Spitfire's G3 Workbench

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
And I presume there'll be lit port and starboard navigation lights and a stern light?
The stern light is already there, just need the yellow tow light above it on the mast.
The marker lights will be on the wheelhouse roof, some coloured LEDs in coloured housings.
Trying to decide how to give power to them as Ill either need to modify my battery lead with another JST offshoot or fit a few cells in the wheelhouse. Im not planning to add any detail in there anyway. But thats extra weight forward of CG and the boat may still need a bit more balast aft to keep the stern low in the water as it is.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
A quick stop by the local hobby shop on the way home from work (which lasted far longer than it needed to due to liberal browsing) has provided me with more bulbs.
So armed with a yellow sharpie marker I added a tow light to the rear of the mast.
20181203_220107-1.jpg
Some more tubes glued to the mast for wire routing, wrapped to disguse it as I am NOT routing any more wires down the mast. Its not pretty but it works.

20181203_220130-1.jpg
Two more switches added inside the wheelhouse, only one so far wired in. Trying to decide how to use the other. Maybe headlamp?

But here is the thing lit up in the dark.
20181203_215832-1.jpg
Tried it in the dark at about 20', pretty visible, although the yellow isnt very distinct. A bit of thinned yellow paint perhaps.
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Trevor,

You can buy “stained glass” paints, which work passably well. I’m not sure of the make I bought, but “Pebeo” seems to be the current favourite. You’d probably want the orange rather than a yellow, and do leave them to dry for a long time before turning on, or the paint bubbles when the bulb gets hot. Though whether you’d want to pay £4.75 to colour one lamp is another question! Maybe the marker pens?

Best
Simon
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Trevor,

You can buy “stained glass” paints, which work passably well. I’m not sure of the make I bought, but “Pebeo” seems to be the current favourite. You’d probably want the orange rather than a yellow, and do leave them to dry for a long time before turning on, or the paint bubbles when the bulb gets hot. Though whether you’d want to pay £4.75 to colour one lamp is another question! Maybe the marker pens?

Best
Simon
Those paints look interesting but for one bulb, as you say, probably not worth it.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Ive got the lighting finished.
20181209_220053-1.jpg
Still have to make the lens cover for the headlamp, but its wired up. Im rather pleased in the headlamp mount, which is one of the bolster hoops from Mike Williams LNWR D12 kit.
20181209_220134-1.jpg
2 more switches wired up to a different power supply, a 9V in the wheelhouse mounted in a wooden battery box. Holds it quite firmly actually.

A few more details on the cabin and the bullwarks and itll be done.
Then I can get on to painting.
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Trevor,

Your nav lights are very bright, too much IMO.

If you have them wired in parallel, try wiring them in series. It’ll dim them nicely, and make the batteries last rather longer.

Best
Simon
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Trevor,

Your nav lights are very bright, too much IMO.

If you have them wired in parallel, try wiring them in series. It’ll dim them nicely, and make the batteries last rather longer.

Best
Simon
I dont think I can actually at this point. Ive already sealed up the roof and the battery also supplies the headlamp which I dont want to dim.
I could try to modify the LED itself or its housing to diffuse and block some of the light. Also the photo is quite overexposed so it does seem brighter than it actually is. The tops of those covers will be painted a suitable colour so that should block the upwards light. I can also paint the back corner of each so more light is blocked where its unneeded.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Ive been a lazy boy lately. My boxcar has been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to roof it.
But Ive now painted the tugboat wheelhouse.20181216_214851-1.jpg
Rather like the colours. Had to 'refresh' the dark green as it had almost all dried up. But some thinners gave me enough to work with.

And my boredom at work found some plans for a little plane I then modified.
20181216_214930-1.jpg
My changes included a square fuselage, sheeted forward sections, undercambered wing, and plenty of rigging wires.
And it glides surprisingly well.

I NEED to get back to that boxcar....
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well I did make a start on the boxcar roof.
Almost 30 rows down. I think I calculated itd be over a hundred rows, so over 200 pieces of wood cut to 64mm long.
20181221_090937.jpg
Shame I dont have one of those Chopper tools. Would save me a lot of effort. Oh well...
But with the holidays, Im away from my bench so Ill continue after I get back.

But in some good news, Ive ordered from Slaters some 4'7" drivers to fit to my American so I can continue with the build. Theyre a little too small but having some wheels should allow me to continue with getting the pilot truck sorted. Plus 4'7" is also the wheelsize needed for a Midland 1377 class which I was hoping to design at some point. So Ill have most of its wheels already when the time comes.

Ive also had a chat with the guy I asked to help me machine the proper drivers up and we're planning to get that done sometime in the new year.
Fingers crossed that goes well.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are getting ready for the new year.
The Slaters drives arrived yesterday so Ive finally been able to do a bit more work.
First test was to determine if it could even go around 4.5' radius curves. I was pleased to discover the answer is yes, but just barely. I dont think it could squeeze around anything tighter. Itd probably be happier on 5' rad so when the time comes to build a layout (hopefully thatll happen someday) Ill definitely open it up a bit.
From there, I could start on the equalization gear for the drivers.
20181230_200059-1.jpg
Center beam, springs, and links all going together to form a rather satisfying rocking motion.
And it rolls fairly smoothly too!

Second test after all that was to see it run under its own power for the first time.
A bit of trouble setting up the RC gear as I stupidly forgot to remove the binding plug a couple times, but it ran rather nicely after my brain started working. A bit of weight over the drivers and it had a satisfying amount of grip. On start, the wheels can just about slip but once going its going.
And then I discovered one of the 8 NiMH cells I was using was DOA so Ive marked that one as a dud and am giving the good ones and a replacement a topup charge.
With newly charged cells (and no duds), Id like to see how the performance improves as I was running on lower power than I intended and that dead cell was probably sapping quite a bit of charge.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well, the second live test went well.
A bit of track laid out on the floor and the loco ran up and down nicely. Hooked 5 of my wagons behind it and there was no issue with pulling. Pinning all the brakes down however stopped it dead.

Another thing I wanted to check was its approximate top speed with the temporary drivers. A scale 2 inches too small, but a close enough estimate.
From a VERY small sample size, I calculated about 30mph at top speed, which is reasonable for average train speed of the era.

I even have a couple videos of it.


Now, I cant work on the motion until I get more BAs, so for now Ill probably get on cleaning up the pilot or continuing with the boxcar.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Almost 3 weeks since last upload. Whoops.

Took me long enough to finish the boxcar roof. 20190119_170236-1.jpgThat was 200 boards for the roof. All cut by hand. And I had to shape quite a few to correct any crookedness as I glued them down. A real PITA.

And the truss rods are finally on.
20190119_170226-1.jpg
Actually threaded turnbuckles (but only RH threads) and tightened via end nuts.
Im surprised how much tension 12BA threads can support as the wires can sing if you pluck them.

Ive also received a good sized order of BA bolts so I can get back to building the American's motion.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well Ive been quite lazy.
Ive been doing a little bit of trackbuilding for a display plinth for the American. Hand spiking is very exhausting. I wonder if I could eventually reasonably import Spur II RTR track from Germany...

But I have been slowly finishing up the boiler for the American.
20190130_214441-1.jpg
The russian iron isnt great, but its better than nothing. The boiler bands are a pain to do, but Im thankful 14BA threads can take quite a bit of tensile stress.


And Ive got the doors secured on the boxcar.
20190130_214323-1.jpg
Weatherboard above the door and retaining ribs to keep it flush to the wall.
Just have to sort out a functional latch.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well a productive weekend.
So Ive decided to do final assembly on the American. Cylinders pinned to the frame, boiler bolted to the cylinders and frame, engine truck secured, pilot bolted to the frame with braces, and braces added to the backhead.
20190203_161739-1.jpg 20190203_161823-1.jpg
Still to do is to make up the lifting links and reverser, secure the valve covers and slide valves, and actually build the cab. The cab and footboards will be a fiddly job for sure.

But in a bit of not-train modelling, last weekend while out with a friend, we stopped by a game store where we pleasantly discovered a few gashapon machines, out of which I received a Gundam head model made by Bandai.
Ive now gone and dirtied it up.
20190202_205518-1.jpg
Just a bit of fun with some heavy sci-fi weathering.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well Ive gone and painted the boxcar after finishing the doors.
2019-02-13 18.48.47.jpg
I didnt want to "paint the town red" by spraying it so it was all brushpainted. Two coats, two entire jars of Testors Rust paint.
The room now smells quite a bit from all that solvent going off, so a window letting in the 2C weather is my only option.
At least its not last week with its -15C temperatures.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Some quick work on the American's cab.
I really want to make the doors and windows work on this. While I doubt Ill be able to get the front doors to swing open, the sliding windows are more than doable.
With one side almost complete, in a closed position.
20190216_173459-2.jpg
And heres it open from the inside. A little messy Ill admit. The brass rod is there to limit the slide rearward as I didnt have any suitable material 1.25mm wide. 20190216_173544-1.jpg
Unfortunately, with how the slide is positioned, the windows have to go in before the front wall is glued in. I might be able to get away with some semi permanent securing method rather than outright gluing it on so the windows will be able to come out later if needed. Hmmm.
 
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