100 hp Sentinel from RT Models Kit

[Arthur]

Having posted some photographs of the completed kit yesterday here are some notes on the build itself.

 

Here is the kit, I bought mine from Roberts stand at Warley, £100.00 for a complete kit requiring only solder and paint to complete;

 

 

The parts laid out, crisp, high quality etchings in nickel silver, quality whitemetal castings, a High Level gearbox, Mashima motor, flywheel and all the other bits needed;

 

 

and the body partly complete showing supports and former used to shape the bonnet;

 

 

Assembly is pretty straightforward, the instructions include exploded diagrams with numbered parts and only once or twice did I have to ponder over a parts location. The etches are accurate, folds are easily made along half etched lines, slots and tabs aid location and the nickel silver is a joy to solder. Some of the half etched rivet strip overlays are VERY fine, care needs to be taken not to twist or bend them. Options are included for the external or internal bunker fitted versions.

 

Here is the body pretty much complete;

 

 

 

The handles on the access door hatches are tiny, Robert doesn't mention them on the instructions but I had to have a go. I soldered in wires from the inside, slid the handles down them, spaced them from the body with thin card, solder, snip and file the wire flush. A tiny detail but they look right. The base of the chimney needed small flats filed on three edges so that it sat just into the roof aperture.

 

I made two changes from the kit instructions, both concerning the roof.

 

The rain channels are made from folding up an angle and soldering them to the roof edge, an overlay strip provides rivet detail. I thought they were too bulky, spoiling the lines of the roof. I removed them, used just a narrow strip to replicate the channel and added the rivet overlay strip to that. Looks better to my eye.

 

The other change concerns the locating of the cab roof. With the deep side overhangs it did just clip on but not that securely. I wanted something a little more robust. I'll post some detail photos tomorrow, but essentially I've used a bolt through the chimney screwed into a nut on the boiler.

 

There were two bits that I added which were not supplied, lamp irons from scrap strip, three fore and one aft, and the rather prominent sand box operating rod which runs between them.

 

The body complete and primed;

 

 

 

I'll cover the chassis and the models completion in the next post, in the meantime, this is where we're heading;

 

[Adam]

Thanks Arthur. This looks significantly more straightforward (as one might expect from Robert) than my ongoing negotiations with its bigger, squatter brother from CSP...

 

Mid-green is just right on these isn't it?

 

Adam

[Arthur]

Adam, yes, it's a pretty straightforward build; good fits, nothing over engineered and it looks right when finished.

 

I've been 'anguishing' over the colour for my steelworks loco fleet for a long time! I've tried a few options but have finally chosen Precision Paints Darlington Green. It looks good with the yellow lettering (well, in my opinion anyway!) and I like the way it looks when toned down with weathering. Having made this colour decision I'm currently in the process of finishing some other industrials which have been sitting in primer for quite a while......

[Barry O]

Arthur

that colour means Mike Edge might come a calling for "spares" for Cwmafon Iron and Steel Works..

 

Barry

[Arthur]

Yeah Barry, I did notice that when Mike posted photos of the Cwmafon fleet that there was a certain likeness in the livery....still, if it's good enough for Mike!

[Adam]

I quite agree. Most of my favourite greens are somewhere between apple green and pea green (Bulleid's Malachite Green stock liveries, for example). In this case, it's probably because the first colour pictures I saw of these loco's were of Road Reconstruction's fleet in the Mendip; these were a very pleasant shade of apple green so a bit paler and yellower than this. The extra brightness goes well with the wasp buffer beams too. I like the fact that there's a flywheel in the box too. I must get myself one of these...

 

Adam

[Arthur]

Onto part two.

 

This is the cab roof securing method. A bit of brass soldered under the chimney with a 10 BA bolt through it. A nut was soldered onto the top of the cast whitemetal boiler, I drilled and tapped down into the whitemetal so that I didn't need to worry about the length of bolt used. I had to miss off the exhaust tubes Robert supplies to fit to the boiler top, but in the gloom of the cab the bolt itself provides a suitable outline. I trimmed off pipes which were cast with the boiler and replaced them with thin copper wire. It just adds a bit of detail and relief in the cab.

 

 

 

The chassis is a simple fold up 'box'. Compensation is provided via an axle 'rocking' about a knife edge with bearings able to move a mil. or so up and down. Wheels are Gibson wagon wheels, Mashima motor and a large flywheel. The High Level gearbox, not too clear in the photo, is interesting. Robert tells me it's supplied for use in some other kits. It has the multi gear tower common to many High Level boxes, driving the rear axle, but included is a swinging extension arm. This has two spur gears in it and a final drive gear which fits on the front axle. So essentially you have drive to both axles with the ability for one axle to move vertically. It provides a very smooth drive and that big flywheel gives plenty of overrun when you shut off power. I did araldite some bits of lead under the chassis spacers, into the cab sides and bonnet front. The Sentinel copes easily with four Bachmann bogie bolsters, I haven't tried any more, but there's power to spare. It will move three of Roberts heavy, cast, slag ladles but not four. Then again, these don't have pin point bearings so are relatively stiff.

 

 

Primed from an aerosol and airbrushed with Precision NER green. The wasp stripes are my usual black decal strips over yellow paintwork. Lettering is from decals by John Peck at Precision Transfers printed from my own artwork and the Lancashire red rose an image grabbed from the web and printed on white decal paper at home.

 

 

 

Weathered with an airbrush, a varying mixes of matt black, gunmetal and leather, partially removed with a thinners dampened brush and finished withy some light weathering powders.

 

 

 

Busy with slag ladles at Lancashire Iron & Steels Barton Hall Works

 

 

and with a roll, still hot, from the works foundry

 

 

Finally, a time warp, idling with my recently repainted BSC liveried Hornby Sentinel.

[Adam]

I do like the comparison shot at the bottom. For those that think the new Hornby Sentinel is small... It highlights the added value the flywheel gives too (and that's large relative to the size of the loco); necessary to allow for variable pick up, grubby wheels and the like.

 

Adam

[Arthur]

Yes, that flywheel does make a significant difference. Robert has supplied one which makes use of the space inside the boxy body.

 

Adam, you'll be pleased to know that I've attended to those buffer shanks since most of those photos were taken!! You may be able to make out the greasy brown in the shot looking down into the cab.

[Captain Kernow]

Thanks for posting these, Arthur, superb work and you've convinced me that I also need one of these!

[RThompson]

I'm glad you've all liked the package provided with the kit.

 

As Arthur says there's plenty of room in the bonnet to provide a decent flywheel so might as well of provided.

 

This was the reason the gearbox was swapped around so a decent flywheel could be provided.

 

Sadly the next 2 loco kits look very unlikely to be provided with a flywheel due to the lack of room but will come with laser cut glazing to be push fitted into the spectacles and you can position them open!

 

If Arthur doesn't mind, when I get my diorama built hopefully next week i'll add mine built from a spare test etch but havnt built it's own chassis yet.

 

I'll show how my roof is secured which seems to work effectively.

[Ruston]

Excellent as ever, Arthur. I like the armour plate wagon too.

[RThompson]

well, err a long time since ive said i would post my photos, still not finished my loco and lightly weathered it. 

 

Been busy with work again sadly.

 

The roof has small bits of wire soldered into the corners that provide a friction fit inside the body work.

 

 

 

Will get round to building a external bunker version and may paint it midland railway red, when is another matter!

[5050]

A lovely little model from both of you.  I must admit I was very tempted at S4N at the weekend!