Arthur

A quick posting today; The body is in two parts, footplate and superstructure, they’re bolted together and can be separated to aid painting. Here’s the footplate, sitting on the part finished chassis, complete with buffer beams and end steps. The buffer beams are made from three layers and the outer layer has half 'bolt heads' which need pressing out first. The entire footplate build is pretty straightforward. Soldering in the tiny steps accurately, whilst not un-soldering everything around them, takes a little care, but half etched lines help keep everything straight and square. The chequerplate step grips were soldered on later. (On the chassis you can see the knife edge, which sets the ride height by bearing on the undriven axle, between the frames) The body, bonnet and cab, is built on a shaped baseplate. The baseplate first needs to be bolted to the footplate, and the nuts soldered to its upperside. I lightly greased under the baseplate, and also the bolt threads, and tightened them up firmly to prevent solder getting onto the thread. Next it’s a clean with a fibre glass brush, a smear of flux around the nut and baseplate, and then, carrying a tiny amount of solder on the tip, a quick dab with the iron to run a small fillet of solder and secure the nut. The larger bolts, fore and aft, attach the chassis to the footplate. I dropped one of those supplied so there’s a temporary, over long, one at the rear. I had checked that the brass buffer housings fitted into the buffer beams but I left them, and the lifting/jacking brackets, off to simplify the application of wasp stripes later. TBC

So, on with the chassis; A torsion bar (strip of brass etch) was soldered across the top of the chassis frames, just behind the gearbox side frames, to prevent the gearbox rotating with the force of the motor. Pick ups, I really do not like this bit of the job. I’ve tried both phosphor bronze strip and wire, gold plated wire, nickel silver wire and hard brass wire. Trying to solder them on whilst maintaining sufficient pressure on the wheel tyre is always a pain, just damned fiddly. Anyway, a piece of PCB was araldited to the chassis spacer, and pick ups made from .45mm brass wire coiled in a pair of round nosed pliers. The leads to the motor will be replaced when I install a DCC decoder. The silver-grey bit at the back, between the sandboxes, is one of four bits of lead flashing, folded up, and araldited in, as ballast. Though the motor is high, there is a lot of low down weight. (it’s more effective than it is pretty, honest); Now all my own stuff is 00. To run the chassis in I took a pair of my Bachmann test rollers, which can readily be taken apart, and these were then fixed to a bit of board, with double sided tape at the necessary spacings. On the same board I knocked up some EM gauge (ish) track from rail and copper clad. Does it work? Check out this for some live test running; It’s spent a couple of hours on the rollers, at various speeds and in both directions. The power leads were only attached to one pair of rollers, and by turning the chassis round, I could check that power was being collected on all four wheels. Off now for a good clean and tidy, and then a light lubrication. We’ll return to the chassis, later, but next time, onto the body. TBC

Thanks Dave, it's coming along. Chris, yeah, it's 108:1. It's extra tall because it's the 'loadhauler plus. This has an extra, non reduction, section allowing a bit more flexibility in positioning and I've used it to push the motor up and forward. Not really needed for this kit, I just had one in and I can make use of the positioning it's created.

Here is the almost complete chassis, brake hangars fitted, handles on the sandbox lids, balance weights on the wheels and all painted. On the prototype the fuel tank is contained between the frames and the ‘U’ shaped, round bar, sticking up either side of the chassis represents the fuel filler pipes. The tops just extend through corresponding holes in the footplate. The power leads are taped to the motor to relieve any strain in the soldered connections. The flat plate on which the motor shaft is resting is the cab floor. A neat bit of design by Michael, the cab sits over it and therefore has no floor itself. This allows the roof to be soldered on whilst still allowing access to the cab interior for final detailing and painting. Next up, pick ups and some serious running in before a final tidy up. TBC

Very nice Adam, something to aspire to. I'll be completing this model in a near identical finish, it certainly won't get lost in the Black Country murk! The chassis now painted and trial assembled, motor and gearbox in place, and wheels fitted. The coupling rods were held on by pairs of plain nuts whilst I gave it a brief running in. The motor is a Mashima and the gearbox a High Level, 108:1, Loadhauler +. The motor will sit high, space for a decoder beneath, and forward, space for a flywheel behind. One benefit, to me, of this compensation system is that there’s not a lot of sloppy play in the rocking axle, just enough to do the job. Not clear, it’s under the motor, is the ‘knife edge’ about which the rear axle rocks and which determines the ride height. This sequence is a departure from my usual routine, driven by the use of Gibson wheels. Nice looking though they are, they don’t take readily to being pushed on and off their axles. With Romford/Markits I’d have finished the chassis, including the brake hangars, with the wheels in place and then removed them to spray the chassis. Then I’d wiggle the wheels back in behind the brake hangars, and screw them onto the axles. I wasn’t happy to do this with the Gibsons, I sprayed the chassis before fitting the brake hangars so that I had clear access to fit the wheels. Quartering wasn’t a problem, just done by eye, but I took care in getting the wheels on square and I set the back to back with an EM back to back gauge. They’re secured with a dab of Loctite 901. The resin sand boxes are each held between two brass stretchers soldered across the frames. Prior to fitting I drilled through them, and the resin sandboxes, so that a length of brass wire could be used to pin them together securely. I didn’t do this on my own builds, and haven’t had any problems, but as this is a locomotive for exhibition use, I took a belt and braces approach. TBC

Probably operating out of the hot strip mill at Shotton, something like this Rich; A GUY Big J4T, with a tri-axle, coil carrying trailer, on super single tyres, in front of the Shotton blast furnaces. Undated, but definitely 1970's as the blast furnaces closed in 1979. Shotton had a much higher reliance on road transport for its deliveries than any of the other strip mills, and had traditionally had a large customer base in the west midlands area. Arthur

Thanks Jol, I'll follow that up.

Thanks Adam, some food for thought there. The edges are very clean, no sign of bleeding at all, a super bit of work.

Pick ups!!, I don't know why but fitting them is never a job I enjoy. Do you know how your Dad applied the striping, Adam, paint or decal strips? When I finished my Hunslet, I used strips of decal paper, following the method outlined by Ian Rathbone in his book. Onto the build; First up was the chassis. Michael Edge was my first port of call. I wasn’t clear about how to arrange the compensation beams, in particular did I need to fret out the axle holes in the frames as I had done previously? An email to Michael and a quick response clarified it, as follows. Deciding to drive on the front axle, I first fitted the two compensation beams which pivot just behind the rear axle. Each pivot was a brass pin, I used a taper broach to open out the etched hole in the beam side to be a running fit. With the pin inserted I placed a spot of oil on the joint, placed some thin paper over the pin and pushed the compensation beam onto the pin. A quick clean with a fibre glass brush, just a smear of flux (I didn’t want it penetrating down into the frame) and a quick application of iron and solder. The pin was cut back to leave about 1mm left allowing a nice fillet of solder between the beam and pin. With the oiled paper removed the beam swings freely. Here is the partly assembled chassis. The wires are for the brake hangars and the part completed footplate sits on top. The rear axle bearings are fitted to the inside of the compensation beams and with the axle inserted there is enough space in the frame axle hole (it’s etched to fit a bearing) to allow the rear axle and compensation beam to rise and fall through about 1mm, all that is needed. So, no, I didn’t need to do anything to the chassis at all. Very neat, I might be a convert.... The brakes, two per wheel, comprise either three or four etchings plus some cosmetic wire ‘pivots’. The main assembly was performed by keeping the hangar on the etch, whilst soldering on the brake blocks. These were then drilled for the cosmetic pivots. Here’s part of the etch, some of the brake parts can be seen assembled onto their hangars and the buffer beam layers have been soldered together. TBC

Very nice Dave. Gauge glasses, maybe a coat of silver, and when dry, a coat of gloss varnish just tinted with a bit of blue/green to give that thick glass look? Never tried it, maybe worth a bit of experimenting.

And a cracking job he made of it too Adam, I remember the photos you posted of it a while back. It'll be a real slugger, 108:1 gearbox, Mashima motor and flywheel.

When Saturday Comes... We’ll return to the Guy later, in the meantime onto the next BSC vehicle, this time a locomotive, and in particular; A Yorkshire Engine Company DE2. So, why offer to build this locomotive? In 1945, the UKs largest steelmaker, the United Steel Companies Ltd, acquired Sheffield locomotive builder, the Yorkshire Engine Co., with the intention of them becoming an in-house supplier for their considerable locomotive needs. The Yorkshire Engine Co.’s, 275 hp, DE2, model was launched in 1952. A simple and robust design, it was based on two earlier locomotives which had been designed for use in United Steels own Templeborough melting shop at Rotherham. Aside from those in United Steels own fleet, DE2s were also purchased by other several other steelmakers, the largest fleet being 18 at Lancashire Steels Irlam works. In the Black Country, Round Oak and Stewarts & Lloyds at Bilston, the areas largest steel makers, both had small fleets of them. It’s an iconic steelworks locomotive, especially in the Black Country, for the 1950s to 1980s period. Fortunately, a kit is available from Judith Edge kits and, as I’d already built two of these for my own needs, I knew that it was an excellent kit. Now I build in 00, usually with rigid chassis’, so the challenge for me was that this build was to be in EM and with compensation. The Build I won’t bore you with a blow by blow account of every fold, drilled hole and soldered joint, rather I’ll pick out some general points and focus on some of the issues particular to this model and prototype. The kit, which has been available for a few years now, is largely etched brass with a few resin castings and various nuts, bolts and bits of wire etc. It’s a pretty straightforward build, there’s plenty of space in the tall, wide, bonnet for a mechanism, and the curves of the bonnet top are cast in resin. The only tricky part is forming the flutes which connect the bonnet front to the flared sides. Michael provides you with high quality etchings, good instructions and excellent backup. I opted for a high level gearbox, Mashima motor and Alan Gibson wheels. As I mentioned, I don’t compensate normally, but as it’s more routinely done in EM, I chose to incorporate it. When I did use it a while back, I used sliding bearings and etched hornblocks. Michael provides his own simple and effective system of a balancing knife edge and compensating beams which accurately aligns the wheelbase for you. More on that later. TBC

Don, it may just be the sheen which is giving the load an odd tint. Stubby, yeah, as Don and Adam have said, the side under run bumpers are a more recent item, late 80's or so I'd guess. In terms of the uprights, well firstly, that photo was taken to demonstrate best modern practice, so that's as good as it gets today. In earlier years, as Adam said, they were rare, and if fitted, were heavy steel pins pushed into the bolsters. I delivered steel tube in the early 80's and we didn't have them. Wooden wedges were sometimes pushed under the side of the load. The loads were just chained down very tightly. The end hooks of the chains were hooked under the chassis rails, roping cleats would have been ripped off, and plenty of tension put on. With just a few tubes or sections the tension could bend the load. A bigger concern than the load slipping off the side was it shooting forward under heavy braking. It was always pushed up hard against the headboard if possible. After a few miles, when the load had settled, you'd pull up and re-tension them.

Thanks Don. Interesting what you say about the colour as they are a blue/grey, that’s the colour the Humbrol metalcote (polished steel) dried to, and there’s no hint of red or brown about them in the flesh. I’ve looked at the photos on both my laptop and iPad screens and, to me, they look essentially blue/grey, unless I’m seeing what I expect to. If anything, I need to kill the sheen on them, hot rolled sections do have a matt look to them with just a bit of gleam on the edges, and they soon pick up a bit of surface rust. Here’s a modern example;

er, yeah, when I looked at that last photo I did wonder..... Steady, next you'll have Stubby demolishing Millwards and building a Starbucks on the site.

Thanks Dave, if it's creating a sense of the times it's doing it's job. One of the benefits of so many of us working on, and reading and posting on, these threads, is the amount of knowledge and research which is being pooled. From three line braking systems above, Paul finding out the cost of fish and chips in the 70's, and a host of other things, just to get the little details right.

Thanks Adam, yes, the basic cab casting certainly looks right, I think it’s worthwhile opening out that narrow rear window. I’m a bit of a Scammell Crusader fan myself, the Crusader and Guy did share some cab panels. Onto the build. Almost but not quite finished. I'm just awaiting a decal for the cab. It will then have a coat of Dullcote and I don’t want to fit the glazing and complete the final assembly before that. An hour or so will see it complete. Here’s the completed trailer, registration plate fitted and weathered. The deck is dirty with grime, oil and rusty deposits, and the headboard has been scarred and bashed a few times. I went for Mark’s suggestion on registration number, just transposing the J and W. It’s a nice link to the original lorry whilst also placing it in the Black Country. A locally registered vehicle, owned by a local haulier, working on contract to the works. The plate was made on PagePlus software and printed onto white decal sheet from Crafty Computer paper. I fitted the suzies (air lines) to the trailer, they’re thin copper wires wound around a small drill bit to coil them, primed and then painted. The plate on the front is to attach them to the tractor. Modern practice has just two lines but in the 70’s three were used. I didn’t fit the straight, black, electrical lead, it’s not very visible and it just gets a bit too busy back there! Here’s the trailer loaded up. Lengths of Evergreen fine styrene sections painted with metalcote and bundled up with twists of fine wire. I’ll make up some restraining chains to hold the load down. I made an over length load and marked the end with a red rag (paper). It was once a familiar sight whereas today you would see a triangular warning board with diagonal stripes. I tried to find out when this became obligatory and was surprised to find that current regulations still allow marking with a rag for loads over hanging up to 2m. More than that does require a board, though I suspect that boards today would be used for any overhang. Nearly there; I’ll come back with final photos once the tractor is complete. The next build starts Saturday. Edited for spelling

Oh, God forbid that it hasn't been flushed for two days!!

Hi Flavio, this might be of some interest. I had in stock some of the sponges Mark suggested above, Tim Shackleton recommends them for some weathering effects. I thought I'd give them a try. I brushed, onto one sponge face, some thick Tamiya red acrylic. I then 'printed' that onto some SE Finecast brick sheet; Considering this took less than a minute, it didn't turn out too bad. My initial concern was that the paint would be pressed into the mortar course. Far from it, in fact I needed to dab the sponge on four of five times to cover the brick faces yet the mortar courses remained clear. To do a large area I'd put a thin layer of thick paint in a flat tray and pick it up that way. It also occurred to me that by swirling a few brick tones into the paint it would break up the overall flat colour as it was applied. Certainly worth experimenting with. Arthur

Just a quick posting to show the current state of play; Just a trial assembly, some lettering applied, mirrors fitted and a load on the trailer. Hopefully, it should be finished on Wednesday and I'll write up details, with more photos, of the last stages of the build then. After that, we'll move onto the second BSC vehicle. TBC

Thanks Dave, I have considered getting one in the past, I think that I might be convinced! I'll be following the build with interest.

Nice prototype Dave. I'm impressed with how clean the build is. What make of resistance soldering unit are you using and are you using solder paint with it?

They looked pretty damned appetising on the counter Paul! I doubt he'll be complaining.

BCB legend has it of a fabled mobile chippy, appearing here and there, providing sustenance for the locals. Our driver seems to have availed himself of its wares, a parcel of their finest rests on the passenger seat, no doubt to be consumed at his next drop...... TBC

Thanks Chris, I'm enjoying the build.