DLT's SR Locos - Lord Nelson Craftsman Kit

[DLT]

It may seem that nothing is happening here, but considerable  progress is being made without much to actually photograph.

The boiler unit is done, but the etched locating slots for the smokebox saddle were in the wrong place.   And I need to finish any soldering on the footplate assembly before I can start permanently adding the whitemetal bits.

There will be photos as soon as there's something to see.

[Blandford1969]

1 hour ago, DLT said:

It may seem that nothing is happening here, but considerable  progress is being made without much to actually photograph.

The boiler unit is done, but the etched locating slots for the smokebox saddle were in the wrong place.   And I need to finish any soldering on the footplate assembly before I can start permanently adding the whitemetal bits.

There will be photos as soon as there's something to see.

Ah, yes, however your post at least helps us feel better that even modellers as good as you sometimes take time to make photographable progress. Seriously though this thread is so useful with a rescued Nelson to put together. 

[DLT]

At long last some progress to show!

 

Boiler/firebox relationship as about as good as I can get it, and they are Araldited together.

 

All brass parts are soldered to the footplate, so whitemetal can be added.  Splashers were too big in relationship to the wheels, being cast and big enough to accommodate overscale flanges. Thinned the curved tops down from about 1.3mm to 0.6(ish)mm and they look a lot better.

 

As a consequence, theres a gap between the splashers and firebox castings

 

Sorted this by curving strips of brass to match the splasher tops and soldering them into the firebox openings, using solder to fill the gaps in between, and filing to smooth off.

 

Added rivet detail to the front bufferbeam.  Smokebox front it a very nice casting, Araldite will fill the gap between it and the smokebox wrapper.

Might need to thin down the footstep.

[DLT]

As I said a while ago, moving steadily along, and at last something to show.

New parts for the loco.

Cab floor and extended backhead half of it missing as the intended motor would occupy a sizable proportion of cab space.  "Bacon Slicer" reverser from Markits, chimney and dome from PDK.  New smoke-deflectors as the supplied ones were a bit small.

 

Tender Parts.  Top and front from kit but modified, new coal hopper (not supplied at all) floor and fire-iron rack, plus a lovely machined brass vaccuum tank kit from Markits.

 

 

I've had to add supports made from brass angle to the tender interior to locate the various parts.

 

Slotting it all together its looks a bit like this. 

 

Beading was added from 0.3mm brass wire and 0.5mm half-round strip

 

I think that's all the soldering (the various parts will be fixed with Araldite)  so I can start adding the whitemetal bits.

 

The bogies are beautifully cast in whitemetal, and suitably hefty.

[Tony Teague]

Morning Dave

 

Not sure whether this image willgive you any inspiration, but I bought No.863 Lord Rodney on Flea-Bay several years ago, and he / she is built from a Craftsman kit.

 

 

The finish is far too shiny for my liking but I have not got around to weathering it because there are also a few other problems to fix, but in any event I am certain that what you produce will be streets ahead of this!

 

Tony

[Blandford1969]

If you still have the G6 instructions would it be possible to get a copy of them please?

Thanks

Duncan

[DLT]

Yet again, its a long time since updates, for various reasons rather than lack of activity.  Again, stuff going on but not much to show for it.

The bogie looked good at first, nice castings, hefty and heavy etc.  But of course it was designed to be mounted on the usual floppy swinging arm; a recipe for derailment.

My usual method is to mount the bogie as per prototype, sliding on a central pin.  On this occasion it involved rebuilding the middle of the bogie, with a slot for the pin to slide in. and a solid sliding surface on top.  This then requires a flat surface on the underside of the chassis with the pin (10BA screw) permanently fixed.  In the one-pace-forward-two-paces-back department this arrangement then makes the body fixing screw location inaccessible, so that had to be moved.  Not far, back about 5mm, and accessed through a slot in the new flat base. 

The springy nickel-silver wire fixed to the bogie, and sliding into a tube fixed to the chassis keeps the bogie restrained to where it should be.

 

 

It took some careful measurement and trial-and-error with thin laminations to get the height of the chassis base correct.  The bogie need to be able move sideways freely, but not lift enough to derail.

As shown in the photos below, the front extension of the base holds the front of the bogie down.

 

Clear as mud???

And I replaced the Markits bogie wheels with Gibsons which have slightly narrower and deeper flanges, making them track better.

Edited December 24, 2022 by DLT

[DLT]

Some of the time-consuming detail parts:  Handrails and ejector pipe, plus replacement injector pipes (instead of the whitemetal blobs supplied) and Markits safety valves and whistle.

 

And balanced in position:

 

Just lamp-irons and clack-valves to go, then I can start painting and sticking it together!

Edited December 27, 2022 by DLT

[DLT]

And today's one-pace-forward-two-paces-back is the reversing rod.  It turns out to be too thin, wrong shape, and too short.....

So its out with the etched leftovers box and files.

[DLT]

Here's the replacement reversing rod, filed from the edge of an old etched fret (never throw anything away...)  Its probably still a little on the heavy side, and the ever-so-slight fishbelly shape isn't quite there, but its a definite improvement.  The supplied one is too thin and shouldn't have the zig-zag in it.  The real thing curves downward slightly over the rear splasher before disappearing from sight.

 

The cab end now looks like this.  You can see where I've moved the handrail knob holes to their correct position and filled the old ones with Araldite.  The countersunk hole allows the knob to go deeper and keep the handrail straight.  The S-bend in the injector feed pipe is where it curves over the ejector pipe and then under the handrail

 

And the front end, with a clack valve added for good measure.

Edited December 30, 2022 by DLT

[Brinkly]

Hello Dave,

 

I really have enjoyed catching up with your build over the last couple of evenings. The Lord Nelson really is stunning. You have done a great job with it. 

 

All the best,

Nick. 

[DLT]

Thanks very much Nick,

I have to admit this ones been a bit of a marathon.  I've been a bit bogged-down with the dimensions and details, and additionally having to work extra shifts on the run up to Christmas, the cold period when the workshop was VERY uninviting, plus a bout of the flu, have all conspired against me.

There was a lot to do to the old-style chassis as well, and it was only recently I discovered that Wizard/Comet do a chassis kit aimed at upgrading the Hornby model.  I wish I had started with that!

Anyway, we're getting there, another update to follow.

Cheers, Dave.

[DLT]

A quick diversion back to the tender.  The bogies in the kit are superb, but the mounting lets them wobble and flop all over the place.  So I've applied the same restraining/controlling method that I've use for many years on my narrow gauge bogie coaches.   A centralising spring wire on each bogie sits in an eye near the opposite bolster, springing them to the central position.

Additionally ONE bogie  is prevented from rocking sideways, steadying the whole tender.

The photos SHOULD be self explanatory....

 

 

The U-Shaped strips rest on the sideframes of the rear bogie, stopping it from rocking sideways, preventing wobble

 

A view from above shows the central-springing wires in place.

 

With these restraints in place, the tender runs much more smoothly and steadily, does not wobble in motion, and it a lot easier to put on the track.

Edited December 31, 2022 by DLT

[DLT]

Thanks for all the "likes" folks.  After the recent spurt of activity, I need to spend a bit of time getting Bridport ready for the new year, with the realisation that my first show is in one months time!

[gz3xzf]

 

On 02/01/2023 at 12:56, DLT said:

Thanks for all the "likes" folks.  After the recent spurt of activity, I need to spend a bit of time getting Bridport ready for the new year, with the realisation that my first show is in one months time!

Thanks Dave for sharing your experience and knowledge, I'm sure I'm not the only one that find your posts inspiring. I must get my bum into gear and finish off the three kits I am the process of building.

 

[DLT]

Having taken some time away to continue the layout refurbishment, its time to get this project back into action.

 

A while ago I alluded to the rather basic mainframes of this kit, having no suspension detail, and my commitment to providing some.  The very helpful Mr. John Bateson came to my aid and supplied me with spare spring etches.  They are not absolutely correct for a Nelson, but very close, and will be perfect for the silhouette seen through the spokes of the drivers.

 

As the springs were going to be attached to the pickup plate, the hangers had to be bent at right angles.  I held them in the bending bars and pushed them over with a slab of steel.

 

 

Then it was a matter of holding them in the correct position and soldering.  Please don't look too closely at the large blob of solder...

 

And the view through the wheel.

 

 

[DLT]

With all the springing attached to the pickup plate, the pickups themselves were re-routed around the springs to reach the wheel backs.

 

Then comes the fiddliest bit of all, assembling the brakegear, pretty much by my usual methods.  The etched pull-rods were not correct, and so fine and flimsy as to be unusable.  So I used my pragmatic method of two brass rods to create some strength and hold everything together.  As its virtually invisible on the finished loco, absolute correctness isn't an issue.

 

So putting it all together:

 

 

 

That pretty much completes the creation of parts, time to start working out a sequence of assembly and painting.

Dave.

[DLT]

 

[Dunsignalling]

Terrific stuff, though I thought Bridport had caught a touch of Romney-itis for a moment there.🙂

Edited March 23, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[DLT]

 

[Graham_Muz]

A slightly enhanced picture, originally taken last Sunday by @SouthernRegionSteam

 

[Jack P]

Fantastic work as always Dave, what's the final livery going to be?

[DLT]

Thanks for the photos Jamie and Graham, and Hi Jack, its going to be BR green.

Actually quite difficult to photograph in  grey!

 

[DLT]

 

Sorry about the poor quality

[DLT]

Apologies for not updating this job for nearly two months, but most of the layout refurbishment was done in time for the current shows.

 

I'm still practicing with the airbrush, but not up to painting a loco with it yet, so it was back to the Railmatch spray-can.  The three sub-units have been done, and any other bits (valences, splashers etc) have been brushed.

 

Tender interior and cab roof will be brush-painted in matt black.  Then its the dreaded lining!