious that fitting the layshaft into the chassis was going to be rather difficult...

I didn't allow for a spacer being in the way. Ideally I want to be able to assemble the layshaft before sliding it through one end, the worms being small enough to fit through the front bearing hole, which is drilled 4mm, to suit the roller bearing that I'm using at the pulley end. My solution was to remove the turned spacer from one end and replace it with one made from brass strip, suitably drilled to attach chassis to footplate. Here's a pic. of the modified chassis frame, next to the front motor and layshaft bearing mount and rear bearing mount;

With the layshaft and axles in place, complete with gears, the front and rear mounts can be tacked in place. The gears need to be fitted at this stage to check that they're meshed correctly. To stop any stray flux corroding the steel axles I smeared them in oil. Once I was happy with the position of the mounts the layshaft was removed (slid out through the front mount) and the mounts soldered up. I did manage to solder up the front mount slightly wonky, but the beauty of soldering is that any joint can be adjusted.
Here's the chassis with the axles and layshaft trial fitted;

After I was happy with everything, I did double check with the gears re-fitted after the mounts were soldered in place, I added two little triangular strengthening brackets (made from scrap etch) to the motor mount to stop the motor vibrating. This is a problem on my first chassis, it doesn't affect the running but the the unit is noisier than I would like. At the same time I soldered in a spacer in the middle of the chassis to hold the pick-ups in place;

The mounts and pick-up spacer are made from 6mm x .5mm brass strip.

When I made the wheels I drilled them out to 1.9mm, I wanted a light press fit on the 2mm dia. axles so the plan was to broach them out to just under 2mm. This method has so far worked well on previous locos, which have had axles varying from 1mm (Kato) to 1/16" (Saltford) diameter. This time though I had trouble, two of the wheels had a pronounced wobble*. To remedy this I took the drastic step of mounting the wheels in a collet and drilling them out to 3mm. Then I turned a length of brass bar to 3.05mm and pressed a wheel onto the end. After a quick check that everything was concentric I drilled the wheel to size and parted it off. Repeat for the other wheel. Again they were broached to a press fit. My thoughts now turn towards drilling and reaming wheels 1.5mm and using 2mm axles with the ends stepped down to suit. This would also set the back to back.
Once the wheels were in place and I was happy I assembled the layshaft;

The roller bearing at the pulley end was simply glued into its mounting hole with cyano. There's a tiny spacer between that bearing and the pulley, one of the smallest parts that I've turned measuring a mere .4mm long. Gears are Tenshodo.
The motor is epoxied to its mount. Its a little Chinese 12v job bought for less than £2 a pair off eBay, measuring 7 x 16mm with a 1mm dia. driveshaft. They were so cheap that I bought 10, and this is the first time that I've used one. Nigel Lawton pulleys and drive belt are used, 1.2mm root on the motor, 4mm root on the layshaft coupled together by a 6.5mm ID belt.
The completed chassis;

Pick-ups are always a pain. A piece of copperclad sleeper is epoxied between the wheels, with the pick-up wire formed from 36swg (.193mm) phosphor bronze wire (from Eileen's). Solder the pick-up wire on the pad with 188 degree solder. Then the motor wire with 145 degree. And the pick-up springs off, heading for the carpet... Continue, holding everything in place with bits of wood, tweezers etc, until the job is done and the air has turned blue...

Before wiring the chassis up I held it in a vice and applied power to the motor leads, letting it run for an hour or so, making sure to change speed and direction a few times. The motor seems to perform well, although there is some vibration and noise, which isn't a problem and is what you'd expect for something that costs under a quid. It would be interesting to compare one with a higher quality job. Once the pick-ups were installed I ran it around my oval of Kato Unitrack (I don't own a layout). It ran well from the start, and continues to improve. I took it with me to a recent narrow gauge show where Will King very kindly gave it a test run on his layout (I was keen to see how it went through points), and again it ran smoothly. All very promising for future builds.

Footplate next.

Paul.

*In the previous two examples (Kato and Saltford) the bore diameter was smaller than the bore length, on these wheels the bore diameter and length are the same. A five sided tapered broach was used. Could the problem be in the relationship between bore dia. and length when using a broach? Hmmm.

Another A1 Models diesel - part 1 introduction.

A while back I turned up some insulated wheels as an experiment. In fact I made a full set, two insulated and two solid metal, so that I could use them in a chassis and test them properly. Well, if I was going to make a chassis then I'd need a body to go on that chassis, so after quick look at A1 Models ebay shop I chose kit no.70;

I quite like the modern design, spacious cab and sloping bonnet, and can see some potential for detailing. Its designed to sit on a Kato 11-103 tram chassis, which means that there's plenty of room to play with inside. By using a scratchbuilt chassis I'll have to make a new footplate, there is one supplied but its specific to the Kato product, in fact everything below footplate level will be scratchbuilt in brass. Bufferbeams aren't supplied anyway.
As the kit is semi freelance (based on a Baguley but with the bonnet altered), I have a free hand when it comes to the chassis and detailing the body.

I've made a start on the chassis, and I've already hit an unforeseen problem, which I'll describe in my next post.

Paul.

A1 Models Freelance OO9 Diesel

A1 Models make a range of etched brass body only kits for narrow gauge locos, designed to be fitted to RTR mechanisms. Some are based on real locos, but this one I think is freelance.
Its designed to fit the Bachmann N gauge Plymouth 6 wheel switcher chassis, however I felt that it would look far nicer on a Farish 04 chassis. The kit is for the bonnet and cab only so I fabricated a footplate from brass;

Scratchbuilt footplate.

Cab soldered in place;

Cab.

Followed by the bonnet;

Cab and bonnet in place.

An exhaust was added from 1mm brass tube, buffers are from RT Models and the roof beacon from a model lorry supplier;

Detailed up.

A coat of etch primer was applied followed by white acrylic primer;

In primer.

And how it stands at the moment;

Almost there.

Window frames are picked out in Tamiya Flat Aluminium. It still needs glazing and weathering, but that can wait for another day.

Paul.