Back to Work at the Car Shop

After moving, and all the chaos and chores associated, it's been a little hard to re-establish the routine of working on T scale.  I finally got my work area organized along with the addition of a few new tools and organizational improvements.  A giant cutting mat from Fiskars is a really nice addition.  A new airbrush was acquired, a Badger 105, aka "the Patriot".  It supplants the old cheap Chinese Iwata knock-off, and a very nice deal from Midwest Model Railroad Supply gets you the airbrush plus a set of Badger acrylic RR colors and an undec HO car to practice on for less than $100.  In my case it was an HO Athearn Genesis 60' boxcar.   I have been contemplating an HO micro-layout to balance out the T-scale stuff, so maybe this will get me started..   The really nice thing is I have more storage space and much better organization (thank you Ikea) in the new workshop.  To cut to the chase, I am back to working on my T-scale models! 

The first order of business has been getting the prototype of the 89' autorack done.  The etch for the side/roof wrap finally arrived along with many N-scale signal bridges and a new 12-foot plug door for the 50' Plate F boxcar.  The autorack wrap worked out essentially perfect!  It comes in three pieces-- a roof and two sides.  It was assembled by first placing the unfolded etch of the roof face-down on the workbench, then gluing the top section of the roof in place being very careful to center it properly.  Once the glue on the top section was dry, each side was carefully folded onto the angled side of the roof by bending the body sideways.  The sides were then glued in place. 

The body is hollow, so I added a bit of weight and assembled the frame/trucks.  Note, since the body is hollow it has potential to be a powered car.  For painting, I gave it a shot of primer from the rattle can (Tamiya Fine Primer), then masked the ends and frame and gave it a shot of Tamiya Bare Metal Silver (again rattle can) to see how it looks. The overall impression is exactly what I hoped for! 

I'm now working on decal sets, which will include decals for the side posts--too small to hand-paint in my opinion.  So far, I have a Santa Fe, Conrail, and Chessie set on the way--feel free to let me know any suggested roads.  

I also prototyped the 12' etched plug door on the 50' Plate F boxcar.  This is assembled on the 3D printed body (designed for the door) by gluing in place, then adding 9.5mm segments of  0.15mm rod for the pivot rods.  Here's the body shot with oxide red primer.  The detailing much smoother than the plain 3D printed doors.  I think this one will get a BN scheme..

  Anyway, that's the update for now, so until next time happy modeling!

 

 

Late Summer Update

It's been a busy summer for me in many ways other than T-scale modeling.  I must apologize for the sparse posts, but rest assured, my enthusiasm for tiny trains has not waned.  I volunteered myself for an N-scale project involving the design and production of PRR signal bridges and CPL signals which grew to be a very large time consumer;  I also designed a custom 1:72 scale A-20 "Havoc" decal set for my other modeling favorite, aircraft kits;  And on top of that I relocated my primary residence.  The dust has settled a bit and now getting back to some fun with T-scale!

Following is a brief update on a couple projects that will be materializing in the next month or two, and some recently completed models.

Powered Mechanism:  Slowly progressing on this.  The main mechanism is pretty well done, fits easily into the GP40 shell, however getting the powered trucks attached with decent electrical contact is the present challenge.  Since some of the parts needed are etched, and etching lead time is at least a month, this tends to slow things down.  Given that the first design is nearly always a test and requires revision and a new test, you can see how this takes a lot of time.

89' Autorack:  Using my ever improving etching skills, I decided to give a try at an autorack using etched metal for the body panels.  I designed it to wrap around a 3D printed car body.  In fact, the 3D printed body looks pretty good all by itself and could, in my estimation, with paint and decals, make a pretty good representation of an autorack without the etch.  

 None the less, the etched corrugated panels are in transit (along with the aforementioned contact strips for the mechanism) so we shall see how it turns out.

More Plugs:  Since the double plug door for the 86' hi-cube boxcar turned out so well, I decided to make a 12' plug door to fit the Plate F boxcar.  

Graffiti Decals:  To give model representation to some of the amazing art that adorns modern freight cars, I gave a shot at some decals in T (and N) scale.  Of course Itchy and Scratchy -- the classic Simpson's cartoon characters-- had to be represented!

Here's the prototype:

And the T-gauge model: 

Another recently finished model, the Canadian Grain Board cylindrical hopper.  This utilizes etched brass for the ends, and turned out very nicely in my opinion.  These are available at the CCE Models website:

 

Ok, that's all for now.  Look for more frequent updates in the upcoming weeks and months.  - Jesse

 

Build Walk-Through: 1:450 Scale Penn Central X67 Class Boxcar

Last summer, the Conrail Historical Society magazine featured a series of articles about the Penn Central (and later Conrail and CSXT) X67 class of hi-cube boxcars used to transport auto parts.  I had been wanting to make a hi-cube boxcar for CCE Models and this excellent issue spurred me into action.  

Along with a history of the car, the article had drawings and dimensional data which I used (along with several reference photos) to design a 3D model.  A test model turned out pretty nice, except the doors were a bit of a sore spot.  Due to the small features such as the door rods, locking bar, etc. the 3D printing process made the doors look rough.  I had been thinking about trying to make boxcar doors of photoetch brass, so here was my opportunity to test this approach.  I adjusted the model design to omit the doors, and did the artwork for a photoetch double plug-door.  A few weeks later I had my PE frets and was in business!  

 Here's a step-by-step summary of the build of the CCE Models 86' Hi-Cube Boxcar (PC class X67):

Step one is to clean the model and prime it.  I gave the boxcar and the PE fret a shot of my go-to primer, Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (gray).

Next, I test fit and applied the PE door to the model using some Microscale Krystal Klear.

 

 

The door still needs the separate door rods (although you could omit them if you don't mind the lack of detail);  I cut the four door rods from 0.15mm brass wire to a length of 9.0 mm.  The door rods were applied using the small depressions in the door to align them properly and secured with a bit of thinned Krystal Klear.  

 

Once the doors and the end brake wheel (also included on the PE fret) were applied, another coat of Tamiya gray primer was applied.  This also helps seal the details to the model.

The next step was the finish painting.  I wanted to model the original car as used by the Penn Central seen below (photo from Hebners.net/Collection of Albert Phleep, photographer unknown).  The PC decals are included in the CCE Models X67 decal set along with the Conrail markings.

 

 

The roof appears to be unpainted on the original, and the doors are exposed aluminum as well, so the car was given a coat of a metallic silver from a rattle can.  I used my favorite metallic silver, Spaz Stix 10009, "Ultimate Mirror Chrome"--highly recommended (it can usually be found on Ebay and Amazon).

Once the silver had set, I masked the doors and roof.  I then airbrushed flat white on the top of the ends for the "excess height" band.  This band was also masked, and finally the whole car was airbrushed using Polly Scale Penn Central Green.

 

 

Removing the tape revealed the car in it's basic paint scheme.  I gave it two coats of Vallejo Gloss Varnish using the airbrush to seal the main finish and prepare for decals.

 

The decals went on easily, and I used the reference photo to help position them correctly.  MicroSet and MicroSol were used to get the decals to bond and settle to the surface, and after drying for a day, a coat of Vallejo Flat Varnish sealed them.

The frame and trucks were primed with Tamiya oxide red primer, and I then used Mr. Color rattle can roof brown to paint them an appropriate color for the trucks/underbody.  I also gathered some self-adhesive weights I had in the scrap-box to give the model better stability.  These came from an adjustable chassis set from TGauge.com

The trucks were assembled with Pin-Point Wheelsets from TGauge.com, and attached using the press-fit pins that come with the model.  The pins sometimes need to be slightly shaved/sanded (and/or the hole reamed out a bit) for the easiest fit.

Here is the assembled frame with wheelsets.

The frame assembly is an easy press-fit into the body, to complete the model:

This build is really not difficult, even though very small. As always a magnifying visor is an absolute necessity.  I like how the doors worked out and will be rolling out etched brass doors for all CCE Models with plug-doors.  The use of etched brass for details also opens up some other possiblities such as an enclosed auto rack.. stay "T"uned!   - Jesse  

Innovations and Inspirations

A mid-spring check-in seems due, so in no particular order here is an update of a variety of projects I've been working on.

CCE Drive/Powered Chassis Development:  This has taken about 50% of my time over the last couple months, and quite a lot of progress has been made towards meeting the goal of producing an in-house T-scale chassis.  After several iterations (I am up to version 8), it has evolved into a worm drive, both for simplicity's sake and space savings.  I was successful in finding a very narrow low-voltage motor that fits inside the 3D printed US hood diesel, a GP38.  Here's a v7 chassis in the GP38 (sans fuel tank) while being tested.  

So far, early prototypes of both a GP38 and MP36 with powered chassis have been produced.  The GP38 is the most refined set and the latest version on the v8 chassis is on the way from Shapeways currently.  One of the nice things about the new chassis is the truck design (Blomberg prototype) does not require those blasted bogie attachment springs.  The new challenge, however, is effective electric pick-up, but no worries--I have a plan..  

Other locomotives that have been test fit with the new chassis design include the AEM-7 and GG1 electrics.  Both shells were previously designed and will require minimal adaptation to accept the drive.  Once perfected, the CCE drive will open up a lot of doors for powered North American prototype trains.

1:300 Water Tank:  I have been experimenting in Mn3 (1:300, 3-foot narrow gauge) and a desire to do a structure yielded this nifty little kit to build a Denver & Rio Grande "Standard" water tank.  Although there was a standard plan (and this model is faithful to it) often the prototypes varied a bit.  But if you go to South Fork, Colorado today, you will find the prototype for this model. 

The "necessary innovation" on this model was using Archer resin decals for the tank straps.  3D printing is great, but cylinders are a trouble spot due to the layering, and thin details like the straps -on- a cylinder are even worse.  The initial test model was great except for the tank.  I got the idea of eliminating the printed-on straps and sanding it a bit to improve it's smoothness, and then applying Archer "seam line" decals.  I happened to have these decals around as a by-product of an N-scale etched signal bridge project.  The "seam line" decals seen here being applied, which are 0.13 mm thick, worked great! 

 Here are the components primed.

 

 

 

And the finished model painted and decals applied. 

PS 5344 Boxcar and BKTY 154675 Graffiti Decal Set:  Some things just beg to be modeled.  As a long-time fan of the Simpsons, when I saw this boxcar adorned with our favorite cartoon duo, "Itchy and Scratchy", I just had to get a photo.  

 

And after some thought, I decided I wanted a model.  Well, two issues presented themselves:  First, I didn't have the appropriate boxcar model, and second, I didn't have any way to paint that graffiti.  I have done plenty of decals but never a graffiti image, so I figured I would this would be a good learning experience.  Using the photo as a guide, I traced the image using my vector graphics editor, Inkscape.  The PS boxcar came together nicely as well using my stand-by 3D editor, TinkerCad.

 

I'm currently waiting for the test boxcar from Shapeways, and the decal sheet is ready to be printed.  I'll probably make this available in N scale as well.  Speaking of which, there will be a few N scale items added over at CCE Models.  More on that next time...

Models and New Products in the Pipeline:

--Canadian Grain Board Cylindrical Hopper (with etched end railings/ladders and several different decal sets).  ETA June '21

--CalTrain MP36 Decal Set 

--Etched brass plug doors (3D printed plug doors make me sad.. test frets are on the way!)

 

 

 

 

Drive Evolution--The End of the Beginning

After years of building T scale locomotive models that looked good but were mostly dummies due to the limitations of the available powered chassis, last fall I decided it was time for the development of a CCE Models powered chassis.  Below is a summary of where I've gotten over the past few months. 

The original T-gauge models from K.K. Eishindo were all car-body designs, as have been the vast majority of subsequent models.  They were EMU's like the KIHA-40, and later TGauge.com came out with their beautiful Class 67 diesel.  Common among these designs is that they allow space for the 4mm diameter motors within the shell.  The only exception has been a toy-like "GP8" which is quite out-of-scale because they widened the model to accommodate the motor. 

Pulling power isn't very good--most trains need a ratio of about one powered unit to every 2-3 pieces of rolling stock. All trains benefit from having two powered units regardless--two help smooth out power pick-up issues on track and wheels that become dirty rather quickly.  

In addition, with the available stock chassis there are limited arrangements of truck bolster spacing, and the trucks themselves are based loosely on the Japanese EMU prototype--not applicable to modelers of the US or Canada in the 1980s, or Colorado in the 50s!  Over time, several longer chassis have come from China, the motors have gotten better, and pulse controllers have made the slow speed performance better.  But there's still room for improvement.  

I wanted to design a powered chassis to fit my models properly with regard to truck bolster spacing as well as having prototypical truck appearance.  The coup-de-grace would be one narrow enough to fit in hood diesels.  I also wanted it to be a good running design.  So here were my design criteria:

• Could fit in American designs--both hood and car-body locomotives.
  
• Flexible design to fit different truck spacing.
• Prototypical looking trucks.
• Good running.
  
• Relatively easy to produce.

Groundwork:  3D design and printing of chassis was clearly a great option for this project, offering the ability to print small quantities at reasonable cost, and adjust designs on-demand.  Having gained considerable experience over the course of making scores of 3D printed models, I felt up to the challenge.  So in the fall of 2020 I took an old chassis, my trusty vernier caliper and ruler and drafted a basic copy of the existing T-gauge chassis in my 3D design software.  I became very familiar with the stock drive arrangement, which uses a crown gear at a right angle to the motor shaft drive gear, and multiple reduction gears to transmit power the drive wheels.   

Frame Fundamentals:  The chassis frame is the main adjustable component in the exercise, and moreover the one I could most easily fabricate.  I needed to be sure the 3D printed materials would be sufficient to withstand regular use but precise enough for micron-size adjustments in gear alignment.  I reasoned the motor and drive gears could be easily scavenged from donor chassis for the time being; they were readily available and proven.  In addition, if needed, other gears could be sourced through various suppliers of micro-airplane and RC car models.  I made a test print of the chassis using Shapeways Smoothest Fine Detail Plastic and it was definitely robust enough to handle plenty of use.  In fact, the acrylic material seems to have a self-lubricating quality to it.   

Shortened Chassis Development:  To meet one of the key design criteria--that of fitting different length carbody units--I needed to be able to shorten the chassis.  Lengthening shouldn't be an issue: just move the power plant/drive train.  I adjusted the chassis design using the principle developed by the modeler David K. Smith, who about a decade ago kit-bashed an Eishindo chassis to make it short enough to fit in a T-scale EMD F7 or F3 carbody.  Using the text of his original article (the pictures were lost when his computer crashed!) I modified the 3D design accordingly and after a couple adjustments found it worked... rather nicely actually.  

As of this writing (2/17) this is where the "proven" technology stands.  The printed chassis is shorter than stock, and utilizes the gears and motor from a donor chassis, and it runs well.  The test chassis has truck bolster centers of 19.5mm, or 29 ft. in 1:450--so in theory any carbody diesel greater than that is possible.  Here's a list of truck bolster centers for reference.

Truck Development:  While working on the shorter chassis I also designed a set of Blomberg trucks that will accept the stock contact strips that would be a one-for-one replacement to the old Japanese prototype trucks in either the printed or stock chassis.  It stands to reason that if these models can be validated, so could CCE Models' AAR-B trucks, or others--even 3 axle.  Beta models of the Blomberg trucks are currently being printed so I should be testing these within the next few weeks.

Hood Width/Worm Drive Chassis Experiments:  As noted, the shorter chassis design above is confined to use with carbody/cab locomotives that have the needed scale width for the mechanism.  The limiting factor is primarily the 4mm diameter motor which sits above the frame.  The width of the standard powered chassis is 5mm (or nearly 7.5ft in scale).  A hood diesel like the GP40 has a long hood width of around 6 ft in scale (4.6mm) or about 0.5mm wider than the standard chassis itself.  

How to configure the chassis to fit in a hood diesel is a real challenge, and several ideas came up.  Use etched brass for hood sides?  I ruled out etching for the time being because it would be complicated and would be difficult to assemble well.  Source a motor with a smaller diameter and narrow the chassis?  It sure would be nice if there were affordable motors less than 4mm diameter but for now they don't exist. 

However, I might have come up with a solution utilizing a worm drive and a different motor configuration.  If my worm drive concept works it should also allow for further reduction in length of the chassis, perhaps even allowing switchers such as the SW1200 to be powered.  Another potential advantage of the worm drive is it may be more powerful and/or smoother-running.  That remains to be seen, however..  I have also speculated on using a flywheel or "keep alive" circuit, although pulse power might make the latter impossible.  A worm drive certainly has potential use in steam power..

There are sure to be additional developments and ups-and-downs, but I'm determined to get this done.  And rest assured all of these designs will be available from CCE Models as soon as I'm confident they are reliable and of value to other T-scale modelers.  

Until next time,

-- Jesse