Frappington Jct Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 As with a few others, I'm only staking my claim for now. This is my first loco kit, so I'm abit nervous, although it is only a resin body with white metal castings to fit. The only problem is that the kit as bought (new at Warley last year year) is that it's missing most of the chassis modification parts, so I've got to write to Dave and ask if he can send me replacements, unless someone has a kit they don't want to donate parts! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Harrison Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I'll be watching this with interest, having built a Dean Sidings L1 a few years ago. I think for a first try at a kit you've made a good choice- it's all very nice and simple to put together and looks good when finished too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Right, an update. As I'm scared of drilling, I bought the L1 with me to my Grandads this week, and between us we've got all of the holes needed for the various parts done. This does exclude, however, the holes for the handrail knobs, as there were no marks on the model (as there were meant to be) and we were a bit wary of not lining them up/not doing enough. The lack of marks on the body where there should have been turned out to extend to every component which needed a hole drilling. Thus my Grandad and I had to spend quite a long time trying to work out where to drill the holes for the chimney, dome etc. It was rather lucky that the drawings provided with the kit were pretty much to scale, allowing us to take our measurements from there, and we recon we've managed to get pretty close to where everything's supposed to be. There was also the question of where the steam pipe should go on the right hand side of the loco - or rather how long it should be. The instructions which come with the kit suggest that the pipe should run the full length of the loco. However, through much consultation of the two photographs we could find of the right hand side of an L1 and a much blown up picture of the isinglass drawing which we got off their website, we concluded that the pipe actually terminated towards the front of the water tanks and thus drilled there. This may well be wrong, but it's done now and I think it looks rather good. The photo shows the body posed on the Hornby 'Jinty' chassis which forms the power for the loco (I still need to write to Dave Slater about the missing chassis parts), with the footplate perched underneath to prop the body up. Whilst the steam pipe, chimney, dome and safety valves are present, they aren't attached so that I can change my mind about them at a later date - the kit came with many different options! On the subject of safety valves, I'm assuming that by BR days the L1s would have lost the safety valves in the picture above in favor or the smaller LNER ones (of which I do have a casting), is this correct or can I keep the current ones? They do look rather nice! In addition, I'm still debating about whether or not to add a top feed. The trouble is that I can't find any pictures of the loco I want to model (69064), and thus don't know whether or not it kept its top feed. If I can't find a picture within the next day or so though, I think I'll just leave it off, as I won't know any different! The other major work done today was the recommended removal of material from the (solid resin) rear bunker. This prevents the loco 'rearing up' when pulling a load. Apparently. Anyway, this was a simple job of drilling a load of holes in the base of the bunker with a 5mm drill bit, which I hope will have removed enough weight. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 You asked so some answers The steam pipe should go to the cab The safety valves were replaced ( as you sumised corrctly with LNER fitted ross pop valves) as were the chimney and dome for lower ones by the LNER Top feed was for the early years Other stuff you need to cut off all but the bottom 3 coal bars on the bunker as they were removed by the LNER to make mechanical coaling easier. Worth building boxes for the side tanks so you can fill them with weight to aid pulling ability Think about turning jinty chassis around to give a more prototypical wheel spacing. This then means the boiler cut out is filled by the chassis weight. You can hacksaw this weight back and then you can bend up some plastic to make up the bottom of the boiler. I have built one but in GCR livery, you can see it on my dettingen thread or if i find where the photo is stored i will post on here to show what i am talking about. I hope this helps.........it is meant to be helpful Richard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 my pictures which hopefully illustrate my points. Richard 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 You asked so some answers The steam pipe should go to the cab The safety valves were replaced ( as you sumised corrctly with LNER fitted ross pop valves) as were the chimney and dome for lower ones by the LNER Top feed was for the early years Other stuff you need to cut off all but the bottom 3 coal bars on the bunker as they were removed by the LNER to make mechanical coaling easier. Worth building boxes for the side tanks so you can fill them with weight to aid pulling ability Think about turning jinty chassis around to give a more prototypical wheel spacing. This then means the boiler cut out is filled by the chassis weight. You can hacksaw this weight back and then you can bend up some plastic to make up the bottom of the boiler. I have built one but in GCR livery, you can see it on my dettingen thread or if i find where the photo is stored i will post on here to show what i am talking about. I hope this helps.........it is meant to be helpful Richard Thanks, that's really useful. It's very typical of me that however hard I looked, I still got the steam pipe wrong! I'll probably leave the tanks as I'm loath to try making my own look good. I might try what you suggest with the motor though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The boxes are internal to the tanks so would not make it look better or worse it just makes it run better. You could put in sheet metal instead. It helps balance better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 The boxes are internal to the tanks so would not make it look better or worse it just makes it run better. You could put in sheet metal instead. It helps balance better. Ah, ok, that sounds more feasible, I might do that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Right, a quick update. The loco body is pretty much finished for now apart from transfers. As may be visible in the pictures, I've fixed the steam pipe, so that now extends the full length of the body, as on the prototype. I've also cut down the bunker as suggested above, although it's not quite far enough down as the solid block in the bunker was in the way - it looks alright to me though. One slight problem I had was fitting the smoke box door dart. This wasn't mentioned in the instructions and I couldn't find it... After some asking around, the components were found hidden amongst the handrail knobs (which I have decided not to fit for now as I don't have the correct drill bit and can't cut them down with the tools I have.) I then chopped the length of the "hands" (don't really know what to call them) down to what they should be for a BR engine and then after much super glue and cursing got the whole assembly together and on the front of the engine. So, next jobs are to sort the chassis out, add weight to the side tanks and apply transfers. Thanks 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 that is coming along nicely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Harrison Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Not sure if you'd need all that much weight- mine uses a Triang Jinty chassis and manages quite nicely without anything extra. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pom-pom Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 my pictures which hopefully illustrate my points. L1.jpg L3.jpg Richard Hi Richard, I'm curious if you're still around, this being quite an old discussion - where did you get those 'Great Central' transfers or is this lettering something you have made yourself? It looks remarkably close to the original typeface used by the GCR. And I wonder, does anyone know what this typeface is called perchance? Regards, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 It is old r&e stock. If you want a just as good modern version go to steam and things website in Australia they do gcr loco transfers and coaches. eBay have wagon transfers offered and the r&e loco stock sometimes. Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
salmonpastures Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Richard, Frap Jnct, Did the Dean Sidings body come with chimney & dome attached??? I am building an L1 in brass at the moment and will need to source the boiler fittings before too long. They were a real "bruiser" of a loco,,, lovely and just my sort of thing,,,, it's hard to believe Mr Robinson could design the A5 and this beast,,,, I know about the LDEC lineage but for me this one really wins the purposeful/ugly prize hands down. Forward SAD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 On 19/12/2019 at 18:44, salmonpastures said: Richard, Frap Jnct, Did the Dean Sidings body come with chimney & dome attached??? I am building an L1 in brass at the moment and will need to source the boiler fittings before too long. They were a real "bruiser" of a loco,,, lovely and just my sort of thing,,,, it's hard to believe Mr Robinson could design the A5 and this beast,,,, I know about the LDEC lineage but for me this one really wins the purposeful/ugly prize hands down. Forward SAD Hi, sorry for taking so long to get back to you - I haven't really been on here much in recent months and still can't fully get my head around the new layout so missed the question! The kit came with seperate castings for the funnel, dome etc covering all variations of the loco's life. Hope this helps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
salmonpastures Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Touche Richard,,, Thanks for your reply,,, I actually found it about 8 weeks after you posted it. The Beast is taking a bit of a back seat at the minute,,, I have the basic body on a working chassis but have been concentrating on getting the overheads working for the tram,,, which I have completed today. We have been invited to the Aylsham show in October this year and the Immingham show in May next year,,, so after an enforced lay off from the layout I am trying to get it improved and back up to Show Standard. I suppose I am very lucky in that I can self isolate to the garage every day now I am retired,,, fingers crossed,,, Keep Calm and Solder on. Good luck and happy modelling. SAD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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