UGEARS locomotive

[Tonino]

I've seen this kit on a web page and it was love at first sight!!!


I just couldn't resist... I ordered it on Amazon and had it in my mailbox in few days.

Now I'm taking a little pause in my paper affairs to deal with this wooden beauty.

OK perhaps this is not properly a model, is something more like a toy (a very complex one...), a wooden automata, a technical challenge... I don't know what is its best description... all what I can say is that I cannot wait to place my hands on it.

Opening the box you find a nice, well illustrated assembly manual (very well done), several plywood sheets, laser cut, very fine details (some of them seems to be very fragile, we'll see...), a pack of toothpicks (really they only seem to be simple toothpicks, but are slightly slimmer than regular ones I have at home, they are calibrated for the holes provided in model components) and several rubber bands (the engine!).

I've just started building it. Very pleasant experience. The pieces come out from the plywood table pretty easily, a sharp blade can help, especially for the tiniest pieces, breaking the junction points prior to extract the pieces from the table, to prevent undesired breaks or damages.

Moving parts need to be lubricated on contact surfaces with candle wax (this explain the candle you can see on the photo) to ease the operation of the many gears and mechanisms. The fitting is superb and the assembling is very easy (this far), very very enjoying... I'm afraid this will be completed very fast!

 

[zathros]

I've seen models like this, but never automata. This one looks great!! Looks like you're well on your way too.

 

[Revell-Fan]

WOOOW! Don't tell me it actually moves?

 

[Tonino]

Wait and you'll see!

 

[zathros]

Some Paraffin wax may make it run smoother, and make bearing surfaces out of the wood.

 

[Cybergrinder]

I can't wait to see this, it does look as it will be a true locomotive

I'm geared up for it! (sorry )

 

[zathros]

It would be easy to motorize. An engine with a rubber, or toothed belt driving one gear, and either take power off the tracks, or put a battery pack in the tender.

 

[Tonino]

A little update on this building.
I'm having really a lot of fun.
The construction of this thing requires techniques totally different from all I have done before. It's really addictive, when I start I can't stop...

Some sub-assemblies already completed:


Front wheels


Cylinders.
They have also internal components showing their real functionality.


Main body (boiler)


Here starts mechanical wonder. This one is the winding wheel. The upper selector is a sort of shift. It determines the direction that wheel can be turned to operate the loco in forward or backward direction. The rubber bands will be connected to central aperture.


From other side you can see better the hooks that let turn the wheel in only one direction (here they are in neutral position).


This is the coupling hook where tender will be connected. The lever on the right is to unlock the hook.


This is the wheel where other extremity of rubber bands will be connected. The lever on the right is the lock-unlock command, a sort of brake. Unlocking the gear the loco will start running.


Note the sophistication of the wooden bearing placed next to the main engine gear.


And. at last, the inspection door that will be placed on cabin roof.

 

[zathros]

All those parts fitting so nicely, combined with your expertise, I bet your having a lot of fun. I did not know it was rubber band powered. When I used to compete with rubber band planes, we found that rubber a very little big of Brake Fluid allows almost twice the amount of turns, as the turns good get smaller, and would not "knot up". I used to get flights that were the "Oh my God I am going to lose the plane" flights. I always put a tab to counter the "P-Factor", so when the rubber band finished, the tab would put the plane into a gentle wide spiral. These planes took a long time to build. I used "Monocote" for the skin, and when they crashed, it hit you right in the Heart.

*Rubber O rings on the wheels, especially the square profile ones, might give you more traction.

edited: as previous second paragraph was nonsensical due to fat fingers.......

 

[Revell-Fan]

source: https://m.popkey.co/19a1cc/JajO7_f-thumbnail-100-0.jpg

 

[Tonino]

Here I am. It took only a couple of days to build this little wonder but I was very busy so I didn't find the time to show you the final result.
Putting together this model was a real pleasure. As I said before, once you start you can't stop till the end. And the machine works perfectly, like a swiss clock. If I'll find the time to take a little movie I'll show you the loco in motion.

Here it is: the nicest wooden toy I've ever had in my hands.




The upper tender door opening, Another little mechanical wonder.


Rear tender door.


Those gears multiply engine rotation to spin the first front wheel that act as a flywheel keeping constant the movement speed.


The cabin door with the retractable ladder.


And, seen from the cabin ceiling window, here we have the mighty rubber engine!



Here you see the main start switch, releasing that gear the train start running.




Very nice loco, very enjoyable experience. I'll try for sure other subjects from this company.

 

[zathros]

Very nice. Looks professional!! If you rub a little Brake fluid on the rubber bands, they will wind and store more energy given the same amount of turns. They will also release more. I learned this when I used to compete with rubber band flying aircraft. Some of these planes would easily reach 200 feet, then glide back. You always prayed the wind would not take off with them. Very nice! You may need more track!!

 

[Tonino]

If you rub a little Brake fluid on the rubber bands, they will wind and store more energy given the same amount of turns.

I would like to try, I'm sure the performance of my loco would be greater enhanced but I'm afraid the oil would likely spread over the wooden pieces in contact with the rubbers so I prefer to keep my operational range within the 6 metres declared by producer.

You may need more track!!

That's for sure. I'd like to see it running on tracks until the charge lasts. This little section is good only for display purposes... Maybe next Ugears order...

 

[Revell-Fan]

Before you posted this build I had no idea that such was available. It reminds me a bit of LEGO technics.

 

[Tonino]

It reminds me a bit of LEGO technics.

I had EXACTLY the same sensation when I first saw it on the web, and, then, building it, the sensation was totally confirmed.
Do you know when you follow the instructions wondering what's the function of the gear you are adding? And the satisfaction when, finally, you see that all is working as it was supposed to.
And it's all made of wood. Fantastic!

 

[Revell-Fan]

I can imagine!

 

[Cybergrinder]

This amazing! now picture an entire layout with these babies!

@Tonino ; what scale is it?

 

[Tonino]

I searched carefully on manual but didn't find any scale reference.
Effectively this is not a scale model based on a real subject so it's not possible to determine the scale because we don't know how big the real one it's supposed to be.
The only thing I can say is that the model is about 47 centimetres long... in the real life

 

[Gandolf50]

Great Job...!!

I had EXACTLY the same sensation when I first saw it on the web, and, then, building it, the sensation was totally confirmed.
Do you know when you follow the instructions wondering what's the function of the gear you are adding? And the satisfaction when, finally, you see that all is working as it was supposed to.
And it's all made of wood. Fantastic!

I had the same feeling when I cut and built my first wooden clock back in the late 70's!!

 

[bruceuncle]

It reminds me a bit of LEGO technics.

I got the same feelings when I first came across this type of model earlier this year. Some friends had bought me an EWA (Eco Wood Art) Kinetic Globe kit for Christmas 2020 which I didn't have time to do anything with back then. I was building the Lego Technics Bucket Wheel Excavator at the time whilst I recovered from some major back surgery (involving something like Lego Technics in my spine but in titanium instead of ABS plastic ). The return to Lego Technics got my wife interested in the Harry Potter models and I moved into the Robotics and Spike Prime hubs - the lonely EWA kit got left behind. Then earlier this year I dug it out again and got that same fascination of building something a bit like Lego Technics. A bit of browsing later I found the UGears models and my wife persuaded me to get the Butterfly to build. Loved it and I echo all the building comments Tonino made. Nearly complete - currently musing on whether to paint the set of plain wings (it comes with two sets of wings - one already coloured and one plain).

A bit of research revealed that the EWA kits are made in Belarus (which, given the current crisis put me off them a bit) and the UGears kits are made in Kyiv, Ukraine (which heartened me somewhat). I bought a couple more UGears kits - the Hexapod Explorer and the Drift Cobra. These are both powered by steel springs - they're like large clockwork models but in wood! You can download PDFs of the build instructions on any of their models, which is great for seeing if they meet your expectations and capabilities. The kit quality is excellent and includes everything right down to the candle stub and some sandpaper. I found my set of needle files more useful than the sandpaper for touching up the wood equivalent of plastic kit sprues - especially for the gear teeth.

In Australia there is a UGears outlet online site, so you don't have to scour local hobby shops or order from Ukraine to get them. I haven't started the latest two yet so I might start a thread when I do - they're a bit more complex than the butterfly!