hartleymartin Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Go on, I'm keen to see how this one works out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Go on, I'm keen to see how this one works out! So am I! Just waiting for someone to invent the 36 hour day! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 (edited) Whilst on my hols on the Isle of Wight, I had a little free time in the caravan on the odd rainy day. The (sort of) Canal class moved on a little bit. Jobs done were-- Fix boiler/cab/tank unit permanently to the running plate. Add handrails and footstep to tank fronts Add extra steps to running plate. Fill cut-outs in the front/rear buffer beams (need to fill/smooth/shape these) Make up and fit a smokebox dart. Prepare dome and chimney castings for fitting. There is still loads to do and the dome/chimney/sandboxes aren't yet fitted and were only plonked in position for the pic.. The main work is done now and even though there's a few wonky bits it's starting to look nearer to what I want it to look like! More soon JF Edited October 4, 2015 by Jon Fitness 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Highlight that spring with some weathering and plonk down a toolbox on the running plate to help disguise the lack of daylight under the boiler. I reckon that she's just about ready for some paint! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 It's getting near. Lots of pipework and lampbrackets and things like that. The buffer beams need quite a bit of work and I need to remove the sandbox below frame level at the front. JF. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Well, I'm cutting this a bit fine aren't I? Having been busy on other projects, this chap got sort of shunted into a siding. So, what remains to be made/fitted? Tank fillers Lifting brackets Lamp brackets Steam pipes from behind the safety valves down to the injectors (through the tanks) Injector overflow pipes Little steam pipe from cab to smokebox (probably for the blower) Oil boxes by the front springs Remove the sandboxes from below the running plate at the front Fit the previously made bits and bobs Splash a bit of paint on it...simples! The tank fillers and lifting brackets were made up from circles of plasticard and various bits of rod/strip A steam manifold is fitted just behind the safety valves. This is the steam feed for the injectors. 2 rods extend towards the cab for the valve wheels and the pipes feed down through the tanks. I also added a little bit of wire to locate it on the safety valve stand. It was made from copper wire and brass tube. Amazingly , it fits and is removable so I can paint the loco and fit it afterwards. A small steam pipe for the blower was made up from 15A fuse wire and a bit of fine tube and soldered to the smokebox. Injector overflow pipies from copper wire and a strip of brass. These will be fitted under the tanks after painting Here's all the bits on and the body sat on the chassis. After some careful masking up to protect the cab interior a good blast of Halfords primer was applied. Doesn't look too bad! If I can ignore all the little difficult to fix faults on it, I'll get the black on later today!! More soon JF 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJon30 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Nice, that's come out really well. Rgds Andrew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted December 30, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 30, 2015 Looking great. Now how does the winner get picked? Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Looking great. Now how does the winner get picked? Andy G Well, my vote goes to this one! Cheers JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Well, my vote goes to this one! Cheers JF You are to kind, there are some lovely models in the competition. Yours looks good, especial now all one colour. It has brought it all together. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 You are to kind, there are some lovely models in the competition. Yours looks good, especial now all one colour. It has brought it all together. Thanks for that Pete. I've got the black on, the name and numberplates as well (from the Ixion fret) and I've taken some pics in the workshop. I'm hoping for a bit of sunshine today (haha!!!) to get a better lit pic or two outside as my indoor pics are a bit rubbish! If it doesn't shine I'll have to put my dodgy workshop pics up! My vote goes to yours for the sheer amount of scratchbuilding that you've done on it. A true loco "build"! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Right, here we go! I got the black paint on (Halfords Matt Black spray), repainted the buffer planks and fitted the pipework. Once all the paints and glues were dry, I re-fitted the cab spec glasses (they were a good push fit) and stuck the name/number/worksplates on with double sided tape. Eager to "have a play" I fitted the body to the chassis and plonked it on the track. Sadly the chassis turned out to be a dud! I took the chassis apart and checked everything. The wiring loom for the chip was damaged so I removed it and wired the motor direct to the pickups The pick ups were bent so they were removed, straightened and re-fitted. 2 axles were out of quarter and loose on the plastic bushes, so I re-quartered and loctited them The 2 middle tubular/tapped crankpins were split so the crankpin bolts fell out after a few trips up and down the test track. I replaced these by pushing a 12BA bolt through the back of the wheel and fastening a nut against the crankpin. I thinned the nut down with a disc in the minidrill. Once I'd done all this it ran very nicely. Serves me right for buying dodgy second hand Ixion chassis'!! Anyway the sun actually shone for an hour this morning so I took the opportunity to grab a few pics... And just to show where I started from.... I think I can tick the box on this now! Great fun and I'm planning my next one now..Something with outside cylinders maybe? Oh well, back to the signals..... Jon F JF 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted December 31, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 31, 2015 Well done Jon. Looks good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Looks good to me, Jon. I don't know which Manchester Ship Canal prototype your loco is based on* but are the rods jointed on the central crankpin correct/plausible? They are correct for the original Hudswell Clarke model but they are most unusual. David* Is this it? Edited December 31, 2015 by Isambarduk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Looks good to me, Jon. I don't know which Manchester Ship Canal prototype your loco is based on* but are the rods jointed on the central crankpin correct/plausible? They are correct for the original Hudswell Clarke model but they are most unusual. David * Is this it? Well it's only a rough approximation of a Canal class 0-6-0T. (I can't see your pic as Flickr is blocked here at work) There are many differences between the real thing and my loose interpretation, the wheel size and wheel base being the main ones. I set it out to be a fun conversion, just to see what I could do with a few scraps of brass and plastic and the odd casting or 2 and the boiler/smokebox assembly was my first try-out at a bit of scratchbuilding. I fancied a side tank and something based the Canal class was the first thing that came to mind as there was a few familial resemblances. Using the Ixion chassis totally unmodified was one of the things that made it easier. I had more of an issue with the damaged crankpins and rather soft and bendy coupling rods than whether they were of the correct pattern. Having a bit of fun and not worrying about the finer details took me back to enjoying my modelling rather than stressing over whether anything was "right" That was the important part. . Your Ixion conversion is in a different league, a thing of beauty and an inspiration to boot. Maybe one day I can hone my skills to something of that quality but I'm more likely to worry myself into an early grave fretting over whether I've applied the correct size rivets! Cheers JF 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 That is a lovely looking loco now. It has changed beyond belief from the original. Although as you say it is not an exact copy of the canal class it certainly looks the part. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Looks good to me, Jon. I don't know which Manchester Ship Canal prototype your loco is based on* but are the rods jointed on the central crankpin correct/plausible? They are correct for the original Hudswell Clarke model but they are most unusual. David * Is this it? That's better I can see it now I'm home from work. A very nice picture of a Canal class in early Condition (clean!!).JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 That is a lovely looking loco now. It has changed beyond belief from the original. Although as you say it is not an exact copy of the canal class it certainly looks the part.Thanks Pete. Challenge met with hours to spare methinks!Jon F. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Jon, Yes, I take your point about your skilful creation being a loose interpretation; absolutely fair enough. "I had more of an issue with the damaged crankpins" Ah, I had completely forgotten about that part of the design, the crank pins integral with the wheels and some not properly formed. However, as they have a tapped hole through them, they are easily be drilled out so a proper crank pin may be fitted. "rather soft and bendy coupling rods " Really? I didn't use them but I didn't notice that; they seemed very nice to me and I'd use them if I had a use for them. Thank you for your complimentary words on my Ixion HC but it, too, is only an interpretation as there are quite fundamental compromises that many modellers would not tolerate (eg wrong wheelbase and overall length, which leads to other dimensional inaccuracies in the tank, cab and so on ... as for correct sized rivets - not me :- ) but Humber (www.davidlosmith.co.uk/GCR_Humber.htm) more than satisfies me! David Edited January 1, 2016 by Isambarduk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Thanks for that tip with the crank pins. My hudswell clarke started dropping one of the crank bolts. Was gong to just lock-tite it in, but when I took them off for repainting, I found that the holes were nor properly formed (over a year after I bought the thing) so I'll probably just drill them through and use a small BA bolt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Do it as a write up for a magazine. I'd love to see it published. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Do it as a write up for a magazine. I'd love to see it published. Dead easy. The crankpins are hollow right through the wheel. I used 12ba 1/2 inch bolt or set screw pushed through the hole from the back of the wheel. The crankpins should still be very slightly proud of the rods. If so, simply screw on a nut and tighten up. Snip off the excess bolt and carefully file or grind the end down thinning the nut in the process. If the crankpins are damaged enough to be below the surface of the rods as one was on mine, cut a very short piece of tube to act as a spacer and add before putting the nut on. Just check that the nut doesn't tighten against the rod,only the crankpins or spacer. Mine took about 5 minutes per side. Happy new year!! JF. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrushType4 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Just caught up with this Jon. Thats a really nice conversion. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 On 01/01/2016 at 01:48, Jon Fitness said: Right, here we go! I got the black paint on (Halfords Matt Black spray), repainted the buffer planks and fitted the pipework. Once all the paints and glues were dry, I re-fitted the cab spec glasses (they were a good push fit) and stuck the name/number/worksplates on with double sided tape. Eager to "have a play" I fitted the body to the chassis and plonked it on the track. Sadly the chassis turned out to be a dud! I took the chassis apart and checked everything. The wiring loom for the chip was damaged so I removed it and wired the motor direct to the pickups The pick ups were bent so they were removed, straightened and re-fitted. 2 axles were out of quarter and loose on the plastic bushes, so I re-quartered and loctited them The 2 middle tubular/tapped crankpins were split so the crankpin bolts fell out after a few trips up and down the test track. I replaced these by pushing a 12BA bolt through the back of the wheel and fastening a nut against the crankpin. I thinned the nut down with a disc in the minidrill. Once I'd done all this it ran very nicely. Serves me right for buying dodgy second hand Ixion chassis'!! Anyway the sun actually shone for an hour this morning so I took the opportunity to grab a few pics... And just to show where I started from.... I think I can tick the box on this now! Great fun and I'm planning my next one now..Something with outside cylinders maybe? Oh well, back to the signals..... Jon F JF Apologies for the thread necromancy! I now have a rather sad looking spare Hudswell Clarke which has given up lots of parts to keep other ones going. I am planning on doing a similar Canal-class conversion, but I do have to ask: What dome and chimney did you use? Everything else I either already have or can obtain locally. The only two parts I need to obtain are the chimney and dome. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 On 08/04/2023 at 17:24, hartleymartin said: Apologies for the thread necromancy! I now have a rather sad looking spare Hudswell Clarke which has given up lots of parts to keep other ones going. I am planning on doing a similar Canal-class conversion, but I do have to ask: What dome and chimney did you use? Everything else I either already have or can obtain locally. The only two parts I need to obtain are the chimney and dome. Ah, I raided the infamous bargain bits box on the Agenoria stand at a model railway exhibition. That's where the smokebox door came from too. I think they were all "seconds" from one of their Hudswell Clarke kits. I don't think it would still be possible as the Agenoria range passed to Ragstone Models although it maybe worth contacting them.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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