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Gladiator Scottish Director: Malcolm Graeme


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Now that Maude is simmering nicely on the shed, it's time to produce a stablemate: the Gladiator D11/2 Scottish Director. It's my first Gladiator kit and having agreed to buy most of the Gladiator range from Geoff, it will be a good indication of whether or not it's a good investment!

 

The kit will build into any of the D10/D11 Director locos, so there are plenty of bits in the kit!

 

The first job is to find the appropriate cab parts and cut out the glazing: much easier to do when the parts are flat and on the etch. One of the things I intend to do is to buy a proper cutter and supply pre-shaped glazing panels as I hate cutting them to shape. Is this a good idea?

 

I shall be taking my time on this build to photograph the construction stages, with a view to enhancing the instructions if required.

 

Wish me luck!

 

David

 

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Just for the avoidance of doubt: although I used the word 'investment' to describe the expenditure of a considerable sum of money, the purchase has not been about making money - though obviously I cannot afford to make a loss - but has been done in the hope of keeping alive the range and expanding it. It will take a few months yet before we are up and running: we need to complete the purchase and I need to move back to the UK. So I will ask everybody to have patience until then. 

 

Anyway it will be on with the build tonight. There is always something exciting about clearing the workbench for the next project!

 

Thanks!

David

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OK so on with the build.

 

The cab glazing has been cut out and put somewhere safe. On past form, so safe I'll forget where it is.

 

Next I fitted the crankpins replacing the cheesehead screws with a countersunk and set in the wheel with Loctite 603, then blackened the wheels.

 

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Coupling rods were made up using our old friends the cocktail sticks and a bulldog clips. I soldered the three main laminations together before adding the bosses at the ends as it is easier to get teh alignment correct.

 

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The frames are suitable for either the D10 or D11 variants and have to be modified according to which you are building. For the D11 the frames above the rear bogie wheel have to be cut out. I did this with a piercing saw.

 

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You can see that I had forgotten to oil the axles when I took them out of the packet, so 24 hours later the rust monkeys had been at work. I have since cleaned them up and oiled them, but it would have been better if I had remembered to oil them first.

 

Once the other frame had been cut back, I put them together in the vice and used a file to tidy the cut out and make sure they are the same shape. I have also cut out and bent all of the frame spacers and embossed the rivets on the frames.

 

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I now need to work out where to fit the plunger pick ups. I will dry assemble the frames and gearbox and select locations accordingly. At least with the very large diameter driving wheels there will be plenty of space. I think that I should fit pick-ups to the tender as well. I haven't yet looked to see how easy this will be.

 

I will also look to see how to secure the gearbox - it's the Slaters one. With the Bi i had attached a piece of thick brass to the back and tapped an M2 hole in the bottom of the brass which allowed it to be screwed to a frame spacer with a spring between. That seemed to work well and allowed me to fit some copper clad to the back with some 12BA screws to act as terminals for the wring. I'll try and follow the same principle. Pictures will help explain later!

 

 

 

 

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I also wish you every success with the Gladiator purchase, David. I'm sure it will go well.

 

I am the client for the "Director" and was also for David's last excellent job, on old "Maude". I've just done a post on David's previous blog about the J36 and what will happen next with the old girl!

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Have you considered talking to Shawplan about including laserglaze windows? Just a thought, you mentioned getting a cutter, but he's already got the process down.

That's certainly an option to consider: thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A combination of work and a trip back home has delayed progress somewhat but things have moved on. I have just got back to Bangkok today and am jet-lagged, so I'll let teh pictures show where we are now.

 

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Jet lag over, it's time to get on with the build.

 

With the frames completed I assembled the bogie. No issues at all here. I used 3/16" rod and wire of various diameters to line up the parts before soldering with 60/40 solder for the first parts and 145 degree solder to fit the bogie sides to the stretchers.

 

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Then I temporarily refitted the wheels to see how it looked.

 

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Satisfied, I gave the frames and bogie a coat of Halford's Acid 8 etch primer.

 

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Next will be a coat of ordinary primer.

 

When I get back to the workbench I will start on the loco body.

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With the frames in the paint shop (otherwise known as on top of the washing machine) I cut out the footplate and valances. The valances are the cut-back type.

 

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The instructions say to anneal the footplate which has to be bent to follow the contours of the valance. I found that my small gas torch wasn't making much impact on the large volume of metal so I decided to cook these pieces and the firebox in the oven for a couple of hours at 250 degrees. I'll find out later if this has softened the material enough.

 

While the loco was cooking I thought I would make a start on the tender chassis. The frame spacers bear no resemblance to the diagram. Can anybody confirm that the arrangment below is correct please?

 

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The footplate has an interesting patina after its treatment. I'll clean this up and then start the bending.

 

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Meanwhile the chassis has been retrieved from atop the washing machine so it's on with fitting the plunger pick-ups, wheels and motor-gearbox. I masked off the joint between the rear brake pull rod and the cross beam. This isn't soldered yet and I will do that when the wheels are in place so that I can get the brake blocks as close as possible to the treads.

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Hello David,

 

you don't need to use a coat of ordinary primer on top of etch primer. For frames all I use is a coat of black etch primer and that's it.

 

For wheels I blacken the rims Ect. then use black etch primer and a light coat of satin black on top.

 

OzzyO. 

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Hello David,

 

you don't need to use a coat of ordinary primer on top of etch primer. For frames all I use is a coat of black etch primer and that's it.

 

For wheels I blacken the rims Ect. then use black etch primer and a light coat of satin black on top.

 

OzzyO. 

Thanks for this. I haven't found any black etch primer. what do you use?

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Hello David,

 

I've just got this primer to try, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171591697288?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

I'll be using it later this week.

 

OzzyO.

Thanks OzzyO. I'll have to give it a try. Strangely they do not list brass or nickel silver as suitable materials, but given that aluminium, stainless steel and glass fibre are included I guess it will be fine!

David

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I have put aside the tender chassis for a while until I am sure I have the correct parts!

 

The motor/gearbox have been assembled into the chassis and a gearbox reaction arm knocked up out of scrap etch. I am running in the motor/gearbox/driving axle while getting on with the body. I found that the frame spacers are very wide so I had to file a bit off the bearing faces to give clearance and had to file a bit off the Slaters pick-ups so that the springs could work. Seems to be OK but I like it to run for a few hours to make sure that the tight spots are worked out.

 

Assembling the valences to the footplate required patience, care and lots of small change for the swear box. First I bent the footplate out of the way where the valances curve up and then tack soldered the valances in place at the front.

 

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I then worked towards the back bending the valance to match the change in width of the footplate. I decided that it would be easier to prebend the valance on the other side: definitely a better option. Next I formed the bends in the footplate to match the valance. It would have been much easier of I had been able to soften the brass more.

 

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Eventually the whole thing comes to shape.

 

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I checked with a ruler on both sides that the rear of the footplate was level with the front.

 

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A quick trial fit to the chassis:

 

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Then fit drag beam, buffer beam and coupling plate. A great sense of relief when it sits flat on the glass!

 

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Next the cab.

 

Edit for numerous typos.

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The instructions suggest assembling the cab sides and spectacle plate now, but I decided to add window frames, handrail and cab beading first. I think it is easier to do this when the parts are still flat brass and cleaning up the inside of the cab is simpler.

 

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Once that was done I soldered the sides to the front and then soldered the assembly to the footplate. Some location slots would have been nice!

 

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Bending the firebox was a slow task. It would have been much easier if the etch had some half-etched lines where the folds need to be. The same applies to the footplate. I got it wrong first time. The firebox comprises one large etched piece that includes the firebox front which bends in and allows you to bend the sides to follow the curve. The rear is a separate piece. I made the mistake of fitting this about 0.5mm off centre, which completely threw the geometry, so it was un-soldered. I replaced it by working up from the bottom corner and the result is better.

 

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I have soldered the boiler tube and ends, but completely missed soldering 6BA screws into the alignment holes in the middle of the end plates at each end. This would have made the next job much easier. I will probably be able to cut the heads off some screws and fix in place (I don't have any studding).

 

I think I will mark up the boiler, drill all holes and fix the boiler bands before fitting the smokebox wrapper. It will be easier when there are no steps along the length to be marked out.

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This is a great story unfolding (sorry for the pun, quite unintended).  As someone only now thinking about 7mm scale because my eyes and fingers tell me 4mm is too fiddly, your keeping alive a company I had not heard much about is very good news.  I did wonder why the website wasn't clicking through!

 

I will probably be in the market for a Fowler Patriot in the months ahead!

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