1970's 9F

[Raised On Steam]

It is possible to put a Bachmann tender body onto a Hornby chassis but there is fettling and covering of gaps involved. I have a magazine article by George Dent on a Hornby Tyne Dock conversion where he covers this. The main differences seem to be the actual coupling to the loco, and buffer beam (attached to body on one, to the chassis on the other), and of course the ex ringfield motor housing needs to be cut down to allow for the coal space.

I'll be doing this myself in the future. Meantime my Hornby tender chassis inner had mazak-itis and became banana shaped so that'll need replacing too :-(

[JohnMartin90125]

It is possible to put a Bachmann tender body onto a Hornby chassis but there is fettling and covering of gaps involved. I have a magazine article by George Dent on a Hornby Tyne Dock conversion where he covers this. The main differences seem to be the actual coupling to the loco, and buffer beam (attached to body on one, to the chassis on the other), and of course the ex ringfield motor housing needs to be cut down to allow for the coal space.

I'll be doing this myself in the future. Meantime my Hornby tender chassis inner had mazak-itis and became banana shaped so that'll need replacing too :-(

 

One of the unfortunate things with the Hornby tenders was at some point, the tooling was altered to take a different drive unit.  Had they used one with the same dimensions, they could have used the old diesel non-powered bogie chassis block which could have had diesel pickups instead of the motor block, motor cover and other gubbins like they did.  Looks like tooling costs to revert it would have been so high that they kept it to suit the newer motor.

 

We're hearing more about mazak rot, it's getting worrying.  Not read it but believe there is a large thread on the super detailed Class 31 with this problem.  How good have the brands been about this problem I wonder?  Hopefully you'll come across a cheap eplacement, always used to love rumaging in scrap boxes at swop meets for bits like that.

[Raised On Steam]

I'm keeping an eye out for a reasonably priced tender block but of course unless I look for an older tender drive one I could have the same mazak trouble again! The one that was fitted to my model literally crumbled in my fingers when I removed it. Luckily the wheels and axles will go again.

If nothing suitable crops up I'll probably try making one from brass. I've saved the pick ups and wiring and hopefully I can fit them back on when I get it sorted.

[JohnMartin90125]

I did have a spare (almost complete) Type 1 Ringfield motor but still haven't found it, which I won't use.  Whilst a seemingly backward step, this old type may have advantages as I think it may have been pressed steel?  Not looked at one of these motors for ages so could be wrong about that but do remember thinking "that looks cheap and nasty" when I first saw one.  Pity they didn't use the twin worm motor bogie in the tender instead.  Just a thought, would a wrecked Class 31 bogie fit, Tri-ang or Airfix?  These can be cheap when fully intact, never mind broken up in scrap boxes.

 

I never liked Ringfield motors, especially Lima Pancake ones.  A supposedly new Class 09 shunter from when I was a kid disintergrated when I was putting a Zero 1 module in one.  I was gutted as an eleven year old would be!

[Raised On Steam]

Exactly what I'm thinking, an older fitting would probably be made from better metal.

[JohnMartin90125]

Ended up spraying (what was going to be) "Big Blue" black for now, once the air brush issue is sorted, will start again with another.  Was going to do another black one anyway.

 

Model is reassembled, leaving the smoke deflectors off and it looks a much more powerful locomotive without them but can easily be changed (that's the thing with a combination of pain killers and sleeping tablets, one's perception of reality is, erm, distorted).  A bit of gunmetal coloured paint on the valve gear and buffers is next and then to find the transfers.  Will post a picture when done but hopefully it will look something at least a bit different from the usual 9F in economy black livery.

 

Am thinking of a Gresley tender for it as it looks a lot bigger and has the appearance at least of having a greater fuel capacity (see caveat above though).

 

 

The trouble with using these GBL things are the inconsistancy of them, one of the 9Fs had a dint in the boiler side so may shove some airbraking bits in front of it to disguise it for Big Blue Revisited.  At least the white from the factory-applied superglue is covered and the track will hide the missing bit of wheel flange.  Will end here as am more than angry with them right now...

[Raised On Steam]

Be of stout heart. I had to fill in endless sink holes and dings on the KAD kit to get it looking straight.

My paint recipe for the valve gear was initially black with added silver for a black metal look. Then a wash of burnt sienna type colour here and there to give the rods that 'bronz-y' look they tend to have when exposed to the elements. Then some judicious blobs of black and brown (and spots of very pale beige for water mixed with oil) in places copying from photos of real rods. The secret ingredient was a coat of Pledge/Klear to get them glistening, with more coats for 'wetter/greasier' areas. Ended up looking pretty nice and definitely a technique I'll be using on Big Blacky.

And speaking of my black 'un - it has me beaten just now. I can't decide how to attach the air pumps to its running board. The pipework's all done ready to fit, but those damn pumps! I've put it on the shelf for now as work stuff's taken over til xmas. Maybe it'll be new year - new 9F!

[JohnMartin90125]

Found most of my transfers, still haven't found the cantrail stripe pack, want everything together before I do the last bits on it but almost there.  Valve gear is preshaded in black awaiting the gun metal, will play with some varnish to give the wet oiled look.

 

Got some Sanky Scenics Midland Region reporting codes but because they are so crisp and shiny, my other half is photocopying them to make them a bit more faded.  For the amount that is in the pack, £2.99 is a bit expensive for them.  Together with the 1970s warning flashes, my approaches for Big Black will be more about subtleness, the blue one won't be!

 

From some transfer oddments bought at a toyfair, there is a small yellow panel meant for Derby Lightweights which I may put on the front on a cut piece of plasticard to hang the headcode numbers off, smokebox door looks too crowded as it is, although with a Birkenhead lower lamp position, it may not look too off with the headcode on top.  Let's see as something else might grab my fancy in the meantime.  Pity about the moulded ladder on the tender as would have liked to have used the yellow panel on the rear.

 

As the tender body even had the transfer positioning lines copied and even thicker than the Tri-ang one, it looks naff in economy black without logos so the arrows are a must.  Forgot to pick some white BR arrows from Replica whilst at Warley (too busy chatting to Godfrey, great chap), my rubdown silver ones are of the right size but they didn't look right, neither does the smaller white ones with the DMU set.

 

Did pick up a set of Hornby (Britannia) smoke deflectors with the nameplates William Shakespear printed and pricked out handrails (don't buy them mail order from EKM as there was an awful lot of badly printed ones in amongst the few decent ones, visual inspection required if you want to do it).  Does change the character of the loco having a different name without the plaque but will save them for Big Blue, the bottom positioning lugs will need a very slight trim to fit in the GBL hole.

 

Not long to go before it's done. (edit for typo)

[Raised On Steam]

As it's xmas here's some GOOD Hornby related tidings:

My Railroad 9F tender chassis crumbled with a case of mazak-itis and I wasn't sure what to do about it. A model shop near me advised me to send it back to Hornby which, given the amount of complaints I'd recently read about them I was a bit hesitant about. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though so I emailed them and they got straight back to me, I sent the tender to them and a replacement arrived a few days later (yesterday). Result! A big thank you to Hornby from me.

Chassis now sorted (including the tender pick ups) ​I'm on the lookout for a suitable BR1B body for it now…..

[JohnMartin90125]

As it's xmas here's some GOOD Hornby related tidings:

My Railroad 9F tender chassis crumbled with a case of mazak-itis and I wasn't sure what to do about it. A model shop near me advised me to send it back to Hornby which, given the amount of complaints I'd recently read about them I was a bit hesitant about. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though so I emailed them and they got straight back to me, I sent the tender to them and a replacement arrived a few days later (yesterday). Result! A big thank you to Hornby from me.

Chassis now sorted (including the tender pick ups) ​I'm on the lookout for a suitable BR1B body for it now…..

 

I always get muddled on the BR tenders - high sided one?  I need one to go with 92212, the ex-Margate leftover body I bought some years ago was matched to an 'ordinary' one.  Would give a bit of variety if nothing else.

 

Still like the idea of an LNER 8 wheel corridor tender, looks more modern to me than the BR standard and being bigger, looks like higher capacity, not that I went into figures on how much coal and water they carried.  Beginning to think an extra LNER tender might be useful, one for big blue and one for big black.

[ozzyo]

Hello John,

 

if you want a big tender for your 9F you want the BR1F (IIRC) as seen below to the left. This tender had 5,000 gal. of water or was it 5625 Gal.and I think 8 tons of coal or was it 7 tons.

 

Adding a ex L.N.E.R. tender to the 9F may look good but would it still fit on a 65' or 70' TT.

 

OzzyO.

[Raised On Steam]

The various BR tenders do tend to get people confused. I've seen them labelled wrongly in books! 

I'm after a BR1B as that was the type fitted to the Tyne Dock 9F's. However if I turn the railroad into another BR blue example then it could theoretically be hitched to a different type of tender like a 1F.

[Sylvian Tennant]

Might be worth looking here fr a bribe tender, i got a BR1F for my railroad 9F. looks quite nice behind it. 

 

http://www.goldenarrow.me.uk/products.htm

[Raised On Steam]

I'd had a look on Golden Arrow's site but the tender kits are on a dead link so couldn't see pics of them to figure out how detailed they are. What are they like to work on? I've had a look at your blog 9F pics.

[Sylvian Tennant]

they're pretty good when you've fettled them. With them being resin there is some tidying up to do and filling but over all I'd rather be doing that then stressing over a Dave Alexander white metal one (though they look good as well). 

[JohnMartin90125]

Hello John,

 

if you want a big tender for your 9F you want the BR1F (IIRC) as seen below to the left. This tender had 5,000 gal. of water or was it 5625 Gal.and I think 8 tons of coal or was it 7 tons.

Copy (3) of img656.jpg

 

Adding a ex L.N.E.R. tender to the 9F may look good but would it still fit on a 65' or 70' TT.

 

OzzyO.

 

That's the sort of tender I meant, doing a static model of a fictional representation, turntables won't matter.  Model won't have a rolling chassis in anycase.

 

Maybe for much later on, may try the Dapol (ex-Airfix) Evening Star kit.  How well do they go together and how fiddly are they to build?  I have some limitations with what I can do...

[Raised On Steam]

The Dapol kit is mostly pretty good to build. The valve gear is a bit of a faff as you'd expect but other than that straightforward. Lots of cleaning up to do typical of a forty year old kit.

Basic improvements I'd suggest are replacing the handrails, thinning the coupling rods, thinning the smoke deflectors, smokebox door handles, cylinder relief valves and drain pipes, cab glazing, improve the pipework around the cab and injectors cluster, sandbox filler pipes (fiddly), and scratchbuilding more prototypical reversing gear bracket webs (extremely fiddly). Also you can build up the cab end of the chassis to be more like the real thing (I also scratchbuilt some AWS equipment) and add AWS conduit run along the running plate.

[JohnMartin90125]

The Dapol kit is mostly pretty good to build. The valve gear is a bit of a faff as you'd expect but other than that straightforward. Lots of cleaning up to do typical of a forty year old kit.

Basic improvements I'd suggest are replacing the handrails, thinning the coupling rods, thinning the smoke deflectors, smokebox door handles, cylinder relief valves and drain pipes, cab glazing, improve the pipework around the cab and injectors cluster, sandbox filler pipes (fiddly), and scratchbuilding more prototypical reversing gear bracket webs (extremely fiddly). Also you can build up the cab end of the chassis to be more like the real thing (I also scratchbuilt some AWS equipment) and add AWS conduit run along the running plate.

 

In other words, buy a Bachmann one for a good 'un!  I'm only really able to do very basic things nowadays so mods for me are down to decoration and swoping compatable parts over. 

 

Apart from the lack of white double arrow transfers, should have big black more or less finished this week.  Silver-coloured ones just don't work on a steam loco, maybe the white is more obvious?  Just can't put my finger on why the silver does not look right.

[Raised On Steam]

The Dapol's still nice to build even without all my suggestions.