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What's on my workbench and other musings

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You can't get me, I'm part of the union ...

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

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Where's my Train?

These chaps got painted and made all dirty with black pastel tonight, all ready to crew the good ship Mikado     I've deliberately made the driver cleaner than the fireman and he sports a red neckerchief, the dandy   These are whitemetal (probably pewter) copies of the Hornby offerings that I bought off eBay ages ago. Will add a little more weight to aid traction

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Wheels level and springs fitted

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!  

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WD Austerity - details and sound

have had this loco in the operating fleet on Summat Colliery for years, bought from a fellow member back in early 2009. I got Roomey to weather it but forgot to add the detail pack etc. So as part of this project to add sound I also added the details.   The black plastic parts were fitted and toned down with PP Weathered Wood which is a pretty good match for Roomey's base weathering. The 247 Developments fire iron rack was fitted and blended in too. I removed the fake coal load and made the bu

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Warren Shephard O Gauge Sentinel

As the ABS Wagon is done and now to something to pull it. I bought a Lima diesel shunter cheaply off the forum some time ago, so it has donated it's chassis to the project.   Here's what you get with the kit, basically two sheets of etches, although I bought some buffers for it at the same time       As Fourgig is supposed to be a heritage railway I wanted to model a preserved Sentinel and GWR #2 "Isebrook" was an obvious choice. Here's the first problem with the kit - Isebrook has the

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Waiting for frames ....

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

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Uncoupling Refined

One thing that has been evident from operating my O guage layout Fourgig East at shows is that my makeshift uncoupling hook for 3-link couplings is a bit, well, poor, and I only have one of them so operators have to share!   Having seen 3 Link of this parish's "key idea" ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/50279-o-gauge-auto-couplings/&do=findComment&comment=579380) I thought I'd have a go. I first made a plastic mock-up with 1mm sheet and a bit of tube that I squirrele

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Trains4U Open Day Preview

For those of you who can't make it, and those of you who can, here's what will be making a guest appearance on Summat Colliery         I've got some more fiddling to do with the chassis and more weight to get in around the firebox/ashpan area but in appearance this is what you'll be getting on Sunday   UPDATE: CVs have been tweaked so we now have approx 4 chuffs per rev not 8 and the front smokebox shovelling plate fitted. We'll see what tonight brings .......

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The Postman Cometh

So the much hinted at etched valve chest covers from Pete Harvey of PH Designs arrived on Saturday, I've folded one up as a test and rested it on top of the Golden Arrow resin version for comparison.     Looks like Pete got them spot on, there's even a half etched lip at the rear of the lower edge to allow the cover to sit on the top of the cylinder body to give a slight overhang as the prototype   Big thanks to Pete for offering to do these without me asking, a real credit to Pete and t

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The leg bone don't connect to the knee bone ....

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

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The leg bone connects to the ......

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

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The first cut is the deepest

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

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The Duke's Plates

I received the plates for the Duke of Gloucester Saturday morning, Narrow planet have done a fantastic job, etching using thinner brass than for the 2-8-2 which has allowed a much better detail for the works plates etc.   Here's the nameplates fitted     I'm still trying to get the rest painted with white raised text etc, might not work due to the thinness of the etching, but I'll give it my best shot.   My large tin of pre-thinned PV72 satin varnish went off, maybe in the cold of the o

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The Duke Varnished

No, not vanished, varnished   Two coats of fresh PP satin varnish applied by 6 quid eBay airbrush, used just under half a tinlet, so the thinned varnish went back in the tin for next time     Will let it harden off overnight then commence assembly. After that it's coal, weathering (light!) then glazing and crew. Decoder will be a TCS-DP2X

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The Duke so Far

Well, work on the Duke will be suspended as I've run out of bits!   The ex-JE etched deflectors will be posted out next week, so I'm told. Chris at Golden Arrow is chasing his supplier for the missing buffers - he already has the cylinder drains.   So I thought a few pics of the current state of play might be a good idea.           I still havn't sorted out the cab details yet, although I have found a pair of Hornby crew that will do fine. Big question is how to fabricate the

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The Duke Ready for Primer

A quick snap before he gets taken apart tomorrow for the start of spraying     Grey primer first, then satin black, over which the green will go on after masking

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The Duke Ready for Lining

Well, the Duke is ready for lining. All the detail painting is done including some picked out pipework and the cab has a few touches of paint around steam pipes and the gauges are picked out in white with black pointers.     Tender is also ready, so there's really no excuse not to get the pressfix out is there?

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The Duke Finished

As promised some snaps of the Duke on Summat Colliery at the Syston Show. I took advantage of the sunlight on Sunday as you can see.             and finally, late in the day the ultimate express loco met up with possibly the ultimate mixed traffic loco  

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The Duke and it's Motion

Another bit of modelling required to fit the Caprotti gear to the loco drive Brit chassis. The rear motion bracket was really part of the whole weighshaft/reverser assembly so a new bracket was fabricated from plasticard as below     The cast gear is just pushed into place at the moment - final positioning will be done once the cylinders are assembled.   That front mounting bracket will need some mods too - I first thought that it lined up perfectly, but that might not be the case!   Tw

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The Duke and his Chassis

I'm still doing prep work and planning with this build. Chris' instructions suggest you start with the chassis so I've stripped the brit chassis down to it's drive wheels and coupling rods. Here's a quick snap of the first trial fit of the body on the chassis - it fits!     As I'm not using the recommended chassis there will be a few deviations from the instructions. I will not be using the resin front motion support bracket (part 3) as the cast lubricator supports will do nicely. The Hornb

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The Duke - Final Fiddling

71000 is getting ready for his before primer photo shoot   I've drilled out the chimney and finally sorted the air bubble holes with some gel type cyano (Screwfix Mitre bond - who says doing the kitchen can't help with the modelling )     and I've bit the bullet and fashioned the cab partitions behind the driver and fireman out of plasticard, also a representation of the fireman's seat. The driver as usual comes with a cast in seat     So, just waiting for the buffers from Golden A

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The Duke

OK, Golden Arrow Duke of Gloucester build starts now. Opening the box we have:     I've cleaned the loco body of the small amount of flash, needs a final fettle with some fine files to finish. There are a couple of air bubble holes in the chimney and a w/m replacement might be in the offing.   Similarly I might use some ex-JE etched deflctors now I've got the hang of them with the Clan and 2-8-2.   Tender is Chris' new BR1J and a fine moulding it is too - should match up to the Hornby c

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Test fitting the bodywork and other fiddling

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

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