In part 1 I described the first half (approximately) of the construction of a cardboard Orrery kit from AstroMedia. In the second half things get more interesting, and more complicated, as the majority of the pulleys and shafts are assembled. The first part to be constructed is the “planetary gearing”. This will eventually roll around … Read more
For a long time I’ve fancied having an Orrery but have been put off by the high price of traditional style brass ones with all the planets (and Pluto). Something much more my style is the cardboard kit from AstroMedia. This only has the inner planets, but I get the fun of building it. I … Read more
The steam valve on Wilesco toy traction engines (and steam rollers) is rather basic. It has a plastic lever, which is loose when cold, and goes from closed to fully open in less than a quarter turn, making it rather difficult to set the engine speed precisely. I decided to replace it with a better … Read more
In two previous posts I discussed designing a canopy for my toy traction engine and committing the design to metal. In this post I show the final stages – painting and adding decals. After filing away excess solder and sanding down all the brass parts I started painting by giving the entire canopy a couple … Read more
The biggest fan of Wilesco toy steam engines would have to admit that their traction engine’s wheels are not particularly attractive or realistic. (Yes I know it’s a toy, not a scale model.) A popular way to improve the appearance of the rear wheels is to replace the pressed steel spokes with complete Mamod traction … Read more
In a previous post I described the preliminary stages of making a canopy for my Wilesco toy traction engine. In this post I commit my design to metal. I cut the cross members from 1.5mm thick brass sheet. This was the first time I’d used a piercing saw (also known as a jeweller’s saw) since … Read more
Since I bought a toy traction engine I’ve been thinking about all sorts of ways to improve it. I’ve already started scratch building a better canopy and have nearly finished making a simple trailer from a kit. In all of this it’s important to remember that it’s a tin-plate toy, not a scale model. Excessive … Read more
One of the less realistic parts of the Wilesco D415 (kit version of the D405) traction engine is its canopy. It’s too long, too high, and in my case doesn’t fit very well (although the fit could be improved with a bit of tweaking). This post describes the preliminary stages of making a replacement canopy. … Read more
Last week, on an impulse, I bought a toy traction engine kit. It’s made by Wilesco, a German company, and I bought it from a German dealer trading on amazon.co.uk as “colludo“. This particular dealer is apparently able to undercut everyone else on Wilesco products by a significant amount. Wilesco make several variations on the … Read more