West End Workbench

[micklner]

Seasons Greetings Jonathan

 

Loco coming on nicely

[jwealleans]

Well, the loco has been fighting back for a couple of days.  I had a long session on Boxing Day when I completed the tender.  I had to scratchbuild all the front as none of the parts were present.  I can see what he might have been getting at - there are significant differences between this and the Isinglass drawing - but it would have been nice to have at least some of the bits to alter or make use of.

 

Anyway, tender done I stuck the boiler on yesterday and I knew there was something wrong but it took me a while to twig what - viewed from above, by the time you reached the smokebox the boiler was about 2mm right of the centre line.  I'm still scratching my head a bit as to how this happened  - I thought I might have got the wrappers slightly misaligned and created a twist like that, but the chimney and ejector pipe holes line up perfectly.  I wonder if he's rolled the boiler slightly off?  Anyway off it came and after adjusting the wrapper at the smokebox end and at the third attempt I think it's about right.  I'm still not convinced the boiler doesn't drop slightly towards the front - I've measured several times and it's fractions of a mil if it does, but you know how you get an idea into your head and can't shake it out?  Hopefully the photos will help.  I shan't be touching it for a couple of days now so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.

 

I've also illustrated the way the Multibox goes into the chassis.  That is assembled and running but still to be run in and have pickups fitted.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Well, after that slight hiccup we're finishing the year with a positive.  I got the boiler level - at the cost of a slightly sloping gap under the smokebox front.  The chassis fettled up beautifully - I don't think I've ever had to do so little work to a chassis to get it running smoothly - and once it's been apart for painting we'll fix the con rods on permanently.  Most of yesterday and this afternoon has been gilding it.

 

 

 

I may well have another of these to build later in the year and it will be interesting to see what difference there is between the straight kit and what I got here.  I seem to have two sets of castings - perhaps there's someone else who bought something from him without any?  - and what I think are extras.  The chimney and dome are brass castings, I suspect Gibson.  I got rid of one of the truly awful tender toolboxes and replaced that with a Gibson cast one I had in stock.  The other was too firmly attached and better looking so it stayed.  I had no snifting valve, so that was pinched from a K3 kit.  The cab vent I made up from plastic strip - the kit one looked nothing like the drawing - and I also added the sleeve over the reversing rod which doesn't seem to be in the kit.  I've made up sander operating rods and sandpipes from wire and added some lubricating pipe runs which aren't on the instructions either.  

 

All that said this is not a bad kit at all to build and would have taken a lot less time if it had been complete.  But, hey, if it all went that smoothly it would be boring, wouldn't it?  

 

Flushed with that success I went into another half built kit I got in the same lot, but this one does seem to be all there.   More on that story later.

 

And finally.... a happy new year to all my readers.

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[Worsdell forever]

Looks fantastic Jonathan, go on tell us what the next one is...

[jwealleans]

Don't like to keep you in suspense, Paul.  I don't suppose there'll be too many more of these built:

 

 

This came in the same job lot as the J19, one of three.  The other two are unstarted: on this one the sides had been assembled, the floorpan bent up and the bogies made, so I spent the best part of an hour last night looking through the parts and instructions, then about four hours this afternoon and early evening after I came back in putting it together.

 

 

What an excellent kit.  I've not built any of Mike's before (and I'll say now that I much prefer them to open along the solebar than the roof) but this was like falling off a log.  Clear, thorough and extensive instructions and information, bits which fitted, sensible hints and construction ideas... if Ebay fills up with these because of the new Hornbys then you could do worse than snap them up.  I have a stack of Kirk non-vestibuled stock so it's unlikely I'll rush out and build many more of these but that shouldn't detract from how good it is.  I shall look forward to the other two much more after this one.

 

Two questions: how do people usually secure the roofs and does anyone know who might do a smokebox number for the J19?  None of my usual sources offer one.

Edited September 29, 2018 by jwealleans

[scottiedog]

Jonathan,

 

If I remember, I will bring a couple of my built MJT Gresley 61'6" Coaches with me on Friday, so that you can see how  the "removable" roofs have been secured. The method is similar to that used on Danny's NER coaches.

 

David.

[jwealleans]

Been a painting and decorating day today. Trains, not domestic. First up the J19, now with boiler bands, handrails, works plates and in Stratford's finest black.

 

 

As expected, after I'd soldered up the crankpins and test run I had to remove some material from under the splashers where they had been lowered and a 'lip' left under the running plate. No real hardship and she goes well now. Here she is with a J17 I built in 2005 from the same manufacturer:

 

 

I've also located a smokebox numberplate at the Old Time Workshop.

 

The coach has also been through the paintshop:

 

 

I'm going to take a leaf from Tom's book and do this one as a refurbished post war example, now due for another works visit and looking a bit tired. There were teak coaches on the gE until at least 1956 so I can get away with thsi on Thurston.

 

I've also been painting this, which is a Kirk I bought second hand at the New Year's Day swapmeet in the Marton Country Club, if anyone remembers those. It's had new underpinnings, MJT bogies and roof vents and the previous paint job was removed with Modelstrip.

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by jwealleans

[Guest Tom F]

I'm going to take a leaf from Tom's book and do this one as a refurbished post war example

Also saves on all that pesky lining out!

All looking very nice and I'm very much liking your painted teaks. Is it varnishing after the numbering?

[jwealleans]

Actually, lining out with a Bob Moore is pretty straightforward although I'm nowhere near Larry's standard yet.  On beading it's easier, I find.  This will just get lettering, varnishing and then the door and commode handles added.  I have the interior to do as well, of course. 

 

Putting the handles and handrails onto that Kirk is what really brings them out - you'll see what it's done and you ought to consider it for the ones you were looking at building.

[jwealleans]

Painting and decorating goes on, but none of us likes watching paint dry... so we're into another project. This is a dining car to go with the Restaurant First I built for Thurston. It usually ran with an ex-GE RTO, but the etches I have for that are prior to its rebuild so I thought we'd try for a substitute, a GE section D27B. It's a while since I did a Kirk kit so here are some of the steps I go through with them. Not much of the original kit gets used, in point of fact.

 

This coach will run at the head of a set of Bachmann Mk1s, so proprietary bogies seemed the way to go to avoid coupling problems. The centres are packed up to allow them to pivot against similar flat packing on the coach floor.

 

 

The body, at least, is assembled as you might expect. This is kit 8853, D 186 TTO.

 

 

I throw away the floor and use Paxolin. This is cut to be a snug fit inside the body. The old floor can be used to mark the bogie fixing positions, here with some packing added to get the ride height correct. Solebars are Evergreen channel or - as here - I-beam, 1/8" deep.

 

 

The coach will separate at the solebar. To fix them together I stick a piece of 40 thou plastikard in the end vestibules. This is spaced up the thickness of the Paxolin. Then I solder 10BA nuts to some scrap etch and use that as a guide to drill out holes in the plastic. The holes are then continued into the floor and the nuts and plate secured with superglue. The floor assembly can then be bolted to the body up from underneath.

 

 

Now at this point last night my brain burst into life and I remembered that a D186 is not quite like a D27B and needed altering. This is much easier to do on flat sides before you stick them together. The beading needs changing so as to have 3 side panels not 5. Additionally on one side the toilet is blanked out and there's a 5 panel section behind which were luggage shelves. I managed to do this without wrecking the thing last night:

 

 

I should have pointed out that the Paxolin goes copper side down so you can solder all the undergubbins to it. Most of these came from Comet as they're what I had in stock. This is this evening's progress - I've also added the beading to the side panelling. The slight stain on the roof is filler - Kirk roofs are always too long and rather than file the ends and make them even more bulbous (some think they start too bulbous) I cut a couple of mil out just by the end of the roof board holders and then stick the two halves back together.

 

 

I also had a bit of a fiddle with this, which was an Ebay spot this week. I think it's Jidenco, and it's an LNWR Chemical Pan wagon, or more likely LMS general trolley wagon by my period.

 

 

It was sagging slightly at the ends of the floor (I assume there's a half etched line there) so I've soldered some brass angle behind the wheels at each end to brace it a bit. Quite a characterful little model and with a bit more detail and a repaint should look the part.

Edited September 23, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Fitted my standard BB coupling and tested with the accompanying RF, along with a Hornby Gresley I remembered I had to check clearances on curves.  

 

 

 

I'm pleased with that panelling.  I've used the Kirk corridor connector here so we don't risk fouling the RTR coaches this will run with.  They aren't mine, so I can't test them until the next show, which is a bit late really.

 

I also made a start on the interior.  I don't have any suitable seats so an order will be off to Southern Pride tomorrow.  I'll use the Kirk tables although some will have to be shortened (these were 2 + 1 rather than 2 + 2).

 

 

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent painting passengers, a job I hate doing.

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[46444]

Fitted my standard BB coupling and tested with the accompanying RF, along with a Hornby Gresley I remembered I had to check clearances on curves.  

 

 

 

I'm pleased with that panelling.  I've used the Kirk corridor connector here so we don't risk fouling the RTR coaches this will run with.  They aren't mine, so I can't test them until the next show, which is a bit late really.

 

I also made a start on the interior.  I don't have any suitable seats so an order will be off to Southern Pride tomorrow.  I'll use the Kirk tables although some will have to be shortened (these were 2 + 1 rather than 2 + 2).

 

 

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent painting passengers, a job I hate doing.

 

Really nice work Jonathan.

 

Thanks for explaining your use of Paxolin too and the underframe construction. I've three Kirk kits I gave up with due to wonky chassis and roofs that wouldn't fit due to poor moulding. This shows what can be done with these kits and the excellent results which can be achieved.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[jwealleans]

Thanks, Mark.  Personally I like the ease with which you can cut and shut these kits and for all their age, with some effort and a decent paint job they don't look out of place with the new Hornbys or etched vehicles.  I'm sure they'd be worth your effort.

Edited January 14, 2013 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Bit quiet from me as my camera has been on a short break to France. However I've struggled manfully on despite the added burden of having to look after myself.....

 

J19 has acquired an identity and smokebox plates are on the way from 247 Developments.

 

 

I've painted more passengers than I care to think about and populated all the coaches I want to finish in time for Nottingham.

 

MJT D50:

 

 

Framlingham branch set:

 

 

The D27A. I've noticed that the drawing shows the wrong window vents, they should be a later 3 section type. Too late to change them now.

 

 

One of the next projects is already under way - this is a NuCast (probably) F4 ready for detailing bits. It will get a new mechanism eventually but for the moment a cosmetic upgrade will have to do. This loco is from a collection which was sold off on the LNER forum last year. Has anyone else who bought one through 'Autocar Publicity' tried to strip the paint off one of these locos? I don't know what the chap used but it was remarkably resistant - three separate soaking in Nitromors removed less than half of it. In the end it went in a jar of Caustic Soda which did the trick. I shall be on to the Alan Gibson workshop for the bits very shortly.

 

 

Finally a bit of whimsy - a 7mm wagon which will run on Marske when it goes back into pregrouping, prewar mode. Peter Simmerson built and painted this and asked me to letter it as something fictitious but with a local flavour. The lettering is HMRS 4mm Private Owner. I'm getting towards the end of the sheet as you may be able to tell. For anyone interested the kit is Majestic Models MW 45.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Had a stinking cold for a couple of weeks so there's not been much to put up.  I was waiting for bits from Alan Gibson - we were playing telephone tennis - so in the meantime another project came to mind.  Regular readers may recall this:

 

 

which I acquired through a member of the LNER forum last year.  I did query the tender at the time, but it is correct for this kit and (I learned) for all the Raven pacifics for the last year and a half or so of their lives.  Thing is, I don't like it.  So, the go-to man these days for things NER is Arthur Kimber, who I contacted to ask if he was planning the original 4125 gallon tender these drew.  The answer was yes, it was planned, so I left it at that.

 

Just before Christmas, Arthur contacted me to ask if I'd do a test build of the tender for him.  That suited me fine and a package duly arrived in early January.  I left it to one side while I got the jobs for Thurston finished and then went to make a start.  By then I'd managed to lose the instructions which came with it, but as it happened I found them over the weekend.  I also found the right size wheels in stock and last night came up with the motivation to make a start.

 

 

This is about an hour and a half's work.  The chassis is nickel silver, very nicely etched and folded up accurately.  The instructions (for the 3940 gallon version, there aren't any for this one yet) suggested using 2mm bearings, but enlarging the frame holes for the ones I had looked like far too much work, so I soldered a 2mm washer each side, eased a file through to allow the axles to rotate easily and then thinned the outside washer a little to give a fraction of sideplay.  It rolls nicely and goes round a 3' curve with no problems.

 

More as I feel up to it, which certainly won't be tonight.

Edited September 30, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

I felt up to a little brake action last night. Brake gear is on the same etch as the chassis, which is quite a hefty gauge and when folded over (as a lot of the components are designed to be) it's a satisfyingly robust set of parts.

 

 

There may be a trick to putting it together - I just threaded it all on to the transverse wires and then positioned it all at once before soldering up. It made an assembly Mike Clark himself would have been proud of, especially the minute washers and shackles on the pull rods, but they all went on and I didn't need too many of the plentiful spares provided. It did all goes together as it should - I suspect someone who needs professional help could make it work if they put their mind to it, but I'm not there yet.

 

 

The sharp eyed will notice that the rear shoes are angled differently to the others (Arthur is probably holding his head in his hands now) - that's because I've managed to get the cross rod through the wrong holes. It has been corrected now. I've not been well, you know.....

 

I should point out that everything you need to mark out for CSBs is provided on the chassis, you just add the High Level hornblocks and wire and away you bounce.

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Moved on to the body last night. This is where the instructions are less useful as there are a surprising number of differences between this and the smaller version. However the major subassemblies are obvious and one of the great things about Arthur's kits is that you can slot them together in the confidence they'll fit and work out in what order you need to solder things.

 

 

So from these, applying overlays and slotting together, I managed to build up this:

 

 

Still more to do before the body and base plate can be attached and lining it all up with the chassis shows that I've got the fore and aft spacers the wrong way round, but it's all very encouraging up to now.

 

What I don't have is an idea of the tender faceplate arrangement; nothing in Hoole or the NE Record, I don't have the Yeadon and a look at the DJH instructions for this type of tender shows that theirs is completely different. Anyone know of a picture or drawing?

 

Finally an idea from Arthur's instructions which was new to me - apologies to those who've been doing this for years. It's for forming the tender flares. I remember one of my first etched kits (may have been a J17) spending ages working out how to do this and even longer tidying up after I tried it. Anyway, this works and was very simple.

 

First of all the etched flare piece and the 1/8" rod I would have used to form it. Use the masking tape to atached the flare to the rod (think carefully about which way it has to bend).

 

 

Then find a hard piece of rubber. Arthur suggests insole material, but Mrs W put up too much of a fight to get hold of her slipper, so the hardest available piece of rubber I had was a large elastic band. I taped this along the rod over the top of the flare.

 

 

Then the whole lot went into the vice and became compressed.

 

 

It works. What more can I say.

Edited May 20, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Thank you to all the people who pointed out the picture of the tender front in Hoole which I'd missed and to those who sent drawings. I haven't got to the front yet, last night was devoted to flares (apparently they're back, you know) and coal rails. I also managed to work out what I'd done to the frame spaces which stopped the fixing holes lining up.

 

 

The flare and corners worked out pretty well, I thought.

 

 

Among the details which give kits like this their class are these rather fetching lifting eyes.

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Soldering now complete and ready for castings and primer.  Note that as I will be lining this I have deliberately omitted handrails and lamp irons which will be added after painting.

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

We're now done; a bit of excess Araldite to remove and a couple of slipped axleboxes to straighten, but this will probably see primer today.  Buffers have been left off to aid painting.

 

 

 

I don't quite know why such a large locomotive should look so much better with a smaller tender, but it does.

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Tender's hardening off in primer, so back to the previous project, an F4.  I might yet get this done for Nottingham as I don't in tend to rebuild the chassis until after the show.  Part of Tuesday evening was spent adding detail using mainly Gibson parts and quite a bit of wire.

 

 

I think to fit into the right era and area it may actually be an F5, but hey, who can tell (apart from BJ)?

Edited September 30, 2018 by jwealleans

[Adam]

Is it a trick of the camera or is that chimney a touch off the vertical? It certainly doesn't appear to be in the same plane as the dome and the Westinghouse pump. A great improvement otherwise.

 

Adam

[jwealleans]

That was my first reaction on seeing the photo.  It was slightly forward - the camera has exaggerated it greatly.  Tweaked back half a mil and looks much better.  I'd also missed the handrails at the front of the tanks, which are now present.

[Adam]

It's amazing what a boon (and, to an extent, a curse) digital photography is. Much better to spot these things before the paint is on...

 

Adam

[jwealleans]

Much better to spot these things before the paint is on.

 Oh, the paint was on by then.