JamieR4489

Hello Graeme, It's my own CAD printed by Hexa-Cubed as I don't own a printer. It's resin so the finish is pretty good but there are definitely fine ridges. So, no, it is not ready to paint but probably would be after, say, an afternoon's work cleaning it up. Hopefully the photo below shows the quality of the finish (although saying that, the strong lighting does exaggerate the ridges/troughs). I also looked at the possibility of using the Bachmann chassis but after finding your comments on the LNER forum about a conversion and measuring the inside of one of my Bachmann C1s I came to the same conclusion that the motor was too high. Hope this helps, Jamie

Just to be clear, it wasn't the scale of the DJH kit that was the deal breaker for me. If I'd found one for a good price, I'd have bought it and lived with the issues but because I'd have spend twice as much money buying direct from DJH (not including motor/gearbox which I already had) than the K's/3D print combination has cost I decided the DJH kit wasn't worth it.

It wasn't really the scale that put me off. Like I said, IMHO, some parts of the kit don't fully capture the look of the C2 and the K's/3D print option is much cheaper. If it doesn't bother you, that's fine but I decided to go a different way.

Thanks, IIRC, the DJH kit has been stretched in just about all dimensions to allow driving wheels with overscale flanges and proper sized bogie wheels to fit. No doubt someone else will be able to confirm or correct this or give a quantitative answer as to how overscale it is.

The J5 is finished now (or until I spot something I've missed). It's taken a while as I decided that I couldn't live with the Comet gearbox, it kept jamming, was very noisy and I picked too low a gear ratio (although that's my fault not the gearbox's). I then had to wait for High Level to re-open and when I received my gearbox, one of the gears was of the wrong type and had to be replaced twice. I then kept getting tight spots caused by the Hornby axles (3mm diameter) running in 1/8" bearings (a twitch over 3mm). I didn't think the difference in diameters would matter and was hoping the bearings would be slightly undersize but the axles were very sloppy so I replaced them for Scalelink wheels and axles. Now it runs very smoothly and quietly so although it turned out to be an expensive mistake, I have at least got a good runner. 3022 was ex works 25/6/1938 so it would still be very clean in the period I'm modelling (July-September 1938) hence just the light dusting of weathering on the frames, bunker and smokebox. I'd been thinking for a while that a good way to model a D198 steel panelled BG would be to get a PC kit for a D113. For those who aren't aware, the PC kits came pre painted and lined but had no beading so aren't really suitable for teak vehicles but are perfect for the steel panelled versions. I'd worried about trying to line a non-beaded coach so a pre lined kit would solve this. Eventually a PC BG kit turned up on eBay but I left it too long and someone else got it. Luckily, a second one came up at the same price so I immediately snapped that one up. I haven't got any photos of it at the moment but I've got a rolling chassis with ends and I've painted the interior. I'll do the roof next and then fit the sides and printed overlays for the ends last. Another project I've been considering for a while is a C1 to C2 conversion. There is, of course, a DJH C2 kit but it's quite expensive and overscale. Originally, I was going to convert a Bachmann C1 which has the motor slightly too high in the firebox for a small boiler conversion but when I saw a kitbuilt K's example for £100 I got that instead. It had been both glued and soldered together on every joint making separating the boiler and cab from the footplate quite difficult. In the end, I cut them off and had to get brutal on the smokebox saddle as the builder had put a bolt through there with the head in the smokebox. The motor (open framed) and gears have been replaced with the Comet box I got for the J5 as I have now managed to stop it from jamming. It's not quite as smooth as a High Level box but I can always replace it in the future. I've also fitted a flywheel to help the loco over my insulfrog crossings. For the boiler and cab, I designed 3D prints and got them from Hexa-Cubed again. The photo shows the print just perched in place; it will need a bit of filing to get it to fit properly. The K3 with GN cab and tender I showed a while back has progressed. Initially, it was going to be 91 with a GN coal rail tender but after realising how uncommon this was outside of Scotland and having a spare flared tender, I've changed it to 170 and the new tender just needs lining and lettering (it was in BR livery). The buffer stocks have been painted black after taking the photo, by the way. Regards, Jamie

Deleted as I've realised that what I'd written had already been said.

K's footplate and 3D printed boiler/cab (which needs a bit of tweaking to sit down properly on the footplate). The DJH kit is overscale and doesn't quite capture the face of the engine, IMHO. Plus as I got the C1 pre built and with decent wheels it's quite a bit cheaper even with the price of the 3D print added on.

Ah so it was you who bought that! I saw it and thought what a good deal it was but it had already been sold and, anyway, I'd just bought a K's C1 from the same place to convert into a Klondike. The layout's looking good, by the way; I'm very envious of all your space. Jamie

August 1938 according to LNER 150.

Unfortunately, R2340 has the wrong tender for 60009 in any condition. 60009 has a non-streamlined corridor (flat back and beading) whereas R2340 has the streamlined version (curved back to match the streamliner stock and no beading). 60009 has never carried one of the tender cut back for the SR's water cranes but as its current tender is ex-W1 I think it still has the holes in the rear bufferbeam for cables to be run between the cab and dynamometer car.

Thanks Manna, I had wondered whether the parapet was replaced to make it higher. I've had a quick look and it would appear you are correct; in the '30s it was much lower but there's no sign of a fence. Jamie

As an update to my problem, Chris identified that I'd been sent a final drive gear with too few teeth and a replacement will be going in the post. I've been really impressed by the customer service with Chris answering emails late at night and at weekends. As I said earlier, I've always been more than satisfied with HL gearboxes so I hope I haven't put anyone off buying from them. Regards, Jamie

I certainly did. Always a good way to spend a couple of hours, although I made the mistake of looking in the Bahamas shed for too long and had to get the train before I'd finished in the VCT shed. I also had a close look at the Gresley BG at Oxenhope.

I posted a photo at the top of the page. I'm currently in email correspondence with Chris so hopefully we'll get the problem sorted.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The gap is between the bigger of the stage 1 gears (the one that meshes with the worm) and the thinner bit of the brass boss on the final axle. My point was that if the final drive and stage 1 gears were close enough together the gear that meshes with the worm would be in contact with that brass section and preventing the final drive gear and the smaller of the stage 1 gears from meshing properly. I imagine the problem is that the final drive gear is from a different ratio gearbox and so is slightly too small in diameter. Yes I opened out the holes on the etch and in the gears for the 2mm shaft. I was aware that the washer was missing. I leave them out until I'm happy with the gearbox incase I have to dismantle it and risk losing the washers. Jamie