Large Scale Central

GLX

Reviews
#1

Gilbert at GLX has been providing replacement parts for our orphaned Aristocraft equipment.

http://glxscalemodels.com/

I have just received a parts order from him, and I feel that anyone who has Aristocraft equipment should know about his parts and service. Last weekend I had the spring holder fail on one of my Aristo streamliner passenger cars.

So one of the parts I ordered was a set of these holders.

After taking out the 4 screws, the side frame just comes off the truck.

And here we see the broken Aristo spring holder with the GLX replacement

And here is the GLX spring holder in place on the truck side-frame.

And here is the truck reassembled and ready to go back into service.

I could paint the black plastic to match the truck, but I don’t think it will be that obvious from a distance.

Gilbert is also willing to make some parts, if he doesn’t already have them in his selection. Last fall I got in touch with him about making some bearing end caps, since I lost one when a boxcar of mine did the old concrete dive from a storage shelf.

So I sent Gilbert the truck, and he made a set of bearing end caps for me. They are now in his catalog of parts.

It fit perfectly.

And now that truck is ready to go back into service too.

I also ordered some Bettendorf side-frames, because in changing out the plastic wheels for metal ones I have broken a few.

Yea, I know, but I didn’t always take the trucks apart, sometimes I just tried to spread the side-frames to change out the wheels. Most times it worked, but, I did break a few. But for some reason I was unable to find the parts from the trucks I broke, so these frames will not get used today. But I am sure that eventually I will use them. These frames do not have the plastic journal bearing inserts in them. The holes are sized properly for the wheel axles. So, if one wanted to add the bearing inserts, they would have to be drilled out.

The other items in my order are the brake shoe assemblies for the Bettendorf truck, and the boxcar stirrup steps. I know that one of my nearly 100 boxcars has a broken step, but I do not remember what one. When it turns up, I will replace the broken step with a GLX part.

I really want to thank Gilbert for providing this service and these parts for our hobby. He is, at heart, an HO guy, from what I understand. But he saw a need for Aristo replacement parts and he has filled that need. Thanks Gilbert.

This has been an unpaid advertisement from a satisfied customer.

#2

I’ve had good luck with his parts also, good he stepped in to help out.

#3

Thanks for sharing your end user experience/feedback !

doug

#4

David- Yes! Thank you.

Gilbert’s artistry is at GLX Model PRoducts – check the 3D section, G scale, for choices and prices. What a great service.

#5

Thank you, everyone!

Thanks to Fred Mills who got me into making replacement parts in large scale.

Gilbert Lacroix

GLX Scale Models

#6

Yea, without Gilbert’s skill and the service he provides, I would be trying to make my own replacement parts. Since I do not have a 3D printer, I would be making them by hand, and with no where near the accuracy of the parts Gilbert makes.

Edit to say, oh its all Fred’s fault, huh? Then we owe Fred a beer the next time we see him.

#7

I had that exact part fail twice now (on both sides) of the same truck. I had ordered spares from Aristo when they were still selling parts. It would be nice to have a better quality plastic like described above.

#8

Folks, I am not very familiar with the Aristo passenger trucks, but it appears to me that there is an improvement that can be made here. i am going to propose my change and please let me know if it is doable. The design of the Aristo spring holder has a very sharp inside corner that in engineering terms generates a stress point for the exact nature of fracture Dave Maynard displays. The improvement I am proposing is a two part fix.

First, if it can be done, file a chamfer on the corner of the journal box that contacts that corner. 30 to 40 thousandths should do the trick.

Then Gilbert needs to modify his design slightly by adding a 30 thousandths radius to that corner in his replacement part. This will considerably decrease the stress induced in that corner.

Please no flaming, I am only looking at the problem from and engineers perspective.

Bob C.

#9

I like the idea of that fix overall. I believe at least one of mine broke in the lower corner that’s just as sharp. I will say that it seems like extremely cheap plastic though. It feels like it would break. A stronger plastic will help too. All the corners should be rounded.

#10

Print them 2% oversize and I’ll cast them in bronze which has the hardness of soft steel. The radiused corner is a good improvement.

The 2% comes from a university paper I read online …

John

#11

The plastic on the Aristo sideframes seems to be some kind of tough nylon. It’s pretty flexible, you can spread the sides to pull out axles.

Does the plastic GLX uses have the same flex, or do you need to pull the trucks apart to change out axles?

Greg

#12

Greg, I didn’t examine the truck side-frames, beyond looking at them in the bag, and seeing that they don’t have the journal inserts. Being at that they are 3D printed, I am not sure if they would flex or not. But certain versions of the Aristo side-frames didn’t flex to well neither. That’s why I needed a few replacements.

#13

I too am very happy GLX is around.

I have use these : to fix some switches not just Aristo either!

#14

Yup, I also ordered those. I have 2 Aristo switches that have been in service for over a decade. While the throw-bars haven’t failed yet, I now have spares (from GLX) for when they do fail.

#15

Hi everyone

The plastic used to 3D print the parts mentioned above is ABS. Not having access to proper lab equipment, it is not possible to say precisely if this new plastic flexes the same as the original manufacturer parts. My 2 hand finger flexing test says the new plastic flexes - a bit.

It is very easy to implement Bob’s idea of radiusing the corner where it often breaks. It is just a matter 2 minutes of work on the CAD file. No need to machine a new’master’ mold.

John, I you need a master for your casting projects, please drop me a line. It is easy to print 2% larger than 1:29 scale. Just a matter of inputting 0.0351724 as the scale value to make the .STL file for the printing. The math is 1/29 x 1.02.

Regards,

Gilbert

#16

I know this is an old thread, but GLX seems to have disappeared. Anyone have any info?

#17

Gilbert noticed and posted on the other thread:
https://largescalecentral.com/t/glx-scale-models-3d-printing/75140/40