N15class Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 having the so much white metal in the cab must make ita nice weight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_t Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 having the so much white metal in the cab must make ita nice weight. Yes - and the backhead is still to go in. I'll need to make sure I have enough weight up the front as well. Grumble, singed fingers and singed tempers this morning. A lesson learn't today is that if you don't feel like getting on with a kit, don't and get on with something else. But no, I ploughed on. The beading on the back of the bunker was a complete pain (in many ways), which has ended up looking a bit pants, drawing the solder out of the corners of the bunkers, and has resulted in the bunker being lower on one side than the other - which wasn't *that* noticable until I soldered the coal rails on straight. So no picture for the time being until I work out if I rip the back off, and see if Jim has any spare bunker backs and coal rails he can send me. The only thing holding me back is if I can get the back off without the rest of it falling apart. The cab roof (plain side up), and rainstrips where a doodle compared with the above - the only trouble being the framing from the underside showing through on the top. The cab is "double sided" - one side is wooden with framing, and the other is plain to represent sheet metal. I think a quick make over with a file/wet'n'dry should sort that out. So I'm doing what I should have done all day - scanning in photographs from my last trip (2009) to the Settle and Carlisle line. When I can face Nellie again it's the boiler to complete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_t Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Moving on, slowly! I've reinforced the bends on the inner tanks, and a trial fit showed there was quite a lot of a gap between the inner tanks and the cab front. So just as my soldering iron was expiring I managed to get the formers soldered onto the boiler front and back. This allowed me to check the space between the tanks, and the distance from the cab front (quite a lot). As Jim caters for this with a boiler band that can be used to fill the gap I wasn't too bothered. I could use wire as filler between the inner tank sides and the cab front, and all will be well (I still can't get solder to fill "large" gaps.) But lying awake one night listening to the rain it dawned on me that this would probably put the smoke box to far forward for the slots in the footplate. A quick check with the smoke box back confirms this. So the inner tanks need to go further back and the gap is then mostly at the front. The trouble now was that the cab floor (large casting), was now in the way of the tank sides. Jim mentions this in the instructions as it's a darn sight easier to file when it's not soldered into the body. I did check, and it was fine, but this was before the cab front was in place. Anyhow I managed to make a gap for the inner tank sides in the cab floor, with knives, files and the odd touch of a really hot iron! The above shows how far I've got so far, the tank sides and boiler are just clipped in place. I've assembled the coupling rods with solder paste and the SolderPro as that was all I could do until I got a new iron - I think you can just see them in the picture above. This shows the gaps between the front of the cab and inner tank sides, and the front of the tanks. I also made a new cab roof from n/s - as I wasn't happy with the one from the kit - although it doesn't show it in the pictures, there's a prominent raised area running from side to side as a result of rolling it a result of the underside being half etched I think. So I think the next stage on Nellie is to make up the smoke box, so I can correctly position the boiler and inner tanks, and then to solder up the inner tanks. The instructions then move onto the chassis, and this is where my life starts to get a bit interesting. But we're on holiday in a couple of weeks, so I think a small diversion of a Slaters wagon may occur - as I can't take the whole lot of my workshop with me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 you seem to be coping well with all the little difficulties you are faced with. It is turning into a fine looking model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_t Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 And now for something completely different... We're off on hols soon - Cumbria, where if the weather is good, Pepper and I will be watching the trains. If the weather isn't so good, I have shed load of reading to catch up on, and a Slaters wagon to build. I've started on the chassis as I'll not be taking any soldering stuff up with me. So far I have: This is an Exactoscale sprung wagon, which went together pretty well. The only differences from the kit as desgined were the tiebar across the W-irons (as it's a fitted wagon), and using Scale Hardware cosmetic nuts and washers (yes they are there!), instead of plain wire. The nuts are 0.7mm (AF) and the washers 0.5mm (ID) - looking at the Scale Hardware website it seems these nuts aren't available anymore, which is a shame as they seem just right here. There's quite a lot of side play on the wheels, and Exactoscale mention using some washers, but they don't seem available on their website, so I've dropped them an email. In fact there is so much side play the cradles are falling out of the W-Irons. Is that a common problem? Anyhow, rest of the wagon will start, and then the brake gear (Exactoscale with Slaters bits for the vacuum side of things) Then back to Nellie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Richard, any updates on Nellie? I'm considering ordering one as my first 7mm locomotive and first soldered brass locomotive kit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 Pack your wet weather gear if your coming up to Cumbria. One day of sun three days of rain! OzzyO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_t Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Richard, any updates on Nellie? I'm considering ordering one as my first 7mm locomotive and first soldered brass locomotive kit. Hi I'm afraid not - not for any bad thing with the kit, I just got distracted, and then distracted again, and again, and... Well perhaps you get the picture. No doubt the bash at Telford will give me a bit of a boost again. Get the kit, and enjoy it! All the best. Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Thanks Richard. I'm definitely leaning that way, but common sense may overtake me (for once) and I may order a few of his wagon kits first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard carr Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Richard You mentioned the problem witht he Exactoscale chassis for your wagon where there is too much side play. I use 8ba washers to fill out the space and this stops the cradles falling out of the W irons. You can get the washers from Clerkenwell Screws in London020 7405 6504, they don't have a website. The springing works really well though. Richard Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_t Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Blimey Nellie is nearly a year old, and no further on from my last post. One of the reasons for the delay with Nellie is that every so often I catch an electronics bug and it seems to take over everything. Luckly I'm a member of MERG, so they can help me out with the side effects! The first couple of kits where a MERG DCC command station, 5A Booster, USB interface and DCC handset. I wanted the command station, booster and USB interface in one box; the first one was a bit of disaster when it came to machining the various holes, so I choose a different box with a seperate front and back panel, and all came pretty good in the end. I couldn't resist replacing the kits standard LED's with 80's disco style equivalents :-D This shows an additional booster - Manchester Central will need around 10 boosters in all. I've also designed a couple of boards and had them made in China at an incredibly cheap rate. The first is for using a servo to change the switches on a turnout, with a relay for "frog" switching: This is an assembled prototype - I'm still writing the firmware, which unfortuately is a bit much like my day job, so it's pretty slow going at the moment. These have a couple of mistakes on the board, so another corrected batch will be ordered after I've finished the firmware, but at 22UKP for 10 boards ordered (12 received), including postage, I can live with that. The next board is a "track circuit" for DCC - this is a copy of Gordon Hopkins' MERG Kit, but in a different form factor and with surface mount components: Another kit off my modelling desk are a servo mounting kit from MERG: The really interesting bit about this kit is the technology used to produce it: a home laser cutter/engraver. Once I can think of enough excuses I might add one of these to my kit of tools. I must get on with Nellie as I've bargained with myself that I won't get another brass kit until she's finished (perhaps not painted), and I've got my eye on a MMP LMS 22 Ton Long Tube Wagon - Diag. 2116 (due out in a month or two, according to today's newsletter), and an Agenoria '0' Models North British 0-4-0 225HP Diesel shunter kit, so I really do need to pull my finger out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Crikey! Building your own DCC kit is darn impressive in my book. Loving the 80s disco LEDs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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