Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

Speaking of fiction-fit drivers................

 

 

 

Geoff Haynes dropped off this completed 517 Class in EM Gauge this morning for photography. 

 

It's got Gibson wheels, which Geoff fitted. I politely refused to have anything to do with them! 

 

I built the loco body and the frames, and Geoff made it go and painted it.

 

I think it's turned out rather well. 

 

I hope the customer is happy...................

 

 

 

 

[Killybegs]

28 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Speaking of fiction-fit drivers................

 

 

 

Geoff Haynes dropped off this completed 517 Class in EM Gauge this morning for photography. 

 

It's got Gibson wheels, which Geoff fitted. I politely refused to have anything to do with them! 

 

I built the loco body and the frames, and Geoff made it go and painted it.

 

I think it's turned out rather well. 

 

I hope the customer is happy...................

 

 

 

 

 Oh, it's not true then!

[drmditch]

3 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

 

I do like your V2. I really hope I can buy/make/adapt a good model of one before too long.

In my view this was the best 'big engine' produced under HNG.

As it happens, while tidying my desk yesterday I found some notes from a few years ago. (I volunteer at Locomotion at Shildon.)

The tender sides on 4771 are inset 3" from the cab sides. (Ie the tender is 6" narrower than the cab.) I'm not sure I've seen this commented on before, and I'm afraid I can't go and check at the moment! There are supports for fire-irons on the fireman's side of the tender. Are these preservation-era?

 

Earlier this year (when we were expecting 4771 to leave us) I took a number of detail pictures, especially of the underside and diagonal infill of the footplates, showing the splashers. Interestlingly the footplate of the under-construction P2 - also of course with 6'2" wheels  - shows the same features. If anyone is interested I can post them somewhere.

Edited June 12, 2020 by drmditch

[Tony Wright]

Geoff also brought an O Gauge 'Battle of Britain' which he built/painted. 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Not the best photo I'm afraid. However, 60863 and my other two V2's have the bracket that you mention, to the rear of the forward sandbox filler. All three are sans the extra mud hole door / washout plug, That would be correct for my time period. 

 

A beautiful rendition, Andrew.

 

As good a 4mm V2 as any I've ever seen.

 

What's its origin, please? Crownline/PDK?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Killybegs said:

 Oh, it's not true then!

I'm lost,

 

Please explain for a dimwit.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Staffordshire]

   Tony,

 

      You mentioned 'The Book of the B1s', is this a new Irwell Press release ?

 

         Thanks, Ian 

[Barry Ten]

What's the verdict, chaps?

 

I cut a rebate into the underneath of the footplate, and also filed a bit off the top of the cylinder casing, to

get it sitting as snugly as I could. This has levelled up the body as judged by the side tanks and coupling

rods, which seem to be parallel.

 

The highly sophisticated jig is to indicate the 8' 6" boiler pitch which Headstock very kindly mentioned - the

datum is the lower edge of the horizontal bit. i think the boiler is perhaps about 1- 2mm too high at present

but probably the best I can achieve given the starting point.

 

[Chuffer Davies]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Geoff also brought an O Gauge 'Battle of Britain' which he built/painted. 

 

 

 

 

Just stunning! 

[Barry O]

30 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

What's the verdict, chaps?

 

I cut a rebate into the underneath of the footplate, and also filed a bit off the top of the cylinder casing, to

get it sitting as snugly as I could. This has levelled up the body as judged by the side tanks and coupling

rods, which seem to be parallel.

 

The highly sophisticated jig is to indicate the 8' 6" boiler pitch which Headstock very kindly mentioned - the

datum is the lower edge of the horizontal bit. i think the boiler is perhaps about 1- 2mm too high at present

but probably the best I can achieve given the starting point.

 

Looking better. It is obvious the chassis is causing the problem but you could live with that. Other chassis for the B17, the Hornby Royal Scot and the V2 all had the same problem. Not sure how Comet drew the etches (done long before Andrew bought them) so, as i have s Fowler to rechassis I am forewarned. I will clip about 2mm off the top of the frames.

 

Seems like the cylinders as @Headstock said earlier suffer from DJH itis. Their cylinders are over wide as they seem to think that you need more space for crossheads.. I generally cut the castings where the "extensionsn " were added to  the masters (some have the screw heads to show where they did it.  It is a real pain.. I am about to go back to me "deCrosti" 9F and it is a job to be done!

 

Baz

Edited June 12, 2020 by Barry O
spellung

[cctransuk]

29 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

What's the verdict, chaps?

 

I cut a rebate into the underneath of the footplate, and also filed a bit off the top of the cylinder casing, to

get it sitting as snugly as I could. This has levelled up the body as judged by the side tanks and coupling

rods, which seem to be parallel.

 

The highly sophisticated jig is to indicate the 8' 6" boiler pitch which Headstock very kindly mentioned - the

datum is the lower edge of the horizontal bit. i think the boiler is perhaps about 1- 2mm too high at present

but probably the best I can achieve given the starting point.

 

 

Are the cylinders too steeply inclined, thereby raising their front end?

 

The centreline of the piston rod should pass through the centre of the driven axle - the photo suggests that it passes some distance below.

 

John Isherwood.

[Adam88]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I'm lost,

 

Please explain for a dimwit.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Your typo was:

 

Speaking of fiction-fit drivers................

 

so not true - do they wobble?

[Barry Ten]

25 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Are the cylinders too steeply inclined, thereby raising their front end?

 

The centreline of the piston rod should pass through the centre of the driven axle - the photo suggests that it passes some distance below.

 

John Isherwood.

 

Could be.

[Barry Ten]

33 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Looking better. It is obvious the chassis is causing the problem but you could live with that. Other chassis for the B17, the Hornby Royal Scot and the V2 all had the same problem. Not sure how Comet drew the etches (done long before Andrew bought them) so, as i have s Fowler to rechassis I am forewarned. I will clip about 2mm off the top of the frames.

 

 

 

 

 

While you're forewarned, beware of a possible error in the diagram for the setting out of the frame spacers. The one that's meant to support the motion bracket isn't compatible with the bracket as etched, unless I've completely lost the plot. Fortunately the slot in the chassis does a good job of locating the bracket as it is, 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Barry Ten
formattiing

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Staffordshire said:

   Tony,

 

      You mentioned 'The Book of the B1s', is this a new Irwell Press release ?

 

         Thanks, Ian 

Not yet, Ian,

 

But I'm working on it. The plan is to have it completed within a year's time.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

What's the verdict, chaps?

 

I cut a rebate into the underneath of the footplate, and also filed a bit off the top of the cylinder casing, to

get it sitting as snugly as I could. This has levelled up the body as judged by the side tanks and coupling

rods, which seem to be parallel.

 

The highly sophisticated jig is to indicate the 8' 6" boiler pitch which Headstock very kindly mentioned - the

datum is the lower edge of the horizontal bit. i think the boiler is perhaps about 1- 2mm too high at present

but probably the best I can achieve given the starting point.

 

 

My feeling is that the cylinders and slidebars are about right. Putting a soft plastic rule against the computer screen suggests that the crosshead/piston is in line with the centre axle.

 

It is difficult to tell without measuring but I feel that the whole body is too high on the mechanism. In real life, the front step comes down below the centre of the front pony wheel and the piston valve is roughly in line with the step on the front of the vertical section footplate. The valance on the real loco has to be cut away slightly to clear the front of the cylinder/piston valve, so it needs to be tucked right up under the footplate. The rear buffer looks slightly high compared to the van too. Measuring the height from the buffer to the rail top at front and back will tell you if it is out. That is one dimension that only varied slightly. It should be around 3ft 4ins to 3ft 6ins (or 13 and a tad to 14mm. in our money). 

Edited June 12, 2020 by t-b-g
Correct error. Van not carriage!

[Tony Wright]

28 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

Your typo was:

 

Speaking of fiction-fit drivers................

 

so not true - do they wobble?

I see,

 

Many thanks. 

 

Eyesight is a principal faculty which diminishes in efficacy with age! 

 

And, even in a work of fiction (which might well be what I write most of the time), fRiction-fit drivers will still wobble!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Staffordshire]

3 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Not yet, Ian,

 

But I'm working on it. The plan is to have it completed within a year's time.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

     Thanks Tony,   I think the Irwell Press series  'The book of the xx'  are wonderful reference books, 

I was worried I had missed one ! 

  

    Cheers, Ian

[salmonpastures]

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

What's the verdict, chaps?

.......................................................................

Barry,, it is some time since I put the Hornby Fowler body on a Comet chassis but I do remember it doing exactly the same as yours.

From memory I had a cocktail of solutions:

dropping the cylinders in the frames a bit [can't remember how much]

filing the top of the cylinders away

removing lumps of plastic in the footplate where the cylinders meet the body.

 

As somebody else has mentioned I use the buffer height above the rail as an acid test and again from memory  even after all that it was still a bit high,,, but acceptable,,,, it if helps I can easily remove the body and get some measurements to work with if it helps.  

 

SAD

 

[Barry Ten]

12 minutes ago, salmonpastures said:

 

 

Splendid, very useful. I think the cocktail of solutions is the way to go.

 

The buffers are always a bit dodgy on older Hornby locos so I expect them to come out a bit high, as they are on my other Comet conversions. 

[Tony Wright]

20 minutes ago, Staffordshire said:

 

     Thanks Tony,   I think the Irwell Press series  'The book of the xx'  are wonderful reference books, 

I was worried I had missed one ! 

  

    Cheers, Ian

Thanks Ian,

 

I like the AL1. What's its origin, please? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

V2s have been mentioned of late. To many, they are considered HNG's finest loco.

 

Certainly, no ECML depiction from the mid-'30s up to the mid-'60s would be complete without several.

 

I suppose the Finney one would be the best, but I'm afraid it's probably beyond me. In OO we have the RTR Bachmann example which, even with a better chassis in the last few years is still unacceptable (in my opinion), and I can't really see any 'serious' model of an ECML location tolerating them. Still, by this time next year, we should have the brand-new Bachmann RTR example - and that will be brilliant.

 

As for Little Bytham, certainly no current Bachmann V2s are tolerated (even with a new chassis), and the dozen+ V2s which run are made up principally from four sources. 

 

These are..................

 

 

From Crownline. I built this for a review some time ago, and Ian Rathbone painted it. 

 

 

From Jamieson (with much-detailing). I built my first Jamieson V2 over 40 years ago, but this one is much more recent. Again, Ian painted it. 

 

Other sources illustrated once I've processed the images. 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Tony Wright
to add something

[DougN]

I have noticed that the high end kits from Martin Finney, Malcolm Mitchell, Dave Bradwell, High level et al really challange the builder to really look at the prototype closely. The parts are all provided and the options are there. Generally they all state where the main options are and start with some suggestions of research material  to begin with. The main problems i  have been having with the V2's from Martin Finney are the where's Wally of finding the parts in the fret! Yes there is a numbered sheet but once you have started removing parts and the frets start to "break up" making sure the parts are together is a challange. I must give a thumbs up to brassmasters as they have added photos and numbered the castings on the instructions for the Finney kits this is making the process of figuring them out quite simple. 

 

Also to add to the difficulty my second V2 came from a modeller who thought taking parts off a fret was starting a kit... only to put them unassembled back in the box. Hence I think so far 2 parts have gone missing. I have figured out a way to make both now which is the aim for this weekend. 

 

Strangely building a pair is a heap quicker as there is less looking for the parts. So now I understand why the mass kit builders do this on these types of kit. 

 

I'll try to have a photo or 2 over the weekend of progress. 

[Headstock]

6 hours ago, drmditch said:

 

I do like your V2. I really hope I can buy/make/adapt a good model of one before too long.

In my view this was the best 'big engine' produced under HNG.

As it happens, while tidying my desk yesterday I found some notes from a few years ago. (I volunteer at Locomotion at Shildon.)

The tender sides on 4771 are inset 3" from the cab sides. (Ie the tender is 6" narrower than the cab.) I'm not sure I've seen this commented on before, and I'm afraid I can't go and check at the moment! There are supports for fire-irons on the fireman's side of the tender. Are these preservation-era?

 

Earlier this year (when we were expecting 4771 to leave us) I took a number of detail pictures, especially of the underside and diagonal infill of the footplates, showing the splashers. Interestlingly the footplate of the under-construction P2 - also of course with 6'2" wheels  - shows the same features. If anyone is interested I can post them somewhere.

 

Good evening drmditch,

 

the V2 would be my favourite HNG locomotive, I would agree that they were probably his best design. However, some of the performance levels recorded by the A4's are off the scale. Pound for pound, they are almost supernaturally better than anything else.

 

I don't know much about the tender on Green Arrow, I assumed that it isn't the tender it was withdrawn with. If it is, it must have been converted back to the condition that the locomotive and tender entered service with. Either way, it is not correct for middle to late BR condition. I also notice that the preserved locomotive doesn't have the firebox corner ( at least on the cladding) washout plugs.

 

It's quite a while since I built the locomotive, so I can't remember the details of GS tenders in terms of width of the tank. The narrowness doesn't sound odd, but it's been a while. Currently I'm surrounded by wagon drawings and lots of paint so I'm reluctant to pull out any more or sans box the locomotive.

 

The fire iron supports were standard on the firemans side, If you look closely at the model, they are there, almost invisible against the pile of coal. The splashers are also on the model as is the slope of the running board back to the frames. One of the most important features of LNER locomotives is that gap between the running board and the boiler, a feature usually missing on RTR models such as the Hornby P2.

[Headstock]

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

A beautiful rendition, Andrew.

 

As good a 4mm V2 as any I've ever seen.

 

What's its origin, please? Crownline/PDK?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Good evening Tony,

 

The model is a mostly a mix of Crowline, Comet, Bradwell and scratch.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Headstock