sir douglas Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 After Monday morning Gilgamesh was dismantled for repainting and fitting the sand pots. the pots still needed to be shortened. While cutting it down with the dremel one pinged out of my hand into the black hole. i was going to start again on the other one but for the modifications and addition needed i thought it best to start again with 2 new pots, these ones have an extra piece on the side to give extra surface area to stick them down to the footplate and once painted over with matt black no one will notice. On the painting front, unfortunately the green i was using dried up, the lid must have not been on properly. a quick substitute was made up with a mini pot of 150 forest green lightened to something like apple green with some yellow. a coat of that on actually looks better. i was extra careful to not touch it with my hands even after it was dry, i held it by the chimney or steam dome, all of this then got a coat of matt varnish sand pots stuck in place ive pretty much decided what im going to do with the front wheels now Now that the wagons and brakevan are out of the way and gilgamesh is nearly there, ive gone back to a North British 16 ton i started back in April. Its only a little bit of work just on the end timbers. The door end was bugging me with only the drawing to go off since photos dont show the end that well but Mark's wagons at out show helped visualise it for me and i took some photos for reference. Not related to the photos but on the drawing, the end door had to be moved in by 1.75mm so that the frame timber is flush with the bufferbeam instead of the planking. the vertical timbers on the other end were next with the ironwork 7 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted December 10, 2019 Author Share Posted December 10, 2019 the new front wheel mounting made up today, bearings mad of layering .5mm nickel and the frame is cut and bent from .25mm nickel. the beatings are held in their slots by some brass wire soldered on. The bearings havent got brass bushes though they might one day in the future when they wear out enough to need it. I'm now thinking about the suspension. old on the left and new on the right 7 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 i have the parts made for the suspension but left my iron at the club so couldnt put it all together last night. instead went back to the fettling list made after doing the Upton & Middleton shows, pick something and tick it off. HLR No 20, a dumb buffer wagon had short couplings and the insufficient width of the bufferheads was causing the neighbouring wagon's buffers to pass by on a certain curve on my layout which then threw the wagon off wen they straightened up. 2 easy fixes, make new chain and add wood to the bufferheads, though a bit more work had to be done by replacing worn out styrene hook plate with brass. for a while ive been wanting to replace my brass chain jig for a steel one as over time the jig wears out and the chain links made from it gradually get shorter as mentioned above about replacing short chain. The last hour was spent cutting and filing 2 coat hooks to bolt together into a new longer lasting jig. the actual jig part is the same dimensions as before 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 ive got my iron back and put the new suspension together, the wheels are repainted and varnished, Now i'm having to rebuild the cylinder block to fit The changes shown to No 20 have also been done to the other Dumb buffer "Redwall". the first chain to be made on the new jig 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sir douglas Posted December 15, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 15, 2019 Its just about done now, just need to order the name plates 16 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted January 6, 2020 Author Share Posted January 6, 2020 my o gauge modelling has gone quiet while i work more on Eyemouth as well as 2 side projects at home which I dont yet want to share until they are done, if they ever get done. Gilgamesh has somehow developed slight damage to a gear tooth causing the motor worm to slip out of mesh. i cant be bothered at the moment to take it all apart to replace so it sits un touched since. Now a 3rd of my 9 locos are out of use, all of them with gear issues. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 a bit of resurrection on the loco front, i found a pack of second hand brass loco gears & steel worms i had got sometime in the past year, i didnt think of it before because i thought they were too small and forgot about them today while looking for something else i saw them and thought of using one on Highwind, it is 1mm smaller in diameter that the old damaged gear but it was quick and easy to disassemble and swap them over, there is enough room in the gearbox slots for the motor to move over and plenty in the body for it too, it is now sat running in on the croc clips, ive got Highwind running again, leaving just J.Aspdin and Gilgamesh for another day 11 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted January 25, 2020 Author Share Posted January 25, 2020 now that i feel that im not going to abandon this side project i wanted to post it https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/151107-a-colonial-side-project/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 will be at Doncaster this weekend helping on Overlord Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 Another oddity for you. As i said in the side project, i was given a box of OO loco bits including 3 diesel bogie/tender drive chassis', i cant just add pick ups to them as they are because of the rubber tyres. one of them will be bodged into O gauge. I bought a pack of plain wagon wheels at Doncaster to go with it. since the axle gears are moulded to the wheels i kept them on that side, i was going to pop off the tyres but they help keep the idler gears in place which just sit on brass stubs, the original middle wheels are kept for the same reason and it takes the power through between the wheels. the end wheels were drilled out to 1/8th and my usual block grub screws were fitted with the 2 locating wires. the chassis is held central with tube and washers on the unpowered side. i havent yet tested this set up but the chassis was a good runner before i did anything to it. The block also conveniently has 2 threaded holes at either end to mount the outer chassis when i get around to it In other news sparodic progress is being made on the Bolster twins. the sodlebar bolt heads were finished and brake gear modified from slaters kit spares. The colour is brown as i want something other than grey. it was going to be all brown but i really cant help myself with the black, there is just something about it that for me a wagon always looks better with black ironwork 5 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Whenever i'm running my layout, i dont like having more than 1 of the same wagon on at the same time, such as i have x2 G&SWR 10 tons, x2 midland 8 ton vans and x2 Midland 3 plank dropsides. i only ever have one of each out and ive now come to the conclusion that the other 1 of each (3 wagons) is surplus to my requirements so at some point i would like to sell the G&SWR and the MR van but ive made a start on rebuilding the 3 plank into something else. i'm going to have a go at an early Great Eastern round end as found on https://basilicafields.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/great-eastern-railway-wagons-part-1-round-ended-opens/ The sides have been peeled off, the ends cut from the bufferbeams and since this photo the axle boxes ahve been cut back to not look midland 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 (edited) For years ive been wanting to finally get rid of the cardboard boiler on J Aspdin and i was never happy with the cab steps as they were a work around that made then offset from where they should be and curved to avoid the crank pin. The loco has been lengthened over buffer beams by 9mm and is now a scale 20ft, the body was cut inbetween the smokebox and tanks and the footplate gap filled in on top of styrene beams glued across the length of the loco under either side of the footplate. The smokebox was very flimsy and previously bodged inside making it worse. This was cut off but i'm keeping the sand pots and chimney to re use on a new smokebox, an area of footplate material under there has been cut out as it got ripped removing the smokebox. the new one will look the same but be much more robust. The chassis frames are also being scrapped as they are not salvageable for my new intentions. All of the new 9mm in length is going on the rear over hang which pushes the body back so the steps can be "normal" and the new proportions also gives overall better looks to the loco. while looking for inspiration, ive been looking at threads for the Hunslet 14, 15 and 16 inch saddle tank Hunslets with drawings of such posted by Mr Edge. my new main frame shape ias based on these and the middle wheel has been shifted forward of the wheelbase centre such as on the Padarn Hunslets on which this was originally based, this also meant making new coupling rods. Now then, the original reason why J Aspdin needed attention was the gearbox, the above work was just other thing i also wanted to do. The problem was a worn out plastic gear which also tilted out of mesh because it was thin, new gears have been chosen which are thicker, this new gear has been reamed out and fitted with the grub screw block, the new gearbox frame plates have been cut, drilled and prepared. The old frame has been cut back leaving flanges to solder the new ones on. the new gearbox will include an idler gear which doesn't give any gain in reduction ration but raises the motor so it doesn't have to squeeze between the frames. On the old chassis, the gearbox was on the front axle meaning that the boiler had to be cut away for it and it was visible, now it will be the other way around on the rear axle and the motor is short enough that it won't visible behind the smokebox like that was and is hidden between the tanks ive recently been watching many Chieftan youtube videos and his speech pattern is stuck in my head influencing how ive been structuring this post, if it seems any different to the usual Edited March 4, 2020 by sir douglas 7 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium J. S. Bach Posted March 5, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5, 2020 (edited) On 18/02/2020 at 05:11, sir douglas said: Whenever i'm running my layout, i don't like having more than 1 of the same wagon on at the same time, ...snip... Hmmm, no 100-car grain trains for you, then! Nice work on J Aspdin BTW. Edited March 5, 2020 by J. S. Bach 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 for some reason the gearbox parts won't solder together so ive gone back tot he GER wagon for now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 all the ironwork, framing and bolt heads have been added, though i forgot the door latches before painting. the old brake lever didnt quite fit underneath the new timber and was a bit short so i made a new one from brass And after painting today. it'll be lettered as GE on one side and HLR 25 on the other 10 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share Posted March 11, 2020 No 25 is done and back in the stock draw. its lettered which is again done free hand with a thin brush. a paper stencil was stuck on with masking tape which has lines to tell me how wide the letters are and how much space between them, decided to also use it for the HLR on the other side. At some point i will have to tone down and weather the interior colour 7 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devonbelle Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 On 03/01/2019 at 08:27, jdb82 said: Completely in awe at what you can do with a bit of plastikard! I live abroad at the moment, but will be moving back to the UK in the summer - I very much look forwards to seeing your work in the flesh at a show one day :-) You are not the only one. Quite an inspiration; leading me to pursue loco scratch building in plastic. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devonbelle Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 On 02/02/2019 at 09:51, sir douglas said: during the last 2 days of fluctuating tooth pain i had an hour's respite with painkiller and got Highwind finished after the parts arrived the other day from Laurie Griffin. with an excruciating crescendo to that saga last night i woke up refreshed and ready to get back to modelling. I'm also working on a little set of draws using the 3 stock trays the parts fittted With the crew in display shot of all 8 of my locos I think your loco line up is superb. I particularly like the Planet diesel and the Peckett. Really capture the look of the prototype. Paul 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 just when i'm trying to get broken locos back into action, another has died on me. This time its the little cream petrol "Skyrack", i took it down to the club on monday so my dad could run a wagon on eyemouth that he has just built, it ran about 6 feet and the motor has died. in better news, im continuing with the Hunslet diesel and doing the odd bit here and there on the NB 16 ton 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 adding all the handles and handrails to the Hunslet. There is an angled cap either side on the running plate which i assume are the sand pots Now for an interesting ebay find, a job lot of wagon parts which ive already sorted out into packets and threw away 2 things that are rubbish or 2 broken to use. its one of those that you get a box full of bits ad have to work out how much of each thing youve got and what goes with what. Starting top left a pair of solebars and an end which look like they belong together adn maybe parts of a slaters box tar tank, then tot he right a par of whitemetal solebars with axle boxes, some wooden body arts with paper ironwork, chunky wooden solebars with screw in brass buffers, a slaters chassis, a chunky plastic chassis side, another pair of whitemetal chassis with buffers included on the ends, a Three Aitch midland van with the roof curved cut off, a Slaters midland 4 plank with a missing end, all the parts of a Peco GW 10 ton ad some coarse scale chassis in various missing parts. we (me and my dad) have no interest in the coarse scale stuff so we'll just sell them on at some point all the wagon parts came covered in old glues around the edges, the peco was partially together but i took it apart to clean. what was together came apart really easy. The 3 Aitch is reassembled after cleaning the parts, i'll need to make replacement end tops for the roof curve as for some reason they were sawn off, the doors and solebars are in the packet but missing the door runners. The old plastic buffers were all broken so theyve been cut and drilled out for new ones. Like wise on the midland. it had broken bufferstock with the bent wire still in one of them. the old stocks were machined off with the dremel and bufferbeam drilled, the back of the solebars have been cut to take the new buffer bolts, the inside was all scribed and the parts went together well, a new end was made for the missing one. its missing a W iron and axle boxes but i have spares and a W iron which matches. For the state it was in, the Peco is luckily all there and just needs some paint stripping and reassembly. the paint has built up in the corners and especially thick in the solebar channel 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 finally got the gearbox together for J Aspdin by bolting the plates on instead. i was just test running it and after a minute of running smoothly it stopped, even when i take out the idler gear, the motor still wont turn for no apparent reason. ive had enough of having to constantly fix gearboxes and replace motors, if the motor doesnt run again later or tomorrow, i'll just box it up, put it away and forget about finishing it . Im getting fed up with locos breaking. J aspdin is now on something like the 4th motor and 6th gearbox. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 A welcome reprieve. ive found that the motor only runs when it and the croc clip wires were being held in a certain way and one of the motor contacts was loose, the contacts are strips of copper that are soldered into slots. so ive wedged it back in with a thin strip brass so its in solid, likewise wedged a bit of brass into the other one too. since the soldering of the frame wasnt working, the plates are bolted on with 10BA 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 2 problems sorted and its going well, the thing about having to hold it in a certain way was found to be a split croc clip wire and another was the idler gear. To not put the lessen the wear and load on the gear i double 2 up which were the same diameter but didnt notice that they had a different number of teeth though luckily i have a third of that size which matches 1 of them. there now isnt any electrical or mechanical problems, the motor and gearbox is in the chassis and next will be the pick ups 4 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 27, 2020 Author Share Posted March 27, 2020 new boiler and smokebox made up, the chimney, dome, safety valves and the bracing angle across the top are salvaged from before The old sand pots are back on after being cut down which means it'll need a repaint. the plastic whistle keeps breaking so i might make one out of 1/8th brass rod. the now properly shaped smokebox door with proper handles makes the loco look a lot better. i still need to replace that missing bit of running plate under the smokebox. a solid coat of grey is o as undercoat. the tank tops were also done as they will now be black. 9 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 The cab steps next, these are made up of nickel and screw in onto the inside of the chassis. They locate in place by sitting in slots in the main frames. strenghtening plates on the backs keep the L shape while also stopping them from being pushed against the wheels Patching up and replacing missing parts on the Three Aitch van. I wasnt happy with the solebar ironwork so theyve been cut off and re done. there will be only so far i can go because the solebars cant go on the van until i get wheels for it The Peco GW 10 ton is back together but i'm having trouble getting the brass slotted cap to stay on the piano wire type buffers at one end. the body has 2 coats of grey 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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