Ruston 165DS - Finished

4 months isn't bad for building a locomotive I suppose - although it's less impressive when you don't have a proper job and ought to be able to find a lot more time in the day for this sort of thing. Still, the locomotive is finished now.

The yellow paint job has been calmed significantly with a wash of Precision "Underframe dirt" followed by some misting of rust, earth and dirt from the airbrush. While it might have started as a rather shocking hue, the effect of the weathering is to calm it down and the results, I think, are fantastic. I'd never have thought of painting the model yellow, my preference tends toward black for this sort of model loco, but the customer wanted 1970's and by then yellow was a real possibility. I'm so glad we went for it.

Another nice touch is the driver hanging out of the window. Again, not my idea but it works a treat. In truth, he's probably a bit too far our but we can get away with it.

So, a result. A nice HO scale etched brass kit. Easy enough to built in diesel-electric form and a very satisfying result.

165DS in eye-searing colour

Most of the model railway rolling stock I build is, as far as the colours go, dull. Not the 165DS shunter though.

The specification calls for something 1970's and that was the era when industrial concerns decided that it would be a good idea for large lumps of machinery moving around to stop being camouflaged and instead get some of that hi-vis paint that we see so much of today. It seems that the bosses had become bored of people being sliced in half on the tracks.

This, and the improvements in paint technology, meant locos started to appear in wasp stripes, yellow and black checkers or just plain yellow. Moving parts such as connecting rods were picked out in something other than dirt in an effort to keep distracted shunters hands out of their way.

All this explains why this particular shunting locomotive has been sprayed with RailMatch 210 - Warning Yellow. And very bright it is too. To relieve the livery, red bufferbeams add some welcome variety. It's not based on a particular prototype but then there weren't any real standards with local sheds doing their own thing. If I was really keen I'd do some wasp stripes but I'm not and I don't think the results would be that good anyway so I've decided the in-house painters want an easy life too.

What I do realise is that it's looking more than a bit Big-big train. Good job the next task is to weather the model into proper industrial muck colour.

165DS in primer

Hooray ! The Ruston 165DS is now in primer !

A nice coat of etching primer has persuaded me that everything is looking OK. The can is getting empty so it will off to Frosts to get another I think. To make sure I got a decent result, the can was warmed in the sun and then heated a little more with a hairdryer (careful with this) as the garage it lives in is a bit cold at the moment. For a change it got a decent shake too. Even then the first squirt was at newspaper and not the model.

UK vs US rolling stock

While I'm doing this HO scale thang, I couldn't resist posting pictures of the UK Ruston 165DS locomotive coupled to a US bogie reefer. The contrast in size between the two items of rolling stock is very interesting.

While I'm not an expert, I think this is a pretty standard wagon on American railways. It towers over the locomotive though. The difference in volume, allowed by thier more generous loading gauge, shows why in the old days you could fit a motor into a 3.5mm scale American loco wheras to do the same with a UK one, we had to blow the scale up to 4mm to the foot whilst retaining the same gauge.

Of course, nowadays we have nice little motors and sophisticated gearboxes which will fit. But it's too late to alter the most popular scale. Anyway, if you've ever built a locomotive with waggly bits on the otside, you'll have appreciated the extra space 'twixt wheels and footplate edge.

Nailing Kadee couplings to British stock

If God had meant us to fit Kadee couplings to UK stock, he wouldn't have given us 3-links. Hover the customer request Kadee's so that's what I had to fit.

Now I'm not completely new to these couplings - all my On30 stock has them fitted 'cos that's what they do on the other side of the pond. I even knew there were several variants. I'd only used No.5 though, mainly because it is sold as " 'ole reliable" which seems good to me. I mean, who would buy a model railway coupling called " o'le pain in the arse" ? Apart from P4 modellers anyway.

I pondered fitting one of these to the 165DS but to get the knuckle bit far enough out (the back of the knuckle level with the buffer face) , the draft box would be sticking out of the buffer beam. That would look horrible. Worse, half of the thing would be inside the beam and therefore in the way of the body fixing screw. As I say, UK kits aren't designed for this sort of coupling.

Spending time on teh interweb, the solution appeared to be to use a different member of the Kadee family tree, specifically the No.20, which I thought could be pinned to the face of the bufferbeam and handled the wobbling functions at the knuckle end. I found a site and placed an order for these and a few other bits.

A couple of days later I received an e-mail. The whole order was on back order. I rang them up and was told they were putting an order in to the States and I would get my parts in 3 or 4 weeks.

Now, this is web. If I want bits from America, there is no reason for me not to order them straight from there. Apart from some US retailers refusing to supply outside their borders in case we use them for terrorism or communism or something. I order from the Uk because I don't want the wait. I cancelled the order.

Next I ordered from another retailer who's site indicated the parts were in stock. That was 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting.

Luckily, at the weekend, no less than 3 stands had a selection of Kadee's for sale. DC Kits got my money and I left with a packet of No.20's.

To fit them I spent some time measuring and then cut a rectangular hole in the bufferbeam. The tail of the coupling was shortened and poked through this and it looks OK. The loco couples to a wagon and uncouples on the ramp.

Permanent fixing will involved popping a pin through the tail and to this end I soldered a small shelf which I will drill a hole in, below the hole. But I'll paint it before fixing 'cos I don't think a coat of primer and enamel will do anything for the mechanics.

165DS Buffers

With my spares box unable to produce anything that looked sufficiently like a 165DS buffer, I had only two options; go and find something better, or modify what I had to hand.

Finding better buffers means, in my opinion, going to a show and looking at trade stands. Teh Interweb is all very well and good for big items, but the thousands of little castings available never get photographed properly so you end up ordering several packets in the hope of getting what you want. I'm building an industrial, not a GWR standard beast so my needs are hardly mainstream !

Being a bit of a bodger, and having some basic brass buffers that looked nearly there, I decided to see what I could do to modify them. The problems were that the heads weren't big enough and the bases should have a square plate.

My material of choice was "shim brass", basically very thin brass sheet. It's cropped up in railway modelling since the earliest days of the hobby and I've always seen it's use as the mark of a quality model maker. Old magazines tell of the greatest craftsmen knocking up stunning models from brass shim. Which is why I bought some and then never found a use for it.

However, with heads on the buffers already, anything I added to get the extra face size needed to be thin. It also had to be round and so I searched for a punch rather than try to cut perfect circles. After a lot of digging in the toolbox I found a multi-headed leather punch. Sadly it wouldn't go through the metal, worse, none of the punches was big enough.

On the desk beside the computer was a normal office hole punch. In desperation I tried it and was rewarded with nice round holes in the brass sheet. Inside the punch were bent disks. Flattening these out I reckoned they looked about right for the buffer heads I required. Typical - spend two hours looking for the right tool and the thing you need is right beside you...

The buffer heads and new faces were tinned and then soldered together. The edges were tweaked to produce a convex face with some pliers and then it was finished with files and emery paper. The results looked OK.

The bases were easier. More brass cut to a rectangular shape with scissors and drilled to accept the spike at the back of the buffer. I didn't try to represent the bolt heads although I wonder about some plastic cubes superglued in place to do this. Maybe later.

So - in the end a simple and reasonably quick modification. Money saved, spares box depleted a little and best of all the model moves forward.

Bufferbeam curve ball

Just when you think you can see the end of a project, the kit fights back. With the 165DS, this turned out to be with the buffer beam.

First - there are no buffers supplied. Now I'm not particularly fussy in this area. There are plenty of people for whom there can be no compromise; but for me, if they look about right, I'll live with it. However in this case I've got to make some decisions. Obviously I searched through the kit bits and the packaging first to save myself this but no, the kit is buffer free. That's the trouble with weirdo scales.

Second, Kadee couplings have been specified. While these originate from a country that can't spell colour (for US readers, it has U in the middle of it. Yes it does. The Queen says so.), they are pretty good if a little expensive. Were you to originate from a country that can't spell grey (US readers note it's E not A. The Queen says this is right too.) then they would be absolutely what you want since they look just like those things in the middle of the buffer beam on your countries trains. I know this, which is why they are fitted on my On30 stock. On UK stock, there are people who use them, but not many.

Digging out some No.5 Kadees, described as "'ole reliables" I have wondered just where they are to go in the nice, deep, industrial buffer beam. Worse, the box behind the coupling will be in the way of the bolts that attach the frames to the body.

So, there are some challenges ahead. I have found some buffers which only need a lot of alteration so these might help. Looking around teh Interweb I might have found a solution to the coupling issue. Parts have been ordered, I'll let you know what happens when they arrive.

165DS Roof on

Progress on the Ruston continues. The roof has been fitted to the cab. This is a bigger step than it ought to be.

The original plans for the model had included a removable cab lid but trying to persuade the half-etched component to retain the bends while lose proved fruitless. Ideas around making a separate sub-frame to attach it to foundered when I realised the bottom roof edge would be below the top of the front windows making the design rather more complicated than I fancied.

The problem is the join here has to be perfect. Nothing else will do. Gaps at the top of the cab sides would look terrible. In the end I soldered the roof at one ens and tacked it into place as I bent it around the front and back. Even then I was pulling the brass to try and stretch it so it made the other end. As you would expect from a well designed kit, it just fits.

Cutting board auction update: 197 views, 7 watchers and 1 bid. Come on, you know you want it !

Accomodating chips

The Ruston 165DS locomotive will eventually use some of this new fangled DCC power. I don't really understand it but know enough to realise that somewhere the model will have to accommodate a chip. Not one of those excessively yellow ones from the chippe near my local either...

That's easier said than done with a tiny model. Ideally the bonnet should be filled with lead to improve traction and road holding. That leaves the cab as home for the microprocessor. Fine but it's a solid box butted up against the back of the bonnet.

There was nothing for it but before I fitted the parts to the footplate to break out the piercing saw and hack my way in. I don't know how big the chip will be but if they fit in N gauge locos, I reckon that I've left enough of a gap. If not, the hole can be enlarged with a file.

The is a common problem with locomotive kits. They just don't think DCC. You can't blame the designers - many models date from the era when "Command Control" meant Zero 1. Besides, if you can build a kit, then finding a home for a chip isn't likely to be beyond you. For most locos it's not going to be a problem anyway as there will be plenty of space.  Possibly more than in an RTR because the mechanisms tend to be smaller and etched bodies are thinner than plastic.

Shunter steps

Shunter steps
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

On the 165DS, the cab steps are a lovely bit of kitmaking.

Each comes as three parts - two steps and a back. The back has half etched lines to locate the steps. At the back edge of each tread is a half etched section.

Assembly is simple, fold the half etch at the back of the tread up. Tin it. Slop loads of flux into the line on the back. Push the step into this and heat. The result is a surprisingly neat and accurate fit.

165DS Progress

I've not mentioned the Ruston 165DS locomotive for a a little while but I've not been idle. The model now has handrails around the bonnet. This and the cab have been mounted on the footplate below which various boxes have sprouted.

Aligning the cab is made easier by 4 holes in the floor and footplate through which you can fix 0.5mm wire. I soldered the wires in the footplate and then slid the cab in place. A simple but effective system.

The same thing can be done with the bonnet but I didn't bother. With the cab in place as long as the nose is equally spaced between the sandbox fillers then all is OK. I just tacked it in place, ran a square over it and then soldered wherever I could. Along the front edge 100 degree (lower than normal) solder was used along with lots of flux. There's a bit of detail I don't want to flood and several etchings that could easily come unsoldered if I have to use too much heat.

And my delicate fingers holding all this metal as it gets warm.

Ruston 165DS chassis test

With power coming from the desperately unsophisticated H&M Controller I like to use for this sort of job, the Ruston 165DS chassis sits on the rolling roads to begin running in.

I need to tweak the pick-ups a little and there is obviously some paint in the wrong place somewhere, but with a bit if weight this little loco should run OK. Top speed is adequate but not excessive. Bottom speed is walking pace. For a very slow person. Just right.

Electric modifications

To turn a diesel-mechanical Ruston 165DS into a diesel-electric one, there are two jobs to do. At least as far as the model version is concerned. The real thing would be significantly more work and probably involve spanners and stuff. Probably can't do it on the workbench very easily either.

 

On the model:

• Use the correct coupling rods. The ones without the extension for the mechanical drive. That's easy, just make up the correct ones from the etch.
• Turn the hole for the crank drive into an inverted U shape. Blank it off a bit and put the bolts on that would hold the gearbox in real life.

That second one is more "entertaining" on a chassis that has all the mechanical bits fitted when you don't want to take them out. Some careful work with the piercing saw was required, not just to make the U, but to remove the carefully soldered in bearing as well. I was blowing swarf away at every other stroke to keep the stuff out of the motor.

 

The blanking is just plasticard and the bolt heads are cubes of plastic rod picked up on the end of a scalpel and attached with superglue. I cut about 5 times as many as I need 'cos they either don't attach to the knife or fall in the glue when dabbed in it. That way I have plenty.

Getting cranky

With the con rods rotating well, the next step was to build and fit the cranks that on the real locomotive would drive the thing. Three sets are provided on the etch. A nifty shouldered axle is also supplied.

Sadly, none of the centres are big enough for the axles. Attempt 1 saw me clamp each lamination (3 per crank) in a hand vice and ream out the centre. Result, squashed brass lobes.

Attempt 2, the crank was soldered up and then reamed in the same way. Still not very effective and the lobe still squashes.

Number 3 - ream the axle hole while the part is still on the etch. By this time I'd found that a tapered reamer was more gentle than a broach and all the holes were made the right size. The crank was soldered up and another problem reared it's head.

You see, this is a HO model and the kit has been produced by reducing the etch photographically. That's fine except I have several cranks whose throw doesn't match the wheels. By at least 1mm. The only way I can make this work is to bin the lot and make new cranks from scratch. And I can't be sure of the throw on the wheels. Even if I could, I bet I'd screw up the measurements.

So, plan B is to build the diesel-electric version.

165DS wheeled up

Returning to the Ruston 165DS, it was time to fit the wheels. As mentioned earlier, I've had to eshew Romfords for Gibson wheels to get an appropriate size for the prototype. These have to be quartered and pressed on to the axle. And once they are on, they are on.

Anyway, I started by fitting the bolts that act as crank pins, remembering to countersink the back of the wheel so the cheese head sits flush. Then I dug out the GW Models quartering jig, only to discover it doesn't work for anything with this small a throw. Great.

Still, I pressed on. Literally in this case. The unpowered axle went first. Inside each wheel a little superglue (never, ever, use Loctite on Sharmans) and the wheels were roughly pushed on. Then the assembly was placed in a vice and this was gradually tightened to act as a press. This has the benefit of applying slow and controlled pressure and keeps the wheels square to the axle. Quartering doesn't matter too much at this point, as long as it looks OK, it's fine. The other pair of wheels just has to match.

The powered set was done next in the same way. As it happens, I managed to get the quartering spot on first time. I think this is something to do with the crank pins having to be on different 90 degree faces on the vice with the axle in the corner. Something like that anyway. I don't care, it works.

Rotating the wheels by hand, everything moved OK so the brass final gear was glued by running superglue around the axle/gear join. This was left to dry and power gently applied. It works. In fact it works very well. I think I need a lie down now.

Squeezing the mechanicals in

The instructions might say to drive this model on the front axle, but I'm building it and I say the power should be on the middle one. That jackshaft is going to be enough of a pain without making things difficult by running it via an unpowered set of wheels.

So, as you can see from my slightly crudely assembled photo (I'm sure Photoshop has a funky overlay thing but I couldn't be bothered to work it out properly in PaintShop Pro, although if anyone has any suggestions) the gearbox fits pretty well.

The only modification required was to lengthen the hole in the footplate by a few mm towards the cab. That job means spending more time digging out the piercing saw and fitting a blade than actual cutting. After this the body components dropped straight on.

Another benefit of driving the rear is leaving plenty of space in the bonnet for a DCC chip which this model will eventually sport. I'm not sure how big these things are but I reckon one will go at the front. I should even be able to fill the top with lead to get the haulage capabilites up.

High Level Models Hump shunter gearbox

The 165DS needs a motor and gearbox if it's be something other than a static model. As a shunter it's top speed needs to be low, instead an ability to traverse the goods yard at walking place. Once upon a time we'd have struggled to mesh some Romford gears, nowadays it's a whole lot easier to buy a simple to assemble double reduction gearbox from High Level Models.

For your money you get a slim package with an etched cradle, some plastic gears, bearings and steel rod. A motor is also required, I've used a Mashima 1220. This combination has proved reliable in other models I've built so I can't see any point in getting experimental.

Construction starts with the fitting of the axle bearings. The holes have to be reamed out very slightly to accept these. I'd recommend a tapered reamer for this. In fact I wouldn't try and put one of these 'boxes together without one or a decent set of cutting broaches. Round files are OK for some jobs but the accuracy available to the user of the proper tools does make the job a lot easier.

Next, the etch is folded up and checked for squareness. Tweak with fingers to get this right.

Then the steel rod has to be cut to length for the intermediate gears. The instructions say to use a cutting disk but I find a big pair of wire cutters works fine. Finish off with the file (hint, hold the rod in a pin vice) and keep it no longer than required.

Then fit the worm gear to the motor and pop the rest in. I retain the intermediate shafts with a smear of superglue on the outside of the cradle. Engineers will solder a little plate over the ends but I wasn't sure if this would make the gearbox too wide for the chassis. Anyway, I'd probably have melted the gears.

I can honestly say that no adjustment was required to get the mechanism running perfectly smoothly. Now will it fit in the loco ?



High Level Models website

Painting the 165DS chassis

If I were building this model with Romford wheels, I wouldn't be doing this. Their design allows removal and re-installation as often as you like. Gibson wheels though, need to go on and stay on.

This means the chassis needs to be painted before I get to try any of the mechanical bits and this paint will need to harden before the next step. Luckily I'm a bit busy at the moment so this is just the sort of little task I can do.

The cleaned chassis received the usual coat of etched primer from an aerosol. I ought to have sat the can in some hot water as the resting coat was a bit thicker than I'd like. That's probably due to the freezing conditions in our garage over the last few weeks.

Once dry I brush painted the whole thing with Precision weathered black. I didn't have time to set up the airbrush and you won't be able to tell on the finished model anyway. I like the thicker coat you get this way because it's probably stronger - at least to my mind anyway, there is no science behind this opinion.

Finally the bearings are cleaned out with the reamer inside and file on the outside. It looks quite pretty at this stage doesn't it ?

165DS Bonnet part 2

Returning to the bonnet I fitted the radiator and was initially very pleased with how well it went on. The step section at the back clipped nicely above the bonnet doors and getting it vertical took only a little prod. No gaps were to be seen and happy I soldered it in place.

Removing the half etched bonnet top from the fret I test fitted it and it too looked promising. I still wasn't looking forward to bending it up but things looked good.

They continued to look good right up to the point where I examined a prototype photo and realised that if I used the parts as supplied the top would overlap the radiator and the fit would be even worse than the panels on the real thing.

Pondering for a few minutes, I reasoned that if I removed the step from the radiator, the top would but up against the back of it and all would be OK. Out came the piercing saw (a tool far more useful than I would have thought a few years ago and now indispensable to me) and after carefully marking the cut, gently sawed the metal away. A combination of cutting and twisting away the excess saw the radiator given the correct flat back. I wish I'd spotted this before fitting as the job would have been a bit easier.

Bending the top started with a gentle bend just to give the metal some strength. Then the sharp bends were made around some brass rod using the handrail holes as a guide for position. Soldering started at one side from the inside. Lots of flux and quick bursts of heat were the order of the day as I didn't want the rest to the ting falling apart !

I found the fit to be excellent but the final side bend needs to be made slightly sharper than expected so the edge tucks in properly at the top of the bonnet doors. You can't get an iron in easily here so the metal has to hold itself in place while you heat as it's difficult to apply enough pressure from outside to push it where you want it.

165DS Radiator

In this weather, building an extra radiator seems like a really good idea !

On the 165DS this is assembled as a separate module and then attached to the bonnet. Construction starts simply enough with the sides and top being wrapped around the front. A pair of half etch sections in the corners to make the bends easier.

The grill bars are laminated from two parts with a bit of solder around the edge. Then the mesh is fitted from inside, I had to trim the top a little to get it to fit. Then the bars are fitted from the outside - and the aren't as wonky as the photo appears to show, or at least they aren't when I check them with number one eyeball or the engineers square.

The steps are fiddly but work very well. Two bends in a tiny bit of brass (thank goodness for square ended pliers) produce the tread which hooks over the outside edge and fixes with a blob of solder inside. Then a sliver of half etch is bend and fitted around the inside. I'll be honest I thought this was going to find itself ignored as you wouldn't miss it, but bending the metal around a small screwdriver allowed it to clip to the tread/back part.

Finally the outside corners were given a little rounding with a file. Not too much, there isn't that much meat in the metal !