DJ models - Dave Jones new venture

[AndyGif]

Hi,
Yes I have 1 layout ( The late Andy Calvert's 'Welham Green') and i was going to do Finsbury Park, but as the deltic s are delayed a bit, I've put that on hold (although I'm still getting 22 of them for the near future),., and now I'm slowly building an 8ft x 2'6" MPD called 'Old Elm Common' based on a fictitious western region depot of the 60/70's.

I have loads of stock for it and am awaiting the Westerns, 31's, 33's and 25's to finish the stock list (along with 1 Deltic).

A western Pullmann would be perfect and I do have a feeling about next years releases ;-)

The majority of the buildings are Farish resin RTP ones, with a Peco turntable and old cars. Code 55 track, DCC with sound wherever possible using my favoured NCE system.

Like most things, this will take time, but I hope to unveil it on the masses next September somewhere.

Cheers
Dave

Dave,  you a can always do a Pete Waterman and get your minions to build it all for you..... Wait you've not got any minions yet,  give it a month or two then......

[Dock Shunter]

"Giz a job".........."Go ed i could do dat"......"Go 'ead giz it"...............

The youngster's ie "thatchers children" will never get that quote!  They just think you've lost it.....

"Giz a job".........."Go ed i could do dat"......"Go 'ead giz it"...............

wait a minute your not 6'6" with a big black moustache and manic staring eyes are you......

No....that's me little brother...

[REGP]

Kernow Model Centre appear to be taking pre orders for DJM Locos and at a discount to prices announced by Dave.

Ray

[Roy L S]

Cheers guys,
It's appreciated.

I'll try and post expediently as soon as I have something new to say on the N gauge models, but if I don't, please accept my apologies.
If I post he update to my website timeline but don't get round to posting here, will you bear with me and can someone please copy and past that info here on my behalf?

Many thanks
Dave

Hi Dave

I am also pleased to see you posting on this Forum.

It is perfectly understandable that your Business Plan would start with the 00 Gauge J94 as I would perceive this to be by some way the least risky route. I hope that this delivers product and then sales quickly enough for you to reinvest in the N (and other) products you have planned while the momentum is still here.

Posting progress on your Website makes a lot of sense, and I look forward to watching the Clatyon in particular grow from CAD through EP to the finished product. I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd ever have the chance of owning a RTR Clatyon (or two) in N!

Can you disclose (sorry if it has already been mentioned elsewhere) the order in which products will be developed assuming the success of the aforementioned 00 J94?

Regards

Roy

[Norfolkrover]

Produce an n gauge j94 lner within a year dave and you will eclipse farishand dapol for promised products. Good luck.

[Pete Mc]

Dave,I've just had a bit of an idea.As you are just starting,why don't you produce future models with a view to fitting sound decoders in your n gauge models like manufacturers do with their oo gauge ranges.This may kickstart the others into doing the same.

Now as my own dcc sound fitted fleet enters double figures,I don't mind all the work stripping them down to component parts and going throigh them to ensure optimum running but some would just like to be able to plug and play.To a small extent,even one of the sound decoder manufacturers,CT,recognises that people just don't want to have to invalidate a warranty in order to install sound.

Again,as I say,I don't mind so its no problem for me.What is an area where there is trouble is somewhere to fit a sugarcube speaker.Some loco's have a plastic moulded underframe but this still warrants a stripdown,not the main chassis block,just removing the underframe area in order to get at a space that is made hollow by removal of chassis material so a speaker can be sited there.There are other areas on top but they still generally require pcb removal and a rewire.

While I accept it is probably a bit of an undertaking to produce a loco that can be converted to dcc sound without too much work involved,what it will do is bring the possibilty of installing dcc sound in n gauge to the masses.You probably know that it is a rather long and fiddly job that a few businesses are doing now,but it is still a very expensive conversion,which most people baulk at unless they do it themselves.Since I started doing my own,I don't have to send them away with a cheque for lots of pounds,currently around £220 as well as the loco I want converting.This is why I did my own,then I went a bit to far by doing another 3 in a month!

I'm sure there are otherls who will come along and say "good idea,Pete" and others who won't but as it may make the others take note like they did when Dapol produced such nice,well detailed models for us n gauge modellers,perhaps if your models were produced with sound installation taken into consideration,then that would make your business a market leader ensuring that both Farish and Dapol do the same.Which at the moment they refuse to do.

Just a suggestion,thats all.

And a question.At the weekend,at TINGS,the layout you were helping out on,Vale of Oxbury,it had a sound fitted green class 24 and 37 running around it.Are these your loco's or do they belong to the layouts owners?

Pete

[DJM Dave]

Hi Pete,

Sound idea ;-)

I'll look at it and see what I can think up.

As for the 24, that was mine, while the 37 was Carl's which I think was done for him by Wickness. HTH
Cheers
Dave

[zwilnik]

One solution for the sound chips/speaker cubes might be to put them in coaches and/or trucks with pickups on the wheels. If it's in the first one after the engine I'm betting nobody would be able to tell that the sound's not quite coming from the right place at normal distance from a layout (especially when moving) and you get a lot more space to fit the speaker.

[red_death]

One solution for the sound chips/speaker cubes might be to put them in coaches and/or trucks with pickups on the wheels. If it's in the first one after the engine I'm betting nobody would be able to tell that the sound's not quite coming from the right place at normal distance from a layout (especially when moving) and you get a lot more space to fit the speaker.

Except it doesn't work for locos running light engine 

Locos in N ready for sound would be great and a first for UK N (though we already have the odd unit ready for sound).

Cheers, Mike

[K-N-Gauge]

Hi Pete,

Sound idea ;-)

I'll look at it and see what I can think up.

As for the 24, that was mine, while the 37 was Carl's which I think was done for him by Wickness. HTH
Cheers
Dave

I agree with the others! N gauge DDC Sound ready please

[zwilnik]

Good point red_death

If the cube of space for the speaker/chip comes filled with a block of lead (or EU approved very heavy metal) then those of us running DC can benefit from the heavier weight and it can be removed for DCC.

[kirky]

I think pete has got a good point here. but i have a slight modification to his suggestion (unless this is what you mean?)
What about actually manufacturing the loco with a speaker built in. The speaker itself is really very cheap, less than a fiver, and if you are buying 200, then I'm sure they would be cheaper still. I think this additional cost wouldn't put up the price too much, a blanking chip would bypass the the speaker, but if a sound chip was installed then the speaker would be there. Absolutely simple install, just plugin the chip.
And if the speaker is built in at the design stage then you don't have to make the space easily accessible because its installed as part of he manufacturing process.
And if you don't want sound, then you've got a loco with a speaker in it that doesn't do anything, a bit like having lights that only work when you're moving in dc.
Just a thought.

Cheers
Kirky

[zwilnik]

That's an even better idea. With the speaker designed in, you can make better use of available space.

[Pete Mc]

This is generally what I was suggesting,though not leaving the onus on the manufacturer to provide the speaker even though they are a fiver.It may mean that Farish have to redesign their pcb so a decoder will fit but seeing as the pcb's that Dapol fit are about a quarter of the size of the Farish ones,it brings into question,do Farish loco's need pcb's this large?

Having converted a Farish/Modelzone RTC class 24,a class 37 and a 47 that incorporate these pcb's,I have completely removed them,added resistors to replace the ones that were on the pcb,I came to the conclusion that apart from for the fitment of directional lighting,there is no need to have such a large pcb with the number of components on the board.The latest hst pcb has a diode,3 resistors,one of which is for suppresion purposes I believe and the inevitable nem socket.On a Farish pcb,it has a resistor for every bulb on the chassis,suppresion caps,diodes and nem plug.

How much of this is overkill?

I'm not a very knowledgable chap as far as electronics is concerned but what I do know is that when you hardwire a sound decoder into a new tooled Farish loco,apart from adding resistors to the lighting to prevent the leds blowing,you might as well throw the pcb in the bin.Its also very difficult to fit a wired sound decoder in whilst keeping the pcb,though its not impossible as the conversions that Wickness Models do,don't remove the pcb.I do on the other hand as it seems much easier to me because the first consideration I make is to ensure that what I fit will go inside and allow the body to sit correctly and so it doesn't in any way cause a short circuit.

Its these considerations I refer to,speaker positioning and the ability to be able to fit either a Zimo Mx648,ESU Loksound v4micro or a CT SL76 direct plug in sound decoder.Rhe Zimi and Loksound ones are wired decoders so must allow for the wires even if they are shortened.

It may seem lime a big ask but as mechanisms get ever smaller,the chances of being able to produce models with these provisions gets greater and greater.

As I say,it doesn't bother me,or trouble me to do a full strip down of the loco chassis as it allows me to see what I can do to repair a faulty loco later on should a fault develop,in order to fit dcc sound,its just that lots of people don't want to do this,citing the reason being that they don't want to reduce an expensive loco to a pile of scrap bits.I thought this but it doesn't matter how much you reassure someone theres not much to them,they're still very reluctant to do it.

Pete

[1936ace]

Kernow Model Centre appear to be taking pre orders for DJM Locos and at a discount to prices announced by Dave.

Ray

I asked hattons via their online chat and the sales person knew nothing of hattons stocking dim products at that stage. Looks like kernows have got the jump on them
Bart