Doing a Dean

[5050]

For several (actually many!) years I have had in my stash of 'potential projects,' a Mainline Dean Goods loco body and tender top in BR black along with a set of etched nickel silver frames, coupling rods etc. of a suitable wheelbase.  The frames are, I think, from Mallard, probably purchased at an Expo EM or similar out of a box of 'seconds'.  They are 7'3" x 8'3" and GWR in outline so from one of their kits, quite possibly a Dean Goods itself.  In my  box of these DG bits were also a set of the correct size Sharman drivers and a set of Sharman tender wheels.  Even though I have built many P4 locos over the past 40 years or so I have never built a tender loco so, as I am spending an appreciable amount of time modelling these days, I decided that I would dig this out as my next project.

 

To fit the Mainline body I had to shorten the frames by a millimeter or two either end due to the thickness of the buffer beam etc. compared to an etched one.  I also had to shorten the body attachment 'pillars' and, for the time being at least, remove the cast weight inside the boiler and firebox.  This will have to be cut down to clear the motor.  For the power, I have a High Level Loadhauler Compact 54:1 and a Mashima motor that will just fit into the firebox/boiler and tilt with its rear shaft cut down with the gearbox inverted so as the drive is beneath the axle.  Whilst I was working all this out I realised that the basic chassis design for many of the 6 coupled GWR locos was very similar as I have a High Level Pannier chassis kit part built and also an unbuilt one in my 'stash'.  Comparing this to the 'Mallard' one I found that I could transfer many of the positions of the fittings (brake hangers, spacers etc.) onto the Mallard chassis by fitting the Mallard chassis with a pair of 1/8th axle bushes, coating with black felt pen, positioning the HL frames over the Mallard ones using the bushes for location and scribing through the slots and holes.

 

The HL chassis kits provide spacers etc. for all three 4mm gauges and, if for instance like me you build in P4, you end up with a selection of nicely etched surplus parts.  I quickly realised that the EM spacers, when measured over their tabs for fitting into slots in the chassis side frames, are exactly right for my home-grown chassis constuction 'jigs' at 14.5mm.  This meant that I could even go so far as to install a version of the HL inside valve gear with a few home-grown rods etc.

 

Here are some shots of the progress so far in building.

 

The basic parts.  The cab unclips which makes life a lot easier.  The tender frame I got from Peters Spares and the spacers are taken from the HL Pannier etch fret.

 

 

Here the frame has been coated in black felt pen alongside the HL surplus EM spacers.

 

 

The chassis part built using the surplus HL spacers with the motor and gearbox temporarily in approximate position.  The frames are held in position for soldering using my home grown brass jigs which have served me well for many years and many locos.  The HL Pannier part built chassis is alongside showing the similarities.  I have had to cut down some of the HL spacers to fit the overall shorter Dean length and the fact that the Dean boiler is a larger diameter.

 

 

On checking the Sharman wheels I realised that they are to EM/00 profile and so unsuitable for my needs.  I am therefore ordering some 'proper' ones from Alan Gibson.  For the tender chassis I will maybe try a weighted tender approach since I will be cutting down the cast boiler weight to clear the motor as mentioned above.  I do have a Comet GWR tender chassis kit earmarked for a Comet chassised 43xx but, if I do take the weighted approach, I will scratchbuild a chassis instead allowing for either springing or an unweighted 'bogie' for the 2 front axles with a fixed one at the rear.

Edited July 27, 2020 by 5050

[5050]

Welcome to Part 2.  Been a bit busy today working on the chassis and its attachment to the body.  I have had to cut away the Mainline fixing points to clear the etched chassis and so needed to make some alternative arrangements.  At the rear I've gone for a 'tab' style fixing with a piece of 80 thou square styrene  and at the front there is a block of styrene behind the buffer beam (which has now had a screw coupling added) to which the front chassis spacer screws with a small self-tapping screw.  The powered fixed rear axle has had its split tube fastenings added, inside motion slide bars etc. have been soldered in and the central compensation beam installed temporarily to check clearances etc.

 

Here can be seen the front and rear styrene fixing points.

 

 

And with the chassis in position.  The slots for the removable powered rear axle have been opened up to the diameter of an 1/8th inch axle bush.

 

 

The brass tube solderd across the axle bush and sides of the slot, part cut through with a fine piercing saw.

 

 

Here the tube is now in 3 sections with the retaining wires in position.

 

 

Top view of the chassis with the slide bars (made from scrap etch from the sides of High Level chassis frets, perfect fit!) and the front compensation beam fitted.  This is a beam from the original Mallard etch seen in the following photo with the hole cut out into a 'slot'.

 

 

The underside of the chassis showing the beam on its pivot wire.  the spacer tubes either side of the beam have been soldered to the beam which makes fitting much more simple.

 

 

 

 

Next major job is cutting out the front and centre axle hornguide slots and working out how to fabricate an impression of the inside motion valve gear etc.  I doubt if much of it will be seen TBH so the barest minimum will satisfy me!

Edited July 29, 2020 by 5050

[5050]

Despite the lack of informatuion I have been beavering away, slowly getting on with it.  I seem to have spent an awful lot of time achieving what appears to be very little.  In comparison to some people on here anyway!  Whatever, here's progress (almost) to date.

 

I decided that the chassis should really have some representation of the firebox sides otherwise there would be a large space on view below the cab.  I again used the High Level Pannier Chassis kit etch as a pattern and scribed the shape onto some thin brass which I cut out with the piercing saw and filed to shape.  They were then soldered to the bottom edge of the frames between the rear two axles.

 

 

 

The 'impressionistic' inside motion had a pair of crossheads filed up from set of Puffers etches I found with the connecting rods made from scrap etch strip.  The actual 'valve gear' I've omitted as, being practical, you can't see it anyway.  I 'know' it's (not) there though - and now you do too!

 

 

Coupling rods have been split into front and rear sections for the compensation to work.  TBH, the etches were a bit rough, slightly over-etched I reckon and the register of the sides wasn't good as well so when the two etches were soldered together there was quite a 'groove' along the length.  On the top edge I filled this with solder and filed it smooth but, being at heart a rather lazy so-and-so, I left the underside as is.  You won't see it when the loco is running.

 

 

I decided that the motor would be sited in a 'conventional' position inside the firebox.  The new firebox sides conceal any parts that 'hang down' but, as built, the gearbox impinged on the lower edge of the cab/firebox moulding.  I was a bit concerned that I would have to hack a few lumps away and have the gears in view in the cab bottom but, by careful filing/hacking of the moulding and cutting away parts of the High Level gearbox etch It all now fits rather well.

 

 

 

 

Next job will be fitting the wheels and rods.  Look out for the next exciting (!) instalment coming soon to a forum near you!

 

 

 

 

[5050]

Quick update - wheels are fitted to axles and hornblocks together with rods (but not finally), pick-up plate made ready for wires and now (almost) ready to fit pickups to loco and start running in.  However, I have turned my attention to the tender and decided that I will fit a 'split-axle' style chassis (similar to the Adavoyle ones for those with long memories) making a sub-chassis from PCB and brass strip. Front 2 pairs of wheels will be sprung and the tender weighted to rest on the loco and add tractive weight. Wheels have been taken from my Bachmann 43xx tender as they are the right size and, most importantly, are all metal with a plastic centre axle section into which stub axles are pushed.  Relatively easy to turn down to a (almost!) P4 profile and use an old knitting needle to turn up some new centre sections.

 

Photos have been taken and will follow - soon!

[5050]

Right, 'ere we go, some photos.

 

The chassis with the wheels attached (but not permanently yet) and the motor and gearbox unit.

 

 

And fitted together alongside the body.

 

 

The chassis (minus motor) on my new 'photo diorama' (ie, my old strip of 2 x 1 with half a yard of flexible track used for testing and running in).

 

 

And on to the tender.  Turning down the Bachmann tender wheels by taking just over 0.5mm from the back, reshaping the flange to a smaller profile and reducing overall width to 2mm.  Before and after working on the back.

 

 

 

And a before and after shot of both the untouched and reprofiled wheels to show the difference and a pair assembled with a 'knitting needle' centre.  Drilled 1.6mm for the axle 'spigots' and turned down to 3mm diameter.  The 3mm section of the wheel axle 'stub' will fit into the chassis axle hole and provide electrical conduction for the split-axle pickup.  Hopefully.............

 

 

I'm now working on the subchassis for the tender, hacking it out of the living 1/16th thick brass, drilling axle holes and milling the final shape, all on the lathe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[5050]

Good grief, can't believe it's over a month since I last posted on this thread.  I've not stood still with the project, I suppose however that my mind has been a bit distracted with other things - but I have still being working on the Dean.

 

The tender has come in for a lot of attention as the following photos will show.

 

First the basic frames, cut from 1/16" brass with 3mm axles slots to fit the stub axles.  These are to be soldered to the copper-clad sub floor above.

 

 

Soldered to the sub-floor.  The axle bearings are some from (I think) an old Perseverance set of hornblocks and, with their grooves, are just right for retaining the spring wires.

 

 

Wheels, axles, springs and bearings all ready for fitting.  Springs are light phosphor bronze wire.  The chassis is held in the tender floor moulding with 8BA tapped rectangles of 1/16" brass araldited in place.

 

 

With wheels, axles, bearings and springs all in situ.  The loco/tender coupling hook is now in place, pivoting on the front holding screw.  Axles are retained with short lengths of brass tube and wire.

 

 

Here we have the loco/tender 'interface' showing the loop on the loco, the tender coupled to the loco and the weight to compress the springs and put additional weight onto the rear of the loco.

 

 

 

 

Nylon brake shoes fitted to the frames with the blanks for the rodding attached with cut down Peco track pins.  The operating rods for both tender and loco are from scrap etch 'edgings'.

 

 

I've also been working on the brakes for the loco, using spare etched shoe/hanger etches from the High Level Pannier Chassis etch, soldered together in pairs with a thin spacer to try and represent the 'double' brake hangers fitted to these locos.  The chassis has had 0.45mm wire supports added, one of which has had to go through the connecting rod of the inside motion.  Good job it's not a working version!  The front and rear cross wires had to have their centres removed to clear the gearbox and front fixing block. The soldered up shoes are drilled 0.85mm and a short length of 0.45/0.85mm brass tube soldered in for the shoes and rodding assembly to clip into place.  The rodding as stated above is scrap etch material.

 

 

Currently I'm working on a representation of the ATC shoe assembly to fit under the front buffer beam, something I can't really ever say I've seen modelled even though it is quite prominent on many classes of loco.  Please see this thread for more details -

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/158771-gwrwr-automatic-train-control-equipment/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by 5050

[5050]

Here we are again!  This project was put on the back-burner late last year as I found - at the time -  I was going nowhere with it.  A couple of weeks ago I got it out, sat down and made a list of all the bits that needed doing - and thereby clearing my brain a little on the 'problems' I'd been having.  I have now painted the loco chassis, fitted brake gear, fitted rods, painted the cab interior and made and fitted a fall plate.  On the tender i have made and fitted loco/tender pick-up connections, finalised the brake gear and made a new rear buffer beam.  I'll add some more photos shortly but, to keep you going, here are the loco/tender current 'plugs and sockets'.

 

 

Made from fine bore telescopic brass tube, solder - and patience!

 

The tender buffer beam.

 

Made by solvent fixing an image of a beam onto a piece of 20thou styrene after pricking out the rivet positions with a pin..

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by 5050