k22009

I've added a full size cab forming template onto the drawing so that it's easier to check the profile against when forming the full or half cab. There are also 2 stiffeners that can be added for the full cab to assist in getting the bends in the correct position. The full cab rear sits on top of a backplate at the rear of the footplate with beading sandwiched between the 2. The beading will provide a location for the cab handrails to fit to. The cab front has 4 small rivet strips to add that run down to the firebox top and the rear has 2 heavy duty stiffeners to add that would have supported the upper formed profile, i'll add those though once fitted to the footplate as they fit onto the rear buffer beam. The small lip at the base of the cab front will have a nut soldered onto and provides the rear chassis fixing point. The bunker sides have had the beading attached to the top and the cab floor has been sweated onto the footplate. I'm not sure if this was planked but that's how i've had it etched.

This 1134A class one is made from a line drawing produced in 1953 of 1523 by Geoff Della Gana and was measured on site at Burton-on-Trent. Apparently 1516 was also stabled there at the same time. These 2 being the last working examples in their respective class.

Chassis up first, i'm going to use a simple compensation on this chassis, the front drivers will sit in horn blocks, the spacer just behind them has a slot in it that the L shaped piece sits in and will act as a pivot point. I've used High level slimline horn blocks, they fold up and fit as with everything from Chris just perfectly. With the coupling rods made up and utilising the spring on the axle jig to retain the guides against the frames the coupling rods ensure the spacing is perfect before soldering them in place. I like to make the spacers as wide as possible so the bearings are assembled with the collar on the inside, there will probably be one M3 nylon washer between the frame sides and wheel as side play isn't really an issue here. You can see the pivot point under the spring this was soldered in place to the frame spacer after removing the jig and springs. The valences and buffer beams have been fitted to the footplate and the chassis test fitted under to ensure the locating/body fixing holes in the spacers line through. Cab next. Dave

The only model i've seen in 4mm is the one pictured in this old thread. I'm not sure of the provenance of that model, whether it was was scratch built or from a kit though? Dave

Yes it is 4mm

This class of eventually 10 engines all built at Derby in 1897 and 1903 were slightly bigger than the other 1322 and 1116 class engines. The last was scrapped in 1958. They had various cab arrangements, open back and fully enclosed both with open sides, during BR days even had a fully enclosed cab with sides extending up from the bunkers. There are not many photos of these so i've added one from Midland Locomotives vol 3 Essery and Jenkinson. The difficulty i had with these etches was trying to utilise a standard gearbox (High Level)/small motor (Mitsumi) and still hide everything. In the end i decided to have a removable saddle tank with smokebox, a lower removable boiler section that fits underneath and around the motor and a separate rear firebox fixed in situ that will hopefully all join together upon assembly. We'll see. On the etch i've provided for either the open back or full cab variations, i'll probably go with the full version. Dave

See this photo of Duchess of Sutherland from an earlier kitbuilding thread by PAD. Dave

You're correct, i assumed as these have a stepped shank in lieu of a collar that was what the op was looking for.

Items 2374, 2735, and 2376 are just the buffer heads, collars and springs, 20 in a pack.

MJT part of the Dart casting range may be suitable, they have buffer heads with and without collars. https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt.php#WagonComponents-Buffers Usually a good service from them, happy customer here. Dave

If anyone who hasn't messaged or asked now is the time to, as i'll be placing an order with the etchers as soon as i've heard back from everyone, hopefully by Monday. Cheers

No problem, i'll message all those that have asked before next weekend and I'll work out an approx price before i place an order with the etchers. Dave

High level Roadrunner+ gearbox made up and mounted with a Chinese Mitsumi motor. With that made up the wheels were pressed on and pickups were addressed along with sandpipes and brakes. I've added some detail, the trickiest were the lamp sockets. I couldn't find any brass smaller than 1.58mm square (1/16th), i tried it but they looked a bit too well fed, so i resorted to filing 4 sides onto a thin walled 1.5mm diameter tube to make a square profile cut them into small slivers and then soldered onto some 1mm wide scrap etch or some rod for the rear ones. The cab roof, handrails and blower pipe are still loose for painting. Lubricators on the tank fronts were made up from 1mm solid square brass drilled to accept 3 off 0.4mm dia copper wire. Dave

Boiler rolled and formers added, i've added locating holes in all of the formers to allow everything to be fitted accurately between boiler/cab and boiler /smokebox. As it's half etched nickel silver it rolls fairly easily and the formers help to guide it into shape. The smokebox formers i assembled first with the base and it's 12ba nuts, once again the smokebox forms easily. I made a mistake here, on the artwork i had shown the rivets etched at the base of the smokebox where the frame extensions fit. Rivets are also on the extensions so those on the very bottom of the smokebox needed filing off. i didn't notice until i looked at the frame extensions which i'll fit next. Small parts, castings and detailing next. Dave

You did an amazing looking job Simon on the 4-4-4T, i'll be chuffed if mine is anywhere near. I've made a start on the bodywork, once the cab front was in place everything else is positioned for you. The extended tanks in the cab are a separate item and also form the splashers over the rear drivers. With no photos inside the cab which is quite deep so i have added an extension to the firebox/back head, i have a casting that will fit onto the front. Tank tops fit into etched recesses and the beading is also recessed but needs curving up the cab sides. Most of the assembly can be soldered from the inside or from underneath. Bunker base once again fits into half etched recesses and the rear fitted finishes it all off. Dave

Thanks Jason, I've seen the one on the website just never seen one someone has actually constructed. You're right though they look like a very different beast. Just a little more done, cab front window frames added, there was no glazing to the rear. The balance pipes i made up from some heavy walled 2.5mm diameter tube, heated and bent around a pin vice into 4 pieces, then with a piece of rod between the 2 halves spliced together. The pipes in the cab will be covered by the floor.

Yes i believe the Roxey kit is for the GWR reboilered number 18, i've not seen one. The etch does indeed have spacers for OO (12mm spacers), EM (14mm spacers) and P4 (15mm spacers), however the chassis comes with the rest of the model too and has been spread around the etch to achieve as small a size as possible. I sympathize with your position on keeping the original model but to make just the chassis available would mean new artwork with it's associated etching setup cost and to be honest i'm not sure if many would want just the chassis. At present assuming the bodywork goes together fine i would make it available to others as i did with the Fowler Dock tank, probably once again with chimney, dome, smokebox door and whatever else i can sort out in resin. If enough wanted just the chassis to fit under an existing model i could investigate how much it would cost as a stand alone etch without the bodywork.

The sandboxes were folded up and soldered to the the frames and a pair of coupling rods were sweated together. I've added an arrangement to the underside of the bogie frame spacers to allow some side movement via a slot in the bogie, wire either side of this on the bogie stretcher gives some side control. I tested the chassis with the smaller Romford wheels and all runs smoothly as an 0-4-0 so i can get this painted up before adding the Gibson wheels, motor and gearbox (i hopefully won't need to remove these once they are pressed on then). The footplate has had the valances and buffer beams attached to allow me to check the chassis fit and the fixing hole alignment. On with the body assembly next.

I've never built a 4-4-4 before, in theory it should be reasonably balanced as long as the weight distribution isn't way out. I've included compensation beams on the etch but as a precaution i've decided to build this as a rigid chassis. I'll add some bogie side control and allow some vertical movement to one pair of wheels on each bogie. Frames, bogies, spacers all cut out holes reamed for the bearings, cusps removed on the spacers so they fit snug to the frames. The frames are very shallow so i took plenty of time soldering the spacers to each side so as to not introduce any twisting. I've added the balance beam hangers and the balance beam itself which also stiffens the assembly up to. I'll work on the coupling rods, bogie pivots, side control and the sand boxes next. I've a set of slightly smaller Romford wheels i can temporarily add crankpins to and use to test the chassis running. Dave

John, Hopefully the little sketch shows how to fit a tube and the rods to make the brake assembly removable. The short upper brake rod can then be sprung open to fit into the tubes which are soldered to the frames. Dave

Rain has today returned to the Southern Cairngorms after a long warm dry spell, so needless to say not much work has been going on the workbench in the shed. Among other things much needed work in the garden and general maintenance to windows and other woodwork has been the order of the day along with plenty of forays into the mountains enjoying the bone dry conditions before the midges descend. After the Fowler Dock Tank i came up with a list of a few other models to draw up and get some etches produced, these were mostly whittled down from the drawings that i have collected over the years. The first of which is as the title suggests a M & SWJR Sharp Stewart 4-4-4 tank engine, similar locos seem to have been built for the Wirral railway. I have very little other information apart from there seems to have been 2 engines built for the M &SWJR numbers 17 and 18. I've only found a couple of photos to enable visual checks to be made before they were rebuilt as GWR engines. I had a copy from a Railway Modeller mag from Sept 1996 of Ian Beatties drawing that i drew up From this the artwork was produced and sent off to the etchers to do their stuff. This was duly received back a few weeks ago but has sat awaiting the drizzle to return before i made a start. On to the build next. Dave

Brian at 247 developments may be able to help out with either white metal versions or Markits turned brass versions. http://247developments.co.uk/loco_detailing.html

Thanks for all the kind remarks. The valve gear is particularly small however i find if you do most of the preparatory work with the parts still on the etch ie opening up the holes to suit whatever rivet or pin you choose, i always use brass black to stop the part of the item from being soldered together so that gets applied before cutting out too. Remove them from the etch and lay them out in the configuration they will be assembled and do each joint slowly and carefully. I use lace pins and it can be difficult to judge how tight to make the joint so that in the end it's not too loose but also not to tight, i guess it's just trial and error to start. Perhaps try a few joints with scrap etch to start to get a feel for it. There is a spare set of valve gear on the etch too which i thought would provide a useful backup in case anything went awry. It's also useful to think how it will all work and which part is pivoting or rotating about which. There will always be compromises as to which part needs to be a fixed point to stop the whole thing flailing around like a dervish. I hope to see a few more Dock Tanks appearing here soon. Dave

Ray, Brassmasters may have some. Dave

Last call for anyone that may be interested in a set of etches for the Dock Tank, i've revised the artwork to also include for OO, EM and P4 spacers, i'll hopefully be placing an order next week. PM me if you are and i can let you know the details. Dave