DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

Sadly, that chassis really is a smaller gauge and is 0-4-0. Even if I'd take out the motor and build a unique chassis for Rocket, the coupling rods can't be taken off and there's no way to change its direction. I would design it to run on Plarail instead, either unpowered or like the early TrackMaster Stephen (loco drive with an oversized firebox, albeit with a "Thomas type" DU). I don't currently plan to use it for standard gauge.

Very kind of you, but I'll give it a pass. The only spare drive unit I can use is a "Thomas type" (2x) due to how they work. I can even use foil to conduct power to them, meaning no wires are needed. Unlike the Flat type or battery tender units, they don't extend over the front wheels either. I have this unused frame from the RC/Flip Face Thomas, which has been my reference for the retainer and tab:



It uses the same drive gear as normal variants, but has a circuit board where the battery would normally be. As such, I can only use it as a reference or prototype. I've added the whole plate (+a driving wheel) to my sheet of components for 3D pen tracing.

As the year comes to an end, I decided to gather all thirteen of my 2021 scratchbuilds (not including the scrapped prototype Rusty from Page 1) to take a group photo beside the shed:
 

The same will be done with all my future ones around the end of each year, perhaps even with stations and scenery. As I said before, it's a shame the Union Express (S gauge) track can't fit driven wheelsets on TOMY/TrackMaster items and even some other brands, because I find it very aesthetically pleasing and the unknown "narrow gauge" track looks (almost) exactly like it. I still have yet to make a system that looks like Capsule Plarail so it wouldn't clash with the BPT.

Sure enough, I took Nigels' suggestion to take on Stephenson's Rocket far earlier than I anticipated and thought it should be my first custom for 2022. However...



Rather than making it for Plarail or the wind up "narrow gauge" chassis, and in keeping with the real thing being an experiment, I decided it should be a test model for an idea I never once had before - a friction powered (!) model designed to (hopefully) run on the S gauge Union Express track. Having recently taken out pull back and friction motors (among other components) from numerous "lesser" toys, I've been wanting to see how and where I could incorporate them in my scratchbuilding endeavours. I took this particular motor from a green vacuum tanker (with Tony the Tiger on it...) and was surprised to find the casing and gears were metal. Combined with its size and weight, that made it very good for this tryout (though it can often disengage). The driving wheels were originally some irrigation drippers I bought from a plant nursery and modded a few years back (due to their uncanny resemblance to train wheels), a few of which have been primed for possible repaints. Traction tyres were added in the form of white rubber bands. For the time being, the rear wheels are from two other friction vehicles and are expected to be used for the tender as well. However, they are flangeless and will likely cause issues with height unless I would lower them/somehow add flanges. Like the chassis, the boiler and tender are planned to use matchsticks and skewers to give a real wood finish. I'm very eager to see how it turns out and hope it will work as intended.

Test fit on the track. The current rear wheels were originally made up of two halves (with grooves for traction tyres between them), meaning the other halves happen to have tiny flanges. However, I only have four of those halves (two yellow, two red) and three textured ones (one red) that aren't really much use, so the tender might have to use both types. The Union Express wheelsets follow the curves in a somewhat awkward way, in that the wheels themselves do not tilt unlike Plarail or TrackMaster ones. That leads to the rolling stock "falling" into the track on one side while the other stays on the other rail (which is technically true to life but too easily noticed). It may force me to turn the rear axle into a pony truck, something I wouldn't like to do with Rocket. I found one of the problems was the traction tyres on the drivers covered the flanges and made it difficult to grip the rails. My current solution was to remove one to let the other wheel grip normally, and it seems to be doing the job. I have a loose wheelset from the missing black tender/truck and might try using it for the rear. I shall see how it goes.

Construction has officially started. At the moment, my only real issue with the design is the boiler presses too hard against the front wheels and motor and makes them grind to a halt in an instant, because it still worked well before the boiler was added. Fortunately, it does roll perfectly if disengaged. If I knew how to cut down the other wheel (the one without the traction tyre) to make its back thinner while still reaching the other rail, the problem would've been solved. The firebox is a leftover from one of the anti-slip mats, which I feel replicates the rivets very well. I knew I would find other good uses for them one day. All that's really left to do before trying to make the tender is to add the other details, prime and paint. Excuse the rear wheels looking a bit odd due to being inside the rails and not actually on them. The ones on the tender are to be the other halves with the flanges, rather than Union Express ones.

Rocket itself is now essentially done except for the coupling rods and cylinders, which I don't know how I'll install because the driving wheels are thicker than the real one and its replicas'. I won't add the support rods (ropes?) to the funnel until I could get a good design for the cylinders. My current plan is to use the 3D pen rods I traced from the TOMY/TrackMaster design, because the length happens to be correct. To make the spokes for the rear wheels, I initially cut up some toothpicks but found they were slightly too thick, so I used them for the funnel crown instead. I ended up going with small shards of [/url], which seemed to work better for me. Sadly, they got ruined on the other side when I pushed the wheel back onto the axle after painting and I didn't bother to fix them. Even though there are meant to be twelve spokes, I found having just eight (like on the original in its final state) was easier and less cluttered. After the photo was taken, I also made the tender frames out of long matchsticks and will try building the rest tomorrow. Despite the friction motor not working how I expected anymore (and the rear wheels getting stuck), I'm very pleased with the outcome and think it's definitely worth the extra effort.

So, the whole tender was built last night and I also changed my mind about the support rods, because they're clearly attached to the back sides of the cylinders. The platform is made of three skewers due to their thickness and to give it a smoother appearance compared to the walls. I know the frames are slightly too low and should be a bit higher up, but I won't cut them anymore since they've already been applied and painted.



The axleboxes were not very easy to make; after struggling to make them via 3D pen, I ended up melting some filament scraps and cutting them into thin strips glued to a clear sheet. To avoid breaking them, I intend to use the (first) soldering iron to fully join the pieces and burn the clear sheet where the holes are. Since I want the water barrel to actually look like a barrel, I made a cardboard frame for it to ensure it gets narrower at the ends. Like the rest of the model, it'll be covered with matchsticks and/or skewers. Very eager to see how it turns out. My current solution for the loco to tender coupling will be to use a wire tie. The coke pile is planned to be a lump of hot melt glue with polystyrene or similar in it, which would be glued into place after painting.

The day before yesterday, the water barrel was finished and test fitted. At least over 60 pieces were cut from matchsticks of both types (normal and long) to fill the gaps, and the top was marked for the lid using a skewer. The middle staves were a bit difficult to glue, so I added a piece of masking tape to bend them on the inside like with the boiler. I initially glued the matchsticks over the frame, but that made the barrel oversized (which it still is) and I had to remove them. Later, the insides of the ends were measured to make the top and bottom (left and right), which were also done with matchsticks. While it did give the realistic look I envisioned, it's not really the most practical process and I'm not sure if I'd use it again.



The next day, I gave up on the reused filaments for the axleboxes. After trying different designs for them, I found a much more effective solution: gluing bolts of staples to the bottom of the tender and adding thin strips of packaging plastic to the outsides. They just happened to be the exact height I needed. One of the designs I tried was a clay mould of one of the filament axleboxes, which was later turned into pebbles to make the pile of coke. The pebbles were put into the matchbox that held most of the short matches, and hot melt glue was added before painting. The bottom layer ended up being removed because I poured the glue onto the pebbles, when I should've stuck them into it. That, and it also made it too high. After gluing it into position, I weathered the inside of the tender to look like it's been loaded several times.



I found out the tender's original cotton bud axles became too stiff and didn't roll well, so I replaced them with toothpicks. However, it led to the wheels losing their grip and sliding inwards too easily. To keep them in place, I added a plate over the axles (like on Plarail, TrackMaster and most toy trains in general, albeit cardboard). The Union Express stock doesn't have such plates, in part due to their wheelsets being all in one piece. Being the same gauge, I wonder if it might run a bit better on TOMY/TrackMaster track.



As mentioned, the loco to tender coupling is a wire tie. To tie what was left of the other end, I turned it 180° before turning it back. Not that I expect much force to be applied to it.

And, of course, it's a full barrel! When I look at it, I almost can see how much work (cutting the sticks, glueing, painting...) is in it. And everything else. Wow, laG!

At last, my (somewhat working) friction powered Rocket is finished. Mister No is quite right; of all the customs I've shown here, this was by far the hardest to make due to its accurate detail and construction. All my other ones took roughly two-three days to finish, while this took an entire week. I commend myself for not shelving it in the process. I eventually found a temporary solution for the coupling rods: gluing two of the failed 3D pen axleboxes to the wheels, adding loose pegs and gluing the rods to them. They will jam if not break, but it's better than not trying at all. Last time I found it, I recall the 0-6-0T from the set had broken rods. It would've been easier to just take the powered wheels from it (or cast them) instead.

Edit:



I went with new TOMY style 3D pen rods and attached them the "wrong" way around, in the sense that the grooves are at the front and the pegs are separate from the rods (like on the Capsule Plarail Stephen). They ended up working quite well despite coming off easily. Besides that, I'm happy I got them to work without burning holes into the wheels.

Before anyone asks: no. Even though it would be one of the easiest conversions, I don't plan to make a Stephen smokebox, funnel and bufferbeams for it. Two reasons are the tender is actually too narrow for TOMY or TrackMaster track, and the whole thing is more of a display model than something that can be played with. Despite how limited the pieces are, I've been wanting to make other (and better running) models for the UE track.

Bonus: I have these two firefighters that happen to be a good scale for a driver and fireman (stoker). Even the hose looks a bit like a shovel from that angle as well. I may or may not cast them without the bases, hydrant and axe and glue both to the loco and tender for even more realism.