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Captain Kernow

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Blog Entries posted by Captain Kernow

  1. Captain Kernow
    One thing I will say about the Roxey 'Planet' kit, is that is relatively easy to build, especially if you are happy to stick with the Tenshodo 'Spud' motor bogie option. Being whitemetal gives it the advantages of having some decent weight about it and also giving the builder the option to glue the main body components together, instead of soldering.
     
    It is arguably a good 'starter kit' for someone wanting an industrial diesel and something with a bit of character. DJH do a 'starter kit' for an 02 0-4-0 diesel, which is pretty straightforward to put together and is also whitemetal, but might look, to some, as having a bit too much 'muscle' for a small industrial system or an impecunious light railway. There are plenty of other options available if you are happy to build an etched kit, and the ranges of Judith Edge Kits and High Level Kits offer much inspiration in that regard.
     
    Anyway, back to the loco. Given that I wasn't using a 'Spud', I needed to build a basic 0-4-0 chassis to accommodate the High Level 'Quad Driver' gearbox and carry the weight of the loco body. A couple of bits of brass were cut to size, axle holes drilled out and some spare Comet frame spacers used:

     
    In this photo, you can see that I've inked in the outline of the High Level gearbox, just to make sure everything fitted OK:

     
    I put some wheels on the chassis and test fitted it to the loco body:

     
    By this time I had just about worked out where the respective gear wheels went in the chassis and had also test fitted the motor to the gearbox:

     
    At this point, and remembering a comment on one of the other threads on the building of this kit, I had to put one of the driving gear wheels on the rear driven axle. The axles are 2mm, and the driving gear wheels are a rather tight force fit, so lining every thing up, including axle washers to reduce slop and some 2mm internal diameter brass tubing to keep the gear wheels in their correct positions within the gearbox and drive extension, was going to be interesting. This is what it looked like with just the rear axle drive in place:

     
    Having established that the motor would drive the rear axle and the adjacent gear wheels nice and smoothly, it was time for a further trial fit of the chassis to the body, this time with the motor attached, to enable the radiator front and top of the bonnet to be glued on, without fouling the Mashima 1020 motor inside:

     

     
    Time now to glue the top of the bonnet on with 5 minute epoxy. My left hand acted as a clamp for around 10 minutes or so:

     
    With the glue having set, I put the body aside for the glue to really harden and went back to the chassis.
     
    I put the remaining driven gearwheel on the leading axle and wired the motor up to test run the whole assembly:

     

     

     
    It ran pretty well, in fact, thanks to the excellent design and engineering of the High Level product.
     
    A bit more work saw the Maygib industrial buffer shanks glued in place. The kit comes with a cast oval buffer, but I felt that some large, round industrial buffers were what I really needed:

     

     
    Next was to get the loco running properly 'under its own power', ie. on some track with the pick ups fitted.
     
    My first attempt at gluing some copper clad sleeper onto the chassis, to mount the pick-ups on, didn't work:

     
    The copper clad sleeper stuck out too far from the sides of the chassis and prevented the body from sitting back on the chassis, so that came off and smaller bits were glued on the side of each frame, and pick ups soldered on:

     
    The pick ups in the photo above were from 0.5mm phosphor bronze wire. This was another 're-learning' point. I had forgotten how relatively unyielding that diameter of wire is, when configured like that, so these were replaced with thinner p/b wire (0.4mm, I think), and that made a big difference.
     
    The loco was then put on the test track for further testing:

     
    I had built the chassis as uncompensated, as I reasoned that by building it square, so that all wheels were on the track at the same time, the pick ups should work OK off all four wheels. This proved to be rather idealistic, as in practice there are often tiny imperfections that inhibit current collection, so I had to dismantle the chassis more or less completely, and provide some basic compensation, which took the form of slight vertical ovals in the axle holds at one end, together with a bar for the centre of the axle to rest on. The other driven axle remained fixed. The compensated end is the left hand end in this photo:

     
    After that, the loco ran much more smoothly, especially after I had applied a small amount of Carr's Microgrease to the gear wheels (not really necessary with Delrin gears, but there you go), and some lubrication to the axle holes. There were still some minor hesitations, though, so I then installed some additional wiper pick-ups, acting on the edges of the wheel flanges, plus I ran the whole chassis on a rolling road for a couple of hours. That bedded it all in nicely and I was now happy with the running.

     

     

     
    One more installment to follow.
  2. Captain Kernow
    More work has been done in the last few weeks on the ballasting. It should be borne in mind that although the ballast currently looks quite pristine, this is a goods-only line in the early-mid 1960s, and there is still grot, cinder/mud effects and weed growth to add. Some of the sleepers haven't yet been weathered and most of the rail sides will need more weathering as well. Also, the actual point rodding has yet to be installed.
     
    The general method of ballasting the full-depth sleepers of the P4 Track Co/Exactoscale track is to apply the loose, dry ballast, dampen with IPA alcohol and drop Klear onto the tops of the sleepers with a pipette type thing.
     
    First of all, some views of the ballast, which has been tamped but not yet dampened or had the Klear applied:

     

     

     
    Shortly after taking the above photos, I applied the Klear. Until the Klear has dried out, the whole thing looks horrible to my eyes, as despite the IPA (which is supposed to help the Klear spread without disturbing the ballast), a fair number of ballast disturbances inevitably occur....
     
    This is the simple tamping tool that I use to tamp the loose ballast down (thanks to Re6/6 for his suggestion with this one):

     
    Here is a bit of plain track, which has had the Klear treatment, and some of the irregularities smoothed out:

     
    Here is another section of plain line, in this case, the running line towards Coalpit Heath:

     
    I've found that I've had to be extra careful in the area around point blades when applying the Klear, in order not to gum the whole lot up solid. I've inserted thin strips of grease-proof paper (thanks to Will Vale for that suggestion) between the blades and the slide chairs, which seems to have helped.
     
    In the case of the 3-way point with it's copper-clad sleepers, the lower depth of the sleepers meant that I could use my normal 'Captain's Method' of applying the PVA neat between the sleepers with a small paintbrush and applying the ballast dry from above, vacuuming the rest off when the PVA has dried. I much prefer this method generally for the better control it gives you when ballasting, although it is very time-consuming as well (but possibly not as time-consuming or as fraught as trying to get all the loose ballast neat with a tamping tool and a small brush!).
     
    This is the 3-way point:

     
    Most of the sidings on the layout will feature a cinder/mud type of 'ballast', up to (or almost up to) the sleeper tops, with weed growth etc. Some 'mud/cinders' (in the form of Humbrol Air Clay - thanks to Chris Nevard for that one!) will also be applied on areas where there is currently 'pristine ballast', so that 'ballast effects' will be seen poking through the mud and the grot. The principle is that the main running lines would have had some ballast to start with (although it is mostly pretty grotty by now), whereas the sidings would not have.
     
    Despite appearances, there are no ballast shoulders on the layout, and more 'cinders/mud' type grot will abut the ballasted areas and merge with same.
  3. Captain Kernow
    With the Hartlepool show out of the way, I've started doing things on 'Callow Lane' again over the last few weeks, (and when not making sandwiches and serving bananas at CamRail... ).
     
    One of the tasks I wanted to get done, was the ballasting of the section of track that will normally be inside the removeable goods shed. The ballast had to be exactly the right width, to ensure that the goods shed seated itself correctly when put on the layout (you may recall from a previous blog posting that the goods shed, which is the Townstreet plaster-cast kit), is located on the layout via four brass pins that fit into four brass tubes glued into the baseboard).
     
    First of all, the inside track area was marked out in pencil with the goods shed in situ, and some 60 thou styrene sections temporarily glued in place, giving the ballast something to butt up against. The ballast was then laid and secured in place by the usual method of spraying IPA and then dropping Johnsons Klear onto the damp ballast. When that had set, the whole lot was then subjected to some dilute PVA, to really seal it in.
     

     
    The 60 thou plasticard sections were then removed:
     

     
    The goods shed was then put in place and a couple of bits of ballast trimmed away to ensure a snug fit. I will be laying a bit more dirt and gunge, as the ballast is currently too clean:
     

     

     
     
    I've also started making the first of the three main semaphore signals, using MSE kits. This one is an ex-LMS upper quadrant on a steel post, which would have replaced an earlier Midland Railway wooden post example. The other two signals will feature wooden posts.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    Since the photos of the signal were taken, I've been painting it and have put together a water crane for the end of the down platform (thanks to those who responded to my query in the 'Help' section). The above signal was borrowed and temporarily put in position adjacent to the planned location of the water crane, at the end of the disused down platform:

     
    I've also given the ScaleScenes terraced cottages a waft of aerosol Dullcote, to aid the weathering process:

     

  4. Captain Kernow
    I've now finished weathering 1458 and the loco is now considered 'ready for service'.
     
    1458 and 1420 were the two regular locos on the Kington and Presteigne goods services in the early 1960s, until the lines finally closed in 1964. Both continued in service for a few months, with 1420 getting preserved by the Dart Valley Railway and 1458 seeing her days out on the Chalford auto trains, shedded at Gloucester.
     
    In my timeline, the railway beyond Kington to New Radnor was not closed in 1951, together with the extension to Rhyadar, so the 14XXs would have worked beyond Kington to Capel Bethesda, where goods traffic with the Vale of Radnor Light Railway was exchanged.
     
    Due to the extension beyond New Radnor to Rhayadar (which was initially meant to be part of a through route from the Midlands to the Welsh coast), the line was upgraded to take heavier locos, so we now see various types of pannier tanks appearing at Capel Bethesda, together with 22XXs and the occasional larger loco.
     
    It's nice, though, to have a couple of 14XXs available, though, as a nod to the real life lines that closed in 1964.
     
    Although I have some quite dirty and heavily-weathered locos, I wanted 1458 to represent a loco that had been looked after and was kept relatively clean by the local crews (a nod, perhaps, to the almost fanatical cleaning regime applied to the regular loco on the Golden Valley line a few miles away and a few years earlier).
     
    The loco was sprayed with a weathering mix of diluted Humbrol enamels, based on the methods described by Martyn Welch. The first layer was largely rubbed off again, when touch-dry and a second mix applied, leaving the original dirt lodged in the nooks and crannies. A bit of brush weathering followed, together with a final 'blow over' from the airbrush.
     
    (The other 14XX is one of the Hattons factory-weathered examples and I've yet to decide what to do about that, as it's really a bit too dirty!).
     

     

     

     

     
    And finally, a kind and observant soul has pointed out something that I already knew, namely that the really 1458 retained the early crest right until the end. I only realised myself a few weeks ago, but decided that as my layout's whole 'raison d'etre' is really rather outrageously improbable, then I could get away with saying that the loco acquired the later crest when it was reboilered in the late 1950s (earlier photos show 1458 with a top feed, later ones show her without).
     
    And I'm not messing with it now that it's finished!
     
  5. Captain Kernow
    Having previously felt that I wouldn't be able to remove the moulded slate detail from the roof of the road-side awning, I looked at it again and decided that the difference in slate finishes was such that I really ought to make the attempt.
     
    This is how it was done...
     
     
    First of all, the whole structure was encased in card, to protect it from stray movements of the gert big ** file that I was planning to use, and to keep plaster dust from the model generally, and from the interior especially..
    ** technical term

     
    Closer view of the roof before the work started

     
    The gurt big** file turned out not to be the right tool for the job, so I used a rotary abrasive drum attachment on a Rolson 12v drill. This is what it looked like when the job was virtually done
    ** also a technical term

     
    I'd already made up a replacement slated roof, using matching Scalescenes slate strips on a piece of thin card, which I glued to the plaster top of the awning using 5 minute epoxy:

  6. Captain Kernow
    The last few days have seen little modelling done, but what has been achieved, finally, is the completion (more or less) of the laying of Tetrion filler in the area around the goods shed and the Down Sidings.
     
    Only the area between the in-laid track and the goods shed, plus a small portion beyond will actually be scribed with granite setts, the remainder of the white surface area will represent a tarmac type surface.
     
    Here are a selection of photos taken today, with all the railway buildings in the Down Yard put into place to get a feel for what it will eventually look like:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    I have documented the construction of the goods shed previously, which is essentially a slightly modified Townstreet plastercast kit. One other product from that same company is this little brick-built yard office, which is actually a solid, single casting:
     

     

     
     
     
    The viewing side is where the wall is, in some of the photos.
     
    As regards the open space in front of the goods shed, there will be an approach road descending from the overbridge in the centre of the layout, as this crudely amendment of the 5th photo shows:
     

  7. Captain Kernow
    Martin & Michelle McDermott (Mr & Mrs Pugsley) came for a visit yesterday, and whilst the ladies were keenly plotting some new cake recipes for the Taunton Members Day, Martin & I slipped into the next room and had a bit of a play around on Callow Lane. I'd earlier put all the buildings and other structures up on the layout; here are a few photos I took afterwards. In deference to Martin's preference for diesels, I kept the kettles in their boxes
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  8. Captain Kernow
    I decided to re-number my Hattons/DJM 14XX today.
     
    Much has been said about the 'sunken' number plates adopted by DJ Models for GW prototypes (14XX, 1363) and I have to say that I have yet to meet anyone who likes them.
     
    Some folk have decided that they're happy to live with the 'sunken' plates, which is fine.
     
    Those who need to re-number their model, however, have a choice - either remove the existing 'sunken' plates or simply stick new ones over the top of them.
     
    It's been said by some that the 'sunken' plates are effectively level with the rest of the body work, thus making the gluing of a replacement plate on top a simple job. I'm not so convinced that no part of the 'sunken' plate rose above the level of the body work and when looking at examples of replacement plates glued on top of the old ones, I felt that a small gap could be discerned.
     
    I decided, therefore, to remove the old plates and fit a small sliver of 5 thou plasticard in the resulting 'hole', to bring it up to the level of the rest of the body work.
     
    For me, the clean removal of the old plate, without damaging the surrounding paint finish, was paramount, so not knowing how solidly they were fixed in place, I didn't want to risk trying to prise them out from the side with a small screwdriver or scalpel blade.
     
    This is the original plate in situ:

     
    To effect a 'clean' removal of the DJM plates, I decided that they would become 'sacrificial', so I drilled into them with a 0.7mm drill:

     
    They actually came off pretty easily:

     
    This is the resulting 'hole' after the residual glue had been carefully removed with a No.15 curved scalpel blade:

     
    Two 'blanking pieces' from black 5 thou plasticard were then made up, about 3.8mm x 7.8mm:

     
    These were then glued in place by applying small amounts of MekPak to the loco body and the 5 thou plasticard:

     
    This pretty much brought the number plate 'hole' up to the level of the surrounding bodywork. I then glued the replacement plates for 1458 by 247 Developments in place:

     
    I'm not a huge fan of etched smokebox door number plates and I normally prefer to use transfers. As the Hattons/DJM model came as 1450, I had hoped to merely replace the 0 with an 8, from a sheet of waterslide smokebox door numbers, but unfortunately the replacement 8 wasn't quite big enough, so I had to gently scrape the rest of the number off with a curved scalpel blade and start from scratch:

     
    I have a sheet of ModelMaster ex-GWR smokebox door numbers, but not one for 1458, so 1437 and 5810 were used to provide the right combination of numbers:

     
    I shall seal the transfers in with some matt varnish next and then continue with the last few jobs on the body, before painting and weathering both chassis and loco body.
  9. Captain Kernow
    Over the last few weeks, I've been doing a little cobbling now and then. It's been quite relaxing in fact, especially after a busy day at work dealing with the aftermath of the recent flooding on the railway.
     
    Now I've got to the stage where the main areas for cobbling are now complete, namely the section between the goods shed and the nearest running rail of the in-laid siding, plus the 'four foot' area of the siding itself:
     

     
    The remaining work is to scribe three rows of cobbles parallel with the opposite running rail, to match the opposite side, and then scribe cobbles for an inch or so in the Tetrion filler, to represent an area that used to be cobbled but is now covered with tarmac. Some cobbles will show through here and there, where the tarmac has worn away, something like what the red lines represent:
     

     
    And now, a few more gratuitious photos of the area cobbled thus far (or, more correctly, the area with scribed granite setts...):
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    There are one or two areas around the base of the goods shed where I couldn't quite get the Tetrion to close right up to, so these will be disguised by some sacrificial scenic dust or greenery.
  10. Captain Kernow
    A few years ago, I bought a whitemetal kit for a Hibberd 'Planet' 0-4-0 diesel, as produced by Roxey Mouldings. At the time, I intended to build it in P4, as (yet another) industrial loco to work into 'Callow Lane'.
     
    The kit was originally intended to be used with a Tenshodo 'Spud' motor bogie, with a wheelbase of 24.5mm.
     
    I'm no great fan of the 'Spuds' and in view of the fact that I originally wanted to build it in P4, I was pleased to hear that High Level had produced a bespoke 'Quad Driver' gearbox for this kit, originally in conjunction with Gordon Ashton (Steamraiser of this forum).
     
    I spoke to Chris Gibbon of High Level, and he kindly provided me with the requisite 'Quad Driver' gearbox and a motor.
     
    The kit then joined the pile of others in the 'to do' box and a few years passed, including latterly a couple of years when I lost my modelling mojo almost completely.
     
    Since then, I'm pleased to say that the modelling mojo has come back, in no small measure inspired by the notion of building a small, OO-SF shunting/goods-only layout, which would be small enough to have set up permanently at home. The idea for this layout was developed and eventually became 'Bethesda Sidings', a goods yard set on a fictitious ex-GW line in Mid-Wales, into which an outrageously improbably light railway ran, with running powers over the BR line. This is the 'Vale of Radnor Light Railway'.
     
    Then came the announcement of the Cameo Layout Competition, so I decided to enter 'Bethesda Sidings' in the competition.
     
    Although I have some industrial locos already, which would be suitable for use on the Vale of Radnor Light Railway traffic into and out of 'Bethesda Sidings', I've always liked building locos and I decided to give the VoRLR some dedicated motive power of it's own, and so I thought of the 'Planet' kit.
     
    Thus the decision was made to build it in OO instead of P4, and some Romford/Markits 12mm wagon wheels were obtained (actually I think I had them sitting in a cardboard box with a load of other wheels).
     
    I got the 'Planet' kit and it's gearbox kit out of the 'to do' box and opened it up:
     

     

     

    Apart from the reasonably nice whitemetal castings, I realised that I would need to build my own simple 0-4-0 chassis to carry the 'Quad Driver' gearbox, so I had a look in my box sheet brass odds and ends and found some suitable material of approx. 15 thou thickness.
     
    I'd also need to make up my own flush glazing, for which I would use some nice quality 10 thou material, kindly supplied by my good friend John F (Re6/6).
     
    More to follow.
  11. Captain Kernow
    It's been a while since the previous blog entry covering the refurbishment of this loco and in fact, the remaining work was completed fairly soon after the previous blog entry, but I've just not got around to posting the remaining photos.
     
    'Jennifer' portrays an ex-LNER J72 that was sold-out-of-service to the Vale of Radnor Light Railway, which is an outrageously improbable line that ran to Capel Bethesda station on the line between New Radnor and Rhayader in Mid-Wales, near the English border. The light railway has running powers into the goods yard, which forms the basis for my 'Bethesda Sidings' cameo layout.
     
    I tested the chassis under power (with wires from the controller temporarily soldered directly to the motor) and was happy with the way it ran. Pick-ups were then added and the loco again tested 'under it's own power. Again, I'm happy to report that it ran nice and smoothly and is capable of a very slow speed crawl if required (not necessarily prototypical, however).
     
    The Perseverence chassis kit doesn't provide sandboxes and I scratchbuilt a pair of these from plasticard.
     
    All that remained was to paint the chassis and weather it and the loco body.
     
    These days I tend to brush-paint a red oxide primer straight onto the chassis and also to spray the wheels with the same colour, having masked the treads off first.
     
    I then mix up a dirty, gungy 'weathered chassis' mix of enamels and brush-paint both chassis and wheels. Other colours are then added to portray lighter rust, grease and other types of dirt.
     
    When the paint on the wheels is fully hardened, I remove the masking from the treads and tidy up the border between the metal tread and the painted sides, by putting each wheel on an axle in turn and putting them one at a time in an electric drill and using some cotton buds dipped in cellulose thinners to get the unwanted paint off the edges of the treads. If it goes well, you should be left with a nice neat separation between wheel tread and wheel side.
     
    The chassis is then put back together, pick-up ends checked to ensure they are clean, backs of wheels cleaned and the chassis tested again under it's own power on the test track.
     
    The loco body is next to be weathered. I wanted 'Jennifer' to be slightly grubby above the footplate, so I airbrushed a weathering mix of enamels as described by Martyn Welch in his book 'The Art of Weathering' and let it get touch-dry for a few hours.
     
    Much of the weathering is then wiped off the loco body (particularly the dark green livery areas) with cotton buds dampened with enamel thinners.
     
    Additional weathering effects are then added with a brush and/or powders and a second overall misting of the weathering mix is done with the airbrush again.
     
    Once I am happy with the overall effect, I leave the loco for several days to fully harden off.
     
    I then re-unite the body with the chassis and give the loco a further test on the test track under power.
     
    The last job (apart from providing a crew, which is actually still to be done) is to make up one of my standard loco boxes from Dalerboard.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    If I was starting from scratch with another ex-Mainline J72, I would probably replace the smokebox/boiler handrails and provide additional detailing, but the point of this project was to re-use an existing loco that I had initially finished some 30 years ago, without changing it too much.
  12. Captain Kernow
    Although I have complained about the Hattons/DJM mechanism and chassis at length, I have never had any major criticisms of the body on this model and this remains the case, apart from the fact that you have to dismantle the body, in order to get the Hattons/DJM motor out, without resorting to the use of a mains Dremel.
     
    The level of detailing is very fine and some of the components are, by their very nature, somewhat delicate.
     
    The pipe runs along the edge of the footplate are a case in point.
     
    The pipes themselves are formed of steel rod, which is rather unyielding as is usually the case with steel. The end of the steam heating pipe, which runs along the left-hand edge of the footplate, actually fits into a corresponding hole in the rear of the plastic steam pipe moulding, which comes in a small bag for the owner to fit themselves.
     
    The steel rods are held in place along the edge of the footplate by small plastic clips, which are the vulnerable component here.
     
    The steam heating pipe on my model needed to be bent back slightly, in order not to place too much pressure on the plastic steam pipe (which you have to glue onto the buffer beam, fortunately Butanone seems to work OK for this).
     
    When bending this steel rod back a little, it popped out of the leading plastic clip on the side of the footplate, which in any case had, I suspect, been compromised during previous work on the loco. As a result, the plastic clip was broken and wouldn't hold the pipe securely any longer.
     
    My solution to this was what I have done before, when fitting similar pipework to kitbuilt locos.
     
    Two 0.5mm holes were drilled into the side of the footplate valancing, one on top of the other and by necessity, very close together. 0.5mm is somewhat too large but with a smaller drill, there is an increased risk of the drill breaking off, which wouldn't have been very helpful. Both holes are hidden behind the pipework when all is done, in any case.
     
    The first thing is then to epoxy a short length of 5 amp fuse wire into the top hole, having previously drawn the wire through some fine wet & dry paper to roughen the surface up to key to the glue:

     
    The top 0.5mm hole just goes right into the plastic of the footplate moulding, to a depth of about 5mm, enough to let the epoxy hold the fuse wire nicely. This is left to harden overnight.
     
    The next stage is to use a fine pair of tweezers to feed the other end of the fuse wire into the lower hole. This lower hole emerges on the underside of the footplate moulding. The fuse wire is then carefully pulled taught and some more epoxy applied to the underside of the footplate:

     
    The result looks like this - the fuse wire forms a very small little loop, that holds the steel steam pipe run in place and will disappear when dabbed with a black permanent marker or a bit of black paint:

     
    I would add, however, that the above process was rather fraught, as the threading of the fuse wire into the lower hole proved a lot more difficult than I had envisaged. I wouldn't do it in that order again, but would instead put the wire in the lower hole first, but not glue it, then thread the other end into the upper hole, glue it and leave it to harden. I would then draw the wire already in the lower hole tight and glue.
     
    I think I was lucky not to have broken the fuse wire off with the initial fumbling with the tweezers!
  13. Captain Kernow
    With regard to this project, I wasn't planning on going into loads of detail about what this kit was like to build, as there are already two threads on RMWeb by others who have also done so. One is by Paul G ('5050') and the other by Gordon A ('Steamraiser'). Paul's thread can be found here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/97619-the-next-project-roxey-planet/ and Gordon's thread is on the older version of RMWeb, and can be found here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=25602
     
    I must say at this point that both gentlemen were very helpful when I had some questions during the course of my own build, particularly with regard to the High Level 'Quad Drive' gearbox, so my thanks to them both again.
     
    As this project was my first loco build for several years, I thought I would touch upon some of the 're-learning' issues that I encountered along the way, as I had done practically no modelling (apart from the point construction featured on my blog earlier this year) of any kind since 2014 prior to this.
     
    I will say at this point that although I was keen to start a loco kit project, it took me a while to decide whether to do the 'Planet' or something else from the 'to do' box. One kit that was also taken out was a Judith Edge Ruston 88DS kit, which is definitely to be in P4. I think, though, that it was the decision to build the 'cameo' shunting layout ('Bethesda Sidings') that swung it for me.
     
    Having only used my modelling table for a very limited number of non-modelling related tasks over the previous three years, I found that not everything was where I wanted it to be, and I had to search for some tools and other items. Fortunately, most things were not too difficult to find, but it wasn't quite the same thing as simply starting a new kit build project from an already 'operational' modelling table.
     
    Although I'd lost the modelling mojo for over two years, it had been even longer since I had assembled a whitemetal loco kit. I removed all the pieces from the kit box, as shown in the photo in the previous blog entry, and had a good look at them.
     
    Due to the outside frames of this loco, the majority of the body and frames could go together as one 'unit', although the Roxey instructions guide you to making the cab and bonnet removable from the footplate and outside frames, something that both Paul and Gordon had observed, but which I failed to spot at the time.
     
    I looked at the cab and footplate castings first. The corners of the cab were mitred, which could arguably make for a snug-fitting corner, but in reality I found that I needed to fettle the castings a bit to get the fit that I was happy with.
     
    Then came the next realisation. In the past, I have usually tried, wherever possible, to solder whitemetal castings together, and generally I've found it relatively straightforward, although not without its problems. The Roxey cab castings have some nice rivet detail on them, which I realised might get damaged when cleaning up after soldering. I decided to get some photos of all four sides, so that I could replace any rivets removed during cleaning up.
     
    In these views, the cab castings are held together with bluetack and placed on the footplate in a 'dry run':

     

     

     

     

    Having my 'record' photos, I went ahead and soldered the four cab sides together and soldered them onto the footplate. This was to make cutting out the necessary additional material to accommodate the High Level 'Quad Drive' a bit harder, but more of that in due course.
     
    Despite having successfully soldered these five components together, plus the two sides of the bonnet, it was rather stressful, as I usually use a mains iron for soldering whitemetal now, in order to deliver sufficient heat quickly. One doesn't like to linger, however, under such circumstances, and when it came to attaching the buffer beams and outside frames, I decided that there was so much whitemetal to bond, that I'd rather fall back and use epoxy glue instead.
     
    This is the assembly (taken a day after the photos shown above) with some rubber bands holding everything together, while the 5 minute epoxy set:

     
    When the glue had cured (I like to leave it several hours, at least, even with 5 minute epoxy), the loco looked like this:

     

     
    Notice that I have (purposely) removed all rivets from some parts of the cab, to aid the rubbing down and general cleaning up after soldering. I would later reinstate the rivets using Archers transfers.
     
    Before doing any further work on the body, I realised that I had to ensure that the motor and gearbox would fit correctly, which in turn would enable me to work out how much whitemetal to remove from the cab front and the footplate.
     
    These are the High Level 'Quad Drive' components (please note that I have already folded up the main motor mount):

     
    Looking at the gearbox components, I realised that I didn't really know how the various gear wheels went together. Because this was a kind of 'bespoke' product from High Level, there were no instructions, so it was at this point that I became familiar with the useful information on Paul and Gordon's respective threads. After much consideration, it started to make sense:

     

     
    More to follow.
  14. Captain Kernow
    A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Noble Realm of SWAG to all in RMWeb Land!
     
    Some specific Christmas wishes:
     
    - May we all contain ourselves successfully until one minute past Midnight tonight!
    - May we all eat and drink as much as we need and perhaps even want over the Festive Season!
    - May the weather front coming in on Sunday night bring rain, not more snow!!!
     
     
    And as the flag of Swagonia bravely flutters on the top of Mount Snyeg outside Kernow Towers...


     
    ...my thoughts turn to what modelling I may get done over the holidays...
     
     
    Well, there's just a little bit more work to do, to finish the lineside 'view-blocker' half-relief factory building (the more simple one, not the one with the awning), then there's the Midland Railway pattern signalbox, also for Callow Lane.
     
    I doubt very much that 53806 will get weathered and put into service just yet, but I may put part of 'Engine Wood' up over the holidays, in order to measure up for a fiddle yard adaptor board that needs to be put on, before Railex in Aylesbury next May.
     
    Of course, that may give me the chance for a bit of photography with a certain 7F!
     
    Have a great Christmas, everyone!
  15. Captain Kernow
    I've been diverted slightly from the construction of 'Bethesda Sidings' by the desire to get my 7mm test track up and running. I could easily have gone out and bought a yard of Peco track, but I wanted to build some myself, using some copper clad sleepers that I had.
     
    First of all, the copper clad sleepers (spare 4mm ones) were cut to length and laid out on a piece of flat board, with a straight line drawn on to help things:

     
    As this is only a test length of track, I didn't go for standard sleeper spacings, but rather spaced them according to how many sleepers I could get out of a given number of lengths of copper clad sleepers. This worked out at a spacing of 24mm. Each sleeper was lightly glued to the flat piece of board with some PVA (which would enable easy removal once the track was completed):

     
    I'd managed to misplace my proper (C&L) 7mm track gauges, so as this is only a test track, I made some up out of bits of Dalerboard to the correct gauge (32mm in this case). Here, the rails are just laid loose on the sleepers:

     
    With a yard-long steel rule to keep the rail straight, the first rail is gradually soldered to the sleepers. The rail is Peco code 124 flat-bottom rail:

     
    The second rail was then soldered in place, using the cardboard gauges:

     
    Here we have the completed length of track:

     
    The sleepers were then gapped and temporarily laid on the wooden plinth that I made for it:

     
    The piece of track was then sprayed with Halfords undercoat and then Halfords Matt Black, the rail tops cleaned and wires soldered on at one end. Here it is in place on the 'test track shelf':

     
    Control is simple DC, of course, using a Gaugemaster controller, which I have now wired so that I can switch it easily between the 7mm test track, the OO/P4 one, the OO/P4 rolling road or a 12v DC output on the workbench:

     
    And finally, a Peckett obliges with a test run:

  16. Captain Kernow
    Well, as I mentioned in the comments section of the previous blog entry, I was getting uneasy about the size of the box, as compared with the smaller size of the lever frame. Even with the gate wheel, I decided that the box was too big for the location, and I started thinking about how I could re-build it to a smaller size.
     
    In the meantime, I constructed the 18 lever frame (from Smiths etched components) and placed it in the original box...

     

     

     
    As you can see, it left rather a large area for the dance floor, which reminded me a little too much of boxes that have had their frames cut down, following track rationalisation. That argument wasn't going to work at Callow Lane, so I decided to get the piercing saw out and re-build the box to a smaller design.
     
    It would have been nice to have done a small, cute 2-window box (a bit like Selside), but the lever frame, coupled with the gate wheel, would require just a little bit too much room, so I opted to copy the box that had provided me with my original inspiration - Painswick Road LC on the former Tuffley Jct - Gloucester Eastgate line, and re-build Callow Lane's box as a 3-window box.
     
    I've also built and installed the gate wheel. The lever frame isn't permanently attached, however, as it will need to be carefully painted to correspond with the signalling diagram that Dave 'Beast' Skipsey has kindly worked out for me.
     

     

     

     

     
    Once I had carefully cut the two side walls off, the front and back walls required complete re-building, which has now made this structure less of a modified Ratio kit, and more of a scratchbuild, using some Ratio (and other) components.
     
     
    Additional comments - Sunday evening 02/01/11
     
    Here is my own photo of the interior of Settle Jct signalbox, to prove that I am aware of what a Midland Railway lever frame looks like - the only problem is - how to reproduce that in 4mm scale when you don't have access to any fancy etching capabilities or C.A.D. etc.

  17. Captain Kernow
    I'm having one of my 'OO interludes', so work on the layout is temporarily on hold. The main job at the moment is to get the new chassis for 82044 (in OO) finished. I started this a couple of years ago, and have modified a Comet 76XXX chassis kit to fit the 2-6-2 tank. The reason for this is due to the original Bachmann chassis refusing all attempts to get it to run smoothly.
     
    The process of building the new chassis has not been without it's frustrations, requiring a complete strip down once I'd got the valve gear 60% complete, in order to establish the precise cause of hesitant running (that hadn't been there earlier when building the valve gear).
     
    Anyway, here is the chassis having a good few hours running in on the circle of Lima set-track:

     
     
    In the meantime, a new heavy freight tank loco has also arrived...
     
    7229 of Ebbw Jct shed arrives at Callow Lane with a heavy mineral train, bound for the marshalling yard at Westerleigh and onward transit:

     

     

     
    This one seems to be quite intact when removed from the box, although one of the tension lock couplings was loose, not something I'm worried about. It runs nice and smoothly straight out of the box as well.
  18. Captain Kernow
    John F (Re6/6) came over today and we spent a very convivial afternoon helping each other out. I'm preparing 'Bleakhouse Road' for it's first show in 20 months at Coventry, and John is also there demonstrating scenery, including his superb trees.
     
    John is also taking his lovely Wye Valley diorama 'Netherhope Halt', and wanted some weathered ballast wagons (ex-Tintern Quarry) to pose on it.
     
    I had been meaning to improve one of the trees on BHR for some time. I had scratchbuilt the armature back in 2000 from copper wire, soldered together and covered with masking tape, then a mixture of Polyfilla and PVA glue. The foliage was made from teasing out 'Postiche' artificial theatrical hair and adding gound foam leaves, but I had left quite a lot of gaps between foliage clumps, and I knew that John would be able to show me how to improve on that.
     
    In the end, we split the jobs and John most kindly provided some replacement foliage from his stocks of Noch, which I think are relatively recent productions. He stripped the original foliage off first and cleaned the armature back up, bent some of the branches into more realistic positions and applied new acrylic paint to the bark.
     
    John had wanted a 'quickie' weathering powder job done on some Heljan 'Dogfish' ballast hoppers, so I got my weathering powders out and literally did a quickie once-over on his six wagons.
     
    CTMK popped her camera round the door and caught us in the act...

     
    Here is the finished tree, John just has 'the touch' with scenery and anyone visiting the RMWeb event at Coventry will be able to see more of his creations at close up:

     
    We also posed the tree on 'Callow Lane', even though it won't end up there:

     
    Here are some of John's wagons posed on 'Callow Lane' (the eagle-eyed may notice that he hasn't re-wheeled them yet, just opened the OO wheels out to enable the wagons to sit on the P4 track of 'Netherhope Halt' for the show, proper conversions to follow):

     

     

     

     
    I would normally use an airbrush and also drybrushing, in conjunction with powders, to weather of these, but time wasn't really on our side.
     
    After John had gone, I put my new tree back in it's transport box, which is made of Dalerboard, with a length of brass tube glued into the base, to hold the tree upright and keep it away from the edges of the box:

     

     

     

     

     
    My preference would normally be to fix trees to the layout, but in this case, there isn't sufficient clearance when the layout is packed up for transport.
  19. Captain Kernow
    One of the 'great things' about this hobby (unless you are incredibly clever in the Forward Planning Department) is that you learn lessons as you go along. Once you've made something, you find that you've left something else off it, or perhaps you should have built it in a different sequence or added some part earlier...
     
    Thus it was with the cosmetic tiebars for Callow Lane. I had originally planned to use a Scalefour Society etch but this turned out to be designed for older-type flat bottom pointwork, and not really suitable for bullhead track at all.
     
    I know that Masokits do a delicate etch, and Craigwelsh kindly showed me an example he had built up last weekend at Blackburn.
     
    But, in the end, I decided to scratchbuild them from brass strip.
     
    Having already built, laid, painted and ballasted the points, I found that adding the cosmetic tie bars would have been much easier at the construction phase, when the points were still easily worked on, on my workbench.
     
    The actual operation of the five point ends on 'Callow Lane' is via under-board tie-bars, which connect to the blades above via nickel silver droppers. These are firmly soldered to the blades (don't want any coming adrift at exhibitions... ) and under the board, they slot into brass tubes, which in turn are epoxied into robust plastic tiebars made by the P4 Track Co. The whole lot is operated by Tortoise point motors.
     
    Anyway, having previously spent some time setting the point blades up so that the motors threw them 'just so', I didn't want to have to undo that work again, so I opted to solder the cosmetic tie bars to the droppers. Or rather, to one individual dropper, so as not to set up any unnecessary strains when the points moved. The resulting soldered joint on one side only is perfectly adequate to hold the whole cosmetic tie bar in place. Not totally prototypical, but better than nothing and at 'normal viewing distances' you can at least see that 'there's something there'...
     

     

     
    On this particular set of points, you can also see the balsa wood sleeper extensions that I've put on, to take the hand lever. I wonder if there's a market for the likes of the P4 Track Co to market longer bearers where handpoints are involved?
  21. Captain Kernow
    I've made a start on the weathering of the track and ballasting on Callow Lane.
     
    I would normally do all the track weathering first, which usually involves painting and/or dry brushing each individual sleeper, plus painting the rail sides and chairs varying shades of light/mid rust-brown/brake dust etc. This would then be followed by ballasting/siding grunge/weed growth etc.
     
    My ballasting methods on previous layouts such as 'Engine Wood' and 'Bleakhouse Road' have generally involved painting PVA between each individual sleeper bay (3 or 4 at a time before the glue starts to go off), and sprinking ballast on top of the glue. The shallow depth of C&L or SMP sleepers makes this possible and I have been very happy with the results.
     
    Callow Lane, however, uses track with 'full depth' sleepers from the P4 Track Co/Exactoscale, and when I tried 'The Captain's normal method', this was the result I got:

     

     
     
    I'm using a mixture of beach sand and 2mm ballast from the likes of Woodland Scenics and Carrs, and I wasn't particulary happy with either of the above two experimental sections. The ballast was too low, and I didn't like the way it clung to the slides of the sleepers on one of the sections. It might be possible to repeat the process to get the required ballast depth, but I simply couldn't face that....
     
    So, this time, I have reverted to an alternative method, which is used by many others and which I have used myself in the past, involving the laying the dry ballast first, very gently wetting it with a misting spray and then dropping dilute PVA (with a drop of washing up liquid in it) onto the damp ballast.
     
    Here is a 9 inch stretch where the ballast has been wettened and dilute PVA applied. The cut up bits of bin bag are obviously there to protect the rest of the layout, including any of the steel rail within range of the spray:
     

     

     

     

     
    The bit of vertical white plasticard is a temporary representation of the brick face of the old disused platform, which will be installed once the ballasting etc. has been completed. I would add that it took over half an hour just to get the ballast reasonably neat on that 9 inch section, plus a fair bit of time faffing around wetting it, applying the glue and clearing up!
     
    Here is a shorter section which I did a couple of days ago, at least the glue has now dried solid (initially I used too dilute a mixture, and had to give it two goes, the glue I used tonight has a bit more PVA in it!):
     

     

     
     
    08/7/10
     
    Well, I've tried vibrations (to settle the ballast more evenly), and I've tried Klear on the ballast. The latter was more successful, but despite it's lack of viscosity, it is still apt to form 'bubbles' in the ballast, displacing carefully laid and tamped material... :headbang:
     
    Anyway, I did a section on the main running line tonight and when it's dry, I'll see how durable it is and how neat the ballast has come out.
     
     
    09/7/10
     
    The bit I did with Klear yesterday didn't come out too badly, but one or two small sections came away when I vacuumed up residue this evening. Some small spots of PVA have secured new ballast to fill the gaps.
     
    I've now done another section with Klear, however, this time using a small wooden tamper tool (idea from Re6/6) to tamp the ballast down neatly when still dry, and then have applied the Klear, which seems to disturb the ballast less, when it's been tamped with the wooden tamper tool. I've also deposited much of the Klear on the sleeper tops, from whence it has flowed around the ballast. We'll see how the sleepers have dried in the morning....
     
    However, another advance is the use of grease-proof paper (idea from Will Vale on this forum), to tamp down any wet blobs of ballast, once the Klear has been applied. What's also been quite effective is using the wooden tamper tool on top of the grease-proof paper...
  22. Captain Kernow
    I've had a rolling road for some time, but have always preferred to run locos in on a circle of track, in both OO and P4 gauges.
     
    My 16XX (built from the old Cotswold kit, now available again from SE Finecast) was constructed a few years ago, but I've never been completely happy with the running.
     
    I had given it what I considered to be a 'good running in' (several hours, all told) on my circle of P4 track, which has to be laid out on newspapers on the floor, but that didn't improve the quality of the running to the extent that I had hoped. The loco has a heavy whitemetal body, on a pair of Gibson 64XX milled frames (the wheelbase is the same as the 16XX, but the frames need to be slightly lengthened at one end and shortened at the other by the same amount to get the relationship between the axle centres and the splashers on the body right). It is driven by a Mashima motor via a High Level gearbox.
     
    I've tinkered with the quartering and the side rods, but never quite managed to get the level of smooth running that I wanted.
     
    A few months ago, however, when I was doing more work at my workbench and could keep an eye on proceedings, I decided that I had nothing to lose by putting the loco on the Bachrus rolling road and giving it a significant spell of running forwards and backwards.
     

     
    At the end of that process, given the running on the rolling road under the control of my Gaugemaster (DC) controller, I was still sceptical, but I hadn't tried it on a piece of track and under the control of my slow speed hand-held controller until this afternoon.
     
    Whilst still not quite 'perfect', I was pleased to see that the running was better than I had expected, so rather than rush into building a Branchlines chassis for it (the parts for which I obtained earlier this year), I will persevere with another spell on the rolling road and see how that goes.
  23. Captain Kernow
    Hmm, the other night I was wondering what to do next on Callow Lane...
     
     
    More of this, perhaps? It needs doing, but I could do with a bit of a rest from it, to be honest...

     
     
    Then again, there's this that I've been thinking about recently:

     
     
    So, what's it to be?
     
     
     
     
     
    No contest!!

     

     

     
    Very basic conversions to P4 of the Bachmann Presflo. The wheels (a mixture of Maygib and Exactoscale) just slip right in. A bit of extra weight under the axles (roof lead), plus scale couplings. I might fit some sprung buffers later, but the three wagons have no suspension or compensation. High speed hauling and propelling tests of this rake, plus other wagons were carried out on Callow Lane the other night, with satisfactory results (no derailments or other problems).
     
    I'm going to accept that the brake shoes aren't quite in line with the wheel treads on these, but at least with the P4 wheelsets they are admittedly a bit closer than in OO... They are simply 'layout wagons' to pass through and get stabled for a while in a siding, prior to moving on (there is no cement terminal on Callow Lane!).
  24. Captain Kernow
    When John (Re6/6) and Peter came round the other day to refresh play on Engine Wood, we naturally had a play on Callow Lane as well. Peter brought his P4 converted ex-Lima GW railcar, which utilises the drive from a Bachmann 158 to power it, and it looked rather at home on Callow Lane:
     

     
    A bit of mindless shunting was also indulged in:

     

     
    Still haven't glued the roof to the goods shed, waiting until after TrainWest:

  25. Captain Kernow

    A Dean Goods

    By Captain Kernow,

    Whilst the 14XX 0-4-2 is more closely associated with the last years of goods services to Kington and Presteigne, Dean Goods locos did once work through from Rhayader to Leominster, when the through route via Capel Bethesda, New Radnor and Kington was open. It seemed appropriate, therefore, to have an example on the roster for 'Bethesda Sidings', working the occasional goods train from Leominster and back.
     
    I am aware that much has been written about the Oxford Rail model, not all of it good and in truth, I probably wouldn't have bothered with a Dean Goods, had this RTR model not been available, but I had the opportunity to acquire one as a birthday present last year, so I thought I would.

    Whilst an etched kit or even a thorough upgrade of the old Mainline body might have 'put right' the various faults that some have pointed out, I decided that the model passed the Captain's 'Black 5' test (if it looks like a Black 5, then it must be a Black 5).
     
    I was fortunate to end up with a decent-running example in BR black and am happy to report that the gaps in my knowledge about the class mean that I am content enough to give it house room on the layout.
     
    I decided that my Dean Goods would be one of the last ones in BR service, namely 2538, which was allocated to 89A Oswestry prior to withdrawal on 31st May 1957. Although that date falls within my somewhat flexible operating period on 'Bethesda Sidings', I might perhaps pretend that it's usefulness on the Bethesda goods allowed it to survive a little longer.
     
    The loco is, of course, far too clean and needs weathering, before it can be put into service. Although I am normally happy to weather my own locos and stock, I decided that I would ask Tom Foster - https://tomfosterweathering.wordpress.com/ - to weather 2538, which would save me a lot of time and hopefully enable 2538 to be used on the layout at it's first booked show next year. I really like Tom's work and would recommend him to anyone wanting a good weathering job done.
     
    Before the loco could go off to Tom, though, I needed to do a small number of little jobs, namely make up and attach screw link couplings, fit the smokebox door plate and remove the moulded plastic cabside number plates and fit replacement brass ones, with the correct number on. Why do manufacturers think that it's clever to mould a number plate onto a cab side, by the way?
     
    The plates were supplied by the ever-helpful Brian Moseby at 247 developments:

     
    I attached the smokebox door number first. I wanted to try to see if I could have it standing slightly 'proud' of the smokebox door, as they do in reality, rather than gluing the number plate directly to the front of the loco, so I soldered a couple of 0.5mm p/b spigots to the back of the plate and glued them into some corresponding holes, drilled in the smokebox door, working from a photograph to ensure that it went at exactly the correct height (see photo below).
     
    I then had to remove the moulded cabside plates. This is the original (apologies for being slightly out of focus):

     
    I considered just gluing the new plate on top of the old one, but I felt it didn't lie flat enough:

     
    So, it was out with a curved scalpel blade (a brand new, very sharp one is required) and the old plates were carefully pared away:

     
    The new plates were then glued in place. Full marks to 247 Developments for getting the correct brown background colour, too:

     
    I had already made up the screw couplings (mainly Smiths, with a home-made brass 'dangling shackle' and Exactoscale steel end links. I use the overscale Smiths hooks, because they are much easier to use under exhibition conditions.
     
    The loco was finally reassembled and tested on the layout again. I had to remove one of the tender wheel sets, which had a back-to-back of 15mm (the rest of the wheels were the correct 14.5mm) and re-set the back-to-back.
     
    Here is the loco posing on 'Bethesda Sidings', before being sent off to Tom for weathering:

     

     
     
     
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