Back after 20 years and my first loco build

[RSA]

So, I'm back to railway modeling after a 20-year break. Back then it was all Lima locos and kit built plastic wagon kits from the likes of Cambrian (are they still around?).

 

For the last 5-years or so I've been wanting to get started again and made a few purchases:

• Craftsman BR Class 02 brass kit;
• Knightwing Sentinel 0-6-0 plastic kit and Branchlines 0-4-0 conversion and motorising kit.

The plastic bags inside the Craftsman kit haven't even been opened. I had started the Sentinel but got stuck in two places:

 

 

1. The body needed shortening and I didn;t have the tools;
2. The basic 4 pieces of chassis were soldered (my first ever soldering) and the top hat bearings soldered in, but the axels were a really tight fit - is that right.

So they went on the shelf for 3-years.

 

I was at Wareley at the weekend and I'm keen to go again. My requirements are:

 

 

• I want to make a diesel loco;
• It has to run really smoothly - better than the Lima and Hornby stuff of my childhood.

My thoughts are threefold:

 

 

1. Go with the Sentinel but maintain the 0-6-0 version and either upgrade the Brachlines kit to the appropriate version or purchase a Black Beetle chassis for it;
2. Opt for the Knightwing Loco1 kit and motorise with a Black Beetle;
3. Try the A1 Models/Old Time Workshop Ruston 48DS with BullAnt/Gandy Dancer/Tenshodo;
4. Something else.

Some more thoughts:

 

 

• Given I want great running I'm nervous of kit chassis construction (and the Gandy Dancer);
• How easy will the bonnet and cab roof brass rolling be on the Ruston & Hornsby 48DS?;
• Will the Knightwing plastic kits look any good?

I also have the most minimal tools - ok, so I have a scalpel, forceps, tweezers and cutting mat. Does anyone know of a 'starter modellers tool kit'. Will also need soldering iron etc. Painting may need to be outsourced at this stage...

 

 

 

What I'd really like to work up to is the Judith Edge Sentinel and Hunslet 0-4-0s.

 

Oh, and I have no layout to run these on - other than the 20x10 shed in my parents garden with the trainset of my childhood. I think that I'm going to be working to 00 finescale (code 75) standards as a compromise between EM (what I aspire to) and 00 (what I may be able to get the locos to run on - ie friends layouts). I'm thinking an industrial depot with a continuous loop - but again that's a developing idea and subject to 'planning permission'.

 

I'd love some thoughts or ideas on the above.

 

 

[Adam]

First of all, welcome. Oh gosh, what a lot of questions!

 

Priority wise, it seems the best place to start would be with a tool kit and working out how to use it. By the sounds of it, you've made a start. I'm always wary of things sold as sets: you tend to get items of variable quality and things you either don't need or already have three of. I don't claim the following to be comprehensive and others will have their own views. I hope this helps.

 

Taking the Sentinel body as a starting point. Marking the cuts out squarely is really important so a good, accurate, steel ruler and a small enigineers square would be where I'd begin. Since the Knightwing kit is a plastic moulding possibly the best tool for the job would be something called a razor saw (follow the linkif you haven't seen one). Tips on how to do this sort of thing are found just about monthly in the military/aircraft modelling press which are often worth a glance in Smiths. Cleaning up cuts can be done using fine grade wet and dry paper(available from most hardware stores) or the common or garden nail file. A set of cheap small metal files can also be useful for rough clean up of plastic and metal.

 

Building a chassis is inevitably a bit more complex and the subject lots of topics and any amount of talk. Each one is different and there are things like motor and gearbox choice, quartering, pick-ups and goodness knows what else. You might want to get yourself up and running with a Black Beetle and then see if you can get a chassis to run to your satisfaction. You can then sub one for the other and have the Beetle for later use. NB: A build of the Brass version can be found here). I've built one myself in EM and found the experience very enjoyable - I think there's a picture in one of the blog entries. The plastic one isn't a bad model, though perhaps a little chunky, it is the right sort of shape.

 

Bearings are often a bit too tight as supplied and need a bit of easing with a proper reamer (rather than triangular files, drills or anything else). The advantage of a reamer is that the bearings should remain concentric and these are available from Eileen's Emporium - who sponsor this bit of the forum. For smaller holes, a set of small taper reamers for enlarging holes are very useful for all kinds of applications, but might be a luxury item since a 'pin-chuck' and a selection of small drills - I only ever seem to use 0.5mm, 0.7mm and 1mm will do just as well for many purposes. Soldering is another area where personal preference can be really confusing. I get by with a 25 Watt Antex for what it's worth.

 

I hope some of this is useful.

 

Adam

[Michael Edge]

The Craftsman 02 is not difficult to build and makes up into a good model but I don't think it's as easy to build as our Hunslet 0-4-0 or chain drive Sentinel 0-4-0.

The Hunslet (and the 0-6-0 version) is one we recommend for beginners as there is no difficult bending/forming to do and no jackshaft drive to complicte the mechanical bits.

Michael Edge

Judith Edge kits

[halfwit]

The Judith Edge Steelman Royale might also be one to consider, it uses a Black Beetle so there are no worries about building a chassis. My one can be seen here. The Thomas Hill Vangaurd, also by J.E. is very similar.

[RSA]

Thanks for all of the replys - most encouraging.

 

A Judith Edge kit (well more than one really!) is what I aspire to, and I thought was out of reach as a first kit. But the Sentinel 0-4-0 is designed for a Tenshodo unit - right? (As an aside I think that I'd prefer a Black Beetle unit because I think they run better, but am not confident in adapting as necessary - see what James Hilton did here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/482-meadow-lane-msc-railway-in-p4/). The Sentinel also has the advantage of less complicated handrails - something else that worries me for the look of the end result of a first exploration in brass kits.

 

Does anyone bundle the kit and Tenshodo together like DC Kits do with the Black Beetle, since the cost saving seems significant.

 

Halfwit - I've been reading your blog and posts and am really encouraged by your work.

 

I see this project as very much the stepping stone on to the more complex (in my mind) Judith Edge kits: Steelman and Vanguard - ultimately to work on a small layout - industrial/MOD depot?

 

What is a jackshaft drive?

 

Wish I'd done of of this research before Warley last weekend then I no doubt could have come and said hello!

[Adam]

What is a jackshaft drive?

 

It's one of these. Basically, it's the rod that supplies the drive from the transmission to the wheels. These can be a bit of a faff to set up in model form especially if the crank-throw of the wheels and flycrank - the eccentric hung off the end of the transmission - isn't exactly the same. Not a problem with Mike and Judith's kits I hasten to add. It's another set to quarter of course...

 

The mod' James did to his Sentinel doesn't look very difficult - and with these things you never know until you try - and James explains it well. Charlie Petty of DC kits can supply both: http://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/dc_kits/

 

Adam

[RSA]

Adam,

 

Do you have any pictures/blog of the Sentinel in EM that you built? Whose kit/motor did you use? What sort of experience was it for you?

 

Rob

[Adam]

Adam,

 

Do you have any pictures/blog of the Sentinel in EM that you built? Whose kit/motor did you use? What sort of experience was it for you?

 

Rob

 

Well, the best photo I have of the loco is this (there aren't any construction pictures because I didn't have a camera at the time):

 

 

The body, if I remember rightly, caused no problems Note that this is the rod-drive version of the 4 wheel type which has a High Level gearbox of some description (I can't remember which one, but it drives a 2mm axle with a Mashima 1220 in the bonnet). Planning motor/gearbox combinations is easy because the kit comes with a scale CAD drawing as part of the instructions. The axles are supplied in the Judith Edge kit with turned down ends to take the flycranks which are supplied as an etched laminate if building an 0-4-0. Quartering is consequently a little bit tricky since I soldered the cranks to the axles, but this is often the case. Generally, this kit was a lot of fun since all the parts fitted and locate securely, most of the metal forming is with folds (with the exception of the cab roof) and there aren't any rivets to form. All the body parts are sub-assemblies which are bolted together.

 

I hope that's of some help.

 

Adam

[RSA]

So after much reading and consideration I'm planning to plump for the 4mm Judith Edge Hunslet 230 hp 0-4-0DH, as Michael Edge recommended. Has anyone here tried one?

 

DC Kits seem to have a good offer price for the bundle of kit, wheels, etc.

 

As to tools: I was given an unwanted 15W Antex iron on the weekend, but had been planning on a 25W version of the same. Any thoughts? What else should go in a beginners toolkit? Files, Xuron etch cutting snips, vice, tweezers/forceps, drills, ... - a visit to Squires or Eileens Emporium I guess!

[Kenton]

As to tools: I was given an unwanted 15W Antex iron on the weekend,

I fear that as a beginner you will really struggle with a 15W. Even as an old hand I wouldn't use a 15W for anything other than 2mm or very fine work - it just doesn't have enough power (heat capacity) and unless you keep the tip ultra-ultra clean (again not always so easy for the novice) it just will not be good enough.

 

The JE kits are great but you will find you soon have quite large pieces of brass to work with and the iron just will not be able to cope.

I am quite happy with a 25W but if you are starting out I would probably recommend a 40W.

 

As for other tools:

Essential: glass fibre brush, quality flat file, wet'n'dry paper, a square block of wood, sprung forceps, pointed tweezers, flat nose pliers, scalpel

NB: the JE kits are very good but they do not go together as a slot and tab design (when you get better at kit building you realise why slot and tab is actually not a good feature) but the parts are a very good fit. This often results in having to solder edges and corners while holding them together. Hence the block of wood. I also use block magnets on a steel plate.

Nice to have: triangular file, 5-sided reamers, chassis jig, mirror tile, hold-n-fold, rivet press .... and I could go on adding more (though tools are best purchased one at a time as and when money is available and the desire/need/benefit for them increases.

[halfwit]

I use a 25w Antex which I'd recommend. Hold and Folds are desireable but expensive, if you plan to build a number of etched kits they will pay for themselves. Tin snips are recommended as well (I use Jewellers Snips from Squires), also Zuron cutters as they are good for trimming tabs off close. And don't forget blu-tack!