DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

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Looks good LaG

Cool, but I can't help it, laG ... Your customizations irresistibly remind me of cakes. This one looks like a beautiful and delicious piece of parfait cake! 

While building my third take on a main line electric body, I decided to try using paper clips (and pieces of them) to get rough and ready pantographs. I started by taking two of them and bending the outer ends for the shoes, and then cut rods from a longer one for the arms (in conjunction with a black wire tie). Small holes were poked behind the cabs before gluing to keep them in place. Would've looked a bit more realistic if I glued two safety pins next to each other at both ends and glued the bent clips on top of them. As mentioned, the loading gauge was ignored to make them look how they're supposed to. Hoping to find better designs for future models.

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What an ingenious idea of using a small paper clip for a pantograph LaG

Finished result. Apart from the pantograph design, I chose not to take progress photos for it. Like the orange diesel, I made it without the battery pack to allow a better shape for the front cab. However, it does look comically short compared to the diesels (even the Class 08). It's also my first use of a different colour along the sides of the chassis. For the livery, mild inspiration was taken from the locos in LEGO sets 7898 and 60198. The new green felt nicer to apply than the one Alfie uses and only needed one coat. Rather than hot melt glue again, the headlight and tail light are plastic shells from small googly eyes. Being lighter than the previous three, I had to put the magnet inside to ensure the chassis won't tip. In addition, pieces of clear tape were glued into the windows, a (not very good) method I used on the "not Rail Blue" diesel earlier. Pardon the visible glue bubbles near the top.



Regarding the "overhead line": it was only a metal wire I held over the pantographs for the right facing photo. Proper ones on a layout would have two wires above each other, be bent according to the curve radius and held up between custom gantries or masts. A quick illustration:

Revisited two of my Skarloey Railway shells. Sir Handel's tank/boiler was too high up, which resulted in him appearing to be misshapen. The size was correct, so I just cut it off to lower it. As a result, a new smokebox, funnel and face had to be made for him (though I could've kept the old funnel). Turned out much better save for the face being a little too dark.

Duncan's old funnel was proportionate, but the cab was too low and I didn't want to extend it (so as not to look like V1). The one from Sir Handel wasn't tall enough and there was no way to push Duncan's into the smokebox. Should've also given him sticker nameplates like the other three.

Skarloey will still need a redesign due to his inferior construction, especially on his left side (viewer's right).

Finished rebuilding Skarloey last night, although 50% of him (smokebox, face, tank, bufferbeams, sandboxes and fake wheels) ended up being reused from V1. It was well worth the effort, and his construction/proportions are now on par with the other three. In addition to having space for a full dome in front of the cab and being more consistent on the other side, he has the additional support plate the first version was missing. The cuts in the cab sides were done in a more accurate angle as well. For the dome, I used the same method used on Peter Sam - a roll of cardboard with a small googly eye on top (this time, only the clear shell). I found the reason why the bufferbeam/sandboxes weren't far enough from the face was due to the smokebox being too long. All I had to do was cut down the old one and it worked. Even though the recycled parts are already painted, he will still be primed and painted again to get a consistent finish.

Skarloey V2 primed and repainted. Like on V1, I filled in certain red parts by drawing their outlines with a marker to leave the white lining (thinner than it was back then). Both of his filmed models didn't have the white trim on the cab sides like in CGI, so it has now been left out. Unlike Sir Handel, Peter Sam and Duncan, the front bufferbeam now uses the same paint as the body (which may also be done for the others). Pardon the red spots on the face. I eventually replaced the trailing wheels with new ones in a more accurate size, after finding the old cardboard holders were too wide. It does make them ever so slightly too high. To my dismay, he still has some of the same problems when mounted (i.e., getting stuck and not necessarily fitting without the wind up motor getting "pushed out").

Sure enough, I tried using the 3D pen to replicate basic Plarail components. My initial tracing attempts were by rubbing (placing the actual parts under a piece of parchment/A4 paper and rubbing a crayon/pencil on top), only to find it impractical and not very effective. To make a more useful template, I lined up the parts under the printer to scan them. The hook coupling's hinges prevented it from being scanned, so it had to be traced onto the paper after making a hole to insert it. After that, a piece of a clear sheet was taped over to ensure the filament won't stick. My only successful tracing from the parchment templates was the top coupling rod (slightly darker due to the black crayon behind it). I'm very pleased with the hook (barely distinguishable save for the other side) and the coupling rods, but not with the eye and the wheel (both out of shape). I'll have to find better techniques/methods for those. If not just more filament, the hinges and pins will likely use toothpicks or cotton bud handles and skewers respectively. Very happy to see it worked out how I imagined.

It only seemed fitting that a chassis made for a Thomas item would have at least one provisional Thomas custom for it. I thought I should pick one that's both instantly familiar and can be similar in construction to my original (freelance) locomotive tops. As indicated by the hole in the roof, my version of Diesel 10 is to have an articulated Pinchy similar to many mods for the commercial variants. Unlike Talk 'n Action, the arm is to have a second joint and the claw itself should be able to rotate. The backhoe from the Mighty Wheels backhoe loader (Jack V1) was a definite candidate ever since I last found it. Not all that bothered by the front end being differently shaped, given that's where the face will be. The face will (initially) be "sculpted" with hot melt glue because clay will surely fall apart months later, and may use googly eyes to give depth like on the TOMY/HiT/early FP versions (though they only had painted eyes). I don't really consider him olive green, so my plan is to mix it with a bit of yellow. The black details were already painted with black markers. The "lip" under the bufferbeam should also be on the back, though I chose not to include it. Have to say it's already one of my favourites.

Edit:



I ended up using a Cobra brand flat gold marker that's similar to Diesel 10's colour, so only the hazard stripes use the olive green (mixed with white). When needed, it will also allow me to make (relatively) seamless quick fixes without paint and paintbrushes. Due to how thin the tip is, it worked better for filling the tiny gaps between the windows and side vents.