On the download page the Motor Info, has the comment "Most newer decoders have built in current protection. The decoder will simply shut down if the current exceeds the maximum that the decoder can give." "With these decoders, the stalled current of the motor is not so important, but the maximum continuous current of the motor is very important. If this is exceeded, we want the chip to shut down to protect the motor. On the other hand, if a power hungry motor is quite happy to draw 2 amps when pulling a heavy goods train up the 1:40 gradient, we don’t want the decoder to shut down when we get half way up. As an example, our 10 watt Maxon motor has a stalled current of 7.5 amps but the maximum continuous current is only 0.85 amps, so the LokPilotDDC V4.0 decoder with a maximum continuous current of 1.1 amps is perfect for the job." ABCgears recommend (and stock) the LokPilot v4.0 decoder (non sound) I have included the ABCgears links as a courtesy they produced the info pages - other suppliers are available. Edit - LokPilot v5.0 is the latest version now available 1.5A continuous supply and 2.0A max load, with a 3.0A short term. Well within your usage requirements. Size 21.4 x 15.5 x 4.5 mm Paul
Bogie now united with the chassis again so job completed, the life guard irons were formed to shape and their length reduced by around 2mm ... these etch pieces were drawn oversize for some reason, anyway I laminated the motion bracket and the reverser bracket and then formed the cylinder etch ... the chassis will sit down correctly at the back once the loco body weight is added. Made a start on fabricating the cab assembly which involved embossing the rivet marks and sweating in the side window bezels, that was the simple bit, however the actual cab assembly is not as easy as it looks, all angles have to align in parallel as that dictates how the boiler / firebox assembly sits or doesn't as the case may be. I used the top corners of the front cab plate to align the sides to... took some doing with patience but was done just with a square block against the external faces. And that is where the job got to at end of day only it wasn't so as daylight fell I focused attention to cutting out and preparing the slidebar assembly. More pictures soon.
I think the front bogie modification is something I'll have to do something similar with on the Rebuilt "Merchant Navy" to stand a chance of getting it around the slightly less than 6ft curves of my layout Paul. It's still in the box presently whilst I get the 'Mojo' back again and make a start. Has Mr Ennis sorted the modifications out yet before you go for one??? Keith.
Happy belated New Year Keith... if you mod the bogie truck with lateral springs leave the tension only slack and if your loco has to navigate around a 6' radius then don't add in the rear pivot with U strap which stops the bogie from over swinging. No I'm afraid having rang Mr E on several occasions last year indeed my last call was at the end of November he still hadn't completed the upgrades. I have my name down for one when he releases the model... when that will be I couldn't really say.
Recently completed forming the raves on this Stanier 4000 gall tender, have to say the tool tunnel was a bit of a challenge but it worked out reasonably well and as the instructions say "some filler may be necessary" ... nothing that can't look right under paint tho.
A terrific build Yorkie. The dressing around the tender edges has been particularly well finished. Looking very nice. Toto
That looks impressive - now I know where to send my 8F tender to for some corrective actions to get off the straight and narrow to follow the curves. Paul
You will find your MOK tender to be a much easier proposition despite it having much more detail and many more parts to it. I am in a similar position to Paul with the Princess tender, it fits where it touches. I will be updating my thread in the next couple of days now that I have finished the lathe and you will see what I mean.
I seem to recall a year or so ago He told you it would be Easter before it was done........guess He didn't say what year though! Keith.
Yes quite correct Keith he did indeed... quite disappointed really ... I was given some blurb about the cab roof being made into a lost wax casting this time as the kits etches for the roof were problematic. I haven't given up and I'll see if he has advertised it available in the next Gazette, Looks like it will be another long phone call.
After a prolonged absence due in part to work and people requesting to occupy large amounts of my time on their own vanity modeling projects (but that's another story probably best not told here) I was finally able to revisit the Gladiator Rebuilt Patriot kit which has sat on a shelf in part bit form for over a year. Anyway my this weekend project was to take a peek at the firebox construction and see what could be done, this area requires the end pieces to be connected via four brass rods to make an initial firebox frame for the outer wrapper to be formed to and soldered in place... a sort of jig in reality. Once complete the brass rods are unscrewed and removed. Now the forward bulkhead consists of two separate pieces which need to be soldered together to form a lamination, here lies the problem, normal soldering around the edges would potentially loose the centre marks a a normal method of sweating parts together using the micro flame might "stick the 8BA screws fast inside the alignment holes. So I opted to screw these pieces together in dry form within the jig then tack solder the firebox wrapper on from the outside, the two front pieces were fixed 18 thou inside the outer wrapper and this meant a new packing shim would need to be inserted to return the firebox front flush to the wrapper edge, the upside of this was that once the brass rods were removed and the new shim added I could laminate the original two pieces together using the holes for the brass rods. I also cut a hole 26.5mm x 16mm into the front bulkhead were a DCC sound chip could be inserted into the boiler. The rear bulkhead disc of the boiler was similarly marked and cut accordingly. Now with a dry fit of the boiler I was happy that both boiler and firebox aligned correctly, the next step will be to form the curve on the top corners of the firebox then dress the assembly with washout plug covers and the fusible plug etches.
Finally dressed the firebox assembly for the Gladiator Rebuilt Patriot kit... ordered in a Stanier whistle from Laurie Miniatures ... that will be the last item to put on, next job start dressing the boiler and smokebox.
Its been a while since posting build updates on the Gladiator Rebuilt Patriot loco mainly because of work commitments but also because I wanted to make modifications to the boiler / smokebox / firebox assemblies which would allow me to install and easily access a DCC Sound unit and cube speaker, the kit as it currently stands has a lot of dead space which cannot be used if the boiler form bulkhead discs are used... so the form discs in the smokebox and boiler front went and the rear boiler form was modified with a rectangular cut out matching the front firebox forms which had also been heavily altered. All these modifications allowed me to make a telescopic sliding sledge carrier for the DCC chip and sound speaker which fitted inside the boiler barrel... the sledge is fitted with a fixed ram at the front which "pushes" the smokebox door and ring casting off its support dock to allow access as needed and at the other end of the sledge a tab fits over a bolt thread located in the firebox front to lock the sledge in position. Simple you may say but this took me forever to create a workable design. Here are the various sub assemblies from right to left ... the firebox with the much altered front bulkhead with rectangular access, next is the boiler barrel with two tubes fitted to form part of the telescopic support for the DCC carrier sledge, in front of the boiler is the smokebox door and ring (door not fitted as yet) the two prongs slide into the boiler tubes holding this casting on the smokebox wrapper. Then we see the actual sledge which carriers the chip on a harness framework, the front of the sledge has the push arm to dislodge the smokebox front and the rear has the clasp arm which couples to a threaded pin in the firebox (not seen in the picture). Finally on the far left is the rolled smokebox wrapper. A close up of the DCC sledge fitted onto the two tubes located in the boiler... the smokebox The smokebox front casting with the two prongs which locate inside the boiler tubes to make a sliding fit, I made a collar connecting the smokebox wrapper to the boiler which allowed the both bulkhead form discs to be dispensed with. Everything fits together nicely Finally now I know everything fits correctly I can add the boiler bands and open the holes out for the chimney and dome which will be fitted once the completed assembly is soldered onto the frames, but before that I'll make up the cab unit and fit that to the footplate so I know where the datum points are to mount the boiler. More to follow soon with the cap build.
Wow Paul, that is most impressive. I had no idea you were doing this… but what about the smoke generator?
I'm not entirely convinced about smoke generators... their effects just don't seem that realistic to me.
Today I finished putting together the tender for the Rebuilt Patriot kit from Gladiator, the engine this will be paired with is 45531 Sir Frederick Harrison and according to photos of the real loco it had an all welded tender for the time period I'm modelling in which is early 1960's. A nice kit and hopefully I got all the curved sides right.
Smoke generators are awful, instead of being powered into the sky it drops to the ground, even the expensive versions, just my opinion. Then again I don’t like sound either, miderable sod. Beautiful work Paul.
Nice job on the tender Paul. Those side bends are fun aren't they? It feels like I have built nothing but Stanier tenders in the last few years.
As Andy sais WOW, both the tender and the decoder sled. Just a question / possible suggestion, how are you connecting the decoder to the motor and pick-ups ? As the sled slides forward, you will need a long length of wire to allow the sled to move forward. May be worth fitting a 4 pin plug to the chassis (Motor - Orange & Grey, Track - Red and Black). 2 advantages to this - easy to split the body and chassis, just unplug the chassis from the body as you seperate them. And, if you require to run the loco as DC just connect a plug that connects Red to Orange & Black to Grey. You can leave the decoder in place while it runs in DC. Paul