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Fowler 2-6-4T in 2mm Finescale


Nig H
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Here are some pics of Fowler 2-6-4Ts built or being built from the first test etch. There are a lot of things to sort out on the second test etch. The footplate was a real pain, but at least I learnt how vital it is to assemble it all accurately.

 

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The shots below are of the footplate for the 'limo cab' version. 

 

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At the moment it all looks a right mess, but once things start going wrong with the build there isn't much point cleaning it all up unless its needed to make other parts fit.

 

Nig H

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Here are a few more pics showing the construction of the insides of the bunker, cab and side tanks. So far, its progressing better than the earlier version.

 

Squeezing the bunker/ rear cab side wraparound on to the cab rear.

 

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Now soldered in place. Also cab floor.

 

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Side tanks now added.

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Next job is to add the cab toolboxes and splashers, then solder rod into the holes in the footplate and battons to stop the latter moving when the side overlays are added.

 

Nig H

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I'm looking forward to watching this build. The Fowler tanks have always been a favourite of mine.

Hi,

 

Favs of mine too. These are the last locos I really really wanted to do 2mm models of. The 'limo cab' version is going together quite well so and I am hopeful that I will be able to produce a worthwhile model from this first test etch, plus some extras from the second test etch.

 

Nig H

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Hi,

 

Favs of mine too. These are the last locos I really really wanted to do 2mm models of. The 'limo cab' version is going together quite well so and I am hopeful that I will be able to produce a worthwhile model from this first test etch, plus some extras from the second test etch.

 

Nig H

Hi

 

Not a favourite of mine, not "Southern", but I love following your builds, I always learn so much. Keep up the good work.

 

Pete T

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Hi

 

Not a favourite of mine, not "Southern", but I love following your builds, I always learn so much. Keep up the good work.

 

Pete T

Hi Pete, 

 

Thanks for your comments. Here are a few more pics.

 

 

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Little pegs used to hold the side overlays in place. I think I got the pegs from Poundland recently.

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The rod is used in the firebox to locate and hold a crescent shaped batton to the front face of the firebox. The rear of the boiler will rest on this batton. The rod through the middle of the firebox locates into the cab front.

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Nig H

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Here are a few more pics showing further progress but first a couple of shots of the chassis. The first one show where the front middle of the frames have been ground away to clear the underside of the boiler. I missed this when I drew the artwork for the etch.

 

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Some shots showing the smokebox overlays being held in place prior to being soldered to the boiler tube. First you can see on the left two bits of tube used for rolling the overlays, then the three overlays and the boiler tube.

 

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And two shots showing my attempts to keep the overlays tight against each other and the boiler tube. 

 

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The bits of wood are from recovered bonfire night rocket sticks. I sometimes go out on Nov 6th to scour the local roads for useful bits of rocket sticks.

 

Nig H

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How time flies! After leaving this for ages, I've finally got round to tackling the second test etch. Here are some pics of the chassis and the pivot for the bogie.

 

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These show the stump of the bearing, inserted from the top of the spacer and  soldered in place underneath. I've solder a washer to some N gauge coupling spring and fixed this around the bottom of the pivot bearing. The washer will bear down on the top of the bogie spacer. The bogie is attached with the 14BA bolt and washer shown. Note further along the frames the 'Simpson' springs to the two front axles. 

 

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This shows the top of the bearing with a 14BA nut soldered in a recess in the top. Not the neatest bit of soldering but I didn't want to dwell too long with the iron and move the nut out of position. 

 

More pics to follow as the build progresses. 

 

Nig H

 

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Here are a few pics showing aspects of the assembly of the cylinders and motion.

 

Testing the length of the piston rod in the cylinder block. The rod is at its furthest point back. Then I'll rotate the driver 180 degrees to check the piston rod at its furthest point forward.

 

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This shows the cylinder and motion after the left side expansion link has been soldered between the motion bracket and the radius rod. Its mostly hidden by the little squares of grease-proof paper used as a barrier between the three parts. I've also added a motion pin in the hole in the front of the radius rod, to which the top of the combination lever will be attached.

 

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Opening out the hole at the top of the combination lever with a small broach.

 

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The combination lever now connected to the radius rod. Then I'll add a square of grease-proof paper and secure the join with a small brass washer. Note the kink in the combinaion lever to clear the crosshead.

 

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The washer soldered to the pin, ready for cleaning up.

 

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I originally included a representation of the valve spindle guide (still visible on the right hand side valve gear), but it was loose (secured only by the pin for the combination lever/ radius rod joint) and flopped around too much. I tried soldering it to the radius rod, but that all went pear-shaped. I'll have to think about a re-design in this area, but just to progress things I'm leaving the guide out for now.

 

Soon I'll be able to paint the chassis, attach the cylinder block/ motion assembly and finish off the brake gear.

 

Nig H

 

 

 

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The valve gear looks exquisite, Nigel.

I've been thinking about your valve spindle crosshead guide.

The ones on the real 2300s were bracketed from above, and look like they're floating in mid air in some photographs.

Rather than fixing it to the radius rod/combination lever, could you maybe arrange for a dummy valve-spindle to project from the rear valve-chest cover, and attach the end of the guide "box" to that?

A more radical alternative (if one wanted to model the loco "in gear" and make the valve rod move) might be to hang just the visible outer face of the guide from behind the footplate valance - if there's clearance...

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The valve gear looks exquisite, Nigel.

I've been thinking about your valve spindle crosshead guide.

The ones on the real 2300s were bracketed from above, and look like they're floating in mid air in some photographs.

Rather than fixing it to the radius rod/combination lever, could you maybe arrange for a dummy valve-spindle to project from the rear valve-chest cover, and attach the end of the guide "box" to that?

A more radical alternative (if one wanted to model the loco "in gear" and make the valve rod move) might be to hang just the visible outer face of the guide from behind the footplate valance - if there's clearance...

Hello Nick,

 

Thanks for your comments. I'll think about your suggestions and see what I can come up with. Another alternative might be some sort of bracket from the frames. Just a thought at the moment, I've not looked in detail at any options yet.

 

I just attached the right side combination lever to the radius rod, not without incident. I didn't use a motion pin, just some 0.31mm rod. I soldered everything up solid first time round, but after cleaning the solder off all the relevant parts,attempt #2 worked ok. Which was nice.....

 

Nig H

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I've made a start on the footplate. The valances are not straight from end to end so the first task was to form the bends to match bends in the footplate and the doorway cutout. These bends need to be accurately located else the valances will not locate properly at the ends of the footplate.

 

Here are some shots showing attachment of the front footplate section. The routine for the rear section, attached after the middle section was soldered to the valances, is similar.

 

Checking the vertical height of the front after forming the bends (using 1.5mm diameter rod). You can just see that the two sides are not the same height. I didn't realise this until after tack soldering the front in place and finding the front edge of the footplate wasn't square to the footplate sides.

 

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Holding the footplate and valance together with small pegs. The vertical edges of the valances must line up with the rear edge of the half-etched front of the footplate, along which the buffer beam will lie. Now I can tack solder one valance to the footplate at the front corner.

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I used some 1.5mm diameter rod and pegs to squeeze the valance into the corners of the footplate before soldering in place on the underside.

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Here I'm using my verniers to check the front and rear footplate edges are parallel.

 

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Next I'll clean up the work so far and do a bit more checking to see everything lines up as it should. I learnt from test etch one that small inaccuracies at this stage of the construction can have quite serious implications further on in the assembly.

 

Nig H

 

Edited by Nig H
Pic duplicated, right one now inserted
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After a lot of fettling spread over several days, I finally got the valve gear to work on the chassis. There were lots of clearance issues to sort out, some hard to spot let alone fix. To cap it all the middle crankpin became unsoldered. Luckily I didn't have to remove the driving wheel (and thus the brake gear) to re-solder the pin. I wish I had taken the first test etch build further so that some of the changes needed for the slide bar support/motion bracket could have been included in the second test etch.

 

Here are some pics.

 

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The balance weights are too small by one spoke. I don't know how I managed that one, must be my age. I added them to the wheels to check clearances inside the coupling rods.

 

I've done a lot of work on the body too. Steps, pipework and detailing to add. I'm wondering when to fix the roof, and whether to solder or epoxy in place.

 

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Nig H

 

 

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Lovely stuff Nigel. All that fettling has paid off as it's really starting to look the part.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Simon

Hi Simon,

 

Thanks - I'm now fairly certain that the etch is buildable with a couple of tweaks. I still need to test the loco on curves with the steps added to the body, just in case.

 

Merry Christmas to you too.

 

Nig H

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On 23/08/2019 at 22:06, Stephen 28 said:

I know you weren't keen to offer this as a kit but I would love to buy two etches for the version you have just built if that were possible Nigel? Carlisle always had one or two of these dotting about on all sorts of jobs.

Hello Stephen,

 

Nick Mitchell offered to do the instructions for this if I produced some etches, and this was the main stumbling block for me as preparation of instructions tends to be a big job. If Nick's kind offer still stands, I'll try to get round to producing some kits.

 

Regards,

 

Nigel

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On 26/08/2019 at 09:50, Nig H said:

Hello Stephen,

 

Nick Mitchell offered to do the instructions for this if I produced some etches, and this was the main stumbling block for me as preparation of instructions tends to be a big job. If Nick's kind offer still stands, I'll try to get round to producing some kits.

 

Regards,

 

Nigel

 

Now I've finished doing my little dance of delight - yes, absolutely my offer still stands. It will be a real pleasure... but I'm not making a video of it!

 

The test build looks absolutely stunning.

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On 31/08/2019 at 18:14, Branwell said:

Looks very good does that Nigel - I'd definitely still be interested in at least two if you do get round to doing a kit run.

 

Regards,

 

David V.

 

On 01/09/2019 at 21:31, Argos said:

And another one here.

 

I've no need of a Fowler tank but just like them!

Thanks David and Angus. Which cab style(s) do you want?

 

Nig H

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