In-ko-pah Railroad - Scratchbuilt railcar

[lab-dad]

That is great! Videography too!
Interersted how long the battery lasts.
Also what was the model/# of the r/c car you used?
Marty

[Chuck Doan]

Looks like it runs great! Nice job, I always had trouble in that department.

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's the latest update...

I finished the side panels on the cab, the ones with the curved opening. I had to redo the first one four times before I got it to come out right. Anyway, then I installed the trim and bracing on the inside. The trim around the curved part was cut from sheet styrene. The other parts are from strips:




This is how the body looks so far. I beefed up the windshield frame, finished the side and rear window frames, added interior bracing, and some exterior trim:




The firewall and windshield frame are now thicker and more detailed:




Inside the firewall/floorboard area, I created a slot-like structure which will be used to hold the steering column:




The rear of the body, with the new window frames and trim. I still have to make hinges and handles for the rear door:




The steering column had to be modified due to the fact that the cab must be removable. I used brass tube to replace the kit's steering column, bending it at an angle. The upright portion will be glued into the firewall, leaving only the angled portion visible. You might wonder why a railcar needs a steering wheel at all. It doesn't, however the steering wheels were often kept in place and used as brake wheels.)




I added throttle and spark levers, made from thin brass rod:




Here's a shot of the underside of the body, showing the attachment points. Small screws will go into these points from the underside of the chassis, to hold the body in place. Also, to the left of center you can see where I cut away some of the partion so that the space under the front seat can be used to fit the battery:




This is the chassis deck, with mounts for the r/c receiver. There are two sets of holes in the mounts because I needed to move the receiver forward from where I had originally placed it. I also put up a styrene "fence" around the electronics area to prevent the wires from getting pinched between the body and the chassis. The large opening is for wiring to pass through. The smaller opening is for the on/off switch:




Here's the chassis with the receiver and battery installed:




The on/off switch has no mounting brackets, and was just hot glued into the Losi r/c car. I cut it loose, and hot glued a styrene angle to it so I could screw it onto the chassis:




Here's the on/off switch installed on the deck of the chassis:






Finally, here's an overhead shot of the battery and receiver installed in the vehicle:




At this point I'm kind of stumped. I have to find a way to put in seats and passengers, with the electronics taking up the space where their feet should be. I also need to keep it accessible. And I have to figure out how to attach the roof of the vehicle. I'd like to permanently attach the roof but I'm not sure if that will be possible. It'll depend on how I solve the seating/passenger issue.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks! Building a model that's supposed to actually work certainly adds a whole new set of challenges.

Marty, I don't know what the part number is for the Losi car, because I didn't keep the packaging. But here's a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Team-Losi-Micro-T-Stadium-Truck/dp/B000JL729W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351295510&sr=8-1&keywords=losi+micro+t+r%2Fc

I don't know yet how long this battery will last on a charge, since I haven't run it that long yet. Right now I'm using the NiCad battery pack that came with the car, but I ordered a slightly large LiPo pack that should last at least twice as long.

BTW, Losi also sells all the parts separately, including the receivers. So if I build more railcars I can just buy the receiver and not have to pay for the entire setup.

[Lawton Maner]

Have you thought of attaching the roof with screws hidden under a removable luggage on a roof rack?

[Seattle Dave]

One possible solution to your passenger situation would be to "cut them off at the knees".....

I'd consider putting a flat black painted plate over all the electronics and then trimming off "enough" of each passenger so that it appears realistic through the windows when running.

[Ray Dunakin]

Time for another progress report!

I decided that the passenger seats will be held above the electronics by a simple styrene frame. I can easily glue the seats in place after the interior of the car has been painted. Same with the passengers, who will be cut off just below the knees. Then I'll attach a piece of material painted black or dark brown, to the underside of the seat frames, so as to hide the electronics.




I knocked out the seats pretty quickly. The base is made of styrene strips. The seat back and cushion are made of 1/8" thick sheet styrene, sanded to shape:





The seats were just placed temporarily for these photos. Looking through the window, you really can't see much below the seats. Once the passengers are in place, you'll see even less:




With that settled, I started on the roof, beginning by gluing the ribs in place. The ribs at the end and on the partition were cut from sheet styrene. The other two were made from strips, bent to shape by hand. Each of those ribs is made from two strips. First one is glued in place, then a second strip is glued on over it. Then I sanded away any excess, as needed to match the curves on the solid ribs:






The roof itself is made from styrene, V-grooved siding with approximately .1" spacing. The rear half was easy to apply. The front half has compound curves. At first I thought I could cover it with one piece. I figured I could heat it, then press it over a form. I tried heating a piece of the siding over the stove, but it crinkled. Then I tried heating it in boiling water, but it warped, and I never could get it to go over the form.

So I just applied the siding to the front half of the roof in two sections, and this turned out surprisingly well. I used some of the slightly warped siding that I'd boiled, and this might have helped but I think it would have turned out just as well if I'd used it straight out of the package. Here's how it looks:




I used strips of .040" square styrene to trim the edges of the roof:




I also added some more trim pieces to the sides of the car. And you'll note that I changed my mind about mounting the hood permanently to the chassis, and instead glued it to the body:




Next I made the "cow-catcher". It needs to be strong enough to withstand frequent handling, bumps, and potential derailments, so I constructed it entirely from brass. Soldering is not my favorite subject and my skills in that area are pretty weak, so I wasn't looking forward to soldering such a complex structure. But sometimes you just have to leave your comfort zone! Anyway, I had a pretty good idea of how it should go together, and I didn't have much trouble with it. However, I was so involved with it that I neglected to shoot any progress photos. Here's the finished product:




The one problem was, after I finished it I discovered that I'd made it too short! I had intended to have it fit over the top of the end beam on the front of the chassis frame. You can see where I created an opening in the top, center, for the Model T's starter crank to fit through. 

Well, the bottom edge would have been 8 or 9 scale inches above the rails, much too high to be of any use and certainly wouldn't look right. So cut off the top half of the end beam, glued the cow-catcher in place, then glued in another strip of styrene above it. It's not terribly elegant but it'll do:






I also made a few detail parts. I built a handle for the rear door, and the driver's hand lever, both from brass:




And I didn't like the coil box that came with the kit, so I made a new, more accurate one out of styrene. (In this photo it's a little dusty from sanding.)




I won't be installing the interior details until after the thing's been painted. I'm almost to that point now. I still have to make some steps for the rear door, and on both sides of the cab. I also need to make and install the headlights and tail lights. These will be lighted with LEDs.

Here's how the car looks so far:










This morning I took it out to the layout to make sure there were no clearance problems with new cow-catcher. I discovered something else... when I'd run the car on the layout before, I only ran it about halfway, in one direction. I turned it around this time I found that the front wheels derailed going through switches. So I checked them and found that the back-to-back spacing was at least 1/8" too wide!

To reduce that, I had to grind the axle stubs a little shorter, and cut the plastic connecting tube a little shorter also. Then I had to grind and sand off some of the bearing supports on the chassis frame, to keep the back of the wheels from rubbing against it. Finally got it all taken care of and it goes through the switches just fine now.


That's it for now. Enjoy!

[MinerFortyNiner]

Ray, that's a fine looking model. The lines are very pleasing, and it is nicely built. I think that cowcatcher would live up to its name, and could handle any rough handling or critters on the right of way!

[lab-dad]

Please do a video when your done of the bus knocking a plastic cow out of the way!

BTW the body turned out excellent!
-Mj

[Andi Little]

How terribly swish! - Very good job, does you great credit.

[Malachi Constant]

Hate to say it, but you've clearly made a "cute" railcar!    Great progress.  -- Dallas

[Chuck Doan]

Looking good. That pilot needs to be sturdy with all the wildlfe on your RR!

[Ray Dunakin]

My Mac suffered a major hard drive crash on Nov. 11 that also wiped out my primary backup drive. The last time I'd updated my secondary back up drive was just before I upgraded the OS back in April, so I lost about six months of stuff. I just got the computer back from the shop and will be very busy for a while trying to restore/recreate everything that was lost. But at least I can get online again.

I'll try to post an update on my railbus project as soon as I can.

[5thwheel]

I think you are having way too much fun.

[Ray Dunakin]

With my computer in the shop for over a week, I had lots of time to work on my railbus project. First up was making the headlights. I built the headlight body out of styrene tubes. There are designed to open from the rear, so that the LED is accessible in case it ever needs to be replaced. Here are the headlight components:



The headlight lenses were made from elliptical acrylic domes from Plastruct. I don't know what size they are, they're just something I had on hand. They were too wide so I traced the correct size onto them, then reshaped them using a Dremel with a cutoff wheel. A sandpaper stick was used to fine-tune the shape. They were also too thick so I used coarse sandpaper to sand them thinner. This had the added benefit of creating vertical lines that simulate the look of old-fashioned headlight glass:




I added a styrene base to each headlight and then glued them to the end beam of the chassis. Then I painted the chassis, first with a coat of red primer, followed by gloss black:




The lenses were inserted into the front of the headlight casings and secured with MEK:




The LEDs were mounted in the rear section of the headlight, which slides into the headlight casing. I used 3mm Warm White LEDs. To keep the LED centered and pointed forward, I had to support it with two short, telescoped sections of styrene tube. These are removable:



 
Here's a shot of the finished headlights with the LED assemblies installed. I got the LEDs from modeltrainsoftware.com, and they come wired up to a tiny package of circuitry that limits the voltage and provides correct polarity no matter which way the leads are connected to the power source. I had to route the wires around the motor mount, and glued the LED circuits to the top of the motor mount:



 
On the underside you can see how the LED wires were routed through the chassis. I tacked them in place with a few small dabs of hot glue. If it ever becomes necessary to remove or replace the wires, it should be pretty easy to pull them loose. The undercarriage was weathered using a mottled blend of brown and black acrylic craft paints. I later applied the same colors to the wires, to camouflage them:




The tail lights were made from 1.8mm red LEDs. These have a rectangular base with a small, protruding "bulb". Although they glow red, the unlighted LED is clear. They also glow very brightly, so to tone down the brightness and give them a red lens, I painted the ends with opaque, glossy red acrylic. Then a short section of 1/8" styrene tube was glued on, and the rim sanded to round it. The exterior was given several coats of black paint, with a bit of metallic "steel" paint added to the rim. Then the LEDs were carefully hot-glued onto the undercarriage. The wires were routed into the rear of the chassis and weathered:








Here's a shot of the completed electronics and battery installed on the chassis. I painted the wires grimy black to make them less visible. The battery is held in place by a small strip of double-sided tape:




The LEDs were connected to a spare Losi power plug (A), which was soldered to the motor output terminals (red arrows). The LEDs come on only when there is power to the motor. It would have been nice to have the LEDs on when the vehicle is stopped, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, and it probably would have drained the battery too quickly anyway. The battery's power plug is at (B):



 
Another small addition to the vehicle was steps at the sides and rear door. I fashioned mounting brackets out of brass bar stock, held in place with thick CA glue and Ozark Miniatures NBW castings. I had to heat the brass in order to drill holes for the NBW castings. Afterwards I tried to reharden them by heating them, then dunking in cold water, but that didn't seem to help much. So I have to be careful handling the model, as the step brackets bend somewhat easily.

I made the "wooden" steps out of styrene. These were textured and painted using the same methods I've used on my buildings. After scribing simulated wood grain into the boards, they were given a light coat of white primer, then colored with several thin washes of browns and grays. When dry, a coat of Krylon UV resistant clear matte was added for protection:



 
I added a peeling paint effect by first wetting the boards with Testor's enamel thinner. Then gloss black acrylic was light brushed on, building it up in areas where there would be less wear:




Here's a shot of the finished rear door step. You can also see the tail lights in this shot:




Painting the car body: I started with a light coat of white primer inside and out. Next I masked off most of the cab interior, then sprayed the exterior with red primer. I tried to limit the amount of red primer that got into the rear passenger area -- a little overspray there was ok but I didn't want a full coat of it.




I wanted the exterior finish to look slightly old and weathered, with just a bit of gloss left. In the past I'd had good results on small items, by brushing on an acrylic color coat topped with a couple coats of thinned artist's gloss medium. So I tried that on the car body. The results are ok but not as good as I'd hoped. If I could do it over, I would just use gloss spray paint for the color coat, then dull the shine a bit during weathering.

The custom decals were provided by Stan Cedarleaf, with his usual excellent service. The roof was painted with silver acrylic, then weathering slightly with very thin washes of brown and gray. Additional weathering was applied later:




The interior of the car was painted in two shades of brown and a coat of thinned gloss medium. The rear passenger seats were painted separately and were not installed until after the car body was painted. As you can see, the wiring is only barely visible through the windows, so no extra steps were taken to hide the wiring:





 
More to come in the next post...