Battledown

One other thing, solder the cast axle-boxes to the sides first, then assemble the bogie frames to the stretchers using some old axles or 2mm steel rod to hold it all square. You may need to ream the axle-boxes out slightly to get the bogie running freely - but not too much!

Follow the instructions and use the middle spring lamination as a datum to build a simple jig from an old offset of wood to build the spring/equalising beam assemblies.

My Lucknow and as-built Caledonian 812 both arrived the day after receiving respective emails from Rails. Both arrived in one piece having been packed really well and are good runners, so Christmas came early for me. As others say, the service is excellent.

Next up is the loco chassis. Again, this uses simple compensation with twin beams between the drivers and the bogie as the fixed element. This works well enough and leaves room for the Stephenson valve gear, the eccentrics, rods and guides for which come in a separate kit. The kit certainly packs a lot of detail with the bogie alone having 18 etched parts and four cast axle-bearings. These build up into an accurate representation of the prototype, albeit with rigid axles, the springs and compensation beams being purely cosmetic. The only springing on the model is for side control. Moving onto the main frames, building up the basic rolling chassis was straight forward. I have an Avonside Chassis 2Pro jig which, though not essential for building a good chassis, pretty much ensures everything is orthogonal and aligned. First job is to build up the coupling rods which are used to jig the hornblocks. These are made up from two laminates each that require gentle filing and fettling to get them looking like one solid piece of metal. A final touch was to represent the lubrication points on the bearing ends. Again, I used shorting strips on the wheels on one side to provide return pick-up. This required me to remove the moulded spacer on the inside face of the Ultrascale wheels so that the shorting strips fit flush. In turn, I chose to use Alan Gibson crankpins as they have countersunk heads rather than the cheeseheads on the Ultrascale ones, which would have stood proud of the rear face of the wheels with the moulded spacer removed. I also fixed the crankpin screws in place with a short piece of 0.33mm wire across the slot and bent 90 degrees into a hole drilled in the wheel. This removes any danger of the crankpin turning and potentially unscrewing during operation.

A few more pictures of the tender. Oh, and I modelled its with the coal door closed! I should point out that I use an Antex temperature controlled solder station for the main work and a London Road Models resistance soldering unit for detail work. I mainly use 5% phosphoric acid flux with C&L 145 deg or 188 deg solder for brass and nickel silver and low melt solder with Carrs red label flux for white metal work. Where there is steel close by, such as when axles and wheels are involved, I use a paste flux which is non-corrosive. I thoroughly clean my work with a 50-50 mix of methylated spirit and water then rinse with fresh water after every session and then dry everything with an old hair dryer. This keeps everything clean and ready for the next session.

The tank is a basic box made up by fitting sides and ends to the platform using tabs and slots. I found that some of some of these were too tight so had to very gently open out the slots with a fine blade and file slight wedges in the tabs. - fiddly and fraught with danger lest one bends or distorts the parts. Unfortunately this is a function of the etching process rather than the design of the kit. The same method is used for the large toolbox at the rear of the tender. The tank top has over 300 rivets that require punching out. You could argue this is a needless exercise as they cannot be seen once the tender is filled with a coal load but, you know how it is, I knew they would be there so punched them out anyway. I have tried a number of methods in the past, including specially made gravity riveting tools from the likes of Eileen's Emporium, but found that the best method for me is a hardened map pin and a small hammer - sometimes the old ways are the best! Once the tank top is fitted there comes the tender coping. This has to be formed from very thin etchings so great care is required. In fact that is a feature of all Martin Finney designed kits in that they use very soft brass so it is easy to distort parts if you are not careful. The instructions for the coping are very clear, requiring some steel rodding, hardish rubber and a small vice. It is important to make sure all tools and parts are absolutely clean with no bits of grit or swarf otherwise you end up with pockmarks or dents. It is not as hard as it sounds, believe me. After that, it is relatively plain sailing with final detailing of the tank top/coal space, front platform and buffer beam, plus fitting lamp irons. The lamp irons have no reference marks so care is required in getting them in the right place and square. As with all of Martin Finney designed kits, no detailing is left out - there are even etched padlocks for the toolboxes.

Yes, but only just - but I (and now you) know they are there!

I always build the tender first. That way I soon have something to show for my efforts thus providing incentive to keep going when problems arise later. The tender chassis comprises and inner frame assembly with simple bean compensation. It is also formed to represent the lower part of the water tank with rivets and plumbing included. Break rigging is also attached to the inner frames providing a complete running assembly around which everything else is built. The outside frames, valences and drag/buffer beams are a separate assembly that the inside frames fit into - all very straightforward but, as is ever the case, care is needed to ensure everything is true and square. The wheels are Ultrascale 3' 7" so are slightly undersize for the prototype 3' 9". This does not show in the final model, although I did need to space the inside chassis frames from the underneath of outer frame platform with a couple of pieces of 0.33mm brass wire to achieve the correct ride height. I had decided to use the 'American' method for current pick-up so used shorting strips on the wheels on one side, countering these with spacing washers of the same thickness to counter this and make sure everything ran concentric. In case you don't realise from the photos it is built to P4 standards so these things have a much greater bearing on how well it all runs when complete.

Yes please, I'm sure lots of us would be even if its after the event. Every build helps others (certainly me ) to then work out how to do things. I have made a start on Modelling Zone / Skills & Knowledge / Kitbuilding & Scratchbuilding and title it 'Adams T3 Kit Build - Retrospective Ramblings.

Following a request from others on another thread, I thought I would post a few words and pictures about the Brassmasters (ex-Martin Finney) T3 I built. I have long admired these elegant locomotives that represent the zenith of William Adams' long and distinguished career and bought a kit from Martin Finney many years ago. Retirement and and Covid Lockdown afforded me the time to get on with some serious modelling so out of the cupboard it came. I had also already procured Ultrascale wheels, motor and gearbox so had everything I needed to get on with it. So, no excuses! Some say that Martin Finney's kits are not for the faint-hearted and when you look at all the etched frets, castings and other parts that go together to build such kits, it can look a little daunting. However, I had built a couple of his other kits before so there was also eagerness to make a start. Workbench and kit at the ready All the parts for the locomotive laid out Next up building the tender.

That looks nice will you be sharing your build of this (Brassmasters?) Yes, it is Brassmasters. I have not kept a log of the build - I actually built the tender about 4 years ago and have not done anything to the loco for about 2 years, choosing instead to build a Brassmasters T3. Again, no article but I do have photos of the various build stages to which I could add a few notes if anyone is interested. Obviously, this would be on a new thread.

LSWR locos had thicker stanchions lower down - represented in 4mm scale by 0.7mm wire at the bottom and 0.45mm wire at the top. Those that only came up to hold height, such as on tenders or tank engines, were often tapered - in 4mm scale represented by 0.7mm wire tapered by spinning in a mini drill against emery paper. Here's a phot of how I have done it on a LSWR L11 I am building.

I received my as-built Caley blue model today. I haven't run it yet but, on first inspection, I have to say I am generally pleased in spite of my initial reservations. Yes, the tender copings are over-scale but it is not obvious in the flesh, especially as the tender bulkheads are relatively thin. The livery is beautifully applied and the satin finish is perfect. The only thing I will address is to replace the oversized plastic cab stanchions with nickel silver wire, everything else I can live with. I may commission some etched brass cab-side number plates - the printed ones are accurate but don't look right because they are flush. I am at a loss to understand why the Improved Precedent will come with them, but this one doesn't.

A London & South Western Railway Adams T3 in circa 1894 condition. Built in P4 from a Martin Finney / Brassmasters kit.

Being a lover and modeller/cpllector of pre-grouping locomotives, I have the Improved Precedent 'Lucknow' and the as-built Jumbo on order. Looking at photos of the two you would be forgiven for thinking they are from different manufacturers, which I guess they are in that I cannot believe they come from the same factory in China. The Precedent looks as close to an out-of-the box finescale model as can be expected for plastic and cast metal, whereas the Jumbo looks like a toy train that has been tarted up - way overscale tender coping, cabsides, cab handrails and smokebox dart, over-sized handrail knobs. It just looks too toy train like. As a keen kit builder and modeller I will be able to address most of these issues if the actual model turns out to be as per the photographs. Even though I can afford it, I resent having to do this to such an expensive model seeing that Bachmann and Rails can and do produce better. That said, building pre-grouping models from kits is even more expensive. I have recently completed an etched brass Adams T3 which actually cost me about £300 and over 500 hours of my time - a price I am happy and able to pay for such a great hobby.

I received mine yesterday - no mechanical faults or bits loose / missing as far as I can see. However, a couple of niggles are that the dome, safety valve casing and whistle stick out as being too bright - more gold than brass. Also, I had bought some etched workplates and cab side numbers in advance but the painted ones are the wrong size and so will show beneath the etched versions, which are the correct size. Small details that may not bother most people but I reckon that Hattons did a much better job with the P Class. There are no cosmetic couplings but I am happy to make my own. I also replace cosmetic coal loads so am happy that the tender/tank top details are under the plastic coal that comes with the loco. I'm not sure what to do about the bright dome etc or oversize numbers and workplaces so will probably have to live with them. 8 out of 10 for me.

I love looking at and admiring other people's models and there has been a lot to admire on this thread. For what it is worth, here is a LSWR M7 Motortank and 0415 Radial Tank, both built from Martin Finney kits, and a Black Hawthorn built from a High Level kit, all in P4. It can be a bit deflating when close up photos show all those blemishes and where things don't quite fit, so a bit more work is required before painting. Then the real challenge is to reproduce the Drummond livery to an acceptable standard on the LSWR locos - maybe something a bit simpler for the Black Hawthorn!

I did wonder but seem to also remember reading in a review that the motor is partially visible on the Bachmann SECR C Class. I hope yo are right as I fancy one of these - more for the livery than anything else.

That large missing lower section of the boiler makes me nervous. Does that indicate that the motor is going to be exposed and obvious? If so, it would seriously distract from what otherwise looks to be an excellent model.