Bryan the Snail's workbench.

[hayfield]

Bryan

 

I am very envious, most of us have a Hornby model which is not a patch on the Southeastern Finecast model, and they are as rare as hens teeth on Ebay

[Thane of Fife]

Merry christmas all

 

I think the SECR class H is still available from South Eastern Finecast. The fact that they are scarce on Ebay probably means that everyone wants to keep the ones they have.

 

Thane of fife

[hayfield]

Thane of fife

 

I was talking about the R1, the SECR H class does come up now and again and fetches a premium against the more common locos

 

Both are still available and off the top of my head both have been up dated by SEF

[pete_mcfarlane]

The R1 is a bit of an odd kit - it's a fairly recent effort from about 15 years back instead of an updated Finecast one from years back. But it uses SEF's generic 0-6-0T chassis for the bodyline kits designed to use the Honby-Dublo 0-6-0T chassis, which is completely wrong for the R1. I used the Branclhines R1 chassis for mine, which then needed to lose a millimetre or two from the top to fit.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73343-ser-r1-0-6-0t/

 

I did managed to get an R off ebay a few years back, which is in the to-do pile. 

[hayfield]

The R1 is a bit of an odd kit - it's a fairly recent effort from about 15 years back instead of an updated Finecast one from years back. But it uses SEF's generic 0-6-0T chassis for the bodyline kits designed to use the Honby-Dublo 0-6-0T chassis, which is completely wrong for the R1. I used the Branclhines R1 chassis for mine, which then needed to lose a millimetre or two from the top to fit.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73343-ser-r1-0-6-0t/

 

I did managed to get an R off ebay a few years back, which is in the to-do pile. 

 

Pete

 

I think I miss read the price list, confusing it with the E1/R which has a new chassis, where the R (thought the HD was a R1 !!) uses the updated Hornby Dublo chassis with full brake gear etc. Still far better than the earlier versions/ Hornby Dublo chassis

[gz3xzf]

Haven't been able to sit at the modelling table most of the holiday until Friday afternoon when I managed to solder a couple of bits on to the body, then I knocked over the liquid flux and had to mop up the mess!!

Firstly the roof vent and the whistle have been fixed to the cab roof, the whistle is actually a turned brass one from Markits which is a Urie type, but I like it better than the white-metal cast one: -

Next we have the cylinder lubricators (little bits in the bottom of the smoke box), the hand rail knobs and the steam reverser cylinders (I am afraid that the depth of field didn't allow for it all to be in focus!): -

Then the weekend has been "playing" with 12" to the foot trains, Saturday was a firing turn on 30053 and Sunday was a trip to Norden with this beasty: -

[gz3xzf]

Some more progress to report on this dark & dismal morning in Dorset, spent an hour or so last evening doing this.

Now I purchased the Markits clack replacements as they looked sharper than the white-metal casting and I was inspired whilst reading DLT's thread DLT's SR Locos - A "Black-Motor" for Torrington (the bit about the S15) as the made up parts look really good. Little did I realise that actually making them is like herding cats (i.e. nearly impossible); the results are acceptable, but getting there was traumatic! I may well superglue any future ones.

Anyway, I chose to use these parts from the kit (it comes with various options giving slight variations): -

On the first one I soldered the square piece and the barrel like piece to the copper wire, then attempted to solder on the bit that goes into the boiler, this made it difficult to get the pieces at the right angle to each other. The second one I soldered the bit that goes into the boiler and the barrel like piece together onto the piece of wire and then attempted to solder on the square piece. In both cases when I came to soldering the last piece on the other three moved or fell apart, here is a couple of pictures of the second attempt: -

In the end I got to here: -

Before any body says anything the set in the pipe goes the wrong way, on the real locomotive the pipes set outwards before going through the running plate, mine set inwards, I will think about correcting this but for now this is what they look like on the model: -

 

As always, hope this is interesting, any help/guidance/comments (positive or negative) are most welcome.

[gz3xzf]

Another couple of hours fiddling with bits of the H, did a bit yesterday and this afternoon, mostly fixing bits that I had already fettled.

First the buffer stocks are soldered on, I wanted to solder these as they will come under a bit more stress that other parts, I am using the Kean Maygib Ashford loco buffers that I bought from Branchlines. First I tinned the two parts with low melt solder: -

Then using tweezers I tacked (just got it to stick with a quick touch of the iron) the buffer to the beam: -

Then I turned the body over and pressed the buffer on the work bench whilst applying the soldering iron to the bit marked on the inset making sure the iron was touching both the buffer bean and the buffer, you will feel the solder melt & the part slot together. At this point remove the iron and let the solder cool and solidify before moving: -

The read buffers were fitted in a similar way: -

Then I turned to the boiler top to fit the chimney, dome and safety valves, these are Branchlines parts, here is a shot showing the pilot holes I did earlier opened up to take the spigot on the bottom of the parts (I had already glued the chimney on at this point): -

Now with the dome attached: -

Finally the safety valves, I had to trim back the Ramsbottom handle back a bit as it fouled the cab front. I decided to glue these parts on as the amount of heat needed to get the solder to flow on to the large brass castings would be quite a lot: -

Lastly I added the smokebox door to the ensemble, starting to look a bit more like a loco now: -

 

Hopefully it all make sense, not many parts to fit now and the job of painting will be begin.

 

One other little job that needs looking at is the bogie pivot, I have realised that the with the current setup the loco will only go around very gentle curves, I need get a bit more side movement on the bogie so using inspiration from DLT's thread about his SR locos (specifically the S15) I am going to attempt to add some side control springing.

 

That's all for now, happy modelling.

[Bustered]

Hi, the H looks great!  What motor and gearbox combination are you using?

 

Best wishes

 

Nige

[gz3xzf]

Hi, the H looks great!  What motor and gearbox combination are you using?

 

Best wishes

 

Nige

Nige

 

Thanks, I am using the Mashima motor and gearbox supplied by SE Finecast, I cannot remember which size motor it is.

Edited March 9, 2015 by gz3xzf

[JimF51]

Thanks for posting this build, Bryan, and it all looks excellent so far.

 

Can the SE Finecast kits be built to EM or P4 gauge, do you know?

 

Jim F

[hayfield]

Jim

 

Southeastern Finecast chassis kits come with the label 00 or EM gauge, as for P4 its down to clearance of the wheels which most whitemetal kits suffer clearance issues with splashers etc, come to think of it 00 &EM gauges suffer from this problem with their over scale flanges!!

 

I would think most classes would be able to be converted to P4, phone SEF up and ask Dave or see him at Alley Pally at the end of the month

[gz3xzf]

On 09/03/2015 at 19:30, JimF51 said:

Thanks for posting this build, Bryan, and it all looks excellent so far.

 

Can the SE Finecast kits be built to EM or P4 gauge, do you know?

 

Jim F

 

Jim, below I have posted a picture of the left overs from the H class chassis spacer etch, as you can see there are additional spacers for both EM and P4, the 5 pieces on the right hand end are for EM and the line above the gap are for P4. As far as space in the splashers (mentioned by John) for EM or P4 I cannot say: -

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[gz3xzf]

Been a long summer, but with the recent rain I have been thinking about this model again, spent some time fitting the front lamp irons to the smokebox and running plate, I think I have the middle ones at about the right hieght: -

 

I will do the back next.

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[gz3xzf]

Another little update, but the execution took ages!!

I have fitted the lamp brackets on the bunker back, they took ages to position and get them in line, hopefully once painted the contrast will be better and they will be more obvious.

 

 

I have now also started on the SEF R1 Class 0-6-0T, I will post some pictures later; I was wondering how to change the title of the topic or should I start a new topic?

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[gz3xzf]

So here are the first bits of the R1 build, I am using the basic SEF body kit and the SEF chassis, motor and gearbox. I have purchased some additional detailing parts from Branchlines and Markits.

Unlike the H Class I am building this loco with a live chassis (the H has all wheels insulated and pickups on all wheels), this one will have the driving wheels insulated on one side only. I am going to attempt fitting back-scratcher pickups. I will be using a Gaugemaster DCC29 6-pin decoder, utilising the 8-pin to 6-pin connector cable that comes with the decoder.

So far I have put together the chassis: -

 

Fitted the brake gear:-

 

I have added the main running plate casting to the chassis and soldered in the 8BA nuts: -

 

I have started fitting the superstructure together, initially I soldered the bunker back to the running plate and then the cab/tank sides to these, but it turned out the boiler would not fit between the tank sides, therefore I had to unsolder the tank sides, position the boiler and tank sides together and solder the tanks to the running plate so that it would all be in the right place: -

 

I have started to put the cab together, but I am finding that the parts do not fit together correctly and will require some modification to get them looking right.

 

Which brings me on to a question for the forum, does anybody have a general arrangement drawing of the R1 so I can get an idea of where the back & front of the cab fit in relation to the rest of the locomotive.

 

Thanks for reading, hopefully my ramblings are useful.

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[pete_mcfarlane]

I have vague memories of having problems with the cab on mine - there's a little more detail here, although I didn't say where I removed material from the cab sidesheets....

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73343-ser-r1-0-6-0t/&do=findComment&comment=1093648

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Brian

 

Nice work, H class looks Fab. I have recently built the SEF chassis for a Hornby Dublo R1 and am very pleased with it, just now detailing the body to complete.  will watch with interest.

Keep up the good work.

All the best

Chris​​

[gz3xzf]

 

On 24/09/2015 at 20:02, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Brian

 

Nice work, H class looks Fab. I have recently built the SEF chassis for a Hornby Dublo R1 and am very pleased with it, just now detailing the body to complete.  will watch with interest.

Keep up the good work.

All the best

 

Chris

Thanks Chris, I am afraid I am putting off the dreaded day I need to get out the paint brush as I have always disliked painting things, I have a can of Halfords etch primer in the garage ready to start, but I thought I would get the R1 (Christmas present from Mrs H) to the same stage and paint both at once.

 

On 22/09/2015 at 23:50, pete_mcfarlane said:

I have vague memories of having problems with the cab on mine - there's a little more detail here, although I didn't say where I removed material from the cab sidesheets....

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73343-ser-r1-0-6-0t/&do=findComment&comment=1093648

Pete, thanks for the link, I have had a read and you have shown me initially where I went wrong.......

 

I first tried to fit the cab back sheet on the bunker top using the ledge that the instructions appeared to indicate, but as can be seen from the first picture is way too far forward: -

 

So I then decided the bunker top was upside down, so was going to make up the cab roof with the side and back sheets, fitting that to the front cab sheet would give the position of the back. Before I started I found that measuring the cab side sheets against the roof that they needed 2mm removed (one from the front and one from the back) to make them fit. So here is the cab made up rested on the loco: -

 

Here is a piccy of the separated parts: -

 

Now the problem I noticed was that the back sheet was wrong, it appears that the kit came with one R1 and an H cab back sheet to fit the Wainwright cab, of course I had used the H one and it looked wrong marked in the picture below: -

 

So now I had to swap the cab back, but at least the other work didn't need redoing, here are some more pictures of the cab with the correct back sheet, also in the first picture you can see the cylinder top/smokebox base has been soldered into position along with the front splashers, the boiler is only resting in position: -

 

 

Thanks for reading, any comments, hints or help are welcomed.

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[gz3xzf]

Quick update of the work today and some arrivals in the post.

First the arrivals, Branchlines order arrived, Wainwright chimney, Wainwright steam reverser and a set of Ashford style buffers: -

 

Markits order of clack valves, vacuum & steam heat pipes, smokebox door handle, tall ros pop safety valves and a strip of phospher-bronze for pickups: -

 

On the actual loco I have fitted the smokebox door to the smokebox front ring and fitted that to the boiler casting, I have fitted the rear driver splasher boxes in the cab, here is a photo of the loco as it stands at the moment: -

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[bigbadbadge]

Very nice work.  looks great.

 

All the best

 

Chris

[gz3xzf]

Today has been all about electrical pick-up, I have fitted the "back-scratcher" pick-ups and wired the 6-pin decoder socket. This loco has a "live" chassis therefore it technically only needs pick-ups on one side, but I have fitted pick-ups both sides. Firstly this was because I realised that the pick-ups would push all the axle side play to one side only; fitting a pick-up on the other side will balance this out. Secondly, it would make certain that the electrical pick-up was directly from the tyre rim, rather than via the axle. So here is the front pick-ups complete: -

 

Then the non-insulated side: -

 

Finally with the wheels fitted: -

 

Then I soldered the 4 rear most pick-ups: -

 

Now here is the DCC29 decoder and the 8-pin to 6-pin converter cable: -

 

Now I have cut off the 8-pin plug and chopped off the front and rear light supply cables (white and yellow), the orange and grey are the motor supply and the red/black is supply from the track: -

 

Here are the rear most pick-ups bent to shape: -

 

Finally we have the whole ensemble, the red wire is connected to the insulated side of the chassis (which happens to be the right, the black is soldered to the frames, the grey and orange wires are connected to a two pin socket for the motor: -

 

 

Couple of points, I used some yellow shrink wrap on the rear pick-ups as it is more flexible to the black at the front and once I had everything plugged and soldered the chassis wouldn't run smoothly, I think I have traced this to the pick-ups having too much pressure on the coupled wheels, I have to strip down the chassis again and sort it out.

 

Otherwise the electrical circuit is good and I can run the motor using a decoder and directly from a DC track using a 6=pin blanking plug.

 

Hope this is useful, I'll post an update when I get it running smoothly.

Edited October 2, 2023 by gz3xzf
Re-adding photos.

[DLT]

Hi Bryan,

 

I think the shrink-wrap could be the problem, as its quite stiff.  I didn't use any insulation on my backscratchers, you just need to make sure they don't touch the frames.  If there is a problem with this try sticking insulating material (little strip of tape, or smear of Araldite) to the frames rather than the pickups.

It takes a while to find the perfect pressure, to get sufficient pickup yet avoid them becoming brakes!

 

Great build by the way!

Cheers,

Dave.

[gz3xzf]

Hi Bryan,

 

I think the shrink-wrap could be the problem, as its quite stiff.  I didn't use any insulation on my backscratchers, you just need to make sure they don't touch the frames.  If there is a problem with this try sticking insulating material (little strip of tape, or smear of Araldite) to the frames rather than the pickups.

It takes a while to find the perfect pressure, to get sufficient pickup yet avoid them becoming brakes!

 

Great build by the way!

Cheers,

Dave.

Thanks Dave.

 

Well and hour or so fettling has meant that the chassis now runs smoothly, I have removed the shrink wrap from the top of the pick-ups (i.e. the bit on the sharp bend over the top of the frames) and more carefully adjusting the pressure of the pick-ups on the back of the wheels, I did this by making sure they are only very lightly touching at the extremes of the axle side play. I then fitted the body only to find that the wheels under the cab were fouling the splashers and therefore shorting, more fettling required. I am going to be looking at this next session.

 

This brings me to another question in dealing with Romford wheels and crank pins, how do people fix the coupling rods, I was considering soldering the brass collars onto the crank pin; how do others do it?

[OFFTHE RAILS]

So here are the first bits of the R1 build, I am using the basic SEF body kit and the SEF chassis, motor and gearbox. I have purchased some additional detailing parts from Branchlines and Markits................

 

Fitted the break-gear:-......................

 

Which brings me on to a question for the forum, does anybody have a general arrangement drawing of the R1 so I can get an idea of where the back & front of the cab fit in relation to the rest of the locomotive.

 

 

First -  locos have brake gear not break gear !

Second -  I have in front of me the BRM magazine of June 2009 which has 8 drawings in 4mm scale by Donald Taylor of the R and R1 class 0-6-0Ts with all the tall and low boiler mounting versions and the Stirling or Pagoda cab versions. 

If you want a copy of a particular version or all of them let me know by PM and I'll send them to you.

Some time ago I compared these drawings with the Hornby Dublo  model  and decided that the latter wasn't worth bothering with 

Ian

Edited October 2, 2015 by OFFTHE RAILS