The cab and backhead for this kit is rather Spartan in detail other than a whitemetal backhead you don't get much else!
See what I mean:
The backhead isn't really quite right as the firedoor is to low and the backhead layout is wrong, but in saying that I have no pictures of them while they were running on the GWR.
The only pictures I can find are of GCR engines including the preserved example so I've used a fair amount of modellers licence regarding cab layout and detail.
I started by scratchbuilding the cab splashers/sandboxes and then some toolboxes or lockers above them, I'm not really sure what they are to be honest as the could be for keeping your sandwiches in for all I know.
Cutting out parts for cab splashers:
I then made up a fairly crude but I think a fair representation of the screw reverser and a GCR style of centre pivot firebox door with ratchet.
I'm not sure that the GWR had these but I have nothing else to use as a reference so its back to modellers licence and all that....
After fitting these items I then added various handles and hand wheels to represent the blower and other controls, the backhead is not correct so therefore the layout is far from accurate but I hope it represents things well enough:
That me signing off the workbench for a day or two till I recover well enough from my operation to get back to things.
Well as mentioned in the kitbuilding thread regarding the L & Y horsebox the layout both the horsebox and the 04 were intended for has been shelved at present so we can concentrate our efforts in finishing and taking Rowntree Halt to shows.
As I have a stack of kits both rolling stock and locos for Rowntree Halt sitting in front of me excluding the three loco kits in the bag below my workbench I've just purchased at Wakefield Scalefour show.... I'm on a mission to clear a few unfinished projects as its starting to niggle with them all staring at from the shelf above.
The 04 did make it to Hull show in an unpainted and undetailed state so as it is so close to being finished I hauled it back out to continue on with.
It requires grab handles, whistle, lamp irons etc along with a few other bits and pieces missing or not catered for in the kit.
I've started by adding the top feed along with the pipework and the also the grab handles along the running board as splashers.
Also missing/not catered for in the kit is the cover or top of the cylinder or valve chest which is quite prominent on all the ROD's on the running board at the base of the smokebox.
I fabricated this from a piece of flat brass bar and some scrap etch pushing out some rivets then sweating them together and filing the top edges to get a rounded profile, these were then sweated in place on the base of the smokebox/running board.
This picture shows the topfeed in place along with the gaping maw where the top of the cylinder/cover should be at the base of the smokebox:
The fabricated parts being sweated together and shaped:
I have been on with this kit over the past few months and it is now nearing completion but I have to get on with the ROD now so it will have to wait till after the Hull Show.
Its an Irish J15 marketed by Studio Scale Models in Ireland, It has TMD Models on the etch with the year 1985 on it but I cant seem to find any other information it.
The kit is designed primarily for EM or 21mm gauge but I have built it as requested to 00 gauge which has thrown up no end of obstacles....:icon_mutter:
It was supplied complete with |Gibson wheels and High Level gearbox but unfortunately the gearbox type was found to be to wide to fit between the frames so I have used a Comet box instead.
I've taken a photo diary of sorts so here is where I'm at with it now, I will sort through the pictures and work back through them to explain/show the different stages of construction.
Thanks everyone for the kind remarks and encouragement but I have failed to complete the loco and paint it before the show with everything going on around me but it will be having the odd test run on Cattybrook Road for which it was built for at the Hull show.
The picture below is where it stands now as I have just completed the chassis and I still have to wire up the motor, build the pony truck and add the cab roof so it will be a late night. (again)
I made a terrific cock up two days ago by by milling the tops of the frames down to suit the chosen motor/gearbox (Mashima 1426/Highlevel Loadhauler 60-1) but I mistakenly usesd my origanal marks that suited a Loadhauler+ driving the rear axle so when I assembled it with the Loadhauler it fouled the front inside face of the firebox...:icon_frustrated:
silly silly mistake but I suppose that's what happens when your hurrying things along......
I then had to dismantle the chassis and take to it with my Dremel to turn the motor around and drive the third axle so that's where Im at now wiring up the motor to get it mobile.
I will go back and cover the build up to this point after the Hull show.
Well onto the boiler and smokebox, the boiler even comes pre rolled! ah the luxury from Falcon Brass.
In all seriousness it is rolled nicely and is a very crisp and clean etch.
I started by soldering the seam of the boiler tube then added an etched disc in the centre to hold its shape, after that I rolled up tightly two pieces of Lead (Courtesy of the roofers:rolleyes:) weighing 150 grams each which were then placed either side of the centre disc, when happy I soldered a further disc at each end to both hold the shape of the boiler and keep the Lead in place as the etches are painfully thin the loco is as light as a feather.
Shown here is one half of the Lead weight prior to being placed forever into its innards:
The first smokebox wrapper was then soldered in place, I deliberately trimmed the end to stop it from butting up against itself, note the centre line to line up the boiler fittings and the smokebox front:
The smokebox front and outer wrapper:
The smokebox front soldered in place, note the centre line corresponding with the boiler centre line, the dome is just there loitering awaiting its moment of glory...
Pressing out the rivets on the outer smokebox wrapper by hand, I really fancy one of those rivet press tools that Kenton was tempting me with earlier on his blog :icon_cool:
Soldering the outer wrapper in place:
The chimney and dome are now soldered in place along with the brass smokebox door which is out of shot:
The boiler now assembled up ready to be soldered to the footplate/cab before final details are added, I chose to Araldite the boiler tube to the firebox so not to have the four laminations of the firebox front go to sh*t and start to separate:
Well the house is coming along but we currently don't have a roof as the roofers are unable to start re slating due to the weather so we only have a draughty piece of green felt covering the roof.
Even with all the disruption as well as working on the house my self in the evenings I'm still making time to work on the ROD.
The firebox took a bit of work but really wasn't difficult and with a bit of patience went together OK.
The first picture shows the firebox wrapper and the two formers, the left hand former is four etches sweated together to make the Belpaire front and the left hand former is just a single etch that goes against the cab but forms the rear shape of the firebox.
This pictures shows the four etches sweated together after shaping to form the Belpaire front.
These next series of pictures shows the firebox wrapper being soldered around the formers while being shaped at the same time:
The soldering finished before cleaning up:
With the cleaning up done the holes for the washout plugs were marked out and drilled before being soldered in place:
Well I always seem to end up to my ears in it, after nearly a years battle to get planning permission to re roof our house with the edition of a conservation rooflight and then trying to get the roofing contractor to start they are finally going to land tomorrow.
I'm both ecstatic and overwhelmed all at once as now I have to make a start inside our bedroom moving radiators, building a walk in wardrobe before over boarding the walls and roof before getting it plastered and finally having the floor polished, phew...:icon_eek:
And then there's the cast iron guttering outside to paint while the scaffoldings up.......
So needless to say I've got my work cut out to get all this work done and battle on with the ROD but I have inlisted the help of a friend as on his days off from being a firefighter he is also a builder :icon_clap: which is has worked out rather handy and takes a little pressure off me.
Anyway sorry to babble on its just got on top of me a little as I wasn't expecting all this till the end of November but after the wait I dare not put them off and I shouldn't really whine on as I knew all this work was needed when I purchased the property.
Anyway back to the more important stuff, the kit seems to be coming along OK even after all the warnings and commiserations it seems to be rattling along not to bad at the moment.
I have formed up the bends in the valences and soldered them in place along with the dragbeam bufferbeam and its overlay and after drilling and filing out the lower windows in the cab front it was soldered in place.
The cab sides have had their beading and handrails soldered on before soldering to the footplate.
I got as far tonight as soldering one of the main splashers in place before calling it a day.
Im still going to try and continue to progress a little each night as I did promise to have it ready for hull, so you will have to bear with me as the updates might have to wait till I have time later in the week.
Added 25/10/09
The front splasher/sandboxes were folded up but when the top was formed it was found to be to etched to short to be of any use so some suitable scrap etch was found to replace the tops.
Top part of slasher formed up but to short......
Scrap piece of etch being soldered in place to form top of sandbox/splasher.
The finished splasher/sandbox ready to be soldered in place.
I have soldered up the the chassis using the 00 spacers provided in the kit and have modified the cylinders slightly by turning the glands in the lathe and drilling them to accept the Markits machined crossheads .
I decided to do this to reduce fettling time with the lost wax items provided.
I'm just now setting up the alignment of the motion brackets and position of the cylinders before starting on the footplate, more to come tomorrow as I'm off to the pub now....
Well I'm starting to panic as the Hull show is now less than a week and I still have to finish the loco chassis plus a few other details as well as painting...:icon_eek:
I woke this morning to find that the roofing felt has two serious leaks that have allowed water to come down through the floor and on to the bathroom ceiling on the second floor so I have been up trying to stem the leaks before the roofer arrived to sort it out, I did get a little revenge as I woke his wife up early this morning when I called to get him over.......:icon_grumpy:
We still only have roofing felt on as they had to strip the back to recover the slates before the roof can be put back on, I just want it done now as I'm to busy with everything else going at the moment as I have been helping Jim all of yesterday to get Cattybrook Road ready for Hull next weekend.
This is still what the house looks like at the moment:
Any way all that aside on with the tender.
Here are some of the main components:
I started by forming the tender flare by rolling it with a 5mm drill bit:
And using the rear part of the tender body as a rough gauge:
I then marked along the top of the flare to bend up the top coal rail using bending bars:
The very thin half etched overlays were then formed to shape and sweated in place after which the three sides were soldered in place on the main floor of the body:
The coal chute parts were then formed up with the inner sides cut to the same shape to clear the internal weight which I have added inside the body, after that the components were soldered together with the coal space gaurds:
The upper coal chute doors were bits of scrap etch from the remains of other kits.
The inner frames were then added along with a start made on cleaning the body up, the tender steps were then folded up and soldered in place:
The basic body now almost complete with handrails and buffer bodies added just awaiting a final clean up before the easily damaged lamp brackets are soldered in place:
The chassis is a fairly basic affair with basic brake gear added and while not strictly acurate it is not that visable and being built to 00 is not really that much of a problem in my opinion:
Ive now finished the loco but I have moved it over to the kitbuilding section: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/8611-studio-scale-models-irish-j15-4mm/
Things are trundling along at a steady but unspectacular pace just like the real loco once did!
The lamp irons have been sweated in place and I have finished fitting all the grab handles in place along the running boards and splashers as well as the cab sides, also note that the missing handrail knob has been fixed in place. (Thanks BR(W) )
I did ponder a little on how to fix it in place as the handrails are soldered into the cab front along with the handrail knobs so if youve ever tried to remove them in that situation you will know what I mean.
I chose to just cut the handrail with the Xurons exactly in the position of the missing handrail knob and simply solder it back together within the new knob.
Quite simple really in retrospective.... just took me a while to get my head around what to do with it.....
The Falcon Brass kit does not cater for any type of smokebox door hinge so I fabricated a later style GWR unit from scrap etch, .45 brass wire and some small bits of tube.
After tinning the back of it with solder it was sweated in position with my RSU so not to have it disintegrate if I had tried to to use a conventional iron.
A small step was also sweated in place on the lower face of the smokebox.
The reversing rod is also another item not catered for in the kit so once again is was into the scrap etch box for a suitable piece to utilise for it, I also tried to replicate the support for the reversing rod on the side of the firebox as best as I could.
I have also sweated some .45 brass wire to the cab roof to represent the rather prominent ribbing that was noticeable on the prototype.
Anyway to the pictures:
The fabricated hinge unit before fixing in place.
Sweating it in place with the help of an RSU.
Front view showing the step, lamp irons and the once missing handrail knob, photos are so cruel but do show any discrepancies, note gap in the frame end where the solder hasn't run along completely.
