Spitfire's G3 Workbench

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well, I sure work quickly.
I received the lasercut parts this afternoon and got right to work on cleaning them and soldering the major parts together.
I decided to rivet the hornguides to the chassis and solder the entire thing together.
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I originally wanted the footplate to be removable. Then I soldered the cab steps to the footplate and it couldnt be put on and off easily. So its now solid.
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I made a couple mistakes on the chassis artwork, which will need to be fixed later, but shouldnt hurt this build too much.

More to come.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
I've ordered some of your parts for my G scale Neilson project. Axle springs are going in shortly. Very impressed with the quality.

MikeView attachment 84450
Thank you! Could I see a few more pictures of your boxtank? Looks very nice.
I was wondering who bought those parts.
Hope they work well for you. If you need any more specific parts, ask and yee shall receive.
Ive already made up the brake stand and handle. Mine will actually screw down the brakes. Ill post a picture later tonight when I get home.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Little work tonight, but I have got the hornblock coil springs on posts and started figuring out the forward driver crankpin. Its looking like my calculations were slightly off as well, as itll require quite a bit of thinning to get it all to fit without binding.
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Might be able to shave the crosshead back down a bit and thin the coupling rod at the front down to 1mm. If I can get the nut down to maybe 1mm, that should JUST be enough to avoid any collisions. Ive already removed most sideplay with some plasticcard washers. I think the sideplay is now .5mm or so.

Someone remind me to make my next loco inside cylinder. Im thinking maybe a Midland class 1377.

But as promised earlier, a photo of my brake stand. 20180222_220002-1.jpg
Not sure how useful manual brakes will be on an RC loco, but theyll be there.
I should change my motto to "Ill always find a way to make it harder for myself".
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Beautiful Trevor. Strong yet delicate. I feel a check of the bank balance is needed before placing an order, but being a coward I'll let you get a bit further first!

Nice box tank too Mike.

Mike
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
I have a rolling chassis. The Neilson is looking like a Neilson.
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I received the new tank from Shapeways this afternoon, so that should be ready to go in a few days.


And here is something Im very proud of.
With standard Slaters wheels, I was able to get a grand total of ~.5mm clearance behind the crossheads!
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I decided to solder the crankpin bushing to the connecting rods and thus I could use a smaller nut to retain the front bushing. The nut is 1mm thick here.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Well been busy.
Got most of it painted and sealed.

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And Ive got the MSC motor in, just.
I had to cut a big slot in the boiler bottom and feed it up through from the bottom, juggling the motor and hornguides to get it seated.
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And an absolutely pointless detail that is just to make me happy, a movable reverser.
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It is rather satisfying moving it back and forth.

Soon I should have an RC system from RCS, and I have brass rod coming to do the brakes.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
A bit of work.
A long friday evening gave me almost all the firebox fittings. Still have to add a few and drill some more holes, but I did enjoy making the whistle and piping from different rods and tubes.
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And more work "under the hood". Ive got the Ogee tank filled with the battery system.
Will be using 8 1.2V NiMH AA cells. Should give me around 10 V. And it gives quite a bit of extra weight at 1/3kg right above the drivers.
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Yes it is quite messy. Hotglue, cheap battery holders, and poor solder joints are hard to work with in an inch and a half space. The jack plug needs a slim mount to keep it solid.


I will definitely enjoy building a Midland 1377 with its large tanks and boiler. So much space for batteries.
 

geoff_nicholls

Western Thunderer
sorry if you've already told us, but what software did you use to create the file sent to shapeways? The curved bits seem pretty rounded, very few polygon lines.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
sorry if you've already told us, but what software did you use to create the file sent to shapeways? The curved bits seem pretty rounded, very few polygon lines.
I model everything in Solidworks. Its the only 3D software I have any experience in.
Id love to learn open source ones but I wouldnt know where to start. I tried sketchup once and I couldnt even start a drawing.
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
I havent had much time or drive to really do much the past week. But I did get the brake blocks made up and hangers in place.
I received some brass rods yesterday I ordered so I got on with the brake rigging.
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The brake cam rod was quite complicated to make as the steps were in the way. Second time those have screwed me over.
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As usual, I make things much more difficult than they need to be to avoid fixing things in place, so it does come apart by undoing 2 nuts.
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But of course, I made a rather serious mistake. The brake rod between the screw and cam and the cam to rear brakes are both far too short to match up. Ill have to make some new ones up from steel sheet.
Theres quite a list of fixes I need to do to the drawings and parts so far.

And finally, I made up some buffers. I didnt have any wood big enough, so Im going to paint it to hide the edges. 20180311_085355-1.jpg

Good news though, I should be getting the hardware from RCS soon so Ill have to figure out where to stuff the RC gubbins. Hoping to fit something in the firebox lower.
 

unklian

Western Thunderer
Which Slater's wheels did you use please Trevor ? Are they the 3' 6" ones ?

It is all looking very good, I am impressed by the finish on the fire box, has that had more sanding than the blue bits ?

Cheers Ian
 

Spitfire2865

Western Thunderer
Which Slater's wheels did you use please Trevor ? Are they the 3' 6" ones ?

It is all looking very good, I am impressed by the finish on the fire box, has that had more sanding than the blue bits ?

Cheers Ian
Yes, I used the Slaters 3'6" wheels. Not perfect, but accurate enough.
Thanks, yeah the firebox was easy to sand. Smooth round surface. Almost all of the superstructure was printed in Shapeways WSF plastic which does require a good bit of smoothing. I admit I kinda skimped out on the sanding for the tank (and most of the blue pieces actually), but Im sure I could get an absolutely smooth surface if I really wanted to.
To get a really smooth surface like the firebox, it really requires an initial sanding, 2 or 3 runs of filling and sanding, thick primer, more sanding, painting, sanding, and final topcoat. Im young, but even I have more important things to do than coat my lungs with dust.
 

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
That's looking really nice Trevor. I was going to start a new thread and post some more pictures of my own Neilson but then this happened:

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There's a work bench there somewhere:

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Oh dear!

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All the best
Mike
 

JimG

Western Thunderer
Mike,

You have my sympathies. I remember taking down lath and plaster ceilings in a house many years ago and I remember it taking for ever to get rid of the dust. The only blessing (???!!) might be that if it was caused by dampness that the spread of the dust might be limited.

Jim.
 
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