The chassis floor was made in two halves due to the limited size of my 3D printer bed. The halves were butt glued together and a strengthening bridge glued across the join, perhaps not long enough as there is minor bowing. When a body is fitted it should pull it straight into line.
The chassis design turned out to be just as complex as the bogies! Below the floor in the centre is an early period fuel tank and battery box. The battery box spans full width but in the prototype there are two separate boxes with some other mechanical gubbins in between that would not be seen on the model. There are other small fittings to the chassis sides faithfully reproduced from photographs but I don't have a clue what their function is!
The next photo shows the speedo cable. that connects between chassis and bogie axle box. The axle box speedo connector is removable so that bogie and chassis can be separated for maintenance purposes. The cable run is a little lower than it should be.
Note the green chassis side indicating the finished model will be a Class 33/0 in green livery.
I assumed the buffer beam was a simple rectangular block with buffers and coupling. On closer inspection it is far from it. The ends are angled and there is a mass of fitted pipework and ports, about half of which are hidden by the buffers in the photo below.
I looked at the intricate screw link coupling and decided it would be too difficult to make (or was I getting bogged down with the model and wanted a quick way out). So, I purchased the Dapol Terrier spare (shown in the photo below). Unfortunately I misunderstood the suppliers product description thinking the 'set' on offer was a pair for each end of the loco. In fact the 'set' was one hook and one link array, except they failed to supply the hook! I needed a second 'set' but, this would become a very expensive solution for what are very small parts. I had a think about it, had a eureka moment and devised a simple, Dapol look alike, yet fiddly method of making a link array from wire. It was so successful I should have taken photos and write a tutorial. Maybe later.
Sprung buffers use an adaptation of the innovative Peco method, the method is shown in the photo below. The springy wire is cut from square section 4mm scale point roding steel wire that I had in stock The buffer shank is a nail with a plastic disk stuck on the head.
The question is, will it traverse a curve without impediment. I don't yet have track so I tested it satisfactorily on a Peco turnout paper template. If problems arise in practice I'll need to rework the chassis side fittings that hang down to increase bogie swivel.
To Part 3.
To Part 1 of this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment