More 1:87 Shells.

Showing off another 1:87 project

NZR Body shells for my brothers HO railway. Going to experiment with 3d printing a "Frateshi chassis" with a modified length & 3d printed universal axle extension. The larger locomotives should take a frateshi chassis while maintaining a full scale body, the exception being the track width much wider like the Frateshi nz painted HO Brazilian diesels. My aim is to remove the frateshi shell & chassis block only using the motors, bogie wheels & gear frame. I can easily 3d print a Chassis with a modified length and plug the bogies into my 3d frame, manufacture some universal shafts to accommodate any length I wish. The sideframes & can 3d print to look however I like and clip into place. Since we're not worried about wheel width the axle spacing might be a few mm +/- wrong so who cares.

Finally upgraded the phone camera thanks to a hand me down from mum so picture quality has improved over the potato camera I was using yesterday, anyway, the DL I prepared a week ago I hand brushed using the last lemon yellow & red paints. I also attempted to paint the black panda eyes free hand and without masking tape & steady hand once again a mediocre finish to a less than satisfactory finish. Thus I sanded everything back as best I could and used Tamiya Fine Primer in a light coat then polish away with 1000grit sandpaper and in a similar fashion to conditioner, repeat as necessary while avoiding sanding all the detailing away. I really need to get my AITG and organize grill etches rather than trying to 3d print them.

I'm hoping a dash 9 will fit the DL so when it arrives I'll see if my gamble pays off and it fits, if not another frateshi chassis can be modified without much issue as the motor block & flywheel comfortably fit. 

Continuing on the shells & more painting later, this current batch of 1KG ABS(Sandbrooks - Auckland) seems to have little pits are appearing on the prints, which I suspect is my very worn out print nozzle! The next filament order I will try some UP premium PLA(3D Printing Systems - auckland) with a new improved print nozzle. Instead of lemon yellow I'm trying tamiya "chrome yellow".

 

Garage Layout

Did some cleaning out of a recently vacated garage @ mums place now requisitioned for official railway stuff by order of management, now that the "temporary" 4 year old shelves have been re-setup Its time to consolidate the fleet from the stashes around the property, One stash being a very backbreakingly small tent in the bush next to the layout, the thrill, anxiety, dread and doubt wondering if a falling tree will crush my trains at any moment. Its a tad like lotto only you get to reassemble everything again. Luckily this did not happen. However being made of ABS and over engineered in terms of strength and thick overscale thick walls a train shell loaded with a heavy motor and batteries falling onto the concrete floor at most will scratch the paint & bend a handrail or two. 

As evident in the picture I had to double stack the trains behind each other, I've still a few locos around the country that I need to collect one day. I intend eventually to have the shelf run the length of the wall and at least a foot higher than present.

The eventual goal would be an inside loop of track running around the walls so to facilitate indoor running, with a few sidings to hold various rakes of wagons without constant uncoupling etc.

Whangarei Station 1:45 scale

 After building the little rooms on the paddle steamer I scratched an itch in terms of buildings, Something I've looked over due to a number of reasons such as space etc. 

Whangarei Station Building as it was in the 1950's in 1:45 scale for dad's layout, the building foundation and platform I plan on 3d printing. I've been experimenting with using tinfoil folded 2 times glued together with PVA glue & water smeared across all 4 layers. Then running it through a 3d printed roller to create the corrugated iron look. I do have a rough blueprint but so low resolution numbers cannot be made out.

Panorama of railway yards at Whangarei. Photograph taken circa 1920s by The Arts Studio, Whangarei

colourized using palette.fm

 colourized using www.img2go.com

AI Enhanced 4x - Some minor glitches in areas..

The river queen

Showing off a 1:45 scale RC Stern Paddle River Boat I 3d printed for dad for his O gauge american railway.

Based off the river queen. The length is approx 1mtr & weighs 2.5kg

The main body is screwed into the hull and is easily removable.

Wired up about 50 LEDs with the 2xAA battery box painted white on top. The main battery for running engine is just sitting on top for easy access. Inside is a staircase and smaller cabins with 2 large saloons.

At the end of the clip a hurricane in scale terms almost capsizes the boat.

 

Willow Creek triangle

 A nice before & after shot. of the Willow Creek triangle track construction & realignment program coming closer to completion.

Before

Digging out what will become the lower lower pond and building up the embankments & ramps to make everything wheelbarrow friendly, also dug the main drainage channel a foot deeper removing all the growth and prevent my initial dig from flooding up

First run around the top loop

First run around the top loop, video quality is not the greatest. I managed to hold the camera with 1 hand while driving with the other.

 

The long straight

The longest straight section on this railway so far, I wasn't happy with the current righthand turnout thus a left handed turnout which will allow for a nice straight section is to be built. The rear curve has now been realigned and shifted to the new center of the now widened embankment. I've also managed to use the solid tree trunks cut over half a year ago and backfill with clay to make nice straight lines. Worth mentioning the 4 wheeler pictured carried all the logs 1 at a time and then rolled off the wagon & into position.

Before

#4 on work detail

More progress on the 3rd turnout.

From below