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brian335

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  1. brian335
    A series of notes following the build of an N Brass Locomotives kit of Lady Margaret, GWR 1308
     
    Having partially realised what I was letting myself in for after starting on Pembroke Castle, I decided to look around for something simpler. I saw this kit at the Peterborough show last year and after (almost) finishing a BR Mark 1, building an axle alignment jig and treating myself to a resistance soldering unit, I decided I was good to go.
     
    The kit is superb and any faults in construction are entirely mine. The side frames went together perfectly and are show here with the main bearings in place. All the bearings were the same size and the instructions indicated that the leading wheels should have about a millimetre vertical play and should be sleeved to cater for the smaller axle. I decided that it would be better to make my own bearings to fit and these appear in later photos.
     




  2. brian335

    Chicken and Egg

    By brian335,

    The instructions are telling me to fasten on the brake harness, shoes etc. It occurs to me that if I do this, I shan't be able to remove them later when I want to paint the chassis as they will be soldered on.



    I also want to blacken the axles and this will have to be done before adding the brakes. 
    Equally the tender of the body could probably do with at least priming as some of the bits are getting a bit intricate. In my ignorance(!) I assumed the painting was all done at the end, but I guess I shall have to dig the primer out. Good job I got a spray booth for Christmas!
     
    The main part of the chassis is now complete apart from the brakes and harness as seen above.
     
    The next shot shows the tender body with steps added.

    These were probably the most fiddly bits yet - easy to bend up but look closely - one of the pairs of steps has brass bits soldered to both sides of the upright, and of course one drops off or goes out of true while you're trying to fix the one on the other side 
    Here's a closer shot

     
    I shall have to have yet another go at that one
  3. brian335

    Pembroke Castle 4078

    By brian335,

    I'm currently building an O Gauge David Andrew kit of a Castle Class loco, having decided to go for 4078 Pembroke Castle which just happens to be near where I used to live. This may be a bit ambitious as this is my first major kit building project. I don't happen to know much about trains or kit building (or this forum for that matter - should this be a blog or just a series of questions on the forum?) so I'm hoping for some constructive advice/ comments as I go.
     
    On the advice of friends, I am building the tender first, a Hawksworth 4,000 gallon tender which was allocated to the engine on 23/12/1955.
     
    I have already run into a couple of problems - mainly to do with soldering. I am using a Weller 40W but the tip keeps turning black. I then file it back to the copper and the process repeats. I have now wired it though a dimmer switch, thinking that maybe it was getting too hot (I could set fire to things with it!) and that seems to have reduced the problem. My other soldering irons are an 18 W and a temperature controlled one, both fine for electrical soldering but not much use for this game. Any suggestions as to alternatives gratefully received - is a resistance soldering unit a good idea?
  4. brian335

    Axle Alignment Jig

    By brian335,

    It's been a while since I last posted here but I have been busy. Following my trials with building the tender for Pembroke Castle, I realised that I needed some help with Axle Alignment. I saw this jig for sale at the Peterborough show last year and thought I could make one for myself (apologies to Hobby Holidays but I did subsequently buy an RSU off them). These first few entries will be a bit of catch-up as I did this jig around Christmas 2014.
     
    So I started off in Sketchup and produced a drawing, ordered some Aluminium, silver steel bar and lots of screws etc from Chronos.
     
    The rest of the images can be seen in the gallery and pretty much speak for themselves.

  5. brian335
    I'd promised myself that if these machines came down to under £500, I would treat myself to one. People keep asking me what am I going to make with it and while I have done a few prints now and am getting to know what will and what won't work, the answer is that as far as I'm concerned, this is just another tool, just like a lathe or milling machine. If I have a need to make something and I think that 3d printing it is a good way to do it, then I will give it a go.
     
     

     
    My Ormerod 2 part way through the build, being checked to the screen image.
     

    Tracking down an electrical fault. It tunred out there wasn't one, just that my meter was unable to read such a low resistance.
     

    My first extrusion.
     

    Its first real print job - printing an orthogonal test piece.
    So for example if I want some O Gauge pallets say, do I 3d print them or use coffee stirrers? To my mind coffee stirrers win hands down.
     
    One thing I have come up with is a widget to stop chocolate block connectors falling apart which they do from time to time, usually during an exhibition.




     
    So anyone got any bright ideas?
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