Wright writes.....

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Since folk seem to like step-by-step constructional pictures, the following show my building of a DJH Austerity, some 14 years ago. They should be axiomatic.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Tony,

Personally I find that such photos can tell so much (the use of the cocktail stick to space the handrail, pictures of the valvegear assemblies and the filing of the cylinders being prime examples) - trying to describe/explain using words alone I suspect wouldn't come close to being as clear. 

[Woodcock29]

Tony here's my B5 built in 1987. Gosh I've had it 35 years. The Millholme kit of course. The Millholme tender isn't great as the body is too long in relation to the soleplate and frames. It should have a much larger protruding section of the soleplate at the back. I have a part built Q4 that's been sitting around for a few years - I'll be pairing that with an upgraded Bachmann tender.

Andrew

[dibateg]

I'm looking forward to my stint at Missenden in March - so Tony's observations were useful. Undoubtedly there will be guys that know more than me, but its the exchange of skills and ideas that is important. As Tony says, some people attend to get away from other distractions! Hopefully we'll all be able to take away something new from the weekend. Model making can be quite a solitary occupation, so it will be an enjoyable social occasion being with people in a creative atmosphere. 

How do you learn? Much of my learning was from sitting alongside friends and being shown what to do..

 

I'll be taking along my latest project as a demonstrator..

 

Cheers

Tony

Edited February 15, 2023 by dibateg
Added comment

[queensquare]

 

Talking of ex GC 4-6-0s here is a B9 built by Simon Grand from Mike Edge etches in 2FS - the van train is also Simons work. The loco ran beautifully and is seen here well off home territory  heading south over  Tucking Mill viaduct  having just left Combe Down tunnel on the S&D.

The etch leant up against the viaduct is a MR milk and fruit van, a very kind gift from another of my visitors that day.

 

Jerry

 

 

[Barclay]

With apologies for returning to Jamieson kits - I picked this up last year - a L&Y Barton Wright 0-6-0. Amazing the variety that was available.

 

[andytrains]

Somebody recently described the Jamieson kits as "an aid to scratch building".

I found it amusing!

[uax6]

6 minutes ago, andytrains said:

Somebody recently described the Jamieson kits as "an aid to scratch building".

I found it amusing!

 

Same for the Jidenco/Falcon Brass kits... Although I have to say that the castings generally are very good, and very useful!

 

Andy G

[dibateg]

The most difficult I came across to build was a blown up Jidenco Coal Tank to 7mm - that was definitely an assisted scratch build. It looked like the etchings had been stored in someones garden shed for years... not a good start...

 

It came out all right in the end, but a lot of it was junked... the castings were good though!

 

[melmoth]

1 hour ago, andytrains said:

Somebody recently described the Jamieson kits as "an aid to scratch building".

I found it amusing!

 

I think Allen at Worsley Works has described his own kits in a similar manner

[Tony Wright]

Though much older, the general fit of Jamieson kits (in my experience) is far better than some later etched ones. Of course, there were no etched slots and tabs (though what use are those if they don't fit?) and no surface detail such as beading or strapping, all of which had to be soldered on.

 

I recently picked up a Jamieson kit for yet another V2, at a very low price. Some little time ago, I built my fourth Jamieson V2 (near 50 years after I built my first); with these results................

 

 

Brakes on the battleship frames? No chance, so positions had to be plotted. 

 

Jig-assembly (a Jamieson jig). No bearings? No need!

 

My choice of drive was a Comet 'box and big Mashima.

 

 

Pick-up pads and brake cross rods installed.

 

 

Here was a case of the drive running sweeter 'back-to-front', so it was installed that way.

 

I used a Comet pony truck; the Jamieson Cartazzi truck is very simple.

 

The Jamieson rods were just bits of drilled bullhead rail; I substituted etched ones.

 

 

Now with both installed; note the slug of lead on top of the pony. 

 

Brake blocks now on - from whose etchings, I've long forgotten. 

 

 

Construction continued - all soldered, of course.

 

 

I had some spare cabside etches, so used those instead of the stamped-out Jamieson ones. The spares incorporated beading around the windows and a washout plug; those things would have to be added to the Jamieson stampings (which I've done in the past). 

 

 

Starting to look like a V2.

 

 

Especially with its tender - in this case a DMR etched brass one. The Jamieson tender was very basic; just stamped-out bits of nickel silver and six axlebox castings. 

 

 

 

 

You certainly don't get etched holes or dimples for positioning the handrail pillars, so they all had to be plotted, marked and drilled. 

 

 

Almost there with the bodywork.

 

I used epoxy to fit the dome, removing any excess as it cured. 

 

 

No backhead was supplied, so I fitted a cast one. Because of the somewhat odd method of securing the back end, a slot had to be cut out of the casting.

 

 

Bodywork complete. Mud hole door covers and washout plugs were etchings.

 

 

More done on the tender.

 

 

Thorough road-testing was conducted before any 'twiddly bits' of motion were fitted. 

 

 

The completed tender.

 

 

I made the cylinders/valve gear/motion from Jamieson bits, Comet bits and Nu-Cast bits. 

 

There's just something about an all-metal loco...............

 

 

Especially after it's been painted by a master of the craft - in this case, Ian Rathbone. 

 

I realise all the above is reliant on a large spares box, where all sorts of frets, bits and pieces, turnings and castings are therein, forming a mass of jumbled incoherence; but, one builds that up over time. 

 

Yes, the current RTR equivalent is a splendid model, but this one is 'mine' in a unique way. 

 

 

 

 

[Richard_A]

34 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Though much older, the general fit of Jamieson kits (in my experience) is far better than some later etched ones. Of course, there were no etched slots and tabs (though what use are those if they don't fit?) and no surface detail such as beading or strapping, all of which had to be soldered on.

 

I recently picked up a Jamieson kit for yet another V2, at a very low price. Some little time ago, I built my fourth Jamieson V2 (near 50 years after I built my first); with these results................

 

 

Brakes on the battleship frames? No chance, so positions had to be plotted. 

 

Jig-assembly (a Jamieson jig). No bearings? No need!

 

My choice of drive was a Comet 'box and big Mashima.

 

 

Pick-up pads and brake cross rods installed.

 

 

Here was a case of the drive running sweeter 'back-to-front', so it was installed that way.

 

I used a Comet pony truck; the Jamieson Cartazzi truck is very simple.

 

The Jamieson rods were just bits of drilled bullhead rail; I substituted etched ones.

 

 

Now with both installed; note the slug of lead on top of the pony. 

 

Brake blocks now on - from whose etchings, I've long forgotten. 

 

 

Construction continued - all soldered, of course.

 

 

I had some spare cabside etches, so used those instead of the stamped-out Jamieson ones. The spares incorporated beading around the windows and a washout plug; those things would have to be added to the Jamieson stampings (which I've done in the past). 

 

 

Starting to look like a V2.

 

 

Especially with its tender - in this case a DMR etched brass one. The Jamieson tender was very basic; just stamped-out bits of nickel silver and six axlebox castings. 

 

 

 

 

You certainly don't get etched holes or dimples for positioning the handrail pillars, so they all had to be plotted, marked and drilled. 

 

 

Almost there with the bodywork.

 

I used epoxy to fit the dome, removing any excess as it cured. 

 

 

No backhead was supplied, so I fitted a cast one. Because of the somewhat odd method of securing the back end, a slot had to be cut out of the casting.

 

 

Bodywork complete. Mud hole door covers and washout plugs were etchings.

 

 

More done on the tender.

 

 

Thorough road-testing was conducted before any 'twiddly bits' of motion were fitted. 

 

 

The completed tender.

 

 

I made the cylinders/valve gear/motion from Jamieson bits, Comet bits and Nu-Cast bits. 

 

There's just something about an all-metal loco...............

 

 

Especially after it's been painted by a master of the craft - in this case, Ian Rathbone. 

 

I realise all the above is reliant on a large spares box, where all sorts of frets, bits and pieces, turnings and castings are therein, forming a mass of jumbled incoherence; but, one builds that up over time. 

 

Yes, the current RTR equivalent is a splendid model, but this one is 'mine' in a unique way. 

 

 

 

 

Can I ask what the name of the tool used to mark the height of the handrail please? 

 

Kind regards Richard 

[MarkC]

That's a rather splendid height gauge you were using there, Tony. I suspect that it would have some tales to tell, were it able to speak!

[Bucoops]

7 minutes ago, rka said:

Can I ask what the name of the tool used to mark the height of the handrail please? 

 

Kind regards Richard 

 

As Mark has just said, it's a height gauge. Most modern ones come with the ability to set the height with a built in measure, not really needed for this kind of use.

[Tony Wright]

4 minutes ago, rka said:

Can I ask what the name of the tool used to mark the height of the handrail please? 

 

Kind regards Richard 

Good afternoon Richard,

 

You can ask, but I have no idea of its 'technical' name. It would appear to be some form of height gauge.

 

I'll bet it's a hundred years old. It was given to me nearly 50 years ago, by an old metalwork teaching colleague, after I'd asked him how to plot handrail positions. One puts it on to a dead flat surface, sets either pointer to the height required, locks the pointer, then moves the object to be marked, letting the pointer mark a true horizontal line. In times past, engineer's 'blue' would have been used to cover the area of the work to be marked, but a fat felt-tip pen is much more-convenient now. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

11 minutes ago, MarkC said:

That's a rather splendid height gauge you were using there, Tony. I suspect that it would have some tales to tell, were it able to speak!

Thanks Mark,

 

No doubt it would. As mentioned above, it was given to me by an old teacher. He'd been given it during his metalwork apprenticeship pre-war; probably hand-made by the bloke who gave it to him. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[pete55]

8 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon Richard,

 

You can ask, but I have no idea of its 'technical' name. It would appear to be some form of height gauge.

 

I'll bet it's a hundred years old. It was given to me nearly 50 years ago, by an old metalwork teaching colleague, after I'd asked him how to plot handrail positions. One puts it on to a dead flat surface, sets either pointer to the height required, locks the pointer, then moves the object to be marked, letting the pointer mark a true horizontal line. In times past, engineer's 'blue' would have been used to cover the area of the work to be marked, but a fat felt-tip pen is much more-convenient now. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Good morning Tony,

the tool is called a surface gauge, usually used on a surface plate in true metalworking situations, but for our purposes, a smooth flat surface is good enough.

 

Pete

[Michael Edge]

10 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon Richard,

 

You can ask, but I have no idea of its 'technical' name. It would appear to be some form of height gauge.

 

I'll bet it's a hundred years old. It was given to me nearly 50 years ago, by an old metalwork teaching colleague, after I'd asked him how to plot handrail positions. One puts it on to a dead flat surface, sets either pointer to the height required, locks the pointer, then moves the object to be marked, letting the pointer mark a true horizontal line. In times past, engineer's 'blue' would have been used to cover the area of the work to be marked, but a fat felt-tip pen is much more-convenient now. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

As far as I know it's called a "scribing block" - I've used one in the same way for many years.

[Clearwater]

Tony, 

 

A few questions if I may.  Is the lead added to the front pony to ensure it stays on the rails?  Did you need to add a similar weight to the pony?  And I assume you've soldered the lead?

 

Thanks in advance

 

David

[micklner]

The gauge is also totally reliant on the object e.g Loco being totally straight and true in shape .

 

Check with a spirit level or just a eyeball  ??

[lezz01]

The tool is a surface block. It is used in conjunction with a surface or slip plate, a set of slips and usually a DTI (Dial Test Indicator). It's correct use is for measuring the height of a piece of work against a give value measured from the set of slips. It can also be used as a scribing block although that practice was frowned upon in my tool room. It is usually an apprentice piece although mine is my dad's apprentice piece and not mine, I did a set of V blocks for mine. The plate is the most important part and is precision ground to be completely flat usually in iron. The block is also ground to ensure a flat surface. The slips are precision ground blocks of tool steel of a given value from around 5 thou up to 6" and are stacked to form the given value to be measured. 

It makes a very good parallel scribing tool though and it will work very well with a piece of plate glass. I use a small slab of polished granite as it's good for soldering with a blow torch as well whereas plate glass  not so much.

Regards Lez.          

Edited February 15, 2023 by lezz01

[polybear]

1 hour ago, rka said:

Can I ask what the name of the tool used to mark the height of the handrail please? 

 

Kind regards Richard 

 

Such tools are known by various names as mentioned above - scribing block, surface gauge, height gauge scribing block etc.

 

Easily available on Ebay cheaply (often only one bidder - a tenner plus postage seems to be common, though some have sold for little more than three quid).  Here's an example:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334742839695?hash=item4df03a618f:g:S8YAAOSw4~xjXpDw&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoOTRs7Hnan9UXlNIBRWTEzeSD4eFnVHbtMpE5JGVf0WdSDh1%2F2BwZUC2eXWyzjrb9eihrX%2BxV7FGr9EB%2FDz8D71AQbtE%2FN2nCjGAuU81j5Y4L2fCAo0dt9P9Ws4kJnPEFUH4KdyDsuj1dbJW2GKLJyD%2FAPvRgZJhVD4PTSGMkJKM%2BydZ2MN8p9NcZMs7GydYJm1M474Zr3jzdQBZQY%2FEuzc%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5DP7dPKYQ

 

If ebay isn't your thing then there are suppliers such as RDG Tools:

 

https://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/SCRIBING-BLOCK---SURFACE-GAUGE-WITH-SCRIBER-7-1-2--ARM--5451.html

 

Personally I prefer some of the s/h examples on Ebay though.

HTH

[LNER4479]

More GCR 'B's:

 

B7 by Mike Edge, from one of our G-Train etches. As far as I'm aware, this is the first one completed from such a source. I need to digitus extractus to complete my demo version.

 

I know we've already had a B3, but forgive me for posting this again as it's such a lovely portrait. The completed prototype build from the G-Train etch, towing one of Mike's tenders. Again, more effort required on my part to build the B3/2 (Caprotti) test etch that's in the workbench queue currently.

 

[lezz01]

I will say that a slip plate is a very useful tool to have but you must be proactive with your manetainence and keep the surface lightly oiled if it gets rusty it's done. Resist the temptation to use it as the earth plate for an RSU unless you lay a brass plate on it first as well as it may cause pitting. Both pitting and rust will mean a regrind.

Regards Lez.

[Richard_A]

50 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Such tools are known by various names as mentioned above - scribing block, surface gauge, height gauge scribing block etc.

 

Easily available on Ebay cheaply (often only one bidder - a tenner plus postage seems to be common, though some have sold for little more than three quid).  Here's an example:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334742839695?hash=item4df03a618f:g:S8YAAOSw4~xjXpDw&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoOTRs7Hnan9UXlNIBRWTEzeSD4eFnVHbtMpE5JGVf0WdSDh1%2F2BwZUC2eXWyzjrb9eihrX%2BxV7FGr9EB%2FDz8D71AQbtE%2FN2nCjGAuU81j5Y4L2fCAo0dt9P9Ws4kJnPEFUH4KdyDsuj1dbJW2GKLJyD%2FAPvRgZJhVD4PTSGMkJKM%2BydZ2MN8p9NcZMs7GydYJm1M474Zr3jzdQBZQY%2FEuzc%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5DP7dPKYQ

 

If ebay isn't your thing then there are suppliers such as RDG Tools:

 

https://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/SCRIBING-BLOCK---SURFACE-GAUGE-WITH-SCRIBER-7-1-2--ARM--5451.html

 

Personally I prefer some of the s/h examples on Ebay though.

HTH

Thanks everyone for the description. 

 

As I have just bought some steam locomotive kits that look poorly built very cheap, something like this might come in handy. 

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, micklner said:

The gauge is also totally reliant on the object e.g Loco being totally straight and true in shape .

 

Check with a spirit level or just a eyeball  ??

 

You can use the gauge itself to check that the model is level, just by running it along the footplate.