PNP's O-16.5 Workbench

[PinkNosedPenguin]

@Mountain, it was a very good styrene kit - the parts went together very precisely and there was nice under-carriage detail. Some little brackets were provided for Kadee couplings, but I modified them to make 'sort-of' NEM pockets for some tension lock couplings I had.

Next on my list is the Slim Rails 'GEC Style Diesel' which fits on a Black Beetle power bogie. It looks a little bit American, but I think it'll be fine - and has room inside for a decoder ! Unfortunately getting hold of a Black Beetle has proved tricky as it would appear they are no longer available in the UK because (to quote DC Kits who still list them on their website) “They use Mashima Motors, and Mashima motors in Japan have closed down in June.” So I contacted Steam Era models in Australia (who make the black beetle units) and they said “I still have a reasonable stock of Mashima motors, so I plan to keep making Black Beetles as long as I can.” Hence I ordered one from them, but the shipping cost from there is quite high of course. I will probably wait for the black beetle to arrive before starting that loco kit . . .

[Mountain]

@Mountain, it was a very good styrene kit - the parts went together very precisely and there was nice under-carriage detail. Some little brackets were provided for Kadee couplings, but I modified them to make 'sort-of' NEM pockets for some tension lock couplings I had.

Next on my list is the Slim Rails 'GEC Style Diesel' which fits on a Black Beetle power bogie. It looks a little bit American, but I think it'll be fine - and has room inside for a decoder ! Unfortunately getting hold of a Black Beetle has proved tricky as it would appear they are no longer available in the UK because (to quote DC Kits who still list them on their website) “They use Mashima Motors, and Mashima motors in Japan have closed down in June.” So I contacted Steam Era models in Australia (who make the black beetle units) and they said “I still have a reasonable stock of Mashima motors, so I plan to keep making Black Beetles as long as I can.” Hence I ordered one from them, but the shipping cost from there is quite high of course. I will probably wait for the black beetle to arrive before starting that loco kit . . .

I was going to say to make sure you can get the drive mechanism before you order the kit. Will be exciting to see the results. Dont worry about the American look to it as during the early 1900's and just before, there was such a high demand for British locomotive builders back then making steam trains, to keep up with demands right round the world, that some railway companies in Britain had no choice but either wait a few years, or order their locos from the USA, and at certain years of diesel production in the UK where many companies were doing their best to keep up with the sudden demand due to B.R.'s dieselization policy being pushed forward, that quite a few designs were hardly tested, such was the rush to build them. If a narrow gauge railway company needed a new loco during this time they may well have needed to offer from the USA as locobuilding companies in the UK had their hands full!
So dont worry about a USA loco be it steam or diesel being used on a UK based narrow gauge railway. It did happen,though they were made to fit the UK loading gauge of the specific railway they had been ordered for.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Thanks again for comments and encouragement. I have been busy constructing two 4-wheel Glyn Valley style coach kits: one from Smallbrook Studios, and the other a Peco 'Great Little Train'. They differed in several ways:
1. the Peco kit came with lots of detail parts whereas the Smallbrook was very simple
2. the Peco kit had glazing that simply fitted inside the mouldings, making for very thick window frames, whereas the Smallbrook had pieces of glazing accurately cut to fit into the window recesses from the outside, with the ingenious method of adding white window frames to cover the joins
3. the Peco had no interior details whatsoever, but the Smallbrook came with wooden effect seats
4. the Peco was ready painted (but I wanted to change to my own livery), the Smallbrook needed priming before painting
5. they are different actual vehicles with different door, window and seating layouts
Both fun to build in their different ways, although the Smallbrook white window frames were extremely fiddly to fit - next time I think I'll cut off the top half of the sides to form a an open coach - actually that's not a bad idea at all !!!

Here are the two sets of sides/ends which I sprayed with Revell Fiery Red in 'silk matt' finish (despite the appearance in the photos, they are both the same colour!):
Peco showing some of the extra detail parts:
IMG_8165 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Smallbrook showing the white window frames fitted to one side:
IMG_8176 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

I bought some cheap seated figures from eBay knowing they wouldn't be too visible inside the carriages (if I say they had an oriental look to them you'll know why!!!). They were already (roughly) painted so I touched them up a bit and gave some of them different colour hair (!):
Peco on some seats simply constructed from styrene sheet:
IMG_8168 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Smallbrook on the seats provided, which look out through the side windows:
IMG_8177 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

I then added some transfers (from Railtec) and some light weathering to the lower parts of sides & ends, and to a greater extent on the roofs:
IMG_8224 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8223 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Finally here they are behind Mabel on my test track:
IMG_8226 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8225 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8227 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8228 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8230 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Thanks for reading . . .

[Mountain]

Excellent work. I thought at first I was looking at my coaches as they are a similar looking livery. They really look the part. I know what you mean about the windows. I made a tiny mistake and my windows were set back a bit compared to yours, but they still look OK. My glass ended up with a frosty look. I could have done it again but it looked like the coach had been filled with occupants on a damp day so I left them as they are. It gives an interesting look to it.
You will need a brake van. Either a standard type which double up for goods use, or one of those Peco coaches built as a brake coach?
I really like the people in your coaches. They look great.
Well done. Your work is certainly very neat and precise.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

My glass ended up with a frosty look. I could have done it again but it looked like the coach had been filled with occupants on a damp day so I left them as they are. It gives an interesting look to it.

Yeah, mine too (so hard to keep any glue off the glazing) - I like that back-story

[Mountain]

My glass ended up with a frosty look. I could have done it again but it looked like the coach had been filled with occupants on a damp day so I left them as they are. It gives an interesting look to it.

Yeah, mine too (so hard to keep any glue off the glazing) - I like that back-story

I have another three to build yet. Not sure I can get them as good as your windows.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

As I said above:

Next on my list is the Slim Rails 'GEC Style Diesel' which fits on a Black Beetle power bogie. It looks a little bit American, but I think it'll be fine - and has room inside for a decoder ! Unfortunately getting hold of a Black Beetle has proved tricky as it would appear they are no longer available in the UK because (to quote DC Kits who still list them on their website) “They use Mashima Motors, and Mashima motors in Japan have closed down in June.” So I contacted Steam Era models in Australia (who make the black beetle units) and they said “I still have a reasonable stock of Mashima motors, so I plan to keep making Black Beetles as long as I can.” Hence I ordered one from them, but the shipping cost from there is quite high of course. I will probably wait for the black beetle to arrive before starting that loco kit . . .

My black beetle arrived (although the postage, vat and Royal Mail service charge pretty much equaled the price of the unit ). A very compact and self-contained unit containing motor and 27:1 reduction gearing:
IMG_8231 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8232 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8233 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

The unit runs ok on DC, though could do with some extra weight to aid contact with the track. It seems pretty strong. Hopefully the body (and the same decoder with stay-alive that I used on Mabel) will end up with a nicely running unit.

The Slim Rails kit comes with a small mounting plate which screws onto the top of the black beetle effectively converting it from a bogie on a pivot to a fixed chassis:
IMG_8234 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

I have constructed the first part of the locomotive kit - the footplate - and tested fit of the chassis using two small brass bolts:
IMG_8235 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8236 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Now I have to decide where to put the electronics - under the footplate or up inside the body . . .

[Mountain]

You were fortunate to get one of those. They look impressive. Nice to see the beginnings of a diesel loco motive. I have two kits of diesels I've not made yet. Did start making one, but due to needing more stock to run behind what I already had, I decided to concentrate on coaches and waggons for now.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

I am making some more progress on 'Ronald' (my Slim Rails diesel kit).

The decoder and stay-alive have been connected to the black beetle and tested (the motor wires pass up through the mounting plate; all the electronics will easily fit inside the locomotive 'hood'):
IMG_8249 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

The body has been part-constructed and both it and the base painted in the wonderfully-named "Drab Olive" (Humbrol acrylic matt spray), with the footplate picked out in Tar Black and buffer ends in red:
IMG_8250 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Trying the 'driver' for size:
IMG_8247 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

Glazing next . . .

[Mountain]

Well done. It is looking good. I'm somewhere near the stage of wanting to add people but not painted them yet (Except one), and this is with coaches.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

I have glazed the cab and drilled out the two light holes in the body. I inserted a 2mm LED from DCC Concepts in the front hole and wired up to the decoder. I now have a very exciting front light and a couple of wires emerging into the cab for future addition of the even more exciting back light
IMG_8252 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr
IMG_8253 by Pink Nosed Penguin, on Flickr

[Mountain]

Love the light. Noticed it is a plastic kit. (Assumed it was resin). Does it need a little weight added to it to help it pull or is it OK as it is?

[kebang]

My build is going really slowly! I've just ordered 12 x Triang R193 pieces of track from ebay. Seller doesn't post to Philippines so My sister is buying them, they'll be delivered to her & I'll collect them in May when I visit.
Does anyone know if they will connect seamlessly to Hornby/Peco set track or will I have to fettle some sort of transitional track?

[Mountain]

There are rail height differences. I believe Triang system 3 and 4 is more like code 130 in height. Rather then file down to fit with code 100, I found it is easier to pack under the code 100 to join the two and solder the two together.
What maybe easier is to buy ordinary code 100 sections and solder sleepers made from PCB. If doing this, keep the old sleepers on the track untill last minute as this will keep the gauge. You dont have to solder every sleeper. One in every three can be PCB and the rest can be wood from tea sturers or lollypop sticks as this can make building quicker.
I'm thinking if you can buy flexible track if it is cut to smaller lengths? It will require more rail joiners, but maybe an idea to save on cost and hastle of postage regulations.
Are there other modellers in your country? The reason why I ask is that it could be an idea for several people to get together and order a bulk load of track and this would share the extra import cost? You could even be the main distributer...
I hope you can get some decent track. What is the maximum length allowed without it involving cost at customs? Was thinking that you could buy secondhand code 100 sectional track in large volumes, but I suspect there is a height and width and even a weight limit.

[kebang]

No other known railway modeller in Philippines I'm afraid. If I wait until May when I visit the UK again I can bring some NG flextrack back with me (If I can find a suitcase/holdall a metre long!) All set track, apart from the 26in straight, can be sent by normal airmail.

If I order anything using the normal postal service the customs fee is nominal,112 pesos (about 1.65 GBP). Anything that is sent by all the other international carriers (TNT, Fed Ex,etc.) is extortionate as once the goods arrive in Philippines the carrier then adds a further fee for completing the import forms. This fee is often in excess of 40.00GBP & is in addition to the transportation fee (approximately 5 times cost of air mail) already paid.

So you can see why I use set track!