Rob Pulham Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Buoyed up by the success of the tram engine and as a treat to myself for getting the A3 valve gear running (and while I pluck up the courage to take it apart again) I decided I needed another "quick'ish" win so I got out my GP Models J63 Tank engine kit. This is a complete kit which comes with wheels, Motor and gear box. It is also all etched in nickel silver. Some time ago when I first mentioned that I fancied one Mike Cole very kindly sent me a lot of additional information which I re-read before starting. This is where I have got to so far in 3 evenings work - all is still held together by the slot and tabs with just a couple of the frame spacers soldered at one side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Buoyed up by the success of the tram engine and as a treat to myself for getting the A3 valve gear running (and while I pluck up the courage to take it apart again) I decided I needed another "quick'ish" win.... Why the rush? Dikitriki has written that he favours a prolonged running-in term, something like 10 years has been mooted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 Progress has been made. The chassis now has it cylinders and sandboxes. The springs have had their outlayers attached so they now have quite a bit of beef about them. I also assembled and cut the coupling rods to make them move with the compensation. The most fiddly bit of all which Mike does mention in his guild review is the soldering together of the 8 tiny pieces that make up each cross head. What I did find once I had got over this bit was that although the instructions referred to 1.5x1mm nickel for the slide bars and 2mm brass rod for the piston rods there was no rod at all included with my kit. An email to Garth had me the rod for the slide bars by return of post - very comendable service. I had some 2mm nickel rod in stock so I elected to use that for the piston rods. Mike had supplied me with an annotated copy of the instrurctions in with the other information that he sent so I didn't have to workout how long the piston rods were supposed to be (25mm). What I struggled with at this point was how to get a 2mm piston rod through the 1mm hole that is etched in the cross head. I consulted Mike who recalled gently opening his out with a rat tailed file. I had a go at this but when I had started to split one of the end plates I chickened out. Instead I put one of the 2mm nickel rods in my dremmel and applied a file to turn it down. This required each one to have a different turned spiggot, one at 1mm and one a bit bigger to suit the hole that I had enlarged. That's where I got to last night and I was waiting for the bar for the slide bars which arrived today, so hopefully tomorrow I can get the slidebars cut to length and put it all together. I have also opened up the holes in the chassis for the supplied plunger pickup (slaters) and soldered the tabs and wire so that Once get the motion sorted I should be in a position to try it running. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 the build is looking very good. It is not a class I can picture, so looking forward to its developement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thanks Peter. It's a really nice kit and the instructions while at first glance appear a bit sparse I am finding that it by reading rather than just looking at them. It is easy to work out what goes where. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted April 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 28, 2012 Looking very nice, but I suggest using a jewllers broach to open up a hole rather than the file. I have two sets 0.2-2mm and 2mm-6mm wouldn't be without them. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Looking very nice, but I suggest using a jewllers broach to open up a hole rather than the file. I have two sets 0.2-2mm and 2mm-6mm wouldn't be without them. Don Hi Don, Sorry I wasn't clear in my description above, I did use a broach. The file was what had been suggested as the method used by a friend who built one. - Like you I have a couple of sets and wouldn't be without out them. Thanks for posting the suggestion though as it may help others who view the topic. All contributions are gratefully received. A great part of the enjoyment comes from there being so many ways to do things, differing skill sets and access to varieties of equipment within our hobby. I really like reading about them, even if for some reason they don't suit the job in hand they can be stored up for the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Further progress on the J63 I have managed to get the motion all sorted and running. The brake shoes in this kit are very clever in the way that they are jigged to fit together. There 3 layers that you fit on top of each other while still in their outer etched frames. Apologies here for the poor photo's but hopefully they will illustrate the clever design Once they are all lined up clamp and solder them, then cut them out clean up the tags and on with the next. Here are a couple of videos of it in action http://youtu.be/8ixZSopiJyg http://youtu.be/85SP246bg6g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 As you say the brake laminations is a good way around a fiddly job. The chassis looks fine and works well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Looks good so far, but have you forgotten the splashers? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I forgot to ask are you using phospher bronze bearings or is it just the photos making them look like it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Looks good so far, but have you forgotten the splashers? Hi Bill, No I have quite a bit left to do on the chassis I just wanted to make sure it all ran OK before proceeding further. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 I forgot to ask are you using phospher bronze bearings or is it just the photos making them look like it? Hi Peter, yes they are the only things that I have changed on the kit. The bearings that came with it were a bit flimsy so I used the bronze ones that came with the tram engine (I used roller bearings on that) and a couple from one of the Connoisseur starter loco's that I also intend to put roller bearings in as they were a bit more substantial. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajt Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 How did you not flood the crossheads with solder? Tricky work on the piston rods too! Between this and the HR loco it's enough to put anyone off any visible valve gear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 How did you not flood the crossheads with solder? Tricky work on the piston rods too! Between this and the HR loco it's enough to put anyone off any visible valve gear. Hi Dave, Easier than you might think to be honest. The cross heads are made up from 8 separate parts some of which are layers but the others like the rest of the kit have very good slots/tabs so I just touched the tabs with solder and then twisted them off and tidied them up with a file. To be honest I would have much preferred a casting but fiddly or not they do make up into something that looks the part and does the job. The trickiest bit off all has been getting the clearances so that the con rod doesn't hit the crank pin on the front axle. The instructions suggest bending the con rod at an angle but I have managed to get away without having to do this. I feel that as we always tend to view from above/side that this would have been very visible, so for me it really would have had to be a last resort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Despite being distracted this last week by putting together some Skytrex buildings for my layout ,I have made progress on the J63. The chassis still needs some of the detailing finishing off - brakes etc. but I have made a start on the footplate and upperworks. What can be seen from the picture below and later ones is that the wooden infill of the buffer beam is represented by a fold up box and some spacers/parts to hold them in place. What I discovered when I got to this bit was never throw anything away during the build even if it just looks like a part numbering tag! Some of the parts for this I had discarded (fortunately I hadn't emptied the bin!) when removing other bits from the etch they had come off and being quite small didn't look at all like a usable part..... The build is very much made up of half etched overlays and has lots of slots and tabs to enable construction. I elected to cut some of these off and rely on clamps to hold some parts together to get what I viewed was a better fit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I often find with the tabs between the body and th footplate, you end up with small holes in the join that look ugly or are the devil to fill. They are not always needed and there are often far to many. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 More progress was made yesterday, happily fuelled by Mike suggesting that it might be complete for Halifax. For me there is nothing like a deadline to spur me on. The body is not yet fastened to the foot plate and I am learning all the while. If I ever build another (and I quite fancy converting one to the earlier Pollitt saddle tank versions at some point using most of this kit as the basis) I will not cut any thing off the etches in the way of cleaning them up before fitting - There are a number of the tabs which hold the parts in the etch which actually help to locate something else down the line. Cutting them off hasn't been a problem but it would have saved fiddling with clamps etc. I also took the time out of sequence to put the bars over the rear windows while they were still in the etched frame. The cab rear is also made up from 2 layers so I had to make the back ver smooth so that it will sit in place when I get to attaching it to the rear plate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 It is coming on well. I always like to make kits in nickel, it is so much better than brass for most things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 I often find with the tabs between the body and th footplate, you end up with small holes in the join that look ugly or are the devil to fill. They are not always needed and there are often far to many. Hi Peter, that would be my only small criticism of this kit. In places it is over engineered with far too many tabs/slots sometimes making it very difficult to fit parts unless you remove some of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Those of you who have built one of the MOK kits will recognise the similarity of the next bits. At this point I had to start chopping tabs off - imagine trying to fit tabs that are all around a squared of U shape. By now I was battling slotting that many tabs into slots that I decided that I would solder it all up - this is just to give you an idea of how many slots/tabs there are at this point.... Only one of the 7 J63's was fitted with the supplied lever reverser, all the rest having a screw type. I have been looking in the kit pile/spares box for something suitable. The 2 white metal ones were in my Gladiator B2 kit and the brass one was in the spares box. The white metal ones are more suitable so I will work out which fits the B2 best and use the other for the J63. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Does the boiler really need that wellington bomber look alike framing, It is a tube a fairly strong structure in itself? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poggy1165 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Really grateful to you for this as I have one of these to build (eventually) and you are teasing out all the 'issues' for me. Must admit, had no idea about the screw reversers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Does the boiler really need that wellington bomber look alike framing, It is a tube a fairly strong structure in itself? Hi Peter, You are not the first to make the same comment. No it doesn't to be honest and the instructions even refer to the test builder only using the circular formers. As I plan to scratch build the condensing pipes later in the build I thought I would stick as near as I could to the build as provided before deviating. I was also curious as to how easy it was to put together and get square etc. which proved very easy. What I would add it that with the skeleton it does become a very sturdy structure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Really grateful to you for this as I have one of these to build (eventually) and you are teasing out all the 'issues' for me. Must admit, had no idea about the screw reversers. Hi Poggy, I think that you should enjoy it, I have. I am quite tempted when funds allow to get another kit and have a go at back dating it to the earlier Pollitt Saddle tank version. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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