Hi, can anyone please help me out as, i want to get a an idea of the O/D of plastic tube to give me a start of which section i need from Eileen's Emporium; i DO!!, understand that, in the real world, sizes vary, but, need some place to start from, i have the motor bogie, Kato std type 11-103 and the chassis base, so, hope you can help me out................many thanks :)
Best regards and new year greetings to all........Tom...... :) ;) 8)
That must go with the "how long is a piece of string"-type questions.
All my locos are still packed away for Christmas at present otherwise I'd measure the boilers to give you some ideas. Perhaps some others may help?
This is one of the pitfalls of designing one's own locos. Are you proposing a big loco ('main line' type) or a small industrial type? The size of boiler will very accordingly. But it's fair to say, small loco boilers for 2 foot or thereabouts gauge would be 2 foot to 2 foot six inches diameter external as a maximum. Larger locos would have larger, but not much, boilers, extra volume usually being provided by extra length. If you must build a freelance loco the best thing you can do is look at lots of photographs of prototype locos and design something appropriate based on them allowing for the constraints of the chassis you have opted for. It may transpire that you end up wanting a different sized and shaped chassis when you look at prototypes.
Andrew Neale's Hunslet Narrow Gauge Locomotives:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunslet-Narrow-Gauge-Locomotives-Andrew/dp/1871980283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452028658&sr=8-1&keywords=hunslet+narrow+gauge+locomotives (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunslet-Narrow-Gauge-Locomotives-Andrew/dp/1871980283/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452028658&sr=8-1&keywords=hunslet+narrow+gauge+locomotives)
gives plenty of dimensions but unfortunately not boiler diameter. Pound for pound though it is a good source of inspiration. Nearly every one of the 60-odd pages is a "side elevation" photograph with a good list of vital statistics on the lower half of the page.
As you have the chassis, how about trying various pencils, pens and other cylindrical items against it and decide what looks good?
A standard size hypodermic syringe is a suitable diameter for a "typical" narrow gauge loco. I've made a couple using sections of these and nobody has complained so far so they must look acceptable!
Mick
Thanks all, my main problem is that our local model shop is rather short on any plastic tube of an O/D say around 1/4 of an inch and, seeing that as you all say is rather an open question, i really could do with a starting point as such; no, no mail line locos, but, if you look at the Southwold locos which for its line could be considered main line for their, i am NOT!!, thinking Garrets, to big and not the sort of thing for me any ways :laugh: :).
I like my locomotives to be small to mid size and that will do me fine thank you ;) :) ; i have an old hypo from the vets which is not required now, so, i guess i could take measurements from that and work from there onwards :-\ :).....
Many thanks and best to all.......................Tom......... :) ;) 8)
You can get styrene tubing from Evergreen --- they do a very extensive range. First take a look at the Evergreen styrene website to decide what size you need , Note that some of the tubes interlock -- very useful for smokebox wrappers ---it's easily cut with a razor saw and mitre block and easily cememented with EMA Plastic Weld.
I usually buy my Evergreen styrene from Transport Models of Preston they are on eBay as "kitlady" --- highly recommended for fast safe delivery ,
Garry
A very, very rough and unreliable empirical relationship from eyeballing photographs is that the boiler diameter is on a par with the driver wheel diameter and track gauge. You might assume the firebox outer is about the same diameter as the boiler and that it fits between the frames. The firebox outer might be straight sided inverted U shape or somewhat keyhole shaped. I'm not sure if Belpaire (box-shaped) fireboxes are found on small NG locos.
Try a Google image search for "narrow gauge locomotive smoke box". That should give a few front views. Assume the smoke box is the same diameter as the boiler or a bit bigger.
Just holding them against a chassis, the felt-tip pen on my desk at 10 mm diameter looks decidedly chunky and the 6 mm knitting needles my wife is using looks quite petite as a boiler. You could also roll up some stout paper to try different diameters before you choose your plastic pipe. You could hack up some cereal box cardboard to try out some rough cab and tank designs. I'm not sure if it is just me, but cylinders look a little bit slimmer in reality compared to sketching a side elevation. I guess boxy-shapes look chunkier as you rotate them because you see two sides but a cylinder is the same "thickness" all round.
FYI the Minitrains Baldwin boiler is 11.42mm diameter and the Kraus is 9.13mm.
Based purely on what is in the clutter on my desk in front of me at the moment, a Minitrix N gauge dock tank has a smokebox diameter of approx 10mm with the boiler probably around 1mm less. A Papermate grey biro, of the type that WH Smiths sell in packets of 6 for around
At one time there was a rash of cheap plastic vernier calipers being sent out by suppliers as freebies and I picked up a few pairs at work. They are available on eBay and next to no cost, e.g.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pc-PLASTIC-VERNIER-CALIPER-Measuring-Tool-Gauge-6/200617758845?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D7fe5ca8121164e0fbbf8653c1a189c92%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191075066276 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pc-PLASTIC-VERNIER-CALIPER-Measuring-Tool-Gauge-6/200617758845?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D7fe5ca8121164e0fbbf8653c1a189c92%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191075066276)
It is well worth have some for rough and ready measurements where you don't want to be worried about losing or ruining a better pair. (Also the plastic is less likely to scratch paintwork than a metal pair.)
GraemeD,
Now that is nice to know and, yes, i shall get a pair, nice one my friend..........
Very best regards.......Tom...... :) ;) 8)
My Mk I eyeball needs re-calibration...
I measured a few locos and I was rather underestimating the sizes:
Bachmann "Skarloey" (smokebox diameter) 12.5 mm
Brian Clarke baby Peckett (my first locomotive) 7 mm (a very small loco)
Microtrains Stainz 9 mm
Microtrains Brigadelok 10 mm
Thanks guys,
BTW, just a quick one, any one give me the dimensions of the V of R bogie coaches as, i can not find anything on the net and, i do not want to spend on a book for measurements that, i only need for a idea of a project i have in my mind's eye as such; these points will help me for getting some of the chassis from Parkside Dundas @
Quote from: GraemeD on January 06, 2016, 12:18
At one time there was a rash of cheap plastic vernier calipers being sent out by suppliers as freebies and I picked up a few pairs at work. They are available on eBay and next to no cost, e.g.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pc-PLASTIC-VERNIER-CALIPER-Measuring-Tool-Gauge-6/200617758845?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D7fe5ca8121164e0fbbf8653c1a189c92%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191075066276 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pc-PLASTIC-VERNIER-CALIPER-Measuring-Tool-Gauge-6/200617758845?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D7fe5ca8121164e0fbbf8653c1a189c92%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191075066276)
It is well worth have some for rough and ready measurements where you don't want to be worried about losing or ruining a better pair. (Also the plastic is less likely to scratch paintwork than a metal pair.)
Or perhaps a digital version for
Quote from: Tom Fisher on January 07, 2016, 15:22
Thanks guys,
BTW, just a quick one, any one give me the dimensions of the V of R bogie coaches as, i can not find anything on the net and, i do not want to spend on a book for measurements that, i only need for a idea of a project i have in my mind's eye as such; these points will help me for getting some of the chassis from Parkside Dundas @
Elmgate :),
Thanks for the information re- dimensions, using these and some idea i have, i can plan my coaching stock project; am waiting for Dundas to send me the stock OK so as to pay via PayPal as per their instructions, hope they won't be TOO long in confirming stock and as some items i ordered a little time back took some time to get them, not a problem as such, but, how often do they replenish there own stock levels :-\ :-\, just wondering ::) ;)............
Sp thanks and very best and will post on this project separate later on, till then best regards to all.......Tom....... :) ;) 8)