Shez's workbench

[Shez]

"Brass Thing" on order from Mr Griffin!

[Shez]

Its been a long time since my last post and much has happened to keep me away from the workbench. My mother was taken int hospital and died form Covid19, two months after we celebrated her 100th birthday. Subsequently as a result of caring for her both my wife and I became ill. Happily we have now recovered and I have been able to pick up some modelling again. 

 

The J21 is pretty much finished. The picture shows her on a sunny warm day a week or so again awaiting a coat of primer.

 

The big job to  finish was the front end. As No 152 was a piston valve loco she did not have the piano front provided in the kit. No part to represent the valve chests seemed to exist on any of the usual sites so I scratch built it by drilling a piece of rectangular brass, soldering wire through it and then filing it down. I got the idea from Geoff Holts book where he describes modelling a lubricator. I feel it looks convincing enough. 

 

I then added the Westinghouse gear and the various additions to the boiler. I replaced some of the rather flimsy white metal  parts with cast alternatives.

 

I then turned my attention back  to the chassis. As you can see there is a lot of daylight under the boiler and so I decided to raid the scrapbox and put together some sort of representation of the inside motion.  However some research proved that 152 had Joy valve gear and I didn't know really where to start. A glance at Laurie Griffens website showed he produces a working set. At this stage I knew that that was not going to be an option, but following an e mail to Laurie he supplied me with enough bits to make a none working representation. 

 

The loco is now primed and awaiting more fine Pennine days for painting. (Could be a long wait!)  As the picture shows I managed to make the cab roof removable. The only final job now is to add the backhead. There is a cast one in the kit, which is fine. However the whitemetal fittings provided seem to bear no resemblance to the photo of a cab interior  as shown in North Eastern Record Vol 3.   I therefore await some replacements. 

 

Its good to be back modelling again and I will get a photo up of 152 in primer shortly.  I have also added pickups and she is working fine. Its my usual Slaters plungers on the loco, wipers on the tender.

[Shez]

Ready for painting. Just the cab fittings to add. Had her up and running on the test track this afternoon.

 

 

[jazz]

Hi Mark, That looks really grand. Very nice work.

[Shez]

Thanks for the kind comments. Looking back over the build I think this kit given the age, and the reasonable price builds into a really nice model. Some bits of the construction are really well thought out, much more than on some recent kits I have seen.  Given the fact that the J21 was such an integral part of the North Eastern scene for so long and this is the only kit in 7mm scale as far as I am aware I think a bit of upgrading would really make it excellent. A redesigned chassis for both the loco and tender,  provision of the missing parts from the etch, a footplate for the J21 rather than an adapted part from the J25, a representation of the inside motion, accurate details for the backhead, and some more accurate provision for making the different versions in terms of boiler length and smokebox would bring it up to date. I really enjoyed building it and personalising it but am glad I tackled it with a few locos already under my belt. I feel if i had tried it earlier, as I had originally planned, I may have been fazed by some aspects. 

[jazz]

Hi Mark. Is that the Gladiator kit?  Having built that one I did find it a pleasant build.

[Shez]

Yes its the Gladiator one. It was Fourtrack models before that. The instruction sheet says it had a "fairly long lineage" and they had no plans to update it. This was not of course the current owners 

Dave and Trisha. I think its a cracking kit in many ways and is worth a bit of updating.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Shez
spelling mistakes - missed content

[Shez]

Just had a further look, and noticed that one part of the leftover etch is stamped with "London Road"  Could the kit have at least in part some 4 milimetre origins?  I would recommend the kit to any LNER or NER enthusiast, its good value for money but be aware of the following.

1. Its essentially a J25 kit with  conversion etches supplied to turn it into a J21.

2. The chassis is a bit basic, the holes are over size and you might want to add extra spacers. 

3. The instructions draw attention to some parts missing from the etch - but nothing that you cant make from a bit of scrap etch.

4. The footplate is from the J25. Be prepared to make the gaps for the wheels larger . The instructions give you a diagram and dimensions. I used a jewelers saw to cut it out.

5. Take care with the boiler and smokebox. There were three different variations dependent on the batch of engines and whether the loco was superheated. I found an Isinglass drawing invaluable here. If you are modelling a specific loco a bit of cutting and filing might be needed.

6. Take care as you cut out the parts - you will have a scapbox of J25 parts at the end (cab sides, splashes etc) Some of the parts are really crowded together on the etch and need to be carefully saved and labelled.

 

Get building one and lets have more Darlington and Doncaster to counter the dark forces of Swindon and Crewe. ( says he with a Patriot kit in the cupboard)

 

[jazz]

Hi Mark. Looks like a senior moment (too many of those).  It's quite a while ago I built the J21 and had forgotten there were a few things to put right on it. Agree the origins are from way back and probably were 4mm blow ups which are never very successful.

 

Generally though I find the ex Four Track kits not too bad at all, just a few minor corrections to make on them.

[Shez]

While the J21 and the Class D are slowly making their way through the paintshop I have been completing some rolling stock for the Eyemouth project.  Two kits of different age and provenance. The first is a NBR  4 wheel Brake 3rd from a 62C Models Kit. I think the original artwork was by Ian Terrell and the kit is produced by Peter Mullen. This is a new kit and really was a delight to build. The etches were excellent, crisp and detailed and went together really well. The kit was supplied with everything needed to compete it, including wheels, couplings, and glazing, my only substitution being slaters seating instead of the wooden seating supplied which seemed a little too thick. The coach itself  is a Holmes  design, based on an earlier Drummond vehicle. The only change was the shape of the guards duckets.  Transfers were from Guilplates, the model was brush painted and lined with a bowpen.  Thoroughly recommended.

Behind it is a D and S models kit of a Reid Horsebox which Jamie Guest found for me on the second hand stall at Doncaster show last year. I think this had been on someones shelf a long time as the brass was the thickest I have ever come across and it took me longer to cut it out than to build it! Its made a lovely finished model though and having got some more recent kits from the same supplier the metal is now much thinner. Door handles from Laurie Griffin and transfers from HMRS finished the model off. Again a delightful model - get one and build it - they could turn up anywhere. Could you have a better advert for modelling pre grouping railways than vehicles like these?

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by Shez

[jamie92208]

They both look really good Mark. Glad that I spotted the kit for you.

 

Jamie

Edited September 21, 2020 by jamie92208

[Shez]

Thanks Jamie. Hope everything is OK there across the water.

[Shez]

The J21 is pretty much finished. Just need to add plates which are on order, buffer beam numbers (run out of transfers) the boiler lamp iron which accidently got knocked off, coal and a crew. However I will wait until she is properly run in to add those final details. Unfortunately we are back on restrictions here in Kirklees so I can't get down to give her a good testing on the Wakefield track, so she will probably go and live in her box for a bit while I get on with other projects. The last session saw me add buffers, cab details and glazing,  and finally couplings. The livery is early LNER, but it proved impossible to get the exact details of how much lining these locos carried. Red does not show up well on black and white photos. I think there was a fair amount of difference anyway between works, so as usual I will just go with the impression.  Livery is Halfords Satin Black, with Fox transfers. The general purpose Red lining was used. This picture shows the scratchbuilt boiler front end.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Shez

[Shez]

The J21 is pretty much finished. Just need to add plates which are on order, buffer beam numbers (run out of transfers) the boiler lamp iron which accidently got knocked off, coal and a crew. However I will wait until she is properly run in to add those final details. Unfortunately we are back on restrictions here in Kirklees so I can't get down to give her a good testing on the Wakefield track, so she will probably go and live in her box for a bit while I get on with other projects. The last session saw me add buffers, cab details and glazing,  and finally couplings. The livery is early LNER, but it proved impossible to get the exact details of how much lining these locos carried. Red does not show up well on black and white photos. I think there was a fair amount of difference anyway between works, so as usual I will just go with the impression.  Livery is Halfords Satin Black, with Fox transfers. The general purpose Red lining was used. This picture shows the scratchbuilt boiler front end.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Shez

[Shez]

Not sure how I managed to get the post duplicated. Not too happy about the quality of the photos. Will tray and get some better ones in better light. Next up looks like being a J35. 

[jazz]

2 hours ago, Shez said:

Not sure how I managed to get the post duplicated. Not too happy about the quality of the photos. Will tray and get some better ones in better light. Next up looks like being a J35. 

Looking very nice. Good work.

[jamie92208]

Mark,

 

Which transfers do you need. I haveca load that came from Tony, if you let me have thevdetails I'll have a look and can post them.

 

Jamie

[Shez]

Thanks Jamie.  Its the buffer beam transfers, LNER shaded yellow numbers for black locos.

[jamie92208]

23 minutes ago, Shez said:

Thanks Jamie.  Its the buffer beam transfers, LNER shaded yellow numbers for black locos.

Any idea what the ref no is of the HMRS sheet. I'll have a look tonight.

 

Jamie

[Shez]

Had a look on the website. Doesn't give a number, but simply "LNER Yellow Locomotive Insignia"

[jamie92208]

I had a look through thevfile. Lots of LMS and constituents. A certain railwaybthat had red engines predominated for some obscure reason but unfortunately  no LNER ones.  I will ask on another thread.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

No joy on the other thread I'm afraid.

 

Jamie

[Shez]

So time to move on. An NBR Class B or if you prefer a J35. Unusually for me the loco does not yet have an identity. I picked up the kit a few years ago on the second hand stall at Telford, just after Jim McGeowan had discontinued it.  I only really bought it because I felt my collection of NBR locos would be incomplete without one. They somehow fall between the charm of the little J36s and the bulk and power of the J37s. I have not even decided you whether to build the superheated or saturated version. The later would fit with my other locos better, but the former may be a more interesting modelling challenge.   Anyway it doesn't matter so much when you are starting with the tender, but decisions need to be taken before I start the loco.

 

Not much to say in terms of the tender chassis. As with many of the kits in the "Claymore" range it was pretty much shake the box and add solder. I followed the instructions to the letter, and other than making provision for the brake gear to be removed made no modifications to the parts provided.  I will have to think a bit about tender pick ps as my normal may of doing it wont be suitable - but that is for later.

[Shez]

With the tender chassis completed it is time to get on with the tender body. In many ways building a Reid locomotive, the tender is a bigger challenge than the loco as its all curves and beading. The first challenge was to make the curves in the tender body. I used the same technique as I used for making the curves on the NBR tanks, bending the part over a piece of brass pipe held in the vice. I used the tender top to make sure I had got the shape correctly. Having added the front it was then time to add the first piece of beading from half round wire which needs to filed flat. I found it easier to attach it first using wooden pegs to keep it in position, tack soldering , then filling in in between. I then filed on the the flat face. Next came the tender flares. These were curved in the same way - easier to do than describe. Again I worked around with the half round wire to form the beading. I departed from the instructions to add the rear lamp irons, as I find these a real pain if you leave them until later.

 

With the basis body formed I then turned to a number of sub assemblies, which have been made to add in the next session.

 

One feature of the kit is that the tender coal rail is the half plated LNER version, with only the rear part of the rails open.  In NBR days all these locos had open coal rails, and even after grouping photographs show that many of the class continued to keep them until into the 1930s. 62C Models, with their useful range of NBR bits now provide etches for the open rails for both sizes of Reid tender in the Claymore range, so I am going to use one here. 

 

[Shez]

Work has carried on building the tender for the Class B.  It looks like I am coming down more on side of NBR rather than LNER.

 

I pretty much continued to follow the instructions for most of the build, the main difference being the open coal rails. These are supplied as an etch which was first cut out and bent to shape using drill shanks to form the corners. I then attached half found wire all the way round attaching sections with wooden pegs to hold in position while it was soldered. I added the supports at the same time. For this job I used 188 solder. I then attached the assembly to the body using 145 solder so the supports would not drop off. All looked well until I realised that I had one side slightly forward of the other. I had to rapidly de solder and reposition. Once again I was grateful for the "get out of jail" card that metal construction gives you!

Detailing then followed including some really nice tender fire iron supports from 62C models. I have also decided to use one of their castings for the brake standard but have yet to send for it. Correct springs for NBR were included in the kit. The result is a tender that very much looks NBR rather than the result of later LNER changes.