Fangio

Dave, thanks for the insight re the J50 brakes. Found a thread from another guru on RMWeb who has been there before me, with some helpful images: Will let you know how I get on.... cheers Chris

Hi Dave Progressing well with the J50 in lockdown down under. Gearbox made up, chinese motor ready to fit... Any tips for fitting the brake rods/shoes? Any images to share cheers Chris

Thanks Dave What size wheels did you use - 18mm or 19mm? cheers Fangio

Hi Dave Love your work on the J50 - have picked up the Mike Trice 3D printed details ready to affix to my old Lima body. Your chassis etch is folded up, ready for solder. Quick question: did you fit the new handrails and knobs before the 3d printed parts, or afterwards? thanks Fangio

Hi Malcolm, The valve gear is certainly a tad daunting! Keep putting it off... I have been focussing on the Comet chassis for the Jinty of late: now have wheels and motor, and gearbox is on order. Will put those together, then move onto motorising the chassis for the K3. However, I have been distracted with re-wheeling a D11 kit my dad made in the early '70s. Managed to refit the original gearwheel to a new scalelink 9/32 knurled axle, and then fitted 4 markits wheels to that and a standard 1/8th axle (after fitting bearings). Original crank pins were a natural fit. Seems to run ok, but does need running in. Doubt it has run in anger since the early 80's! cheers cb

Hi all Thanks Malcolm. The chassis is now together and does fit the body quite well. A little fettling of frame length has improved the fit. As bought, the old Wills body kit included neither backhead nor cab floor; once these were sourced from those lovely gents at SEF, fitting the chassis at the cab end became a simpler process. Next step is to source motor/gearbox combo, which will be coming from hi-level kits. Most likely a mashima 1428 plus hi-flier. Have not started the motion yet.... need another bravery pill (plus soldering practice) before I tackle that. In the meantime have been distracted with building a Comet chassis for my old Hornby Jinty, which was a v wobbly runner. These are my first and second kits respectively - hope to post some photos in the fullness of time. cheers all Chris

Thanks Paul. Love the work on Rosedale by the way. Beautiful part of the world, spent plenty of time walking on the top when I was little. I grew up in Sinnington. Although I am now living down under (Melbourne) I plan to build an NER layout based on Sinnington and the Gilling & Pickering line. cheers Chris

G'day thanks for your post, really helpful. I think you've hit t'nail on t'head with the wheel diameter - suspect the rearmost of the driving wheels may foul the footplate/cab unless I'm careful. ( quick question: when you write 21.4mm wheel diameter, is that from flange to flange, or just around the barrel? Cheers) I was thinking of 40:1, and I reckon the High level Hi-Flier with a 1428 will fit and will be ideal. Have been in touch with the guys at High Level, they are proving very helpful - same with Dave at Roxey Mouldings. I plan to finish the k3 in LNER colours, for the late '30's NE region. I will be running OO gauge, on Code 100 track. R3 curves mainly, the occasional R2. Talking of pony truck - where would I find one of those? nothing in the kit..... thanks Chris

Hi John thanks the post - in answer to your questions: plenty of years experience on plastic/resin/mixed media 1/32 kits, including kit bashing, air-brush etc. However, just taken the leap and started practicing soldering on 2nd hand whitemetal and brass wagon kits. (First whitemetal kit went together like a charm... until I discovered it was a broad gauge wagon kit ) No, no compensation for the chassis. Rigid will do, to run around R3 curves on code 100 track No experience of chassis building - mainly been sticking to servicing old LNER Triang/Hornby stock cheers Chris

Hi Richard thanks for your response - yes, there was a full set of Nu-cast motion that went with the package. Not tackled that yet, but will give it a bash I am just waiting on a tapered reamer to arrive and then I will tackle the chassis. If that does not go together fair and true, I will opt for the SEF version. The guys there have been very helpful with advice so far. cheers Chris PS - nice work on that SR example! I have a Schools class kit that my dad put together in the '70s on a Triang chassis that I will attempt to rewheel in coming months.....

Morning gurus Long time browser, first time poster to the community ... and relative newbie to loco kitbuilding. I am building a Wills Finecast LNER K3 I picked up on the auction platform. The castings are in pretty good nick, all things considered. As part of the package a chassis was provided in the form of an RSB Models frames kit. I can't find any info on this manufacturer, nor the frames kit itself. Before I shell out my hard-earned on motor/gearbox/wheels etc - can anyone advise if the chassis/frames are any good? Any tips or inside info? The instructions clearly spell out how to fix said chassis to the Wills body, so I have hope! thanks Chris