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4mm/00 Falcon Brass ROD, The Boiler & Smokebox

5XP

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Well onto the boiler and smokebox, the boiler even comes pre rolled! ah the luxury from Falcon Brass.:rolleyes:

In all seriousness it is rolled nicely and is a very crisp and clean etch.

 

I started by soldering the seam of the boiler tube then added an etched disc in the centre to hold its shape, after that I rolled up tightly two pieces of Lead (Courtesy of the roofers:rolleyes:) weighing 150 grams each which were then placed either side of the centre disc, when happy I soldered a further disc at each end to both hold the shape of the boiler and keep the Lead in place as the etches are painfully thin the loco is as light as a feather.

Shown here is one half of the Lead weight prior to being placed forever into its innards:

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The first smokebox wrapper was then soldered in place, I deliberately trimmed the end to stop it from butting up against itself, note the centre line to line up the boiler fittings and the smokebox front:

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The smokebox front and outer wrapper:

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The smokebox front soldered in place, note the centre line corresponding with the boiler centre line, the dome is just there loitering awaiting its moment of glory...

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Pressing out the rivets on the outer smokebox wrapper by hand, I really fancy one of those rivet press tools that Kenton was tempting me with earlier on his blog :icon_cool:

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Soldering the outer wrapper in place:

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The chimney and dome are now soldered in place along with the brass smokebox door which is out of shot:

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The boiler now assembled up ready to be soldered to the footplate/cab before final details are added, I chose to Araldite the boiler tube to the firebox so not to have the four laminations of the firebox front go to sh*t and start to separate:

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Darren.

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5 Comments

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Rob Pulham

That looks excellent Darren, all I seem to hear are negative comments about Falcon Brass but this looks to be coming along nicely. I have a couple of wagon kits and a L&Y Railmotor in the to build pile. I hope I can do them the sort of justice that you are doing. I look forward to seeing more as work progresses

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5XP

Thanks Rob, Although nowhere in the league of modern designed and etched kits it really has been a pleasure so far and as long as you appreciate this it goes together alright with a bit of patience and care, the instructions are by far the major problem in the kit as there are no exploded diagrams, not all parts are mentioned and as to the parts being referred to or the orientation it takes a bit of guessing and re reading of the instructions to figure it all out:blink:

 

There are some compromises to build it to 00 as well.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the Railmotor.

 

 

Yep Miss Prism Carrs 145/water based flux from "Building O Gauge Online"/Antex 18 or 25 watt depending on the mood I'm in.:rolleyes:

 

I also use the 25 watt for whitemetal as I'm too impatient to wait for a temperature controlled iron to melt the 70 degree solder.:blink:

 

Darren.

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Kenton

Some very neat soldering - I'm impressed.

 

You mentioned that the brass was thin. I was once told that was a plus point of Falcon kits because it makes it easier to fold and bend.

 

It is so easy to criticise these kits (I know I'm as guilty) but it is always worth remembering that they are nearly all very old by todays standards, were drawn by hand and the instructions typed on an old portable typewriter (or something representing one)

 

The colour of the brass really is that red ? or is it just my PC playing up again :D

 

Must say Araldite is a bit like cheating though ;)

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45609

Some really nice work Darren. I will be following this Blog with interest. The GCR/ROD 2-8-0 is one of favourite locos.

 

Cheers....Morgan

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