News items
New Power Bogie
Designed as a replacement for a Tenshodo and based on the unit used in the Brush BE below, these power units will fit in the space allowed for a Tenshodo and can be built to gauges 12mm or wider. Rather than a range of wheelbases that are not quite what's needed for a particular loco, I can make them to order for any wheelbase from 24.5 - 35mm.
They have 13:1 gearing and an N20 motor and come RTR, see the motor bogie page for more details.
New RTR loco
Brush Battery Electric
This was seen trundling around at Tracks to the Trenches last year. Henrik Laurel kindly drew the body in 3D for printing and it comes out fine on my Photon.
Now available as RTR in primer with one of the power bogies shown below.
See Loco and Chassis Kits for details.
New Power Bogies
I built these when I was making something to fit under a friend's 4mm tram, the left one is 14mm and the right is 16.5mm, both are 26mm wheelbase. I built two because I wasn't listening when he told me the gauge and I built 16,5mm when he wanted 14mm so had to build a second one.
The motor is a 12v N20 (10/15) with my 13:1 gears at both ends and 9.5mm wheels. It runs fine but a bit fast, similar to a Tenshodo. There was no room to get a 2 stage gearbox in which was why I tried direct gearing rather than my usual O ring drive. If you look carefully you can see that the left one has a reduced width to fit the 14mm gauge wheels but is full width around the motor.
This is a good unit when space is limited and I can draw the chassis to any shape required, with wheelbases from 26mm upwards in gauges 12mm or wider. I can do 24mm w/bbut only in 16.5mm or wider as the wheels would clash with the motor. The main advantage of these over a Tenshodo is that they use brass axle bushes and metal gears so no undue wear or gear splitting.
These will be cheaper than the 2 stage type and are a lot easier to put together, a kit is £35 and RTR £50, if its a new drawing I will have to build the first and it would be RTR only but later examples can be kits. Wheels can be 8.5, 9.5 or 10.5mm but I wouldn't recommend 12 or 14mm wheels as it would go like a rocket and be under powered.
These will be added to the general sales list as I make them for specific prototypes. I am also working on a range of direct Tenshodo replacements, the same size and shape but slower and with metal gears and axle bushes.
Hornblocks and bearings
Two all new items for kit and scratch builders, roller bearing hornblocks and bracket bearings. They assemble from a folding etch with a 2mm bore ball race which is held in tiny fingers and araldited in place. The left one in each picture is the bracket bearing, suitable for motorised accessories or any loco with a motor mounted remotely from the gearbox and needing a bearing. The size is 11 x 6mm and depth 2.4mm, the holes are 1.2mm spaced at 8mm. The hornblocks are on the right and fit straight into standard 6mm frame cutouts, a guide is supplied for either functional or cosmetic use. There is a fold up tag to set the height in the frame cutout and/or limit the travel as may be required. Both use 5 x 2mm double shielded ball races with a 2mm bore and have vastly less friction than a similar sized bush with no need to lubricate ever.
When fitting, the axle must be a push fit through the bearings and is locked in place with a tiny spot of bearing lock when positioned. If the axle is a bit tight, it can be eased by spinning in a drill or lathe and fine abrasive paper used to reduce the diameter a fraction. I an now fitting these ball races in my motor bogies as standard and they greatly improve performance.
Supplied in pairs of either type at £4.00 for 2mm axles only and yes I can supply spare bearings if needed.
Controller Issues
I have recently had some failures of the small motors used in my Universal Power Bogie, this motor is a Chinese 11/8 can motor. I have sold well over 50 of these as kits and RTR and have had to replace 2 motors for customers and 3 for myself. A customer asked if the controller might be an issue so I ran his repaired chassis 6 times up and down my 6ft test track using my pulse width modulated controller, it ran well and got a bit warm. I then repeated it with my Gaugemaster type D and it didn't run as well and got quite hot.
I called Gaugemaster to discuss this and was told that all Gaugemasters are only half rectified and have no inbuilt power restrictions, this gives a raw output that small motors don't like, the larger ones can cope as they are a bigger heat sink but it will probably still shorten their life. When the motor gets hot, which it will do on half rectified power, it will keep getting hotter until it burns out and there are no power limiters to stop this. This was a bit of a surprise as I thought the problem was the Chinese motor suppliers lack of quality control when it looks like it was my Gaugemaster all the time.
Therefore I cannot recommend my smallest motors for use with Gaugemasters or any other half rectified controller. I have done some research and found that PWM controllers should heat motors more than plain rectified one but half rectified controllers heat them even more. Suitable controllers are any controller using full rectification which includes the Hornby R965, HM200, the Tech4 range, most H&Ms with the wave switch in the full position and any make of hand held unit so long as it is supplied from a fully rectified DC supply, not from AC as then the inbuilt half wave rectifier will take over.
Sorry for this but I have no say in how manufacturers design their controllers. If you have a controller that you are unsure about, ask the manufacturer, if it uses full rectification it will be fine, if its a hand held, use a fully rectified DC supply, if its an old one that's no longer made, ask others on forums, try Google or ask me.
Can you tell what it is yet?
This is the test build of my latest kit but can you tell what it is? A few clues; Its smaller than a Wren, its not British and no-one has requested it, this is on my wants list. I hope others will want one or I will end up with more than I bargained for.
I was hoping to have it ready for Burton in June but I'm not sure I will make that deadline, the test build will be on display though.
If you know what it is, answers on a postcard to .... just email, its a lot easier. The first few correct answers will get a selection of my small bits in the post.
No correct answers as of 30th March so I've added the latest pictures which look more like it should. Dimensions of the finished loco are length 75mm, height 55mm and width 36mm, it runs on 10.5mm wheels. There were 14 of the prototypes built, all for one major job.
9-4-2019 - 3 people came up with the correct answer, a Franco Belge 0-4-0WT as used to build the Panana Canal. I thought more people would have got it as there was an article in NG&IR and Paul Berntsen built one a little later which was also in NG&IR. The test build is on hold at the moment, too much other stuff to get finished including the masters for the 1/35th scale Peckett.
If you want a Franco Belge, email and I will start a list. Completion is likely to be July/August this year. It is compensated, comes with a jig for assembling the axles and cranks, the valve gear will hopefully look like its working and it will be available for 12 to 16.5mm gauges, 10.5 & 9mm on request. The 14mm version is close to scale and all narrower gauges are achieved by moving the wheels closer together, the 16.5mm one though needs wider frames. This just looks silly as the gap between the boiler and cylinders is too wide. The solution is a larger boiler on the 16.5mm version only which fills the gap without upsetting the looks too much. Both boilers are in the kit as supplied. It can be built with or without the canopy type roof.
Never say never, a lesson learnt
I have told many people that I might get round to doing a kit for Hunslet WD 4-6-0 but never a Baldwin as I don't like them and didn't think they would pay their way. Then I got a call from an American called Dylan Lambert who wanted a Bachmann chassis converted to go under a 3D printed Baldwin body. I was interested to see the body and duly stripped all the running gear off the Bachmann chassis and reinstalled it on one I 3D printed to fit his body. It was a success but didn't look right so we got into discussions about how to improve the body with a view to turning it into a kit. Below are 2 shots of the finished Bachmann chassis bash.
We decided that 2 versions would be required, a 2-6-2 for the US market and a 4-6-0 for WD modelers, fortunately the 2 used common parts for most body bits and I spent some time locating the differences. Dylan extended the rather short boiler and tanks and added all the rivet detail and beading. The chunky panels were slimmed down a bit and we decided that there would have to be 2 boilers as the fittings are different and 2 footplates as the 4-6-0 cab sits 13 inches further forward. The body will be printed in sections which will be used as masters for resin castings, these include boiler, tanks, cab, bunker, cab footplate and roof which are glued together and detailed with brass castings and wire etc. There are slots for Kadee couplings and room for weight, DCC and sound. Below are two 3D renderings of the 4-6-0 showing the detail so far.
Meanwhile I have been working on the frame design. It turns out that the only common parts on the chassis are cylinders and wheels, everything else was bespoke for each one. The sketch shows the frame layers and overlays which will be 1.2mm thick when assembled. They will be buildable to 16.5, 14 or 12mm but the 12mm option may need a different gearbox as my geared motors won't fit between frames that thick. There will be even more overlays for the spring and compensation lever detail which is prominent on the prototype.
Its early days yet but I am hoping to get this project finished this year and the final product will be a full kit of either the 10-12-D 4-6-0 or the 10-12 1/4-D 2-6-2 in 12, 14 or 16.5mm gauges. Anyone know who chose to give the 2-6-2 a model number as silly as 10-12 1/4-D?
July 2019
Due to the sudden release of Bachmann's 2-6-2 Baldwin, mine will be on hold until I see how the Bachmann one does. Its a nice looking model but has no valve gear, is very expensive and is 1/4" scale. The Americans will buy it but it might not be so popular in Europe except for those modelling in 1/4" scale. The 4-6-0 will go ahead later this year when I have the time.
Sorry to anyone hoping for a US style bar frame 2-6-2 chassis, with or without the body parts, but it would be pointless to go ahead with it as sales would be poor. I might revisit the matter later if there is demand.
Other scales
Barclay E class chassis
It has been pointed out to me that my Barclay chassis which is 7mm or 1:43 scale will actually make quite a good chassis for an O&K tank loco or similar in 1:35 scale. Well, I didn't see that one coming but in 16.5mm form it certainly will. I will have to try it myself.
Smallbrook ETNA
I bought an unknown vertical boiler loco body thought to be 1/35th scale on Ebay, it turned out to be a 7mm scale ETNA by Smallbrook Studios. Rather than use a Smokey Joe chassis, I printed one to fit and used my larger geared motor, 16mm spoked wheels and rods and cranks borrowed from one of my Pecketts. The result was surprisingly good, except that its more suited to 1/35th or 1/32nd scale. Its sort of an adaption of a De Winton but much bigger to fit the Hornby chassis.
If anyone has an Etna that they would like to use for whatever scale but need a better chassis, I can build these to order. You get Scalelink 16mm spokedwheels and around 140:1 gearing with an N20 motor. The drive is smooth and silent and very good at slow speeds. Email for a price.
New itemsFor Sale
Bagnall P51 4WPM
This is a print from Tom Bell of Teebee models from Shapeways for which I printed a chassis for 14mm. Its not wide enough for 16.5mm so can only be gauged from 14 to 12mm but I can make achassis for 10.5 or 9mm if required.
Cost in any gauge is £90 as the loco is fairly large and the print is around £36 on its own.
Paint not included.
18hp Ruston Hornsby 4WPM
These are 2 prints that Teebee models were selling in 5.5mm scale, so I asked Tom nicely and he made them available in 7mm. As they are scaled up from a smaller drawing they are not as detailed as some others but the body shape and finish is good. The floor and gearbox top were missing from the print so I incorporated these into the chassis.
Due to a quirk of printing and pricing at Shapeways, the open cab version comes out dearer than the one with the cab but I will do them both at the same price of £90 complete. The standard chassis can be gauged from 16.5 to 12mm and I can make specials for 10.5 or 9mm.
The couplings are a hangover from 5.5mm scale and most of us would cut them off and replace them with something more suitable.
Paint not included.
Cast ironfence posts
I added these to an etch for a friend who wanted 180 and I now have a lot spare. They were designed to be used double thickness with wire passed through the holes to create a fence, used double I have enough for 166 posts. They are 0.8mm wide so double are 0.8mm square, height above ground 13.5mm.
5 posts (10 etches) for £1.00
New gears, pulleys and wheels
These have finally arrived from China and they have surpassed my expectations.
The gears are so well cut that they need no running in and just work perfectly from first fitting. They are 0.4 module 13:1 ratio, the gear is small enough to use with 8.5mm wheels and the worm is actually 2mm longer than the ones in the picture, they were a test sample. Both have 2mm tight push fit bores to suit my power bogies where they will be standard fitting from now on.
The wheels are 10,5mm blackened steel but still conduct electricity, on turned plastic bushes with 2mm brass pin point, brass blind or steel blind axles. They are supplied loose so that I can choose the axle and they push on dead square every time, unlike some plastic centered wheels I have had to use lately. They are also perfectly concentric as they are CNC machined. I have these wheels in 12 and 14mm now at the same price.
The pulleys are much as my previous ones, no real changes there. The large one is bored 2mm and the small one 1mm, ratio around 2.8:1.
All these are available separately, a gear set £3.50, 2 pulleys with 2 O rings £2.50 and wheels £2.50 per axle.
The bottom picture shows the new wheels at the back, my previous ones in the middle and Gibsons at the front for comparison.
WEP Soldering Station
Found by chance while looking for something else on Chinese websites. It turns out to be the best iron I have ever owned, mine has been in use for over a year now and I still can't fault it.
Its variable from 90 to 420 degrees with a temperature lock switch to avoid accidental adjustment, has the fastest warm up time I have ever seen, 0 to 360 degrees in around 20 seconds, It also does not loose temperature when soldering, even on a large piece with the biggest bit.
It comes with a sponge tip wiper, a brass shavings tip cleaner, a solder reel support (not shown), 5 assorted bits and has a sleep function that lowers the temperature after 10 minutes of inactivity. Extra spare bits are universal to most Chinese irons and come in packs of 11.
I have sold several now and highly recommend them. The irons come from a European warehouse so supplies are quick but the bits come from China and can take a month to arrive so I try to keep a few packs in stock.
The wholesaler has increased the price of the station by £3.00 so I have had to as well, sorry about that.
WEP Soldering Station£45.00, 11 bits £10.00
Soldering Station with 11 extra bits £53.00
Locosnstuff is owned by Mark Clark at 12 Adelaide Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4NJ, UK
I can be contacted at borsig1958@gmail.com any time or on 01634 575081 before 8pm
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