jdb82

As you know if you followed my previous build, painting is something that is not top of my confidence, or proficiency, list. Therefore I aim to make it as simple as possible! The cab of small locos such as this make painting and weathering the interior cab a little fiddly, so I’m trying to work out what to attach now, and what to leave out and epoxy in place later on. I thought the best way to do that would be to gather all the cab parts and see what I’ve got. The firebox came pre-rolled, but the apex of the curve was nowhere near where it should have been, so I re-did it before soldering to the backhead and roundin off the edges. The rivets were dimpled out after soldering the two pieces to try and prevent quite as much distorting of the blackhead. Must get myself a GW models riveter one day..... The inner bunkers, bunker doors and hand break stanchion were made up next. I will probably solder these to the cab before I solder the cab to the running plate (just placed there currently). The cab floor is causing me some concern though. It doesn’t extend all the way to the front of the cab - it stops when it reaches where the firebox will go. Also, the gaps left for the leaf suspension seem overly large to me, however I don’t have any prototype photos of the inner cab to compare them to. If anyone has any to hand, please drop me a line!

This may be a bit of a long shot, but does anyone know where I might find any photos of the inside of the cab, particularly the back head, of a Manning Wardle L Class? I’m currently building one, and have a number of external photos, but none of inside the cab. A Google search gleaned limited results, and nothing that was definitely from an L Class. Any suggestions, or indeed photos, would be great fully received! Many thanks, John

Onto the cab next - the thing I'm not so keen about the L class in comparison to some of the other MW classes is the size of the cab. I think it looks rather oversized given the rest of the loco is pretty small really. Anywhoos, the cab front & sides, cab back and bunker plate were cut off from the fret, de-tabbed and cleaned up. The cab sides just fold back from the cab front, and locate in the slots provided in the foot plate. I used rubber bands to provide a light inward pressure to retain the back bunker plate. This needed rolling to create a curve to match the profile of the sides, and was done in the time honoured way of using something cylindrical on a soft surface. I envy those with rollers. Once the curve was correct, it was soldered in place and the bottom was filed off level as there was a little overhang. Next, the cab back was soldered in, being careful to ensure it was square and vertical. The cab is currently just placed on the running plate whilst I work out what parts might be easier to add before fixing it down! I've also left the parts on the fret that were placed inside the cab openings attached for now to provide a bit of extra support. I'll snip them off once everything is soldered together.

Buffers and coupling hooks were the order of today. The coupling hooks were straightforwards, although the screw link couplings are not sprung as they are intended to be as there is not enough space behind the buffer beam; it's only a dinky little loco. The buffers should have been straightforwards too, but I discovered a snag before I got very far. The buffers I am using are sprung, and therefore need a nut to retain everything behind the buffer beam. Part of the buffer is designed to go through the hole in the beam, however, the hole is too small for the buffer unit by almost 2mm. As you can see from the photo below the hole is tight up against the footplate, so enlarging the hole wasn't an option. Undeterred, I thought of simply reducing the diameter of this part of the buffer as it would be unseen under the footplate. Out came the drill and the file once more (see previous post) to 'file' off the 2mm required. I hadn't taken into account that the bore of the buffer maybe more than the hole in the end at the back..... it soon sheered off. The solution seemed simple: cut off the back of each of the buffer units, cut the top off them, and then solder them onto the back of the buffer beam. Then the unit can be used as intended. All 4 were prepared, and then soldered onto the beams. A bit more cleaning up is required, as I couldn't solder these from behind. Before surgery and after All 4 prepared - the one on the right is smaller as I'd already reduced this with the drill/file. It will be underneath, so it won't be seen. The rear of the buffer unit that was cut off was soldered onto the back of the buffer beam. Then I realised that there's no room for the retaining nut on the back of the buffer as it's too close to the running plate, so a pin will be used instead. I have seen a design for a 'self-contained' sprung buffer unit, which would have made all the modifications described above unneeded, but I just don't have the kit to make one. And just for the record, Barnsley are top of the league after a thumping 4-0 opening day win. Thought I'd mention it, as I'm unlikely to be able to say this again for quite a while. Off for a couple of days away in Miri across the border, so the bench will be lonely until later this week.

Laminating is not always my favourite part of the process, but today it's gone rather well. All 6 springs have been soldered and cleaned up. The sprung clip has rapidly become an essential part of my toolbox, and often acts as my 'third hand'. The orange paper is used to prevent the plastic covering from melting on to the metal and making a mess.

So to the Westinghouse air reservoir. A lathe would have made this job a whole lot easier! Having cut the required length from the length of copper pipe, I then wanted to try and thin the pipe wall as it was about 1.5mm thick - way too much to be a scale thickness. The pipe was too wide to fit the chuck of my drill, so I needed to find an alternative way of holding the workpiece. My solution was a bit Heath Robinson, but did the trick. 3 rubber bands wound round the handle of my craft knife was enough to hold it. I held the drill between my legs whilst holding a file against the spinning tube, and finished it off with some fairly coarse we and dry. I reckon I took about half the thickness of the wall off. Next, I soldered 2 sheets of brass together and cut the circular ends of the reservoir with a piercing saw, before finishing off with files. These were soldered into the ends of the pipe; the thickness of a coffee stirrer indented one end from the edge, and a piece of scrap etch folded to the correct length and inserted into the tube held the other end in the correct position whilst it was soldered. Retaining bands were formed again from strips of waste etch that just happened to be the correct width. These were then marked and punched for rivets, although I didn't half drill them first, and so they are not as defined as I would have liked. They were then soldered on to the copper tube, which turned out to be harder work than originally thought as the tube still has relatively thick walls, and being copper was quite a heat sink. These turned out to be a little chunkier than I would have liked - half etch would have been better, but I don't have and metal sheet, or scrap, that thin unfortunately. I decided to keep it, as most of it will be hidden under the loco anyway. The outlet pipe (or is it an inlet?) from the right hand side of the cylinder was made with a 16ba nut and nickel silver wire, bent to the appropriate shape just with pliers. The mounting brackets to attach it all to the chassis were made by simply soldering a 14ba nut onto the top of the retaining bands. Slots were cut into the frame spacer above and 12ba bolts inserted through this, and screwed into the corresponding nut. Loctite and solder should prevent them from going anywhere! Here's the finished thing, and installed onto the loco. It is a little oversized from the prototype's dimensions, but unless anyone looks at the loco with a photo in their hand to compare it to, I'm not sure anyone would know. Thoroughly enjoying this holiday - modelling and badminton in the background. What better combination could you ask for?!

I was browsing through the photos of Bamburgh after I posted yesterday, and noticed that unlike the valances provided with the kit, they have a curved 'L' shape at each end. As you can see from the photos in my previous post, the valances provided with the kit are just straight. Manning Wardle produced so many variations of their locos, not to mention all the modifications made by owners, that there's no way each one can be covered in a single kit. This is good for a modeller such as myself, as it forces a bit of scratch building! I began by finding a suitable strip of scrap etch. I soldered 4 pieces together with the intention of making sure all were the same shape and size. Next, I marked out the the shape to form the brass to. I did contemplate using the piercing saw, but decided to go for a grinding disc in the mini drill instead to shape the profile. Not quite the exact shape of the prototype, but better than the flat valance ends that were provided. Here they are with the layers unsoldered and cleaned up And attached to the valances/buffer beams

Rear buffer beam and valances soldered on and cleaned up. And underneath... May go back to the chassis next and have a play with creating the air reservoir for the Westinghouse system. I found some copper pipe. Shame they only sold it by the meter - I need approximately 2.5cm. Plenty of spare if I mess up the first one or two. In fact I have enough to make 40 of them!

Sprung buffers were provided with the kit - I haven't offered them up yet, but they should fit without too many problems

I have a few photos and a couple of drawings of Bamburgh, and it seems as though the beams were steel (have a look at the photos in post #213 and see what you think). As you rightly point out, the beams come above the footplate, and the kit follows this as per the prototype

Don't think I'm going to be winning any kind of speed modelling competition! Spent this evening making a start on the running plate. The buffer beams come in 2 pieces: a full thickness layer, followed by a half-etch top layer with rivet details etc. Can't help thinking they look a bit on the thin side. I did toy with adding an extra layer, but thought better of it in the end and will just stick to the kit design. I held the layers together with sprung clips whilst I tack soldered them in place, before attempting to use minimal solder to finish it off. My last build I used way too much solder, so this time I'm attempting to rectify that. And after a clean up: I then dimpled out the row of rivets just behind the front buffer beam, and moved on to the back buffer beam. Only added the initial layer before I ran out of time. After cleaning up and giving it a couple of grades of Gariflex, I'm pretty pleased with improvements made from my first build in terms of keeping everything neat, tidy and clean. Wonder how long it will last..... Even underneath looks OK!

I know how you feel. I've managed a small 0-6-0 chassis, which still isn't totally finished and thats taken me since the beginning of April to get done. Some people can put that together in a couple of sessions!

Looking lovely! Very tidy work

Gents, The frames, bushes and rods were all constructed using the MasterChassis jig, so everything should(?!) be square and parallel. I think the issue came about when the rod was elongated after it's repair. All seems good currently though :-) John

Wise words of wisdom as always, very much appreciated :-) For now, it seems to have done the trick - for how long, we shall see!!

And so while I wait for an opportunity to nip out and get some copper pipe for the air reservoir (currently in the middle of a biblical storm), I have made a start removing, de-burring, de-tabbing and polishing the main running plate pieces.

Heatproof silicone pan mats for use in the kitchen, are great if you cut them up, and use squares/strips to protect your fingers whilst holding items when soldering things.

I seem to have sorted the tight spot this afternoon - I found the spot that was causing the problem, and just carefully elongated the hole in the coupling rod. I also thinned down the bush a little, by spinning it in the mini drill and applying gentle pressure with a file on the bush. Having put it all back together again, it seems to have cured the problem. Let's see if it stays sorted after painting!

I actually had to check through my previous posts before starting work on the MW again this week to see where I had got to! Trips abroad and in-laws now behind me, I can look forwards to a summer of good progress on the build (there are some benefits to being a teacher!). I may have to share my time between building cots, changing tables and painting the nursery, but I'll be spending as much time as possible at the bench before baby JDB82 evicts me from the current room in September ;-) So job number 1 was to find the tight spot and sort that out. I attached the rods to the wheels with the newly tapped 10BA bushes. This was the first time I had them on since attaching the brake pull rod to the brake blocks. Having followed the instructions to fit them "as close to the wheels without touching", I realised I had made (another) rookie mistake...... I did not check that the pull rod would foul the coupling rods as they reached the high point of their arc. In my impatience to make things look good, I had already snipped off the wires that the pulls rods were mounted on. Grrrr.... The two rods only just clashed, but something had to be done. Moving the pull rod out further was only an option if I dismantled the brake blocks and hangers; although this is what I should have done, it seemed like a lot of work when there was an easier solution, albeit probably not one for the purists. Adding a couple of extra washers between the face of the wheel and the coupling rod was enough to move the coupling rod out and away from hitting the brake pull rod. Not a modification that you would particularly notice unless you went looking for it, or knew it had been done. Although now, you all know it's been done...... I then soldered these washers together to make it more visually appealing if you happen to go looking underneath. Repeat x6. Next to the rods. In my previous post I had talked about making up rods I had purchased back in the UK. One side was made up successfully - neat, accurate and fitting the jig (left set up from earlier in the build. Things were looking good. Round 1 to me. I think I may be making a 'rod' for my own back on this build. Having mangled one rod back in April, you'd have thought I would have learnt to be more careful. Round 2 to the 2nd rod. For some inexplicable reason, I decided to open out the crank pin bush hole with a drill (as I had for the first side), however rather than wait until all 3 layers were laminated and strong, I drilled it out (or tried to) when they were still single layers on the fret. Bad move. Predictably. Which makes it even more annoying. Still, I won't do it again! I am learning from my mistakes, in that I haven't repeated the same thing twice. I'm just finding lots of different ways to make other mistakes!! To complete the chassis details, I need to obtain some 10 or 12mm tube for the air reservoir for the Westinghouse brake system. This hangs from the chassis at the back, underneath bunker. In the absence of any brass tube being obtainable here, I'll have a trip down to the local hardware shop and see what copper plumbing pipe they have.

I checked where I got my decal paper from - www.mrdecalpaper.co.uk This takes you to their eBay store. Haven't tried it yet, so can't comment on it's effectiveness, particularly with smaller creations. As Globbler says, to a certain extent it'll come down to your printers resolution.

Somewhere in the depth of my cupboard, I have some inkjet transfer paper that I bought a while ago. Can’t remember where I bought it from - I’m away at the moment, but when I get back in a few days, I’ll have a look because I’m sure it has the sellers details on the envelope it came in. Almost certain it was an eBay purchase. I’ve never used it, so I don’t know what kind of quality they will be, but it might be worth a go. You simply design the decal on your favourite software and print it as though you were printing to standard paper. I’ll message you with any details I find in a few days John

I think I'm turning a deep shade of green with envy! I'm lucky if I managed to sneak 2-3 hours a week at the moment!

Had a good amount of time this weekend to work on the MW, and now the chassis is pretty much complete, although I've still not had much of a go at sorting the slight tight spot seen on the last video. I finished tapping the wheels and crankpin bushes, and added the brake pull rods on either side and cleaned them up. The sand pipes both front and back were relatively straightforwards. The guard irons on this kit are separate to the chassis, and are attached with nickel wire, which also doubles up as bolts. It was easier to pass wire all the way through the chassis and thread the guard irons on to make sure they went on straight. The tight spot needs some thought. It's not really tight, but you can here the difference in sound in the motor when it reaches it. The problem likely lies in one of two places. a) after I bent it through 90 degrees, the repair stretched one rod, making it too long. I opened up the holes to allow it to fit. or b) A couple of the crank pins are not totally perpendicular to the wheel face - not sure if that's happened when I tapped it, or if the hole wasn't right to start with... In my last shipment, I ordered some Manning Wardle coupling rods from Slaters, which should be the right size. I'm going to make these up just to see what happens. Can't do any harm!