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DLT's SR Locos - Lord Nelson Craftsman Kit


DLT
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At last an update on the W Class, theres been a bit of a gap in proceedings.

 

The valvegear is complete and fully functional. In fact it all went together without a hitch,apart from the Eccentric Rod (from the Return Crank on the crankpin, to the Expansion Link) being 2mm too long for some reason. I snipped the boss off the end and soldered it back on in the right position, before drilling a new hole for the rivit.

 

Fiddly though the valvegear was, the difficult bit was mounting it all on the chassis, and here again the chassis' U1 origin was the problem. The U1 has a higher footplate, and the motion bracket in the kit (a hefty brass casting) is the correct size for the U1, resulting in the lower footplate of the W sitting too high. I had to reduce the height of the motion bracket by over 1mm to get the footplate height correct.

 

The Expansion Link should poke up through a slot in the footplate; needless to say there wasnt a slot. The choice was to cut a slot and weaken the footplate, or reduce the height of the Expansion Link. We chose the later, although I still had to file away some whitemetal to create clearance for the truncated Link (see pictures) I will patch the footplate valance in order to hide this compromise.

 

The brakegear went together without too much angst, although mods were needed as it was designed for the larger-wheeled U1. I raised the level of the pull-rods (they were almost touching the track) but the brake hangers (set at U1 position) are too far away from the smaller wheels of the W. If I had realised this at the chassis construction stage it would have been easy to correct by drilling new holes at the right position and soldered the hanger-brackets on accordingly. At this stage however, such a mod would be a major task, so we've left them where they are.

 

Apologies for the lack of detail pics of valvegear bits, but I will do some when I dismantle it all again prior to blackening and painting.

For now though, the next job is to finish the detailing; handrails, safety-valves, and various other bits & pieces.

 

All the best,

Dave.

 

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Edited by DLT
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God that's lovely.

 

With regard to the difficulties accommodating the full-size expansion link / die-block, possibly this is where an etched footplate would have been more of an advantage.

 

SEF's method of dealing with the Maunsell Moguls, and tank engine derivatives, is a bit strange when it comes to the chassis department. The "River" tank (and possibly the "W" as well) gives you a pretty much all-singing, all-dancing chassis, with proper treble-layer expansion links/dieblocks (you could make the valve gear reversible), whereas the Mogul chassis frets show a bit of short-cutting.

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God that's lovely.

 

With regard to the difficulties accommodating the full-size expansion link / die-block, possibly this is where an etched footplate would have been more of an advantage.

 

SEF's method of dealing with the Maunsell Moguls, and tank engine derivatives, is a bit strange when it comes to the chassis department. The "River" tank (and possibly the "W" as well) gives you a pretty much all-singing, all-dancing chassis, with proper treble-layer expansion links/dieblocks (you could make the valve gear reversible), whereas the Mogul chassis frets show a bit of short-cutting.

 

Thanks very much, very kind of you to say so.

 

The valvegear etch in this kit is very good indeed, and as you say, the expansion link is truly three-dimensional. The etch does contain some alternative parts and is labelled U/U1, so my assumption is that the one etch does for all four Moguls, AND the two Tanks. Maybe the more basic Mogul etches you describe are older? The N kit dates from the 1960s, whereas the River and W are more recent.

 

I've been re-reading Tony Wright's review of the then new River kit, in Modelling Railways Illustrated, May-June 1995, and a lot of the bits look very similar to the W. (I think you said in an earlier post that they use the same boiler & firebox casting) So perhaps the etch dates from that period, and the opportunity was taken to replace the earlier Mogul etch at the same time?

 

Anyway, that my theory; and its consistant with the fact that the real locos were made up from various leftover bits!

 

All the best,

Dave.

 

PS Now to find out why some of my earlier photos have dissapeared. I know Andy has ben having a purge on oversize images, but mine were within the limits.

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I've just examined the etched parts again, the nickel-silver chassis etch is labelled "N/N1/U/U1" and dated 1992, and the valvegear etch says "U/U1", 1993.

Theres also a brass etch for bodywork parts, labelled "Class W Tank", 2002

 

My photos have re-appeared, hooray!

 

Cheers,

Dave.

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I've just examined the etched parts again, the nickel-silver chassis etch is labelled "N/N1/U/U1" and dated 1992, and the valvegear etch says "U/U1", 1993.

Theres also a brass etch for bodywork parts, labelled "Class W Tank", 2002....

 

Now that's interesting. Any chance of photos of those chassis etches (whether used or un-used), please?

 

Reason is because I've got SEF's chassis frets here for the "N/N1" and the "U/U1" - both contain EM spacers (but not P4), and have double- not triple-section expansion links. I'd be interested to see if the artwork has been upgraded / modified in any way since I acquired mine. The valve gear on mine is included on the same fret as the chassis frames, rather than separately.

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Photo of the etch (or whats left of it!) attached.

The fret on the left containing all the one-off parts (frame spacers, pony truck, etc) is the one labelled U/U1/N/N1

On the right are the two mirror-image frets containing the mainframes, motion and brakegear, labelled U/U1

 

They appear quite different to the frets in the River article, but of course there must be a difference; the front end of the mainframes are quite different on the 2 and 3-cylinder locos. So there must be two versions; one with frames for the N,U & River, and another for the N1,U1 and W. Or possibly three, as the River mainframes extend right to the rear of the loco, over the bogie, whereas the W frames end behind the rear drivers, matching the moguls. Maybe the etch is labelled incorrectly, and SHOULD read N1/U1/W as per the exploded diagram in the kit This is getting very confusing:(

 

The expansion-link is a one-piece etching which folds longitudinally to form the correct three-dimensional shape.

 

Not sure if this helps!

 

Cheers,

Dave.

 

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Having got the whole thing up and running, tested, demonstrated etc, I had to dismantle it again to blacken it all. I guess I should have done this before assembly, but I did want to see the whole thing in shiny bare metal. I took a couple of photos while dismantling:

 

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Blackening process consisted of a wash in meths (or whatever you prefer for degreasing) following by a swill in a jar of Goddards Silver Dip, to remove any tarnish and give it a really bright clean finish. Then it was straight into the Birchwood Casey for blackening.

First bits to be done were the cylinder block, bogie and pony. (without the wheels, these were done separately)

All of these will receive a waft of matt black from a Halfords spraycan.

 

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Next were the motion parts; the piston rods (along with the slidebars) were given a bit of a polish afterwards to show the sheen of moving parts.

 

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The next photo shows the valve gear parts and mountings: On the left, the main Motion Bracket is a hefty brass casting with etched yokes soldered in place to support the expansion link. To pivot and secure the link, I drilled right through and solderd a 14ba nut on the inside. Assembly is a bit of a fiddle, trying to pass a 14ba screw though the yoke, expnsion link and radius rod all at once, but it does give a very positive and secure mounting.

 

On the right is the yoke supporting the front end of the valvegear. From the yoke hang two U-shape brackets; these in turn support the front end of the radius rod, plus the combination-lever and union-link, both of which hang down vertically and attach to the crosshead. There is no physical connection between these parts and the actual valve-rod; this part is dummy and fixed to the cylinder block.

 

Comparing this photo with the assembled photos SHOULD explain how it all goes together.

Er, does all that sound clear and logical?

 

Next job is to clean, blacken and paint the bodywork

All the best,

Dave.

 

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These photos also show that the motion bracket is securely screwed to a frame spacer, whereas the front yoke only sits in place. (there wasnt enough room to screw it) When the body is fitted, the footplate holds it down, but a small blob of Blue-Tac is needed to stop it flopping about when the body is off.

 

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The whole loco has now been chemically blackened prior to painting, with the assistance of Mr.Carr and Mr.Birchwood-Casey. It looks a complete mess now, but at least if the paintwork ever gets worn off, the metal is black underneath, so no bright shiny brass showing through.

 

The brass blackens very well, but the whitemetal only seems to go darker and take on a generally mucky and spotty appearance. I guess this is because its harder to clean the surface of the soft whitemetal without destroying the surface and detail.

 

Out with the Halfords spraycan tomorrow.

 

Dave.

 

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That looks very even for a wiped on finish, did you dunk it?

 

It was dunked and brushed. Problem is that the brass and whitemetal re-act differently; the brass blackens much more quickly, and if you leave it too long it starts flaking off again.

 

Cheers,

Dave.

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This W model has been quite a marathon, but at last I'm on the home straight. Painting was allover matt-black from a Halfords spraycan, preceeded by a light waft of grey-primer. The only brush painting needed was the cab interior in cream, and the red buffer beams.

 

By the time these locos came to Exmouth Junction, they had been working tranfer freights around London; so in addition to the usual number and emblem, they were liberally festooned with overhead electric warning flashes. Transfers came from the HMRS BR Steam sheet in pressfix. These can be a bit lumpy round the edges, but they look fine when varnished. This not only protects them, but removes the glossy finish. To match the sheen of the Halfords matt black I mixed equal amounts of Humbrol matt and satin varnish.

 

Still lots of detail bits to be added; brakegear, balance weights, buffer heads, handrails, pipework, smokebox numberplate, cab doors etc. Most of these will wait till after its had a touch of weathering, probably just enough to lift the detail and give it a working appearance, without being TOO filthy.

 

Cheers,

Dave.

 

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Excellent looking finish. Superb look to the gear and I think this loco is a great work; Congratulations!

I'd be interested to see how you get your handrails sorted as I usually try to get them in (soldered from inside wherever possible) before fitting the SB door.

Sincerely, E. J'n. Banker.

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Thank you very much for your kind remarks Gentlemen.

 

I tend to leave the final fitting of handrails etc till last; I find it much easier to paint and weather without the handrails in position. The photos of this loco I've been working from show the handrails to be relatively clean from regular use, in comparison to the filthy smokebox wrapper.

 

Also, the bodywork comes apart in three pieces; the footplate, tanks and firebox are one section, the boiler barrel/smokebox another, and the cab/bunker the third. (see earlier in this thread) So some parts (ejector pipe and bunker-rear handrail) need to be fitted last as they fit to two separate units. Building a loco in sub-units like this makes painting FAR simpler, and its no more difficult to achieve.

 

The handrails themselves were all constructed on the loco: Once the holes were drilled in the smokebox, I threaded the handrail knobs onto a length of brass rod, and fitted them to the loco. While holding everything gently in position I quickly solderd the knobs to the wire. Then the complete handrails can be removed from the loco and trimmed to length, cleaned up, chemically blacked etc, and put somewhere safe until needed.

 

 

What can I say but "WOW!" If you start mass-producing them I'll take a couple! That looks superb, Dave.

 

:icon_thumbsup2:

 

 

 

Mass production? Not likely, not at the speed I work!

If you want a better W kit, then you could try gently lobbying PDK to re-introduce their etched version.

 

All the best,

Dave.

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hi Dave

 

I've just picked up this thread. Looks great. Good to see after the test run on Bridport Town.

 

Cheers

 

Hi Muds,

 

Thanks very much, weathering is now done, and all the final bits fitted. They say "The Devil's in the Detail" and was this ever more true than of loco building?

I'm really pleased with it, photos later this evening (I hope!)

 

Cheers,

Dave.

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So far so good, nice choice of number. One of the last two at Feltham, along with 12, were always found standing by the coal hopper in the last weeks of their lives. Never really filthy rusty, or brown, they always seemed to be an 'overall grey' finish.

 

 

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So far so good, nice choice of number. One of the last two at Feltham, along with 12, were always found standing by the coal hopper in the last weeks of their lives. Never really filthy rusty, or brown, they always seemed to be an 'overall grey' finish.

 

 

Hi Paul,

 

Thanks very much, it all fitted in very nicely really. The kit is designed for the initial, Eastleigh built batch of right-hand-drive locos, 31914 was the loco I seem to have found the most photos of, and it was one of the batch briefly allocated to Exmouth Junction (the destination layout).

 

The photo I've used most during construction shows 31914 in the banking engine headshunt by the level crossing at Exeter St.Davids.

 

Cheers,

Dave.

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Well, for anyone who'se been following this marathon thread, the W is finished at long last (sighs of relief all round) Ok, its still short of couplings, cab window glazing, and smokebox numberplate, but I think thats all.

 

A gentle weathering just to give a "lived in" working appearance was achieved by first dry-brushing all over with Humbrol light grey and a mucky brown, then some Carrs "Shades of Grey" weathering powders were brushed on. 24 hours later I washed it all off again, with white-spirit in a soft brush. I very gently wiped it with kitchen-roll and left it to dry. Smokebox and horizontal surfaces were left unwashed, and once I thought it looked right, I left well alone!

 

I've suprised myself with this loco, I think the finish is one of my best. Please let me know if you think its ok.

 

Thanks,

Dave

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Edited by DLT
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