I am building a batch of 5 DHR diesel NDM6 loco in 1:19 scale.
Specs:
-scale 1/19 or 16mm=1foot
-gauge 32mm/45mm regaugeable
-all brass, M.S & S.S construction
-2.4 ghz RC & with powered by 12v deep cycle gel battery packs
-powered by 2 X 12v dc p.m motors with 1:36 all metal reduction gear drive
-detailed body overlays, photo-etched louvers, vents, name plates etc.
-prototypical DHR D style buffer couplers
-detailed cast/machined brass fittings like head/marker lamps, sand boxes, axle boxes, handrails, latches, radiator grill, footboards etc.
-directional head/marker lamps, working doors and hatches, glazed windows etc
-MS regaugeable wheels
More details on the build can be found on my website www.pline.in

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

I have now prepared the brass photo-etches for the locos, must admit a very nasty process in deed.
The photo-etches include the:
engine vents, louvers, "NDM6" name plates(in both hindi & english), loco number plates and builders plates.

Marked and cut out the chassis plate in 1mm thick half hard brass sheet and the body parts (engine cowl, cab front, rear & sides) in 0.6mm tick soft drawn brass sheet.

Prior to folding the cab ends on a press brake, cut out the window recesses using a fine chisel, then filed them to shape using jewellers files. Folded the edges for soldering.
Then cut out the door panel from the cab side sections and filed them to shape. The door panel would be soldered on to the cab sides using 1/2" brass hinges. They would open inside the cab as in the prototype.

Formed the engine cowl on the press brake and rounded the top edges on a self made wooden jig with curve radius R4
The taper in the front of the cowl was then marked and cut using a fine chisel and filed to shape.

Next the chassis was folded on the press brake. It is worth noting that the chassis of the ndm6 has a hexagonal shape.
The edges of the hexagon were silver soldered with 1mm thick brass gussets from the underside.

Moved away from sheet metal work to some gear & worm cutting on the hobbing & lathe. Prepared the worms & gears in brass the reduction ratio is 1:12. Formed the gear box housing by folding 1mm thick brass. Turned the bronze bushes (i/d 3.2mm)  for the gear shafts on my Hero lathe. Cut lengths of 3mm Spring steel for the gear shafts, the ends of the shafts were ground.
Next drilled the bush housings on the sides of the gear box and silver soldered the end bushes in place.
Initially push fitted the gears on the shafts and then silver soldered them on.

The worms were just push fitted on the shafts of the motors with loctite retaining compound. Left to cure for 48 hours and then the rest of the gear box assembly was screwed on to the motor.
Finally they were run in at low speed for 45 minutes, and light machine oil applied all the while.

So far so good. Will keep updating as I proceed.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul
www.pline.in



 

Beautiful stuff - you must have some good "karigars"

or do you do all this by yourself ?

Further progress made today on the NDM6.

Marked & cut out the hatch openings on top of the engine cowls with a 3" chiesel and filed the recesses to shape. Will make the hatch doors next.
Also soldered the doors to the cab sides using miniature 1/4" brass jewel box hinges. I generally use 1/2" brass hinges for 1/19th scale, but the hinges on the NDM6's doors appear to be smaller than those used on other NG diesel locos in India, namely the NDM1/ZDM1.

Made sure that the doors open and close with ease and that there are no gaps between the edges.
Note worthy is that on the Indian NG railways, unlike those in the UK, our doors open inside the cabs/coaches and not outside onto the platforms.
A safety feature perhaps!

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

Marked out and formed the bogie side frames today from 1mm thick brass sheet on my manual press brake.
Then drilled the 2.5mm dia guide holes for the cast/machined brass axle boxes, ofcourse the holes would then be enlarged to 8mm dia.
Would be silver soldering these to the underside of the chassis frame.
Some photos attached.

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

Further progress made on the NDM6 in 1/19 scale.
Cut and formed the chassis end plates and soldered them end-on to the bogie side frames, using a MS jig that I had milled out earlier in the week.
Re-reamed the axle box drill holes to 6mm dia.
Turned the Axle boxes from 9.5mm square brass stock on the lathe. The Axle boxes will take 3mm dia. silver steel axle ends and vertical lubricant holes will be drilled at a later stage.
On the chassis top marked and drilled out holes for the M2 brass bolts that would fasten the bogie assembly to the cab floor. The initial tab solder was to align and drill the axle box holes.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul
www.pline.in

Nice ... I can hear the real toy train's sound from my house at the moment. I'm in darj btw.

Drilled the cab control holes to house the 3-position DPDT power on/off/charge switch, 2-way DPDT lights on/off switch, charging socket and fuse holder on the inner face of the cab front.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

More progress made on the DHR NDM6 locomotives!
-used a mallet to raise the frames and edges of the cab windows and doors and then soldered 28swg copper wire beading to the periphery.

-next turned to the chassis and soldered on the axle boxes.
Note the 1.8mm dia oiler holes drilled on the underside of the axle boxes for lubrication.
-Inserted two 3mm dia Spring steel axles and the gauge adjustable wheels (32mm or 45mm track gauge) were slid in along with the main brass spur drive gears (21T & 48pitch).
The grub screws on the wheel hubs would be tightened later once the gauge is set using a jig.

Next will build the worm reduction gear boxes with the first stage brass 1:12 worm & wheel followed by the 2nd stage 1:3 spur reduction, to get an overall 1:36 reduction on each axle.

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Worked on the NDM6 chassis all of last week.
Marked out cut and formed the 1st stage worm reduction gear box sides, drilled and tapped to take in M2 fastner screws to hold the gear boxes.
Turned on the lathe phospher bronze gear shaft end bushings and drilled 2.5mm dia holes in them to take the shaft ends.
Soldered the bushes to the appropriate holes on the gear boxes.

Next marked out and cut the sand boxes on 0.6mm thick brass shims, prepared the steel jigs on a mill to fold the sand boxes to shape. Finally used a wooden mallet and the press bake to fold & form a few sand boxes for the locos.
Will solder and file the joints later for rigidity.

Here are some photos.

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Got the worm/wheel 1st stage reduction gear boxes assembled over the past few days.
the gears boxes will house 1:12 worm reduction drives followed by 1:3 spur reduction gear sets. To give a final reduction drive of 1:36 over each axle.
All the gears are in brass.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Will the brass gears be running dry? Or is there some oil bath system?

Delrin gears are good, don't need lubrication, but then they are not scale........

D/Sir
the gear box is stuffed with grease and will be fitted with my standard snap-fit brass lids.
I try to use all metal gears in all my garden railway products as that is a standard amongst most garden railway manufacturers.
Moreover my battery powered locos have to compete with live steam ones in the market 
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Finally got the power chassis up and running!!
Regards
Nilanjan paul

now that I have a running chassis, started work on the body shell.
-soldered on the cab sided and front and the bonnet to the chassis plate top and the foot boards
regards
nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

Moving fast now

yes i got to move fast on this.
have a delivery date on the first batch in late August 2013

Regards
Nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

Some more pics of the body shell
Regards
Nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

yet more pics of the body shell
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

cut and folded the bonnet side boxes from 0.6mm thick brass, then filed them to fit on both the edges of the bonnet as in the prototype. There is a left hand & right hand box.
Aligned them with the cab front using an engineer,s square and finally soft soldered them in place.

Marked out the positions of the brass photo etched body overlays on both sides of the cab and bonnet. Used a very fine set of scribes and a pair of fine center punches to mark out the positions.
Next will soft solder the brass photo-etched details (completed earlier on 23swg soft drawn brass sheets).
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Formed 4mm X 4mm brass angles on the press brake and soldered them to the edges of the bonnet hatch recesses to act as hatch retainers.
The rail god is slowing down work at the workshop!
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Formed the bonnet top hatch covers from 0.6mm thick brass sheets. The hatch covers are snap-fitted on the recesses for easy access to the inside of the bonnet.
Also soldered into position the NDM6's signature photo-etched nameplates and builder's plates, onto the photo-etched louvers.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Started soldering the photo-etched body overlays onto the body shell of the loco. Had to form and add a few cosmetic detailing like hatch locks and hinges etc.
More photos as I proceed further.
REgards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Love the locks! So, so realistic! 

Now I have the handrails, wrungs, hatch lifts etc. formed and soldered on to the bodyshell.
Note the photo-etched nameplate markings are in Hindi on the RHS of the cab and english on the LHS.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

marked, cut and formed the smoke stacks for the models from 0.6mm thick brass shims after positioning them and filling off to fit, attached them with soft solder.
then formed the cab roofs from 0.6mm thick brass sheet and formed the curves in them on my home made "english wheel"
Am not sure about how to attach them to the cab tops, had initially planned using mini magnets as used to retain the roofs of my other models, but I have had bitter experience cutting magnets to size and do not want to tread that way.
Alternatively can use a "snap-fit" mechanism.

Also marked and cut out the blank for the radiator frame, made the end folds on the press brake, prior to cutting the internal recess for the grill. then used the vertical metal band saw to cut out the profile of the recess. Finally filled to shape.

Here are some photos.

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

If the roof is Brass, how can you use magnets? Cyano works well on brass, but I guess you need the roofs removable.

Make a small shoulder inside and keep it a light press fit?

Dear Sir,
I have used on my coaches brass bracketes to hold the ceramic magnets in place. The brackets are in turn rivetted using solid copper rivets to the underside of the roofs. All 4 ends of the inner face of the roofs have soldered brass guide angles to assist in holding the roofs in place once fitted on to the models. Please refer to attached sketch for more details.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Ahh..Magnet to magnet clamping

soldered the sand boxes and fuel tanks to the undersides of the body shell and soldered the leaf springs over the axle boxes on the chassis.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

Now the radiator grill and grab rails are done.
Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

the chassis of the ndm6 is now complete.
I have etched primed it with diluted acid and post cleaning it with a light detergent, applied a coat of the grey primer.
Will apply the matt black finish coats after allowing the primer to cure for 48 hours.

On the body shell have added the sand box and fuel filler caps along with the vertical handrails.
regards
n.paul

www.pline.in

fabricated the rear & front head lights
regards
Nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

Turned the horns in brass on my lathe, soldered the horn brackets on the engine cowl and used brass m2 screws to attach the horns to the brackets.
Similarly formed the coupler retainer shackle hooks from 1.6mm dia brass wire and soldered them to the buffer beams.
turned and formed the coupler from 30mm dia brass stock.
photo shows mockup of the buffer beams.
regards
nilanjan paul

www.pline

A mockup of the completed body shell
regards
nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

finally assembled the ndm6 prior to painting the bodyshell.
regards
nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

some more photos
regards
nilanjan paul

hi friend i want to know where do you get the track of train please tell me i am starting the train

Hello Sir,
I am a manufacturer of steel tracks (13" straight sections for 45/32mm gauges) comprising of chrome plated code 250 bull head rails on welded steel sleepers for in/outdoor use.

I also stock Sunset Valley Railroad USA tracks.
Their website is http://www.svrronline.com/TrackandRail.html

Regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in

finally the ndm6's have been painted, wired and fitted with the 2.4ghz rc units.
all that's now left are to touch-up the paint job and add the coupler links, window glazing and fine tune.
Then should be ready for a track test video shoot.
regards
nilanjan paul

www.pline.in

Looking Really Great Pline Sir. If it was possible to sit in that model I will be first person to sit in it and enjoy the ride really Great build Pline sir

Great work @ Pline sir after the paint job specially its looking very beautiful.

Immaculate piece of engineering! Congratulations Nilanjan.

Ultimate- Great work of ART

 

For the construction

 

For the beauty

 

For PLINE       

Great masterpiece...

excellent work

some photos of our NDM6 posing with its stable mate a Roundhouse live steam darjeeling B class loco, sent over by my customer in the UK, at his local garden railway club weekend.
regards
Nilanjan Paul

www.pline.in