mikemeg Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 This A6, the trial kit build, is now about there. One or two bits and pieces to finish. The smokebox/boiler handrail has been formed and fitted - this took well over an hour to bend up and get right - the vacuum pipe with its unions and plates has been made and the works plates have been filed up and added to the sandboxes, where they were located on this loco. Just some oval headed NER buffers to do, plus a lamp iron and a couple of handrails and this can then be primed, ready for painting. Again this kit, even though they were trial etches, has been a joy to build and does justice to a very elegant prototype. We'll have to wait to see what's next. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Time to take a photo of the whole project; the two A6's and the J73. The first A6 is ready for painting, the second now ready for primer and the J73 awaits the chassis build and some final detailing, which will be done over the next few days and then that too can be primed and painted. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom F Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Looking great Mike! Seeing the photo of the A6 makes me more and more tempted to have one on Leaman Road! Great work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted September 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 13, 2012 Looking great Mike! Seeing the photo of the A6 makes me more and more tempted to have one on Leaman Road! Great work Why not! Some were shedded at Starbeck so they were probably regular visitors to York! I recieved new etches yesterday. I will build this (or at least the bits most affected by mike's comments and my own observations) next week. Biggest changes are the cab floor and the front upper frames. If that build goes well, and there is no reason why it shouldn't, then it just a question of creating a tool with multiple copies on the sheet. If I remember correctly that is two, All being well it should be available in December. ArhurK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 15, 2012 Author Share Posted September 15, 2012 Apart from the whistle (how did that get missed?) and the buffers, the detailing on the body of this J73 is now complete. This really is a very nice kit and, for anyone who wants to get into building Arthur's NorthEastern kits, an ideal starter. The chassis should be complete by Monday or Tuesday. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Seeing the photo of the A6 makes me more and more tempted to have one on Leaman Road! Tom, As Arthur said, above, Starbeck had four A6's allocated according to the August 1950 stock list - 69791/3/4/7. Some of Starbeck's allocation were transferred to Hull Botanic Gardens in late 1950 or early 1951 from which shed they were withdrawn. As for the J73, fraid the nearest ones were Selby which had three of them. These might have been seen in York en route to Darlington for overhaul but not on any normal working. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Apart from the adding of the three pairs of driving wheel springs and the brake gear, which will be added once the wheels and drive train have been fitted and adjusted, this J73 chassis is about complete. Not really a lot to say about this assembly, just follow Arthur's instructions. There are several neat little tips in the instructions; using wire to locate components (guard irons) which is then filed back to represent bolt heads; using oil coated wire to locate and solder components; the wire doesn't solder and can then be withdrawn after soldering, etc. One tip which I came across on here concerns fitting Alan Gibson wheels to their axles. Before the axle is inserted into the wheel, if a very slight taper is filed on each end of the axle - no more than taking off the sharpness of the end of the axle with a few strokes of a needle file - the axles will go in much more easily and will remain perpendicular to the wheel. This removes the tendency of the axle (untreated) to ream its way into the plastic of the wheel and possibly distort the fit within the wheel. Whoever it was who pointed that one out, many thanks. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pebbles Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Mount the axle in the drill and use a fine file or nail emery board to remove the edge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted September 18, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2012 NORTHEASTERN KITS Mike is awaiting some of these! This is a test etch to determine the best widths for the window bars - how narrow can they be without disappearing. I have half etched the round window frame so that the bars stand proud of that. The reults are all just about acceptable but those with narrowest bars are the nicest. Also on the narrow on es I have half etched to the inner window frame leaving the bars with a gap behind. To me these are the best of all. These are top right in the photo. Comments (good or bad) welcome ArthurK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Mount the axle in the drill and use a fine file or nail emery board to remove the edge. Will do and thanks for the tip. What a site this is for picking up all of these tips and hints. Many thanks. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 NORTHEASTERN KITS Mike is awaiting some of these! This is a test etch to determine the best widths for the window bars - how narrow can they be without disappearing. I have half etched the round window frame so that the bars stand proud of that. The reults are all just about acceptable but those with narrowest bars are the nicest. Also on the narrow on es I have half etched to the inner window frame leaving the bars with a gap behind. To me these are the best of all. These are top right in the photo. Comments (good or bad) welcome ArthurK Spot on Arthur. These will have a coat of primer and a coat of paint which will thicken them so the narrowest ones are the best. Will these be included in the tank engine kits or maintained as a separate etch sheet? Again, anyone detailing other ex-NER tank locos can make good use of these. On the J73, the frames are now completed, with the springs fitted and the ashpan and a few other bits. The inside slide bars and motion (only a minimal representation as there isn't a lot of light under the boiler) will be fitted once the frames are painted inside. I do try and fill the tab slots on the outsides of the mainframes, once the tabs have been soldered up, as well as the various things which are fitted into the frames from the insides (handrail knobs for the CSB's, etc. so that nothing shows externally. Now to make it all work. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Sound idea, Arthur. Those grilles were one of the very few changes I made to my J73 - I got mine from a generic loco detailing etch Mainly Trains do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted September 18, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2012 Spot on Arthur. These will have a coat of primer and a coat of paint which will thicken them so the narrowest ones are the best. Will these be included in the tank engine kits or maintained as a separate etch sheet? Again, anyone detailing other ex-NER tank locos can make good use of these. Cheers Mike I will probably include these with the kit if I can find a square inch not used but I may also issue them separately, say four or six on a etch. When I do the latter it is usually takes up free space on a test etch for something else so would not necessarily be always available. If they are in the kit then there is no problem with that, they will always be there with that kit!. To fill up a sheet with only these I would end up with lierally hundreds! ArthurK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I think that those thin ones look great, Arthur. Could be a popular item Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted September 18, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 18, 2012 My only doubts about these are that usually the bars were usually fixed to the cab rear rather than the window frame. However I have one very good photo of the windows on the A6. This does show the bars extending over a circular frame but are far as I can make out there is an inner frame for the window itself. Perhaps I should enlarge the circular frame with the bars too fit outside of the wndow frame rather than on top of it. ArthurK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 It does, doesn't it, Arthur? The inner ring is the glass holder, so the windows can be swung inwards. Interesting detail. What's the arrangement on the preserved J72? Is it the same thing? I'm away at sea, so haven't any books 'to hand', but I'm sure someone will know Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Looks very similar to the A6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 It does indeed. Thanks, Mick. That photo also shows just how fine the bars are... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cram Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I would certainly be interested in some. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 Not a lot of progress, over the last few days; in fact not a lot of anything over the last few days as I was struck, unawares, by a lurgi which laid me low. Anyway, today I'm back at the workbench and checking and fitting the wheels to the J73. Still have to add the motor and gearbox assembly to the middle axle. Just a quick check to make sure that the CSB's actually deflect under the weight of the loco body before I move on to finishing this chassis. The loco now seems to have acquired its whistle and will shortly acquire its rear window guard irons. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Back to the trial build of Arthur's A6 kit. These ten locos had all sorts of detail differences; more so as they went through their various phases of overhauls and partial rebuilds. One such detail difference was the buffers fitted. Some locos had their buffers replaced with the LNER stepped parallel buffers, others retained their NER buffers, some with oval heads. I couldn't find any NER oval headed buffers, anywhere, but Alan Gibson do a brass casting of oval buffer heads, so these were fitted to the NER cast white metal buffers in the kit. Normally, I fit sprung buffers whereever I can but as these sprung buffer heads tend to revolve in their buffer housings, which would look plain silly, I opted to fix them and so use the cast ones as the basis. The white metal buffer heads were thinned as much as possible and then glued to the brass cast overlays, which have a recess cast into their backs and therefore don't show from the side. So now just the smokebox lubricators and the balancing pipes between the bunker tank and the side tanks to fit and this can be primed ready for painting. Arthur intends to provide a choice of front bogie with this kit; the one with bogie brakes as built/originally rebuilt to A6's; the other the simplified, later version with coil springs. Both have now been built, along with a sprung and compensated bogie for the D20 chassis, which is a lovely piece of design and execution. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Another step forward in the construction of these three models. The J73 is now all but completed, just the external brake linkage to fit and some detailing in the cab - backhead. The brake linkage has been left until there is absolutely no further need to adjust or remove the wheels as this linkage actually sits outside of the wheels, on the J73; the cab backhead left until the priming has been done. So all of that shiny, burnished brass is now subsumed under a coat of Halfords grey primer and I can move on to painting this loco. Only the second A6 now to finally complete, prime and paint. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 One of the aspects of doing these test builds is that often parts of the kit are not available at the time that the test build is done. This is because the test build is principally to prove the building of the etched components; the castings are then completed once the etched parts are verified. So, while I have a lull in doing the test builds, and with all of the castings now being available, then time to complete this model of the A6. Despite there being only ever ten of these locos, they were almost all different as already described earlier in the thread. So this is now to be 69798, still retaining its saturated boiler, North Eastern fittings, etc. Just a couple of castings to add plus the cab handrails and the brake trunnions and then into the paint shop. This one really does still exhibit its North Eastern parentage, even though it is modelled as it was in 1950. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted January 27, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 27, 2015 Passenger tank perfection... (If a little greedy on coal...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Passenger tank perfection... (If a little greedy on coal...) Yes, they certainly were. Strange that such an odd looking loco (the original NER 4-6-0) should have been tranformed into such an elegant and handsome loco, when rebuilt to 4-6-2's. I'm actually doing another A6 as a commission build; a thing which I very rarely do and I'm tempted to then build 69791 as a third A6 for Hessle Haven. Hull had three of these locos up until around 1951, with one (69796) lasting until 1953. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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