Hornby Dublo Deltic

Discussion in 'Hornby RTR' started by Wolseley, Apr 27, 2018.

  1. Wolseley

    Wolseley Full Member

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    Since I got back into model railways a couple of years or so ago, one locomotive that was on my "want list" was the Hornby Dublo Deltic. It was not one of Hornby's most accurate models: the "bonnets" at each end of the locomotive were too short (as was the whole locomotive) and the underbody detail wasn't right, but it did capture the character of the original and was arguably the best looking diesel model of its era. As a young boy, it was the only diesel locomotive I wanted (but of course couldn't afford). It was also capable of hauling more than just about any layout could accomodate.

    My problem was that I collect HD three rail, and the three rail version of the Deltic "St Paddy" is one of the rarer and more collectable items from the Dublo range. The two rail version, "Crepello", by contrast, although still sought after, is more common and half the price or less.

    In order to get myself a Deltic, I waited until a two rail body came up on eBay at a reasonable price and, rather luckily, as they don't crop up very often, a Dublo three rail Co-Co chassis came up on eBay shortly afterwards. I was successful in bidding for them and they arrived today. The body is a bit better than it looked in the photos, although it is rather grubby and I'll have to clean it before I can tell for sure, but I think I will just need to touch up the silver and the raised areas of green and maybe repaint the grey part of the roof and the white window surrounds. The chassis appears to be in very good condition, but it does need new traction tyres.

    All in all, it promises to be quite an impressive beast once it has been tidied up - not one for the "rivet-counters" though.

    I'll post some pictures of it soon.
     
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  2. Wolseley

    Wolseley Full Member

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    And here it is:

    Deltic.jpg
     
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  3. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Could be turned into the original 'Prototype' Deltic without too much work maybe? The hardest part with 'Playworn' models is touching in paintwork for a good unseen match, so you just might find the best way is to go for a complete respray, what better excuse would you need?
    Keith.
     
  4. Wolseley

    Wolseley Full Member

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    I did some work on the Deltic earlier today.

    First I started on the chassis to ensure that it was running properly. The first job was to fit new traction tyres, as the old ones had disappeared altogether. After being prodded and pushed, it started off when I applied power to it, but it ran rather slowly, with quite a few sparks flying from the motor and I had to stop it after a couple of circuits of the dining room table (you guessed it, I haven't got around to building the layout yet) as things did not look or smell right. After partially dismantling, cleaning and reassembling there was an improvement in performance for a while but it was still still sparking away and giving off that slight electrical burning smell that unwell motors tend to do. A further cleaning session, this time paying a bit more attention to the slots in the commutator and it took off, with less and less sparks with each circuit of the table. I left it running for 20 minutes in one direction at medium speed, reversed the direction and ran it for another 20 and, by now, at was running as well as when it was new.

    As for the body, it scrubbed up nicely. I settled for touching up the buffers and the areas on the raised parts of the body that had lost paint (except for the yellow, as I didn't have any yellow paint). There is a slight bit of discolouration on the pale green, and the white window surrounds are more like a very pale grey than white, but I think that this gives it a patina of age that is quite in keeping with what it is. Fortunately the transfers are all in perfect condition. I will be giving the body a spray some time soon with semi-gloss clear to even out the finish (some bits have a sheen on them and others don't) and to protect it.

    I'll take a photo of it tomorrow to show you how it ended up.
     
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  5. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    It sounds like you have a good one there. I had a 'Crepello' once, a long time ago. It was always a good runner. On your initial description, I would have suspected the common HD weakness of the magnet weakening; however, it sounds like you got to the right place with the commutator cleaning. The brushes probably needed bedding in too, so running it as you did probably helped that task considerably.

    If the magnet ever does need redoing, there are remagnetising services around, or you can get neodymium replacements tailored to the specific model for very reasonable prices. I have used a few of these in Wrenn/Hornby Dublo models, although the one I put into the Southern EMU was a mistake in hindsight: it was strongly attracted to the tinplate sides of the unit! A case of being a bit too strong.

    :avatar: :avatar:
     
  6. Wolseley

    Wolseley Full Member

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    I didn't quite get the focus right, but here's a photo of the Deltic as it is now:

    P1010246.JPG
     
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