Simplex 'Tin Turtle'

[Giles]

That looks quite clever . Where did you get the motor, gears etc from?

Mike

It's a nice simple arrangement - there are a lot of gear motors available from China via EBay (search micro gearmotor or similar), and in this instance the Mod 0,3 gears came from
Kegelzahnräder M0.2 und M0.3

 

[spikey faz]

It's a nice simple arrangement - there are a lot of gear motors available from China via EBay (search micro gearmotor or similar), and in this instance the Mod 0,3 gears came from
Kegelzahnräder M0.2 und M0.3

Thanks Giles. I shall investigate further.

I had hoped to avoid making a chassis, hence fingers crossed that Mark from locosnstuff can come up with something. But it's good to have plan 'B'.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I did say progress might be slow! Managed to find some time to add handrails. I was unable to locate the step that goes on one sideframe, so made one from a small piece of metal strip. Actually I made three. The first one pinged off into orbit around my room, the second one was rubbish but the third one turned out OK. One small step for man, one giant.....

I've tacked the sideframes to the chassis - the end-sheets are just resting in place to get an idea of how it will all look. Despite my best efforts I haven't yet managed to obliterate the great details on the castings.









Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I've soldered the floor to the side panels. I'm not entirely happy with the alignment, but it's solid enough having survived being dropped on the floor!

Trial fit of parts pending arrival of chassis from Mark. Should hopefully be with me next week.











Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I'm not sure if this constitutes progress, but a few more pictures. This time showing the fuel tank and how it sits in the chassis. It took me while to figure this out! Dry run again but it may be of use to anyone thinking of building their own version. The fuel tank is heavily chamfered on one side to gain clearance from the end plate.









Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Radiator.







Mike

 

[spikey faz]

The radiator top-hose looked a bit weedy compared to pictures I've seen of the prototype. Replaced this with some thicker wire and made up a little connector on the water manifold. This should help everything line up properly.







Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Chassis arrived in the post this morning. Many thanks to Mark at www.locosnstuff.com for creating this little work of art.







Mike

 

[spikey faz]

The engine cover slowly takes shape.



Some more general assembly pics.





At this stage I've realised I should have fitted the sandboxes before fitting the buffer beams! No problem as I can still wiggle them into place. However, should they stay in their original positions or should I move them out a bit to align with the wider gauge? I'm guessing the easy option on the prototype would have been to simply bend/extend the sandpipes to suit, but not sure.



Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Finally got the clutch, gear lever, reversing lever, sandbox controls, throttle and the advance/retard controls fixed in place. All done with low melt solder and no melt-downs! Also fixed the fan belt in place.















Mike

 

[Osgood]

Are you planning to squeeze in a chip and subwoofer?

 

[spikey faz]

Are you planning to squeeze in a chip and subwoofer?

Hmm. Probably not! I'm sure someone out there has managed to do it, but well beyond my limited skills.

Mike.

 

[spikey faz]

As I had a spare hour today I thought I'd modify the method of holding the subfloor and radiator in place. Although the subfloor is designed to be removable I wasn't keen on self tappers into whitemetal. Also I think the radiator is supposed to be glued in place, but I wanted it removable for adjustment/painting purposes.







Not very exciting, but I hope it might be of use to someone embarking on a similar build.

Mike

 

[Stevesopwith]

Mike.... having bought one of these kits as soon as they became available, I am finding your thread extremely useful.

I particularly like your arrangement for a removable sub floor etc.

There are some very small chips and stay-alive units that would probably improve the running, and when the time comes I shall present the project to our local 'Wizz'.

Steve.

 

[spikey faz]

Mike.... having bought one of these kits as soon as they became available, I am finding your thread extremely useful.

I particularly like your arrangement for a removable sub floor etc.

There are some very small chips and stay-alive units that would probably improve the running, and when the time comes I shall present the project to our local 'Wizz'.

Steve.

Thanks Steve.

Once you've seen all my bodges you'll know how not to do it!

Let me know how your electric wizz gets on with the stay alive unit. I've looked at these, but I'm still very much old-school when it comes to electrics.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I wasn't keen on using the supplied exhaust pipe. Being whitemetal I had visions of it getting bent out of shape by the time the roof finally went on. I made my own using some 1.8mm tubing and some bits of rod.


















As the last picture shows I managed to break one of the silencer brackets off. I'll get a new one made ASAP!

The dent in the silencer and roof is intentional as I'm trying to impart some character into my model.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

Seeing as I was going to replace one exhaust silencer bracket it seemed daft not to do the other one as well.

I used some Laurie Griffin lamp brackets I had left over from my Wantage Tramway project. Suitably modified they do the job and are a lot stronger than the whitemetal ones. Fully adjustable as well!









And I modified the exhaust end pipe as well. It's a bit longer now and sticks up away from the roof. I figured the driver would welcome anything to help clear the exhaust fumes from the cab area.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

The instructions seem to advocate fixing the brake column and fuel tank in permanently. Nothing wrong with that, but naturally I like to tread a different path by having making these parts bolt-in. Not that I'm anticipating frequent removal of these parts, but it's just how I like to do things.

I drilled out the locating pip at the bottom of the brake column; fitted a bolt and then attached the fuel tank. Hopefully the pictures below will make things clear.











The snug fit between the end sheet (not pictured) and the fuel tank should help to keep the whole assembly in place.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I had to send the chassis back to Mark as I hadn't been clear enough on the gauge I'm using. Mark made it to O-scale. While I wait for it to come back I though I'd crack on with getting the end panels and buffer beams on. It should still be possible to remove/replace the engine, fuel tank and radiator assemblies but its a tight fit!











Mike

 

[spikey faz]

The instructions say to use the supplied splitpins to make up the couplings, but I had other ideas! I thought I'd use these eyebolts to help hold the buffer beams in place.



I also added some texture to the exhaust silencer using AK Interactive texture. It looks a bit crude close up, but I'll tidy it up later before painting it a rusty colour.



Mike