Another Piko 218 Conversion

[Miamigo259]

Rather than have two DB class 218 diesels in my locomotive fleet (albeit in different liveries) I have decided to make one of them less "German" and more of a narrow gauge style locomtive.
Export versions of a similar type of loco were manufactured for sale to Spain and Bulgaria, at least, and three of the Spanish ones have ended up in Argentina, working trains on the LBS line out of Buenos Aires. There is a limit to the amount of "doctoring" you can do to the Piko bodyshell, but the intention is to end up with something looking less like one of these.........

(seen at Buchloe in March 2008)

and more like one of these........

(seen at Tapiales Depot, Buenos Aires in February 2009)

The conversion will most probably take a couple of months (at least) to finish, but I will post progress reports on here, as and when there is something to report!

 

[Miamigo259]

Steering clear of any major alterations - like repositioning doors and altering side cab window sizes - an appraisal of the bodyshell was made to see what could be done relatively easily to at least make it look "different".

The first task was to remove some of the lower bodyside grilles, which will create space for the operators fleetname and give a bit of visual difference to the bodysides.
There are two different syles of grille, one style (3 of the removed ones) just sands flat without the need for filler, whilst the other style (1 removed) needs filler.

One of the sides after removal is shown below

 

[Miamigo259]

The next obvious thing to get rid of was the DB head/tail light moulding from the cab ends. The LBS ones just have individual headlights, so a hacksaw was taken to these mouldings to remove the outer of the light fittings from them. After some use of a knife and a file, some quite acceptable headlight mountings were produced that have then been fixed back on the loco ends.
The beauty is that the Piko headlamp glazing and light bulbs still fit in them, so the directional lighting feature is retained.

This is as far as I have got so far, and the resultant gaps in the front end bodywork still need to be filled and sanded down.

The handrail and its mountings from below the cab front windows have been removed as the ones on the LBS locos are longer.

Less obvious from the photos is that about 3mm of the protruding ridge above the cab windows has been shaved off and now matches the depth along the bodysides. It makes quite a difference to the profile when the roof is on.

 

[dunnyrail]

Good luck with the conversion, it is a worth while project to do making your loco vastly different from all the other ones out there. I wish you luck with the Window Protection!
JonD

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yes, nice

 

[Miamigo259]

I was surprised to discover that a couple of paints in the B & Q range appear to replicate the LBS Blue and Grey shades when I called in at one of their branches this morning - namely "Moody Blue" and "Antique Grey".
Bought a couple of 750ml tins so that should last a while!

Once the loco is done, I intend to produce some suitable matching coaching stock converted from the NQ ones - assuming STO Racing ever get their orders correct, that is.........

 

[Miamigo259]

A better view of the revised headlight arrangement on the front end now that an initial coat of primer has been applied.

 

[Miamigo259]

The next job is to produce a replacement cab roof mounted headlight assembly for each end of the loco. I have dispensed with the single DB style roof headlight as the LBS ones have a twin light mounting in a box.

I have made the boxes more angular than the originals to save a lot of messing about!

The first of these boxes is currently being built from plasticard which will then be stuck onto the roof, a new hole being drilled in the roof itself to take the Piko top headlamp bulb, the theory being that this will illuminate the inside of the box, this light being visible through the two holes cut in the plasticard behind the headlamp fittings. The headlamp surrounds will be made from a couple of cup washers of a suitable size (which hide the fact that the two holes are not level!)

 

[pugwash]

Love that second photo right at the beginning, a 218 in riot gear! The Met might be interested
It's interesting how a few changes and paint make a loco look completely different. Ace job

 

[palmerston]

Converting to a NG loco has been done by... a german

Heres the link to the german (lots of pic though) forum:
http://spassbahn.de/view_topic.php?id=3176&forum_id=5 < Link To BR218 NG

 

[Miamigo259]

Converting to a NG loco has been done by... a german

Heres the link to the german (lots of pic though) forum:
http://spassbahn.de/view_topic.php?id=3176&forum_id=5 < Link To BR218 NG

Thanks for the link - He seems to be doing a very thorough job of the conversion and is even remodelling the front end with quite a bit of body filler, something I don't really want to contemplate!

Will have a better look at the 7 pages worth later in the day when I have more time. This is the sort of thing that "Google Translate" is a godsend for!

I hadn't actually realised that he had widened the Piko Bodywork by 6mm. I can't help wondering wether you would be better off scratchbuilding a correct shape body to fit on the Piko Chassis than do all the work he appears to have done - though it seems to have taken him two years so far!

 

[Philbahn]

Certainly transforming it. Keep up the good work

 

[Miamigo259]

Not a lot to see at the moment, but the bodyshell is receiving blue & grey paint. The grey has had its final coat of paint, but the blue is just an initial covering, requiring further rubbing down and a few holes drilled for handrails before the final coat is applied.

I converted some of the engine compartment windows to inspection hatches by drilling some bolt holes in them and then painting over the window glass. Only one window has been retained on each side.

Now back to painting the outside of the house.................

 

[Miamigo259]

Slow progress this week, but the bodyshell is seen below in its blue/grey livery with the roof placed on the top, but not pushed home into its location sockets. Despite being so-called "one-coat" paint, the blue will need another coat, making three in total!
The basic roof headlight units have been fixed in place but require further work and the fitting of the headlight surrounds which will be done once the roof has been painted properly in light grey.

The chassis & bogies are being painted, though I still need to make the red & white striped "cowcatchers" which will be fixed to the bogies directly. It is likely the coupling hooks will be removed, just leaving the loops in place. The hooks will foul the "cowcatchers" if they are left in place.
Various other detail items such as handrails remain to be made and fitted.

 

[Gizzy]

Steve, I was at the European Railway Society meeting in BSE on Weds, and we saw a film about the Brotalbahn http://www.vulkan-express.de/ .

They have an ex FEVE loco that is used on a regular freight working....

http://www.vulkan-express.de/D5.htm

 

[Miamigo259]

Steve, I was at the European Railway Society meeting in BSE on Weds, and we saw a film about the Brotalbahn http://www.vulkan-express.de/ .

They have an ex FEVE loco that is used on a regular freight working....

http://www.vulkan-express.de/D5.htm

Thanks for that - most interesting.

I was e-mailed a photo of the one on the Chemins de Fer de Provence the other day by someone else (which is mentioned in passing on the German webpage).

 

[Gizzy]

Steve, I was at the European Railway Society meeting in BSE on Weds, and we saw a film about the Brotalbahn http://www.vulkan-express.de/ .

They have an ex FEVE loco that is used on a regular freight working....

http://www.vulkan-express.de/D5.htm

Thanks for that - most interesting.

I was e-mailed a photo of the one on the Chemins de Fer de Provence the other day by someone else (which is mentioned in passing on the German webpage).

I seem to recall the CF de Provence loco in a recent feature in the Continental Modeller if I remember correctly....

 

[Miamigo259]

I'm getting there slowly with the conversion, though it looks like I may be able to get it finished sooner than expected courtesy of a US holiday going down the pan due to the lack of planes to get me there.................

Some wire handrails have been fixed to the front end and wire ones have replaced the two plastic Piko fitted ones either side of the headlamps. Roof mounted headlamp boxes fitted and air horns, made out of parts of old paintbrush handles and bits of plastic, have been fitted.

A general shot of the main components placed together does show that it is going to look rather different to the original 218 when it is all in one piece.

 

[Miamigo259]

The locomotive has been put back together this morning and will be out on todays running session in the garden - the first one of the year so far(!).

There are still some outstanding items to be completed on the loco, ie the mesh grilles over the windows (once I have sourced some suitable mesh), one or two detailing items plus the numbers/fleetnames. I think I'm going to get some decent vynil names done for this loco, as trying to handpaint them is beyond me.......

A few pictures of the assembled loco are shown below.

 

[Miamigo259]

A few more pictures of it actually hauling a train around the garden. Shame it's clouded over and spitting of rain now....