jwealleans Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Sheer porn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 A little it more work on the J71, leaving just the brake gear and a few details to finish. This one hasn't been allowed to languish on the 'to be painted' line in its 'naked brass' state, so a quick coat of Halfords grey primer, while it's still clean. So, that's about it for the J71 - Arthur can advise when he expects to release this kit - and it's turned out pretty well for a first build. Next up; I think the C6 may be ready for a first go!! Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Lovely loco, but (sorry) I hate the smokebox handles !! C6 !! I haven't even looked at my B15 yet !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Lovely loco, but (sorry) I hate the smokebox handles !! C6 !! I haven't even looked at my B15 yet !! Mick, Is it that you prefer the NER wheel on the smokebox, or is it that you don't like the representation of the smokebox handles? Looking at that photo, I think the handles are somewhat thick. They'll get thinned down ere long!! That B15 is a lovely loco; I think the C6 might be even better. Regards Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted April 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 23, 2015 The smokebox handles came from a very early master which contains a number of other still useful parts. When it is necessary to produce a new master for a specific kit it is replaced by a revised one with finer handles and lacking the boss of this early sprue. The boss is incorporated into the door itself and does not need to be part of the handles. I am preparing a new master for the J71 Which includes a new chimney (brass) designed for the J71. This has a smaller smokebox diameter. Mike used the chimney, dome and safety valve casing from the J24, J77, N10 etc. All these will be replaced for the production J71 kit as will the smokebox handles. Looking good Mike! ArthurK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenrithBeacon Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 I'm trying to work out how to paint the inside of the cab! That aside a truly lovely engine. Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I'm trying to work out how to paint the inside of the cab! That aside a truly lovely engine. Regards David, Ah well the cab roof isn't actually fixed yet. So I just remove the cab roof and paint the inside of the cab. I always leave the fixing of the cab roof until the backhead is fitted, the cab interior is painted and a crew is added. The only exception to this was the Fletcher cab J77's, where the cab is obviously enclosed by the side sheeting wrapping over the cab. Here I painted the cab interior and added the backhead prior to fixing the cab rear. And those smokebox handles have been thinned down a bit; thanks micklner for the observation. It's easy to miss these things, so your comments are always welcome. As an aside, the only one of Arthur's kits which I now haven't built (the J24 is in building) is the Q5/1 and even though Hull did not have any Q5/1's in 1950, Selby had quite a few so they probably worked into Hull. So I shall have to rectify that before too long!! Many thanks for the comments, David, but I just build em; it's Arthur you should really compliment, he designs and develops em. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Mick, Is it that you prefer the NER wheel on the smokebox, or is it that you don't like the representation of the smokebox handles? Looking at that photo, I think the handles are somewhat thick. They'll get thinned down ere long!! That B15 is a lovely loco; I think the C6 might be even better. Regards Mike I prefer turned brass versions . C6 more expense !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 And then there is this one, now almost complete. I make no apologies for showing pictures of these locomotives for as tank locomotives went, it didn't get much better than these - the LNER A6's "Whitby Willies". Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Well perhaps it does get better than an A6; three of em, all quite different and all as they were around mid 1950. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I prefer turned brass versions . C6 more expense !! Yeah but Mick, it's only money. Anyway, the C6 still has to be test built and then 'productised' so it may be a little while yet. Give you time to save up. But Mick, your 'modelling outgoings' might take a much earlier hit when Arthur's D20 is released Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 With the J71 now largely complete - just the drive train to fit and the final brake detailing to add plus couplings, then a little more work on theJ24 wih the boiler/firebox sub-assembly now well on. The sub-assembly is not yet fixed to the footplate until all of the boiler detailing is finished. Next up is not the C6, as posted above, but a pair of 0-8-0 tender locos. These wil be the Q5/1, which was one of Arthur's first kits to be introduced, while the test build of the Q7 is also done. So, after a 'J' building 'fest', now a 'Q' session. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Excellent. You can never have too much Q... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 .....You can never have too much Q... "Now pay attention, Bond...." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenw Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I'm trying to work out how to paint the inside of the cab! That aside a truly lovely engine. I've recently finished building a J73, my first of Arthur's kits, and only my second fully etched kit, after a DMR K1 (also a nice kit). I can only say it's an outstanding kit and was truly a pleasure to build - everything just fitted and it felt I was constantly making progress rather than correcting errors in the kit. Although probably not unfair to say it's one of the most complicated kits I've built, it was also one of the easiest! To paint the cab interior, for easier access I painted the backhead and it's fittings before fitting it into the cab, after the body was painted to avoid overspaying it or having to try to mask it. The cab roofs fitted on a former / sub-frame that fits in between the spectacle plates and sides, and the kit's that accurate it's actually a plug in fit and doesn't require fixing in, I can actually shake the loco upside down (not that I make a habit of this!) and the roof still doesn't fall off! I've an old DJH D20, recently pictured and received kind comment from Tony Wright on his thread on a visit to Little Bytham, having built the J73, I can't wait for Arthur's D20 to be released Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 After a week in the Lake District - somewhat wet and windy (the weather; not me, just for the avoidance of doubt!) but still wonderful - back to the J24. Before I fix the boiler/smokebox sub-assembly, those pesky rodding jobs have to be done; the sanding gear operating rods and the reversing rod. These really are very fine bits of etching, though great care must be taken when filing off the etching tabs. The joints between rods are pieces of .3 mm wire, trimmed back after soldering them into the various journals in the rodding. Like Paul Gallon (Worsdell Forever), who is also building one of Arthur's J24 kits, I had to slightly shorten the boiler by around 1 mm, so that the smokebox front was level with the front of the splashers and the tiny cylinder cover etches lined up with their slots in the footplate. So now to add the boiler sub-assembly to the footplate and then complete the detailing of the loco superstructure. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 And now the boiler/smokebox sub-assembly is fixed to the footplate and to the petals on the cab front, so the loco superstructure, above the footplate, is much more complete. Because of the weight of the loco, with around six ounces of lead in the boiler, then now time to use one of the plasticard cradles to prevent distortion of the buffer beams, footplate steps (when added), etc. Yet again the cab roof, which is not yet fixed but just resting on the cab sides, is wrong way round, with the back facing the front. It's beginning to acquire a distinctly Victorian look! Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenw Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Because of the weight of the loco, with around six ounces of lead in the boiler, then now time to use one of the plasticard cradles to prevent distortion of the buffer beams, footplate steps (when added), etc. On it's test run on our club test track (level track), my J73 (post #65 above) - OO gauge, rigid chassis - comfortably took all 24 wagons I'd taken along - with no added weight! Obviously a very well balanced kit as well as excellent to build. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 On it's test run on our club test track (level track), my J73 (post #65 above) - OO gauge, rigid chassis - comfortably took all 24 wagons I'd taken along - with no added weight! Obviously a very well balanced kit as well as excellent to build. I wouldn't disagree with you on the excellence of the J73 kit as I wouldn't on any of Arthur's kits. I think I weighted the J73 to around five ounces and fitted a Mashima 1420 and 108:1 gearbox. I have to admit that I do tend to weight my locos on the heavy side, and fit the largest motor which I can get into the loco body without compromising the hiding of the motor so that it is invisible. I also gear them very low, so the shunting tanks are now geared at 108:1, with the freight locos and passenger locos at 54:1 or 60:1, though I used an 80:1 gearbox on a Bachmann J39 conversion that I did. My personal preference is for the locos to have very slow running characteristics, though this does mean that they can be a little 'rowdy' at higher speeds! Where I think the added weight does benefit is in the running of the locos through pointwork though the minimum radius pointwork on my Hessle Haven layout is 1 in 8 and most of the turnouts have 'B' switches which give a longer transition into the stock rail curves. On the first loco that I scratch built when I returned to this hobby, now about ten years ago (LNER T1 4-8-0 tank), I weighted it to some sixteen ounces and fitted it with a Mashima 1630 motor with 60:1 gearing and a flywheel. This loco has pulled some seventy wagons - we ran out of wagons for it to pull, on test - though probably doesn't need to be this weight; eight to ten ounces would have done. And anyone might justifiably ask where the model might be required to pull such a number of wagons, as this test train was around eighteen feet long; far longer than my layout can yet accommodate!! Mind you, the T1 just 'bludgeons' its way through pointwork, blithely disregarding any inequalities it finds. Bit of a 'thug' to trackwork, is the T1, with a Route Availability of 'no way' or 'no chance' from one or two P4 layout owners that I know!! So to the J24 and some further detailing has now been added to the loco body. Again, personal preference, but I tend to do the detailing as I go along - especially the fitting of handrail stanchions to the cab sides - rather than leave all of the detailing till the last. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 While I wait for the motor and gearbox, having only just ordered them - my stock control department (me) are just terrible - I turned attention to the tender. Getting to a 'wheeled box' was pretty straightforward but then came the tender flares, which must be formed before they are soldered to the top of the tank side. I've tried a few ways of forming these flares with varying degress of success. The recommended approach is to use a 1/8" rod, tape the piece to it; sandwich the flare and rod between some hard rubber and nip the whole lot together in a vice, thus forming the flare. While I acknowledge this probably works well, I wanted an approach which produces a consistent curve on the flare and keeps the flared piece straight, so time to make a tender flare forming jig - North Eastern tenders (a TFFJ-NE for those who love totally indecipherable acronyms!) So out came the 60 thou plasticard and a flaring jig was made using various layers of .060" plasticard, glued together. The slot, between the two sides of the retaining pieces is shaped as a 1/8" diameter half round, thus forming the mould of this press. Basically, the piece to be flared is placed into the jig and then a 1/8" diameter rod, slightly longer than the piece to be flared, is just forced down onto the piece using just hand pressure or it could be placed in a vice and squeezed that way. The flared curve can then be finally finished using a polished and slightly tapered piece of 1/8" rod which is then just wiped along the piece to achieve the curve consistency. Takes longer to explain than to do. Anyway, the resulting piece seems to be correctly flared and is still straight. Now to solder this and the other flares to the tender tank! Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian@stenochs Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Mike, Bending flares is a tricky operation as it is imperative that they are even and no bend is introduced to the sides which can be impossible to remove. I build a lot of tenders which all have the same flare at the top, similar to NER, but in S7 so a bit thicker brass. I made a dedicated set of bending bars with the edge filed to the correct curve. This was found by trial and error and a 10" file. The curve needs to be a bit more than that on the finished side as there will always be a bit of spring back in the metal. I don't anneal as then the sides are prone to distortion in use. I also use nickel silver almost exclusively for sides and they are a wee bit more difficult to bend. In use the metal is pushed over the curve with a piece of brass which curves the full length at the same time. Do not hammer as that introduces stretch locally and the side will be like a banana when you take it out of the bars. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted June 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 18, 2015 Mike, I used Arthur's method but with two thickneses of MRJ envelope card, I think the rod I used was also slightly less than 1/8" and it worked very well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Thanks to Ian and to Paul for their contributions on forming the flares. I guess that what I'm doing is more or less the same in that I am using a round bar (1/8" diameter) to press the piece into a curve, without distorting the piece in any other direction. I think I've just reversed the bending bar approach in that the bar forces the piece into a semi circular section mould, which is effectively what Paul's two layers of card, or Arthur's thick rubber become under the pressure of the vice. Cheers and thanks Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 With the tender superstructure largely complete a quick photo just to line up the loco body and tender. Now for some detailing on the tender and the loco body prior to tackling the loco chassis. If the dome looks a slightly odd shape on its left hand side, as seen on the photo, it's simply a trick of the light as I polished up this casting. Wherever possible I try to model locomotives which were shedded at one of the Hull sheds, in mid 1950. Hull Dairycoates did have a few of these locomotives until 1949 but all had gone by 1950, so this one will have to be 65600, which was a Malton (North Yorkshire) locomotive in 1950. This loco had the four rail tender and retained its 'trumpet' safety valve cover; at least it had this in a 1948 photograph. It isn't often that you see two examples of the same loco kit being built by two people at the same time, so thanks to Paul Gallon (Worsdell Forever) for giving me the motivational spur to crack on and finish this. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemeg Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Not quite as far on as Paul Gallon's (Worsdell Forever) J24; still have the chassis to do plus some detailing on the loco body and tender. Today was a day for running in and adjusting another of the A6's, prior to its going into the paint shop. Anyway, the boiler handrails are on, the top lamp iron, the firebox front which was made from the firebox former - cut down and shaped to the profile of the lower part of the boiler - and the tender axleguards. The articulated coupling rods have also been assembled from the two layers of etch supplied and then thinned back slightly on the backs of the rods. Tomorrow should see the remaining detailing finished and a start made on the mainframe assembly. Cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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