Father Dougal Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Snap! I was looking at the brassworks Pug. But it seems like cheating..... Nellie is looking good!Thanks, Nellie is my first brass loco kit. Very easy to build, even with my fat fingers. I would definately recommend connoisseur kits to anyone. (I gather the pug from Slaters is a bit more difficult to build.)D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L&Y Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Thanks, Nellie is my first brass loco kit. Very easy to build, even with my fat fingers. I would definately recommend connoisseur kits to anyone. (I gather the pug from Slaters is a bit more difficult to build.) D. I was meaning the really easy RTR Sancheng version... Lol Jim is a top guy. I have had a good look at his kits recently & once I get the railway room finished. I will definitely be ordering something from him. Trying to avoid buying things until ready to go & know exactly what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Ah, what a grand day. The Sun is shining and I have had lots of time to finish Nellie. I painted Nellie earlier this week. This morning I had the job of fitting coupling rods. Having never made a model before I was a bit puzzled as to why the wheels would not go round. A bit of tinkering showed that the screw holding the coupling rod in place was fouling the Axle bearing. Solution - turn the screw around and snip a small bit of the end off. Job done! Now Nellie really does run well. Only a few jobs to do now. I need to buy a can of Satin varnish. In the mean time I need to paint the crew. Meet Bill and Ted. I shall paint them this afternoon. I have also found time to apply coat number three to the GUV. All in all, a really productive weekend. Off to Play trains now. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Bill and Ted, ready for a coat of varnish and then they can be installed in the Cab. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Time for a quick update. I finally finished off the mark 1 GUV. Fettling the roof was really difficult. Still, the next build will be better. Nellie is now finished. I have now given her a coat of varnish, installed the crew and a little weathering. I must do something to hide that orange wire! My BR / GWR saddle tank now sports the name 'polly'. And finally. Just gathering a few items ready for my next build. A class 02 diesel. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 A parcel arrived for me today! My next spot of 'kit bothering'. A PRMRP class 02 diesel. The brass etched parts look nice. The White metal castings all look crisp, with minimal flash. If you look at the lower left side of image 2 you can see the cast front grill in white metal. I plan to drill out the cast mesh and replace with some spare mesh from my bits box. The buffers will be replaced with some ready built Oleo buffers from Roxey. There in nothing wrong with the buffers in the kit, I just want to add a few minor amendments to the kit. Various bits here. Wire, crank pins and axle bearings. I plan to use plunger pick ups again. I was pleased to discover that the kit has a pilot holes already made. I will just need to open them out a bit. And finally, The instructions! About 5 pages of instructions. All the parts are identified and numbered. Not as comprehensive as the instructions with connoisseur kits, but not bad either. As I have enjoyed the confidence boost of building Nellie, I plan to basically copy the build- especially for the chassis with this kit. I must however, resist a deeply ingrained tendency to rush. Perhaps if Mrs Doyle serves decaf tea, this might help. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d600 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hi nice layout your building there I was looking at the 02 shunter kit myself will you be adding pictures during the build has id like to see what it's like to build and your views on building it. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hi nice layout your building there I was looking at the 02 shunter kit myself will you be adding pictures during the build has id like to see what it's like to build and your views on building it. Cheers Yep, I plan to do a blow by blow account. Prepare for a deluge of poor quality photos taken on my iPad. Whilst, I think of it. My earlier comments about holes already provided for plunger pick ups was wrong. I think they are for the break gear! Still, not difficult to drill these myself. I have already started drilling out the cast grill on the bonnet. The surrounding structure appears to have retained it's rigidity so far. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Time to start the kit I think. I have waited one whole day, before starting! The instructions suggest building the chassis first, so that is where I will start. This photo shows the basic chassis etch, coupling rods and the white metal buffer ends. The chassis folded up. The kit has alignment marks which makes it almost idiot proof. The buffer ends. I have filed the sides and the locating holes for the buffers. I do not plan to add any white metal parts until all the brass is done, so I can avoid any melting related issues. A few tools of choice. Carrs red flux and the remains of a wooden clothes peg - this high tech item is great for handling brass when soldering. No sore pinkies for me. These two photos show the chassis soldered. Very easy on this kit. There is a central strengthening piece fitted as well. Again, this is easily located with alignment markings. after initially spot soldering and checking I had the correct alignment, I securely soldered each join for additional strength and rigidity. I have used the set square and an old glass mat to ensure the chassis is square. So far, so good. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 This morning I have mostly been tinkering with the chassis and fittings. This is the Roxey gear box. I used a Slaters version last time, which was soldered to the chassis. this one appears loose. Not sure whether I will use this and secure it somehow or use the Slaters one. The Roxey 40:1 gear is a really, really tight fit on the axle. I checked the obvious first and the grub screw is not the issue. I guess I either need to ream out the gear a bit or file the axle. If anyone has encountered this issue before, how did you get around the issue? By contrast, laminating and fitting the coupling rods was pretty easy. I have incorporated a degree of compensation on the rear axle. This was really easy- just ream the axle holes to incorporate a small amount of vertical movement. I used the same technique with Nellie. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I think that this model is driven off the front axle so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm keen to see this one progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Be very careful opening out the hole. If its too sloppy then the securing screw will push the gear off centre, causing meshing problem every half revolution. If this happens you can file a small "flat spot" on the motor axle and leave the grub screw a fraction of a turn from being tight. It will still turn with the axle and won't drop out. Hope this description makes sense, think I learnt it from Iain Rice's book on chassis construction. Tim Thanks for the replies. in the end I chose to file the axle. I hardly needed to take any off at all, so I don't anticipate any issues with meshing problems.After a brief interlude I spent a while sorting out the bonnet. Here we have the cast grill slowly being drilled out. All gone! And finally, The etched replacement. Nice and square in the white metal housing. I think the mesh may be a little too large, but it looks ok to my eye. I do have a much finer mesh in my bits box if I change my mind. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 I have been studying various images of class 02 diesels. I was a bit disappointed to discover that none of the class were ever painted in BR Blue in service. 1 example was later painted in BR Blue for an open day and a few examples were painted Blue whilst allocated for industrial use. I found an example of 02003 on Flickr. This does not have the 'arrows of indecision', but it was in blue. I might paint an example in BR green, but I have still to decide which prototype I will settle on. I know I can paint an 02 in BR Blue if I like and cite modellers licence, but I would like to model a real example this time. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 After getting a bit bored of drilling holes for the plunger pick ups, I decided to start the body work. This is the console for the cab. The kit comes with only very basic interior detail. Not a problem, as I have lots of spares of seats and dashboard related bits. This is the cab. Folded from one piece. I am really pleased that I achieved a nice, secure, square join. This is the floor for the body. The same item with 2 8BA nuts soldered in place. The chassis is screw fitted to the body. The cab placed on the floor. There are two locating holes to make alignment easier. I will solder the cab in place once I have built and tested the boiler part of the body. I just want to make sure everything fits ok first. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d600 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I know todays an holy day father but the build must go on we need an update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 I know todays an holy day father but the build must go on we need an update Sorry, Sunday was taken up with ecumenical matters.More updates at the weekend. Assuming Mrs Doyle does not produce another list of chores for me to do. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 I had a few minutes free this morning, so work continued. The boiler area under construction. Relatively easy to form. There is a slight curve at each corner. The kit has 2 former pieces which are labelled front and back. After tacking with solder first, I was able to check the shape and fit prior to soldering fully. Here is the cab. Again this was tacked to the base and the fit checked prior to soldering fully. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Busy busy today!. The boiler / engine housing has been fixed. Loads of room inside for the motor (and a sound chip with speaker when funds permit.) This shot shows the 02 with almost all the body work done. Here she is drying off after a quick dip in some hot water and washing up liquid to wash away any flux. The valances, fuel tanks and various etched overlay's have all been added now. I am going to need to add some filler around the fuel tanks. I am really pleased with the cab end. The grab rails were a bit fiddly to bend into the correct shape, but I managed to get them to fit with the same angle as the guard rail. I might add some solder to the guard rail to make it a bit more rigid. This is a shot of the top. The two box shapes were quite hard to form correctly. I just need to add all the handles and rails now and then all the brass work and soldering on the body is done. I will superglue the White metal components later. So far I am relatively happy with the build. It is not perfect, but it looks like an 02. I am sure my soldering will get better over time. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d600 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Hi it looks fine to me it also looks better than the tower models starter kit 02 which I thought the castings were a bit thick I might have to have a go at one of these brass ones. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Hi it looks fine to me it also looks better than the tower models starter kit 02 which I thought the castings were a bit thick I might have to have a go at one of these brass ones. Cheers It is going together fairly well. I would build another one. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 After a brief interlude, with real life getting in the way of modelling, I finally sorted out the chassis. No major problems, as such. But the screws for the coupling rods again fouled against the axle bearings. I wonder if I counter sink the screw, if this would better ? I replaces the gear box from Roxey for a spare Slaters one. I just prefer the gear box to be securly attached to the chassis. I am really chuffed that I got the plunger pick ups spot on. I deliberately painted the chassis and end fittings prior to fitting the pick ups, as I wanted to avoid having to attach the tiny little nuts to the tiny little screws on the pick ups more often than I needed too. This is a general shot of the chassis. These shots are of the front and back bufferbeams- having studied various images it looks like they are different, so I have added a few bits from my bits box. Apologies for the images being a tad dark. Finally, running in the chassis. At the moment the chassis is front heavy as the motor is on the leading axle. I plan to add extra weight in the cab and build a false floor to help balance the weight a bit. I just need to add a few more wires to the body shell, add the White metal castings, fabricate an interior and I am ready to paint. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 After sorting a few teething issues with the chassis- I turned my attention to the fine details on the body shell. Earlier on in this build I proudly proclaimed that I had replaced the front grill with a fine mesh example. Sadly, this turned out to be a mistake. All the 02 diesels I have found did not have a mesh. I must have been looking at a different Shunter. I Fabricated. Replacement using microstrip. Looks good now. I spent a mad five minutes drilling out those really tiny lamps to take some fine wire. Careful studying of images of my chosen prototype helped with this. The rear had the same treatment. I am particularly proud of the lamp to the left of the cab door. Here is a side shot. All the grab rails are fitted now. I need to fill a few gaps, sand down and then spray an undercoat. Oh, I also need to bend the roof to shape and add the cab details. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 On a roll today. Folding the roof to shape was easy, so I had time to fabricate the cab interior. Most of the parts are from my bits box. The console in brass comes with the kit. I have no idea if this is accurate, I based it on a few photos of Shunters. It looks ok to me. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Yesterday evening I spent an hour or so engaging in what Mrs Doyle calls 'retail therapy'. I ordered a load of transfers from fox, Green paint from phoenix precision paints and 2 cabin crew for the shunter from phoenix figures. The 02 is now undercoated. The control panel, seats, roof and false floor are also under coated. Just as well really, as my next kit arrived today! I am still not 100% sure what the difference is between a TTA and a TTB. All I know is that I want one on my layout. Here are the bits plus the wheels. This should be a great kit to build, but I must finish the 02 first. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Ok Dougal, what is the cost of the Tanker kit ? As against a JLTRT TTA kit ? Best regards Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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