Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.

[lezz01]

It's looking very nice Jamie.

Regards Lez.Z.

[sir douglas]

what i always do is set the bolt head into the back of the wheel so it's flush

[jamie92208]

what i always do is set the bolt head into the back of the wheel so it's flush

The problem is that the wheels come above the footplate adn there are no cutouts in the acb front and firebox sides to allow for them. Just very poor design.

 

Jamie

[sir douglas]

i know what you mean about having no wheel arch provided but i also thought you were talking about the bolt head on the back of the wheel hitting the chassis, my mistake

Edited September 18, 2018 by sir douglas

[jamie92208]

No problem Sam, I'll get to work with a slitting disk and files when I get back home.   I am thinking of painting the nuts black and cutting the bolts to the minimum length then when the crew are in it will be difficult to see them. It's just another example of poor kit design and the instructions don't bear thinking about.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

A little bit of sort of modelling work has been done today. After 2 days wielding a chain saw and other tools to increase the size of the log pile I set to work to sort the contents of the various fold up crates that are in the modelling room. These were filled from the modelling room back n Gildersome and as urgency increased order did not. In most of the crates there is a small container sealed with parcel tape that is full of small bits that kept appearing. Anyway I set to work this afternoon and managed to sort 7 crates and put the contents into some sort of order in old veg trays. Each tray has a theme, eg coach parts, wagon parts etc. I found all sorts of things. The instructions for the Gibson 4F and 2P appeared and best of all I found the 3D printed top to the sheer legs for the layout. This has been re united with it's four legs and put on the layout. I had a count up after I'd finished and there were only 6 crates to go. I then went to the top of the shed to help Beth and discovered another 3 crates of assorted modelling bits and tools.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I've actually manged a half hour sat at the modelling bench. I set to work to fold up and assemble the gearbox for the 2F and attempt to fit it. First bit went fine the bearings were soldered in, the box folded then first snag. I needed to file a mm of each bearing to get the thing to fit between the frames and the existing bearings. Then the next snag. Neither the motor or the gearbox (Branch Lines 40:1) havr any of the little bolts to hold the motor on the gearbox. The motor is a Mashima 1833. Does anyone out there know what thread and size those little bolts are. I seem to have read somewhere that they are M2. Any help would be appreciated. I have had a thought of using a short length of threaded rod and a pair of lock nuts.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Further to the above I have been in touch with Dave at Roxey mouldings and a small package is on it's way to me. I will try and do some work on the tender tonight.

 

Jamie

[roundhouse]

What’s the delivery time like to France for such orders?

[Andy Hayter]

I got my Roxey order in 3 or 4 days.  Fairly typical for most letters and packages.

[jamie92208]

I got my Roxey order in 3 or 4 days.  Fairly typical for most letters and packages.

Dave did mention that he had quite a few customers in France and that he'd just posted one off.

 

Jamie

[Andy Hayter]

If he's just posted off then it's not mine which was a few weeks or so ago.

[jamie92208]

Well the M2 bolts arrived this morning, excellent service from Dave at Roxey.(Other suppliers are available). so after various other duties I went and had an hour in the shed this afternoon and assembled the motor/gearbox and got the rear axle to revolve easily with the gearbox installed. Then it was hunt the controller and eventually found one of my old H&M Duette's and some croc clip test leads, oiled it lightly and tried it. It was obviously binding somewhere so I eft it till after tea, I've just had another 45 minutes at it. Taking off one 12BA nut and top hat bush at a time and trying it with and without the pinion grub screw done up. Attention eventually shifted to the rear nearside wheel. The coupling rod appeared to be a tad out of true. A quick tweak with the pliers and tried it again. This time the 12BA crank pin stayed in the centre of the hole in the rod. So everything was put back together and lo and behold the chassis ran sweetly at low speed. An 18" length of track was found and with croc clips attached the chassis rolled sweetly up and down. I'm a very happy bunny so a celebratory tot of Scottish medicine is being consumed.

 

Jamie

 

Edit, no pictures at the moment as I'm waiting for a replacement camera lens to arrive.

Edited October 13, 2018 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

I managed to get into the shed for a while this evening. Considering that I spent part of the morning sorting out the equivalent of rates that we pay on it I felt that this was good use of my time as the sorting out was successfully conducted in French. Anyway I spent half an hour grinding bits off the inside of the cab and the base of the smokebox. I had trial fitted the frames to the loco body and the loco was held 4mm away from the body by the wheels hitting various bits of brass. A slitting disk on the Dremel worked a treat and eventually the two parts were bolted together. Another very poor piece of design. Fortunately the areas that I butchered will be hidden by splashers. The bonus was that when I tested it there were no shorts between the wheels and the body. I then bolted the tender body and frames together and they were also electrically dead. I couldn't resist putting it on a piece of track and photographing it.

 

Another bonus is that the footplates are at the same level.

 

There is a lot of detail work to do but I'm happy with the progress so far.

 

Jamie

 

PS, the replacement standard lens still hasn't arrived but I managed to get the above with the telephoto.

Edited October 15, 2018 by jamie92208

[lezz01]

It is starting to look like a 2F though Jamie, despite all the short comings with the kit. 

Still it could be worse mate, it could be a falcon brass works/Jedenco kit, you'd really be in trouble there.

Regards Lez.Z. 

[jamie92208]

A bit more work tonight. The cab lower side sheets that also form the splashers for the rear wheels were fitted along with the cab steps. There were alternative beadings for the side sheets but no explanations of which were which. Essery and Jenkinson Vol 4 came to my rescue and produced several photos of the 3130 class and I've now fitted upright handrails both front and back. However there were no holes in the footplate or even witness marks to drill out to secure the bottom end of the rails.

 

I then thought that I'd have a go at fitting the other splashers. I assembled one and tried to fit it. Surprise surprise it won't fit as they each need areas removing to fit round the smokebox/firebox etc. I was also disappointed that there are no etches for the brackets that secure the splashers to the footplate. I will have to try and make some out of brass strip.

 

Another day another dollar.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

After last nights discovery about the splashers I must have had a brainwave or it's some result of French cheese. A pleasant afternoon meant that I had time in the shed and came up with an idea. I decided to mount each splasher on some scrap etch then carve round it with a slitting disc so that it looks as if it has the proper brackets.

 

Here No 2 is soldered to the etch. 3 and 4 were then attached and separated. Then the interior was carved out and fettled.

 

Each was then offered up to where it was going, the cut outs marked and then carved out, test fitted then soldered into place from underneath.

 

This is the end result.

 

Overall the loco is definitely coming on.

 

Jamie

[lezz01]

Nice Jamie. Good to see someone thinking out of the box.

Regards Lez.Z.

[jamie92208]

Thanks for that Lezz. I am quite disappointed with the kit as there are so many basic errors and omissions but I'm trying to make it a nice looking loco. Those little flanges round the splashers are very noticeable to me so I was thinking of cutting out a U shaped strip but then it seemed to make more sense doing it the way I did. The first one took a while to get sorted, the other three, which I did as a batch seemed to get done in no time. Hopefully I can get some boiler mountings on and things like the handrails and injectors to start to give it a bit of character soon.

 

Jamie

[Mike Storey]

Hope you have sorted out the taxe fonciere now Jamie, as the deadline for bank transfer payments is 25th. Next year, they will take it from your bank account monthly, from January. Taxe d'habitation will, however, reduce, and disappear completely after 2020.

[jamie92208]

Not been much to report over the last few weeks for various reasons. However I seem to have solved a problem. I wanted to install the lamp irons on the 2F but the etches supplied kept falling apart when bent and were worse than useless. I tried making some from scrap etch but that didn't work well and was tempted to try and files a piece of brass bar to the correct profile then part them off with a slitting disc. However I had a brainwave, or something like that tonight and went and rooted through all the other part built and unbuilt loco kits to look for lamp irons. An old Shedmaster 2-4-0 (Now in Laurie Griffin's range) came up trumps with some lovely cast lamp brackets. Peter has now been robbed to pay Paul and an order for replacement will be going off shortly. Hopefully progress will resume soon.

 

I'm also starting to erect the remaining boards on the front row. Some tidying up has been done so that car and trailer can still pass the layout safely. I've also fitted the replacement motor gearbox to the turntable. The plan is to get the remaining boards up and then have a running session with some friends.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I've managed to make a bit of progress.   The front row of boards are now up with help from Mike Storey.   I've also been working on the 2F.   I mentioned that I had found a sprue of cast lamp irons in another kit. Tonight I got all but one fitted.

Here's the front of the loco.

And now the back of the tender.

As to be expected there were no witness marks to aid placing them, they had to be done by rack of eye.   The one on the centre of the rear of the tender tank had to have  a 1mm hole, marked, centre punched (A drop riveter works a treat) and drilled out to take the spigot.  

 

Half an hour was then lost doing research as to whether or not the tender would have had a water pick up scoop.   Eventually Summerson provided the possible answer that only 11 of the 3F;s had water scoops so the odds are against this having one.   This meant that I didn't need to fit the operating handle but still had to do the handbrake on the other side.   As usual, no instructions or witness marks but there was an etch for the little bracket that holds the support rods at the top. It's shaped like an off centre T.   I used this as a template and drilled four holes then soldered 4 lengths of NS rod through them and the bracket.  The end result was this.

I'm quite happy with that but now have to find a brake handle or make one.

More work with the tooth brush and Ajax in the morning.

 

Onwards and upwards.

 

Jamie 

[jamie92208]

A bit more has been done today.   I have realised that the loco was going to be quite light and should have added lead as I built the boiler up.  The main part of the boiler is a sealed unit and I accidentally put it on wrong way round.  This meant that I had to drill another hole for the dome to be fixed in.  I was wondering how to add weight and the second hole came in handy.   I enlarged it a bit with the Dremel, while still leaving the new hole to locate the dome.  Then, using a small funnel I was able to pour most of my remaining stock of liquid lead into it and then put 4 spoonful's of matt varnish in.  The whole assembly was then left to dry while I did some other work.  Some White metal details were added to the tender and I also araldited two pieces of PCB between the loco frames as a start to fitting pick ups.

Note to the unwary.  The varnish takes a while to set so don't invert the boiler to trial fir the frames. Liquid lead is.... liquid.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I had an excellent weekend away at Orleans, spending time looking at real trains, trams and model railways. On my return I found that the liquid lead and varnish had set  in the boiler of the 2F. Whilst away I was able to buy some pre made 2 pin joiners with fine wire attached that I will be able to use for taking power from tender pickups to locos.  Very reasonably priced at 12 Euros for 10 sets.  I also bought some acrylic paints to try and force myself to start painting figures that the layout desperately needs.    When I got back I went looking for various things and as usual found other things in boxes and crates that have still not been bottomed. One little box had a whole load of parts for making working valve gear.   I should not have found those they could delay completion of locos.

 

Anyway later this week three friends are coming over to play with the layout so that they can help me demonstrate it to a group that we belong to next March.   So today I set to work to put some buildings on the layout and to do some test running. I have managed to do quite a lot and have successfully driven locos from and to the loco shed and round into the fiddle yard. I've also sorted out a couple of rails that got damaged at baseboard joints.   Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to do some more running.   There were a few minor snags but I was very pleased with how things worked especially the relay driven handover sections between the loco shed, Main Line and Fiddle yard.   I just need to test the castle branch now.

 

It was nice to actually play trains.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

We had our running day yesterday and trains did run, though not as well as I hoped and some operator training was undertaken in a light hearted manner.   All three want to repeat the exercise in the new year so it was well worth it.

 

This evening I got over to the shed and fitted pick ups to the 2F, checked it all for electrical continuity.   Initially I found that somehow I'd made the chassis live to one side fitting the pick ups but a tickle with a Dremel sorted that.   I then took it through to the layout and lo and it did actually run along the track.   Not as well as I would have hoped but it did run.  I will be able to upgrade it to status 3 on my stock sheet.    I now need to do some research on the Guild website to look for an article that I think Bob Alderman wrote a few years ago on how to free up a chassis.

 

One other thing is that when I was up at Orleans I got my arm twisted into writing an article for Le Bulletin, the journal of Le Cercle du Zero, about how I moved a large layout from the UK to France.   I've written a draft in English and sent it off to Pierre.  I've titled it, Moving the Monster.

 

Jamie