Sandy's Workbench 7mm Scale

[DLT]

Lovely piece of work Sandy,

All the best, Dave.

[Sandy Harper]

Adams Radial Tank 7mm F/S.

 

A Roxy Models kit White metal body, N/S Chassis and brass boiler. Chassis built as split chassis pickup by adding Perspex spacers to the original and then cutting the metal ones to provide the insulation between the side frames. The bogie is built as normal and is attached to the front Perspex spacer and does not form part of the pickup system.

 

ABC motor and gearbox, with insulated bearings for the driving axle, and Slaters wheels, de-insulated.

 

Precision paints Maunsall Dark Olive for the body colour and lined with a bow pen and some Fox lining transfers. Lettering from HMRS Methfix.

 

Needs some crew I think, to fill that enormous footplate!

 

 

 

 

Sandy

[DLT]

That's a stunning piece of modelling Sandy, thanks for sharing it.

Cheers, Dave.

[Sandy Harper]

That's a stunning piece of modelling Sandy, thanks for sharing it.

Cheers, Dave.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Sandy

[N15class]

A lovely rendition of a pretty prototype.

[Sandy Harper]

A lovely rendition of a pretty prototype.

Thanks Peter

 

I have been taking pills for the condition and it should wear off quite quickly.

 

Back to proper Green next with a Dukedog.

Sandy

[N15class]

I did not know they painted Dukedogs in dark olive!!!!!

[Kev_Lewis]

Back to proper Green next with a Dukedog.

 

I'll be watching this with interest as I'd like to build one in the future. Are you building the Javelin kit, now marketed by Gladiator?

[mswjr]

I will be watching with interest too.ive just got a Dave andrews one,Awaiting wheels ect before i start.

Lots o pics please Sandy.             Garry

[Sandy Harper]

Hi Kev and Garry

 

Yes, it is the ex Javelin kit.

 

I have made a start on the chassis which has gone together withoutout problems. I have, of course, modified it for split axle pickup!

 

This time I am using Slaters insulated horn blocks on the front two axles of the tender. The front axle will use the screw and coil spring, as designed by Slaters, but I will use a L shaped length of sprung wire soldered to a length of double sided paxolin, attached to the chassis side, and bearing down on the axle bearing, through the screw adjuster hole, to provide springing and current collection. The current collection from the front axle will be direct from the brass bearing.

 

The cables will run to a paxolin distribution point fitted between the frames which will also have the DCC chip attached and the wires for transferring the power to the loco and motor via a plug and socket fitted below the footplate of the tender front.

 

If you use the hornblock method the front spacer needs two cutouts made in it to access the screw adjuster and you cant use the centre spacer for the same reason. The air tank fitting does the same job though.

 

Regards

Sandy

 

[LaScala]

I will be watching with interest too.ive just got a Dave andrews one,Awaiting wheels ect before i start.

Lots o pics please Sandy.             Garry

Will be interesting comparing the Andrews Vs Javelin kits.  You would imagine the Javelin kit to be at least 10 yrs older.  I can only comment on the GCR 4000gal tender that Gladiator and DA do and I have done both.  The latter is marginally superior but there's not much in it.

 

DA does Duke too and that's the one I want.

Edited December 15, 2013 by LaScala

[Barnaby]

Another beauty leaves the work-shop.

[Sandy Harper]

Thanks Barnaby.

 

Having completed the rest of the tender chassis today I made a start on the tender body. Everything fits well but there are a couple of tricky bits to deal with.

 

The valance frame is made from two lengths of thin brass that need to be butt jointed at 90 degrees to each other. Not difficult but needs thinking about before you start to ensure that you get it nice and square.

 

The second challenge is the bending of the flare along the top of the tank. I use a jig that I got from Metalsmith that makes the job quite easy.

 

Here is the jig with a piece of scrap brass clamped under a length of steel bar, squared up, and ready to start bending.

 

I use a length of steel with a chamfer along one edge to rotate the work piece around the steel bar.

 

 

I would normally use both hands to do this but I needed the other to take the photo! The idea is to bend the brass to the required angle, gently, to form the flare (There is a etched gauge in the kit to help you get it right.)

 

 

The results

 

 

 

 

Sandy

[Sandy Harper]

This mornings task was to continue with the tank superstructure.

 

This is the prominent strap that is fitted between the tank and footplate. I used solder paint and my RSU to put this on to try and get as clean a joint as possible.

 

 

 

Next was the beading around the top of the tank. There is an etch supplied for this but I prefer to use .7mm brass wire as the prototype has a curved outline.

 

 

 

This was followed by filling in and shaping the corners. Here I use Carrs 244 Gap Filling Solder and finish of with files, Wet & Dry and scratch pads or blocks to get the final shape.

 

 

 

 

Finally I de-insulated the Slaters wheels for the front two axles using fine Phosphor Bronze 33swg wire and made the first cut in the axles and filled them with slow setting epoxy.

 

 

Sandy

Edited December 16, 2013 by Sandy Harper

[Sandy Harper]

The tender for the 'Earl' is finished the building phase.

 

Next, a dam good clean, then off to the grit blaster before painting. This was a very easy build with everything fitting as it should but, I would question the order that the designer has laid out in the instructions for attaching some of the fittings. His suggested order makes some of the others difficult to attach so you need to think ahead a bit and devise your own order to make life easier!

 

Otherwise a good kit.

 

Sandy

 

[Sandy Harper]

Basic chassis erected and a start made on the bogie to check out ride height and any clearance issues.

 

I have retained the fixed, rear, drive axle and sprung the front one. I have also independently sprung each wheel on the bogie. Probably a bit of over kill but I did this on a previous loco and the road holding was superb so, for the little extra effort I have done it here as well. It may pay dividends later as the clearances are very tight around the front end and I may need to restrict vertical movement of the bogie on the pin so a bit of independent suspension on the wheels could be a life saver.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Sandy

 

PS sorry about the naff focus. I'll add some more water to it before I take any more!!

 

 

 

[Sandy Harper]

I have now built the outer frame for the bogie and added the spring and axle box castings. They are not too bad for whitemetal castings but nowhere near the quality of the David Andrews lost wax brass castings that I used on the Dukedog that I built earlier.

 

You will certainly encounter clearance issues here and a bit of trimming is needed to avoid fouling between the bogie and the outside valances. Making the loco 'electrically dead' certainly helps here.

 

The centre pivot pin is an other area where you will need to give some thought to modification. The hole in the bogie cross member is too large for the pin and so it needs to be modified in some way or replaced. I used a spare wheel bearing which is a perfect fit for the pin and I opened out the already oversized hole to fit the bearing then elongated the hole to allow about 1mm of side movement. I may need to control this movement later.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.

 

Sandy

 

 

[mswjr]

Sandy,Can i ask you what motor and box you are going to use,as that is all i need to complete my kit,and i shall get that at Bristol,Looking at it there is not alot of room.

 Thankyou Garry

[Sandy Harper]

Hi Garry

 

This is the gearbox/motor supplied by my friend, for whom I am building the loco. He would have contacted Brian Clapperton at ABC Gears and asked his advice, so you know it will fit.

 

With the rear driving wheel under the cab this gearbox will reach under the floor with the motor in the firebox and still leave plenty of room for weight to be added where it is needed. If you want one of these you will need to speak to Brian soon, as it takes about 2/3 weeks for him to build a box. You can't usually buy them off the shelf at a show.

 

Happy New Year

Sandy

 

 

[Barnaby]

Merry Christmas & a Happy new year to you Sandy.

It's a joy to read and follow your work.

 

Regards

[Sandy Harper]

And to you Barnaby. Many thanks.

 

It will be quiet now for 4 weeks as I will be away sunning myself on a 'Canary Isle'.

 

Happy New Year

Sandy

[mswjr]

Many Thanks for that info Sandy, I will get in cantact with ABC to see if i can get one for january,Have a nice holiday

                     Garry.

[Sandy Harper]

I'm back!

 

Cab now erected and fitted. Straight forward build except the rain strips which were a but fiddly to attach cleanly.

 

 

 

When taking these photos I noticed that the front splasher centre seem to be slightly out of alignment with the wheel. I rechecked what I had already done and I can't see any way that it could be an error on my part as it is not possible to change the position of the splashers. I can only assume it is a drawing error. I am concerned now that I might get a short between the wheel flange and the inside of the splasher if both touch at the same time on the same axle. As there is no way to adjust the splasher centres I think I am going to have to use a spacer of scrap etch between the chassis and the footplate to ensure clearance.This will not be too bad as the clearance at the front end around the bogie is very limited anyway and any extra that can be squeezed here will be most welcome.

The tender will also need an insulated spacer between the chassis and the body so they will both be raised the same amount.

 

As can be seen from the second photo the rear wheel and splasher are perfect.

 

 

 

Regards

Sandy

[Pete Harvey]

That does look very tight Sandy.

[ozzyo]

Hello Sandy,

 

that seem a bit odd. How do the wheel centres look compared to the axle cut outs in the outer frames? If these are in place, it's down to an error on the footplate etch. The only down side to just lifting up the footplate is the wheel centre will still be out with the splasher centre, but with such deep frame this should not be noticed.

 

As I've got two "Birds" to build it's something that I'll keep an eye out for. Knowing this in advance I maybe tempted to move the splashers forward, It's a lot more work to do but I'll not have as much done as you.

 

Nice looking build,

 

OzzyO.