jdb82

I was thinking of getting a 6L one which is way bigger than I need for the Hudswell, but hopefully I'll build something a little larger in the future, and I don't want to have to buy another one! Like yours, I think its about 30cm or so long. It's one of those things that I will tell myself not to buy one until I move back to the UK (whenever that will be!), but will probably end up getting one now any way ;-)

Thanks chaps! Painting is getting closer, although At the speed I’m currently going, it’s probably another two or three weeks away, even bough there’s not really that much left to do. Got a couple of days off work for Chinese New Year later this month, so if I can get the last bits of construction done then I’ll be happy. For cleaning everything up before painting, is it worth getting an ultrasonic cleaner do you think? I haven’t found any here in Brunei, although I can order one and get it delivered here, but postage costs will be a bit of a !

Not had much time to get to the workbench this week - an inspection at work, and a calling to a badminton court have gotten in the way. I have managed to make a start on laminating the brake hangers and blocks. I seem to be painfully slow when in comes to laminating and cleaning up. Not working to any deadline though, so can take my time and enjoy it. Although laminating is not my favourite aspect of building! Maybe I'll see if I can find some castings for the next kit I have lined up ;-) Reassuringly, this looks far better in the flesh than on camera. I'll blame my dodgy photography skills. 5 more to go.

Haha, can't say the workbench looks like that all the time, but I don't like working in too much of a mess - tidy bench, tidy mind! Next, I need to make all the brake hangers and sand pipes, before painting gets underway

Is it worth waiting until after I've painted it to run it in? Just wondered whether taking it all apart would undo all the good work of running it in!

Michael, Simon, thanks for the advice! Seems like my panic may have been a little premature. As you correctly identified, once the bushes were put on, they seemed to straighten up the crankpins enough to do the job. I've filed down the bushes so they protrude through the coupling rods ever so slightly to give a little working clearance, without introducing any slop. I fitted the gearbox (Slaters) and motor (Mashima 26mmx16mm), wired it up and gave it a test. Given the crankpins haven't been glued, nuts not finally secured, no oiling of bearings or running in, I was pretty surprised how nicely it ran! https://youtu.be/ryOrUXRjW7M Now lets hope it all still works after I've secured crankpins, bushes, nuts etc..... Must remember not to fix the nuts until after I've painted it ;-)

Good news: I've put the axels/wheels into the chassis and all moves smoothly and freely on the track. The body looks the part now it's got a chassis to sit on. Bad news: I countersunk a hole in the back of the wheel so the head of the crankpin screw was flush, but now the crankpin is not perpendicular to the face of the wheel. It was before I medalled with it...... I'm using Slaters wheels which are already tapped for the crankpin, so I wasn't expecting countersinking to affect this. Have I completely buggered up the wheel, or can I just drill out the hole and glue in place? Just to complicate things, I don't have a pillar/stand drill to ensure I drill vertically!

Chassis is now cleaned up, and I have filed down the middle bearing face plates to a depth that will now accept the length of the axel across the chassis. The one axel I have made up spins freely in each set of bearings, although the middle ones are slightly tighter than the other - hopefully not to the point where they cause problems. I'll get the other axels made up tomorrow and give it a push and see what happens. Fingers crossed. I also cleaned up the 2nd set of coupling rods - the top pair are for the older locos, the bottom pair for the more recent versions. I'm currently leaning towards finishing my model as number 31, Hamburg. This gives me the more modern loco style, but also the option to practice weathering techniques. It's not kept in quite a pristine a state as Gothenburg on the East Lancs line (no intention to offend anyone who works with Hamburg!)!

The boiler looks superb, especially given all the problems described! Nicely done!

I'm more than interested - I was up on the Welsh Highland Railway over the summer and got quite attached to the Beyer-Garrett they have there. Think I still need a few more kits behind me before I tackle this one though. I think the multiple sets of gear would tip me over the edge though - you must have the patience of a saint.......

Just out of interest, how did you solve the side at the bunker end being too long? It looked like it was overhanging by quite a long way!

With the bearings removed and cleaned up, the holes in the frame were opened up a touch. When removing the bearings, 5 of them came out relatively easily, but one of the centre ones just wouldn't budge. I think I'd used more solder on when installing this bearing - it was probably the 1st one I'd done. I have a 50W iron, but this didn't seem quite powerful enough to melt all the solder. In the absence of a small gas torch, I resorted to filing this flush and reaming out the the hole. The spare axel bushes that I had were somewhat chunkier than those provided with the kit, and the 'face plate' of the bush is a little too think; when paired with the bush on the opposite side, everything is too wide for the axel. I will need to carefully file these down to match the thickness of the original bushes, which give just enough clearance. The centre bushes were soldered in and then put onto the jig. The spaces were soldered in place , followed by the rest of the bearings. Much to my surprise, it all slid off the jig without any problems, and initial trials with an axel and wheel set are very positive - all spin nice and freely. Bed time was calling though, and I've yet to open the other packets of wheels to have all 3 sets in at once to check everything is level. could be though - the top of the chassis is dead level, and using the jig should have hopefully taken care of the rest! As you can see from the photo, I haven't had chance to clean it all up yet - that's tomorrow night's job. The over-sized axel bush is clearly visible in the centre.

I've found a simple strip of masking tape tends to hold things well enough for you to tack solder things in place to start with. Not sure if they might be a bit small for tack soldering to be effective though!

All the best with this! I have a Manning Wardle L class waiting in the cupboard. Love a good industrial loco!

Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Now the holes in the frames are big enough to provide a little sideways movement to the bearings the jig will/should line everything up nicely. Phil gave a really good description in post #76 as to how to go about it.

Got both the left and right sets of coupling rods made up, and have used them to set the centres for the jig. This confirmed my thoughts from the end of post #76, that some of the bearings are not quite in the correct position. I have taken the bearings back out again using an old bamboo skewer to push them out as I applied the soldering iron. Next I'll be following Phil's great instructions from post #76 to hopefully align everything correctly. I fear if it works, it may be more out of good luck than any kind of engineering skills I have/do not have!! Fingers crossed....

Looks like an interesting project! I for one will be following. Are you planning this as an exhibition layout? Must make sure I see the film - railways, beer and movies sound like a decent combination to me

Is that the black pipe to the right of the coupling hook?

Thanks Gordon - good spot. I'd seen the vacuum brake pipe, but hadn't seen the different coupling. Still haven't quite made my mind up which one to go for yet.....keeping my options open whilst I complete the chassis. There are two types of coupling rods supplied with the kit - the square-jointed version which the older locos used (as in 35 above), and the rounder-jointed rods which were used in the later locos. I plan on making both sets up so I can use the correct ones once I finally make a decision!

All my bit's and pieces managed to make it through the airport screening, which is good news! Another heavy bag, but now fully (hopefully) stocked up to get me to a completed model, although I guess there's always something else you could add. Trick is knowing when to stop. After a month away from the workbench, I finally managed to sneak a couple of hours yesterday evening. I made a start on the coupling rods. They needed laminating, filing and then the crankpin holes opening out. I used 2 2mm drill bits to keep them in line whilst I laminated them. Got half of one side done (front half), although having opened out the holes to 2.7mm to accept the crankpin bush, the edge of the hole is worryingly close to the edge of the metal. Hope nickel silver is hard wearing enough not to wear through during use! 2 drill bits being used as a jig to make sure everything is lined up front half of the rod ready to go I also made a start on the rear half of the rod, but made a royal mess of it..... the top laminate layer is half etched, and the hole wasn't quite big enough to accept my drill bit being used for the 'jig'. Whilst opening it out, the broach snagged and twisted the end. A firm expletive followed. Quite a bit of remedial work later and I think everything is now straight and uncreased! Still need to file and clean these up, and then solder to the front half.

So how is this project going? I’ve been reading through the posts and it’s a fascinating ‘little’ project. I’d love to get into something like this, but need to learn a few CAD skills first I think!

Happy Christmas all! Supplies and paint have been bought, excess luggage is expected...... Work on the Hudswell will resume in about a week and a half or so once I return to Brunei. Hope the paint makes it though the airport scanners OK....

Hi Peter, Thanks for the info - I scrub the work after each session but just with hot water and washing up liquid, so nothing that will get rid of any tarnish. I’ll get some viakal and give that a go. I’m building a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 short tank that would have worked on the Manchester Ship Canal. Back in the UK Currently (living and working abroad at the moment), so collecting various supplies to take back with me, and work can resume on it early in the new year. My build thread is here if you want a look. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/126038-hudswell-clarke-0-6-0-7mm-agenoria-kit/ John

Thanks All -very helpful as always :-) Paint No will commence in the next few weeks!

I realised this thread was from a couple of years ago now, but I’m building a Hudswell Clarke short tank. Is the light grey livery the standard livery the MSC used for these locos? Does anyone know if there were any others used? The preserved ones all seem to be either black or green, but I’m struggling to find any info online. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place... Thanks in advance for any ideas! John