k22009

The last few days has seen a parade of castings from the rock mould, there are quite a few and i'm managing 2 or so a day with das clay. I take them out before they've hardened so that i can contour them while they are still maleable. So whilst that is going on i made a start on the main processing building. I first produced a Cad drawing of the layout so the dimensions of the pieces would be accurate. It's a truncated wedge shape and will have conveyors coming into it from the elevator and exiting to the loading screens and possibly a silo for the finer grade waste products. It's made from 2mm card with scalescenes brick paper at the lower level and Slater's ribbed sheets scored at 3'-0 wide and cut to 8'-0 lengths which are PVA'd onto the card face. The stairs are from Plastruct but the walkways, ladder and handrails are scratch built. The walkways access those which will run along side each of the conveyors. I have some dust extractor units made up for the left hand end. I'll give it a prime coat next so i can add the windows and finish the roof off. I'll add more details when i get around to giving it it's final paint job. After that then i'll start on the elevator structure and conveyor between the 2. I have a Walthers kit for the conveyors which are very nice but they will need a little titivating where they access the elevator. Dave

I've laid the track onto foam board which allows me to cut slots in for the wire in tube, the track is fixed with copydex which dries fairly quickly. I've marked out approximate positions for the mayor buildings but no doubt things will change once i get into it. The switches will be covered by buildings/ features with access only required for the toggle switches. I had already made the drops and walls for the sunken area prior to track laying, the rails are fixed directly to the sub frame made from evergreen I beams. As there is going to be a building behind this area i've made a walkway that will cantilever from the piers and will eventually give access to the the lower level. This area will have the belt conveyor under the drops which in turn will take the material to a hopper feeding directly into the elevator. I have a Ratio Coaling Tower and will probably use the elevator from that along with a scratch built framework. I'll take some close up photos once i've got a few of these items ready. Once these structures are finished i can then position the main grading/processing building as the conveyor leading to it feeds off the elevator and will form part of its structure (hopefully). Dave

Hi Dave, time period will probably be 1960's with diesels and steam. Class 14 for operating to the main line, Class 04, North British Paxman, 50550 class, hawthorn leslie ST for general shunting duties and maybe others later if/when i get round to building a few more. Most of the buildings/structures will be before pressed steel sheeting started to be used so mostly corrugated sheets, some stone building too as i'm aiming for a fairly run down millstone/gritstone operation rather than limestone as in your White Peak. The board is all ready to go, code 75 streamline arrived a few days ago so this weekend is a tracklaying one (forecast is for a damp weekend here so a good time to start). Points will be wire in tube operated via mini DPDT slide switches all laid on mdf with a foam board surface. As the drops are the lowest part of the scene i've already made those up from Scalescenes papers and an evergreen styrene "steel" frame to sit on the top to support the rails. Dave

I've been building one or two small industrial locos recently with the intention of starting a small layout. After mulling over several settings i've gone for a quarry/stone processing set up. The layout will be 4'-6 x 1'-3 with removable cassettes where the exit towards the main lines and quarry are. I've tried to incorporate some additional variety to the movements with the raw stone drops and also the slab/stone cutting area with the offloading/loading gantry which will allow both hopper wagons and flats. The quarry line gives access to the engine shed/ maintenance area where there'll be quarry machinery in states of assembly and also to the raw stone drops. The product then either is offloaded to the stone cutting mill or onto the conveyor under the drops to the elevator which in turn transfers to the grading plant. This via another conveyor leads to the loading screens, the line here gives direct access to what is eventually the main line. A short link gives access to transfer between the quarry and main line access. I've tentatively picked the name so i can use LMS transfers but just reconfigured into MSL. Dave

There was plenty of scrap etch leftover so the new exhaust was duly made, as i said in the last post the white metal one was over sized and a bit rough. Cast bonnet fronts attached and handrails to the steps added along with short spigots for the bonnet handrails which i'll attach after painting. I'm deliberating whether to add handles for the bonnet doors or not. While i ponder i'll give it a good clean up before it gets the Halford's treatment. Dave

You'll have no problem with one of Mike And Judith's kits John. They are well designed and crucially everything fits, just follow the instructions always think ahead and take it step by step. Fitted the cab to the footplate and did a quick test to make sure the chassis and drive train fitted ok. Folded up the cab steps and fitted those to the underside of the footplate also. I'd fitted the bonnet doors to the bonnet last night, i found that you need to position the grills at the rear of the engine casing first and then line up the tops of the doors with this. The fuel tanks and boxes at the side of the bonnets are too high as is, if you use these as a guide to fit the doors they will be too high. The tanks and boxes needed reducing in height by about 1mm. The bonnets can be attached from the inside under the footplate. Does anyone produce lifting eyes ? the cotter pins look ok but they could be better. Cast bonnet fronts and handrails need to be made up now for around the bonnet tops and also the front and rear steps, the exhaust needs fitting too which comes as a cast white metal lump. The one i received in the kit is too big (too high, too deep and covers the edge of the windows) and the casting is quite poor with holes and large deformities all over it. So i'll make one up from scrap etch and that way i can add the exhaust pipe too. After that it needs the buffers adding and a little lead weight but as i've used quite a few of the castings in the cab it's not too bad. Dave

I've heard good reports about the Constructeon kit. The bend lines should have half etched grooves but they have not been etched properly so i gently used an Olfa cutter to cut a few grooves to assist in the bending without leaving an impression on the outer face. Only one template was supplied for each bonnet so i made another so i had one for each end. The one adjacent to the grill casting was inset slightly. The bonnet doors are a laminate so these were cut out tinned and soldered together. I'll attach the doors, grills, fan, cover, cast vents and lifting eyes which are not supplied but i've a few 1/32 brass nettlefolds ones lurking in a box etc next. Dave

The footplate was a scale 9'-3 so 1.5mm each side needed coming off, fortunately the cab was correct at 8'-6. The cab was a one piece fold up unit and with this kit you get several options for the cab interior. There is a cast white metal floor, a fold up etched one, a white metal operating desk and rear cab panel (which is also an etched option) seats and instrument panel. I decided to use the etched options where there was a choice with the white metal castings suitably filed down to fit inside to add additional weight. The interior is mostly all mounted onto the floor which i've not yet attached to the cab sides, but i'll have to and then solder the cab to the footplate from the outside. This is where Mike Edge's design for the cabs on his kits are nice, there the cab floor and any interior is generally fitted to the frames allowing you access inside the cab to attach the roof and get to paint it all. At the same time i rolled the roof to check it was all ok. Oh dear short in the rolled direction by around 1.5 mm. So i added 2 narrow strips to the cab sides and blended them in, i also added a couple of strips that i can glue the roof onto once the cab is painted. The doors are recessed and i've added wire handles to these, the cab handrails at 0.45 mm dia looked a bit thin for these so i used a slightly larger rod as they seem quite prominent on the original. The cab windows will go on after its been painted as they have nice etched frames (i've glazed these already while they're off the model) which look like the aluminium ones on the prototype. Assembling and forming the bonnet's is next. Dave

Made a start on the footplate, laminated the buffer beams which needed to be fitted a particular way as they were not perfectly symmetrical. The step assemblies are an origami fold up that included the steps and the closure panels adjacent to the buffer beams, they looked very nice on the etch but when it came to making all of the bends it was quite difficult to keep everything square, as even a slight bit out with a bend and it threw it all out of kilter, they may have been better as smaller separate assemblies. The valences were slightly short so i'll use some flat strip instead, these are described to be fitted to the half etched lines on the underside, however these are set in about 1.5mm and looking at the photos of the class the valence, footplate and cab are all pretty much flush. So it looks like the footplate was going to be about a scale 6" to wide (2mm) or the cab is too narrow. I'm not going to change that so i'll have to remove the excess from the footplate. Time for the big file. Cab next. Dave

I laminated 4 thicknesses of the etched cranks and with a Romford EM gauge axle through the bearings i soldered them on to the square shaft end, removing the threaded portion of the axle. A piece of 1mm dia rod to act as the crank pin was also soldered on. The gibson wheels were pressed onto the axles, coupling rods and drive unit attached. With the final drive grub screw still loose i tested it up and down the track before securing and applying power. On with the footplate next. Dave

I split the rods rather than have them in one piece, i prefer them articulated. The holes etched into these for the crank pins were already 1.5mm dia so i'm using gibson crank pins with the bushes. I drilled out the hinged points to 1mm dia, added some brass black to the center etch of the middle piece so that when i solder up the pin to the outer sides it doesn't jam up. I've made a mistake here, the center piece on the bottom needs turning around through 180 degrees as it doesn't match the top set so i'll remove the pins and redo it. I've also made up the gearbox which is a High Level Loadhauler + with a 108-1 ratio (or whatever the new ratios are, slightly more i believe). These as with all of Chris's stuff fit together perfectly as long as you follow the proper sequence. Drive unit added which is a 16 dia coreless motor from Japan which has screw holes in unlike the Cheap chinese motors i've been using which need soldering. The spacers have been reduced in width and added to the frames which is now 13mm overall, i've also added the sandboxes and brake levers. A quick test with a set of 16mm dia Romford wheels and after a few tweeks opening out the coupling rod holes all seems to run smoothly. I've now primed this so it's sitting hardening off until tomorrow when i can add the gibson wheels, the drive unit and hopefully do a powered test. Dave

Thanks Mike for the info i can keep the frames at 13mm now, i also found an old product from off the drawing board you produced from back in 1974 of the class 14 on here. Well before CAD, we only used ink to detail and razor blades to scratch out in the drawing office with 5'-0 long wooden T squares in those days, it wasn't until i moved to Canada and started work on the skyscrapers in the US in the late 80's we switched to a very basic form of CAD. Dave

Thanks Mike, the etched axle boxes that are supplied will be almost invisible behind the wheels so i may not bother adding them. I'll file a little more off the spacers to make the frames 12.5mm o/all. Cheers Dave

As lock down is still pretty much unchanged here in Scotland for the moment anyway, another of my slightly smaller to do kit pile has been started. This time a Mercian kit for a BR class 14 Teddy Bear. Having had a good look through all of the parts it seems this time i have a full house (unlike the 50550/J94 i recently built) so hopefully no need to scratch build frames or major parts, fingers crossed. However there is no parts list and the instructions/diagrams omit a lot of the parts so i need to be careful and study plenty of photos. Here's what you get, i've also bought Gibson wheels, a loadhauler + gearbox from Chris at High Level and a Japanese/Chinese 16 dia coreless motor. First up is the chassis, so the frames were removed from the etches along with the rods, spacers and etched cosmetic spring/hornblock details. The spacers come in 2 width options ones for OO and the others supposedly for finescale OO, EM and P4. The smaller ones would make the frames 11.5mm overall and the larger ones 13.5mm. So i've opted to file down slightly the larger ones as i want the frames around 13mm overall. The rods are also one piece so i will cut those up and make them articulated. Thay's all for now, hopefully more tomorrow. Dave

I didn't find the Claughton build i recently shared on here too bad. Dave

Caradon has been painted in the nice weather. Dave

That's a really excellent result from a pile of etched brass and white metal parts Dave, in one way it's a shame to paint it. It looks superb. Whats up next? Dave

I added most of the details, handrails, fittings etc i also made up a new backhead with manifold, pipes and gauges but they are difficult to see in the cab. It's gone together pretty well, parts fitted well and with the Comet gearbox and £1 chinese motor it runs fine. This is my first Mercian 4mm kit and apart from having the wrong frames in the kit i've no complaints. Thanks for looking in. Whats next? Dave

I've now added the saddle tank assembly to the cab/footplate, added steps and gave it a test on the track. Apologies for the poor phone video. All of the small details to be added next. Dave

Chassis has been primed and painted the last couple of days. I only wanted to fit the Gibson wheels once or twice at the most so with fingers crossed pressed them onto the axles. I used a Comet gearbox for the rear driver in the end as it positioned the small Mitsumi motor perfectly sitting up into the firebox with plenty of room all around. Coupling rods fitted and after a test with some trailing leads and a trim of the brake hangers which the coupling rods were just catching it all works very smoothly. I'll add some pickups next and make a final check before I progress and add some weight to the boiler/saddle tank assembly and in the bunker and fit it to the footplate. Dave

Been drilling my Gibson wheels for the crankpins so I though i'd add a few photos of a small jig that can be altered depending on the crankpin throw which helps to ensure the wheel is drilled perpendicular while it lies perfectly flat, if like me you don't possess a pillar drill. Apologies it could be a neater jig, but it does me ok. The main part is 2 tubes (ideally these should be square section) which are a good sliding fit. The outside tube I've added some 3mm channel to raise the assembly above the wheel. At one end there is a 8ba nut and the tube is drilled so this will act as a clamp. At the other end I have soldered on a short section of 1'8" axle which I reduced in size slightly so that it fits the Gibson axle hole without any effort. The inner tube then has a hole drilled right through, this must be through the main axis. It could be improved by adding a guide either side of the drill bit ( a bit of brass flat or a rod would be fine) soldered to the main outer tube, this then ensures the drill is at 90 degrees to the wheel. In use add the Gibson wheel to onto the stud, hold a drill bit through both holes of the inner tube so that it lines up with the dimple or predrilled hole of the wheel, clamp the inner tube by the 8ba screw and drill gently through. All wheels should then be drilled to the same throw and you only need to line the drilling position up when offering the wheel onto the stud. Dave

Thanks for the tip I will. The cab went together well I used the beading supplied for both the doors and the bunker top, however no cab front window frames were supplied (they're not mentioned in the J94 instructions i'm using either). There is a half etched rebate around them to the outer face so I added some 0.3mm dia wire forming and soldering it around bit by bit. The main parts are all fitted just the cab handrails and interior to detail. As Doilum suggested though before I go any further i'll get the gearbox made up and fitted with a motor to see how it all goes together, or not. Dave

The saddle tank and lower boiler section come pre rolled however they both needed re shaping to suit the profiles. The rolled saddle tank lower edges needed curving to the shape of the formers, this is a half etched area and it says to lap over the top of the lower section which must also be shaped to suit the lower curves. Before the 2 halves where soldered together, the formers were attached to the lower section. the upper saddle was then sprung over the bottom, soldered up and filed to a smoothish transition. Handrail knobs and the recessed safety valve/whistle support were also added mainly from soldering inside but the smokebox front knobs I couldn't reach. The smoke box sides need a little trimming and the stiffener flap at the top of it above the rivets had to be removed as it was fouling the handrail underneath. It all fitted well otherwise. Cab next up. Dave

A few chassis details added, sandboxes and pipes and brake gear although i'll add the pull rods later. Made a start on the footplate, the valences were not very straight from the etch sheet so I used some brass flat instead. Buffer beams are double laminations and had the rivets punched out prior to sweating together. I've also added the footplate supports underneath, buffer beam stiffeners, grab rails and sand box fillers too. I matched up the chassis to the footplate and drilled the spacers to suit the positions of the footplate holes before soldering nuts to the top. On with the saddle tank, firebox assembly next. Dave

Just a link to a very short you tube video, hopefully it works! https://youtu.be/mjj37W7bI-M