JLTRT 57XX

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Yes, as Kev says, apart from the firebox (which will be full of motor), the resin casting is solid.  I'm not  familiar with DDC chips/speakers so cannot comment on where you could fit them, other  than between the  frames as Kev mentioned.  There is also space in the bunker but  again I don't know what would  be  needed. I guess it would be a  pain to wire it up in there though.

Cheers,

Peter

[2ManySpams]

4666 did run in the Bodmin and Padstow areas...

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Good evening. It's been a while since I last posted, but things have been progressing, albeit slowly.That's due to lack of time not difficulties or shortcomings in the kit. Having said that, I noted a further error in relation to the front sandboxes that needs correcting. On the prototype, the boxes are set away from the frames so the outer edge buts against the running plate valance. On the kit they are intended to be fitted directly to the frames via a spigot and hole.To correct that I added a bracket made from waste etch.

 

 

 

I've been flitting about a bit from the  cab to the  bunker to the  footplate. On the bunker I have added the  hand rails, grab rails, lamp and fire irons.There is no  casting for the  upper lamp iron so I modified one  of  the  spares from lower down. On the inside  of  the  cab back plate I scribed a representation of  the  cab doors with some "guesstimated details". However, I have managed to find some  prototype pictures on the web and had to redo them. Here's the  original attempt.

 

 

The cab access doors are meant to fixed either open or closed, but  I knocked up some hinges from tube and  rod to make them open-able. Here's the corrected version of  the doors with the small tool box added to the rear shelf. There's no part provided for this so it's fabricated from thin brass sheet.

 

 

And some shots of  the bunker detail. The boiler/pannier tanks, cab and bunker are only temporarily fitted for the photos at this stage. 

 

 

 

I have also fitted the sanding gear levers, front sandbox lids, the front and rear steps, rear sandboxes and replaced the etched lamp irons on the side and  front of the running plate with the cast ones.

 

 

 

Again the cab roof, chimney, dome and top feed are only loosely placed for the photo.

 

 

And here's a shot of  the  boiler fittings along with the  boiler back plate and smoke box door after fettling. Mostly they were pretty good, but  the  chimney was miss-cast at the rim, so I had to repair that with low melt solder and a lot of filing and  rubbing  down. It turned out OK though. I thought about contacting JLTRT to get a replacement, but I thought what the hell it's supposed to be modelling, so fix it.

 

 

And the cab interior. I am going to attach the back plate to a sheet of  "shim brass plate" and  build up all the fittings and pipes off the loco so that I can fit after painting.  I need to suss out how to fix the roof but  I'll come to that in due course.

 

 

This is a really enjoyable kit to build.  There's a few minor faults which have  been easy  to correct, but  it goes together so well I can live  with those. The resin boiler/tanks are superb and provide a lot of weight to the  model. If JLTRT produced it  with etchings I would still want  to build it, provided they fitted as well as the other etchings in the kit. God knows how many extra parts that would  add though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dibateg]

Very neat work PAD, looking good!

[Great Western]

Hi PAD,

 

Your thread and efforts have pushed me over the edge to attempt this kit myself !

 

However, I have never, ever built a kit, let alone a brass one!

 

Could you provide a list of tools I'll need to produce this one please?

 

I'm looking to model a rather knackered National Coal Board loco in the end, which scheme it yours destine to become ?

 

Regards

 

Great Western

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Hi Great Western,thank you I'm glad you like it.

I shall finish in plain black as running on BR in the 1950s. Not decided which number yet.

 

Regarding the tools require I would suggest you try to pick copies of the excellent books by Iain Rice on building etched locomotives kits and chassis. It's aimed at 4mm models but all the tools and methods are applicable to 7mm.

However, here's a selection of essential tools.

Soldering iron - preferably temperature controlled. I have an Antex TCS which is very good.

145 and low melt solder plus fluxes.

Needle files

Pink vice

Selection of small drill bits 0.5 to 1.6 mm

Cutting broaches

Set of jewellers screw drivers

Side cutters

Small bench vice

Tweezers

Craft knife

6,8,10 and 12BA taps.

Taper reamer for opening bearing holes in the frames to fit the axle bushes

Scratch brush, Gariflex block and emery paper for removing excess solder.

etc.

etc.

With this lot you could build an etched kit if you had some experience. There are lots of other bits of kit that are nice to have but not necessarily essential.

I suggest you try to get hold of the above books which tell you much more than can be written here.

Hope that helps for now.

Cheers,

Peter

 

These are the books.

[Great Western]

That's fab Peter,

 

Regards

Edited October 12, 2015 by Great Western

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You're welcome. I've got the chassis finished apart from fitting the motor and pick ups, and have also got all the details fitted to the running plate along with the cab and bunker. I'll post the pictures when I get time on my lap top.

[JeffP]

Is the book on chassis construction out of print? They are on ebay at just under £50!

[Deano747]

Is the book on chassis construction out of print? They are on ebay at just under £50!

It's still listed on titfields website at £13.95?

(Usual disclaimer, just a satisfied customer!)

 

Regards Deano

Edited October 13, 2015 by Deano747

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£50!!! Somebody is taking the mick.

[JeffP]

Yerp. Got the etched loco one for £12.

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Been a  while since  I posted but  things  have  moved on. Before I soldered the  cab in place and  considered fixing the resin boiler permanently or  make it  removable, I attached all the detail castings  and  etchings  to the  running plate. This is fairly straightforward apart from the cast tank supports. There is  no fixing hole on the running plate or spigot on the  castings to align them, so I made this  jig out  of old business cards and tape to assist.

 

 

Once the  support brackets were on, I fitted the  rest of  the  parts, including the  lever on the  cab splasher, before  fitting the  cab and  bunker.

 

 

Next up the  injectors, which need to be attached to the  underside of  the  pannier tanks.  On problem though. As can be  seen below, the  castings which are very nice, would  not  as configured, allow the  fitting of  the operating lever from the  cab. To rectify this  I sliced off the  short pipe at the  front and  replaced it  with a  longer piece of  suitable  copper wire. Now  we can fit  them. The upper one, for  the  left hand side is modified, with the  lower one as they come.

 

 

After marking out the  position on the  underside of  the tanks, suitable  holes were drilled to fit the  injectors and  I glued them on with a "gel" grade of super glue.

 

 

For those who like  to add sound chips, the available  space in this  model is  very limited. It might  be  possible  to drill a suitable opening in the boiler using the  existing recess in the  front of the  smoke box, but  I'm not  into that so I've no idea of  the  space required.  The bunker is  quite restricted for  space as it  is built around an inner "skeleton" which would make  it  difficult to fit (perhaps??)

 

 

I have also completed adding all the  detail to the chassis including a couple of mud hole cover castings from my spares box, to the  side  of the  ash pan which were not  included in the kit. The  outer balance weights are on the  wheels but  I still need to fit the  inner ones which are included on the  etches. I also need to fit the  pick ups and motor and  check all runs well before  stripping for  painting.

 

 

Here's my solution to making the cab roof removable.  First I have added a flange to the  top edge of  the  cab sides from waste etch. It's about 2 mm wide. Then I have added some clips to the  underside of the  roof after careful marking out to align them.  It works quite well but I may still epoxy it  in place after all is  painted, and  a  crew fitted. We'll see.

 

 

The resin boiler is  removable at this  stage but  I may epoxy it  in place before  painting. As it  will be in plain BR black there's not  really much benefit in terms of  the paining in leaving it  removable. Here's some  shots with it in place.  I need to fettle the  holes in the  running plate for  the  8 BA screws that hold it  in place, to get it to move back slightly to butt up against the  cab front plate. Adding  all the  detail to the  resin casting comes next.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[david.hill64]

Very nice work.

[hobbyhorse]

As David said, very nice.

 

Simon

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Time to start adding the details to the  resin casting. I'd already fixed the balancing pipe under the  tanks, along with the  flanges made from 8BA washers. I had some boiler band cleats from Laurie Griffin so added these after spotting them on prototype photos. I assume the  forward one is offset due  to the  proximity of the sanding gear levers under the  boiler. As I was fixing  these  with super glue to resin, I left on the  casting tabs and  drilled holes in the resin casting to make  them more secure.

 

 

Next up the  handrails on the tanks. I started off by shaping the curve for  the  smoke box and then soldered the handrail knob in the  center. Having already drilled the  holes on the  tank sides, I was able  to fit a couple  of  knobs and  then mark the  position for  the  first bend in the  rail with tape  on the  smoke box.

 

 

 

I marked out a template for the  right angle bends and then taped the  wire to this  before  making the  90 degree bends.

 

 

To fit the  handrail knobs supplied, all the cast holes in the  tanks need drilling out to 1.4 mm. After that I super glued the  knobs in place, and  then slid the  preformed handrail into position. I did not  have  a  long enough piece of 0.7 mm nickel silver so a joint  is  require at the last knob on the tank. The  handrails in the  lower tank sides and front tank tops  were also added.

 

 

It's my intention to build this  as a top feed fitted loco, so has anyone  spotted the  deliberate mistake?

 

Finally here's a shot of  the  cleats under the  boiler. Difficult  to see the rear one  but  what the  hell.  

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kev_Lewis]

It's my intention to build this  as a top feed fitted loco, so has anyone  spotted the  deliberate mistake?

 

Would that be the missing bend in the handrail, just before the cab, to clear the top feed pipework?

[Grasshopper John]

Would that be the missing bend in the handrail, just before the cab, to clear the top feed pipework?

 

 

I Beg to differ there Kev, Peter doesn't make mistakes, He just makes subtle changes

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I Beg to differ there Kev, Peter doesn't make mistakes, He just makes subtle changes

 

Hi John,

I wish.

 

We  all make  mistakes but usually I correct mine before posting. I only  spotted it when reviewing the post, and at that point the air turned the same colour as the resin casting!

 

Absolutely right  Kev.  I was too eager to get the  rail on and  have a look. Fortunately, the  hand rail is  joined at the last handrail knob on the tank and only soldered there at the  moment.It will be easy to un-solder, slide out and replace with a new length of wire with the kink added. 

 

Cheers,

Peter

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First up on this  session was to remove the back sections of the offending handrails. Then when digging out the brass castings for the safety valves I noticed the cast flanges for the balancing pipe, which I had already fitted with some cobbled flanges from 8 BA washers. The castings made these homemade jobs look a bit lacking, having a heavier appearance.Off with the balancing pipe! After soldering the flanges to the ends of the pipe it was refitted with super glue. Not too onerous but annoying non the less. Should have spotted them before, but having said that, they are not shown in the instructions.

 

 

Next up I prepared the  main boiler top castings by adding spigots from brass wire to beef up the glued joints when fixed. For the  chimney I fitted a suitable  diameter brass tube after first soldering on a piece of  waste etch to block bottom end. This is to give the glue more metal to hold onto. The recess in the  smoke  box was drilled out slightly larger to allow some  adjustment before the epoxy set. Suitable holes for the spigots on the dome and top feed were also drilled in the boiler top, with the safety valve base already having a spigot cast in.

 

 

Starting to look more like a 57XX now. Took the next shot while the epoxy was still hardening, but  the had  removed it by the  one after.

 

 

Also fitted the  remaining lamp iron to the  top of  the  smoke box.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

[Earl Bathurst]

Superb modelling looking really good. I must have a go at 1 of these, the main bit which really puts me off is the bunkers on western tank engines. How difficult is this part to complete?

 

Scott

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Hi Scott,

It depends on the method the kit employs to represent curve at the top of the bunker. The main problem is that there are lots of rivets in close proximity, so filing and shaping the curve is difficult to do without destroying the rivets.

 

If you have followed the thread you will have seen the method employed by jltrt on this kit.I have seen comments that some builders had problems with this, and on another forum I have seen a build where the rivets were lost as mentioned above.

 

Personally I found the method employed quite tricky but do-able. In my opinion it is better to fit the bunker overlays to the side but do not form the curves until the cast brass corner pieces are fitted. That way some soldering can be done on the inside and avoid the need for too much cleaning up on the outside near the rivits. Once they are in place then form the curves. I ended up with a slight but acceptible gap in the middle which I filled. I'll check what pictures I posted and if I have any more to illustrate how I did it, I'll put them up later.

Cheers,

Peter

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Been adding further  detail to the  tank tops and have almost completed this area of  the model. After preparing the  castings I made the  lifting rings from 0.6 mm brass rod and  fitted these to the  lifting brackets before  gluing to the tanks. Made the  rings by annealing the  brass wire, then coiling tightly around the shank of a drill bit, clamping in the  vice and  then slitting the  wire coils with the  piercing  saw. On the first attempt the  rings were too small so I had another  go with a  larger diameter drill bit.

 

 

The first attempt  is  at the  front with the  second at the  rear.

 

 

The various holes have  to be drill out to size and  two extra ones added for  the stops behind the  filler lids, for which there  are no holes in the  resin. Glued the  various bits on with super  glue, apart from the  tank fillers. These will be  glued after I fit  the  pipes from the  top feed to the  injectors, otherwise it  will be  a  fiddle  to do it.

 

 

I also got  the  castings for  the  buffers prepared, but  then found that they will need some mollification to the  steel heads and  shanks to get them to work.

I'll post some picks  later to show the  problem.

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

[57xx]

I've been quietly following and enjoying this thread, the kit is going together really well.

 

However... I'm now going to be one of those annoying people who points something out. The top feed looks like it's in the wrong place and should sit further forwards, not inline with the centre of the filler caps. It didn't look quite right to me when I was pondering the pipework routing so had a look for a prototype pic to confirm and found this. http://s144.photobucket.com/user/myfordmatt/media/Buckfast080707/Buckfast08070769.jpg.html

[daifly]

Photos here will be of use to you. Click on them to get BIG pictures!

 

Dave

Edited October 30, 2015 by daifly