Londontram Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 All coming along nicely Terry though I must say I still have a few niggling doubts about that R1 cab but that's just me. Keep up the good work and who knows it might even inspire me to get off my back side and do something positive 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 G'day Folks The R1, I will admit looks a bit weird, with such a small, but high cab, here's a picture of the real one. manna 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thane of Fife Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Good morning all I'm very interested in the P1 build, as I have plans building one myself. I bought a chassis from RSB models about 30 years ago. The chassis is built and runs fine. I first tried converting a Hornby A3, but discovered that the curves in the footplate are different. I then bought an incomplete Wills A3 kit, and "cut and shut" the footplate to give the correct curves. Next problem was that the smokebox saddle was taller than the A3 and the steampipes were steeper. This is where the project lies at the moment. The tender was different to the rest of Gresley's classes. I got a Dave Alexander A3 tender top as part of a cheap lot I bought at auction. The coal rail tender merely needs an equally spaced underframe and a few cosmetic mods to the top. Your attack of the footplate problems gives me fresh ideas on solving my difficulties. Keep up the interesting projects. Malcolm 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 G'Day Folks I liked the idea of the tender drive, as it would show daylight under the boiler, it would I suppose be hard to fit a motor in the engine part. I'll have to rebuild the tender top, at least it was a 'Big' tender, plenty of room. Hope you revisit your P1, it's not to difficult to build a small box under the smokebox. manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post manna Posted September 14, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 14, 2019 G'day Folks After a considerable lay off, due to family problems and a bit of a holiday in Queensland, I have actually managed to get a bit done on the P1, I've played about with the D 49 valve gear, which will fit, and now runs freely with a finger pushing it gently, the main problem was the head of the piston connecting rod hitting the front wheel where the connecting rod screw fits in the wheel, I found that the head of the piston rod, 'kinks' in, after straightening it out, all was well. I've fitted the front bogie and the rear pony and given it a coat of spray paint, my next job is to fit all the pipes and handrail. manna 14 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted November 15, 2019 Author Share Posted November 15, 2019 G'day Folks After another long lay off, I have again a little time on my hands. The P1, has had a bit of work done, mostly pipe work and another coat of paint. Hoping to get a bit more free time, going to revisit the cylinders for the Robinson B1. manna 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted November 29, 2019 Author Share Posted November 29, 2019 G'Day Folks A small window of opportunity has arisen, so I've grabbed it, thought I'd have a go at the Heljan O2, that's been sitting around in BR livery for a year, after a good rub down to get rid of the old numbers, a couple of coats of filth was applied to the clean 'Plastic' surface, new LNER numbers were added and another layer of filth, real coal was added to the tender, and crew to the cab, bit of touching up and she's finished. Also a old Kitmaster Stirling Single tender, has had modern Hornby wheels fitted, and a coat of black paint, ready to go behind a J4, when I get around to building it ?? manna 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 G'day Folks Happy New Year, and first update of the year. Managed to get bit of spare time, so I'm going back to some 'old' projects, Tinkering with the G1 (long time ago now) I just kind of picked it up and wondered why it wouldn't run, so i took it apart and put it back together, added some weight to the front and away it went ????, the rear bogie has been bolted on , it runs but the bogie is to high. Another stalled project is building a better chassis for the C12, I had one of those Caly saddletanks, I've removed most of the detail at fitted 23mm wheels, extended the rear and fitted a trailing wheel, offered up to a craftsman body, not bad but to high, bit more work required. A second C12 chassis is also being built, with a 'Nellie' chassis. More fiddling with the P1, finally got it running, bit more fine tuning, the O4 is getting a bit of work done to it, the cylinders will be straightened, and returned to LNER livery. manna 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 G'Day Folks Had a go today making GNR loco chimneys, out of some Perspex rod stick in my Electric drill, using a small chisel and small files, some passable chimneys now adorn a couple of locos, don't think they look to bad, possibly a little fat. manna 7 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Coming along nicely my friend I like the method you've used for making the chimney in the past I've built chimneys and domes up from brass tube, washers and solder but I can see this method has some merritt. Keep up the good work I always look forward to your updates and progress reports Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 G'Day Folks Thank you Steve, I'm going to keep on making chimneys this way, the one on the 2-4-0 E1, only took 10 minutes. I think I need to 'bed' them in a little deeper on the boiler. manna 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypherman Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hi all, My wonderful wife bought me a mini lathe for Christmas. So I think I will have a go at making some perspex chimney's with it. I need to make a chimney for the 3F I am working on anyway. What do you recommend is the best perspex to use. Clear or pre-coloured. I love watching this thread to see how well you get on with your builds. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 G'Day Folks. Hi Cypherman, I used clear Perspex, because that's what I had, I haven't tried black (which is a logical colour) but I will admit, the clear does allow you a very clear view of what you are doing. My Perspex rod, came from a Venetian blind,(the winder) Good luck. manna 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 G'Day Folks\ Still fiddling in the shed, revived a very old project, around 40 years to be precise, every 5-10 years I have a go at it, then put it back in the box and forget about it, but I think I might have finally cracked it, it's the GN Atlantic, made out of a B12 and a Hall, today after another bout of fiddling I had it running really well, it's just missing the valve gear. Started 'another' loco, I'm waiting on a load of spare parts to finish off half a dozen loco's. this one in another GN Atlantic , 3279 running as a 4 cylinder simple, the chassis is a tender powered 'Scotsman, most of the runningplate is from one of those 5 pound Non powered Scotsman's that came out 5 years ago. 3279 has a wider runningplate and a wider cab, with K2 valve gear, I'm sure I can fudge something. The Robinson B1 now has it's valve gear, not running yet, but looks good. lol. manna 13 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 G'day Folks Decided to push on with the G1, if nothing else, but to clear some much needed space on my overcrowded workbench, didn't need a lot done, changed the chimney, to one that is slightly lower, still need to fit 'glass' in the windows, sandboxes, coupling, and of course, some weathering. I've had it pulling 6/7 wagons, which it managed easily, so a couple of coaches shouldn't trouble it at all, not a bad little loco, for one that started out as a damaged Hornby N2. manna 12 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 G'day Folks I've revived an old project, from about 20+ years ago, and it's not even steam, a BR class 205 DEMU. The coaches are 40 year old Graham Farish suburban coaches, so old they have 'Tin' roofs, these have been replaced with ex Hornby roofs, fronts are made from plastic card, power from a Lima class 33, HO I think. My son models the Ex LSWML 70's - 90's, so it'll be sent to the UK when it's finished. manna 11 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 G'day Folks Yesterday I did a bit of filling on the DEMU, then put it outside in the warm sunshine to dry (all good), then wondered what to do, I looked around my workbench, my eyes saw the Robinson B1, yeah, time to fit the pick ups ! I soldered the pick ups from the back of the motor, straight into the wheels, just to get it moving, and it worked, but the worm spun sometimes on the motor shaft, so out with the superglue, then it worked better (getting there) but the motor was also at the wrong angle, a gentle tap, and the superglue broke, added a couple of bits of plastic card, then thought, I wonder, I can use the hot glue gun to fit the motor, I had thought about it a while back, but hadn't had cause to use it, the hot glue has held the motor in place, but you have to be very very quick, it cooled before I could get it exactly right, it has a slight lean, but works well, I've added a bit of weight, the body and tender and ran it, but it stuck on some of the sharper curves, the front bogie wheel is touching the cylinders, so another small job, but I want to Epoxy the cylinders to the stretcher plate before I do that. The silly looking motor to rear wheels pick ups, work very well, with very little hesitation on dead frogs, just sails over the, but I think I'll fit more in the future. manna 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 G'Day Folks Had a parcel arrive from England, plenty of Goodies inside, handrail knobs, crankpins etc and a couple of new projects, a streamlined B17, a D11 and another modified R1, fitted with Romford wheels, going to keep me busy. The 'Droopy' tender on the D11 has already been fixed, and is a good runner, although a little nose heavy. manna 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 G'Day Folks B17/5 has spent some time on the workbench, a good clean up and the valances have been thinned, cylinders have likewise been thinned, just enough to fit. Tender has also been cleaned up. manna 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 12, 2020 Author Share Posted April 12, 2020 G'day Folks More progress on the B17/5, it's had a coat of undercoat, hand painted black where needed, and one coat of green, the little bit missing on the cab, is because I was unsure on whether it was to be black or green........it's suppose to be black. The chimney has been replaced with a whitemetal casting ( which I've had for 35+ years) as the original had a air bubble in it..any excuse ! manna 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 G'day Folks A totally different track for me, a etched chassis, Chris P Bacon, sells an etched chassis for the Lima J50, as seen on a wrecked loco below. I made a J6 loco out of a LMS 4f, the loco unit runs very well, but the tender drive, well the less said the better ! the J50's wheelbase is the same as the J6 (see standardisation at Doncaster) I reamed out the axle holes to what I wanted, and fitted 20mm Romfords after bending up the chassis, just by hand and a bit of MDF, a little hand twisting and we have a push along chassis, I've finger pushed it around the layout, no catching or binding, so today's job is to solder it together. manna 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted April 17, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 17, 2020 7 hours ago, manna said: I made a J6 loco out of a LMS 4f, I'd have never thought of one of those as a starting point 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 G'Day Folks First job after bending up the chassis, was solder it up, first one ever, three minutes later, done, what an anti-climax, so easy, almost boring LOL. Next job, make the body fit the chassis, the chassis had to be shortened, bit off the front, a chunk of the back, and a fair bit off of the underside of the body, followed by more of the chassis, it now fits but a bit more work will be required to get it to how I want it. manna 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted April 17, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, manna said: First job after bending up the chassis, was solder it up, first one ever, three minutes later, done, what an anti-climax, so easy, almost boring LOL I'll send you one of the others....they'll make you tear your hair out Looking good 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 G'day Folks What 'Others' ???? At least I started with an easy one. lol. manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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