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Midland Railway 483 class 2P and Johnson tender


Nig H
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I thought I'd start this up in its own topic for those interested.

 

I decided to start with the tender and here are some pics as I progressed through the second test etch build.

 

post-12813-0-73086700-1524928546.jpg

 

The stanchions for the brake handle being added. The tape under the footplate is to keep the 0.2 mm nickel silver rod in place until soldered.. For some reason I thought the bracket at the top of the stanchions should have extended from the top of the tank, whereas it is actually in line with the bottom of the beading on the side. It was quite difficult soldering the bracket into the corner whilst keeping it level.

 

post-12813-0-03864400-1524928594_thumb.jpg

 

The water scoop handle side in progress. A lot of cleaning to do at some point!

 

 

post-12813-0-55664100-1524928695.jpg

 

 

post-12813-0-59814400-1524928717_thumb.jpg

 

 

Two shots of the tender with most of the etched parts now added. Luckily I should be able to complete the tender from this test etch. There were a few minor adjustments to the artwork identified during the build.

 

post-12813-0-58719100-1524928621_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-84577100-1524928785.jpg

 

The chassis almost done, and the parts for the tender axlebox/springs

 

post-12813-0-09361400-1524928855.jpg

 

 

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One completed axlebox. Now I know where the assembly pitfalls are.

 

Nig H

 

 

 

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I thought I'd start this up in its own topic for those interested.

 

I decided to start with the tender and here are some pics as I progressed through the second test etch build.

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (10).JPG

 

The stanchions for the brake handle being added. The tape under the footplate is to keep the 0.2 mm nickel silver rod in place until soldered.. For some reason I thought the bracket at the top of the stanchions should have extended from the top of the tank, whereas it is actually in line with the bottom of the beading on the side. It was quite difficult soldering the bracket into the corner whilst keeping it level.

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (13).JPG

 

The water scoop handle side in progress. A lot of cleaning to do at some point!

 

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (26).JPG

 

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (27).JPG

 

 

Two shots of the tender with most of the etched parts now added. Luckily I should be able to complete the tender from this test etch. There were a few minor adjustments to the artwork identified during the build.

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (14).JPG

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (31).JPG

 

The chassis almost done, and the parts for the tender axlebox/springs

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (43).JPG

 

 

attachicon.gifJohnson tender (39).JPG

 

One completed axlebox. Now I know where the assembly pitfalls are.

 

Nig H

 

The main pitfall would seem to be some very small parts.

 

I have been considering going back in timescale to Midland days rather than 1950s BR(LM). But I think parts that small would be well beyond my abilities these days.

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Nigel,

 

Very interested indeed! I'm a bit late to the party on this one, are you test building a future kit?

 

Cheers,

 

Alex

Yes, I'm slowly working on the 2P at the moment, sorting out what I hope are final tweaks before the production version is prepared.

 

The main pitfall would seem to be some very small parts.

 

I have been considering going back in timescale to Midland days rather than 1950s BR(LM). But I think parts that small would be well beyond my abilities these days.

Small parts a part of the 2FS experience, and with a bit of practice you can get used to working with them. I will provide spares for any bits of my kits anyone loses or damages.

 

Nig H

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Yes, I'm slowly working on the 2P at the moment, sorting out what I hope are final tweaks before the production version is prepared.

 

My knowledge of all things Midland, and especially the relationship between the MR Johnson '483' Class and LMS Fowler 2Ps is always a bit sketchy. 40505 and 40509 would haven been 483's would they not? Presumably a Fowler 2P kit will be following after you've done all this hard work?   :locomotive:

 

Alex

Edited by Stumpytrain
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Yes, I'm slowly working on the 2P at the moment, sorting out what I hope are final tweaks before the production version is prepared.

 

Small parts a part of the 2FS experience, and with a bit of practice you can get used to working with them. I will provide spares for any bits of my kits anyone loses or damages.

 

Nig H

 

I take your point about small being inevitable in 2mm. But perhaps many would find cast axleboxes acceptable?

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My knowledge of all things Midland, and especially the relationship between the MR Johnson [/size]'483' Class and LMS Fowler 2Ps is always a bit sketchy. 40505 and 40509 would haven been 483's would they not? Presumably a Fowler 2P kit will be following after you've done all this hard work?   :locomotive:

 

Alex

The Midland 483 class were right hand drive with 7' drivers, many were rebuilds of earlier Johnson 4-4-0s. The LMS 2P, which was derived from the 483, was left hand drive with 6'9" wheels and Fowler, as opposed to Johnson tenders. Building an LMS 2P would be a fairly straightforward conversion from the 483, the main jobs being to move the reversing lever to the opposite side and change the tender. There are a number of options in 2mm for Fowler tenders. I would use 13mm drivers in 2mm and quietly ignore the small (in 2mm terms) difference in size.

I don't want to speak for Nigel but suspect it would be difficult to justify a separate kit

 

Jerry

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I would use 13mm drivers in 2mm and quietly ignore the small (in 2mm terms) difference in size.

 

It seems Nigel is already ahead of you Jerry. Not sure how this quote will appear but I found Nigel's initial post lurking in the "What's on your 2mm Work bench" thread...

 

Here are a couple of pics of a MR 2P 483 class loco and Johnson 3,250 gal tender. These are from the first test etch, and the loco etch in particular needs a lot of amendments, so this one will end up as scrap. 

 

attachicon.gif MR 483 2P (7).JPG

 

attachicon.gif MR 483 2P (5).JPG

 

There were a number of clearance issues on the loco, and I've had to use 13mm drivers instead of the original plan to use 14mm ones. The front of the chassis has also been angled in to give more play to the front bogie wheels. The intention to use either a 21:1 or 30:1 worm set has been abandoned in favour of a 30:1 arrangement only. I'm using one of the Chinese  7mm diameter motoors in the tender, though the design will cater for 8mm or 10mm too. Its hard to judge the performance of the motor accurately as I've still to add crankpins and rods to the drivers, plus some weight over them, and as a result the driven axle just slips on the track when power is applied to the motor.

 

 

The Fowler 2P comment was more tongue and cheek because to my Western eyes I can never tell the two apart. Though, if the reverser is the only obvious difference in our scale  (presumably aside from dome and chimney) my eyes aren't as bad as I first thought...  :sungum:

 

Alex

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It seems Nigel is already ahead of you Jerry. Not sure how this quote will appear but I found Nigel's initial post lurking in the "What's on your 2mm Work bench" thread...

 

 

The Fowler 2P comment was more tongue and cheek because to my Western eyes I can never tell the two apart. Though, if the reverser is the only obvious difference in our scale  (presumably aside from dome and chimney) my eyes aren't as bad as I first thought...  :sungum:

 

Alex

 

Hi Alex, in later years, wheels apart, the reverser was about the only visual difference. The Midland 483s acquired LMS standard chimney and dome soon after grouping to fit the group standard loading gauge and many got Fowler tenders in their final years.

 

Jerry

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Hi Alex, in later years, wheels apart, the reverser was about the only visual difference. The Midland 483s acquired LMS standard chimney and dome soon after grouping to fit the group standard loading gauge and many got Fowler tenders in their final years.

 

Jerry

Hello,

 

Changing the reverser to the other side is quite easy on my kit - just reverse the front face of the firebox so the lever cutout is on the other side. The cutout on the side of the boiler has to be ground out which ever side it is. More problematic to me is that the valances, as far as I can tell, were further out towards the edge of the footplate on the LMS variant. So new bits for the footplate and front buffer plate(?) would be needed. The second test etch is not going swimmingly at the moment, and even if I had considered doing the LMS version, I am not now. I'll post some pics of progress soon.

 

Nig H

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Here are some pics showing progress on the loco.

 

The chassis, virtually complete.

 

post-12813-0-52797400-1526134219_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-31830900-1526134238_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-43603600-1526134255_thumb.jpg

 

The front of the frames are angled in to give more clearance for the bogie front wheels and the guard irons. 

 

post-12813-0-90559300-1526134275_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-66540300-1526134312_thumb.jpg

 

These two shots show how I tried to get the footplate curve tight against the valance. All seemed well until I noticed that the front section of the footplate bent slightly to the left. I spent ages trying to straighten it out, but in the end I had to accept a very slight bend. I did manage to bend the front section of the footplate up slightly so its no longer parallel to the rest of the footplate from the side view!!

 

Nig H

post-12813-0-52797400-1526134219_thumb.jpg

post-12813-0-31830900-1526134238_thumb.jpg

post-12813-0-43603600-1526134255_thumb.jpg

post-12813-0-90559300-1526134275_thumb.jpg

post-12813-0-66540300-1526134312_thumb.jpg

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It’ll make or easier going round left hand corners NIgel.

 

Tim

Thanks Tim, 

 

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. 

 

Nig H

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Here are some pics of me battling with the cab. It could have turned out better, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

post-12813-0-26493500-1527756470_thumb.jpg

 

Squeezing the side to the cab front. The slot and tab was all I could think of to make assembly easier, plus inside the side is a strengthening piece with a rebate to accommodate the cab front.

 

post-12813-0-76423500-1527756747_thumb.jpg

 

I would form the bends before adding the strengthener if I did it again.

 

post-12813-0-09542300-1527756489_thumb.jpg

 

Persuading the splasher tops into a curve about the same as the sides

 

post-12813-0-36087800-1527756502_thumb.jpg

 

The completed unit prior to trimming the splasher tops to length. Never easy forming the curve between the sides and roof on Midland locos in my opinion.

 

Nig H

 

 

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Here's another progress report, which has been slow recently. I've struggled with the smokebox wrapper. Getting it tight and square around the inner wrapper took forever for some reason, then getting the saddle square between the saddle side extensions of the smokebox wrapper also took time to get about right. The dilemma for me is whether I've built it wrong or drawn it wrong. I'm assuming the former. 

 

Here's the cab now in place, with the firebox just dropped on loose. Assembling the cab sides/roof to the front was hard work, but I got it sorted in the end.

 

post-12813-0-37144300-1529143306_thumb.jpg

 

A couple of shots of the boiler and smokebox, showing the slots for the worm at bottom centre and the cutouts for the splashers and reversing lever either side.

 

post-12813-0-95273600-1529143331_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-93326300-1529143349.jpg

 

post-12813-0-47540400-1529143615.jpg

 

The washout covers for the firebox shoulder are very small (c. 1.5mm long) and need to be curved to sit on the firebox shoulder. To do that I filed a curved groove in a lollipop stick, put the cover in the grove, and pressed down on the cover with the needle file shown. It seemed to work OK, and I'll try to get some pics to show the firebox with covers in place soon.

 

post-12813-0-60611800-1529143590.jpg

 

Nig H

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A few more pics showing the loco finally coming together. Some tidying up now required, then the steps can be added and one or two other bits from the etch. Then its the non-etch detailing plus turnings. Oh, and the loco and tender brake gear, and ...

 

post-12813-0-63237000-1529245398_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-31517800-1529245418_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-22176200-1529245435.jpg

 

post-12813-0-72414200-1529245451_thumb.jpg

 

Nig H

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Looking great Nigel -so will it be red or blue! :-))

 

I've not done a huge amount of modelling for a week or two - youngest daughter getting married next weekend and I've been co-opted into all manner of jobs. I shall be in blue by the way - suit that is!! 

 

Jerry

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Looking great Nigel -so will it be red or blue! :-))

 

I've not done a huge amount of modelling for a week or two - youngest daughter getting married next weekend and I've been co-opted into all manner of jobs. I shall be in blue by the way - suit that is!! 

 

Jerry

Hello Jerry,

 

Thanks, but it will be 40439 in BR lined black. At least that's the plan, but I'll have to think about how to do the lining. 

 

I think blue is a wiser choice than red for your suit. Hope it all goes well.

 

Nig H

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Wow! I know it is only the second test etch but that is looking brilliant Nigel! Thanks for showing how you're keeping various bits together while you're soldering!

Edited by Atso
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Wow! I know it is only the second test etch but that is looking brilliant Nigel! Thanks for showing how you're keeping various bits together while you're soldering!

Steve,

 

Thanks for your comments. I'm not sure whether the way I try to hold bits together is the way not to do it but hopefully it is of some use. There are probably much better ways than i can think of.

 

Nig H

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Latest progress on the loco. The ejector on the right had side was a pain to make. I started with a little lump of brass and added pipework from various combinations of 0.5mm to 0.1mm tube and rod. The pipework on the right hand side of the smokebox below the handrail is only 0.1mm  and very fragile. Too fragile as one end has broken off during cleaning up. I should have added it last, after the handrail. 

 

post-12813-0-86267900-1530797645_thumb.jpg

 

post-12813-0-42530800-1530797659_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

post-12813-0-18636400-1530797711_thumb.jpg

 

Nig H

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Looking great Nigel

 

Jerry

Yes it looks good but having read through this thread a few times I still don't know :

- what kit this is

- whether the scale is actually 2mm/ft (1:152) or 2.0625mm/ft (1:148) as 2FS people seem to use either or both.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Ian

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