Right so I thought I would pluck up the courage and put up a thread about my first attempt at my own loco.
So....
This is the first locomotive for the Suffolk County Railway. Its built around one of the older Graham Farish Class 08 chassis with inside frames and a 1.8mm acrylic footplate plus a Hornby Smokey Joe shell.
I had the acrylic cut at work to the scale equivalent of 19ft by 6ft 6 so I am guessing it would scale out as a smaller engine for a 2ft 3" gauge line
This was after I had cut out some of the Hornby bodywork to get a bit closer to the size of the footplate. I have now cut down the cab sides so that it no longer hangs over the footplate.
Ross,
Your photos are WAY too big - even on full screen they still need to be scrolled sideways in order to get all the image, which even then cannot be seen as one full image.
Normal convention for forums is 800 x 600 maximum.
Can you resize your images and upload them again please as I am sure that many will be interested in seeing your loco properly.
Thanks
Mick
Sorry, didnt realise they had come out so huge, I have edited them and reposted it!
Ross - I believe we have been in touch over this. I see you have cut away the space between the tank and the cab. The shortened body suits the chassis and wheel diameter. If you cut down the cab sides I expect that will have improved as well. However you will need a rear bunker now, since the side bunkers have gone.
It's not a bad body shell to use for a bash, with plenty of nice detail.
Let us know how you get on!
*
The use of "Smokey Joe" bodies (modified for length and height as appropriate) for modelling other than in 4mm scale standard gauge has a long and interesting history.
1. Many years ago they were popular with O16.5 narrow gauge modellers. The chassis were also used to limited effect.
2. Ted Polet used one for a loco in "OO9" very successfully (as above).
3. In the 1990's I used one (and the chassis) for freelance Hunslet in 1:34 scale.
4. And several modellers including myself have used the body as the basis of a loco in "O9".
5. I also believe that the body has been used for 3ft gauge models in 1:55 scale.
This is, therefore, a very versatile product that with imagination, determination, and artifice (not to mention a little skill) can be the starting point for a variety of modelling options in a considerable number of scales. It is the boiler/saddle tank and smokebox that are particularly useful. Cabs can usually be scratch built with relative ease.
When I built my "O9" loco I very considerably shortened the length of the saddle tank and I would suggest that this would also be appropriate for use in "OO9".
CP
Quote from: tedp on September 07, 2014, 10:29
Ross - I believe we have been in touch over this....
Let us know how you get on!
Yes Ted, this is the same locomotive we were discussing, I decided to bite the bullet and be brave and give it a bit of exposure to the world.
Quote from: cp.409067 on September 07, 2014, 13:30
The use of "Smokey Joe" bodies (modified for length and height as appropriate) for modelling other than in 4mm scale standard gauge has a long and interesting history.
2. Ted Polet used one for a loco in "OO9" very successfully (as above).
This is, therefore, a very versatile product that with imagination, determination, and artifice (not to mention a little skill) can be the starting point for a variety of modelling options in a considerable number of scales. It is the boiler/saddle tank and smokebox that are particularly useful. Cabs can usually be scratch built with relative ease.
When I built my "O9" loco I very considerably shortened the length of the saddle tank and I would suggest that this would also be appropriate for use in "OO9".
CP
It's actually Ted's loco that gave me the idea of modifying mine. As I was discussing with Ted before, the boiler backhead on the molding is actually very detailed (especially considering a brand new one can be had for under
So this is how far I have got with it...
As you can see, it actually has ended up even shorter now to fit better on the footplate. Not sure if it will work as an 0-6-4T as the bogie takes up pretty much all the space behind the driving wheels. I might end up making it an 0-6-2T as I think that would work better.
I have fitted some plasticard to hide the 08 chassis block and closed off the bottom of the saddle tank which Hornby haven't! Not sure how well it shows up but I have fitted two layers of .040" to the cabsides to give the effect of waisted cabsides. The bunker is made of a piece of 14mm high, 5mm thick acrylic the full width of the footplate.
Opinions and feedback as to ways to improve the "wee beast" are most welcome!
The idea of using a solid piece of acrylic for the bunker looks OK to me. But I would replace the bogie by a two-wheel truck. You're freelancing, so the key to the end result is whether it looks right. A bogie doesn't look right to me.
Another thing is the styrene parts you use to build up the cab and the space under the tank. It works best to measure them accurately and cut them straight and square before fitting. The other way round which I think you are doing is to trim them to shape once they're in place, but in my experience that doesn't work so well. Make up the styrene pieces as if you were making your own styrene kit. Use a ruler and a sharp knife, cut the surface of the styrene, then bend it so it breaks along the cut. Trim using a fine Swiss file.
When I built my first locomotives I used 1mm ply and card, and I also went about it as if I was making my own construction kit. That was after several failures due to inaccurate cutting.
One more thing - if you aren't yet sure about making curved cab side cut-outs, make them straight. Here is a photo of my oldest scratchbuilt locomotive (http://www.009dutch.nl/cdr/main/foto/motivepower/loco/pict0366.jpg). I made square cab cut-outs as well.
You are right Ted, once I had it sat together I was just looking at it sat on the track and it just didn't work to me. I will have to find a pony truck for it now I think!
I did cut the styrene from the edge of the sheet using my scalpels and a steel straight edge but it was done with "best guess" measuring as we don't have anything in the house that will do very accurate measurements -the only things we have is either a extendable tape measure or a clear plastic non-shatter ruler!
I measured the gaps I had and then cut things very slightly over size to allow me to trim them down and allow a little room for error. I didn't actually try to do the cab cutouts - the cab side and the part connecting to the Smokey Joe roof is actually deliberately narrower than the section that I glued on over the top to make the stepped cab side effect in order to make it look like there is a cab cut-out.
Oddly, the cab roof on my model is actually not straight - it actually has a slight upward angle to it that I didn't want to try and correct as I was worried I might break the roof off. I suppose I could always trim it to just behind the moulded rib in the centre of the roof and that would make the upward tilt less obvious.