Popular Post Ian Smith Posted May 23, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 23, 2020 A little more work on the Dean Goods... The Tender Brakes (hangers/blocks) have been fretted and filed from 0.018" nickel silver, they are representational rather than copies of the real thing. Once one had been drilled and shaped, it was sweated onto a corner of the larger sheet, and used as a pattern to drill and file around. Once the pair had been separated and they were then used as patterns for the next two and so on until I'd got 8 (a couple of spares). The finished brake hangers/blocks (the holes are drilled 0.35mm to give a sense of size) I had already soldered stubs of 0.33mm brass wire into the chassis for these to hang from, so each was located on its wire and soldered into position being careful to ensure that they were close to the wheel tyre but not touching (for binding reasons rather than electrical shorting, as being a split chassis it doesn't matter if they touch the wheels from an electrical point of view). The pull rods were formed from 0.008" nickel silver. The holes (0.35mm dia) for the cross shafts were drilled (very) close to the edge of the sheet, then the opposite edge of the pull rod was scored and bent back and forth to snap off the pull rod (the bit with the 3 holes in it was held in the vice for this operation to keep the pull rod straight). The scored/snapped edge was cleaned up with fine emery and the rod cut to length. It was then a simple matter of fitting the pull rods to the hangers with more 0.33mm brass wire for the cross shafts. The Tender brakes in position on the chassis. I still have to make a representation of the "L" shaped chunk of metal that converted the vertical motion imparted by the brake handle to the horizontal push/pull on the rods. And a view from underneath (after the cross shafts have been severed to preserve electrical isolation of each half of the chassis). And what it all looks like with the body sitting on top. The next thing to be tackled was the leading steps. These were fretted from more 0.008" and soldered into position behind the footplate valance. On the rear steps I had made the steps themselves from pieces of 0.004" nickel silver bent to an L along their middle to represent the step and its upstand. The real things had an upstand on the ends as well (as I had done on the engine, and by comparison the tender steps just didn't look right), so I decided to remove the steps from the rear and re-make them when I added the front steps. Again, they were made from 0.004", a score along the middle allowed the strip to be bent at 90 degrees, but before this bend was made, I cut little noggins out of the ends of the metal that was to represent the upstands to allow the end of the step piece to be bent upright to represent the end upstands. The step was then bent along the score line to form a little complete step. Several minutes were then taken to coax these little blighters into place. Hopefully, comparison of the photo above and below will show what I think is an improvement to the rear steps. The current state of play of the tender body. The front steps have been added, as have the handrails on the rear corners of the tank. I've just noticed that I've left the handrail knobs for the tank front poked into the holes there (not fixed yet). The tank top bulkhead has also been fretted/filed and fitted in place on the tank top. Finally the holes for the brake standards have been drilled on the footplate. I've now got to the stage where I can make a list of all the things that I need to make/add for the project. Some of these are shown below. The first of the "fiddly's" : Handrail knobs - twists of fine phosphor bronze wire (annealed over a lighter flame before twisting); Tender Brake Standards - relatively simple turnings on the lathe from 1.5mm dia brass rod, a notch filed across the top and a bit of bent guitar string soldered into the notch (It probably took longer to solder the wire in place correctly than it did to turn the standards!!); Tender Sandboxes - Filed from 3mm square brass bar, and cut to length, hole drilled in top to accept a domed piece of brass rod (filed to about 1.2mm diameter) to represent the filler cap. A standard coin of the realm to give indication of size of the "fiddly's"! That's it for this update. Thanks for looking. Ian 13 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian Smith Posted May 25, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 25, 2020 A little more work on the GWR 2500 gallon tender... The coal rails have been made and added, these are 0.33mm brass wire taped down and small 0.004" brackets soldered in place with 188 degree solder. The positions of the brackets were marked on the paper which the wire had been taped, the middle bracket (the one that is on the rails on the tender rear) was made so that it wrapped around the wire to make sure it won't come adrift in a later process - the top lamp socket needs to be fixed to this bracket when I come to add these details. Once all the brackets were secure, the rear corners in the length of coal rails were bent around a 2.5mm drill at the corners to a 90 degree bend - I had to apply the iron to that middle bracket to slide it over by about 0.015" to get it central on the tank. The bottom legs of the brackets were then splayed inwards so that they fitted against the inside of the tender flare, and any excess length snipped off so that the rails sat at a suitable height above the tender flare. The forward ends of the coal rails were then measured against the tender sides and bent down so that they could be attached to the inside of the flare and again excess length snipped off. It was then a relatively simple matter of attaching the coal rail assembly to the tender flare by the attached brackets - this was done with 70 degree solder. Finally, the tops of the brackets were filed flush with the top coal rail (with the exception of the one on the back rail which had been wrapped around the rail). The next task was to add the D shaped filler on the tank top behind the rear bulkhead. Some scrap 8mm square brass bar was milled down to be about 3mm thick and 5mm wide and the D shaped end carefully filed at one end. The filed block was then sweated onto a scrap piece of 0.008", which was then filed back to leave a small lip around the sides and D shaped end of the filler. A couple of 0.3mm holes were drilled in the top to accommodate a handle made from a bit of 36SWG phosphor bronze wire, and 0.004" hinges were soldered on a few mm back. These hinges were made as a pair by filing up a U shaped piece of 0.004", the ends of the U being folded out slightly and soldered in place with more 70 degree solder before the bottom of the U was snapped off and the attached hinges cleaned up with a fine file. A couple of photos of the tender sporting its coal rails and D shaped filler : The current state of the tender with its newly added coal rails and D filler. Evident in the photos is the "special strong" bracket on the rear rail which has been wrapped around the top rail for strength - Eventually, the top lamp socket will be attached to this bracket. A little work on the engine part of the project has been done too - the holes for the handrails have all been drilled around the boiler and smokebox, and the washout plugs have been added on the firebox wrapper! The positions for the latter were carefully marked, and then drilled 0.4mm. Using these holes for guidance, a 0.8mm drill was then run into the holes for a a few thou - making sure that the drill didn't break all the way through the thickness of the boiler tube. To make the plugs themselves, some 0.4mm copper wire had its last mm or two squashed square in a pair of pliers, the very end cut off to leave a (fairly) undistorted squared off end. Then a piece about 3mm long was cut off and the squared off end bent at right angles and poked into the 0.4mm hole in the firebox side from the inside and secured with cyano. The photo below shows the end result - I think its made the world of difference to what would otherwise have been a pretty bland firebox side. Current state of the boiler sub-assembly with the newly added washout plugs. Thanks for looking Ian 10 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Ian Smith said: Thanks for looking Just seeing the bar raised. Lovely. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Hi Ian, That is a little jewel you are building there, exquisite! Cheers, John. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Argos Posted May 25, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 25, 2020 (edited) Those washout plugs look great Ian (not to say the rest doesn't!) Edited May 26, 2020 by Argos 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian Smith Posted May 29, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2020 A little more work on the Tender for the Dean Goods... The front handrails have been added, along with the previously made brake stanchions and toolboxes. The next task was to add the axleboxes. The Association used to sell two varieties of white metal castings for GWR Tender axleboxes, unfortunately the only ones still stocked are the heavier variety which are more suited to the tenders behind Kings and Castles. Guess which ones I've got in my gloat box!!! Therefore, I had to cobble together some lighter variety suitable for a 2500 gallon tender - I decided to use some N Brass SR axleboxes that I had (simply because the springs were the right length). The axleboxes themselves aren't quite right, the springs are a little to heavy (being almost flat across the top), and the spring cups at the bottom of the links hanging down from the spring ends are incredibly anaemic! However, attacking the spring tops with a file soon sorted the spring shape, and a little surgery to remove the spring cups yielded something that looked OK. Before they could be fitted though, I needed to reinstate the spring cups so an hour or so on the lathe produced 15 new spring cups (only need 12 but some sacrificial extras for the carpet monster is always a good call) The N Brass SR axle box castings, top 3 as they come, bottom 3 after thinning the springs and removing the spring cups. On the right are a couple of my turned spring cups (the two spares that I didn't lose to the carpet monster). The spring cups were carefully soldered into the angle of the frames where the "W Iron" part meets the top half of the frame. All 12 spring cups soldered into position in the angles of the lower frames - they have been soldered in place with more than half of the spring cup outside the frame. I ten moved on to fitting the lamp sockets on the tender rear. The real things were probably cast, and bolted in place. They were roughly a cube of 4 - 5" with a square hole through them for the lamp spigot and part of the casting was a plate extending backwards to allow them to be bolted onto the footplate. I must admit that mine are a bit beefier than the 0.7 or 0.8mm cubes that they should be, I file 1mm square brass down to 0.9mm, file a step in the end of the bar to represent the fixing plate, drill a 0.3mm hole through them for my lamp spigot (I really do have ModelU lamps that I can move around so that my trains have the correct head codes! Although I will admit that my spigot is a bit of round wire rather than a tapered square peg). The embryonic lamp socket is almost severed from the end of the bar so that the rest of the bar can be snapped off once the socket has been soldered in position (if the whole socket comes off when I try to snap it off I know that my solder joint was useless and needs to be remade ). An embryonic lamp socket prior to soldering in place. The brass bar is 0.9mm square. The socket soldered in place on the coal rail prior to snapping off the rest of the bar. The completed lamp socket after cleaning up with a fine file. Finally, a couple of photos of the current state of the tender : The only things left to add now are the toolboxes, and the mushroom vents on top of the tanks - I'm not completely convinced that all tenders had the latter, they are certainly not evident in many of the photos of 2500 gallon tenders around the turn of the century, but then most of the tenders seem to have huge piles of coal on them that probably cover the vents anyway, certainly the photo I have of DG No.2569 (the DG I'm trying to model) is in that situation. Thanks for looking Ian 12 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted May 30, 2020 Share Posted May 30, 2020 Amazing attention to detail Ian. I still find it hard to believe Modbury is 2mm scale! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted May 30, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 30, 2020 That is looking so good Ian, I can't wait to see what happens next! best wishes, Alastair 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian Smith Posted June 2, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 2, 2020 With the tender for the Dean Goods getting close to completion, I decided it was about time I returned to the engine portion of the combination. Not really a huge amount left to do, but I do have a tick list which I now need to work through. First on that list were the footplate sandboxes, I have always considered these little items to be quite a noticeable aspect of the front end of a Dean Goods - they appear to sit on a little plinth, have rounded off corners, and the lid has a little knob for a handle. Below is an image of what I am trying to achieve : In model form these sandboxes are a little over 3mm x 2mm x 1.5mm high. The first step was to file up a pair of solid pieces of brass to the aforementioned size, which were then soldered onto a bit of 0.010" scrap etch for the plinth. The plinth was then filed back to size to stand 0.010" proud on all sides. A hole was then drilled centrally through the sandboxes for a phosphor bronze pin which would form 3 functions, it would be filed to provide the distinctive knob, it would serve to hold everything together when I fitted the lid, and also provide a mounting peg. For the lid, the end of a piece of silver steel bar was filed to the shape of the lid (an oval about 2mm long by 1.5mm wide), this was then used to punch out a pair of lids from 0.004" nickel silver, in turn, these were drilled and broached accommodate the previously mentioned phosphor bronze wire (which had had the end filed to the shape of the knob in a mini drill). It was then a simple matter of threading the plinth, sandbox body and lid onto the PB wire knob and soldering the lot together - to make it a bit easier, the plinth and body were held together with 188 degree solder, and the lid and knob added with 145 degree paste. The final task with these little fixings was to add the lamp sockets. These were again filed down from 1mm square brass rod to 0.8mm square, a mounting spigot was turned , and then a 0.3mm hole drilled through the "cube" on the end of the mounting spigot for the lamp spigot, before then being cut off the end of the bar with a piercing saw. The lamp sockets were soldered into holes drilled in the front face of the sandboxes with low melt solder. The finished sandboxes can be seen in the photo below : And a final photo of what they look like plonked in place in holes in the footplate : Thanks for looking. Ian 12 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacathedrale Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Lovely stuff, Ian - can you advise how you're punching out NS with the steel? I've recently come across a video where a chap is punching out foil (Rather than NS) with the back end of a drillbit over an eraser to get rivets - but this seems like it's a little more involved! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 17 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said: Lovely stuff, Ian - can you advise how you're punching out NS with the steel? I've recently come across a video where a chap is punching out foil (Rather than NS) with the back end of a drillbit over an eraser to get rivets - but this seems like it's a little more involved! Very simply! I placed the 0.004” nickel silver over a piece of sheet lead, placed my punch in place and gave it a firm tap with a hammer. The resultant punching is embedded in the lead, so the lead sheet is flexed to enable the punching to be winkled out with the point of a small screwdriver. In the past I have used a beer mat as the support instead of lead but in this instance I found a piece of lead before a beer mat Hope that helps Ian 1 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D869 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 13 hours ago, Ian Smith said: in this instance I found a piece of lead before a beer mat Isn't it obvious? The beer mat is under your pint. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted June 4, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 4, 2020 13 hours ago, Ian Smith said: Very simply! I placed the 0.004” nickel silver over a piece of sheet lead, placed my punch in place and gave it a firm tap with a hammer. The resultant punching is embedded in the lead, so the lead sheet is flexed to enable the punching to be winkled out with the point of a small screwdriver. In the past I have used a beer mat as the support instead of lead but in this instance I found a piece of lead before a beer mat 34 minutes ago, D869 said: Isn't it obvious? The beer mat is under your pint. Depends. Maybe the pint came after he “collected” the lead. Doesn’t do to be drinking whilst climbing on a roof... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian Smith Posted June 11, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 11, 2020 As a bit of a break from the Dean Goods, over the last couple of days I've also been working on coaches... The first is a GWR Diagram C4 scratch aid from Worsley Works. The kits provides the sides and ends of the main body and the same for the clerestory, and usefully provides a starting point for the underframe (floor, solebars, headstocks and top step). There are a couple of issues with the model as provided, the first is that the C4 coach was one of those that had a 3-arc roof profile for the main roof, but the clerestory had a plain arc profile (the kit has 3-arc profiles for both rooves). My solution was to re-profile the clerestory ends to an arc profile with files (unfortunately, the panelling on the end retains the 3-arc profile but I don't think that it's too noticeable under the eaves of the roof). The second issue is very simple to resolve as it relates to the positions of the holes for the bogie pivots - they are too far apart, so new holes were marked and drilled at the prototypical 23'2". The sides for the main body and clerestory were prepared before separating from the fret by soldering on all of the vents above the doors. Unfortunately, the kit only provides sufficient for the body sides and a couple of extras, luckily however I had a separate small etch from Allan which contained nothing but vents which I used for the clerestory. Once separated, the tumblehome was formed in my usual manner of thumb pressure over a suitable piece of steel bar. Once the ends and sides of the main body were assembled, a piece of 0.005" brass was cut to size and formed to shape over more steel bars and soldered in place. The clerestory sides and ends were then assembled in place on the roof. Because the clerestory needs to be glazed, and also because I needed to get inside it to solder the roof on, I drilled a couple of holes in the roof within the confines of the clerestory then fretted and filed out two large holes (a bridging piece was left across the middle of the clerestory for strength) to allow access from the inside to solder on the clerestory roof which was also made from a piece of 0.005" brass formed over a steel bar. Current state of the C4 bogie coach (although I have sanded back the edges of the roof since the photo was taken as I felt the roof overhung the sides too much) - The next step will be to drill the holes for the door handles and sweat on all of the G scroll handles (both from N Brass). I always attach these before painting, preferring to scrape back to bare brass before applying decals and varnish. The other coach that has been worked up is another for my train of 6-wheel coaches, and is another from my own artwork. It is another diagram S6, but this time I've built it with oil lamps for variety. The non-step end illustrating the coupling I've used on both my 4-wheeled set and 6-wheeled sets of coaches. It is supposed to represent the vacuum pipe, but I do fit it centrally rather than off to one side, but it works well with coaches that only have a 0.010" thick headstock. The step end of the coach. As this will be the outer end of the set (for now) it has a DG coupling soldered below the headstock (although the latch won't be fitted until after painting as I've done that before and had no end of trouble extricating it from the maskol that I'll be applying to protect the coupling) The new coach alongside her sister S6 which is sporting gas lamps (with just the single feed pipe). Just about visible is the way the two coaches are connected by the vacuum pipe coupling. Thanks for looking. Ian 21 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 The coaches look superb Ian. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 Lovely job on the coaches Ian and a lovely job on the etches for the S6. I could do with a 7mm version. Don 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Donw said: Lovely job on the coaches Ian and a lovely job on the etches for the S6. I could do with a 7mm version. Don Don, The Broad Gauge Society do a 7mm kit for the S6 coach (they used to be the old IKB Models kits I think). Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Ian Smith said: The Broad Gauge Society do a 7mm kit for the S6 coach (they used to be the old IKB Models kits I think). More lovely modelling Ian especially the S6. You are correct about the BGS kit in 7mm, here is a link if anyone is interested...just type S6 in the Search Box http://www.broadgauge.org.uk/modelling/bgs_parts_prices_7mm.html G Edited June 11, 2020 by bgman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinerChris Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 8 hours ago, Ian Smith said: Once separated, the tumblehome was formed in my usual manner of thumb pressure over a suitable piece of steel bar. Hi Ian, coaches are looking good. Very timely as I've recently been distracted by some coach kits too. Do you have a mock up that you could show of this? I've always been shown the 'cardboard jig' method of forming coach sides. This often seems to bend where you don't want it to, like at the bottom of windows, and not where you might want it to, like down to the bottom of the side. Best Regards, Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Ian, I finally got out to the post office and sent you a small parcel today. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 10 hours ago, richbrummitt said: Ian, I finally got out to the post office and sent you a small parcel today. Richard, Parcel received this morning. Thank you. The items look fantastic, absolutely amazing what a “home” printer can do! I might have to put coaches to bed for a week or so and get on and finish the Dean Goods now. Thanks again to both you and Tony. Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy stroud Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Superb craftsmanship. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 14 hours ago, MinerChris said: Hi Ian, coaches are looking good. Very timely as I've recently been distracted by some coach kits too. Do you have a mock up that you could show of this? I've always been shown the 'cardboard jig' method of forming coach sides. This often seems to bend where you don't want it to, like at the bottom of windows, and not where you might want it to, like down to the bottom of the side. Best Regards, Chris Chris, I tend to attach the lower edge of the side to a piece of bar with masking tape so that it doesn’t move and making sure that the side is parallel to the bar. Then rub my thumb along the length of the side to produce the tumblehome. It probably should be noted that all of my coaches are panelled so the part of side being bent will be about 0.005” thick. I use the same method for forming the rooves, but rub the metal over with a coffee stirrer or block of balsa to burnish out any irregularities, and also because the radius is often much sharper especially on a 3-arc profile. Hope that is helpful Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian Smith Posted June 24, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 24, 2020 A little more progress on the Dean Goods... She has had a visit to the paint shops, being sprayed green (Precision Paints GWR 1881-1906 Loco Green), once dry, masking tape was deployed so that the Indian Red could be deployed on the splashers, toolboxes and everything below the footplate. The tender received similar paint coverage before the blackwork could be tackled by brush. Finally, the buffer beams were brush painted too. Then came the bit that in my eyes brings an Edwardian loco to life, the lining!! Being a bit of a chicken, I decided to use Fox transfers for as much of the lining as I could - Boiler Bands on the loco, and all of the lining on the tender. The following image shows where I'm up to... Yesterday, I tackled the boiler band lining, and because the Midland Area group had a ZOOM meeting last night, below is the image I shared in our "show and tell". Today, I've tackled one side of the tender, and offer the following pair of photos as evidence to the jury. A coin of the realm has been included to give a sense of scale There is still quite a bit to do yet, the engine needs the cab sides lining, a pair of whistles making and fitting, and also the brass spectacle rims. She also needs brake gear, guard irons, etc making and fitting below the footplate. The tender toolboxes need to be made too, and I might see if I can nudge some of the vertical lining transfers slightly to better disguise the overlaps before it all gets a coat of varnish. Thanks for looking Ian 11 26 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted June 24, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 24, 2020 My word Ian, that is looking very good indeed. i can't wait to see her coasting into Modbury! Alastair 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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