Scratch built lanky signal box

[Simon Moore]

Well i have been working on the model all day & try as i might i cannot get the bloody thing to run correctly. I have a felling i have missed something during the build & cocked up the chassis to the point it needs binning. 

I have a feeling the next step is scratch building a new chassis for it & starting again. I wish Mike would do some proper s4 spacers in the kit it would make the job a bit easier. I will continue with the body though & hopefully i can get it finished before deciding the next step. 

I am not giving up though i am determined to get my 16inch hunslet.

[Michael Edge]

Some kits now have S4 spacers but most of them don't and it's not really practicable to provide them. This doesn't apply to many of the Hunslets (some of which actually have spacers that are too wide) and any of the outside frame locos.

[doilum]

9 hours ago, Rhb Simon said:

Well i have been working on the model all day & try as i might i cannot get the bloody thing to run correctly. I have a felling i have missed something during the build & cocked up the chassis to the point it needs binning. 

I have a feeling the next step is scratch building a new chassis for it & starting again. I wish Mike would do some proper s4 spacers in the kit it would make the job a bit easier. I will continue with the body though & hopefully i can get it finished before deciding the next step. 

I am not giving up though i am determined to get my 16inch hunslet.

Are the wheels self quartering?

[Barclay]

9 hours ago, Rhb Simon said:

Well i have been working on the model all day & try as i might i cannot get the bloody thing to run correctly. I have a felling i have missed something during the build & cocked up the chassis to the point it needs binning. 

I have a feeling the next step is scratch building a new chassis for it & starting again. I wish Mike would do some proper s4 spacers in the kit it would make the job a bit easier. I will continue with the body though & hopefully i can get it finished before deciding the next step. 

I am not giving up though i am determined to get my 16inch hunslet.

Don't waste all your work. It's a compensated chassis so as long as the hornblocks move freely up and down without wobbling about the absolute only thing that can be wrong is a mismatch between rods and wheelbase, which you can check with jig axles of course, and easily adjust if necessary. I would have the Romfords off and make sure each one is sitting good and square on its axle - there have been issues reported with a slightly tight fit that may affect the quartering. Otherwise the chassis has to be OK.

 

The reason I say this is that I spent much of 2020 chasing around a loco. chassis looking for a fault that wasn't there. I altered the rods, I built and fitted new hornblocks. All the time it was excessive end float in a Mitsumi motor that caused a slight stutter in the running !

[Gordon A]

The advantage of etched brass chassis is that you can take them apart and rebuild them a number of times, so don't bin the chassis.

[Simon Moore]

Cheers chaps. I am putting it aside for a while. I need to tidy the garage so i can find the cellulose thinners so i can strip the chassis of paint then i can have another look at the chassis. 

I will no doubt also need new hornblocks & with Chris at high level shut i cannot get the bits i need.

 

For now i am going to build a few EM gauge models i have on the go. Next up a Judith Edge Ebbw Vale Hunslet & also a Judith Edge Connsett A class thats been on the go way too long.

[Simon Moore]

Well today i have had fun in & out of the workshop! 

 

I have had plenty of family time in the sun, an unexpected call from my old gaffer asking me to comeback with a pay rise & the workshop has been productive.

 

My industrial interests are steel & coal & so my locos are a reflection of that i think with my latest model being the Ebbw Vale monster hunslet 0-8-0. These were used at British Steels Ebbw Vale works for heavy shunting. Its an absolute beast of a loco, its huge!

You really do get value for money with a judith edge kit. This is a substantial model & when it comes in at less than £50 its a winner for my Yorkshire pockets. I normally model these steelworks locos as per the prototype but this one i think i am going to do it a bit like my Teesside Tom Hill. 

 

I hail from Sheffield so my local steel engines were either yellow or wasp stripes. I think mine is going to be plain yellow with wasp stripe bufferbeam's & some sort of british steel fantasy livery based around the Tinsley area which will always be railway ground zero for me. I have some Workington / Moss bay heavy duty buffers from rt models i am thinking of fitting to the model to give it a real heavy duty look. 

 

This evening i put together the frames, i am a sucker for a chassis jig & i borrowed my mates Poppys woodtec jig. By god what a tool for pocket money prices. The thing is spot on. Made light work of the 0-8-0! 

 

 

 

 

This afternoon i also took delivery of another 2 Skinningrove wagons from rt models. I built the first of 4. I also stuck the open hearth boxes on to have a look. I have the angles left to fit. Not a bad kit but the axleboxes need thinning to fit the wheels & bearing no matter what gauge you model. Mine are EM but even 00 would need the mods.

 

[Simon Moore]

I was hoping to have the wheels today for the Ebbw monster but nothing has arrived so i was a bit stalled. I decided to build another 2 of the Skinningrove wagons instead & they are happily built & rolling nicely. 

 

Also sat & had a look at Primrose no2. I am going to strip the chassis of its hornblocks & re jig everything in the chassis to see if i can cure its problems. I think if i sit it in this poppys jigs it should help with curing its issues & then it might be a running model. 

 

I am hoping tomorrow the wheels turn up then i can really crack on with the Hunslet diesel shunter.

[Simon Moore]

Well as of yet my Markits wheels have not arrived so i decided to pull another out of the pile that has sat as a basic chassis for well over a year. 

Another Judith Edge kit this time the Consett A class. I put a few bits on the basic footplate last week & tonight i fit the splasher's, cab floor & then built up the cab around the floor unit. A nice kit so far with everything fitting without any fight. 

 

 

I cannot get this loco running because Chris is closed at High level so i have no transmission for it. I am determined to get the main bodywork done so its somewhere near. I am not looking forward to rolling the curves in the tanks especially as it is all nickel silver.

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 30/03/2021 at 22:18, Rhb Simon said:

I hail from Sheffield so my local steel engines were either yellow or wasp stripes.

 

Pah, you youngsters!

 

[Gordon A]

That is an interesting way of carrying / loading a loco with the wheels in the air.

 

[Moxy]

4 minutes ago, Gordon A said:

That is an interesting way of carrying / loading a loco with the wheels in the air.

 

with the securing chains going through the wheels as well.

[Simon Moore]

5 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Pah, you youngsters!

 

 

I drive class 1's & whilst the shunter interests me, that Foden is a beauty. 

[Simon Moore]

I have been doing a bit of boiler making this morning & preparing the tanks. The tanks have a tonne of rivets which is taking time to prep. I built the smokebox front & annealed the wrapper. I still need to do some more work to the smokebox wrapper so it will stick properly with solder.

 

 

 

I have done a bit of fettling since the picture so that everything seats properly on the footplate.  

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by Rhb Simon

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 minutes ago, Rhb Simon said:

 

I drive class 1's & whilst the shunter interests me, that Foden is a beauty. 

 

I don't know who it belongs to, but I had a VW beetle, 3791 WJ registered in 1959, so I reckon the Foden is roughly of the same vintage.

 

Doh, it's BSC owned!

Double doh. A Google search seems to intimate it's preserved.

 

Mike,

Edited April 3, 2021 by Enterprisingwestern

[Simon Moore]

I tackled one of the side tanks tonight & tacked it to the smokebox so i could see how it looked. I annealed the tanks & lost a bit of rivet detail when i cleaned up the tank but i can live with that. It all of a sudden looks like a loco. I am seeing this one to the finish line before i go back to the Hunslet locos, it has been on my bench far too long. I keep looking at Primrose no2 & i am devising a plan of attack on her. I think i am going to take the frames totally apart & rebuild it from the ground up.

 

Couldn't resist sitting a few castings on the model to see how she looks.

 

[doilum]

Before carrying out any drastic work on Primrose, undertake a forensic investigation. Apart from resolving your problems this will in it's self be a valuable education. The investigation works on the premise that no question is stupid and nothing is taken for granted. It also helps if there are no time constraints. If you are not getting anywhere leave it and come back later. It took me the best part of 25 years to finally get my Slater's Manning Wardle running. In the end it was the skills I had developed through scratch building that allowed me to fettle the chassis and complete the job. 

[Simon Moore]

3 hours ago, doilum said:

Before carrying out any drastic work on Primrose, undertake a forensic investigation. Apart from resolving your problems this will in it's self be a valuable education. The investigation works on the premise that no question is stupid and nothing is taken for granted. It also helps if there are no time constraints. If you are not getting anywhere leave it and come back later. It took me the best part of 25 years to finally get my Slater's Manning Wardle running. In the end it was the skills I had developed through scratch building that allowed me to fettle the chassis and complete the job. 

 

I agree, i have been investigating the chassis & this next week i am going to have a fettle. I think one of the hornblocks isn't straight & its throwing out the wheels. I might be able to de solder the hornblocks & re jig it all on my mates jig i have to hand. 

 

I have been working this afternoon on Primrose no2 & the body isn't far from completion. I am going to get it all completed & painted. & return to the chassis this next week. 

 

 

I have other locos that need finishing off so i currently have 4 locos on the go which i never liked before but now when one niggles i can work on something else & rotate them.

The kitson i am going to build the new s4 frames for it this next week if time allows, i have also got the RSH out so i can re start building this model. The chassis is rolling perfectly so i just need to crack on & finish that one off too.

[doilum]

It might just be the photo, but there appears to be something array with Primrose's rods, which is why I originally asked about your quartering. ( My " sargeant pepper" austerity is a non runner as it was built around some ancient Slater's push on wheels that came from the bay of E and refuse to remain quartered. One day it will get some new ones and these will underpin a dismantled loco for Frydale yard.) At the risk of teaching egg sucking, a six coupled loco needs first to work as a pair of 0-4-0s. I am not sure how the 4mm kit works but my guess from the armchair is, a tiny reduction on wheelbase resulting from the fitting of horn blocks. Large glasses or a digital caliper might reveal the answer. Keep the faith, the rest of your work is very neat.

Edited April 4, 2021 by doilum
Predictive text error

[Simon Moore]

21 minutes ago, doilum said:

It might just be the photo, but there appears to be something array with Primrose's rods, which is why I originally asked about your quartering. ( My " sargeant pepper" austerity is a non runner as it was built around some ancient Slater's push on wheels that came from the bay of E and refuse to remain quartered. One day it will get some new ones and these will underpin a dismantled loco for Frydale yard.) At the risk of teaching egg sucking, a six coupled loco needs first to work as a pair of 0-4-0s. I am not sure how the 4mm kit works but my guess from the armchair is, a tiny reduction on wheelbase resulting from the fitting of horn blocks. Large glasses or a digital caliper might reveal the answer. Keep the faith, the rest of your work is very neat.

 

I wondered who would pick up on that. I did actually alter the quartering on the axle hence the dip in the rods just to see if it was out by a smidge. I am hoping i can de solder the hornblocks set up the jig & re align the hornblocks straight. Mike edge has come to the rescue with some spare rods so i can at least set the jig accurately.

[Michael Edge]

Your spare rods and Kylpor chimney should be in the post tomorrow.

The Consett A is looking good, the lever on the top of the safety valve moulding should be cut off and replaced with the etched one.

[Simon Moore]

8 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Your spare rods and Kylpor chimney should be in the post tomorrow.

The Consett A is looking good, the lever on the top of the safety valve moulding should be cut off and replaced with the etched one.

 

Cheers Mike

 

I didn't realise the kit had a etched replacement for the safety valve. 

 

 

[Michael Edge]

Yes, it's on there somewhere, the moulding wouldn't come out very well. Bank holiday tomorrow - post on Tuesday.

[Simon Moore]

My intention when i sat in the workshop this morning was to do some work on the RSH this evening but things never turn out as planned. 

 

I had to download a templot pdf to see if the trackwork was correct for my layout i am about to build. My thoughts were to do a foundry a bit like Whiflet in scotland but most of my p4 items are colliery based & almost all my wagons are coal wagons of one type or another. This got me thinking about what the layout was going to be again & i thought it best to go for a colliery as everything i have is mainly ncb with the odd british steel loco. 

I have collected images off facebook pages for personal use for modelling & the Bowes railway posted a picture of Hobson colliery at Burnopfield. This is giving me the the basis to work from for the layout of which i will post about when its started.

 

I had a look for something this afternoon in the workshop & came across my partly painted Dave Bradwell 14t ncb hopper. I decided to finish it off with a bit of black paint & start the transfers. I have another 2 of these to finish off at some point. 

 

 

I really like these hopper kits they look great once finished off.

[Simon Moore]

Its been a bit quiet this week in the workshop. My day job driving wagons has been absolutely chaotic & i have not been getting in most evenings until well after 7pm. I have however been thinking about modelling projects & sometimes it is good to think the next steps of a model. 

My thoughts have been firmly on Primrose no2 once again & wanting to get her finished off. 

 

Mike edge kindly sent me some spare rods & a kylpor chimney which arrived yesterday. With a hour to spare this morning i cracked on & put the final parts onto the body & got it into primer. I popped it in the airing cupboard to let the paint harden off & waited until this afternoon. After putting my youngest to bed for her afternoon nap i got the gloss red sprayed on the body. Humbrol 19 is a decent enough match to my photo so she is a step closer to completion. 

 

The chassis has caused me a headache & i have decided to scratch build a new set of frames from nickel silver sheet. I have a metal guillotine which will make easy work of cutting the replacements out. My plan is to solder 2 identical pieces of nickel silver together & spray mount a photocopy of the scale drawing of the model on to one of the plates. From this i can drill the holes for the brake rods & mark & cut the hornblocks leaving 1 axle rigid with some brass bearings soldered in. 

I am hoping that this next week isn't as stupid at work & i can have some time to get the chassis up & running correctly. I think i am going to order another axle & wheels from gibson as one is a bit loose on the axle from moving it a bit. Hopefully the mk2 version of the chassis will come out better than the first & i can get a running model over the next couple of weeks. Once this is completed i have a half finished craftsman 1f in p4 i want to finish as a quick project. 

 

Hopefully i can post some updated photos of progress with Primrose no2 tomorrow.