k22009

It is very confusing during this period it seems the LMS didn't really have anything set in stone, I'm not 100% certain but in 1936/7 when most of the Claughtons were withdrawn it may have been the correct lettering/numerals too. When I get a new Straw lettering sheet I may change it though.

You're correct, the lettering was all I had left on my LMS loco transfer sheet, I may change it later. According to the Essery and Toms book many styles of lining and lettering were used on the Claughtons, 10", 12" and 14". Crewe used straw colour and a different style (LMS or Midland styles) for the 14" numerals, however some were with vermillion shading, some black shading, some imitation gold with black shading, some plain gold. The 1936 sans serif or block style apparently may have been reverted to and applied to Claughtons. Later Chrome yellow insignia/numerals with vermillion shading with chrome yellow lining became standard. No war time colours mentioned presumably as not many remained.

Transfers duly arrived from Fox so I spent a good few hours with the radio soothing my nerves applying them all (they're not perfect but they'll have to do). Just coal to add to the tender now and a crew. Well after some misgivings about starting the kit I have been quite pleased with how it's all gone, yes there's been some modification work to do but on the whole it's been ok and to my eye it's turned into a nice model that doesn't get too much press considering they were the main stays of the West Coast mainline for the years before the Royal Scots took command. Hopefully we'll see a few more make an appearance soon from the bottom of the to do list to the nearer the top. Dave

The second photo of the topic shows the template I made, under the marked out (on masking tape) area are 2 off 14mm nickel silver strips tacked together and ready for drilling. I use 0.5mm drills to pilot hole everything. As i'm compensating the chassis, there is only one pair of axles, the driven ones in brass bearings that need to be positioned accurately to start with, the other 2 axles have cut outs for the hornblock guides which when you offer up the 2 assemblies on an alignment axle, the spring keeps them in place and by using the coupling rods now it automatically positions them exactly. Do this for both axles and solder the guides to the frames and you have a smooth running chassis. With the pivot beam in position (this can be done after). Dave

Just an hour at the workbench today but managed to get the frames, spacers and compensation pivot beam cut out ready for soldering up. I'll do the coupling rods next, once they're done I can get the high level hornblocks and guides positioned. Dave

While I await the lining transfers for the Crimson Claughton I've been considering what to tackle next. Some time ago I picked up what I thought was a Mercian J94 kit from an Ebay auction. When it arrived there were no instructions so a quick email to Trevor Cousens at Mercian promptly had a pdf copy by return. Excellent service. I never really had a good look at it apart from seeing that everything major appeared to be there. I never closely inspected all of the etches until this afternoon. It seems I have a chassis etch for a J94 and the balance appears to be for a 50550 with square cab windows front and back and deeper buffers. So it looks like my hand has been turned into constructing this instead. On inspection of a drawing for this however, it's obvious that the frames will need to be made from scratch as they have a deep profile from buffer beam to buffer beam. So my first job was to cut 2 lengths of 14mm nickel silver strip to length and transpose the positions of the hornblock cut outs, rear axle holes and brake hanger positions. The J94 frames are above the pair soldered together with masking tape on the top. I've checked with my High Level gearbox planner and a Loadhauler + 80:1 will fit driving the rear axle so I can compensate the front 2 axles. I'll cut these out and drill as necessary hopefully tomorrow. Dave

Thanks, I completely missed those when looking at the website. Thanks Mike, at the start of this I was hoping the build would get a few of these kits unearthed out from the bottom of cupboards to see the light of day, there are faults with it but with good planning, decent photos and drawings it's not been too bad.

The garden has taken priority for a few days but I've managed to get all of the detailing finished. As I mentioned previously there was not much in the way of items supplied so I've made quite a few bits and bobs including the tiny oil boxes which fit just above the splashers. They were a bit of a fiddle as they're only 3mm long but I've added 3 lubricator pipes to each (0.3mm wire). The rest of the items, handrails/ejector were also made up and everything got a good wash. All primed with Halfords etch primer and top coated with matt black or Halfords Rover Damask Red. I'm waiting for some lining transfers before I progress further, I can't seem to find anyone that does a pale yellow or straw lining with plenty of curves and straight lengths. Dave

I've not soldered the tender tank to the base, I've fixed 10ba nuts in the tender tanks and will sandwich the base between the chassis when it's assembled. I added some lead weight too. No problems with completing this, however the steps were a bit fiddly, and there was just a lack of detailing components, so most have had to be made, fire iron support, fire iron rails, tender tank vents, lamp irons. I've also not added the axle boxes yet, i'll wait until it's all painted and lined before gluing these on, it'll be easier. So onto the loco detailing. I added the chimney to it's etched base, dome and safety valves too which are all nice brass turnings. I have made up the pipe in front of the cab (not sure what it is) but this and all of the other handrails, pipes will be left loose until its painted. I scored the footplate and added some hinges to represent the hinged valve rocker cover in front of the smoke box. The reversing lever (not included in the kit) and the lever covers on the footplate were added and I drilled out the lubricator boxes with a 0.4mm drill for 0.3mm wire with 4 ports each side. The white metal was quite soft so they drilled easily. Glued the copper wire in situ and tried the lubricators in place to see if they all looked OK. This is how it looks o far. More detailing next. Dave

Very lucky chap, sadly I only just about remember the last days of steam. Started on the tender tank today, added the provided stiffeners inside as the etched sides were paper thin before forming the corners (a handy notch indicated where the corner was), the tank top actually fitted very well with just a little shaping at the curved corners. The Claughton Bowen Cooke tenders I believe were a little different from most, the sides didn't turn in at the cab end and the tank tops were inwardly sloping to allow the coal to transfer a little easier. The next part I wasn't looking forward to, attaching the 2 part flared top. after taking my time however it came out better than i'd hoped as the etch was only 0.15mm thick. I filled the corners where fingers had been left and filed it to shape. After that I added the locker fronts, coal plates, the coal chute which wasn't provided but a scrap piece of etch was the perfect width and the chute sides which had to be cut from a rectangular piece provided. I cut some tube which fits from the front coal plate down to the chute floor and acts as the housing within which the water scoop and brake levers go. The handles for these next to the lockers will be added when I add all of the other details. The tank has yet to be soldered to the base. Finally a quick shot showing the loco and tender as is, this is with just under 1mm of packer to raise the tank base level. Dave

Cheers, I think the key to these kits is getting a good accurate drawing and plenty of reference material so that you can decide whether to stick with the etches as is or try to modify them if necessary. The instructions aren't great either so a fair bit of forward planning is needed to identify what goes where and when you need to use it. The tender being a prime example, lots of parts on the etches but it's a mystery where some go, and without a drawing it would be tricky to get right. I'm hoping it'll be lined LMS Crimson Lake. There's still plenty of water to go under the bridge yet though. Dave

On with the tender this afternoon. The base of the tender is the correct width but it was a scale 1'-0 short as the front and rear ends are shaped. So I spliced on a 4mm piece from the edge of the fret and cut out the required shapes, valences were discarded as they were too thin and I substituted some brass flat. I'm not sure if the holes that were in the base plate are OK so i'll wait to drill them out until I've got the chassis made up. The inner chassis frames only had small 1mm dia holes predrilled in them for the axle bearings and they were a little out (about 0.75mm) so using the outer frames as a guide, which were spot on, I drilled them out to accept some small brass bearings rather than the humungus versions supplied in the kit. I used some 14mm nickel silver strip for the spacers which again will be drilled along with the base to suit later. Frames soldered together I now turned my attention to adding a little missing detail. There is no water scoop or brake vacuum cylinder supplied so I had a ferret in my box and came up with a suitable scoop. I drilled one of the spacers and attached it to it. I also drilled the scoop lower arm and made up a small u shaped bracket which I added a wire to represent the lowering lever and pinned it to it, soldering the top of the lowering rod to the frame. Cylinder made up as for the loco from 8 dia brass tube with an actuating rod in the middle. I'll connect it all up to the brake assembly once I've got it primed and painted. The brake rods which fitted perfectly are outside the wheels so will be tricky to get the wheels on and off once soldered so again i'll attach these after painting. I checked the base sitting on top of the chassis with the loco and it appears to be about 1-1.5mm to low so i'll need to add a small packer to the top of the frames to make it level. On with the tender tank next. Dave

Well the trusty postal service delivered my new Antex soldering iron heating element this morning which I got swapped over with the dead one, so I could get one with the beast. I had primed and painted the chassis in the downtime next up was to cut out the valve gear and pin it all together (I use brass black on one of the components to stop solder sticking to it), judging by the drawing the dimensions appeared to be not too bad. I had kept the cylinders/motion bracket as a separate assembly so that it would make fitting the valve gear less troublesome. It all went together fine, with the final gear drive loose on it axle I gently pushed it along my test track, all seemed ok, however it seems that the motion bracket is too small (I never checked it dimensionally), this has the effect of making the expansion link a little too low, it works though which is fine. Most of the workings are hidden under the valences anyway. Tightened up the grubscrew in the final gear and got some power onto the tracks. After a little trimming of the brake hanger wires which were protruding a little too far and catching on the con rod, a sandpipe that was just glancing a rail and shorting out causing some head scratching as I couldn't see it, it all now runs very pleasingly up and down. The bogie wheels are too small, however the 3'-3 diameter ones I had on originally just foul the sides of the cylinders on a curve so i'll have to get something in between to work and look ok. On with the tender next. Dave

High level gearbox and motor assembled this afternoon, but disaster struck shortly after. The heating element on my Antex died. Like everything you take for granted, it's surprising how much you use the darn thing. So I've ordered a new element, and while I wait i'll prepare the tender etched parts and the loco fittings. Dave

A few weeks back the weather warmed up enough to finish the Duchess off. Sprayed with Halford's rattle cans, lining by Fox. Great kit many thanks to Dave and Trisha for the support as this was my one and only foray into the heady world of 7mm (so far anyway). Dave

Some time back I purchased an array of micro drills from here. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10Pcs-Micro-Drill-HSS-Bits-0-5mm-3-5mm-Straight-Shank-PCB-Twist-Drill-Bits-Set/232349080423?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3619159b67:m:mcAscnKlEO3VQxbGLu2nnwA&enc=AQAEAAACUBPxNw%2BVj6nta7CKEs3N0qVJsOQ%2FSZVDkDfir48wOFMsOY%2FkaJ7WdNkOMJVyEtW1ctSaN%2Bl237zPQ90gsIB%2BbxiMceKo%2FjQBTPaHFJl9DDTcdvfC%2BjR6DckRYLCod3VryPczgFgUZY7s1HZtlAHVesCsJQMlybh1KQDGcReI3doZ34x4e4LTmASROavQP8TM%2F2vm69j1kGEoC8UCc%2F2QytD8GePgom9dJjAUl%2BEwP9LoIiOULj3jux4GZw5ObKm0ZRUmStd4Yuo12BVJtdR6sc4Ba0m1K%2FRupXukuQQ%2FOrLhO9YEd5TacvC4Th2jXZoIKuVNuS0fd9d3nqOC%2BDJNWeKPm1X%2BjpTXPsvCrMY4Q2GX86FBP7Xs01GuQgQ0EwmILExvuvgskq7PSJWBflIwWPIyvLczhWttayXEFlccogGRY0zFYmSgbIO4z8l%2BGDCxdD1kHkwruMDytVZkKMCc6ajKMnPDuQkzNpaCNszeCPbiYCuN2EPKgsLzkBrdTLe1Jb3PbGgeD5%2F3ss1gvoUMifdxW6sIsGm4XzaY%2FNcxa02ZbtK7Irw0bBhU64EGwhG1rE6Is91xKFegyOX%2BhaPGsYqzpS0ZU4Rmoh%2ByJdbWiBGWGKJCZaM6QkB6cSU%2BzWv3EX0uP3RIB2sJ91cqsToWvLaiEgxtPqZK%2FpoKvmN1EygQ%2FM%2B4SdzWnioIx9zS%2FehaCU2LC4rnAerLz%2F83qIAdqtqyk0o2fJK11ggix8kzQ%2F5vk4fORXjs1U%2FcWkICE8pLi5gZwqnordw1U6bWtH1%2Bwdw%3D&checksum=2323490804230a2569ec94e54478b7aaf52fabab67a7 They've lasted well and cheap as chips. Dave

Made up the Comet bogie which is well designed and caters for all gauges and gives the additional scope to add side control wires which I like to add so that the bogie is restrained by the frames when it goes into curves. I also added a little weight top and bottom. I also made up some sandpipe brackets soldered them to the frames and added the pipes. The ones between the leading axle and centre driver I had to cheat and the sandpipe ends under the brake hanger rather than going into the sandbox itself as there just isn't room to get anything else past at that point. They're only on the front 2 axles, no sanding arrangements at all for the rear. Gearbox , motor and getting the basic chassis working next on just coupling rods before I tackle the valve gear. Dave

This afternoon was brake day, Only the brake shoes provided, which are a bit skinny but will be ok. I've added a representation of the brake rigging underneath along with a brake cylinder and vacuum reservoir (both made from 8mm dia tube) mounted on brackets and retained with wire u bolts. Bogie hopefully tomorrow and maybe get the sandpipes and brackets in place. i'll add a spacer too for a piece of pcb for the pickups. I was hoping I might be able to have some wipers on the top of the wheels under the splashers but it's too tight so they'll have to be under the brake rigging. Dave

Thanks for the kind comments, not too much done this weekend, busy with other domestic deeds. The crossheads were a 4 part etch, I added a small collar and 1mm dia piston rod I cut some 0.75mm square bar to form the slide bars and soldered these to both the front and rear cylinder formers for added strength, a tube with an I/d of 1mm also added for the piston rode to slide in. It all went together well, slid the assembly onto the slots in the frames along with the motion bracket, cut the slidebars back to suit this. It was then I thought ok i'll check the connecting rod length to see how it might affect anything. Slid the front axle assembly into its guides and held the con rod over the crank pin. Oh dear, it only just reached the motion bracket so no chance of connecting it to the crosshead. I lifted everything back off the frames, unsoldered the slide bars added longer ones and repositioned the motion bracket 2mm farther back so that the con rod would now just connect to the crosshead at the end of it's travel. I also had to move the expansion link brackets on the motion bracket inboard as these were very tight between the valences and would not have allowed any room to fit a pin/rivet/bolt. Cylinder wrappers added (these were a little narrow but will be ok), I made up 4 small sandboxes and fitted these to the frames along with the brake hanger wire. I'll make the brakes up next so they are removable, I may add a brake cylinder and reservoir under the cab if I can. I've decided not to use the one with the kit as it's very basic, so I have a spare Comet one which i'll assemble and trial fit. The chassis will be pretty close to getting primed then. Dave

Plenty done this afternoon, boiler and firebox soldered together. I have drilled the cab spectacle plate and the rear of the firebox to take a 10ba bolt, I've soldered this to the cab, as I can get the nut on from underneath the firebox where the motor/gearbox will go. There is also a soldered nut under the smokebox lined up with where the cylinder assembly will be on the chassis, so the boiler/firebox can be removed for painting etc. The splashers went together without any problem apart from them being about 2mm too short, the wheels are tight underneath, I may line the underside with some tape to stop any shorting that may occur. I also made up a small box that covers where the reversing lever mechanism comes out of the cab on the left side. As I mentioned in the previous post there was nothing supplied for the cab so I made a floor and scored it to represent planking, cobbled together a couple of splasher covers and the reversing lever support. The back head will need some work on it and I've to make up a manifold, regulator handle and a few hand wheels. I stiffened the top of the cab as it was very thin and flimsy, I kept catching it, so I added some 1mm angle to the inside which the handrail fits better to also added was a pair of doors courtesy of Mainly Trains etches. I'll leave the rest of the detailing items for now and i'll probably start work on the chassis next getting sandboxes, brakes, bogie etc in place. Dave

The boiler, firebox cab sides are very thin, the material generally is only 0.30mm anyway full thickness and so half etched is quite delicate. I decided to try the boiler first, if it's a problem i'll roll another. Fortunately there's not too many corners on this, i'm checking as much as possible with the drawing and also with Essery and Toms excellent Historical Monographs for the Claughton and Patriot. First up was the boiler and smokebox, the formers provided were spot on, the motor/gearbox combo I have decided on will mean the motor protrudes into the boiler a little way so I scribed a concentric circle on the boiler former and cut the majority out while it was tacked to the firebox former. The boiler was already pre rolled but it wouldn't have put up much of a fight if it had not been, soldered up the seam and added the formers at the ends, sweated the smokebox wrapper onto the boiler end and shaped the base to suit. I then added a small full length sliver of lead sheet about 10mm wide and glued this to the inside where the handrail knobs will go. This will act as a stiffener for the thin brass but also in the same instance add much need weight. The smokebox door is a brass turning, it's not the greatest so before I titivate it myself to try and improve it i'll maybe see if I can find a supplier who does one just in case. Putting this to one side I then soldered the firebox formers to the firebox wrapper, I also added a couple of rods at the base between the 2 formers front and back to stiffen the unit whilst I formed the shape. Once this had been formed I marked out where the rear drivers would foul and cut this out. The washout plugs were the raised type so I filed those flush and following Mike Edge's technique drilled a 1mm dia hole on the centre of each and again added some lead strip to the inside. Once this was set I drilled the former with a 1.6 dia drill so as just to take the brass away leaving the lead behind. I then added some 0.75mm sq bar into the drilled 1 mm hole, pushed this through the lead and glued them in place. (Photo taken before the washout plugs were added). The cab sides were again half etched so I sweated a piece of brass on the inside. Before adding the cab sides to the footplate I decided to make it up as a unit as the spectacle plate fell on the shaped section of footplate and I wanted to be certain that the curves lined up correctly as there was a distinct absence of any location tabs or mark etc. There is nothing provided for inside the cab at all, so i'll make up a floor, some splasher covers, backhead, doors etc. Thatl'll be next. Dave

I remembered to drill the holes for the compensation pivot before I soldered the spacers in place, sweated the coupling rods together and jointed them after snipping of the excess knuckles and fished out the springs and axle alignment jig. Slid the horn blocks onto each jig shaft and sprung them into position in the frames. Fitted the coupling rods to the outside and retained with a couple of rubber bands while I straightened the guides before soldering them in situ to the frames. At least doing it this way if the axle holes were a little out it doesn't matter as they now exactly match the coupling rods which is the important thing. Fitted the valances and lower front footplate extension to the footplate and checked for flatness. With wheels on to check all moved freely. As you can see there's not much room between the front 2 axle wheel rims, I had to re drill the brake hanger holes in between as they were a little off. At least the valence slots line up nicely with the axle centres now (difficult to see from the photo). Onto the boiler, firebox, cab assemblies next. Dave

If anyone's interested there's a short film on you tube that shows a build of a Claughton in 1913, I can't seem to add a link but search under "A Visit to Locomotive Works, Crewe (1913) | Railways on Film"

The brake and valve gear are a little skinny, I'm anticipating some frustrating times if I get there. There is plenty of other modification work to do to other items too. The spectacle plate needs cutting for the rear drivers along with the base of the firebox for the drive wheel clash too. Fortunately the boiler, firebox, smokebox seem to be ok dimensionally. You're right there is something satisfying about getting a poor kit moving. It was a shame Brassmasters never produced a Claughton.

This is the footplate, clearly a problem with no allowance at all for the driving wheels, so once again using the drawing I drew around the outer rim of the wheels to ascertain where the cuts needed to start and finish. The width required was measured off the pair of wheels on an axle (i'm using markits wheels for this) with an allowance for some side travel. 10 minutes with a slitting disc and files ended up with something looking a bit better. Next I wanted to get the basic chassis together so that I could drill both footplate and frame spacers for fixing holes. The frames hot off the fret are not too bad, the axle centres are ok (it's actually the drawing that was a little out on the centre axle), the only 2 modifications required was to shorten the front by about 2.5mm and to take about 1mm from the top all the way along as it would have meant the footplate sitting too high. I also cut out the frames for the horn blocks to the front 2 axles. The frames as on the prototype are quite shallow and the horn blocks will sit below the frame bottom. I cut off the springs and have retained these for soldering back onto the horn block later. There are only screw together frame spacers with the kit so i'll make up a few from strip. I have also to drill holes for the pivot point for the compensation beam then I can get the chassis made up. Dave