SWTDriver

I have to make several larch trees in 00, can anyone recommend a suitable product for making these as I want them to look as realistic as possible.

Please can somebody clarify which bit I need to solder to what? (See attached)

When I opened the box and took the model out my disappointment at the sample photos was confirmed and in addition to what I posted previously I found the following defects: 1. The pony truck wheel had never been fitted and was merrily rattling about in the box 2. Only one support bracket from the buffer-beam to the underside of the smokebox was present - even though I searched all the packaging I could not locate the other bracket. 3. The handrail at the front left hand side of the boiler is loose and will not remain in place. 4. The presence of a long horizontal moulding line along the left hand side of the boiler which really detracts from the appearance of the model. The packaging was in no way damaged so it is fair to assume that it was like it when packed. I know that these seem like little things, but when you are paying £152 for a model they are basics that should have been put right. I really wanted to like this model as the 47xx was a great loco, they just haven't done it justice. This will be the first time I have ever sent a model back and getting a refund.

Having seen the photos on line I have to admit that I will reserve judgement on it until it is delivered to me, I've opted for the black British Railways version. However judging by the photos it looks poor in the extreme, cylinders too small, smokebox door wrong, numberplates wrong size, buffers seem too small, the motion bracket support seems too big. The more I look at it the more I think I'm going to be looking at the returns policy or will be getting a whole load of replacement fittings to put things right. Please let me be wrong.

I have just completed the High Level Kits chassis for the 2251 Collett Goods in EM gauge. When I ran the chassis without the body or tender it ran very well. However once I got the body on and attached the tender it farted an spluttered for a bit and finally the gear wheel on the driving axle came adrift from the locktite that was holding it in place. I duly cleaned it up and used some more locktite to fit it back in place assuming I had used too little and the result was the a repeat performance. My first thought is that the power to weight ratio is what might be causing the problem given that it ran OK as just the chassis, but I was assured by High Level that the motor is man enough for the job despite it being a smaller motor for the EM model compared with the on for P4. My second thought is that the gear wheel on the driving axle is too loose in the first place as it was a very easy fit, making me think that I might have taken too much off the inside when I opened up the hole. Is there any way I could rectify this by making the hole big enough to fit an brass axle bearing and trying to make it a tighter fit. Any suggestions would be welcome, thanks in advance.

This is where I begin the adventure of building my first loco kit. I'm starting with something small, namely the CSP Swansea Harbour Trust, E Class Peckett. I have now got the chassis built and running. I have built a few chassis kits before, both rigid and compensated with varying degrees for success and with various bouts of creative swearing! Sadly this kit didn't get off to the best of starts as when I bought it from the late Roger Slade, I looked through the parts only to find I it had the wrong frame spacers. After a great deal of palaver with the new owners who were less than cooperative following Roger's death. A legal letter finally garnered the desired response - it was either that or going round there with two snooker balls in a sock! I certainly have taken my time in getting to this stage - about two months thus far. I am following the instructions to the letter and have only had one mishap so far as the isometric drawing led me to believe that some parts were in a different place on the frames - thankfully there are minuscule and their omission will not be noticed. Also I'm not saying what they are so no rivet-counter can go looking for them! I used my Avonside jig to assemble the frames using the coupling rods to get the correct spacing, despite their assembly being some way on in the instructions. Apart from this I following the instructions in the sequence more or less to the letter and didn't experience any major difficulties. My main source of apprehension was the cylinders, slide bars and cross head, mainly because I have only ever done one loco with outside cylinders to date and that was brass etch with whitemetal wrappers. This time I had to fit etched brass wrappers and I referred to Iain Rice's chassis construction book and it all fitted together very well. I made the usual adjustments to keep the crankpins from fouling the crosshead. However as there is a bit of slop on the crosshead the kit comes with some overlay for the front of the slidebars that eliminate this - YOU WILL NEED THEM - KEEP THEM SAFE!!!!!! Finally I fitted the pick-ups and connected the motor and apart from having to sort out a loose connection the chassis ran first time and I was duly delighted. Now onto the body!

I would like to thank everyone who offered help and advice on this problem. After putting the loco back into it's box and clearing my head for a few weeks, I reassessed the whole situation taking on board all that was said here. I then opened up the holes in the connecting rods to a state where they easily dropped onto the crank-pins (and just as easily dropped off I might add). I am pleased to say this did the job, freeing the whole thing up and after several house of minor tweaks it now runs beautifully. I added a Collett tender fitted with the High Level Kits chassis. There are some things that are far from perfect, but this comes of fitting an EM chassis onto a 00 body (hence the overhang of the cylinders). Anyway am am pleased with the results thus far and am numbering it as 6347 which was a Llanelli based engine in memory of a great modeller and friend John Spencer from Llanelli who sadly passed away last month. He was a great encouragement to me as a modeller.

The sad thing is that I also have another chassis on the go and have made the same mistake of compensating that as well. This time it is the High Level kit for the Collett Goods, in all honesty I am not holding out much hope of it going right despite using the Avonside jig - think I'll just go back to ready to run 00, I'm wasting my time and money on EM.

Thank you all for the help and advice, I have finally come to the conclusion that despite setting it up on my Avonside jig in the first place and following the whatever is in Iain Rice's book to the letter it is time to admit defeat and get a paid professional look at it.

After a lot of fiddling I found that on this Bachmann version of the tender the parts outlined do in fact prise off and do not require filing.

Can anyone offer a solution to the problem I have with this chassis binding in the zone shown on the photos and how I can remedy it. I can confirm the following: 1. The chassis is square. 2. The height is level. 3. The compensation beam is in the right place. 4. Previous attempts to run the chassis have resulted in the crank pins in the middle wheel either unscrewing or shearing. 5. I will never go near a compensated chassis again as long as I live!

I have just completed my first tender chassis kit that I have built using the High Level Kit. Before I proceed any further could somebody guide me as to what exactly I need to do to the plastic frames as I am finding the instructions a bit hard to follow. I have made the space bigger for the wheels but do I need to trim the areas I have high-lighted in the photos off before I make this surface flat in order the fit the new chassis. On the tender body I have removed the two pips (as shown) is there anything further that needs doing. Thanks in advance. Jason

I've managed to get this gear wheel stuck on this axle, can anyone offer any help as to getting the ruddy thing off as like with this sort of thing it went on OK and I don't have anything to hand that will do the job without doing more harm than good. It's a gear wheel from High Level Kits on an Alan Gibson axle.

This looks really nice. I am wanting to get into building locos would you recommend this as a good entry level kit - I have built chassis, rolling stock and tenders previously.