Last year at ExpoEM North I treated myself to a London Road Models Resistance Soldering Unit. Yesterday I decided that it was about time that I set it up.
Opening the box reveals a big grey unit, a couple of leads, some carbon rod and a set of instructions. The big grey, rather heavy, unit has two leads coming out of the back, one with a mains plug on it and the other with a footswitch on the end. The two other leads plug into two of the four sockets on the front of the unit, different combinat
A package arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago from Robert of RT Models containing the test etch for a simple chassis designed to power a Ruston 48DS, either the popular A1Models kit or the rarer Impetus kit.
Its designed to be very simple to build and to use a High Level Slimliner+ gearbox with a Mashima motor.
Here's the nickel silver etch;
And folded up;
The drive is to one axle only, the other features simple compensation, the axle pivoting on the 'V' and running in
I found this, my only piece of O gauge stock, in Mum's attic whilst nosing around up there last week. Its a Peco kit for a 16T mineral with bottom doors. I built it over 15 years ago at a guess. If I remember correctly the kit went together extremely well. Buffers and drawgear are sprung, as is the running gear with working springs moulded in a soft plastic. As I haven't posted anything in this blog for a while I thought that I'd photograph it and post the pics here. And here they are;
Here's a few tools that I use when painting;
At the top is a Badger battery powered paint stirrer, with the paddle underneath. I use this when stirring paint for spraying. Originally bought as a bit of an indulgence, I previously used a bit of bent wire in a mini-drill which was a faff to set up, I now view this as an essential piece of kit.
Below is a 'Nuffield style' laboratory spatula, used for transferring paint from the pot to a colour cup for spraying. It's stainless steel, wh
I've started painting my A1 Models freelance diesel.
First of all I treated the bare brass with Carrs Metal Black, which didn't take very well, then gave it a coat of Phoenix Precision aerosol etch primer (I prefer not to put etch primer through my airbrush). After that had dried thoroughly I undercoated the model with Revel acrylic white;
Note that the base for the orange beacon has been glued to the roof, after the etch primer and before the white undercoat. Etch primer can affect so
More work in the paint shop this week. The narrow gauge 48DS is now almost finished, its had its final coat of satin varnish and just needs glazing. The main body colour is Revel acryilic Bronze Green and the frames and roof Precision Dirty Black. A pic;
The Nonneminstre Fowler Resilient has had a coat of satin varnish as well. Main body colour this time is Humbrol Brunswick Green, again with Precision Dirty Black for the frames and roof. This still needs its interior painting and the b
No much happening on the loco side recently. I've decided that its high time that my n.g. 48DS was finished so its been in the paint shop (spray booth in the spare bedroom...). After priming (etch first followed by car acrylic, both from aerosols) the bufferbeams were sprayed with Humbrol Signal Red. Then the main bodywork was sprayed in Revel Aqua-Color Bronze Green before the roof was sprayed with Phoenix-Precision Dirty Black. All the paint so far has been acrylic thinned with de-ionised wate
Still slowly progressing through the paint shop is my Judith Edge Steelman Royale. The black areas of the frame have been sprayed and the whole frame gloss varnished. The bufferbeams have been wasp-stiped, using Fox transfers, and another coat of varnish applied. The loco will be have a gloss finish as these locos were kept extremely clean. A pic;
I still have to start on the bodywork.
My JPG Models dumper truck is finished;
Before weathering I sprayed the model with matt v
Now the dry(ish) weather has arrived I've had the airbrush out in the back garden. So here's what I've been up to;
A1 Models Ruston 48DS.
This one is finished in Revel Aqua-Color 15 yellow, sprayed over white car primer which in turn is sprayed over Phoenix Precision aerosol etch primer. It's varnished with PP matt ready thinned airbrushing varnish.
And here it is with the buffers (Gibson) fitted and sitting on its chassis;
Just needs glazing and weathering now.
Judith Ed
Sandboxes have now been added to both locos.
For the standard gauge loco I used 3 x 1.5mm plastic strip with a rectangle of .030" plasticard glued to the top for the filler cap. Once the glue set hard the cap was shaped with a needle file to give the angled top before the sandbox was superglued to the footplate. Its easier to glue the top to the strip before its cut to length. It is 3mm high (not including the cap), dimensions taken from the Chasewater loco. A pic (white plastic doesn't photogr
I replaced the pick-up wires on the EM chassis this afternoon with longer wires which apply less pressure to the rims. The old wires were too short and stiff and prevented the front non-powered wheels from turning. Thanks to Buffalo for the tip (a pint is owed). Here's a photo of the new revised pick-ups;
If only my electrical soldering was as neat as my brass soldering...
And here's a shot of the loco on my test track, actually a piece of old bent C+L, in the kitchen. The running i
I've finally started soldering together the bodywork for the narrow gauge loco. The frame sides, bufferbeams and footplate are made from .016" brass to measurements taken from the Irchester loco. The frame is 12'9" long by 5' wide on the n.g. loco, the standard gauge loco has frames 11'4" long by 6'10" wide (measurements taken from the Chasewater loco). The cab and bonnet dimensions are the same on both locos, which are featured in my gallery. A scale rule proved very usefull when marking out th
As both locos are almost ready for the paint shop I'll share some thoughts on the build.
My aims with this project were;
To build a 3' gauge Ruston,
To see how far I could go with detailing the A1 Models kit,
To build my own slow running compensated chassis,
To build a 48DS with the correct wheelbase with the right amount of daylight under the frames.
(The EM loco wasn't originally planned, I decided partway through that it wouldn't take much extra effort to build a second loco).
I'm happ
For the radiater and fuel caps I used some handrail knobs soldered in place but not pushed all the way in so part of the shaft is still showing, as in the photo;
Then the top of the knob was cut off with Xuron cutters and filed down to form a cap;
The roof was first annealed over the gas hob. Then I clamped the edges to a 2mm drill in a Hold And Fold to form the outer bends. A similar sized drill was used on the opposite side to even out the clamp angle and stop the roof being 'spat out' b
Well I've got the EM chassis running. Here's a photo of the motor and gearbox combo;
The motor is a Mashima 1015 and the gearbox a High Level Slimliner Compact+ 54:1 reduction. The same set-up will be fitted to the narrow gauge version when I send of the 1/8 bore gear and bearings and swap them for 2mm bore (I ordered the wrong spec...). Here's a pic of it fitted into the frame;
The motor is mounted on a piece of bicycle inner tube. For pick-ups I've used phospher bronze wire,
I made up the frame spacers for the n.g. chassis today. These were made 7.5mm wide so the gearbox will just fit in. The overall width of the frames is 8.9mm. Wheels will be set to 10.3mm back to back. I've had to work all the dimensions out myself so it could all be completely wrong...
To compensate the front axle I soldered a piece of brass between the frames for the axle to pivot on, most people use a piece of rod for this. The brass was cut deliberatly to tall so I could file it down until a
A number of Ruston 48DS locos were built to narrow gauge, mostly 3'6", 4' or metre gauge. All went overseas except one which was built to 3' gauge and was sold to British Railways for their Beeston sleeper depot and was numbered ED10. BR sold it in 1965 to TW Ward who passed it on to Cleveland Bridge and Engineering, being used on the Tinsley Motorway Viaduct near Sheffield. It went to Shepherd and Hill in 1969 and then to Trackbed Hovercraft where it was fitted with rubber tyres and outriggers
Here's a drawing of the chassis frames. Apologies for the quality!
The chassis sides were made from .025" brass strip, chosen over .016" to make filing easier and for a larger bearing area for the front axle.
Spacers for the EM loco are Gibson and for the the OOn3 version I made my own from strip, 7.5mm wide.
Bearings again are Gibson and are only fitted to the rear driven axle, small bearings on the OOn3 and large bearings on the EM version. (Gibson do 2 sizes of 2mm bearing).
Note the co
Along the top of the bonnet theres a metal channel which the bottom edge of the bonnet doors slots into (the bonnet sides hinge upwards) to hold them in place when opened. I represented this on the models with a strip of .030" x .010" plastic with a slot cut down its length with an Olfa type cutter. A pic;
Thanks to Ruston for info on this.
Axleboxes were carved from 3 x 1.5mm plastic strip. On the OOn3 loco they could be fitted straight on but on the EM loco they had to be thinned due to th
More work has been done on the pair. The n.g. loco now has its bonnet fitted and I've fitted the reinforcement strips to the botom of the frame sides, these were cut from .008" x .040" brass strip (from Eileens Emporium) and sweated in place. On those the axlebox gaurds are soldered, first by tinning the back of the gaurd then sweating in place. I left a tag on the gaurds to give me something to hold with self gripping tweezers to make positioning easier. A couple of pics;
This made life a
I've had this kit for over twelve years. Its for Resilient class diesel loco, built by John Fowler in the 40's and powered by either a 3 or 4 cylinder Fowler-Sanders diesel engine. Three 2' gauge locos worked at Alpha Cement at Cliffe-at-Hoo two of which still survive, one at Amberly Museum (the loco this kit was based on) and the other at Armley Mills in Leeds. Some were built to 3' gauge, one worked at Marland in North Devon and another at Dinmor on Anglesey. The Dinmor loco still survives and
I've added the bonnet top and cab roof and started filling and sanding the body ready for painting. Some of the detail castings have been added, the sandboxes (but not the pipes yet) and axleboxes. The bonnet top details (filler caps, exhaust, air filter) will be added after painting as will the brake column in the cab. Some pics;
I've also added the couplings, the kit gives you a choice of sensible 009 Bemo type couplings or scale buffer blocks and link. I went for the scale optio
Another loco that needs finishing is my OO9 Fowler diesel. So last night I fitted the sandpipes which are bent up from .7mm brass rod, cabside handrails (.45mm brass) and rainstrips. These were made from 1mm brass angle which just needed cutting to length. All material is supplied with the kit although I used Gibson wire for the handrails. Still to be fitted are the exhaust, fuel and rad. fillers and brake column, these will be glued in place after painting. Some pics;
Showing the sandp
This one has now been varnished (Phoenix Precision ready to airbrush satin enamel) and is almost finished. The filler caps, air filter and exhaust were painted off the model and added after the green top coat was applied. The interior was brush painted, a job I always hate, with Citadel 'Bleached Bone', which is a nice cream colour, before the handbrake stanchion was fitted. To paint the radiater grill I used several coats of Citadel's 'Badab Black' wash to get into the grill without clogging up
Taking a break from the Steelman Royale I glazed the cab of my crane. I used 1mm perspex? laboriously filed to shape. I did scrap a few bits...
The glazing for the cab side (the door and the small windows either side) was prepared before the body was glued together so I could lay the side on a piece of glazing and scribe around the opening, before cutting and shaping the material and storing the finished pieces in a safe place. This was definitely a good move...
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