Mark

15 hours ago, Pteremy said:

I think that the only people disappointed are those with unrealistic expectations or those 'wanting' to be disappointed. 

15 hours ago, Pteremy said:

I think that the only people disappointed are those with unrealistic expectations or those 'wanting' to be disappointed. 

Or perhaps those who are disappointed consider that the model does not capture the fundamental shape of the prototype.

Back on topic my 94xx has just arrived courtesy of Derails.

Mark

32 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

All good advice, but on some of these parts there's simply nothing to clamp - they're less than a mm wide. You really need the etch scissors. 

 

I regularly use the tool clamp for parts less than 1mm wide. The working gangway below required the tabs and etched cusp removed and the only way to do it without distortion was with the tool makers clamp.

Mark

13 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

Thanks for your helpful comments David, the trick to cutting out the windscreen surrounds, in addition to the precision shears you recommend, is to carefully plan how to dismember the fret around the parts. Essentially to make one small cut at a time at one side of the part only - don't cut across a corner since the pressure of the shears will bend the window frame. The Xuron shears allow you to make short cuts into the fret without disturbing anything else.

Don't do what I see very often in kit construction where all the parts are cut out to leave a beautiful piece of brass lace - you don't want this, it's just scrap so chop it up as you go along.

I usually cut parts off the fret with a sharp Stanley knife but use a block of steel to cut down on. This causes no distortion to the metal. If there is any cleaning up to after I hold the part in a tool makers clamp and carefully file any tab remaining. The key is to clamp it as close as possible to the edge you are cleaning.

Mark

16 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

I assumed it was a Castle chassis, but someone in the know might be able to confirm

Definitely not a castle chassis. The bogie centre line is forward of the outside cylinders for a Castle and the slide bars and cylinders are totally different. You will also find in a Castle the leading and middle driving wheels are almost touching. The usual model fudge is to make the diameter correct over the flange and reduce the tread diameter to suit the wheel standard.

Mark

14 hours ago, D6975 said:

The 116 has a different arrangement of windows in the section of the body immediately behind the driver's cab.  The first 'big' window on a 116 is smaller than the one on a 117.

Is it really smaller? Looking at pictures it looks the same size as all the other big windows. The old Lima 117 first large window was too big but this was a Lima error.

Mark

15 hours ago, Harlequin said:

 

Here's Caerphilly Castle's 3500 gallon tender at Steam in June 2019:

 

And look what happens underneath:

This is the pipe work under my 3500 gallon tenders. I made a jig to aid forming them.

3 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Looks good.

 

Can I ask - what did you use for the windows?

Thanks.

For the windows I used acetate sheet with the printed window frames stuck on after cutting them out. It took a while to cut them out but doing it over a few evenings turned out to give an acceptable result. I used varnish sprayed on the paper with the acetate sheet then laid on the glue under weight to dry. I cut each individual window set out after the glue had dried.

Brassmasters so the complete set for these buildings too.

Mark

I drill a hole in one of the frame spacers and solder a length of rod to the gearbox which passes through the hole. This acts as a torque reaction arm but doesn’t stop the gearbox moving with a sprung or compensated axle.

Mark

Most useful tool I have bought this year is a pair of ceramic tipped tweezers. Perfect for soldering small bits together

4 hours ago, bordercollie said:

Hello

 

Reading MRJ 64, I see that the Masokits GWR Corridor connections are of high quality. However, it will be a real pain to order anything from this trader from Australia. Are there any other offerings from the trade that are of similar standard?

 

Regards

You could try Brassmasters who do the versions Martin Finney designed.

Mark

To my eye the slope on the firebox looks far too steep. The drawing in GWJ scales to about 0.5” front to rear. I am not convinced the Dapol model is correct in this respect.

Mark

Here is one that I have just completed.

Mark

I usually clamp it over a bar in a vice first to form the edges as these are more difficult to form. Then it is just a case of using a bar which is stiff enough not to bend along its length. Keep rolling on a flat surface that has some give like a mouse mat or sleeping bag floor mat. You can form the taper by applying more force at the small diameter end as you roll it.

The pictures below should give some help with forming the edges.

I don’t anneal the metal personally. I have never found the need and the one time I did try it the metal became too soft.

Mark

Did anybody see the Simon Calder interview on BBC Breakfast this morning. Some free advertising for Peco!

Mark

I solder fine phosphor bronze wire onto a PCB strip bolted underneath. I wind the wire into a coil to help lighten the load and let it run on the flange. Here are a couple of images.

Mark

Gibson does bushes for reducing the bore of coupling rods to suit their crank pins. However the Ultrascale drop in conversion will have crank pins    with an outside diameter to suit the RTR rods.

Mark

21 minutes ago, Matti8 said:

Really nice to see that people have enough confidence to take on challenges like this. Most people hold themselves back and prevent themselves from creating great things. But I do have one question - why tackle a locomotive that is available in kits and RTR? (Wills/SE Finecast, Brassmasters and Hornby) Personally if I was to scratchbuild I would want to do something that hasn't been offered or the offerings are rather poor.

 

The first thing I would take on, however, is probably the chassis. Bill Bedford/Mousa Models made or make a chassis kit designed for the Hornby one so you could base it around that otherwise you will have to go for splitting a chassis from a kit. Next is the boiler and so on. I'm sure that book would explain just about everything. Those splashers will be a little difficult with the sandboxes on them.

 

Matti

If you are scratch building the chassis is the easy bit in terms of forming shapes. You might buy in wheels, coupling rods and brake hangers but beyond that you are not constrained.

I scratch built a GW Hall and tender several years ago and I learnt a lot from it which I have been apply to other projects subsequently.

The key is having a good source of information. I would be wary of Roche though. There are lots of mistakes in the locos I have looked at in the past. I can’t comment about the M7 but be aware.
 

Mark

5 hours ago, MikeTrice said:

My personal view is the base colour is wrong and needs more orange in it.

 

Here is one of my coaches complete with base colours ready for graining. Some additional "variation" has been added:

 

And after the graining coat has been applied and lining added:

 

The graining above has been well brushed out. You might be better off using slightly less Liquin and work the brush more.

 

Beautiful build BTW.

 

Thanks for the comments.
 

I am not sure I have the appetite to strip and redo it and being red/green colourblind I would probably still not get it quite right. I could lay some thin orange washes over the top which might help give some better variation between panels. But it might not be too successful putting light over darker base.

I bought a maroon Hornby version to practice with so I can use that as a trial to see if it works.

Regards

Mark

I have had a go at applying teak to the model using the methods described by Mike Trice. I used precision for the base coat and then fine detail liquin and Vandyke Brown for the top coat. Far from perfect but I am quite pleased with the results.

Mark

I think I have done as much as I can on this now. I have done quite a few jobs detailing the buffer beam and the roof is now screwed in place. Next step will be painting!

Mark

Thanks to everyone who helped with this. The picture below is my interpretation of the emergency coupling.

Mark Humphrys

19 hours ago, lapford34102 said:

Hi,

Got to the point where I'm digging out projects from the Shelf Of Doom and seeing if I can complete them but run into a couple of issues that someone might be able to help with.

 

1/ Mallard kit - solebars have tabs to fit into slots on bottom folded up edge of sides. The slots are too narrow.  Managed to widen one after a lot of bodging, scraping and minor trauma so any thoughts on an easier way  ? Started this last century.....!

2/ Roxey kit - Unstarted, tried soldering on the bolsters but solder didn't flow and just "clumped up"  Have an Antex 25w, cored solder plus have Carr's red and some sort of plumbers flux. So iron not man enough, flux and/or solder wrong, something else.. ?

3/ Branchlines gearbox - seem to have broken one of the tabs on the worm grubscrew - thoughts ? Also anyone with more experience of these things - mine is virtually zero - should the  idler gear wheel be free floating or have thrust ewashers either side ?

 

Thanks in advance.

Stu

 

 

 

I use a set of broaches for opening under sized slots. As long as they are through etched just push the broach through and gently rotate it and it will work it’s way along the slot. This puts minimal force on the metal so you don’t risk distorting it.

for soldering cleanliness is critical but if your solder clumped up it suggest you don’t have enough heat. You could tin the parts first but if the bolster is white metal and you are soldering it to brass then try Carr’s 100 degree solder which bonds to both materials. If you apply the heat to the brass and let the solder flow round the white metal. Put plenty of flux around the joint. You won’t melt the white metal as long as you can hear the flux boiling. When that stops take the heat away.

Matk

On 13/08/2020 at 22:22, Les Bird said:

I have a couple of etched brass kits which I have had for some years. The brass components are heavily tarnished. Do I need to clean them and, if so, does anyone have any tips on how best to do that?

I usually use a brass brush 1 inch wide and 4 inches long and lay the brass on a hard flat surface and clean the whole sheet before I remove anything. The beauty of that is you can get rid all dirt, remove any dents or other damage and don’t scratch the surface. It also works very well for removing any curvature in the brass.

I always like to solder on clean brass which is a lot easier in my experience than trying to solder tarnished brass. The flux will burn through but it needs more dwell time and heat before the solder starts to flow.

Mark

18 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Any help?

 

So maybe it is the emergency 3 link coupling stowed with a cover plate.

Mark

41 minutes ago, 73c said:

Do you have a photo of it please Mark

Only from pictures in Michael Harris’s LNER coaches book which I can’t post here. There is a good view at the top of page 17.

Mark