Kitbuild Challenge- BR Standard Class 5-DJH kit- EM Gauge

[Horsetan]

?.. that old joke, often heard on repeats of Morecombe & Wise and aimed at the like of Andre Previn and Elton John that “he isn’t as good at playing the piano as he used to be because when he started he could play the piano with just one finger. Whereas now he has to use all of them.”...

Maybe you've been playing all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order....

[N15class]

I guess that am not so good at making models these days. Once upon a time I could build, paint, apply the transfers and have my Airfix kit flying in one day.

IMG_3190.JPG

I say this because I have just realised that the total paint time for the body of this loco (the chassis being painted before the wheels went in) has lasted several weeks. Of course I am referring to that old joke, often heard on repeats of Morecombe & Wise and aimed at the like of Andre Previn and Elton John that “he isn’t as good at playing the piano as he used to be because when he started he could play the piano with just one finger. Whereas now he has to use all of them.”

It is often said that the paint can make or break the finished model and no matter how accurately detailed the model is, that bad painting ruins the effect. Perhaps it is maturity and experience that now gives me the patience to at least let the paint dry before adding the transfers. Although on reflection it may that my impatience has been redirected and that now my eagerness to see the finished model as quickly as possible has been replaced with an impatience of seeing poor work. To me the finished model should, or is that must, reach a pleasing standard of finish. The only problem with that is my standard of acceptance keeps raising the bar and that can create a problem if you are trying to produce stock for a layout that has a consistent feel and of course meet a deadline. Anyway the plan was to allow plenty of time between each colour application, by this I include transfers. I had or rather still have as it is overrunning, another project on the go with a deadline of Christmas. My idea was to do a little bit of painting, concentrate of the other thing while the paint dried, apply the next coat and on so that by the first week of December I would have a fully painted loco to assemble and detail.

Paint is my usual choice of Halfords Black. I use a matt or satin paint for the underside and a gloss for the bodywork especially where the transfers go. In those areas particularly I have recently taken to polishing the painted surface with T-Cut to get a high gloss finish as this seems to give a more pleasing effect with the transfer looking painted rather than stuck on.

Varnish, now here I always seem to have a problem. On this model for the underside I used Games Workshop satin varnish, but it seems to have crazed to paint underneath. However this will disappear under layers of grime, that some may refer to as weathering. On the top side I decided to use Mr Halfords Gloss and then after weathering go over that in Games Workshop product. But only in the areas where cleaning has not been done.

However here I hit a snag as on applying the gloss varnish I managed to produce a very blotchy finish. Grrrr.

I had put this down to poor preparation. But eventually came to the conclusion that the can was near empty and it started to blow air through and so pumped through the contents in uneven limps. Moral: - don’t try and save money by using up the last noggins in the tin.

Now there are two possible fixes. One is a big bucket of paint stripper and starting again, the other is careful rubbing down with T-Cut and a cotton bud. It was the latter method that I choose. So there at the beginning of December, instead of ploughing ahead at full steam with the assembly I was instead very gently cutting back the varnish, touching up the paint and eventually re-varnishing. There are still odd areas of rough paint but like the chassis these will be covered by weathering. Finishing this loco by the end of year is beginning to look like a tall order.

So there we have it, 73018 is now out of the paint shop and ready to be put together and fitted out.

IMG_3246.JPG

 

'til next time.

 

Andy

This is certainly looking the part. Great build.

 

Painting is always a pain. Each process if not right ruins a lot of work. I remember one EM model I built I repainted about 4 times due to various problems. It taught me more than all the ones that went right.

[brightspark]

Thanks for the comments gents.

Perhaps it is as the old tinned salmon advert claimed about being the best by throwing out the rest.
I was trying to look for a suitable quote, but couldn't find it. It goes along the lines of, you can only learn by your mistakes and the person who never makes a mistake, learns nothing.

 

Anyhow, on with progress.

The Tender Behind. (a bit of Frankie Howard there?)



For a while now I have thought that there something about the tender that looked a little odd. You know you think you see it but can’t quite place where the problem is.
It was when I was setting up the cab roof and comparing it to the photos and drawings that I noticed that the tender roof line was way too low. Now I had this problem on with the roof line on the Airfix Moguls. However there it is because the cab is too low. On 73018 the problem is that this time the tender is too low. This was confirmed by the buffer height and after studying some photos I realised that I should be seeing a bit more of the tender wheels below the frames. It seems that as made up the DJH tender is a good 2mm plus too low. Perhaps I am being harsh here as I am not using the specified manufacturer’s wheels, but 2+ mm out? Unfortunately there isn’t much that I can do about it in the time left as it forms the basis of the whole tender frame. My temporary fix is to insert hard brass pins into the bearing slots so that the wheels axles are just locating in the runners. To help matters I attempted to build in some sort of compensation, so that the rear axle has two pins and the front has one. The middle axle is unpinned and has some guitar wire acting as a spring onto the axle to push the centre wheels onto the rail. The whole thing still has a wobble from the off-centre wheels, although the three point support seems to have improved it slightly. However at some point in the future I will have to make up some new tender frames.
However despite this small setback the tender has been glazed. I only had to make three tender windows as the carpet fairies took only one offering, possibly due to Christmas.
One feature of the early standards is the fitting of a rubber curtain between the tender and cab. This was to cut down draughts and the modification was, I understand, not too successful. Later builds had a redesigned cab and tender. The curtains are made up from thin paper that I folded at 1mm intervals.

This was painted with water colour paint, slate grey I think (never black) cut to size and glued on. The paint tends to stiffen everything up so I open and close the whole thing a few times so it gives easily but without losing its spring. Finally the tender was filled with coal.

Perhaps a little more than I would like considering that Swaynton is nowhere near a loco yard, but there is little choice as the tender has a plate running across the top and there is no tool tunnel modelled.

And with that I declare the tender of 73018 finished!

There is just the matter of the bit in front.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, may Santa bring you lots of goodies and Christmas joy.

Andy

[N15class]

The tender has worked out well I like the curtains.

 

Merry Christmas.

[brightspark]

Hi all and I hope that you all had a great Christmas and did not suffer from too much over indulgence.

So here is a quick progress report on 73018.

I declare the chassis finished!
Errr that is it really. I have added the sand pipes and the Cylinder Drain Cocks.

It might not seem much, and it isn’t, but these little details add to the mass of the model. Plus it means that I am a little bit closer to completion.

Oh yes and bits and bobs are being slowly added to the body. Oh you want pictures?

Well the windows have been fitted to the cab and the valves on the right hand side of the cab have been fitted along with the connecting pipe-work. So too has the whistle which is the DJH casting, that snapped when I tried to force it into a too tighter hole, oops.

There is a small problem and that is where the clack valves enter the boiler, as there should be a recess into the boiler casing. DJH have not included this into their casting and I forgot to cut it in before painting. Double oops.

So the plan is to carefully mark it out and cut out about a half thickness of the whitemetal boiler.

A bit like this.

Hmmm, I also failed to cut out a slot in the left hand conduit. Triple oops.

Meanwhile, the chassis is finished. Hooray

Cheers

Andy

[brightspark]

The last day.

Hmmm. Well today is the last day of this challenge and the judges are getting ready to call, “put your tools down and step away from the table”.

 

Well I am, like a few others, still a little way off actually finishing and as I will be seeing in the New Year with a few friends, this is as complete as this loco gets to being finished in 2015.

 

There is still a pile of bits left to put on this model, but I think for judging purposes I should show what has been done and give an indication as to how it will be finished off.

So first of all the challenge. This is firmly in the kitbuilt/scratchbuilt category. The end date today, well it isn’t finished but it has run, pulled stock and didn’t disgrace itself. I would say that it is about 95% complete although someone did say to me that modelling BR Standards has three halves, the chassis, the body and then the detail.

Now a little recap. It had been suggested that I build this a per the instructions and I figure that if I had chosen that route then this would have been finished quite quickly. However, I would have a loco that I could not use, as it would be the wrong track gauge, I wanted an EM model, and, well lets face it...the standard of detail provided by this kit manufacturer for model of circa 1980 is nowhere near the standard of say a R-T-R Bachmann and well below par on the other locos that I have recently built. There is also the matter of CHALLENGE. For me on this model there were two. The first is my first scratchbuilt chassis. The second was this is my first compensated chassis. At the start I thought that this was a little ambitious but it has worked well. So for me a challenge has been met.
So here is a photo tour of 73018 as she sits on the bench ready for final judging.

The first photo above shows the pile of bits still waiting.

Here are the remaining Gibson packs that will eventually make up the injectors that live under the right hand side of the cab. The whitemetal casting on the left is the DJH offering. I intend to better it.

Here are the cab details ready to be fitted. That is the Gibson backhead suitably painted along with the reverser. The handles were made up from 5amp fuse wire.

Here is the driver and his seat. It is my own casting. I was planning on a fireman based on a standard Airfix/Dapol figure. But now I think I shall have something a bit more bespoke.

Here is the bits tacked onto the loco so that you get an idea as to how it is coming together.


First the cab with the backhead just dropped in.

Here is the left hand side. There are still a few pipes and bits to add here. But she is coming along nicely.

The same can be said for the right hand side.

And a view of the front right hand side.

left hand side showing the cylinder drain cocks.

The face showing of the Southern/GWR joint style lamp irons

finally a picture taken from the same angle that appears in the Standards book, that inspired this model.


Progress will continue and I will continue updates here. I t should be completed in teh next month or so and be running around the test track at the Chris Kedgley Skills day in Epsom. Now from purchase to completion of a loco within a year, that is a record.
Happy New Year to you all..

Andy

Edited December 31, 2015 by brightspark

[brightspark]

So errr what now?

Dum, dum diddly dum. Diddley dummmmm, da da di.

Hmm time to potter on then, but bearing in mind that the challenge is over. So this doesn’t count.

Well today I had a go at finishing off the pipes on the firebox.
There is only one pipe that requires any effort which is the one with the pipe joint.

The only other problem was that the cast on conduit cover is too long and had to be shortened a bit.


There is also the shape of the pipes on top of the firebox. I have been unable to find a clear picture showing the top left hand side for this batch of locos. They do have little variances so I have had to do a little bit of educated guesswork here. Either way it will be better than the shapeless blobs provided in the kit.Of course someone will now turn up that picture. Now that would be a bit of a faff as this pipe is the first pipe that is laid in.


When the glue has dried I will add the valve control rods. I also think that I am approaching the point where I have to glue the boiler assembly to the running board. Or is that the running board glued to the boiler cab assembly?

Cheers

Andy

[brightspark]

I will start this instalment with a picture of 73018 at Rudgwick.


There were grumblings about weight restrictions on the line as she arrived at the station for her portrait photo.

This station is the superb work of Gerry Bixley, who seems to know a bit about LBSCR and the line from Guildford to Horsham. As the layout has a bit of greenery I thought that it would make a good backdrop for my ‘cover picture’ for the introduction and voting page.

It was also a chance to run the loco again. However this was done with some trepidation as the loco was intended for a scale minimum radius that works out at four and a half feet and Gerry’s layout has curves down to three foot. 73018 did very well with flanges squealing on all of the tight curves and only wheel spinning a bit on the very tight three footer. There were a few sparks seen but only on the tight bits.
(Now this makes me chuckle because if you read back to the earlier threads, I was discussing the DJH supplied chassis and how narrow it was even for 00 and noted that the instructions advice leaving off the washers, of which there are plenty in the kit, should you wish the loco to go around curves of three foot or less. Well alright she wasn’t whizzing around them at 90mph, but she still got round.)

 

So a progress update.
The boiler and running board are now one fixed together with araldite. Also added to the assembly is the “Bacon Slicer” reverser, the boiler back head and the smokebox door.

A peak inside the cab.

Work also continues on the third half of the build as I concentrate on the pipework. This past week has seen me working on the injectors that live under the fireman’s position. For those new to the game, these pump water into the boiler which is under 200psi, so they are clever bits of kit. The legal requirement is for at least two separate means of getting water in there. Because if the boiler runs dry then not only does the train stop, there is also a huge explosion. So there must be two injectors and until Mr Riddles came along it was normal to fit one either side of the engine.

Now I mention this because I have noticed that many modellers don’t seem to pay sufficient attention to this particular part of their models. I think that this is a shame, because having added the brake detail, sand pipes and goodness knows what else, they scrimp on what is perhaps the most visual feature of the standards. Even the fine models by Mr Shackleton that featured in MRJ are, when looked at with any scrutiny, a bit gimp.

On the class 5 4-6-0s there are two types of injector. An Exhaust Steam Injector that sits in plain view and behind it a Live Steam Injector. Above these are two injector water valves, which are just taps that when open let water come in from the tender. It seems that it is the Live Steam Injector and its valve are often missed off models. Most likely because, apart from being partly hidden by a supporting bracket, they lurk in the shadows under a layer of grime. However they are there and I feel that omitting them removes a lot of the weight from that area. Back in post 5, where I was looking at the DJH sales picture, Pete suggested that the photos might look a bit weird because of a lack of detail in this area.

The following photos shows my attempt at modelling this. The assembly is made up of two layers. That are then assembled with all the pipework and bracketry that binds it together. The bracket is made up of thin card and off-cuts of balsa.


First a recap photo of the offering from DJH (the casting on the left and the bags of bits from Gibson Workshop.


Here is the Live Steam Injector Assembly


Here is the Exhaust Steam Injector assembly


And the two assembled into one lump.

And a few of pictures of the assembly before it gets buried and grimed up.

I am rather pleased with this.


And fitted to the loco.

Finally a few more shots of 73018 at Rudgwick.

There is a slight gap under the cab roof, this will eventually disappear when it is finally fixed into position. But that won’t be until the cab has been fitted out and crewed, Also note, dear reader that I took care to only photograph the right hand side, the official reason being that I didn’t have a platform ticket, but the reality is that this is the most complete side.



A final shot of 76018, taken from the bridge, as she starts back towards Guildford

Until next time.

Andy

 

 

(edit for typos)

Edited January 24, 2016 by brightspark

[brightspark]

Evening all,

Here is another update from the works.

I will start off with both praise and criticism of the DJH castings. I have found that DJH seem to be able to both disappoint and delight with their offerings, what a shame it isn’t all good. Let’s start with the bad bit.

The piston exhaust covers. When first looked at I thought that they were quite nice as they even had the little lip on where they go through the running plate. But when I came to fit them, well I think that they must be for another loco as they are a little undersize. I had started to make something up out of plastic sprue and used one of these in the photo shoot. However even these weren’t tall enough so I ended up starting again.

The technique that I have finally used is to make an L bracket from two bits of plastic card at the correct height and base. These I took from the Beattie drawing and scaled from photos. The figure that I came up with was a 4mm base and 6mm high. I then added in a brace on the centre line that will eventually for the high point of the cover. When this was dry I then added a sandwich of off cuts of plastic card either side of this. Now the reason for doing this is so that when I file the round shape the vertical lines where the sheets are laminated will indicate if I have filed them evenly.


So here is a picture of all the covers.
The two at the front right are the DJH offering. The slightly taller one on the front left is the “mock up” used in the photos and the two stripy ones are to be fitted to the loco.


Here is a photo showing the difference in height. It may not seem much but it affects the location of the detailed pipe-work that wends its way around these covers.
When the covers are in place I will then be able to fit onto the starboard side the steam lance pipe and on the port side the Vacuum Ejector and the ATC equipment. Now here I will give praise to DJH as they seem to have provided a nice casting that actually looks like ones in the photos of the prototype. It also fits to the side of the boiler perfectly and unlike the Gibson offering, which doesn’t look like the pictures of the standard class 5, is made out of a nice soft whitemetal that can be drilled easily.

However, there is a tricky bit and that is to create the ATC bits as well as the sundry of small pipes that snake around this area. Study of photos indicates where these pipes go, and again there are variations between each engine. Trying to find a good clear picture is proving difficult as the area is in shadow or obscured by steam. However I am pretty confident that I figured out where it all goes and how thick to make them.

Anyway here is a start on the Vacuum Ejector and the ATC “bell”.


and more holes being drilled into the paintwork for it all to fit in. Note the copper wire already glued into its hole ready for threading around the assembly.


While I am on the port side of the loco here is a couple of pictures of the regulator handle assembly.

Perhaps not the most exciting thing, but offer some inspiration to someone.

However here they are all painted up and ready to be installed into the cab.

So it has been a week or so of slow progress working on small details. This week should see all of these bits installed.

I shall be at the Southampton Show on the EMGS stand on the Saturday and possibly Sunday too, and shall have this sat on the table. Do drop by to have a look and say hello.

 

Until next time.

Andy

[brightspark]

“Tantalisingly close to being completed.”

That is how Adam described progress of 73018 at the Southampton show on Saturday.
In the end I was there for just the one day helping to man the EMGS stand. There was, I am pleased to report, a lot of interest in the society and I think we got two new members on the day. Welcome to you both. A few visitors had a look at my work on display, and everyone was very kind. (Or just polite)

Anyway, on Saturday she was almost complete with the ATC being fitted. To confirm it is the GWR ATC fitted and not AWS. 73018 was a former Western Region loco. I had also started on painting the fireman, but realised that I had the wrong glasses with me so could not see well enough to get the detail on. But I managed to paint him up on the wet Sunday while at home.

In between coats of paint, I laid in the ATC conduit that runs under the running board.

This made up of 5amp fuse wire. It is very flexible and can be knocked out of shape easily. But is also easy to bend back if required.

Then when the crew were finally dry they were glued into the cab.


Finally, this very evening with the roof of cab finally glued on and the paint touched up, I can declare that 73018 is finally finished. (Cue small fanfare)  


Here are a few views of her



Same angles as in MRJ. Did I meet my brief? "Something to aim at"


The all important pipe for the steam lance. Now finally added.


The same angle as that Eastliegh shot in the standards book.

It took a little longer than planned and overrun the due date, but I am happy with the result and she is great runner. Even more amazing is that the loco was completed within a year of me purchasing it.

I just have to add the head-code discs (code 14 again) and she is ready for service.

Hmmm perhaps a little bit more weathering....



Thanks for reading.

 

Cheers​

Andy

[N15class]

Looks good Andy. I have always liked the BR 4-6-0's

 

I find building locos for myself it is hard to know when to stop. building commisions or ones for sale, it is easier as there are constraints to work too.

Edited February 3, 2016 by N15class

[Horsetan]

.... orones for sale....

Eh? *scratches head, puzzled*

[Michael Edge]

Nice to see the fireman sat down and the driver's hand on the brake.

[PenrithBeacon]

Good to meet you and the other EMGS members at the Woking Show this afternoon and thanks for the advice.

 

Regards

[brightspark]

As others have updated their threads since the competition has ended. I thought it prudent to update this one.

 

So after my last entry in Feb 2016, 73018 was taken to the 101 event to be put through her paces on the EM test track. Although she ran well on the rollers, it became a different story when pulling a load. The first problem being that despite my best effort, the wheels were filthy. A clean up with lighter fluid (a can of which is now in my toolbox. I used to use meths) improved matters but she still ran very poorly. It was found that when turned around running improved which suggested a pick-up problem. (note that the test track is circular) However a bigger problem was that when under load 73018 was spinning. A suggestion was made that she wasn't heavy enough, quickly dismissed when the weight was felt (white metal with a chassis full of lead?) and that was followed with a debate that compensation would help (she is compensated) or that compensation is a waste of time (eh!).

The problem of slipping was found to be caused by the raising of the tender height. What I had forgotten to do was cut a deeper slot for the draw-bar. So the tender was lifting the loco off the rails hence the wheel slip and poor pickup. Although I have made sure that the pickup are collecting properly off of all wheels (apart from the front bogie).

 

73018 now runs quite sweetly and will pull a good load. There is only one problem and that is an annoying wobble of the tender. This appears to be due to the wheels not running quite true. These are very elderly Gibson's and were prone to do this. Colin now uses a different technique for moulding the wheels to the rims which eliminates this problem, so when I see him next I shall replace them. 

 

On reflection, this was a good challenge for me. My first scratch built chassis and compensated as well. Looking back it wasn't so scary. I am now starting on the next loco, an S15 also from DJH. The chassis will also be scratch built and compensated. But I think I can see an improvement...

 

Finally, thank you to everyone that voted for this loco/build. 5th place against some very stiff competition is very heart warming.

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[leopardml2341]

My 'like' against post #65 above also applies to posts 1-64 too!

 

Rgds,

[Mad McCann]

A fine job. As you now know, a DJH kit can be a mixed bag but to produce such a quality model that very comfortably stands comparison with the Bachmann model is an undeniably fine achievement at first go. Well done!

 

D.

[N15class]

Glad to here it's all running properly.

 

The DJH S15 is a nice loco. But don't check it against a drawing. It's not that accurate. I built one many years ago an made that fatal mistake. I ended up using a modified boiler on the loco the rest was put in the weight box. My mistake was to build a new chassis and footplate. Only to find nothing else would fit.

As a straight build the fit and go together well.

[brightspark]

 

The DJH S15 is a nice loco. But don't check it against a drawing. It's not that accurate. 

Oh dear, too late. Done that already.

I think that I had better start a thread for my build of the DJH S15. 

 

Andy