GW & GC Joint Line late 1930s - ex-GCR loco kit builds

[scratcher]

I've nearly finished my first white metal kit so thought I'd post some pics of the end result. I get a lot of information from RMweb so it's also a chance to contribute back. 

 

I bought the kit off a well-known auction site a few years ago. It was the updated version with etched brass frames and turned chassis spacers, as opposed to the original solid milled one. The chassis had been assembled but I eased down the hole for the centre axle and replaced the axle bearings so all six wheels made good rail contact. It came with an X04 motor but I replaced that with Mashima and gearbox from Branch Lines. The resultant chassis with suitable weighting ran a treat, with great slow speed control. 

 

The body had been started but only a few pieces had been assembled. Quite a bit of filling and sanding down of components needed to get rid of gaps and mould lines but the finished result I think looks ok. There's no cab floor or interior supplied with the kit, plus no cab entrances, the tank and bunker being a single continuous piece of while metal. The entrances were cut out, a brass floor added with cutouts for the rear wheels then a plasticard top added to cover the cutouts. The interior was scratch built from brass and plasticard, with a GC backhead from 247 developments (though it does not look like any GC backhead I have seen), a screw reverser (GW but close enough) and twin brake towers. A slice was removed from the backhead to accommodate the motor shaft - I guess I could cut this but it's hardened steel and I haven't got the right gear for that (plus don't want to risk damaging the motor). The interior looks good, and given the enclosed cab any compromises and the motor shaft are not readily visible anyway. 

 

The kit has a pony truck for the trailing non-driving axle, otherwise the loco would not get round curves. It has a leading bogie which attaches to one of the frame spacers, ie, not centrally pivoted or sprung. Once the body was added, the weight of the boiler in particular made the loco front heavy and with its non-compensated chassis the leading driving wheels would drop into point gaps. Rather than attempt to spring the bogie from the kit, I realised that all Robinson 4-x-y loco used the same bogie with same size wheels, so I emailed Bachmann and obtained as a spare the bogie from their excellent Director 4-4-0. This is centrally pivoted and sprung, so it was just a case of making up a block of suitable depth to add to the underside of the front part of the chassis, then attaching the bogie. This solved the problem and worked first time with no adjustments needed, it has not once derailed on any pointwork, and the loco is back to running really nicely with no stalling at points even at very slow speeds.    

 

A couple of things  still left to do. The cab entrances had vertical handrails with knobs, on each side of the entrances. Due to the tank and bunker being a single piece of white metal, and it being part assembled when received, I am not quite sure how to drill the holes for, or otherwise attach, the handrail knobs.  The brake shoes and gear need assembling and attaching, in a way that allows easy removal so the chassis can be dismantled, if the need arises. I have brake shoes from Mainly Trains, but not quite sure best way to make up and attach everything. Any advice on either issue is very welcome. Coal rails need attaching. Axle nut covers need adding.

 

Invaluable aids were Iain Rice's book on chassis construction, the Isinglass A5 4mm scale drawing and Brian Osborne of Branch Lines.

 

That's enough waffle, here are some pictures of the loco sprayed up in etch primer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited to add pictures

Edited April 3, 2022 by scratcher
Re-added pictures

[Theakerr]

Thks for the info re the front bogie assembly.

[MarkC]

Very nice. I built one of these a few years ago, and have a Craftsman one in my roundtuit pile. It will be interesting to see how they compare, both in appearance and performance, once I build it.

 

Nice info regarding the Bachmann bogie too

[chris p bacon]

 

2.jpg

 

Looks really good, I'd be tempted to shorten the cable wrapped around the motor though, they can get hot and it could lose it's sheathing giving a short. Either that or wrap it in some tape or heatproof sheath.

[scratcher]

Looks really good, I'd be tempted to shorten the cable wrapped around the motor though, they can get hot and it could lose it's sheathing giving a short. Either that or wrap it in some tape or heatproof sheath.

 

Good idea Chris I will do that. I also need to put some tape over the top motor contact as its mighty close to the bottom of the cab front when everything is in place. 

[scratcher]

Anybody have any idea what colours the A5 cab interior would have been painted in LNER days?  The three Bachmann ex-GCR locos (J11, O4, D11) that I have are all different. For example, the O4 & D11 have a white/cream cab side & roof whereas the J11 is dark green. And would the interior colour have been applied to the cab rear, or would that have been black ?

[scratcher]

Finally finished off the A5.  Halfords Satin Black used for the top coat. Red lining and bufferbeams by Ian Rathbone. Transfers from Modelmaster, which look good but perhaps the letters / numbers are slightly narrower than prototype?

 

For the brakes I obtained two plastic chassis base plates from the Bachmann D11, cut off the brakes shoes and attached them at the top to 0.7mm wire hangers attached to the chassis, and at the bottom to Mainly Trains brake rodding. There is very little clearance between the wheels, and plastic shoes ensure no shorting.  

 

The camera has made the dome look a bit askew but it looks fine in reality. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by scratcher
Re-added pictures

[scratcher]

Next up is a K's B2. Slow work as the body has taken a lot of fettling to get right. I'll be using the tender off a Bachmann J11, and the trick with the Bachmann front bogie as per the A5.

Edited May 15, 2023 by scratcher
remove picture

[scratcher]

The B2 upper works completed and etch primed, except for the roof rainstrips. The back head was kindly donated by the B3 project, the rest of the footplate was built from scratch (needs regulator adding). The main problem with the kit is that the boiler sits about 2mm too low. In retrospect maybe I should have tried to address that but it would have involved filling in a resulting gap between boiler and splasher top. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by scratcher
correction

[micklner]

On 03/01/2019 at 16:26, scratcher said:

Finally finished off the A5.  Halfords Satin Black used for the top coat. Red lining and bufferbeams by Ian Rathbone. Transfers from Modelmaster, which look good but perhaps the letters / numbers are slightly narrower than prototype?

 

For the brakes I obtained two plastic chassis base plates from the Bachmann D11, cut off the brakes shoes and attached them at the top to 0.7mm wire hangers attached to the chassis, and at the bottom to Mainly Trains brake rodding. There is very little clearance between the wheels, and plastic shoes ensure no shorting.  

 

The camera has made the dome look a bit askew but it looks fine in reality. 

 Re the decals , one  reason they look incorrect is because they are missing the white lines. Nice A5.

Edited March 10, 2019 by micklner

[dibateg]

On ‎21‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 11:32, MarkC said:

Very nice. I built one of these a few years ago, and have a Craftsman one in my roundtuit pile. It will be interesting to see how they compare, both in appearance and performance, once I build it.

 

Nice info regarding the Bachmann bogie too

Watch out for the Craftsman A5 Mark - the bunker is too narrow. When I built my 2nd one I scratched up a new bunker back. Otherwise you don't get that 'big back' appearance. I think the running plate had to be widened too. I suspect the drawings they used to design the kit  were wrong...

 

Regards

Tony

[scratcher]

23 hours ago, micklner said:

 Re the decals , one  reason they look incorrect is because they are missing the white lines. Nice A5.

 

 

Mick what make of transfers did you use?

[micklner]

I use HMRS Pressfix when I can get ones that have been printed correctly. They have been having problems with misalignment for a long time sadly. I have seen the  Fox version which look ok,  but I have never used them (so far !!).

[MarkC]

14 hours ago, dibateg said:

Watch out for the Craftsman A5 Mark - the bunker is too narrow. When I built my 2nd one I scratched up a new bunker back. Otherwise you don't get that 'big back' appearance. I think the running plate had to be widened too. I suspect the drawings they used to design the kit  were wrong...

 

Regards

Tony

Thanks, Tony. Much appreciated.

 

Brgds

Mark

[scratcher]

On 10/03/2019 at 18:43, scratcher said:

The main problem with the kit is that the boiler sits about 2mm too low. In retrospect maybe I should have tried to address that but it would have involved filling in a resulting gap between boiler and splasher top. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes when you notice a problem, you just have to fix it. Some careful cutting down enabled the height of the smokebox saddle to be reduced by just enough to allow a more characteristic bottom to the smokebox to be made from plasticard and filler. It now looks more like a Robinson loco.  

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by scratcher
added picture

[scratcher]

On 11/03/2019 at 20:52, micklner said:

I use HMRS Pressfix when I can get ones that have been printed correctly. They have been having problems with misalignment for a long time sadly. I have seen the  Fox version which look ok,  but I have never used them (so far !!).

 

I bought the Fox version, and have replaced the A5's transfers with those. Looks much better.

[scratcher]

The Sam Fay was on hold while I got used to spraying with an air brush. A lot to learn but definitely worth the effort. 

 

 

 

[John Tomlinson]

That's looking good, presumably to be LNER green rather than GCR livery?

 

I did one of these decades ago, using the K's wheels and a Portescap, it runs and pulls well but not atypically for back then I didn't fit any brakes - well they weren't in the kit is my excuse! I've always thought I should remedy this flaw, and wondered what you had in mind for the same? I might take off and paint the wheels at the same time, as I think I've now just enough skill to do a basic lining job.

 

John.

[scratcher]

21 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

That's looking good, presumably to be LNER green rather than GCR livery?

 

Correct, post-1928 so large letters on tender & large numbers on cabside (and also dictates the various boiler fitments). I will be using Fox Transfers for the letters & numbers, currently debating whether to use transfers for the black/white lining or to get it hand-lined.

 

21 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

I did one of these decades ago, using the K's wheels and a Portescap, it runs and pulls well but not atypically for back then I didn't fit any brakes - well they weren't in the kit is my excuse! I've always thought I should remedy this flaw, and wondered what you had in mind for the same? I might take off and paint the wheels at the same time, as I think I've now just enough skill to do a basic lining job.

  

If you look further back up this thread to the last pictures of the A5, you'll see what the brakes look like on that. I intend to do same for the B2. Specifically, obtain two plastic chassis base plates from the Bachmann D11 (available as a spare from Bachmann), cut off the brake shoes, attach them at the top to 0.7mm wire hangers attached to the chassis, and at the bottom to Mainly Trains brake rodding. The plastic shoes ensure no shorting.  It was reasonably straightforward with the A5 as the chassis had 0.7mm holes pre-drilled in the right place. The B2 has no such holes, the chassis sides are just brass rectangles, and don't extend far enough at one end. It's my next job so I'll post back here when I have worked something out.

 

The front bogie is also from a Bachmann D11 spare but needed two springs as the B2 is a heavy old lump. 

 

The backhead was a donation from the G-Train Locomotive Works / Graeme King Joint Venture that is creating B3 and B7 kits. Rest of the cab is scratchbuilt, apart from the screw reverser.

 

The tender is standard GCR type and is a Bachmann J11 spare. This is handy as it means it's DCC-ready and has pick ups. I have the loco so I can either run it picking up on its own or also from the tender, by adding a couple of connectors into the wiring. Useful when still under construction.

 

Motor is Mashima and gearbox is Branch Lines. It runs really nicely but is slightly under-powered, I should have gone for the next motor up.

  

[scratcher]

Added brake gear, the prominent steam pipe that runs under the chassis, sand pipes and the small steam pipes that exhaust under the cab steps. 

 

The leading brake shoes are not attached at the top, as the chassis sides do not extend far enough. 

 

The under-chassis steam pipe is removable so I can get at the grub screw holding the gear to the axle, and slightly off-centre to avoid the gear teeth.

 

 

  

[Mike 84C]

The white pipe will be the feed pipe to the exhaust steam injector, which should be under the footplate outside the frames somewhere near the cab steps on the firemans side. I presume they were fitted with one and one live steam.

[scratcher]

B2 finally complete, just need to add glazing for cab front windows.  Lining by Ian Rathbone, except boiler bands (Fox) and the lining around the nameplates. Numbers and letters are also Fox, they look a bit oversized so some toning down needed. Nameplates by Modelmaster.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by scratcher
Re-added pictures

[scratcher]

I have a Hornby B17/4 Footballer which I bought in 1982 just before I went to university.  For the time it wasn't at all bad, and it's one of the few models from back then that has survived onto my present setup.  I decided to smarten it up, but not do anything that would require a respray, so cosmetic stuff. I bought the current Hornby B17/1 detail pack, Fox Transfers black/white lining for A1/A3 (handily the B17 has same size driving wheels, bogie wheels, windows, splashers, and buffer beam), already had Fox Transfers gold letters/numbers, and added lamp brackets and cab seats. I've renumbered it to 2858 Newcastle United (my team) although 2858 only ever carried that name in its trials; for some reason it went into service as The Essex Regiment, swapped tenders and was sent to GE section.  It looks so much better. Still to add are tender brake standards and reversing handle (on order) and I will have a go at some more red lining. The addition of the front steps and drain pipes mean it just gets round a 4th radius curve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by scratcher