Building a small diesel on Aristo block

gregh

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My last loco build was an 0-6-0 for my granddaughter. see
http://www.gscalecentral.net/m93755
Now I?ve built a small Bo diesel for a grandson. It?s vaguely based on a sugar cane type loco.

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I used an Aristo block (ART29351) as used in their L?il Critter and RS3 locos. I removed the nice Aristo side frames for future use (I?ll use them on a dummy bogie for a future diesel using another motor block I just purchased ? can?t resist the low US dollar prices).
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I then made up some side frames from bits and pieces, mainly to hide the motor block and the eight, AA, NiMH cells ? I put 4 cells at each end of the motor block. That leaves the hood for the RC and sound.
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The original frames were attached to lugs on the motor sides, so I used these lugs to attach the whole new base plate to the motor block. I cut the baseplate from 1.5mm styrene and contact glued 8mm ?sleeper? timber under it to allow a screw to go through the lug and into the wood. Here?s the underside without the motor block. It?s 230mm long.
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The hood is cut from 1.5mm styrene with 0.5mm for doors and some cutouts for louvres. (Luckily I have a supply of ?tropical? insect screen used in northern Australia, which is just right for louvres!) The cross section size of the hood was determined by the 50mm dia speaker I mounted at the front. It?s contact glued in place over a 40mm hole and covered with 2 layers of (normal) flyscreen offset from each other. The hood top is 1.5mm styrene slightly chamfered around edges. Two 0.5mm pieces glued to hood for effect. It?s held on by 2 small magnets. The muffler is made from a ball-point pen casing and some wire. There?s no more ?detail? as it will be handled by kids.

Cab sides and ends from 1.5mm styrene with windows cut out and some small ?frames? of 0.5mm styrene glued on around windows. I painted the whole thing and then scraped the paint off the raised frames to show the white styrene. ?Glass? is overhead transparency sheet glued inside.

While still in pieces, all styrene was washed in soapy water and allowed to dry for a day. Then undercoated with spray Primer and allowed to dry for 2 days before final coats.

The diagonal stripes on the ?pilots? were done by using masking tape cut out and painting red. Be sure to remove tape within a day of painting!

I had a spare 433 MHz RC unit so used it with a Picaxe for motor PWM control and 2nd Picaxe for sound, to fit in the hood. The on/off switch and charging studs are located under the running board.

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Watch a 1 minute video here?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifc5Yu98yvw
 

ceejaydee

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I must say that little loco has a rather pleasing appearance.
 

Madman

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Nice job! How much run time will you get on a single charge? Also, how much can it pull?
 

gregh

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Madman said:
Nice job! How much run time will you get on a single charge? Also, how much can it pull?

I'd hope for 3-4 hours running but not tested.
Pulls wagons weighing 3kg up my 4% grade. (4 of my box cars)
Loco weighs 1.1 kg.
(My rebuilt L'il Critter with the same motor, weighs 1.4 kg and pulls 4.5 kg on the same grade.)
On level track I'd expect it to pull maybe 10kg of wagons.
 

dragon

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Great looking loco. Were they ants or termites it was decimating?
 

Madman

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dragon said:
Great looking loco. Were they ants or termites it was decimating?


Do you see something I don't ?
 

gregh

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Madman said:
dragon said:
Great looking loco. Were they ants or termites it was decimating?


Do you see something I don't ?

In the video, there are ants running along the rails.
 

nygma

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Great looking loco, true ant killer (seen it running over the ants on the rails).

You could have kept the break cylinders from the Aristo block. Have you thought about adding some handrails on the front?
 

JRinTawa

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I saw the ants too, no fear of the trains obviously!

Nice work Greg.
 

mikka

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hang on.. was the original Ernie loco rebuilt?
 

Madman

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AH. I missed that video the first time around. Those ants may be quick, but not quite quick enough :happy:
 

gregh

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mikka said:
hang on.. was the original Ernie loco rebuilt?

NO, just renamed for youngest grandson "Josh". (Soaked the decals off and did new ones)
 

gregh

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nygma said:
You could have kept the break cylinders from the Aristo block. Have you thought about adding some handrails on the front?

I didn't want to ruin the original side. But maybe I should add some brake cylinders.
Handrails are too delicate when it will be handled by 3 yr old boys. Maybe when they grow up, I'll add more detail, cause I really like the loco when I get to run it.