micklner Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 I understand re saving pennies !! How are you going to get any weight into the Loco. I have a built Nucast J21 too and there isnt a lot of room !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 The boiler and smoke box are hollow so sheet lead will go in there. If it is then over heavy at the front a lead cab floor will hopefully do the trick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) Look forward to the plastic chassis. After all, if you're going the whole hog..... Meanwhile, here's someone who built a "Duchess" in plastic.... Edited September 17, 2013 by Horsetan 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 The Duchess has Brass Chassis frames Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Yes, yes, I know...... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 That is one impressive Duchess, makes my offerings pale in comparison. I would have never thought you could have made a coned boiler in plastic card. I must have a go some time, though the north eastern only had parallel boilers. As Horsetan is convinced a plastic chassis will not work and will be all floppy so I thought I would post some pictures of two other models of mine which have a plasticard chassis. My other J21 As you can see the chassis is well braced and the fire box is two layers which gives it strength and prototypical position between the frames. my j25 The chassis is yet to be motorised, but is built in the same way. though if the model duchess has not proved the versitility of modelling in plastic I don't know if my efforts will. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Interesting I too have my doubts, as I would imagine the plastic would "splay out " and/or distort over time with any kind of weight constantly resting on the chassis? I presume the axles are running in brass bearings not obvious in the pictures ? I was also be very worried that any lateral forces such as a sudden binding of the wheels/gearbox would cause a total failure of the chassis due to lack of strength inherent in brass frames? The Tenders (and other Locos) look very impressive and look forward to see how you build them. I have recently rebuilt some Hornby GNR Tenders with similar coal rails. I have to be very careful as the plastic I used is very fragile. What did you use for the Rails please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Highly interesting. The one advantage of the plastic chassis is electrical insulation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Yes the axles are running in brass bearings. The coal rails are made from brass wire and are soldered up before being attached to the model. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Lewis Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Only just found this thread: very nice looking J21. The Nu-Cast kit is a bit of a horror isn't it: there are some pictures of my J21 (and J25) on my workbench thread if you're interested. A bit late in the day now, but I also posted a load of detail pictures of the preserved J21 (but now I can't find the thread: it's probably on the 'old' RMWeb). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 This is a fine piece of modelling. Great stuff, David. The only concern I have (& for the record,several years ago I built a plasticard body for an original condition Johnson Midland Compound, to go on a Hornby chassis), is that over time the plasticard tends to become brittle, particularly the thinner sheets. Something to watch out for. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 I have not done much modelling lately, but I have managed to complete the hand rail around the boiler. These cruelly enlarged shots show how it looks. , I tried to bend the rail in one go. I early managed it but it splayed out ever so slightly. No problem I will cut it in the middle and join it in the hand rail knob, but I managed to trim too much off one side so it did not reach the knob. Five attempts later I had a lot of bent wire and one matching piece to form the other side of the rail. You have to get it exactly right or it ruins the whole look of the engine. Unfortunately due to having to do diy on Saturday I did not manage to give the model a coat of undercoat so we wait good weather next weekend. I have started on the tender. Sticking a copy of the drawing of the frames on to the ABS sheet and cutting round it with a scalpel. The D shaped slots had holes drilled in them which were then enlarged and joined up to remove the unwanted material. A file was used to bring them to the final shape. It is important to make sure both slots are the same Here is a shot of one completed frame. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 Not much progress but I have made a start on the tank. It has a inner layer on which the tank top will rest. The tank top has the coal space built into it The flare around the top of the tank was from a plasticard tube cut into quarters length ways. the quarter tubes have been added to the tank top but await trimming to size. Today I was looking at a picture of a model of a J27 when I realised that I had not left enough material in the front of the tanks to allow for the curves in to the coal space. That is going to be fun to sort out, as I can't now get to the back of them to add more material. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 G'Day Gents Enjoying this build and may give a plastic chassis a go, but can you let us know what size pipe you used to make the flairs on the tender. Thanks, manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 HI all. I had to replace a chassis on a 25 year old plasticard built 7mm scale LSWR 0415 class 4-4-2T. Unfortunatly it had been dropped from a great height. The chassis on this was also plastic. What was left of the chassis was sound. The rest was so badly damaged, all I could do was replace it all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 Dear Manna I think the plastic card pipe was about 6mm external diameter,but I will check when I get home tonight. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 Dear N15 sorry to hear about your loss. I think we all dread that happening when we miss handle a model and then feel relieved when we catch it again and it does not go floor wards. A plasticard chassis is never going to be as robust as brass but even some brass models will not take a tumble to the floor. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 The plastic pipe was 5mm in diameter and came from an evergreen scale models strip styrene pack. Rod and tube assortment 7 pieces (though it might have come from a different pack as there is more than 7 pieces in the packet now.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I’m very much enjoying this thread, your truly an inspiration my friend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 Dear All, After a week with out modelling I have at least got some done this week. The first problem to over come was how to get enough meat on the front of the tanks so I could then curve them. It then occurred to me that the best way to add material would be to make a hole in the tank floor and add the extra material from underneath. Small holes drilled into the floor, and them joined up to make a bigger hole through which the extra material can be added. , the extra material flush with the floor, and the tank fronts with the required curve. 1mm square section brass has been glued on with super glue to represent the foot plate valence and the outside frames produced earlier have been added. They have reinforcing strips added where they can't be seen to give extra strength. The axle box castings are from Alexander models I think. They were in by spares box. The are not the best castings but the only ons I have with out spending extra money. Super glue was used to stick them on. I cut very thin strips of abs to represent the beading on the front of the tank. I know in reality it is round, but this is how I did it on the cab with which it has to match. In time i will file a slight roundness on. I was thinking of using brass wire in the future to represent the beading. Abs seems to glue very well with super glue though it remains to be seen how it reacts on being spray painted. I have in the past had super glued items stuck onto plasticard come adrift on painting with aerosol paint. The next job was to make a start on the coal rails. they are made from 7mm brass wire. The first job is to bend four bits to similar reducing curves. Super glue was again used to add the rails to the abs representing the backing. Once glued on they were filed to shape. I now have to do it all again for the other side, the difficult bit is making thm exactly the same and remembering that for the other side they need to be a mirror image. The number of times I have found when I have come to fit parts that one side will not fit as I have made two identical parts rather than mirror images. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 16, 2013 Author Share Posted October 16, 2013 Dear All I spent last night doing the coal rails. Apparently I swore a lot, so my wife told me but I am fairly pleased with the result. I stuck the two sides together. Then I soldered the rails together. For some daft reason to begin with I bent over one side to the other and soldered them together but it looked daft as one corner had the rails curving round while the other had a prototypical square corner with them soldered together. So back out with the soldering iron to separate them, the bent side was then cut back to match the other side and new rails soldered on the back. soldering the rails together using bits of brown paper to stop the rail soldering to the one below. Two rails added and waiting cutting to size.. Attached to the rest of the tender. The loco is starting to look like a J21 , I always find this a hard bit of the build, once I can see that the model will work and what it will look like I often loose enthusiasm and models at this stage can be left for a considerable time. So hopefully on Saturday at Peterborough I can get some inspiration to keep going on this build. I am helping Peter on Crickey a tram layout . No North eastern! or even steam.(Say hello, I'm the one who does not know anything about trams). Though I am looking forward to seeing Felton Lane Goods to get my fix of Northeastern. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted October 16, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2013 And hopefully my J21 will be running. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Dont worry we wont let you give up, if we think you have we'll bombard you wih messages. Can I see some photo's of the tram lay out as you might guess from my forum name one of my main interests is 4mm trams. Regards Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david65061 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Hi Steve, As the tram layout is not mine I haven't got any pictures of it but if I remember to take my camera on Saturday I will take some pictures. In the mean time if you can't wait .there is a picture on the list of layouts for saturday though the web site is running very slowly at present. https://www.model-railways-live.co.uk/Exhibitions/3-7/The_National_Festival_of_Railway_Modelling/Layouts/ I am now going to make a start on the tender chassis, I'll keep you all updated with my progress. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikks Posted October 18, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 18, 2013 Hi David You must keep going, that is one stunning piece of work, I have never been a fan of plasticard but I think I have just changed my mind. Rgds.........Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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