Revisiting my first kit...

It seems a long time ago when Steve taught me how to use the 3D design software that led to my first kit, the Narrow Planet / EuroNG O&K 40hp...

Back then Minitrains chassis were the pinnacle of performance, and I wanted to design something in 009 that would suit the mechanism with a nod to it's source, and since O&K sold contractor locos in the UK it seemed a good prototype. Well these days the Minitrains chassis are somewhat more expensive and there is a new kid on the block, the Bachmann N gauge Thomas range 'Percy'. This provides a flywheel equipped chassis with great performance with a horizontally mounted motor which can keep the cab clear. I decided to see if my original kit would fit...

My original O&K prototype, running on a Minitrains Krauss chassis.

L-R New version, centre original O&K posed on the Percy mech, right Bagnall which also used the Minitrains Krauss chassis, posed on the Percy.

Well with a little work it looked promising, but rather than start from the O&K I took the design from the Barclayfication kit and worked from that, creating a prototype that I'll build for my son, and hopefully will lead to a new kit in the Narrow Planet range this summer. The tanks are stretched in length to hide the mechanism, but otherwise it's a neat fit with space for some weight inside the boiler and side tanks.

L-R Barclay, O&K, Krauss

I've also drawn up an O&K version, and a Koppel styled version - do you have any preference? Let me know in the comments and I can look at offering different variations when we come to release it. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled on the blog, for when it arrives I'll work it into a prototype body for evaluation. Until next time, more soon...