DA1 Another Day

It was October that I last posted about this A1 Models etch to build something based on the ex-Bush Mill diesel 'DA1'. After that post there was a little adjustment work to my cab interior set-up to allow a small 1/48th figure to sit in there (I hesitate to say comfortably!)

As can be seen I raised the floor level and reducing the height of the checker plate. A piece cut from the cab interior of a Dapol Drewery shunter forms the control desk. Rather than create a seat over the gear tower as previously, I created it around it, once the driver is in place the deception isn't noticed.

Work on the 009 project then took over and the Tomytec chassis unit went on a diet to fit into an 009 Ruston Hornsby 3D print. After much thought about this project I was left wondering whether I could overcome what is the main issue to me, the underframe area. Having put this off for months, seeing the kit on sale at Narrow Gauge North and conversations about future O9 projects gave me a nudge to do something about it.

The idea is that this will be a locomotive under repair with no wheels and engine, so I have been able to put together a simple frame of 20thou styrene with a little re-enforcement from 40thou strip around the top of the frame. Making the whole underframe 2mm lower in height, the frames a lot narrower (15mm opposed to 20mm) and some shape to the buffer beams, has a dramatic effect.

Some further work added a 30 thou strip under the running plate, created a simple cab interior and added details on the bufferbeams, note the usual assortment of Dapol Drewery shunter and railbus parts!

I feel that in this form the model is much better balanced visually and I did wonder if I ought to make yet another version of the chassis to make it run again by getting a slimmed down Tomytec chassis underneath. This is possible without modifying the cut-out in the cab front, indeed there is allowance for the running plate to be another millimetre lower, the real loco is very low slung with the footplate about a foot from rail height.

The next job will be to apply a suitable paint job...

Colin