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brightspark

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  1. brightspark
    Hi all,
    Superpig number ten (73010) is now complete.

    In the month or so since the last blog (actually a bit longer than that as I take a few days to write up this nonsense) I have managed to find a few quiet hours to complete number ten.
    Lets have a look a look around the loco and I will describe what has been done.

    Pipework, made out of various gauges of copper wire has been applied using a copy of a BR drawing obtained from NRM at York. (See previous blog entries). Basically it shows where all the pipes go and how they connect.

    The various boiler fittings are from Alan Gibson. These are cast brass items, the only complaint that I have is that they are really hard to drill into.

    The safety valves come from Branchlines and are included in their conversion kit.

    The clack valves on this model are from Markits. I am still undecided about them. They are much larger the home-spun ones that I used on 76009. They now look a little weedy. Has anyone got a drawing, or happen to be able to measure one?

    The plastic regulator rod has been replaced by a brass wire. The actuating lever on the side of the boiler was also made up from scrap metal. I think an improvement on the Dapol offering, which seems to be not as crisp as the older mouldings from Rosebud and Airfix.

    The loco spent an hour or so circulating the test track at ExpoEM. So it is well run in and proven. The only fault that came up was an annoying clicking noise with the loco in reverse. Investigation found this to be the speedometer touching its crank that had got out of position after I had removed and replaced the body to show off the motor installation.
    Anyway the crew are happy with it and can’t wait to try it out in service.

    A little peek inside the cab shows that in addition the crew I have put a bit more detail into this model. It certainly seems to add ‘weight’ to the appearance of the model. 76009 will now have to be upgraded to match.

    The crew are my own white metal castings. I wanted to see what I could do with casting, and I am very pleased with the results. My aim was to produce some figures in more natural poses based on published photos.
     
    A little gimmick I am trying out on this loco is a mechanism hidden in the tender to facilitate uncoupling the AJ anywhere on the layout. This is a simple lever with a paperclip on it arranged so that when I place a magnet onto the coal in the tender, it pushes the AJ down and so uncouples.

    Here it is, doing its thing.

    There isn’t much movement, so don’t get too excited. The pencil is pushing the paperclip up by the way.
    Of course there are a few errors. I am unsure about the position of some of the handrail knobs, pipes that are not quite at the correct angle etc. But I think that I am seeing more errors than really matter besides which you have to stop somewhere. My old art teacher used to say that many of her students used to ruin their artwork by stopping too late. With that thought in mind I will stick to the “three foot rule” and move onto the next project.

    The last picture shows 76010 ready to go into action with its Bournemouth Headcode.

    Moving on is to the DJH standard class 5. This was mentioned in the last entry.
    I won’t go into too much detail here, as I have entered this into the build a loco kit challenge, and you can read all about it there. But suffice to say that progress is happening and I am hopeful of completing it on time. Although it will have to have some major surgery.
    After that there is yet another Superpig, number 11. The chassis is still sat in its packet waiting to be opened.
    I am also pleased to report that we have two invites for Swaynton. So I had better get the standard 5 ready not just by the end of the year but for the Farnham and District show in October. The other show is a tentative invite in late 2016. Which reminds me that I had better update the Swaynton website and start creating a layout thread here on RM Web so that it can appear in the layout directory.
    As the layout hasn’t been out for over a year, it has been decided that a debugging session is required. So a hall has been booked in August so that it can be assembled and tested. More about this soon hopefully in layouts, if not here.
     
    Cheers
     
    Andy
  2. brightspark
    I was hoping by now to have had a working chassis ready for testing on the EMGS test track at ExpoEM south.
     
    However I have not achieved that goal because;
    1. The chassis is almost ready but not quite there yet.
    2. The EMGS Test track is, I believe not going to be at Portsmouth.
    3. It is not ExpoEM South anymore, it is the South Hants Model Railway Club Exhibition
     
    However I will be there on the EMGS stand with the 76010 and 76009 and 76011!
    Yes another one! At the Tolworth Show I acquired another chassis kit. This is a Kemilway chassis circa 1980 an updated version of something that first appeared in 1975. I believe that these were among the first etched chassis to come onto the market.

    Pictures of the Kemilway kit. The packet notes makes interesting reading.
     
    However an update on 76010.
    While the paint was drying on the chassis I made a start on the drive train. I purchased with the kit a Mashima motor and gearbox. I had already assembled the gearbox body and test fitted it to the chassis and to the motor.
    It strikes me that there must be a logical sequence to this and so with help from Mr Rices book I proceed in this manner.
    1st step. Check that the motor is a runner and not a dud. That means connecting it to flying leads and crocodile clips and test it in both directions. It should run smoothly and quietly.
    2 confident that the motor is good we can now go down the route that may invalidate any warranty. Solder on the flying leads that will eventually be installed into the loco. Leads should be a generous length as they can be shortened later. Test the motor to make sure that nothing has gone amiss.
    3. Press on the flywheel making sure that you apply pressure to the shaft of the motor and not the motor body. Test to make sure the flywheel is true and that the motor is happy.
    4. The gear box is already folded up... but I hadn’t installed the intermediate gear so had to open out the gearbox frames slightly to get this in. I don’t use any locking agent to hold the small fixed gear on as it is an interference fit. But to help ease it on and to reduce the chance of galling (burring up in between the shaft and the gear) I take the trouble to freeze the shaft (in the freezer for a few hours) and warm the gear wheel (In the oven while cooking something) before I assemble.
    5. The grub screws tend to push the gear wheels off centre so I filed a flat onto the shaft for the screw to locate against and when happy that it is not too tight lock the screw with a bit of cyno (superglue) on the head.
    6. With that done I then test down each section of the gear box with worm to intermediate gear (primary drive) and then intermediate to the driving axle (secondary drive). So by now I have a smoothly operating gearbox and motor.

    A very blurry picture of testing the meshing of the worm drive (stage one) with a paper packing strip. Is it grinding or is there too much freeplay?

    Checking the freeplay with a cocktail stick.
     
    Next comes the wheels. I use Gibson, because they carry stock. There are better wheels out there, but I would like to get the loco built and running in this lifetime. Gibson wheels have a small hole in them for the self tapping screw to go through. Unfortunetly the screw head fouls the “washer” on the back of the wheel. So I countersink the back so that the screw head sits flat. It may be a good idea to lock these in with a bit of cyno as well. Oh and run some cyno between the tyre (the metal rim) and the plastic centre. Gibson wheel have had a habit of throwing tyres and this is a simple fix. Oh yes and remove any moulding pip on the back of the wheel as well.
    I had a go at blackening the tyres of the wheels using Carrs products. I have not quite mastered this as I get a thick gloop on the wheels. But at this stage I do a general clean up and remove this excess gloop and the wheels don’t too bad.
    With the chassis back from the paint shop I can start assy. First check that the painters didn’t gum up the threads or the coat the bearing faces. If they have clean these up now.
    Now quartering wheels has always been a problem for me, and I have been frustrated for years by being unable to get coupled locomotive wheels to go around. There has been published many accounts and “helpful” advise as to how to achieve this along with so many “skilled”(in that they got wheels to around) modellers who have tried to explain to me how to do it. Fortunatley I have had the wisdom of one excellent craftsman in this field and I think that I have finally managed to unlock the secret. Here is how I now do it.
    1. Buy a GW quartering jig! It is wonderful and does the job (usual disclaimer)
    2. Oh this is where I had a problem...
    You see the weigh shaft mechanism fouls the quartering jig. So it had to be unsoldered. The paint shop foreman is going to have a fit when he gets this back. Anyway the front wheels go on with a thin fibre washer behind them to stop any side play with the risk that the wheel, connecting rod etc will foul the piston assy.
    The middle wheels are assembled without washers as It may be desirable for them to float a bit around corners.
    The rear wheels have washers as they are the driving axle.
    Solder the weigh shaft back on.
     

    The GW quartering jig in action. Except the weighshaft is in the way. Oh well out with the soldering iron.
     
    Now this is the clever bit.
    3. Open out the holes in the coupling rods to fit over the screws. Holes will be about 1mm and open them with a Broach as you can also get the hole square.
    4. Then....and this is the clever bit...working from the driving axle fit the coupling rod upside down and only on the driving wheel and the middle wheel.
    5. Rotate the wheels and chances are you will find a tight spot. The area to look at is the side where the rods are at 3 oclock/ 9 oclock. See which face (fwd or aft) is rubbing against the pin and with a rat tail file, remove a small amount of material. And by small I mean a few strokes of the file. It may also be better to not touch the hole on the driving wheel, so you make all the adjustment on the middle wheel. Keep repeating until the wheels rotate freely.
    How freely? Well first of all you shouldn’t be removing a huge amount of metal from the rods so don’t go looking to make a great big sloppy hole. The model should be able to roll down a slope under it’s own weight without locking up. When you have achieved this, test the motor and make sure the loco move along smoothly.
    Then turn the rods the correct way up and do the same exercise with the remaining wheels.
    And that is basically it. Check that each bit of the model is free running before moving onto the next. So here is the model at it’s current state of play. The pick-ups have been added, and it was very satisfying to see the loco chug along a bit of track under its own power, as well as the brake gear. Con rods are about to be mounted and set up.

    Con rods being checked for free movement. Its a satisfying feeling seeing the loco move off smoothly for the first time.
     
    At the moment it is all boxed up for dabbling with at the Portsmouth show tomorrow (29th Nov 2014). I will have all the models there including some examples of the original Kitmaster. If you are there come and say hello.
     
    Andy
     
    ps I thought that I had taken more photos of this part of the build...but I didn't so apologies.
  3. brightspark
    If you recall at the last missive, I was looking forward to the Chris Kedgley Skills Day, held at West Byfleet. I thought that it went very well and seemed to be enjoyed by all who attended. If there is another, and I hope that there will be, then it will be held possibly further north. However I do hope that another skills day is held at this location again, as an often heard comment at the end of the day was that visitors didn’t get around to seeing everyone as there so much to see and take in.
    The EMGS had a small stand selling the remainder of Chris’s stock (it is slowly going down) as well as some of Ewen Croswelliers collection. I came away with an unmade DJH kit of Standard Class 5. More of that later.
    Superpig 76010 ran around the test track and didn’t let itself down. I threatened it into performing by taking with me a toolbox with all the correct tools just in case it did. There were lots of kind comments about it and 76009 that I also took along as there were one or two people who wanted to see it in the flesh having read about it here.
     

    Picture of 76010 running around the test-track. Someone pointed out that it has no cab...Blooming Rivet Counters.
     
    I have to admit that number ten is an improvement on number nine and there is now a growing list of small modifications that will have be made to bring number nine up to scratch. Notably the addition of sandboxes and opening up the hole in the chimney.
    In the weeks since then progress has been slow. Number ten has spent an awful long time in the paint shop. It seems that there have been a few problems with the painting. However it is now back in the workshop being finished off.
     

    Photos, back from paint. Note that the cab is temporally held on with tape.
     
    I am a lot happier with the paint on ten than I was with number nine. The tender lining is more subtle. I think that it was the use of gloss paint that I then buffed up before applying the transfers. Over this are the satin varnishes. Eventually this will be weathered.
    Next comes the detailing and all that pipe work. Someone at the skills day, who much admires standards, commented that it is this bit that really takes the time and effort. I have to agree, it is the proverbial third half, but an enjoyable one as you can see the model take on the character of the prototype.
    I shall bring both locos with me to ExpoEM where number ten can have another go on the test track. Hopefully looking more complete...perhaps this time with the cab fitted.
    Meanwhile, onto that Class 5.
     

    Photo. A sound purchase.
     
    I have never done a DJH kit, I never thought that I would be good enough, but here I am with such a beast. Ewan had obtained the kit some years ago, the packing list is dated 1989, and it still had the original price tag on it £67.66p. Today this kit retails at £129. To my surprise the kit was not only complete but also had in it a set of Gibson wheels, an alternative front step as well as etches for the number 73052 and the shed 71G. In fact Ewan was so keen on modelling this loco that he had purchased the front number plate twice.
    The first part of building any model is to check out the prototype and before purchase check that the desired model is appropriate for to the period and location. This latter point I didn’t do because of the limited time to purchase, or an impulse buy. The kit makes up into a BR standard class 5 with a BR1, BR1H or BR1G tender.
    My intention is that the loco will run on Swaynton which if you are not aware is a layout based on the line between Bournemouth and Southampton in the first half of 1960.
    The first thing to check out was 73052 and 71G. Here, at first, things didn’t make sense. According to my 1960 copy of Ian Allan loco-spotting book 71G is Weymouth but 73052 was based at Bath. Further reading found that she had spent her whole life at Bath but did run regularly down the Somerset and Dorset line to Bournemouth. Had Ewan got the shed code wrong? A little more research and I found that 71G was indeed Bath shed until the regional reorganisation in 1958 when Bath was transferred from the Southern Region to the Western and Weymouth shed was transferred from the Western to the Southern Regions. At the same this time that the shed codes changed and 71G code transferred from Bath to Weymouth. So Ewan’s plan was to make a Bath based engine, sometime before 1958. Ok so that leaves me with a wrong shed plate or a wrong loco for the chosen period of 1960. 73052 would have only worked into Bournemouth West and so in 1960 would not have gone east of that point and would have been unlikely to have found her way passing through Swaynton.
    So on with the hunt for a suitable prototype to match the kit. That is a Standard Class 5 with either a BR1, BR1H or BR1G tender. Now I knew that class 5’s were based at Nine Elms and worked Waterloo Bournemouth expresses but they all had BR1B tenders.
    I found the website http://www.brdatabase.info/very helpful in this research and soon came up with a list of locomotives that had suitable tenders and had a strong chance of being in the location at the correct period. I ended up with 5 candidates all fitted with BR1 tenders and based at Weymouth. Well at least I have a shed plate for it. They were; 73018, 73020, 73022, 73041 & 73042.
    The question now is did they run east of Bournemouth?
    Fortunately my local library has a large section of railway books and so I took anything that referred to Standard class 5s and also a copy of Goughs working timetables. He has published the WTT for the South-Western Mainline for 1966 which is not too far from 1960. I am still lacking a WTT for 1960 (can anyone help please?) but I can compare this against the passenger timetable for early 1960 and can make a good guess as to the workings. The educated guess is that a Weymouth based Class 5 working turn 442 would take the 3:55pm from Bournemouth Central to Eastleigh arriving at 5:19pm and returning on the 7:22pm (arrives 9:34pm). It also looks like that this is the only working east of Bournemouth for a Weymouth based class 5 as, apart from the workings west all the main movements seem to terminate at Bournemouth West and Central.
    To back this up there is a picture of 73018 at Eastleigh in the “Standard Class 5” book by David Clarke. It has an early emblem and looks like it was taken in either 1959 or 1960. Either way with a photo like that I have a strong candidate for the model. The photo is a good study of the engine and rear of the tender. All I need now is a clear photo of the other side and the front. There is also a photo on David Hays website of 73018 in the New Forest, carrying a Waterloo/ Bournemouth Head code with Blood and custard stock. http://www.davidheyscollection.com/page37.htmfurther evidence that this is a good candidate? It certainly places it in the late 50’s and in the correct location.
    I have been hunting the web for other images and have started to piece together some of the detail changes for 73018 as she was in 1960. The first is that I think she may have still been carrying the Lion Over Wheel emblem on the tender. That no speedometer was fitted and certainly no overhead warning flashes. The steps would have been fitted to the top rear of the tender. ATC would have been fitted and that requires a Battery box, a pipe fixed to the running plate, contact shoe on the front bogie (I need a picture of this) and the circular fitting on top of the exhaust ejector. (Drawing close up picture would be helpful or even if anyone does this as an after market fitting).
    So the next step is to happily hunt through the various photo collections seen at model railway shows and various books with photo essays featuring Weymouth Locomotives. Hopefully I can find some nice pictures 73018 or at least some of the other candidates in service at this date.
    Meanwhile I have started to assemble the loco so as to assess the kit, its fittings and to start making up a shopping list. The white-metal fittings in the kit are ok but there are now finer fittings on the market and so these will be replaced. For a start there will be turned chimney and sprung buffers. Boiler fittings will come from Alan Gibson and I will also need a motor and gearbox. More details and progress next time.
     

    Meanwhile here is a snap of the body, cab and tender roughly formed and tacked together. This is so that I can start to think about how much space I have for motors and gear boxes.
    See you at ExpoEM.
  4. brightspark

    76010 progress

    By brightspark,

    Hello gentle reader,
     
    I had a very pleasurable day showing off 76010 along with 76009 and 76114 at the Southampton show in January where I was helping to man the EM Gauge Society stand. Hopefully a few people went away inspired to have a go at chassis building, making Airfix/Dapol models work and perhaps even dabble in EM or P4.
    But first let’s say hello to the newcomer to the stable. 76114.

    Not a southern engine you may note. I wanted to take with me to demonstrations a model of an Airfix Superpig as it makes up from the box, or should that be bag if you are making up the Dapol kit.

    It is made up as best as I can to the instructions. But there is an awful lot wrong with it, not so much as a model, for that we know both its strengths and shortcomings. But as a toy or more specifically a model kit that makes up into a push-along toy.
    The main problems being the poor moulding of the wheels, the pin lengths in the motion assembly and the location for the fly crank being orientated 180degrees out.
    Which is a shame as I think that Dapol could really make inroads into the area of kids making up a model that they can push along the track? It was the way that many of us started and looking back through old copies of Railway Modeller was a popular means of building cheap model railways and more importantly getting young railway enthusiasts into taking the first steps towards kit building.
     
    Progress on 76010.
     
    76010 has now had removed from its bodywork the various moulded appendages that represent the pipe-work, handrails and lining.

    (I thought that I waould take a photo from this angle and then link it to a picture of 76017 looking very sorry, but taken at the same angle that was on the watercress line website. But as soon as I do it the image is removed.)
     
    The detail pack from Branchlines, containing ladders and steps has been added as well as lamp irons made from scrap etch. The Tender has also received some extra attention. This is to convert it from a Mk2a to a Mk2 (Southern Region). This simply involves removing the fall plates (The two plates either side of the front tender frame), by the cab, making the windows smaller and specifically for the Southern removing the water scoop equipment and covering it with a blanking plate as well as adding the two extra lamp irons. I have also added some extra beading around the bunker edges.

    Some time ago I started thread asking the question as to what the diffrences are between the two types of tender.
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/30296-br-standard-tenders-type-2-type-2a/
    Thanks to those answers I think that I have this pretty much sorted out.
     
    The Tender body is quite accurate if a little clunky. Both the Branchlines and Comet instructions advise modifying the frames. Branchlines suggesting that the frames are cut off and repositioned. Based on the accuracy of the rest of the tender I was suspicious of this advise and found that I didn’t need to do this. I think that the frames are in the correct position and managed to fit EM wheels in without any fettling. I think that the problem may be that the locating pips are too far inboard. If you fix the sides so that they are flush with the ends then you don’t get a step in the body and the frames come out ok. Although I do wonder if the Airfix and Rosebud period mouldings came out thicker. Any way here is a picture of the underside showing (hopefully how much space I have.

     
    Work has also been continuing on the chassis. A quick tour and you can see that in addition to brakes fitted at the last missive, that also a speedometer (Gibson) has been fitted along with a battery box (styrene off-cuts).


     
    Also fitted (well going to be fitted) are the sand pipes and the sand reservoirs. I did not fit the latter to number nine but after seeing this photo of 76017 at the Watercress, I felt that something was missing. So number nine will have these fitted retrospectively. You can see that the front sand box has already been fitted to number 10. The rear one will have to be fitted after the lower body /boiler tray.

    Sand boxes on 76017 (photo from watercress line website)
     
    Now I am having a bit of concern about how to paint the cab. Not only that but also installing the complex pipe-work around and into the cab. I have decided to paint the model first before adding the pipe work and then fitting the cab sides and roof. Any fettling will have to be done later. But as the filled areas will be black and matt black at that I think that I can get away with it.
    The photo below shows the area that will require attention post paint.

    By the way all those little holes are for the pipes that will come out of the cab.
     
    I have also added some rudimentary detail to the cab. For some reason I don’t seem to have to hand a good photo of the cab interior so I have based the blobs on outlines from the drawings I have. It is all hidden away anyway so vague shapes are all that is required. At some point it may get further work. Number nine does look a little bare inside so may also get retrospective treatment in the same area.

     
    This picture also shows how the tender side and front plate should be assembled, that is flush. Also note the arrangement at the rear of the cab. As far as I can make out there are two triangular plates that support the rear handrail/roof support. The speedo and battery box are fixed to a bracket hanging off the chassis.
     

    Here is a photo of the fireman’s office. Note the blanked off plate on the Port side of the tender. The cab in the foreground will have the taps added for the injectors.
    Next task is to send it off to paint and to start the plumbing.
     
    I do have a question though about the painting of the inside of the frames. The photos of 76017 show that the inside of the frames have been painted red. The question I have is does anyone know if this was the practice in 1960?
    Hopefully I am on schedule to have this circulating the test track at the Chris Kedgley skills day next weekend. Maybe I will see some of you there.
  5. brightspark

    Progress on 76010

    By brightspark,

    Dear Reader,
    Happy New Year. I do hope that it is not too late?
     
    Here is a short update on Super-Pig 76010. She now sits on the correct number of wheels and pick-ups have been fitted. Brakes and wheel weights have been added to the loco. The tender has still to get its brakes.

     
    The only area that I had trouble with was the front pony truck. The instructions in the Branchline kit show a spring wire going from the front of the pony truck to a point on the chassis above the pivot screw. This doesn’t work as the wire has the same pivot point as the bogie so there is no leverage. So I have bent the wire so that it fits in a slot just behind the buffer beam and as close as possible above the centre line of the axle. The slot is built up from styrene strips glued to the underside of the body. Hopefully this picture should make sense of it.

    For spring wire I am using 0.010” Guitar wire, available from your local music shop. (I write this as I wish someone had passed this tip onto me some time ago). The springing is set up so that the pony truck self centres and has enough down force to keep the wheels on the rails. Later on when the model is fully assembled and fully weighted I will adjust the springing so that the pony wheels take the same proportion of the model weight as the prototype. This will help guide the locomotive through points and junction work and help ensure smooth running.
    With the chassis almost ready I can now start on the fun part of adding the detail.
     
    So I have started on the body and here are my notes should anyone wish to follow my path.
     
    First of all drill the holes. If you study the photos you may notice that I have managed to drill more holes than is required and have had to do some filling.
    First the footplate

    Lots of little holes around the boiler ouline. Notice how much extra room I have around the gearbox. That is because this chassis is wider for EM. Shows how narrow OO is and it also allows me to get cleaner wire runs and a wider axle bearing
     

    Don’t forget the two lifting holes...hmm they look a little too big in this photo. I will have to check the drawing.
    Then remove the bits that are not required. That is the steps, the tube under the boiler and the two lugs.
     

    Here are the two boiler halves. The top one has had the pipe-work safety valves and handrails removed.
    Leave the steps on. BUT BEFORE REMOVING the handrails drill the hand rail knobs. The moulded knobs are in the correct position so all you have to do is drill down from that point to the centre line of the boiler except for the two positions on the firebox that run more perpendicular to the surface.

    This picture should explain what I mean.
     
    I am also removing some of the moulded detail from the boiler back and note that holes are appearing here as well.

    The only fault with the Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster kit is that the cab is just under a mm (3 scale inches) too low. So I am adding some 1mm strips of plastic. This height difference becomes more apparent when trying to line up the holes with the pipework both inside and outside the cab. Cue more wrong holes and filler.
     
    While I am at it here are the tender sides being prepared.

    One tip that I was given was not to worry too much about losing rivet heads especially around areas where transfers are to be applied, in fact they can be reduced as it makes applying the decals easier.
    The tender sides just require removal of the rail and the lining strip. The purifier boxes seem to be at the limit of plastic moulding and always seem to require a bit of filler. I will come back to these sides later.
    I will be at the Southampton show this Saturday with No 10 and No 9 on the ENGS stand. Do drop by for a chat.
     
    More updates to follow.
     
    edit for typo
  6. brightspark
    Fitting Walshaerts valve gear has in the past filled me with dread. It was one of the reasons why I started with pre-group Midland where things like this are nicely hidden away. However here lies the tale of my attack (with help from Branchlines) on the Walschaerts valve gear.
    Going back to 76009, this was my first attempt at this tricky valve gear but the Comet kit did give me the confidence to continue. That kit has some nice castings for the cylinders but I get the feeling that there is something not quite right there. Perhaps because they are generic for a number of kits and may be a little too large when viewed from the front? I have not measured them so can’t comment further.
    (I do hope that Comet come back onto the market after the death of Geoff Brewin. At the current time there is uncertainty about this range of products. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/88317-comet-models/page-4)
    The Branchlines kit is a set of etched parts for the cylinders and I must confess that I was bit anxious about this. But by taking each step methodically and checking at each stage that everything is square, true, de-burred and clean, then as I found, you don’t get any problems.
    So in the interest of the build here is a semi completed cylinder minus the outer wrapper (top right) and the parts for the other side.

    The outer wrapper is formed before soldering on to ends. It did this by bending it around file handles. One handy tip is to use a bit of card board between your fingers and the metal. Two reasons for this, the first is that the metal bends across a wider area and so is not only easier to bend but is less likely to bend unevenly or grease. The second reason is that is saves your fingers getting ripped to shreds.
    Having completed the cylinders we now start to work on the motion gear. I followed the instructions that came in the kit but there are a couple of points that I fell could be described better.
    1. The instructions advise cutting a slot for the Combination lever. You need to cut out the whole back of the valve guide casting (the little joining bit at the back so it looks like a U)
    2. The instructions tell you to assemble the Radius Rod to the Combination Lever before fitting through the Expansion Link and Motion Bracket. You can’t do that as the hole through the Expansion Link is not wide enough to take the double thickness of the lifting link. Alternatively assemble the linkage through the arm and bracket then link it to the Combination Lever.
    Here is a picture showing what you need to cut out.

    And here is the valve assembly assembled.

    To compare and for interest here is a picture of the actual gear from 76017 being restored at the Mid Hants Rly

    That can be found here
    http://www.watercressline.co.uk/archive/Images/News/Loco/941-8.jpg
    and these of the expansion link and die blocks, showing their location and how it all fits together.




    http://www.watercressline.co.uk/archive/News/Loco/View/741.html
     
    Next is the assembly of the reverser gear box.

    Here is a picture of the flat parts. Branchlines include with the kit a really nice little casting of the reversing gear box. The instructions offer a fold up box that can be used with the reverser or on its own. To be honest I couldn’t make much sense of this as the one hole required for the Weighshaft that passes through the frames to right hand side is in the wrong place. Nor is there a location for the casting on the frame. The other side seemed to be more straight-forward so I worked on that first to that see if I could decipher what the kit designers intention is and the Weigh shaft might give a good location for the gearbox.
    I will recommend that you search through the Mid Hants Railway Blogs (Watercress line)as in the archives there are pictures of 76017 (and other locos) being stripped and restored. (It is taking them an age though as they started the restoration back in 2010!) These pictures come in handy when trying to visualise how the engine goes together and more importantly what goes on in the shadows as footplates etc have been removed.
    With that in mind, this handy picture from early in 2011 shows the right hand side of the loco.

    http://www.watercressline.co.uk/archive/News/Loco/View/397.html
    You can see the bracket for the Weigh shaft in front of the guy in the green overalls and how far out it comes, i.e. right behind the lifting link. Also note that there is a horizontal part of the bracket. Following the logic of the rest of the kit, it isn’t explained at this point; the etched part has half etch lines and would indicate that the bracket should be shortened for EM/P4. But if you do that you remove the horizontal part next to the frame and the bracket will also be too short as it should sit just behind the lifting link. So I have fixed it into position without any shortening. The Weigh shaft also picks up onto the lifting link and here both Comet and Branchlines struggle with the geometry as both seem to have the lifting link just a little too far forward. This means that you either miss out the weighshaft or deform it slightly. I choose the latter.
    With the Weighshaft soldered to the gearbox and located into the right hand bracket I can now get a better idea as to what happens on the left hand side of the frames. This simply involves lining up the two cylinder assemblies, the shaft from the gearbox to the cab (well the underside of the footplate and marking out the hole position.
    Somewhere about here.

     
    On the casting of the gearbox is a shaft with a step. I guessed that the step was the spacing for the narrower frames required for OO. And after soldering up found out that I was wrong.

    This is the spacing for OO. However it is not a problem as I simply unsoldered the fixing, opened out the hole and reassembled.

    A nice touch is that there is provision for a wire stay to hold the reverser shaft. This should of course also line up with the pips under the footplate.
    With the reversing linkage lined up I can now check that the Walschaerts gear is going to work properly. Unfortunately there is a problem with the Combination Lever fouling the Crosshead. So using some of the nickel silver fret I have made up a dummy Valve Spindle, as this is not included in the kit (Understandable as it can't really be seen), and glued it in place so that it guides the combination lever out of harm’s way.
    Finally there is a mounting bracket for the injectors. This wasn’t in the Comet kit so on 76009 the injectors and watercocks just hang in space. The photo above shows this bracket quite clearly lurking under the cab.
    There is just one thing missing. In the middle of the cylinder casing there is an inspection cover. It looks to be about 12” diameter. The Comet kit includes an etch for this cover but Branchlines has omitted it. I made one up out of thin card by cutting around a screw head and then pressing out the bolts with a pin.
    Here is a picture showing where it goes. (Again from the Mid Hants)
     

    http://www.watercressline.co.uk/archive/News/Loco/View/579.html

     
    With that in place, the chassis is now ready to go into paint.
    While we wait for the paint-shop to gum everything up another oddity of this standard has come to light. It is the square box on top of the cylinder in that last photo. It is an inspection cover but none of the other standard classes seem to have them.
    Until the next instalment.
  7. brightspark
    It has been well over a year since my last blog entry. Life in the interim has been rather hectic. And way back in January 2012 before a rush of other projects I started on a build of a standard class 4 2-6-0 that is going to be numbered 76010.
    To recap the model is a Branchlines chassis that will live under a Dapol (ex Airfix & Kitmaster) body. The last entry (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/795/entry-8497-76010-the-start/) found the basic frames of the chassis put together. In the interim I have been pottering around with it so at the end of August it looked like this.

    The two important points that I decided on the build and covered in this entry are, how the motor will mount and mounting the body.
    Finding the best place to mount the motor and gearbox is a bit of a black art. In the old days it was simple, the centre wheel was driven and the motor, normally a good old X04, would be mounted at a jaunty angle so that its back would be there for all to see in the cab. The front of the motor, on a Riddles locomotive like this would also be there under the boiler. Something that did not seem to bother Messrs Hornby and Triang all those years ago. Todays modellers are a little more refined and if you even want to have a sniff at being called a finescale modeller you should at least keep the cab clear of electric motor. On my model of 76009 I took the guidance of Iain Rice from his Etched loco construction book, and mounted the motor vertically. The Belpaire Firebox and the Branchlines Multi-Box gear box give you enough room. However I had to shorten the motor spindle and wished that I had been able to fit a flywheel. Not that 76009 is a bad runner, but I just felt that I could do things better. All that vacant space in the boiler was filled up with lead which helps give the model good contact with rail that in turn gives good running and excellent haulage, but does make the model very top heavy. This is something I wish to avoid with 76010 and at some point make better use of the boiler space. The solution that I have come up with is to flip the motor so that it is as horizontal as I can get it.
    So that I can get the body off I have cut out the underside of the boiler and will fit this to chassis as a separate body part that will live under the motor.

    This tray will also allow me to add features at a later date, if I so wish. I am thinking, sound, or even a smoke generator. The lead weights will be mounted much further down into the chassis frames. Although I still have the option of a bit of weight up top.
     
    The other change to the instructions is the way the body is to be mounted. Holding plastic bodies onto chassis is yet another black art. On 76009 I followed Iain Rice’s advice and put a little lip under the front end to catch onto the chassis. I call this a dog catch, for want of a better word. The rear of the body was supposed to be held on by a screw into the moulded plastic tube intended to be used for the tender drawbar fixing. However this had been unsuccessful as plastic really doesn’t like stresses of threaded fasteners and so became brittle and crumbled away. I have since had to make other arrangements to hold the body on. The other problem that I found is that the body fixing screw is now in exactly the same place that the tender mounting screw wants to be, and that when you want to remove the body it is as fiddly as hell not only to get the screw out but damn near impossible to get the thing back in again. This is doubly so when trying to carry out unscheduled maintenance during an exhibition in between operating sessions. The instructions by Andrew Mullins suggested self tapping screws into the plastic body at the front and into the tender coupling tube under the cab. So on 76010 I have installed a clip that hold the body to the chassis under the cab holding onto the rear of the chassis and built up a base around an M2 brass nut out of plastic strip in the smoke box. The slug of plastic should distribute the load. The whole thing looks quite secure and I have tested it enough times to believe that it will not fail. Access is still not brilliant as the front pony truck will have to be removed, but it should be easier than fighting the tender coupling bracket.
    The first rather blurry photo shows the rear end of the chassis. You can se the intended hole for the tender coupling/body fixing and the tender coupling on the chassis. Not so clear are the two strips of plastic either side of that bracket that hold the chassis on.

    The picture of the tray also shows how I have built up plastic around the front fixing nut.
    And here is the access to the screw.

    Which shouldn't be too bad if the pony truck is removed first.
     
    Right now I have some time on with the rest of the build.
  8. brightspark

    Birthday treats

    By brightspark,

    Well it was my birthday today.
    I got home from a hard day at work to a nicely made up table and a train cake!

     
    I also got a lovely new handmade wash bag with trains on it.

     
    SWMBO makes up various bags (see previous entry for the train handbag). If you wish one for yourself or someone you know then PM me.
     
    I just realised that my last blog entry was in September. Hmmm must post something soon.
  9. brightspark
    Hello again. This follows on from my blog entry 'what I did in June'. (edit: which seems to have dissapered from the dashboard when I posted this so here is a link)
     
    Last time I was here I demonstrated a working disc signal for Swaynton. (as well as a charming handbag. Go on buy a handbag...go on go on...) Anyway having built one it is now time to think about building the rest.
    It has been decided that we shall need six of these. The original plan was to have seven (or eight) but if you study the signal plans of Sway, New Milton and Hinton Admiral you will note that apart from an inconsistency as to where the signals are placed on three track plans that are basically the same, not one of them has a signal on the slip from the up-line back into the yard (and up lay-by). That is in front of 8 ,8 & 9 at each respective location. So the reversing move must have done by a hand signal from the box.
    The signals are also available as a “kitâ€. But this is using the term “kit†in a very loose sense. Lets say it is a collection of bits that will help you build a model.
    Anyway here is what is in a “kitâ€.
     

     
    Simply an etch and a cast post. The post is an “investment casting†commissioned by Douglas Smith for Swaynton.
    The next step is to figure out how to mount it onto the layout. All of the signals on Swaynton are mounted on a 7/32†square tube so that they can be removed. This stops things getting knocked when packing up at shows or during track cleaning and makes maintainance easier. The dummies are going to be particularly prone to damage so it is essential that they are removable.
    Here are the six signals with their posts cut off the sprue, the bases cut out and the short length of square tube. Bases are 12x8mm and tube is 10mm deep. How’s that for mixing metric and imperial!
     

     
    Now to solder them together.
    Here is the first one.

     
     
    Five more to go.
    (edit: to correct tube size from 1/4" to 7/32" see comments)
  10. brightspark
    Well here is the latest news from Brightspark towers.
    In January I was part of the team that took Swaynton to the Southampton Model Railway show at Eastleigh. Thanks for all the kind comments posted. I particularly like Adams picture of the funny blue thing.
     
    When the show is over the bit that no-one sees is the repairs ready for the next outing which is going to be at Basingstoke this weekend. I guess at the last outing we had quite a high attrition rate. There seems to be a problem with alignment of the baseboards and the way that they move during the show.
    There are two reasons for this movement. The first is floor movement during the day as the audience passes by on a wooden floor and the second and greater reason is changing humidity and heat levels during the day. The hall that we were in was very cold in the morning and during the day a lot of bodies creates a lot of moisture. Those bodies also put a fair amount of grease and dust into the atmosphere and this builds up on the rails. That is why layouts have pick up problems in the late afternoons.
     
    The major point that suffered baseboard movement was the East Fiddle yard. To the casual viewer that is the Down yard or Bournemouth End. This resulted in several trains either derailing or even uncoupling as they left the yard and went over the joint. We find this highly embarrassing, but the viewers were mostly quite kind in their encouragement and interest.
    A consequence of this is that several wagons have missing buffers and a few have broken AJ couplings where part of the train must have caught on part of the structure. By day two we had to cut out some of the trains from the sequence. And here is a problem as some people couldn’t remember which ones. So we sometimes had coal trains coming out of the FY’s at express speeds!
    So it is all hands to the pump to replace those AJ’s. I am also checking the heights of the dropper pin or armature. These must be 1mm above the top of the track. I have found mine to be considerably higher. I guess that is why they don’t work on the magnetic uncoupler.
    I have replaced the buffers on the Parkside wagons with sprung buffers by 51L. I kept the moulded buffer body in place, and drilled a 1mm hole. Into which I inserted a 1mm O/D 1/2mm I/D brass tube that is glued to the body. Into this I insert the buffer shank making sure that I keep the spring under the head. Then close off the assembly with a short piece of tube glued to the tail of the shank. The appearance should be improved as the buffer heads are now going to be the correct 13 inch diameter.
     
    76009 is also in for repairs. It got mishandled and part of the Walshearts valve gear fell off. I fixed it up on the saturday evening of the show but noticed that the real failure was not having a long enough crank pin. I must have cut it off slightly too short and hoped that the nut would hold it. I have stripped it down and replaced the screw. It now doesn’t seem to run as smoothly as before, but I have run out of time to do anything about it before the weekend.
    Meanwhile 76010 sits on the shelf. I am now in possession of a Dapol body for it.
    I don’t think it will be ready in time for Chatham...or the test track at ExpoEM.
    Finally as mentioned above we are going to Basingstoke. Swaynton is a late entry as another layout had to withdraw. Say hello please and take some nice pictures of the layout and post them here or on the Basingstoke page as my photography is rubbish.
  11. brightspark

    76010 The start

    By brightspark,

    The plan is to build a model of 76010 picking up on the errors made on 76009.
    There are some differences. 76009 was based on a Comet Chassis, this is based on a Branchlines chassis.
    This blog will record my progress both good and bad. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Hopefully this will help anyone who wants to see how this chassis goes together or even want to see how to put together an etched chassis /kit. This is how I do it...this time around. It is neither right nor entirely wrong.
    So here is the starting point...Define the problem
    This will be a model of 76010 built in EM gauge as she was in May/June 1960. The target is to have this running at the Chatham show in June. But that looks really too close so lets set a more realistic target...the plan is to get the chassis rolling around the EMGS test track at ExpoEM in May. For the record I broke the seals of the pack during the Christmas holidays* so this is progress up to the end of January.
    Branchlines sell several packs for the Class 4. I will only be using two of them as the complete pack contains parts to make an OO chassis.

    The first pack is a chassis pack while the second is the detail pack. For the moment the latter will be put to one side.
    Here are the contents of the chassis pack.
    The next task is to read through the instructions which include a nice exploded diagram. Now we identify the parts on the fret and bag.

    Then it’s time for a little maths.
    Frame width!
    The etch is .018†(0,46mm) thick Nickel Silver.
    The frame spacers provided are;
    OO = 10,7mm
    EM= 13mm
    P4=14,6mm
    The spacers are tabbed and fit into slots on the frame.
    The calculated overall frame width for each gauge is therefore.
    OO = 11,62mm
    EM = 13,92mm
    P4 = 15,52mm
    Including the heads of the Romford bushes (0,8mm) that gives total width at the axle of
    OO = 13,22
    EM = 15,52
    P4 = 17,12
    If I was using sprung horn guides then I could use the P4 spacers, however I am using the shouldered bushes so I will use the EM spacer.

    The next picture shows the frames cut out and cleaned up, the frame spacers (err these are the wrong ones...I told you to identify the correct parts and these are the P4 spacers), the coupling rods and the extra strapping for the firebox. (one side fitted)
    Another important thing to remember is that the half etch line goes on the inside of the bend. I forgot on some of the spacers. This is not a tragedy as I just have to fettle the tabs to get them to fit into the slots on the frames.
    The coupling rods are now made up as a matched pair. The centres are then measured and the driving wheel centres are checked to make sure that they are also at the same distance.
    In this case the centres are spot on so I go ahead and open up the holes for the axle bearings.
    Then the whole lot is set up on the building jig for assembly.


    This is a construction taken from the Ian Rice book on Loco Chassis construction. It is made from MDF. On the surface sits two sine bars. These are two steel bars that are square, flat and the same height. On top of these sit three 1/8†silver steel bars that are 12 inches long. These are threaded through the axle bearings that are loosely fitted into the frames. The 1/8†bars are held in place with Blue Tack and at the extreme ends of the bars rest the coupling rods.
    The chassis is then soldered together to produce this.

    I have soldered on a few of the nuts (but ran out of 2mm) and have also started on the pony truck.

    The tabs fitted nicely and after fixing the uprights I removed the small lip. I don’t think that you would need to do this for P4 and I have no idea for OO as to have to use the inner slots for the uprights and reduce the frame width.
     
    The next task is to purchase the extra nuts and the axle bushes. That will be at this weekend’s show in Southampton. I think that Eileen’s will be there.
    I will also have to order the wheels and various boiler fittings from Alan Gibson.
    Plus and I guess that this might be important...an Airfix/Dapol kit.
     
    Until next time...
    If you are at Southampton, say hello.
     
    Andy
     
    *Holidays being when RMweb went off line and we all had to find something to do.
    Aplos to AY
  12. brightspark
    It has been some time since my last entry.
    I was going try and do an entry a week. Not for egotistical reasons, but to motivate myself into making models. For too many years I lacked the mojo for modelling. Sadly over the past few months the pressure of work over took me again and I could little more when I got home than to sit in front of a computer screen and admire other peoples work on RMweb.
    As it seems the trend on other blogs, I will do a wrap up of 2011 and some thinking out loud about 2012.
    Life has not been total desert from trains and in November saw myself meeting up with the rest of the local EM Gauge Area group for a visit to St. Merryn. It really is a pleasure to go and get a private viewing of this layout and to be given the control of a locomotive and told to go and play.
    I would like to share a few observations about operating this layout (driving trains) that may not be apparent to viewer at exhibitions.
    On leaving the station with a departing train you have to negotiate a steep climb. One of our members had to take several runs at it before he managed to do it without the train stalling.
    The turntable is small. I mean it is small. The T9 only just fits on it and by that I mean there is a millimetre or so leeway before the wheel flanges catch the passing rails when turning.

    This didn’t stop me trying to get a West Country on it though!
     
    Here is a picture of me playing trains.

    Photo Steve Carter.
     
    In my last entry on 76009 back in October, I bemoaned the fact that despite testing everything and thinking that I had got everything right, the engine decided to get stage fright and stopped working as soon as it poked its nose out of the tunnel that exits the Fiddle Yard. I have since fitted different pickups. These are Phosphor Bronze strips made by Slater’s. These have been soldered to the PCB’s and covered with a layer of super glue to try and prevent any further delaminating. This weekend we are taking Swaynton to the Southampton Model Railway Show and 76009 has an opportunity to redeem herself.
     
    One of the things we want to look at the Southampton Show is how to operate the goods yard. In a previous blog I asked for views on operation and was surprised that these not the same. If anyone who reads this is at the Southampton show, say hello and give us your thoughts. Our thinking is that we should run a prototypical shunt (pick up goods) but it must also be entertaining to the public. The big question is how?
     
    Looking forward to 2012, we have an invite to Chatham. I hope it is warm and dry this year.
    I have also been thinking about the new offerings from Hornby.
    The Maunsell Pull-Push unit looks nice and would go well with my converted M7 30111. This is the old Hornby one that I purchased many years ago. However as Swaynton is modelled on May/June 1960 I will be pushing it (or is pull-pushing it) a bit to run these on the main line. Commissioned by this date on the south western division are sets 608,609 & 613. I figure that these would all go straight onto branch line services. Unless someone knows different?
    The Bogie B Van also looks good although I have a Ratio one that is half completed.
    Both of these look quite good and conversion to EM should be quite easy.
     
    Finally as we all had a holiday from RM Web over Christmas, I present show and tell as to what I got up to.
    At Scaleforum I purchased a chassis kit from Branchlines and over the holiday I opened the packets and warmed the soldering iron.


    Yes I am going to have a go at 76010. My plan is to do a regular update showing the build of this. I plan (ha-ha) to have this running at Chatham. Good or bad, I will show what I do and look forward to your help and advice.
    Happy New Year and happy modelling.
    Andy
  13. brightspark

    Shunting the yard

    By brightspark,

    In my last entry I mentioned that we had a few problems with Swaynton at the Tring show.
     
    The desire of the group that we should make an effort to run 100% to period.
    So far due to the lack of stock we have run trains of various regions and periods. We have always tried to keep each train within it's own period, i.e. Southern (1930) engine with 1930 Southern stock etc.
    However we were aware that this confused the public and really didn't present a good example of a finer scale layout that we thought that we should be striving for. Even if Richards LSWR stock was supurb.
     
    The last big jump was to convert from the LSWR 1912 period trains to 1960 stock and as these trains get shunted we had to have a fair amount of it. So the push was on to get all of our stock ready.
    All of the shuntable stock is fitted with AJ (Alex Jackson) couplings. Some of the members are not to keen on this as it has to be set up correctly, however we managed to scrape together sufficent wagons.
    But at the show we found that the electro-uncoupler was not strong enough to uncouple our new stock. At first I thought that it was just my stock affected, due to my usual inattention. However that turned to be untrue as nearly every bit of new stock remained firmly coupled after passing over it. No matter how many times we jabbed the button, the little drop links would only move part way.
     
    We fixed the problem in two ways. The first was to but a big hand magnet onto the electro-Magnet, underneath the layout, when we wanted to uncouple.
    The second, and I thought rather neat, was to modify a tea stirrer by cutting off the end to make an inverted V shape. This was a suggestion from the public side. Well done sir who ever you are.
     
    Now we have had a few thoughts about shunting the yard and at the end of the day we found that there was few more.
     
    So I invite you to add your thoughts and views to these questions, remembering that it is a layout on show at exhibitions;
     
    The main reason why we shunt the yard, is to keep something moving between trains. Do you think that we need to do this? And if so how much?
     
    We noticed that quite often the same train that arrives at the yard is the same train that leaves. Basically the shunter has just rearranged the wagons in the consist. I have noticed this happening on other layouts as well. Does this matter?
     
    If it does then we are thinking of giving the shunter proper instructions. Full coal wagons in and empty out using detachable loads seems easy enough. But what about other wagons how do we direct that they are for Swaynton Goods and how do we know when they are unloaded? Does anybody else do this and how? (Cards?)
     
    To use the electro-magnet to uncouple means moving the whole train into the headshunt or yard throat. We think this to be little unprototypical and found the hand uncouplers gave more freedom. But what should we show the public? Do you feel offended when you see the hand from the sky appear? And we can also talk about three link couplings here.
  14. brightspark
    Finally the tender is ready for the paint shop.
    I think it would have been quicker to make a real one!
    Attached are photos showing my efforts at modifying the Airfix BR2A tender into a BR2.
     
    Starting at the front.

    Windows reduced to the smaller size. Note that the tool hole is unmodified and so is too narrow. This has been left as is for practical reasons and also won't be easily seen when the model is finished.The white plasticard filler is to bring the front plate out to width of the tender side.
    (compare against the photos in this topic)
     
    RHS

    Not too clear a photo here. You can see the filler piece on the front plate. Also note the filler on the filter box (under the tank) where the moulding collapses and forms a hole.
    Also an additional strip for the reinforcing of the bunker edge.
     
    Rear

    This is where most of the detail work went.
    6 lamp irons. I made many more of these but the carpet people had them away before I could find them . All of the steps, ladders and the two lifting eyes are from Branchlines. The handrail knobs that I fitted are medium, not long as recomended in the Branchline pack. Although not fitted yet I noted that the Airfix instruction has the Brake and vacuum pipes around the wrong way, possibly because it is showing the assembly upside down. Does anyone know if the Rosebud instruction is the same?
     
    LHS

     
    much the same as the RHS. Perhaps this is a little clearer photo.
     
     
    I have stuck some lead shot inside around the bunker to stop the whole tender lifting off the track. Not so visible is the detail of bunker. I now wonder why I modelled all of this as it will normally have a coal load. Anyway I cut out the moulded coal load and put in the tool tunnel and the bunker bottom. I will later add a false coal load.
     
    Next task is to add paint.
  15. brightspark
    It has been over a month since my last entry. So what has happened.
     
    As readers of my missive will know I am concerned that the Airfix Tender seems to be a lot taller than the cab. Approximatly 1mm or a scale 3 inches. In fact the reverse should be true in that the cab should be slightly higher than the leading edge of the tender roof and about the same hieght as the little raised lip on the rear of the tender roof.
     
    So having got myself some copies of the drawings from the NRM and done some measuring I can confirm that the Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster BR2A tender is spot on! Height is ok.
    There are a few errors, the tender is a little narrow and the fire Iron door is too narrow but is the right height. You can correct the latter by filling and cutting but you find that you are then going to thin out the coal bunker side. In my view I don't think that it is worth it. I should also remove th eraised moulding that represents the gear cover for the water pickup. But again I don't think that it is worth it.
    Oh and the lip on the back of the tender roof is called the Deflector.
     
    So if the Tender is at the correct height then this means that the cab is too low. Now I did get a drawing of the cab layout and it shows some dimensions as does the drawing on Plate 91 of Talbot. The problem is that you have to measure from rail height. Not the easiest of things and as such I had a devil of a job trying to find the fualt.
    One of the things that I did notice was that the lower part of the cab, the angled bit, should meet the vertical part of the cab and at the same point as the bottom of the footplate.
    The Airfix cab is a little lower, in fact it looks like a 77xxx cab.
    Did the guys at Kitmaster look at the wrong locomotive?
    Raising the cab up 2mm just don't right though and there is a risk that you can start to expose the hole behind the cab moulding
     
    It is about this time that I was given a Kitmaster box containing two half built 76xxx's, along with the comment that "I started these some years ago and I don't think that I will get them going." hmmm are these two the embreos of 76010 and 76011? Then I spotted that under one of the half assembled chassis was a raising block that lifted the rear of the running plate by around 1mm. I checked my model and the other Kitmaster. Yes the footplate drops by 1mm over its length. So the fix is to put pads under the footplate.
    You can see them in white plasticard. This brings the roof up level (in fact slight proud) of the tender roof. I then raised the cab by about 1/2mm plus and this fixes the height problem. 2nd photo shows the packing uder the side rails as well as under the boiler back and under the front of the cab.
     
    Next job pipes and fittings onto the boiler and time to get the tender fitted out.
  16. brightspark

    76009

    By brightspark,

    Hi Gang,
    I have been told that I should get with it (daddyo). So here is my little blog. (No sniggering at the back)
    I am currently working on motorising an Airfix Mogul in EM.
     
    The frames are Comet, wheels Alan Gibson. it has a mashima connected to a Branchlines gearbox.
    This week I got the motor wired up to the pick ups. It is always nice to see the thing under it's own power. Although it does jerk along the test track. Probably due to the uneveness of the track and having a solid chassis and those Alan Gibson wheels that do have a tendancy to wobble. This week will be spent making sure that the pickups are hitting the wheels.
     
    The target is to get this running around the test track at ExpoEM in May.
  17. brightspark

    76009

    By brightspark,

    Now I have two angsts at the moment.
    The first is the height of the tender. There is a comment in the UK prototype forum about this. The Airfix tender is sitting to high.
    Having now looked at it I think that the moulding for the bunker is correct but that the additional roof makes it over height. The last picture published has th eroof missing.
    So as I have booked a visit to the NRM to spend a happy hour looking at the drawings of a BR2 tender.
    There are a large number of drawings but it seems no GA!
    I think that I have the likely drawings identified, but I figured that it would easier (and cheaper) to go have a look.
    There is also a drawing titled "detail when water pick up not fitted". As 76009 is a southern engine this is one for me.
     
    The second angst is the lining on the cab. I have not yet worked out how to reduce photos, so the pictures I have posted of the loco can be blown up. I had a crack at hand-lining. I have been told that so far it isn't bad and could do with a touchup. I had a look at some of the RTR engines on the stands at the Epsom show. I see that many of the manufacturers have opted for a red and single grey strip rather than the cream and grey.
    I have lost my nerve on the tender and opted for a Fox transfer.
  18. brightspark
    So here they are the six dummies for Swaynton.

    Did I really get the etches for these way back in April? It is not that these are hard to make up that caused the delay. I think that it is life got in the way. Plus of course the modelling mo-jo isn’t firing every day, which perhaps is a good thing I think as you don’t want to get stale with the same old, same old.
    The only problem I had towards the end was getting the signal mechanism to be free-flowing enough for the weight to work. Careful scrutiny of the photo will reveal that the brass weight is thinner 5/32” on some of the signals. My initial thinking was that the weight would have a nice sliding fit inside the square base. However this didn’t work because the actuating wire to the signal goes through an arc so either the wire touches the hole in the base or the weight drags against the base. Filling the weight with lead shot helped but was not always successful. Next I tried to shorten the weight so that it hung below the base. Now this worked in that it allowed the weight to fall freely. But the weight caught against the hole when the signal was removed. The final version has a 5/32 brass tube with the actuating wire glued down one side then it is filled with lead shot. This seems to be the answer. However we won’t be able to tell until the end of day two of an exhibition.
    So now I hand these over to Douglas who will have to fit them to Swaynton.
     
    As ever I will drop another unsubtle hint that these "kits" ("scratchbuilders aids" as Eric Gates describes it) are available from my good self at £2.50 each plus postage.

    When I finally sort it out they will be on the Swaynton website along with diagrams of the actuating mechanism and hopefully feedback from others who have made these up.
     
    Cheers
  19. brightspark
    Well...it seems not very much. The fine weather and the Olympics kind of distracted me.
    Plus hearing the news that I "shall soon have the oppurtunity to be working somewhere else" (another way of saying you are being made redundant) has rather surprisingly improved my health! My work colleagues and i have been given some training on job hunting and dealing with the closure of the site. One of the charts showed the various stages of depression that you go through. You know denial, rebellion all the way to acceptance. But for some reason all I can think about is how great it is that I won't have to do this job for much longer.
    And as I said my health has improved considerably. I always thought that i was allergic to work! So I have been out enjoying the Surrey and Berkshire countryside on my bike. (see "any road cyclist on here" thread in wheeltappers).
    However I guess that I really should seek a new income soon. Otherwise how am I going to afford next stuff from Hornby and Dapol.
     
    However enough of the real world and back to warm and comforting alternate reality that we place ourselves in.
    Progress on the signals has been intermittant. But we do have a possible show early next year and so a determined effort will be made over winter to get the disc signals planted and working. The survey of the Swaynton baseboards has of course revealed that we want to place signals and operating mechanisums only in places where there are baseboard joints. Note to all...really really try to plan for everything on your next layout.
     
    I have now painted the demonstrator signal in grey as it should be.
    The six signals for Swaynton have been painted in a darker grey with a black base. Photos of the prototype show the grey paint to have been 'rudely' applied, so I roughly mased the lamp and post assemblies to allow overspray.
    Here is a picture of current progress.
     

     
    The signal on the far left is the demonstrator.
    The next signal shows the disc in place, without the lenses and the brass weight below it.
     
    I have also been trawling through various forums, following the trail left by Waterloo, when he was asking if anyone sold these. There are a few nice photos of these under construction on the Scalefour society forum. I have heard tales that someone has even manage to get one illuminated!
     
    Anyway I now hold the stock of these so if want one or more PM me.
     
    OH well thats another evening not modelling. I am on the EMGS stand at the REC show at Woking this weekend (Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning). Come and say hello if you are there.
    I will bring along the demonstrator signal if you want to see it in the flesh.
    I guess that I had better think about what I will be doing on the stand.
    Perhaps I should shout out something like a barrow boy....hmmm,
     
    "C'mon, you know you want it wider!"
     
    I'll get me coat then.
    Andy
  20. brightspark
    Just a quick update on progress of the Westinghouse ground signals.
    This is a follow up from my last entry.
     

     
    The six signals are now mounted onto their bases.
    These are a piece of 8x12mm brass sheet that is then mounted onto a bit of square tube.
     
    Now to start the detail work
    Each signal post has a 'blind' fitted. There is proplem here in that the etch was supposed to have some bolt head detail. But it didn't come out on the etch. So I bent the tab the wrong way so that I have a bigger foot print for soldering. I don't think that the missing detail will be missed.
    There is also a nice etch that is folded up for the lamp hinge. In his "instructions" Douglas describes this as a fudge. I am hard pressed to think how it could be improved.
     

     
    On the first one (I'll call this build No1) that featured on the
    , had these details glued on. I think that they are a little delicate so I have started to solder these on. I think that this would be easier and neater with a resistance soldering iron (RSI) instead of the old faithful that I keep using. 
    The other difference is that on Number 1 I followed Douglas's suggested instruction and fixed the pivot pin onto the weight. This goes through the hole in the support arm on the post and is held in position by a washer on the other side. Again this is glued on. I am not happy with this arrangement as pictures of the prototype show no fixing on this face of the bracket and it looks like the signal board might be fouling the washer so preventing it moving fully over. As if that wasn't enough I also think that the weight is a bit sloppy and doesn't move enough.
    So I have fixed a pivot directly onto the bracket and shall see if I get a better result with the movement of the weight.
     

     
    Finally I thought that I had better make up a board onto it's pivot shaft to check that I have the blind in the correct place.
     

     
     
    so that is No2 and No3 are well underway.
     
    Just a reminder that these "kits" are available to purchase. PM me or go to the Swaynton website, if you are interested.
  21. brightspark
    Is it really the end of June? At least the heating has gone off now.
    At the last report I was just about to head off to Chatham (pictured) with Swanton. Thanks to the Chatham MRC for organising a great show. A few people stopped to say hello. There was interest in the disc signal and I will post another blog entry showing progress. A couple of people expressed interest in the handbag but no one has bought one yet.
    I managed to take a little time out on the Saturday to visit the Dickens Fair in the town with SWMBO. There is a free shuttle bus from the dockyard to the town. Something to bear in mind if coming by Public Transport.
    Swaynton ran very well at Chatham, although the problem of the AJ couplings not working persists. At our post mortem meeting we took the opportunity to check the couplings on the electro magnet mounted to the layout. We also had another electro-magnet set up on a test track.
    The findings are that is possible to get a constant magnetic field with the two magnets. So we can use one as the standard for setting up away from the layout. We then tested various wagons. Here is what we found.
    The distance above the track is critical 1mm and no more or you start to lose the attraction.
    The armature wire, made from a paperclip, must be as close to 1mm as possible. Below 0,9mm and they just don’t have the attraction. We measured some wires as being 0,6mm. I think that I will be buying some 1mm Iron from Eileens.
    The dropper must be behind the wheel so that the coupling being forced down has a stop. We had one wagon that buried itself into the ballast!
    Increasing the strength of the magnet does not work as it attracts the steel tyres on the wheels. This pulls the wagon back and re-couples the wagon.

    The only other problem that I had was with my Airfix mogul 76009. As I took it out the box on Friday evening I found that the tender had become detached. Further investigation found that the fixing nut under the cab that also holds the body on had come adrift. After a bit of a struggle to get the screw out I found that the problem was worse. The nut was still glued to the plastic base, but the plastic base had broken away from the rest of the floor moulding. A temporary fix was made, but will need thinking about before our next outing.
     
    Oh well on with posting progress of the signal.
  22. brightspark
    Now in the past couple of missives issued from Brightspark Towers here in deepest Surrey (It ain’t all gin and jags you know), I alluded to an exciting new development on Swaynton and left a couple of clues that no-one had a go at guessing. What a shame...never mind.
    Anyhow here it is.
     

     
    Yes Westinghouse Dummies in 4mm scale...and they work.
    To prove it works here is a
     
    So I have built one...just seven more to go!
    Hopefully these will be installed onto the layout for our outings booked for next year.
    The signal comes in kit form and so we are hoping to be able to offer these for sale. I will post details on our website when we have sorted out how we are going to do it.
    This weekend we are showing Swaynton at Chatham. I will take the signal along if anyone wants to have a look.
     
    Mrs Brightspark has also been busy. She makes handbags for a hobby and has created this.
     

     
    Now how could any of you resist buying this for your better halves? Or in the case of the female members of RMWeb for yourselves. A nice girlie train handbag. SWMBO does several designs of bags using various designs of fabric and can make up a bag using whatever fabric you want. Here is a link to her Folksy page.
    Although we can’t sell at the show, I will bring along this example for you to have a look at.
     
    See you at Chatham and say hello!
  23. brightspark
    Hello,
     
    Time to report in on Aprils activities...or lack of them.
     
    In my last entry I was getting rather excited about some new project arriving in kit form. Deliberately unnamed to create a sense of drama. I left the clue that Swaynton would need 8 of them thinking that some of you would come up with what the eight things are. However since then I realise that if you study the photos on steamweb http://www.steamweb.net/ that the prototype(s) only had five.
    There that should lead to some speculation.
    As a further clue...there was some activity on this and other rail forums almost a year ago with someone mentioning that they saw something at a model railway show that is on this weekend.
    As yet another clue I am on door duty at that show, so come and say hello.
     
    Unfortunately my plan to pick up the kit and to test the AJ’s that I had much problem with was thwarted by a sudden lack of transport. Oh well...so the collection of the kits was put off until this month. I now have them and have broken off from making up the first one to write this.
     
    I also had a nice two week holiday in Mallorca. A nice break from modelling and more importantly work. Which has been getting a little hectic recently. This was supposed to be cycle training camp see “any road cyclists on here†Last time that I was there was five years ago and it surprising to see the changes both good and bad that have taken place.
     
    Bad...The 'touristisation' of the monastery at Lluc. Parking now has to be paid for. There is an additional restaurant. A BBQ area with coach parties going there specifically for that. And the little cafe in the monastery now charging tourist prices.
     
    Bad two... The
    (not my video but found on youtube) now permanent with tourist cyclist cycling the wrong way and “Boris†lanes at the roundabouts encouraging cyclists to behave like this. Oh and the Roundabout just before Porto Pollensa. I used to enjoy the sprint for the town sign (just after the RAB when heading back to the hotel. I guess they made it safer by making it more dangerous. 
    Good 1...The cycle lanes and Boris lanes. It has encouraged more cycling. A great way to see the island. There are now a lot more cycle hire shops and places where I can spares for my bike
     
    Good 2...the opening of old railway lines...with not with cycle tracks but...real trains. And modern electrics too! My guess is that a certain doctor and mp took a holiday to Mallorca in the sixties and made a few suggestions. When I first went to the island around 2000 there were two lines. The tourist train to Sollor and a main line that ran from Palma that stopped at Inca. I kept coming across old bits of rail line across the island. My mate once found an abandoned level crossing...by falling off on the tracks that crossed the road at angle. Of course it was only funny when he did on the way back as well. Anyway it is good to see that the Mallorcan's have seen a sensible way forward with their transport policy.
    It now looks like the lines have been restored and possibly may be extended. Does anyone here know? I don’t recall if there was an old line to Sa Pobla. There is certainly a railhead there now.
    Upon reflection I should have taken few photos. There always seemed to be a train at Sa Pobla.
     
    Other news is that Swaynton is featured in “Modelling the Southern†by Jeremy English and published by Noodle Books. http://www.noodlebooks.co.uk/index.htm
    There are a couple of nice pictures of the station building that I built. Jeremy has promised me a credit in Volume 2.
     
    Right ExpoEM this weekend. I am on door duty on Sunday. Say hello and have a guess. 8 what?
  24. brightspark
    Well at the last update I was getting ready for the Basingstoke show held on 10th & 11th March.
    So I was busy wheel cleaning and checking the wheels back to backs as well as fixing the broken buffers from the Southampton show and other repairs.
    I want to thank Western Star of this parish and his team for putting a great show. I think that we were in one of the “Hot†rooms. We had the little windows open to get some air in there.
    We had quite a few kind comments about the layout. I do get a great of pleasure being involved in what I think is a good crowd pleaser. I also note that some people have just stood and watched the trains go by for almost the whole sequence. That takes about 50 minutes! We also had a guest operator joining us for the first time, Alan Durham former chair of the Basingstoke club. He took a few shots and placed them on YouTube and the EMGS website.
    The first is of
    .I quite like this film for two reasons. The first is the shot into the light. I think that is quite effective and really this is the direction the light should be coming from on the model as the public side would be looking south. Do you think that we should move the lighting to the back of the layout? The second reason why I like this short film is that shows that I have finally managed to build a locomotive and get it to run! Hurrah for me. I will take this as another step closer to ‘making it as a modeller’
     
    Alan has also posted some other shots of the layout. I like the sound effects and the photography in a charming sequence called
    . I guess from the comments that I have read about Swaynton is what people enjoy most about it...just watching the trains go by. 
     
    The layout and stock ran faultlessly with exception of my M7 that had a test run and jumped off the rails and the ongoing problem with the Alex Jackson couplings. I am not sure what to do about the M7 obviously the new bogie isn’t behaving itself and needs more attention. However I have now made some progress with the AJ’s.
    Our thinking was that they may not be uncoupling because the electro magnet was not pulling the coupling down. There can only be two reasons for this;
    The dropper or armature isn’t working because either

    It isn’t magnetic.
    It isn’t close enough to the magnet (1mm above track height)
    It isn’t at least 1mm in diameter.

    2. The electro magnet isn’t strong enough.
     
    To prove the first point, I had already started a programme of replacing the armatures on my wagons with paperclips and made a little jig that set the height correctly. The only problem is that modern paperclips are slightly thinner than 1mm. As the problem persisted I wondered if the smaller diameter really made the difference.
    I decided to add to my test track a small permanent magnet. I found that it would attract the armature but when set up (flush with the top of the sleeper) it still didn’t work.
    Figuring that a thicker wire might work I glued a second strip of paperclip to the armature. Sometimes this worked but not always.
    Hmmmm, maybe it is the second reason and my little magnet was not man enough for the job either?
    So I took off the magnets from the fridge. There are a number of magnets to be found here all at different strengths. I picked a nice big strong magnet and placed some track over it.
    And here gentle reader is the eureka moment....I put the wagon onto the track and started to roll it towards the magnet. Then I noticed that the wagon lurched toward the magnet and stayed fixed over it held by the magnetic pull of the steel tyres. So this means that you can have a too strong magnet. But the coupling still refused to move!
    So The Eureka moment is that the spring is too strong!
     
    So I re-read the instructions and found that I had overlooked the bit were it said that the coupling had to just rest against the stop. I guess that I was so worried about the coupling drooping that I over looked this point. So I have set up on my test track a small magnet (A bead from some magnetic jewellery). It is on a curved track (5 foot radius to check off set problems) and is set at sleeper height. Hopefully I have fixed it. But I can’t be sure until we get the layout set up again and we can try them out in the yard.
     
    With all this activity 76010 has taken a back seat. So the chances of getting it ready for Chatham are now nil. I have started to prepare the body and will do a later blog entry showing progress.
     
    Progress on other projects has also been halted by a new task that I have volunteered to take on for April and May and for I think that this will be quite exciting. It will come in kit form and there are eight of them! I haven’t been given the kit(s) yet so I am not sure what I taking on.
    The first time I was given a “kit†for Swaynton, it turned out to be a set of plans for the station buildings. The last “kit†I got was the basis of the signal box. That one arrived in the post with some drawings and a couple of distant photos. There were also some nice window etches and the start of the base. There was also a note attached saying that the base was wrong!
     
    So what are they? Well have a look at the videos and have a guess at what is missing. Oh and keep watching the blogs.
    Ah well, it will be an adventure.
     
    Got to go, my train’s about to leave.
  25. brightspark

    Chains

    By brightspark,

    Today I have been mainly making chains. Well a chain.
    One of the many little projects lurking around the workbench is a Parkside Conflat and container.

    The turnshackle and hooks are from Ambis. The chain is made from 36SWG soft copper wire as it is the only thing that I had that was both fine and pliable enough.
    The shock absorbers are fine tube.
    Four of these hold down the container. I have to agree with Goeff Kent in his 3rd book on wagons. Conflats and containers look naked without the chains.
    Only three more to do...and the corner links on the container...and the links on the Conflat.
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