In Front of Miniatur Wonderland, Hamburg Germany! Definitely my favorite place I have ever gotten to visit. I had an amazing time in Germany, and The Netherlands with my amazing girlfriend Morgan who made this trip possible!
Here is just a couple of the hundreds of pictures and videos I took during my day at Miniatur Wunderland. I cannot wait to go back!
Here you can see the Faller chassis with all new wiring system as well as DC-Car DC05-SI decoder installed. Featuring headlights, blinkers, hazard indicators, taillights, brake lights, and side indicators. It is my first vehicle fitted with a quick 2Pin connector for a 3.6 Volt LiPo Battery.
This is all the basic motor and reed switch controls wired up before installing DC05-SI Decoder.
I have been so busy lately I have not had much time to build extensive projects but on a Sunday afternoon I figured I could start this one. It is a simple non moving vehicle that I plan to add running lights, headlights, hazard lights, and possibly sound. At the moment it will be more of a scenery piece.
I added an 8 function switch from radio shack and a charging socket for Faller vehicles. I was just going to use a 5v hard wire but I have 2.4v NiMh batteries and they should last a while with no motor to run. This way I can move it around free from wiring. The switch will be main power on pin 1. Once all the lighting is done it will be easy to switch over to Faller or DC-Car if I so decide.
This is the first vehicle I started experimenting with and originally was built with an Arduino micro and Infrared proximity sensors for distance control. It also had 9v power as well. It is a OEM Faller modified chassis with the body removed.
I found the Arduino was very effective but the 9v battery was too heavy and it caused high load on the dc motor. The Arduino micro offers many possibilities, however it's size is still not ideal for anything in 1:87 besides buses and trucks.
I decided to start testing the DC-Car dc05si decoders in this vehicle.
Here you can see the scratch built shell for the bus test fitted and wired decoder installed.
The bus now uses 2.4v Faller batteries and a new Reed switch. I will update this post soon. I have started to decal the body and getting ready for paint.
After the paint and decals are applied I started adding the lighting. After making up each 0402 LED and installing it I like to test it with a breadboard and 2.6v with a resistor.
After test fitting the LEDs for proper location, I add a drop of superglue to hold the light and wires in place.
I use small zip ties and electrical tape to keep things organized during construction. When wiring with these vehicles I find it easier to wire from the bottom up so you don't have to work around what you've already installed.
Hopeing that this will work, I am using a slightly larger Guage wire as a bus wire that the smaller leads for the LEDs are soldiered to for connecting to the DC-Car chip so I don't have to soldier so many times to the chip and risk damaging it.
Here you can see all of the wiring and lighting completed (may add a few more lights later) but you get the idea. After months of little work here and there I finally was about to get the bus to respond to infrared commands using a DC-Car dc05-si chip. I am happy with its response and quality. I do note how the lighting add the bench effects commands but I expected this.
This is a quick video shot on the work bench of the basic functions being tested. It still needs windows and detailing but this gives you a good idea of where this project is going.
I have had requests for some vehicle building information and pictures so here's a start.
This is a beverage delivery truck that I started but have only made slow progress. The frame is scratch built from brass. I am going to use a resin freight liner FL70 Cab with a Boley beverage truck body. I will post pictures to this post as I make progress. So far I have installed the motor 46:1 from KKPMO and built a AAA 2.4v NiCd battery pack. Check back soon!
While being very busy with work I still managed to get some work done during the month of January. The focus became mostly structures and scenery so that I could look fairly presentable for the big Springfield, MA USA hobby show.
The module in the background in the first photo and the foreground in the second will be redone but was added for the show because I did not have time to build something else.
At this point all of the stop sites, turnouts, controllers, sensors and lights were tested for proper operation.
I added a temporary stop site on the rear of the module with a simple SPST toggle switch. This was to manually stop non dc car vehicles when they got to close from collisions. The show was the first time I had run vehicles for hours without a break. This was good because it really highlights the improvements you can make. The environment was pretty reliable but I did have a little trouble the second day of showing with steering adjustments and battery life. I would like to start experimenting with lipo batterys and see if I can improve run time.
As a quick note to all viewers, I have left the comments area public so I welcome your questions and comments. If you do not want it to be public feel free to email me Click here. Thanks. I have finished the road surface, sanded down, and painted with the OEM Faller road paint. There may be other options but I am very happy with the Faller paint. It needs the right texture for the vehicles to perform well so painting with a small roller works great. I also really liked the color.
I also had a chance to add traffic markings and light weathering with cheap chalks. After that I started installing sidewalks and a traffic light which is controlled by a Faller controller which controls all light functions and up to four stops even though only two are currently used. The only draw back to using the Faller controller is the Germans light pattern is slightly different. If anyone knows how to change that without changing the whole controller let me know!
At this point I've been able to start fitting buildings and keep installing sidewalks. Also started to install stop points and sensors for the bus stop. Check back soon!
After the trouble I ran into with the magnet band I decided to go back to a method I had much more experience with. The OEM Faller car system wire. (Note; I have heard good things about the magnet band that is produced for the car systems. I was using a cheaper, generic magnet band which could have been the problem.) I cut my groves using a Dremel tool (I suggest any model builder should have) with a grout cutting attachment and the smallest diamond bit I could find. All available at home depot for a reasonable price.
Once the groves were laid out I cut them, starting with the long straight sections first. It is important to use smooth, graduated radius for any turning if possible because the vehicles will not look right traveling along and making abrupt staggering movements. I used small pieces of masking tape to hold the wire in the groves then used superglue to hold the wire in.
With one module done (in the background) I applied the Faller road surface or "strassenbaumasse." I found I liked this better then the woodland scenics smooth it road surface but seemed to be a very similar product. In the foreground you can see some "stop-stelle" or stop points installed. There is a few ways to home make these but since I had some OEM Faller units laying around l just used them. In my opinion they work the best but are just a little more expensive. Here is the wire and road surface materials I used.
Once I had tore down the other modules I had made from foam and built a better base out of more sturdy wood the real fun could begin. A quick note; working with the magnet guided vehicles such as Faller Car System takes a lot of patience. You may have to test and redo things quite a few times. Don't get discouraged, it happens to all of us. I tried a "6 mm magnetic band" which I got pretty cheap. I then cut it into 3mm × 30 cm strips. It saved having to cut groves and had adhesive back so it was quick. I was then planning on 0.05 styrene roadways, that is why you see the wood strips to level it across. I learned my first lesson here however. The magnet band held vehicles on track very well however it became a problem where magnet band met at the ends and in junctions or intersections. The magnetic poles could appose that of the vehicle steering arm and send them off track. I had reached a major road block. Especially for future expansion possibilities.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Module Standards:
The height from the base to the level road surface I am starting with is 6". This dimension allows display possible with the 1-87 vehicles clubs' Route 87 display standard. I find it also helpful for leaving roughly 5" open for wiring and components. Thinking ahead I drilled holes in the dividers to allow wiring between modules.
The two modules I started with are roughly 24"×40". I used plywood and masonite to construct the base. I was actually much further along with the build. With roads, buildings, and moving vehicles I was finding the extruded foam base I first built to provide unreliable operating of the vehicles.
This is my first post here so I would like to thank all of you for visiting. I will try my best to keep up with the updates as I go. I was inspired to start this blog by all the questions and interest I saw at a recent show and by reading Chester Fesmire's great modeling blog here. It is really interesting how every model he makes seems to tell a story. I will be posting my work and experiences with the Faller Car System and other 1:87 scale Electronics and RC models. My goal is to connect with others in the United States and all over the world to help promote this great and interesting hobby! I will try my best to post information and links that I found helpful. I hope to get more people involved by explaining how it works and the lessons I've learned.
