NZ120 40 Ton Craven Steam Crane - Part two.

A test print of the NZ120 Craven Breakdown Crane, has arrived, and in the new material "Frosted eXtreme Detail) or FXD. Far superior to Frosted Ultra Detail, and the result can be observed in the following pictures. There are small imperfections in the print surface, but overall the result is satisfying.

The gears are a mixed result, the manual worm drives are meshing with the gears ok, however the small gear, that was reduced in ratio ended up having too much friction, so I ended up leaving it out & glued the pistons in place. I think im going to leave the parts as they are, for most I think super gluing the pistons etc is the status quo and leaving it open for the brave to have a go at. Your going to need proper axles & little gears...

Photos partway through assembly. Painted grey but still not the final colour, and having to re-rig the crane every coat of paint gets old...

The models are available in 4 parts, with the 5th part coming soon.
(1/5) Craven 40-ton Steam Crane - Chassis
(2/5) Craven 40-ton Steam Crane - Gears
(3/5) Craven 40-ton Steam Crane - Body
(4/5) Craven 40-ton Steam Crane - Jib

The money shot, count the rivets...

NZ120 Craven, Printed in FXD

NZ120 Craven, Printed in FXD

NZ120 Craven, Printed in FXD. (NZ120 flying drone view :P)

Craven & Q

Now time is all that is needed to make the final part set (5/5) which includes hook & pulley, cab shell & modified flat wagon.

Showing the Wharf area

Some more work on the layout sees a Wharf in place and ready for track. The layout will have a branch line leading to the port. With a possible future addition of a loop enabling a train a straight run to the top. 3 sidings on the wharf are planned. 

2 sidings on the wharf, and a line leaving bottom right to a future reversing loop

On the lower right, showing the tracks that will eventually be a reversing loop.

NZ120 40 Ton Craven Steam Crane - Part one.

Showing a new design challenge, a Craven Steam crane in nz120 but with working pistons, driven when the hook is raised or lowered. In the rear their should be room enough for 2 motors.

 While not yet finished in the design stage some pictures are being posted on whats been done so far.

The wheels for the chassis I had considering using the driving wheels from a n scale bachman locomotive(grandad would approve of this!), I could fit 1 at both ends, where it would be visible & pull off the look.

For more info & pictures on the crane itself, check out http://www.nzrcranes.org/gallery.html

So, to make things work, we start to wander into lego territory..

Showing the gears in all their glory. I have an idea of using a tiny motor from an eftpos printer, should be able to fit 2 in the rear near the waiting gears. if that fails then manual operation it is..

The blue dots are designed to enable the axle to click in & remain there without any gluing brackets. Also enabling them to be pushed out for painting etc. Thats the theory im workin on anyway.. The parts will need to be left in the sun to harden under the UV goodness. I'm expecting things to snap, hence the "probably not thick enough" axles.

Meshing of the worm to the gear. The boiler, cab & counter weights will be a seperate shell, similar to the coal grab crane will fit on snug enough to not require screwing together.

Credits http://www.nzrcranes.org/gallery.html

More to come...

NZ120 DBR Arrives

Just a quick post to show some pictures of the NZ120 DBR Printed by Shapeways in Frosted Ultra Detail.

When I took the pictures I had already washed, scrubbed the model & blown out with the air compressor a few times before spraying a coat of Tamiya Fine Primer.

Recommended Chassis type; N scale Atlas (SD35, SD24) Kato (SD7/9), same as the DC class

The DBR Shell is available for purchase here 

Sitting on chassis

Sitting on chassis, nz120 nzr style coupler

Sitting on chassis, nz120 nzr style coupler. Sideframes will be filed down & brass sideframe needs some filing down..

Not enough primer, try again... Lovely rear tho...

Will update this post as I paint her up.. if I can decide what scheme that is...

After painting her up, shes almost presentable, still need to apply handrails, rear coupler, air hoses & window glazing.

After attaching handrails as carefully as I can, some cruel closeups are posted showing the damage!

NZ120 Wooden Trestle Bridge - Part 2

This time a video has been made since the upgrade of scenery on a part of the layout that made no sense at all. The bench was cut & lowered to the height of the riverbed of the inner shelf.

Before the changes..

Now the Layout looks something like below

NZ120 Db hauls Steam Coal Grab Crane

Steam Coal Grab Crane

NZ120 Db hauls Steam Coal Grab Crane

NZ120 Db hauls Steam Coal Grab Crane in background. SM Bus with a few details painted

Silver Fern crosses the bridge

Assembling a more modern bridge. Girder truss was a Kato N scake Truss

Video of the train in action.

NZ120 Wooden Trestle Bridge

Building a bridge, again or still. When shopping around local dealers I came across thin wood & doweling in vast quantitys at ridiculous prices. So like anyone else I purchased what I needed to build a wooden trestle. Inspired by a bridge built by my granddad I went about creating one loosely based on the following photo's. Photo credit unkown.

The bridge area finally had a make over with 3 bags of 1kg plaster of paris being used to cover & shape the landscape. Mixing the plaster spoonfulls at a time into a container of water until all the water is absorbed allowed for a good 8-10 minutes of working time. 

Belmont viaduct (near Johnsonville) shortly before being demolished - Credits?

Manawapou Viaduct 1966 - Credits?

A brave driver takes the NZ120 Q across the bridge mid construction

English Electric DF poses on the bridge shortly after completion

English Electric DF poses on the bridge shortly after completion

After plastering has been mostly used up, river is slowly built up in layers of PVA, water & colour pigment.
Da,Da,Db

A scene showing the back of the %100 Barrells store

Showing the state of the current road, the plan is a smooth plastered road to mimic a far north rural road, with at least tarseal. The bridge arch road tunnel will be one way & coloured to represent the age of the bridge.. DCC Sound DE using the chassis from the DH..  

Showing the currently clay road, with a tunnel portal sitting in place on what could be part of a foundation. If only I can find the other tunnel portal...

Showing the cutting leading to the bridge & the road

Da,Da,Db

The bridge in the rear will be a girder bridge, 3d printed in sections. of concrete pillar & steel construction. If I get that far..., then the wooden trestle could be replaced with something quite ambitious indeed!

Using some photoshop skills I've recreated the scene a few times & have a few pics with added backgrounds to share as a result.