The first thing will be to butcher away those 'boiler bands', they are huge! I've posted an order for gear muffs today and have thought about starting to build the tender for the next locomotive. I'm quite happy waiting patiently for the results of these builds because I'm still undecided about the resin body kits.

Richard

I'm not sure it's the first thing to attack, as other problems are more accessible, but I agree that the boiler bands need to be removed (or at least reduced in size to "almost imperceptible").

Another change I intend to make in the construction of the 517 is to replace the cast handrails with home-made ones - I think I have some spare handrail knobs, so it should be fairly easy to make my own (and I think there should also be a couple of rails on either side of the non-existent doors). This was described as "an experiment that didn't quite work out", and conventional wire/knobs were included with the saddle tank kit (and worked quite well, though it was difficult to get the right shape for the curve across the front in that case).

For somebody with your metalworking skills (and equipment) I think making these models in brass would be a better solution - amongst other advantages, it would help with the weight (lack-of) problem. For my ability level, I think these resin kits are worth trying, but they do ensure that I aspire to better things one day...

David

Mikkel

Thanks for your comments.

The situation with the 517 body kit reminds me of Nigel Ashton's 48xx/14xx article in the December 2006 edition of the 2mm Association Magazine. He started with the Langley kit, and gradually discarded the bits that he disliked, replacing them with scratchbuilt versions. In the end, all that remained of the original kit was tank fillers, toolboxes and buffers...

I don't think my conversion will be so radical, but it certainly needs some work, and any replacements of resin by brass will help the weight (lack of) problem that I foresee for this loco.

David

David,

I looked at the 517 kit on the Dean Sidings stand at Leamington. I decided that it would need far to much work to be a viable option for me. As I saw it, for me, I would need to remove the whole of the cab / bunker assembly, remove the belpair firebox, give some attention to the boiler bands, remove and replace the boiler fittings with turned brass items, and probably replace the trailing wheel axlebox casting.

For this amount of work, I felt that I really couldn't justify the price tag (I think it was getting on for £40).

I will however watch with eager anticipation to see how you get on with your model, and look forward to seeing the completed model (I might then revise my opinion of the kit - don't get me wrong I think that for anyone who wants a 517 as something different to the 48xx/14xx the kit would be a good starting point, but for me it offered too much work and I think I would rather try to scratchbuild).

I do think that the 1701 class would be a better option for me, and I look forward to seeing your progress with that one too.

Ian

Ian

I can't disagree with anything that you have said there. I was expecting something rather closer to the 1701 saddle tank in quality, but when I compared the model to the prototype its shortcomings became apparent.

I don't have the confidence/skills/tools to tackle scratchbuilding myself, though I hope that will change eventually. Although somewhat expensive (as you say, it's nearly £40 in price), I hope this will provide a reasonable basis that can be fairly easily hacked into something better.

Some of the castings look OK to me - the dome, which is part of the main body casting, looks good, as do the toolboxes, and the fireman's shovel looks a bit closer to GWR standards than the 1701 fireman's shovel. Others look less good - the handrails look much too fragile, the buffers rather anaemic (both easy to replace), and the outside frames for the rear wheels can be omitted (many 517s had inside frames). The chimney also doesn't look totally convincing, but I haven't decided yet whether/how to replace it.

I intend to build a second 1701 kit - also acquired at Watford - but as a different variant. I am hoping to try the alternative 2mm chassis from Alan Smith (solid brass, rather than etched), but latest news is that it may be cancelled because it has "missed the boat".

David

David,

The Metro Tank that I am attempting to build is my first foray into scratchbuilding in metal. Many, many years ago I knocked up a GWR 39xx (2-6-2) to fit on an old Hornby Jinty chassis in plastic, I thought it was quite passable (I was a teenager at the time).

I have scratchbuilt wagons in plastic though, and I managed to make a reasonable 4 wheel PBV in card/gummed paper (2mm scale), but that got lost a long while ago.

One thing I will say about metalworking in 2mm is that because the parts are pretty small, the waste when a part goes wrong doesn't break the bank.

I have part turned the dome and safety valve for my Metro, using files and a drill (I don't possess a lathe), although my brother is an engineer so I ought to ask him to knock me some parts up at work really :-)

I am hoping to build a 1501 saddle tank at some point a la John Birkett-Smith

(http://www.small-but-perfectly-formed.blogspot.com/2009/08/locomotives.html). Kindly helped by Jerry Clifford donating a 57xx Farish body, I just need the time.

Ian

Ian

I have to admit I did something similar in the distant past too, in my N gauge days - I think mine was a Minitrix 0-6-0 to which I added various bits of plastic to create an imitation of a 45xx small prairie, though as I recall clearance problems left it looking rather obese, and not very much like the prototype.

The John Birkitt-Smith approach does have its attractions - filing away at a large lump of metal, though time-consuming, is likely to help with the weight (lack-of) problems which I expect my resin kit based approach to suffer.

Your suggestion of drill plus file sounds as if it should work for turning a replacement chimney for the 517, so I will look around for a suitable piece of brass and give it a try.

David

David,

I bought a lcouple of engths of 1/4" round bar from Eileen's Emporium - I bought one brass and one copper (for the chimney). I haven't tried turning the chimney yet. It takes a while but I think acceptable results are possible. The only difficulty will be shaping the base of the parts to fit snuggly on the boiler barrel of smokebox - with a lathe you would normally fly-cut these.

Ian

David,

I've put an entry in my blog to show the safety valve and dome that I've turned up in my electric drill. Hopefully it will give you a bit of confidence to have a go yourself - a turned brass item looks so much better than a bras painted one in my opinion.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-8832-2mmfs-boiler-fittings-without-a-lathe/#commentsStart

Ian

Ian

Thanks for your latest blog article - I guessed when I read it that it was largely aimed at me

I hope to pick up some suitable brass rod this weekend and have a try next week - the next instalment of my blog will relate how it has turned out (unless I get distracted onto describing coach-building and lining).

I agree that painted cast domes fall short of the highly polished finish of the era that we are modelling, so I hope I can produce something better, in a similar way to what you have done.

David

David,

It wasn't aimed at you in particular, it just seemed timely - I had already started turning parts for the Metro (it takes a little time so I had been unable to finish the parts in one evening - I was doing the turning in the kitchen with the vice attached to an old chair that I use for all manner of things, and the process isn't the quietest operation :-) ).

Since our discussion on here had gone along the lines of replacing parts on the 517 I thought it would be useful to put a blog together to hopefully describe how I made the turnings for my loco.

I'm not entirely satisfied with my safety valve so I think another attempt is in order. I hope you manage to produce some useful parts, it really is quite satisfying to see something that you have made yourself from a lump of metal :-)

Ian