BullAnt Specifications & Information

Click here to view the BullAnt specifications and information

How To Order A BullAnt

You can order a BullAnt and buy it through our secure shopping section, but it helps to know how, so in this section we will help you understand the process. There are no standard sizes for a BullAnt, everything can be specified.

Because there are quite a number of possible variations for any particular BullAnt, we have split them into basic types to begin with, the BullAnt Multi-gauge Power Bogie and its accompanying dummy.

Within each basic type, there are a number of options you can choose, such as whether you want the flywheel fitted or not, plus a number of necessary or mandatory options that tell us what gauge you want, wheel size etc.

Product Choice: BullAnt

The BullAnt is the main item, a powered bogie with many options including number of axles, wheels types etc.

Product Choice: Dummy BullAnt

The dummy BullAnt is normaly supplied in order to have two identical bogies on a model, however it is possible to order a dummy that is totally different to the power bogie. The construction of the dummy is identical to the power bogie except it does not contain any gearing, but it is fitted with pickups for improved power collection.The gear in the centre of the axle is replaced by a dummy gear without teeth to maintain the axle in the correct lateral position. As a practical measure, the pickups are connected to two 300mm long wires to connect to the power unit.

Unfortunately, dummy BullAnts roll like bricks due to the resistance from the pickups and the bearings on each axle, this is something we cannot avoid, so it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate weight over the dummy bogie. In fact, this applies equally to the power bogie. Depending upon the motor type and application, we recommend an overall weight in excess of 80 grams but generally not exceeding 350 grams for any model fitted with BullAnts.

Option: Wheel Size & Type

The Wheel size selection box is mandatory for all BullAnt products. The first option for wheels is: '0 Wheels, Please do not fit wheels -($6.00)' The reason for offering the BullAnt without wheels is to suit those modellers who want a different wheel type to those offered by us. You will receive a discount of AUD$6.00 for not having wheels fitted.

By choosing a BullAnt without wheels, you will understand that we cannot test the BullAnt prior to shipping, other than basic operation, and we cannot fit the pickups. The axles are 2mm diameter and can be removed from the BullAnt by gently prising the bottom half of the gearbox housing off. The gears will be greased at the factory and the wheel bearings oiled. The pickups will be supplied in the package but not fitted. Because the phosphor bronze pickups are brittle, please make any bends in the pickups gentle. One spare pickup will be supplied in case you learn this lesson the hard way. Just to give yourself an idea how much bending they can take, make a small bend at the extremity of the finger and see how many times you can change the angle of the bend.

Initially we will have a somewhat limited range of wheel sizes available, but over time we will be constantly adding new types as we find the demand for them. All our wheels conform to the NMRA RP25 wheel profile, and are hub insulated on one or both wheels. Solid disc wheels are made from machined nickel silver, while spoked wheels have a moulded Delrin centre and either nickel silver tyres or chemically blackened brass.

Wheel sizes are quoted in both metric and imperial (inch) measurements, the inch measurement is in brackets.

The wheel choice is quite descriptive, '9.6mm(.378") Code 88 NS Disc' means an RP25 profile wheel of 9.6mm or .378 inch diameter with a tread width of .088" or 2.24mm, as a nickel silver solid disc wheel. This wheel might also be described as a 'Code 88' or 'finescale' wheel. Normal tread width for most HO wheels is Code 110, meaning that the tread width is .11" or 2.79mm.

We have the ability to produce solid disc wheels to your specifications, the minimum run is 500 wheels, call us for a quote.

To help with choosing wheels sizes, the table below equates the available BullAnt wheel sizes in millimetres to the actual wheel sizes in inches. Sizes are provided for 6 of the popular scales.

Option: Rigid Centre Axle or Lateral Action

The BullAnt and In-Line drive bogies are offered with two options for the fitting of the centre axles, where more than two axles are required. Depending upon the span of the 3 axles, or more, the bogie may have difficulty going around curves, as the rigid centre axle mounting will cause it to de-rail.

The Lateral Action feature replaces the rigid centre axle with a special nickel-silver gearbox that permits the axle to move sideways by approximately 2mm, while still engaging the gear drive. This means the centre axle will slide across to accomodate reasonably sharp curves while still retaining power to the centre axle. The radius of curve that it will fit is still determined by the overall wheelbase of the bogie.

This feature costs a little more to fit, so it comes with a higher price compared to the simple rigid axle option.

The rigid centre axle feature may be preferred where there are 4 axles required or the modeller feels that the total wheelbase is short enough to not cause concern, or the curve radius' used is large enough to cope.

Option: Tram or Trolley Wiring

If you intend to use your BullAnt in a tram or trolley and would like the BullAnt to be wired accordingly, there is an optional wiring scheme that costs no extra.

The first option has all wheels connected together with a longer free red wire coming off the motor for connection to the overhead power collection system. This assumes that you will reverse the power collection to change the direction of the model.

The second option connects all wheels together and provides longer free black and red wires to be used for trolley pole reverse operation, where the trolley poles and hooks control the direction of travel. The wiring diagram for this scheme is shown below.

Option: Track Gauge

At present we offer the Bullant in 9, 10.5, 12, 14.2 & 16.5mm track gauges. These gauges are also listed as their common gauge such as HOn3, TT and HO/00 respectively.

Please note that while we do make mechanisms to 9mm gauge, we do not make these items to N scale. The 9mm gauge is offered for modellers who require a narrow gauge in a larger scale. In many cases, these mechanisms may be too large for N scale.

We may add to this range as demand dictates. Every gauge added to the list requires different length axles and jigs to assemble the wheel sets with the correct back-to-back measurement. If you want a gauge that is not offered, please email us and enquire, we may be able to help.

Option: Motor

The standard motor for a BullAnt is the Mashima MHK 1015. This is a quite small motor with moderate power capability, and is fine for smallish models and narrow gauge applications where space is a premium. If you require greater power for your model, and space allows, then the 1020 and 1024 motor variants can be selected as an option. There is a small extra cost for the larger motors as we buy them in smaller lots.

The motor code number relates to the size of the motor, a 1015 is 10mm across the flats and 15mm long in the body, excluding shafts. Therefore, the 1020 and 1024 are the same diameter, but 20 and 24mm long respectively. Both the larger motors actually draw slightly less current than the 1015 motor. The maximum RPM for each motor is also different, the 1015 is 16,000 RPM, the 1020 is 15,000 RPM and the 1024 is 19,000 RPM.

In general, the rule is to fit the largest size motor that will fit in your model, in order to provide the greatest reserve of power. The power rating of the 1015 motor is 0.35 Watt, while the 1020 is 0.68 Watt and the 1024 is 1.00 Watt. You can see that the 1020 is twice as powerful as the 1015, and the 1024 is nearly 3 times as powerful.

All BullAnts are fully DCC compatible such that the power pickups and the motor connections can be separated. In choosing a decoder for the BullAnt, any decoder with a 1 amp or greater rating will be suitable. In fact, the stall current of a BullAnt is well under the 1 amp limit.

Option: Flywheel

This is a delete option, that is, the BullAnt is supplied with a flywheel as standard. If you do not want the flywheel fitted, you can select 'No Flywheel' and you will have the cost of the flywheel deducted from the total. If the flywheel is not fitted, then you can choose to have the motor shaft trimmed back to the rear of the motor, or left as it is.

The flywheel fitted to the motor is the largest effective flywheel we could fit. Fitting a shorter flywheel of similar diameter will have little effect, as the diameter has a greater influence over flywheel action than length and there is virtually no room to increase the diameter.

Option: Wheelbase

This box is mandatory for all BullAnt products. The wheelbase is the distance from the centre of one axle to the centre of the next. You should simply type a number in this box corresponding to the desired wheelbase, acurate to the nearest 0.25mm or .01". You can enter the wheelbase in metric form as eg: 22.5 or in inches as .886"

If you have chosen a BullAnt with more than two axles, type the first axle to axle distance, then a + symbol and then the next distance, and so on.

The axles can be at different spacings if you wish, but please make sure the wheel sizes do not cause an overlap. The BullAnt gear box will be at the start of the specification, so if you typed 20 + 30 +40, then the gearbox will automatically be placed at the 20 end.

The minimum practical wheelbase is 17mm, although the design of the BullAnt allows for an absolute minimum wheelbase of 11.5mm. If you specify a wheelbase less than 17mm, the sideframe mount bolster may not be fitted nor will pickups be fitted. The pickups will be packed in the box with the BullAnt however, so you can arrange to fit them yourself.

The table below shows some popular wheelbases in feet and inches equated to the scale size in millimetres. Conversions are shown for 6 of the popular scales. The resultant wheelbases have been taken to the nearest 1/4 millimetre as this is the accuracy we work to.

Option: Mounting Bolster

This is a new option, you can choose the size of nickel silver bolster for mounting the BullAnt to your model. There are two types of bolster, a cross mounting and an end mounting, and you can order any type as swiveling or fixed. There are, in addition, three sizes for each bolster.

The plain bolsters on the left are the cross mounting versions and the 3 on the right are the end or cantilever mount versions. The cross bolsters have had the side fold removed to make it simpler to mount the BullAnt, but the end mounts retain the folds. The mounting holes are all 2.0mm diameter and the spacing between the two holes on the end mount versions is 3.5mm. The mounting hole centres for the 20, 26 and 32mm cross mounts are respectively 17, 23 and 29mm. The distance from the bogie mounting hole to the centre line of the end mounts for the 26, 32 and 38mm end mounts are respectively 22.9, 28.9 and 34.9mm.

The 26mm end mount is suitable for BullAnts with wheelbases up to 38mm, the 36mm mount suits wheelbases up to 46mm and the 38mm suits wheelbases up to 50mm. The next photo shows how this mount might be used.

You also have the option of having the bolster swivelling, which would be the normal case, so the bogie can rotate in the model, or fixed. The fixed option has the bolster attached (soldered) to the spine section so it does not rotate. This option is quite often used where the unit is fitted to a fixed wheelbase model. Note that each bolster option has the choice of swivelling or fixed.

Some modellers will prefer to have extra fixed bolsters to make the attachment to their model easier. If this is the case, please leave us a note in the comments section of the order.

Three new mounts have been introduced to help make bogie mounting more flexible. These mounts have a wider spread at the ends, with 2mm diameter holes placed 11.5mm apart. They are otherwise the same length as the standard 20, 26 and 32mm mounts, and the hole centres are the same, at 17mm for the 20mm mount, 23 for the 26 and 29 for the 32.

The total width of the widened section is 15.5mm. The Bat Wings will restrict rotation of the bogie slightly, but should not affect the rotation for all but the most extreme angles.

Quantity & Select Fields

To the right of the Product Option column, there is a quantity field that defaults to one unit, so if you wish to order more than one BullAnt of a given specification, enter the quantity in this field. The Select field must be clicked to order the product, and will display a tick. You can de-select the product by clicking the Select field again. You can also order a dummy unit at the same time by filling in the fields and selecting the dummy.

To order a BullAnt of a different specification, click on the 'Order Selected Products' button at the bottom of the page and you will be shown the contents of your shopping list. Then select 'Continue Shopping' to order a BullAnt of a different specification.

The shopping cart page also gives you the ability to calculate the cost of your purchase to date in other currencies, there is a link to X-Rates under the summary box.

Local Taxes - GST

Australian purchasers must pay the Goods and Services Tax, it is included in the price. Overseas purchasers do not pay this tax, and it will be automatically deducted from the price if you indicate you are an overseas customer.

Checking Out

As part of the checkout process, we first need you to tell us your details so we can contact you if there is a problem with your order and also where you are so the program can calculate the shipping cost. There is a box on this page that allows you to enter any special notes or requests for our attention.

By clicking on 'Continue', the program will calculate the cost of freight and the next page gives you a number of choices as to which freight method you want to use.

You then see a further summary page showing the total price payable, with shipping included and, if you are an overseas customer, the GST component deducted.

Finally, you will be given the choice of method to pay, and if you choose credit card, you will be passed through to e-Way, our payment gateway provider.

If in doubt, call us...

We are happy to discuss your requirements with you, so either send an email to sales@hollywoodfoundry.com or telephone us on +61 3 5629 1100. Please check your time zone though, we are in Eastern Australia and do not like phone calls in the middle of the night.