1:24 Peckett Detailing

On a whim, while ordering parts from Bachmann I stumbled upon a small 0-4-0 powered chassis for $30USD. I figured it would come in handy for something. Only 1 wheel is powered by the motor so side rods were a given. Now the wheels are smaller than scale, and I haven't any more small wheels until the next order so it will remain without its rear pony wheels for a while longer.

Eventually the cab & water tanks will be painted green to match #5 at the Maunu Museum in Whangarei.I was inspired enough to even print a small covered wagon 

Whangarei Heritage Park Peckett #5

Peckett's first Powered Run

Painted to match #5, the blue carriage is coming along nicely, it would be a shame to not have the second carriage.

K & Peckett for size comparison

The 4 wheeler carriage now has steel free running wheels, kindly donated by a recent Marklin 4 wheeler carriage purchase from https://www.constellationhobbies.co.nz/
The brake rigging was also good, so had to cut them off also, the quality of Marklin stuff is amazing.

1:24 Ab detailing

After printing the 1:24 Ab body & tender a couple of years back now I had a shortage of viable chassis options, not to be deterred I printed wheels & made my own chassis but it was never going to be more than a display model at that point.

To make it run I purchased a few 4-6-0 cheapies.

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_623&products_id=4083

Most of the chassis was cut away to form a nice motor block which screws into the body at both ends. Inside the boiler is a rather large lead block making it the heaviest locomotive I own.

The wheel sizes are all slightly wrong but are all steel.

I've yet to print & assemble all the motion work but its coming.

The cab interior is coming along, still a bit to do yet.

A Quick back and forth, Curious to see how much she'd pull

1:24 Ka Class

1:24 Ka & Tender, basic shell finished, far more sanding to go, sitting on a J chassis for the photo. For the chassis I'll use driving wheels, motor & gearbox from bachmann Usa

Running Trains

A quick video showing highlights from an afternoon running trains at Michaels place in Auckland.

First scene is a very "prototypical" 5 loco lashup of Dxr, Db, Db, Dbr & Dft hauling a mix train

NZ120 DF

The NZ120 & 1:87 DF Class has now been drawn up, and can be found here

https://www.shapeways.com/ NZ120 DF

https://www.shapeways.com/ 1:87 DF

I've been having a play with 3d builder to edit the .stl file I send to shapeways to add a bit of colour, imagine one day being able to print in colour with a material like FUD. One day soon!

NZ120 DF Class, 3d render 

NZ120 DF Class, 3d render 

Not quite NZ120 but related, a larger version currently printing away

Df & second Db in early stages of fruit salad

DF with almost complete bogies, handrails all finished, this time 0.9mm brass

NZR DFT

I've finally drawn up the DFT class for 3d printing, obviously I want it for 1:24, but initially drawn up for 1:120 & Ho


The NZ120 & 1:87 DFT version

https://www.shapeways.com NZ120 DFT

https://www.shapeways.com 1:87 DFT

Last body section on the printer overnight, which is going to take 25 hours

DF detailing begins, need to think about sourcing motor chassis

OK, so as it stands, if i'd paid any attention would be i'm printing a DFT. at least on the long hood. So the plan is to remove the front central pillar, square the window off and add a chute to the left hand side

1:24 Dft, progressing but still alot of detail work to do. Fuel tank, battery box & bogies finished. I started printing to early so wil have to redo this project from scratch, as more detail behind the cab roof in terms of profile & height have been since corrected, as well as a few panels including the exhaust added. 

Shelving.

Didn't 2017 come & go like a train in the night, Given time slips by faster the older we get I now get this sense I should be scrambling to hold on to something!
The next rather urgent project, to build some transportable shelves to replace the current setup of "boxes, mismatched not quite strong enough wood planks & fluorescent light covers", setup when moving into the place. The cardboard boxes soon gave way under the weight as can see in pic
This time around I'm going for a design with outside supports, so can display a coupled rake on every shelf.

Being in a rental, I figure cheap shelves from bunnings @ $20 each will do and odd bits of wood 

I've purchased more shelving & have settled on a more space efficient method of storing the trains