Nicktoix

Very interested in this post as I have made my own etches for this loco. Chassis in 22th nickel and body in 15th. Don't like whitemetal for 7mm. The chassis is designed to drive the fixed rear axle with the leading axles compensated with a beam on each side. The motor is 1830 with Brabchlinews gearbox driving under the axle. So the leading wheels can be removed the cylinders etc will be fitted to the footplate using the chassis as a jig. The crosshead arrangement is interesting as it runs on clearly visible slippers on the slidebars. There is a basic jig on the chassis etch along with the valances to help build up the footplate. The footplate is also relieved where the bends are to be made. The body is designed specifically for 30587. All the chassis parts are on the chassis etch along with a few body bits. T'will be a bit 'til I get round to building it as I have other things to finish first The best book for 7mm is Geoff Holt's Locomotive Modelling Vol 1 covers chassis Nick

He would take the hump ! Sorry Nick

The bells, the bells !!! Look what it did for Quasimodo ! Nick

If anyone out there fancies a set of these etches please PM me in the next few days Nick Easton

Good to see they go together. Nick

The roof will fit perfectly and is removable. Perfect design from Jim Nick

1) To make the tank in metal : fit formers to the spectacle plate and smokebox front plate, aligned on each with wire thro holes. Tin the edges of the formers before fitting as well as the edges of the tank. Mark on the waste of the etch where the sharper bend need to be. Bend the tank to suit, large radius first and the solder it all together. There are some issues with the riveted straps but easily dealt with. 2) 3D printing is fine for small part patterns which can then be tidied up. It doesn't seem to work too well for large radius bits tho' (been trying to produce clerestory roofs) 3) Drive the rear axle and make the lower half of the boiler part of the chassis ? High Level Models of the Neilson and Black Hawthorn do this. You do not need a large motor. Both my HL kits will pull 10+ wagons more than enough for this size loco have no extra weight in them and a 1220 motor and the wagons are all kit built. 4) I think only 3 crane tanks were built by the LNWR and their main duty was in the works. They were certainly not trip working locos (fancy firing one for a 50 mile trip??) and would very rarely if ever be seen in local yards although they could have been found in docks where the 0-4-0s spent alot of their time. That's my last words on the subject. Nick

Why not do the whole lot in metal? The saddle tank presents no great problems look at Judith Edge Kitson and High Level Kits for how it is done. Resin is not without its problems. A test etch in metal will reveal the problems: plastic will not! 3d printing an resin seems to be the current answer to everything. Both technologies have serious limitations in the scales in which we model and for the details we want. Nick

Photos will not show anything as it is all now buried under pick ups etc. (I don't like plunger pickups as it seem to work like applying the brakes) Basically there is a beam on each side made of a double thickness of chassis material. Drill holes for bushes using coupling rods as template for holes. Enlarge holes to fit over bushes. Fit over bushes in axle hole and drill hole for pivot around the centre line. Enlarge axle hole in chassis vertically by about 1/2mm each way. Assemble chassis the fit bushes with beams inside chassis and 2mm wire for pivot. Hope that helps Nick

This is my build of this kit. Waiting now for me to get in the mood to line it out and fit the Zimo 645 decoder and speaker. As usual from Jim the kit went together well with no problems. The smokebox mounted lubricators are not included, mine are from Laurie Griffin, and I have yet to fit the steam heating pipes which will be brass castings and will go on after I have fitted the Dingham couplings. Also has sprung buffers from Northampton Model Railway Supplies. I do like a properly set up 0-4-4T so I have compensated the coupled axles with a beam between them and the bogie is rigid. The front end of the boiler was then filled with Cerrobend. Runs quite nicely and is well balanced. I'm not that keen on the format of the instructions and would rather just have a descriptive list of parts but then I have built alot of locos over the years. I also found that the slots for the tabs were a bit wide and allowed some solder "leakage" which needed a bit of cleaning up. All in all a decent kit and very good value for money Nick

....shunt them about and the add some more. The gravity yard has lots more space yet Mr E is managing to shunt it still. Nick

This is LNWR D77A boiler trolley. The originals had "bogies" made from old McConnell tenders. They were rebuilt after WW1 with the bogies on this model. This is a test build and I know one of the buffer heads is missing. There is also an issue with the "bogie" frames. The "well" is fine. It is etched in 12thou brass and requires some nifty soldering. I will be building new trucks as demo at Leeds MRS exhibition 26/27th October Nick

Our friend again. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OO-WORKS-KIT-BUILT-LMS-0-6-0-KIRTLEY-CLASS-2F-LOCO-22955-PORTESCAP-RG-4-MOTOR-mv-/370669502233?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item564d9fbf19 Wouldn't be so bad if he knew what it was and can be bought direct for less.

A more complete answer now I have woken up properly. The D97 and D105 & 106 are all available as etches only. You will have to supply your own springs, axleboxes and buffers. The springs and axleboxes are from Wizard and the buffers from London Road. I get them etched in 15th nickel silver. I will be ordering a batch in the next week so if anyone wants one PM me. the D82 boiler trolley is a by product of another etch and I only have them occasionally Nick

I will be doing etches for d105 & 106 soon pm me for details Nick

This is the latest addition to the stable. Not quite right as it was built from a test etch. I plan to do another etch shortly to correct the errors: mainly to do with the solebars at the ends. This is a D105 boiler trolley which has an 18ft well. The LNWR also had D106 chemical pan trolley which is the same except for a 12ft 6in well. I have organised the etch so I can build either from the etch. They both survived into BR days Nick

Mr Edge has asbestos fingers and quick reactions as well !!!

A few wagons of a different sort to those normally modelled A Midland boiler wagon pair. Made about 30 years ago before the advent of etching. Scratchbuilt in brass & nickel silver Similarly a Midland 40ton trolley wagon A LNWR trolley wagon D96 built from a London Road Models kit A LNWR 40t trolley wagon D97 built from my own etchings. Still waiting for transfers to complete lettering. Survived into the mid 1950's A LNWR boiler trolley D82. Again my own etchings scrapped pre 1908. The load is a GEM kit. My next challenge is a D77A bogie trolley Nick

I'm waiting for your bid !!

Look at http://www.model-dockyard.com/acatalog/1_72_Scale.html these boats are top quality and worth the money Nick