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Scale7JB

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Blog Entries posted by Scale7JB

  1. Scale7JB
    Just a quick update after today mid-week meeting..
     
    Had a pretty eventful day and managed to get the first board of the extension attached to the end of the static part of the layout. Today was the first chance we've had what with the terrible weather we're having.
     

     
    JB.
  2. Scale7JB
    Been a while since anything has been mentioned about West Mersea, so I thought I would pop a couple of videos up from the last meeting.
     
    Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some better videos with some better lighting one day, rather than just a couple of minutes before I leave for home. I need to persuade a few of the other members to bring their stock along more regularly too so that we can show more than just a vain old K2 trundling up and down
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl17pAMPiAk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5djc4wTRD30
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz-9yaFlppQ
     
    Progress is errr progressing with the extension. We still need to wait for some better weather before we can lay some bricks to support the extension outside, but either myself or Buckjumper will cover that when we get there I'm sure.
     
    Kind Regards,
     
    JB.
  3. Scale7JB
    Two videos of the K2 working on West Mersea today at January's monthly group meeting.
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8fypHlVtYQ
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_9BT24uMh4
     
    JB.
  4. Scale7JB
    I walked into the room where the K2 was sitting earlier and it looked great sitting in the sun, so had to take a couple of pictures... The colour of the rods doesn't look to bad in the warm light..
     
    I played around in photoshop to try to make it look a little more like film grain too... don't worry, I didn't spend too long on it, and I know it's far from perfect
     
    JB.
     
     




  5. Scale7JB
    RMWeb was playing up before so I couldn't write anything here...
     
    Got down to WMHQ yesterday to see Peter and Colin and to escape the cabin fever of being at home all week, and got a couple of pics of all 3 of my 'black' engines.
     
    The J39 and J68 are both shedded at West Mersea as test engines, but both need to return to the Chapel End Engine works at some point to be serviced and have their finishing touches, along with a LOT of weathering.
     
    JB.
     

  6. Scale7JB
    Slowly getting there still... All of the rods are detailed now
     
    I think there are only ('only' he says) 5 things left on the list now... a couple of which i still need to buy a couple of bits for...
     
    Small cab steps.
    Bolts for the steam fountain access panel on the roof - Scale Hardware.
    Sanding pipes.
    Injector overflow pipes.
    Main driver leaf springs - Hobbyhorse/Reynalds.
     

     

     
    JB.
  7. Scale7JB
    Hello all...
     
    I finally plucked up the courage to do something with the roof of the K2. After about an hour scouring the endless photos in my books and mags, I made educated guess of what was on the top of the K2 roof! And just to prove that the rivets are actually rivets, and not pressed out...
     
    It would be so much better if I were allowed a pillar drill here... Although a micro pillar drill might be just as handy. Anybody know any good sources for one ? My fingers have gone numb from using the pin vices for drilling....
     

     
    On the access panel above the backhead I need to use hex head's which I will get on the next order from Scale Hardware.
     

     
    Okay, so it's not christmas decoration, but at last, there is a major colouring (can you call it colouring?). I completely covered the tender in chemical black, and the idea is that I won't need to use any primer at all which should help in keeping a lot more of all that detail that has been put in. And also, any pint chips on corners or edges won't show up the brass underneath, which ha happened in a few places on the J39. You can all laugh at me if it doesn't work, but if the chemical black works as an etch as well as some people say it does, then it might just work :icon_thumbsup2:
     

     
    JB.
  8. Scale7JB
    Another quick one whilst I'm at it...
     
    A before and after... the before is from a while back...
     
     
    Before..

     
    After..

     
    Coming along nicely I reckon, though that union link looks a bit ropey... the perils of a cruel closeup
     
    Yes! Finally! The 'infamous' screw has disappeared! PJH will be happy
     
    JB.
  9. Scale7JB
    A bit more done today.
     
    I finished off the oil pot on the opposite side top slide bar, and then fitted one side of the motion as in the photo's. You can see the difference with the new union link, it's not perfectly profiled, but I was worried about it's strength had it been taken down any more.
     
    People who had seen the working valve gear before now will have noticed that there was too much slop on the radius rod pin inside the expansion link, so the gear wasn't moving quite as it should, so I replaced that pin with some thicker brass rod, and now the radius rod will move smoothly up and down the travel of the EL but also give the right movement to the piston in the steam chest... which is nice
     
    Another thing done today were the 4 simulated hex head nuts holding the slide bars to their brackets. Unfortunately they don't seem as prominent as those used on the oil pots.. I think it will be a case of "well, I know they're there.."
     
    Got to finish off the union/combination/radius rod assembly from the other side, and then just have to worry about the detail for the main piston rod. Getting there, especially seeing as it was one of the last jobs that I was dreading..
     

     

     
    7mm/ft safety valve next to the 0.5mm threaded (working) nuts and bots to show how dinky they are..

     
    JB.
  10. Scale7JB
    Even more enthusiasm to do the difficult yesterday..
     
    The K2 has an oil pot on the top slide bar which is quiet predominant in the pictures. I was tempted to only solder on a piece of brass rod, but then I thought I would have a go at making it look better with a flange and some of the simulated bold heads that I got from SH.
     
    The pictures are a bit ropey I know..
     

     

     
    I also decided to bite the bullet and while the cylinder assembly was off the chassis, chemical black all of that area. No more all brass K2
     
    JB.
  11. Scale7JB
    Had another burst of enthusiasm on the work bench today.
     
    I have been playing with the Scale Hardware parts that I received a while back.
     
    Along with finding a drill bit that was perfect for drilling the hole in the eccentric rod for the oil corks, I have added the fake nut and bolt heads to the expansion link, and another piece dunked in the chemical black.
     
    I don't know if you agree, but I think this chemical black on nickel gives the perfect look for rarely looked after rods... might be a little too black perhaps, but because the CB works as an etch, it means that I can give the rods a quick spray with the airbrush if needed without worrying about priming.
     

     
    Secondly I have been trying to work out how best to remake the union link between the crosshead and the combination lever. On this attempt I used some stainless steel tube soldered to the combination lever, and the union link fits over the tube. I had to make some very thin brass washers, as the nut and bolt that you can see, actually are nuts and bolts!! 0.5mm thread...
     
    Makes a difference to the original thick nickel and rivet method..
     

     
    JB.
  12. Scale7JB
    Hi everyone...
     
    I managed to get a little more work done yesterday.
     
    Having placed the extra added detail that I am putting into the body of the K2, it means that I really needed to have a look at all of the valve gear as I really wasn't happy with it. It works well enough with the working reverser etc, but I was never going to be happy with the look of it, so I have started to take it apart, piece by piece, detailing each piece, chemically blackening them, and then replacing them on the rolling chassis.
     
    here is a before and after..
     

     

     
    The main part that has been worked on so far is the eccentric rod, which has been thickened by double by soldering onto a piece of scrap nickel, then filed down, but more importantly, I have added a forked joint onto the expansion link, as per prototype, and the return crank end has been reprofiled. I still need to put a cork on the return crank end, but I want to drill the hole using a pillar drill so that will have to wait until next I am at WMHQ.
     
    The return crank has been 'beefed up' and a little detail added, though it still needs a little more attention. Hopefully the rods will look as good as the rest when it is done..
     
    JB.
  13. Scale7JB
    Hi everyone, hope you are all getting on with the new RMWeb... I must admit, I'm not at the moment, but I'll eventually get used to it..
     
    I placed my order with Scale Hardware on Thursday, it was shipped friday, so as you can imagine, I'm rather excited about the delivery so that I can get another large chunk of the remaining work done and ticked off of the list of things to do on the K2.
     
    In the meantime, I have been working a little more on the lubricating pipes. I bought some stainless steel tube from Perfect Miniatures the other day which is teeny !! 0.33mm Internal Diamater.. about 0.5 mm O/D (I think) so I have been able to create the tiny fittings which I think force oil from the lubricators under steam pressure into the cylinders. A 7mm steam heat pipe next to it for scale..
     

     
    This one took an hour or 3 after which it decided to ping itself onto the carpet, but I'm pretty happy with it.. Should look lovely when it is all piped up to the lubricators I reckon..
     
    JB.
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