Atso's occasional workbench

[richard i]

 

Rather than tackle that job this afternoon, I went back to The Enterprise and sprayed the lower circular panel lines on the saucer and painted the deflector area and grills behind the Bussard collectors on the nacelles.
 

did you just accept whatever words predictive text offered you. To the uninitiated, where to look to find a bussard collector is a mystery.

richard 

[Atso]

1 hour ago, richard i said:

did you just accept whatever words predictive text offered you. To the uninitiated, where to look to find a bussard collector is a mystery.

richard 

 

No predictive text at all! 

 

The Bussard collectors at the clear domes with the red inserts on the front of the two nacelles (warp engines). The grills are the darker grey bands just behind them.

[Atso]

A line up of N gauge C1s. 4452 (middle) is receiving its final detailing while 4436 (front) has had all its boiler bands and one side of the cab numbers applied - the wobby band behind the dome has since been replaced. 3286 (back) will shortly undergo the same treatment as 4436 but is shown to demonstrate the detail differences between these three members of the class.

 

[Atso]

The lining out of the tenders has begun.

 

 

As usual, my ability to cleaning paint in the black line left a bit to be desired, as evidenced by the bottom right hand corner here (which turned out to be my best attempt!).

 

 

Cleaning up the paint using a fine brush and a little white spirit quickly improves things though...

 

 

Both of the new locos now have their identities.

 

 

With the bufferbeam numbers being added this morning.

 

 

The rear of the tender bodies have now had their straight lining applied. I'll start adding in the corners tomorrow.

[Atso]

Work progressed last night when I painted in the 'white' corners on the rear of the tender. The black will be added later today or tomorrow morning, depending how the days goes.

 

 

I think my ability to get consistent corners is improving.

 

I've also been sorting out the 'split frame' pickups for the tender frames and Cartazzi truck. Some Markits 1.5mm inside diameter gearbox bearings were epoxied into place and left for 24 hours to complete set. I then soldered wires to bridge the bearings with them left overlength at the front for the eventual fitting of magnets which will provide the electrical connection to the loco's steel frames. In order to not weaken the epoxy, quick work with the soldering iron is essential. Once the wires were in place, some more epoxy was added to keep them from being accidentally caught and damager.

 

 

This is not how I would tackle this for a set of visible frames. As these will be painted black and hidden behind the outer frames, I can get away with such an untidy arrangement here.

 

The next job is to fit stub axles to the tender wheels and electrically join them to the tyres.

[Atso]

Yet more (much needed) distractions from the C1s!

 

 

 

A J6 which is most likely going to end up as 3602 which was a Hitchin loco for most of my modelling period, but moved to Hatfield in 1938. The donor loco was a J39 but with the wheelbase of the loco corrected to 7'3"-9' and the tender taken down to 6'3-6'3 (close, but not perfect for the 6'6"-6'6" of the prototype) by chopping up the chassis. This was done at the expense of one of the driven tender drive wheels but this doesn't seem to have had too much of a detrimental effect on haulage - certainly still within the requirements of it. I also have a body for 3591 which will be fitted with Ross Pop safety valves and the later R43 version of the Class A tender, which I am still designing.

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Atso

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Very nice, but will you be producing another staple loco of the area a ......J1, that'll be a challenge ?????

 

manna

[Atso]

5 minutes ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Very nice, but will you be producing another staple loco of the area a ......J1, that'll be a challenge ?????

 

manna

 

Indeed I will Manna, but only one. This will share stopping services along with 3602 and some C1s, C2s, D2s, N2s and an N7. The other two J6s will be on goods turns.

[Atso]

I've made a start on converting a second tender drive for use with the J6s. The first stage is to cut around 2mm out of the chassis between the leading two wheels. To do this I first tapped out the idler gears between these two wheelsets and then cut out the required section using a piercing saw.



After the cuts were made, I tidied up the surfaces using a file before using epoxy to glue the pieces back together. I replaced the wheelsets and placed everything on a piece of plate glass and fiddled with the alignments. I then added a small piece of lead to stop the front section dropping forward, as it was a little nose heavy.



I'll leave everything to set up for the next twenty four hours before drilling a tap hole and pinning everything together using a screw for additional strength.

All this was achieved in about half an hour.

[Atso]

I've been doing some work on Hadley Wood recently but have returned my attention to the J6s.

 

 

Two locomotives of the same class but representing a c. 25 year gap in terms of details.

[richard i]

25 year gap! Your 3d printing was very good in 1995!

Richard 

[Atso]

2 hours ago, richard i said:

25 year gap! Your 3d printing was very good in 1995!

Richard 

 

Not bad for a (then) fourteen year old with no CAD skills and no idea what 3D printing was! 

[Atso]

Back to some work on the C1s while I  wait for the weather to improve sufficiently to get the airbrush out.

 

I've finished the lining and lettering and cosmetically the bodies just need buffers and other small details adding (as well as adding weight!).

 

 

One the subject of weight, I've been doing some tests with one of the chassis to work out the best weight distribution, while keeping in mind the practical locations within the bodies. Next I'll fit a coupling and do some haulage trials.

 

 

I've also been working on the Dapol Hall crossheads and N Brass slidebars to gain sufficient clearances. Quite a bit of material had to be removed from both components, which I hope the following photos show.

 

 

 

[millerhillboy]

Great work Steve, you really are at the top of your game with projects like this.

[Atso]

4436 was assembled last night and gently run in. This morning, I finally added the rear coupling pocket and added a test train to assess the C1s haulage capabilities.

 

 

 

Following this eight coach formation, I increased the load to fifteen coaches which 4436 handled with ease.

[Atso]

4436 and 4452 have had most of the final details added to them and 3286 is bring up the rear of this trio of C1 Atlantics.

 

 

Finally, a break in the weather allowed me to get out the airbrush and paint the J6.

 

 

The one will be 3602 and given local passenger duties on Hadley Wood as I have a photo of the prototype doing this (LNER Album Vol 3 page 45).

[richard i]

Does the j6 have working inside valve gear? 
much talk on WW of not having empty space between the frames.

i know how you like to push yourself. 
richard 

[Atso]

15 minutes ago, richard i said:

Does the j6 have working inside valve gear? 
much talk on WW of not having empty space between the frames.

i know how you like to push yourself. 
richard 

 

I might go for a representation of the valve gear, but it won't be working! The chassis for this loco started life as a Farish J39. I shortened the front coupled wheelbase so it was correct for the 7'3" - 9' for the J6 but it still retains the solid chassis block.

 

[Atso]

The J6s have now received their identities.

 

 

 

I've still got quite a bit of detailing to do and rebuild the tender drives, but I think they're coming along nicely.

[Atso]

Having reassembled the tender drive components and resolved a couple of clearance issues, J6 No. 3602 moved under its own power this evening.

 

 

I've still got the whistle and new (shorter) drawbar to make, along with a little more detailing and weathering, but I'm really happy to finally have this one running.

[Atso]

So this weekend saw the next two coaches glazed, gangways made, couplings added and a repaint of the Brake Third roofs. Below is a photo of the four coach set (one still to make) undergoing testing with an appropriate bit of motive power. 

 

 

Since the photo was taken, I've addressed the lifting vinyl roof brackets in the end coaches by securing them with a sport of superglue. I've still got the footboards, corridor handrails, etc to make up but their pretty close to complete now! 

[Atso]

I've not been doing too well with keeping this thread up-to-date recently. While the new job has been taking up much of my time, some things have been slowly progressing.

 

 

Such as the CAD for these O2s. On the left is one of the GNR built O2/1s, while on the right is Gresley's prototype O2 as it was c. 1933-35.

[grob1234]

Managing any modelling time?

 

I'm squeezing a little in in the evenings. Only trouble is that the modelling room is next to where my little boy sleeps, so I can't really do much painting with the airbrush!!

 

I tend to set up a secondary temporary soldering station on the kitchen table after dinner, which works well  

[Flying Fox 34F]

Steve,

 

My apologies for all the reactions on a years worth of posts.  I’ve not checked in on your thread for a long time.  Your work is impressive as ever and makes me want to get on with several unfinished projects.

 

Paul