Hills of the North - The Last Great Project

[LNER4479]

1 hour ago, Sandhole said:

I'm going to be interested to see how you tackle that perpetual swine, the six-wheeled chassis!
Regards,
Chris.

I have a cunning plan ... (and I'm not referring to grounded bodies)

[Sandhole]

4 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

I have a cunning plan ... (and I'm not referring to grounded bodies)

Looking forward to that.
Chris.

[Denbridge]

On 13/09/2021 at 22:35, LNER4479 said:

I have a cunning plan ... (and I'm not referring to grounded bodies)

I can highly recommend the brassmasters Cleminson 6whl kits.

[Chas Levin]

On 16/09/2021 at 10:42, Denbridge said:

I can highly recommend the brassmasters Cleminson 6whl kits.

Recommendation seconded: amazing piece of kit, very well designed and does exactly what it - and the prototype - says on the packet!

[Clive Mortimore]

On 13/09/2021 at 21:25, Sandhole said:

That's Ruddy Good Work.
I'm going to be interested to see how you tackle that perpetual swine, the six-wheeled chassis!
Regards,
Chris.

Hi Chris

 

Not that hard. Fixed outer axles and a sliding middle one.

 

 

Even Peco double slips do not derail this.

 

BZG from left overs of Dapol BS(L) converted to non-gangway Seconds. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Clive Mortimore

[Gibbo675]

19 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Chris

 

Not that hard. Fixed outer axles and a sliding middle one.

 

 

Even Peco double slips do not derail this.

 

BZG from left overs of Dapol BS(L) converted to non-gangway Seconds. 

Hi Clive,

 

I marked you post as funny because I like the no nonsense approach to making a six wheel wagon underframe.

 

Gibbo.

[drmditch]

Good article on the BBC News website this morning, although you have probably seen all the pictures already!

The pictures were interesting anyway- even if there is only a brief glimpse of the N&C !

[LNER4479]

Seeing as how the annual festival of ill-will and bitterness is upon us once more...

 

Remember this? Built in a day this time last year (sort of). Well ...

 

Two of them in the box this time! Better get cracking then...

 

Actually, I have a third set of LMS 6-wheel bogies to build as it happens so time for some mass production.

 

Laborious and repetitive it may be but it's deffo quicker building 3 sets in one go than separately. That's 348 'oles I've just drilled by my calculations.

 

Going to spread this out over three days this time round as there's rather more to do. Let's see where we're up at close of play on 26th!

 

[LNER4479]

Something went wrong with that last post; I could've sworn blind that I pressed the 'Submit' button at approx 3pm ...

 

Anyhow, here we are at the point of knocking off for tea (now with time check, just in case you think it's all a big con):

 

More mass production, this time a soldering session, taking us from bottom right (bearings in place, waiting to be affixed) to top left (on its outer wheels).

 

[LNER4479]

Late evening update.

 

Six bogies on their wheels ... sort of.

 

Time for the fiddly stuff, these are the parts for the bogie ends, without which the wheels can just ping out.

 

So another production line, making up the ends as sub-assemblies.

 

Each can then be attached like so, taking care to keep the metalwork clear of the wheel flanges.

 

And a few moments ago. Am a bit bogied out now so will switch to the underframes for a bit (I've put the third set of bogies to one side for now)

 

May or may not post another update later ... don't wait up; to be resumed in earnest tomorrow. 

[LNER4479]

Well, a useful bit of prep if nothing else.

 

See you later ...

 

[LNER4479]

So, here we are at resumption of play. A spot of underframe soldering to be tackled.

 

[LNER4479]

As we pause for Her Maj., here is latest state of play:

 

Solebars now affixed. Always the trickiest part this I find. A bit of time spent getting this all square n true is usually well rewarded.

 

Now folding up the distinctive central trussing, again checking that all remains true as we go along.

 

And a few minutes, and with a bit of inspiration in the background, on their wheels for the first time. Both run fine, a nice solid feel as they roll along.

 

Again, I'll come back to the detail a bit later; time to start looking at some bodywork...

[LNER4479]

And it was all going so well ...

 

Not a complete disaster but not entirely unexpected either(!), turns out that the early LMS Sleepers had panelled ends, somewhat different from the standard steel end provided in the kit. To be fair, the the kit does point it out. Further scrutiny of the source material shows the steps etc are all of different configuration so there's quite a bit of work required to get it right.

 

For now, I've filled in the step slots and I'll assemble it with plain ends for the purpose of this exercise; should be possible to work on a plain end subsequently (I feel a break out of some Plasticard coming on)

 

More soon, all being well. 

[LNER4479]

Here we go, first one starting to look like a complete vehicle ... well at least the basic assemblies together. 

 

First of all, window surrounds affixed for corridor side windows and door droplights.

 

Then, steady as she goes fixing bodysides to ends - tack ... check ... tack ... check ... adjust ... There's a lot of half etching on the sides in order to create the distinctive panelling which makes them quite flimsy at this stage

And the all important time check!

 

Lots more to do yet but quite a boost to see it like this.

 

Back to some bogie detail now I think.

[LNER4479]

Morning. 

 

Last night's late night session saw the remaining brake blocks added - a fiddly job ... can you even see them?(!) I'm going to press on and finish off the bogies, completing the brass (hotter) work first before attaching the white metal (cooler) stuff. This includes tinning the brass to give something for the w/m solder to grip on to.

[LNER4479]

Aarghh ... getting a bit bogged down with bogies.

 

It started promisingly enough. Here I'm adding the excellent little centre suspension bearings. The lugs go through the two slots either side of the central hole (right), thread a piece of 0.45mm wire through the thoughtfully included hole in the side frames to engage in the holes in the centre of the frames (centre), then a quick in and out with the soldering iron to avoid soldering up the whole thing solid(!), tidy up and there we go (left).

 

A close up of the thing installed. It rocks backwards and forward (as opposed to side to side!) to take account of any bumps and dips. A lovely little bit of design. 

 

Here's where the trouble started! I had already clocked these heavy duty steps at one end of the vehicle. The single, precious 'as withdrawn' picture in Robert Carroll's excellent photostream shows them still fitted ... and the bottom two are attached to the bogie frame. Time for head scratching.

 

I eventually came up with these brackets, bent up from more 0.45mm wire - I think I'm mimicking the prototype as there looks to be a similar arrangement, attached to the bogie frame on the original. The final bending and trimming will take place once the rest of the bogie detail is added.

 

So - at last - we can fire up the low-melt iron.

 

And there we go, with time check. First one done.

 

I never was going to properly finish them both. I'll have to decide now what best to do with what's left of the day ...

[LNER4479]

So ...

 

First of all finish off the other bogie.

 

Then, decided to do something about the vehicle ends. From the pack for the other vehicle, here I'm marking out where the alternative step positions go.

 

Thus drilled, we can use it to mark the positions on the end already fitted (the other end is different).

 

Can also use it to cut out a piece of 10 thou Plasticard. 

 

And, with ... ahem ... a fresh blade in the knife we can cut out the panelling. 

 

Let's see if we can bring some of that together in the final hour or so...

 

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

can you even see them?(!)

Nope.

 

5 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

A close up of the thing installed.

Ah, now I can!

[LNER4479]

That's it. Draw stumps. Managed to:

 

Fit end step supports and two of the steps.

 

Fit corridor connector.

 

Fit end panelling around remaining step supports.

 

Fit remaining steps, thereby 'trapping' in the end panelling. 

 

Meanwhile, stepboards fitted to bogies. Putting it altogether ...

 

A Dia.1705 Sleeper First well on its way (with another not too far behind). It may be some while before they're both fully finished just yet, mind.

[great central]

Must say I admire your dedication and Mrs 4479s forebearance allowing you to spend, effectively, the whole of Christmas and Boxing Day on a model project.

I haven't managed anything at all but I left my nice warm bed 20 or so minutes ago to make my small contribution to keeping the big railway running. I'm 04.00 standby.

[LNER4479]

7 hours ago, great central said:

Must say I admire your dedication and Mrs 4479s forebearance allowing you to spend, effectively, the whole of Christmas and Boxing Day on a model project.

She's a marvelous woman is Mrs4479 - we're both fully paid-up members of the Bah Humbug club, so sitting about quietly 'just getting on with it' was the order of the day. Quite a bit of this was achieved with the modelling tray on my lap, with smoldering soldering iron alongside. The odd grunt exchanged to acknowledge each other's continued presence and all is well.

 

We did go for a walk round the block on Xmas morning - could've got the other body assembled if it hadn't been for that ...

[Clive Mortimore]

Does this count in the build a coach in a day, I started to draw the corridor side from the scanned in diagram at 7.00pm this evening.

 

This how far I have got with the model of a D1730 period II all steel BSK.

 

 

More info on Baz's thread. Photo also shows some of my wagon books which seem missing off the shelves of some of our fellow modellers.

[Compound2632]

5 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Photo also shows some of my wagon books which seem missing off the shelves of some of our fellow modellers.

 

I see you are currently referring to Vol. 1 of Essery's LMS Wagons.

[Clive Mortimore]

7 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I see you are currently referring to Vol. 1 of Essery's LMS Wagons.

I did last night but forgot to put it back on the shelf, lazy toad that I am.