Jump to content
 

Improving the Hornby Terrier


Recommended Posts

I tried to lower the body of the Hornby terrier, but the big motor in the tanks/boiler prevents us from making the model sit at the correct height. Is there a suitable replacement motor which can be fitted to the existing chassis, or should I look at purchasing a replacement chassis from Comet?

Link to post
Share on other sites

To be quite honest, if you want to improve the appearance of the Hornby Terrier the chassis has to go since, barring the number of wheels and their spacing, it is precious little like the real thing. 

 

Adam

Link to post
Share on other sites

To be quite honest, if you want to improve the appearance of the Hornby Terrier the chassis has to go since, barring the number of wheels and their spacing, it is precious little like the real thing. 

 

Adam

 

Agreed! The Terriers had a very lightweight chassis, and sat very low on it (hence the buffers poking above the buffer beams) and the Hornby one just doesn't hack it.

 

What the Hornby chassis does offer is weight in the right place, and if you replace it with the (excellent) Comet etched job then you may find that you have adhesion problems, and the easiest way to fix those is to build it either sprung or compensated; but if you only want to pull a coach or two or just a few wagons that may not be a problem for you.

 

(The prototypes were a fine combination of light weight, decent pulling power and a surprising ability to run all day on a bunker-full of cheap coal, so it's no wonder that Col. Stephens bought up so many!)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Martin,

 

As others have said, the best way is to replace the chassis. I used the excellent Branchlines product fitted with a Mashima motor. 

 

post-7006-0-25864600-1390558130.jpg

 

post-7006-0-63724700-1390558139.jpg

 

post-7006-0-62060900-1390558146.jpg

 

With some new buffers and some remodelling of the splashers a reasonable representaion of the real thing can be had. I modelled Fenchurch, but there are many more variations available!!

 

Cheers for now, Ian.

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

A  repeated  error  is  the  position  of  the  tank  filler.

This  should  be  in  the  centre  of  the tank  not  as  modelled.

The  same  error  appeared  on  the  N  gauge  model.

I  suspect  it  came  about  from  photos  and  lining  it  up  with  the  dome.

The  dome  position  varies according  to  boiler  type  fitted.

With  the  some  boilers  it  did  line  up  with  the  dome  centreline.

Others  it  lines  up  with  the  rear  of  the  dome

 

Pete

Link to post
Share on other sites

Tim Shackelton did a chapter on a Terrier conversion in his book on plastic locos from Wild Swan. His was for the Edge Hill Light Railway but the methods could apply to any version. He used the Branchlines frame and a Mashima.

 

HTH

 

David

Link to post
Share on other sites

I was hoping to find a prototype conversion which would have minimal modifications required for the body. However, since it is clear that I need to replace the buffers, I'm wondering if there are any tips to rebuilding this model to resemble No. 11 on the Isle of Wight. I think that this one would not require me to hack the sand-boxes off the front wheel splasher, but I will need to replace the bunker. I chose No. 11 as the all-over plain black livery will be the easiest to reproduce. I'm not great when it comes to painting.

This throws up yet another issue: What to do with the left-over chassis?

 

This did start out as a cheap impulse-purchase...

Link to post
Share on other sites

A tricky one! The Stroudley buffers are very distinctive, and in the end I turned up a set on the lathe.

 

The buffers that came with the ancient K's kit were probably the best bit of the whole thing, being nicely turned and sprung, though with a nasty tendency to jam; if you can find a junk one on eBay then it may be worth buying it just for the buffers, though the clacks are rather better than the Hornby version too.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Well, the razor saw came out and the bunker is being modified. I'm not using the conversion kit. I just lopped off the read of the bunker and will use plasticard to fill the gap. At the moment I cannot obtain replacement buffers, but I've been working on modifying the existing buffer beams to set the buffers at a more prototypical height. I'll also be moving the tank filler caps and removing the vastly-over-scale tank vents.

 

This conversion will be to Isle of Wight No. 11 as she appeared in Southern unlined black. I'm not into lining of locomotives (my native New South Wales Government Railways had most locomotives in unadorned black) and the plain black livery will be easy to carry off with a Tamiya spray can.

 

Are there replacement wheelsets available? I would like to use something closer to prototypical appearance.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Another RM Web modeller has kindly undertaken the work to design new buffer beams to be 3D-printed by shapeways.

 

After thinking long and hard about how much work I was prepared to do to the model, I felt that new buffer beams with the buffers lowered to a more realistic height, and a few cosmetic improvements to the body would suffice. My main interest is in O scale, but I do still collect small OO gauge tank engines, as I am rather fond of the prototypes.

 

At the end of the day, I will have given my terrier the extended bunker, hopefully find a way to remove the below-footplate front sandboxes, replace the tank vents with brass rod, move the tank filler caps, and improve the safety valves attached to the dome.

 

I'm generally aiming for a model to represent this terrier: https://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/9591124209/sizes/h/

Link to post
Share on other sites

Another most generous RMweb member (not me) has drawn up the CAD for a 3-printed version of a replacement bufferbeam for the A1X Terrier.

 

I'm still trying to figure out things with shapeways, as I want to get this printed in "White Frosted Detail" but for some reason it won't offer this material at the moment.

 

If you would like one, you can purchase a set of buffer beams with the buffers lowered to the correct height here: http://shpws.me/zgC2

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...