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Hogwarts Express, Scratchbuild, 1/48 Scale


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Bad day with the computer

 

Once again I have somehow managed to accidentally post all of this before I intended to so I'm having to write all of this in the 'edit' function.  This never used to happen to me with Britmodeller but it seems to be happening quite frequently at the moment. Don't know why... I'm wondering if some hot-key combination has been changed to make it 'easier' to post...?

 

I've had a bad day with computers at work today too so I'm a bit over it all to be honest...  😟

 

Oh well mustn't grumble... 

 

This project is still progressing but BB's busy life has reduced the amount of time she's spending in the shed lately.  We do however have a new chimney to show-off, so that's something.

 

First we had to make the chimney on the lathe. That's my hand marking up the job but she did all of the actual wood-turning. Taking all of your safety notes into account @bhouse , thanks for the guidance.

jGL4Ykk.jpg

 

Here we are using some dividers to check the width to make sure we get the diameter right.

j1E5Eti.jpg

 

Here BB is drilling a guide hole to ensure that the hole that the chimney gets keyed into is correctly placed.

yMuNo3h.jpg

 

And here goes the actual hole being drilled out by a power drill with a spade-bit. I did the drilling here because this hole had to go in dead straight.

8OWXo2g.jpg

 

Nice! Ready to go.

bbitqYp.jpg

 

In pops the chimney - with a small amount of surplus wood still attached.

LxkeaDH.jpg

 

Which was soon cut off with a fret saw leaving the top of the chimney to be sanded smooth. Job done!  Perfect!

Ot9QuTl.jpg

 

NOT!      OMG how did I get that hole so crooked? Why did I not check this view before gluing the chimney in place????

ndy71zB.jpg

 

What to do?...    What to do?...  There's a clue in the plans...

2PiFv48.jpg

 

Yep - cut the smokebox off and...

tpZ6Dzl.jpg

 

turn the whole smokebox through about 5 degrees until the chimney is upright. Reattach the straightened smokebox to the boiler with araldite.

Lc8uUEO.jpg

 

Job done!

 

I wish it was as easy to fix problems with 'bl$%$$y' computers!  🤬

 

Bandsaw Steve

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3 hours ago, limeypilot said:

But doesn't that put the centre of the funnel off to one side?

 

Yes it does, Good pickup!

 

Perhaps the actual rotation was a bit less than the 5 degrees I stated above because the centre of the chimney is only about 2mm misaligned with the centreline that runs along the top of the boiler. So I have traded one error for another.  That new error is far less visible than the old one and will be still less visible once the centreline is painted over. 

 

Baby Bandsaw is happy she doesn’t have to make a new chimney and smoke box, besides it will add some ‘handmade character’ to the model! 😀

 

 

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4 hours ago, bhouse said:

Genius save there - the mark of a true craftsman/craftsgirl 👍👍

Thanks, but I’m guessing a true craftsman would have put the damned chimney on straight in the first place! 🤔

 

I really needed a bigger drill press, but I’m not sure even that would have helped. What I have learned is that its very difficult to drill a hole ‘square-on’ to a circular cylinder - if you take my meaning, 

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nice save on the not very good drilling operation.  I was wondering why you were hammering on about square, true, perpendicularity and accuracy when you had the smokebox in the vice at some weird angle?

 

3 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

I really needed a bigger drill press, but I’m not sure even that would have helped. What I have learned is that its very difficult to drill a hole ‘square-on’ to a circular cylinder - if you take my meaning, 

 

Probably would have been a lot easier to drill the hole when the wood was square then turn it in the lathe .

 

Did BB give you a good slap ?

 

 

9 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Once again I have somehow managed to accidentally post all of this before I intended to

 

you're not the only one - it seems to be a bug in the buggy software - I think it happens (randomly) when you scroll in that window

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1 hour ago, hendie said:

 

Probably would have been a lot easier to drill the hole when the wood was square then turn it in the lathe .

 

Yep - live and learn!

 

1 hour ago, hendie said:

 

Did BB give you a good slap ?

 

Always. 🙄

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I believe ships have funnels but locomotives have chimneys (as do dwellings and power stations) unless one is in America where both ships and locomotives can have stacks instead (think Howlin' Wolf and "Smokestack Lightnin'").

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Chassis

 

To be honest, I don't know if the big bit that sits under the main bit of a steam locomotive is actually called a 'chassis' but it might be and since I'm on the car modeller's forum here goes how BB and I roughed-out the 'chassis' last night.

 

Start with a bit of NZ white pine that's 30 mm thick - just a whisker under the 32mm gauge. This the ideal thickness for what we have in mind. One day I must get around to buying a 'thicknesser' for dealing with planks that aren't quite the right thickness, (or learning how to use a hand plane properly) but in the meantime I have had some uncanny good luck with the thickness of wood that I maintain in the factory inventory.

 

Anyway, It's all 'same ol - same ol' from here. Cut out the correct shaped pattern from the plans, spray some glue on and stick the plans in place...

iKtlV6n.jpg

 

use the bandsaw to cut out the rough shape...

bFbCWrI.jpg

 

But wait! What's this!?!?  A new weapon in the factory!  This is my new scroll-saw. An electric saw with an action very much like a sewing machine. It oscillates a fine wire-like blade up and down enabling us to cut very ornate shapes. Various blades can be fitted, but this particular one is shaped like a spiral and hence has cutting teeth in all directions. This means it can cut in any direction and can make abrupt 90 degree turns without any radius at all.  Excellent! 

vh2wvXd.jpg

 

I gave BB her safety briefing and off she went - cutting out the finer sticky out bits either end of the chassis. The bit she's working on here sticks out the front and a couple of buffers attach to it.

lluAfQj.jpg

 

She cleaned up and rounded off the cut with the bench sander...

82BEC0H.jpg

 

and then we had this...

qfSOZYl.jpg

 

Which looks OK on this length of track (that still needs to have its gauge adjusted).

X3e9PL5.jpg

 

We are getting there!

 

Bandsaw Steve.

 

 

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My my!    This does take me back in time.   Off to a wonderful start young lady.   Isn't it fun to already be able to see  the very thing you want to build coming into shape. 

 

I don't know much about steam engines but the flat, horizontal surface under the boiler is referred to as a plate or footplate (an extension of the platform the driver and fireman stand on) while the vertical "beams" under that, what your Dad referred to as the chassis, are the frames.  They hold up the boiler and the axles and wheels and everything else get nailed onto them.

 

This is riveting work!!

 

Frank

Edited by albergman
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On 8/27/2019 at 8:53 AM, Bandsaw Steve said:

One day I must get around to buying a 'thicknesser'

 

It makes bits of wood thicker ???  Shouldn't it be called a thinener... er... er ?

You'd never find that kind of confusing nomenclature in plastic modeling.

 

On 8/27/2019 at 8:53 AM, Bandsaw Steve said:

A new weapon in the factory! 

 

okay.  I'm jealous now.

 

 

On 8/27/2019 at 8:53 AM, Bandsaw Steve said:

This means it can cut in any direction and can make abrupt 90 degree turns

 

generally happens when I try to drill something.

 

 

Nice work BB - looking forward to the next time you upstage your dad!

 

 

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On 31/08/2019 at 06:27, hendie said:

 

It makes bits of wood thicker ???  Shouldn't it be called a thinener... er... er ?

 

 

 

Reminds me of the - allegedly true - story of the Irish underground mine services worker who turned to his mates and said ‘Pass me the pipe-lengthener’. When quizzed about what  on Earth a ‘pipe-lengthener’ was, he became somewhat agitated and annoyed with his obtuse mates, picked up a hacksaw, waved it in their faces and explained that this was a pipe-lengthener!

 

What else would you use to change the length of a pipe?!?! 😡

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  • 2 weeks later...

Neil's Wheels

 

This is going to be a short but critically important update. The wheel's have arrived!

 

Those of you that are familiar with my build of RMS Carpathia might recall that all of the lifeboats were 3D printed by a colleague of mine who has taken up 3D printing as a hobby.

 

Neil is his name and he's a freaking legend!  I would not have attempted this build if I did not think I could have some sort of assistance with the wheels, especially the big drive wheels.  I reckon BB and I could have roughed out some disks for the little ones, but the big ones...  Nahhhhhh… that was never going to happen.    

 

My plan all along was to get them 3D printed, either by Neil, or failing that Shapeways. Anyhow Neil came through - did I mention he's a freaking legend? I got a set of plans at 1/48 scale to him and a colour profile of a 'Hall class loco' that shows all of the details of the wheels and, just one week later, look what he had made! 

 

vZbFDRr.jpg

 

He not only printed these but had to make the 3D CAD pattern for each one himself.  Did I mention that Neil is a freaking legend?  :yahoo:

 

This is what the look like laid out against the 1/48 scale plan.  Perfect. 👍

 

3wA6g0t.jpg

 

And this is what they look like - very provisionally of course - laid out against the project to date. Wonky at this stage because there's no axles or bogies holding them in the correct position - but the idea is there.

 

s4noHfR.jpg

 

BB is absolutely thrilled with this and is raring to get some axels drilled into the frame to get this thing sitting on tracks.  I'm trying to persuade her to take up 3D printing as a hobby as she's pretty good with a computer.

 

Once again Neil - thanks for your help. Freaking legend mate!  :clap2:

 

Baby Bandsaw & Bandsaw Steve

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Nice.

There's a time and place for 3D printing and this is one of them

 

Q:  When it's all finished, is the structure going to be supported by the wheels ?  Or is there going to be something hidden underneath to support the weight ?

I'd recommend something underneath to take the weight off the wheels as there's no way to tell how the plastic will behave long term under any stress

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When you get around to installing the coupling and connecting rods for those superb wheels (yes, your colleague is a freakin' genius!) the nerdy loco spotters here (raises hand) (and that’s enough with the brackets already!) should explain the GWR traditionally built their locos so the right hand side driving wheels, when viewed from the cab, had the crankpin leading. 

 

In other words, the wheels on opposite sides of the loco were set with the crankpins at 90 degrees to each other, with the right side leading the left. If that doesn’t make sense, I’ll try to contrive a sketch diagram. Let me know, and I’ll try and remember how to use paper and pencil!

 

Those wheels look superb. This is really shaping up to be a lovely model. Go BB!

Edited by Heather Kay
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BS and BB - that's fantastic work.

It's great that you're giving your daughter such a good grounding on how stuff is made. I believe these skills are going to be increasingly important in future years.

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9 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

 

In other words, the wheels on opposite sides of the loco were set with the crankpins at 90 degrees to each other, with the right side leading the left. 

 

Got it thanks! Good info.

 

8 hours ago, bhouse said:

 

It's great that you're giving your daughter such a good grounding on how stuff is made. I believe these skills are going to be increasingly important in future years.

These will certainty be increasingly rare skills. Hopefully she will take away some sort of insight into how to plan and execute a project of this nature. Although at the moment she’s mostly learning the importance of reworking when things go wrong. 🤔

 

Still, that’s something...

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Tricky Bit

 

@albergman once wrote something to the effect that 'Steam locomotives are easy to model until you get to bit below the running board'.  How right he is... 😟

 

The technical trickiness of what we are attempting here has slowly been dawning on me, and it's actually fairly daunting.  What I had failed to appreciate is a certain amount of precision required in this build that is demanding some careful thought.  Consider the following:

  • All sixteen wheels will need to touch the rails!  With some subjects - tanks for example -  it's easy to just bodge your way around a wheel sitting too high and floating slightly above the ground, that cannot happen here. 
  • All of the wheels must be set to exactly the same gauge.  
  •  The level of the base of the tender will have be aligned with the footplate, otherwise there will be an obvious step between the two parts of the vehicle.
  • The entire thing will have sit perfectly level on the tracks.

Furthermore, some of the geometry, especially around the area where the running board and the driver's cabin meet is - when viewed in detail - really tricky.  BB, to her credit, is sticking with the project but keeps asking questions like 'what are we doing next?' or 'how do we do this bit?' and I'm starting to struggle to come up with the answers quickly so progress has slowed and consequently this is only a small update to let you know that the project is still alive.

 

The first thing is to ensure that any structure beneath the wheels is at the correct gauge so that at least the wheels have a chance of sitting on the track.  Fortunately I had a nice piece of flat plywood that was just thick enough that, when added to both sides of the frame set the wheels at a 30mm gauge. 2 mm too small I know, but the main thing is that it must be consistent across the whole length of the thing, including the tender. BB cut out these following shapes.

 

6FVbN0V.jpg

 

Which will sit between the frame and the wheels and thereby set all the wheels on a 30mm gauge.  

b4xSylR.jpg

 

She's looking a bit wonky at this point and I'm not sure if this is going to work or not, but here's where we are up to for better or for worse. 

aW7c6yG.jpg

 

There's been plenty of talking and head-scratching going on in the factory and this hasn't all been bad as BB has taken the chance to avail me of all of the gossip going on at school - lot's of scandal you know! Not for these pages! 😱

 

Hopefully the next post will have a bit more meat on it.

 

Thanks for checking in

Bandsaw Steve and Baby Bandsaw. 

 

 

 

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I wonder if it might be possible to engineer a slot for the axles so there’s some vertical movement. A simple wire bearing down on the axle will tend to push the thing down to overcome slight irregularities. Allow the axles sit at the top of the slot under perfect conditions with the weight of the model sitting in the wheels.

 

We railway modellers encounter exactly the same problems with the metal kits, and getting the main frames to sit level and true can be a most trying thing. It’s one of the various reasons I no longer accept loco commissions. Too much engineering and too many moving parts - as the stuff I build has to work in some way or another. 

Edited by Heather Kay
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7 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

engineer a slot for the axles so there’s some vertical movement.

Heather has suggested an excellent solution. Much better than mine which involved jigs, marking gauges, compasses and at least five hands...

 

Pleased to hear that you and BB are persevering!

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Steve and BB.    You two are taking me back in time as the task starts to sink in.    Truly, it does become tricky to assemble all the gubbins required (railway terminology) and still have the wheels meet the track.   My own two "scents" of advice here would be to tackle this most necessary requirement first.   To do that I'd suggest you set up a dummy bit of track ... maybe take a board and run it through a table saw to cut two shallow (1/4") slots at the correct width to replicate the rails.    Now just tack all the wheels to it with the right lengthwise spacing between them.   Now you have a jig with the wheels in their mandatory locations.    You might say these positions are non-negotiable.

 

You now of course have to decide how to fit the rest of the loco to this jig  but it's an easier dilemma.

 

Hope this is useful to you both.

 

Frank

 

 

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