Camera Car Build

[Alaska Railroader]

So, that Looxcie unit does transmit over WiFi - nice!  Still too large to be enclosed in a loco body, but if one doesn't mind seeing it exposed, this sounds like an excellent option for a camera.

Peteski, thanks for not coming back with boxing gloves on 

If you guys cannot see David Lancaster's thread on the Looxcie on Trainboard I'll try to explain briefly. He did put it inside a car by taking the factory casing off and if it fits very well with no obvious lens hole in Z scale I know that this crowd could do an excellent job making this camera go ninja in N scale. If you had it mounted in a dummy loco and had a screen, whether a monitor or tablet, your train with a live hi def video of the engineer's view would be a hit at the shows.

[peteski]

Peteski, thanks for not coming back with boxing gloves on 

If you guys cannot see David Lancaster's thread on the Looxcie on Trainboard I'll try to explain briefly. He did put it inside a car by taking the factory casing off and if it fits very well with no obvious lens hole in Z scale I know that this crowd could do an excellent job making this camera go ninja in N scale. If you had it mounted in a dummy loco and had a screen, whether a monitor or tablet, your train with a live hi def video of the engineer's view would be a hit at the shows.

Interesting!  I might have to get one of the smaller ones, since they are less expensive, and make it one of my future projects. Thanks Karin! 

[wm3798]

You've got to look up Lord Zox's camera car.  He installed the camera on a pivot over the lead truck, so it actually follows the bend of the track instead of giving you that 12 Gs feeling going around a curve.  It really does make a big difference in how the video turns out.

[eric220]

You've got to look up Lord Zox's camera car.  He installed the camera on a pivot over the lead truck, so it actually follows the bend of the track instead of giving you that 12 Gs feeling going around a curve.  It really does make a big difference in how the video turns out.

I've seen that one.  I'm looking for something that I can disguise as a normal locomotive.  I also find the "seeking" action of the extra truck going into or coming out of a curve a little distracting.

That Looxcie is definitely interesting.  The integrated WiFi streaming would be very useful for me.  Since I've already got the TC-9, that's what I'll be using.  I do like that the TC-9 recharges its battery from track power, yielding a nearly endless power supply.

[eric220]

I had the G scale version of this guy.  Talk about grainy, noisy video, and black and white to boot!  Still, a very cool product.

[Lemosteam]

You've got to look up Lord Zox's camera car.  He installed the camera on a pivot over the lead truck, so it actually follows the bend of the track instead of giving you that 12 Gs feeling going around a curve.  It really does make a big difference in how the video turns out.

Always felt that way too.  Great idea!

[eric220]

I worked up the nerve to break out the cutting implements tonight.  First I used a pair of calipers to measure the interior clearance in the RF16 and the size of the TC-9.  Much to my relief, It turns out that I didn't have to cut into the actual lens housing at all to make it fit.  I just had to remove some plastic from the surrounding shroud.



Not pretty, but it fits.

Now I need to focus my attention on the RF16 shell.  I've opened up the mech and salvaged the trucks.  They have nice pickup tabs that should be easy enough to connect to.  Now I just need to cut off the gear towers, and I should have perfectly serviceable dummy trucks.  Creating the new internal support structure seems like a very good excuse to finally connect up my Silhouette cutter.  I think this is a good project to, ahem, cut my teeth on.  The forms will be hidden, so if they're not perfect, it doesn't matter.  I'm planning on building the support structure to hold the camera in place, and the shell will simply rest on top of it.

I can't find my pack of new exacto blades, so I'm holding off on attempting surgery on the nose to create the opening for the camera.  My thought is to carve out the door that has the keystone on it.  Other than getting a new blade to cut with, any advice on how to make this opening as neatly as possible?

[Lemosteam]

Eric, why not hinge the door to expose the lens and when not filming, close the door?

[Zox]

You've got to look up Lord Zox's camera car.

For reference, here's the original build process: http://lordzox.com/mrr/camcar.html

Here's a picture of the latest rendition, with a newer camera:



And here's where you can find some of the videos I've shot with it: https://www.youtube.com/user/mycroftstingray

As Eric points out, the camera car makes no attempt to look like a locomotive; for my purposes, the curve-anticipating feature was more important than making the camera stealthy. (In fact, "what's that weird thing on the front of that train?" starts a good many conversations at train shows. )

I bought a Looxcie last year and dismantled it, but I'm still working on making a curve-anticipating camera out of it. The connection between the actual camera and the rest of the Looxcie's guts is a very short, very stiff flat cable with etched circuit paths much like a PC board; I'm going to have to get extremely creative in order to articulate it properly.

_{(edit: misattributed comment)}

[Zox]

My thought is to carve out the door that has the keystone on it.  Other than getting a new blade to cut with, any advice on how to make this opening as neatly as possible?

My suggestion would be to use a drill to remove the bulk of the door, then use files (and possible some knife work) to finish up the edges.

[eric220]

Eric, why not hinge the door to expose the lens and when not filming, close the door?

As awesome as that would be, it seems a little beyond my skill level. Also, as a dedicated camera car, when not filming, it probably won't be on the layout.

My suggestion would be to use a drill to remove the bulk of the door, then use files (and possible some knife work) to finish up the edges.

Sounds like a plan. I find it kind of humerous that I'm almost as nervous about cutting into the shell as I was about modifying the camera housing. The latter is quite a bit more complex and expensive to replace, while the former needs to be cosmetically clean. Oh well, once more unto the breach.

[peteski]

I can't find my pack of new exacto blades, so I'm holding off on attempting surgery on the nose to create the opening for the camera.  My thought is to carve out the door that has the keystone on it.  Other than getting a new blade to cut with, any advice on how to make this opening as neatly as possible?

Eric,
after I measured about 4 times, I just drilled a hole in the nose.  Since I didn't want to see the hole's edges, I used a countersink to bevel the edges of the hole.  Make sure to get the camera as close to the inside of the shell as possible.  The beveled hole surface might cause a glare in the picture. In that case, paint the surface with flat black paint.

I also don't know if you realize that the lens is *NOT* in the center of the camera housing. So you'll have to shave off one side more than the other in order to properly center the camera in the body shell. I didn't realize that in my first install and that caused me some grief. 

Here are some examples from my E8 install.


Camera modified to snuggly fit into the nose. The LED is for the working upper headlight.


Even with all the filing of the camera body, I still had to thin the shell for a snug fit (otherwise I would have gone too far into the camera's body).


Here is a view of the beveled hole.  Besides using a countersink, I also shaved some of the plastic using a sharp hobby knife.


I glued the camera into the nose. I was also able to use the stock coupler mounting unit by opening it enough to fit around the camera's body.  This photo shows that the camera body is mounted slightly off-center.


As I mentioned, the surface of the beveled hole can cast a glare. I had to paint the beveled edge flat black. That eliminated the glare.

[RWCJr]

That is some impressive modeling! Great work on the E-unit.

[eric220]

I agree. The camera on that E can easily be dismissed as a second headlamp/mars light/etc. that's just not turned on. That's one of the reasons that I was considering carving out the whole door. If I just cut a hole, it's going to be right where the nose keystone is supposed to be. As such it's going to stick out like a sore thumb. I thought going for the look of an open door might be better.

[DKS]

If you pop a Looxcie out of its shell, the internals are compact enough to fit in an N scale hood unit. I've been working on getting one into this RS-11. The nose flag of the LV scheme lands right where the lens is, so it's pretty well disguised. The challenge is providing access to the micro-USB port.



Above, you can see the tiny camera module at the near end of the PC board, which is conveniently mounted on a flexible connector; the long silver blob underneath the board is the battery. Inside the shell, I created a cradle for the camera module from styrene (white parts, below).