I went along to ModelRial this year to test a few things and took my video camera,
Here is a video of the trains running at ModelRail this year on Swanview...
Some nice stuff on display!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V8MKw2wvQM
Thursday, December 1, 2011
My First Locomotive.
Like many others my first scratch built styrene model was a WAGR D class four wheeled open wagon.
This was promptly followed by a model of a R class open bogie wagon. Satisfied with the results of both models, I then moved on to something of greater interest to me, end loading long distance country AQS passenger cars.
Most scratch building projects require time to be spent on planning, making jigs and sometimes fabrcating items on a trial basis, etc. These tasks are not as non productive as they seam, as they help the modeller devise the simpler, easier and cheaper methods of building models. In order to get the most from this time it I decided to build a pair of AQS carriages.
As time progressed so did my skills and confidence in using styrene. By the time I had finished the carriages I was ready to build something to "pull 'em" with.
As far as steam locos were concerned the choice was easy - a Vclass. For me the V class epitomized what a modern narrow gauge railway steam locomotive was all about.
I was advised that the "Bachmann Plus" 2-8-0 consolidation locomotive [item 31401] was most suitable donor mechanism for a V class and that Murray Hartzer had previously built a Vclass in brass using the same donor mechanism.
I used a piece of 32mm diameter electrical conduit for the boiler. All the other parts, e.g. fire box, cab, running boards etc. were attached to the boiler. The boiler was attached to the donor mechanism in the same way as the original Bachmann body shell.
In the case of the tender, this was also constructed using sytrene, except for the brass sheet used to form the upper curved pannels of the coal bunker. "Rails West" components were used to detail the the model.
The model was primed with Holts brand red primer and top coated with a spray can of Colourbond brand Rivergum Green. Black letraset tape was used to line the tender and simulate the boiler bands.
A light coat of Wattyl brand Matt Estapol was applied to the model to dull the gloss of the paint and seal the Letraset tape. The model was then weathered using Art Spectrum brand soft pastels [chalk] and sealed with a second coat of Estapol.
A model of V class locomotive 1216.
Like many others my first scratch built styrene model was a WAGR D class four wheeled open wagon.
This was promptly followed by a model of a R class open bogie wagon. Satisfied with the results of both models, I then moved on to something of greater interest to me, end loading long distance country AQS passenger cars.
Most scratch building projects require time to be spent on planning, making jigs and sometimes fabrcating items on a trial basis, etc. These tasks are not as non productive as they seam, as they help the modeller devise the simpler, easier and cheaper methods of building models. In order to get the most from this time it I decided to build a pair of AQS carriages.
As time progressed so did my skills and confidence in using styrene. By the time I had finished the carriages I was ready to build something to "pull 'em" with.
As far as steam locos were concerned the choice was easy - a Vclass. For me the V class epitomized what a modern narrow gauge railway steam locomotive was all about.
I was advised that the "Bachmann Plus" 2-8-0 consolidation locomotive [item 31401] was most suitable donor mechanism for a V class and that Murray Hartzer had previously built a Vclass in brass using the same donor mechanism.
I used a piece of 32mm diameter electrical conduit for the boiler. All the other parts, e.g. fire box, cab, running boards etc. were attached to the boiler. The boiler was attached to the donor mechanism in the same way as the original Bachmann body shell.
In the case of the tender, this was also constructed using sytrene, except for the brass sheet used to form the upper curved pannels of the coal bunker. "Rails West" components were used to detail the the model.
The model was primed with Holts brand red primer and top coated with a spray can of Colourbond brand Rivergum Green. Black letraset tape was used to line the tender and simulate the boiler bands.
A light coat of Wattyl brand Matt Estapol was applied to the model to dull the gloss of the paint and seal the Letraset tape. The model was then weathered using Art Spectrum brand soft pastels [chalk] and sealed with a second coat of Estapol.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Kadee #262 Draft Gear Boxes for Whisker Couplers
I recently replaced the couplers on a model of an X class loco with Kadee #156 long-shank "Whisker" couplers, but it didn't work very well because the mounting hole for the draft gear box supplied with the Whisker couplers needs to be closer to the face of the buffer beam.
I contacted the Kadee company by e-mail to point out the discrepancy with the mounting holes, and they suggested I try the #262 draft gear box, which is designed to work with the range of "Whisker" couplers but has the same mounting hole dimensions as the older #5 and similar couplers.
I recently obtained some of the #156 draft gear boxes (20 to a pack, couplers not included) and have now completed the coupler conversion on the X class.
The #262 box has several useful features including:
* narrower than standard draft gear boxes which provides greater clearance for bogie swing on tightish curves,
* mounting hole is the same distance from the front face as standard draft gear boxes, so it is easy to fit or retrofit Whisker couplers to rolling stock designed for #5 couplers or similar,
* minimal vertical slop, so coupler height is more precise,
* snap-together design, so no gluing required.
If you are not familiar with Kadee Whisker couplers, these have very fine wire springs permanently attached to the coupler shank to provide centering, rather than the spring formerd from phosphor bronze sheet which is standard for #5 and similar couplers. The "Whisker" centering springs require less force to move the couplers sideways, so they work better with magnetic uncouplers, especially for delayed uncoupling.
Whisker couplers are easier to assemble as they don't require a separate centering spring, and the coupler boxes, either the supplied type (#242) or #262 type, snap together so the coupler stays together without gluing. Whisker couplers are available in both standard size heads (same as #5) and "scale" size heads, as well as several different shank lengths. For example, #158 has the "scale" head with the common, medium length shank, and #156 has the "scale" head with a long shank. The long shank couplers are particularly useful for WAGR steam and diesel locos with cowcatchers as they space adjacent wagons far enough away so the opposing "glad hand" does not get caught in the cowcatcher which can cause uncoupling or derailment.
Also, the rear of the draft gear box can be shortened by about 3 mm, without affecting operation, which is often useful to provide greater clearance for the front bogie of a steam loco, or for long bogie wagons or coaches. In these situations, there is an even smaller draft gear box, the #252, which can also be used.
The #252 and #262 draft gear boxes will not work with non-Whisker couplers, as there is insufficient room for the phosphor bronze centering spring. The #242 draft gear box will work with #5 and similar couplers, as well as with whisker couplers. Incidentally, the shanks on the Whisker couplers are slightly thicker so they are equivalent to a #5 shank plus the thickness of the #5 style phosphor bronze centering spring, which is why the #242 draft gear box will work with either style of coupler.
If you are a prolific wagon builder, it is also possible to buy the common Kadee couplers such as #158 in bulk packs of 50 or 100, without draft gear boxes, and buy the desired draft gear boxes separately. This actually works out cheaper than buying them 4 at a time.
I contacted the Kadee company by e-mail to point out the discrepancy with the mounting holes, and they suggested I try the #262 draft gear box, which is designed to work with the range of "Whisker" couplers but has the same mounting hole dimensions as the older #5 and similar couplers.
I recently obtained some of the #156 draft gear boxes (20 to a pack, couplers not included) and have now completed the coupler conversion on the X class.
The #262 box has several useful features including:
* narrower than standard draft gear boxes which provides greater clearance for bogie swing on tightish curves,
* mounting hole is the same distance from the front face as standard draft gear boxes, so it is easy to fit or retrofit Whisker couplers to rolling stock designed for #5 couplers or similar,
* minimal vertical slop, so coupler height is more precise,
* snap-together design, so no gluing required.
If you are not familiar with Kadee Whisker couplers, these have very fine wire springs permanently attached to the coupler shank to provide centering, rather than the spring formerd from phosphor bronze sheet which is standard for #5 and similar couplers. The "Whisker" centering springs require less force to move the couplers sideways, so they work better with magnetic uncouplers, especially for delayed uncoupling.
Whisker couplers are easier to assemble as they don't require a separate centering spring, and the coupler boxes, either the supplied type (#242) or #262 type, snap together so the coupler stays together without gluing. Whisker couplers are available in both standard size heads (same as #5) and "scale" size heads, as well as several different shank lengths. For example, #158 has the "scale" head with the common, medium length shank, and #156 has the "scale" head with a long shank. The long shank couplers are particularly useful for WAGR steam and diesel locos with cowcatchers as they space adjacent wagons far enough away so the opposing "glad hand" does not get caught in the cowcatcher which can cause uncoupling or derailment.
Also, the rear of the draft gear box can be shortened by about 3 mm, without affecting operation, which is often useful to provide greater clearance for the front bogie of a steam loco, or for long bogie wagons or coaches. In these situations, there is an even smaller draft gear box, the #252, which can also be used.
The #252 and #262 draft gear boxes will not work with non-Whisker couplers, as there is insufficient room for the phosphor bronze centering spring. The #242 draft gear box will work with #5 and similar couplers, as well as with whisker couplers. Incidentally, the shanks on the Whisker couplers are slightly thicker so they are equivalent to a #5 shank plus the thickness of the #5 style phosphor bronze centering spring, which is why the #242 draft gear box will work with either style of coupler.
If you are a prolific wagon builder, it is also possible to buy the common Kadee couplers such as #158 in bulk packs of 50 or 100, without draft gear boxes, and buy the desired draft gear boxes separately. This actually works out cheaper than buying them 4 at a time.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Rail Heritage WA Archive Photo Gallery
A link to the Rail Heritage WA photo collection is below, it has also been added to the links section.
http://www.railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/thumbnails.php?album=search&cat=0&page=3
http://www.railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/thumbnails.php?album=search&cat=0&page=3
Monday, October 31, 2011
G Class Kit Finished
Well its been three weeks and finally I put the finishing touches to my 4-6-0 Version of the WAGR G class. I chose G 123 and modelled it on the 1965 era, before it ventured into preservation/vintage train working at Bunbury. For at least 30 years of its life it was based at Busselton as the shunter there.
It is DCC and has operating headlights, with pickups on the tender as well. The tender is permanently coupled to the locomotive and has a complete cab floor. I have added additional weight to it where possible and weighs about 160g. It can pull on a flat level track approx 32 GE type wagons and a ZJ (non prototypical load).
Friday, October 14, 2011
Flettner Ventilators - AV426 Retrofit
Flettner Spinning Ventilators were one of the more modern fittings used by the WAGR for attempting to create an airflow through the roofs of coaching stock to assist with cooling during the summer period. The Picture below shows two vents on top of the real AV426
From a modelling point of view these ventilators are a very important part of producing a model which "looks the part" - in real life we only see these items from ground level, but with a model they are the first thing we see as we look down on our models from above.
From a modelling point of view these ventilators are a very important part of producing a model which "looks the part" - in real life we only see these items from ground level, but with a model they are the first thing we see as we look down on our models from above.Initially when I built a couple of coaches with these vents on the roof I opted for the easy and basic use of a slice of leftover Kadee coupler sprue which gave a good representation (as can be seen in the next picture) but that was all - I was happy with the result but I knew it could be better. 
After the show this year I started to produce the AZ kit (see elsewhere in blog) and decided it would be nice to be able to not only do the early version but also the later modernised versions which would need to have the Flettner Ventilators and lots of them - far too time consuming to make individually, and so I started down the path of producing a pattern for casting.
After the show this year I started to produce the AZ kit (see elsewhere in blog) and decided it would be nice to be able to not only do the early version but also the later modernised versions which would need to have the Flettner Ventilators and lots of them - far too time consuming to make individually, and so I started down the path of producing a pattern for casting.In S scale these vents are 3.75mm diameter and 2mm deep making them a very tiny and fiddly item to produce. After much cussing & time fiddling around, a pattern and mould was made enabling casting to begin.
And so I hereby present the WESTOZ MODELS - Flettner Ventilators.
The Picture above shows the vents on the roof of the AV dining car at the museum with the available 12pk of WESTOZ MODELS vents, and a much magnified view of the cast vent.
The Picture above shows the vents on the roof of the AV dining car at the museum with the available 12pk of WESTOZ MODELS vents, and a much magnified view of the cast vent.The view shows the bottom of the vent. Modellers need to gently sand the 'Top" of the casting to remove excess casting flash. This is best done using a fine sandpaper such as 400 wet and dry. "Care must be taken" to ensure an even sanding and not to heat up the vents with heat from fingers - as with any urethane casting they will bend with heat.
To show off these vents I figured I should retro fit one of my existing coaches and so AV426 was chosen - the pliers gotten out and the old vents twisted off the roof. Dont worry I cringed just as much as you probably did reading this, but it had to be done, even at the expense of potentially wrecking a perfectly good model. This next picture shows the old sprue vents removed from my AV dining car& the new Flettners in place and ready for painting
Cast onto the bottom of the vent is a flat raising tab which will lift the vent just off the roof surface to give the impression of it not sitting flat on the roof - Place a small dob of glue on this tab an locate on coach roof - allow to dry and then paint. 
The above picture and the one below show the finished refit of AV426 with the Flettner Ventilators - Now to do the rest of my coaches!
Cast onto the bottom of the vent is a flat raising tab which will lift the vent just off the roof surface to give the impression of it not sitting flat on the roof - Place a small dob of glue on this tab an locate on coach roof - allow to dry and then paint. The above picture and the one below show the finished refit of AV426 with the Flettner Ventilators - Now to do the rest of my coaches!As these vents were widely used on many different classes of coaches, hopefully they will make a very useful item for WAGR S scale modellers, enabling more coaches to be completed and "Look the Part" from above.
Monday, September 19, 2011
G Class Kit Progress
Recently I have been working on my G class locomotive 4-6-0 version. Being a combined brass/urethane kit I have had to brush up on my soldering skills. So far so good, the detailing on the tender is excellent, it took me about an hour to press the rivets out and only about half a day to put the tender together. SInce then the kit has slowly come together it has began to take shape. I have put the chasis together and so far it rolls freely when pushed along the track. I am in the process of wiring it up and then its onto the detail work of the boiler and cab fittings. Those of you who look carefully have seen my obvious mistake that I have encountered once fitting the cross head straps with the slide valves and the body of the smoke box door area, and will need to be rectified on the kit before I go any futher...
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