A class 9 loco with class 4 coal capacity was never going to work, also the twin axle rear bogie kicked out beyond the rear buffer beam. The end of the bunker was cut off where the footstep indentations were on the bunker tops and then slits cut to separate the sides from the coal load and supporting structures. Two scrap bits of plastic were cut to the right size to splay out the sides so they were parallel and more supports glued in to hold them. A steel rule clamped to one side helped to get
So another damp cold Saturday allowed me to get all the track laid on the centre board. The adjustment the screws allowed for at the baseboard joints worked really well - allowing for the differences in alignment that somehow crept in between mine and Santa's workshops 😉
Just need to wire up the centre board and then we at least have a layout for the Mansfield Show 🙂 Didn't take long for George to move in though ...
The lack of power does not deter
The Hymek took a turn on Fourgig East at the Mansfield show and after a few initial hiccups performed well. I quickly learned that due to the large overhang the loco could not shunt wagons in the goods sidings - buffer lock was the order of the day. So one of the shunters took over these duties whilst the Hymek simmered next to the camping coach.
Traction was also an issue, ok on the straights but couldn't get more than two wagons and the brake van into the goods loop. It was happier
As most people (me included) will spend their time looking down on the Hymek I thought that the roof deserved more attention than say the underframe. Sadly this is the weakest part of the Triang model, apart from the roof section joins everything else is either wrong or missing!
So first to the fan grille, which should be offset by quite a margin. Existing grille filled and flattened and then a card template made with a 38mm hole fixed in place to mark out the new hole
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
Another PH Designs custom etch with some fancy Slater's bits has made an appearance on the workbench
It's O gauge again but distinctly West Midlands ........
peter220950 will know what this is for
Luggage racks now have their netting - strips of carefully cut up mozzy netting bought off eBay. I have enough netting to do the racks from the entire Slater's production until the end of time
AND FINALLY - the door ventilators are fixed and I've also cemented the top plastikard strip in place. I hope to start drilling and tapping said strip tonight to take the roof lamps which will hold the roof in place.
I'll be getting that paint out before you know it
It was far too flippin' hot to work in the loft/workshop/man cave today, so this evening I decamped to the patio to get the last three footboards folded up for the Slater's coach
And jolly successful it was too, all folded up, but I ran out of light before the axlebox cut-aways were filed in the final lower board. A job for tomrrow
Well, a huge thanks to David at Slater's as a package with a replacement sprue was waiting for me when I got home - I only posted off the stamps yesterday, so he must have trusted me
So the truss rod, support, axleboxes, springs and footboard hangers fitted tonight on the other side
also here's a shot of the gas cylinder and vacuum cylinder work from last night
buffer shanks and footboards next, then finish off the delicate bits underneath before (hopefully) a coat of pai
After another couple of sessions we have a rolling chassis (well it would roll if I free off the bearings - a job for when they are removed for chassis painting)
I'm deviating from the order of things now as I will be making as start on the springs, axleboxes and footboards next. Save the delicate underpinnings until all the heaver engineering is done
The job is much easier with the brake third handy as a reference
Quick before and after, I've started removing the detail from the nose ends of a much played with (by me!) Lima Deltic ready for application of the Craftsman DP1 conversion kit. Note poorly applied white window surrounds that will have to be stripped back before painting and holes drilled in the headcode boxes for some long since gone home made directional lighting ....
Before
After
Anyone want a spare "Meld" nameplate, only got the one, send an SAE and I'll pop it in the p
Here's the Lima bodyshell stripped of all it's nose detail ready for the conversion kit bits to be added.
I've given it a quick waft of primer to make sure all is smooth, which highlighted a crack in the roof that I did not know about - EMA Plastic Weld to the rescue
I've set the tender aside for now, fall plate might need adjusting once connected to the loco, but that is to come ...
Bodyshell was fettled and filed, this took much longer than the tender, but then it is a much more complicated casting. It cleans up really easily and what initially looks like a bit of a dogs breakfast very quickly looks the business.
The blower and duct/tunnel cover was scraped off with my trusty Swann Morton #10 and smoothed off. The cab backhead etc was epoxied in pl
Chassis matched up to the Dapol body at last
needed to nip a little bit out of the chassis sides to clear the angular webs that link the Dapol tanks to the body sides and then used a bit of Hornby handrail wire bent in a long C section inserted into two 0.6mm holes in the Dapol tanks to hold the sides in place. I will add a keeper plate over this wire secured with screws to the underside to stop the wire from dropping out in service. The fit is so good that I am minded to not bother wit
The following image shows the plastic chassis frame from the Donor Bachmann deltic following an attack with razor saw, large file and 120 grit wet or dry
I started by razor sawing off a section from the ends of each tank end to reduce the overall length of the tanks so that they fit within the "lip" on the inside of the Dapol sides. The tank side faces were then sawn off as close to flush with the frame sides as I dared. These sides were then filed flush and the bottom edges of the ta
As the title says, a quick update on this weekend's progress. Chassis has been modified so it sits inside the Dapol body. I intend to keep as much of the original fuel tanks and weight as possible so more shaping etc is required to get the body sides fitting correctly.
Once the chassis frames are done I'll sort out some fixing lugs inside the body so that the original screw fixings can be used. After that I need to find some way of holding the body sides to the chassis as they tend to b
Roof is now done and glued in place so now my attention has turned to the next challenge - the bogies. I'd decided to use the Dapol bogie sides as the original Bachmann ones on the donor chassis were the wrong type. So armed with my mighty Swann Morton #10 the BM bogies were reduced to this
the brake gear etc actually just pops out being secured to the frame by pins etc. Then these bits were removed from the DP1 bogie sides
and the bogie cemented up using the correct ends. The
Still gathering parts for the Mikado so I'm trying to get a push on with the DP1s. To that effect the roof of the Dapol kit is receiving attention thanks to the A1 models etched grilles and a set of photos supplied by macgeordie (cheers mate ) so I know where to place them.
I've not added the fans yet, they will be painted and glued in place once the body has been sprayed, so they can be seen!
The plan is to get both bodies to the point of spraying then get both done in one hit. T
As promised, here's a few photos of the Crosti posing on Summat Colliery ready for delivery to it's new owner in time for Christmas. It is intended that Roomey of this parish will weather it in the new year.
Had time for a quick dusting with grey primer, sorry Chris, they really show up the porosity in places. It really does not look this bad to the naked eye
looks like more fettling is needed before the black goes on but that's why we do the grey primer thing, it not only keys the top coat but it's great for showing those minor little imperfections.
More pipework, a part of a build that I actually really enjoy and always end up doing more detail than I intended at the start. So here's the steam pipes to injectors with the control valves made out of fine wire and some old electical insulation. Note new Hornby pipework below the cab.
I've also fitted the safety valves from the donor bodyshell and some nice Bachmann sprung buffers. The reverser rod is some mains wiring cable I found lying around that was the right diameter.
T
More pipework and handrails today. I'm still waiting for some guitar strings to do the main boiler feed pipes. These need to be done before handrails and the smoke deflector can't be fitted before the handrail ....
Fitted the blastpipe etc to the underside of the side chimney though - starting to look like a Crosti now
On a roll today, got busy with some copper wire (reclaimed from some figure of eight "bell wire") and started the pipework on the left firebox side.
For those not familiar with the Crosti variant the two pipes running to the footplate from the valve on the side of the firebox run down to the "blower" that is mounted on the preheater boiler below the footplate.
Must find some thick wire to do the reverser shaft ......
progressing nicely with this build but thought a quick update would be in order to show you all the blastpipe/steam pipe casting that fits under the side exhaust pipe. here's a before photo just after cutting it from the sprue
and here's another after 15 mins carving with a sharp knife with a good photo of the real thing to compare with
Probably the part that needed the most work, maybe would be better in whitemetal. Note a small amount of filler where there were air bubbles.
