Rob Pulham

An Evening With... Will Heath View the Event Diary Tuesday, 26 March, 2024, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Will Heath who will talk about making buildings with card materials. The event takes place on Tuesday 26th March @ 20:00 GMT. The event is FREE to members or £3:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited - registration will be open from the 26th January 2024.

The last few sessions at the bench have been spent working on fitting the Silvertown lubricators which I made earlier in the build. After some thought I decided to drill and tap the bases/footplate rather than trying to solder them on. I did this for two reasons 1. They would be removable for painting 2. Being solid brass, soldering them would require quite a bit of heat, potentially disturbing some of the other details fitted previously. I have soldered all the wire tails to a strip of etch to keep them tidy but I may have to revisit the length and position of them once I refit the chassis. I also noted a couple of etched holes in what looks like an inspection panel on the top of the footplate so I turned a couple of small knobs to fill the holes I am not sure how prototypical this is as I couldn't find any photos which showed the inspection panels.

Thanks Chaz, I agree, they are indeed worth the effort. I treat all such frustrations as learning experiences, but it doesn't stop me muttering at the time.

Well, what an absolute beggar making those turned out to be. I have made at least eight or more of these plates before getting the bolt heads in the right place and mounted to the sleeve correctly. Quite embarrassingly, it was for the most part due to my failure to add up correctly when working out the degrees of spacing around the circumference... Still I got there in the end.

It was with some relief that my test fit this morning proved that my efforts had indeed solved the problem. Now I just need to add the missing bolt head detail.

Removing the cast sleeve was a bit of a challenge and I used a combination of a piercing saw, a wood chisel and old files dipped in talc. This did remove the sleeve but it was hard work and left the stub slightly oversized and not remotely round. I decided to make a tool to cut the stub into a regular round shape. I started with a length of steel round bar which I had recovered from an old printer fuser unit that I had replaced. I salvaged all the useful parts which included the bar, several springs and a number of screws. I am not sure what type of steel it is but it's probably the most free machining steel that have used to date. I cut off a short length and faced off the end. Then I drilled a 3.2mm hole in the end. Once drilled I then took it over to the mill where I secured the length of bar in a square collet block. Finally using a bit of trial and error I cut teeth into the rim. The series of photos below show some of the milling process. I had already took a small cut to establish where the teeth would be before thinking to take photos. The opposite end of the rod had a stub turned on it (which it located in the printer). This allowed it to be gripped with ease in a pin vice. It made remarkably short work of truing up the misshapen end of the casting. The next job is to test fit them to the footplate and see if I have resolved the problem.

Plan A is to recreate the flanged sleeve as a separate entity which will sip over the end of the main steam pipe and allow movement to hopefully take up the gap. I started by fly cutting both ends of a piece of nickel bar to the radius of the smokebox. Then, I turned down the diameter and drilled out the centres before parting them off. The backing disks were turned from small squares of 0.2mm thick scrap etch. The disks were turned, by super gluing the square offcuts to an arbor made from the remains of the nickel bar that the sleeves were turned from. I could have used solder to stick them to the arbor but reasoned that super-glue would be easier to get off the finished disks and so it proved. The next job is to remove the cast sleeves from the end of the steam pipe castings.

Guild Spring Show 2024 Date: Saturday, 2nd March 2024 10:00 - 16:00 (09:30 for advanced ticket holders) Location: The Arena. Kettering Leisure Village. Thurston drive. Kettering. NN15 6PB. Price: £10.00 for members and £15.00 for non-members if purchased in advance. £2.00 extra on the door On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx The Show Guide is now available to download in pdf format: Gauge O Guild Spring Show Guide Gauge O Guild Spring Show Floor Plan Layouts booked: BOOKS BRIDGE 2ft.4in. gauge rural electric trams. c.1900 WELLAND MILLS ex-LNER branch line, 1960s QUESTA American narrow gauge in Colorado / New Mexico. On30 PRIORY YARD Small shunting layout featuring a manufacturing plant. STREETON WAY SIDINGS Shunting layout THE WAGON WORKS A micro layout using wagon turntables instead of pointwork. WEEKEND YARD The Guild's own 'Build it in a Weekend' project layout. EAST MIDLANDS TEST TRACK Demonstrators booked: WEEKEND YARD The Guild layout build team LOCO BUILDING Brian Tole ARCHITECTURAL MODELLING Richard Ellis SOLDERING & RIVETTING Rob Bishop COACH BUILDING Robin Taylor WEATHERING 'Arry Dodd PAINTING & LINING Ian Rathbone BUILDING DIESEL & ELECTRIC ROLLING STOCK Dick Dockerill CAD to 3D PRINTED REALITY Nigel Paine Demonstrators: See above Stands: We have 75 confirmed traders for Kettering 1039 Models Ace Products AirFramed Amberly Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes 4 Models Buzz Models C & L Finescale Track Building Systems Ltd Coastal DCC Connoisseur Models CPL Products CRT Kits D & S Models DS Smith Books Dapol Diane Carney Duncan Models Easy-Build Coaches EBMA Hobby & Craft Ellis Clark Fine Scale Brass (UK) Finney7 First Class kits Geoff Stratford Gladiator Gloforce Greenwood Railway Products Haywood Railway HMRS Ian Kirk Models Intentio James Green Artist Judith Edge Kits Lanky Kits LCUT Creative Martin Bloxsom Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd Midland Railway Society Minerva Model Railways MMM (Made in Manchester Models) MMR Models Moorview Models MSC Models Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Service P.R.Model Railway Products Parliamentary Trains Peartree Engineering Peter Clark Models Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Cast-a-Ways Poppy's Woodtech Premier Components Primo Models Ragstone Models Ray Heard Model Railways SM Models Sanspareil ICS SBT Developments Scorpio Models Shamrock Trains Simon's Sort Out Skytrex Ltd Slaters Plastikard Squires Model and Craft Tools Steamline Ltd. The Paperchase Tim Hughes TMS Models Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood SOCIETIES x 13 are booked MIOG ALSRM Great Eastern Railway Society Great Northern Railway Society 7mm Narrow Gauge Association Scale7 Group Warley Model Railway Club Great Central Railway Society London North Western Railway Society Northampton Society of Model Engineers Severn Valley Railway Telford Steam Railway Nene Valley Railway Driving: Take Junction 8 off the A14. Head towards town. At 1st roundabout turn Rt. into Lake Ave. At next roundabout turn Rt. into Thurston Drive. Leisure Village is on Rt. Stewards will direct you to parking areas. Transport: By Train Kettering Midland Mainline Station is served by trains to & from London/Nottingham/Derby/Sheffield ( East Midlands Railway Inter City, diesels), London St. Pancras/Luton/Bedford (EMR Connect, electrics) A complimentary shuttle bus will transfer visitors to and from the railway station, between 08:30 and 16:30. Walking time to the venue is about 15 min. Exit station, turn left, left again into Northfield Avenue, left under railway bridge and left into Thurston Drive. Follow footpath until it divides, bear left past football pitches. Venue is straight ahead, across road.

The Princess continues to challenge. The replacement for the live steam injector pipe took much tweaking and test fitting before it fit snugly with the chassis in place. Once I got my head around how the pipes ran, the two front oilers didn't present too much of an issue although I had to look at a good number of photos before I worked out where said pipes ran. Next I removed the pin rom the bottom of the steam pipe castings and drilled and tapped them 10 BA so that I could screw them to the footplate through the mounting holes As can be seen from the snips below there is quite a gap between the boiler and the steampipe flange. At the moment I am not sure where the problem lies, whether it's in the placement of the mounting holes, in the dimensions of the castings or something else. Initially I tried turning down some washers to fill the gap but I don't think that's the answer.

Despite having a few things going on in the real world this week, I have made some steady progress on the body details. While I had the boiler in place I fitted the front pipe clips for the vacuum ejector pipe. Then I fitted the pipes for the top feed which took quite a bit of filing to get them to sit snugly on top of the splasher without the boiler rocking. Then having removed the boiler I drilled a hole in the bottom of the elbow fitting for a small pipe which is visible on most photos no matter what period. That done, I moved onto fitting the twin oil boxes and their frames. This area still needs much cleaning done. Then it was the front vacuum pipe and associated pipework which was included as nice castings in the kit. I did make the bracket to hang it from the rear of the buffer plank after adding a pipe union from brass tube. Finally for this update I chose what I viewed as the easier set of pipework to add first. Not before I replaced the etched mounting brackets with some from flat bar after peering at photos and noticing that they were plates with two holes in them rather than straps wrapped around the pipework. Now to work out how to fit the injector pipe on the other side.

Of course sod's law dictates that I had just nicely finished assembling these when I found a second casting on another sprue that was identical to the first. I guess that I must have picked up both sprues separately at different times, thinking that they were both the same sprue...

There were no other pipe castings included in the kit. But there was a casting for a pipe flange for the smaller diameter pipe but only the one. In the end up I wasn't happy with the first pair of smaller pipe flanges because I hadn't managed to get the centre hole in the middle. The cross section of the bar that I used was too small for the 4 jaw so I put it in a collet to drill the centre hole. However I made the mistake of leaving it full length rather than cutting of a short length and I think that the length of the bar, not being properly supported by the round collet was pulled out of square by the length of the bar. So I milled a stub of round bar into a square and remade them. In the end I made five and chose the best three for the pipework. Working out the pipe runs required study of the GA and reference to photos but I think that I have it now. Other than the fitting of the handrails I think that these might be the last parts to make for the upper body/footplate but I will double check to be sure.

No problem Chaz, I needed to use my two 5p coins for their proper purpose earlier this week, so no more extra large 5p's until I get my hands on another. I will have to find something else to relate scale to.

An Evening With... Nick Dunhill Join Nick Dunhill who shows us how to cut sheet metal materials, and much more, for either new parts or scratchbuilding. Monday, 26 February, 2024, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom The event takes place on Monday 26th February @ 20:00 GMT. The event is FREE to members or £3:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited - registration will be open from the 26th January 2024.

till working on the body details, I next approached the Injector pipe that runs along under the footplate on the right hand firebox side. This is the casting supplied. For Christmas, I received a new four jaw chuck for the lathe and wanted to give it a try so I decided to make the jointing flanges first. I had a length of brass bar which was the right outer size without further machining so I centred it and drilled it 3mm. Just to be sure I also ran a 3mm end mill through it. Finally parting it off to length I turned a 3mm spigot on the end of a piece of rod from the useful bits box and fitting the workpiece to it I mounted it in the dividing head and used the stub of a cheap carbide drill that I had reground after it broke off to spot drill each corner. These cheap Japanese carbide drills are very good but incredibly brittle even the act of bringing them down to the workpiece can break them off, if you are slightly heavy handed. Then I drilled them 0.7mm and fitted wire and tube hex nuts to complete the part. Next I turned a small top hat flange for the other end and then bent the pipe to shape before finally adding retaining straps from scrap etch strips and more 0.7mm wire. Onto the next...

The next bit of the puzzle before permanently fitting the firebox, is the vacuum ejector pipe running from the casting at the firebox to the smokebox pipe elbow fitted some time ago. Making up the pipe was relatively easy, make up the bends and kee trimming the ends until it fit in the right place. The ejector pipe is retained by four pipe clips. In the kit these are provided by 1.5mm wide etched strips. However upon checking photos these retaining clips were not flat but rounded like a big handrail knob. A couple of years ago when a friend passed away I inherited a box of 1 metre x 1.5mm brass brazing rods. I cut five lengths and soldered them to a piece of thick brass to hold them while I worked on them. I then milled off 0.75mm leaving them as half round pieces. These I removed from the block and scraped off most of the solder. I annealed them and then bent them round a length of the 1.5mm brass rod to form what are effectively brass split pins. Finally I cut them to length. They look much bigger than they are in the photos Next up is drilling the boiler and firebox to accept them.

This weekend has been about working out how to fix the firebox and boiler together and to the footplate. I put a couple of 12ba screws through the bottom of the firebox utilising the two holes etched in the footplate. The ultimate intention is to use adhesive but also to use the hole to dd a mechanical element to the fixing so the screws are temporary to allow me to get everything in place. I would also like to get all the soldering done around where the firebox and the lower sections will sit since resin is susceptible to heat damage if I am not careful. Picking up a tip from John Dale I elected to screw the front end of the boiler in place and I was rather reluctant to use just a nut on an internal curve as I didn't want it to come adrift sometime in the future. A rummage in my useful bits of brass recycling box yielded a former frame spacer from a set of frames that I had replaced with new ones. As a bonus it was already tapped 8BA. I filed the ends to help it seat in the curve and after marking and drilling a hole in the front saddle casting and transferring that through to the bottom of the smokebox I soldered it in. A dry fit of the boiler and firebox and all of a sudden it starts to look like a loco.

Hi Kevin Try - railwaycitytrains@btinternet.com

I am trying to get all the small details at least made into sub assemblies before I add them to the footplate once the firebox and boiler have been attached. I have worked on the firebox print and got that to sit down nicely. I needed a bit removing from the underside of the cutouts in the ring that fits inside the boiler to get it to sit down over the rear splashers. I also assembled the reversing levers which was an exercise in clumsiness n my part. The various parts are all held together with rivets but I decided to turn some nickel pins to do the job instead backing them up with some etched washers. Using some 2mm nickel rod I fit it in a collet and having the smallest stick out that I could I attempted to turn them down to 0.8mm. I broke the first three off, trying different tools (carbide insert first and then a round nosed HSS tool). Lastly and successfully I tried a new sharp edged HSS bit straight out of the packet. As supplied it had a diamond shaped grind on it with the leading point towards the chuck.. Running the lathe at approx 2000 rpm I managed to make the four different pins needed for this part of the build. I mentioned clumsiness on my part as I was starting to assemble the various bits on to the turned pins I thought it a good idea to pop a few etched washers onto the longest pin to make filing of the etching cusps a bit easier. No sooner had I got them threaded on than I dropped the thing on the floor. Or rather I dropped it onto my apron where it rolled to the edge, hesitated for a second then dropped off. Could I find it, not a chance. despite moving various items stored under my bench and wiping over the laminate floor with a cloth. Back to the lathe I went and turned another. I got most of it assembled when I happened to bend down to pick up a file that I dropped and found the missing pin complete with washers. However not 30 seconds later I managed to drop the last pin that I was fitting almost a repeat of the first where it dropped into the ether after slowly sliding down my apron. Thankfully the one that I found has allowed me to escape having to turn yet another. Below is the reversing levers all assembled but not yet fixed in place. Lastly I returned to the lathe to turn down the spigots on the bottoms of the safety valve castings so that they would fit in holes drilled in the top of the fire box as they came of the sprues the spigots were anything but round or parallel. I wrapped each casting in a slice of aluminium drinks can to protect it and popped it in a collet. Then I faced the ends of the spigots off and turned them all to 1.7mm diameter.

Progress since my last post has been steady with a number of small details added to the build. I added the door latch and the lamp iron to the smokebox door. It looks slightly wonky in these views something I will need to double check. As I mentioned earlier I had added the wrong covers for the pipes leading from the top feed so these were removed and replaced with the correct ones. Finally for this post I also fitted the cab seats after adding a stay which allows them to be lowered into position.

An Evening With... Neil Armitage Thursday, 25 January, 2024, 20:00-21:30 Online via Zoom Join Neil Armitage of Ellis Clark Trains who will take us through weathering techniques, using the new Ellis Clark Black 5 locomotive as his subject. The event takes place on Thursday 25th January @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £3:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited - registration will be open from the 27th December 2023.

I have managed to make steady progress over the festive period despite the setback of a power cut all day on Christmas Eve. I now have all the oilers repiped and soldered to their respective brackets or direct to the footplate. This was the setup that I used to solder the pipes into the rear of the bracket mounted two port oilers. An oak block with a hole drilled in it to accommodate the leadscrew f the handvice. The hole is quite a snug fit so that when the block is clamped to the bench the vice itself doesn't move. The brackets were clamped in the vice with a piece of square bar supporting them which seemed to make up for the third or fourth hands that I could have done with when soldering pipes to the others. I won't fit the bracket mounted ones until I have the firebox and boiler fitted in the next couple of days or so. I have also done work on a few other details but I am not ready to share them yet as they aren't completed yet.

Thanks Chaz, That was definitely my view but since then I have been doing a bit more research and unless I have made a mistake in scaling a GA, it seems that the kit supplied castings are a bit overscale. So I have decided to cut my losses and use those that are piped as needed and modify those that aren't. It serves me right I should have checked first before piping them all up.

A one step forward and two back moment this morning. Yesterday I spent some time finishing off piping up the rest of the 2 port oilboxe castings. This morning I pored over photographs to see where on the footplate these things were fitted. the upshot was that I was quite dismayed to find that of the 10 or 12 2 port oilboxes only possibly 2 of them were piped from the bottom as in the castings. The rest were piped from the back or inset into the footplate. I need to see if I can find a clear shot of the rear of the bracket supporting the front 4 port oil boxes as the instructions show a 2 port mounted to the inner side of the back of this bracket but I don't know whether this was fitted by 1936 or if it's a later addition. BR period photos show what appear to be two 4 ports back to back but they may be a 4 port on the front and two 2 ports side by side on the back.* Now I need to decide whether I file off all the pipes and 'nuts' that I have added to those that don't need them or whether I make some replacements and put the piped up versions in the spares box. I did a quick check through my spares box and kits to see if I had any suitable castings that I could swap them out for but I don't. Decisions, decisions... Edited to add that I found a photo and I do need a couple piped up from the bottom.

Progress has been inhibited somewhat by another bout of cold but I have been working away at the sand box fillers which are mostly fitted but I have forgotten to take photos of them and the many oil boxes that are dotted about the footplate. I haven't got them fitted yet, or to be more accurate I haven't even finished piping them all up yet. This is the process I went through to get the pipes fitted to them. Starting with the castings, I cut them from the sprues and cleaned them up making sure that the backs were flat. Next I soldered them to some lengths of coarse scale nickel rail that I have. It was at this point where I realised that I had yet another sprue so the process started again... Once soldered to the rail, the rail was supported on a parallel and held in place in the vice with a small offcut from a brass plug pin. Initially I tried to drill out the cast 'nuts' on the bottom of the oil boxes but they were so misshapen that I ended up filing/milling them down to witness marks and redrilling. I soldered in short lengths of micro bore tubing which I had filed to a hex and them some lengths of 28 gauge brass beading wire. In hindsight I am not sure that on most of them it was worth the effort of filing the hex but I know it's there...