Roundhouse 0-6-0 vs DCC/Sound

[doctorwayne]

Good-looking results, Matt.

Wayne

[tetters]

Nice work!

[Puddlejumper]

That looks fantastic. Way better than before. And to think you weren't going to go to this much effort... the results are certainly worth it!

Dave

[sailormatlac]

That looks fantastic. Way better than before. And to think you weren't going to go to this much effort... the results are certainly worth it!

Dave

Dave, it's what I like here. Each time I'm about to give up, people always come up with significant insight.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Christmas vacations start today and I worked a few hours on completing the boiler detailling.

I added the builder plates and air strainer, scratchbuilt a numberboard and washouts, installed the headlight bracket and marker lights. Injector, pipes and handrails were done too. I also added rivets on the cab to look more prototypical. All that said, the only remaining work is to build the air pipes spiraling under the running boards, add brake cylinders and various little details on the cylinders... I'm not looking forward making the air pipes, hope I'll find an easy way to make them without getting nut with an soldering iron!





Once all that done, final rewiring will proceed, followed by paint and decals (the best part of the job IMHO!).

Matt

[doctorwayne]

You can make a simple jig for forming the pipe radiators. Draw some parallel straight lines on a board, spacing them the same distance apart as the coils you want. Drive some finishing nails at the ends of the lines (or at whatever length of coil you require) and then simply follow the lines with some soft brass wire of suitable diameter. You may have to use pliers to hand-form each bend where the pipe folds back on itself, but you could also place short lengths of suitably-sized brass tubing over the finishing nails, and form the bends around them.

The pipe hangers are pretty easy to do, too. Once the coil has been formed, pin it so that the pipes within the coil will remain parallel while you add the hangers. I find ordinary dressmakers pins, pushed into 1/4" sheet balsa work well.
Form a tight "U" from flat brass bar. I usually use Detail Associates .010"x.030" or .010"x.018", and first draw a length of bar through some fine sandpaper to remove any dirt or oxidation, as you'll eventually be soldering this . Form the bottom curve of the "U" around wire of the same diameter as that used on the cooling coil and leave the uprights of the "U" at least twice as long as the coil is high.
Next, slip the "U" onto the lowest pipe in the coil, with one upright under all of the other pipes and the other upright over. Using suitable pliers (I have small ones with smooth jaws and chisel-like tips) place one jaw against the bottom (speaking as if the coil were on the loco) of the "U", then bring the other jaw down so that it forces the brass bar down into the area between adjacent pipes, and forms the material around the lowermost pipe. Repeat these actions as you work your way to the top of the coil, then apply flux and solder the front part of the bracket to the rear part, trapping the pipes. If your pipe was cleaned before bending, the bracket will be soldered to the cooling coil as well.

After all of the brackets have been soldered, remove the coil from the holding fixture and determine how low the coil needs to hang beneath the loco's running board. Bend the remaining un-used portions of the "U"'s uprights to 90° at the appropriate spot, trim off the excess material and affix them to the underside of the running board.

While not an illustrated step-by-step, there are some photos of pipe brackets made using this method HERE.

Wayne

[Steamtrains]

You can make a simple jig for forming the pipe radiators. Draw some parallel straight lines on a board, spacing them the same distance apart as the coils you want. Drive some finishing nails at the ends of the lines (or at whatever length of coil you require) and then simply follow the lines with some soft brass wire of suitable diameter. You may have to use pliers to hand-form each bend where the pipe folds back on itself, but you could also place short lengths of suitably-sized brass tubing over the finishing nails, and form the bends around them.

Wayne

When he first mentioned his problem, this is exactly what came to mind....

[sailormatlac]

Wayne,

Excellent tip! I'll give it a try... and let you know about the result.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Wayne,

I just found out I made the triangular number board too large. What are the average dimensions of these?

Thank you.

Matt

[doctorwayne]

I wasn't sure of the proper size, Matt, and had to check the only three CNR locomotives I have. Usually, there's a couple of Mister Nutbar's locos around, too.

The number board on my Samhongsa-built H-6-g 1383 measured roughly:

.375" across the rear
.075" across the front
.285" along each side
.125" thick




...and the scratchbuilt one on my recently acquired O-18-a 7434 was the same size:




...while the scratchbuilt one on my Proto-based P-5-h measured approximately:

.380" across the rear
.075" across the front
.285" along each side
.110" thick




I'm unsure of the reason for the discrepancy in thickness of the one on 8414, but it was my first CNR steamer, and the dimensions would have been taken from one of Mister Nutbar's locos. If you want to use HO scale inches, the sizes work out to roughly:

34" across the rear
7" across the front
25" along each side
10" thick

(that's using .011" to represent I"HO)

Wayne

[sailormatlac]

Thanks Wayne, you're the modeller's best friend! The new number board made from your data is much better.

I completed the piping using your method. I had to flatten some brass wire to make flatbar and skipped a few steps because I lacked the tools, but I'm quite satisfied with the look. My only concern is that I made the coils too much high. Well, live and learn. Next time....................

A few shots of the completed engine during test fitting.











TIme to paint!

Matt

[doctorwayne]

Those coils look good to me, Matt, as does the entire locomotive.

Wayne

[sailormatlac]

Wayne asked me how I was dealing with the cab sagging. Here's are a few pictures.

The cab is actually screwed on the boiler. The front location of the screw is partially responsible for this because it induces a stress in the plastic tab glued on the boiler. The solution was to glue styrene blocks inside the cab, near the back, to keep it aligned with the floor. It works fine. I also added an engineer and a fireman.





Matt

[Puddlejumper]

I am continually amazed at the skills of the steamfitters on this forum.

This locomotive is beautiful. An inspiration to those of us that still haven't started our first steam project but really want to.

Dave

[doctorwayne]

Matt, that simple solution has made a world of difference and it's a good example of your resourcefulness, something which I've seen in every loco or piece of rolling stock that you've built.

Wayne