Captain Kernow

What a lovely set of locos. It's the first time I've seen a model of a 14XX built from the old Perseverance etched kit. Pity it's no longer available.

Have you considered one of the new Hattons/DJM 14Xxs?

Lovely work, first time I've seen a model of one of these buildings at the upper end of the line.

Very impressive, I am currently working on an Airfix 14XX turning up new Chimney, safety valve, and smokebox door, plus a few handrails, and toolboxes in correct position.

I am using a Comet chassis, and Romford driving wheels, but can't find any acceptable pony wheels.Which wheels did you use ??

 

Rob

Hi Rob,

I believe the pony wheels were also from Markits. They were supplied with the chassis, when I ordered it from Perseverance about two years ago.

If I was doing this again, though, I'd order some Ultrascale ones - now seemingly available again, although with the usual wait - https://www.ultrascale.uk/eshop/products/view/CAT021/112

Unfortunately the vids aren't available here.

 

Try it now, Grahame, I've changed the settings at my end, sorry about that.

I'd have said that washes go well on matt or semi matt finishes just as well. I use washes a lot and would never use a gloss finish just to help it on it's way. You could practice on a matt finish on a wagon, perhaps?

If the delineation between the grey and the green on the Class 20 isn't quite perfect, you can always touch it in with a small brush carefully and spray matt varnish over afterwards. Once you have then weathered it, I bet you won't notice it any more!

Not a bad start, Matt, not bad at all!

Certainly, a gloss finish is best for decals/transfers but weathering powders prefer a matt finish.

The way that railway cleaning chemicals worked back in the 1970s would be to bring about a pretty dull and matt finish to the paint quite quickly, it was powerful (and nasty) stuff back in those days. Some of the carriage washing plants certainly took a lot of the paint finish off some early diesels, not just BR blue ones but also W.R. maroon, for example.

You could look at this loco in one of two ways, perhaps. Either you can keep working away at the weathering, until you are completely, 100% satisfied with it or you could consider it a bit of a 'test' piece, so you'd get it as good as you can for now and use the experience of working on it, on the next one?

Best of luck, either way!

Don't do it Captain, 7/4ths increase in length = three times the area a layout would take up!

Unless one is building a rather small layout!

Come on sell up and go 7mm.... and get a proper RTR loco...       :-)

 

Funny you should say that!

Only thing is, I'm not getting rid of the 4mm stuff, far from it, but there is a small collection of 7mm items gradually taking shape, a Dapol 14XX is certain to feature in due course.

I've been adding a bit of the buffer beam 'furniture' this afternoon, including making up some modified Smiths screw-link couplings.

I always go for Smiths coupling hooks these days, because their overscale size makes them easier to use under exhibition conditions and besides, I don't think they look that bad.

When you say “about” 3.8 x 7.8 were they actually 3.795 x 7.795?

Thanks for the kind comments.

I fear it might have been 3.8175 x 7.80075, but I forget now.

There is no black 5 thou as far as I am aware. I suspect what you had was 10 thou.

Thinking about it, you may be right. I compared it to what I thought was a bit of white 5 thou!

Either way, the material chosen was the correct thickness/depth for the task in hand.

To be honest, I couldn't be bothered with all the faff of selling individual items by EBay, what with the fees that they and PayPal will also take, so I offered it all to Hattons (in three separate lots, spread out over a year or so) and was pleasantly surprised by what I was offered (which I accepted).

Very nice, Andrew.

Hi Oliver,

I like what you're doing here with your conversion of main line locos to industrial use. There is historical fact behind your own fictitious scenario.

BR did loan locomotives under the terms of a contractual agreement to Staveley Ironworks, which did include more than one example of the 1F type.

At least one 'Jinty' 3F got sold to the NCB and was (partially) repainted in a yellow livery!

Of course quite a few ex-GWR pannier tanks (57XX and 8750 types) were sold to the NCB and also several 57XX examples to London Transport.

There are many other examples of main line locos being sold to the NCB and other railway operating concerns and it wasn't a new phenomenon either. There have been times in the past when the manufacturers of 'proper' industrial locos found orders tailing off, because one of the main line companies had built new locos and had a glut of older types, which would have been sold to industry for less than the price of a new 'proper' industrial loco from the likes of Peckett & Sons or Andrew Barclay.

Main line locos also got sold off to more rural, light railway concerns. Good examples of this would be the terrier tanks sold to the Kent & East Sussex Railway by the Southern Railway.

That's extremely well done, Andrew. It's very satisfying when it all comes together like that, isn't it?

If you can get one, I'd recommend a Kemilway chassis kit, should you plan to build a BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T. The Walschaerts valve gear provided in that kit is still the best I've ever seen in 4mm scale.

Looks great and a fantastic size, too! Goo Good luck with the project.

Lovely work Tim, glad to see you've reached this stage at last, just looking at the front elevation, is the handrail proud of the body on the left hand side or a trick of the camera ?

 

G

Trick of the light, I'd say, me ol' mukka.

Might sound a daft question, but were do you get your lead sheet from?

From a chum who had some going spare, as far as I can remember. I've kept loads of small off-cuts from many years ago in a box, which I dip into every so often when I need to add some weight to a loco.

Shocking finish on those wheel rims, looks like the tool that turned them wasn't sharp.

 

Other than that comment, good work Captain!

Yes, I'd agree with that. They will receive some attention at a high rotary speed before the loco is finally brought into service.

If I was going to this much bother just to improve a RTR loco I'd rather build a full blown kit and paint it. All the fuss doesn't seem worth it.

 

Thanks for the kind comments, Gavin.

If there was a decent kit for a 14XX, then I'd have been tempted, but what did tempt me was the lovely body by Hattons/DJM.

I have built a K's kit for a 14XX and, in fact, it was the only OO steam loco that I converted to P4, when I started dabbling in that gauge a few years ago. Most of my other P4 locos have been new builds.

Are all DJM models like this?

 

I believe others have had better experiences with the Kernow Beattie and 02, but I also have one of his Kernow 1363 saddle tanks, which doesn't look too promising, either.

How long can you hold your breath?

Don't really know. I've stopped holding my breath waiting for the Hattons 14XX mechanism to run properly!

Quite. Just thinking about something perhaps a bit more effective than enamel type thinners but not as harsh as cellulose thinners.

I have used one of those aerosol cans marked 'Air Brush Cleaner' as well in the past - it seems pretty potent but do you know exactly what the substance used in them is?

(Sorry for going off-Peckett for a moment).

Thanks, I think I bought some of those the other day!