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Scratch Build of 1951 Pullman Carriage


hendie

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Not much to report this evening, but things continue to progress.  The dynamo was given a coat of alclad primer, and offered up to the chassis. - And whaddya know... it looks as though everything is going to line up - i.e. the dynamo pulley is in line with the pulley on the bogie wheels.

 

Being really honest, this is much more down to sheer luck than any form of judgement. However, I'm grateful for small mercies.   I'll take it !   The main brackets were fixed on with E6000, along with a couple of Meng bolt heads to add that extra industrial look.

 

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The dynamo was then given a coat of aircraft interior black to add an additional 40 shades of black to the overall look of the chassis structure.

 

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And when viewed from the right way up, it's almost convincing !

 

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There's still some cables to be added along with an electrical junction box, followed by the angle iron bracket that holds the dynamo at a fixed distance from the bogie. I'll need to have a look around for something that will work as the pulley belt.

Oh, and I need to find/source/add a chain that gets attached from the chassis to the dynamo, which is some kind of safety feature I guess - though if the dynamo fell off, I don't see a chain holding it for long.

 

I should really start thinking about getting rid of all the dust that's collecting on the chassis and getting some kind of protective cover for it while I'm not actually working on it

 

 

 

 

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Nice work as always.

If the dynamo brackets ever gave way, the chain would hold it long enough for it to be noticed and the train stopped. Don't forget that massive belt would start flapping around and making loud banging sounds.

Being stopped in the middle of nowhere at night and trying to remove/secure/whatever the dynamo is not fun (and then remove the belt as well because you can't leave it dragging along the ground) is not fun. Don't ask me how I know.....:swear:

(but the dynamo stayed in that ditch for over two years before someone thought to collect it

 

Edit: Just remembered some dynamo's had thicker chains than others, not sure if this was a modification or "what we had available at the time"...

Edited by Bigdave22014
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Creeping forward...

 

Withe the dynamo fixed in place, it was the turn of the support brace. I made one up in styrene but wasn't happy with it, then found a piece of brass angle which worked quite well. A small hole was drilled to accept some brass rod for the brace to the dynamo.  The "clamp" was made from a scrap of styrene drilled through then cut in half.

 

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Now all fixed.  T'was surprisingly difficult to get it all to go together.

 

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More scraps were called into action to make an electrical box, and the first decal of the build was added.

 

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The electrical box was then wired to the dynamo using lead wire. - decals also added to the dynamo.  I think there's supposed to be three wires, but two will do for now.  If I get really bored, I'll add a third!

 

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And the electrical box was fixed in place with E6000

 

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Now that has just got to get painted another shade of black and I *think* I can call the underside finished, at least for the moment. Of course, usually when I come out with that comment I then find something else that needs done  - but let's roll with that for now.

 

And I just found the "not finished" part !   The chain for the dynamo and the belt to the bogie still need added !

 

Oh well.

 

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oh well

 

so very Hendie

 

s'utterly blimmin marvellous sir, masterpiece material

 

 

 

 

 

 

as long as you remember to drive the dynamo and stop it falling on the ballast

 

:)

 

The wiring arrangement is excellent, nice

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4 hours ago, perdu said:

I hope this isn't going to slip quietly away too far H

 

I was actually thinking of getting back on to it today Bill.  (if swmbo lets me that is)

I found some chain for the dynamo so planned on getting that done and starting on the superstructure (again)

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Well, a day of frustration, annoyance, cursing and progress - in other words, an average day for a modeler (aside from the progress part!)

 

In accordance with Bill's instructions, I planked myself downstairs at a reasonably early hour to immerse myself in things trainy.  The dynamo safety chain got fitted (not as the spellchecker tried to imply... fetid :poop:

The chain isn't exactly to scale but it's close enough, it was easy to find, and it was cheap.  I'm not going to tie myself in knots over that part.

 

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Now, the right way up - Still to paint the brackets but I wasn't having a painting day today.

 

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I can't remember if I've shown a shot of this area now all the doobrie-wotsits and greeblies have been fitted, but I think it's looking remarkably industrial and oldy-worldy - train like.

 

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I mentioned earlier I was going to get back on to the superstructure today.   Well, I did. It was frustrating.   I tried making some side frames by hand - it was very time consuming, frustrating, and not very pretty. It was incredible difficult to keep everything aligned and looking neat, particularly the corners of the windows.

 

In the end I resorted to the supposedly automatic computer controlled cutter.  It was also incredibly frustrating.  For whatever reason, it does not like these side frames.  Not one bit.  I don't know whether it's the length of the parts or it's just crappy software/hardware.

Here's a typical issue.... note how the radius on the top right corner of the window doesn't match up with the rest.  The cutter does this randomly but far too often for my liking.

In the end, I found the best (not perfect by far!) results were obtained by using a very low pressure, fast speed and doing a double cut.  That left enough of a trough for me to follow with a new blade in the knife and eventually got all the windows cut out.  There will be some remedial work in the future, but I've had enough of phaffing about with these side frames and want to start moving forward.

 

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I even went as far as getting some quotes from on-line businesses for laser cutting, but quotes went from $25 to $75 and no-one was very confident of the results.... so home made, and remedial work it is then !

While I was cutting, I drew up the vestibule ends and the diaphragms and got them cut out at the same time.  When I'm cutting smaller parts like these the cutter seems to handle things reasonably well though it's still not entirely happy with extremely small radii such as those in the vestibule window openings.

 

P2190015.jpg

 

The rule shown above will give you an idea of how big this thing is going to be when it's finished.  (pssst.... it's in inches, not real world units)

 

Though only two vestibule ends are shown above, I cut out a few extra while the cutter was running. The reason for that is that this (the superstructure) is the area where I have no plan, and I know I'm going to screw up at least one set while trying to figure this thing out.  All my focus was on the chassis and getting that to a decent state that I've never really put much forethought into how this is all going together.  I really need to sit down and go through my drawings again to start designing for this scale.  However, the temptation to make a start proved too much so I carried on regardless....

I cut a template with the same profile as the vestibule end which allowed me to start putting together the three pieces that make up the vestibule end, and start adding some stiffeners for some structural strength.

 

P2190016.jpg

 

I have started to cut out the entrance in the vestibule end, but not fully - I wanted to leave as much as I could in there to help keep the shape while it's all going together.  Once I'm happy with the strength, I'll finish cutting out the door.

and that's it for this evenings installment I'm afraid.   Here's a quick shot of the vestibule end sitting on the chassis...

 

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It is sitting a bit high just now due to the template I have taped in there as a former, but at least it's given me a little bit of confidence that my dimensions are right. Everything I had for this area was face on dimensions, and not true dimensions so a little bit of trigonometry had to be used to figure out the width of the sections on each side of the central throughway.

 

At least I am starting to feel I am making some headway.  The chassis seemed to take forever, and the side frames were a real stumbling block for a while, but I think I can start moving forward now.

 

 

 

 

 

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Those were the days, when you could walk from carriage to carriage,  outside! Similar to jumping on/off the train/bus while it was still moving....one of my Dad's favourite stories is jumping off the train before it came to a stop, and the impetus carrying him all the way to the top of the stairs exiting the station.....if he got it right, which of course everyone did!

 

Ian

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You could always have it 3D printed but where would be the fun in that .....

 

Looks to be one of those jobs where you take a few steps back and forth before being happy at the end of the day with an 1/8 step forward

 

We're behind you :whip:

 

Kev

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That cutting out thingmy seems to be one of Satan's pet projects doesn't it, I'll be surprised if you don't get the New World's equivalent of the RSPCP* round to breathe down yer lugs any day soon

 

Vestibules...

 

What wonderful vocabularies reside in train builds huh?

 

Vestibules, I love it

 

 

Them too, looking very 'right' there in the raw plastic H. :thumbsup2:

 

 

 

 

*For them as doesn't know. Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Plasticard

 

I've had several oral warnings in my time, the worry is that they've taken on the mantle of protecting acetate and PETg too

 

I'm expecting a ban any day....

 

;)

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