DCCar - On The Workbench - 06/07/08

As the DCCar system is so full of features it seems a pity not to make use of a few of them. To this end I am using my first proper installation as a test of what can be achieved.

The victim is Midland Red LS18 5237, a Little Bus Comapny resin kit. It was originally built on an extended chassis from a Faller Mercedes O.303 but suffered near terminal injuries at the hands of some builders. Still, "We can rebuild him, we have the technology..."

The DCCar decoder has outputs for a vast array of flashing lights, which aren't of much use for a bus, but does provide for headlights, brake lights, indicators and interior lights which are much more inspiring. So the first step was to remove the old chassis, locating strips and false floor to give me some room to work.

First I drilled holes for the tail/brake lights and indicators on the rear panel. These are a little over 1mm in diameter. Red and yellow 2mm lighthouse LEDs were filed down to fit the holes.

On the sides I drilled two small holes for the indicators on each side and then opened them out to a slot by carving away the resin using the drill. Again yellow 2mm lighthouse LEDs were filed to shape.

The front panel needs two 3mm holes drilling for white LEDs to act as headlights. I decided that I didn't need to do the fog light and ignored the small sidelights as well. Then taking a deep breath I attacked the destination blind. On the kit as supplied this is just a flat expanse of featureless resin, not very convincing at the best of times but a definite no-no given the illumination that was going in on the rest of the model. I drilled small holes in each corner and larger ones in the middle and then filed, drilled and carved away until I had a rectangular aperture. That was the most nerve-wracking part as I wasn‘t sure if it would work and didn't want to ruin the whole vehicle.

A pair of surface-mount white LEDs were fixed to the ceiling of the passenger saloon to provide interior lighting. Given that the LEDs were not much bigger than the tip of my soldering iron this presented a problem. After several attempts to solder enammeled copper wires directly to them I admitted defeat. My solution was to cut a small length of PCB sleeper with a gap. The LED was soldered to one side, then the other along with the enamelled copper wire.

A pair of 3mm white LEDs had their cases cut down to remove the skirt and reduce their length. Enamelled copper wire was soldered to their leads, which were then cropped, and then they were glued in place to provide illumination for the entrance and destination box.

A new false floor was cut from plastic card with strips to represent the seat backs. The whole lot was given a coat of red primer to represent the red seat covering and then the floor painted dark grey.

The chassis has been rewired and the power and motor connections taken to a pair of plugs so that it can be separated from the body for maintenance. A special socket was made up so that the chassis can operate on its own for testing. The plugs and sockets were made up from lengths cut from turned pin SIL socket strip.

This photo shows just how small the DCCar decoder is. It is double sided, this side is the circuitry to increase the supply voltage from 2.4V to 5V, the decoder circuitry is on the other side. It is sitting on the roof of a 4mm (1:76) scale Cortina and the ruler is showing millimetres.

Watch this space....