Jazz 7mm Workbench

[jazz]

Thanks Simon.  I'll agree it is more work than meets the eye. The strapping is tedious to cut out and rivet.  Then solder onto the body.  The rest should now be OK once I get the brake gear sussed out.

[N15class]

Just caught up with all you've been doing Ken.

Lots of nice things, you are still producing more than I can even think about. 

 

[jazz]

That's the beauty of retirement Peter, lots of time to do your hobby

 

Talking of which, the coal waggon is ready for the off.

 

[jazz]

Hi.  It's been a long time in the build of this 01.  Finally got her finished today.  She has a boiler full of lead weight and a large Bulhler Motor and gear box. A lovely quiet runner and very heavy too.

 

 

[jazz]

Having completed the tender for the J11 (which was meant for the 01) I have now started the the engine.

 

All going OK on it as it's typical Gladiator kit. The jointed couplings required a small adjustment to the joints to eliminate a tight spot.

 

[jazz]

Plodding onwards, almost ready for the priming. Geoff has the correct safety valves and will pop them on when he receives the loco.

 

[jazz]

Putting the J11 to one side ready for priming I'm starting the Meteor Models CR/LMS 4-4-0 113 class.  Another one thats a bit of a challenge as it's old school kit.

 

So far the tender is almost assembled with some minor additions to aid the assembly as they is no tag and slots here. Also some alterations described in the instruction sheets.

 

It looks a bit rough as no clean up of the soldering has been done yet.

 

 

 

[Regularity]

2 minutes ago, jazz said:

It looks a bit rough as no clean up of the soldering has been done yet.

I’d hate to see your work when it isn’t rough...

[jwealleans]

13 hours ago, Regularity said:

I’d hate to see your work when it isn’t rough...

 

If that's rough, you wouldn't be able to see where he'd been if it wasn't.

[jazz]

Moving on with the Meteor Models 4-4-0.  A lot of adjusting and filling in on this. Getting it all to sit properly took a lot of adjustments. I'm hoping the worst is now over on the build.

 

Here is the build so far.

 

[jazz]

Got the CR class 113 primed today and now moving to one for myself. This is the Scorpio BR Standard Class 3 tank.  Designed by Jim Harris and therefore will be quite a challenge by all accounts. There will be some modifications in abundance I believe.

 

Here is the start of the chassis. I I not a fan of compensation or rigid chassis so I am using my centre axle springing as usual.  Next is the coupling rods and the need to do something about the knuckle etch I think.

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by jazz

[jazz]

So far, so good.  The coupling rods needed the hole reaming out to get it free running.  Then slightly altered the joint to represent the it better by soldering a small washer in the centre and filing to frofile the joint.  Then came the cylinders.  The etched holes for the piston assembly wes ridiculously to large. Cured that by soldering 3/16" axle bushes in the holes which in turn allowed 3/16" rod to enable accurate alignment with the centre wheels.

 

 

[jazz]

OK. I cannot pretend this is an easy build.  Being a fan of Scorpio kits this one being basically a Jim Harris kit and all the problems with those, definitely do not do the Scorpio brand any favours.

 

Full of problems with the etches not least the etched holes being way too big forcing the use of 12BA nuts and bold instead of the usual 14BA does not help.  The castings are not great but with plenty of cleaning and filing they are usable. Ideally it would be better to replace them with better quality for a top notch build. As this is going on my layout I'm happy with what is in the kit.  Tomorrow is the clean up and prime and paint it black.

 

 

 

 

[jazz]

After a fair bit of cussing, finally got it up and running. Just got the sand pipes and painting to call the chassis done.  Hoping the body will be a lot more pleasant to build.

 

[doilum]

On 15/09/2020 at 17:53, jazz said:

Got the CR class 113 primed today and now moving to one for myself. This is the Scorpio BR Standard Class 3 tank.  Designed by Jim Harris and therefore will be quite a challenge by all accounts. There will be some modifications in abundance I believe.

 

Here is the start of the chassis. I I not a fan of compensation or rigid chassis so I am using my centre axle springing as usual.  Next is the coupling roads and the need to do something about the buckle etch I think.

 

 Brave man. 82004 sits half finished with motion issues to resolve. Perfect project for next winter's lock down?

[jazz]

Making some headway on the body now. The only issue so far was the roof is a just under 1mm too narrow in width. I cured that by cutting it a half and adding an infill.  That meant the sliding roof was now not wide enough, so scratch building it was the answer.

 

There will be no work on the WB tomorrow, other things to keep me busy.

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by jazz

[jazz]

Slow progress today. The body is proving just as bad as the chassis.  Ended up having to ditch the firebox wrapper and make a new one.  Then made formers for the boiler and s/box.   Had to remove far more than the instructions 1mm from the tank tops.  Make tank side inners as the gap was awful without them.   Finally make a s/box ring for the door to sit in.

 

Now I have to get the unit to sit square without twists in the footplate.

 

What a chore this kit is turning out to be.

 

Smokebox ring from scrap nickel silver.

 

Starting the soldering of the unit to the footplate.

 

  

[jazz]

Hi. Looks like that is all the dodgy things are now done with. The rest should motor along nicely as it's all just then detail work.

 

(Hope I've not put a jinx on it now)

 

[Ian Major]

Nice work in deed.

 

Some of the holes look a bit on the large side to me.  Is this a case of a 7mm kit produced from a blown up 4mm one?

 

Ian.  

[jazz]

10 hours ago, Ian Major said:

Nice work in deed.

 

Some of the holes look a bit on the large side to me.  Is this a case of a 7mm kit produced from a blown up 4mm one?

 

Ian.  

Possibly Ian.  Being designed by Jim Harris, who knows?  Definitely had some issues with the over sized holes amongst other ones.  Blown up etches from a smaller scale never works out.

[Simond]

I had the “pleasure” of trying to keep a Bulleid light pacific on the rails some years back.  The bodywork was fine, certainly by the standards of the day, and had been well built & nicely painted, but the chassis...  it had been blown up from 00, and was truly shambolic.

 

unfortunately, it didn’t have Slaters’ wheels so a strip-down was going to get expensive, so some very unattractive bodges were employed!

 

(c-washers from plasticard clipped on the axles, unsoldered bushes, pushed out and resoldered, all a bit brutal)

 

I would always recommend getting the best kit you can afford, the modern stuff is so much better than the hand drawn, in almost every case, but sometimes it’s a case of “this kit or no kit”, and then the frustrations start.  
 

Anyway, it looks better-than-ok from here, so hopefully, as you say, it’s just the details!

 

Atb

Simon

[georgeT]

3 hours ago, jazz said:

Possibly Ian.  Being designed by Jim Harris, who knows?  Definitely had some issues with the over sized holes amongst other ones.  Blown up etches from a smaller scale never works out.

 

Hi Jazz, l have a Jim Harris / Alan Bullock kit of a Ex-GWR 2251 from many years back and its a bit of a challenge, wafer thin etches etc, but having a good look through your threads l have got some confidence to proceed, thank you.

[jazz]

3 hours ago, Simond said:

I had the “pleasure” of trying to keep a Bulleid light pacific on the rails some years back.  The bodywork was fine, certainly by the standards of the day, and had been well built & nicely painted, but the chassis...  it had been blown up from 00, and was truly shambolic.

 

unfortunately, it didn’t have Slaters’ wheels so a strip-down was going to get expensive, so some very unattractive bodges were employed!

 

(c-washers from plasticard clipped on the axles, unsoldered bushes, pushed out and resoldered, all a bit brutal)

 

I would always recommend getting the best kit you can afford, the modern stuff is so much better than the hand drawn, in almost every case, but sometimes it’s a case of “this kit or no kit”, and then the frustrations start.  
 

Anyway, it looks better-than-ok from here, so hopefully, as you say, it’s just the details!

 

Atb

Simon

Done that myself in the past.  It's the only Class 3 kit at the present. So it's onwards and forwards.

Edited September 27, 2020 by jazz

[jdb82]

3 hours ago, jazz said:

  Blown up etches from a smaller scale never works out.

 

So due to the topsey-turvey way my mind works, I'm now wondering, if blown up etches from smaller scales don't work, could reduced etches from a larger scale work any better?

Having only built 2 kits myself (I keep promising myself I'll do more, but life gets i the way!), I'm not in much of a position to answer it myself!

[jazz]

1 hour ago, georgeT said:

 

Hi Jazz, l have a Jim Harris / Alan Bullock kit of a Ex-GWR 2251 from many years back and its a bit of a challenge, wafer thin etches etc, but having a good look through your threads l have got some confidence to proceed, thank you.

Pleased to help George.  The thing about etched kits, if it won't fit ditch the offending etch and scratch built that part (as I had to do with the firebox wrapper).    If etched holes are too big  I solder a snap of off cut behind the hole, re drill to correct diameter, fit the part and fill the gap with low melt solder of body filler.