Rannoch Moor

I did this on the rear part of my J37 tender, JB and it was fiddly but worth it. The hardest part as you can see was keeping the rails parallel all the way round whilst bending them without breaking the soldered joints to the stanchions. I got there in the end but I will probably fit the supplied ones first to see how they look before deciding (you've got my Highland Calvinisitic guilt quotient going though now!). Gus

Here are some photos from last night's efforts and following some cleaning up this afternoon. The enlargement shows some further filling work required around the flare, particularly in the vicinity of the rear LH (looking aft) corner... Need to buy some more Milliput I think! Very pleased with how the brake standard turned out too - assorted tube and 1mm rod for the shaft, 0.45mm wire for the handle - the drilling was a hoot for that one!

Cheers Mark - I have used 188 (edited correction - it's 183) for all the structural stuff and 145 for small details (although like a bufoon I forgot when adding the tender front stuff hence my fingers are an intersting colour today!). I think you are correct re annealing - I chickened out after a quick pass of the flame and don't hink it got near red hot. It formed pretty easily TBH and I think this supports your view (I have spent a lot of years taking advice from engineers in my day job, often along the Star Trek lines albeit, so happy as ever to do so here! The fingers filled easily (much more so than on my Caley Coaches Cl 812 which followed the Jidenco route...) and filing to shape has not been too bad - priming will prove it firther!

Thanks to JB and his photo (and the Isinglass drawing), have fitted the water control valve and scoop levers, and after a few micro-soldering adventures, the tender brake standard - just finishing the shovel plate and a small internal step above the "bucket hole" and the front internal part of the tender will be complete (after some cleaning up of course...) Will post a phot or 2 tomorrow. Then the lifting rings and a few other details and hopefully the tender will be substantially complete by the time I go back to work on Monday....! Gus

Surely does thank you! As it happens, the Isinglass drawing arrived today - excellent service BTW - but that photo really helps with both the positioning if the water valves, brake standard and scoop lever. The brake standard in particular looks really helpful and I am not completely averse to making models of models! Do you know what the hole on the LH side of the tender footplate was for BTW? Gus

Front coal rail and inner beading on this afternoon and axlebox holes opened up ready for securing the boxes (after clean up of course) which look beautiful BTW. Have sent for the Isinglass drawing ( yeah, a bit late I know...!) as I really do need some good quality info before I secure any more of the details. There are quite a few small bits that look lovely but I'm not sure of their location or purpose in some cases - they do look rather good though some of them and I am reluctant to leave them off as I suspect they will add a bit to the finished article... So may start the loco a bit sooner than I planned...

Doc, Looks interesting - I will watch with interest! Gus

BTW, has anyone else found Flexifiles sanding sticks as useful as I have for cleaning up. I use them as part of my aeroplane exploits and their shaped tips makes the coarse and medium in particular excellent for reaching into corners etc.

Happy New Year to all my fellow RMWebbers! Last night's session saw me solder filling and smoothing down the joints between the tender top and the flare as well as adding the beading at the fwd outer ends of the tender (15A fuse wire vice the supplied flat etched beading). Not much in the way of photogenics but plan to fit the coal plates and other (sturdier) details including dome, steps and handrails later this afternoon. Last duty will be to fit the coal rails (potentially fragile) followed by the whitemetal castings which I tend to glue. Oh, and I need to make a brake standard as this is not supplied (rather surprisingly). BTW, does anyone know where abouts on the tender front the scoop operating handle goes...?

Thanks JB - and lovely modelling and weathering too. I can almost smell the sulphurous reek looking at these photos! Yesterday's brass origami buffer beam strengthening made me think 7mm might be easier! More progress last night too, with the tender flare formed and fittted, remembering of course to bend the flare in the correct direction (beading outermost!). It is helpful (but not essential I think) to secure this in bending bars. I quickly annealed it first but was a bit nervous of distorting it so it maybe this was not as effective as it could have been, although due to the thin-ness of the brass, I think doing so is unneccessary. I formed the curve using a cocktail stick and worked the curve around it with a half wooden clothes peg - the central parts of the bending bars were gripped in my Dremel vice (a brilliant Christmas present from a few years back!) and the whole length formed at once. In accordance with the instructions I marked the centre of both the tender back and the flare and tack soldered the rear on firmly. It is then essential to tack the front/forward edges as this will assist in ensuring the correct flare radius at the rear as doing so "pushes" the rear back. Not doing this (ie by progressively soldering aft to forward) will probaby resuly in the flare appearing longer than the tank sides...! The best way to avoid burnt finger tips and ensure accuracy is to hold the flare etch into the half etched groove provided at the top of the tender body using the aforementioned clothes peg (wooden!). Once secured, I adjusted the curve of the flare to be consistent and stright in length, along with the corner fingers (great design IMHO) before soldering all secure and filling in the corners with solder. By that stage my fingers hurt so will fettle as today's job (prior to Hogmanay kicking in!) The doors are not squint by the way and there is no gap between the tender front and sides - had to check though! I really should have asked for a new camera from Santa!

after some correctionUnsurprisingly, soldering the rear buffer gusset plate and associated fillets provided an entertaining forenoon's modelling but we got there in the end... Not perfect and one of the rear guard irons dropped off but acceptable. Had to rescrub theright hand one after looking at this photo due to the burr in the small hole under the gusset: These photos provided useful in spotting errors and here are both sides to celebrate the singed fingers after some correction (and mild nautical language (not yo ho ho..): The remaining afternoon was spent very successfully fabricating the water scoop and dome and plucking up courage to bend and fit the tender flare (this evening's job, already cleaned up and secured in the bending bars and vice). I'm not sure if Loch Treig or the other West Highland/Eastfield K2's had scoop fitted tenders and since all of my many book photos are inconclusive I have decided to maintain momentum rather than die in a ditch. Before flashing up my soldering iron/finger warmer for this evening's session, here's a phot of the tender on its wheels that I forgot earlier... The rivets don't look rthat squinty in real life! after some correctionUnsurprisingly, soldering the rear buffer gusset plate and associated fillets provided an entertaining forenoon's modelling but we got there in the end... Not perfect and one of the rear guard irons dropped off but acceptable. Had to rescrub theright hand one after looking at this photo due to the burr in the small hole under the gusset: These photos provided useful in spotting errors and here are both sides to celebrate the singed fingers after some correction (and mild nautical language (not yo ho ho..): The remaining afternoon was spent very successfully fabricating the water scoop and dome and plucking up courage to bend and fit the tender flare (this evening's job, already cleaned up and secured in the bending bars and vice). I'm not sure if Loch Treig or the other West Highland/Eastfield K2's had scoop fitted tenders and since all of my many book photos are inconclusive I have decided to maintain momentum rather than die in a ditch. Before flashing up my soldering iron/finger warmer for this evening's session, here's a phot of the tender on its wheels that I forgot earlier... The rivets don't look rthat squinty in real life!

Thanks, Mark - Mallaig would be a more interesting model IMHO though, especially if you included the pier sidings and loco shed /turntable. As I've just PMed Mark I will review overall running once the loco is mobile with a view to making the front 2 tender axles float in hornblocks (probably with a springing arrangement) with some addded weight to rest on the loco drawbar. Bit reluctant though, as I can blow the rolling tender along...! I also (unsurprisingly) found that 2 of the tender gusset plate ribs did not survive fetlling the outside of the buffer beam - luckily none lost to the carpet monster - so it's off to get out the solder paint and do the job as engineering instead of art this time... (Another example, other than movement, of the difference between my model trains and aeroplanes...!) Right, back to the forge! Gus

Progress continues - now have rolling tender chassis and basic superstructure now complete. I have picked up a couple of phasing issues in the instructions, the most important one being that the instruction to fit the securing nuts over the 2 rear securing holes must come earlier, ie almost as the first job on the build. They need to be fitted on the upper side of the footplate (ie inside the body) so the securing screws pass through the rear chassis cross member which should (as designed) lie flush against the bottom of the footplate. ie when you are at this stage (sorry you can't see the holes but I took it before I had guessed!)... I did not get to the stage of fixing the nuts until the coal pate etc was all on so secured the nuts on the bottom of the footplate, filed off the tabs from the rear spacer and erected the frames using the other 2 (front and middle). I secured the rear spacer to the bolts, fitted the chassis around it and then carefully soldered the spacer in place. I then rechecked all was square using my jig and the pointy axles from the Gibson wheel pack The phot has a tiny bit of parralax - they are square - honest!. In the first phot below you can see the original slots for the rear spacer at the top of the frames. You will note I also fitted the frames and front drawbeam prior to this stage - this is etched as one long compontent that is folded into a u shape - worked well although the rear tab on the top of one of the sideframes needed filling shorter in order to fit - the arrangement mad for nice square frames though. The rivets worked out adequately once I got my eye in by applying the blunt centre punch and toffee hammer method over the plywood etched kit jig seen above... The buffer housings (Gibson again) had their rears soldered on carefully before they were filed flush using the Dremel prior to being centred (trial and a fair bit of error) over the holes in the laminated buffer beam. The wheels, guard irons and buffer beam and associated gussets were then fitted. Photos follow but I secured the gusset plate fillets with cyano - they seem pretty secure this morning but I kind of wish I'd remebered to file the outer edge of the gussetss flush prior to this bit... Phots later. Aplogies for the phot quality!

Silver soldered then Mark?! Seriously delicious signals there Mark, they may well ensure that KB's starters get progressed (started in 1999 or earlier and seen in a previously published photo on my layout thread that I now can't find...). Also impressed with the Banking Tank too. I think I will try CSBs when I get round to my Jumbo - they look pretty straightforward but due to restricted clearances I will not be tempted for my K2 on the stocks at the mo. Hope to catch up soon, Gus

A good use of a damp and cold Boxing Day with sound progress made on completing the tender body - had one scary moment when I bent the curved corner of the tender tank at the wrong place (ie inboard of the line I had marked rather than outboard) but very luckily managed to bend it back without too much bruising of the brass. Some gentle re-bending followed by filing and polishing of the inevitable ripples sorted that out, after which it was using bending bars with the correct curved corners being formed around a piece of round brass bar. Luckily all was square and after fitting the interior bulkhead it made for a strong basic box: Oh, it is also easier if you drill out the required holes (half etched to allow for variations) prior to this bit rather than I did, afterwards... After this, I fitted the after coal plate that forms part of the tender front taking a lot of care to to get everything sqare up and down and across the width of the tender - then I completed all the seams inside the tender structure before fitting the tender top, again soldered from the inside. The trickiest part thereafter (doing as well as following the instructions, although to be fair, I would find it pretty hard to explain!) was bending and forming parts 5 and 6, the sloping interior plates that make up the self trimming element of the tender (ie they allow the coal to settle forward so the fireman can reach it without having to go into the tender and push it forward). I annealed them (mini flamenwerfer until red hot then allowed to cool naturally) before forming them using the tang of a file and a range of pliers and repeatedly offered them up until they looked right and fitted well. The photo shows the left hand one tack fitted and the gap and half-etched line on the right hand side awaiting the other one: Once fitted, and the gaps filled with solder, all was fettled down and part 7, the forward part of the coal/shovelling plate was fitted - all neat and once cleaned up a nice box that looks like a tender results. Tomorrow will hopefully see the under-pinnings (frames and chassis) completed. I may go for a weighted tender resting on the loco drawbar to improve adhesion on an uncompensated loco but I will consider that when I go out for my run around the Burgh to burn off some calories ingested yesterday! Gus

Well as promised in the autumn (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/61967-dave-bradwell-k1-or-lrm-k2-any-thoughts/ ) the bench has been cleared for action (despite a part way completed Sea Balliol which may act as an occasional distractor if things get tough...!): I have collected a fair amount of reference material as well as Tony Wright's serial from BRM on constructing the kit. I have a fair number of phots of Loch Rannoch, Loch Laggan and Loch Oich but only an LNER partial one of Loch Treig. If anyone has any phots of Loch Treig in the late 50's then it would be great to see them - or hear of any loco specific tips (eg did it have a tender with the small cut-out at the fwd end at this stage?). If no-joy, will base my version on Loch Laggan which I do have photos of (and consider re-naming the thing!). Anyway, have decided to start with the tender in order to get my eye zeroed back in and also to allow time for a set of Gibson Universal coupling rods to arrive given that Tony Wright's articles pointed out a fatal mismatch between the supplied chassis and rods' centres. Given advice from John Redrup when I bought the loco at Scaleforum it will als be built rigid to avoid fouling the minimal clearances between the drivers and the splashers. Here are the etches for the Ivatt GN tender laid out on my jig - almost a pity to start snipping! Here goes Gus

IAK, If you're EMing then I successfully widened the the drivers as supplied. I used the Gibsons for the bogies and tender though and did a Bradwell replacement for the dome and chimney. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/55838-Hornby-b1-em-conversion/ Worked very well (so far!) Gus

Seven Seas of Rye - Queen

Stewart, Haven't dropped in for a while as it were, but re-acquainting myself with your progress has made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening here (I have to live in at work at the moment so symathise with the work-life imbalance!). Thanks for posting and I know the feeling regarding lots oh work and no visible progress - but as long as one enjoys it...! Gus

Mark, Good luck with the new summer house - and I thought tidying the garage out so I could get some progress going in Kilbrannan Ferry over Easter was extreme! Enjoyed the photos on the other side (Highland Miscellany on S4 Forum) and looking forward to seeing Portchullin in the (revered whisper) Journal in a few weeks. I was going to ask how your LMS stock aquisition is progressing so you can dial up the time machine in the new railway empire you're building?! Regards Gus

Tim, Many thanks. I see Alan Gibson has a set available so I will get on the phone directly (day off today) and make a start once they arrive. Do you know if it's necessary to overlay the chassis or does it look OK without? When converting the Hornby Black 5 and Bachmann 4MT Tank the overlays certainly added to looks but also to the work and made setting up for decent running a little bit of a challenge (especially the pick-ups), but nothing insurmountable. Gus

Bought mine at Model Rail Scotland yesterday (thanks in part to a bit of a Max Stafford shaped red devil whispering "you know you want to" in my ear - thanks for pushing me over the edge Dave!) and I have to say he (Sir Harold Mitchell, but no disrespect to Dave!) is certainly gorgeous in the extreme. The weathering will be light when I get round to it, but the first challenge will be a conversion to EM. I am still in 2 thoughts - it might be nice to keep the Hornby drivers and replace the axles with something from Alan Gibson, but the one slight niggle I do have is the size of the boss around each crankpin. Therefore it may be worth replacing both wheels and axles and the coupling rods as well if the Comet or AG ones line up - otherwise the universal set from AG may be the only way ahead. Will need to think about that one - may be an opportunity to get my name in lights and offer to do an EMGS data sheet write up as well as a workbench post on the Web.... As an aside - anyone know why Alan Gibson couldn't make Glasgow? Gus

Mark, Dropped by yesterday a couple of times to say hello but you were absent or busy with other fans! Still all looking great though, and it was great to take the "time machine" back to '74 and immerse myself in the Sulzer warble! (I could almost feel the scratching of the heather stalks on the back of my legs and hear the curlews burbling in the overhead during the (short) periods between trains! Disappointed to not make it for today's HR extavaganza - hope all went well, Regards Gus

Me too Boogy - their eponymous album is superb - love Hip Teens Dont Wear Blue Jeans in particular. Unfortunately I haven't the bandwidth to post a link here, Gus

Hope the too slow progress on Kilbrannan Ferry does not preclude it accompanying this illustrious company... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/9121-kilbrannan-ferry/