Simplex Yard Shunter

[Old Man Aaron]

Very interesting. Looking forward to having a gawk in person.

[Old Man Aaron]

12/03/24

A Deltang Rx63 receiver was removed from another loco and fitted to the Simplex, using some very small connectors.
Surprisingly, (even out of sight 6 meters away) the whitemetal bonnet doesn't seem to affect the signal.
The receiver (and bonnet) are held in place with blu-tac.



My intent was to power the loco with a pair of 14500 Li-Ion cells behind each headstock, wired in parallel.
However, after I'd used the last of my large heat shrink over each cell, I realised I'd connected them in series.
One of the cells was removed, and will find it's way into one of the many waiting projects in the cupboard..
Two cells was overkill for a loco that spends most of it's life in a mill siding, anyway. I was mainly doing it for weight distribution.
A scrap of lead was fitted at the other end.

A bracket for the charge socket was hacked up from brass, and glued to the frames (along with slide switches for power and headlights) with my preferred strong contact cement.



The low-relief axleboxes were extended with foamboard. The solid cast whitemetal derailment bars were replaced with aluminium tube.



Headlights came from the batch of 1930s-style car headlights I made on the lathe for the Essel Fowler. Brackets are just some 1/4" styrene angle.
Crudely modified exhausts are a common sight on cane locos. I've fitted it crookedly, to suggest the muffler was just loosely jammed onto an extended exhaust pipe under the bonnet.

The footplate on the RH side of the radiator is - on the prototype - just a hole. I can't model this properly due to the 16mm mechanism underneath, but I can cover the area with a planked "floor" made from coffee stirrers.

The derailment bar/tube ends were treated to some controlled destruction with a hammer (the front one also slightly bent) to represent the damage often seen after a few years' service.



Primed the loco this morning, now I can see the few spots needing more filler before painting..

[ge_rik]

Looks great, Aaron. Very neatly finished.

Rik

[Lonsdaler]

That looks really good. It'll be interesting to see it complete with a 'weathered' appearance.

[StuartJ]

Looking good!

[Peter Butler]

I said from the start I'd be watching with interest, and I still am. This is looking great and will be even better with your weathering skills applied.

[Old Man Aaron]

11/04/24
Cheers gents, glad you like it. I really do.
Those of you keen to see weathering will either be intrigued, or disappointed - maybe both.
I've decided for this one, to try something new. Something a little different from my growing little fleet.

I want this one to look like a recent repaint. Not just "paint the model and call it done". But not an immaculate shed pet, either.
One of those things where absolutely everything has been painted, with smaller parts like the sandboxes being picked out in another colour.

So far I have simply painted the model. Still figuring out how to go about this effect..


I'm thinking a few months of grime and wear. Painted-over knocks and damage. Grubby wheels, couplings, and that oil stain you see down the sides from the engine. Some rust on the exhaust, bleeding through the zinc paint. That sort of thing.

[GAP]

11/04/24
Cheers gents, glad you like it. I really do.
Those of you keen to see weathering will either be intrigued, or disappointed - maybe both.
I've decided for this one, to try something new. Something a little different from my growing little fleet.

I want this one to look like a recent repaint. Not just "paint the model and call it done". But not an immaculate shed pet, either.
One of those things where absolutely everything has been painted, with smaller parts like the sandboxes being picked out in another colour.

So far I have simply painted the model. Still figuring out how to go about this effect..


I'm thinking a few months of grime and wear. Painted-over knocks and damage. Grubby wheels, couplings, and that oil stain you see down the sides from the engine. Some rust on the exhaust, bleeding through the zinc paint. That sort of thing.

For the chassis parts try putting the model on a sheet of timber/cardboard and then spray around it on the sheet about 50-100mm away the over-spray will give a fine coating resembling dust and dirt kicked up during use.
I used this method on some HO wagons back in the day.

[Andrew]

VERY nice - the yellow livery's fantastic...

[Old Man Aaron]

12/10/24
Well, the loco is finished. And what better place for the obligatory ex-works photos, than with 1:1 scale Simplex parts.

My attempt at subtle weathering didn't turn out that way. A very weak wash of alcohol and brown acrylic was mixed. Once dry however, it left a patchy whitened look to the yellow paint - Very convincingly faded.

As I often find, the result I got, wasn't the direction I wanted to go, but came out too good to remove. I suppose it means this one's seen a few seasons, rather than a recent repaint. Weathering the rest to suit was fairly straightforward.


An 0.3mm drill was wrapped in masking tape (so the pin vice could grip it) and a hole drilled in the driver's lips.
A piece of armature wire made a convincing fag.



Had I planned to weather it like this from the start, I'd have bent and battered the loco much more, before even thinking about primer.
But it'll do.
I really must make an effort to knock about the next one. I'll see to it, the Decauville will come out rough..

[LNR]

Do like that Simplex driver, just looks like he's been sweating it out under the Queensland sun and taking a breather.
Have to agree about weathering, some of the efforts I'm most happy about are the results of something not mixing how I thought it would, or some other accident.
Grant.

[ge_rik]

The muscle tone on the driver looks spot-on. Not the sort of bloke I'd want to encounter in a bar on a Saturday night .....

Rik

[Lonsdaler]

I commented on your Facebook post, but the more I look at the driver, the more he looks like a life study. Superb work Aaron.

[Old Man Aaron]

Ah, I wondered which Phil had commented on farcebook.

Can't take too much credit for how the driver came out, he is a particularly high-quality bit of resin. I'm well pleased with how he came out.

[Lonsdaler]

Ah, I wondered which Phil had commented on farcebook.

Can't take too much credit for how the driver came out, he is a particularly high-quality bit of resin. I'm well pleased with how he came out.

Whilst it's a good 'print', it's the paint job that brings him to life, which I assume you are responsible for, so don't be so modest!