Sandy Harper

Post #2539 shows a non prototypical inside chassis, with frames, to hold inside bearings designed purely for modelling purposes. The prototype would have had outside bearings attached to the 'outside' frames which in the model are cosmetic. The outside frames are fitted to the footplate of the tender and very close to the footplate valance. It is easier to attach the steps to the rear of the valance first, before attaching the outside frames, due to the small space between the valance and the frames. Does that explain? Regards Sandy

One is quite enough David See you at Kettering. Regards Sandy

Sounds like a reasonable plan Mick. I am not a modern era fan either but I always liked the class 20's which is why I agreed to build one as a distraction from my usual fare. Back now to a Stanier 2-6-2, with no instructions!! Good to get the soldering iron out! Regards Sandy

Finished! Sandy

Chip fitted and working -ish! Apparently these Loksound decoders are well known for not working correctly straight out of the box and there is a set up procedure needed to 'tune' them in. In the case of the class 20 it tends to jerk when on the two lowest speed setting and when it stops it takes a jerk forward! I hope to have both these ironed out when I do the set up procedure. New cab numbers and windscreen wipers attached. Should be ready for delivery quite soon. Sandy

Apart from the installation of the DCC sound chip and speaker the class 20 is finished. Sandy

A while ago I took on a JLTRT Class 20 build for a friend. Here is the latest update. The painting and detailing has been completed and just awaiting the arrival of the sound chip. She has just received her final coat of varnish and I now have to carefully remove the masking on the windows. Regards Sandy

Have a look at this from Farnell. A good range of tip sizes also. http://uk.farnell.com/tenma/21-10115-eu/soldering-station-60w-220v-eu/dp/2062627?MER=bn_level5_5NP_EngagementRecSingleItem_3 Sandy

I don't have prices either. They were on a flyer marked 'new products' Sandy

You might have missed the boat there Martyn. They were on sale before Christmas and I had a look at one then. I went back last week for another look and they had all gone. They were rated at 48watts (what ever that means) and came with a screw-in pointed bit. There was a screwdriver bit included as an accessory but, as the connection between the element and the bit was by a fairly small screw, into the end of the element, I concluded that you were likely to lose half the 48 watt's worth of heat before it arrived at the end of the bit. Might be ok for 4mm work, or electrical, but I doubt it was man enough for 7mm kits. What was good value though was the packet of assorted slitting discs for a rotary drill at £3 for two pkts. Enough for a couple of years worth! SAndy

Jim, Have a look at Markits new 'return crank' range. On paper they look a proper job. Sandy

Today was a painting and varnishing day! Undercoat on the Class 20 body Black on Class 20 chassis/footplate Black and varnish on repaired Jinty cab that took a dive off a friends layout. Undercoat on a HR timber wagon. Varnish on a pair of HR Ballast Wagons Varnish on a Hudswell 0-6-0 diesel. Varnish on the A3 Regards Sandy

Ah! got it. The reason for the offset is to give clearance for the handbrake handle. See the four holes drilled in the back plate. Sandy

Ouch! And I was thinking of buying one. Maybe not! Sandy

I'm not convinced by your 'offset' option for the top cupboard doors. I think they should be central. There is no good reason for them not to be. Your photo also shows that you will be unable to fit the roof if they are offset! REgards Sandy

Something like this?? May not be exact for your loco but close! Regards Sandy

Moving on! Having completed all the beading, that was a big job!! I had a go at rolling up the boiler and smoke box yesterday. It was all going swimmingly until I tried to attach the coned boiler to the smokebox. Instead of it sloping up towards the firebox, it sloped down. Sumit wrong here me thinks. So, back to the photocopy of the etch I went and, there it was, a light bulb moment. The etch for the boiler front had a very slight convex shape to it whereas it should have had a concave shape Take it apart, reshape and resolder. Phew, that's better. The other end, the bit that abuts the firebox , of course , also needed adjusting. In the end all was well. Putting the parts together was a little tricky as there are no reference marks to help with aligning it up apart from the inverted 'U' shape of rivets where the firebox fits against the front of the cab. Small dabs of solder were used to hold the bits in place and make any realignment easier. Fortunately I remembered, before soldering it all up, that there were a number of washout plugs that needed to be fitted to the boiler and firebox and needed to be soldered from the inside to make a neat job. The final job of the day was to fit the smoke box door casting. Regards Sandy

Terrific stuff Duncan and nicely detailed drawings but most annoying being slightly out of focus. I have discovered that I need to reposition my handbrake, It was a best guess anyway. Thanks also for the links to the other photos. Excellent. Kind regards Sandy

Thanks for that Michael. I don't suppose you have a photograph by any chance? Regards Sandy

Continuing on with the body work. It has not been exactly straightforward. Having attached the main side tanks I moved onto the rear bunker area. The etch is in one part and folded at the rear corners. However, when I bent it up I found that is ended up about 1mm too wide across the rear foot plate. There are half etched lines on the footplate to assist with the location. My solution was to 'break' the etch into three and file back the rear vertical edges of the bunker until it fitted neatly into the half etched line. The sides of the bunker were treated the same way, using the same method, to make a neat butt joint at the rear corners. The rear of the cab, or front of bunker, is designed with a tab and slot to help with location but, the slots are in the wrong place in the footplate so I removed the tabs and fitted it in the correct location. The inside of the cab was a bit sparse so I added some detail to represent the access doors to the bunker and a hand brake handle. The other issue was that the floor, if fitted as designed, fouled the rear wheel flanges so I raised the floor by about 2mm to gain the clearance needed. Because the floor was raised, the front of the cab needed a couple of mm's taking of the bottom before fitting it to the side tanks. If anyone knows what fits in the two large circular holes, either side of the bunker door, are for I would be grateful? This shows the small length of scrap etch used to raise the cab floor. Regards Sandy

Clearance issues are now almost resolved by pairing back the top of the cast spring units and a slight reprofiling of the chassis cutouts above the pony trucks. I also set to with the riveter to push out the rivets on the tank sides before bending them where they form one side of the cab opening and the front of the tanks. The sides were then soldered to the footplate. Regards Sandy

Ok, I'm now getting confused! Not difficult really but, what are we reading about here? Jim Snowdon's build of a Standard class 3, illustrated with pictures, or 'doilum's' musings about something he is building? Can we please revert back to the original poster (jim) describing his build and could 'doilum' please start his own post on his own build? Regards Sandy

Mode Try Modelling Railways Illustrated Vol 1 No3 Regards SAndy

I have managed to put the pony trucks together after a bit of head scratching but I'm not there yet. There are serious issues with clearances. The castings act as bearings for the axle so they need to be reamed out to take the 3/16" axle and then fitted to the frame , square and in line. Having got the bogie together I opened the Slaters wheel pack! Fortunately it is only a light surface rust and a spin up in the drill, and a wipe with a 3M scotch pad, soon brought it back to bright and shiny! After fitting to the chassis it is apparent that clearances are going to be a big issue. I haven't yet got the 'angle of dangle' quite right but even that is not going to help. Some serious chassis cutting needed me thinks! I identified earlier that clearance behind the crosshead was also going to be an issue and this is how I solved it using the time honoured method of replacing the 12BA crank pin bolt with a 10BA one and cutting a thread inside the crank bearing. The two V cut slots are so that I can use a 'Gibson' wheel nut spanner to tighten the bearing. There are other methods I have seen used. REgards Sandy

The holiday period and the period after, coincided with trips to the Welsh coast, Germany and Northern Scotland hence very little modelling to report. However I have eventually beaten the valve gear into submission and have now stripped it down again for chassis painting, so no photographs at present. Further posts when I have something interesting to photograph. Regards Sandy