[Carnforth]

Evenin' All
Thought anyone interested in DCC Steam might like to see/ hear this. Comets 8F kit utilises the Margate Hornby loco body with their own etched chassis, tender and detailing pack. I built it before I'd considered DCC sound and with the loco body being plastic I filled the boiler with rolled lead leaving just enough room for a Mashima 16/20 and flywheel mounted vertically in the firebox mated to comets' 50/1 'box. Lack of subsequent space in the loco meant fitting 2x 23mm speakers AND the chip in the tender, not my preferred method with not much option, space-wise, but made easier by not having modelled the coal space originally. A bit of tweaking CV57 to get 4 beats per cycle was all that needed doing but I reduced the Value of CV 63 to 30 and it' still plenty loud enough.
Next on the bench will be 44709, again a Hornby body, Chinese Ivatt boilered variant this time, using Comets LWB chassis and etched tender kit.
Below should be a link to a short video clip, love that wagon clatter/snatch!
Steve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXEgP2a0lJI&feature=user

 

[cbeagleowner]

Hi - That loks anbd sounds great. Nice to see a High running plate Caprotti in the background too. How did you make that?

 

[Martin71]

Hi

Sounds very good a job well done. Just a couple of questions for you. Was it one of the new Hornby 8f's or an older one. The reason I ask was why you replaced the motor. I understand they are a better motor but do you get better fine control at slower speeds. Howles they use loksound decoders right.

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of how you mounted the motor.

Kind Regards,

Martin

 

[Carnforth]

Mornin'cbeaglowner
I did wonder how long it would take before someone spotted that one, as I have it in the background on some of my ( green) diesel vids too .
The basis of the model is Comets Low running-plate caprotti Ivatt Black 5. The tender, cab, boiler, chassis and part of the front frame/buffer beam assy come straight from the kit . The outside caprotti shafts were from an old Crownline conversion kit, ( Brit to Duke, I think ),but I've built one more since and used brass tubing and wire for the shafts with the hangers made from scrap.I did write up a two page article on this and offered it to a Mag some years ago but never got a response. It certainly wasn't easy as the running plate, normally a building platform, didn't get added 'till quite late in the build and I seem to remember lots of elastic bands, clips and swearing whilst jigging cab , boiler/firebox, saddle/buffer-beam assemblies before soldering into a one piece body. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that but if you fancy a go e-mail me and I'll try to find said article, scan it and send you a copy, but don't say you weren't warned!
Regards
Steve

 

[Carnforth]

Mornin'Martin
The only thing Hornby in the entire loco is the plastic loco body.Comet use it in conjunction with their excellent etched brass/ nickel-silver products to provide a full kit.
As I said, it's the Margate body from the tender-drive version, actually better in this case as it features the front of the firebox which is absent from later, loco drive models. The Mashima motor/ Comet gearbox is my favoured combination for kit-built chassis, there was no motor to replace, just choose!
A photo now would mean splitting the model, so it's not likely now although I'm planning a series of photos and vid of 44709 shortly.
Both Howes and SWD use ESU Loksound chips, I've used from both suppliers and although they seem to have a slightly different approach re, what they add, both are very convincing.
Regards
Steve

 

[Robert Stokes]

I tried watching this and something went wrong. The whole of the pink bar underneath the picture filled up but when it started it stopped after two seconds. I can move along the pink bar with the curser and when I let go it starts, but again for only two seconds. Am I doing something wrong or is it that my computer is not up to scratch? Thank you, Robert.

 

[Brian Considine]

Hi Robert - this can be quite common with utube.

Try letting the clip run to the end with it stopping & starting & then when it stops press replay.

Hope this helps.

(There is probably an explanation and/or cure for this - no doubt one of the computer experts here will explain.) I think it is to do with memory.

 

[alastairq]

EXCELLENT...love the clanking rods on the ''over-run''

 

[Carnforth]

Robert
I think this problem is that during peak times the download speed can be less than the play speed . What I do is pause play, at the left of the load bar, 'till all the pink loading bar is full, then press play. It should now play to completion without any breaks. This seems to happen even more if you elect " view in high quality". The quality of the Flashplayer is way inferior to the originals anyway. I filmed this with high standard VHS, converted it to DVD then ripped it into WMV with no loss of quality 'till I watched it on youtube.
Hope this helps
Steve

 

[Robert Stokes]

Thanks for thereply but I did wait until it was fully loaded before starting it. I've tried again with the same result. To recap, I can use the cursor to move to any part of the film and it starts playing but stops after two seconds.