halfwit

What motor + gearbox are you putting in the Barclay? I have one of these in the cupboard quietly waiting...

Looks good. I might try this method myself, might save an evening of foul language trying to get transfers to sit properly on bufferbeams (it took at least 3 attempts to get waspy transfes to lay flat on one end of my Coles Crane).

Thanks James. I've got 2 other JE kits in the cupboard, a Vangaurd and a 50T 0-6-0 Hunslet. I have to be very carefull not to buy any more...

Hi Missy, Thanks for the comments, I have to say that I'm really pleased with it so far. There have been some fiddly bits but I reckon that just makes you a better modeller (in theory). You might be interested to know that I've bought a Canon A480, which I'm really pleased with although I havn't downloaded any photos from it onto here yet. Paul.

There are 5 handrails attached to the body, 2 at the front, 2 at the back and 1 on the bonnet top. All very straightforward. I differed from the instructions by adding them after the radiater front and fuel tank rear were soldered in place, the instructions reccomend fitting the handrails first. I did get to use my Bil Bedford handrail bending jig for the first time. The cab roof was formed by rolling it on my thigh with the handle of my 3 sided scraper. Iain Rice describes this method in his 'Etched Loco Construction' book so its not my bodge... As the bend was being formed the flat sides were being nicely bent along the fold line so it only took a little work in the Hold & Fold to finish the profile off. The rainstrips are half etched along the sides and proved to be a little more tricky. I scribed a light fold line then held the very edge in a Bug and carefully bent the edge up. I didn't try to bend the edge all the way up just enough to give the right impression. Turned out quite well I think. Notice that the exhaust has been added in the above photo, this has 45 degree corners. I didn't make a great job of this and had to do a bit of fettling to make it fit. Probably the result of trying to do too much in one session...

I fitted the front and rear window surrounds next. Sensible people will fit these last with either superglue or varnish after painting them (they are bare aluminimum on the prototype). I soldered them. I cut them out then tinned the rear (inner) side then sweated them in place. You're supposed to apply heat to the rear or inner when sweating but I applied the iron directly to the frame. Worked for me... Bonnet catches. Here's the etch; You can also see the fuel gauge on this etch (part 32). The catches have to be bent in half and attached to the bonnet sides. I soldered them but superglue might have been a better option... I measured the catch positions on the scale drawing provided and transfered the measurements to the bonnet with a pair of jennys; Then the catches could be cut out, bent and soldered in place. This was very tricky and required a lot of patience! After bending they measure 2mm x .7mm. You're probably wondereing why the side window frames haven't been fitted yet, this is because the frames are rather fragile so I'll fit them towards the end of the build. Handrails and roof next.

More work on the bonnet. Access doors need to be fitted to the sides before the top is fitted. The front roller shutter doors are, as supplied, too small, being the same size as the opening. An e-mail to Mike Edge resulted in a pair of doors from a Vangaurd, which need cutting down, and an assurance that future kits will have the correct sized doors. This is the only problem that I've had with this kit, my own mistakes not included. While I was waiting for these to arrive I soldered up the rear access doors and fitted them. The top could then be carefully bent to shape, no curves thankfully, and soldered in place. There is a flat section on the side of the bonnet top which needs draw-filing on, its only .5mm wide but it is quite noticeable (to me anyway...)

I have a pair of Xuron rail cutters, probably over 15 years old, which are somewhat knackered. I can't remember what I've used them on but it must have been pretty tough... very good for brass rod though. I'm with you on the rivetting, see my first post on this blog (Hunslet bonnet + footplate).

Tenshodo bogies are easy to re-gauge, just a question of stripping down and changing the wheelset. I did one on the old rmweb, not sure if it can be accessed at the moment. The Steelman Royale and the Vangaurd both run on Black Beetles.

Go for it James! The Steelman is, I think, a very well designed kit which makes me want to build more JE stuff.

Make sure you show us your progress with the kit, I assume that its the 4w version that you've ordered. Am I right in thinking that it can be made to run on a Black Beetle? Also note the cab doors in the photo, I think some locos were modified during their lives as the sliding doors tended to seize... I have a Nonneminstre Sentinal (whitemetal body on a spud) waiting to be stripped and re-sprayed.

Thanks Kenton, I've never thought of using different solders, makes a lot of sense. Although on my A1 Models 48DS I soldered the footsteps on with 70 degree whitemetal solder before finding out that you shoudn't, the're still attached though!

Thanks Michael. I obviously need to buy some snips! I thought using a fine sawblade would be gentler but not so, hopefully someone will learn from my mistake! It still looks good despite my lack of skill...

A former is soldered onto the cab front and the cab is then greased and bolted to the footplate, as is the front baseplate. The bonnet sides are then soldered to the cab front and the base after riveting the bottom edge. The bonnet front/radiater is attached at this stage. It is laminated from 2 layers similar to the fuel tank rear except that it's larger and more delicate. So I had the bright idea of cutting it from the fret with a piercing saw which just bent it (my fault!). I straightened out one edge, soldered it in place then straightened and soldered the opposite edge, the bottom then the top. Luckily I got away with it but next time I'll stick to cutting parts off with a knife... Another lesson learnt.

Hi Missy On saturday you recommended a digital camera that I should look at to get me out of the film age. Can you remember what it was as I can't! All I remember is you saying that the macro is good and it cost about ??70. Enjoyed seeing your work, especially the lamps. Paul aka halfwit.

Nearly forgot, self gripping tweezers are a must for holding small parts together for laminating (i.e. the footsteps and coupling rods). Paul.

Hi James, Not a dumb question at all. I use an Antex XS25 soldering iron with the tip that it came with, which is only used for brass work. (I have a spare tip for electrical solder, best not to mix the different solder types up). Solder is Carrs 145 'Detailing Solder' and flux is Carrs Green Label. I also use a couple of Hold + Folds, a 2" Bug and a 5.5". The 2" one is the most used. I work on a flat piece of MDF with a strip of wod glued onto one edge to provide a right angle, usefull for holding buffer beams and cab sides/end square whilst tacking together (seen in my photos). Parts are cut off the fret with a snap-off blade type knife, works for me (mostly...) but some use tin snips or a small chisel. For rivetting I use a gravity type tool, seen in the Hunslet bonnet photo. Thats what works for me, but I'm sure that if you asked another ten people you'd get ten different answers! I should also point out that I'm still very new to etched kits, this being my 4th attempt. Paul.

Green Eyed Loco Man - the Fall

On to the cab. The sides overlap the front and rear which locate in a half etched area. The sides also need bending to match the profile of the ends. The cab/fuel tank base is first bolted to the footplate, greased underneath to prevent it being soldered in position. This is what the bodywork is built up on as the body is seperate to the footplate which allows access to the Black Beetle securing screw. It'll all make sense later... The rear is tacked in place first followed by one side. The other side and end are then attached followed by the fuel tank former which is soldered to the cab rear. Also at this stage the cab floor/BB mounting plate is added. The fuel tank wrapper is bent to match the ends, noting that the half etched end goes to the rear, and soldered in place. Now a fiddly bit. The fuel tank rear is laminated from 3 layers to give the correct relief. The inner lafer is half etched and the two outer layers are have quite thin bars, the very outer one has the light and badge detail. It's a little tricky to keep things straight and in line but patience and a steady hand win through. This part can now be soldered into the fuel tank end. I didn't make a particulary good job of this as there is a gap on one side (my fault not the kit!) The fuel tank gauge is tiny, about 1.5mm dia., and laminated from 2 layers. I cleaned the parts up on the fret then cut out the top/outer part. The inner part was tinned whilst still attached then, with the iron held on the fret, the top was sweated in place held with fine tweezers. Success! The cut out on the tank side was tinned, the gauge cut from the fret and cleaned up and, with the iron held next to the gauge, the gauge sweated in place. More success. I was really pleased with that until it fell off whilst I was cleaning the body under the tap with a toothbrush. Rats! Luckily there is a spare on the etch, but I'll attach that later on... Next part will be the bonnet.

Telephone Thing - the Fall

Be Happy - Levellers 5

Why Are People Grudgefull? - the Fall

The lifting brackets are made up from 2 parts, a backing plate which needs to be 'riveted' and folded 90' and the bit with the hole in. A little fiddly perhaps but quite satisfying once soldered. I will leave these off until the bufferbeams have been painted and striped, then superglue them on. The top steps were added next. These fit into grooves etched int the frames and are laminated from 2 layers, the top layer having the anti slip checker plate etched in. I held both layers together in self gripping tweezers and ran solder around the edges before soldering to the frames. The RH step is fitted in this photo and the LH step can just be seen on top of the rubbing stick. The lower steps are again laminated but this time are on a stretcher bar and fit under the frames. Once soldered in place the middle bar can be cut out, necessary on the front to access the body attchment screws. Again in the photo the RH steps are in place and the LH ones can be seen waiting to be fitted. Both sets of steps fitted in this photo. The bottom steps are a single layer and are rather fragile looking so I shall fit these later on to prevent damage. Also seen in this photo are the bases for the cab and bonnet, bolted to the footplate with 8 14BA screws and nuts. The bodywork is seperate from the frames and is soldered to these bases. The footplate is greased to prevent the bases getting soldered in place then the nuts are soldered in place. So far everything has gone together nicely. Cab next.

Alastair, I'm using the 15:1 ratio BB as I didn't know there was a 27:1 version until just now! I have a Vanguard waiting to be built...