Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

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siclick33
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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:12 am

What do people think about this?

Good enough for the boiler/smokebox?

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Old Man Aaron » Thu Jul 21, 2022 3:29 am

Long as you've thoroughly cleaned the metal with meths (denatured alcohol) or any other paint prep solvent, you can't go wrong with engine enamel. :thumbright:
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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Keith S » Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:30 am

Old Man Aaron wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 3:29 am Long as you've thoroughly cleaned the metal with meths (denatured alcohol) or any other paint prep solvent, you can't go wrong with engine enamel. :thumbright:
Agreed. I think that will look fine on your smokebox.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Fri Jul 22, 2022 12:22 am

Awesome. Thanks :thumbright:

Name and works plates have arrived from Narrow Planet :D (Not very original names :lol: )

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Sun Aug 21, 2022 2:45 pm

First update in forever!

Temp has dropped slightly so I'm trying to get as much painting done as possible. I've completed the smokebox and boiler and am now trying to touch up some parts and paint the boiler wrapper.

The chimney was painted with U-POL acid etch primer and the smokebox and boiler were then primed and painted with the Rustoleum engine enamel. I'm not sure if the boiler should have been painted but it looks good - fingers crossed that the paint holds up during normal use.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Sun Aug 21, 2022 7:37 pm

Summerlands Chuffer with FX control fitted.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:04 pm

Boiler wrapper painted. I'm a bit disappointed in the colour (it's a lot more pink than I'd anticipated) but it will have to do.

The finish is ok but not great, so I've ordered some polishing compounds to try to buff it up a bit.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Keith S » Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:32 am

What kind of paint did you use? I'm just asking because if it's enamel you can pop it in the oven at a low temperature and the paint will harden and darken slightly. Come to think of it, you could do that anyway. If the paint won't withstand 180f in the oven, it won't last long under steam either. If you like I can post before-and-after pictures from when I did that. It might help make your paint colour the way you were expecting. Although I must say in your pictures the colour and finish look pretty good to me.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:42 am

Thanks for your reply.

The boiler wrapper is primed with U-POL 8 acid etch primer and top coated with Scalecoat 1 solvent based enamel.

All parts have been baked at 200F for 30 minutes.

The colour is Erie Lackawanna Maroon and, in hindsight, I think the colour may be reasonably accurate. I was intending to go for something a bit darker but hopefully it will be ok once it is all finished and assembled.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Aug 23, 2022 9:05 am

One thing I've noticed with red enamels is that they tend to darken a little in the months after painting. The oven might've sped that up in your case, but only time will tell for sure. Incidentally, I've also had a rather cool dark green become "warmer" in tone over a few weeks curing.

Nice tidy work in any case!
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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Keith S » Fri Aug 26, 2022 9:20 pm

Well I think it's a nice colour, anyway. There is (was?) a brand in Canada called "Tremclad" that was marketed as a "rust paint". They came out with a line of "designer" colours and I chose the "Wild Raspberry" colour for my locomotive, because it was similar to the "Victorian Maroon" colour that Roundhouse uses. Then, I thought, why not paint my "Brandbright" passenger coaches the same colour? Well I built one of the Brandbright coaches, but that coach took me a long time to build and I haven't built the other two, and since then Tremclad has ceased making that colour, and so now I mustn't damage my locomotive because it will be very difficult to find matching paint. Also my remaining coaches will be a different colour when I build them, which is irritating.

As for the paint, it was actually kind of unsuitable until I baked it in the oven. You can't tell unless you lift the dome off, but the first time I steamed the engine, the paint softened and the dome sank into it. Obviously this isn't visible when the dome is on, but happily after baking the whole thing got a lot nicer looking anyway.

Well, regardless I think you'll end up liking the colour. The locomotive will look a lot different once it's assembled anyway, for the better.

Here is the colour change I noticed on mine.The fresh paint was lighter and thicker looking than I had expected, but after baking it became harder and the texture changed from a superficial gloss to a real enamel look. The two pictures are also about ten years apart. The paint you used is likely a much higher quality than mine, as well.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Sat Aug 27, 2022 6:15 pm

Thanks for your photos.

The colour has grown on me and I think it looks pretty good now :D

I had a few problems with the painting as, although I've done quite a bit before with spray cans, it's my first real go at using a proper airbrush. This morning the boiler wrapper was looking ok. I thought I'd just run one finish coat over it and I'd be done. However, the airbrush started 'spurting' and then the boiler wrapper fell off the hook that it was hanging on :( Fortunately it didn't ruin the finish, although I had to do a bit of finishing and polishing to get it where it is now. It looks a little better in the photo than it does in real life but it's good enough.

It turns out the problem I was having with the airbrush was 'tip dry', where the paint dries around the needle. I might need to put one more coat on the body, and I've got a few things I can try to reduce the chances of that happening.

Now I can finally continue with the gas/regulator and then RC assembly :D

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Thu Sep 01, 2022 6:06 pm

Nearly ready to steam but I've encountered the first 'query' in the Roundhouse design. The instructions seem to suggest that you 'hard mount' the RC servos directly to the frames. Has anyone had any servos fail doing this? They are supposed to be mounted using the rubber grommets, particularly in a model which vibrates, such as a steam loco, so I'm inclined to use them.

This causes a slight issue as the bolts supplied to fit the servos (and the pillars to mount the reverser servo) are M3, which don't fit through the eyelets in the Hitec servos that the chassis is designed to accommodate. I have found some eyelets that do fit M3 bolts but, when you use them, the Roundhouse supplied bolts aren't long enough. I now need to order some longer bolts :x

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by GTB » Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:12 pm

siclick33 wrote: Thu Sep 01, 2022 6:06 pm Nearly ready to steam but I've encountered the first 'query' in the Roundhouse design. The instructions seem to suggest that you 'hard mount' the RC servos directly to the frames. Has anyone had any servos fail doing this? They are supposed to be mounted using the rubber grommets, particularly in a model which vibrates, such as a steam loco, so I'm inclined to use them.
Can't say I've ever seen vibration isolators used on a live steamer. The servos in my Garratt have been working fine without them for ten years so far........

I would think the servo manufacturers are more worried about the vibration from a two stroke single cylinder ic engine screaming it's head off at however many thousands of rpm, not a model train loping along fairly smooth rails at a couple of hundred rpm.

The big issue with live steam locos and servos is heat, which is why servos with metal gears are generally recommended. Servos and wiring are more likely to melt in a live steamer, than fall apart from vibration.

Graeme

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:24 pm

Maybe I'm worrying about nothing and presumably Roundhouse would know if they'd had repetitive failures. I was just a little concerned as I've had servo failures on RC helicopters before (which were entertaining) that were caused by the servo case touching the frame.

I might just build it as Roundhouse instructs. If they do fail then I'll have a rethink, but it sounds like they will be ok.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Keith S » Fri Sep 02, 2022 4:58 pm

I also build aero models and have to agree that the vibration in a live steam engine is more like a gentle rocking, if anything, compared to what a model aeroplane or helicopter can do to a servo.

Your servos endured more vibration in the car driving home from the hobby shop than they will in a model train. :D

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by GTB » Sun Sep 04, 2022 1:04 am

siclick33 wrote: Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:24 pm I might just build it as Roundhouse instructs. If they do fail then I'll have a rethink, but it sounds like they will be ok.
I've no direct experience of model aircraft, but have known a few aeromodellers over the years. As I recall, r/c helicopters are like real ones and need a lot of preventative maintenance to stop them dismantling themselves in mid-flight.

Also a vibration attenuator designed for the high frequency vibrations in model aircraft won't have much, if any, effect on the very low frequencies you'll encounter in a model steam loco.

What you do need to check carefully in a r/c loco is the aerial position and how the Rx reacts when it loses signal. R/c range is much reduced with model steam locos, as metal bodywork can be a very effective Faraday cage and there isn't always a line of sight on a scenic model railway.

After a couple of interesting experiences with r/c control in live steam locos, I prefer to use receivers designed for model railway use, that have 'cruise control', rather than the 'fail safe' type used in other r/c models like aircraft.

Graeme

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by siclick33 » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:27 am

Thanks.

The aero RC systems that I am used to are miles ahead of those available for specific loco use. With my aircraft I can use failsafe and cruise simultaneously - I can set a time limit to switch between the 2. For example, I could set cruise for 5s and then, if there is no response within that time, go to failsafe. I'm having trouble even working out what functions the common loco RC systems even have!!

I think I've decided on Micron. However, I've been waiting for the new firmware to be released for the live steam receivers, which will hopefully be soon. I'm also waiting for their new electric loco receivers to be released. It's a bit of a pain having to wait so long, but I'm grateful that they are at least being worked on as I can't find anything else that really matches my needs.

That is really the only thing holding up my first steaming at the moment. In the mean time I've been working on some Slater's wagon kits, and will move on to a different loco (either the George or 16mm Victory) soon.

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Re: Newcomer Roundhouse Billy Build

Post by Bad Droid » Sat Dec 23, 2023 9:54 pm

siclick33 wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 7:37 pm Summerlands Chuffer with FX control fitted.
This was a great thread and with awesome pictures. I'm going to be doing a Billy Kit here in 2024, appreciate the write up.

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