What Have You Done With Your South East Fincast Kit ?

[relaxinghobby]

Found some old photos of my S E Fincast Metro tank, a prototype used by the GWR for many years from Victorian times until well into the 20th century. First as a fast suburban commuter tank then in the locos old age on branch lines. Some minor railways also used them and even built their own versions as they were so useful. The  Brecon and Merthyr in Wales is the inspiration for mine.  An ideal prototype for a small independent railway that's why mine is orange. An experimental colour scheme for my imaginary railway line.

 

I put it back in time by cutting the cab in half and reduced the size of the bunker, a new top being made out of plastic cards. Replaced the square firebox with a round section of white metal from another kit.

 

It was a new white metal kit from Wills and their new etched chassis. Romford wheels and a high level gearbox, I chose the 100 -1 because it would have to run slowly on a shunting-plank layout.

Problems with it it just fits inside a narrow 00 chassis and is really slow and sounds like a dentists drill. So it has not seen much use, it really needs a replacement box, sometime.

 

 

Over time a crack has developed between the plastic bunker top and the lower metal parts.

 

 

To carry on the theme of a none GWR loco I fitted a plane chimney.

 

 

Size wise it is slightly larger than the average late Victorian tank, similar to this Isle of Wight Beyer-Peacock loco, built here from paper to test my home cooked drawings and develop my new CAD skills.

 

 

Early days along with a Cambrian Railways Sharp-Stuart and Alpha Graphics Cardboard Drovers Break-van.

I think this was actually a proper film camera photo, I was a Luddite with the new fangled digital cameras for years.

Edited January 27, 2021 by relaxinghobby
Corrections

[Brassey]

I'm currently rebuilding my old Wills Metro and a new chassis.  This is a recent pic though things have moved on since.  More details are in my blog:

 

 

 

[Pete the Elaner]

The club has a SE Finecast turntable which I would like to build.

Unfortunately it is stuck at the club until we resume regular meetings.

Rather than getting hung up on it, I have lots to do on my own layout & am quite enjoying that instead.

[relaxinghobby]

19 hours ago, Brassey said:

I'm currently rebuilding my old Wills Metro and a new chassis.  This is a recent pic though things have moved on since.  More details are in my blog:

 

 

 

Hi Brassey

Looking at your partly finished kit I can't remember how similar it is to the later version I built.

I think the tank sides and foot plate sides where on piece, the top of the tanks and rear of the boiler was one omega shape bit  __A__. The part of the boiler in front of the tanks was one tube maybe the smoke box was separate or part of it. I've gone blank.

Your blog says you got the old style bunker from another kit, a useful mix and match.

[Brassey]

5 minutes ago, relaxinghobby said:

Hi Brassey

Looking at your partly finished kit I can't remember how similar it is to the later version I built.

I think the tank sides and foot plate sides where on piece, the top of the tanks and rear of the boiler was one omega shape bit  __A__. The part of the boiler in front of the tanks was one tube maybe the smoke box was separate or part of it. I've gone blank.

Your blog says you got the old style bunker from another kit, a useful mix and match.

 

I can't remember how it went together either as It is at least 35 years since I originally built it. I must have used a saw to dismantle some of it.  I came to realise that the smokebox is in two halves as it fell apart when I was soldering it to the new boiler! 

 

I still have the instructions which include an exploded diagram if anyone is interested.  I'm pretty sure the SEF body kit will be the same as the Wills.

 

Today the chassis and wheels received a coat of dirty black so these will be finally assembled when fully dry then the brakes fitted.

[relaxinghobby]

As a reply to Brassey here is a photo essay of my interpretation of the Wills and South Eastern Finecast kit.

 

The chassis is the SEF nickel silver etch which went together without the help of any jigs, an easy build and gave a good running chassis without any jigs. I,ve made an 00 version, Romford wheels the axles nuts have been smoothed over with filler and paper punchings stuck on, all this can be dug out if the wheels have to be removed for some repair reason of some sort.

A high level gearbox and 20 X 14 mm Mashima motor. Looks like side pick ups to theleading wheels, you can see the copper strips.

[relaxinghobby]

The body is held on with 2 brass screws, the rear also has this complicated arrangement of separate a brass shape that is the sticky down bits and a rectangle of plasticard that holds the coupling.

The motor is so short because I've made this an open cab version,  no intrusion, if I'd done a cabbed version I would have had room to fit a flywheel at the back end hidden by the cab roof.. Because  it is for 00 and has to go around sharp corners the front of the chassis has been cranked in to be narrower and the leading wheel rides in a central axle box, a square one intended for sliding up and down in compensated and sprang chassis builds, here it holds the axle instead of the sides of the chassis and floats on the end of a spring. The holes there are opened out so the wheels can wobble form side to side and turn a little. A little bit of side control is provided by the two copper strip pick-ups.

There is enough play with this system for the loco to go around series 3 curves about 21 inch or 59684 cm radius. This loco can even scream and scrape around series 1 curves about 14 inch.

That brass screw in front of the 2 stage High Level gearbox holds the chassis to the body which is the way the kit comes.

 

From underneath, see those dirty wheels.

[relaxinghobby]

Underside of the body and the rear coupling and dangle-down wheel protectors again.

You can see the false cab floor, and going forward to bits of spare chassis etch supporting the new round firebox top. Low melt solder construction. A joint in the boiler barrel top just under the dome and looks like a central join under the from boiler there.

 

All is not well in pre-grouping freelance railway land. A crack between the plastic bunker top and on the left hand side there that I have not noticed  before this close up picture. Some form of repair is needed, perhaps introduce some slow acting super glue and gently camping and squeezing it all back together.

The whistles on the cab roof are the white-metal ones that came with the kit.

Looks like I never got around to painting the firebox back, colour the pipes brass or something.

The round wall around the top of the handbrake in the bunker is pure fiction, a guess of how it was done on the real thing. How else can you stop lumps of coal from jamming the turning action of the break handle.

Edited January 30, 2021 by relaxinghobby

[relaxinghobby]

 

Digital cameras allow these incredible close-ups.

Close-ups are a 2 edge sword, they show how horrible things can be. This picture is meant to show the false Floor of the cab so this loco when it finally gets it's crew, they may have to sacrifice their legs.

Horrors of a close-up, unevenness of the paint finish and lack of sharp edges of a white metal casting, that crack again at the rear and the gone wrong lining, I used gel pens but they do not give a well defined line on a smooth paint surface.

[ianLMS]

Here is a SE Finecast LMS 4F I built a while ago - it was one of my first few kits I built and it was a joy to build! 

 

Soon on the workbench will be a SE Finecast LMS original Royal Scot with Fowler Tender. Before that, I need to finish my Wills Stanier 2-6-4T 3 Cyl, and a GEM Compound. I then have a Nu-Cast Stanier 2-6-4T 2 Cyl, another GEM compound and an MPD 1F before I get started on my Jamieson Black 5's! Should keep me going until I retire!!

 

 

[locomad2]

Southern "Q" class built by my late father over 50 years ago on a standard triang chassis  XO4 motor etc, some 30 years ago I  pulled the wheels out a bit to cope with more modern points. Very popular loco giving 50 years of continuous service on 4 layouts and a excellent haulier capable of at least 30 HD standard wagons. One of the first to get ATF4  treatment of wheels some 10 years ago, seems to work reducing stalls on non live frogs, and reduced corrosion at slight expense of haulage capacity.

 

[5050]

My Branchlines/SEF Sentinel built last year in P4 with a highly modified High Level chassis etch.  You can see more on my thread -

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by 5050

[locomad2]

Started on a Wills Southern E5 this late last night, seems all there but no instructions 

 

 

Started at back end

 

 

Getting there 

 

 

 

 

[33C]

Here's my N7 and "Flat-iron".

[hayfield]

13 hours ago, 33C said:

Here's my N7 and "Flat-iron".

 

 

Both look nicely finished, I have acquired an etched chassis for my Flatiron, just need time to build it

[locomad2]

Coming on nicely although the front end proved a bit harder

 

 

 

[lofty1966]

Taff Vale U1

[33C]

Did not realise how many of these kits i had done over the years so, dusted 'em off and present them to you. I'm sure there are more somewhere...... 

Edited April 4, 2021 by 33C
added detail

[46256]

Gem cauliflower comet chassis high level gears and mashima motor

[locomad2]

On haulage test, looking good, bit high on buffers so some chassis work to do plus fit the rear bogie

                  

 

Actually pulled 10 HD coaches but happy pulling 8 - 9, at about 8 grams per coach that's about 64 grams to 80 grams.

[RosiesBoss]

Some Wills models or components from my collection:

 

GWR 1890. 1854 class. Wills body & chassis.

Model built 1966-7 (my first whitemetal loco kit). Romford wheels & gears, X04 motor. Still running well.

 

GWR 411 – ex TVR O3 class. Wills body with scratchbuilt chassis.

Model built Sep 2014.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/90340-taff-vale-railway-o3-class-0-6-2t/

 

GWR 1565. 1076 class. Kitbashed from Hornby body and Wills chassis.

Model built Jan 2016.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107593-gwr-1076-class-double-framed-pannier-tank/

 

 

GWR 1195. 388 class. Kitbashed from Mainline body, Wills chassis, Airfix tender.

Model built Jan 2019.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&mid=17793

 

Regards,

Rob

[locomad2]

Did say "bit high on buffers" did turn out to be about 3mm too high, looking a photos of the real thing it didn't look right. After a lot of hacking the original HD R1 chassis did get it lowered, however real problems with the body inside so lot more cutting away white metal. Also there is not enough room so bushes on motor got clipped, plenty of insulation tape, wire insulated. Took ages but I think well worth the effort. 

[Mrkirtley800]

Here is my Flatiron, built to represent the original saturated locos.

I used the side tanks, cab and bunker from the kit, and made the boiler out of tube.

The running gear is scratch built.  The mainframes are nearly to scale width, which doesn’t give much clearance for my EM gauge.

The front two driving axles are beam compensated, but it is still a bit iffy on the layout curves,even if they are quite generous, especially running in the forward direction.  Running in reverse is reliable, just like, we are told, the full sizes engines.

having said that, it is a powerful beast.

 

 

[hayfield]

The revised Southeastern Finecast kit has additional body etches covering various rebuilds (3 versions) plus a super etched chassis. Also a few additional cab details

[Baldyoldgit]

Here is my N5, I made my own roof as this loco had a small raised ventilator on it.