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Engine casing (flat)


Kenton

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Once again I am going to deviate slightly from the instructions. Why ask for instructions? I hear you cry out. Well sometimes the experience gained indicates there are more than one approach to constructing some parts and this is another example. You have seen with the cab that I prefer adding flat detail to etches while they are still on the fret, or at least flat on the table. I have found that it is easier to hold parts in place flat rather than vertical when they tend to slip out of alignment or you have to hold a part across a weak surface that is prone to distortion.

 

I think the engine casing is just such an example. In the instructions, it is formed and built on the baseplate, the fuel tank wrapper and exhauster casing added before adding the casing door overlays. I shall proceed slightly differently. :)

 

When removing the engine casing from the fret be very careful several of the tags (I think there too many) are positioned along edges that are themselves half-etched. The part is deceptively complex with holes for handrails hidden in bend lines, holes for casing door handles and slots for casing door hinges. This is in addition the half-etched edges and the edges with the baseplate not being completely square. So be very careful when filing off any tag remnant.

 

The first thing to do is to punch out the rivet detail in the engine casing.

 

nb040dh_065.jpg

 

The casing doors were carefully removed from the fret, one at a time, tidied and soldered in their respective positions on the engine casing. It is important to note that they are orientated in a particular direction and this is mimicked by their positions on the fret.

 

They are quite difficult to align straight and to solder to the casing as there are no register lines and for some reason, that I cannot understand, there are holes etched out behind the doors. This means that only a very narrow land is left on which the half etched door has to be soldered. A very steady hand is required or they slide into the hole.

 

First the larger doors [38] are fitted as they are easier to remember which way round, followed by the smaller doors at the bottom of the fuel tank [39]. A handy trick is to mark the top edge of these with a marker pen before removing them- though I have to admit I couldn't see any difference one way or the other.

 

nb040dh_066.jpg

nb040dh_067.jpg

 

Next the small casing doors over the exhauster box are added [40, 40a]. They are not the same as the other small doors. The left leading door has a different raised square ventilator on it and is made from laminating parts [40a, 42 and 41] together over the same hole in the casing. Once again the arrow on the fret indicates which way is up. In case you are wondering where are parts 41 and 42? They are on one of the centre section cut-out of the baseplate.

 

nb040dh_068.jpg

Yes, I know, it isn't perfect - but that is the problem with these doors - even against a steel rule soldering them straight is not easy and all the parallel lines show the slightest deviation.

 

I then fitted the rainstrips [43] over the casing doors with the flange downwards. Another very challenging part to remove from the fret. These are worse than the cab window beading, (yes that is a Peco pin for comparison) as they are supposed to be straight.

 

nb040dh_071.jpg

 

The next step taken was the fitting of the casing door hinges [60] which are fitted in the slots between the doors.

 

Another problem here is that there are 10 casing doors yet only 18 hinges and 18 holes for handles. So one door has no hinges and one door has no handles. Examining the prototype photos I came to the conclusion that the two leading casing doors on the right side share their door handles, and the other large casing door shares its hinges.

 

The hinges, understandably, are about the smallest item on the fret and the fret tag is in fact the tab to be used to pass into the slot etched for the hinge, so be generous when removing these tiny parts. They are also half-etched and can easily be twisted. I have to repeat there are only 18 - NO SPARES - so watch out your workshop floor will become a magnet for them and you will spend many frustrating hours on your hands and knees trying to look for them.

 

They were soldered into the slots, soldering from behind and then bent over the respective door so that the half-etched side of the hinge faces outwards. The hinges on the doors next to the cab are particularly difficult as the slots only exist along the edge of the casing - a point noted earlier when filing the fret tags off this edge.

 

nb040dh_074.jpg

 

The final step taken before bending the engine casing into shape was the fitting of the door handles made from bent 0.4mm wire (which I ran out of). Again it is neater to solder these from behind.

 

nb040dh_075.jpg

 

Needless to say these took quite a bit of time and effort to complete.

 

The back of the casing can then be filed clean of any protruding wire and tabs.

 

At this point I began to doubt the wisdom of these hinges. They do look over size compared to photographs. I did try to insert them right into the slot but decided that was not the intention as they did not fit. If it was the intention the slots are undersized and anyway, I believe they would have been better represented by short lengths of wire. Looking at the built kit on the Judith Edge web site did not help as both the hinges and the handles appear to have been left off. The thought of removing them and replacing with lengths of wire does not appeal to me at this time.

 

So what was the score?

kitbuild = 16 carpet = 2 :(

so the hinges next to the cab were left off anyway and I will try to replace them with brass wire imitations when the engine casing is complete and installed on the baseplate.

 

.

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kitbuild = 16 carpet = 2

That's better than what I achieved so far with door hinges on the IKB 6-wheel coach I am building :rolleyes: At least mine came with plenty of spares :icon_thumbsup2:

 

Nick

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Feel free to attach the door etches before bending the casing - I just prefer to do it the other way round.

These NBL doors are very difficult, the separate etch represents the part of the door which is pressed out, not th ewhole door and unfortunately the handles are not in th epressed out part. This meant that I couldn't provide any register for these parts - I know it's difficult but I can't think of a better way.

The louvres are rounded at the top, as you say this is almost impossible to see but it might be noticed if some are the right way up and some not. It will be more visible when we get round to a 7mm version of this kit.

The hinges are not very easy to reproduce, it might be just as good to use a short length of wire in the slot where the etched ones fit - depends on the builder's ability to solder very small parts. You have incidentally fitted them inside out - all that should be visible on the outside is a thin rib, most of the hinge is inside. the half etched part goes through from the outside, leaving the full etch part as the hinge - no bending or twisting needed.

Your assumption about doors sharing hinges is correct, there are 8 on one side and 10 on the other. I'll make them more visible on the drawing and I'll have to think about making the instructions a little clearer. You can't see them on the website photo because they weren't on the test etch, I need to update these photos as I have built and painted two more of these locos recently.

See my earlier comments about using good quality shears for removing very delicate parts from the fret

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I guess my gripe was not really with the casing doors themselves in terms of a register. I just couldn't see why the holes were etched for them to fall into. They would have been easier to fit if the things hadn't kept dropping into the holes - ie. a flat side, no engine compartment holes.

 

The hinges are not very easy to reproduce, it might be just as good to use a short length of wire in the slot where the etched ones fit - depends on the builder's ability to solder very small parts. You have incidentally fitted them inside out - all that should be visible on the outside is a thin rib, most of the hinge is inside. the half etched part goes through from the outside, leaving the full etch part as the hinge - no bending or twisting needed.

I originally tried this and found that the part would not fit through the slot either from the front or behind.

I then interpreted - well I guessed - that they should be bent over. I guess I should have tried to open out the slot to make them slide through.

 

Yes, definitely wrong now that I have done it :D but at this point I just do not have the will to remove them. I suppose what I'm saying is that I don't think they look THAT bad from a distance - and probably no worse than the handles - another difficult task.

 

I think if I build another one of these I will go down the route of brass wire for the hinges and will make the handles from 0.2mm wire rather than 0.4mm.

 

Would it not have been possible to etch the hinges on the doors themselves?

Hindsight is wonderful.

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Someone asked: What does it now look like on the other side?

 

nb040dh_076.jpg

 

well it did until a few minutes ago.

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I can't put the hinges on the doors because they are not half etched, the hinges have to stand out from a full etch. i note your difficulty in getting them through the slots - perhaps you see why I don't like slot and tab construction. They fitted fine through the ones I built but not all the etches are the same.

The holes in the engine casing make assembly in the way I suggest much easier, you can get a soldering iron through them to tack the casing to the base and you can see what you are doing a lot easier with some daylight inside. I would have preferred the doors to be in one piece as with most of our kits but the NBL style would need three levels. Before you suggest it 3 stage etching wouldn't give enough depth to the louvres.

Michael Edge

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I can't put the hinges on the doors because they are not half etched, the hinges have to stand out from a full etch. i note your difficulty in getting them through the slots - perhaps you see why I don't like slot and tab construction. They fitted fine through the ones I built but not all the etches are the same.

Sorry I thought they were half-etched. The louvres stand out from the door face. so I was thinking that the hinge could at least stand out to the same extent as the louvre. Perhaps not enough to be true to prototype but less of a problem than both using wire or struggling with the slots. I should probably had a go at opening out the slots. But as you saw I interpreted them differently at the time. A mistake on my part that I fully accept.

 

The holes in the engine casing make assembly in the way I suggest much easier, you can get a soldering iron through them to tack the casing to the base and you can see what you are doing a lot easier with some daylight inside.

Yes, I can see that point now I have gone through the fixing of engine casing to baseplate. Though doing it the way I am building it, I think is easier with no worry about locking the baseplate to the footplate and do as much detail work on the flat as possible.. Well at least an equal alternative. Doing it the way you have suggested in the instructions with the addition of the casing doors after attaching to the baseplate would, I think, be even more difficult as at least I had a flat surface to work on and the doors were only susceptible to movement / shakes of my hand. They would tend to drop into the holes whichever way.

 

Of course there is still plenty of time for me to foul it up :D

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It isn't actually the door, just the pressed out centre portion with the louvres in it. the door joint lines are etched into the casing.

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