An unexpected appearance in Wikipedia for the Y6

If you keep loading photos onto the Interweb, it seems that people do stuff with them. Thus, I was very surprised to see on Nigel sending this message via the 3mm Society mailing list:

I see a pic of Phil Parker's Y6 is on Wikipedia, including a mention of 3mm. Well done, Phil.

What ?!

So, I nip over to the famous on-line encyclopedia and find the page looks like the photo above. You can see the real thing here.

The model is my attempt at an LNER Y6 painted in BR colours. Based on a Finney & Smith kit and powered by a BullAnt bogie, it was one of the fasted loco builds I've ever carried out. Looks nice too although I'd love to do an interior for it but the mechanical bits get in the way. Maybe when I unearth the 4mm version I have tucked away...

Anyway, you can read all about the build here.

3mm scale Y6 tram

If you are looking at this on an average monitor then the photo is showing up larger than life size. Despite this I'm pretty please with this little model.

The brown body is a mix of earth colour base followed by a good wash of track colour to emphasise the plank lines and simulate the dirt that gathers there. A little dry bushing with dark grey highlights the lumps in the black areas. Finally the windows are glazed with Krystal Klear - not easy for the side windows as you have to smooth it over the surface rather than build up a skin in a hole in the normal way.

On the track the model is a bit flighty but controllable. Although it has been weighted, more is required to keep it on the track. The flanges on the supplied 14.2 wheels are very fine. The closeness of the skirts to the rail is unforgiving of trackwork that isn't level too.

Worse still, I have absolutely no use for this locomotive. I built a Scottish branch line and have something suitable for Yarmouth docks or the Wisbeech and Upwell line. Never mind, I've always had a soft spot for these and if you can't build what you like then it's not much of a hobby is it ?

Chassis complete

As you can see, the motor did fit into the chassis. OK, so the gearbox is visible but some black paint soom sorts that out. At least the gleaming flywheels is well inside the body because as a moving item it would have been obvious. Perhaps I should have offest the unit to move the gearbox back a bit. The wheels wouldn't have been in the right places but would this matter ?

Sadly what is visible is the transfer sheet between the letters. This is the downside of using waterslide transfers, especially old ones, on matt paint. Maybe if I'd sprayed the black bits in gloss and then matt varnished the results wouldn't be so obvious. Or if I'd stopped rushing and being stingy and order some newer decals instead.

To be fair, in real life this isn't so glaring but it's still anoying. Not anoying to make me go back and fix it mind you. I'm kidding myself that I've replicated the effect of the crew cleaning the words and nothing else on the locomotive. Well it sort of looks like that !

Boxy body

People say diesels are boxes on wheels - well this definitely is and it's a steam engine !

While it looks simple there are a few niggles to keep the keen modeller amused - the ends are double thickness so you can have planking inside as well as out. There is a second footplate which has to have it's hole enlarged to match the one atop the chassis. The windows are better (IMHO) glued in place as getting excess solder out of the plank lines is a bit of a nightmare. Looking at photos, these locos rarely ran with the windows shut either. Presumably with the boiler, smokebox and firebox inside the body it was warm enough for the crew even in winter !

On the roof there is a bell and mechanism. The wire are the thinest fusewire I could find soldered in place. The bell was the only casting not provided and took a bit of niffy whittling of a spare sprue. Getting that shape was much more difficult than I had expected. Well all know what a bell looks like but sit down with sharp implements to try and make one and you end up scraping away all the base material in search of the perfect form.

The sharp eyed will notice a distinct lack of cab handrails. I did try but the results looked rubbish so I decided the model looked better without them.

Moving chassis

This locomotive is divided into two parts - top and bottom. The box like body sits on the chassis with side skirts and cowcatchers which in turn sits on the mechanical bits that make the whole thing go.

To fit the Bullant I had to make the hole in the footplate quite a lot larger, in fact I was worried that the gearbox would fill the cab area. In the original 7mm scale kit and even the occasionally available 4mm version, this isn't a problem. In fact parts are supplied to permit the builder to create a fake boiler and firebox to fill the innards. No such luxury in 3mm scale - I need that space for other things !

The bogie support has been firmly attached to the main spine to stop it turning. Then in a fit of engineering I drilled holes in the footplate so the bogie could be bolted in place rather than relying in superglue or solder. I actually want to be able to strip this model down for maintenance if required and anyway, it's not difficult even for me...

The only other point of note here is the cowcatcher. A fiddly bending job but not to difficult. Square ended pliers are the key to nice sharp corners. That and looking at photos of the real thing to realise that the proximity of the ground meant they weren't as perfect as you might think.

Bullant bogie

Fitting a motor unit into a kit that the manufacturer hasn't considered is always going to be a dive into the unknown. In 3mm scale this is something you just have to get used to - maybe someone has built the kit before you and written up their experience but probably not. More likely the model has been built but its inner workings will remain the builders secret.

Not here ! I knew the Bullant bogie would fit as I'd unpacked several of them on the stand and held the units up against the etched parts to see what would fit. Wheelbase was immaterial as these would be nicely hidden away behind the side skirts. I just wanted the whirly bits inside to be as hidden as possible.

Having chosen my unit, I tested it out on the workbench and then took it to pieces. Bye bye warranty.

There is method in my madness - the bogie is intended to pivot on the butterfly shaped bit of metal so you can use it in a DMU or similar. This sort of thing won't do though when in use as a tram - we don't want Toby spinning on his axis do we ?

The parts separate easily enough with the aid of a small screwdriver and unsoldering the pickup wires. The units themselves employ a clever modular construction which allows the manufacturer to produce different combinations of length and numbers of wheels. In fact if they would just sell the bits, I'm sure we could all manage to make our own. Doubtless with someone making up special versions with 12 wheels !

Y6 Tram

...or Toby as you may wish to refer to it.

This was the quickest 3mm scale loco kit I've ever built. The etched brass bits are a Finney & Smith kit which is in turn a 7mm scale Connoisseur kit shrunk down by the magic of photo reduction. Although the kit comes with a chassis, my plans involved trying out one of the Bullant bogies sold by 3SMR since I don't really enjoy chassis building. Anyway, I wanted to try out one of these new fangled units to see how good they were for myself and since you can buy them ready to go in my gauge of 14.2mm, this seemed like a good opportunity.

Even the cost isn't prohibitive - RTR you pay about 60 quid. Buy a set of wheels, motor and quality gearbox and you only save around a fiver yet still have to make the whole assemblage work.

Anyway, the kit purchase wasn't planned, it was pure impulse when I walked up to the second hand stall at the Kingsbury event and heard the etched metal calling to me...