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OK so here we are Chapter 33 already… So I thought
I would break with tradition and do an actual useful "How To" on Adam's
Corner.
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In this chapter we are going to install a Hollywood
Foundries mechanism and Loksound Micro decoder into a model. So
whilst Jade is busying herself with digging a small hole in the
front yard whilst muttering something about "surely the world will
thank me once he is gone," we can get to work. |
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I had a complete shell for 1726D sitting on my
bench after the original mechanism (not a Hollywood mech) died a
horrible death.
After many visitors asking when I was going to get it back on the
rails I finally decided to do something about it. |
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The first thing you will need to do in order
to fit a Hollywood mechanism to a 1720 is grind out a bit of the
underframe. I used a cutting wheel on my Dremel to make notches
and then a sanding thing to clean it all out. Once this is done,
a good blow down with air will ensure all the loose specks of metal
are gone. |
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| Please make sure you wear some glasses or
at least blink a lot to avoid getting pewter in your eye… TRUST ME when
I say you don't want to have this happen. |
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Once this was done, I test fitted the mechanism
to make sure that the gear towers would not foul on the underframe.
A good rule of thumb I have found is to cut the underframe back
to be flush with the inside of the cab wall and the inside of
the shell wall.
Pretty easy so far, hey?
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Now, the decoder… I'm using a Loksound Micro by
ESU, these are simply "The Duck's Guts" when it comes to decoders
as they are 100% programmable. One of the first things you'll notice
is that these chips have a six pin plug as opposed to the usual
eight pin plug. This is because they're designed for N scale locomotives.
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So first thing to do is cut off the plug
supplied with the decoder. Next we load up the mini disc (also supplied
with the decoder) and have a look at the wiring diagram.
You'll note on the mechanism that the bottom pin is marked "Pin 1", this
combined with the ESU diagram will let you see where to solder the eight
wires. |
Once I had this done (about 10 minutes later)
I used a piece of magic Tape to secure the decoder to the top of
the motor. Please note that I have shortened the wires from the
decoder to the plug as any excess wire rattling around inside the
shell will rub on the flywheels and make a wonderful little noise
all of their own.
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The next thing to do was to modify the fuel tank.
Believe it or not, the 1720 is actually an easier locomotive to
fit sound to then the larger models.
This is mainly due to the fact that the fuel tank is almost the
perfect size for the speaker. |
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I say almost because you will need to cut the corners off the plastic
speaker housing. Once that was done, I used my Dremel again to grind
a bit of pewter out of the corners. After each pass I test fit the
speaker until it was a nice snug fit. |
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At this point, I drilled a 2mm hole in the top
of the fuel tank to allow the wires to pass through to the speaker.
You will need to cut the wires from the speaker and shorten them
a little bit, but don't do this until you have the fuel tank mounted. |
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In order to get the right height for the fuel
tank, I used a small piece of 0.040" styrene mounted to the underside
of the mechanism to act as a spacer. Once this had dried, I glued
the fuel tank into position. A bottle of decal setting solution
was just the right size to suspend the mech until the fuel tank
had dried in position.
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Once this was done, I simply ran the two wires
through the hole I had made earlier and trimmed them to the correct
length for fixing to the speaker. I then soldered these back to
the speaker terminals. It is important to allow a little bit of
extra length in the speaker wires (about 10mm is heaps) as you don't
want them too tight. |
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| With that all done, it was time to fit
the speaker into the underside of the fuel tank. |
I used a tiny amount of PVA glue to run a bead
around the edge of the speaker and the fuel tank. This in effect
makes a sound box and will give you great quality sound and volume
when complete. This will need to be applied with considerable care
and a piece of wire or a pin.
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| This will make it easy to break the seal
if we ever need to replace the speaker. |
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So whilst waiting for the glue to dry, I found myself wondering why
Jade (having obviously finished digging a six foot hole for her "plants")
was continually asking for a "cuddle" whilst holding a shovel… This
managed to occupy me until the glue had dried, you may want to have
a coffee instead.
The next step is to fit the mechanism to the
shell… but that's for next chapter.
We shall see how we go.
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