Railway model conversion: How to adapt 00 scale to 28mm...

[Michi]

I started a new project after I bought some 00 scale goods wagons during my recent holidays. Now it is time to adapt them to 28mm. First I´ll convert the loco I got from Ebay:















I widened the body by one centimetre and made a new cab that allows a 28mm to look out of the windows at eye level. Regretfully it´s not possible to place figures inside the cab, because it hosts the motor. Perhaps I am going to put half figures for driver and fireman in there...

[former user]

how much did You spend on the HO loco?

[Michi]

how much did You spend on the HO loco?

Reasonable 40 €. I didn´t expect a flea market price for a foreign model...

[former user]

puh....
not my level

have You ever tried converting the Faller Hittrain T3 ?
http://cgi.ebay.de/Faller-hit-train-play-train-Lok-Tadellos_W0QQitemZ220485279759QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Modellbau_Modelleisenbahnen?hash=item3355f2600f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
(okay, this one got a little bit more expensive)
You get them pretty cheap nowadays on ebay, and the battery carriage is pretty easy to remove (1 screw) after which you cam make Your own for HO gauge

I shall try to make some pics these days of my WIP conversions, to give You some ideas.
maybe You can give me some too, cause I'm a little bit stuck

[Michi]

have You ever tried converting the Faller Hittrain T3 ?

I used to have an entire HitTrain railway layout, but sold it a couple of years ago. There had been three T3s, one of them with a tender. I found them too big for gaming...

[former user]

seriously?

they match my 4F perfectly, as well as the Pola T3 version, and I guess they are smaller than Your Bachmann locos...

maybe you mean the Playtrain exaggerated Playmobil scale version??

Anyway, I shall take pictures of mine so that You can give me some advice, if You fancy 

I guess Your conversion is meant to be a switcher?

[bluewillow]

nice idea Michi, I have thought about converting a few old Ho kits I have for 28mm Pulp, but yet to get around too it.

BTW do you want anumore Shadowforge females?

 convention on here in OZ this weekend PM me

cheers
matt

[Michi]

I guess they are smaller than Your Bachmann locos...

maybe you mean the Playtrain exaggerated Playmobil scale version??

Anyway, I shall take pictures of mine so that You can give me some advice, if You fancy 

I guess Your conversion is meant to be a switcher?

No, I didn´t mistake PlayTrain for HitTrain and no, they are higher and wider than the Bachmann locos, though usually without tenders and thus a bit shorter. Even the boiler diameters almost doubles that of mine...

Yes, please! Send pictures, please!

No, it´s actually no switcher. Not the basic 00 scale model, nor my conversion.
This class of locos was built unaltered in the original design from the 1890s to the 1950s. I don´t understand the British engineering of making 0-6-0 locos for line service, because they do not run very comfortably and wear tracks and wheels alike. These and other 0-6-0s were widely used by thousands - with tenders and as tank engines (remember we talked about funny British way of railroading earlier!).

[Bungle]

If you are after cheap engines to convert I would recommend DAPOL

http://www.dapol.co.uk/

shop - OO gauge- Model kits - all plastic kits, then select 50 to display at a time to browse

the plastic kits - like Airfix - start at £6 for small 0-4-0 engines and raise to £8.50 for the biggest stuff they do.

[Michi]

Thanks for the tip, Bungle. The wagons I have are made by DAPOL, though they are running stock.The plastic kits look very nice and are rather cheap!

Did the cab yesterday:



Actual engine of about the size I plan to build:

[former user]

obviously eyesight seems to be misleading sometimes when one doesn't have the actual model in hand...
Your Bachmann engines really look huge...
Anyway, the conversion work looks grand

how did You bend the roof? tension?
I once tried bending plasticard with heat, but it did not work out and I ended up glueing strips together and filing them round...

thanks for the tip, @bungle

had I known of the kits earlier, it might have saved me some work....

[Michi]

how did You bend the roof?

I did it in the same way like sheet metal is bent: I rolled it over a cylinder repeatedly until it was curved correctly.

[Michi]

While the first coat of paint is slowly drying on the engine, I started work on the first car. It´s a Welsh DAPOL lime wagon.



The details are very crisp and the lettering is really amazing:



The problem is that the body is way too narrow for 28mm and does not match the widened locomotive now:
I cut it in halves and used polystyrene strips to enlarge its width as well. I kept it 2mm narrower than the engine.
Some before and after shots:

[Michi]

Five wagons converted now. Three will remain as they are, because these are tankers. Another three are vans that will be done next and finally there´s a brake van. The engine also still needs some detailing...

[Michi]

Four more wagons done.



There is still the brake van to convert, some details to add to the engine and then the paintwork will start...