Large Scale Central

My First Build

Modeling
#121

Tender is done. I need to make longer hoses and I won-t make the coupling on the tender until I build the arch bar trucks with smaller wheels. I need to know exactly where it will land. But other than that I am ready for paint. I have more wood to split also. So that shell is the Bachmann 10 wheeler tender chopped up.

I took like an inch out of the center and three inches off the back. I also cut off the extra side rail.

Here is it mocked up to the loco With the short hoses it wont make the corners. They are made out of the insulation of 18 gauge wire.

Little blurry but here is my pad lock

Drain Cock

Bottom with homemade Eames actuator

Well time for some paint and then lettering and some weathering.

#122

Randy Lehrian Jr. said:

Thanks for the invite to the party Devon, but the period I’m modeling is about 8 or 9 years after it would have been sold. Also, if I do get the itch to build some of the older iron age locos, they will of course have to be live steam. Therefore a lot of the components you guys are working on wouldn’t work in my version. I am how ever already looking forward to the build thread on #4 !

By the way, what did you use (clay etc.) for you figures?

I realized I didn’t answer your question on figures. It is polymer clay. You make a skeleton of rolled up aluminum foil and then layer on polymer clay.

#123

Nice work on all those little tender details. The engine looks great too!

#124

That’s comin’ along nicely! Engine-tender hose connections are probably the one consistent detail I leave off of my locomotives. I do have electrical connections running between the two, but it’s not the same. The water lines hang off the rear like exhaust pipes. I suppose it’d be easy enough to remedy, but then it’s one more thing to have to connect whenever I put the loco on the track.

BTW, if the insulation you’re using isn’t terribly flexible, get in touch with Geoff Ringle (Old Iron Designs.) The rubber tubing he uses for his brake hoses is wonderfully flexible.

Later,

K

#125

Devon…Another thread update I missed …I like the pad lock myself!

#126

Thanks all,

Kevin I am seriously considering rubber hose from the model car side. I have used it before and the insulation isn’t as flexible as I would like. I will check out Old Iron Designs but the model car industry uses small rubber tubing as well.

The challenge has me putting this project on the back burner but as soon as I can break free I will paint and letter. I think I am going to spring for Gary Rayburn wheels and the Bachmann side frames until I build the custom arch bars.

Oh and Kevin, I here you about detaching the hoses that could get to be a pain but I don’t plan on taking them apart that often. The train shed will have a track for each loco and tender. We will see. I can’t really say how much I will need to move them. I like those carrying boxes in the other thread so a guy can drive them on and not have to separate them.

We will see I don’t have experience there so cant say what I will do.

#127

Likely the same (or similar) rubber tubing.

As for transporting the locos, I store my locos on the built-in bookshelves in the family room, so driving them on and off of a carrying device of some sort to transport them to and from the railroad isn’t an option. It’d be nice, but on the other hand, I’ve carried my locos in such a carrier in the past, and–maybe it was just the carrier–but it was kinda awkward to handle. I feel a lot more secure carrying them by hand.

Later,

K

#128

And that is where experience trumps hypothetical. I do plan to “store” at least one at a time on a display shelf so already I will be moving them.

#129

OK,

In another thread, Steve questioned me about my battery placement. This is a good time to open this up for discussion for my build. There is zero room in the loco for anything but wire. I was thinking and using advice that I can not remember where I got it, that I should place the RC unit, speaker, and sound card in the tender and use separate battery cars. The thinking being 1) I wont have room for it all in the tender and 2) when the battery dies I can simply switch out battery cars and keep on going. That way there is always a fresh battery. However, I can see the disadvantage of having a separate battery car in that your loco will always have to have one of those cars in that position all of the time.

So I am soliciting advice. I plan on using the RailBoss 4 5-Amp version for loco control. I know nothing about sound systems so don’t know what to buy there and I will use the Bachmann speaker that came with the ten wheeler unless there is a reason not too. How much battery do I need? Will it all stuff into my tender?

In other words, what are you all doing?

#130

Wow Devon,

I have missed some posts here. That’s scooting right along, and in spite of MiK’s challenge. Love the details. I saw in you build post where you said you were using Polymer Clay. The tin foil however, is interesting to learn about. Sorry I can’t help you on you sound and batteries, All of the hissing and chuffing that my locos do is created using fire and water. Keep up the good work!

#131

Randy Lehrian Jr. said:

Wow Devon,

I have missed some posts here. That’s scooting right along, and in spite of MiK’s challenge. Love the details. I saw in you build post where you said you were using Polymer Clay. The tin foil however, is interesting to learn about. Sorry I can’t help you on you sound and batteries, All of the hissing and chuffing that my locos do is created using fire and water. Keep up the good work!

Randy,

I cannot take credit for the tin foil idea. That came from that other site. On there in the masters class section you can find a class on modeling figures. My entire technique comes from there. With that said the foil acts as the skeleton for the clay to adhere to and give some rigidity for shaping ntil you bake the clay and harden it. The idea behind foil as opposed to wire is that its nooks and crannies help hold the clay.

#132

Devon Sinsley said:

OK,

In another thread, Steve questioned me about my battery placement. This is a good time to open this up for discussion for my build. There is zero room in the loco for anything but wire. I was thinking and using advice that I can not remember where I got it, that I should place the RC unit, speaker, and sound card in the tender and use separate battery cars. The thinking being 1) I wont have room for it all in the tender and 2) when the battery dies I can simply switch out battery cars and keep on going. That way there is always a fresh battery. However, I can see the disadvantage of having a separate battery car in that your loco will always have to have one of those cars in that position all of the time.

So I am soliciting advice. I plan on using the RailBoss 4 5-Amp version for loco control. I know nothing about sound systems so don’t know what to buy there and I will use the Bachmann speaker that came with the ten wheeler unless there is a reason not too. How much battery do I need? Will it all stuff into my tender?

In other words, what are you all doing?

Devon, Bruce mentioned enclosing the speaker in a box. This is to reduce the reverberation from the sound waves coming off the back of the speaker, and setting the plastic of the tender’s walls to vibrating a nanosecond or so behind the front of the speaker. Its noticeable. The enclosure cuts that down, dramatically. To stop it completely, fill the enclosure with cotton, to adsorb all the vibrations coming off the back of the speaker. The difference is dramatic.

Phoenix supplies a speaker with their sound card. Use it, instead of the cheap Bachmann speaker. If you are going to use a different sound card, good speakers in the size we use are inexpensive.

I don’t know the size of the ESC that you are planning to use. Del makes some good stuff, talk to him direct, he will make sure that you have the right application.

Sound cards are small and easy to shoehorn in.

Leave the battery for last. A LIon 14.8 volt 2800 mAh battery is the size of 4 AA’s. Easy to change out when the run dry, just pull the coal load (wood) off, unplug, and plug in a fresh battery. You will probably run out of enthusiasm before the battery runs out of juice.

Enjoy.

#133

Devon,

All of my locomotives run on 14.2V LI 4 cell, 2800 MA battery packs. Have a Bachmann two truck Shay with Phoenix sound card, Revolution reciever, 3 1/2 inch speaker and battery pack all enclosed. It is a very tight fit but it does. Also have a Bachmann K-27 and a Connie with the same set up. Everything in the tenders. Lots of room in both of those. Battery packs are easily removable for swapping but even the K will run about three hours with an 8 to 10 car train, and I have 2 1/2 percent grades on my railroad.

Ron

#134

Steve,

I had to laugh a good belly laugh with your post as well as Bruce’s. Of course you would have no way of knowing that another old past time of mine s building sound systems for cars for my car and friends. I fully understand the dynamics of speakers and their enclosures… just never thought I would use it in my loco build. So maybe I need to rethink this whole thing… where can I stuff a 1500 Watt amp and a 12" sub. just kidding. I will trash the Bachmann speaker and invest in a decent speaker should I choose something other than phoenix. I looked at their website and the cost almost scared me right out of LS. But oh well its only money.

#135

Well, you were talking about using the stock Bachmann speaker… :slight_smile:

#136

Yes and as a former audiophile it should have been a high priority I know

#137

Devon Sinsley said:

Thanks all,

Kevin I am seriously considering rubber hose from the model car side. I have used it before and the insulation isn’t as flexible as I would like. I will check out Old Iron Designs but the model car industry uses small rubber tubing as well.

The challenge has me putting this project on the back burner but as soon as I can break free I will paint and letter. I think I am going to spring for Gary Rayburn wheels and the Bachmann side frames until I build the custom arch bars.

Oh and Kevin, I here you about detaching the hoses that could get to be a pain but I don’t plan on taking them apart that often. The train shed will have a track for each loco and tender. We will see. I can’t really say how much I will need to move them. I like those carrying boxes in the other thread so a guy can drive them on and not have to separate them.

We will see I don’t have experience there so cant say what I will do.

Great looking build! If you want to have hoses that easily attach/detach, think about using some magnets.

I used a small cylindrical magnet that fit inside the flexible hose. It connects to another square magnet, although I could have used just a piece of tin. The pieces are shown here.

The pieces assembled, but hoses disconnected:

The hoses connected:

#138

Bruce,

that is a great idea. Easily mounted to the under side of the tender. If your real anal about it you could even counter sink the magnet to flush mount receiving “pipe/pin”.

#139

Devon Sinsley said:

I don’t think so. For one I am not sure there will be room after controls, sound card, and speaker are in there; also my thoughts were to use a trailing box car or caboose as the battery car that way when the battery dies I can switch out the car for a new one and still run the loco. I could have a couple of these cars that way one is always charging.

Devon,

The quote above is from my ‘carrier’ thread.

I think you will find that the trailing car isn’t necessary as (a) I don’t think any of us r/c+battery types run our batteries flat, and (b) having the same car always behind the engine gets irritating as it isn’t very flexible.

I once ran my first r/c conversion, an Aristo C-16, for 4 hours at a show, and it was still going strong at the end.

We all start out thinking exactly as you do - but when you look at the pictures, you won’t see any trailing battery cars on my trains, or Jack’s, or Bruce’s, or Kevin’s or anyone else’s …

#140

OK I am convinced… it will all go in the tender. I will have to make a very small mod to it as I did not plan to remove the wood load and glued down a piece of styrene to enclose the top to hold the wood. I will simply cut another hole in it and make my wood load removable. That will be a piece of cake no worries there.