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Building kits for Tyneside in the BR era. J24 and PDK D49/2


rowanj
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I was/am in two minds about showing any of tis build, but it has caused a bit of work for the little grey cells, so may be of interest, The kit is the Falcon Brass/Jidenco N15, obtained from Tony Wright as one of his disposals on behalf of a deceased modeller. Part of the price went to CRUK, a cause I support in any event, so, although the prototype is a bit unsuitable for my layout's location, I took a punt.

 

The kit is "of it's time", and , being secondhand, I'm not sure if anything is missing, though I think not. To say the instructions are basic is being kind, but I have the relevant Yeadon, so that will help.

 

The chassis etches are nice enough, though there is no detail on them. None of the holes for wheels or brakes are drilled through, but are rather half etched spots of about 0.5mm which need drilled out - a major task when it comes to the drivers. perversely, there are 2 holes at each end which it seems are fore screwed spacers, though there weren't any in the kit. I used, in the main, Comet etches left over from earlier projects. A bit of thought is needed to get these in appropriate places, especially those where the body fitting screws go and where the motor/gearbox will fit, but anyone who has built a Comet chassis will be used to this.

 

The only detailed parts you get are the brakes, without any etches for the blocks. I don't know the prototype very well, but the brake etches look nothing like the photos in Yeadon, so I have begun to fit spares from a Mainly Trains J72 etch.

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The footplate was an issue. How the wheels are expected to clear the cut-outs in the etch in OO, never mind EM, is a mystery. It took a fair amount of filing to get the wheels to revolve without sticking, let alone shorting. I fitted the cab front and rear to see how the Highlevel Roadrunner+ would fit, and it does, though only just. The kit is designed for a Portescap, I don't see how that would fit, but I suppose it must.

 

The boiler is rolled, with the bands etched rather prominently, It needs soldering along the bottom. There is no cut-out for the motor, so I confidently expect my soldered joint to break when I make the 3 cuts. small pilot holes show the position of chimney and dome  but not the handrail knobs. For anyone building a Wetinghouse version, there are no castings in my kit.

 

Looking at the Falconbrasswoks site, it doesn't seem as though this kit is currently available.

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  • rowanj changed the title to Building BR ex-LNER from kits. Falcon Brass N15.
On 22/08/2021 at 03:48, jrg1 said:

Good Luck with the build.  As far as I am concerned, Falcon Brass kits should enclose a warning about buildability, and a suggestion that all parts should be carefully checked against a drawing.

Occasionally one was OK. I built a Kirtley 0-4-4WT almost 20 years ago. Many exhibitions later, it's still looking good and going strong. I also bought a Midland steam railmotor and trailer. The bodies went together well, but the power bogie not so much. I've now got a power bogie kit from John Redrup; it's on the 'to do' list.

 

Mark

Edited by MarkC
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It looks like the chassis will be OK. I fitted the Mainly Trains brake blocks ,but still needs the shoes fitted. I'll fabricate, probably in plastic, the rear sandboxes, then that's it. The coupling rods are only on one side as yet- as usual, they needed drilling out through a half etch. They are designed to be articulated with a double thickness, but the metal is already  pretty thick, so I may see how it goes as a single piece.

 

The tank side is just tacked to check the position of the cab front and rear. My soldering skills are cruelly exposed by the window surround, but the flat sides really need an effort made to add them. The holes for the handrails by the door are pre-drilled, but those on the bunker are not. As built, some locos didnt have them, but with all the other half-etched holes around, you would have thought they could have marked the location on the inside of the fret.

 

 

 

T

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I now have a working chassis. The power is via a Roadrunner+ and the 1319 coreless Highlevel  motor. I decided I needed to beef up the coupling rods, so they are now double-thick, as provided for in the kit. However, the thickness extends the full length of both front and rear rods, so by the time they are fitted, the centre one has 4 layers over the crankpin. I filed down the rods , and , while it took a bit of effort to get everything turning without a tight spot, careful work with mini-broaches did the trick, The crankpins still need filed back and balance weights- there are none in the kit- fitted.

 

I needed to do some work on the boiler to check the fit of the motor. The boiler bands are etched, but the more I looked at them, the unhappier I was, They are so thick and tall as to challenge the loading gauge!. I removed them with my Dremel, and, as the loco will have lined bands, will use the transfers to replace the etched version. Photos show 2 tank supports over the boiler, and I'll fabricate something to represent them. 

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re the coupling rods. I'd filed them in the places suggested by Mike, and reduced them by 50% i.e to single thickness at the point where they fit over the crankpin. If I'd had a brain, I would have realised that I should. could have cut them in the first place. 

They do look a bit sloppy on the photos - a good reason for taking pictures in the first place- and , on investigating, I discovered the centre driving wheel nut had worked loose, and had slipped forward. Need to keep an eye on that - it may need a touch of cyano on the retaining nut.

I've just given the chassis a good run on the layout, and all seems well.

 

 

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Edited by rowanj
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With the basic body soldered, I fitted it to the chassis to check it still run without any fouling of the wheels or shorting at the footplate. All is well, so I'll push on with the rest, including some detailing not included in the kit. 

There is a backhead provided, but no other details for the cab. I havent yet found a photo of the cab interior, so will investigate further. If anyone has a photo or drawing, that would be appreciated. The chimney and dome are just perched, but they transform the look. I don't know whether they are good representatives, but they seem OK.

Inevitably, the photo shows some iffy soldering. There isn't anything that can't be cleaned up, but obviously, I wish I was good enough to do it properly in the first place. One of these days, I'll sign up for a course.

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25 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

If you're on Facebook, John, there were half a dozen or so N15 pictures posted this week in the LNER Society group.

Thanks for that, - I do visit the page occasionally. There are a lot of details to be sourced/added to the basic kit, and photos are a great resource. Most are just wire of various thicknesses for pipework, etc, but I'll need to find some globe lubricators. Rivets on the smokebox are very prominent, and I hope Archers Transfers will remedy that.

The biggest omission ,at least for me, is the cab. Even with a roof fitted and cab doors closed, it just looks like an empty space. I have a couple of PMs out there to folk who have shown an N15 and that may produce results.

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1 hour ago, Asterix2012 said:

https://caley.com/fitting.php Do them, on the parts section as “locomotive cylinder lubricators”

 

There is no photo I am afraid 

Hello, I ordered these recently for my current C2 build (for which the middle pair of globe ones did very well) - here's a pic of what you get:

 

CaleyCoachesinclubricatorsCF26.jpg.855e4507fc8adc9e4f9d7e5fde971466.jpg

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John,

 

If you go to the RCTS website and then to their photographic archive, entering LNER to company, steam to type and finally N15 to class, there are a number of photographs of various N15's on there. I didn't look at the full collection of N15 photos (there are some 30 plus photos) but the seven or eight I did look at were mostly taken in BR days.

 

This will allow you to check things such as the radii of the corners of the cab side window opening, mounting and type of lubricators, sand pipe profiles and positions, brake hangar positions, etc.

 

On soldering, a few suggestions :-

 

Wherever possible solder from the inside i.e. cab opening beading, valances, splashers, buffer beams. This makes the soldered joints invisible from any normal viewpoint.

 

Always burnish areas to be soldered, especially on brass; it tarnishes quite quickly, which significantly affects the ability of the solder/flux to bond to the metal. Nickel silver doesn't seem to degrade anywhere near as quickly and thus solders much more easily.

 

Use a good flux. Many years ago my old mate Mick Nicholson suggested I try diluted phosphoric acid, which is what I've used ever since. I bought a large bottle of this from Amazon about five years ago, from which I produce a very diluted solution - normally 15 : 1 water to acid - and then keep this in a screw stoppered plastic bottle. Phosphoric acid is used to etch glass, so even a diluted solution will 'attempt to dissolve' any glass bottle in which it is stored.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

Edited by mikemeg
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The Caley Castings have been ordered, so thanks for that tip. In addition to the lubricators, the sprue seems to have the fittings-are they also lubricators- I suppose they must be? - which fit to the bottom of the tank fronts, below the step and adjacent to the footplate. I was going to fabricate them from rod and 2mm bushes but now have a better source. 

 

I may well try Mike's flux suggestion. I have been using Barrie Stephenson/Slaters flux, and it's fine, but a bit pricey, and seems a bit hard on soldering bits. I will win no prizes foe my soldering skills, but am increasingly competent at filing, filling , scraping and rubbing down!

Edited by rowanj
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6 hours ago, rowanj said:

In addition to the lubricators, the sprue seems to have the fittings-are they also lubricators- I suppose they must be? - which fit to the bottom of the tank fronts, below the step and adjacent to the footplate. I was going to fabricate them from rod and 2mm bushes but now have a better source. 

The feature you've spotted is the tank balance pipe, John. It crosses from LHS tank front to RHS tank front to keep the same amount of water in each tank. You may have added one underneath the tanks on your Consett 0-6-0. 

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John,

 

If you do try the phosphoric acid, remember the O-level Chemistry maxim 'Always add smaller amounts of acid to larger amounts of water'; i.e. add one part acid to fifteen parts water.

 

Adding the first one measure of water to an equal measure of acid can/will generate some heat and some noxious fumes and it can 'spit' corrosive liquid!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

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I've been using phosphoric acid as flux for nearly 50 years now, the supply I have (nearly used up now though) is I think about 80% and has been in a glass bottle for the last 40 years or so - it hasn't etched its way out yet.

I dilute it by by dropping water from the kitchen tap into a small quantity at a time, I can assure you that absolutely nothing happens in the way of heat or fumes. A drop of washing up liquid helps it to flow where you want it.

There is no need to clean tarnished brass before soldering, the acid will get through it easily.

The advice to solder from the inside is good - all our kits are designed to be assembled like this as far as possible. If you have made a proper joint there should be a bright line of solder all along the outside - sometimes it helps to add some flux along the outside even though you are soldering from the inside.

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On 01/09/2021 at 11:06, mikemeg said:

 

 

 

 

Use a good flux. Many years ago my old mate Mick Nicholson suggested I try diluted phosphoric acid, which is what I've used ever since. I bought a large bottle of this from Amazon about five years ago, from which I produce a very diluted solution - normally 15 : 1 water to acid - and then keep this in a screw stoppered plastic bottle. Phosphoric acid is used to etch glass, so even a diluted solution will 'attempt to dissolve' any glass bottle in which it is stored.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I've always though that it was hydrofluric acid (nasty stuff) used to etch glass.  Our school chemistry lab store had some in small wax bottles precisely because it dissolved glass so easily.

 

Roja

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