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Hi there, I think I'm going to use brass strip for Earl Cawdor's boiler bands as I want to hide the joint between the firebox and boiler. I'll use scotch tape on the Armstrong. And isn't that white spirit good! Here are a couple of arty photos of progress including the fabulous dome as commissioned from Michael Edge of Judith Edge kits. I love it!

Aaagh, just mucked up the last post, so trying again! Thanks OzzyO, sound advice as ever. White spirit has certainly helped! Adds to the heady aromas of the workbench too. Got a great set of 16BA to 6BA nut spinners, post haste from Squires for £14.99. Marvellous! Progress on Earl Cawdor shows more tack-soldering and nuts, bolts, tapping and arty photos. I made the brass formers for the main boiler by fretting and then spinning in the Black and Decker with some careful application of files. The firebox formers had to be finished by hand. I built the firebox seperately; there is a rather abrupt curve to get behind the splashers. It bolts onto the cab front, and the main boiler, of the same diameter, will bolt onto it. The join will be masked by a boiler band. Incidently, does anyone have any thoughts on boiler bands? Brass strip / masking tape / something else?

Back from beautiful Devon, oysters and sunshine! Here's the Armstrong, fitted with splasher steps and cosmetic bearings for the outside crank axles. I've had some trouble with tapping small threads into deep holes in castings, which is what is supposed to happen here, so after breaking my 12BA tap inside the hornguide and having to dig it out, I decided to drill an interference fit for the 12BA bolts and solder them into the holes. Then I cut the bolt heads off and use nuts to secure the tie bars. I'm going to order a set of nut spinners from Squires to try and cut down on the fiddle. Anyway, it works for me. The underslung springs are next and that involves 14BA nuts...aargh! Earl Cawdor is gently progressing, I've started to think about the boiler and rolled up a quick test from thin brass. Here it is resting on a handy wheel gauge. The loco looks more and more like a Victorian toy from the Railway Children. The original must have been most striking. J.N. Maskelyne gives a lovely description in "Locomotives I Have Known".

Here's to say thankyou for the kind offers of help with Dean Clerestory instructions and to show progress with paint stripper and OzzyO's favourite black etch primer, magical stuff! And then there's a test fit for the cab of "Earl Cawdor", I've tack soldered it and managed to stop myself soldering it solid until I've tried the boiler etc. And I promise normal service will be resumed as soon as possible with the Armstrong as soon as I've finished the artwork (inspired by Ronald Searle) for Merry Wives of Windsor!

Thankyou Bill. I'll get myself sorted out tomorrow and answer you properly! Cheers Simon

Bit of a distraction here, I've managed to buy some made-up Slaters GWR 7mm Clerestory All Third coaches at a remarkably cheap price. Mainly because they are not well constructed and I'm taking them apart etc.,etc. Does anybody have a spare set of instructions that they could scan/post to me (all expenses paid) as it's a bit difficult in some places to see how they were supposed to have been put together! I'll post some pictures. Meanwhile I note that MOK, who make the Armstrong kit, are very helpfully responding to customer feedback and posting instruction modifications on their website, hurrah!And I've ordered a one-off turning of the dome for Earl Cawdor from Michael Edge of Judith Edge kits, who did such a beautiful little job of my Lady Armstrong's horn. Normal service resumed as soon as poss. Happy Easter everyone!

Fantastic! I'm fascinated to know how this turns out for you. If I get a moment I'll have a go too and let you know. Cheers Simon

Thankyou gents, a nut and bolt it will be then! I find the books by Guy Williams and Iain Rice to be the ones I turn to for simple and effective solutions to building locos. I soldered in the dummy valve gear on the Achilles without too much trouble and had great fun with the slitting disc removing the jigs and spare metal from inside the Armstrong. Some of the more fiddly bits of detail are starting to go on as well, much helped by the tab and slot design.

Good evening Gents, thanks for your replies. Kev, I hadn't noticed the handrail holes, I'll get the drill out, thankyou! I haven't looked for the knob although I noticed that it was mentioned. Have you found yours? I've also had some exciting times with my slitting disc today, removing the jigs inside the Armstrong's boiler, photos to come. And thanks OzzyO as well, for the Achilles thoughts. If the articulation doesn't please I plan to solder it solid, if I don't do that while I'm trying to solder in the pivot pin. And Castle, thankyou for your help, I'll get onto it and let you know how I'm doing. I particularly agree with your comments on relating the real thing to modelling. I went on a steam loco driving course at the Gloucs/Warks railway and besides having an exhilarating experience it really made me think about how to drive the models prototypically. And as for modelling, here are the cab sides to Earl Cawdor with the window frames in various stages a la Guy Williams. The large holes were just the start of a thought of drilling out the inside radii but I decided I'd rather cut and file to finish instead.

Hi Jim, it's great to see another Lady Armstrong! Mine's going to end up, with a rake of NSR 4-wheelers, running as "preserved" on my Culm Valley layout... Castle, I've been inspired by your comments concerning the volunteer spirit to enquire as a volunteer at Didcot, do you have any recommendations as to how I should go about it? And Rob, thanks for your comments. I find building all three locos at once a bit exciting but great if I get stuck with one stage to move on to another and as they're all so similar it's very useful when scratch-building to look at the construction of the other two. My next project will be another 3 locos. It really is an attempt to clear the secret kit cupboard! Here are some photos of recent progress, somewhat stalled by the intrusion of work requirements. The articulation of the Achilles chassis is a pivot through the hole at the top centre. Next job, the cosmetic valve gear.

Thankyou Peter, I really enjoy the creative process of making stuff, something that seems sadly missing in much of our modern lives, present company excepted of course! There was an encouraging article on Womans Hour on the rise of "Crafting" a horrible word for a nobler art. Back to the railway modelling, I resisted great temptation at the GOG show at Kettering to buy any more kits. I haunt the Bring and Buy stall like a vulture with a credit card. I did buy some useful bits and pieces from Eileens including a whacking great file (as advised in a recent article in MRJ) and fell for a beautiful BR mineral wagon from the nice man at Lionheart Trains. I have a photo of one in a train on the Culm Valley line, so I'm allowed... Here's "Brunel" (I ordered the plates from Guilplates too, great service they do,) with cab-roof and trim and brass beading on the splashers. And here's progress on the chassis of "Lorna Doone". Another bit of modelling that looks like a Klingon star-ship. It's a brilliant piece of articulated design by Scorpio. Both kits now require me to look at the inside valve gear so I'm going to go back to "Earl Cawdor's" frames while I have a think about that...

Just back-tracking a little with another "what-is-it?" photo. In the absence of a built in jig I had to provide my own for strengthening the frames of the Earl in order to fit the wavy footplate. So here it is with plonked on strengthening bits. I've moved on with both the Achilles and the Armstrong and I'll put up photos of the progress sometime after I get back from the GOG show at Kettering tomorrow. Obviously without buying anything else...

Thankyou gents, that black primer sounds very interesting, is it acrylic? Just to do a bit of trumpet blowing for us multi-tasking railway modellers; got my picture in The Stage this week for winning a Fringe Report Award for Best Shakespeare Producing! Hurrah!! That's why I'm modelling Earl Cawdor... Anyway back to some proper culture, I'm really enjoying scratch-building at the same time as kit construction and I'm trying to bring all three locos to the same stage. So here are the out-side frames and footplates of the the Achilles (Lorna Doone) and the Earl. I used the rollers to form the footplate of the Earl; a very multi-functional piece of kit. I'll fret out the footplate, a la Guy Williams, to accomodate the splashers, inside motion and motor.

To continue with Earl Cawdor for a while. I wanted to produce the rivetted "trim?" beneath the footplate as it's quite prominent in some of the photos. My Scorpio Achilles had some nice etches to do this which of course took seconds to cut out and prepare. The Earl's took a bit longer... I'd cut some brass lamintes at the same time as the frames so I had the match to the top surface, so I soldered those to some more brass to give something to hold onto, marked out the trim and its centre-line (for rivetting) and then fretted everything out and cleaned up. Then some more heroic rivetting providing more art-house photos, boy does that thin strip curl! After two lots of that and some judicious flattening I soldered one side to a frame and was very pleased with myself and then realised that I'd rivetted both strips for the same side. Curses! One moments inattention!! I blame having to get up to switch "The Archers" off, can't bear it! After some thought and a few choice words, I cut the straight bit off the back end, soldered the wiggly bit into position and bunged the straight bit on the front...and very pleasingly everything lined up just as nicely. I'll have to listen to Radio 3 from now on.

Thankyou everyone for your kind comments and words of advice and encouragement, it certainly spurs me on! The kit is incredibly accurate, the wonders of 3D CAD design and ingenious thinking. The main splashers are a virtually perfect fit with no fettling at all; from a flat etch, curved to a 3D shape that meshes with a series of other complex curves. Quite astonishing! And they used to do it for real, with great big hammers and stuff. Marvellous. And then there's my efforts with some heroic rivetting on the footplate of Earl Cawdor, with a picture to show the old girl (chap?) him/herself.

Time for a few more art-house photos. A bit of boiler soldering to start... I like to use copper wire to keep everything together but it is quite liable to break so the more the merrier. Then I tried to put everything together and in the rush, plus plenty of wine, I lost concentration. The fire-box is cleverly connected to the boiler by a rather lovely turned brass disc which slides between them and is connected by a 6BA bolt screwing into a captured nut in within the boiler former. I forgot that I'd soldered this in, when it was easily accessible, and wondered why I couldn't get the bolt through the hole. (It did pass through my mind that it was going to be fiddly to get a nut into the inner recessess of the boiler.) So I reamed out the hole with the unseen nut inside, stripping the thread. Curses! This morning I had to carefully drill it out and solder in a small piece of brass tube drilled and tapped for 6BA. Don't get too drunk and don't rush! Til the next time... Anyway, now she looks gorgeous, what an absolute feat of engineering, both in the real thing and the design of this kit. Next, the curvy footplate of Earl Cawdor...

Absolutely beautiful modelling Castle. Finished off with a paint job that makes your models look like the real thing!

Thankyou all, I very much enjoy scratch-building, I find fretting quite relaxing! It does however show up the time difference between cutting a complex shape from an etched fret and cutting one out for yourself. I suppose it's ending up with something novel and generally cheaper. I haven't given up on the idea of of CAD yet though... I tried out something new with the Armstrong build. The J hangers and their brackets need to be soldered to the frames with the lower half and bolt still able to be detached. The instructions suggest oil or paint as a barrier but I'd read of using chemical blackeneing to prevent unwanted soldering. Easier to control the oil and quicker than paint. And very successful! Hurrah! Then I went on to roll the fire box and solder to the cast "transition" ring. All went very smoothly, love those rolling bars!

On with the body-work of the Armstrong; I think I've used the wrong words in describing the frames. These are rather decorative curves in the footplate, formed over the outside frames, not the main splashers which are larger and further in. Presumably they were to clear the outside cranks, and/or to look pretty as the Achilles does the same thing and doesn't have the cranks. Whichever way, it adds to the beauty of the locos! Here I've formed and soldered the footplate, which was made easier with the fixing places thoughtfully supplied in the kit. While my thoughts were on this area I decided to mark up the outside frames of Earl Cawdor. Previously I've stuck the drawings to the metal but inspired by a recent article in Model Railway Journal I drew directly onto the nickel-silver. I bought a whacking great permanent marker which gives a good coat of black, providing some exciting fumes and doesn't wear too quickly. It also gives great contrast to the marked out lines which is fantastic for sawing and filing. It was quite a job to transfer the drawing and I did cheat at one point, the reverse curves over the frames, by gluing the drawing to some thin plasticard, cutting it out and using as a template! I soldered two laminates of thin brass to the back to help make the decorative rivetted trim, I'll explain that later! And then cut it all out and cleaned it up.

Hi Kev, I'm having a bit of a rest from the valve gear! Looking at the photo on page 9 it seems as though the eccentric rods are pinned with a bit of rod and soldered. I'm going to use a bit of rod as a staple, just a U shape while I'm getting everything working and then solder, really, really carefully. I find undoing and doing up little nuts and bolts very tiresome, particularly those on the eccentric clips, but they are very useful. I'm going to solder those as well. And I rather enjoy the high-jacks, there's always something interesting! Chris, welcome to the thread! And thankyou very much indeed for your info on painting. Your Achilles looks absolutely marvellous, an inspiration in fact. So I've started on mine too. It does help that I can compare the way in which the two kits are engineered and think about how to scratch-build my Earl Cawdor. It also distracts me from the pesky valve-gear... And it was good practice for shaping the footplate over the splashers. Only one a side for the Achilles; two each for the Armstrong and one and a bit for Earl Cawdor!

Hi Peter, I'm impressed that the Gazette gets as far as Brasil, I reckon it's worth the wait! I find the hold'n'fold invaluable for really difficult; very short/small and long/thin folds. I can't remember how much they cost but I've not regretted it! And thanks Kev, I'll contact Chris via the website and see if he'll write up his painting methods, hopefully before I get to the stage where I want to get the air-brush out.

Hi Castle, lovely paint job and your weathering on the 14xx is fantastic! Perhaps you could tell us a little of your methods as you weather 18000? Regards Simon

While I'm gently re-assembling the valve gear I thought I'd make a start on the loco body as I hadn't had a go at a bit of sheet metal for a while. The sub footplate and outside frames are are a one piece fold-up structure that was bent up very carefully in the hold and fold. Nickel silver is a lot more springy and forgiving than brass and doesn't buckle half as easily, so once it starts to bend everything tends to shape up nicely. There's a beautiful build of a Scorpio Achilles in the latest Gauge O Guild Gazette by a Mr Chris Simpson, who blithely says that "After a few test runs, I stripped and painted the loco." How Mr Smith? How did you paint it? The finish is absolutely stunning! I shall try and find out..

Hi Castle, here's my version of 1466, she's 5812, as running on the Culm Valley Line(ish). She's built from a Springside 7mm white-metal kit with added detail and was very pleasing to construct. I found my photos of 1466 most useful for both the detailing and livery. Cheers Simon

Hi Castle, that's a lovely model of a great locomotive. The last time I was down at Didcot she was sitting outside in the sunshine. I really like the way everything is made out of hefty bits of metal, she has a real solidity and your model captures that nicely. You're obviously good at the wiring side too. I'm going to take the lighting plunge one day but am still a bit scared. It's good to hear the the worst that can happen is a little smoky pop! I've always been impressed by the easy access to the stock at Didcot. I've detailed my 14xx from photos taken crawling all over yours and love the way you can stand right next to a moving steam locomotive at rail height, marvellous!