Hi all Probably one of the easiest conversions for the Rokuhan Shorty chassis is stonysmith's 'open window' switcher on Shapeways. Also available in metal the design is along the lines of the GE 70 tonner I believe. It got my interest as I needed a couple of generic switchers for Republic Steel. A chassis fresh out of the package The shell as delivered, just had a clean in the Ultrasonic cleaning bath with quite warm soapy water. Following the first coat of primer which acts as a reveal coat there was a bit of cleaning up on layer lines on the nose and cab sides but nothing too arduous. The shell fits the mechanism perfectly with just the stock couplers not really aligning with anything and having a tendency to push the truck down. These are the standard plug in Rokuhan 'Rapido' type which come out with a sharp tug. #6 was the first. Now in my desire to add some detail I decided to drill the headlight out. Pushing on the centre of the light with a sharp scriber resulted in me pushing a hole through the front because the material is so thin. There was some good Anglo-Saxon cursing and once I calmed down I decided to fit a radiator grill over the damage using Scalelink etched mesh. Handrails came from a Marklin Caboose and the exhaust stack was brass tube Still with Rokuahan couplings #6 sits alongside #8 in 'as printed' form. Again with a caboose handrail addedColour is Ford Signal yellow Kev
#8 in primer On Republic this weekend at Crewe model show. red chevrons came from Microscale DM&IR N scale caboose sheet 60-854 and numbers from U.P North Littlerock sheet 60-522
MTL couplers mounted on shell finish up at just the right height #8 is still waiting for its rear handrails when I find them Glazing is Krysal Klear and I need to fit the horns before they are weathered Seen with #5 the Diesel hydraulic switcher you can see the 'Housestyle I'm going for video of them running on the layout pulling the Torpedo cars and ladlecars at stonysmith is working on a couple more designs I've suggested as straight fits onto the Shorty. I'll keep you posted as we go along Kev
Very nice, Kev! I've done a few of these already. You'll be able to install MTL body mount couplers if you remove the Rokuhan couplers and carefully cut the coupler box from the trucks. You may also need to widen the opening in the front and back a little. Thom
Kev. It looks really good. I think you will make those sharp yellow switchers more weathered in the future. They are working in steel industry
Don't worry, They are going to be weathered very soon Surprisingly most of the British steel locos were not that bad but this sad looking Yorkshire Engine Co. 0-6-0DH at Workington Iron and Steel will be the look I'm going for Kev
No 5 heavily weathered, No 6 medium weathered and no 8 just given a light waft of rust The Steelworks entire fleet The versatility of 3D printing, every vehicle off Shapeways Kev
The 0-6-0T tank is one of Ivan's designs on Shapeways designed to drop onto the BR 89 chassis. Described as an E2 it looks much more like one of Barclays industrial shunters. It is slightly overscale to get the cab to fit over the motor but not so you'd notice link to page https://www.shapeways.com/product/UQGCPA4ER/lbcsr-e2-approx-z-1-220?optionId=62281441 Not totally happy with my painting of this one and am going to add some white and black lining to jazz it up The other useful one Ivan does is the USRA dock tank which again fits the Marklin BR89. I've got a couple in British railways livery representing the ones allocated to shunting Southampton docks and this one in Industrial livery as some found their way into colliery service after withdrawal from main line use https://www.shapeways.com/product/B826GU3DL/usa-tank-z-1-220?optionId=43384460 Kev
I know this is an ancient thread, but I am wondering if you have any advice on mounting the MTL couplers? How did you attach them to the body of the locomotive? I just put one of these together and am using the long Rokuhan couplers that are compatible with azl and MTL. But I'd prefer using the MTL one.
Hi cucokewe, I installed MTL couplers on my Shorty shell. The first thing I did was cut the Rokuhan coupler pockets off of the trucks. You can use a small diagonal cutter, rail cutter, razor saw or hobby knife. I have used the small diagonal cutter and hobby knife. Sand the ends of the trucks smooth so they won't hang up on the new MTL coupler. I mounted pre-assembled MTL body-mount couplers. I determined where the couplers needed to go on the shell and marked the hole for the screw on the shell under the front and rear platforms. I used the MTL 1059 Tap and Drill Packet to drill and tap the hole. All that was left was to install the coupler and test.
