Isnin, 22 Disember 2014
December 22, 2014 HO Turnouts
This will be an ongoing work in progress post.
Last update January 2, 2015
This project is my Christmas present to myself.
For years I have taken turnouts for granted and it turns out that was a big mistake. I have always thought that Atlas was the King of HO track until recently. My current layout is fast approaching 25 years old and for the last few years I have been experiencing problems with my track work. The combination of 25 year old track and newer locomotives have developed problems in one particular area on my layout. Several years ago I swapped out two twenty year old Atlas Code 100 turnouts and that ended up being only a temporary fix.
I recently added some diaphragms between my A & B E7s and that has made the problem worse. I thought the derailing problems was my Atlas Code 100 turnouts again. For some unknown reason I had thought that the Atlas 850 Remote turnouts were 18" radius and figured that was my problem. Come to find out the 850 measures approximately 22".
It is rather difficult to measure a turnout, they are not a smooth continuous contour. The Atlas 850 is larger than a 18" radius but smaller than a 24" radius. Measuring a turnouts outside curved rail from the moving rail point to frog with the concave distance at the center is the closest way to come out correct as if it was a true smooth continuous fashion.
When the Atlas turnouts are installed correctly (correct radius) they work very good, I error-ed on my original design because I took the Atlas turnout radius for granted. That has turned out to be a major mistake. My design miss aligned the flex track to the Atlas turnouts thinking they were an 18" radius.
The Peco web site has very specific dimensions on all of their turnouts so that will be my new direction. I really like the Peco snap spring point lock design much better than the Atlas. It's a better idea ? ?
The Peco turnouts are very close to a smooth continuous curves and calculate correctly like an Atlas curved track section.
A down side to using Peco is their switch machine, it requires a 2�" clearance hole under the points. The Peco turnouts work so much better than the Atlas it's worth the extra trouble. Actually it's easier to cut a 2�" hole than it is to mount the Atlas Under Table Switch Machine, just more sawdust from using a hole saw.
The top view of the Peco rail points look very nice, the throw pin or rod is flush with the throw arm.
My problem turned out to be at the grade/radius transition. I currently have an Atlas 22" turnout at the bottom of my 30" radius 3�% grade transition. All my locomotives will clear the Atlas turnout at a reduced speed.
When I built my layout back in 1990 I didn't want problems so it is bolted and double screwed with lots of Elmer's Carpenters glue. To make things even worse the problem area is in a mountain so removing the old track work is going to be a real undertaking.
My plan is to totally remove a 38" section of the 30" radius track and it's support structure then replace it with a new section. The new section will be built on �" thick plywood cut to fit the new 24" radius of the Atlas Code 100 Flex Track and the two Peco SL-92 Code 100 24" radius turnouts to make everything a smooth 24" curve. The first SL-92 will be the turnout from the mainline into my station the second SL-92 will be the turnout that selects one of the two station tracks.
The solid lines on my drawing is viewable track and the dashed lines are tracks hidden from view inside the mountain areas. The thin red line is the upper level track, I made it thin so it didn't totally block the view of the lower level track. The black dashed rectangular box is the problem area, the solid black lines in the problem area is the plywood cut to fit the new radius. As you can see the new curved section will be a smooth 24" radius.
December 26
I'm going to build the support structure a bit different this time. I think I have come up with a better way to make grade transitions. This will be my first attempt using this type of construction.
The bottom portion of the drawing above shows the dimensions of an angled wedge cut from a 1" x 2" x 48" pine furring strip. That will keep the grade at precisely 2%. So that the board will bend to conform to the 24" radius I'll slot the inside edge with �' deep vertical cuts with my table saw every 3" so that the board will bend easy. I will use �" number 6 wood screws through the plywood into the furring strip to secure them together. If every thing works as planned I'll use some Elmer's Carpenters glue for added strength.
December 30
After I worked at removing the 25 year plus old track, roadbed and support structure I was almost totally done in for the day. That was a lot more work than I expected. The demolition took 4� hours.
After cleanup the mainline down grade into the new curve wasn't exactly what I expected so that afternoon I removed the support columns leaving the �" x 4" plywood roadbed for the 60" down grade. I will replace the column type supports with a contoured 1" x 4".
I worked on my CAD for several hours and came up with a new grade profile shown in the drawing below. The contour ended up at 3/16" in 24".
Next is cutting out the new support from 1" x 6".
The new curved section is almost ready to be glued in place.
It lines up perfect with the mainline and the turnout into my yard and station.
New Years Day 2015
The above picture shows the finished track work. The track is Atlas Code 100 Flex held down on to Midwest Cork Roadbed with track nails.
The picture above is a view looking up the grade to the tunnel portal. Looking at the drawing of my layout earlier in this post the red mainline is the outside track in the picture above, the green mainline is the inside track leading into the new curve.
Both of the mainline tracks are on a 3% grade and enter the tunnel portal at the same level then they split directions inside the tunnel. The outside track continues up at the 3% grade to the upper level and the inside track turns into a 3% down grade back to the lower level.
January 5
To test my new curve section I ran a complement of many types of locomotives. I ran my most touchy locomotives first. I have two Bowser GS4 mechanisms with Bachmann shells, they are super touchy because of their long driver wheelbase. They ran fine so that told me all three grade transitions were on the money. Next came my Rivarossi Articulateds and they had no problems either. Then troubles popped up with my 6 axle diesels, Athearn PA1s & SD40-2s, Proto 2000 E7s, E8s & E9s all derailed randomly at the Peco turnouts.
After three days of frustration dealing with the 6 axle diesels derailing at the Peco turnouts I finally found out what the problem was. The wheels would just nick the Peco frogs even though they all checked perfect in the NMRA Standards Gauge. The fix was to decrease the flange width by .010" on every axle.
I have a total of 18 Atlas code 83 turnouts and the .010" modification did not have any effect on them. I spent over 8 hours running my entire locomotive fleet, some haven't been run for many years so it was an exciting day to see them in operation again.
Watching my 9 car Daylight Passenger pulled by two Athearn SD40-2 frames with Cary E7 shells running at a constant scale speed of 100 MPH without any problems is a first. At this point I declare my new transition/curve fix a success.
My Christmas present to myself turned out to be more work than I anticipated but it fixed my problem curve so it was well worth it.
Read More..
Last update January 2, 2015
This project is my Christmas present to myself.
For years I have taken turnouts for granted and it turns out that was a big mistake. I have always thought that Atlas was the King of HO track until recently. My current layout is fast approaching 25 years old and for the last few years I have been experiencing problems with my track work. The combination of 25 year old track and newer locomotives have developed problems in one particular area on my layout. Several years ago I swapped out two twenty year old Atlas Code 100 turnouts and that ended up being only a temporary fix.
I recently added some diaphragms between my A & B E7s and that has made the problem worse. I thought the derailing problems was my Atlas Code 100 turnouts again. For some unknown reason I had thought that the Atlas 850 Remote turnouts were 18" radius and figured that was my problem. Come to find out the 850 measures approximately 22".
It is rather difficult to measure a turnout, they are not a smooth continuous contour. The Atlas 850 is larger than a 18" radius but smaller than a 24" radius. Measuring a turnouts outside curved rail from the moving rail point to frog with the concave distance at the center is the closest way to come out correct as if it was a true smooth continuous fashion.
When the Atlas turnouts are installed correctly (correct radius) they work very good, I error-ed on my original design because I took the Atlas turnout radius for granted. That has turned out to be a major mistake. My design miss aligned the flex track to the Atlas turnouts thinking they were an 18" radius.
The Peco web site has very specific dimensions on all of their turnouts so that will be my new direction. I really like the Peco snap spring point lock design much better than the Atlas. It's a better idea ? ?
The Peco turnouts are very close to a smooth continuous curves and calculate correctly like an Atlas curved track section.
I also like the Peco moving rail hinge point, better contact area.
A down side to using Peco is their switch machine, it requires a 2�" clearance hole under the points. The Peco turnouts work so much better than the Atlas it's worth the extra trouble. Actually it's easier to cut a 2�" hole than it is to mount the Atlas Under Table Switch Machine, just more sawdust from using a hole saw.
My problem turned out to be at the grade/radius transition. I currently have an Atlas 22" turnout at the bottom of my 30" radius 3�% grade transition. All my locomotives will clear the Atlas turnout at a reduced speed.
When I built my layout back in 1990 I didn't want problems so it is bolted and double screwed with lots of Elmer's Carpenters glue. To make things even worse the problem area is in a mountain so removing the old track work is going to be a real undertaking.
My plan is to totally remove a 38" section of the 30" radius track and it's support structure then replace it with a new section. The new section will be built on �" thick plywood cut to fit the new 24" radius of the Atlas Code 100 Flex Track and the two Peco SL-92 Code 100 24" radius turnouts to make everything a smooth 24" curve. The first SL-92 will be the turnout from the mainline into my station the second SL-92 will be the turnout that selects one of the two station tracks.
December 26
I'm going to build the support structure a bit different this time. I think I have come up with a better way to make grade transitions. This will be my first attempt using this type of construction.
The bottom portion of the drawing above shows the dimensions of an angled wedge cut from a 1" x 2" x 48" pine furring strip. That will keep the grade at precisely 2%. So that the board will bend to conform to the 24" radius I'll slot the inside edge with �' deep vertical cuts with my table saw every 3" so that the board will bend easy. I will use �" number 6 wood screws through the plywood into the furring strip to secure them together. If every thing works as planned I'll use some Elmer's Carpenters glue for added strength.
December 30
After I worked at removing the 25 year plus old track, roadbed and support structure I was almost totally done in for the day. That was a lot more work than I expected. The demolition took 4� hours.
I worked on my CAD for several hours and came up with a new grade profile shown in the drawing below. The contour ended up at 3/16" in 24".
Next is cutting out the new support from 1" x 6".
It lines up perfect with the mainline and the turnout into my yard and station.
New Years Day 2015
The picture above is a view looking up the grade to the tunnel portal. Looking at the drawing of my layout earlier in this post the red mainline is the outside track in the picture above, the green mainline is the inside track leading into the new curve.
Both of the mainline tracks are on a 3% grade and enter the tunnel portal at the same level then they split directions inside the tunnel. The outside track continues up at the 3% grade to the upper level and the inside track turns into a 3% down grade back to the lower level.
January 5
To test my new curve section I ran a complement of many types of locomotives. I ran my most touchy locomotives first. I have two Bowser GS4 mechanisms with Bachmann shells, they are super touchy because of their long driver wheelbase. They ran fine so that told me all three grade transitions were on the money. Next came my Rivarossi Articulateds and they had no problems either. Then troubles popped up with my 6 axle diesels, Athearn PA1s & SD40-2s, Proto 2000 E7s, E8s & E9s all derailed randomly at the Peco turnouts.
After three days of frustration dealing with the 6 axle diesels derailing at the Peco turnouts I finally found out what the problem was. The wheels would just nick the Peco frogs even though they all checked perfect in the NMRA Standards Gauge. The fix was to decrease the flange width by .010" on every axle.
I have a total of 18 Atlas code 83 turnouts and the .010" modification did not have any effect on them. I spent over 8 hours running my entire locomotive fleet, some haven't been run for many years so it was an exciting day to see them in operation again.
Watching my 9 car Daylight Passenger pulled by two Athearn SD40-2 frames with Cary E7 shells running at a constant scale speed of 100 MPH without any problems is a first. At this point I declare my new transition/curve fix a success.
My Christmas present to myself turned out to be more work than I anticipated but it fixed my problem curve so it was well worth it.
Sabtu, 13 Disember 2014
December 13, 2014 HO Diaphragm Problems
Over the years I've tried several types of diaphragms on my passenger cars without any success. They have always contributed to derailing or coupling and uncoupling problems. I have 6 Proto 2000 E series diesels that came with diaphragms and I've had to remove them because of various problems. I have 6 Athearn PA series diesels that I have tried to install diaphragms on also without success.
In visiting Model Railroad Forums I've seen several post where railroaders have used American Limited Diaphragms with success. As an FYI my mainline minimum radius is 29", the minimum radius in my yard is 18". I only run my Daylight passenger train on my mainline.
I had an old pair of Walthers 933-429 diaphragms on hand and decided to give them a try on my Cary E7 shells rather than toss them. I have to say in just taking them out of the package they look pathetic. Installing them was the pits!!!! Filmsy doesn't even come close to describing them. It took the better part of an afternoon to get them installed, getting them to fit correctly is a real task. I had to remove them four times and start over. The bottom line is they are working and looking pretty good.
The E7s in the foreground are my Cary shells, the two E9As are Proto2000s.
The above picture shows the Walthers diaphragms installed. They work pretty good but I think it's because of the combination of the heavy weight from the cast metal Cary shells and the Athearn SD40-2 frames, there is no way they could derail with all that weight.
I have gone to brass connecting rods between my diesels so the diaphragms can't interfere with coupler action between the A & B units.
The picture above is a pair of my Proto2000 E9As with the stock Proto2000 diaphragms reinstalled for comparison. I tried something new with this pair of E9s by putting a thin layer of white grease on the diaphragm plates. That made the plates of the diaphragms super slippery and at this point they still derail going through 18" radius turnouts in my yard. This pair is also connected together by a brass rod instead of couplers.
This picture shows the Cary E7s with Walthers Diaphragms on Atlas 18" radius Snap Track, tight but working OK.
The Proto 2000 diaphragms with the white grease sill have problems on a 18" radius. The Proto 2000 E series are marginal even without the diaphragms on an 18" radius. The Athearn SD40-2 frame negotiates an 18" radius much better than the Proto 2000s.
I have ordered a pair of American Limited 9500 SP Wide diaphragms and I will add to this post after they arrive. I plan to install one on the Cary B shell and the other on my Athearn Daylight baggage car to see if they will work without problems.
To help prevent problems I have replaced all the Kadee #5 couplers on my Daylight passenger cars with Kadee #119 Shelf Couplers. The Kadee #119 Couplers and the solid brass rod between diesels positively stops all accidental uncoupling.
There is a downside to using Kadee Shelf Couplers, it is very difficult to uncouple anything using them without either a uncoupler magnet between the rails or a Kadee #241 uncoupling tool. The 241 tool isn't easy to use after installing diaphragms, the diaphragms hinder the viewing angle of the couplers.
The combination of shelf couplers and the solid rod between diesels makes it extremely difficult to disconnect the locomotives from the passenger cars without an uncoupler. I find it best to keep a Kadee #322 magnet handy to drop between the rails for easy uncoupling.
Using solid brass coupling rods between diesels also takes care of small differences in motor RPM between powered units, it stops the jerking action.
Read More..
In visiting Model Railroad Forums I've seen several post where railroaders have used American Limited Diaphragms with success. As an FYI my mainline minimum radius is 29", the minimum radius in my yard is 18". I only run my Daylight passenger train on my mainline.
I had an old pair of Walthers 933-429 diaphragms on hand and decided to give them a try on my Cary E7 shells rather than toss them. I have to say in just taking them out of the package they look pathetic. Installing them was the pits!!!! Filmsy doesn't even come close to describing them. It took the better part of an afternoon to get them installed, getting them to fit correctly is a real task. I had to remove them four times and start over. The bottom line is they are working and looking pretty good.
The above picture shows the Walthers diaphragms installed. They work pretty good but I think it's because of the combination of the heavy weight from the cast metal Cary shells and the Athearn SD40-2 frames, there is no way they could derail with all that weight.
I have gone to brass connecting rods between my diesels so the diaphragms can't interfere with coupler action between the A & B units.
This picture shows the Cary E7s with Walthers Diaphragms on Atlas 18" radius Snap Track, tight but working OK.The Proto 2000 diaphragms with the white grease sill have problems on a 18" radius. The Proto 2000 E series are marginal even without the diaphragms on an 18" radius. The Athearn SD40-2 frame negotiates an 18" radius much better than the Proto 2000s.
I have ordered a pair of American Limited 9500 SP Wide diaphragms and I will add to this post after they arrive. I plan to install one on the Cary B shell and the other on my Athearn Daylight baggage car to see if they will work without problems.
To help prevent problems I have replaced all the Kadee #5 couplers on my Daylight passenger cars with Kadee #119 Shelf Couplers. The Kadee #119 Couplers and the solid brass rod between diesels positively stops all accidental uncoupling.
There is a downside to using Kadee Shelf Couplers, it is very difficult to uncouple anything using them without either a uncoupler magnet between the rails or a Kadee #241 uncoupling tool. The 241 tool isn't easy to use after installing diaphragms, the diaphragms hinder the viewing angle of the couplers.
The combination of shelf couplers and the solid rod between diesels makes it extremely difficult to disconnect the locomotives from the passenger cars without an uncoupler. I find it best to keep a Kadee #322 magnet handy to drop between the rails for easy uncoupling.
Using solid brass coupling rods between diesels also takes care of small differences in motor RPM between powered units, it stops the jerking action.
Ahad, 9 November 2014
November 9 2014 Airbrushing my Cary E7A & B Shells
Updated December 2, 2014
I wasn't planning on making a post for this project but everything worked out so good here it comes.
I have used Microscale Decals for what seems like forever and they have always looked very good, that is until I started my diesel fleet. The decals are very good, the problem is me. Applying a decal to a multi compound curve surface with huge number plates is just beyond my capability. . . . So I took on what I thought was going to be a impossible task by not using Micro-Scale Decals and applying the SP Daylight striping to my Cary E7A and B shells with my airbrush.
This is what the Bowser/Cary EMD E7A Shell looks like in and out of the box.
Because I wasn't planning on making a post on this project I didn't take pictures in the early stages of cleaning up the metal castings and the priming of the two shells.
Well the project turned out very good much to my surprise. Come to find out it not only turned out very good but it was actually easier than applying decals to my Proto 2000 E7, E8 & E9s several years ago.
The first step was to prepare for painting an impossible project. For years I have always painted in the garage to prevent smelling up the house. A few months ago I stumbled onto Tru-Color Paints, TCP is solvent based Acrylic paint with very little odor so I began this venture by setting up for airbrushing in our hobby room. Our hobby room is a converted bedroom off the garage, handy for working on my layout.
This is now my hobby room Airbrush setup.
I started with the Cary E7B as you can see in the picture above. I had the thin sheet of opaque plastic that I've been using for brush painting, I cut a 3" hole in it so that it would drop over my Panavise. My poor 30 year old Panavise is pretty beat up but still hanging in there, it works fantastic for holding objects for painting. I use Acetone for cleanup, very little odor and the best and fastest paint cleanup ever.
Like I said I wasn't planning on making a post on this project so the pictures above are the first ones I took. The first thing I did after cleaning up the sprue from the metal castings is paint them with Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer. When the primer had dried for a couple of days it was time to attempt the impossible.
I began by shooting the sides Daylight Red (TCP-106), I let that dry 24 hours then masked and shot the Daylight Orange stripe (TCP-107). Next I shot the roof with TCP-171 Weathered Black. Using the Tru-Color Paint is simply wonderful, just shake up the bottle, attach the bottle to the airbrush and have at it, no thinning needed. The TCP goes on better than any paint I've ever used in my airbrush. The TCP Southern Pacific colors are a perfect match too.
At this point I have to go into masking, over the last 20 or so years I've tried dozens of masking tapes. I finally found one that works on hobbies, 3M Scotch-Blue Delicate Surface Painters Tape # 2080el. The el is for edge lock and it does, this tape is wonderful. It requires very little pressure to apply, there is absolutely no bleeding and it doesn't lift any paint when it's removed.
I started with .94" wide tape and got some 1.41" wide later, it's also available in 1.88" width.
The masking tape is extremely easy to apply, I easily masked the E7B for the 1/32" stripes. After the masking tape was applied I used TCP-013 Aluminum to paint the thin stripes. Again absolutely no bleeding or paint lifting. I started with the B unit because everything is straight, no curved stuff.
Now onto the more difficult shell, the E7A.
Here again I started with the easy stuff first, I shot the nose and sides Daylight Red, 24 hours later I did the Daylight Orange stripe from below the cab windows to the rear of the the engine followed by a Weathered Black roof. Then the first of the hard part, the curved white stripe on the roof. The curved white stripe on the roof went easy just applying the .94" tape using a gradual curve with a 1/32" gap.
The next portion will be the more difficult Orange Deep V on the nose.
I started the most difficult part of this project by making an accurate to HO scale CAD drawing of the deep V using a Microscale decal set 87-1057 as a go by. That went pretty easy. Next I printed out a three template sheet to use as paper doll type cutouts.
I made the drawing below to show my intent of use for the templates.
The white squares are cutout so that the tape will fit smoothly over the curved surface of the nose. I'll cover the holes over the number boards later with small pieces of tape.
The picture above shows the 1.41" wide masking tape after cutting with a #11 Xacto. Applying the template was much easier than I expected.
I shot the Daylight Orange over the Red, the picture above shows a great deep V without any problems around the number boards.
Next I used a second template and removed 1/32" strip to make the template for the top stripe, again it was much easier to apply than I expected.
Looking good. About now I have started airbrushing quicker between coats, the masking tape works so good and the Tru-Color Paint dries so fast that I'm only waiting between 3 and 4 hours between coats.
Kind of a side note here, no touch up was needed after removing the masking tape. The Aluminum paint edges came out perfect the first time, extremely good masking tape.
The lower stripes came out good also.
I decided to add a Mars light so I drilled a hole for the new headlight below what will become the Mars light. I applied Dullcoat around the acrylic window glass to prevent a glossy window edge from the Testors Window Cement.
It took a bit of touch up with the airbrush after the headlight holes were ready for the bulbs but as you can see that went well too.
I'm using Walther/Proto 2000 bulbs for the headlight and Mars light.
I'm working on a flasher circuit to operate the dual filament bulb simulating a Mars light. I'm leaning towards a LM555 timer to end up with a ramp output to better simulate an oscillating lamp.
The Proto E series coupler cover above is the final touch completing my Southern Pacific Daylight Cary E7 shells.
The LM555 timer circuit worked out very good, the ramp output on filament 1 combined with the square wave output on filament 2 gives a very realistic oscillating Mars light. Much better than a flop flop circuit.
The square Acrylic windows are slightly larger than the openings in the shells so it is necessary to file them to fit.
This has worked out so much better than using decals as well as being so much easier to do.
Both shells have Southern Pacific decals made on my Alps printer.
I sealed the paint and decals with two coats of Testors Dullcoat before I installed the Acrylic window glass.
This project came out far better than what I ever expected. I really didn't think I could airbrush to this quality.
This was a very enjoyable project. I now have a perfect in every way Cary E7A & B shells on Athearn powered locomotive frames to pull my Daylight passenger train.
After the great results of airbrushing the SP paint scheme using the Tru Color Paints I will go this route from now on, I've set my last store bought diesel decals. The combination of Tru Color Paints, Scotch Blue Delicate Surface masking tape and my Alps printer will be my choice from now on, no more store bought decals.
Read More..
I wasn't planning on making a post for this project but everything worked out so good here it comes.
I have used Microscale Decals for what seems like forever and they have always looked very good, that is until I started my diesel fleet. The decals are very good, the problem is me. Applying a decal to a multi compound curve surface with huge number plates is just beyond my capability. . . . So I took on what I thought was going to be a impossible task by not using Micro-Scale Decals and applying the SP Daylight striping to my Cary E7A and B shells with my airbrush.
This is what the Bowser/Cary EMD E7A Shell looks like in and out of the box.
Because I wasn't planning on making a post on this project I didn't take pictures in the early stages of cleaning up the metal castings and the priming of the two shells.
Well the project turned out very good much to my surprise. Come to find out it not only turned out very good but it was actually easier than applying decals to my Proto 2000 E7, E8 & E9s several years ago.
The first step was to prepare for painting an impossible project. For years I have always painted in the garage to prevent smelling up the house. A few months ago I stumbled onto Tru-Color Paints, TCP is solvent based Acrylic paint with very little odor so I began this venture by setting up for airbrushing in our hobby room. Our hobby room is a converted bedroom off the garage, handy for working on my layout.
This is now my hobby room Airbrush setup.
I began by shooting the sides Daylight Red (TCP-106), I let that dry 24 hours then masked and shot the Daylight Orange stripe (TCP-107). Next I shot the roof with TCP-171 Weathered Black. Using the Tru-Color Paint is simply wonderful, just shake up the bottle, attach the bottle to the airbrush and have at it, no thinning needed. The TCP goes on better than any paint I've ever used in my airbrush. The TCP Southern Pacific colors are a perfect match too.
At this point I have to go into masking, over the last 20 or so years I've tried dozens of masking tapes. I finally found one that works on hobbies, 3M Scotch-Blue Delicate Surface Painters Tape # 2080el. The el is for edge lock and it does, this tape is wonderful. It requires very little pressure to apply, there is absolutely no bleeding and it doesn't lift any paint when it's removed.
I started with .94" wide tape and got some 1.41" wide later, it's also available in 1.88" width.
The masking tape is extremely easy to apply, I easily masked the E7B for the 1/32" stripes. After the masking tape was applied I used TCP-013 Aluminum to paint the thin stripes. Again absolutely no bleeding or paint lifting. I started with the B unit because everything is straight, no curved stuff.
Now onto the more difficult shell, the E7A.
The next portion will be the more difficult Orange Deep V on the nose.
I started the most difficult part of this project by making an accurate to HO scale CAD drawing of the deep V using a Microscale decal set 87-1057 as a go by. That went pretty easy. Next I printed out a three template sheet to use as paper doll type cutouts.
I shot the Daylight Orange over the Red, the picture above shows a great deep V without any problems around the number boards.Next I used a second template and removed 1/32" strip to make the template for the top stripe, again it was much easier to apply than I expected.
Kind of a side note here, no touch up was needed after removing the masking tape. The Aluminum paint edges came out perfect the first time, extremely good masking tape.
It took a bit of touch up with the airbrush after the headlight holes were ready for the bulbs but as you can see that went well too.
I'm using Walther/Proto 2000 bulbs for the headlight and Mars light.
In the picture above I have installed the lamps and sealed them with Testors Clear Parts Cement and Window Maker. I also used the Cement to seal the Laser Kit #248 E7 windows in place.
I'm working on a flasher circuit to operate the dual filament bulb simulating a Mars light. I'm leaning towards a LM555 timer to end up with a ramp output to better simulate an oscillating lamp.
DONE
The Proto E series coupler cover above is the final touch completing my Southern Pacific Daylight Cary E7 shells.
The LM555 timer circuit worked out very good, the ramp output on filament 1 combined with the square wave output on filament 2 gives a very realistic oscillating Mars light. Much better than a flop flop circuit.
The square Acrylic windows are slightly larger than the openings in the shells so it is necessary to file them to fit.
This has worked out so much better than using decals as well as being so much easier to do.
This was a very enjoyable project. I now have a perfect in every way Cary E7A & B shells on Athearn powered locomotive frames to pull my Daylight passenger train.
After the great results of airbrushing the SP paint scheme using the Tru Color Paints I will go this route from now on, I've set my last store bought diesel decals. The combination of Tru Color Paints, Scotch Blue Delicate Surface masking tape and my Alps printer will be my choice from now on, no more store bought decals.
Ahad, 26 Oktober 2014
October 26, 2014 Cal-Scale Marker Lights
Back in September of 2010 I did a post on Cal-Scale Marker lights. According to Google Stats it has received more views than any other post on my blog. I decided to do an updated post on the Cal-Scale 190-280 Modern Loco Marker Lights. They are classified as Super Detail Lost Wax Brass Castings. Out of the package they are non operating detail parts.
Because of my love for the Southern Pacific Cab Forward I have a large fleet of HO scale Rivarossi AC -10s, 11s & 12s. I have done a lot of detail work on my fleet, the Rivarossi Shell detail is very good but can be improved with brass detail parts. Among those improvements are illuminated marker lights. I wanted illuminated marker lights but the Rivarossi lights are way to small to work with. The commercial marker lights such as Tomar are too large. I bought the Cal-Scale non illuminated lamps because I can drill them out and install 1mm micro bulbs. A second reason for using the 190-280 marker is because they're identical to the actual SP markers used on the Cab Forwards.
This post will show my modifications to the Cal-Scale Brass Marker lights.
This is what I will start with. I don't have a need for additional marker lights at this time so I'm doing this for this post.
The picture below shows the 1mm 1� volt micro light bulbs that will be installed in the drilled out brass castings.
My experience has been that the 1mm bulbs are not all equal, I measure the diameter for each bulb and drill the correct size hole for a custom fit. These two bulbs measure 1.33mm so I will use a #54 drill bit.
This is a closeup of one of the marker castings before drilling. As you can see in the picture the Cal-Scale detail is very good.
The drilling process is very tedious to prevent destroying the casting. I use a #80-#50 bit in a micro chuck with a �" hex shaft in my mini 180 RPM Black & Decker 4 volt battery operated drill/screwdriver. The low RPM is a must!
These particular 1mm bulbs measure 1.33mm so I'm using a #54 bit or 1.4mm for the rear hole. The castings will be glued to the face of the locomotive front cab so the slightly larger hole won't show.
Next is holding the brass casting for drilling. To accomplish that I sandwich the casting in my Panavise with a 1" x �" piece of pine behind the casting for support as shown in the picture below.
I begin by drilling a #60 hole (.040"/1.0160mm) completely through the casting, front to back. Drill half way through the casting then turn it over and finish the hole, that way the hole is centered properly.
Next drill the top hole down to meet with the first hole using the bit in a pin vise as this hole is very drilling, this forms a 'T' opening for light flow. Before drilling the top hole move the casting down in the jaws of the vise to prevent the casting from twisting. The downward drilling can twist the fragile casting if the bit grabs it.
In the picture below all three lens holes have been drilled out to 1mm
The Cab Forward marker light has only two openings with lenses so I will enlarge the rear hole to fit the bulb. In doing so you must reverse the enlarged hole on the second casting so that you end up with a right and left marker light! With Cal-Scale reversing the fixtures on their casting it's simple to get it right.
The castings are now ready to be separated from the sprue. I use sharp flush cutters that I bought at Harbor Freight. If you cut super close to the lamp head it will require very little filing. The wire coming out of the bottom of the fixture is very frail and needs to be turned 90� using long nose pliers. I've never broken a wire but I'm sure you have to do it right the first time.
Here the castings have been cut off the sprue and the cut edge filed. Using a round toothpick through the casting hole helps to hold the very small object during the cleanup process.
The castings are ready to have the micro bulbs glued in place. I use super glue to hold the bulb in place and also to glue the fixture to the locomotive.
I buy my micro bulbs in bulk off e-Bay and they don't come with insulation so I strip small leftover pieces of #30 DCC wiring and slip the insulation over the bulb wires.
The Cal-Scale 190-280 Modern Marker Lamps are ready to be installed. I don't paint them until I have glued them in place. I paint the lamp housing flat black to match the locomotive then just a drop of transparent glass dye in the lens opening. After they have dried a second drop will look like a glass lens.
The picture below shows a pair of illuminated Cal-Scale Markers installed on a Rivarossi Cab Forward, the number boards are also illuminated.
My most resent and most likely my last up grade to my fleet of Rivarossi articulateds was to use DCC Function #3 to turn on and off the marker lights. All of my Rivarossi Locomotives are wired for DCC operation including speaker equipped tenders for sound operation. All of them have been remotored with Rare Earth Magnet Can motors, six have a single Faulhaber 2224SR, seven have dual Canon EN-22s and three have a single EN-22.
Read More..
Because of my love for the Southern Pacific Cab Forward I have a large fleet of HO scale Rivarossi AC -10s, 11s & 12s. I have done a lot of detail work on my fleet, the Rivarossi Shell detail is very good but can be improved with brass detail parts. Among those improvements are illuminated marker lights. I wanted illuminated marker lights but the Rivarossi lights are way to small to work with. The commercial marker lights such as Tomar are too large. I bought the Cal-Scale non illuminated lamps because I can drill them out and install 1mm micro bulbs. A second reason for using the 190-280 marker is because they're identical to the actual SP markers used on the Cab Forwards.
This post will show my modifications to the Cal-Scale Brass Marker lights.
The picture below shows the 1mm 1� volt micro light bulbs that will be installed in the drilled out brass castings.
The drilling process is very tedious to prevent destroying the casting. I use a #80-#50 bit in a micro chuck with a �" hex shaft in my mini 180 RPM Black & Decker 4 volt battery operated drill/screwdriver. The low RPM is a must!
These particular 1mm bulbs measure 1.33mm so I'm using a #54 bit or 1.4mm for the rear hole. The castings will be glued to the face of the locomotive front cab so the slightly larger hole won't show.Next is holding the brass casting for drilling. To accomplish that I sandwich the casting in my Panavise with a 1" x �" piece of pine behind the casting for support as shown in the picture below.
I begin by drilling a #60 hole (.040"/1.0160mm) completely through the casting, front to back. Drill half way through the casting then turn it over and finish the hole, that way the hole is centered properly.
Next drill the top hole down to meet with the first hole using the bit in a pin vise as this hole is very drilling, this forms a 'T' opening for light flow. Before drilling the top hole move the casting down in the jaws of the vise to prevent the casting from twisting. The downward drilling can twist the fragile casting if the bit grabs it.
The Cab Forward marker light has only two openings with lenses so I will enlarge the rear hole to fit the bulb. In doing so you must reverse the enlarged hole on the second casting so that you end up with a right and left marker light! With Cal-Scale reversing the fixtures on their casting it's simple to get it right.
Here the castings have been cut off the sprue and the cut edge filed. Using a round toothpick through the casting hole helps to hold the very small object during the cleanup process.
The castings are ready to have the micro bulbs glued in place. I use super glue to hold the bulb in place and also to glue the fixture to the locomotive.
The picture below shows a pair of illuminated Cal-Scale Markers installed on a Rivarossi Cab Forward, the number boards are also illuminated.
My most resent and most likely my last up grade to my fleet of Rivarossi articulateds was to use DCC Function #3 to turn on and off the marker lights. All of my Rivarossi Locomotives are wired for DCC operation including speaker equipped tenders for sound operation. All of them have been remotored with Rare Earth Magnet Can motors, six have a single Faulhaber 2224SR, seven have dual Canon EN-22s and three have a single EN-22.
Rabu, 17 September 2014
September 17, 2014 DCC Test Box
I decided to make a DCC tester that would check locomotives as well as a 8 pin decoder.
I started by drawing up my plan on my computer. I wanted to have the ability to test all DCC functions for proper operation in my locomotives before installing a decoder. That is a necessity for converting and the wiring of all locomotives. I also wanted the ability to check my decoders for proper operation as well as programming them.
I posted a PDF of my CAD drawing above on my Google Drive, click here to view or download it.
I bought the box above for the tester, it measures 4" X 3�" X 2" high.
I cut two holes in one end for a standard banana plug, that will be the power input to the tester.
Next I cut two holes for NMRA 8 pin connectors, I super glued two connectors in the holes. The Micro Connectors are male on one side and female on the other side. The glued in connectors will serve as sort of header connectors or extensions. Identical connectors with wires soldered to them will plug directly onto the glued connectors making the test module removable from the box.
I used a .03" piece of sheet styrene to make a "breadboard" for building and testing the tester for proper operation.
I use my long nose pliers as a heat sink for soldering. The mini toggle switches, LEDs and diodes are very vulnerable to high heat so a heat sink is necessary to prevent damage.
The picture below is a front view of the parts location on the breadboard.
The Picture above is a rear view of the breadboard showing the wiring.
Another item needed for this project is extension cables. I made a 24" and a 6" extension for the 8 pin NMRA DCC connector as well as for the DCC speakers using 2 pin Micro Mini JST connectors as shown in the picture below. That adds more flexibility to the testing process.
At this point everything works as planed, next will be drilling the holes in the top cover of the box.
At this point my plan is to use the styrene breadboard as a drill pattern and possibly paint it black. White Decals will show up very good under the clear top cover and be protected from heavy usage.
In the picture above my tester is operating a Rivarossi Cab Forward, everything works very good and the only thing left to do is make and install the labeling.
Read More..
I started by drawing up my plan on my computer. I wanted to have the ability to test all DCC functions for proper operation in my locomotives before installing a decoder. That is a necessity for converting and the wiring of all locomotives. I also wanted the ability to check my decoders for proper operation as well as programming them.
I posted a PDF of my CAD drawing above on my Google Drive, click here to view or download it.
I bought the box above for the tester, it measures 4" X 3�" X 2" high.
I cut two holes in one end for a standard banana plug, that will be the power input to the tester.
I used a .03" piece of sheet styrene to make a "breadboard" for building and testing the tester for proper operation.
The picture below is a front view of the parts location on the breadboard.
Another item needed for this project is extension cables. I made a 24" and a 6" extension for the 8 pin NMRA DCC connector as well as for the DCC speakers using 2 pin Micro Mini JST connectors as shown in the picture below. That adds more flexibility to the testing process.
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