Agenoria RSH 0-6-0 in 4mm

[jukebox]

Hi Everyone.

 

I've been enviously watching the pages here for some time now, wishing I had the skill (or is that courage?) to have a go at posting a kit build. I've put together a few whitmetal loco bodies, and am not scared of the soldering iron - but the chassis and valve gear has frightened me off so I have stalled from progressing.

 

I figure posting this one as I go my help my confidence, and I can hopefully get good advice if I do get in a bind , so here goes...

 

I'm building an Agenoria Models RSH 0-6-0 industrial tank:

 

 

I chose this one because I liked the chunky, no-nonsense look of the prototype (East Coast Main Line, and exotic one-offs being my usual area of curiosity).

 

I ordered the complete kit, with wheels, motor and gears. It arrived with a set of instructions for another of Agenoria's kits, an oversight quickly rectified by the gent at Agenoria. Here's the box:

 

 

When you open it up, there's plenty of brass for your buck. The frames and motion are nickel-silver, the boiler and smokebox etches are pre-formed, and there are a bag of whitemetal fittings, as well as some brass crossheads, handrail knobs, gubbins for pickups and handrail wire. This is what it all looks like:

 

 

The kit can make either the Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns, or Yorkshire Engine versions of this loco, and so there are spare etches for cab sides and smokebox saddles. I'm going to build the RSH version, preferring the straight sided cab to the raked-in YE version. The differences can be seen on this drawing provided with the kit:

 

 

A YE example is preserved, and I have found photos of her online, but have yet to see an actual photo of an RSH example - which is modelling heresy, I guess (I agree Iain Rice is correct in saying that a kit should be used as a starting point to build a model of a specific prototype... but when you're 10,000 miles away in Perth, Australia, sometimes the research borders on the impossible). I'm no master modeller, folks, so I'll live with the compromise!

 

Okay, I'm at the starting point. The instructions would have me begin with the superstructure. But knowing that the chassis will make or break me, I'm going to skip ahead and start there.

 

Scott

[Adam]

Hi Scott

 

I'll be interested to see how you get on with this monstrous looking prototype. Personally, I prefer the YE Co. cab on these, but that's my wilful perversity. You might find the following picture links helpful:

 

http://diana671.fotopic.net/p42654528.html

http://diana671.fotopic.net/p42654582.html

 

(NB - these are a slightly different - even bigger - type with outside Walscherts valvegear but the cabs, at least are similar).

 

Adam

[davknigh]

Hi Scott,

 

Is there any provision for EM or P4 conversion such as additional frame spacers with the kit?

 

Cheers,

 

David

[Adam]

Adam,

 

These are rather nice looking industrials; do you have any more photos of them? You can see the family likeness to the one Scott is planning to build, although I think I prefer the complexity of the added valve gear on the ones you've posted. Good luck with the kit Scott and I'm sure you'll get along just fine - just take your time getting everything square and sure. I don't think the Agenoria kits are designed for P4 but can be converted to EM. However, I did contact Agenoria about another of their 4mm kits and the proprietor (very friendly and helpful chap) said they could make up P4 spacers, and frames suitable for hornblocks (I think - don't quote me!) for their kits by special request and extra cost.

 

Simon

 

Simon - I should emphasise that they're not my photos, I simply located them on Fotopic whicle looking for something else! The rest of the gallery has plenty of interesting (if not brilliant quality) shots. These big saddle-tanks are really very specialised bits of kit however, and quite atypical of British industrial loco's as a breed. At least two of the YEC type portrayed in the kit did end up with the NCB though. One at Chislet in Kent (now preserved at Quainton Road) which sported a Aluminium painted smokebox for a while...

 

I'm sure that they're buildable in P4. There seem to be the usual etched guides for cut outs in the frames for hornguides/blocks though you might need to look at the cylinder spacing with the wider frames though I can't see any additional spacers (not at all difficlt to make or buty in) in the photo.

 

Adam

[Adam]

Adam,

 

The locos shown in your links are quite specialised but by no means alone in the industrial railway field in the UK. There were of course the big Bagnall 0-6-0ST's with valve gear ("Victor" and "Vulcan") that worked the former Morris Cowley works outside Birmingham. One of these is certainly preserved and spent time on the WSR. I built one in O gauge.

 

Here's a similar loco from the Bagnall stable (the first photo): http://www.steamindex.com/manlocos/bagnalls.htm

 

Simon

 

There were three of those SCOW Bagnalls (the third went the NCB in south Wales and was scrapped in '67), Mercian do the kit. Both Vulcan and Victor are still with us, one at Tyseley and the other at the North Tyneside Railway apparently, though I don't think either are in working order at the mo'.

 

Adam

[Arthur]

Here's a photo of one of the SCOW Bagnalls very much in working order;

 

 

http://www.rmweb.co....image&img=11952

 

same as my avatar...

 

 

 

[jukebox]

Hi Scott

 

I'll be interested to see how you get on with this monstrous looking prototype. Personally, I prefer the YE Co. cab on these, but that's my wilful perversity. You might find the following picture links helpful:

 

http://diana671.foto.../p42654528.html

http://diana671.foto.../p42654582.html

 

(NB - these are a slightly different - even bigger - type with outside Walscherts valvegear but the cabs, at least are similar).

 

Adam

 

 

Hi Adam;

 

There's a whole world of wonderful industrial steam that never gets the limelight, isn't there? Agenoria has a wonderful range of kits for various 0-4-0 and 0-6-0's - many GWR-centric - but still lots of others that have an NCB or other background.

 

This is a good shot of the YE prototype... nice and grimy, like a real working engine should look:

 

 

 

 

Hi Scott,

 

Is there any provision for EM or P4 conversion such as additional frame spacers with the kit?

 

Cheers,

 

David

 

 

 

Hi David;

 

Here's the nickel-silver frame/motion etch (the lighting makes it look brass, it isn't):

 

 

The spacers (124,125,126,134) are set for "00", but the cylinders are soldered directly to each frame, not hung off a central hanger - you can see them marked (74) on the lower left of the etch - so I'd guess it would not be too much extra work to take the four spacers and use them to fashion new ones set to EM or P4 if you wanted.

 

The instruction diagram for the chassis is shown below. This is complemented by a well written commentary that steps you through the assembly. Having said that, the location of the brake pivot, item (2), is vaguely drawn and described ("...run 0.7mm wire from front to back and attach to brake pivot (2), threaded on 0.7mm wire...). There are etched holes low down on both chassis, so I'm assuming this is fixed not unlike a brake shoe assembly, clear of the frame - or perhaps inside the frame? I'll have to have a look at the clearances there, as there's pickups and a worm/gear still to make fit around all that rodding...

 

 

Scott

[jukebox]

Okay, so far so good.

 

The holes for the bearings were etched a touch small, so each had to be reamed out - no big deal. A few gentle turns of a tapered reamer from each side and the bearings could be pushed in snugly and soldered.

 

The frame went together really easily: the spacers are tabbed, and there are four of them, all L-shaped, so I think it would be pretty hard not to build this chassis square. Just to be sure, I put some spare axles through the bearings so it would all stay true as I locked it up. The tabs made such a difference - as I said in my first post, I have tried these things before, but getting it all square and true while trying to keep three axles perpendicular and soldering untabbed spacers has gotten the better of me before today. A big hats of to Agenoria for making it so painless.

 

I'm using a small (15W, I think) soldering iron, Carrs 145 solder, and a home brewed ~8-10% phosphoric flux. At the end of each session, the day's work get a dunk in a beaker of alkaline water (washing soda) for a few hours, before I scrub with Jif on an old toothbrush, then rinse and let dry. I'm not a terribly neat solderer, but am getting better. The flux makes "seaming" joints fairly simple, but I am still getting the hand of using the solder sparingly. As I said in the banner, any experts out there had best turn away now - it may not be pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

The instructions say to file down the outside face of the bearings to allow some side-play in the middle and rear axles. In fact, all three needed work, as the frames as built are a touch wide to allow the romford nuts to be nipped up. The more observant of you will notice the ruddy great "F" on the first spacer. This is because I can be an utter moron at times, and yes, despite setting all the parts up in a row, I managed to solder one of the spacers to the wrong side of the frame. More heat, unsolder, and re-do. I've now got the chassis marked "F" for "FRONT, STOOPID", so I don't do anything else silly.

 

Here it is, after the bearings had been filed down, wheeled up and rolling. The centre axle is etched fractionally high (a good thing, I understand), but everything spins like a top and looks to be a sound start to proceedings.

 

(no springing or compensation for this one - but for those who need to know, you can see the etches are marked out for hornblocks and such)

 

Cheers,

 

Scott

[Sandy Harper]

G'day Scott,

 

If I may be so bold to suggest, before you go much further with the chassis, that you build the rods, put the crank pins in the wheels and then see if it still suns smoothly. If not, then it will be easy to correct any bearing misalignment at this stage rather than later.

 

You might also want to consider upping your iron to something like an Antex 50w temp controlled (TC) as I think your 15w might struggle when you get to the brass superstructure.

 

Good luck with the build it should be good.

 

Kind regards

 

Sandy

[Captain Kernow]

This is a really nice prototype, IMO, and I'm looking forward to following your build with great interest.

 

I believe that this design was one of the top three most powerful industrial 0-6-0 steam designs in the country (the Maerdy 'beast' Peckett being another of the top three)...

[jukebox]

G'day Scott,

 

If I may be so bold to suggest, before you go much further with the chassis, that you build the rods, put the crank pins in the wheels and then see if it still suns smoothly. If not, then it will be easy to correct any bearing misalignment at this stage rather than later.

 

You might also want to consider upping your iron to something like an Antex 50w temp controlled (TC) as I think your 15w might struggle when you get to the brass superstructure.

 

Good luck with the build it should be good.

 

Kind regards

 

Sandy

 

 

Sage words on the coupling rods, Sandy. After today, I'm sorting out the cylinders, but will then go back to the rods as you suggest.

 

I was actually worried about too much heat on the body etches - they are very thin, most half etched with details. I just re-checked, and it is actually a Weller 25W that I am using, which coped very well with the NS frames here, but I do have a 50W-er I can use if it looks like I am having trouble getting solder to flow (the 25W proving itself useless on some Proscale armour plate frames etches I cut my teeth on a few years ago (but that's another story!). I'll certainly keep your advice in mind.

 

 

This is a really nice prototype, IMO, and I'm looking forward to following your build with great interest.

 

I believe that this design was one of the top three most powerful industrial 0-6-0 steam designs in the country (the Maerdy 'beast' Peckett being another of the top three)...

 

Hope I don't disappoint, Captain!

 

 

And so, on to today's installment: Brake shoes and fittings. Here's the devil's playground: I've just tinned the two hanger etched, and will remove the pieces on the left, and sweat them on to the ones on the right while they are still attached - it makes them easier to hold that way.

 

 

The brake shoes are triple-layer laminates. I kicked myself for not looked at the Rice book until the end of my session today - he suggests a balsa-and-pin jig for constructing crossheads that I would have adapted that to laminate the first two layers of the brake shows if I had remembered it. Still, I got away with them looking reasonable - of course my sixth (left-most) looks better than the first (far right), so I'll be chosing the clumbsier ones for use on the first axle, where they are mostly hidden by the valve gear.

 

Here's the cruel close-up next to my pin vise and 0.4mm bit, used to clear the holes for mounting

 

 

 

When I tried to mount these in the etched hole, my first problem revealed itself. As etched, the brake hanger holes locate the hangers over the tyres, as though they are acting on the inside rims, not the tyre face itself - they seem to be about 4mm too far backward. In this photo below, I've hung them as etched - if I swing them forward they need to sit at 45 degrees (and in fact don't even fit between the wheels at that angle, nor, in the case of the front pair, are they likely to clear the cylinders):

 

Of course I'd soldered all three hanger wires in place at this point. So it's a case of heating them back up again, removing and redrilling some new holes in a location that will make the brakes look sensible.

 

I have a healthy paranoia about these things causing shorting later on down the track, so they won't be sitting as close to the wheel face as some of you might build for yourselves. I guess that's where platicard replacements come to the fore.

 

As for the Brake Pivot (2), I mentioned in an earlier post, I think I have it sorted: it mounts on a wire, between the frames, I'm guessing, as there are two "Pivot Covers" that look at be fitted to the outside of the frames. I believe you can actually see one of these between the sander and the cab steps in the B&W photo of the prototype I posted before - it looks a little like a washout plug. The etched holes for this wire are on the lower left of the frame in the photo above.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[Kenton]

I don't quite follow the problem you have with the brake pivots.

Surely the problem is caused by the brakes being mounted too close to the frames. They should stand out from the frame and thereby would both hang true and bear on the wheel tyre.

 

The potential of these shorting is a perennial problem with all metal kits almost always a compromise - you only have to look at the real thing to realise just how small the gap really is between the brake and the tyre - to realise that adhering to the prototype is impossible.

 

There is a solution to the shorting problem. instead of brass rod - use plastikard rod and glue in place. It makes the brakes a bit flexible which helps when removing the wheels and of course isolates the brakes from the frames. but it mst be done late on in the build (as with anything glued) or it will just melt when you bring the iron close to it

[jukebox]

I don't quite follow the problem you have with the brake pivots.

Surely the problem is caused by the brakes being mounted too close to the frames. They should stand out from the frame and thereby would both hang true and bear on the wheel tyre.

 

The potential of these shorting is a perennial problem with all metal kits almost always a compromise - you only have to look at the real thing to realise just how small the gap really is between the brake and the tyre - to realise that adhering to the prototype is impossible.

 

There is a solution to the shorting problem. instead of brass rod - use plastikard rod and glue in place. It makes the brakes a bit flexible which helps when removing the wheels and of course isolates the brakes from the frames. but it mst be done late on in the build (as with anything glued) or it will just melt when you bring the iron close to it

 

 

Hi Kenton

 

Great idea to use insulated brake rodding! The flexibility and lack of conductivity would make life a lot simpler.

 

Sorry my description of the hangers didn't create the right mental picture. Let me have another go, and use a marked up image:

 

 

The issue wasn't the distance of the hanger out from off the frame, but rather its relationship to the wheel tyre face longitudinally.

 

In the photo above, the original hole alignment is in blue, but if you follow the arc of the wheel tread - dotted red - you can see using that leaves the running face of the tyre passing through the middle of the brake shoe (In the image above, I have temporarily placed the whole brake lamination sitting on the wheel, out past the normally correct alignment with the centre of the width of the tread). The only way I could mount the brakes like this would be to have them sitting outside of the wheels... and even then, that would make no sense, as the front of the brake pad should act on the face of the tyre.

 

What I have had to do since my last post, is drill new holes in the frame that let the hangers hang vertically so that the pads just clear the tyre tread. Of course it all has to sit in behind the front face of the wheels so that it doesn't foul the connecting rods as they rotate past.

 

It wasn't hard to do - I just needed to drill six new holes - I'll post some new pictures next time, but it did surprise me that it hadn't been picked up in a test build. I spent a few minutes wondering how I had muffed it up when I first test fitted the brakes...

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[5XP]

Okay, so far so good.

 

The holes for the bearings were etched a touch small, so each had to be reamed out - no big deal. A few gentle turns of a tapered reamer from each side and the bearings could be pushed in snugly and soldered.

 

The frame went together really easily: the spacers are tabbed, and there are four of them, all L-shaped, so I think it would be pretty hard not to build this chassis square. Just to be sure, I put some spare axles through the bearings so it would all stay true as I locked it up. The tabs made such a difference - as I said in my first post, I have tried these things before, but getting it all square and true while trying to keep three axles perpendicular and soldering untabbed spacers has gotten the better of me before today. A big hats of to Agenoria for making it so painless.

 

I'm using a small (15W, I think) soldering iron, Carrs 145 solder, and a home brewed ~8-10% phosphoric flux. At the end of each session, the day's work get a dunk in a beaker of alkaline water (washing soda) for a few hours, before I scrub with Jif on an old toothbrush, then rinse and let dry. I'm not a terribly neat solderer, but am getting better. The flux makes "seaming" joints fairly simple, but I am still getting the hand of using the solder sparingly. As I said in the banner, any experts out there had best turn away now - it may not be pretty!

 

 

 

The instructions say to file down the outside face of the bearings to allow some side-play in the middle and rear axles. In fact, all three needed work, as the frames as built are a touch wide to allow the romford nuts to be nipped up. The more observant of you will notice the ruddy great "F" on the first spacer. This is because I can be an utter moron at times, and yes, despite setting all the parts up in a row, I managed to solder one of the spacers to the wrong side of the frame. More heat, unsolder, and re-do. I've now got the chassis marked "F" for "FRONT, STOOPID", so I don't do anything else silly.

 

 

Here it is, after the bearings had been filed down, wheeled up and rolling. The centre axle is etched fractionally high (a good thing, I understand), but everything spins like a top and looks to be a sound start to proceedings.

 

(no springing or compensation for this one - but for those who need to know, you can see the etches are marked out for hornblocks and such)

 

Cheers,

 

Scott

 

I know its hard Scott but don't be so critical of yourself as its coming together nicely and looks very good to me, every part you assemble or kit you complete you learn better, faster and easier techniques that aren't always the most recommended way of doing things but its what works for you at the end of the day so it becomes second nature to construct various parts.

So don't be afraid to experiment a little as soldering can be very forgiving as if you make a mistake or something doesn't fit quite right you just simply unsolder it and start again.

 

As for the brake hangers I cant quite see if they are suspended from wire passing through the chassis or direct soldered to the chassis if they are just simply tweak it with long nose pliers so to put a slight "s" bend in it so the brake shoes align correctly with the tyres, this is the method I use and when completed and painted its not visible at all.

I will have look for picture of this if it helps better to explain what I mean.

 

Good luck with the kit,

 

Darren.

[jukebox]

I know its hard Scott but don't be so critical of yourself as its coming together nicely and looks very good to me, every part you assemble or kit you complete you learn better, faster and easier techniques that aren't always the most recommended way of doing things but its what works for you at the end of the day so it becomes second nature to construct various parts.

So don't be afraid to experiment a little as soldering can be very forgiving as if you make a mistake or something doesn't fit quite right you just simply unsolder it and start again.

 

As for the brake hangers I cant quite see if they are suspended from wire passing through the chassis or direct soldered to the chassis if they are just simply tweak it with long nose pliers so to put a slight "s" bend in it so the brake shoes align correctly with the tyres, this is the method I use and when completed and painted its not visible at all.

I will have look for picture of this if it helps better to explain what I mean.

 

Good luck with the kit,

 

Darren.

 

Thanks for the advice Darren! Yes, one of the things I enjoy about soldering is that ability to re-work an error. I guess we all start with plastic Airfix kits and glue, and learn the hard way about pulling joints apart and re-setting things; soldering certainly is much more forgiving.

 

The hangers were on wire passing through the chassis. And funnily enough, I did try the "S-bend" dodge you describe, and it worked, but I got an attack of the guilts - if I was going to do it, I may as well do it properly, so re-drilled. Here is the result:

 

 

 

Hmmm. Nice close up.... you can see that dodgy shoe on the front axle a little too clearly And I need to touch in the original hanger hole there with some solder. But I'm okay with how its has come out. I can always tweak the wires a bit when it's closer to finished.

 

As Sandy suggested, I've now also fitted the crankpins (the wheels were only fitted on one side for this shot, just to quickly show the end result).

 

I ran out of time today, but will laminate the rods next time (again, they are triple thickness NS - but this time, I'll be ready with the jig, so am not expecting any problem fabricating them).

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[Kenton]

Thanks for the extra explanation. I do see this problem and it is quite common. But I do think from you latest photo that it is exaggerated a little and they now stand too far away from the wheels and now even the flange.

But its all a bit picky and will be harder to see when painted and at normal viewing distance

 

I am also a bit surprised as Agenoria kits are among the better kits around and this seems an odd error to make. I don't suppose the wheels are incorrect diameter ?

[Sandy Harper]

G'day again Scott

 

I missed the last lot of posts because of a family wedding on Saturday.

 

I thought 15watt was a bit weak but 25watt should be fine for most jobs. The issue with the location of the brake hanger locations is a constant problem with kits as the location for the holes in the frames is usually measured from drawings of the prototype. As already explained, there needs to be compromises and adjustments made in the model design and some times it is either missed, forgotten or ignored, leaving us to sort it out. After the first couple of kits you begin to learn to check everything!!

 

Still looking good

Sandy

 

 

[jukebox]

Thanks for the extra explanation. I do see this problem and it is quite common. But I do think from you latest photo that it is exaggerated a little and they now stand too far away from the wheels and now even the flange.

But its all a bit picky and will be harder to see when painted and at normal viewing distance

 

I am also a bit surprised as Agenoria kits are among the better kits around and this seems an odd error to make. I don't suppose the wheels are incorrect diameter ?

 

 

Hi Kenton;

 

You are right - I probably have been a touch conservative now with the placement, but as you said, close-ups of the unpainted metal can be cruel.

 

I should say my comments about the kit should be taken in the context of me as a beginner having a go at this build - I think it is superbly engineered, as the slot-and-tab fit, well presented instructions, and quality of the etches are making it a pleasure to build - if a few mis-etched holes and cloudy descriptions of where to place brake rod etchings are all that is wrong, it's safe to say anyone could get a good result with this kit.

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[eldavo]

Nice work. Looks to be coming along nicely.

 

Looking at that prototype shot it seems to me as though the original brake hanger holes were actually in the right place. With the brakes applied it looks as though the hangers are angled rather than hanging straight down. If the brakes were off this angle would be larger. Maybe it's the orientation of the brake shoes to the hangers that were messing things up. Just a thought.

 

Cheers

Dave

[jukebox]

Nice work. Looks to be coming along nicely.

 

Looking at that prototype shot it seems to me as though the original brake hanger holes were actually in the right place. With the brakes applied it looks as though the hangers are angled rather than hanging straight down. If the brakes were off this angle would be larger. Maybe it's the orientation of the brake shoes to the hangers that were messing things up. Just a thought.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave;

 

I see what you are suggesting, and on the surface it does seem that could be a solution. But the thing with those brake hanger assemblies was that the shape of the shoe is etched on the two hanger layers at the rear – so when you laminate the shoe as the final layer, it has to be vertical, not angled relative to the hanger. As I said, I tried pulling the hanger back at an angle, but for the shoe to clear the tyre, it sat at over 30º off vertical, and clashed with the back of the tyre ahead. Anyway, it’s solved now, so on with the show:

 

 

The etches for the cylinders are on the NS fret – although a spare set, hand marked “scrapâ€â€ also appear on one of the brass frets. These fold up, and a tab is pressed out, and then they are be bolted (not soldered, as I previously thought) on to the main frame using an 8BA nut and bolt (supplied).

 

 

 

 

Once the sides and front are folded up, the crossheads are soldered into cylinders. These pass through the back and are soldered into the front. Then, a plain brass wrapper is soldered around the front to form a cover. This comes off a flat etch, so I rolled a gentle curve into it using a drill bit and my thumb.

 

Wanting to keep the top tidy, I started by anchoring the wrapper at the bottom and tacked each side of the wrapper to the cylinder front and back, holding it in position until the solder solidified, the plan being to then seam the top with the same bead that held the corners…

 

…which would have been fine if the wrapper reached the top. Instead it came up short by 4mm (see the cylinder on the left, below). Of course if I had started soldering the wrapper from the top, this gap would be under the cylinders, where no one will see it (never mind that as it stands, the gap is under the running plate and no one should be able to see it).

 

Still, we’re working with metal and solder, so what I did was take some of the scrap fret edge, and cut a slightly overside piece to fill the gap. This butted up nice and neatly to the end of the wrapper, and I was able to solder it into place (the shot above was when I was test fitting - I'll put a photo of the end result up in my next post).

 

The cylinder fronts had half etch on one side of a circle that looked like a target (you can see it as item (20) on the instruction page in my earlier post) and dimples on the other. As the prototype has prominent bolts around the cylinder edge, I elected to solder these on reversed, so the dimples faced out. On reflection, despite there being nothing in the instructions suggesting to do so, I’m now pretty sure these dimples were supposed to be punched in to produced bumps on the “targetâ€-face side representing bolts. Again, I can live with my choice, as from a normal viewing distance, it is just going to be a suggestion of what is going on down there. With some careful weathering, it will be fine.

 

I had just cleaned up for the day, and put the soldering iron away when I noticed there were two miniscule crescents (“rear bracket (5)â€) supposed to be soldered on the rear face of the cylinders. Not wanting to wait to reset and then re-clean everything, I used a little cyanoacrylate on a toothpick, and superglued these in place.

 

Scott

[Kenton]

I used a little cyanoacrylate on a toothpick, and superglued these in place.

]

tut tut tut

I'm a bit surprised at the 4mm gap - I wonder if the wrapper was designed to fit inside the formers rather than around them? Anyway, as you say, the gap would have been hidden from view anyway.

[jukebox]

]

tut tut tut

I'm a bit surprised at the 4mm gap - I wonder if the wrapper was designed to fit inside the formers rather than around them? Anyway, as you say, the gap would have been hidden from view anyway.

Ha! Yes, I gave in to the dark side!

 

 

Sometimes I’m surprised there isn’t more cross-pollination of skills and techniques between the different modelling communities. Or perhaps it’s because here down under, where we are cursed by not having ready access to the modelling products hobbyists in the UK or the USA do, that thanks to the internet we can research what is happening on both sides of the pond, and try and make up for our isolation by accessing the best of both worlds.

 

I am a regular visitor to an aero-modelling site called ModellingMadness.com, and this is where I learned about these next two products, which I used to tidy up the area I patched on the cylinders. So say hello to my little friends:

 

 

The first is Acryl Blue. I have been using this for over a decade as my filler of choice. It is a very fine grained car glazing putty, so it bonds really well to metal or plastic, and when dry can be sanded down using wet & dry paper to a baby-smooth finish. I imported mine from the USA; it only comes in a large tube, costing around $16 USD - but I am less than ¼ way through mine after ten years, so it will last you a long time.

 

The other item I have not seen mentioned a railway modelling venue is Mr Surfacer. This is available in hobby shops here in Oz (and in the UK) but was cheaper for me to order direct from Hobby Link Japan, a shop that specialises in selling hobby gear to Westerners direct from the land of the rising sun. It comes in a variety of formulations and colours, and is a filler/primer. A few light coats of this stuff sprayed on will very quickly show where your sanding and prepping for painting still needs some work. In this Godzilla-like close up below, you can see from the shadow that I haven’t yet sanded down the scrap etch to meet the existing material, and that I was a little over zealous cleaning up some stray solder, and need to use some wet&dry to sand out some file marks on the outside face of one cylinder.

 

As for the cylinders themselves, the good news is they fit like a charm, and the tab and slot construction make sure they stay lined up as the retaining nut is tightened.

 

With that out of the way, I laminated the rods – two layers for the connecting rods, three for the coupling rods. Here’s the balsa jig I used to keep it all aligned.

 

The bulldog clip stops it falling over as I slosh the flux on with a brush and then press the iron home on the two layers, tinned and facing one another. The flux boils off in a fog of fumes, and as soon as I see the silver of the solder running, I press home with a blade in my other hand, removing the heat. The solder cools, and two layers become one. By the time I sweat the third layer on, the rods have sunk into the balsa, but they just pop up with the tip of a knife. I apply a little heat around the pins I used to align everything, and I can pull them free – job done.

 

The good news is, the rods align with the crankpins with no fuss. I’ll need to use some needle reamers to open the holes out a touch – the crankpins are a tight fit now, so they’ll need to have more play to run freely. The crosshead is the opposite. As you can see in the photo below, there’s too much slop where the crosshead enters the cylinder (and you can also see that small bracket I glued on – it was a perfect fit). I’m thinking that filling the hole with solder and redrilling would be one solution – but perhaps that would be too soft, and eventually wear back to brass? Another option would be to fill the existing hole with cyano, and redrill. Or even a small disc of thin brass soldered over the hole…

 

And so to end for tonight, I put everything I’ve done thus far together. It’s certainly starting to look like a rolling chassis. Next stop, fixing the rods and motion, and making it run smoothly!

 

[Kenton]

Wot ! paint the brass ! and before it's finished

 

I've not seen either of those products in the UK.

 

 

I’m thinking that filling the hole with solder and redrilling would be one solution – but perhaps that would be too soft, and eventually wear back to brass? Another option would be to fill the existing hole with cyano, and redrill. Or even a small disc of thin brass soldered over the hole…

 

I think the cyano fill and hole would be even less durable than solder - definitely the best option would be to plate and drill ... though this would of course have been better done from the inside before making up. (next time perhaps - or worth checking before the build) The hole does look quite large but you really don't want it tight here or it will bind and cause no end of running nightmares.

 

It is looking good. What motor+gearbox are you using?

[Pinkmouse]

I'd go for filling with solder and redrilling. After all, the real things ran on whitemetal bearings for thousands of miles.

[eldavo]

Bit of brass tube and some filler?

 

Cheers

Dave