A Simplex for O9 (Part 1)

When David Malton (of Abbey Light Railway in O14 fame) released his 7mm scale Simplex print on Shapeways I was immediately tempted as I had achieved much better results than I had anticipated with my 009 Ruston print. I was keen to try something in 7mm scale, and O9 if at all possible.

On receipt of the print I treated it to a day in a bath of white spirit followed by a good scrub with warm soapy water. I then applied a coat of Halfords plastic primer and when dry rubbed this down with 1200 and 1500 grit wet and dry to start to fill the print lines. Another wash down and once dry I re-primed and smoothed back again. That got us to this stage (and yes, I knocked a knob off a lever):

Realising that the next coat of primer would probably be smooth enough I opted to carry out my planned modifications before another coat was applied. I then started to investigate whether it was possible to mount the body onto a Kato drive unit to make a working O9 loco (the print is designed for a Locos n Stuff drive unit for O14 or O16.5). I accepted at this stage that the wheelbase would be too long - 28mm vs the print's 24mm, but reasoned that the wheels would be far enough in not to be too noticeable.

Having shortened a Kato chassis almost as short as it would go at either end and removed much surplus material and detail, I then found I had to remove two 45 degree sections from the underside of the body to clear the motor housing. The phrase I used to describe this was that it was rather like I imagine Kendal Mint Cake Mining to be...

This work brought the ride height to 12.5mm at the top of the frame, which matches David's recent drawing from the Railway Modeller pretty well. It also looks OK from most angles, but it is a good job that I don't have an eye level viewing layout or the deception would be all too obvious!

More as the project progresses...

Colin