ThePurplePrimer Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I decided that I quite like 7mm scale and I quite like British outline narrow gauge but there is nothing RTR to be bought. There are some brass kits but I am not sure I am quite ready for that so I decided to start with a 00/HO RTR kit and build a body onto the chassis - I mean how hard can it be :-) I decided that I would start with something INSPIRED by the Camber & Rye Bagnalls - please not I used the words 'inspired by' and NOT ' a perfect replica of' - I am just using those locos as inspiration. The RTR kit I will be using is a Lilliput HO Fireless Loco - it has nice small wheels and wheelbase and some suitable valve / piston gear - it's the wrong way around but that's not a problem, I will simply build the body the other way around. So I started with this ... Then I took it apart ... I put a card footplate on it and stared at it for a while in mild panic ... This is very roughly how it might end up looking ... Then I started sawing bits off ( so I can get couplings in the limited space ) ... It seemed like such a good idea before I started Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Obviously the first thing I needed was a footplate so I made that out of some laminated styrene but the first problem would be the fact the where I had sawn the chassis front and rear to make space for the Kadee couplers I will be fitting meant the chassis was now too short ( cosmetically ) front and rear. I didn't want to attach anything permanently to the chassis so I decided to attach some 0.5 mm styrene shapes to the bottom of the footplate. To hide the step ( of 0.5 mm ) I made some curved gussets - this will, I hope, fool the eye into not seeing the difference either side of the gusset. I will add a row of rivets behind the gusset later to show a fixing method and reduce the totally flat look as well. I have angled additional chassis plates so these match the depth of the buffer beams when these get added. The pictures make it look like it doesn't quite line up at the bottom with the original chassis but it does - I promise This is my first attempt at this so please feel to comment with suggestions and any big mistakes I am making Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Hi, So far it looks fine, however, it looks to me that there would be a lot of weight over the rear wheels, compared to the front, due to the side tanks. I wonder if you could move the wheel base back - longer crank rods?, or make it as a saddle tank? It just looks a bit out of balance to me. Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Hi, So far it looks fine, however, it looks to me that there would be a lot of weight over the rear wheels, compared to the front, due to the side tanks. I wonder if you could move the wheel base back - longer crank rods?, or make it as a saddle tank? It just looks a bit out of balance to me. Best wishes, Ray ...or make it an 0-4-2t? JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 I agree with the pony truck as it would set it off nicely and look better balanced.If you do go for a saddle tank then you may need a rear bunker I have half cheated as I bought a cab from Smallbrook Studio, super quality and very reasonably priced. Not done anything with it yet though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinnylinny Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 While the pony truck may make it look more balanced, remember that on the real thing, the cab is mainly a hollow box made of thin sheet, while the water tank and boiler would be where all the weight (in the form of steel and water) would have been.Personally, I think the visual balance could be improved by extending the side tanks forward a little, which might also make it look better without a pony truck. Then again, I normally try to avoid messing with a chassis that already works well! Looks like a very interesting project though, and a very nice design. I shall keep an eye on this thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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