Michael Edge's workbench

[Michael Edge]

That depends on how much weight it has in it, I'll put some lead in when it's painted. 

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

The buffer tails are linked across the frames to prevent the oval heads turning.

That's neat!

[Michael Edge]

Next job to start this week.

A South Eastern F1 4-4-0 from a Jidenco kit, there were no instructions but that's no loss and the frame etch is missing - that was probably the worst part of the kit anyway although coupling rods would have been useful.

The only drawing I have is the SR weight diagram seen here, most of the parts seem to match it quite closely so I've drawn the main frames from it and will use the printed pattern to cut them from steel sheet.

Meanwhile Lidl had some more of these wheeled trolleys in yesterday

so I bought another one to take to the layout in France. They are only £29.99 and make either a seat or a flat trolley, ideal for working underneath the layout.

 

[cctransuk]

36 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Next job to start this week.

A South Eastern F1 4-4-0 from a Jidenco kit ....

 

Now this I will watch with great interest - a first-hand, balanced account of building a Jidenco kit.

 

The whole range has been rubbished repeatedly, often by commentators who have probably never even seen one of these kits.

 

I have not built a loco kit from this source, but the wagon kits that I have built have produced excellent models - GIVEN A MODICUM OF IMAGINATION AND SKILL ON THE PART OF THE BUILDER.

 

John Isherwood.

 

[queensquare]

16 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Now this I will watch with great interest - a first-hand, balanced account of building a Jidenco kit.

 

The whole range has been rubbished repeatedly, often by commentators who have probably never even seen one of these kits.

 

I have not built a loco kit from this source, but the wagon kits that I have built have produced excellent models - GIVEN A MODICUM OF IMAGINATION AND SKILL ON THE PART OF THE BUILDER.

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

Ive built a few though oddly none in 4mm. They vary but if treated as a scratch aid rather than a state of the art kit they are useful. The Midland 800 2-4-0 (2mm reduction) was pretty good. The chassis on the LBSC atlantic in 3mm was poor - the frames and coupling rods didnt match but the body, which is a fairly complex shape was pretty good.

 

Jerry

[Buhar]

2 hours ago, queensquare said:

They vary but if treated as a scratch aid

Reading in an old Railway Modeller in the Exact Editions archive that is exactly how they were described by the originator of the range.  Down the line of ownership and as more developed kits emerged in competition that key bit of information got rather lost.  That said, getting frames and coupling rods mismatched and wrong isn't an aid to anything except disappointment.

 

Alan

[Michael Edge]

I've built plenty of Jidenco kits over the years, starting with the very first one.

 

One of my customers was a friend of Graham Beaumont's and he sent me one of these to build. I looked at the parts and asked him to send me another one, the LH and RH frames/coupling rods didn't match each other. I swapped the frames and coupling rods around and built two, keeping one which still runs on Herculaneum Dock. Subsequent production of this kit had the frames cut out and packed separately....

Many of these kits are fairly good for their time but the range is so big that it's not easy to keep track of which ones are and which aren't, the "instructions" are a bit of a joke but many of us don't really need them anyway.

[queensquare]

2 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

 

…. the "instructions" are a bit of a joke but many of us don't really need them anyway.

wheels on the bottom, boiler on top, chimney at the front, cab at the back …… usually! 😊

 

Jerry

[Nick C]

29 minutes ago, queensquare said:

wheels on the bottom, boiler on top, chimney at the front, cab at the back …… usually! 😊

 

Jerry

Wheels on the bottom, boiler on top you say? http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/aigle/aigle.htm http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/fontaine/fontaine.htm

 

[St Enodoc]

43 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

I've built plenty of Jidenco kits over the years, starting with the very first one.

 

One of my customers was a friend of Graham Beaumont's and he sent me one of these to build. I looked at the parts and asked him to send me another one, the LH and RH frames/coupling rods didn't match each other. I swapped the frames and coupling rods around and built two, keeping one which still runs on Herculaneum Dock. Subsequent production of this kit had the frames cut out and packed separately....

Many of these kits are fairly good for their time but the range is so big that it's not easy to keep track of which ones are and which aren't, the "instructions" are a bit of a joke but many of us don't really need them anyway.

You will remember when Graham and Colin Massingham were looking at my MTK 2-BIL in the display case at a Leeds show some 30-odd years ago.

 

CM: That's a nice-looking 2-BIL.

 

GB: Can't be one of yours then.

[Michael Edge]

I got this back from Warren Haywood at the weekend.

7mm Janus, I've got to glaze it and fit the crankpin roller bearing covers now.

 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Michael Edge said:

I got this back from Warren Haywood at the weekend.

7mm Janus, I've got to glaze it and fit the crankpin roller bearing covers now.

 

 

I saw that on Warren's stand and wondered if you had anything to do with it.

 

I nearly had to put sunglasses on to look at it!

[pete_mcfarlane]

4 hours ago, queensquare said:

 

Ive built a few though oddly none in 4mm. They vary but if treated as a scratch aid rather than a state of the art kit they are useful. The Midland 800 2-4-0 (2mm reduction) was pretty good. The chassis on the LBSC atlantic in 3mm was poor - the frames and coupling rods didnt match but the body, which is a fairly complex shape was pretty good.

 

Jerry

I know a P4 Midland modeller who reckons the Jidenco Midland kits were pretty good. I have a vague memory that they were from somebody else's range that Jidenco acquired. 

 

My own experiences are limited to wagons - a LMS wagon that came with a steel underframe rather than wooden (but did get finished), and a Southern Ballast wagon of a type that couldn't be found in any of the 5 books on SR wagons.

 

 

 

[Michael Edge]

27 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

I saw that on Warren's stand and wondered if you had anything to do with it.

 

I nearly had to put sunglasses on to look at it!

This one is for a customer but it's the first test build of our Janus in 7mm and all the work is done now to put it into production.

[t-b-g]

2 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

This one is for a customer but it's the first test build of our Janus in 7mm and all the work is done now to put it into production.

 

Please put my name on one when they are available Mike.

 

I have fancied a model ever since I worked with them at Orgreave a lifetime ago and my enthusiasm for building a 4mm one subsided when it was done as a RTR model. Mine will have to be a filthy green though, rather than like a carnival wasp costume. 

[Michael Edge]

I've started on the Jidenco F1 today.

I start with the coupling rod blanks, two pieces of .020" steel soldered together and drilled 1mm at the correct axle centres.

The easiest way to compensate a 4-4-0 is to link the driving axles with beams and use a fixed pivot for the bogie - in this case the frames are very shallow below the footplate so I'll use the ashpan sides as the beams. This the drawing stuck on to two sheets of .022" brass, all done with double sided tape, the centre hole is the pivot, the other two are to locate the two parts of the ashpan together.

Compensating beam with axle holes drilled 1/8th in., lower ashpan side drawing to cut out from brass sheet.

One beam assembled at right, components of the other one at left.

Now for the frames, two pieces of .020" steel shim stuck together, axle holes jig drilled from the coupling rod blanks, the pivot hole will be jig drilled from the ashpan sides later.

[Michael Edge]

Before going further with the frames I put the footplate together.

The kit was apparently designed with only P4 clearances for the wheels so I had to cut a bit more out of the footplate first.

One of the most annoying things about these kits is that the etches were taped together with sellotape and after 40 years or so it leaves this residue which has to be cleaned off. Note to kit packers - don't ever tape etches together (some are still doing it) - and worse still don't tape wires together.

The footplate angles appear to be laminated together from these two strips - at least I think that's what was intended, works anyway.

Buffer beam and drag beam added along with the footplate angle and it matches the SR weight diagram exactly. Frames cut and cleaned up, the larger holes are 10BA clearance for my temporary screwed spacers. Small holes for brake pivots and guard irons cut integral with the frames for strength.

Ashpan sides/compensating beams fitted inside the frames and assembled on the temporary spacers, etched ones to be soldered in at the top of this photo. Top hat bushes soldered to the inner faces of the beams for additional bearing surface, pivots are large brass pins through the frames and soldered to the inside of the beams.

Temporary Romford wheels fitted, makes setting up easier and I'll only fit the Gibsons once. Obviously the designer didn't think about where the coupling rods are going to go, I'll fit the splashers next and cut out some clearance for them in the footplate. That's enough for one day.

[AlfaZagato]

Are you building this for yourself?  If you are, I seem to remember you run EM.   Would you have space at OO?

[Michael Edge]

Not for me, I only seem to build O4s and EM1s at the moment….

My layouts are all 00, I build in EM and other scales for customers.

There’s no room for the coupling rods in this F1 even in 00.

[Jack P]

Following with much interest. The details of this build will be immensely helpful, I've got both an F1 and a B1 to build (Jidenco). 

 

They'll both be in EM, so those clearance issues are even more daunting. If I get really stuck, Mike - you might be getting a message. 

[Barclay]

On 05/06/2023 at 10:06, Michael Edge said:

I've built plenty of Jidenco kits over the years, starting with the very first one.

 

One of my customers was a friend of Graham Beaumont's and he sent me one of these to build. I looked at the parts and asked him to send me another one, the LH and RH frames/coupling rods didn't match each other. I swapped the frames and coupling rods around and built two, keeping one which still runs on Herculaneum Dock. Subsequent production of this kit had the frames cut out and packed separately....

Many of these kits are fairly good for their time but the range is so big that it's not easy to keep track of which ones are and which aren't, the "instructions" are a bit of a joke but many of us don't really need them anyway.

I am fond of these. Some time ago you were kind enough to supply some basic dimensions for scaling purposes on a drawing of this class that you had posted many years ago. Stupidly I have lost track of where this drawing was (it may even have disappeared in the great picture loss). Is there any chance you could re-post it?

 

Thank you

[Michael Edge]

17 hours ago, Jack P said:

Following with much interest. The details of this build will be immensely helpful, I've got both an F1 and a B1 to build (Jidenco). 

 

They'll both be in EM, so those clearance issues are even more daunting. If I get really stuck, Mike - you might be getting a message. 

It's not really a matter of clearances, just that the designer forgot where the coupling rods go and why it has splashers for them. I've no idea what the kit frames looked like but everything else seems OK so far.

[Michael Edge]

2 hours ago, Barclay said:

I am fond of these. Some time ago you were kind enough to supply some basic dimensions for scaling purposes on a drawing of this class that you had posted many years ago. Stupidly I have lost track of where this drawing was (it may even have disappeared in the great picture loss). Is there any chance you could re-post it?

 

Thank you

This might be the one you remember.

This is my drawing from many years ago, I've got the GA as well, I'll send that in a PM.

[Captain Kernow]

On 02/06/2023 at 13:14, Michael Edge said:

The Hudswell 0-6-0DM which has been lurking in my test track photos for some time has now made its way to the paint shop, some photos before painting here

One definite customer for that here, Mike, if this ever becomes a regular part of your range.

 

[Michael Edge]

Hudswell finished and ready to go

The Janus has already been collected.