Ressaldar

The camera always shows up the errors...................... somehow, the D has gone 'awol' between my den and the workshop, so that will be rectified when I return from the Club later this afternoon. all in all, I am quite pleased with the outcome so I will keep the tools on the workbench, especially as I am waiting for the postie to deliver a small package from Skipton expected later today - more of this soon. regards Mike

Warning flashes and logo now added as well. regards Mike

Nearly there, just the makers plates to apply and then another visit to the paintshop for the weathering, which will hopefully overcome the marks etc that have been picked up during masking operations - of which there were many!! regards Mike

A productive morning in as much as I was able to bur down and clean up the filler that I applied the other day and also sort out the 'overspill' lighting problem associated with the white running lights. My initial thoughts were to insert a plasticard wedge but that was soon discarded as I remembered that I had some 2mm id plastic tube and realised that as there was at least 1mm of the lighthouse protruding out of the front and that there was no way that I could get into the back to change the lighthouse if it failed, I hit on the idea to put the tube over the end and superglue it in place, having first cut it just overlong to be a snug fit behind the disc itself. The single top light was tackled first and things were going too well as I soon discovered that when the disc was placed over the tube, some of the outside of the tube was showing beyond the disc. First try at remediation was to file down the opposite side of the tube but not having a very thick wall to begin with, the amount removed was insufficient to solve the problem, The lost wax casting of the disc has quite a large piece on the back for fixing purposes so I rigged up the drill with a slitting disc on the end of the flexible shaft and holding the disc firmly in a trusty pair of pliers I ran the slitting disc along the fixing pad effectively reducing the width by half and this together with the trimming of the tube brought the edge of the tube well inside the disc rim. I tidied up all surfaces applied superglue to the model and maneuvered the disc in place ensuring the the hole in the disc was directly over the end of the LED and that the representation of the hinge was vertical. Waited a few minutes for the glue to set and connected the body up to the chassis, applied power and was very satisfied with the result, The 'B' end was then tackled in the same way. 'A' end 'B' end the body is only resting on the chassis hence the list. What looks like 'light overspill' is in fact where I filed the old superglue residue off and had to go down to the bare body to clean it off completely. The body will be re-primed immediately prior to painting. regards Mike

Hi 47606odin, thanks for the tip, I shall have to bear that in mind for next time as there is no access to the LEDs now that the console bulkhead is glued in. I might try a dab of paint on the ends to quieten things down. regards Mike

So I actually made it into the workshop this morning and it turned to be quite productive in as much as I refitted the desk console/floor unit in number 1 end, having first re-fixed the lighthouse LEDs and followed this up with fixing the cabs to the main body which turned out not too bad (no worse than the first build), a bit of judicious filling should sort things out. I then concentrated on the bringing down brightness of the LEDs, I had already put resistors onto the + blue leads but thought that they were still too bright, so I introduced 5k resistor to each line immediately before the wires went into the terminal block on the decoder. I still think that they may be too bright, but the bigger concern in the overspill on the white lights, again, this may reduce if I put larger resistors in but I think that I may have to insert a sliver of blue-tac or the like to contain the light behind the disc without giving the appearance that the disc is 'solid'. The next task is to get the filler in and get some weight into the body in the form of self adhesive wheel balance weights and then think about painting. regards Mike

This is the photo in Robert Carroll's book that I am referring too D9505_Swindon_16-8-64 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr Thanks Robert for the heads up for the transfer process. regards Mike

One last mention of the cab colouring, in J K Lewis's 'The Western's Hydraulics' page 163 states "Cab sides and ends Sherwood Green" unfortunately no BS number is given ( the bonnets etc are stated as being BR Locomotive Green to BR Specification No. 30) There are a couple of photos which show a colour very close to that which Minerva have produced, one by Colin Caddy in Michael Welch's 'Diesels on the Western' and another by W Potter/R Carroll collection in Robert Carroll's 'The Western Region Diesel Hydraulics - A Pictorial Observation' Not sure if I am allowed to post the pictures. regards Mike

I have just removed the cab from the superstructure and it is not as straightforward as it might be. The cab needs gentle easing on both sides and front/back to get things started and I had to remove the screws which retain the desk unit as the cab light cable the roof which passes under the floor is not long enough to enable the cab to be removed as suggested. When re-assembling I found that the best way was to invert the model having located the cab into its runners, then with fingers from both hands on the cab roof gently ease the cab upwards and it clicks into place, then the six screws can be replaced (there was one cabside screw missing on my model) Hope that this is of use. regards Mike

one last comparison photo on the same location as the last two, this time with a piece of 80 thou. plasticard etch primed and coated (badly) with two coats of Railmatch 301 Sherwood Green placed alongside the cab. As I said above, some not so subtle weathering is definitely called for. regards Mike

As an experiment, I took these shots to see if different cameras gave different answers - taken with my iPad taken with my Lumix GX7 set on aperture priority and seconds after the iPad shot. Neither photo has been 'photo shopped' in any way. regards Mike

I managed to duck out into the garden between showers and came up with these the lower one is not a crop of the upper one. The clouds were broken and there was a glimmer of sunshine about. I will be weathering the loco once the driver is installed and the train reporting numbers are fixed in place and I think that the lighter green will tone down quite well and will take more pictures then. regards Mike

The wait is over and no transit damage. First impressions are very encouraging, will give it a good blow at the Club next week and get the sound 'bedded in' only real disappoint is that the running lights are non-functioning so will need to investigate any possibilities on that score. Very low gearing but I might have switched in the 'shunt mode' function key (I didn't take the crib sheet with me to the workshop in my haste to see it running) Will hold fire on the train reporting numbers until I have experimented with the sheet of options supplied. The running number will be D9526. and already getting to know its shed mates. regards Mike

Further (slow) progress made over the past week, with the end fittings now in place, some after the primer was applied. also fitted the console controls, chairs and a bearded driver followed by further trial fitting of cabs to main body which fortunately, don't look too bad. Ali window surrounds painted next followed by window installation, the lights and then the console table/floor section can be inserted and the cabs can be joined onto the body. More to follow soon. regards Mike

Not much progress this week except that the light positions were drilled out and the 2mm lighthouse LEDs tried for fit and clearance ;A' end with bottom right & centre 'whites and 'B' end with upper centre & lower centre whites. I have discovered that there is sufficient clearance to fit these lighthouse LEDs 'as supplied' but will have to insert a 20 thou piece of black plasticard immediately behind the front face to act as a light baffle which will bring the protruding part of the lighthouse back to a more reasonable length, it can also be filed round if needed. Last night I took both 22s down to the Club to see how they performed 'double headed' scope for some more trials me thinks!! regards Mike

The first thing to report is that a number has been decided on - D6320 - who could resist such a compelling photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/64518788@N05/9254584946/in/photolist-dKk6Pk-dUmxZN-dK7nTX-CuCiNm-2krPL1b-UGDvqf-dAriwK-oRfKpE-pC7quS-9bKj8Z-axf58u-dQDv6s-o8tvDe-Sr7NE2-2mFjnyK-f6NaFq-4ZVYNE-84ABsS-ab4dvv-fsDRZr-5znTvh-2dV2mGM-2jJWap5-2mFsYCE-4zePkp-2jfLAnR-2mFsYAv-217gqE7-2jqhhJE-d9YKUJ-d9YKX2-d9YCJR-2jfLzYK-UFXNVe-2cT3xdU-UbhY5J-oeynPY-H5kHEw-43y3ni-2krd7yV-dMj2MZ-cMAtpW-dNvt13-dM7QYW-dLMXrF-cYdhUy-cN2dqE-cPE2dJ-2mcMR7c-dN9CLq The only thing that is missing is the SYP, which appears on another photo, so I have no excuses, except that the SYP will have to go on last of all as the masking involved would be very tricky if applying the yellow first. I have put all of the detailing castings on the chassis and bogies and have also attached the cab doors in readiness for the fettling required to get the cab fit as close as possible to the rest of the body. No 1 end to the right with the doors having just been inserted and the overall fit isn't too bad. No 2 end, not quite as good but nit beyond recovery No 2 end from the other side No 1 end to the left, roof grill etches still to apply, bodyside etches will be fixed after painting. The position of the white marker lights has been determined and will all be drilled out, the jury is still out as to which ones will be 'lit'. favourite at the moment is No1 end, lower left and lower centre, No 2 end, lower centre. Hopefully more to come soon. regards Mike

The replacement sprockets eventually arrived on Tuesday, (having been posted 1st Class on Thursday) and duly fitted and tested on the rolling road and further tested on the Club continuous run tracks on Wednesday and last night and the general comment was how quiet it was running. The body consisted of the two outer walls, the bulkheads and the roof so it looked more like a motorised shed then even the LNER Y6s do! The testing up to yesterday had been carried out with the sprockets just pushed onto the axles but this morning I went for the belt and braces approach and pinned both sprockets to the axles. The brake piping, lost wax castings and a great deal more convincing than the 3D printed versions supplied with the previous kit, plus my additional pipework was added to the bogies yesterday morning. this afternoon has seen the Zimo MX699ks fitted + speaker and I am very pleased with the resulting sound and movement. Tomorrow I will complete the chassis - buffer beam and pipework, steps, water tank vents etc. then get down to the cabs and lighting and giving further thought to a number. More to follow. regards Mike

Otherwise engaged for most of the week and a one step forward and two steps back moment as well. I squared off the aperture for the gearbox and also roughed out a clearance space for the final drive in the bottom angle - just seen in the centre of the shot above. Then I had a moment of madness and decided to trial fit the motor/gearbox and delrin drive sprocket as I was mindful that I have to trim the boss of the sprocket down to fit in the remaining space on the axle and also give sufficient room for the chain to pass outside the gearbox. Having reduced the sprocket boss, I slid the axle through the outside bearing then the gearbox and lined up the sprocket boss and carefully pushed the axle through then fitted the outside bearing. The sprocket needed adjusting away from the gearbox and as with the previous model, I used a flat screwdriver between the gearbox and the sprocket and twisted slowly - the blade slipped and promptly cut off one of the sprocket teeth It was at this point that the penny dropped and I realised that I should have not only put the brake pull rods on first but I should also have put the brake hangers on (so that I could align the pull rods) but I should have also primed and painted the whole bogie firstso I removed the axle and set about righting the error of my ways, came in and ordered a replacement sprocket and a couple of spares while I was at it. Having left things for a couple of days I have now fitted the brakes and the pull rods, both fitted nicely and much better than the 3D printed offerings in the previous kit The instructions would have you fitting the outer ends of the pull rods to the frame sides and warn you if you do this it then makes it almost impossible to get to the wheels etc once you have completed the task, so as I had made provision to make the sides removable, I glued the outer ends to the chassis block and alignment wise you can hardly notice the difference. The inner ends of the rods are cast with a hole in which fits over a spigot on the bottom of the brake hanger, I enlarged the hole so that slips over the spigot and thus makes it easy when removing the sideframes. The bogies will be primed later and painted tomorrow, hopefully the postie will deliver the sprockets and I will be able to finish the bogies off and at least have a test run on the rolling road. More to come soon. regards Mike

Hi Chris, not without its little foibles, but scrubs up nice in the end. regards Mike

Hi Chris, a neat solution and one that I might well follow. Nice model by/the way. regards Mike

Thanks Michael, it has been suggested as a 'light grey' in other quarters. regards Mike

One thing that is bothering me with the new build, what is the name of the colour of the 'off? white' stripe on the lower body side and is it available as a rattle can? I have heard 'Ford Highland Green' mentioned but I think that that refers to the Class 14 & 17 cabs. Any suggestions would be welcome. regards Mike

They say 'what goes round comes round' cheers Mike

Hi Hal, Yes it is second hand, bought back from the guy I sold it to in March 2016! As I said in the reply above, the 3D versions will not stand up to any knocks and are quite brittle so tread carefully. Just for comparison, nose ends with 3D and 0.7mm wire handrails. regards Mike

Hi Jeff, Herewith photos of lost wax and 3D printed versions from the drivers seats down on the last page, they are whitemetal. Sorry that I cannot put them side by side. 3D printed are very brittle and will not stand up to any form of handling or knocks. regards Mike