Worseter - update

[Killybegs]

As the visitors that were coming to stay cried off sick, I have been able to do a bit more work on the con rods. In the instructions DB recommends leaving off the bosses if using the cast cross heads, they are a snug fit without them. The rods also need modifying to enable the holes for the pins to line up (see below) and that's after some serious work with drills and needle files to tidy up the slots in the cross heads. Don't worry there's still a lot more material left around the hole in the con rod than on some kits I have built.

 

 

That's one done, now for the next one. Next on the list are the return cranks which will require tapping for the M1 crank pins. I wonder if Morgan has an M1 tap?!

[45609]

I wonder if Morgan has an M1 tap?!

 

Do you really need to ask?  Fine or coarse pitch ?

Edited March 30, 2016 by 45609

[Killybegs]

Back onto the chassis today, finishing off on those areas that have to tie up with the Bachmann body.

 

I made up the rear of the draw bar assembly which entailed. removing that section which is part of the body. Once this was soldered in place (I did this with the chassis bolted to the body), I could fit the cab sub floor assembly which I had made up a while ago. The rear end of the subfloor is designed to be soldered to that bit of the draw bar assembly that I had to cut off, so two sections of brass channel were soldered in place to support it. With the floor assembly loose in place on the chassis, it was bolted to the body while the front mounting brackets were soldered to the main frames. The body was then removed and the floor soldered to the tops of the channels.

 

The rear gussets and flanges were fitted next (it would have been easier to do them before fitting the floor) followed by the injector brackets. All very fiddly. The last job for the day was to fit the front gussets and flanges, but first I had to remove the buffers and saw off the cast on front step stubs. The flanges needed drilling for the buffer tails.

 

 

 

[Killybegs]

With the basic chassis pretty well sorted, I decided it was time to check that the motor/gearbox combination would actually fit. It's one thing drawing it up on the computer and another thing actually getting it to work. Two things were immediately apparent. To actually get the RoadRunner+ gearbox in and out of the chassis, the final drive carriage would have to remain free to rotate, and the vertical leg of the frame spacer between axles 4 and 5 would have to be further reduced to almost nothing. The location of this spacer is a real pain, without it the gearbox could go in from below which would mean the wheels could be fitted without the gearbox in the chassis. However, short of cutting it out and fitting another frame spacer behind axle 6 and modifying the carrier for the suspension, power collection, etc., I think I am stuck with it. I have also had to remove a section of the shoulder of the gearbox and cut the motor shaft flush with the end of the worm drive to give space for some vertical movement on axle 5. Oh the lengths we go to to keep motor and gearbox hidden from view! I also had to pare away the inside of the top of the firebox to squeeze in a 26mm motor. I have yet to resolve how the motor will be restrained.

 

Having sorted that lot out, it was time to fettle the the bottom of the firebox/ashpan to be a snug fit inside the frames. With the modified assembly in position and with the chassis bolted to the body, the ashpan was tack soldered to the frames. There's still a bit of remedial filling required between the ashpan and the firebox.

 

 

I also drilled and tapped the top and bottom of the dragbox for a 10BA bolt to hold the tender draw bar. The head of this is visible in the photo above.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Killybegs

[sn]

Well, all this hot weather and a drop of rain has got the vegetation growing apace. Now, if the bricklayer turns up, we can get on with those blue brick edgings to the canal banks! Meanwhile, regardless of this state of affairs, 6154 coasts across the bridge with the local goods.

 

bridge 05w.jpg

 

Beautiful merge there into the backscene. Excellent.

[Mike G]

 I have also had to remove a section of the shoulder of the gearbox and cut the motor shaft flush with the end of the worm drive to give space for some vertical movement on axle 5. Oh the lengths we go to to keep motor and gearbox hidden from view! I also had to pare away the inside of the top of the firebox to squeeze in a 26mm motor. I have yet to resolve how the motor will be restrained.

 

John

 

Why did you discount the motor going into the tender and then cardan shafts into the gearbox as you've planned? Loving this build...

 

Mike

[Killybegs]

John

 

Why did you discount the motor going into the tender and then cardan shafts into the gearbox as you've planned? Loving this build...

 

Mike

 

I've never been keen on that arrangement, being a self confessed luddite and wary of such black magic as cardan shafts! It was always my intention to go for a motor/gearbox combination in the firebox. Glad you are enjoying the build. I am most of the time.

[Killybegs]

Here's a couple of photos that show the motor and gearbox in position. The second one shows the cut outs in the sides of the gearbox to accommodate movement on the 5th axle. The third one illustrates what I was trying to achieve - no sign of a motor or gearbox and all that fresh air under the boiler. Apologies for the state of the firebox, it has had a spot of filling and is awaiting tidying up.

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

That gearbox is certainly tight too the 5th axle in the firebox/ash pan are, but it looks as if you have managed to hide all the gubbins though, which is the important bit.

[ClikC]

John,

 

Many thanks for showing me the 9F at the RMWeb member's day, very inspirational!

 

Regards

 

Matt Rogers

[Killybegs]

Did you think I had disappeared? Holidays and work around the house and garden have kept me away from the workbench. However this week I have managed to squeeze in a couple of days and have been working on the the motion and slide bar brackets. These are very fiddly but well worth the effort. It certainly beats scratchbuilding (as on the Brit). 

 

The observant notice that the front rib is missing of the left hand slide bar bracket. This must have parted company with the etched sheet at some point and disappeared. I used the other one as a pattern to cut one out of 0.25 styrene which will be superglued in place later in the build. I found the most difficult part was soldering the triple laminate stiffening block (part 152) into the left hand motion bracket. After several unsuccessful attempts to solder it in the correct position (during which time it partially delaminated and had to be repaired), I hit on the idea of cutting a packing piece out of bala wood which, when placed behind the stiffening block, kept it in the correct position.

 

The Bachmann footplates  are over thick so the tops of the reversing shaft bearing mounts needed filing down. The valances on the footplate also need thinning locally to accommodate these bits of the motion bracket.

 

Still more work to be done but I'm not sure when I will get back to them.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2016 by Killybegs

[Killybegs]

No more work on the 9F, I'm afraid. Another month away in the UK and sorting out the jungle that was our garden when we got back have kept me away from the work bench. I did, however, find time to put this little one together in the motor home on a day when it was just too wet and windy to get out on the bikes.

 

Cambrian LNER 13 ton 8 Plank Wagon. Sprung buffer heads and waisted pin point bearings from Alan Gibson, wheels and 3 link couplings (which will be chemically blackened before fixing) from Exactoscale.

 

I found that the mouldings needed a bit of fettling, particularly to get square edges. Modest amount of packing required around edges of floor. The V hangers are a bit short so the brake gear sits a bit high. Otherwise, not a bad little kit. I will now sit back and wait for someone else to tell me what's wrong with it!

 

 

Hopefully I will get back onto the 9F soon.

[Killybegs]

As it was wet again this morning and I had done all the odd little jobs that needed doing around the house, I finally got around to digging out the neglected 9F. 

 

Spent a while re-acquainting myself with where I had got to, before casting an eye over the instructions for the valve gear. Pretty much the same as the Brit except that DB's offering is a tad more detailed than the Comet version that I had used as a starting point on that occasion. First on my list were the expansion links, made up of seven bits. Actually ten in the end, as I also fabricated a die block to make it more robust. 

 

 

A bit of a polish then it will be one made and one to go!

Edited July 25, 2016 by Killybegs

[Killybegs]

Two steps forward, one step back. The expansion link as built isn't going to work for a couple of reasons.

 

Firstly, the forks on the radius rod are designed to fit between the expansion link and the little brackets that are pinned to it, but it would be a very tight fit and there is no scope for thinning either the brackets or the forks. Furthermore, the half etched recess in the bracket that takes the fork is also very tight.

 

Secondly, the forks are designed to take a 0.55mm pin, whereas the expansion link brackets (and trunnions on the motion bracket) are designed for a 0.8mm pivot. The forks are too narrow to open out the holes to 0.8mm. 

 

Maybe I am missing something. I assume that, on the prototype there are brackets on the expansion link that allow it to rotate without impeding the up and down movement of the radius rod and die block. I am attaching a photo of the prototype but any brackets are hidden.

 

However, I have a solution. The brackets will be removed from the expansion link. The die block that I have soldered into the centre of the expansion link is already drilled to take the 0.8mm pivot. Incidentally this makes it more like the expansion links found in other kits which etch the link and block as one unit. DB provides small washers to pack between the expansion link and the trunnions. Happily, there are four spares which I propose to solder onto the outside faces of the forks at the end of the radius rods. These washers are etched to take the 0.8mm pivot and will beef up the forks. If you are building one of these kits and can't find these washers (Part 144A), they are on the separate etch with the brake gear!

 

I'm not sure when I will get this done as I think we have visitors coming today. Watch this space.

 

[Horsetan]

That's a shame. I thought you were in danger of making it all work. I seem to recall that Eddie Ford (Blackgill) has built a few of the Bradwell 9Fs, but he hasn't mentioned any difficulty with the expansion links and mountings.

[Killybegs]

Further to earlier post, this is what it looks like on a Brit

 

 

As I suspected the bracket has stub 'axles'.

[Dave Holt]

John,

The 9F expansion link will be almost identical to the Brit. Compared with the box type expansion link, used on Stanier LMS locos, the BR version looks a rather flimsy construction.

I haven't studied my Bradwell kit to check the detail, but Dave has probably tried to replicate the geometry to allow the valve gear to the fixed in any desired cut-off. Even with your modification, you can still model in forward gear, but at a slightly longer cut-off.

Nice to see further progress, by-the-way.

Dave.

[Killybegs]

Work is progressing on the valve gear. In addition to the afore mentioned changes to the expansion links (now stripped of their brackets), I am 'beefing up' the forked connections as I was worried about the strength of the original design. Rather than put a joggle in the LH lifting arm, I laminated the extra thickness to look more like the prototype. I find that it is best to make the 'solid' bits such as the lifting links and combination levers first as the forked connections can be made to fit them.

 

[TerrySVR]

Stunning modelling a pleasure to watch your progress

[Killybegs]

Will this be the smallest fabricated component on 92006?  1mm n/s rod soldered into 1.5mm brass tube. Thin slice taken off end with piercing saw, then tidied up in pin vice.

 

 

Where does it go? Here .......

 

 

The men in white coats are on their way!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Killybegs

[Mike G]

"The men in white coats are on their way!"

 

Great... can I have the Brit after you've been taken to recuperate?

 

 

Mike

[Brinkly]

Amazing work John! It is so delicate and tidy.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick.

[Horsetan]

It's true that if you're going the hog, you might as well go the whole hog.

[Killybegs]

The penultimate forked rods to be put together (I have left the anchor links to last as they are very small and fiddly) were the radius rods. Again I made a few changes from DB's design. These were to change the construction of the small forks and to solder washers onto the other end as discussed in a previous post.

 

The change to the forks was to make them stronger while retaining the same appearance. A new rear face was fabricated from scrap etch and soldered to the back of the front etch. The fork was then formed at the other end.

 

 

The fork on the rear etch was formed before the rod was cut to length to suit the new front fork, then soldered into position. The old drill bits are actually vertical, it's the parallax that makes them look otherwise!

 

 

Finally, the washers were added, one at a time, checking the fit on the motion bracket before fixing the next one and so on.

 

[Porcy Mane]

Will this be the smallest fabricated component on 92006?  1mm n/s rod soldered into 1.5mm brass tube. Thin slice taken off end with piercing saw, then tidied up in pin vice.

 

When you were discussing the expansion link the other day I was going to suggest the use of an Exactoscale buffer ferrule. Maybe a good job I kept my mouth shut.

 

4BC101-20101ABufferNoseFerrule.pdf

 

I thought I was a bit nuts making a working tommy bar for a RIV/UIC diesel coupling.

 

P