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Phil Mortimer's Workbench - 4mm scale and 7 mm scale - South African Class 91-000's


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I've been tied up with "real" work for the past few days, so haven't made a great deal of progress. The re-inforcing plates have now been added to the buffer / pilot beams and things look a lot better for it. These were not fitted to the real SAR loco's, but since in my universe, these loco's were an additional order for my own loco, I justify it as a locally applied modification! And apply rule #1. Sorry, don't have any photo's at present. The re-inforcing plates were made from some thin brass strip. 4 pieces were soldered together and filed to size. The slot for the coupler was made by chain drilling along the centreline and then opening out with a file. If I'd had access to a mill, I would probabaly have used a slot drill. After seperating and cleaning up, some careful alignment and measuring was required to get the re-inforcing plates into the correct position and then they were zapped with the RSU to finish the soldering. I will be honest here and state that I royally messed up the first set I made and had to make a second set, which are the ones fitted. But the loco's look better for it.

I just need to finish off the last of thye air hoses now, and then the pilot work is all completed. 2 more (thin) hoses need to be made and fitted, and so need to the holes drilling in the pilot to accept them. Not sure how to make these - maybe some plastic coated thin wire?

The SAR loco's have distinct small plows bolted to the front of the pilots. I haven't been able to find anything suitable and am not at present sure how to make something, so these will probabaly be added later on after painting and finishing.

The next thing to do is fabricate the headlight housings and drill the holes for the working head lamps. Have been pondering on how to do this, but not quite worrked it out yet.

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I have basically finished the work on the pilots now. The final spigots were added for the two air hoses that drape underneath the coupler. These hoses are quite prominent on the real loco's and so needed to be added. The spigots were made from 20 thou brass wire, bent to shape and soldered to the pilot. Soldering was a tricky operation due to the small size and awkward shape and the fact that I installed the hose spigots in the wrong order,which made life more difficult than needed. The RSU was very helpful here. The actual hoses are small pieces of wire insulation pushed onto the spigots. The photo shows some temporary ones added to test the concept, which seems OK, but the real ones will be added after painting. The hoses will have glands added to the ends and will be tied up to the coupler pocket using some thin armature wire twisted to appear like a chain. I'm not sure what these hoses are. I think they link the independant brakes (i.e. the locomotive brakes, not the train brakes), as per North American Railroad Practice, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone can enlighten me?

So here is a picture of the finished pilot

34828673653_51c1844840_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

Appologies for the bad photo and the shadows - the sun was strong this morning, making photography difficuly. I notice that I need to tweak the twin brake hoses on the front and rear of the loco's more to the vertical!

Also apparent is that the big gap in the pilot has now been covered with the (non-prototypical) reinforcing plates - this makes the front end look a lot better now.

I'm now working on the headlamp housing, then it is just the horns and rear hood hand rails and ladder that needs adding. I''ve been holding off installing these until the end to avoid damaging them whilst handling.

Edited by PhilMortimer
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Not much done on these over the weekend I'm afraid. But I did have a very good reason.......

I was down a coal mine and then I found these!

IMG_1545_zpsp68oqgl0.jpg

IMG_1556_zpsxaaibcs4.jpg

IMG_1580_zps3e3qsz79.jpg

I did get the hood handrails bent up and ready for soldering after we got back, but not permernantly soldered into place. I intend to get these done this evening and then make up the ladders on the LHS of the long hood. I'm still ponding the head lamp fittings as I don't have any suitable material in stock at present to make them from.

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Handrails on the long hood soldered into place last night. Rails were made from 20 thou brass wire bent to shape. Spacer used to hold the rails from the hood at a consistent distance. The only tricky bit is the very long rail at the radiator end, which has an intermediate post. This has to be butt-soldered to the rail. Three of the 4 rails were done successfully. However the last one wouldn't fit properly. Job for tonight I think.

Now need to make the radiator header tank steps on the LHS of the long hood.

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Not had a lot of time to work on these, but have completed the long hood handrails, as well as the rungs on the LHS of the long hood. These are all made of 20 thou wire bent to shape. The ladder rungs on the LHS of the long hood (to reach the radiator header tank) are of a slightly different design to those on the real things, which are of a U- shaped design. I have made mine more conventional appearance because it was easier. In my universe, these are a local modification made by the railway in the light of experience. The the rear facing horns have been added from very nice HO scale brass castings for a Nathan K2 Chime. The small grill in the door panel near the hood has been started by drilling an approriate hole and squaring it off with a file. The grill still needs to be added to the inside.

Finally both bodies were scrubbed with Bar Keepers friedn to remove stains, flux and greases and to clean up the loco's. They were then sonicated and left to dry over night.

35598248526_2a848fd842_b.jpgCl91_16 by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

Final items left to do before prepping for painting are front horn and bracklet (above drivers side of cab), lamp irons on the nose front and hood rear, and the bloody headlamp housings!!

Edited by PhilMortimer
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Just a quick update. Added the rear handrails either side of the door in the rear end of the long hood. Again made with 20 thou wire bent to shape. These were a little tricky to fit, particularly the upper fixing points, due to the presence of the sandbox recesses befind the end panel, The lower ends of each hand rail was soldered inside the body as normal, but the upper end had to be soldered from the outside and subsequently cleaned up. Not to bad - just used 100 degree solder - worked like a charm,

 

Making up the brackets for the front horn mounting (fits over the drivers (RH side) front window.

 

There will then be a pause in the build, as I'm awaiting some 1.5mm x 2mm brass strip to manufacturer the headlamps. This is virtually impossible to find here in North America, so I will order some from Eileens and pick it up when I'm back in the UK in June. I still have the underframes to work on, including finishing the bogie sides and manufacturing the fuel tanks, as well as adding underbody details. I had hoped to have the body work finished and ready for painting, but think it's best not to rush.

 

So this thread will go quiet for a while, as I will be returning to work on the garratts in the immediate future.

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OK, I lied. I have started to make up the headlighjts, as I'd like to get the bodywork on these finished. The garrats will have to wait a bit longer!

I'd been putting these off, as the headlamps are quite distinctive, being rectangular boxes with the lights mounted on them and glare shileds on the lower front ones, as seen in this picture

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/train_modellers/ngloco/91/91-013%20(14).JPG

I was unsure of my ability to make a good rectangular headlamp mount by cutting and filing (oh for a mill) and so had been putting this job off pending obtaining some correct dimensioned strip. But in the end I didn't do such a bad job cutting and filing by hand. It helped that i!.

The headlamp housing is made from 1/4" x 1/16" brass strip, accurately cut to length using the chop saw. These were then soldeered to some brass strip for manipulation and the edges tidied up, along with the font faces, to make sure they were perfectly flat (the strip used was cold rolled and the surface had a slight curve to it.

The positions of the headlamps were marked up and drilled, to give the following result (still attached to the brass sheet)

34828673773_9078e443eb_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

I just need to work out how to make the glare shields and then these can be affixed to the loco's.

I'm actually quite pleased with how these worked out. Once the loco is painted, I will install LED lamps to make the headlamps work.

Edited by PhilMortimer
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Well, the front head light clusters are done and after a struggle, fitted, as shown in the photo below. One would have thought that positioning a piece of rectangular brass with two holes in it, onto a flat surface, would be easy, but it took a long night and several solder / de-solder attempts to get a good fit, with everything square and lined up properly. I was having an off day!

Anyhow, the main light clusters have now been fitted and drilled out through the cab to accept LED's. I have yet to fit the anti glare shades as I have no idea how to do it. It may be an approriately sized piece of straw or glue soaked paper rolled to shape. Or I may say forget it if it is too much work.

35598248576_0b2898ae5e_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

I am now making the rear light cluster (on the end of the rear hood). These are of a slightly different design to the front lights. (Looking at pictures of these loco's from new, I think they had the same design of light cluster on both ends of the loco, but at some time, the cab front ones were replaced). I made up some blanks ready for drilling this weekend, but it has occurred to me that I still have some ready drilled spares that I made from teh front lamps that may be usable instead. I will try these out tonight.

I didn't get as much work done this weekend as I fell off a horse on Saturday. It wasn't his fault and whilst I haven't broken anything, I was quite sore all weekend, which severly curtailed my modelling activities.

Edited by PhilMortimer
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Not much to report. Rear headlight fitted to one of the loco's and drilled through to accept LED's. The other made an attempt to escape and I spent a good while on my hands and knees looking for it on the carpet...... It was eventually recaptured, none the worse for its brief spell of freedom. Too late to fit it after that, as it's a bit fiddly to get everything lined up. I will fit it tonight. Then just the front horns and bracket to make and fit.

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So we appraoch the end of the bodywork build.

A good weekend allowed me to attach the front horns after making up their mounting plates (which was a fiddly little so and so to work with). The horns are HO castings and may not be quite the correct type, but what the heck. It is one of those fittings that could have changed with time and my particular loco's are freelance anyhow! The cab door locks and handles were also made up and fitted - more fiddly work. At this point I thought I'd finished, but then noticed that the loco's have lamp-irons front and rear. I had contemplated leaving these off, as I couldn't find any etched ones ofg the correct shape, but in the end fabricated some from Phosphor bronze strip. These await fitting tonight. The only thing then left to fit are the rain strips above the cab doors, and then we can do the big cleanup and get the loco primed. The upper radiator grill and the small one in the bodyside on the longhood will be attached after painting.

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Lamp irons attached last night. Fiddly, but not particularly difficult. Just time consuming. Looking at the loco's in the cold light of days this morning, I think one on the nose of one of the loco's is going to need repositioning. Otherwise, all is fine.

Will look at adding the rain strips tonight, but if i can't fit it to my satisfaction, it will be left off. Sometimes, less is more.

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Picture of the nearly complete front and rear ends.

34828673843_1845165c59_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

Not a lot different from previous pictures, but note horn added on LHS of cab top, and lamp irons on front and rear hoods. Formed from 1mm phosphor bronze strip. The lamp irons are small, but I think a useful detail that liven up the hood ends (same with doing the sandbox fillers). Also added are the surface mounted door locks and handles. Compare the models with pictures of the the front and rear of the real things (from SA transport Site)

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/train_modellers/ngloco/91/91-013%20(13).JPG

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/train_modellers/ngloco/91/91-013%20(16).JPG

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/train_modellers/ngloco/91/91-013%20(1).JPG

The horns on the models are a slightly different type to that fitted in reality, not projecting as far forward as the real thing. This was because I couldn't find the correct castings (at least readily available). Still, it's one of those details that couuld have changed on real loco's at some times in their lives.

Still to see if I can add the rain strip above cab door, which I will attempt tonight. If it goes on, great. If it doesen't, so be it. Either way, this will be the last bit of bodywork assembly prior to painting. Then onto cleaning and painting. Marker lights at the top of the rear hood and cab front will be added from beads after painting.
Edited by PhilMortimer
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So I decided to dispense with the rainstrips over the doors. Even using 10thou brass wire, they would have been out of proprotion and there was a high risk that a lot of etched detail would have been flooded with solder.

So, instead, the bodies got a good clean with barkeepers friend, then a rinse and deep clean in the sonicator, in preperation for priming. They have been left to dry overnight and I hope to get the first coat of primer on tonight.

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Just a couple of pictures showing the bodywork is now in primer. I'm always amazed at how priming the loco's brings all the bits together and harmonizes them.

Couple of smal items need dealing with - most notably, I seem to have missed two hinges off the lower middle doors of one loco. These will probabaly be put of with a dab of CA rather than remove the paint and solder, though i would prefer soldered attachment. Otherwise, it looks amazingly clean. The bodywork is sprayed both inside and out to prevent any oxidation and tarnishing.

35598248706_16a9066e21_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

34828673963_4bd93d3256_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

I'll probabaly let this harden for a week or so beefore commencing the topcoating.

I'm rather pleased with how these are turning out.

Edited by PhilMortimer
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  • 5 months later...

Finally got round to replacing the photo's on this topic after the photobucket debacle.

 

Missing hinges added with CA. Now getting ready for topcoating - just trying to work out what order to proceed. Livery will be dark green with black roof and foot plates, red buffer beams. Thinking of doing the black first (also pre-shading the grills), then the green and finally the red. Alternative would be to do green all over, allow to dry, then mask off and do roof and footplate in black, followed by red buffer beam / drag beam.

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Just a quick Picture showing the loco with the black parts painted. Actually, it looks like it's mostly black - probably should have done the whole thing in black to start with......

 

38039770702_2a50211558_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

 

Waiting to get some lining tape to mask this up and then spray the green.....

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  • 11 months later...

Gosh!! Almost a year since I did anything to these. Still, the paint should be hard enough now for masking and spraying!

 

Anyhow, yesterday, due to poor weather, I started masking these up for the green top coat. Took about 2.5 hrs per loco. One complete, one just needs a little more work. Hope to complete tonight and iff I'm lucky, I might even get teh spray booth set up!

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And here are pictures of the diesels masked up

 

45576459892_c603619c9e_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

 

44902524574_44fcbec54a_b.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

 

Sprayed Humbrol #3 (Dark Green last night, diluted ~ 60 40 with white spirit. To be honest, I'm not that happy with the outcome. Looks like it might have to go for a swim in the paint stripper and start over again. Not happy with how the paint finish is. Not the first time this has happened with me and reminds me that I increasingly distrust Humbrol these days.

 

Will look at it again when i get home tongiht and decide......

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I guess that one advantage of working in a chemistry department is that I have access to a range of solvents not normally available. Most of the green has gone and the black and grey undercoat is coming off. Need to give it a good scrub with the tooth brish to get it back to the bare brass. Some of the hinges have come off as expected - will need to be re-soldered on once all the paint is off. Will go into the sonicator tonight for additional cleaning.

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Well, finally got everything stripped off - that Rustoleum primer was a pain to remove! Anyhow, stripped back to brass, replacement hinges soldered on. After washing, sonicating, then cleaning in acetone an allowed to dry, a nice light coat of primer was blasted on. A few hours drying time, and the first coat of green was sprayed. This was Rustoleum Dark Hunter green satin. A good coverage was achieved and allowed to dry overnight. A second coat was added before work this morning.

 

I'm pleased with the finish - it looks good, nice and smooth with all the details showing. I will now leave it a couple of weeks, before adding the black to the roof, underframe and running boards, probably in separate steps to ease the masking.

 

Sometimes, the rattle cans just work out quite nicely.

 

Pics to follow when i take some tonight after work.But I feel good right now.

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Back to Brass.......

 

45050670534_f563273032_o.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

 

 

And into Green after priming. The green appears to be much lighter than it is and a bit washed out in the photo due to the use of flash. It's actually dark hunter green, simmilar to Brunswick green.

 

30835779597_da290b4816_o.jpg. by Phil Mortimer, on Flickr

 

 

These will now sit for a few weeks to allow the paint to harden (I'm on travel for the next few weeks anyhow), before masking up for adding the black roof, underframe, etc.

Edited by PhilMortimer
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