Entry posted by Jon020
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Well, here’s my first 2011 progress update. So, when I last posted an update, I’d just finished the cab steps. I’ve now moved on a little and have completed (bar the brake levers) the bodywork (unless anything else crops up... and some bits will be fitted after painting such as the side window surrounds, headcode surround and ETS modules, buffers, horns (to be detailed) and w/screen wipers
So, I’ve fitted the backplates to the buffers and fitted the ladders to the nose ends (a nice little etch but a little tricky to work out what all the bend lines are for... so I looked at some photos and made some guesses). These ladders are extremely (relatively) robust once secure... much better than the earlier ones, and are provided with a large plate at the top to attach to the inside of the nose. In hindsight, the plastic is a little thick here and a little tinning prior to fitting might have been wise... but they look ok.
I then had another go at repositioning the windscreen surrounds as they looked a little high. They were dropped less than 0.5mm, but it does look a bit better. I’ve decided to keep the existing windscreen transparency and this I attacked with a file to remove the silver surround and then T-cut to polish. A layer of Kleer will be added to enhance this. To make this fit nicely within the etch surround, I cleared away a little of the plastic inside the windscreen surround pillar... and top area... and a little between the panes on the transparency and along the top. This allows it to sit slightly further forward in the hole... flush with the etched frame. A complete replacement will be tried if there is a next time ;-)
ETS modules. Ok... these were scratch built from a combination of plastic rod, plasticard (evergreen) and brass wire (0.4mm, 0.6mm) and 0.24mm steel wire.
The upper module was tackled first... If you’re modding a model with this fitted, you can be excused this stage (or most of it... you’ll need to add the wires)... just check that yours is the right way up... they’re upside down on my 55013... and I saw a them upside down on a 55015 on an auction site recently too.... easy to correct though.
For this model (Nimbus) Bachmann didn’t provide them (like the green ones) so a new unit is required to be fitted to the shawplan etch bracket.
The upper unit is made from a 0.2mm rod thinned to about 1.1mm OD, and then various plastic bits tacked on. The bottom part is thinned further and a hole drilled into the bottom – to an eventual ID of about 0.6mm clearance (0.7mm in this case) and a 0.6mm brass wire inserted. Make sure the hole goes almost to the top of the module (inside most of the body) to give it the necessary strength when being handled... to short and it might snap the unit in half. Yes, that has happened to me. You can use elastic to give flexibility instead, but I like the robustness available using the wire... which you can then use to hold the module for positioning, wire mounting pin fitting and painting. To finish the module, a small hole of about 0.4mm, is drilled into the rear, into which a small length of 0.4mm brass wire is inserted... to be used to attach it to the loco nose and bracket.... a 0.4mm hole drilled through the etch hole, into the plastic too. Finally, the small cable to the side of the module is added... attached by drilling a 0.35mm hole (smallest drill to hand) into the side, stuck in and then bent about 1mm outside the body to run back to the body. A brief check on positioning, and a hole can be drilled into the body to accept this and allow a secure connection once necessary.
The photo shows my notebook sketch... yes, it does look a bit like Bender or Homer doesn’t it.
The lower ETS modules are a little different and will be squeezed in onto a platform under the back of the buffer bodies inside the nose corners... just inside the nose ladders... this was a squeeze and I eventually filed the bodies back a bit... and a further clearance check will be necessary... but for now, the basics.
Again, the photos shows the assembly basics, made from thinned 2mm plastic rod and plasticard, 2 layers laminated to a box section for each unit’s body. A little 0.2mm wire was used on the front of the right hand side units to represent the covers.
The roof fan grills were completed with the attachment of the ladder units, all of which are thinned a bit whilst in the etch – aim for a round cross section, and then the middle plate is added... all attached to the grills with a drop of Zap-a-gap Pink (thin).
Time to attack the chassis. First some clearance checks. The lovely buffer beam etches were removed and folded to shape... just the two main pieces for now, I’ll add the coupling reinforcing plate later. I had to cut the outer sections of the beam off (outboard of the outer angles) as I was using the Hornby class 50 buffers and as these haven’t been repositioned the gap’s a bit tight.
The existing buffer beams were cut off the chassis and the new ones dropped in position. The body was lowered on... and didn’t fit. Ahem. My guess is that Brian has made the etches to fit the resin nose section... so he should have. However, as I’ve stuck with the existing nose sections, the plastic is a bit thick and didn’t have the necessary space... Solution was two-fold. Firstly, I thinned the plastic in the nose section between the buffer beams. And this helped a lot... but I didn’t want to take off too much as strength needs to be retained here... and it was hard work! Whilst this enabled the body to be dropped on, it was still very tight, so I used my mini drill to remove some etch material along the front edge... which solved the problem. A trial fit shows it’s now ok.
Yesterday, my Ultrascale P4 wheels turned up... and lovely they look too. With a little trepidation, I took the bogies off the chassis and unclipped the side bearers... and the wheels just pop out... the rear ones being trailers they just lifted off their sprung point... don’t lose the spring! The new wheels just drop in... and it’s done. Now I need some track. Must place an order!
Finally, I removed the bogie tower upper mount and thinned down the side supports and central spigot to reduce the chassis ride height – I’ve done a blog entry on this before, but removing the small pieces to reduce the height allowed them to be paired up to check balance and get a finer finish, which I’m happy with for now.
I removed the NEM socket to prevent it clashing with the AWS strike plate, and a further clearance check showed everything seems ok... but I’ll recheck this once the bogie towing eyes are fitted – they might get close to the nose ladders if I’m not careful.
Ok... finally, I wondered whether a reporting headcode might look nice on this blue-un... and as I’m going for an early/mid 70s loco, it’d fit the time period... so I dropped a Precision label code into the frame and tried a couple of shots... I’m thinking that it might stay this way as I think this looked really quite nice... and I’m satisfied that this is beginning to look nice... it’ll look better with pipework added... and I need to decide whether to make my own again.. or get some cast ones (not worried about fragility as this will only really end up on a diorama or depot layout... or on someone’s nice layout if they want to try it someday.
Well, I now need to concentrate on the chassis. Are the bogies really too wide? Is the water tank too wide meaning that the fuel tanks need repositioning? All questions that I need to find answers to before moving ahead further. The bogies may be about 2mm too wide. How do I narrow these? I recall seeing a topic doing a 37 or a 50 bogie – but where was that? As for the fuel tanks... I can’t tell at the moment whether they do need to change... and/or how I’d do that. Do I also bite the bullet and put a speaker in it whilst I’m there????? Questions questions questions. Where would we be without needing to find answers.
Anyway, that’s enough for now. I hope you enjoy my report. Now, I must get some primer.
Edit 17-1-11... Just realised that I used the same headcode as George Dent did in Model Rail No. 125... unintentionally. 1A16... very much the Down Flying Scotsman in the 1960s... but I think it was the up Hull Executive in the 1970s... I stand to be corrected... so it's ok for this Blue loco... and I think that the choice of alpha numerals makes a big difference - this one works well. Nice also to see that Gordon Highlander returned to traffic at the weekend on the ELR... nice photos on the RSG site. Funny that this also carried the 1A16 code for the day... for slightly more obviously nostalgic reasons with her in Green... Well done Martin and team for this achievment.
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