cab

hi all, a few more recent pics. the white parts are cnc machined styrene. the 3rd pic i hadn't trimed the windows.

hi all. just a few more pics. the workshop is a bit full at the moment so have been working on the computer. the na i have changed, it now has a split chassie and solid drivers. both the na and the harman have there parts cut on a cnc mill. parts are either brass or plastic. in hindsight it is far more productive i think to design the locomotive completely. But i guess i can do a better job of it now as from the earlier i have a good idea of what can be machined and what cannot be.

hi all. well above is a machined cylinder set for the na. i made them in two halves which i will solder together. I used a 1mm cutter on the cnc. for scale the outside of the cylinders are 1/8" diametre.

further drawings

hi all, i have started to work on the boiler design. Shown is the overall dimensions. I will add the finer details as i go along.

hi all, have built the improved chassis. It goes together with far less effort. I had an idea to use pc board as the cover underneath as i can use it to attact the pick-ups.
regards

redesign

hi all, well after some thought i decided to re-design. I can say that the current design can lead to a working model. I felt however that the design must be so the kit goes together with ease. i found with the current design it was an effort to build requiring the redoing of solder joints etc.
i figure that as soon as i get one design right i will be able to transfer to simular loco's.
So you can see i have added two internal frames and more rigid cross members, these fit into recesses i cut into the outside frames. the frame will be soldered in once piece. Most importantly the axles are now removable, the bearing surface for the axles are only the top half of the journals alowing them to be removed from underneath. A cover keeps them in place. I figure that the wieght of the loco will keep them in place. This i hope will enable a more accurate assembly of the axles and the valve gear.

rolling chassie

hi all, have assembled the rolling chassie. was most tricky with the small pins, they were 0.8mm diameter and were rivited.

valve gear

hi all, well i have assembled the valve gear on one of the chassies. i made the pins, they were either rivithed or soldered in place. i am still experimenting.

rolling chassie

hi all, well i can say the first stage of construction is over. pics show the rolling chassie. the only modification is i some washers/spaces to go between the frames and the wheel centres as the tires would foul the frame and cause a short.
regards

na axles

hi all, i have been making axles these week. they are turned from brass. For those that need it a gear pressed on and soldered in place. the gear is cut from spur gear stock. hope to have a rolling chassie soon.

wheels

hi all, well after lots of thought i decided that one should always do the best job one can, so here they are. spoked wheels 22 scale inches in diameter. The tire is machined brass, and the centre is styrene as per last post.
they look even better in real life :-)
the gunk still attached gets collected when they are handled, a blow with the air cleans them quite nice.

more bits

hi all, a few more pics.
i re-worked the cam program so better toolpaths were followed this gave a much better shape to the cranks.
Second pic shows the spokes being cut. this in in .040" styrene.

hi all, another pic. this time the cod rods and cranks. again made on the mill. this time the brass is 15 thou, needed a sprue so i could hold it. if you look close the rod show a little relief showing the differences in thinkness.

nbh wagon

i tried something new for the nbh kit. i had a master sprue printed on a 3-d printer, the resolution is down to around 15 micros, i have included pics showing the printed master.

this master can be used to make a mould in silicone rubber. I'll post cad drawings of above soon.

nm wagon

well i thought i better add some more pics of other rollingstock, firstly a nm wagon. i etched the bodies of these some time ago.

NA frames

Well the first parts have come out quite nicely, good old k&s brass can't go wrong.

the frames were cut out on a cnc mill using a high speed head. i used a .029" slot drill at 20 000 rpm.

intro

hello world :-) i thought i would invite everyone on a little (tiny) journey of sorts. the task is the construction of a nn30 (yep 5mm gauge and 1:160 scale) na class locomotive. Why a na you might ask, well they dont have a complicated valve gear and look good.
plans i found in a recent issue of narrow gauge downunder.

the na's are famous as they are the mainstay of the fleet for the puffing billy railway.

go to http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/fan/fleet/NA_photo_gallery.htm for a look.

i have started a 3-d drawing of the model using alibre design.

the frames are the first thing i will make.