At Altenbeken, I was told by a Zettie friend that he had tried to buy a Freundereich F40PHI from a collector (offering the double of the original price). In the middle of the price negotiation the collector decided to put it instead on a online trading platform, without even rejecting the last offer. I did not like that and so I decided to do something about it. Here it is what I did: It is the first test print, very quickly painted (silver with airbrush, the rest with brush) essentially to try out the paint colours and the motor plant option. I got lent this chassis, allegedly from a DB electric locomotive, which seems to fit well, though I will have to replace the bogie covers with custom made ones. I have a 2 questions for you: 1) do you know if there are better options for a chassis? 2) in case I keep the Märklin chassis, do you know if there are kits to convert Márklin locomotives with fishhooks to knuckle couplers (I do not model American so I apologise for the ignorance)? Thanks in advance for any answer. Ciao. Gianfranco
Gianfranco, Very nice 3D modeling! Very good details! Pretty good quick paint job as well. Changing couplers: http://www.zscale.org/articles/couplers.html#changing I cut the bogie covers off of some AZL bogies, cut the covers off of the Marklin bogiess, and reattached the AZL covers to the Marklin bogies. https://www.trainboard.com/highball...2000-build-aka-baby-face-double-ender.148995/ Scott
For the Chassis I would consider either a AZL F59PHI, or an AZL GP38-2. The F59PHI chassis doesn't have couplers attached, the model has body mounted couplers, so you would need to add coupler mounts to your shell. The GP38-2 Chassis has the fuel tanks cast into the frame. With the F59PHI chassis, the fuel tank area is metal, and the shell has skirts coving it. You would likely need to mill some space with either chassis to add 3D printed appropriate under carriage details/fuel tanks. Because this area is a narrower on the F59PHI chassis for the shell skirts, milling may not be required depending on how you design your detail part. Both chassis run well. For the Marklin coupler conversion to knuckles you will need a Micro-Trains #902 short shank coupler, PN 002 02 010. Scott posted the instructions for the conversion. It seems Micro-Trains no longer sells the #901s This looks like a neat project, and looks like a Caltrain unit. -Matt
Thank you Scott for the appreciation and the information. BTW, impressive work your baby face double ender. Congrats. Thank you Matt for the info. Also in the ZFI forum I am told that a better option is to use the GP-38-2 chassis from AZL. Also the recipient of the model has already such chassis so he will finish the model. I am also making for him what goes with the loco I am not sure whether they were produced for this scale, but a CALTRAIN needs GALLERY coaches. So I printed the first prototype (a control trailer) and quickly painted in matte steel (I do not have shiny steel at home). I will make also the chassis, while for the bogies I believe the AZL 'silver trucks' should suffice. Or not?
Second print. Only the ground colors applied. Here are the shells of a short ( loco +coach + coach cab) Caltrain I will get the bogies to complete the coach chassis in 1 - 4 weeks.
Wow, looking great! I've been drawing an F40PH shell with plans to print it but you are far ahead of me! I have several body shells ready for test prints, including a GP40-2, GP60 and Alco C424. I started an FA-1 but put that on hold. I'll be following your project with great interest. Steve W
That does look awsome! So I’m not sure here but perhaps maybe a micro trains GP 35/9 chassis could fit? I know is wider but this loco is wider as it is….
The F40PHs have a 33 foot distance between the centers of the trucks, similar to the F59(35') and GP38(34'). The GP35, and similar GP30 had a 32 foot distance between the trucks. GP7/9 31 feet, and F3/F7 30 feet. Edited to correct some incorrect dimensions. Time to see which model chassis most closely represents 33 feet. 33 is a constant of the universe shows up all over the place. -Matt
Hi Matt, There are probably more than one version of this locomotive? Because I found this drawing, on which it says truck centers are 33 feet apart. Which would make a GP30 chassis a possible fit, or am I missing something? Then again, I find still other dimensions here: https://www.thedieselshop.us/Data EMD GP30.HTML (says for GP30 distance between truck centers = 41 feet) and here: https://www.thedieselshop.us/Data EMD F40PH.HTML (says for F40PH distance between truck centers = 42 feet) ? Matt
It seems I have some errors, in what I said earlier. 36 should be 34 feet. Beyond that, F7s are shorter than FP7s. GP35s are shorter than GP38s. The actual dimensions seem to have conflicting data on the internet. I doubt the 41 foot dimensions are a correct reading of truck centerline to centerline. The trucks do not have an offset attachment to explain it, so I don't know. My recommendation on starting with either a F59PHI or GP38 was based on "The design of the F40PH was based on the EMD GP40-2", a 34 foot center to center chassis. I always though the GP30 was about the same length as a GP35. I see sources that put the distance at 32 feet, not 41. I don't know where to find a real GP30 in the wild to measure the actual distance. Now the F40.... What are its actual dimensions? Says 33 feet. So it is right in the uncomfortable range between 34 and 32 feet where either group of chassis could work for it. The F59 says it is technically a 35 foot center to center, so maybe that chassis wouldn't work for it. In theory, 33.0 feet is 45.72 mm in Z scale. Time to go open some jewel cases and see which chassis is closest. Will report back later.
Thanks, Curn. This is a quick shot of my GP30 chassis: Not a very accurate measurement, but I would say about 45 mil. Seems ok for the shell by Gianfranco. Matt
My measurements were collected with a digital caliper. I held the locomotive to a straight section of Rokuhan roadbed track to keep the trucks aligned. Each EMD GP truck has leaf springs in the center of the truck, modeled by 4 bumps on the side. I used the center of those bumps as a measuring point. Model AZL F7 : 41.6 mm : 30.0 Model Feet AZL F59 : 48.5 mm : 35.0 Model Feet AZL GP7 : 43.2 mm : 31.2 Model Feet AZL GP30 : 44.5 mm : 32.1 Model Feet AZL GP38-2 : 47.4 mm : 34.2 Model Feet MTL F7 : 41.6 mm : 30.0 Model Feet MTL GP9 : 44.5 mm : 32.1 Model Feet MTL GP35 : 44.3 mm : 32.0 Model Feet Of note, I always thought the AZL GP7/GP9 shared the same chassis as the GP30. They do not. The AZL GP7 chassis is 62.3 mm from nose to nose (The part that has to fit within the shell), where as the AZL GP30 chassis is 66.0 mm nose to nose. The differences in measurements here is not measurement variability. The MTL GP9 and GP35 chassis are similar, with the a slight but real difference in their truck distance, which can be seen when placing the models wheel to wheel. But odd that the GP9 chassis was slightly longer when the prototype was a foot shorter than the GP35. The difference looked real and not measurement variability. I'm not sure if it is an intentional difference or just production variability. The results are very close. Overall the AZL GP30 and MTL GP9 have the closest truck spacing to the F40PHs 33 feet. The AZL GP38-2 chassis would have a longer modeling error. -Matt
Ties, Steven and Joe, thanks for the appreciation. Matt & matt thanks for the valuable discussion. Itake that AZL GP30 wiil be the right donour chassis. I wonder whether the belly can be accurately reproduced. I see that the GP30 has the belly completely occupied by a large tank, while the F40PHI has some other equipment, together with a smaller tank. About the AZL GP30 tank, do you know: 1) What is made of (I suppose a core in ZAMAK with plastic cover) 2) do you deem doable (and worthwhile) to resize the tank and place a reproduction of the F40PHI other equipment (3D printed)?
The GP30 fuel tank is a plastic cover over a Zamak core from the frame. If you brighten the photo Matt posted, you can see the tabs at the front and rear of the tank. You lift those tabs and the tank cover splits down the center line of the long axis. There are groves in the frame to hold the plastic cover. I could easily see replacing the plastic cover with a 3D printed part that would represent the undercarriage of an F40.
Additionally, I have designed the shells of the F40PHI and the GALLERY coaches with window panes included. I print them in transparent resin. After coating the windows with liquid mask (a sort of latex) I spray paint them. With the paint still drying, I remove the mask with a tweezer. If I put the shells for sale in shapeways, in the new transparent resin material, the process could be replicated by anybody. Is there interest for others? I will also put the chassis of the coaches, though I must wait for the AZL light trucks to arrive, in order to check their isostatic mount.
For the GP30 chassis, under the plastic cover there is a bit of a ledge for the fuel tank. Half of that would probably need to be milled down for the part of the F40 that isn’t fuel tanks. -Matt
