Graham's Caledonian scratchbuild

[agt613]

Hi Steve, I used a Caley Coaches tender chassis even though it is 6'6" x 6'6" and I think the Jumbo was 6' x 6'. It needed slight shortening. The outer frames are my own cutting out.

 

I've just had a minor crisis on my Dundee bogie chassis - pictured

 

I took the motor off to redo the electrical connections onto those absolutely minute tabs that stick out the back of a mashima 1024 motor. Well, it seems I tarried ere long and the blighter disappeared inside the casing! I took it down to the Blyth and North Tyne Club and left it for a younger member with better eyesight to open it up and rescue it if he can. 

 

I've taken the separate frames over the bogie off it while I work out how to fasten the three quarters of the cylinders that sit below the footplate. I have bought a pair of Hornby Well Tank cylinders, crossheads, slidebars and conn rods from Peter's Spares and am modifying them to fasten to a nickel-silver sub-frame which sits up in the top of the side rod splasher and screws to the front spacer on the frames (extreme right of the picture. The well tank parts are just the right size and much finer than I could make. All will be revealed soon.   

 

Best wishes all, Graham

Edited May 5, 2017 by agt613

[Londontram]

Well the tender looks right which is half the battle, its a single slot chassis which is correct for the jumbo (Did you open the slots up from a twin oval slot chassis?) Anyway I wouldn't loose sleep over it as the difference is only 1mm  on the model.

 

Oh dear Graham that will teach you to leave well alone with the motor connections lets hope your friend can rescue it sound like the motion will be better anyway.

 

I've recently picked up a DJH class 55 and today a arrived a DJH class 439 so I've got some major loco kit building ahead of me. As well as that I've got two more Jumbos to build but thankfully I've got two Jameson brass tenders already so that will cut down some work there That should keep me going for a few years busy busy busy.

[agt613]

Well the tender looks right which is half the battle, its a single slot chassis which is correct for the jumbo (Did you open the slots up from a twin oval slot chassis?) Anyway I wouldn't loose sleep over it as the difference is only 1mm  on the model.

 

Oh dear Graham that will teach you to leave well alone with the motor connections lets hope your friend can rescue it sound like the motion will be better anyway.

 

I've recently picked up a DJH class 55 and today a arrived a DJH class 439 so I've got some major loco kit building ahead of me. As well as that I've got two more Jumbos to build but thankfully I've got two Jameson brass tenders already so that will cut down some work there That should keep me going for a few years busy busy busy.

Sorry to miss this for a few days, Steve. You seem to have found a treasure trove of engine kits! My Jumbo tender is new from the footplate down apart from the buffer beam, draw bar and top of steps. I tried to take a slice out of the 123 tender frames but it didn't look right and was quite weak. I thought a Caley Coaches tender frames and the outside frames cut out of 10 thou brass was a better way. I still have to weigh it down a bit. How much do you think a tender needs to weigh to keep it on the rails in front of a train of three or four coaches? 

 

Best wishes, Graham

[agt613]

It's been a while since I posted anything. Problems have occurred and been overcome, I think! The most difficult bit so far has been modifying the O2 cylinders/slidebar unit and attaching it to the chassis. So far it's superglued to a horizontal plate which fits in the top of the conrod splashers and is bolted to the front of the main chassis. There isn't room for the bogie to swing at all so I will have to think again. I've used plasticard for the tops of splashers again. I'm not happy with the tender buffers yet. They are rather low even though the tender floor and frames seem right. I made a whole new set of frames to get the correct height but have to leave a bigger space above the Caley Coaches tender axlebox springs than in the prototype. Could they be the wrong type? The tender leans against the rear of the loco to add adhesion and I have packed lead in, even to some snippets within where the coal will be added. The main items still to add are the cylinders above the footplate and the brakes between the drivers. 

 

Thanks for all your encouragement, Best wishes, Graham

[N15class]

Some nice work going on here. I do like some of these Scottish prototypes.

[agt613]

Thanks for this, Peter. I have used your Scratchbuilding (the way I do it) to learn loads of new techniques. Those of us without engineering backgrounds haven't learned that a dark colouring on brass etc.,before marking out shows up the scribe marks, or soldering scraps together to make four of a small piece, or (the best yet) cutting straight lines in brass with a stanley knife! Thank you so much for such great advice freely given. Graham

[N15class]

I am glad my ramblings have been of use to someone. I must do some more now I am back to some scratch building myself.

[agt613]

Yes, please do. It's these little tips that make it possible to extend ourselves and tackle new problems. Best wishes, Graham

[agt613]

A digression into rolling stock. I wanted to test whether POWsides transfers could be used on the Oxford NB or PO coal wagons instead of the now obsolete (?) PS01 from Parkside Dundas. These can be bought for £9.50 ready made with wheels, which is a good price in my books. I'm not from Yorkshire for nowt!. First job, after taking off the horrible couplings, is to pull out the buffer heads and superglue them back in. Otherwise, the carpet monster will have them!

 

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The original needs light sanding to get rid of most of the lettering so that it doesn't show up under the new paint. I take off the coupling and saw away the downward accretion to which the coupling is fitted with a piercing saw being careful not to stray up into the buffer beam. The sides are then painted in the ground colour recommended on the transfers. 

 

 

The lettering is just like letraset of fond memory to this former student of Town Planning in the 1960s. My dear wife called it a degree in colouring in but it was really in using letraset and the wonderful shading transfers we used to overlay on tracing paper. It has a propensity of leaping off the sheet onto anything on which you apply a slight pressure but it does need fastening at the top with masking tape over the wagon side. Some of the sides come with a check mark at the centre. Then, get out the biro, choose a starting point and rub gently over each letter in turn. And voila! Except the very bottom lettering on tare, etc., isn't great. Never mind. It will be so gunged up when weathered that no-one will notice at a quick glance in a low light!

 

 

All it needs now is weathering. I have an acrylic spray in anthracite which is slightly grey. It can be used to gently cover the sides with a fine mist as a start. More to follow.

 

The 125 Dundee bogey has been dismantled and reassembled, and now has cylinders that don't bind the wheels too much. More of that later, too. 

 

All good wishes, Graham

[agt613]

 

 

I applied weathering at different intensities to each side yesterday, mainly reflecting the coal dust that must have surrounded and overwhelmed these wagons.

 

Here is the original (in the centre with added grime) and one I made earlier on the right. The John Watson Ltd awaits a coupling but I have removed the excrescence designed to hold the original coupling. It also needs a crossing on the T of "Ltd" on one side but I'll dot it in with white paint and then add grime to it.

 

 

I have read many of the rather negative posts on POWsides transfers, on various chat sites, but I must admit I'm hooked. If I could afford it, I would buy up these lovely little Oxford wagons (usual disclaimer) and have whole trains using the 18 or so Scottish wagon sides they produce. 

 

Thanks for all the 'likes' chaps. Best wishes, Graham

[Londontram]

Looks a lovely little collection there Graham most impressive. I often find a little variation with my modeling stops some subjects going stale, going off for a few months means I can come back to a previous project fresh and often full of new ideas so I shouldn't worry about doing some wagons on your loco thread.

[agt613]

 

I've given my Dundee Bogie a buzz with primer which shows up the blemishes but lt brings it together for the first time. There is strange whitening where the filler is and round the smokebox/boiler join. I'm puzzled about the latter as there is no fastening there, it's just a push join. The splasher tops are an obvious challenge. They are plasticard to avoid shorting and needed filler adding. The dummy cylinder top above the footplate shows plasticard layers coming apart. 

 

I'll be getting the wet and dry out now.

 

Best wishes, all. Graham

[Londontram]

Drool........

[N15class]

You may find it's just because the filler is absorbent.

 

Looks good anyway.

[richard i]

Looks good.

Always pays to spend the extra time on sanding back all the lumps and bumps even if it does not fill it at the time.

Is the connecting rod upside down?

A simple fix if it is i am sure.

[agt613]

HI, Yes, well spotted. The wheels still have to be taken off for painting, etc., so I am overlooking it for now. The crankpin nut is a bit of a beast to get back on so I am leaving it until then. Graham

[agt613]

This making 'two for each stage' has hit a high (or is it low?) point. I have been trying to make the rear bogie wheel for the Dundee Bogie as part of the fixed chassis and the front one as a pony wheel so that the cylinder didn't get in the way of the front wheels' movement. I made a mini fixed chassis for the rear bogie wheel but it wasn't a success. So, I will have to make a new set of chassis 'sides' with the rear bogie as a front fixed wheel and find a better way of hanging the cylinders. I may move away from the Oxford Radial tank cylinders and make new ones in metal using a Markway crosshead set and screwing the cylinders to the chassis sides. It's a bit of an engineering challenge for me, though. It's been put away carefully but I'm going to pause until I feel up to it. Meanwhile, the trackwork beckons. Best wishes, Graham

[agt613]

It's nearly five years since I added anything here. Sorry about that.

 

On my layout, I am trying to depict Caledonian buildings without having to start from scratch. I have done a bit of kit bashing and share my station building with you, now.

 

I started with the Ratio station building with a view to 'Caley-fying' it by adding  wider, stepped gable ends, modelled on Forfar as seen in a photo that's constantly for sale on eBay. The kit front and rear are assembled as per instructions. The canopy is modified a little and the gents' enclosure not used. The main work is in fabricating the new ends. I used Wills Coarse stone (SSMP200) which comes in 2mm thick sheets. I augmented them along the stepped gable by a similar amount to give a good thickness to the tops of the walls. This took some time, care, filing and filling, but seems to have worked in the end. Louvres are manufactured from micro strip for the loft windows. A new roof is fitted and covered in Metcalfe slates, which come with the Cut Stonework M! pack. New chimneys are added but the Ratio chimney pots are used. 

 

It all took quite a while but much less than if I had to start the front and rear from scratch. I have no connection with any of the products.

 

Best wishes, Graham

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Edited June 29, 2022 by agt613
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