rowanj

The builders plate was moved from the smokebox to the cab side when deflectors were fitted. A quick look through Coster shows no A3 in service with BR with the plates located as in Scotsman after preservation. I must check my Prince Palatine to see what I did.I'm sure I didn't alter it. I'm about to fit my last Mallard on my last Hornby chassis with the fine valve gear. So far, all I've done is remove the Gbl body from the chassis and remove the plastic handrails.. As it will be in BR,as 60006, the valance will be cut away. I'll put the odd photo up as things progress, but it's a really easy motorisation. Cutting up plastic is very therapeutic and makes a nice change from my other ongoing build of a PDK B16/3.

Though practice has not yet made perfect, at least it's brought an improvement. The NER tender will be towed by either a B16/2 or /3 - yet to be decided. The kit, obviously, is PDK. The tender soldering is largely completed and is posed behind the B16 to check height and be subsequently towed around the layout to check running. I see several blobby bits where the fibre glass pencil will come into play. Hey ho.

Hi Manna. I used Hornby A1 valve gear and cylinders for this as they are readily available as spares. with a couple of odds and ends from the scrap box. I used the latest Brit chassis, mainly because I had one. As a result, the driving wheels are incorrect, though its been suggested B1 drivers could be substituted, The A1 con rod needed shortening, - I cut a piece out and soldered it and that looks ok when weathered, Other bits need amending too, but in the great scheme of LNER Walshaerts, it's not the most difficult task. The A1 cylinder block is too puny and I'll bulk it out when I get back home , Having seen your other efforts, I don't see why you would have any problems, I imagine it depends on what chassis you are using. Feel free to pm me if that will help.

My summers are spent virtually "modelling free " in France but here is another A2/3, again using the GBL A2 with some resin parts on a Hornby Brit chassis. Not for the purists....

Many congratulations on your work on this kit. I still enjoy a well cast white metal kit even though etched ones tend to be better quality overall. I also applaud your adding detail to personalise it. Brilliant stuff.

I'll experiment tomorrow with the A2 tender. Today I took off the moulded handrails and rubbed down the paintwork with a fibre glass pencil. I normally do this to remove the lining and any lettering which may otherwise either show through or cause paint to run. In the case of the A2, the LNER Green came away like dust !!! Very strange I'll spray with grey primer and then the Brooklands Green and see what happens. John

I'm reasonably sure the problem was with the paint.I had two A2,3 and the first respray was OK. Grey primer followed by Brooklands Green. By the next time I used Red which left a stippled effect, easily lightly rubbed down, but the Brooklands Green literally ran down the body.It was a nightmare to get off and had attacked the plastic boiler but not the resin cab.After tackling it as best I could I resprayed with grey primer which I'd tested on brass etch and was fine. It promptly bubbled up on the boiler. So the problem... maybe an issue with the reaction between the red primer and Green? Too cold in the garage? Green paint has " gone off"?. Either way, I see from various posts that these things happen and are sent to try us, or at least me. John

As I said.... but thanks for rubbing it in.

To conclude this thread, some photos of the J77 and a few observations. There is a bit still to do - the loco needs some coal and more tidying up of the weathering. I've also replaced the front lamp iron to prevent it appearing 10 minutes before the rest of the locomotive.. It also needs couplings , which I think will need to just a bar across the buffers as I don't see an obvious way to fit tension locks. This is my second etched kit, and to be honest I'm enjoying this aspect of the hobby more than the operational side, though it's always nice to see them working. The ArthurK/North Eastern Models have a great reputation, and I think it is well deserved. Arthur recommended this as a "beginners" kit and I'm not unhappy with how it turned out. More to the point, constructing it was a real pleasure. The instructions are generally very clear, and are much more comprehensive than were the PDK B16. My advice for beginners is to follow them religiously. I sometimes forgot that I was a beginner and missed a stage, Usually, it was easily corrected, but caused unnecessary tension. The kit, particularly the chassis, is very detailed with lots of small parts and it was easy to break a previously soldered joint trying to repair or install a missed piece. A couple of points, however, which need bearing in mind. Because of the number of detailed parts, I wasn't sufficiently knowledgeable about the detail of how locos work to always understand where things went. Because, by definition, these kits are of relatively obscure types, photos were often hard to come by, for example of the cab layout. I wanted to incorporate as much of the detail as possible even if it wouldn't be seen in practice, so this was sometimes awkward and I had to revert to "best guess" The chassis was a lovely set of etches but, modelling in 00, was always a tight fit, Pickups were always a problem, particularly on the centre drivers, and I eventually had to do without one spring on the "live" side. I may see if I can re-instate it in due course. EM modellers will no doubt find this easy and use plungers without batting an eyelid. I couldn't get away with Gibson wheels. I don't know why but they derailed ad nauseum, I resorted to Markits 16mm and they look ok, if not as prototypical as Gibsons. It also meant I could use Romford crankpins which I found much simpler than Gibsons.. I imagine much of this is down to a combination of inexperience and incompetence. I made a real dogs breakfast of fitting the brakes, despite trying, but obviously failing, to follow the instructions.They are handed and I think I just got muddled. Old age? Once fitted, I found they were so far out of the chassis that they would foul the coupling rods. I'll know next time. Judicious filing got everything sorted up to a point, but a lot of lovely detail was lost in the attempt. As I was waiting for motor and gearbox to be delivered, I spotted a couple of posts about cheap - and I mean cheap - Mitsumi motors. I took a punt at 5 for £2.73 and fitted 1 via a Markits gearbox just to see how it went, intending to replace it when the Mashima/High Level combo arrived. Incredibly, it works beautifully - smooth and quiet. My locos don't do serious mileage, so I've just left it in for now. The motor fixed into the gearbox with a couple of self-tapping screws, and take 1.5mm gears. They come with a worm attached which I Dremeled away. So to conclude... There are lots of really talented modellers who show their work and several have been extremely kind and helpful as I mangled these kits. Arthur Kimber is a particular pleasure to deal with, and if he is not too horrified at what I've done to his kit, I'll be back for more It is important to do the best one can and strive to improve, but I think there is often a danger in seeing nothing but the faults in what one builds, particularly when set against the work of experts or RTR. Surely it is better to have a go and finish up with something which, while perhaps not approaching professional standards, is certainly usable and passes the "three-foot rule". Especially if you enjoyed making it. Bring on the PDK B16/3 John I

Still not got the parts to complete the chassis, but Highlevel Gearboxes have such a good reputation that I'd be amazed if I can't get it running. One issue I did find was that the couplimg rods fouled the brake shoes. This may be because I'm building in 00, or perhaps I just made a mistake. However some judicious filing seems to have given me the clearance I need, albeit at the cost of some detail. The next and last post will be the completed, weathered version I'll add a few notes about my overall experience and, specifically, where I had problems. However I can assure anyone thinking of taking on a kit from Arthur that they will finish up with a working loco having thoroughly enjoyed building it in the process.

Digital photos plus primer are great for pointing out where more work is needed. But overall I think t's showing promise. I'm still waiting for the High Level Gearbox and motor, and at that stage I should be able to check where the Backscratcher pickups will fit Other than that, the rest of the work is mainly tidying up before the final primer and Halfords Satin black.

It was your thread which gave me the idea, Dave. I had some phosphor bronze strip, from a dead Hornby chassis, so have got the Bottomscratchers, basically just inverted Backscratchers, fitted to the leading pair. They aren't as springy as I would like so the wire idea may well be a better bet. Normal Backscratchers will work on the centre and rear wheels so it looks like I'm still on track.

The suggested method of fitting pickups is Alan Gibson style plungers but,at this stage, that's a bit beyond my ken. However research turned up the Backscratchers method designed by Mike Trice where phosphor bronze tags drop from over the chassis sides. In my case, the front wheels will need to be Bottom scratchers as there are piston rods where PCB would otherwise be Araldited to the chassis sides, to which the phosphor strip will be soldered. I'll add a photo if it works.

Here is the chassis, a much more detailed affair than my PDK affair, but I've finished up with a nice level platform, now awaiting the arrival of motor and gearbox. The Gibson wheels are a first for me. I normally use Markits, but decided to try for the NER prototype, They are push-fit on the axle, and there are tales on the internet of wheel-wobble, problems with quartering, and shifting on the axle, so I'll leave it as long as possible before fitting the other side, The pick-ups are also to be assembled and this looks really tricky, made more so by the fact that Gibson wheels are insulated which means pickups to all 6, and the ashpan, which is a nice addition to the look of the chassis, sits more or less where a PCB would fit for the pickups on the rear pair of wheels I know I've made a couple of errors assembling the brakes, and as a consequence, lost a bit of detail. On TW's thread recently, there has been a bit of discussion about poorly made models being thrown away, etc and folk giving up. I couldn't disagree more, Even with the errors, I'm confident that I'll finish up with a decent working loco, and that my next one will be better, As long as I continue to enjoy the exercise , I'll keep going

It looks as though I'm going to have a J77 at the end of this exercise after all. The boiler/ smokebox has still to be soldered to the footplate/ cab. In fact , the join is so tight I'm wondering whether to bother, as it may be useful for any later work, and certainly while handrails. etc are fitted. The chimney and dome are just posed, as is the cab roof..

Simple when it's pointed out. The ring was so tight that I assumed it was an integral part of the boiler, but some hot water, soap and judicious finger pressure released it, and I now see how it all works. The design of this kit is really good.. Thanks, Paul.

This thread is my "bible", Mick, but the builds were done before Arthur produced the rolled boiler, You can see that the boiler end correctly reaches the point where it joins the smokebox so the cast ring is a bit of a mystery., but one for tomorrow.

Tomorrow's problem is fitting the smokebox. The principle seems fine but I'm puzzled by the brass ring cast on the boiler, which I assumed was where the smokebox joined, but it seems too far back,.and too far forward to represent a boiler band. The photo above shows the ring in question.

The whitemetal stuff is just "posed", Mike. I also fabricated a new regulator as the casting pinged away into oblivion.

At first glance, after a Comet or PDK chassis, the J77 seems complex, but it is so well designed that it goes together really easily, and adds lots of lovely detail.. The slots and tabs are very accurate, though I did use Comet chassis jigs as a "belt and braces". The wheels are Markits. I intend to use Gibsons which are force-fit on the axles, but the Markits are better at this stage while they will be put on and taken off several times during the rest of the build. They are a touch tight against the chassis bearings so I'll need to file the bearings down a little. The body has had a few more bits of detail added. It's starting to look like a J77.

Another set of photos showing progress to date. The main work has been done to the cab and tanks, though as usual, photos show where more tidying is required. The last 2 photos have the cab roof, boiler and bunker rear posed to check squareness and for my own amusement, There are still parts of the cab interior to work on, which will then be hidden when the roof is in place, Having said that, the roof is designed to drop in place and be removable so its certainly worth the effort, as well as being character-building. Not being able to find decent shots of a relevant cab interior has also been a problem. I wont add too much more detail before beginning the chassis carcase to check clearances, etc. My chassis will be rigid, in 00.Im using Gibson wheels for the first time, all insulated, and on such a small wheelbase with a chassis with lots of detail- brakes, rodding, etc - I'm a bit nervous about having clearances for pick-ups, but its obviously do-able.

I certainly have but luckily it was spotted before soldering and corrected without breaking the etches.Too cold for either the garage or loft today, but I have soldered and cleaned up the footplate, and fixed the tank sides to the footplate, having previously filled them with lead to add much needed weight. I think this was a tip on Mike.s build.The framing around the windows have also been added. None of this is worth a photo. The motor/ gearbox combo is giving me pause.Arthur recommends a High-level Roadrunner, which is fine but I'm unsure what motor to fit. Any suggestions? Arthur produced cab doors for this kit, but the few photos I can find suggest they were usually left open. It also seems a shame to hide the excellent range of cab detail in the kit so I'm inclined to leave them off. Is this sensible? Also, since Mike did his trial build, I understand all Arthur,s kits now have the boiler already rolled, which is a big advantage for me. John

I don't have bending bars though if I carry on with this malarkey I may have to invest. But in this case, the half etch lines are so well defined that they were easily formed by finger pressure. I did use a vice to bend the valances in case I made a bend where the slots are for the tank sides.As an aside, I did run a file very lightly over the tank etch slots but made sure they are still a tight fit to the footplate, as suggested by Mike(Meg) in an earlier post.

Arthur Kimber's North Eastern Kits J77 arrived. As Mike already has a thread on building these kits, I'll restrict my posts to anything which, as a beginner, may leave me scratching my head, and therefore be useful to others at a similar point in the learning curve. I should say at the outset that dealing with Arthur has been a pleasure. His kits have a great reputation and first glance at the contents suggest it's well deserved. The instructions are very comprehensive. My kit is the Darlington re-build with the J72 -style Worsdell cab, Strangely, most good photos are of the earlier Fletcher-cab rebuilds from York, but I have tracked down a couple of the Worsdell version. I'll probably model the same loco as Mike, which moved to North Blyth after leaving Starbeck. Getting a decent footplate will be important. The kit's footplate is in 2 pieces, the top being detailed and pretty flimsy. The lower piece is sturdier, being made of thicker metal, though neither are as thick as PDK. This should make soldering easier. The kit instructions suggest using the cab etch and lamp irons to ensure squareness and correct alignment of the slots . However Arthur helpfully attached a note suggesting using 8ba bolts through the chassis retention holes, as well as a recommended soldering technique. I used both methods, and the photos show the footplate assembly prior to soldering. But just to show my total incompetence, I made the folds incorrectly on the tanks - the half-etches should be on the inside. However I was alerted in time and managed to correct it without breaking any joint. Thanks, Arthur. The bottom piece needs 4 folds, 2 of which are the buffer beams and the others form the valences. This certainly makes for an easy life,

Next build/project or quit while I'm ahead? Actually I'm unsure what to do next. I have a J77 on order with ArthurK but Mike(meg) has already described his build, so I doubt there is any value to my adding to that. I will only build a loco which hasn't got a modern RTR equivalent. My interests are BR ER/NER mid 50's - mid 60's with a nod into ex-GC/GE territory. Too catholic for many, I suppose.. So I'm not sure what to look at next. A PDK B16/2 or3 is an option, but I understand the clearances at the front end are extremely tight. I looked at a C12 and A5 but am unsure about a suitable source. Has anyone tried the LRM C12? A J24/25 would be interesting. Any suggestions gratefully received, remembering please that I still am wearing my "L" plates. John