barrowroad Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Hello Barrowroad, I'm still following your blog with great pleasure. Will we see any Brits on 82E? I've a picture somewhere of one on the outer sidings in green unlined livery. Flying Dutchman might even make an appearance in the future:) Robin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 A superb piece of weathering. It really sets it off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrySVR Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Stunning modelling Brit is fabulous well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) Time for a change. 70018 has been coaled up and is now in the display case where I keep most of my locos. It does still need a suitable crew. Next up on the workbench is 6846 Toddington Grange. This time it's a marriage between a Hornby body and a Malcolm Mitchell chassis. This is the same formula as I used for Totnes Castle but I am hoping that this one will be a little easier. I started as usual by measuring up body and chassis and transferring this to Autocad. This enabled me to see what modifications were needed to marry them up. Fortunately not too many. The biggest potential problem is the thickness of the plastic footplate compared with the brass one under which the chassis is designed. Rather than chop an enormous amount off the side frames, I opted to let them come up tight inside the footplate and reduced the over width footplates accordingly. Obviously, I couldn't do this at the front end, so here the chassis was reduced in height. This would still have left the cylinders standing high, so the underside of the footplate was grooved to take them. The final task was to take a small amount out of the slot in the underside of the boiler to make room for the Mashima motor. The springs were removed from the front two axles which will be compensated. There appears to be a error on the positioning of the holes in the frames for the compensation beam. I have therefore moved them higher and will use my own design of beam instead of the length of brass rod as designed. This work is illustrated in the following photos: Edited December 10, 2015 by Killybegs 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Apologies John, Just catching up after some medical issues. I do feel your weathering is spot on, as we had quite a few Brits visit the old G&SWR lines towards the end of their working life when they looked to be in similar condition. There is an excellent Derek Cross photograph in the book published posthumously by his son David of one which looks quite like yours. I'll try to root it out this week if my memory allows! Wonderful workmanship as ever, and I'm looking forward to the next tutorial! Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Apologies John, Just catching up after some medical issues. I do feel your weathering is spot on, as we had quite a few Brits visit the old G&SWR lines towards the end of their working life when they looked to be in similar condition. There is an excellent Derek Cross photograph in the book published posthumously by his son David of one which looks quite like yours. I'll try to root it out this week if my memory allows! Wonderful workmanship as ever, and I'm looking forward to the next tutorial! Kind regards, Jock. Thanks Jock. I hope your cancelled op had been reprogrammed and all goes well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 More progress on the chassis this week. Yesterday the basic chassis was assembled on my Avonside Jig. The hornblocks/bearings provided are rather large and needed reducing in size to fit in the guides (also provided with the kit) and to fit in the jig. More worryingly the two rear coupling rods were not exactly the same length, I guess the artwork must have been hand drawn. Adjustments were made accordingly. Otherwise it all went together nice and square. Today I started added some modifications. Three additional frame spacers: two (together with captive nuts) to carry the electrical pick-up pcb's and one to carry the brake shaft bearings. The instructions say to solder these to the inside of the frames but they would clash with the spring overlays. They are also further inboard on the prototype. These extra spacers also reinforce the chassis at a point where it is rather weak. A captive bolt has been soldered in place to take the cylinder assembly and a bearing plate for the bogie (along with a captive bolt) has been soldered to the underside of the chassis. This is reinforced with a couple of lengths of brass rectangular tube for extra rigidity. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Evening John, Looks like we are about to be treated to another demonstration of exceptional model engineering! Thank you once more for sharing it with us. Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Fascinating stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 More worryingly the two rear coupling rods were not exactly the same length, I guess the artwork must have been hand drawn. Adjustments were made accordingly. Interesting...which route did you take to make the adjustments? I've come across this a few times, each time I've taken a different route to alter the coupling rods. Never come across it on a MM chassis though, to be honest, I would never have thought of checking a MM chassis as they're such a quality item...usually. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Interesting...which route did you take to make the adjustments? I've come across this a few times, each time I've taken a different route to alter the coupling rods. Never come across it on a MM chassis though, to be honest, I would never have thought of checking a MM chassis as they're such a quality item...usually. Mike It was a very small difference. I tweaked the jig until it was equally tight on the two rods then reamed them out slightly until they both came on and off the pins without forcing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 Malcolm Mitchell's bogies really are little works of art. This one isn't quite finished as I have a few more modifications to make. There are cross members to go in to take the spring wires for the sprung suspension and a bearing plate to be added to the top once I have established exactly how thick it needs to be. I can't do this without the drivers in so I need to get on and prep my wheels. Modifications already made including slotting all the holes for the axle bearings and making a new top plate as the slot for the central pivot was too wide as etched. The new plate is soldered on top of the old one which forms part of the central bolster. Well, technically, under it I suppose. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 The bogie is now finished, as is its mounting on the chassis. From my measurements taken from the etches prior to starting construction, I reckoned I would need 0.50mm of packing between chassis and bogie and that's exactly how it turned out. Two 2.0 x 0.5mm n/s strips were soldered to the bearing plate on the chassis. The bolt heads on the half etched overlays on the top of the bogie were filed off and the gaps between the two etches were filled with some scrap 0.25mm brass before the top surfaces were polished. The photo of the completed bogie shows the spring wire suspension and the guard irons that have now been bent to shape. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted December 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2015 Malcolm Mitchell's bogies really are little works of art. This one isn't quite finished as I have a few more modifications to make. There are cross members to go in to take the spring wires for the sprung suspension and a bearing plate to be added to the top once I have established exactly how thick it needs to be. I can't do this without the drivers in so I need to get on and prep my wheels That bogie really is a work of art. If only the bogie were available on its own, would be a significant improvement on the RTR part. Seeing it has certainly made me think to try and source the Mitchell chassis to go with the Mitchell Manor body I'm half way through building, rather than the cheaper simpler route from comet I was considering... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted December 22, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 22, 2015 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Last update of the year, just to prove I have been doing something over the Christmas period. The first two pics show lead added to the firebox and a styrene filler added to the slot in the underside of the boiler. The next three show the work on the cylinders. Although the cylinder assembly is bolted to the chassis, it cannot be removed once the slide bars are soldered to the motion bracket as the latter is slid into slots on the bottom of the main frames. I did find that the slide bars were a little too short to match the location of the motion bracket . The 'jaws on the latter was also a bit thin and too far apart for the slide bars. All these problems were solved by adding a short length of 1 x 1mm angle to the jaws and tweaking the bracket forward a little. The cylinder wrappers needed a little modification so that they could fit under the thick footplate. After forming the wrappers to approximately the correct profile, I found it easier to start fitting them on the flat top of the cylinders and then working down. The excess wrapper was then removed 'in-situ'. This did mean that the etched holes for the drain cocks didn't sit exactly at the bottom of the cylinders but, as they didn't line up with the etched overlays, this didn't really matter anyway. The last pic shows the cylinders with the tops removed as well as the lead ballast 'fore and aft'. You can also see the brass angle that supports the motor. Edited December 31, 2015 by Killybegs 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) .... I guess the artwork must have been hand drawn. .... I corresponded with Malcolm Mitchell some months ago, and he said in passing that, yes, his artwork from that period was generally hand-drawn. Compare and contrast with Martin Finney's 100% CAD. ....to try and source the Mitchell chassis to go with the Mitchell Manor body I'm half way through building, rather than the cheaper simpler route from comet I was considering... The Mitchell Manor (artwork for which is now lost; David Geen says he never had it when he took on the 4mm scale range) and Grange share the same chassis etch. Edited December 31, 2015 by Horsetan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel newling Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) I corresponded with Malcolm Mitchell some months ago, and he said in passing that, yes, his artwork from that period was generally hand-drawn. Compare and contrast with Martin Finney's 100% CAD. The Mitchell Manor (artwork for which is now lost; David Geen says he never had it when he took on the 4mm scale range) and Grange share the same chassis etch. Just for information - I have been in discussion with Brassmasters to see if they can separate out the Bogie and Pony Truck artwork from the MF archive as I would like to improve on the 72XX chassis kit. Apparrently it may be "possible" to create these as detailing kits so a few extra votes may bring them up the project priority order :-) Edited January 12, 2016 by nigel newling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Work continues on the Grange. I basically followed Malcolm Mitchell's instructions but did have a few hiccups. The holes in the large end of the con rods are etched oversize (about 0.2mm). I can just about live with that, any more and I would have had to drill them out and sleeve them. The coupling rods needed thinning down to fit the Ultrascale crankpin bushes on the front drivers. I am used to having clearance problems between front crankpins and cross heads, on the Grange the crankpin just kisses the back of the con rod on a 1200mm radius curve. There was a bit of filling to do prior to applying a coat of primer. Tab and slots needed filling (where not covered by the frame overlays) as the slots are a little over generous. Likewise the slots for the motion bracket and the cylinder assembly. There were also gaps to be filled around the slide bars where they enter the rear face of the cylinders. I wonder why frame overlays are not provided forward of the motion bracket? I decided to hand paint the chassis to save on masking but forgot to do the tender chassis at the same time. Now I will have to make sure I match them. Bah. I decided the etched front sand boxes were a little thin so added an extra layer of 1mm styrene to beef them up. While hacking away at the Hornby body a while back, I damaged the lever to the front sanders so decided to replace it. Looking at photographs, it seems that Hornby, not having a preserved Grange for reference, assumed that it would be the same as on the Manors, the chassis being very similar. Not so. The Granges had a straight rod as opposed to a curved bar arrangement. This is supported by a bracket between the front and middle splashers. I have replicated this as best I can with some 0.4mm brass wire and a handrail bracket let into the underside of the boiler. Having removed the original nameplates in their entirety (they came off fairly easily), I needed to find a suitable way of fixing the replacements. In the end I used brass lace makers pins (where would we be without them!) glued into holes drilled up through the splashers. This entailed removing some of the 'footplate' to get access and filing off one side of the pin heads to get the pins as close to the face of the splasher as possible. They are still about 0.5mm too far inboard but this was cured with a couple of styrene packers glued to the rear of the name plates. I think I will leave the name plates off until after the body is weathered, although I will weather them at the same time. That way I won't be left with clean bits behind them. The following pics illustrate some of the points mentioned above. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Morning John, Thought of you over Christmas as I was thumbing through David Cross's lovely book of plates from his father Derek's photography on the Glasgow & South Western Railway lines. Although I was looking for something else, I came across a couple of images of Brittanias from around 1963, and if anyone doubts your weathering talent (I seem to remember a couple of comments some pages back!) then you can refer them to these shots which make your efforts look very accurate indeed! The Grange is coming on well, model engineering of the highest order. Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Both tender and loco chassis have now been air brushed as have the wheels. I should have done the exposed axle ends while I was at it, something else to match up. The front and middle drivers were already assembled, so they are OK, as were the tender wheels (not that you can see the axles!). Remember the mismatched coupling rods? I did have to open out the holes for the crankpins on the rear offside rod to get smooth running. Now that I know that it is running smoothly, I can tack the cosmetic springs in place to retain the front two sets of driving wheels. Next up is current collection and then the brake gear. When I am happy that everything is running well under power, I will finish off a few bits on the body and weather that. Yes I know it came weathered but it's not dirty enough for its role on Worcester! 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 One very quick job that can be done to improve the look of the Grange is to thin down the rear edge of the roof. I found the overly thick roof very noticeable in the last photo that I published. The edges of the roof are painted green on the model so need changing to black. Before and after ...... I also painted the handrail black, but I think I may remove all the paint and chemically blacken it. Another little thing is to thin down the smokebox number plate, making it vertical at the same time. One could take it off completely, but the etched replacement I have is slightly undersized and needs a backing. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted January 17, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2016 Very nice John. The etched chassis is a huge improvement. Kind regards, Nick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Holt Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 ...and the thinning of the cab roof. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 I can't believe that I have been faffing around with the brake gear for nearly two days. It's basically as per the kit except that I filed down the wires where they sit in the etched recess in the brake beams and soldered the pull rods on top rather than underneath. I also thickened up some of the joints and added bolt heads. The section forward of the front brake beam was scratch built from n/s and brass wire, tube and strip. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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