Ellerby - 4mm/OO gauge - All photos working, hotlinked.

[Barry O]

It is, as you would expect BYO but .. it is Johns'round and mines a pint!!

 

Baz

[Jamiel]

Quick post.

The Markits wheels arrived, and I have been getting on with the bodywork a bit.
 

Boiler and tank just placed on top, still much work needed on them, and also filing and finishing on the soldering around the splashers.

 

 

 

More soon.
 

Jamie

[MrWolf]

Looking good though and I do like the rivet details on the tank and spectacle plate.

[Jamiel]

On 15/12/2020 at 20:22, MrWolf said:

Looking good though and I do like the rivet details on the tank and spectacle plate.

Thanks for the comments Mr Wolf.
 

I’ve taken a photo of the cab section in focus, the details are actually ventilation holes, which were one of the reasons I had to go and get a new set of drills bits. 0.45mm each, marked on the etch with a tiny indentation, but needed to be drilled out, it took at 10 mins in total but does add a lovely bit of detail.
 

 

Hopefully more soon on the build.
 

Jamie

Edited December 16, 2020 by Jamiel

[MrWolf]

Much clearer photo and I am only viewing on a phone. I've never seen that kind of air conditioning before. Top marks for drilling them out, I would have had to do the same, once I knew that they were holes. Luckily for you they are at least all marked and centred, it wouldn't be a nice job to have to do otherwise.

[lezz01]

It's coming on nicely Jamie.

Regards Lez.

[Jamiel]

A bit more progress. I discovered that the smoke box door was missing from the kit (bought 2nd hand) so have ordered that.
 

I have added some parts to help the building of the model, here you can see an offcut of an etch shaped to sit behind the small parts that form the front toolbox.

 

Here a couple of bits of brass have been shaped to reinforce the thin step that hang down and I suspect might get knocked off at some point, or overly weakened during the construction.

 

 

I also added some boiler bands made from the sprue at the edge of the etch. I filed them down to be pretty flat. In retrospect I think that I should have raided by A1 grills etches for sprue from that which would have given me a much finer strip of brass to add, but I think it looks OK.

 

There are a few bits of the build that I would do in a different order from the instructions. Adding the handrails would have been much better done before the cab inner splashers, as the bottom edge could have been soldered in from the back which would have avoided some sanding away of excess.
 

I am also going to solder on the valves to the top boiler before fitting the tank as I don’t see how I will be able to get the iron in. The instructions say glue, but I will use low melt solder.
 

I was surprised how easy it was to solder the beading around the cab doors. This went on really easily, perhaps because the pieces are so thin that they heat up quickly.

 

 

I suspect as I do more brass kits that soldering will become neater, but even so I am pleased with how it is progressing. So far everything has been soldered with 188 degree solder (I think) and with the iron set to 340 degrees.
 

Thanks for all the feedback and encouragement.
 

Jamie

Edited December 21, 2020 by Jamiel

[Jamiel]

A little progress, I am quite wary at this stage as my Comet Black 5 has some binding on the wheels. I think building this kit might have pointed me towards the problem with that – I think that although the wheels are level the axles might not be parallel. I will have a look at that when I have finished this kit, and hopefully have it working OK.
 

So far all the wheels run OK and also with the connecting rods, but I need to trim the wires holding the brakes in position to fully check that. Thee seems to be adequate clearance between the brakes and wheels to prevent shorts.

 

 

The smoke box door has arrived and is just sitting in position.
 

I will test with the motor tomorrow. I have put in washers on all the wheels, but think the centre ones will have them taken out, no give for bends.

There are a few bits of detail I want to add to the chassis before painting behind the wheels, and now I have looked at the clearances I feel are OK to add. I have some fine rivet strips and thin offcuts that I intend to add the detail between the back two sets of wheels that can be seen on the prototypes. There are also bolts in the middle of the brakes, which again should be OK to add with a little drilling and some wire soldered in there then cut flat.
 

Any other bits of chassis detailing can be added once the wheels are in position. There are some small pieces of the kit still to add, and also some little bits that can be fashioned that I have seen in photos. I don’t want to go over the top, but I think there is some detailing that is worth adding to give a little finish to the kit, and is easy in brass, easier that I would find with plastic.
 

More soon. Jamie.

[Barry O]

Jamie

If you intend to build more locos invest in a poppy chassis jig.. gets chassis to build up all square.. no more binding.

 

Baz

[Jamiel]

Thanks Barry, I bought one before my first build, but I don't think I looked closely enough at the parallel alignment as well as the vertical on my first build.

I think it was you, as well as Tony Wright's thread that led me to buying it.

They are a really nice tool to have.

Jamie

[Jamiel]

 

A little detailing. I drilled out the middle of the brake shoes and added the centre rivet using offucts of the brass wire.
 

I also added the detail on the chassis seen ahead of the back wheels using a couple f tiny strips from a Mainly Trains rivet etch. I filed off all but the couple of rivets that should be there and drilled a couple of holes to match ones seen on the frame. Prototype detail inset.

 

Just to prove I do have a Poppy’s jig.

 

I have also looked at how the motor will fit when it is put together, as Barry said, it will fit in the frames OK. I hope there is no problem having it there, overheating? It would leave the whole of the smoke box for a chip and capacitor for a ‘stay alive’ DCC. If the motor is down in the chassis it would mean that I could fit the whole backhead for the smokebox/cab detail.

 

 

A couple of questions about the cab. How do you fit the window glass if you still have to solder the cab roof on after wards, and also what about painting the inside, for the same reason? The Black 5 has an open back to the cab so all that can be done afterwards.
 

One other question, one of the axels seems to have lost its thread for the wheel nut at one end. I am planning to just put a ting bit of solder to hold that one side. Is this a very bad idea? I can always put the wheel out the other side if necessary. I don’t want to go through the fuss of ordering another part from Markits.
 

I will have to look at fitting the pickups next and allow the Araldite to set overnight.
 

More soon. Jamie

[lezz01]

Hi Jamie.

Don't solder the roof on mate. Solder a bit of brass offcut onto either the front or rear to locate it in the correct position and then make a spring clip like you would an electrical pick up and solder that to the opposite side so that it holds the roof in place. Then you can take the roof off and replace it whenever you need too. Job done!

Regards Lez.  

[Mrkirtley800]

I have used a few bits of blue tak to hold a roof in place. 

Derek

[Jamiel]

I have posted this on Tony Wright’s thread as well. Minus the first photo which shows how much tidying I need to do to the front.

The build is going well and nearing completion, but as I get close to finishing and adding the small details, I have a couple of questions I’ll ask here again.
 

Here is the current state. It will need a bit of sanding and cleaning before long.

 

 

I am detailing the cab interior, mostly as I find it really enjoyable, so I have added a rivet strip and handles to match what I have seen in various photos.

 

I presume that at the base of the coal bunker there will be a coal hatch. I was thinking of making one from offcut brass. Does anyone have photos of the back of a tank engine cab to show hoe the coal feed should look?

 

Parts still to add, engine backhead, the brake handle at the back of the cab. I presume that the part on the left is the reverser mount, and a wheel from the detailing fret would go on the back.

 

Part 2 seems to be a spare water feed pipe for the tank. I have no idea what Part 1 is?

 

There are also frets to add the lamp irons to the back.
 

Jamie

Edited January 16, 2021 by Jamiel

[lezz01]

It's coming on very nicely Jamie.

Regards Lez. 

[Jamiel]

Well not quite as nice as if I had made it before creating the back, but a rough coal bunker door added to the back of my L&Y Class 23 cab. Looks like I need to tidy the rivet strips above now which has desoldered putting in the hatch.
 

 

[Jamiel]

Final detailing on the frames before painting behind the wheels, but may as well do the whole of it.

I had a good look at the various photos I have and could see quite a few bits of piping, switches that could be added as well as the sand pipes. I also cut off some tiny bits of brass tube to give the sand pipes the detail they have at the top.

 

 

 

The water pipes that go from the back of the tank can be seen just ahead of the back set of wheels, but given the difference between OO gauge frame width, and the body they have just been tucked behind the brakes.
 

I know this is quite fiddly detail, but I think it adds to the look of the engine and stops it looking too stark and simple.
 

I have yet to bend the guard irons to shape as they make a nice stand for the frame at the moment.
 

Ready for the paint now.
 

This was washed and left to dry and I did a bit more work on the detailing the firebox front. I have got the handrail slightly too high, but given that the shape looks good to me, and the time it took to do, I am happy to live with it.

 

 

I found some smaller links for the coupling hooks, so have taken the big ones off and will add the new ones after painting.
 

The next thing to do is put the motor wheel and connecting rods all in and do the pickups.
 

Question. As this is not compensated, should I solder the coupling rods together, or leave them separate? They work fine as is.

More soon I hope.

Jamie

Edited January 23, 2021 by Jamiel

[lezz01]

Great work Jamie. The big question is do you get it running and then paint it or do you paint it first then get it running? 

Regards Lez.

[Jamiel]

Hi Lezz

I am just going to paint behind the wheels before fixing them in, as I won't be able to get there once the connecting rods are soldered in postion. I have tested it running, but not on a track.

The rest of the painting will be done when all the build is finoshed. I also have to order some self-etching primer this next week.

Jamie

[lezz01]

Would you not consider painting the chassis whilst it's running Jamie? Rice advocates it in his book on chassis construction and I've had quite a bit of success with that method myself. In the past I've built and painted 3 Ratio 2-4-0s/4-4-0s using this method and all of them were a success.

Regards Lez. 

[Barry O]

you can spray the chassis with the wheels and motor/gears in place - Mike Edge does it that way then buffs the paint off the wheels. I have started to chemically blacken the brass chassis before final assembly.  But it is horses for courses..

 

Baz

[Jamiel]

Thanks for the replies. I have single coated the chassis with black, I might add another coat, and might do a little dry brush weathering before adding wheels.

 

It sounds like there are lots of way of doing this, and they all seem to have advantages.

 

A couple of photos of adding the rivets at the front of the splashers. Drilled, wire soldered in place, from the inside (although the camera right one flooded a little and had to be filed back). The wire cut off the outside and filed back. I also added the smoke box door. I didn’t use the one supplied as it seemed a tiny bit too small compared to some of the photos I have, and wouldn’t take the HMRS small number transfers I have.

 

I have used 247 Developments smoke box door numbers before, but they only have 4 for this class, not surprising given how many were left by the 1950’s, so I will number this myself.

 

 

 

I have the light within a few inches of the loco so it makes it all look worse than it actually is, or at least that is my excuse. I know my soldering will improve as I do more builds, but overall I am happy how this is progressing.

 

Leaving it to all dry overnight, and I hope to add the wheels and motor, and do the wiring tomorrow. Getting near to finishing.

 

Jamie

Edited January 23, 2021 by Jamiel

[Jamiel]

Frustrating day. I got wheels and pickups done, I put the connecting rods in place and it ran OK on a test track. So I went to solder the washers over to hold them in place, and had mixed up the connecting rods, so I locked the wheels. Unsoldered, re-soldered and now running, but not a very fun couple of hours.

Long wires to the motor as this will be DCC in the long run.

 

I think that it would be a good idea to solder the connecting rods in to one, rather than the two separate ones each side. The metal is very thin and the overlap is single layer, it only laminates up to the bolts in the middle. It can bend very easily, and did when I was adjusting the wheels. I wish I had soldered the pairs together that before putting them on the wheels, lesson learned, unless anyone has good reason not to do so.
 

Right, big night on TV, American Football Championship games (Semi finals in English), one game the old GOATS (Greatest Of All Time – Brady and Rogers) and the other the Young Guns (Mahomes and Allen), both should be great games, but I will definitely be supporting the AFC in the Superbowl (as usual for the last 30 years, with the very occasional exception).
 

Jamie

Edited January 24, 2021 by Jamiel

[lezz01]

As you've built it ridged Jamie you could have just had the conrods as a single piece. It's made a lot easier by the fact you used Romford wheels. If you had used wheels that don't have positive quartering built in eg. Romford, K's etc. then it's best to do the rods in two or more parts as it's easier to quarter wheels as a 0-4-0 first then add the other wheels.

Regards Lez.  

[Jamiel]

The body is pretty much finished for the build, ready for undercoating, which I will order some Phoenix Precision etch primer, spray can for. I have been too busy all week to have time to phone them, and want to order like that in case my old address comes up on bank cards etc.
 

Thanks to Lez for suggesting making a brass clip, I used some from the offcuts box, fitted it first then soldered to the roof. I also added some side bits to mask any light spill.

 

You can see the roof is very snug here. A driver resting his hand on the reverser (I think) has been put in the door too.

 

 

Lamp brackets and the various lugs added at the back, plus a fire iron and shovel fashioned from wire and brass bits across as they often appear in photos.

 

Shed plate added at the front from a Comet etch.

 

Backhead and cab interior detailing added, some bits from what I think is a RT Models LNWR cab detailing etch. A couple of bits of wire and brass rod used to make the piping at the top and side of the backhead, and a couple of the etched bits for the dial at the top.

 

Reverser and wheel.

 

I added hinges and a lock to the tool box at the top from bits of the offcuts. The rivet strip has been soldered back flush against the back after coming away before.

 

As Barry said the motor mostly hides itself in the chassis, but the worm cog stands up just a tiny bit.

 

I have added in a slight rise to the floor to accommodate this.

 

 

A bit of finishing for the frames. I haven’t dared solder the connecting rods together in case the solder runs and fixes to the crank shafts, so they will probably have to stay in two parts unless I become less timid. I'll see.
 

Once painted the buffers and coupling links can be added, and then just transfers, glazing and weathering. So not a long build by my standards, and this one runs, or did so when I last tested it.

Jamie