Spike's folding table - Catching a Toad

[Spike]

Hi, whilst building some kettles I have started this kit to be built as 37408 with the West Highland Terrier emblem, circa 1988.

Assembly of the main body (temporarily, just so I can look at the beast) is done with just four screws - why does JLTRT not include drill sizes for the holes for the brass inserts? Fit between the cab and sides/roof is reasonable and does require some attention. Martin's 37/4 thread here and "over there" is a good pointer to what can be done with the cab interior and for the alterations to the body sides (removal of platework for the steamheat boiler). Not going to go down the same road for the bogies.... just too long.

Power is to be ABC motor bogie, noise by SWD (Ithink).



regards, Peter

 

[Pugsley]

Good to see another refurb 37 on the go, and I'm glad that my ramblings about the construction of mine have been useful to you.

Don't blame you for leaving the bogies as they are!

 

[Ressaldar]

Hi Peter,

I had the same 'hole' problem when I did a Class 40 a couple of years ago and asked the question of drill size to Brian Daniels - answer 1mm over the stated screw size of the socket - hope this helps.

cheers

Mike

 

[Spike]

Don't blame you for leaving the bogies as they are!

Does not mean that the idea is not a good idea... actually the opposite is the case. Rather want to get the beast running and "chatting" this side of next Christmas.

 

[Spike]

I had the same 'hole' problem when I did a Class 40 a couple of years ago and asked the question of drill size to Brian Daniels - answer 1mm over the stated screw size of the socket ...

I measure the diameter of the plain portion of the insert and drill the resin at that size, then use a taper reamer to enlarge the hole to the point where the knurling starts to enter the hole - then press in. If I use the taper reamer from the "inside" then the insert is less likely to get pulled through when the screw is tightened. Just to be safe the inserts are fitted with Araldite 24hr.

 

[alcazar]

I don't know if this is relevant, but I had to repair an insert set into a plastic wheel for my shower enclosure.
I Araldited it in place, but it pulled out again, I don't think the plastic would allow the Araldite to grip.

I re-did it, then drilled it right acrossthe plastic and the insert and superglued a brass pin in place.
Once the superglue had gone off, I first cut off the pin inside, then drilled loosely to remove as much of the pin as I cvould, then used the correct set of taps to removeany of it it from the threads.
The insert hasn't moved since.

 

[Spike]

Now that I can assemble the body and take apart for working on the individual parts I shall try to progress two things whilst the weather is cold (and prevents spraying outside). First up is the cab interiors and here there is a good path to follow in the work of Martin, described "over there". And then there is the underframe with the pipes, fillers, gauges and other things (do not know what they are as yet). All of this seems easy until I need to do something.... like:-

What is the interior paint of a re-furb 37 cab? I have never seen inside a '37' cab so I shall have to look on the internet for some photos.... help appreciated.

I think JLTRT instructions were written for an original 37 rather than a re-furb 37/4 so I need to work out what needs to be left off or changed or added because I am doing 37408 rather than D6989. Any ideas anyone?

Some questions have been asked of Brian Daniels ("over there") about the fillers for the fuel tanks of the re-furbs... seems that there is at least one filler / drain which is being difficult as Brian is not sure of the purpose.

thank you, Peter

 

[Pugsley]

Check out Brian's Flickr site for refurb cab pics, it's what I used as the basis for mine.

 

[Spike]

I hope to get to Bristol on Sunday with a list of things to get for this model... mostly paint and a figure for the cab. The engine is to be finished in "as built" condition and with clean paintwork, I had the idea of putting two figures in the cab - a driver and a traction inspector to check on the re-furb work. Which supplier does a reasonable seated figure of a BR driver suitable for the late 1980s period?

Stuck on the inspector... my Dad knew a few in the 1970s, he keeps on about Stan French... What might an inspector of the late 1980s have worn to work? Any ideas as to a suitable figure for this?

thank you, Peter

 

[alcazar]

The diesel inspectors I've seen wore long "warehouse coats" usually grey/blue.

 

[Spike]

Occasionally I look on the internet to see if any new cab photos have appeared... and the search engines have produced a couple of new links in the last few weeks. These interior shots, on the Great British Railway World site, pose a couple of questions:-

[1] when did fire extinguishers appear in the cab? The 37350 photo shows the stand for the extinguisher whilst the 37602 photo shows the extinguisher in place. The extinguisher stand is visible in photos on many web sites for preserved engines (restored and un-restored) so this seems to be a fitting which is found across the 37 class (rather than just the re-furb engines).

[2] what is the purpose of the cabinet / box on the right hand side wall of the cab? Whilst the cabinet seems to be a common fitting to cl37s the box on the top of the cabinet is absent in some photos. Further, the photo of 37602 shows something on the top /left hand corner of the cabinet... in the photo of 37350 this fitting is obscured by the ear defenders.

regards, Peter

 

[Scale7JB]

Good to see more S7!

JB.

 

[Dog Star]

Good to see more S7!

And not.... "Good to see more blue?"...

 

[Spike]

Summer holidays beckon... and the recent wet stuff is a good enough reason to work on the Cl37. I want to try to get the engine mobile using the ABC motor bogie. Brian Clapperton has recommended an ESU Loksound V4 decoder for 4mm engines (rather than the XL variant as the ABC bogie design has a low current consumption). This decoder is available from Howes with the "refurbished" sounds, see here.

What speaker will work with this decoder and provide a decent volume of chat?

I am thinking of fitting a separate decoder for control of interior / exterior lights and for control of the radiator fan motor. Any suggestions?

thanks, Peter

 

[Pugsley]

Consider the Zimo decoder from Digitrains - the sound appears to be much better than anything I've heard from a Loksound. Again, you could use the HO/OO version, rather than the MX695 large scale version.

You'll get 8 functions with the MX645, which will take care of all your lighting needs (separate head/marker/tail and cab if you wanted), so no need for a separate lighting decoder. I'm going to use an old Bachmann decoder to control the fan motor on mine, but if you didn't have any kicking around, you only need a basic decoder - the Hornby R8249 would be sufficient.

HTH

 

[Dog Star]

Thank you Martin, a quick search finds only Digitrains as a Zimo supplier in the UK and the MX645 is shown as out of stock. Who else supplies this decoder?

regards, Graham

 

[Pugsley]

Sorry, I've no idea where else you could get them from.

 

[Scale7JB]

Hi Graham, you could try DCC Supplies...

JB.

 

[TheSnapper]

......a quick search finds only Digitrains as a Zimo supplier in the UK and the MX645 is shown as out of stock. Who else supplies this decoder?........

Graham

I would wait for the MX645 to come back in stock at Digitrains - or splash-out on a 695! You really need the "Paul Chetter Multidrive Soundfile" on this decoder (at a cost of 1p!), only available from Digitrains:

http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/search/zs37-class-37-all-types-multidrive-soundfile.aspx

........unless of course you intend to use your own sounds?

Tim

 

[Spike]

Almost a year to the day since I started this thread the engine has made a big step towards going on its own... a motor bogie has been fitted with some serious hacking of the underframe. So this is where I started... with an ABC motor bogie for a Class 37, this bogie was supplied with S7 wheels.



Now this bogie just does not fit the underframe as provided in the kit, to start with the motor is too big to fit the hole in the underframe. Here is a shot of the bogie alongside the underframe:-



And from underneath,that bolt is a bit awkward, need to cut the thread further down the bolt and then shorten so that the nut / bolt are clear of the cardan shaft in the bogie.



Comparison of the floor moulding and the bogie sideframes gives an indication of what to cut away:-



The hole for fixing the cab rear bulkhead will go to make room for the motor so I shall have to work out some other fixing for the front of the body to the uderframe. The black mark near to the screw is to accomodate the motor pinion:-


And this is the result of taking a Junior Hacksaw and a 12" rough cut file to a £450 kit:-


Now with the bogie in place, the clearance for the motor pinion is visible.


This photo shows that clearance is needed at the rear and at the front for the bogie sideframes when the bogie swings left / right.


Starting to make progress towards the noisy bit. I shall run this on 12vDC for a short while before adding the DCC sound chip... maybe for a few minutes!

Peter.