Stour valley dream - a bit of etched brass for a change , a J20 tender

Entry posted by Fen End Pit January 4, 2019

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As a break from plywood engineering (and a cold garage) I decided to do a bit of work on my 'Friday evening project', my 4mm Crownline etched kit for a J20. The engine itself is coming along nicely and is waiting for its day in the wheel shops soon. So I thought it would be a good time to work on the tender. Crownline kits are 'a bit old school' so the chassis makes no allowances for springing/compensation. I cut out the chassis etch to fit High Level 2mm bearings and these are sprung using wire and handrail knobs following the continuous springy beam style.

GER tenders had a 6" flare at the top and the etch needed to be bent to make this. I made a up little jig using a couple of bits of ply and some hard brass rod. This has a 'gate' which the bottom of the tender side rests against to ensure that the bar is parallel with the top of the tender. The brass used by Crownline is quite thick by modern standards and I had to resort to a small hammer to bend the flare over.

The tender rear was similarly treated there being a gap in the 'gate' on the jig to allow for the tab which locates the tender rear in the foot plate.

Work on the tender was fairly straight-forward though there were some times when asbestos fingers would have been useful. Getting the long joints to tack solder, then align, then make the joint clean and solid was the order of the day. The old rule about keeping everything clean being most important.

The only part with a high 'F-factor' was the lamp iron brackets at the rear which were extremely fiddly. Also the photographs and plans showed a third knob in the middle of the handrail on the rear which had no hold etched for it on the part.

I'm pretty happy with the result, There needed to be more solder used as filler than I'd would have liked around where the top of the tender joins the sides but I think it hasn't cleaned up too badly and will be hidden under a good coating of coal dust and grime. I've still got to finish off all the front part of the tender and make up toolboxes etc but I'm happy with the progress.