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Did some more work on the boiler starting with the smokebox door and the rebate in the front ring. Here's the door pressed into the ring. It's not fixed as I will add the handrail, dart and lamp bracket in the flat as it will be easier. Rivets added to the joint in the firebox cladding to represent the screws. And the covers for the top feed pipes fitted. I've now drilled holes in the smoke box wrapper through the exhaust holes in the chimney. And added rivets at the joint in the boiler cladding. And the boiler hanrails have been made and added. They are removable to aid lining later on and will be fixed afterwards. I can't make it to Telford this year so I hope those of you who can, have a good day (or two) out. Cheers, Peter

Some further work on the firebox and boiler. First I replaced the band at the rear of the firebox on both sides. After filing the inside earlier in the build it left the bands very thin and somewhat fragile. During the last session I chipped a quarter inch section so it needed some remedial work. 10 thou plastic strip was used and fixed with super glue. I've also now fitted the lower firebox castings along with the mudhole covers and boiler band cleats. And t'other side. And with the dome, top feed and chimney added to the boiler. Almost looks ready for the road now. Well that's boiler and firebox done for now. There's been a fair bit of extra work on the firebox to get it looking right but all fairly simple stuff and the resin is an easy medium to work with. I know from speaking and corresponding with David Hill that he is keen to correct the master, so hopefully he will be successful in that and future kits won't have this issue. Cheers, Peter

I have now completed the mods to the firebox by adding additional 80 thou plastic card inserts to the upper surface on the inside to allow further bolts to be added from under the footplate. There is limited space due to the the lower firebox castings, so I could only use 12 BA bolts. I tapped the holes in the plastic and although these won't stand much unscrewing, once it's painted I can add a nut on the inside to finally secure. I then epoxied the boiler to the firebox and added the boiler bands. Here's the firebox bolted in place before I added the boiler. The strips of plastic card over the splashers are to further fill the gap created by raising the firebox. And with firebox and boiler in place. The completed unit is now detachable which will greatly simplify the painting and lining. I can now get the lower firebox castings on and fill the huge space undrer the running plate. And the flanges around the steampipe covers. Next I will add the remaining castings and then move back to the chassis. Cheers, Peter

Incredible work Richard! I'm sure getting all those curves in the etchings spot on must be quite tricky, but you've made it look easy. Something for us lesser mortals to aspire to. Cheers, Peter

Hello all, I have now made some further mods to the firebox to increase the height. I decided to add a base plate made from plastic card and after some trials starting with 80 and 60 thou, settled on 40 thou as the best compromise. 60 thou would have been better but that would have caused problems with the handrail height. Here's the 40 thou base with the 80 thou behind. Before fixing the base the beading on the bottom edge needs removing. Here's the base epoxied in place. I made it slightly larger at the sides to allow an overhang to represent the beading. It was also necessary to add an infill piece of 40 thou to fill the gap over the splasher. I then made and fitted a plate at the rear with 80 thou plastic card. A good filit of epoxy was applied to fill any gaps and give strength. Before fitting, a hole to match the centre one in the cab front was pre drilled, and a sheet of brass with an 8BA nut soldered to it was glued to the inside of the 80 thou. Here's a view from the rear. And the underside showing the brass plate and cut out to allow space for the motor. Here it is in place. It's not 100% correct but now the error in the height of the firebox to cab roof edge is reduced and will pass muster. I'm intending to epoxy the boiler to the firebox and that unit should then be detachable via 8ba bolts through the running plate and cab front. Cheers, Peter

Thanks Ozzy, That sounds like a good solution, I'll give it a try. No I don't have your number so can you pm me please. Cheers, Peter

Hi Ozzy, Thanks for the interesting comments. I assume the purpose of the steam feed was to heat and thin the oil so it flowed more freely to the cylinders?? I think I've put the stretchers in the right way up, but if not, no problem as they are detachable. I'm not sure if I will be able to get the rear one in and out easily with the water scoop etc. added but that's a bridge for later. Hopefully I'll be going to Telford, family commitments permitting. Thinking back to when you were a regular on here, did you get the Princess Anne completed? I've seen a few 7mm Turbomotives over the years, but I think your rebuilt version was a first for me. Cheers, Peter

Could be an option.

Thanks for the comments Richard. I've been thinking along similar lines using 60 thou plastic strips and self tapping screws, but brass strip plus nuts and bolts maybe the better option. Horsetan, You are correct it's not tall enough at the rear and I'll be giving some thought to correcting that also. I'm thinking of a variation on what Richard suggested by adding brass strip to the bottom edges rather than inside. That might kill two birds with one stone. Cheers, Peter

I have now added all the details to the running plate that I wanted to get on before the boiler. Here's the left hand side with all bar the sand box filler lids in place. The simple chip wood cradle has been a big help in adding all this detail without bending the running plate, which is quite vulnerable. Here's the othe side after completion. I have now replaced all the cast rivets on the firebox with smaller brass ones. The grooves to represent the gaps in the panneling have also been deepened with a the scrawker. As it comes I felt they were too fine to show after painting. The resin used does not containd the glass reinforcing as used by JLTRT, so is very easy to drill even at 0.4mm. I dont know if the F7 castings are just plain PU resin or if they are reinforced. Perhaps Dikitriki will comment on that. Here's the left side showing the original rivets and panel lines. And the other side after modification. Here it is back on the running plate. I ran short of the rivets on the left hand side and used 0.5mm brass rod instead, after rounding off the ends. Can you spot which ones? It's easy enough to use the wire, but I still prefer the rivets as they save time on turning the end of the wire in the mini drill. I must get some more for the centre line along the top of the boiler. Cheers, Peter

Thanks Richard. Yes I realised the lubricators were all the same size with one having the rear outlets blanked. This one also has the two at the front blanked as well. The Gladiator casting came with 8 outlets but they were far too small to drill out, hence the use of the tubing. I agree it's well worth the effort, and having seen yours it would have always rankled if I'd taken the easy option. The worst part is drilling the brass castings which are heavy on 0.4 mm drill bits! Painting may be difficult with the boiler on but I might still be able to make it detachable. The firebox will be epoxied in place and the boiler can be slotted in and retained with the screw in the smokebox. The problem is the boiler firebox joint. If it's not secured then it will flex when picked up, and if I use epoxy, the risk is it will ooze on joining and cock up the paint work. I'm thinking it might be possible to add a strip of brass to the lower front of the firebox to allow me to screw the boiler at the bottom. We'll see. Cheers, Peter

Progress has slowed since the last post due to travelling for work. However, I've made a start on the lubricators and piping. The cast W/M mechanical lubricators need cutting down as they are too large, and the cast brass oil boxes need modifying to allow the feed holes to be drilled for the pipes. Here's the W/M casting after drilling and fitted with 5 X 0.8mm OD/0.4mm ID tubing to allow 0.4mm copper wire to be fitted as the piping. This was before I realised they were too big and that on the prototype, one pair have 4 feeds per side, and one pair have 3 feeds. In the instructions it suggest cutting the riveted beading around the base of the middle splasher in half, to facilitate the positioning of the mechanical lubricators. I passed on that and reduced them in size and then filed a step at the rear to clear the beading. Here's the larger oil boxes, one with the base modified so that the feed holes can be drilled, and one as it comes. And clamped in the vise for drilling. I used a piece of coffer stirrer to protect the cast lid from being crushed. The base of the smaller oil box also needs to be similarly modified to allow drilling of the feed holes. Here's the right side completed and one lubricator and piping in place on the left. And some further views with the boiler in place. The lubricator on the right has two additional feeds exiting from the front. Here you can see the front oil pot with the base cut to allow the feed holes to be drilled. And a broadside view with the support plates for the sand box fillers placed in their slots on the running plate. The front one hides the joint I made in the piping to make it easier fit it. I won't be able to make the boiler removable as I would prefer, so painting this lot black with a brush after spraying the green, will be tedious, and no doubt involve some choice expletives when things go wrong. Thanks to Richard Lambert (Dikitriki) for the inspiration to add all this piping, as without the pictures on his F7 build on Western Thunder, I would not have had a clue how to do it (even having seen and photographed it on City Of Birmingham). I've not gone to the lengths he did, as he has made and added a number of pipe unions (straight jacket stuff) and a representation of the padding used to protect the piping from fracture, where is passes over the running plate edges, but there are one or two retaining brackets that I may add later. One other area I have also started on is the detailing on the cast resin fire box. The riveting (I think it may be screws on the prototype) retaining the cladding panels is very course, so I've started replacing it with small brass rivets from Eileens (Scale Hardward in the US??). This is a very cruel close up and I assure you they do look much better in the flesh. Hopefully I'll get the other running plate completed before I go on holiday, so that I can crack on with the boiler when I return. Incidentally, I visited a customer today (Sheffield Refractories) who make special cements/concretes for coating refractories/blast furnaces and other applications requiring resistance to very high temperatures. It transpires that they provide a mix for making the castings used on preserved railways which makes the "brick arch" in the firebox. Apparently it is very difficult to source the traditional shaped bricks used to make real brick arches, so a high temperature resistant casting is used instead. They count the Great Central and others amongst their customers and they also provided the product to make the cast brick arch for Tornado. I'm sure I can get a few gram sample for anyone who wants to add the brick arch to their 7mm firebox! Cheers, Peter

Whoops! I wrote the reply on my phone and my finger went astray on the screen and I lost it! Had to re type it and then overlooked the pick ups. I use phosphor bronze wire wipers positioned wherever is accessible, rubbing on the backs of the wheels if possible. If not I've put them on the treads, but Dikitriki mentioned that he has achieved good results on the edge of the flange, first by polishing the edge and lubricating with some graphite based grease. I though there would be a tendency for the steel to act like a circular saw on runnkng at 90 degrees to the p/b wire, but that is not the case. He told me he has used this on loco that do very high mileage on big layouts without problems so I might give it a try. It will all depend on the space and access available with the valve gear and body in place. Cheers, Peter

Thanks Park. Glad to hear the thread is of assistance. I'll be getting an ABC gearbox with Canon motor. I'm not sure which gearbox I'll need but I can download the template off from the website, print it off the cut out the gearbox drawings and check which will be suitable. As to the rear ratio, if you get in touch with ABC they will suggest the most suitable for your loco to match the gearbox and motor choice. I've used both Canon and Maxon motors in the past and I feel the Maxon is that bit better and worth the extra cost. It would be good to see how you are getting on with yours, so feel free to post some photos if you wish. Cheers, Peter

Hi Sandy, Thanks for posting the photos of the etchings. They look Ok but it will be good to see how they fit. The expansion link components look a bit flimsy but I assume you will be using the Premier valve gear parts. Cheers, Peter

Looks like I'm falling into the relegation zone to page 3, so time to post again. I've been pressing on with the tender and have now got the bulk of it done. I deviated from the assembly sequence in the instructions and added the front and rear buffer plates to the running plate followed by the steps. The tender frames were added last after all the half etch and cast details were added in the flat. I have added some extra details by way of the brackets above the springs. These are simplified by fixing them through a hole drilled in the frame, rather than making a twist and second bend and soldering to the face of the frame. Quicker and easier to do and more robust. The cross members between the frames are detachable, so the inner frame with the wheels remains removable. Here's some pictures of the work involved. The basic frames ready for detailing. With all the bits added. Here's the brass section added to allow the cross members to be slotted in and out. And all in place. Here's the chassis. And with the wheels on. The centre bearings will be made to float with a simple wire spring, and there are half etched grooves to facilitate elongating the bearing holes. And the tender on its wheels. There are still quite a few parts to add but it's getting there. And a shot with the loco. This is one big model! Cheers, Peter

Hi Sandy, Now this is interesting. You don't see many Ace Kits documented on these forums (I wonder why?), and I've considered the A3 a few times but then backed away and gone for other options. It will be good to see how it goes together. Do you have pictures of the etchings that you could post? Cheers, Peter

Tim, On the Black V, there is a separate "tap" for isolating the atomiser. You can see it to the rear connected with piping. This part I had to make from scratch. Looking at the picture of the Scott one it's attached directly to the end of the 6 port atomized, so you will need to make this also. Mine was made from 6 or 7 separate parts and was a real pain so good luck with yours Cheers, Peter

Dave, You mention relief valves being painted green, but Tim was referring to safety valves. The relief valves are attached to the cylinders not the boiler or firebox. Can you clarify please? Surely the safety valves would be bare metal, which as you say would rapidly discolour to black, due to the high temperature. Cheers, Peter

Hi Jeff, No, it's brush painted brass and copper afterwards. You can get away with it on pipes and lubricate pots and the like, especially after some weathering, but of course it wouldn't pass muster on copper caps or safety valve covers. Cheers, Peter

I've now got the coal pusher into the bunker, but had to correct a cock up with the pusher links first. The front two are shorter than the rear ones, but there are spares of the longer ones and I used these in error. I only spotted the shorter ones later which can be seen in the photo. I probably could have got away with it as there will be some coal in the bottom of the bunker, but decided to correct things. I didn't want to risk a melt down desoldering so I cut them instead, shortened and resoldered. Not perfect but passable. First the cover and piston were epoxied and allowed to set. The large ram was than epoxied and allowed to set with the upper and lower rams still loose. These were then fixed with Loctite. Finally for this session the etched rivet strips along the running plate edge were added. It looks like the plates on the back are also riveted, but they are in fact plain and what you see is a reflection of the ones below. Who says the camera doesn't lie? Cheers, Peter

Nah, Never seen a smoke unit that looked realistic. You just can't scale down the smoke, and can you imagine the wisp that would come out of such a small hole. Cheers, Peter

Hi Tim, Try Laurie Griffin. I got the one on my Black V from him. You could cobble two together if necessary. Cheers, Peter

I've now completed the remaining pipework on the coal pusher and made some adjustments to the fire iron tunnel. I was going to put the coal pusher in before fixing the right hand side piece, but that would have made it impossible to solder the rear edge of the coal rave on the inside. I also added a representation of the slacking pipe work to the front bulkhead, and the slacking pipes to the coal raves. The footplate is not strictly prototypical but passes muster as far as I'm concerned. After fixing the remaining sideplate I also added the coal pusher operating lever and rod into the fire iron tunnel. Here's the completed rear bulk head. And the front. There's more detail to be added either side of the shovelling plate of course. And a view into the bunker from the rear. The slacking pipes are visible either side near the top of the raves. And the coal pusher parts ready to be added Cheers, Peter

Hi Ken , What make are the wheels? Cheers, Peter