Forthcoming products (Commercial)

[Chris Veitch]

I had a discussion with Tom about this. I think it is probably possible, but may take a bit of serious micro-engineering. The rod for the disc is 0.7mm brass and I speculated that it could be replaced with a hypodermic syringe blank (I think a firm used to sell these through an advert in MRJ). The fibre cold go up that and you could drill the lenses out and replace them with tiny lengths of something like acrylic rod.

The pattern isn't the same as a finished lamp - the base that you see is just to mount it in the milling machine and the castings will just have a short boss with a starter hole to take the 0.7mm drill. It could be drilled out for a grain of wheat but you'd have the problem of wiring the two poles and mounting the lamp on top of the syringe tube without the benefit of the boss.

I'm sure someone will do it - somehow...

Regards,

Chris

[Graeme Dunbar]

Just a thought but it might just be possible to make the optical fibre the rod by using stiff plastic and painting it. It could be a trade off between stiffness and brittleness.

It would be fiddly, but the lenses and optical coupling to the end of the fibre might be formed by drilling out and filling the cavity with epoxy resin or possibly even a PVA or acrylic varnish that dries nice and clear.

[invercloy]

Just a thought but it might just be possible to make the optical fibre the rod by using stiff plastic and painting it. It could be a trade off between stiffness and brittleness.

It would be fiddly, but the lenses and optical coupling to the end of the fibre might be formed by drilling out and filling the cavity with epoxy resin or possibly even a PVA or acrylic varnish that dries nice and clear.

That's pretty much what I had in mind, Graeme.  When they're available i'll be having a go at that.  I'd not thought of using epoxy resin to fill the cavity in the lamp, that's a good idea!  ;)

[Isle of Stoner]

Blimey! I was just thinking simple stuff as usual...

[Chris Veitch]

I've attached a quick-and-not-very-good photo of the first pre-production etch for my new FR carriage 119/120 kit - just to assure everyone I'm actually making progress with this one. Hopefully I should be able to get one built before Christmas and give you a better idea of how it goes together. Until then, see if you can work out which bit is which? I'll be doing the same...

Regards,

Chris

[Chris Veitch]

Here a couple of photos of the first test etch for my new FR119/120 carriage kit. Yes, can't digital cameras do really cruel enlargements well?

The underframe isn't shown as there are quite a few tweaks needed to get this right so it'll need at least one more test etch.

Regards

Chris

[Chris Veitch]

My new FR carriage kit is fairly long by 009 standards so I've given some thought to coupler mountings and adapting these to suit various couplers and radii. The photos below show some of the variants possible, set up on a kit from the current test etch.

First is the bogie with the provided extension to fit a Liliput/Bemo style coupler. The extension bar is screwed into a projection from the bogie as the coupling won't fit through the shallow slot in the top of the headstock. If you don't want to use this method, there are half-etched lines on the inside of the headstock to allow the centre section to be cut out and the coupler and/or bar to be permanently attached to the bogies. You can just see the end of the 12BA screw which has been cut off flush with the surface of the bogie extension, just between the wheels. The 10BA nut on the left if on the bogie pivot screw - this has two nuts (the other one is a captive nut soldered onto the floor under the bogie cover plate) and the second one which you can see on the top is a locknut to allow the builder to adjust the amount of vertical bogie play and then lock the pivot screw in place.



The second photo shows the inverted bogie with the coupler bar screwed into the bogie extension. The coupler bar can be mounted above or below the bogie extension and can be installed with the channel on the top or bottom to suit whichever type of the coupler you're using. Both the bogie extension and coupler bar have a number of half-etched holes to allow a wide variety of spacings. The coupler bar can also be mounted direct to the end of the carriage floor if desired. The photo shows the bogie with one of my new lost wax brass bogie side castings attached.



This is a Greenwich coupler mounted directly on the carriage floor. This can be made to pivot although it isn't set up for that here.



This is a Greenwich coupler set up on the extension bar. This is probably the most discreet and effective installation and when mounted like this, the coupler has exactly the 6.0mm height above rail recommended. The kit has full corridor connection and fallplate detail but the builder will have to select how much of this to install based on their required coupling arrangements and what sort of radius curve they need the carriages to traverse. The headstock has a half-etch on the inside which can be cut away to allow a much wide degree of pivot than shown here.



I hope to post a few more photos of the current test as construction progresses.

Regards,

Chris

[Chris Veitch]

Here are a couple of photos of the test of my new 009 FR disc signal kit with its lamp and base castings in position. (I'm sure I posted a message on this forum about this, but I've lost it......)






Hopefully the production castings should be here in a couple of weeks and I can get the costings done, set a price and start to churn out some kits for sale.

Regards,

Chris

[Isle of Stoner]

Looks great. Can't wait. Spent the morning filming Spooner's Boat in action. Great Fun. Surf along to Youtube and have a look. Its off to NRM for bit and this is the video to go with it but I've posted it as an add. The prototype for the signal pops up a couple of times too.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jP7uTC6FIc

[Chris Veitch]

At last - the disc signal kit is now available. Details are on my website at http://www.chrisveitch.co.uk/009kits.htm. Please don't forget postage if you're ordering, details are at http://www.chrisveitch.co.uk/order.htm.

Regards,

Chris

[rhydddu009]

Picked one up at port fr shop. Looks fantastic!

[jaymzhatstand]

How goes the development of 119/120 going?  And are there any plans for the next additions once it's available?

J

[Chris Veitch]

How goes the development of 119/120 going?  And are there any plans for the next additions once it's available?

J

J,

To be honest, it slowed down a bit due to various domestic pressures, holidays, spending a weekend milling a new set of crosshead slippers for Linda (the real one, not a kit), etc. It probably won't speed up for a few weeks as I'm off to Boston Lodge to do a bit more work on the old girl early next month. Well, you do want to see her back in traffic, don't you..? ;-)

Seriously though, I did have a few "Doh!" moments when building the last test, so there's going to be at least one more before it goes into production. And yes, I do have plans to do some (or all, if I get the time) of the newer FR coaches. Once this one is done the other later coaches shouldn't be too different. I've made the floor/chassis assembly of this one quite a bit more sophisticated than the one I did for 104/6 so this should hopefully carry over to the others, and the roof moulding is either common or similar to several coaches. I'm intending to do lost wax brake pipes, electrical connections and roof vents so these should be common too.

The only thing that concerns me about doing this and other FR coaches is the demand, of which I'm not certain - they're only 20-odd years old and I'm not really sure how many modellers want one, despite most 009ers probably having travelled in one.

Incidentally, since the ad for the signal appeared I've been surprised to find that I'm getting a few orders for the number plates as well. These are basically produced as a filler on the signal etch to use up the small corners so they're in fairly limited supply - if anyone wants a set, I'd suggest ordering sooner rather than later! (Reminds self to update website to cover the number plates...)

Regards,

Chris

[rhydddu009]

I guess the problem is the availability of the worsley works basic kits. Perhaps a model of 103 the new super barn would be worthwhile given Allen doesn't do that one. ?? Colin

[nigelk]

The new coach looks excellent, I have one of your 104/6 kits to build soon & have been most impressed with the thought that has gone into it. The resin roof will be a great item in itself, speaking as one who is midway thro a coach 100 & struggling a bit with the roof contours. I look forward to seeing the kit on sale (Linda permitting!) :)

Thinking about sales potential, wouldn't an obs car (eg 102) be the most marketable as the most recognisable FR tin car, the others being essentially just "variations on a theme" (except to we cogniscenti, obviously?  ;))