Steve Sykes Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 They do look great. Can I ask what paint you used for the Caley blue? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 They do look great. Can I ask what paint you used for the Caley blue? Steve Hi Steve I started with Precision Dark Caley Blue then added a very small amount of LNWR Coach White (I suppose any white would have done but it was the most handy at the time!) This was then sprayed over a coat of Halfords Acid #8 etching primer. I varnished with Ronseal Hardglaze Polyurethane Gloss thinned with white spirit (about 3:1), some Precision matting agent (about 10:1 of the total) and a small amount of black gloss paint (again about 10:1 of the total) That makes up what I call my 'Black Varnish'. In effect it is a very slight weathering, simulating a layer of soot over the whole loco, toning everything down to a nice even finish. The amount of gloss or matt finish can be adjusted by using more or less matting agent. If you visit a preserved railway, and run your finger along what looks like nicely polished paint work, you will see what I mean! Kind regards Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Here are some photos of the new engine. A Stroudley 0-6-0 HR 'Lochgorm Tank'. Right at the beginning of the instructions the designer warns about the external brake rod issue and suggests that the upper brake pivot points are lowered to compensate. Looking at photographs it is obvious that Stroudley had the same problem but his solution was to use rods where they were bent to give clearance from the crank bosses. This was not allowed for in the kit rods, so I built new ones to replace them. The etched wheel inserts were the next challenge. I was originally going to use a mix of the alternative inserts provided, where there are some with only half the wheel spokes filled, or you could make up your own with the various inserts provided,. However they did not look right when I first tried them. It then dawned on me that the inserts had the outside of the spokes etched on them that did not match the wheels supplied. The etched inserts are designed for 'spoke in line with crank pin' wheels but the supplied wheels are 'crank pin between spokes' type. This changed my original plans completely and instead of building the short tank HR version I decided to build the long tank LMS rebuild which had all solid wheels. This was not the end of the story! The etched inserts are of course flat but the wheel spoke profile is slightly convex from wheel rim to axle boss and the flat etch would not lie flat on the spokes to enable them to be glued to the wheel centre. I had to resort to paring down the spokes toward the axle boss to obtain a flat section to enable the etch to fit and be glued. During the chassis build I modified the method of Compensation/Suspension recommended in the instructions to a form that has worked well for me in the past. The bearings are designed to move vertically to allow a certain amount of movement in the axles but without any springs or beams. I elected to fit a Motor and Roxy gearbox to the rear wheels so they were left 'fixed'. When I first set up the wheels in the chassis I found that the front of the loco sat low by about 1.5mm. My solution here was to fit a central fore/aft beam centrally above the front axle so that it could pivot and also correct the low nose down attitude. This left the centre bearings floating about to do their own thing so I added a steel piano wire spring to both bearings to keep them depressed on the track under normal running conditions which will also aid with traction adhesion. Not that I should have a problem as these big tanks will hold about 1/2 lb of lead! Having got the Chassis sorted I moved on to the footplate and attached the valances and the front and rear buffer beams. The beams are made from, in the prototype, large baulks of timber with a metal outer skin at the front and are therefore quite thick in section. When I came to trial fit the chassis it was impossible to fit it flat against the footplate due to the etched buffer beams. The photographs show the length of the chassis already reduced in length at the front to allow it to fit to the footplate. This photo shows the chassis fitted in its correct location. The chassis rear fixing nut, located inside the cab, stands about 4mm above the top of the footplate. The cab floor etch is designed with a 1mm turnover at the rear and two sides. The problem I think is obvious! I resorted to fitting a 5mm 'valance' from scrap etch, around the underside of the cab floor to allow sufficient clearance. The roof casting needed a lot of work on it to get it somewhere near useable but I was forced to remove the badly cast rain strip that surrounds the whole of the roof. A new one will need to be manufactured. I had to do the same with the Laurie Griffin roof for the Skye Bogie, that I built a little while ago, so I know what's involved. And finally, for this post, here are a group of enginemen from Heroes of the Footplate range, now available from Chris at Invertrain, in the process of being painted. I like the 'Games Zone' range of paints for this. Regards Sandy 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Sandy, The usual method for dealing with outside brake rods and cranks was to joggle them downwards, rather than outwards, as this maintains much more of the strength. A check on the few photographs available of the Lochgorm tanks confirms that the rods were indeed joggled downwards. A tolerable enough job in the loco works, where the bending could be done by the smiths with the metal red-hot, but a bit of a pain for us modellers, unless the rods are either etched or cut to shape the hard way. Interestingly, one of those photographs shows Lochgorm itself in 1922 with solid wheels on only the centre set - the other two have normal spoked wheels, albeit with total or partial infill in the spaces opposite the crank. It also shows a dome/safety valve cover that is so off-plumb that no modeller would believe it. Back on the brakes, are you going to fit something to represent the pins that hold the shoes to the hangers? (The hole is a litlle obvious.) Regards, Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Sandy, The usual method for dealing with outside brake rods and cranks was to joggle them downwards, rather than outwards, as this maintains much more of the strength. A check on the few photographs available of the Lochgorm tanks confirms that the rods were indeed joggled downwards. A tolerable enough job in the loco works, where the bending could be done by the smiths with the metal red-hot, but a bit of a pain for us modellers, unless the rods are either etched or cut to shape the hard way. Interestingly, one of those photographs shows Lochgorm itself in 1922 with solid wheels on only the centre set - the other two have normal spoked wheels, albeit with total or partial infill in the spaces opposite the crank. It also shows a dome/safety valve cover that is so off-plumb that no modeller would believe it. Back on the brakes, are you going to fit something to represent the pins that hold the shoes to the hangers? (The hole is a litlle obvious.) Regards, Jim Yes Jim, I am not happy with the brake rods either and I did try to do the downward bending bit but I could not make them with any consistency. It would have been so easy to have etched them correctly in the first place. I may still attempt to fret them out. The photo of Lochgorm was going to be my first preference in late HR livery but I quite actually like the look of the big tank version. I have a nice photo of one at Strathpeffer with an eclectic mix of coaches. Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Interestingly, one of those photographs shows Lochgorm itself in 1922 with solid wheels on only the centre set - the other two have normal spoked wheels, albeit with total or partial infill in the spaces opposite the crank. It also shows a dome/safety valve cover that is so off-plumb that no modeller would believe it. The different members of the class all have slightly different combinations of wheel arrangements and they may have swapped them from time time time too! It does make modelling a bit of a bu**er! Sandy, I assume that this is the Agenoria kit? The gent who did the artwork has talked about reproducing it at 4mm, although whether this will come to be I don't know. Fortunately my kit suitcase (the Tatlow equivalent of the EU food mountain) has plenty of other things in it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 The different members of the class all have slightly different combinations of wheel arrangements and they may have swapped them from time time time too! It does make modelling a bit of a bu**er! Sandy, I assume that this is the Agenoria kit? The gent who did the artwork has talked about reproducing it at 4mm, although whether this will come to be I don't know. Fortunately my kit suitcase (the Tatlow equivalent of the EU food mountain) has plenty of other things in it! HI Mark Agenoria has now ceased trading his 7mm range of kits and any remnants are being sold off. He is now concentrating on his large scale models so I doubt that a 4mm version will see the light of day from that stable. As you state they are an interesting class of three locomotives that have seen a number of rebuilds and changes through out their careers. Photographs are a must for this one and I am basing mine on the LMS rebuild which was photographed at Strathpeffer and appears in the Pendragon, Highland in LMS Days book. Kind regards Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 "Agenoria has now ceased trading his 7mm range of kits and any remnants are being sold off. He is now concentrating on his large scale models " 7mm will still be available RTR to order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 A representation of the back head from the variety of castings supplied All a bit of guesswork really. The front end party completed. The cab roof still needs a lot of work on it. The sandboxes, although nice brass castings, are way too big and will need to be sawn in half. Not looking forward to that job! Regards Sandy 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Agenoria has now ceased trading his 7mm range of kits and any remnants are being sold off. He is now concentrating on his large scale models so I doubt that a 4mm version will see the light of day from that stable. I was speaking to the designer, who is not the operator of Agenoria, so maybe not all is lost, but maybe.................. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I was speaking to the designer, who is not the operator of Agenoria, so maybe not all is lost, but maybe.................. Now that is interesting. Has he got any other HR prototypes in the pipeline? Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper John Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Lovely work Sandy, are you trying to give Ken a run for his money Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKR Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Glad the holiday season is over and Sandy, Jazz and N15 are all back at their workbenches and posting again 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Thank you EKR, nice to know that we are appreciated and that someone is reading the posts!! It was nice to visit my home town for a couple of days but it is even nicer to get back to the WB. In one of my previous posts I showed a picture of the sand box, brass casting, which was way to big for the engine and I was not looking forward to cutting it down to size. Well, it was not as bad as I had feared. The brass was nowhere near as hard as I had experienced in previous castings and, with a new blade in the saw, they were both cut down to size, and square, in about 20 minutes! Nice surprise. I was then able to get on and attach the smoke box lubricators and the drive linkage for the sand boxes. After that I moved on to the tank filler cap which, after just one look, I relegated to the rubbish pile. Fortunately I still have in stock some nice brass bar which took about 20 minutes turning in the lathe to produce a much better offering. The dome, however was a more difficult problem to solve. The kit can be built as either the long tank, LMS rebuilt version, or the short tank HR version. In the short tank version the firebox is exposed with the tank occupying and covering the forward part of the boiler. The dome is cast in brass so that it can be attached to the top of the firebox which of course is round. The long tank version doesn't need the base of the dome shaped. It needs to be flat to sit on the top of the tank. I could have sawn it but I was not confidant that I could get it flat and square so I decided to fit it into the chuck of the lathe and very carefully removed the bottom portion, with the flared shape, plus a bit more, as it was too tall. I think I got away with it. Regards Sandy 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 It's coming on nicely, Sandy. That smokebox lubricator looks suspiciously like a GWR whistle? Still, it gives a touch of real class :-) David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 It's coming on nicely, Sandy. That smokebox lubricator looks suspiciously like a GWR whistle? Still, it gives a touch of real class :-) David Your right David, I should have put my glasses on. It was the nearest thing to the lubricator in the pile of castings which are not the best! I have a new pair from Hobby Horse on the way. Regards Sandy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Your right David, I should have put my glasses on. It was the nearest thing to the lubricator in the pile of castings which are not the best! I have a new pair from Hobby Horse on the way. Regards Sandy Looking good Sandy. You might take a look at the Alan Gibson 4mm HR lubricators going forward. They are a lot too big for us.............. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 Looking good Sandy. You might take a look at the Alan Gibson 4mm HR lubricators going forward. They are a lot too big for us.............. Thanks Mark, I will. Regards Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnaby Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 All tre - mend - ous work Sandy. The building, the painting and your eye for detail are superb. There is no challenge that you can't succeed with, nothing daunts you. Plus they are all done in such a timely manner. Fantastic work, I know where to come if I want a super finished well engineered model making, oh yes I do. Grand work Sandy, really grand, so grand I now ask myself what would Sandy do when I meet a kit-building problem, I don't do scratch building, too scared to try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sandy Harper Posted November 13, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 13, 2015 Oh stop it Barnaby, you are making me blush!! Ready for a trip to the paint shop. Regards Sandy 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Sandy, That's come along nicely, and I notice the upgraded brake pull rods. Photographing in bare,metal can be a bit unforgiving, and rather shows up the fact that the brake shoes are held on by virtual pins. Admittedly, once blackened and weathered a bit, the hole where the pin should be will not be as noticeable. I presume the buffer heads are still somewhere in the works being blackened. Regards, Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Looks great Sandy. Lovely little tank, you can see the family lineage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Sandy, That's come along nicely, and I notice the upgraded brake pull rods. Photographing in bare,metal can be a bit unforgiving, and rather shows up the fact that the brake shoes are held on by virtual pins. Admittedly, once blackened and weathered a bit, the hole where the pin should be will not be as noticeable. I presume the buffer heads are still somewhere in the works being blackened. Regards, Jim All correct Jim. The buffers heads are about the last thing I fit to the completed loco. The jury is still out on the brake shoe pins. At three feet viewing distance, painted black, weathered, I don't think it will be an issue. Regards Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 "At three feet viewing distance, painted black, weathered, I don't think it will be an issue." But so simple to do, particularly for an able modeller such as you, so why not just fit them and not worry about their (non) appearance in future, which you otherwise well might? David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Sandy, At three feet, and once painted, I take your point. The camera, used close up, can be a cruel critic. As you might have guessed, my approach to modelling follows the three-foot principle, and whilst I can appreciate the skill involved in three-inch modelling, as it were, I don't have the time or patience to get into detailing at a level that is, essentially, wasted on the viewer. I agree over the buffers - the comment was a bit of a dig at the shiny buffers that I see endlessly adorning expensive collector and commission-built models, more particularly in the post WW1 era, when the employment of engine cleaners started to become an expensive luxury. I shall look forward to seeing it wearing its proper colours, Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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