PUASHP Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Spring hangers complete and sandboxes placed on the loco. I will add the operating mechanism before fixing to the loco. I have also ordered the nameplates which will be the combined name and number 'oval ringer' style of plate 4127 Ladysmith. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Finally, the completed body with all detail added (except the backhead in the cab). I am pleased with progress to date and hopefully it will look good when painted. The camera close up certainly shows up the imperfections. Next up it's back to work on the frames although I still need to order the High Level gearbox and Mashima motor, and wait for the tender kit to arrive. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Keeping the pictures coming, here is the loco with the outside frames temporarily fitted. You can just see the (fully working) firemans tip up seat on the side of the cab, and the working fall plate to fit between the loco and tender. They were tricky soldering jobs. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Coming along very nicely. The smaller boiler is quite distinctive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 ??? about the boiler. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 ??? about the boiler. PUASHP said the kit was for a City (No.4 boiler IIRC) so had to be reduced in diameter for the Atbara (No2 the same as Bulldogs I think, apologies if I've got this wrong I haven't checked in my books). Or maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I was looking at where the start of the taper of the boiler starts in the photos the taper starts at about the front of the splasher Or is this a different boiler? OzzyO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I was looking at where the start of the taper of the boiler starts in the photos the taper starts at about the front of the splasher Or is this a different boiler? OzzyO. Sorry Ozzyo I see what you mean. I think the picture in the background above is possibly curved, the firebox looks very odd. Atbara's carried parallel, short cone and finally long cone boilers. I think this one is the later long cone as seen here: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh57.htm If I did that correctly, not tried to put in a link to another site before. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 The boiler was indeed modified from a city class and I admit is not 100% accurate. The firebox is scratch built from brass sheet on modified formers from the City kit. The profile is ok however it's not quite waisted enough at the bottom end which meant I had to thin down the thickness of the rear sandboxes. The barrel is the long taper version again on modified formers from the City kit. I had to move the safety valve and top feed, and fit new boiler bands although the front one is not quite in the right position but this is where it was on the City and where the join is to the straight section. Apart from that it all checks out ok against the drawing I have for the Atbara. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 Other than a few finishing touches to the front bogie and the cab interior I have come to halt as I need to order the motor and gearbox, and wait for the tender kit to arrive. The wheels are only test fitted for clearance so one set will need to be disassembled to fit the gearbox. I also need to work out where I shall fit the pickups before painting the chassis. From this angle I can see the cone on the boiler is not 100% correct but it's only noticeable from certain angles so I will live with it. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Sorry Ozzyo I see what you mean. I think the picture in the background above is possibly curved, the firebox looks very odd. Atbara's carried parallel, short cone and finally long cone boilers. I think this one is the later long cone as seen here: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrbsh57.htm If I did that correctly, not tried to put in a link to another site before. Adrian Hello Adrian, looking at the photo again, I think that you could be right about the photo being curved when I look at the cab and tender front, OzzyO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 The photo was taken from A pictorial record of Great Western Engines Volune 2 by JH Russell, page 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Finally another update, this time on the tender. I had to wait a while for the kit to arrive from Martin, then the summer got in the way but I have now re started the build. So far the tender chassis is almost complete and the frame of the tender body. Next up to curving the flare and fitting the sides. Not looking forward to this bit so any advice would be most appreciated. Paul 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Harper Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 One method is to use a 'cut in half' tube and a length of rod that fits inside the remaining curved tube. Trap the part to be flared between the two, and squeeze in a long jaw vice. Or, place tender side on a solid surface, place a correct diameter rod on top where you want the flare, and trap with clamps. Use a steel rule, or similar, to gently lift up the remaining tender side until the correct flare is formed. Good luck Regards Sandy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lyonesse Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 As it happens, I've just done two MF 3000g tender bodies. I would have posted some details in the thread on Killarney but the camera has been borrowed and won't be back for another week or so. Martin's instructions just say "form the flare round a rod of suitable diameter." Is it really too much trouble to say what the suitable diameter actually is? After a bit of experimentation, what I ended up doing was to form around a 2mm rod --- a length of bicycle spoke. Firstly, I scribed a line showing where the top of the main tender body box would come. From memory, this is 2mm from the top of the side. I then used some wide-ish flat nosed pliars to gradually form the flare a bit a time around the 2mm rod. This gave a reasonable result, albeit with a few kinks so finally I smoothed the flare out by putting the side on a length of wood which had a radius filed along one edge and rubbing the back with a small block of wood. As soon as I get the camera back I'll post photos and you can judge the result. Incidentally, I found Martin's flare jig --- really, a template --- useless as it is meant to fit on the convex side of the flare but won't as it doesn't allow for the beading. A template for the concave side would be better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Decided to make a quick forming jig for the flare out of some steel bar. I am pleased with the results taking just over 1 hour to make the jig and complete the flare. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Starting to look like a GWR tender at last. I'll clean up the solder later. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lyonesse Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Excellent work. I'm not sure what solder you're using but I use 145 deg pretty much exclusively for brass kits now. And even then I can't always get enough heat into the metal to melt the solder properly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 188 solder for the frame and 145 for the wrapper with the heat turned up to maximum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lyonesse Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 188 solder for the frame and 145 for the wrapper with the heat turned up to maximum. Thanks. I should be able to post photos of my efforts after the weekend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 It's been a while but the loco is coming along and almost ready for painting. I am also building a Finney curved frame bulldog so the aim is to finish both before the end of the year. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 Here is a pic of the curved frame bulldog that I am building at the same time as the Atbara. It has the 2500 gallon tender whilst the Atbara will have the 3000 gallon. They will both be DCC but I'm not sure yet if I will have enough room for the decoder in the loco or it may have to go in the tender. I do love how easy these kits go together, even if a little time consuming. Just as well as I have another 7 still to build. 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 Unbelievably it is 4 years since my last post of this thread and the loco has remained part finished in a drawer since then, up to last week that was. With the latest lockdown and the nights drawing in it was time to see if I now had the skill and enthusiasm to actually finish this loco kit. It is a Martin Finney kit purchased after Martin retired but before Brassmasters took over supply. It came from EBay as a GWR City without any instructions. It will eventually now become a Flower class. The body was essentially complete except except for the cab detail so that was the first job. A coat of etch primer and I can see where I need to work on improving the finish. The chassis has had the outside frames fitted and you can see how the design of a double frame 4-4-0 really works. I have Gibson wheels so I will need to modify the axles slightly to take the fly cranks as they are a more scale size than the Gibson ones. The tender is nearly finished so will receive a coat of primer soon then I shall start making the brake gear. An excellent kit but not a quick one to build. 9 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Good to see this back on the bench. I have just completed my Finney Aberdare. See my Cwmhir layout thread. I split two of the Gibson outside cranks so ended up using the Finney ones. I opened out the axle holes with a tapered broach and soldered 3 laminations together with 188 solder. Fettled from the back face with the broach until just fitting over the axle end at that side. A shallow countersink put on the front face. Crankpins added and then forced them onto the axles using a GW wheel press in a vice. I soldered into the countersink too but that was probably overkill and did result in a slight wobble of one wheel. Good luck with yours, at least you’re only doing 4 cranks. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassey Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 How did you resolve the bogie issue on this build? Does the bogie sit on the spring wire? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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