LNER D20 - Another kit from Arthur Kimber

[mikemeg]

I believe that Arthur announced this kit at Scaleforum North, last weekend, so here is a photograph of the loco, almost complete, though with the tender 'borrowed' from the B15. The tender for the D20 is almost identical except for the shape of the water scoop dome.

 

I should mention that the chassis, for this loco, was built a couple of years ago and Arthur has now revised the design of this chassis to include many of the newer features of his chassis' designs.

 

If it would be useful, to anyone, then I can post some descriptions and photographs taken during the build of this model but which were not posted as Arthur had not yet announced this kit.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[Worsdell forever]

Saw it on Saturday, looks as good as the rest!

[Tim Lewis]

No doubt along with many others, I'd like to see the photos of the build, as I plan to get a couple of these when they're available.  Like Paul, saw it at Scalefour North over the weekend - very nice indeed!

[Blandford1969]

Mike, that would be really interesting to see the build

[mikemeg]

No doubt along with many others, I'd like to see the photos of the build, as I plan to get a couple of these when they're available.  Like Paul, saw it at Scalefour North over the weekend - very nice indeed!

 

Tim,

 

Ok, I'll post the descriptions and photos which I took during the build. And yes, this really does build into a lovely model and captures the style and grace of these locos quite beautifully.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

So, building Arthur Kimber's NER Class R/LNER Class D20.

 

First task is to cut out and fold up the footplate, front buffer beam and drag beam. The front buffer beam folds up to represent one of the NER's sandwich buffer beams, where the beam consists of two steel plates with a wooden beam sandwiched between these plates. Care must be taken to fold the tabs for the footplate valence at 90 degrees to the footplate and with as sharp a bend as possible.

 

The cabsides are integral with the one piece splasher, so the cab window relief etches can now be added to the cabsides. The splasher tops are gradually formed, using just finger pressure, until the profile corresponds to the splasher profile and to the radiused profile of the transition to the cab front, which is only 3 mm radius. It is worth taking time to do this, as once attached, any adjustment is very difficult.

 

Once the splasher top has been soldered to the splasher, then the etched splasher beadings can be applied to the splasher and, finally in this phase, the valence can be soldered to the tabs and tight up against the underside of the footplate.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

One of the problems with 4-4-0's is actually getting enough weight over the driving wheels and avoiding too much front end weight which will bear on the bogie. On this model, I made some shaped lead weights from layers of 1/16" lead flashing (I bought a roll of about six yards of 6" x 1/16" flashing from a local building supplies company). As the coupling rods actually travel up into the splashers, then care must be taken not to foul the travel of these rods and to leave space for the wheels.

 

The photograph shows how this was done and added around 2 ozs directly over the driving wheels..

 

The two layers of the cab front have also been soldered together and to the top of the rear splasher top curve. I did have a slight gap between the splasher top and the cab front, which was filled with a piece of 0.3 mm wire and then filed flat.

 

As I already had an assembled and wheeled chassis on which to stand this loco body, I opted to add the rear footsteps at this point without any risk of their being distorted by the body resting on these steps.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

Next job is the rolling and soldering of the boiler/firebox and then checking that this rolled assembly will fit between the shaped splasher tops without distorting them. Any slight gaps between the firebox and the splasher tops can be dealt with at a later stage, with the fitting of the angle iron between the two.

 

I used a boiler roller for this process; an investment which has already paid for itself in the relative ease with which boilers can be rolled using this tool.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[tranby]

I shall watch this thread with great interest. An order will be on the way as soon as the kit  is  ready  for purchase. a long term  wish of mine  has been answered, thanks ,Arthur for producing it, and to you  , Mike, for being willing to show us how to build it. Even better its the superheat version ! . 

[mikemeg]

I shall watch this thread with great interest. An order will be on the way as soon as the kit  is  ready  for purchase. a long term  wish of mine  has been answered, thanks ,Arthur for producing it, and to you  , Mike, for being willing to show us how to build it. Even better its the superheat version ! . 

 

No problem, I took the photos during the build anyway. And this kit includes smokeboxes for the saturated and the superheated versions, along with the Worsdell front frames, also as an option.

 

I've probably asked you this before but my house, at primary school in Anlaby, was Tranby. Didn't you once live somewhere with that name?

 

So now to the smokebox. Any readers who have already built one or more of Arthur's kits will know how he supports the front and rear smokebox formers. Arthur has modified that arrangement on the D20, to produce a much more rigid smokebox assembly, though it no longer self aligns perpendicular to the smokebox base, so care must be taken to achieve perpendicularity on this. The resulting smokebox fomers and supports are much more rigid and much less inclined to bend when the wrapper is added.

 

As ever, a photo says far more.

 

The fixing nut for the front footplate fixing should also now be added, prior to adding the smokebox wrapper.

 

Cheers and that's almost it for today,

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

Next, the smokebox wrapper is rolled, then partially unrolled and finally the radii between the curved and straight sections of this wrapper are formed. For this I used the stock of a 1/8" twist drill as the former for the radii. The wrapper can then be soldered to the smokebox formers, with the front former flush with the wrapper, leaving a slight overhang on the rear wrapper, into which the brass boiler ring will fit.

 

Cheers and good night RMWeb - wherever you are.

 

Mike

[ArthurK]

I shall watch this thread with great interest. An order will be on the way as soon as the kit  is  ready  for purchase. a long term  wish of mine  has been answered, thanks ,Arthur for producing it, and to you  , Mike, for being willing to show us how to build it. Even better its the superheat version ! . 

 

As Mike pointed out both the saturated and superheated smokeboxes are in the kit.

 

This is my standard policy when the original was fitted with both. There are three styles of upper frames . One set of the Worsdell style for the saturated version and a choice of the Worsdell or Raven style for the superheated version.

 

There was two oddball engines 62371 & 62375 with a mixture of both,  Raven at the front and Worsdell lower frame at the rear. You are on your own with those two but it would be an easy change.

 

ArthurK

[mikemeg]

Next up is the adding of the front frames. Here, as Arthur mentions above, the correct set of frames needs to be selected, for the loco and period to be modelled. My model is of a D20 in superheated condition as extant in 1950, so the longer frames are used. These etchings do need to be handled with care as there is a half etched bend line level with the front of the smokebox.

 

The bolts, which fixed the cylinder casting to the smokebox and front frames, can be punched out as they are half etched. However both Arthur and I use a different technique to represent these bolts. The half etched holes are drilled through .5 mm. A piece of .5 mm wire is then pressed through the hole into a block of wood, where it is retained. The wire is then soldered into the frame and clipped off. When all the bolts have been so added, then the back of the frame is dressed flush, with a file and the frame removed from the wood block, leaving the bolts protruding but by different distances.

 

A piece of .020" plasticard is then butted up against the protruding bolts which are filed back to the top of this piece of plasticard, thus ensuring that all bolts now protrude by .020" or 1.5 scale  inches.

 

Sounds complex but each front frame took only ten minutes to do and they really do look like bolts!

 

I also added the front, curved footsteps at this point, though as I said earlier, I can stand the body on its chassis so protecting the footsteps.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

The various 'boxes', which are situated in the cab, can now be formed and fitted. Slots and tabs on these ensure that they are fitted in the correct sequence and in the correct orientation. 

 

I then began the task of detailing the boiler, starting with the washout plugs, which are more or less a standard to all of Arthur's kits. Standing the chimney on the smokebox starts to give an impression of how the completed loco will look! The brass ring, between the boiler and the smokebox, was formed from 0.9 mm wire filed half round, rolled in the boiler roller and then soldered to the front of the boiler.

 

The cab roof, which is formed of two layers, was also rolled in the boiler roller and then the two layers soldered together. Using the boiler roller does ensure thatthe cab roof has a consistent curvature and profile, on both layers. The rainstrips are 0.5 mm wire filed down slightly and then formed to the curve of the half etched slots in the cab roof and finally soldered into those slots.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

Boiler bands can now be added. Arthur does supply these on a separate, half etched sheet. These are still some .006" thick and are too thick for the scale 1/8" thickness of the prototype. So I normally cut them out and draw file them down to around .002 - .004", just using fine emery to do this. Makes quite a difference!

 

I know Arthur is now experimenting with using nickel silver for these boiler bands

 

The chimney and dome can be fixed and then seated properly. I normally do this seating using the glass fibre brush, reducing the thickness of the bottom of the chimney and dome casting as much as possible without losing the concentricity of these castings. Again, time spent doing this is well rewarded in the final appearance of the model.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

The prototype D20's had angle iron strips along the top of the splasher, at the intersection with the boiler and firebox and over the firebox at the intersection with the cab front.

 

I opted to use 0.8 mm 'L' angle and to form it to the appropriate radii curves using exactly the same technique as I have used to build lattice gantries and signal bridges. One leg of the 'L' has tiny cuts, around .5 mm - 1.0 mm apart using a No 6 piercing saw blade. This effectively eliminates the rigidity inherent in the 'L' and allows the angle to be bent. Once the radii are established, then the saw cuts are filled with solder and the whole lot dressed back to an 'L' profile with needle files and emery.

 

Here, I do have to admit, that this isn't easy and it did take a while to work out how to achieve this, though this was done on large signal models. It is all too easy to saw right through both legs of the 'L'. To avoid this, I incline the piercing saw so that I can see as the bottom of the upright leg of the 'L' is reached, though with 0.8 mm angle, there isn't a lot of leeway.

 

Anyway, this was done and the resulting 'L' angle pieces - one over each splasher and one over the firebox - were glued to the body after matching them at the top of the cab front radius.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[mikemeg]

It might be worth mentioning that this model was built from one of the two sets of etches first produced. It was also built with a minimum of instructions; just isometric drawings. Because of that, then many of the castings, which the final kit will contain, are still being developed so a certain amount of scratch building was necessary to produce these.

 

The Gresley pattern snifting valve, the valve chest cover, the air cylinders which drive the loco brakes all had to be made.

 

So the final photograph, showing more or less where this model is now, is below.

 

I hope you will agree that Arthur has captured the 'essence' of these lovely locomotives quite beautifully; as he has with all of his kits.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[micklner]

Mike

    Do you use the GW Roller ? Lovely models, I need to inverst in a roller as I now have a Bradwell J27 in the to do pile.

[mikemeg]

Mike

    Do you use the GW Roller ? Lovely models, I need to inverst in a roller as I now have a Bradwell J27 in the to do pile.

 

Mick,

 

Yes, I use the GW  mini-roller. For what this costs it is a very worthwhile investment and makes the rolling of boilers, smokeboxes, cab roofs, etc. so much easier.

 

And thanks for the compliment, much appreciated. Though the credit should really go to Arthur, in producing these kits, which so well capture the North Eastern tradition of locomotive design and practice. Long may he continue to produce them!

 

Very best regards

 

Mike

[micklner]

Thanks will get one and well done to Arthur too!! I will then buy some of his kits too in due course too !!

[Blandford1969]

Mike,

 

Thanks for sharing this build with us and to Arthur for designing it. With only the DJH kit as an alternative this is leaps and bounds ahead.

[micknich2003]

It's time we had an update from this and the other loco's you are building. Mick.

[Judge Dread]

It's time we had an update from this and the other loco's you are building. Mick.

Hear, hear, I'll drink to that. I must confess as an ardent Southern modeller I have always had a liking for the D20's. Ever since seeing several examples stored at the rear of Dairycoates shed here in Hull in about the mid 1950's. I was told they were for scrap but no-one had the heart to send them on to the cutter's torch. My "Ian Allan"  tells me I only saw five such locos and they were 62381,62387,62395/6/7. I must presume these were they but it was an awful long time ago. 

[Worsdell forever]

Had another good look at Arthur's own build of D20 at Wigan* and it did look nice, I have too much other stuff to do though...

 

 

* he was nosing around the fiddleyard but couldn't persuade him to run the layout though 

[jwealleans]

He must have been the only one.  I was amazed there was a picture of you driving something. 

 

I'm told you're almost directly opposite the entrance at Hartlepool - they'll be queuing up to let you have a sit down!