5XP

Thanks Rob, that's a Bu*ger I'm sorry we didn't actually meet but I'm sure we will see each other in the future.

I shouldn't have really gone to be honest as my knee is giving me some right grief but I had to come and pick up some loco kits as well as a few bits and bobs for current and future projects.

Best regards,

Darren.

Oh! Ive just looked back through my copy of WD Engines by J Rowledge and your right!

I dropped a bollock there didn't I, thanks for pointing it out though.B)

Thank you also for you kind words as I have had to wrestle this one a little so its nice to know my efforts are appreciated.

As for burning fingers I do nearly everytime I switch the iron on!

Thanks,

Darren.

Im looking forward to seeing this Ian, I have had the Nucast kit on the go in the background for the last few years but it keeps getting pushed aside for other projects.

I would suggest using two Comet Stainer 2-6-4 chassis and lopping off the rear portion as the wheelbase is correct.

I'm not sure about RTR chassis as the wheel spacing could be a problem along with the wheel size (5' 3" / 21mm)

I suppose you could use the Fowler 2-6-4 chassis again or the Crab, but the Crab wheels being slightly bigger may cause clearance issues as well as the rim profile and balance weights being slightly different if that bothers you.

Darren.

I think unfortunately you've been hit with the crappy design of Backwoods chassis.

Is the front axle moving back and forwards along the length of the chassis? as I found this to be a very weak point and poor design in the Lyn chassis as there is just not enough bearing surface to hold it all from oscillating back and forth while in motion so it effects the quartering when in motion.

I struggled for hours with this until I eventually soldered bearings into the outer frame and did away with the compensation which cured it immediately.

Dont give up though keep at it as its not to hard to make some new rods, just temp solder them to a piece of scrap etch and file them up before unsoldering them.

I've already been through all this so I understand how you feel.

Nice job with the LR btw.

Darren.

Just re-read it again and seen the loco beside the stick of solder and the peg:blush:

Lovely workmanship halfwit but at the risk of sounding daft I cant tell what scale/gauge it is, I've read through the blogs but haven't seen it or picked it up.

Darren.

Any progress with this?

Yeah its here now Ivan : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/8611-studio-scale-models-irish-j15-4mm/

Darren.

Thanks Horsetan,

I'm still in awe that you managed to get the chassis running at all - even more so after taking it apart and reworking it.

 

I am also surprised at the motor choice - a bit on the powerful side for this lightweight.

Kenton, I did struggle a bit with the flimsy frames so I had to solder in as many frame stretchers that I could to stiffen it all up, its also no lightweight as it has 400grams of ballast alone stuffed in every nook and cranny as its expected to haul long trains.

As for the motor I'm always of the opinion of fitting the largest possible motor so that power is in abundance but along with that you also get very smooth performance, I was still working on the loco on Friday morning before leaving for Hull so it had 15mins on the rolling road to check for any problems so without ever seeing a piece of track I removed out of the box at Hull and it performed flawlessly along side the RTR stuff if not smoother and quieter with the Highlevel gearbox, very happy I was its just a shame I never completed it and painted it.

I'm going to have a week or two out now so I can get on with the house.

Darren.

Thanks Kenton for the address details, I still press mine out by hand and it can sometimes be a real drag when there is many to do when time is short.

Darren.

Impressive stuff Kenton, the buffer beams certainly look the part after all that work.

Looks to be a very clever and neat design.

Darren.

BTW how much did you pay for the that delectable rivet machine if you don't mind me asking?

Well worth the effort Phil, lovely workmanship.

5" gauge stuff will be a dodle after machining small lovely's like this.

Darren.

Thanks Rob, Although nowhere in the league of modern designed and etched kits it really has been a pleasure so far and as long as you appreciate this it goes together alright with a bit of patience and care, the instructions are by far the major problem in the kit as there are no exploded diagrams, not all parts are mentioned and as to the parts being referred to or the orientation it takes a bit of guessing and re reading of the instructions to figure it all out:blink:

There are some compromises to build it to 00 as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Railmotor.

Yep Miss Prism Carrs 145/water based flux from "Building O Gauge Online"/Antex 18 or 25 watt depending on the mood I'm in.

I also use the 25 watt for whitemetal as I'm too impatient to wait for a temperature controlled iron to melt the 70 degree solder.

Darren.

Thanks Miss Prism/Kenton..

Yes I have to agree the mudhole covers do appear a little over scale and as I'm somewhat short of time I just used what came in the box.

They do look worse than they should in that photo as I hadn't yet got around to cleaning up the solder.

They do protrude on the prototype but perhaps not as much as this.

As for the firebox I was in two minds as to annealing it but as the etch is only about 10 thou thick I just got on with it by pressing it down on a wooden block and rolling it while the soldering iron was applied.

I too have had mixed results with firebox wrappers but I seem to have got the hang of it now. (I hope!)

Darren.

I have to agree on the instruction front as so often I think that both an A4 sheet clearly indicating whats what and an exploded diagram of the kit should be included as unless you have reference material available the orientation and placement of some components is a complete mystery.

What have you opted for in the way of suspension at this stage?

Darren.

While I haven't yet struck any majors and I have certainly built worse kits in comparison so far but you have flagged up two things that are already obvious to me which are the thickness of the frets borders on being to thin and the instructions are vague to say the least.

Darren.

 

Hi Darren, glad to hear that you used to be involved with model engineering. I think that LBSC and later Martin Evans certainly made the hobby accessible for a lot of people, their designs are on most tracks around the world. Unfortunately my model engineering took a back seat 20 years ago when I started messing around with the full size stuff - I used my workshop almost exclusively to machine bits for full size locos for quite a few years after that. I then started with a model railway which further marginalised my ME activities, then came a disaster - I knew I had a leak in my workshop roof, but I didn't realise the extent of it, not going down there very often. To cut a long story short most of my previous efforts were reduced to piles of rust, the water having got into the cupboards where it was all stored. I also lost hundreds of pounds worth of tooling as well, precision tools rusted beyond use. All because I was too lazy to sort it out when I first noticed it. I had made the frames and stretchers for a 5" Merchant Navy, pretty useless now. I think I will be able to rescue an 80% complete Isle of Wight O2, will include pics of this when I post the pics of my various projects.

Phil

Thats a shame Phil but it would certainly be nice to see some pictures of your work.

I've been around steam from an early age as my grandfather had Burrell traction engines and later a Marshall of which I grew up helping and playing at rallys .

I would dearly love to become more involved again when hopefully in a few years we will be able to shift to a larger property with a workshop or space to build one.

At the moment Im confined to the corner of the spare room/office with my Unimat 3:rolleyes:

Darren.

Thanks Horsetan I did know about the current site as I did a little research before I started the build, any way how the hell do you know all these things?

Darren.

I didn't think that was a naughty word.........

Hi Phil, I would love to see some of your 5" gauge stuff.

Many many years ago I was involved with a club in NZ which had a raised 3 1/2" and 5" gauge track, I spent many happy hours driving some of Martin Evans and LBSC designed locos amongst others including Springboks, Enterprise, Maid of Kent, Brittannia, Caribou, Virginia, Simplex, a Juliet as well as a couple of New Zealand type locos from memory I think one was a J or a JA 4-8-2 .

There was a vintage Stirling Single that was origanally built to 4 3/4" gauge which was converted to 5" gauge, it had a lovely exhaust note but was a ###### for priming without the dome.

Darren.

Yes Kenton I have heard all the horror story's but I do like a challenge and will do my best to oblige with many pictures.:icon_thumbsup2: