RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted January 23, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2010 Moving on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Don't forget to Blu-Tack the boiler sections together in your dry run, and check whether the whole lot comes out oval. Some of the Little Engines kits had this particular...erm....idiosyncracy, but I can't remember if the "O1" was afflicted by it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Can I offer a little advice having built one in OO last year? I spent a large chunk of a weekend trying to get the coupling rods to work without fouling the back of the crossheads, having fitted the slidebars to the cylinders and the cylinders to the frames. Eventually, in sheer frustration, I melted the whole lot off again on Sunday evening! Having given it a bit of thought I re-assembled the slidebars to the cylinders but set slightly outside of centre, if that makes sense, and the cylinders to the frames with some brass shim to space things out a bit. Then it worked. Overall, not a bad kit, I must say the first Little Engines kit I did, an O4/8, seemed pretty poor, lots of flash and the metal almost crystalline. I'd already bought the O1 and a second O4/8. The second O4/8 I'm nearly finished was much better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earlswood Nob Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hiya all LNER heavy freight fans (and others) Whatever happend to LITTLE ENGINES? Have they suffered the same fate as many other white metal kit producers? I have a couple of their products (A7 & T1), and would like to build an O4 variant, but they seem to be missing. Good luck with the O1. Earlswood Nob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Little Engines is a cottage industry and the chap has another full time job (I believe he owns/runs an offlicence but I may be wrong). Supply is therefore erratic. Since George Watson passed away the only place I know of who claim to stock them are Sherwood Models and they don't seem to be able to obtain them often. I haven't heard that LE have stopped production, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Since George Watson passed away the only place I know of who claim to stock them are Sherwood Models and they don't seem to be able to obtain them often. I haven't heard that LE have stopped production, though. We got a couple of bits direct from Little Engines a few months back, so it might be worth contacting them directly if anyone wants to obtain one of their kits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUTLER2579 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Mallard 60022,Ithink you will find this their up to date details:- Little Engines 201 Cheswick Drive, Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear , NE3 5DS Telephone 07801 393 029 Regards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I contacted 52F Models as he does a chassis for the Little Engines A8 re availablity of kits. The response I got was that Littel Engines exists but he doesnt think he is making any kits?? Sherwood Models gave a similar response. Shame as I fancy building a T1 Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 .....If anyone knows of a better version (preferably etched top if that exists) of the Ex GC 4000 Gallon jobby that would be useful. ..... The only one I know of immediately is the old Perseverance one.....if you can find one. Puffers / Perseverance (Chris Parrish) was last heard of up in Grosmont, North Yorkshire, or thereabouts some years ago but I get the impression that production has stopped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 It was raining today so I spent some time doing the tender body. I'm sorry to have to admit that I get a perverse pleasure (wait for rude responses) from soldering white metal 'lumps' and attempting to make them look OK and the whiff of hot flux is also quite good for the sinuses! As you might be able to see it doesn't look too bad and the next stage is to fettle & make up the chassis etch and fit the cast sides to accommodate the EM axles/wheels; usually just a slight width adjustment on the cast frame outers. If anyone knows of a better version (preferably etched top if that exists) of the Ex GC 4000 Gallon jobby that would be useful. I have not checked the D. Alexander site yet but I think his are cast tops anyway. I like T.Wright's attitude to kit tenders in that he doesn't normally do a lot to the back, however this is a goods engine and I think I'll take some care to get the rails and brackets to look good. We wouldn't want an unsightly rear would we? Tonight I shall probably have a look at the High Level gearbox series as I reckon a Loadhauler Compact + might allow me to drive the rear axle? This might allow some 'compensation' to be built in to the middle drivers, especially if I decide to build a new set of semi-artic coupling rods. Targets for this week, if I have the time: to clean up all the body parts and sort a list of extra details for the Consett loco's; get the boiler fixed so I can see what room we have; order the gearbox & motor and have a look at the valve gear etches (having a look is usually as far as I get with 'wiggly walcharts' stuff!) Hi, sorry to reply to a PM in topic but I can't seem to get to the PM function from my (company) Blackberry. I used a very basic (and cheap) drive set up. Mashima 1426 (I think) can't check at the moment, with markits/romford gears in a mainly trains mount. I've used these before found them robust and cheap (me a peenypincher?) It needs a bit of modification of the firebox and boiler bottom but I paint it all at the same time as the chassis and, to me looks ok. I also found that the firebox legs need spreading anyway to fit the footplate gap. Probably a bit of a bodge really, but looks ok to me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45609 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Mallard60022, on 24 January 2010 - 16:45 , said: .....If anyone knows of a better version (preferably etched top if that exists) of the Ex GC 4000 Gallon jobby that would be useful. ..... The only one I know of immediately is the old Perseverance one.....if you can find one. Puffers / Perseverance (Chris Parrish) was last heard of up in Grosmont, North Yorkshire, or thereabouts some years ago but I get the impression that production has stopped. Hi Ivan (Horsetan) and Mallard, Now I know that you didn't say it was better but I'd be vary wary of the Perseverance offering. It is etched rather than Whitemetal which is a good point but after that it becomes a pretty sorry tale. I built one for the Sam Fay I completed recently and more details can be seen here... http://www.lner.info...&t=1328&start=0 I'd say it was 60% scratchbuilt in the final analysis. AFAIK the Dave Alexander whitemetal rendering of a GCR 4000 gallon tender is more representational than a true scale model. I have built one of these too! PDK might be the best bet but at 70 quid I'd hope it is a good kit. I've not put one of these together but a quick look at the PDK gallery page (specifically the models of the D11 Director) makes me wonder about the accuracy of certain aspects of the tender. http://www.pdkmodels...nder%20Kits.htm Other options are Alan Gibson or, I think, Bill Bedford. Again both of these have questionable availablity but would certainly be worth the enquiry. Colin Seymour (aka Alan Gibson) has recently sent me a letter saying that a limited run of the J11 kit is in the production so there is always hope. Cheers...Morgan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 .....PDK might be the best bet but at 70 quid I'd hope it is a good kit. I've not put one of these together but a quick look at the PDK gallery page (specifically the models of the D11 Director) makes me wonder about the accuracy of certain aspects of the tender. http://www.pdkmodels...nder%20Kits.htm I'd no idea that PDK prices had gone up by that much. The only problem I'd observed with the Gresley / Thompson / Peppercorn kits is the cabsides - the individual windows seemed to be too far apart. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I see you're maybe going to use the etched tender frames. Personally I don't use these as it all adds to the weight, the tender body and frames are pretty 'chunky' anyway. Once again the bodge, or as it used to be known where. I once worked the AFF (applied fiddle factor), comes into play. Drill the axleboxes to take tophat bearings, and maybe thin the frames or, and it really does get bodgy now, file away the tops of the springs as they should dissapear behind the footplating anyway, I think! This allows the removal of most of the tender floor, and while I'm at it cut the bunker out as well. The Colwick based locos I'm modelling always had a pile of coal about 2-3 ft above the cab roof all the time, must have been very efficient steamers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Single handedly brought the Country out of recession by the looks of these prices!!!!! Ouch - ??70 for a tender; have deffo got something to think about before spending that much! ..... Even Martin Finney charges a lot less..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 A Finney kit may now look inexpensive (however I have not had a shufty at his www recently!) Tender kits: everything priced at under 49 quid. Bargain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5XP Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 It was raining today so I spent some time doing the tender body. I'm sorry to have to admit that I get a perverse pleasure (wait for rude responses) from soldering white metal 'lumps' and attempting to make them look OK and the whiff of hot flux is also quite good for the sinuses! As you might be able to see it doesn't look too bad and the next stage is to fettle & make up the chassis etch and fit the cast sides to accommodate the EM axles/wheels; usually just a slight width adjustment on the cast frame outers. If anyone knows of a better version (preferably etched top if that exists) of the Ex GC 4000 Gallon jobby that would be useful. I have not checked the D. Alexander site yet but I think his are cast tops anyway. What about the Falcon Brass example: It really wasn't that bad to build and I think it looks convincing enough maybe more so than a whitemetal jobby. I'm not entirely sure that the Falcon stuff is a available at the mo but hey its only ??20 if it is! Heres the link, look in the LMS section/tenders : http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/catalogue/falcon Darren. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 .....I was not aware of FBs version; I assume it's a GC 4000 gal version(sorry if that sounds daft); is it from the 04 kit as I don't see a tender only kit ? I have always steered clear of these particular kits as I am led to believe you have to be quite an engineer to get them together? Maybe that is not always the case?.... The later kits are a bit better in some respects, but not all. I liked the Falcon GW Hawksworth tender - it was pretty much the only etched tender kit you could get for a Hawksworth until the Brassmasters one came along - though it was a pity that it represented the 8'6" wide one for the Counties, with no option to build the narrow 8' version attached to later Castles and Modified Halls. The GC Robinson tender is available separately, and is described as "ROD tender". Ref no. is TK 021 LMS - Click here and scroll down the list Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Looks pretty good so far, must say you progress much quicker than I manage. I think that quite a lot of kits involve a degree of filling, filing and swearing , it's just a matter of how much importance the builder attaches to that particular aspect. Also I'm sure that in many cases, the amount of FFS required is dependant on the price paid fpr the kit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Managed to get a shot of my effort today, still waiting weathering and coal. I tend to wait til I have a few to do and then do them as a batch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 ^ That's good, that one. You can just imagine that slogging uphill with the Consett iron ores... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 ^ That's good, that one. You can just imagine that slogging uphill with the Consett iron ores... Thanks, but not that one, it stayed firmly in the East Midlands B) Well if mine looks as good as this, but with those extra Westinghouse pumps and pipes all over the place, I shall be more than pleased. What did you use for glazing? Nice one GC and thanks. 36E Thanks again, the glazing is, if I remember correctly, cut out from supermarket food trays or the front of a bubble packed tube of glue, whatever is to hand at glazing time, stuck in with matt varnish. A technique I picked up years ago for resin class 76 bodies, not had one fall out yet........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Put things on back to front BTDT! It's surprisingly easy, and don't always worry too much. I don't set myself up as any kind of expert on anything, just do what I like and looks right to me. Equally I try not to be over critical of anyone else's efforts, we all do what suits us. I remember a magazine article from a good many years ago where an 'expert' had assembled a very expensive express steam loco kit with lots and lots of added detail. Looked superb I must admit and far better than I feel I could achieve. Most model locos have the valve gear set in mid gear, which I don't have a problem with, this builder basically 'rubbished' that though and went to some length explaining how so many locos looked awful with the valve gear set incorrectly. So he set about making his look 'right', but an express loco at the head of a train in 'back gear'?? O1 looking good, enjoying the challenge? Seens to me you're making a pretty good job of it, despite initial reservations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted February 5, 2010 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 5, 2010 If you CBA here is a chance to 'spot the difference' (on the loco' that is - I know the Isinglass drawing has moved!!!!!) from the last pic. The camera takes no prisoners as far as showing up the duff bits (it would seem that the chimney is about to fall off; look at those 'guide lines' for handrail position on the boiler side and WHY do the knob holes always look so huge when they really are only 0.7mm; not quite vertical fittings; the lube box that fell off etc.). As you can probably guess I'm procrastinating re the handrails, as I'm useless at getting that nice curvy shape up front however many tubes I use to wrap the wire around! Maybe this evening after binge drinking session? One of the next tasks is to get to grips with the cylinders and fittings. I will post some pics of these sometime soon so you can see how great (NOT) they are. Sincerely, 36E Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted February 6, 2010 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 6, 2010 As promised. The (so called) cylinders! Just look at the 'accuracy' of the holes (which I believe are supposed to accommodate the slide bar fitting and the valve covers/chests, front and rear). Unfortunately I am missing a front valve chest, but having looked at the existing one and compared it to that on the the Isinglass I shall be getting 2 suitable replacements at Donny OR I'll be getting a complete replacement set (K1 cylinders I'm told). I will try to stuff, re measure and re bore the existing ones first. IF ANYONE HAS A MORE SENSIBLE IDEA RE fettling/modifying/replacing THE CYLINDERS PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'm also seriously considering using a replacement set of slide bars and cross-heads/pistons which could/would be fitted to the 'plugged' original cylinders or another 'new set'. 36E Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 I'd bin those. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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