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DLT's SR Locos - Lord Nelson Craftsman Kit


DLT
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Most of the S15 chassis problems now resolved, but it has developed a tight spot that I cant seem to trace.  Turns out that the coupling rod centres didnt match the axle centres,so they were filed out and bushed, but its still tight.  Re-doing some of the pickups now.

Frustrated,

Dave.

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The S15 is running tolerably well now, but still not perfect; and I'm attempting my first video upload.  Not easy filming with camera in one hand and controller in the other!

 

(Video removed coz it was crap!)

 

Still a bit jerky but a lot better than it was.

Cheers, Dave.

Edited by DLT
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One of the dimensional problems with this kit is that (as previously stated) the main body of the loco is too short, leading to the cylinders being closer to the driving wheels than they should be.  
This in turn creates problems with bogie clearance, and it fouls the bodywork in various places. However having filed a few lumps off the back of the cylinders, scraped some whitemetal off the underside of the front footplate, and bent the motion brackets out of the way (it doesnt show!) its now running very nicely with no shorting..  
A thin layer of Araldite smeared on any likely contact points will provide enough insulation to prevent further electrical problems.

 

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post-5825-0-27160900-1372542484_thumb.jpg

 

I dont yet know whether brake gear is wanted, so for now I can get on twith the bodywork.

Cheers, Dave.

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It looks naked with out the brake gear.

Indeed it does, and brakegear will now be fitted.

 

Some cosmetic improvement to the body include a cast brass chimney from Crownline, new clack valves and turned brass/steel buffers from Markits/Romford.

 

post-5825-0-17888600-1372616422_thumb.jpg

 

Exposed parts will be blackened, and then its on with the painting.
Cheers, Dave.
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Is it wearing smoke deflector or not? I think the look more powerful without.

Yes, the smoke deflectors will be fitted, as it will be in post-war guise.  

The DJH cast whitemetal deflectors are really rather good, and I dont feel any need to replace them!

Cheers, Dave.

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A coat of Halfords matt black and some HMRS Pressfix transfers bring us to this point:

 

 

85482979_P1050435small.jpg.571a893300b3bcee5fba0c566ed05294.jpg

 

2144093654_P1050438small.jpg.d5aae73fd1d6a04ccb0191fc0f676a29.jpg

 

 

I need to sort out some brakegear, then a bit of gentle weathering and we should be done.  The tender is sitting slightly too high, but that is easily rectified.
 
Cheers, Dave.

 

Edited by DLT
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It looks much better now Dave, even though it is black. The tender looks very empty underneath, is it missing the vacuum cylinders, or is it carrying them on the tender top.

Hi Peter,

Vac cylinders are on the tender top, and yes you're right about the emptiness.  This will be much improved once the tender is sitting lower down on the bogies.  And hopefully the footplate will line up!

Cheers, Dave.

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As there was no brake gear in the S15 kit, we turned to Mainly Trains to provide the neccessary.
MT182 is an etch of a variety of SR loco brakes, and the set in the middle of the etch (for Maunsell Moguls) is close enough for the S15.
 
 

446052631_P1050442small.jpg.7b0fb5b589dd4151c8f47ef668ae5d0f.jpg

Edited by DLT
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Do take care with the Mainly Trains etches. I found that some - such as the etch for the lamp irons / brackets - were some way over scale, and would not have disgraced a 7mm scale loco.......

Hi Horse,

 

Thanks for the reminder, I had found that with some etches, but I thoroughly recommend this one. 

 

All the best, Dave.

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Agreed on the lamp irons, pity. I've found the same thing with the MT etches - the brakeshoes are generally excellent, however, and I have a couple of GW (well, one GW and one constituent) loco's which have felt the benefit. Unfortunately, the LMS version for Midland designs (I have a Jinty in a state of flux because of this) appears to be a bit on the large side... Now that the deflectors are on, the shortcomings of that S15 front end are a lot more difficult to spot. The brakes should complet the job nicely.

 

Adam

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Agreed on the lamp irons, pity. I've found the same thing with the MT etches - the brakeshoes are generally excellent, however, and I have a couple of GW (well, one GW and one constituent) loco's which have felt the benefit. Unfortunately, the LMS version for Midland designs (I have a Jinty in a state of flux because of this) appears to be a bit on the large side...

Similar warning also applies to the MT detail etch for the Bachmann Maunsell Mogul. Most of it is usable, but the cosmetic frame overlays are a complete non-starter.

 

Something seems to have been lost in translation either when the artwork was drawn up, or when it went to the etchers.

 

RT Models or Martin Finney etch for LSW/SR lamp irons is much better. Likewise the Finney etch for GW lamp irons.

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Just in case you are interested in my method of assembling brakegear, here's a quick rundown.  The most important issue is getting everything square and correctly spaced.

I hold the first two parts (hanger and cross-shaft) over the edge of the sawn piece if plywood I use for soldering on, to solder them together.

 

post-5825-0-13532100-1520644674_thumb.jpg

 

 

Next, in order to set the spacing and act as a jig for soldering I cut a small block of plywood to the correct length, in this case 18.2mm, ensuring that all sides are filed flat and at right angles to each-other, and hold the parts against it while soldering.

 

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You should then end up with three of these, with the hangers parallel to each other, equally spaced, and at right angles to the cross-shaft.

 

post-5825-0-44809700-1520644705_thumb.jpg

 

 

I THINK I've described that okay?

Cheers, Dave.

Edited by DLT
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That make perfect sense, thank you. I usually put a bit of brass wire through that centre hole to represent the fixing bolt since they were usually proud of the brakeblock rather than recessed.

Adam

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Thanks to the timely reminder from Adam that I has forgotten to solder in the bolt heads, I passed a length of wire right through both brake-blocks and soldered it in place.  For the time being I've left the middle section in place as it adds strength.  I will remove it if its visible on the model or fouls the pickups.
 
The next stage (if it isnt already done) is to drill the chassis for the pivot rods.  I got it in approximately the right place by offering up the brake hangers and marking the chassis.  They're not exactly right, as they're not quite the correct hangers, and the chassis proportions are a bit out.  
 
Once fitted, the next job is installing the pull-rods.   I tried to hold the various bits in place and solder the pull-rods and cross-shafts together.  It took a bit of trial and error, but I got there in the end.

 

 

1685626961_P1050469small.jpg.987a2b75c90f27002759afa0c9719df9.jpg

 

 

 

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The front hanger has no pivot rod, as clearance between the flanges is really tight.  So these hangers will float in the breeze and the pull-rods will be provided with a firm anchorage to the frames at the front end.  The blocks still need a bit of filing to fit.

I realise that both the pull-rods and cross-shafts should be flat in section and not round, but this method gives some much needed strength to what is usually a very light and flimsy assembly.  (other methods are available!)

I take the pragmatic view that when a loco is running on a layout, you can't see the innards of the brakegear anyway.

 

Cheers, Dave.

Edited by DLT
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In order to anchor the front end of the brakegear assembly, I soldered a new crossmember in place, (complete with screw hole and 10ba nut) between the mainframes behind the front drivers where it would be out of sight.
 
549288551_P1050472small.jpg.99d7f05ccf746727d1be135cda63ba14.jpg
 
A second crossmember was cut, to be soldered to the pull-rods for attaching to the crossmember in the frames.  I cranked the pull-rods inwards so that I could solder them in situ on the chassis, without accidently soldering them to the mainframes!
 
1449481530_P1050474small.jpg.c48c9677ca3dd45605637d533efb8f50.jpg
 
So with everything in place and the pull-rods soldered, I ended up with this.
 
1422900080_P1050475small.jpg.0eeecc1a0a1ea103a7c169d1d10f42fd.jpg
 
And that is just about it.  All that’s left is cleaning up, chemically blackening, trimming the pull-rods to length and installing on the loco.
 
523164936_P1050479small.jpg.8ebc74865403cb2f010bb5db24dbbc90.jpg
 
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A small blob of matt-black paint where the pivot rods pass through the frames and the brakehangers should hold everything in place, but not so hard that you can’t remove the assembly if needed.
 
 
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I hope this has proved interesting or useful.
Brakegear is the one bit of loco building that I find the most fiddly, often more so than assembling valvegear, especially when the kit makes no provision for it.
As I think I said earlier, this is a pragmatic method for providing a strong assembly on a working loco, rather than an ultra-scale approach, which could be extremely delicate.
 
All the best,
 

 

Edited by DLT
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Very instructive - many thanks for this, especially as I have the (presumably similar) DJH Urie S15 to build. Out of interest, what sort of curves will it go round with those large bogie wheels and front steps?

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Very instructive - many thanks for this, especially as I have the (presumably similar) DJH Urie S15 to build. Out of interest, what sort of curves will it go round with those large bogie wheels and front steps?

Hi Barry,

Apart from the different footplate and cab I would assume that the Urie version kit is similar. 

The two main dimensional problems with this kit are that the boiler it pitched too high, there should be no daylight between it and the footplate (easily cured by a large file!) and that the boiler & footplate are too short by about 2mm. 

That doesn't sound a lot, but it has consequences for the front bogie in that there's not enough room for it.  I found that the bogie wheels touched the motion bracket and the backs of the cylinders.  So finding the optimum for and aft position of the bogie needs a bit of trail and error, and I had to file back various bits for clearance. 

I also had to scrape away whitemetal from under the front footplate as the wheels were touching there.  Using slightly smaller bogie wheels would help all round. 

That said, it now goes through all the 30inch radius pointwork on my layout without any problems, but I havent tested it on anything tighter.

Hope this helps,

All the best, Dave.

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