jdb82

With the troublesome rods left to one side for now (cross that bridge when I get to it comes to mind!), attention has turned to the chassis frames. Parts have been cut out, de-burred and cleaned up before work today, ready to solder up this evening.

I have 2 options sitting in the drawer: a Slaters pre-assembled 38:1 with Mashima (a smallish one, the same as I used in the Hudswell Clarke) motor, or an1833 mashima with 40:1 Gateneal fold-up gearbox. I like the idea of the extra beef of the 1833, but not sure if it will fit yet. The Slaters unit is smooth, but I'm concerned about the small size of the motor once the loco is attached to a train of wagons. That being said, there's no prospect of the loco actually running on anything as yet; a layout seems a long way off! I have a drawing of the loco (not of the kit) which I have resized to 7mm scale. I'll superimpose the motor/gearbox combinations onto it and see which one fits. That's always assuming the kit has followed the prototype's dimensions! Should give me a rough idea at least.

I'm holding off on the pickup method decision for the minute. I like the idea of experimenting with plungers, as I haven't used them before, but I wasn't organised enough to bring any back out with me when I went home last. I have a few other bits I want, so I shall add them to my list to be delivered to my parents, and then get my parents to send a box of bits my way. I think I shall already have the chassis made up by then though, so any holes will need to be drilled with the frames made up. Not ideal, but hey ho. Turns out that planning ahead is a good thing to do before starting! Who'd have thought......

One day, turning a bush will be an option.....just need a lathe first ;-) I'll build up the chassis and see where we're at. If more surgery is needed, then as you say, it's good for the skills portfolio!

And all soldered up. You can clearly see the size difference of the crank pin holes in the lower rod, right hand end

Hi Giles, what material is underneath the workpiece - does the mill cut into this too? I keep looking at this and other CNC threads, and am becoming more and more tempted!

Spent a while yesterday straightening out the coupling rods. First, I unsoldered the laminates - as part of the front laminate is half-etched, it creased when everything twisted. A combination of pliers, vice and a small hammer largely straightened things out. Thought it best to finish opening out the holes whilst they were still in separate layers, as it's easier for the broach to cut. This proved tricky though, as the right hand end of the top layer, which was thinner anyway where it joins onto the half-etched part of the rod, was very weak due to the bending back and forth. Once I was satisfied the repairs were as good as they were going to get (and as the closeup shows, they're not perfect), I soldered the layers back together again. Using the good coupling rods, I set up the chassis jig. Then I tried sliding the repaired rods on, and as was alluded to by N15class, discovered the rod had become longer as the metal has stretched in the twisting and subsequent attack with the hammer. It wasn't an enormous growth, but enough for it not to fir onto the jig. For now, I have just opened up the hole some more to allow it to fit - time will tell if this has introduced too much slop to allow the chassis to run smoothly once it's up and running. If so, I shall follow doilum's sound advice and fill & re-drill the hole in the correct place.

Good plan, thanks for the tip. As the front layer of the laminate is half etched, this part has creased a little. I have unsoldered the layers to enable me to get to the crease line - I'll attack it with a hammer in the next couple of days to see what I can straighten. Good point about this lengthening the rod though - I hadn't thought of that. I'll check when I get, back, but the frets are pretty tightly packed - there might be enough just below the chassis frames, but looking at it from this photo, it'll be tight. Good to know I'm not the only one to have done this!

I'm not sure that "Oh bother" quite covers this one..... Whilst opening out the hole in the coupling rod to accept the Slater's crankpin bush, a momentary lapse in concentration allowed the broach to snag the metal, which then twisted. A lot. . Plan of action: Step away from the bench for a while! Then once the blue mist has settled, see if it can be straightened out with pliers, vice and anything else then I can find to perform magic with.... If that fails, I think I'll be making a new rod from scratch, using one of the straight ones as a template. 'twill be good experience of scratch building if nothing else! This is where my location rears it's head again. I do not have a sheet of nickel silver to craft a new rod from. If I was back home, I could order a sheet of nickel silver and it would arrive in a couple of days. Here, unless I butcher a spare nickel silver chassis frame which I had earmarked for another project in the future, I only have a sheet of brass, which is not ideal for the strength needed for a coupling rod. @N15Class.....you've just straightened out a pretty large dent - this must be a walk in the park in comparison - right?

Magic is indeed the word! You're never know anything had happened to it in the first place. Nicely done!

Haha...it was very early this morning I wrote that! Yes 3/16"......

Yeah, I noticed this when I was reading about the loco in a couple of different books. A rarely these days, but the kit was supplied with the wheels (upon my request) to make the buying of things easier whilst not in the UK. There was a certain amount of naivety in this, as at the time I didn't know any different. There are a few small bits and pieces I need, so I think I'll have a look on Slaters website and see if there's a 3'6" version available and get them and the other things I need shipped out. I'm always a bit reluctant to do this though, as the only reliable method of getting them to Brunei is by courier, which costs a small fortune. Standard post takes about 8 weeks out here, and even then there's a good chance it won't arrive at all! Just standard 3/8inch, 7mm axels - although I'll be using Slaters wheels, it's an Agenoria kit, not a Slaters one :-) I like the idea of the plunger pickups though - not having used them before, it would be a good time to experiment.

This is another Agenoria kit - number 23, so one from the Pete Stamper era. I'm hoping it will go together as well as the Hudswell Clarke

After a check of the contents revealed everything was present, it was down to work. I even scored Browny points with my wife as she saw me actually reading the instructions first. I then promptly ignored them. Or at lease re-ordered them. Following the advice received from my last build, I decided to start with the coupling rods and get a working chassis before starting the body. I laminated the rods which are of a 3 layer laminate design, soldered, filed and polished. The kit supplies brasses for the joints as a brass etch, but these are way too small, and so I made some larger versions from some waste etch. These were then soldered on, although the one in the top right in the photo needs straightening up. I find setting little targets is a good way to improve - having looked at numerous threads on RMWeb and WT, I will be striving to solder and clean up to a higher standard this time round. The work I see in photos from people such as PAD, Jazz, Nick Dunhill & Sandy Harper to name but a few (please don't be offended if you are not listed here!!!) is something I aspire to, so where better to start attempting to achieve this than here?!

Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0 And so to the next project! When I bought my previous kit, the Hudswell Clarke canal tank, I also purchased a Manning Wardle Class L 0-6-0. It was billed as another fairly straight forwards kit, which would be great for building my skillset. I also have an increasingly voracious penchant (if such a thing exists) for a Manning Wardle loco, so needed no further persuasion to add this to my shopping basket whilst I was doing. The loco I intend to model will be no.1394, 'Bamburgh', and will be in 7mm scale. Bamburgh was the original, and for some time only locomotive on the North Sunderland Railway. The NSR opened in the 1890's, serving just a handful of small communities alongs it's 4 mile stretch. It was hoped that a combination of tourism and fish from the busy port at Seahouses would keep the line profitable, but this was never to be, and it suffered constant financial difficulties until it's eventual closure in 1951. 'Bamburgh' was used throughout this time to haul short passenger trains, as well as an assortment of freight wagons. Harman describes in his book the livery as being a "light green, lined out with broad black lines edged in white. So that'll be interesting when I get to that stage!! Thoroughly looking forward to this one, and hopefully some of the experience gained from building the canal tank will make parts of this one more straightforwards!

Looks great! Good to see another version of what I built, as they seem quite few and far between. I wish I'd have added the coupling chains on before painting - mine will be really tricky to fit without scratching the paintwork

A fine looking model! How you manage to achieve such a high level of detail and accuracy in something so small, I can only wonder!

Mmmmm.....me thinks I need to change mine - the ones I have are relatively soft it seems; fine for polishing brass but no good for removing much. They came as a refill pack of 10 from Eileen's. I shall try somewhere else!

Forgot to say in my previous post, but hats off to Pete Stamper for designing an awesome kit - I can't think of very much that I had to alter or change; everything went together beautifully!

I can imagine it would! I think with my next project, I’ll make as much of it detachable as possible to make painting easier. One of the reasons I choose Hamburg to model is that it didn’t need lining. Several other Canal class locos were lined - I found just a simple black coat enough of a challenge! Maybe I’ll try lining next time.... Incidentally, do you have a thread for your canal class on here?

Roof has been attended to - as you say, just a gentle bend with the fingers. The buffers I will smooth out - gonna be away for the next few days if all goes to plan, but will get onto it when I get back. Thanks for all your help and advice over the last few months!

And so comes to an end(ish) my first kit build. There are still a couple of bits to do - altering some of the weathering in a couple of places that the closeup photos have revealed to be not as intended (although I didn't see these whilst I was painting it!), and also I still need to add couplings and vacuum pipes, neither of which I can purchase here in Brunei. I may attempt to make some from scratch at some stage. For a first go, I'm pretty 'chuffed' with it to be honest! Thanks for all the help and advice from everyone who has contributed - I have learnt a huge amount (and still plenty to learn)! Painting and weathering still remain top of my skills list that I need to acquire - it looks great from a distance, but not sure it would pass muster against the pros...... Having worked on the wheels a bit, she runs really well, on the one piece of uninterrupted straight piece of track I have. Maybe one day it can have a go on a proper layout. Next up is a Manning Wardle L Class, also from the Agenoria range. With a baby on the way, I have a deadline of mid-September to get it completed by before modelling time becomes even more restricted than it already is!

Thanks Gordon, Just in the process of weathering her now, so will get to work with the grey weathering powders :-)

You know you're getting close to the end when the name plates go on :-) I made a little card template to ensure the plates were level and in the same place on both tanks. A small dab of Araldite was used to stick the plates to the tank, and held there for a few moments until the card template could be pulled away. Also installed the various elements of the cab. Now for the washes on the tanks and boiler.

mmmm.... food for thought. Does the weathering powered not get worn off after a while?