Beyond the Kato 11-109 - the 11-108!

Back in February I completed number 6, a Simplex from FK3D styled on the Abbey Light Railway's 'Druid'. This ran on a Kato 11-109 as intended by the maker, although I had revealed a little more of it by removing the false 'skirt' under the underframe to make the end result more realistic. However, I always thought that it looked a little too 'perched' on the chassis, in particular too much clearance under the re-railing bars was a bit off-putting.

The inspiration for what follows was actually my yet to be built FK3D Lister locomotive, which takes advantage of a feature of the new-generation Kato chassis being built around a 'core' of weights holding the motor, flywheel, drivetrain etc to the point that the upper cover really only stops things falling out of place. I had also discovered the version of the Kato chassis (11-108) that had very little detail and was in fact noticeably narrower than the fake locomotive sideframes of the 11-109. My initial thoughts to somehow use a chassis without a cover and wondering how to fix it in place, turned to using a further-reduced 11-108 to lose 1mm in ride height.

The starting point, number 6 on a 11-109, with a frame height of 14.5mm and the 11-109 sideframes filling the space underneath.

The alterations required the the 11-108 chassis (stock Kato image used). The aim was the leave a raised area in the centre to match the opening in the body of the 3D print. In particular I will draw your attention to the cut at the right hand end of the top - do not cut to the right of the raised area as this will remove the clip that stops the motor moving backwards, I started this but soon realised my error! Cut along the opening about 1.5mm in from the edge instead and then file down the area to the right. All cuts were made with the top cover removed from the motorising unit.

The resultant conversion is seen with the original 11-109, we can see how much narrower it is and how the end platforms are lower than the 11-109 frame. The areas over the axleboxes were at about the same height as the 11-109 frame but I have chamfered them away to fit into the cut-away area under the body. I have painted the axleboxes matt black to better hide them and switched the baseplates over to give the new chassis the sprayed matt black one from the original chassis. 

In order to secure the new chassis in place I have used two screws which pass through the endplates into holes drilled in the underside of the body, centre at the rear and to one side at the front. As the motor protrudes out of the top of the cut-down chassis I had to remove an area under the bonnet of the print and reposition the weight that counterbalances the whitemetal driver figure. This view shows the slightly angled areas that will form the main interface between the new chassis and the body, inboard of the strips that sat on the 11-109.

The end result is a 13.5mm measurement to the top of the frame, bringing the rerailing bars closer to the rails and looking a lot less perched with the bonus of fresh air between the axleboxes and the ends of the loco.

So, was it worth it? I think so! Now you might be wondering why I didn't just cut away the old frame and carry out the same modifications, well I find the Kato plastic a little awkward to work and the less I had to remove the better, especially along the length. I also have memories of taking too much away from a 11-103 in the past and actually rendering it useless... but at least I have a spare motor for my older locos...

Colin

Carry on Again...

A midweek "extra", things must be moving along!

With the basic box assembled I added a few features to allow 'odsock corner to be securely stored within or displayed on top. A peculiarity of this build is that usually I would drill holes in the front and rear of the box as these are usually the longest elevations, but this one is square, and there is also the issue of the front of the layout being drop-framed and having less space underneath...

As well as drilling the holes for the bolts, on top of the box I added two plywood triangles which suffice to engage in the front corners of the baseboard to secure it when displayed. 

Although the bolt holes in the box are in the front and rear... the corresponding holes in the layout are in the sides of the board and a 90 degree turn is required on un-boxing, hardly arduous! Under the board captive bolts are held in place with small blocks of timber, drilled through and then opened out to hold the bolt. These were clamped and bolted into place whilst the PVA glue dried, with WD40 on the bolt threads to try and avoid any unwanted fixing.

After a mask up of the edges of the hardboard panels with low-tac decorators tape all the timberwork then had two coats of yacht varnish applied. Disaster then struck when the low-tac tape lifted the surface of the hardboard in places making a bit of a mess. Varnish also ended up where it wasn't really meant to leaving me to say this isn't my best work... The surface of the hardboard had some wax furniture polish applied which hides the worst of the damaged surface.

The layout board also had a coat of yacht varnish on the underside to protect the woodwork and then a couple of coats of grey primer on the outside edges, another coat of this may be the final colour in due course, applied after scenic work is completed. It is all looking very grey at this stage, the other day someone mentioned that they actually thought it was going to be a winter scene, but another season will soon roll around.

More soon...

Colin

Carry on Clamping

The storage box for 'odsock Corner is now complete, it has been something of a saga for what should be a simple job! Firstly, I didn't have the hardboard and timber strip in stock as I had used most of the supply last year when I enclosed part of my new shelving in the workshop (which of course I have done nothing with...), so a trip to B&Q ensued and a shock at the price of these supplies (my old hardboard was free from an old wardrobe!). The new timber strip, despite being the same size as the old stuff, was actually slightly bigger too but I've ignored that. 

After careful measurement of the baseboard and material thicknesses, I calculated the sizes of the hardboard panels (with a +1mm allowance) and cut them accordingly. The timber, 25x11mm section (which B&Q retail as 25x10.5mm) was cut, again slightly over-length, and panels then assembled one-by-one, to get as many clamps on each as possible. Allowing for drying time this took place over a couple of days, after which I sanded all the edges of the hardboard back to the edges of the timber to allow for neat and square corner joins.

From my home made kit of parts I could then assemble the box. Being a square layout my sides are not equal lengths, the two shorter ones sitting inside the two longer ones to make the square. I paired up one of each on a flat surface, glued and clamped them together, checking for squareness and then repeated for the second pair. My 18" clamps came into their own with this along the top edges (at the bottom) supported by the smaller clamps along the corners.

The two pairs of sides were then brought together, again on a flat surface, into one assembly. Again, plenty of clamping!

The final piece of hardboard to add was the top, this was slightly oversize and would be adjusted at a later stage. The timber lengths under the clamps are to spread the force along the edges of the board and keep pressure along the edge as the glue dries.

Once set the edges of the top were sanded smooth and then the saga took a new turn. The vertical timber sections protruded slightly below the hardboard sides and I decided to sand these down. My power sander had other ideas and when I wasn't looking took a chunk out of the hardboard in one corner. Words were said, tea was brewed and I went off and cut the grass... on my return I had cooked up an audacious plan to remove a strip from the entire base of the box, hardboard and timber. This was carefully measured out and the timber corners cut first with a fine saw, and the hardboard with a combination of Stanley knife and saw. It worked, and (gently) sanded to finish the result was actually better than it would have been originally. 

By co-incidence the height of the box was now actually identical to that of my 009 layout 'The Old Quarry Line's box, which it probably should have been all along! However, the saga (or given this post's title, the farce) would continue to throw a few curveballs at the subsequent stages...

Colin