Large Scale Central

USAT F3 build

Modeling
#21

no, only 5 or 6 a units…

hmm… most decoders I use have the ability to put the headlight (whether front or rear) in dim in the “opposite” direction.

I, like you, prefer the “dim in reverse” in an A unit. I’ve also wired up the reverse light separately to be able to use it when running light, but now that I think of it, I can wire it as a normal reverse light, and then use a function output to turn this function on and off… nicer way.

If you have good dispersion with the strawhat LEDs, that’s great news… how far physically are they from the back of the boards?

You don’t need to go to the effort to take a photo Eric, your word is enough for me!

Thanks for the info,

Greg

#22

#23

Eric, Your F3 consist looks great. And sounds great too. I have enjoyed your process to this point. Thanks for sharing. Mark

#24

F3’s look great, don’t they? USAT SP Daylight passenger cars will look real good behind them.

#25

Nice job Eric!

#26

Looking, and sounding good Eric (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#27

Lights look great Eric.

Shane

#28

Thanks, guys. Two additional things I want to tackle on these: MU hoses and diaphragms. I bought some tiny black rubber tubing, but haven’t quite figured out the connections yet. And I want to build some diaphragms that actually connect. I have some tiny magnets that I bought for this and some lightweight rubber fabric. Stay tuned!

#29

You can’t get those parts through USA Trains? I guess black heat shrink tubing would work for the hoses…

#30

They no longer stock most of the F3 parts, including diaphragms. In any case, I want to build both diaphragms and hoses that connect between units and flex. The stock hoses are molded plastic and hang straight down, and the diaphragms are stiff rubber. I have decreased the space between units pretty significantly, so the stock diaphragms also don’t fit anymore. I did try cutting them down, but still don’t like the look.

#31

Way back in the 60s car kits included instructions for folding diaphragms … some modelers still make 'em, I found you a link.

https://sscale.org/pdfs/Making_Diaphragms.pdf

Nice work.

#32

Magnetic MU hose test. Seems promising. I glued 3/32" neodymium magnets to 18 ga brass brads, and glued them into some 2.5 mm rubber tubing.

#33

Wow looks like that will work great. I’m in the same spot with the diaphragms ( explains why my order hasn’t shipped from Charles Ro yet ) All of mine have become almost solid. I was thinking I might try to adapt the passenger car diaphragms but they might be too small to bridge the gap.

#34

Dave: I started experimenting today (can you tell I’m between semesters?) with making up some diaphragms from scratch. I printed some 1-mm-thick frames that match the profile, and glued some rubberized fabric to it. It seems to work well. I next need to build a jig to hold several frames at a regular spacing. I also need to figure out a way to support it in shear. I’ll probably use a piece of piano wire along the top somehow.

#35

Eric, You really are amazing and an inspiration. I also am in need of F3 diaphragms, having been disappointed that Charles Ro no longer supplies them. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Mark

#36

Nice guy too. He answers all of my PM’s.

#37

The problem will be trying to keep the diaphrams aligned when the locos go around curves.

One way is to make them lock to each other, but I think unless you have really flexible diaphragms and very broad curves, they cannot stay aligned.

Another way is to make them be able to slide across each other a bit, enough give to handle the curves, this would take a smooth cover over the end of the diaphram so they can slide against each other without hanging up.

This has been done before, the second method is the only one I have seen succeed on moderate to tight curves.

(all of this assumes the diaphragms touch, not leaving a gap)

Greg

#38

Mark Betlem said:

Eric, You really are amazing and an inspiration. I also am in need of F3 diaphragms, having been disappointed that Charles Ro no longer supplies them. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Mark

That’s very kind of you. I have learned everything I know about G scaling from this group, and am happy to give back. I’ll probably be less inspirational after I go back to teaching next week!

#39

You could attach a couple of the magnets to hold them together …

#40

That’s what I bought them for. I only later got the idea to use them for hoses.