Southern Railway Modelling - Miscellaneous Project work

[Jack P]

Feels a bit like 1 step forward, 2 steps back at the moment.

 

Wasn't really happy with the slide bars and crossheads from the get go, and in hindsight I should've tackled them when I was doing the draincocks, but I didn't.

The issue came to a head when I realised that the crossheads were twisting on the slide bar. That wouldn't do. 

 

I cut the back off the crosshead and replaced it with some square brass tube, with one of the side removed, then using some scrap etch, I made some new slide bars. 

This also meant I could get the depth, length and end profile correct. 

 

Guess which one is from the kit, and which are mine?

 

 

While I was at it, I decided that the WD handrail knobs would look much better with the draincocks, so i've removed them and will re-do them when they arrive. 

 

 

This is the state of play at the moment. I'm just trying to decide if there's really anything left to do on the body - if there isn't then that can go in for painting. 

The brakes have been re-done also and just need soldering to the new yolks, once that's all done the chassis can be painted too, Really just waiting on wheels and track now!

[Jack P]

Another little bit completed last night. The brakes that come with the kit are a bit basic, so for the rebuild I substituted in some Mainly trains ones for the N/U.

Yokes made from spare bits leftover from the SEF chassis that comes with the 0-6-0 R1 (replaced with a Branchlines version)

 

 

Everything is a bit messy, this is partially down to the delay in getting replacement fibreglass pencil refills. Once these arrive i'll tidy up errant solder as best I can. 

The rods on the yolks need to be trimmed back and I need to figure out what arrangement i'll be using for the rods that capture the top of the brakes through the frames. 

 

Some of the bits plonked together for photos.

 

 

Getting there. Once this is done, I'd like to finish off some of the other stuff i've got lurking in boxes, but i'm not sure what yet. 

Both the L and the E are good candidates, but they would both benefit from wider chassis. I'll investigate this later. 

[Jack P]

A few sporadic updates. 

 

Waiting for bits to arrive from the UK will be the death of me. 

Cab bits for the W are done, not quite accurate (again), but enough junk in there + a crew to look nice.

 

 

A few more chassis additions

 

 

I realised after the fact, the tank support brackets should be straight, not all curvy like i've made them. Ah well, that's gone in the notes for the next one.

 

I also renumbered and weathered another Blue MN for someone.

 

To finish, here's a random shot of one of the new GBL vans

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hi Jack, 

 

Please, share the methods for weathering your GBL, I also own this excellent model and am much impressed.

 

And, where do you source SOUTHERN decals for tenders…….?

 

 

Thanks and StaySafe

[Jack P]

On 04/10/2021 at 01:13, Jack Benson said:

Hi Jack, 

 

Please, share the methods for weathering your GBL, I also own this excellent model and am much impressed.

 

And, where do you source SOUTHERN decals for tenders…….?

 

 

Thanks and StaySafe

 

Hey Jack, 

 

Thanks for that! The weathering is a combination of airbrushing and streaking with white spirit and then a little cleaning up and some further airbrushing for the details. I usually go over the roof and parts of the bogie with powders. 

 

Southern branding - my preferred transfers are HMRS, but in a pinch I've used Fox waterslide - I don't rate them as highly as HMRS stuff though.

 

I hope that helps!

[Jack P]

Update!

 

My first EM 'Conversion'

 

 

That's EMGS Peco bullhead track, Alan gibson bogie wheels with brass tube cut to length as spacers, and spaced out Hornby driving wheels.

I might revisit that arrangement, and swap the driving wheels for some of the appropriate type, but for now this works. 

I actually pulled the drivers off their axles and padded them out to the correct b2b with washers, re-quartering was easy enough by eye. 

Some filing/scraping away of the backs of the brake blocks was needed, but nothing drastic, all the pick-ups reach the wheels with a bit of tweaking. 

 

The actual loco itself had a bath in some lacquer thinners. It was previously 1551, which was pretty much the only H allocated to Nine Elms - we want a Stewarts Lane allocation.

I've also been wanting to re-do the paint jobs on these, as they're very orange peely.

 

 

Stripped & back together, unfortunately the pipes from the clack valves suffered and have been replaced with some brass wire bent to shape and glued in place. 

Front buffers removed and swapped for Kean Maygib SECR pattern ones.

She will likely end up as 1321.

 

Work has now started on trying to clear my shelves of half/unfinished projects and to dispose of some stuff that is way out of scope (anyone wanna buy a Skye Bogie kit? - and who thought that was a good idea?!)

 

EM stuff will continue over time, the conversion of some stock will keep RTR wheels, others, full replacement wheels. 

 

That's all for now!

[Nick C]

13 hours ago, Jack P said:

Update!

 

My first EM 'Conversion'

 

 

That's EMGS Peco bullhead track, Alan gibson bogie wheels with brass tube cut to length as spacers, and spaced out Hornby driving wheels.

I might revisit that arrangement, and swap the driving wheels for some of the appropriate type, but for now this works. 

I actually pulled the drivers off their axles and padded them out to the correct b2b with washers, re-quartering was easy enough by eye. 

Some filing/scraping away of the backs of the brake blocks was needed, but nothing drastic, all the pick-ups reach the wheels with a bit of tweaking. 

 

The actual loco itself had a bath in some lacquer thinners. It was previously 1551, which was pretty much the only H allocated to Nine Elms - we want a Stewarts Lane allocation.

I've also been wanting to re-do the paint jobs on these, as they're very orange peely.

 

 

Stripped & back together, unfortunately the pipes from the clack valves suffered and have been replaced with some brass wire bent to shape and glued in place. 

Front buffers removed and swapped for Kean Maygib SECR pattern ones.

She will likely end up as 1321.

 

Work has now started on trying to clear my shelves of half/unfinished projects and to dispose of some stuff that is way out of scope (anyone wanna buy a Skye Bogie kit? - and who thought that was a good idea?!)

 

EM stuff will continue over time, the conversion of some stock will keep RTR wheels, others, full replacement wheels. 

 

That's all for now!

So presumably the conversion was pretty simple then? It's one of those things I've considered several times, but been put off by the cost of having to rewheel all of my locos (or worse, rechassis them, as I've still yet to build an actual working chassis...), so if at least some could be done using the existing OO wheels, it'd be somewhat more feasible...

[Jack P]

On 12/10/2021 at 01:52, Nick C said:

So presumably the conversion was pretty simple then? It's one of those things I've considered several times, but been put off by the cost of having to rewheel all of my locos (or worse, rechassis them, as I've still yet to build an actual working chassis...), so if at least some could be done using the existing OO wheels, it'd be somewhat more feasible...

 

Much simpler than I originally thought too. I mean you do need to accept the compromise that the chassis is much thinner than it would be if it was built to EM standards. 

You could probably even use the bogie wheels again, but I decided to use AG ones as I had them.

[KeithHC]

Hi Jack forgot say when you first showed your EM conversion well done. Just as a matter of interest did you use a wheel puller to take the drivers off. I also have an H class and an M7 that I want to convert these like your H will be my first EM conversions.

 

Keith

[Jack P]

13 hours ago, KeithHC said:

Hi Jack forgot say when you first showed your EM conversion well done. Just as a matter of interest did you use a wheel puller to take the drivers off. I also have an H class and an M7 that I want to convert these like your H will be my first EM conversions.

 

Keith

 

Hey Keith, 

 

No I didn't use a wheel puller - the H especially would probably present an issue, in that the wheel has an axle cover molded on. 

I literally just dropped the wheels out and pulled them by hand. 

I originally just pulled the wheels out on the Hornby axles, which are splined. I eventually ended up replacing the Hornby axles with standard 2mm EM axles (keyed with a file to take the gear wheel) and then just quartered them by eye. 

I think if I had the option of using replacement wheels, I would, I'm not a huge fan of the Hornby coupling rods. Maybe I'll call Colin at AG and see if he'll produce the wheels with a 2mm axle?

[Jack P]

Update!

 

I'm trying to use the jump to EM as a way of managing my projects.

I've definitely arrived at an impasse - almost all of my models are in some state of being half finished, and I really don't like it.

This way, I can make sure I have everything I need for a project before I start and being able to sit down and see a job through to completion.

 

Progress on the W is going well. 

Clearance with the rods is all sorted, I used a shortened Markits 'deluxe' crankpin on the front driver which sits much lower than the AG nut.

A lathe to turn it down would be much more accurate than my method, but it works.

 

Most excitingly, paint and wheels!

 

 

The chassis has had it's first coat of paint and the wheels have had their balance weights fitted.

I also reduced the depth of some washers and added them to the faces, this better represents the wheels as they are on the prototype.

Will you notice under a layer of paint as motion whirrs around? Probably not.. but I know it's there!

 

 

WD knobs arrived and V.2 of the draincocks have been added.

 

 

Rear bogie brakes added, still needs some cosmetic pipework etc, but the bogie has had its first coat of paint.

 

 

Most importantly, DLT's pickups have be re-attached and work perfectly.

The loco runs very sweetly. Once all is said and done it should weigh close to 300g.

 

The H has had it's number allocated and is now ready for weathering. I'll make sure to get some photos of this at some stage. 

 

Onto the W's valve gear next!

Edited November 3, 2021 by Jack P

[Jack P]

Work continues.

The W's valve gear is now complete.

 

 

I'm still not totally happy with the end result, which looks chunky and out of scale, but it's much better than it was!

Overall the rebuild has been well worth it, the running conversion to EM also fills me with immense joy!

I still am not sure what to do about a whistle manifold. No decent Maunsell ones seem to be available anywhere - any suggestions?

 

Here's the H!

 

 

She's developed an issue that I can only diagnose as 'chunky' running.

Not present when the rods are off, so I'm inclined to think they may be the culprit. 

Although possibly my quartering is out. Doesn't look like it though. Perhaps swapping to Gibson wheels and rods is the most logical option?

 

Dapol Spares.

 

 

A few spare bits have arrived. My other D will have a body swap to allow it to be one of the different cab window variants.

The spare tender is going to go behind the E.

David at Ultrascale has produced some replacement 1/8th bearings + axle gear for the D chassis, and @Chuffer Davies is working on some plastic bushes for the Dapol wheels. 

The end result should allow me to use the Dapol wheels and chassis, and space everything out to EM, while using a slightly bigger axle. 

I'll need Gibson tender wheels, but that should be comparatively straightforward.

 

3D prints!

 

 

I managed to get my first 3D print completed over the weekend, which is very exciting.

This is the Phrozen 'rook' A tester STL they provide. 

@BrightonBoi and I are going to now start working on other CAD designs. Both for 3D printing and etching. 

 

That's all for now!

Edited November 8, 2021 by Jack P

[gz3xzf]

Hi Jack

I must have missed something over this thread, is your layout EM already or are you branching out to the gauge?

The W is looking good, not sure the rods look chunky, but that may my eyesight!
As far as the H is concerned, unless you have already catered for this, are the two coupling rods the same, have they inadvertently swapped sides perhaps?

[Jack P]

6 hours ago, gz3xzf said:

Hi Jack

I must have missed something over this thread, is your layout EM already or are you branching out to the gauge?

The W is looking good, not sure the rods look chunky, but that may my eyesight!
As far as the H is concerned, unless you have already catered for this, are the two coupling rods the same, have they inadvertently swapped sides perhaps?

 

Hey Bryan, 

Thanks for your kind words!

 

No, you haven't missed some monumental layout transformation. 

This is mainly because I don't actually have a layout! Any layout pictures/videos you've seen are all from my ex-model club.

 

The rods on the W definitely look better than they did, chemical blackening will only further improve that. 

 

I've tried the rods for the H on both sides, but no luck. 

I'll keep tinkering and see where I end up. absolute worst case is trying to obtain a SEF H chassis and building that.

[Adam]

Hello Jack,

 

I’m as sure as I can be that the quartering of the wheels is off. Assuming it worked properly in 00, the only thing you’ve changed is the wheels for EM which has meant the wheels came off the axles. My guess is that one has gone back on one spline over relative to the other. That’s a bit harder to correct than with, say, a Gibson wheel which you could twist but should be possible. So plan A would be to look at that, plan B replacement drivers. 
 

Adam

[Jack P]

14 hours ago, Adam said:

My guess is that one has gone back on one spline over relative to the other. That’s a bit harder to correct than with, say, a Gibson wheel which you could twist but should be possible.

 

You're probably not wrong Adam!

 

I actually substituted the Hornby axles out for 2mm AG EM axles, as they really weren't log enough. I'll have a go trying to re-quarter them, (which should be as easy as twisting). If that doesn't work i'll go back to the Hornby axles and see how I go from there. 

[Jack P]

Another Milestone in the journey, My first compensated chassis.

I was going to start with the Z chassis, but it's a non symmetrical 4 axle wheelbase, I thought this might be a little easier.

 

 

It's destined to go under an O1, but there's still a fair bit to do, this is just the bare bones.

Next I need to work out what the best drive option will be. 

I had initially thought there would be enough room to fit a small HL coreless motor inside the firebox driving from the centre axle, but that's looking less likely. 

A good candidate for tender motor driving the rear axle via a shaft!

[Steve Smith]

Congratulations on a significant milestone on the way to the dark side!   :-)

This is the compensated chassis for an EM Gauge Jidenco Black Motor with the M1220 motor vertically in the etched firebox driving the centre axle.  That worked out well, although I made things more difficult for myself than I needed to by putting the twin beams at the rear - fail to plan, plan to fail!  The O1 is a smaller beast than the 700, but the weight diagrams in Russell indicate that in 4mm scale top of boiler to wheel centre line for an O1 is only 1mm less than the 700, so it might still be an option.  Roadrunners are smaller than the Multibox that I used and that should help too.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Steve Smith

[Jack P]

Wow..

5 months since my last post, and the 28th marking the 5th birthday of this thread. Woo!

 

A few updates on the home front, one of the major ones being - we now own one!

 

 

This is very exciting - and while there isn't room for a full layout, there is room for something.

 

 

This will form the base for a small diorama, approx. 2200mm x 540mm. My first venture of this kind, and I'm figuring it out as I go along!

The space this will reside is the next exciting bit - My own workshop!

 

A few things need doing, some modifications to the main bench, and the fitting of new lights in the part the diorama will sit.

There's also the previous owners welding table which folds down from the wall, opposite the diorama.

This is fairly deep and very heavy. I plan to replace this with a wooden bench situated at a height more friendly to someone over 6'. This should provide a permanent residence for my 3D printer. 

Anyways, enough of that.

 

Summer typically signals a slow-down in my modelling work, and this year has been no exception. I really haven't done much of anything meaningful,

As i'm slowly getting set up in a new space, I've managed to get a few tid-bits done. 

 

 

The Z has re-emerged, and really all that's left is getting the chassis finished, this is really just fiddly detail bits, brakes and the motion. 

I'm tackling it a piece at a time, the most recent bits have been the crossheads, and the motion bracket. 

The cylinders also now bolt to the chassis. The motion bracket will be fixed to the cylinders too, making the whole lot removeable.

 

That's all for now, hopefully this is a relatively interesting update - with more to come!

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jack P

[Nick C]

Great to see you back Jack, and congratulations on the house purchase! 

 

2200 mm isn't bad for a small layout, my Plumtree Cross is less than that. Maybe something like a loco depot to show off your collection? 

[KeithHC]

Nice to see you back looking forward to more updates. Just a thought for your layout how about a shed set up. Redhill might suit. 
 

Keith

[Graham_Muz]

13 minutes ago, KeithHC said:

Nice to see you back looking forward to more updates. Just a thought for your layout how about a shed set up. Redhill might suit. 
 

Keith

 

Oh yes shed layouts can be fun...

[Jack P]

An update!

 

I am still deciding what to do with this baseboard. Now that the top is on, I think I want to try and get my hands on some Tim Horn boards - silly, maybe, but they'll fit together better, have backboards attached.

 

 

I've been working on the Z in dribs and drabs still:

 

 

 

 

 

I made up a sanding linkage out of some scrap etch, clack valves from branchlines castings and a whistle manifold. The WM manifold in the kit looked nothing like the metal spider that sits atop the boiler of the prototype Z. This still isn't 100% accurate, but it's certainly better.

 

I've also been working on weathering a C1 for a friend - something a little different!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Jack P

[Jack P]

Excuse my incompetence - formatting issues resolved. Whistle manifold image in place!

[Jack P]

Covid is still kicking me, but I managed to get some weathering done recently.

 

D16 was part of the same batch of locos as the C1, again, for my LNER friend. There's one more to go!

 

 

I also cracked into my Rapido GPV, what an amazing little model, the level of detail and fidelity is incredible!

 

 

Wheels swapped (but axles retained) for Gibsons, set to EM. 3 Links added - the rest as it comes out of the box. 

I've got a small fleet of the SECR opens to tackle next. looking forward to it!

Edited April 12, 2022 by Jack P