Arkitex (00) - Expanding a 1960's System

Introduction

In this series of articles I explain my approach to expanding the Tri-ang Arkitex (00) system using 3D filament printing to add extra parts to enable a wider range of buildings to be created for use with 00 model railways built for 1960s operation.

My model railway readily mixes vintage and modern models, so here, I do not attempt to make parts that are more realistic, my aim is to expand the system sympathetically, i.e. maintaining the flavour of the original concept to what might have been.

Most designs are for printing in PLA using a 0.4mm nozzle in a single extruder 3D printer, some have been tried in ABS but I have had rather mixed success with ABS.

Some parts are also designed for printing with a dual extruder machine in two colours, e.g. fascia bricks and mortar. These will also be available for single extruder printing such that they can be painted accordingly after printing.

As the articles are posted the static list below (which is growing faster than I can write them up) will become active links.

Article List

1. The Tri-ang Arkitex (00) System
2. Before 3D Printing
3. The Arkitex 3D Printing Project
4. Type A Panel - The Basis of All Panels that Follow
5. Printing Fascias
6. Type A Panel - Refinements
7. Type A Panel - Doors
8. Type B Panel - Short Panel
9. Type C Panel - Full height, 3/4 width
10. Type D Panel - Short, 3/4 width
11. Type E & F Panel - Full Size, Handed
12. Frame Top Flange - Revision for Strength
13. Type G Frame - Full Height, 2x Width
14. Type H Frame - Short, 2x width
15. Frame - Alternative Printing for a Better Formed Top Flange
16. Custom Base Plate
17. Evaluating the work so far
18. Royal Mail Warehouse Frontage Version 1
19. Warehouse Floors - Design 1
20. Custom Connector Beams - Basics
21. Thick Floor Connector Beams
22. Warehouse Floors - Design 2
23. Roof Panels
24. Roof Edging - Completes RM Warehouse Version 2
25. Correcting Type C Frames
26. Overhang Beams & Columns
27. Long Beams
28. North Lights
29. Structural Floor Panels
30. Truss Connector Beams
31. Two Storey Factory Windows
32. Corner Parts
33. 1.5 Storey Factory Walls/Windows
34. Single Storey Factory Windows
35. Red Brick Panels
36. Minix Motor Works, Version 2
37. Single Storey Factory Windows, Full Glaze
38. Electrical Engineering Works, Version 2


More to come ...

Jim

Return to "A Wrinkly in 3D Printing Land"

Return to Warren Yard ( The Layout )

 

Hi Paul I had quite a bit of it as a kid over numerous birthdays and a couple Christmas's in 1/42 for use with my Corgi and Dinky cars, alas it was disposed of before I started buying and selling on eBay, however plenty is available in good used condition now in 00, I introduce the system in my opening postings shortly.

Jim

 

Hi Brian, they were about the same era, Arkitex was produced in Northern Ireland but for various reasons, some lost in the mists of time and others that will be referenced it had a short life.
But I liked to play with it, then as well now, such as the large buildings now on my railway, after 60 years I can finally expand it in a time effective way

Jim

 

1. The Tri-ang Arkitex (00) System

Origin

This construction system originated in approximately 1959 and represents office block building design into the 1960s, it was produced in 1/42 scale and '00'. The 00 system was aimed at the emerging 00 gauge model railway systems of the time, as such it is a valuable resource for constructing modern buildings of that era in quite a realistic manner.

Further details on its origin can be read from the Brighton Toy and Model Museum website, reference 1.1.

Overview of the Arkitex System

A simple frame is built in cubes using beams and 6 way blocks and the building clad with panels representing walls, windows, doorways, floors, flat roofs and for a short while parts for blocks of flats.

However it's downside was being limited to the notoriously box like architecture, inflexible parts, and with the 00 system difficult to build well without gaps and misaligned parts due to the very light components as can be seen in many built examples. I will expand upon these issues with useful tweaks to minimise or even eliminate the worst ones later.

Despite its issues, at some 60 years old the parts have aged minimally and very good condition used parts can be readily obtained on eBay at reasonable cost providing you avoid perfect boxed sets. I have bought much as job lots of parts, incomplete tatty sets and bundles. Almost like buying second hand Lego by the kilo bag.

The 1/42 sets were letter coded 1 to 5, the 00 sets A to E, here I am focusing on the 00 version so I will refer only to sets A to D in this series as I do not have any E set parts, too expensive. There was also some smaller 'Junior' sets, (Ref 1.2).

The basic 00 sets were :-

Set A - Small office buildings.
Set B - Medium office buildings, double the quantity of parts contained in set A.
Set C - Large office/shop buildings with penthouses, lighting, overhangs, and stairs.
Set D - Bridge building set which included ties, ramps, and solid road panels.
Set E - Apartment buildings which included domestic windows and balconies.

A range of extra accessories were shown in the handbook and catalogue but may not have ever been made.

Constructing Buildings with the Arkitex System

Using extracts from the 00 system handbook and catalogue the basic components and method of construction is outlined here so the design work that follows is put into context.

Image 1 shows the basic assembly of the cube structure using connector blocks and beams.




Image 2, left shows the fitting of the card floor and roof panels, these the same pieces, one side printed red for internal carpeting and the reverse side grey for roof surfaces.

Right shows the insertion of the coloured metal panels, red one side, blue the other, and the window glazing, some later sets had light green/light blue panels.




Image 3 shows fitting of a wall panel, common to all parts with slight variation for the smaller panels and the assembling of the door panels.




Image 4 shows the order of fitting panels and the vertical decorative corner posts.




Image 5 continues corner assembly and the application of roof edging.




That covers the parts available in sets A and B.

Set C, this includes the above parts plus the extras to add further variations to the structure and where it all starts to get a bit complicated for what was supposed to be a children’s toy.

Images 6 & 7 shows the additional parts and how to fit them for penthouses and towers extending above a flat roof.






Now the fun really starts in image 8 when building what the handbook refers to as a porch, 4 different size and shaped panels around the porch plus additional roof edging parts.




Image 9 shows further building up from a flat roof with an internal corner, yet more specific parts.




Further parts are included in set C for overhangs, shop windows, lighting and stair cases, a list of the parts in each of sets A to D is shown next.



Further set contents information can be found at reference 1.2.

Refining Construction for a Better Build.

The parts of the 00 sets are rather light weight compared with the 1/42 sets and prone to have parts misaligned as seen in many images of buildings constructed with the 00 sets, totally spoiling their appearance. Issues I have come across are as follows :-

• Small remnants of plastic at the ends of vertical corner posts where they have not been cut cleanly from the sprue after moulding, easily trimmed off with a modeling knife.
• Stringing of material from the connector blocks which if bad prevent full engagement with the connector beams, and even if small can disrupt the seating of roof edging. Once again trim off with a sharp modeling knife.
• Split end of a connector beam such that a beam and block will not grip each other, no fix, just use the beam out of sight if short of parts, or keep for modifying as a 'handrail' making contact with a wall by cutting off the split end.
• Warped floor/roof boards, even a slight warp is enough to upset the alignment of the roof edging, it may be possible to flatten them with a domestic iron but otherwise use internally where it does not show.

Summary

By now the limited flexibility of the system is apparent, especially with all the different accessory parts required if building beyond the basic multi-cube block.

Only the rough cast concrete wall finishes were present in sets A to C, brick and concrete block finishes were only available as accessory packs, brickwork panels in the apartment block set E.

Next I will discuss my early attempts at expanding the system before 3D printing was an option.

Jim

Back to Article List

References

1.1 Historic information from the Brighton Toy and Model Museum

https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Arkitex

1.2 Comprehensive list of 00 set contents

http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/Arkitex List.htm

 

Hi Keith, I had some assorted Bayko, it was very good for semi-detached and detached domestic houses, a quite hazardous toy when used on the carpet with a bed of nails to impail yourself, aah, those were the days

Jim

 

Hi Paul, I wonder how many sets you needed to match the box illustration , Jim

 

Hi Paul, do you mean your younger brothers had the Betta Builder, or what you had was a "compatable", Jim

 

2. Before 3D Printing

Back in the days before 3D printing modifying Arkitex parts in any quantity was a labourious task, typically involving a hacksaw, files and plastic card.

My previous attempts revolved around modifying standard full sized plain wall panels, only the window panels were available in the forms, short, 3/4 and handed parts as shown in this handbook and catalogue image below, most variations do not appear to have been manufactured or very few e.g. the brickwork panels for the apartment set 5.



For example the electrical engineering works required a three track set of roller shutter doors, double height plus numerous cut panels. The roller shutter doors started with a cardboard template followed by construction out of plastic card.

The gaps to the right of the template required 3/4 wide panels one window and one plain as will be seen in the second image onwards.










The fitting, complete with three sets of top lugs to attach to the connector beams and accept the tongues at the bottom of the window panels it supports.





The next view shows the many panels that were cut to shape for inner and outer walls, luckily there was always many spare plain walls available. Similar to so many Dublo and Trix secondhand brake vans on eBay, probably one per 5 other wagons at times, probably related to typical train set wagon quantities.



All this cutting, shaping and creating took a lot of work without the advantages of a 3D printer to do the repetitive donkey work.

Note the use of bridge set ties to reinforce the high single thickness outer wall, large unsupported ceiling and mezzanine floor, also other bridge set parts such as roadway units and locking blocks (short white blocks). The locking blocks probably got their name from securing electrical contact bars included with set C. The name was carried across to the bridge building set 4 where it is used to support connector beams as handrails or crash barriers and bears no relevance to its use for bridge building.

Next, the Arkitex 3D Printing Project.

Jim

Back to Article List

 

3. The Arkitex 3D Printing Project

Another customised Arkitex building was required for the Montague Dock in the form of a warehouse frontage for the Royal Mail, space is limited but it also helps solve a scenic break issue I have at this part of the dock.

The building is to be based on the type of warehouse where a balcony is used to transship goods between warehouse and steam packet via one of the rail mounted cranes. The prototype for this arrangement existed at Bristol Docks M Shed in the 1950s, a precarious working environment for the warehousemen :-

https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/stories/m-sheds-cargo-cranes/

I also wanted the standard rough cast panels to be replaced with brickwork of the same style as the Victorian warehouses, namely large, coarse grey bricks with dark brown mortar. Roller shutter doors are required for both ground level and balcony level, as well as ordinary personnel doors.

So with this in mind the next step was to start the design of the parts such that they become an extension of the Arkitex system.

Where to Start?

This project was to be printed with a Raise3D E2, in PLA using a 0.4mm nozzle which is rather a large nozzle size for 4mm scale modeling but I continue to stretch the limit of what can be done with this nozzle size.

I decided to start with the largest panel from which the others could be derived, namely a plain wall panel, an example was measured up and modeled in SketchUp (Make 2017) and a test print made to make sure that it was compatible with original Arkitex parts.

After a few tweaks to include any shrinkage of the 3D parts on cooling the following single piece panel became the basis of the parts to come.



By default the surface finish of the panel is that of the 'bottom' or first layer of a print, so not very pretty, it can be modified in a slicer but otherwise it will need sanding to smooth out to a decent finish or sand enough to attach a textured printed paper of your choice.

However if a detailed pattern is applied then that will override the default appearance by defining and thus constraining the path of the nozzle and plastic extrusion.

Prior to developing the coarse brick fascia it was decided that splitting the one piece panel into a frame and the panel surface which I call the fascia, was desirable so that the two parts could be developed separately and combined as required.

Possibly a limited clip fit between the frame and fascia could allow swapping of fascias, however PLA elasticity is poor so gluing was likely to be necessary and locating pins or posts would at least aid alignment when gluing the parts together.

In the future additional fascias could be created and attached to stock frames as required.

Naming Convention

To simplify the storage and maintenance of the many files likely to be associated with all the parts the following naming convention was created as apart from catalogue reference numbers all the lettering examples in the 'Handbook & Catalogue' apply only to individual illustrations.

Most of the examples given below are for known manufactured office window assemblies, but their overall dimensions are relevant.

Panel, Frame & Fascia Naming Convention.



Next

The design process begins in earnest with the frames and fascias of type A, all except G and H are reduced height and/or width versions of type A.

Jim

Back to Article List

 

Hi Paul, I am printing with PLA filament as there seems to be little advantage to printing with ABS, especially with the pong and the greater likely hood of stringing. I may have used it but as I have found that DeLuxe Materials Plastic Magic readily glues PLA parts together, and that was the only advantage to possibly using ABS in the first place as it is easy to glue.

The current finish I achieve with printing a brick pattern very much overcomes the crude finish shown above as I will show shortly.

I am also experimenting with much brain damage using Blender to create height mapped surfaces, after numerous different YouTube videos I think I have actually managed accidently to do it and export it to SketchUp. But will it print, that's tomorrows headache!

Unfortunately SketchUp Make 2017 cannot support a plug-in to do it straight off, and I am not prepared to pay £££ per year for the paid SketchUp version.

The results will not be as good as resin printed parts, but the results I am getting are acceptable to my aging eyesight, and if I start printing with a 0.2mm nozzle it should be better.

Also modelling in 4mm scale and not 7mm scale is additional fun, but it is prooving adequate, and printing PLA is warm and cuddly compared with resin in a shed

Jim

 

Yes, going to a 0.2mm nozzle does require good quality filament as the smaller the nozzle diameter, the more prone they are to clogging, I'm aiming at 0.2 for smaller models as so far the 0.4 seems okay for this project, but I could compromise on 0.3mm. It's not a quick to swap of nozzles, need recal. and offsets done for two nozzles so they work aligned to each other, so at fastest about 2 hours of fun, so I need to plan ahead.

'Some success' - very debateable after a few days of tearing my hair out, it's amazing how many little details are overlooked in some videos, how fast they navigate their UI and how out of focus/too low a resolution many videos are

My first blender attempt yesterday resulted in too high a detail output files, almost impossible to import into SketchUp (my old laptop getting bloated) so I need to refine them down some what, it's very much like the scanning I did earlier this year, massive output files are far too easy to create.

At present it is far easier to design in SketchUp than Blender, dimensionally creating things in Blender is by no means it's forte, although a plug-in has recently become available to make that easier. Blender is much more for animation activities, what I use is just what they call 'scenic' work, fixed objects.

I am really bonkers taking this route for textures, it's a last resort.

Jim