Some may say that the recent server outage has lead to a jump in progress, but really I just found the time at home
So, armed with nothing more than a couple of bits of scrap etch soldered back to back, a file and an 0.85mm drill I started to fashion new union links for the 2-8-2.
note filed down fingers!
A quick go with the razor saw, unsoldering and final fettle gave me two nice new links
Took about an hour, as do most jobs with this build ...
Here's a photo of
This is getting a little silly, now the union link is too short, even though I've made the connecting rod 1mm longer than the drawing
The combination lever looks a little short too, but I think I can live with this.
No way round it, I've got to fabricate two new union links from scratch to the correct length. Not sure if the 2-8-2 link should be longer than a 9F item, but whatever, mine does. I'll tack solder two bits of scrap etch together and make both at the same time then thi
Rivetted the eccentric rod to the expansion link tonight, and much to my relief, it works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbxUvWMP5Ck
now for the conbination lever .....
Am I glad I fitted the return crank/eccentric rod before anything else.
It doesn't connect to the expansion link too well at all, in fact by 2mm
Looking again at the drawing (a lot!) leads me to the conclusion that the motion bracket/weighshaft needs to move back. The weight drawing of course shows a Britannia type bracket and I'm using a 9F one and there are differences.
One advantage of all this rework is that the valve rod will not need shortening and clearances underneath the
Not much done over the weekend, more kitchen hard labour and a trip to Alton Towers water park yesterday. We do however have the beginnings of the left hand side motion
Valve rod has been modified to have the forked end into the expansion link and seperate lifting link added within the fork. The valve rod is free to slide in the "forward" slot of the expansion link. in fact the whole lifting mechanism works as prototype at the moment
Return crank and eccentric rod next to see if
Had to post this!
got the bodyshell back from de Selby today - he's fitted new flush running plate vertical faces complete with rivet details etc.
Absolutely stunning, I really need to make sure the rest of the loco is up to this standard now
Progress at last. The Con-rods are connected to the cross-slides and cranks so the little beast has had a preliminary run in "GWR" mode
As is usual with an OO loco that needs to negotiate tighter than protypical curves much of the crank end washers have had to be filed away to provide the necessary clearance behind the cross slides. As usual I had to resolder at least one following the filing down process.
It will have a quick oiling and proper running in tonight on the rollers b
more like driven batty
The Accentric links proved to be the most troublesome of the motion rods to lengthen. Due mainly to the fact that they are a single etch and not laminated from two etches.
Long and short of it is that I had to lengthen them by approx 5mm so some re-inforcement was needed. Good job I have some 5 thou' phosphor bronze sheet to hand. The three bits of the lengthened rod was soldered to the sheet then the whole thing cut out and trimmed up.
Two rods done, two ho
Whilst I am waiting for the bodyshell to come back I spent a pleasant evening with some wet or dry finishing off the coupling and connecting rods.
You can see the additional section added to the con-rod at the crank end to lengthen it to 47mm. This is 1mm longer than the drawing - I made up a test rod from scrap etch to the correct length which proved a tad too short for the Comet slidebars
Just the accentric link to lengthen and then I can start assembling the motion. It will be
Been a bit busy recently with kitchens and ISO courses at work, but I've finally fitted one brake hanger to the chassis and it has become apparent that once they are all fitted the wheels will not come off.
This means that the chassis will need painting before the brakes are fitted. The hangers are glued to the frames in any case to isolate them from the live chassis sides, so no real hardship. I'll continue to fabricate them whilst I make a start on the valve gear.
One step forward, two
I've been fiddling with the motion support bracket over the last few nights. This little job has proved far more difficult than first expected due to the fact that it sits more over the #2 driver than a 9F and 9F's have smaller wheels!
I have had to solder in a section on top to re-inforce the bracket due to the large amount of material needed to be filed away from the vertical faces to clear the wheels.
So here it is, still with over long .7mm wires ready for all the fittings later
Well, there was a bit of frantic activity on the chassis front ahead of last Saturday's Member's Day. I decided that before I go any further with the chassis I had to prove that the live outside faces of the PCB frames with pickups soldered directly on behind the wheels would work.
I'd never seen this before and frankly was a bit of a flight of fancy spurred on by the fact I have loads of spare PCB material left over from JZ sleeper panels.
First effort, straight Pb wire about 8mm long a
As I mentioned in the comments of the last entry the cylinders got soldered up the other night. Well now they are fitted to the chassis
I had to add a small amount of packing to the front edge to get the correct angle for them. The original chassis design was based on a Comet Britannia front end so the angle was not quite right. A single strip of scrap etch from the cylinders kit was perfect.
Here's a shot of the loco with the body on
Note the cylinders are slightly too far
Ok, there wasn't really any doubt that I would have to shorten the body of the 2-8-2 was there?
so, after some careful marking out with my trusty Rotring compass/dividers, having worked out the cut width of the razor saw, two vertical cuts were made in the smokebox between the chimney and boiler join (note slight over cut with the saw marking the running plate )
The cuts were made here to preserve the rivet detail and superheater at the boiler join. Further cuts through the runnin
Thanks to Dave Holt for pointing out a glaring error that resulted in a massive gap between the rear driver and the firebox/ashpan. Turns out that I made a last minute change to the frame drawing when I compared the tracing with that of a Comet Britannia chassis. This threw the whole chassis forwards by approx 2mm (6" in the real world), but meant that the cylinders were at least in the correct place on the chassis.
So last night I unsoldered the rear mounting from the frames and repositione
not much progress this weekend, spent too long in the kitchen ripping off tiles and wall units ready for the plasterer on Wednesday
Finished off the front bogie and did a little more fetting with the boiler lower. Here's a couple of shots of the loco assembled so far
the second one shows an area of concern for me. I will have to fabricate the missing section of firebox bottom and grate so that it at least meets the frames (that shouldn't really be there). Ashpan might get so
Well, now the chassis is basically powered and on it's drivers the time has come to think about all the bits that will fit to it!
Firstly the front bogie has been assembled and a mounting fabricated from scrap Kemilway etch (you can still see the "KEM")
Must get that nut soldered back on for the weighshaft/motion support bracket!
The boiler lower has been trimmed up and placed on the chassis.
As the lower will need to be fitted to the chassis before the bodywork I thi
Got the right hand coupling rods soldered up last night, looking better than the left so might do some remedial work on the left set once the chassis is all set up and running....
So with a few bits of electical wire insulation on the crank pins to hold the rods in place power was appled to the motor
it runs, just. I did expect this, the crank pin holes were drilled 1mm which is barely enough to allow the pins to pass through. I will ream out these holes a little at a time working i
Managed to get the left hand side rods soldered up last night
and here's a shot showing how they are articulated
The photos are very cruel in showing up the joins etc. They don't look this bad in real life. I will put some more work in with the files and 1000 grit before they are finished though!
I've also fitted the motor/gearbox to the chassis. There is a problem here because as designed there is no side play in the Comet gearbox or drive extender. Result is that as it st
Got home from work yesterday and a package was waiting from Comet (thanks Geoff!)
So I kinda forgot about doing more connecting rods and waded into putting the DE38 drive extender together for the gearbox.
Here is is in all it's glory attached to the GB5 and Sagami motor.
I took Comet's advice and have not used the grub screws on either of the gears fitted to layshafts. a spot of superglue holds the layshafts in place and the gears are free to rotate on the shafts. This does see
OK, I've finally bit the bullet and started on the coupling rods.
The motion set I'm using as a base is a Comet Models LM43 9F set, however all the main rods - coupling, connecting and accentric are too short for the 2-8-2. As most of them are laminated I have to cut the front overlays and backing sections in stategic places and solder them up the right length with suitable filler pieces.
Below shows my mock up of the Comet drawing showing what I intend with the coupling rods
T
After two night's work we have the chassis looking like this
All eight wheels are in contact with the track, the centre two are a thou or two higher if anything, which is okay for good running. The Kemilway 8F dummy springs and axleboxes took far longer to fit than I thought but hey they are done now
Here's a shot with the wheels in place which goes to show just how pointless fitting the springs was!
Following a delivery of nuts and screws from EE's yesterday much progress ensued last night
We have rear pony soldered up and installed, axle bearings soldered in place, all frame spacers fixed, motion bracket test fitted and cylinder framing screwed in place.
Here's a photo of the loco sitting on the drawing, which pleasingly seems to have everything lining up so far
and here's a front 3/4 view
Keen observers will see that the drivers cannot be fitted at axle #2 pos
Soldered the first three spacers onto the frames last night, although the back one might have to move as I need a mounting point for the rear pony ....
Guess what I've got to assemble next then? yep, the rear pony. Same applies to the motion bracket, I need to at least fold up the main etch so that I can determine where the fixing screw for that will be, then put a frame spacer in the right place.
This make it up as you go along design and build is not as easy as you think
Cyl
Well, the frame jig spacers are being made so while I wait for them I've been playing with some other bits and bobs
I've built up the Comet GB5 and fitted it to the Sagami motor I bought from the Captain ages ago. After an extensive running in session it's running nice and smooth. Lovely dinky little gearbox and only 8mm wide, which is good for this project!
Only problem is the motor is not so narrow and will foul the frames. I need to add a DE38 drive extender, so more money for Ge
