question about rods

[taiwanball double ten]

Hi, Im planning on building a Flying scotsman but I don't know how to build the rods. Any suggestions?

[Pdaitabird]

I've never used them myself, but I've heard nothing but praise for @zephyr1934's custom rods.

Also, if you're looking for inspiration, here is a link to a Flickr album by Britishbricks, who has built a ton of jaw-dropping trains (including the Flying Scotsman).

[SteamSewnEmpire]

While we're on the subject of custom rods, how do people measure for/order the elaborate valve gear assemblies I gave seen? Is there a guide?

[JintaiZ]

Wait a second, isn't the Flying Scotsman 10194!?

[zephyr1934]

Your options for brick built rods are fairly limited. The easiest option is either full technic beams (the width of a 1x brick) or half technic beams (1/2 the width of a 1x brick) the former are available up to 15 long the latter only out to 7 long. Cale's half pin between two bars is the best solution I've seen for pistons/crossheads. Unfortunately all of my examples are on brickshelf and brickshelf is down at the moment (sigh). Assuming it comes back up, my modification for the lone ranger train is a pretty good pure rendition of this solution (the instructions show a 3 hole 9 long rod, but you could replace that with a 9 long technic beam). In lieu of the full instructions, at least I have a photo elsewhere,

Note that you can also just use studs with open holes as found on many brackets) for holding the bars, e.g.,

Again, there are instructions for these examples on brickshelf, but the site is down at the moment.

 

Now if you are looking for custom rods, the above images give an example of what I produce, a lot of the  history is in the aforementioned thread, and the current shop is at http://TrainedBricks.com, you can use the "contact us" if you have questions.

[Roadmonkeytj]

To answer the question about sizing there are reference pics on zephyrs website.  Normally you can build placeholders with technic bits then go to the site to order the right rods.  

If you order one of his "kits" and you have any issues what do ever reach out because he will work through the problem with you!

[zephyr1934]

14 minutes ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

Normally you can build placeholders with technic bits then go to the site to order the right rods. 

Yes, if building in real bricks you can always use technic beams as placeholders while getting the mechanicals working. If building digital, there are also LDraw parts for the common rods available on brickshelf... if brickshelf were working (sigh).