Goods Crane v1 Instructions

Goods Crane Instructions

Goods crane completed (note string for cable is not included at present)

1. Cut support material away from parts as required being careful not to damage parts.
2. You may wish to paint parts first before assembling.
3. When inserting pins and shafts you may need to check the hole sie for fit and open up if necessary.
4. Assemble jib by adding pulleys and pulley shafts to the jib.
5. Insert the support wheel into the base of the jib and retail with included pin
6. Use the hinge pins to secure the jib to the mechanism frame. Gluing is optional as fit should be snug.
7. Place mechanism and jib on top of king pin turntable. When seated correctly check length of brass rod for struts and cut to suit.
8. Insert trimmed brass rod into the strut ends on the jib and mechanism and glue in place with super glue.
9. With cable drum already painted affix string and wind on a suitable length ensuring enough length left to run length of jib, through hook and return to jib.
10. Hold cable drum between frames and slide shaft through so that the shaft is flush with the right side (ie looking from the rear of the crane) and protruding through the left.
11. Fix large gear on to the protruding shaft of the cable drum.
12. Fix the slightly smaller large gear to the left hand side as shown in the pictures below.
13. Run string (cable) along jib and across both pulleys and then through hook pulley and return to jib tie off point.
14. The small 12 tooth gear goes on the shaft at the base of the mechanism and interlocks with the gear ring in the turntable, however as this is not readily seen it is optional.
15. Finish painting the crane and glue to platform base (not supplied)

New products soon to be released.

I am currently working on a range of paints based on Western Australian rail colours which currently include Westrail orange and WAGR green and working in a Midland Railways Crimson Lake. These paints are acrylic lacquers for and will be intended for airbrushing, At this stage the paints will not be available to send by mail but will be available for local pickup.

Building the F Class

Its been far too long since I have posted here but Ive decided to get back into it and share some of my experiences.

Part 1

Todays post is a start on the development of the F Class model and how it came about.

As some of you may now my personal layout is based on Pemberton in Western Australia and one of my inspirations for the layout besides living in the nearby town of Manjimup was the bridges on the line south of Pemberton and one inspirational photo for a Rail Heritage WA publication has always stuck with me and it was a long time before I saw the colour version but here it is. A picture of F 42 crossing what appears to be the Warren River Bridge with a timber train heading from Northcliffe to Pemberton.

This was my inspiration for choosing to develop my first locomotive kit of the ex Midland Railways F Class.

I began by searching the internet for photos and followed up with visiting the Bassandean Rail Museum to search for plans with the help from Graham Watson. Thankfully the Museum had General Arrangement drawings for the F Class with a side, front and rear view as well as fuel tank and cab layout. I grabbed some photos of the plans as straight on as I could, however I was later able to get the plans scanned thanks to Rob Clark, which provided a much more accurate reference. While at the museum I also took the opportunity to take photos and measurements of F 43 held within the Museum's collection.

At this stage I was planning on developing the kit as a urethane cast body with an etched brass chassis. I didnt have a 3D printer at this stage and instead was planning to use my laser cutter to assist in creating the pattern in combination with some scratch building and shaping. To this end I developed plans for the profile of the hood roof, the hood sides, the nose and cab.

The Hood

I planned to make the roof of the hood with insets to attach the sides and front and designed a profile to achieve this. I used my laser cutter to cut the profiles out of 3mm mdf and glued these together to create the length of the roof. Of course this didnt result in a smooth profile and I had to use putty and sanding to shape a smooth profile. This was stage one complete and I used it to make an intermediate pattern.

For stage two I took a mold and created a urethane casting which i was able to further shape. I had the idea of using my laser cutter to cut the holes for the fan and exhuast and to accurately locate these I created a jig for the laser cutter to locate the pattern accurately.

This technique was successful so I continued to utilise the laser cutter further, cutting a groove to demarcate the inspection plate in front of the fan grill and then cutting grooves for the rails on the hood roof, which i was able to slot evergreen styrene into. I had the idea of using a 0.1mm thick self adhesive signage product to create proud details including bolt details a grill and the exhaust. To do this experimented with the laser cutter settings until I found the sweet spot where the laser was cutting the thin layer without cutting the pattern below.

I stuck down a sheet of the material, cut the design and then carefully peeled off the waste to leave the detail behind.was able to cut the sheet and carefully peel off the waste to leave the detail behind.

Too be continued...................

6th Class Station Released and Available for Purchase

Following the design of the early 5th Class station used in WA based on plans for the Mullewa-Murchison Railway, the 6th Class version has also been released. The key difference between the two is the 5th class has a the shelter and a store room whilst the 6th class was a shelter only. This design was also used in New Zealand and a third version with two rooms either side of the shelter will be added to the collection of kits available in the future.

VISIT SHOP NOW

5th Class Station Available in Store

The 5th Class Station kit was designed based on an 1891 plan for the construction of the Mullewa-Murchison Railway for 5th and 6th Class Stations. The 5th Class station consists of a store room and a lobby with weather boards over a timber frame and being a small station I decided to reproduce the frame work and the weatherboarding to create this highly detailed kit which whilst it may be small can still provide an attractive center piece to a model layout. The kit is laser cut with laser engraved weatherboards. The down side is that engraving the weather boards means this kit takes a long time to produce but which I hope others will appreciate.

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View of roof framing and internals

Receiving a priming coat ready for painting

Signal Cabin and Lever Frame Released!

2 New models have been released!
The first is the standard platform signal cabin based which appeared at Swan View and a range of other locations.

westrailmodels.com

The second kit available is an 18 lever frame which can be assembled with or without a shelf and future versions will be made available with frames of different sizes.

Swan View Signal Cabin Coming Soon!

Currently being designed is Swan View Signal Cabin. The plans available show a few versions of this but the kit will initially be available as a Platform signal cabin and include versions with and without the awnings. This was standard design and other versions will be worked on in the future to include a free standing cabin with stairs or ramp and with the option of a full window bank on the far side wall. Hopefully the first test print will be run this weekend