Nile's kitbuilding bench - Midland 1377

[Nile]

This loco needs a crew, so I've used some Bachmann figures I had that sort of fit.

 

I shortened the fireman’s shovel slightly to better fit the small cab. The driver's right arm was cut and reposed downwards, it looks like he is holding a  leather cloth.

 

 

And now for two views of the finished loco, showing its two identities.

 

 

 

Did I say finished? As a final touch I've added some balance weights on the BR side. Photos indicate this loco had acquired them by then. Glue'n'glaze between the spokes and then painted black.

 

 

That will do for now, lots more models to build!

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[JCL]

That looks fantastic Neil. It really looks the part.

[Knuckles]

Really well done indeed! This is a testament for WSF being used. Yes FUD et al is better but I hope people can see by your finished results that WSF can turn out a good model.

 

I'm unsure how you will use the one livery only, is your layout end to end?

 

I see the cloth - its brown. Don't think I ever cut and reposed a figure but you would never tell.

 

The only thing that I can't support is the ballance weights. Good idea but not too convincing to my eye. Don't let that both you though.

 

Great to see and follow the progress from a raw white print to a complete model.

 

Good job.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Knuckles

[Nile]

The layout the J65 will run on is end to end, only one side will be visible from the front.

 

Onto the next model which was designed by Knuckles, a Sharp Stewart 4-4-0, aka a Furness Railway K2.

This is the basic body as it comes.

 

 

Here it is after the first coat of paint, looking a bit rough as usual.

 

 

This loco needs 6ft (24mm) driving wheels. Not having any in stock I looked around for something suitable and settled on those use on the Hornby Henry, their old tender powered Black five.

 

The downsides are that they are bright green with shiny rims, and have funny sized axles. The upside is that they are very cheap and easy to order through ebay. The axle problem is solved simply by removing them, this leaves a hole that fits perfectly onto a 2mm axle, that's what I've done to the wheel on the right.

 

The next issue was how to power it. After some trial and error I came up with this arrangement.

 

A Mashima 1220 plus a LRM 50:1 gearbox that I'd bought for another kit but didn't use. This leaves space above the motor inside the firebox for lead weight.

 

It fits inside the frames where they are thinner. They will be stiffened by a frame spacer that will be glued under the motor, keeping it at this angle and away from the front axle.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Nile]

The gearbox is designed for a 1/8" axle but can be adapted to work with a 2mm axle. I have some plastic tube that fits perfectly and only needs the centre opened out slightly for the axle to fit.

 

 

With 2mm bearings fitted and filed this is the motor mount with the main gear fitted on some 2mm rod.

 

 

Here is the body after some more paint and sanding, looking a bit better. This is not the final livery.

 

 

A test fit of all the parts together with a Ratio tender I built some time ago for another project. As I have a few more of these now I can use this tender with this loco.

 

 

An interesting size comparison with a Midland 2-4-0 (Ratio kit).

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Nile]

To make best use of the space above the motor for weight I cut a piece of insulation foam into a shape that filled the space. This was the result.

The plan is to replicate this with lead.

 

To hide the motor mount that is visible below the frames I've glued some bits of plastic card there, where the ashpan would be. The worm will be hidden by the wheels.

 

Just visible is the spacer and support for the motor.

 

Pick-ups made from some pre-formed phosphor bronze wires soldered to some PCB.

 

 

This was glued between the frames, the wires then adjusted. Some bits of plastic were added to the ashpan insides to give extra support to the long rear pick-ups.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Spitfire2865]

How do you get the pickups to stay on the wheelbacks?

I remember when doing the pickups on my Jinty, I tried about 6 or so times to make one which wouldnt fall off when it started moving, so I just made them all run on the flange and tyre.

[Nile]

Trial and error mostly. On this loco the wheels are fixed so it's not difficult. On the J65 with its compensation some of them wipe the flange edge because of the amount the wheel can move.

Without the additions I made to the ashpan those rear wipers would fall off the backs of the wheels.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[JCL]

Hi Neil, I'm going to have to put together a chassis in the next few months, and those photos of the pickups have helped me work out what I need to do.

 

Out of interest, what sort of glue do you use on the chassis, and do things stay glued?

Edited April 30, 2016 by JCL

[Nile]

I sometimes use epoxy, but my usual glue is this.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

I've been away for a week so seeing this is a pleasant surprise.

 

Your foam board lead planner is a brilliant idea so I might try it. I already fitted one of the K2's with your LRM Motor Mount/Gearbox as it fits better than what I used before.

 

May I just remind everyone that the chassis available for the K2's have a choice of 3' 0" bogie wheels or 3' 6" bogie wheels (in the 3 guages) and as such the designs are a little different for each. Although I am sure with a little tweaking you could make either work with a mod.

 

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Also curious as to livery of LMWR you are going with.

 

I'm a little unsure if the 'throw' of the Green Five wheels is more than the Alan Gibson wheels I use. If so other than extra filing I'm unsure what to suggest.

 

Anyway, good job.

 

P.S Is the Airfix kit only available through ebay searching now? I have a moderate to strong desire to build one now I have seen it!

Edited April 30, 2016 by Knuckles

[Nile]

The crankpin throw of the Hornby wheels is 1mm more than Gibsons, so a potential problem. I'll return to that later.

Next thing to tackle is the brakes. I used the brakeshoes that came with the chassis but made my own rigging from brass rod.

 

 

I drilled holes in the brake hangers top and bottom, for the rigging and also for short rods that locate into holes drilled into the frames. By making sure these holes are a tight fit no glue is needed, meaning the whole assembly can be removed if needed.

 

 

To stop the brakes moving about (and actually working) I added a bit of rod to the rear of the rigging.

 

 

this locates into a hole at the rear of the chassis, locking it all solid.

 

 

At the bottom of the ashpan I've added  a row of rivet decals.

 

 

The brake bits refitted and painted black.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Spitfire2865]

And thus all the hard work disappears into the murky black of shadow.

Looking good Neil.

[Knuckles]

Sweet.

 

The rigging that comes with the kit being as thick as it has to be to print leaves much to be desired. Your tweaks make things better, and you make it look easy.

 

Kinda wondering what your crankpin solution is so looking out for it. I know a while back you bodged a set of couplijg rods to fit something that they shouldn't have so maybe a similar idea of de-centering the pins.

[Nile]

Today’s episode is about the wheels, securing them and connecting them.

On both axles there is one wheel that is a good tight fit, but the other one isn't and does tend to move when in use. To prevent this movement I tried a method I saw in the MRJ recently (I can't remember or find it now). First file a small slot in the side of the axle, this needs to be big enough to hold half of a 0.5mm brass rod.

 

 

This is fitted to the wheel, I'm using one of the surplus wheels from the set I bought.

 

When the wheels are correctly quartered a 0.5mm hole is drilled using the slot as a guide. This hole is then plugged with the brass rod.

 

This secures the wheel on the axle. The rod can in theory be removed if the wheel needs to come off.

 

To test the chassis it needs coupling rods. I made these temporary ones using left overs from kits. The ends are from Brassmasters and are about the right size for the 10BA screws used as crankpins on these wheels.

 

 

The almost complete loco assembled for testing.

 

This revealed a slight problem caused by the 5mm crankpin throw of the Hornby wheels. This caused the coupling rods to touch the underside of the running plate. The solution was to put some 20th plastic card on top of the chassis at its rear, raising the body enough to clear the rods.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

 

Raising the ride height could make the buffers go out of alignment with other stock but if it is just a wee tweak maybe it is fine.

 

The coupling rod bosses you made look a little big, could it be these that are catching the underside instead?

 

Overall impression looking great though, many of your posts reveal interesting bodges and modifications I rarely see. The pin one is new to me too but seems a good fix. I'm itching to see its completion.

 

Keep up the good work!

[Nile]

And now for a splash of colour. This is the scene after the gloss coat of Klear has been applied.

 

This is the LMWR passenger livery of Indian red, actually Polly Scale oxide red.

 

After the transfers dried I applied some light coats of matt varnish, just enough to dull things down.

As well as the numbers the boiler bands are also transfers, much neater than my own painting.

 

I thought things were looking good until I realised I'd forgotten to give it a name, doh!

Fortunately I only needed to re-gloss and then re-varnish the splashers while fixing this. After that I picked out some bits with brass paint.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Looking sweet!

 

Is this a real or fictional livery, also how is it running with the current set up? Really looking forward to the final result.

[Nile]

The livery, like the LMWR, is a work of fiction that came out of my head. But it does have some similarity to that of the Furness, so is quite appropriate for this loco.

Its running is ok considering I haven't lubricated anything yet. It could do with oiling and running in. I need to sort a more permanent solution for the rods before that.

[Knuckles]

Ok cool. Does still have that Furness vibe. Liking the Oxford name on the splasher.

 

I think for the coupling rods the best thing would be to reduce the diameter of the boss heads a wee.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Knuckles

[Nile]

I've done a bit more on the body, adding handrails along the boiler and the back of the cab. A lamp iron made from scrap brass was added to the top of the smokebox.

 

 

After painting them I added details to the buffer beam, buffers pipe and coupling.

 

 

For the tender I'm using a Ratio one I built earlier, they match up very well.

 

I'm going to paint the lower sides red to match the loco.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Yeeeah. Looks bloody awesome, that's all I'm saying for now until you are happy to say it is finished. This is really pleasing to see (as You'd expect me to say).

 

Nice added lamp iron to the top too.

 

Are you to paint the works plate on the front splasher or leave as is or cut off and replace?

Edited May 16, 2016 by Knuckles

[N15class]

This looks smother than the previous one you did. Did you spend more time filling and sanding? Howdoes it compare to the smooth plastic ofthe tender?

[DLT]

Splendid piece of work Neil, looks terrific.  I particularly like your method of locking the quartering on the push-fit driving wheels

 

Can I make one suggestion?   Substituting Alan Gibson wheels would improve the "look" greatly. particularly the bogie wheels.

I don't want to hi-jack you thread, but here is a photo of an SR W class I built a few years back, fitted with Gibson wheels allround.

 

 

They are no different to fit, and the drivers have the advantage that the crankpin assemblies are a lot finer than the rtr version

 

Just a thought!

 

Cheers, Dave.

[Nile]

On 17/05/2016 at 00:32, N15class said:

This looks smother than the previous one you did. Did you spend more time filling and sanding? Howdoes it compare to the smooth plastic ofthe tender?

 

I don't remember spending a lot more time on the smoothing process. I think it comes down to some WSF prints are better than others, orientation can be a factor here. This print, and another similar one I have, were quite smooth to start with. The paint may also be a factor, Revell Tar Black as a base with Polly Scale Red on top. The finished model appears as smooth as the plastic tender.

 

Meanwhile I've added some red paint to the tender, here is the result.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile