Project 17 - Minecraft Torch to Theatrical Lighting

If your child or grandchild has one of these Minecraft Torches then you will know they stop working in a short time if handled roughly. Three faulty ones have been donated to me. They are repairable but not without cutting the plastic body in half to gain access to the inners. This act is irreversible and renders them unusable as a child toy.

Of the two I took apart one had a broken wire and the other had a dislodged battery clip, both easy to fix.

The 'electronics' is very well made so I retrieved these to make some theatrical lighting for my Swanage Loco Yard project.

The LED array produces a spotlight with a very bright white light. I installed two of these (wired in parallel) into a holder made from foam board left over from the cabinet construction.

I intend to build a Winter or Autumn scene on the layout so I needed a cold light. I placed a medium blue plastic filter in front of the LEDS and about 10mm in front of that a frosted plastic diffuser to spread the light.

I wanted the unit to be removable for servicing so into its frame I glued two small neo magnets (very strong) that will latch onto a row of metal staples glued into the cabinet side wall. The second photo shows the staples held by the magnets.

I placed the light unit nearer to the front of the cabinet than the back.

My idea is that it represents the morning sun in the East.

I will not know for sure how effective this will be until most of the scenery is in place. As it stands the right hand side (East) is brighter than the left  hand side (West) giving the impression, I hope, of a diffused sun breaking through a patch of thin cloud on an otherwise dull day. In due course this will be emphasised further with an appropriate sky back scene.

In the last photo can be seen the Minecraft Torch battery box and switch resting on the baseboard. These will be built into the side panel later and be accessible from the outside.

Since the last posting a couple of stone effect retaining walls have also been installed. These are prominent features of the prototype. On the model the rising ground level towards the rear will create an effective scene on this small layout.



To Part 4.

To Part 1

Project 17 - Swanage Turntable

I scratch built this motorised turntable before I built the layout module shown in Part 1 of this series. The turntable is the pre-1967 version that was probably made by Cowans Sheldon and Comp. The other notable manufacturer being Ransomes and Rapier.

At the outset I had no idea on the best way to make a motorised turntable from scratch. Years ago I had made a manual operation turntable from an Airfix kit but that experience was no help in making this one. So, it was a case of developing it step by step.

This turntable called upon all the technical and craft skills used in railway modelling from paper modelling to mechanical and electronics engineering with a bit of carpentry thrown in as well.

The research phase, mostly on the web,  found many photographs and two engineering drawings of Cowans turntables so that was a good start. What I ended up with is very close but sadly not identical to the Swanage prototype due to mistakes I made in my design by not following closely enough the research data.

Deck

The turntable Deck was made from Grey Board with decorative paper overlays. The rail is Code 100 flat bottom (because I'm using my spare stock of code 100 throughout) with 3D printed base plate fittings. The handrail is copper wire and the brake/locking mechanism (dummy) 3D printed.

The wheel trucks at each end are 3D printed and the metal wheels (2 at each end) are coach disk wheels with the flanges ground off. Phosphor bronze wires pick up track power from the wheels and these are wired to the deck rails.

Well 

The Well has a half inch chipboard base and is cambered as the prototype using wood filler. I believe the base is concrete in practice so this was easily painted as such. The walls are Grey Board with decorative paper overlays. the Well track is code 100 mounted in base plates cut from proprietary flexi-track which are themselves mounted in a ring of foam board with the top paper layer removed. This gives a bit of flex to the rail but is probably not a necessary feature.

Track Power Feed

The track in the well is two pieces wired to the train controller and are isolated from each other with insulated fish plates. Ideally only one wheel at each end of the deck should pick up power but I wired both in case one wheel lifts off the track. Two live wheels would result in electrical shorting when the two wheels straddle an insulated fish plate during operation so, the power is fed via a switch. Track power is turned off during rotation.

Electronics and Mechanics

I used a 1.5V-6V high torque motor found in my spares box. The gear reduction ratio of 12:1 was taken from that specified in a proprietary turntable motor and gear set. But that still spins the turntable too fast without further measures being used to control rotation.

The gears are 3D printed and don't need to be physically that big. They are that size due to printing limitations for the teeth profile.

The most important motor parameter is torque because the motor has to overcome at low speed friction, gravity and the weight of a locomotive. Torque is related to motor current and at low speed, i.e. low voltage, the current is reduced proportionally leading to motor stalling. Simple potentiometer voltage control is not therefore recommended. The solution is pulse width modulation. The motor is pulsed at full voltage all the time but the pulse width is varied by a potentiometer and this changes the average voltage thus controlling speed but since the amplitude of the motor voltage remains constant  the motor is always at full strength. The result is that the motor can be rotated much more slowly without it stalling. Here is a web link to one such electronics circuit: http://www.circuitstoday.com/dc-motor-controller that I used. One undesirable side effect is a screaming motor in operation due to the pulse width frequency. I suppose it could be likened to a rusty prototype in need of an oiling.

The motor body is held in the base by an interference fit. The big gear has a built-in 15mm spigot that passes through a roller bearing fixed in the base (interference fit). The Deck is screwed to the top of the spigot.

The whole turntable is clamped to the layout baseboard with a ring of cable tie wraps. These can be easily cut so that it can be removed without damage if necessary.

Control Panel

Pretty self explanatory from the photo. I have not included a track alignment locking mechanism. The tracks are lined up by switching the Rotate Switch, back and forth as necessary. The Rotate Switch is sprung, centre off.

To Part 3

To Part 1

Project 17 - Swanage Loco Yard

This project has been on the cards for some years, ever since I discovered Small/Micro Layouts built into the Ikea APA storage box*. The layouts appealed to me because I could see the benefits of the small boxed format.

• Space saving storage
• Protection from damage and dust.
• Opportunity to focus on detailed modelling giving results within a reasonable time scale.

Railway operation will be limited of course. Small layouts are best considered where modelling is of more interest than running trains, although shunting layouts are popular and can give satisfying operation in this format.

* Ikea do not currently sell the APA box but it is available on eBay from other suppliers.

Another influence for me undertaking a small layout build is Mikkel's The Farthing Layouts - 'a series of small 00 layouts that show different sections of a GWR junction station'. I like the concept of detailed modelling parts of a large station complex, e.g. a goods shed and siding, with imagination providing the railway landscape between modules.

I had studied Swanage years ago when I scratch built its LSWR water tower for my Misterton Layout (water tower since scrapped) and I always thought that the loco yard in particular would make for an interesting model. Looking at the track plan it needs only 1 metre length for 4mm scale and includes everything from the railway bridge to the back of the engine shed.

There is much here to entertain with a variety of locomotives visiting the yard for refuelling and service and passenger and goods trains passing by at the front, although long holiday passenger trains are a no-no. Perhaps a winter or autumn scene would be appropriate where the Branch two coach passenger train is more evident.

1 metre length is longer than the APA box. My first thought was to make by own APA box to the dimensions I needed so I bought a Lidl/Parkside table saw to prepare the timber that I already had to hand. Unfortunately it broke down after only 5 minutes use and I'm having difficulty getting it replaced under manufacturer warranty.

As I researched further I came across Tim Horn's laser cut baseboard modules made from MDF or ply. Nice modules but more interesting was a comment in a forum -  'make your own from foam board' So, that is what I did.

I was concerned that foam board is not robust but I hedged my bets thinking that the mortice and tenon / jigsaw type construction would give it sufficient rigidity. The dimension of the module is 1000mm x 400mm x 400mm. This required 5 sheets of A1 5mm thick foam board, bought from Hobbycraft for only £14. The basic box shown here required a full day to construct. The top is still to make (it is included in the 5 sheets mentioned) and I want to add a black fascia to the front.

Great care is needed because the foam board marks easily and panels will break if roughly handled. But the cutting of the mortises was a dream with only a sharp knife needed. Panels were glued together using PVA. So far I am happy with the rigidity of the module. Later on I'll need to make fiddle yards for either end using the same methodology.

I'll be posting progress on this Blog but I am not setting a timescale to complete. I'll be modelling as and when I feel like it. Postings therefore, may be more sporadic than the previous Project 16.

To Part 2.