Steve's Caledonian loco work bench

[Buhar]

Hey, Steve, keep this trend up and you'll be making the whole loco out of brass sheet next.

Naughty, naughty.

 

Anyway, with Steve it'd be sardine tins or oil containers scrounged from the local tyre and exhaust.     And still be inspirational.

[Londontram]

As promised I started to build the tanks up as doing this will give me a chance to anchor the back of the boiler to something so I could then also mount the smoke box. No secrets here with the construction with the sides cut out using the drawings and gluing on with liquid polly where it was to plasticard to plasticard and super glue where it was plasticard to the original Triang boiler. Here's a picture of the tanks so far the cab front plate is only sat in place at this stage.

 

When I built the jumbo I found the plastic used on the GBL single very "soapy" like a form of polyurethane but this donor is an ex Triang body and its a very hard and somewhat brittle plastic and doesn't respond any better to polly cement than the soapy GBL body did.

 

   Like the models before it its been built from the drawings so is reasonable correct and one thing I noticed when stood next to the previous built 492 0-8-0 tank that the water tank size is exactly the same then again the Caledonian was one of the first company's to standardize on many of its loco fittings and dimensions and it looks like this was another example of it as you can see in the next picture.

 

Andy you asked me how far the motor and gear train of the Bachmann chassis encroaches into the cab this next picture gives you an idea, a back head will hide most of it and the gear train is low down and when the crew are in you most likely wont see it.

 

I've left it all to set and when done I'll give it some filler to blend it into the boiler and also curve off the outer edge of the tanks to give them that classic Caley profile.

 

[Londontram]

just a quick up date. I've cut the cab parts out using paper templates and after cutting out the cab cut out I'll put it together tomorrow, I also cut back the tank sides where they fitted to the boiler as after looking at pictures I had made it curve to far under the boiler at the front.

 

[Londontram]

Number one son has gone home with his wife after there visit so I managed to steel myself away and do a little bit of modeling this afternoon. After cutting out the cab cutouts I assembled the parts of the cab and bunker as can be seen in this first picture.

It went together no problem using liquid polly cement giving the basic cab you can see in these next few pictures, the roof is only sat in place at the moment and the rear bunker shape could use a little cleaning up but I'll wait until its all set before I try and do any filing or sanding.

Oh and yes Andy the steps do line up with the cab doors lol

 

As is customary as you know at the end of a modeling session I like to have a play and here we have a pug for every occasion  starting with the Hornby 264 class 0-4-0 pug this is a as brought off ebay model and will one day get dumb buffers and a bit of added detail. Although these are not to scale there a fun little loco and at least its Caledonian so I can forgive it its weaknesses.

 

     Next the 782 0-6-0 and last but in no way least the big old 492 0-8-0 tank which is very much a sledge hammer and nut loco

 

  I'm pleased with the way this one is shaping up holding it against the plans its spot on dimension wise and should make a nice handy little loco when done. Overall There a nice little pool of Caley locos coming together here some day I'll have to build something to run and display them on I guess. Anyway thanks for looking again Steve

Edited November 14, 2015 by Londontram

[Londontram]

I've attempted to get a photo of the loco over the plans but the 3D effect of the loco means it always seems closer and thus bigger than the picture on the plan but when laid over the plan it fits perfectly. Tonight I've cut and fitted the cab floor from some evergreens planked plasticard and tided up the top edge of the bunker which was a bit out of true, while working in this area I also added some lead weight to the bunker and added a false floor to box it in. Once painted (both inside and out) I'll add more weight to the inside of the smoke box boiler area and inside the tanks like on the 492 tank loco.

 

     Next job will be the sandboxes and splashers which I'll look at tomorrow until then here's a last picture for tonight of the loco against the plans.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Londontram

[Londontram]

As I said I did the front splashers and sand boxes today, nothing new here they were made just the same way as the jumbo using templates but its one of those jobs that seem to visually lift the model up to another level. Anyway here are a couple of pictures, the wing plates have been shaped but no filler has been added between the wings and the smoke box yet.

Another step closer and its really starting to take shape now, with the main construction over its the detail bits next but I cut short the modeling today to spend some time with the other half so that will come another day. Thanks for looking Steve

[Londontram]

Cock ups and compromises would be a good title for today's update as some of the jobs are fixing mistakes I made and others are getting around problems hiding the gear mechanism.

 

First job was the tank fillers made in the same manor as the other locos from round discs cut with my gasket cutting set along with hinges from evergreens micro strip. Next the Cab side steps made from some plasticard off cuts.

 

     The cab roof had already been cut and gently cold rolled to give it a slight curve and today I just edged it and added the center strip with evergreens micro strip. Having used up my supply of etched reversing levers I made this one from a short length of brass wire which was folded double but not before one end was filled flat, after bending double and soldering for about 3/5 of its length the remaining was bent out to form the release catch. This was glued to a pre-drilled hole in the floor.

 

      A back head was taken from the GBL T9 models that have been supplying parts for some of these builds and was cut down so it sat over the gear train, unfortunately the Bachmann gear train intrudes into the cab floor a little so a small off cut of plasticard was cut and fixed to the bottom of the back head and when the cab is painted this will be glued in place to cover and protect the gear train. This means there is a step right in front of the back head but I'm hoping that when its all painted and a crew are fitted it wont be noticeable.

 

  So that was the compromise now for the cock up, the Bachmann chassis was originally going to be used on the jumbo before deciding the Bachmann can motor was to wide for that project but stupid jump in both feet first me cut the rear brake rods away which would have been right if the chassis was to be used for the jumbo but now its being used on the 782 tank it will need the full brake rodding so I had to make up a frame from brass rod rather like on the jumbo to reinstate the rodding around the rear axle, it stands out in these pictures because its new and shiny but once painted will blend in with the rest of the rodding. Like on the jumbo the front face has been filed flat to match the rest of the rodding as well.

 

   In the first picture is an overall view showing the cab roof with its ribs fitted and the tank fillers as well. you can also see the cab side steps and the rear brake rods.

 

In this one is the cab and you can see the reversing lever and the ex T9 boiler back head and looking at the base of the back head the small square of plasticard covering the Bachmann gear train.

 

In this last picture of the cab roof showing the rib detail close up you can see a hole on the cab floor this will be for the hand brake stanchion when built

Looking at the last picture I think I'll look at doing the beading around the cab cutouts next which will also incorporate the two cab hand rails each side

Thanks for looking Steve

Edited November 16, 2015 by Londontram

[Northroader]

That tankies shaping really well and looking good. With all the locos you're building I suppose the name for the new layout has got to be Polmadie?

[Londontram]

Not much modeling time today with all the other jobs to be done so the only thing I did today was make the coal rails. now no matter how I try making nice straight level coal rails is an art that always seems to elude me and they end up looking like I threw them on the back of the loco while galloping past on a wild horse so its ended up being an oh it'll look alright when its painted with a bit of coal in it jobs. Other than that the only other jobs were the front and rear lamp irons. Here's a picture so you can judge for your self - be gentle please

Thanks Steve

[Strathwood]

Not much modeling time today with all the other jobs to be done so the only thing I did today was make the coal rails. now no matter how I try making nice straight level coal rails is an art that always seems to elude me and they end up looking like I threw them on the back of the loco while galloping past on a wild horse so its ended up being an oh it'll look alright when its painted with a bit of coal in it jobs. Other than that the only other jobs were the front and rear lamp irons. Here's a picture so you can judge for your self - be gentle please

782 tank coal rails.jpg

Thanks Steve

Pardon the pun but "don't fret" over the coal rails as they were often battered about on the prototypes in service anyway, especially post war. But if you insist on painting things Caley Blue then you may have to get some more practice in...

 

What's next on the line up a Beatock banker perhaps?

 

Kevin

[Londontram]

Don't worry this ones staying black but I guess its just me I suppose I tend to worry over the silliest of things.

 

       Oh no don't get me going on wish list I could be here all day. Wish lists/build lists are a dangerous thing and six months ago I would have said wish list but I've had such a good spurt this last few months I feel there's a good chance any suggestions I make actually have a good chance of being built.

 

On the to build list next I think might be a 104 class tank, to those that don't know its a small tank designed to work the suburban lines round Glasgow and Edinburgh. its an 0-4-4 and the front end is almost the same as the 782 being built here. A nice little loco with one unique feature which is it's the only Caledonian tank loco with flush sides from the tanks across the cab to the bunker, all other Caley tanks having an inset cab. Oh and it will be blue. Here's one

 

After that I'm flexible but the real prize will be one of the 4-6-0 903 class "Cardean" locos and I've been gathering parts for that for a while.

 

   I did start building a 439 class from a Hornby M7 (Doesn't everybody into Caly modeling do this) but I made such a poor job of it that in a fit of dispair I stripped it back down to the running plate and will start again but for some reason I'm finding it hard to work up any enthusiasm for that one

   

     A second jumbo is in there too but built as a black one this time with no air pump and like the Cardean I've got most of the bits for that already including another tender that's about it really

 

I've got on of those awful Hornby Caley pugs that are over scale and only run at warp factor 3 which I'll super detail and build and connect to one of the wooden tenders which when cross wired should help with its slow running.

I've already chopped the buffers off to convert it back to its original Caley period dumb buffer set up but that's more of a super detail than a build. I know its a poor model but its there so I might as well use it. For those that have always wondered the Hornby Caley tank is overall 8mm to long and the wheel base is 5mm to long.

 

That's all that's planned really but I guess there will always be more but what I must do when these are done is get back on finishing some carriages and wagons but at the moment I'm building locos while my loco mojo is nice and strong. I'll stop there as like I said I could go all day, thanks Steve

Edited November 18, 2015 by Londontram

[Northroader]

Anything you can do to slow that Hornby chassis down, I'm all ears. (I'm using one in On16.5 thingy, n.g. Types I talk to go on about re-gearing.) nice to see a little bit of brass here, a little bit of brass there. That new soldering iron is doing you a power of good!

[alastairq]

Anything you can do to slow that Hornby chassis down, I'm all ears. (I'm using one in On16.5 thingy, n.g. Types I talk to go on about re-gearing.) nice to see a little bit of brass here, a little bit of brass there. That new soldering iron is doing you a power of good!

 

 

http://gn15.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9941&hilit=Hornby+0+4+0+re+gear

 

Any good?

[Londontram]

Thanks for the link I'll have a good look at that when I come to do the little pug but one of my big faults has always been wandering from job to job but I've done well this last six months or so by being disciplined with my approach to each project so back to the 782 tank for the time being.

 

   Had to spend the afternoon at the hospital yesterday with my on going problems so didn't get a lot done but did slip upstairs to the man cave in the evening and did a bit. I marked out and drilled all the hand rail knob holes ready for when the knobs eventually arrive, I also drilled out the holes for the smoke box lubricators.

 

   I didn't take any pictures as there wasn't much to see and I forgot to take the camera with me any way. Jobs still to do are the front and rear guard irons, the smoke box door wheel and handle and the beading around the cab cut out then I'm not sure there's much else to do until the hand rail knobs and wire arrive so I might give it a blow over with some gray primer which always helps show up any body defects. Thanks Steve

Edited November 19, 2015 by Londontram

[Northroader]

If you got a soldering iron, and you're putting metal knobs into a plastic body, why are you drilling them?

[Londontram]

I like to measure them out and often put a strip of masking tape on the body first and draw a line along the line of the hand rail that way the drill doesn't wander and I know the knobs in exactly the right place

[Northroader]

Sorry, Steve, two apologies, first for my crude methods, second for not wishing you well after your hospital visit.

[Londontram]

No worries mate I can be as crude as the next chap believe me and don't worry about the hospital thing its part of my life now and we've just learnt to work around it. To show you what a bodger I am I'm going to bare my soul here and show you a picture of the underside of the 782 tank. This is for you too Andy (uax6) who mentioned to me that the underside of his builds looked awful, don't worry mate so do mine all I can say is thank goodness for filler.

Lots of bits of plastic on plastic and that's the thing with scratch building you tend to make things up as you go along, mind you this isn't as bad as the 492 tank was as I learnt a lot from that.

 

Any way today's jobs the first one being to make the front and rear guard irons from some off cuts of brass in this case the left over bits from some wagon W iron frets, once cut and shaped they were super glued in place. Next was the smoke box door wheel and handle which was made in the same way as all the others were so I wont go over that again only to add that as a humble shunter I've not added the usual Caledonian decorative smoke box adornments that the other have.

      The front guard iron and the smoke box wheel and handle can be seen in this next picture, at this stage the the handle is only sat in place and wont be glued until the loco is painted.

 

I was on a roll this morning so next job was the beading around the cab opening again done in the same way as the others by cutting a strip of 5 thou plasticard and cold rolling it round a pencil or something like that so its in a coil and then sitting it in the aperture and letting it expand and with liquid polly cement just working my way round pushing it into the corners with the handle of a needle file. The liguid cement makes the strip quite soft and my method relies on this so that the strip pushes into and stays in the corners, when its set hard again I'll sand it off to the right width. Here's a picture of the beading which also shows the rear guard iron also note that now its been painted the rear extension to the brake rodding even in this close up picture blends in with the original brake rodding.

 

Last job today and about one of the last jobs on the loco I think was to fit the hand brake stanchion. I had made this the other day but lacked some wire for the cross bar but thanks to Andy letting me have some I could solder it all up and fit it. You can see it in this last picture and before you all say anything yes it should lean forward at an angle trust me.

In this picture you can see some of the holes drilled for the hand rail knobs which unless I've missed anything or you think I might have forgot something really is about the last job to do so maybe a coat of gray primer next to see if the body needs any finishing. Thanks for looking Steve

Edited November 21, 2015 by Londontram

[Londontram]

You know I'll take it back the coal rails don't look to bad after all. I've also just realized what I've forgot to do, the lamp brackets on the side of the cab and I still need to open up the cab spectacle plate slightly. You guys are no help two obvious jobs and not a peep out of any of you.

   By tomorrow the cab beading will have hardened up so I can sand that down a bit as well. I'm starting to panic as its gone so well that I keep thinking I've missed something big in fact sometimes I actually feel a bit guilty for getting it to this stage so quickly.

[Jock67B]

Steve,

I've been lurking for a while (my illness often robs me of sleep!) and I just wanted to say that I think your workmanship on the Caley locos is awesome. When finished and weathered, I think they will make superb additions to your stud! I'm particularly interested in the Jumbo as we had a couple at Hurlford that gave many years of service. I believe that one of the 'tanks' was converted to a static 'washhouse' boiler, but I'll have to check the number.

Well done indeed, kind regards,

Jock.

[Londontram]

Thanks Jock thanks everyone, I'm enjoying the builds very much and the end result will be a stud of usable 1900 period Caley locos with which to build a layout around but don't forget there not fine scale precision models and are in the main just bodges on convenient RTR chassis and even though I've strived to keep them dimensionaly as close to the real thing as possible there has enevertable been compromises more with some than the other like the two Dunalastairs which as you know started out as T9s but I've always tried to get the look and spirit of the original which I think at the level I work at is enough. "If it looks right it is right" as they say but I also like to think that a blind man on a galloping horse would never tell the difference. Anyway thanks again for all the support Steve

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Your 782 is coming up as a lovely characterful model. Never mind what's inside, this is what the phrase 'a coat of paint hides a multitude of tins' was coined for; back in the day when tinplate was a cheap raw material with which to attempt some modelling.  Keep bashing away!

 

I still believe that a well chosen selection of the most handsome Scottish prototypes would do the business in RTR. Artistry in exterior design, some lovely livery choices, top of the pile in the eye-candy stakes.

[Londontram]

Well had a tidy up of the last few jobs which were to rub down the beading until it looked like it came out from the cab about the right amount, two sections of the beading either side of the cab door way had to be left sticking out as the cab door hand rails come up and fix to the bottom of the beading (fiddly) There were holes pre drilled in the running plate but due to small size it was impossible to drill holes in the beading so the brass hand rails were offered up and to get as fine a cut as possible I cut the brass rod with the edge of a needle file and kept dressing the end until the hand rail was a push in interference fit under the beading. It was actually easier to when almost there just twiddle a pin drill in the bottom hole one turn at a time until the hand rail slipped into place. A pin was then used to add a bit of super glue at each end and it was left to set. This had to be done four times in total but I think the end result is worth it though I doubt they will stand to much heavy handling.

 

Also while working in this area the two cab lamp brackets were made from evergreens micro strip and glued in place with liquid polly cement. I had previously made these in brass and super glued them in place but they seemed prone for dropping off after the slightest knock so hopefully these might be better.

 

The boiler back head was glued in place and even though I have no plan or picture to work from I made a generic looking shoveling plate and small shelf to sit on the back wall of the cab. I also run a slightly larger drill through the four spectacle plates to open them up to the correct size cleaning them up with a needle file after. You can see some of these jobs on this picture.

 I've just been sat having some lunch with the loco on my knee and some small strips of wet and dry rubbing the loco down ready for paint which if the dry weather here holds I might put a coat of primer on it tomorrow after the glues had 24 hours to dry properly as other than hand rail knobs (still waiting) and wire that really is about it for the building stage and overall I'm quite pleased with it as it seems to have captured the general feel of the loco class quite well. I'll have to sort out a number for it as well and add the number plate to 247s up coming next number fret wish list. Thanks for looking Steve

Edited November 21, 2015 by Londontram

[Londontram]

Those that follow this thread might notice a change, to tidy up my online work bench I asked Andy Y if he could merge the Dunalastair work bench thread with this 782 tank loco work bench thread so all my Caledonian locos will be grouped together in one place. I hope this doesn't inconvenience any one. Regards Steve

[Mikkel]

Hi Steve, just been reading up on your work - as you can see from the flurry of likes!

 

Your Jumbo in particular is really inspirational, as others have said this is exactly the kind of good old hands-on creative modelling that we need more of. The brass details are clearly becoming your trademark thing, and really make the locos stand out. Thanks especially for the ideas for the boiler on the Jumbo, I think I'll nick the syringe idea (I hope your dog doesn't like its medicine too much, it might catch sight of the loco and chew it up!).

 

Can I ask, the Bachmann chassis that you're using for the 782, is that the pannier one? I ask because I've got various variants of those chassis, but couldn't recognise the one you're using. The one's I've got seem to have a slimmer motor.