coachmann Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) In my opinion the new Hornby B1 is a belter but its achiles heel is the chimney and dome. Dave Bradwell's lost-wax castings were purchased, which also come with an alternative smokebox door with close together hings straps. The latter was not used....In addition to removing the Hornby fittings the cabside number was removed using a back of a Swann Morten knife blade....The two domes can be seen to differ, the Dave Bradwell fitting capturing the almost verticle sides of the dome...My chosen loco is 61049 shedded at 51A and pictured working through Linthwaite on a Crossgates-Blackpool excursion in the early 1950s. The leading coach is a Thompson non-corridor brake third..Picture By Jim Davenport, courtesy Brian Green The finished model. I sprayed the smokebox matt black along with the top of the boiler and cylinders. I also toned down the boiler bands - why to RTR manufacturers get boiler bands too narrow? Edited April 25, 2013 by coachmann 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Lovely work as always. I had felt the Hornby dome was good, but your side by side shows up the profile. Edited January 3, 2012 by S.A.C Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 LNER D49/2 With Rotary Valevgear. Thanks guys. The next loco done over Xmas was the D49. I thought this would be a simple job but as I couldnt find a D49/1 outside of Scotland in BR days, I had to go for a D49/2 with rotary valvegear. This was on the Firemans side with a geardrive across the frames to the other two cylinders. The 'motion' on the drivers side was merely a drive to the footplate-mounted lubricators. This is the Hornby D49 as purchased... I had purchased a black body and tender top from East Kent Models two years ago and used this instead of the green body. Both are identical except for the captive body retaining nut, which I swopped around. The plastic handrail knobs holding the boiler handrail were discarded and replaced with small split pins squosen around the handrail with pliers.... All the moulded plastic handrails on loco and tender were removed and holes drilled to take Comet Models smallest brass handrail knobs. These take .45" handrail wire...... I found some chequerplate in a box of Brassmaster etchings and cut a rectangle to fit into the footplate below the smokbox. The moulded smokebox door handle was also removed and a Britrail brass one fitted along with lamp brackets from a Brassmaster detailing sheet.... The leading splasher has a false front adorned with a nameplate making it far too wide. This was removed and a peice of 8 though brass glued in place to cover two holes. Plastikard would suffice. This is the loco body with all the metal parts in red 0xide primer..... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 D49 Chassis First thing was to make a mounting bracket out of 15 thou brass and solder it to the Hornby motion bracket.... A recatangle of brass was then formed to make the support bracket for the rotary drive and soldered to the aforementioned plate.... .9" brass wire was used t make the rotary gear to which I cut two short lengths of copper tube and squoze these onto the brass to make a collar near the cylinders and the gearbox rotary drive. A small peice of brass eas filed to shape and soldered to the face of the gearbox. At the same time the Hornby valvegear was snipped away with track cutters leaving just the return crank attached to the centre driving wheel.... The valvegear on the opposite side was also cut back to merely provide a drive to the lubricators... Thel loco looks bear without leading brake shoes so these were obtained from a Brassmaster etch and soldered to two lengths of .75" brass wire. Then two holed were drilled about 1/4" into the loco frames to take this wire. The wire was trimmed until the shoes were in line with the wheel treads then secured in the holes with Loctite. Wire was soldered across the bottom of the brake shoes. Then a longnitudal pull rod was soldered on to link everything together and make for a strong job.... This is the engine awaiting painting & lining in BR livery. Note the additions to the cylinders. I also extended the mainframes to a point up to the cylinders with plastikard to block out unwanted daylight. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 D49 Painting & Lining .... The loco was sprayed with Halfords plastic red oxide primer, then Halfords satin black. I found HMRS Transfers do not like adhering to this paint and so a coat of clear cellulose was necessary before the transfers would adhere. All the lining was done with Humbrol emamel. The grey was put on first (Humbrol No.5). When dry the grey was edged with a very fine cream line. Humbrol aint what it used to be and it was difficult to make a concentrated thick paste by adding matt red and orange to gloss red for the inner red lines. Transfers were HMRS large size as used on most Eastern Region locos. Smokebox number and nameplates came from Modelmaster and I though were quite expensive realative to prices of seven years ago. Finally the loco was varnished ad the smokebox, cab roof and steps etc sprayed matt black... Photo by R H G Simpson D49 'The Brocklesby' with Hornby B1... Looking at the photos, I can see where I failed to remove some moulding on the Firemans side. Too late now! The Loco is awaiting Markits 'Darlington' 12mm 12-spoke bogie wheels. 16 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Very nice work on both the loco's Coachmann, especially the D49, gives me some inspiration. Im surprised to hear you have problems with HRMS transfers and Halfords Satin Black, I use that for all my steam loco resprays and use HMRS pressfix numbers (and some emblems) and havent had any problems. Im tempted to pick up a D49 and turn it into an Eastfield loco... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Coach I agree re HMRS unless you use Methfix version which I have never liked. Halfords paints are the best I have ever found in cans. Turned into a much nicer loco. I have a set of Rotary gear bought recently from Puffers which makes life a bit simpler for others considering this conversion. I agree re Modelmaster prices and the same applies to Fox too. 247 Developments do some of the Hunts for a fiver much better !! Cant read the name of your Hunt in the pictures so no idea if they do the above one without looking the running number up. Edited January 2, 2012 by micklner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 I agree re HMRS unless you use Methfix version It was HMRS 'Methfix' transfers I was having difficulties with. No problems once a fine coat of cellulose varnsh was applied to the area before fitting the Methfix. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidw Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Very impressive results Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Converting a NRM Midland Compound (1000) into LMS version My favourite passenger loco? Easy....LMS Compound. I was going to convert a Hornby Railroad model until the NRM announced a scale model of this class. I held back on this conversion while looking for a suitable LMS-built prototype that kept its Deeley Tender into the mid 1950s. None did! With that out of the way, I knew a Fowler tender would have to be adapted and fittings adapted or replaced. Here's the loco as bought.... MR Compound No. 1001 lasted into BR days almost as built but with the addtion of roof rainstrips and Fowler/Stanier dome and chimney. The Tender is one of the Deeley variants.... Photo by R H G Simpson. Early LMS-built Compounds were identical to MR locos except that chamferred rectangular cover boxes on either side of the smokebox replaced the vertical sided covers. 41114 is a Left-Hand drive loco with extended front frames, which were a late LMS addition. Photo by R H G Simpson. Model... The upper picture shows the slope of the leading edge of the mainframes of the MRM model. These have to be filed back as shown.... The next job is to remove the screw behind the bufferbeam. This releases the smokebox and boiler and the metal running plate can then be bent downwards and packed with plastikard (as shown) to keep them apart while a sharp file is used to chamfer the cover boxes on either side of the smokebox..... The handrail on the Firemans side of a Compound is much larger in diameter than normal handrail, and so after its removel I fitted .75" brass wire using split pins as handrail knobs. These were squeezed around te brass wire with pliers before fitting into existing holes. The split pins that go into the boiler section need to be cut quite short due to the boiler having a metal weight inside it. Loctite was used to secure the pins. The section of handrail beside the smokebox was filed slightly smaller diameter before final fitting. It can also be seen that I removed all No.1000's piping from the side of the smokebox. Removal of the dome was accomplished by giving the underside of the dome a hefty wack! The dome has a metal weight inside it. Seeing as the original dome had a broader base than the whitemetal dome I intended fitting, a circle of 20 thou plastikard was glued with Mekpak into the orifice and filed down to match the boiler after being left several hours to harden.... I then formed 'rivets' on the smokebox by sticking a pin into the plastic (against as ruler). The same was carried out on the firebox sides after removing unewanted pipework and the Salter safety valves. In this view the scribemark is visible where I intended filing back the leading edge of the mainframes as mentioned at the beginning of this text.... One has to chose a Compound with care because of the different purmutations of washout lugs etc. On my chosen loco the firebox had been given washout plus but it also retained the original washout plus on the firebox shoulders. I obtained the measurements from a scale drawing and drilled .75" holes into the sides of the firebox (6 on one side and 5 on the other). There was also a washout plug in the boiler behind the smokebox. The loco was beginning to take shape and look very LMS-ish... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post coachmann Posted January 4, 2012 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2012 LMS Compound chassis... Actually I started on the chassis before tackling the loco body alterations, but this article has ended up upside down!Seeing as the Deeley S&DJR Tender was not being used, the electrical pick ups had to be removed and transferred to the Fowler Tender. First thing was to remove the brakegear and wheels and remove the DCC 'bits' on top for safety.... NRM Deeley Tender Bachmann Fowler Tender The hollow brass rivets holding the two electrical pickup strips to the Tender chassis were then drilled out and the copper pick up strips positioned on a Fowler Tender. The position of holes were marked off through the pick up strips with the intention of using 12BA screws, however, I hadn't enough and so 10BA nuts and bolts were used to secure the pick up strips.... Pick-up wires from the loco chassis were soldered to the copper strips as previously secured on the NRM Deeley Tender and the NRM wheels sprung into the tender. All worked well... I later discovered a Fowler rivetted tender tank was incorrect for my chosen model and so the top was swopped for a panelled one off one of my 'Crabs'. An addition lubricator box was found for the drivers side of the running plate and the model was made ready for painting by brush painting the naked plastic and metal parts with red oxide primer. Cab windows were masked off with Mascol and a ball of cotton wool was stuffed ito the cab to protect its interior. Two thin coats of cellulose glossy Blackberry Black that I used to use on LNWR locos were sprayed onto the loco and tender bodies. When dry, they were masked off so that the tender top, chassis and loco cylinders, footplate and smokebox could be sprayed matt black. Footsteps were also given a light blowing over as was the boiler top. The tops of the loco splashers were coated in thinned acrylic matt black used for weathering coaches. The black in the motion fluting was removed with cellulose thinners. Smokebox numberplate and shed plate (9E Trafford Park) were courtesy Modelmaster transfers and cabside transfers are PC Models Methfix in yellow (40 year old sheet!). So at last I have a model of my favourite passenger loco as I remember them. This commision for the NRM is Bachmann's best to my mind...... 24 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Words fail me - just awesome. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Wow... You are a very brave man to take a premium model and change it so drastically, and it paid off! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iak Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Genius!!! Totally magical genius... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthesnail96 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Wow... You are a very brave man to take a premium model and change it so drastically, and it paid off! My thoughts exactly- lovely work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 That is absolutely fantastic! Amazing work and very inspirational! Thanks for sharing your work with us! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Wow... You are a very brave man to take a premium model and change it so drastically, and it paid off! Not half as brave as the man who paints it to represent the loco that hauled the Daily Mirror / Andy Capp Special! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 7F Austin Seven... Having done the NRM Compound, I was left with a S&DJR Deeley tender. My thoughts then turned to the S&DJR 7F 2-8-0's and from that to a Fowler 7F 'Austin Seven' 0-8-0. Out came the scale drawings and I was pleased to see the 2-8-0 coupled wheelbase was only 3mm short for an 0-8-0. The job as on! I had purchased a Austin Seven off RMweb member Stationmaster a while ago and Alan Gibson of Oldham had kindly sold me some extra etchings and castings and a Bachmann S&DJR 2-8-0 arrived from Hattons this morning. I removed the loco and tender bodies and worked out how much metal would have to be removed from the Cotswold loco body. This done, the cylinders and motion was unsrewed from the 2-8-0 chassis and put in the spares box.... The parts shaded green were sawn off. Luckily, the holes in the chassis almost lined up with the secured 8BA nuts in the whitemetal body and only required slotting. with the chassis screwed to the body, I cut of the leading part of a pair of Gibson mainframes and soldered them to the underside of the body. The loco was beginning to take shape..... Brake hangers were removed from a Gibson etching. Spacers were merely two top hat axle bearings with a .50" hole drilled right through them. Holes were drilled in the forward mainframes and .45" wide soldered into them. Then the top hat bearing were threaded onto the wire along with the brake hangers and soldered in place. A link bar was then soldered across the lower holes... Thick brass wire was also soldered into holes in the frames on which to glue the leading sandboxes later in proceedings. Meanwhile the large exhaust injector pipe that runs from the smokebox below the running plate to the cab steps was formed from brass rod. Gibson castings were drilled out and attached at each end before the pipe was soldered in place. Gibson cast whitemetal foot steps were soldered in place on brass backing plates for strength, although one of the front steps is a brass etching (I only had one etching!). I also made use of the Gibson buffer beam etchings and soldered a false footplate at the top. Soldering now over, the loco was then thoroughly washed and the desk cleaned up ready for gluing on the detail parts. The aforementioned leading dsandboxes were attached to the brass rod with Loctite then both were drilled out to take sand piped made from nickel silver handrail wire.... To be continued... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted January 6, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2012 Another cracker from the House of Coach! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 That looks great Larry. Playing devil's advocate for a second - if Bachmann were to reuse their currently tooled up SDJR components to make an "Austin 7" in this way, with that 3mm discrepancy in the wheelbase, would that be an acceptable compromise to you for getting one such locomotive class in RTR? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 The 3mm is acceptable to me because the Cotswold kit is slightly short as well and because I really need a representative of this class for my layout where Fowlers 7F's were the mainstay of heavy freight out of Lees MPD 26F from 1939 until 1957. If Bachmann or Hornby were to produce a 7F, I would expect it to be absolutely correct. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 The 3mm is acceptable to me because the Cotswold kit is slightly short as well and because I really need a representative of this class for my layout where Fowlers 7F's were the mainstay of heavy freight out of Lees MPD 26F from 1939 until 1957. If Bachmann or Hornby were to produce a 7F, I would expect it to be absolutely correct. Fair enough Larry, I understand better now. That makes sense, I had not realized the body was slightly shorter too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 6, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2012 Nice to see it underway Larry - and to think that Floquil primer was my first serious attempt at spray-painting something smaller than a Ford Popular (but I didn't use the vacuum cleaner to spray the Austin 7, that was a cheapo Badger airbrush). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clecklewyke Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Nice-looking locos, Larry. I'm amused to see a D49 here. I would not have thought it could have got over the hill from Leeds to Lees, at least, not with a decent load. They were designed for fast light trains in flat country, like my home-town, Hull. I like these secondary LNWR lines: any chance of some pictures of your layout? Does it include Delph and its donkeys? I have your Foxline book on Delph and find it fascinating. The Fowler 7Fs are another favourite. Their only weakness seems to have been their fragile Derby axleboxes. I wonder what would have been so difficult about replacing them with decent sized bearings? Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 How did you remove the pipe work from the smoke box and boiler ? Was it glued in or could you just ease it out gently with tweezers ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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