Category Archives: Castle Diesels

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Castles Weren’t Built in day

 

Harlech Castle

Criccieth Castle

Yes, they’re taking a lot longer than originally planned and it may be a month or two before they’re finally released: Why?

  • Considerable Spec Upgrade
  • Component Sourcing turning into component manufacturing
  • Mid project redesign to adopt the ungraded spec
  • Clashing with other commitments
  • Financing

These are explained a bit more below:

Spec Upgrade: At the outset this was going to be a simple chassis to use with the bodies blown up from 4mm prints. It very quickly got upgraded to newly designed bodies, sprung chassis, coreless motor and quartered axles and jackshaft

Component Manufacture: I’ll admit that with the demise of Markits (owner died) it hadn’t occurred to me that there would be a world shortage of crankpins. The solution was our first venture into Chinese manufacturing which was a significant capital outlay and was a bit scary the first time. We’ve been back to our Chinese manufacturer for more components.  

Redesign: Fourdees on sight of the first iteration of the chassis decided that blown up bodies wouldn’t do as they’d just be blowing up the compromises used to make the 4mm version work. The bodies are all new CAD artwork and my early visits to the Festiniog Railway included regularly visiting the prototypes to clarify measurements and details.

Clashing commitments: Regular subscribers to my newsletter and blog will know two things. 1) I am a volunteer driver on the Festiniog Railway and also the volunteer rolling stock electrical engineer. 2) I have achieved retirement age.  I’m not retiring bit it is changing things I do. I intend to do more driving whilst I am fit and able which impacts summer time available to model projects and I intend to progress some more of my own modelling interests.

Just to add to this Annie and I have both achieved that age where major topics for conversation are, “what’s for tea” and “when’s your next doctor/nurse/hospital appointment.

Money: All this Chinese manufacturing is all well and good. The item cost might be low but a MOQ of 1000 means the order is a sizeable  chunk of money which has all been financed from my own pocket and some has had to wait for funds.  To head off the suggestion that usually follows, I don’t want to take pre-orders or take money up front.  Whilst an attractive idea on the face of it the potential problems should I spend the money and then for some reason can’t deliver are a noose I’d rather not put my head in.

Summary

Before I go into more detail on individual components I’d like to summarise where EDM Models is heading with recent component acquisitions.  The regauging of NG7 Hunslet loco’s to  14mm gauge has seen us acquire tyres, gears, bearings, axles in quantities that mean we have parts to use in other models. Now the Castles have added crank pins, more tyres, more gears, quartered axles, cranks and springs to that selection of parts. The time and cost of their acquisition has slowed these two projects but that now places EDM Models well to introduce new models and to upgrade our existing kits. In short the time and cost has been a pain but worth it.

The revised Harlech Castle body now has many separate parts to add during the build. Handrails Grilles, glazing and lighting are all added later.
Criccieth Castle has a similarly upgraded with additional parts

The shiny radiator trim is included in the rods etch.
Individual drivers desks for the two models have been produced. This is the one for Harlech Castle.

FR staff who have seen commented that its inaccurate as the floor isn’t covered in enough junk
This is the desk for Criccieth Castle its different as it was built as a passenger diesel for use with the push pull train.

The as yet unproven plan is that these will mount on the chassis so they can be detailed and then put in the body.
The chassis needs proving with the rods on and the springing added. It also needs the body mounts added to suit the new bodies
We’ve commissioned springs to suit the model and these have only just arrived
The axles and cranks are custom to these locos and now feature squared ends.
The aim is to supply made up wheelsets assembled and quartered ready to drop into the chassis with options for 14mm or 16.5mm gauge as required.
My original plan was to suggest builders got name and works plates from one of the usual suppliers. I then learned that they were just a generic typefaces.

Instead we’ve done CAD based on the plates on the actual locos. The long blank plate has lettering too small etch so there will be a decal that sits on the plate.
Etched rods have just arrived but haven’t yet been test built
Sound Project

Discussions are ongoing on recording the locos and creating a sound project on ZIMO N18 decoders.

Sadly, Criccieth is not co-operating and has just blown its engine up.

 

 

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A man’s home is his castle

 

EDM MODELS ANNOUNCES CRICCIETH & HARLECH CASTLE KITS

Yes we did. In October 2025. We even said they’d be available early in 2026.

So where are they?

Background

This kit development started when a friend persuaded Fourdees to do a simple blow up of their 4mm model to 7mm and then persuaded the usual suspect [US] to build it for him whilst doing one for themselves.

 
The US then started on the internet with the usual “someone” and “somebody” should do a chassis for this. He’s very good at telling other people who to spend modelling time/ development time / money with bugger all commitment from himself.

Just so happens that that struck a cord with me. Time for an aside:

[Aside Start] I have an association with both prototypes. I am a driver on the Festiniog Railway and am qualified to drive both locos but more than that I am also the rolling stock electrical engineer and wired them both up. Harlech is of such an age now that I wired it when it was being built and have since renewed its wiring. Criccieth has been wired several times as the control system for the push pull train evolved. For these reasons I also wanted a model of them both. [Aside end]

This was all happening just before the 2025 Narrow Gauge NOW exhibition and I asked Fourdees if they could do me a body for each of them to collect at the show. They weren’t hopeful that there was enough time but Dani arrived at my stand with two still sticky bodies for me and I had an early draft of a chassis to show. At this point a plot was formulated to jointly produce 7mm scale kits for Harlech Castle (as now with the wide bonnet) and Criccieth Castle.

The deal was that they would produce amended versions of the 4mm bodies whilst I would produce a working chassis to suit that would work for 16.5 and 14mm gauges which I would sell as a complete kit for each loco.

PROGRESS

If I were to suggest a planning method for the quick release of a kit or, at least, maintaining an delivery schedule it would be to keep a pair of perfectionists away from the project.

Wheels

 The correct diameter stainless steel tyres have been acquired and wheels made up.

Initial builds, as in the photo, used the axles I had made for the Quarry Hunslet regauging project. These have plain ends and need a quartering tool to assemble them.

Ideally the axles would be a smidge longer than the Hunslet ones.

Crankpins

 Its fair to say I didn’t take the world shortage of crankpins following the demise of Markits into account.

I looked at using our alternative system which I’ll call the Alan Gibson method but a problem with that was it requires a hole in the rod bigger than the rod boss so the rods would have needed to be oversize.

The solution was to order our own design from China. More on that below.

Axles

 The top axle in the photo was the one we had in stock and to use it I was going to have to step the cranks out by about 0.5mm.

This didn’t sit right with me and as mentioned we were exploring Chinese manufacture of parts right length and a square end seemed like a good idea

Jackshaft

 This needs to be longer than the axles as the connecting rod sits outside of the coupling rods. Plan A was some sort of split of a standard axle with the joining sleeve also serving to keep it central.

Plan B was to add it to the Chinese Manufacture list

Rods

 Plan A was cast brass rods. The intent was to eliminate the need for soldering of etched parts. I got as far as having several sets cast but either the consistency of them with all the holes cast in or the work required to jig drill them too much.

Plan B is the kit will include etched rods. The CAD for that is just being completed. To maintain the “no solder” option assembled rods will be a paid optional extra

Nameplates

 Plan A was to just refer builders to a well know etched plate supplier or for me to buy them in bulk to include in the kits.A discovery was that their plates were generic and not actual copies.

Plan B was to supply a set of etched plates, derived from the real things, in the kit

Tests revealed that the Baguley Drewry text is too small to etch so Plan C is an etched empty plate and a decal for the words. The artwork is off the etchers shortly

NG North – Project Review
Dani and I met at NG North to review the chassis and bodies together for the first time.

The result was a fairly radical shift from just amending the originally 4mm bodies for 7mm scale to completely reworking them, effectively new models for 7mm.
The 4mm bodies had a number of features that had to be printed oversize or overly thick as they needed to be at the minimum thickness required by the printer to reliably print. In a simple blow up to 7mm scale these same areas became bloated and overly thick. The 7mm bodies will be finer and will have a lot of parts supplied separately.

Hoping to have examples of the new bodies at the Porthmadog Model Event in 15/16th May

 

SHOPPING IN CHINA……
….is pretty bloody scary if you have never done it before. Essentially…

  • You arrange the order by sending a drawing to someone you have never met who is clearly using a false name because we couldn’t cope with the Chinese version.
  • Agree a price which in terms of my pocket is a lot of money.
  • You send that sum to a bank in Hong Kong.
  • You then hear nothing until you ask, “did you get the money?”
  • You then wait and hope that something shows up.

To be fair I was dealing with a firm that was recommended by others that have used them and Crystal (probably not her real name) couldn’t have been more helpful. The slight panic of having apparently sent a lot of money for it to appear to disappear was a function of a money transfer on a Friday and it not getting noticed. The response to my “did you get it” was a slightly panicked response with a grovelling apology and evidence it had been received.
Why go Chinese?

Cost simply. I have a UK supplier of CNC’d parts who I will continue to use for some items bit his price for the crankpins was beyond what I could afford and that had the potential to stall this project.

 
Having started a dialogue about the crankpins and the associated washer I added the square ended axle and jackshaft to the order and the price for all of it is less than the UK price for the crankpins alone.

These parts, in particular the crankpins, will have applications beyond this project. 

LATEST NEWS FROM CHINA – 21/04/26

Despite all the assurances and guidance from other its still a pretty nervous wait having sent just shy of £2K into the unknown. I was told to expect it to be 25 days for the parts to be ready which puts it sometime in May so I was delighted to receive an e-mail with some photos attached.

They are now made but are still in China.

I’ve been told to expect a tracking number in a couple of days and they are coming by air so they should take days rather than weeks by boat

 

WHAT’S NEXT

Once I have these parts I can get on and do the chassis mods to use them and get some running prototypes. Hopefully I’ll have something to show at the Porthmadog model event on the 15th & 16th of May but the beginning of May is pretty fully committed with Festiniog Railway nonsense as we are doing some things to raise money for Blanche’s overhaul.

MONEY, COST OF LIVING AND SO ON

This doesn’t get mentioned or considered by those who think “someone” or “somebody” should do something but all the stuff mentioned above is expense. Forgetting the time for now I have spent over two grand without a single order or payment for the models and with the etches it’ll be over three.

Meanwhile other work has to be done and completed to keep the money coming in to pay the bills so this project can’t have my full an undisturbed attention. It has to fit in with spare time.

I will open up sales for pre-orders soon but not until I am happy with a deliverable product, have a handle on the final costs and have a delivery window I am reasonably confident of.

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