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Austin 7, Alan Gibson kit


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Sorry to Michael for hi-jacking his thread somewhat!

 

Dave.

Dave.

 

not hijacking at all, carry on, all very interesting and helpful.

 

 

 

going for a high level gearbox, does anyone know off hand what shows Chris is at soon? I know you can print off a template but would rather take it to a show and see him.

 

Mike

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I've just been viewing 'Decades of Steam 1920s' and there is a very short clip of one of these engines towards the end. I'd be surprised if the sound is authentic though.

 

Regards

 

cheers Ive got that, just dug it out and had a look, very brief as you but worth it and a good video I havent watched for ages.

 

Mike

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not hijacking at all, carry on, all very interesting and helpful.

 

 

 

going for a high level gearbox, does anyone know off hand what shows Chris is at soon? I know you can print off a template but would rather take it to a show and see him.

 

Mike

Mike, not sure but he's usually at Scalefour North.

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It's not always easy to detect whether locos had bulkhead or coal door tenders, tenders were usually repaired on a separate line and attached to the next suitable loco which emerged from the works. Another variation is the position of the vents, originally in the coal space, later moved behind the rear bulkhead, this is easier to spot.

Michael Edge

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I made a start on the tender tonight

 

here is the etch

 

IMGP7756.jpg

 

chris got me started by soldering the frames to the chassis, then I soldered the rear bufferbeam and front drag beam.

 

then I soldered the sides to a strengthening piece that is shaped to the coal base, then the rear of the tender was soldered to the frame,

then the front piece for the coal doors,

 

there is no coal base provided, the instructions say use a piece of plasticard for this but I found a scrap piece of brass and soldered that in, overall the soldering went well, quite neat for me apart from the coal base piece which will be hidden by coal anyway so not too concered.

i havent done the chassis yet its just placed inside for the photo.

just going to give it a wash in soapy water now.

 

IMGP7764.jpg

 

IMGP7768.jpg

 

IMGP7761.jpg

 

IMGP7773.jpg

Edited by michael delamar
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i had a nice chat with Chris Gibbon of High level yesterday and have decided to go for one of his Loadhauler compact plus gearboxes at 80/1 with a mashima 1424 mounted vertical in the firebox, driving the rear axle.

 

 

im also debating on having one side of the loco live and the other side of the tender live to save fitting pickups.

Edited by michael delamar
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If you do that it's best to insulate the inner tender frames from the rest of it, then you don't need to insulate the drawbar and fallplate. I use this method normally with 7mm tender locos, the fixing nuts on the top of the tender floor are soldered on to pcb, holes opened out a bit so that the screws don't touch the floor. Final insulation is with tape, press stud for electrical connection.

Michael Edge

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I used to use pcb drawbars but they had a tendency to break - especially when picked up by somewhat clumsy people.

 

thanks Mike,I can see that happening, ill give that idea a miss.

 

In case you haven't seen it, Mike, I've just noticed a good almost-broadside photo of one of these in Eric Sawford's Fifties Steam Remembered.

 

cheers I havent seen that one, im looking through lots of my dads books and have just come another shot of 49515 on Wigan shed, the same loco I posted a pic of on page 2 and Im thinking of modelling, its a shot of the other side of the loco and is in Lancashire railways Mike Hitches & Jim roberts. not the best reproduced image but can see the tender coal door and a valve just behind the smokebox on the boiler which ive never noticed before.

 

another good shot is in footplate memories Bolton trinity street to Liverpool Exchange, Jim Markland scenes from the past 54.

 

 

the High level gearbox arrived, it looks like its going to be a tight fit widthways, if it does fit there will be no sideplay on the rear axle

 

 

 

another good side shot is in

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i havent got any cutting discs at home so will do cutting of the shafts tonight at the club, but this afternoon ive made a start on the high level gearbox by opening out the holes and soldering it up.

 

im not overly happy that the brass worm and cog are loose fits on the motor shaft and axle, the instructions say to use loctite but I would have prefered grub screws on them, Im not too keen on the mixing of brass and nylon gears aswel but we'll see how it goes.

 

making up gearboxes isnt one of my favourite things to do if im honest, find it a bit boring and ive had a few frustrations in the past.

 

i do like the flexible design of this gearbox however that will enable the motor to be mounted horizontal in the firebox

 

post-27-0-10454600-1330450451_thumb.jpg

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im not overly happy that the brass worm and cog are loose fits on the motor shaft and axle, the instructions say to use loctite but I would have prefered grub screws on them, Im not too keen on the mixing of brass and nylon gears aswel but we'll see how it goes.

 

i do like the flexible design of this gearbox however that will enable the motor to be mounted horizontal in the firebox

 

post-27-0-10454600-1330450451_thumb.jpg

 

London Road Models do "swing link" motor mounts, that use steel worms with brass gears. They use a standard LRM 38:1 or 50:1 motor mount and gears with an extra 1:1 stage that swings about the layshaft of the first gear to give a variety of mounting positions.

 

Not as well know as the HL products, they rarely get a mention. I've just noticed that they have disappeared from the LRM online catalogue at www/londonroadmodels.co.uk. I'll have to get that put right.

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Looks good Mike, don't worry about mixing brass and nylon, it's really tough stuff, lubricate it with the correct plastics compatible grease, not oil. As for the lay shafts, I usually smear a little Evo-stik on the shaft end, it can soon be removed if necessary.

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thanks Paul.

 

I built up the gearbox and it was too wide for the supplied 00 frame spacers but still narrow enough to allow enough side play.

 

so I tack soldered the gearbox inside the frame, then made my own spacers. this also means the gearbox is tight inside the frame so the gear shafts wont be going anywhere. the bearings on the motor end of the chassis and gearbox had to be filed right down.

 

I cut off the rear shaft of the motor to allow it to fit. the motor is mounted with just a slight angle.

 

then i put the coupling rods on that Chris soldered together for me.

 

I havent put the final brass cog on the axle just yet, so that I can test push it along by hand, its nice and free now, it runs great even without the body on, a good push off through pointwork so should be even better when that boiler is full of lead.

 

the motor and the first 2 gears run very nice too so should run ok when the final brass cog is put in.

 

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post-27-0-55014700-1330474769_thumb.jpg

 

Mike

Edited by michael delamar
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I built the tender frame in the club tonight and also made live one side of the tender wheels,

 

Then crudley soldered a temporary wire from the motor to the tender chassis and gave its run on our club test track

 

It performed extremley well, very smooth and responsive

 

I then put loads of lead strip in the boiler and it is a great runner

Edited by michael delamar
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i cannot believe ive missed this, I thought i had lost this on the main brass etch, the mainframe extensions are the next thing to do on the body, now that its running ill be adding the delicate bits now.

 

I was just tidying up the kit box and getting organised and having a look at the brake gear on the nickel fret and i spotted the mainframe extensions. there is 2 matching nickel frets.

 

i feel a right divvy for missing this, i was getting ready to make these from scratch, i hadnt really looked at the nickel fret as i thought these bits where brake gear :)

 

anyway, i can get on with it now ..

 

post-27-0-27294700-1331221854.jpg

Edited by michael delamar
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