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Bachmann K3 to K2


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After buying a K3 and some Graeme King resin K2 parts at Warley yesterday, I thought I'd start a workbench thread to show just how good the resin castings are.

 

The first thing I'll do is to clean up the castings and drill holes for handrails, chimney, dome etc. After that I'll see what needs doing to the K3 chassis to get it to go inside the K2 body and then I can start on valve gear and adding detail parts.

 

The attached photos show the main components for the project.

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Jamie

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I had nothing better to do today so I've been working almost non-stop.

 

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The valve gear on the right-hand side is done but by the end of it I was almost cross-eyed so I've left the second side until later.

 

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I cut the front section of the chassis off and after a bit of fettling around the cab area the body is on. I've also drilled almost all the holes on the body.

 

Jamie

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Hello Jamie

 

Looks like an interesting project there. I’ve always liked the K2s but I can’t really justify one.

 

I think you made the right call - when you get tired take break! (Especially when the valve gear/ metal knitting is involved)

 

Jon

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Hello Jamie

 

Looks like an interesting project there. I’ve always liked the K2s but I can’t really justify one.

 

I think you made the right call - when you get tired take break! (Especially when the valve gear/ metal knitting is involved)

 

Jon

Yes I wasn’t exactly willing to do the other side but I’m glad it’s done and it worked first time. Considering it’s my first attempt at valve gear I’m quite pleased.

 

Jamie

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I'm impressed. When you've mastered the change of crosshead and slidebars you've possibly done the hardest bit of the job.

Thanks Graeme. You say that but I've got to try and line the loco once I've painted it...

 

I tested the loco on the layout and it works fine.

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Today, as the alterations to the chassis are complete and the body fits, I've started making the tender.

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Jamie

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You'll notice that you have the option of either scraping off the lower loop of the beading and filling the half-depth hand-hole recess to make the top front corner of the side-sheet plain, or you can trim down the top edge a little and open up the hand-hole to represent the type with a looped rail around that top corner.

Edited by gr.king
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Currently I'm trying to figure out a way of joining the loco body to the chassis. There doesn't look enough room at the rear to use the existing K3 hole and at the front there is nowhere to drill a hole through to attach the front end, due to the fact that I had to saw the front end off. I've considered a metal 'tongue' or clip that will hold one end on but its not possible to use that idea at both ends. Has anyone got any ideas about how to join the two?

 

Jamie

 

Edit: I've found a way to join the body and chassis!

Edited by JamieR4489
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I've made the loco to tender coupling and as can be seen in the below photos, it's quite basic but it does the job.

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Various fittings have been glued on such as the chimney, dome, snifting valve, steam pipes, cab and tender vents and buffers.

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Then I gave the loco a test on my layout and it worked fine so I hooked up a parcels train and the loco could only just about haul it so some lead will be added to the boiler.

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As it was running night at my club, I took it along and ran it on Wickham Market.

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The next step will be to change the motion bracket and add steps and the buffers to the loco.

 

Jamie

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Wow! Slow progress does not seem to be one of your characteristics.

 

Visible proof that these parts will work on a K3 chassis, as we thought, and not just on the cut-down split-axle V3 mechanism for which I originally planned them.

Edited by gr.king
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I've done all the handrails as well as the pipe (I assume its the vacuum ejector pipe) that runs along the right-hand side of the boiler behind the handrail.

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I've also made the motion bracket and fitted it to both sides.

 

The safety valves have been fitted as have the buffers and steps on the loco.

 

Finally, the motion has been painted black.

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The next thing to do will be to fit a smokebox door dart and proper tender wheels (the ones I'm using at the moment are spares) and then start the laborious task of filling and sanding until I've got a smooth finish. Then I'll prime the loco and sort out any other scratches, holes etc.

 

Jamie

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I thought I'd filled in all the gaps and holes but putting on a coat of primer revealed a multitude of sins so another two lots of filler have been applied and I'll sand the second lot down tonight or tomorrow.

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The tender is wonky in the last picture because I hadn't fitted the wheels to the chassis yet. This has since been done but they are still temporary as I'm waiting for an order from Peter's Spares to arrive including a whistle, smokebox door dart, tender wheels and transfers. I expect the loco to be in black by the end of this week.

 

Jamie

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I think I was a bit pessimistic about how long it would take to get the loco into black...

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Well, I had nothing better to do and it won't take a minute to fit the new parts when they arrive and give them a quick spray with satin black.

 

Jamie

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My order came today so I've been busy fitting detail parts. Apologies for the possibly out of focus photos but as you can probably imagine, it's quite hard to focus a phone camera on tiny detail parts.

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I've made a start on painting the buffer beams and after those are done I'll paint the cab and then start adding varnish ready for transfers. I know it looks messy at the moment but that's only the first coat.

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Jamie

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A relatively painless job so far?

There's only been once where I've wanted to throw the model at the wall but that was because of the chassis, not the resin castings which have been excellent and have fitted together perfectly. Thanks again for supplying them.

 

Jamie

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After putting on 3 coats of clear last night, I put the lettering and numbering on this morning.

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Then I started on the lining on the loco.

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The left hand side is done and the cab has been lined on both sides so I just need to do the running plate and the buffer beam lining and then I can move onto the tender. It's a bit wobbly in places but pressfix aren't the easiest transfers to use for lining. Hopefully weathering will hide some of the mistakes.

 

Jamie

 

Edit: I realised as I was posting the photos that I’d missed a few bits of lining but these have now been added so I can finish off the right hand side.

Edited by JamieR4489
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