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Adrian

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  1. Adrian
    Whilst waiting for a few bits for the Jinty I've switched to another piece of the jigsaw for the 2010 challenge - the control system. For a long time I've had ideas for a control system on a layout to avoid the miles and miles of wiring the usually entails. Several years ago MERG started developing a layout control bus, called CBUS. This is a system of plugin modules that communicate over a signal data bus, this bus consists of just two wires, the modules themselves need to be powered so that's two more wires for the ground and supply voltage but that is it. Just 4 wires is all that is required to connect new modules together, if I want to add an extra turnout or extra sections I just need to plug them into the bus - no more huge bundles of wire stretching back to the control panel.
     
    The system has now reached a level of maturity where MERG are about to launch a series of kits for the modules, although it's quite easy to build them up by getting the PCB's from MERG and the components from one of the electronics suppliers. To test the system out, because I wanted to build in track circuiting I thought I'd trial the system on my shunting plank.
     
    So this is the start of the control panel which consists of just two modules. The one on the left is the CANACE3 module which used to link to the control switches on the panel. This module will link up to 128 on/off switches or up to 64 pairs of push buttons. The modules converts any switch actions to signals on the bus. The module on the right is CANLED, this will take signals from the bus and drive up to 64 LEDS. These modules and the data port in the panel are connected together by just 4 wires and that is all that is required.

    I've then wired in a few switches and LEDS. The switches will be used to drive the solitary point on the shunting plank and a solenoid for uncoupling. The LEDs are mixed, the red ones will indicate the turnout setting and the green ones for section occupation. Any resemblance to a Ferrero Rocher box is entirely justified. Some Christmas presents are useful, I've recycled it for the control panel because this was intended as a demo and I liked the idea of the clear lid so that I can show how simple the internal wiring is.

    So that is it for the control panel, all the wiring is done. The blue network cable is all that is required to plug it in to the shunting plank. So it should be easy to put a few sockets in on the layout which then allows you to plugin the control panel where ever is convenient. On a layout if I need to add in a new turnout, no longer do I need to run a cable from the point motor to the control panel, hoping that there are enough spare pins on the baseboard connectors. I just hook it up to the databus on the layout and wire in a new switch on the control panel.
     
    So now I need to crack on with the track occupation detectors and the turnout control module.
  2. Adrian
    A quick update on the Jinty progress with a few details on making the lamp irons.
     
    The lamp irons on the footplate are simple enough, the etchings supplied in the kit are fine but I thought they were a little on the skinny side so I just used a bit of nickel strip. However the rear lamp irons and the one on the top of the smoke box are a little more tricky. The etchings supplied in the kit involves folding back etches which I think end up looking too thick in places. This was my solution.
     
    I used a scrap bit of etched nickel strip from the kit, folded a 90 degree bend in each end and placed it on a bit of 16 thou nickel sheet. This was then silver-soldered together. I just used three small pallets of silver solder heated up with a small blow torch. There is something deeply satisfying watching silver solder flash into a joint, a small sliver can go a long way. After a quick clean in the acid bath I have this.

     
    A quick clean up and then using a piercing saw start taking slices, the first cut can be seen on the right hand side.

     
    Nearly there -a little bit of filing gets me to this stage.

     
    With the lamp iron being silver soldered it means that I can soft solder it to the loco quite easily with no fear of the joint melting. This shows it in place, a little prominent at the moment, I'm hoping it looks more in place once the smoke box door and chimney are fitted.
     

     
    This also shows the progress with the brakes and sand boxes. The brakes went together without any major problems, the sand boxes needed a little modification for Scale7. The casting are for finescale so fitted to S7 frames with slimmer wheels means that the sandboxes just foul on the rear of the coupling rods. So I skimmed 1/32" off the depth of the casting in the lathe to give me a bit of breathing room, the frames were then tinned and the boxes sweated onto the frame by applying the iron to the back of the frames.
     
  3. Adrian

    Jinty - cab roof

    By Adrian,

    Well I've switched back to the body work. I needed some 12BA bolts to finish the brakes. I was going to pick some up from the Preston show this weekend but it's been cancelled, so the bolts are in the post somewhere.
     
    I covered a little bit on the cab platework in the previous RMweb thread, basically the cab roof supplied in the kit is a white metal casting which although there is nothing wrong with it per se, I felt that I'd struggle to get the characteristic roll on the cab side sheets using the bits supplied. So I replaced the cab side sheets but this also meant making up a new roof from nickel silver and devising some method for making it removable to fit the cab detail and crew. I've not done a cab roof this way before so it'll be interesting to see how it lasts but this was what I came up with.
     
    First cut out a piece of 16thou nickel to size, run it through a set of rollers to fit.

    Then on the underside on the right I fitted a couple of tabs to slot under the side sheet, on the left hand side a couple of lengths of small brass rod slightly overlapping the edge of the roof.

    So fitting the roof involves sliding the tab side under the cab side sheet.

    The other side drops down onto the other cab side sheet.

    With a little downward pressure the roof snaps into position.

    A few strips of angles brass for rain strips hides the joint quite nicely. The roof is quite firmly held in position.

    I'll have to see how successful it's been after it's had a coat of paint.
  4. Adrian
    Having received a MOK Standard 4MT kit over Christmas has given added impetus to getting the Jinty finished first. I'm trying to make sure that I finish this Jinty before diving into the 4MT kit, whether my resolution holds will have to be seen.
     
    So I've made a little progress on the bodywork, but I've been concentrating on the chassis. I'd like to get a running chassis to test out a MERG CBUS system I'm setting up. So progress to date is shown below.

    The detail changes from previous postings are

    crankpin nuts - finally got round to fitting some 12BA steel nuts, although they still need thinning down and a washer behind them. brake hangers brackets - I fitted these as specified in the kit, although in reference to the works drawing they seem a little too low, however the hangers themselves seem a little too short so the brake rods should be in the right place. The kit instructions just have a bit of brass rod through them. However I've drilled the outer hole 12BA clearance and the frame and the inner part of the bracket has been tapped 12BA so that hopefully the brakes will all be detachable for painting and maintenance. balance weights - fitted as supplied, I always think a loco character starts to emerge with the balance weights, until them they're just a set of wheels. plunger pickups - I picked these up from a GOG show at Halifax, I think they are from Ron Chaplin but I can't be sure. I always seem to struggle with pickups and these look nicely engineered so I thought I'd give them a try. The plastic bushing needed a little trimming with a scalpel as there wasn't enough room between the S7 frames and the wheels for them.
    Now the more observant among you may have noticed that the motor and gearbox has been reversed. The motor is now pointing forwards and into the boiler and smokebox area. With it rear facing it was getting awfully close to the boiler backhead, such that it was going to be difficult to squeeze in a flywheel. By having the motor facing forward then I hope to have enough room to squeeze in a flywheel.
     
    Final bit for tonight is the brakes. The kit is supplied with etched components for the brake blocks but I'm always cautious about putting any metal bodywork anywhere near wheels as I think it's a recipe for creating shorts. So the brake blocks are replaced with a nice non-conductive paxolin alternative. This is work in progress, draw a few concentric rings on a sheet of paxolin, mark out the blocks and drill the mounting points 12BA clearance.

    Hopefully get these finished and fitted in the next couple of days - that 4MT kit is calling!!

  5. Adrian
    Finally started to cut metal for this challenge, well plastic if you want to be pedantic, and 1800 cuts to be precise.
     
    I walked away from the Wigan show with various goodies from Exactoscale. So the few spare minutes over Christmas was spent cutting various chairs from sprues, fortunately I remembered on the third sprue that the keys were handed, 5 left and 5 right. So 1500 std chairs, 200 bridge chairs and 100 slide chairs later I have this to show for my efforts.

    I really think that Exactoscale ought to have a green recycling policy considering the amount of scrap from the sprues.
     
    As Tewkesbury MPD ballasting is erratic, more just ash judging by the photos, many of the sleepers are quite exposed. So I've opted for the full depth wooden sleepers from Perfect Miniatures rather than the Exactoscale sleepers. So this week will be a quick test on staining them and ash ballast.
  6. Adrian

    Bibliography

    By Adrian,

    Over the years I've slowly collected bits of information about the Tewkesbury Quay Branch. Various articles and photo's from several sources. As part of the project I thought a bibliography might be of interest for the scholars amongst us. So with out further adieu and in no particular order:

    LMS Engine Sheds - Volume 2 The Midland Railway,
    Chris Hawkins and George Reeve,
    Wild Swan Publications,
    ISBN: 0 906867 05 03
    Three pages of photos and plans to the usual WSP quality that sparked off this project.
     
    British Railway Journal - Issue 40, Winter 92,
    Roger Carpenter,
    Wild Swan Publications,
    ISSN 0265-4105
    An essential 8 page article with superb photo's, maps and stock details.
     
    British Railway Journal - Issue 42, Summer 92, (yes this is listed as 1992 - one can only assume that WSP published the Winter issue in January-February!)
    Wild Swan Publications,
    ISSN 0265-4105
    Just a couple of letters, one on the original Birmingham and Gloucester branch at Tewkesbury and one on the fate of the wagons shown in issue 40.
     
    Bromsgrove to Gloucester including Ashchurch to Great Malvern - Midland Mainlines
    Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith
    Middleton Press - 2006
    ISBN : 1 904474 73 X
    6 pages on Tewkesbury including a 1902 map of the station and MPD, one nice photo of the MPD from 1949 of 3F 43506 which to my recollection doesn't appear in the other publications
     
    Tewkesbury Historical Society Bulletin No.12
    John Dixon
    Tewkesbury Historical Society
    A fascinating article describing the original Birmingham and Gloucester Branch to Tewkesbury with a photo of an early B&G loco in the street approaching an ornate Gothic arch entrance to the station
     
    The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
    P.J. Long and The Reverend W.V. Awdry
    Alan Sutton 1987
    ISBN : 0-86299-329-6
    8 pages about the building of the line, no photo's of the MPD but an interesting account, none the less.
     
    Midland Record, Issue 20
    Wild Swan Publications
    ISSN : 1357-6399
    No article but a cracking photo of a Midland 0-4-4T P-class No. 58071 outside the shed in 1955 spread over 2 pages (2-3)

     
    If anyone knows of any other sources then please let me know.
  7. Adrian

    Prototype photo's

    By Adrian,

    Many of the photo's published have come from various collections, a few of which are available for purchase. I've collected a few from The Transport Treasury and from the HMRS Photo collection. Both of whom have very graciously allowed me to publish a selection on this blog.
     
    So as a reminder the map is shown below

     
    Starting from the East side, where the later station is situated, first we come to the shed area alongside Station Street with the raised coaling stage. This photo is taken from Oldbury road looking East up towards the station. This is the bit that I'm hoping to model for the 2010 challenge. My aim is to try and recreate something similar to this photo. The terraced houses on the right hand side providing a useful backdrop, as is the line disappearing behind the Maltings building. Not too sure about leaving a bloke stuck in the 4ft though!

     
    Moving further West over Oldbury Road and alonside Sun Street we come to the old station. The building and platform on the lefthand side was the original Birmingham and Gloucester station in Tewkesbury. When built originally all this area was under a large wooden canopy. This photo is published in the Wild Swan LMS Engine Shed book and is one of the original photo's that piqued my interest in this location. The loco in the old station is an 8F, No.48388, stabled here because the shed was overcrowded! Another photo in the engine shed book shows 5 loco's stabled in the shed area. The track in the foreground then runs down to the quay side.

     
    Now in all the books it mentions the line running down to the quay, the flour mill buildings are still there, but there was not one single published photo of the quay area with the railway still present. Then searching through The Transport Treasury archives I came across these 2 fine photo's from the James Harold Collection. The track layout seems to have been simplified compared to the original plans but is still very evocative.


    Hopefully this gives a flavour for the line, for the 2010 challenge I can only really concentrate on the main shed area. However if it works out ok then future plans would include extensions in stages down to the quay.
  8. Adrian
    So having decided that I've very limited spare time, limited spare room, limited skills and limited funds I going to throw my hat in the ring for 2010 challenge. Hopefully it'll give me the impetus to just get on and do something rather than just planning it. I'm just preparing a few notes to launch a new blog on the build.
     
    It will be in S7 with no compression of the prototype, all in 2010", in the meantime here's a small clue or taster for the project location. In researching the chosen prototype certain areas have been very elusive from a photographic point of view. However recent surfing have unearthed a couple of gems from Transport Treasury, who have kindly given me permission to reproduce these images on this forum. I have used them on several occasions and can thoroughly recommend their service and quality of photos. Unfortunately I can't fit this quay side into the challenge area but the area to be modelled is just up the road from this point. The watermarking is down to me so that the photos are appropriately credited
     

     

     
    I've a few more photo's I'd like to post but they were sourced from the HMRS archives, as yet I've not had a reply from my enquiry about publishing them, so they'll have to wait.
     
    More to follow soon - looks like one long shopping list for the Wigan show!
  9. Adrian
    Yes my 2010 effort has been launched with a separate blog and so the pictures posted yesterday are of the quay side at Tewkesbury. It's an area I'd like to model eventually but for the challenge I need to restrict it to the MPD which is just up the line. More info to follow later.
     
    So having planned this over a number of years I thought it was about time that I actually did something. So really it's a big thanks to the support from this community and the challenge set by Andy Y, otherwise it would have forever remained a virtual layout.
     
    Whilst planning this launch I came across a blog which struck a nerve entitled There's no speed limit. (The lessons that changed my life.) I'm usually quite disdainful of the plethora of motivational emails that are spammed round offices however this blog had a philosophy which had a certain resonance.
     
     
    So if you have read the article then you may understand it when I say that I hope this community is that great teacher and it sets high expectations that I need to push myself. I hope that I can do more than anyone expects of me, including myself!
     
    Time to draw up that shopping list for Wigan.

  10. Adrian
    Cherry's workbench - Connoisseur Jinty in Scale7
     
    A quick precis of my Scale7 Jinty build as reported on the previous incarnation of RMweb. Unfortunately domestic commitments severely curtailed any modeling over the last few months so no more progress to date. However the bulk of house updates are now complete so hopefully I can get back to my workbench. It was a stark reminder when transferring this thread over that this "quick" kit build has taken over a year and it's still not finished. However I'm itching to get started on my next project so it's an added incentive to get this finished.
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:11 pm
     
    Time for a report I think on my next project - a 7mm Connoisseur Jinty built to Scale7 standards. Hopefully it'll prove interesting for someone. I don't intend to do a blow by blow account of the kit, more of a review of converting the kit to Scale7 standards and noting a few of the extras required to finish the kit.
     
    So to start with the chosen prototype. I'm looking at building a few loco's round the Birmingham/Gloucester territory. A little bit of digging got this photo of 47276 from the Lickey Incline Photobook as a suitable subject to model.
     

     
    Courtesy of http://lickeyarchive.photobook.org.uk/p31057401.html
     
    The choice of loco was in part governed by the available wheelsets from the Scale7 group.
     

     
    So the kit purchased was from http://www.jimmcgeown.com. The kit supplied as standard is a rigid chassis however I much prefer a sprung chassis which is the first modification. I've tried individual sprung hornblocks in the past but I always find them fiddly to set up accurately. Several of them use small coil springs and I've always struggled to fit them in and get a reasonable amount of movement without them being too soft. Compensation looks attractive as it was often used on the prototype but this was usually combined with the springing. So to cut to the chase, I intended to build this loco with "continuous springy beams", http://www.clag.org.uk/beam-annex3.html, a sprung chassis with compensation. It looks an attractive solution so this is going to be a bit of a test bed for me. So a set of fourtrack brass hornblocks were purchased.
     

     
    The second modification are the connecting rods. For me valve gear is steel, the only thing that looks like steel is steel, no matter what you do to nickel silver it doesn't look like steel. I'd would have liked to machine the rods from steel but currently I don't have the necessary machinery. Also the etchings in the kit for the conn rods didn't look right. The diameter of the bosses looked much too big for me. After a bit of searching I settled on using a set of etched steel rods from Slaters. If anything they came out slightly "spindly" but capture the delicate nature of the rods quite well, plus they are the right colour!
     

     
    All comments and questions are gratefully received. Also I'm hoping that this information will encourage others to have go a kit bashing and show that Scale7 isn't that difficult, so if I seemed to have glossed over anything then please ask for more details. I'll gladly fill in details as required because it really isn't that difficult.
     
     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:19 am
     
    Next installment:
    So progressing with the chassis first. I know some builders, including professional builders, that like to start with the body work first. Indeed the Connoisseur instructions start with the body first and finish with the chassis but I think this is the wrong way to go. Admittedly it's more glamorous than the chassis and you get something together quickly but I believe it causes problems further down the line. When you do get round to building the chassis it creates difficulties which could have been avoided, this usually seems to be solved by taking a slitting disc to the inside of the bodywork which I'm never comfortable with. Anyway off my soapbox and onto the chassis.
     
    In this first photograph I have used a little bit of solder at each end to tack together the two frame etches from the kit. I actually used the bearing bushes supplied in the kit through the axle holes to locate the two frames. Once soldered together I then used a square and odd-leg calipers to mark out the cutouts required for the hornblocks. The one on the left has been cutout using a piercing saw. The photo also shows the Slaters coupling rods nearly complete ( more on that in a minute). Also the 3 hornblocks along the bottom have steel pegs in them. These are used to set the hornblock spacings, the finished coupling rods sit on these pegs. I turned these up on my lathe but similar chassis dowels are available from various 7mm suppliers.
     

     
    The next photo shows the frame cutouts completed and the 2 frame pieces separated. Ive included this one to show the coupling rods. The Scale7 crankpins are supplied with a brass bush. On top of the crankpin this adds a bit to the clearance diameter required in the coupling rods. The right-hand boss on the top coupling rod shows how much had to be drilled out! This was a time to be brave as there isn't a lot of metal left! You have to be confident and quick drilling this out. As these rods are several etchings soldered together if you took it easy then the heat build up from drilling would melt the solder and separate the etchings as I found out.
     

     
    The final photo shows the hornblocks ready for soldering to the frames. The coupling rods are finished and located on the steel dowels on the top frame. A nice 75 watt Weller soldering iron was used to sweat these to the frames. Note when soldering anything like this, a thin frame and a glorious heatsink of a hornblock use the iron to heat up the heatsink to get a good joint. If you put the iron on the thin frame then you'll never get enough heat into the brass casting to get a good joint. The lower frame has a bit of spring wire laid out to try and get a feel for how the springy beams are going to work.
     

     
    So I'll try to cover the springy beams in the next installment. However I'm off to Leamington for a couple of days on a training course so apologies in advance but probably be the weekend before any more updates, or responses to any queries. Again I'll re-iterate if anyone is considered kit bashing or scratch building and feel that I've glossed over anything then please ask, I'll gladly expand on any part if required.
     
    Regards
    Adrian Cherry
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:35 pm
     
    Back to the kit, luckily the CLAG website has a set of dimensions for the 8'0"-8'6" wheelbase in setting up the pivot points, these were scaled up for 7mm. So on the top of each hornblock I soldered a small piece of brass angle. I then threaded a length of silver steel through adding in extra brass L-pieces for the pivots. I then set the hornblocks in position for the right ride height and then soldered the pivot points at the positions previously marked. I then replaced the silver steel with the spring wire.
     

     
    This was surprisingly rapid once I'd decided how to do it. Probably 30 minutes to make the brackets and then an hour of set up and soldering completed the job. It was great to see very quickly a working system, pushing up on an outside hornblock, you could feel the springing and also see the centre hornblock move down slightly in compensation.
     
    The frame spacers in the kit are far too narrow for S7 so I cut a strip of 18thou nickel sheet 28.5mm wide for the new spacers. Having put the kit together I think I could have managed with 29mm frame spacers. The nickel silver strip was then trimmed to length and folded similar to the kit supplied spacers and then soldered to one frame.
     

     
    I was then ready to solder the frames together. Here's my super deluxe chassis alignment jig, three 12" lengths of silver steel. I've never used any of these fancy alignment jigs, too expensive for me, especially when I have a nice cheap solution that works fine for me. So the chassis is placed inverted on a glass plate to keep it square. The silver steel rods are pushed through the hornblocks. Now because of their length they will amplify any error in the hornblock alignment.
     

     
    Looking along the length of the chassis all three should lie in the same plane. If one sticks up then it needs adjusting. Similarly in plan view the three rods should be parallel.
     

     
    Once soldered up, I dropped in the wheels and added the coupling rods.
     

     
    On the bench it all ran smoothly but running it down the test track revealed one slight tight spot. The usually trick to find which joint is binding is to waggle each coupling rod. I quickly found the culprit but when waggled the rod freeded itself up which was a little strange. It seems that the brass bush on the crankpin was a bit wider than the thickness of the coupling rods. As long as the rods were tight up against the wheels it was fine but as soon as the rod moved sideways on the crankpin it started to bind. So a little judicious filing to reduce the height of the brass bush stopped any lateral movement on the crankpin and resulted in a nice free running chassis.
     
    So first impressions of the bendy beams is very encouraging, it was very simple and quick to build the suspension. I have what seems to be a sweet running chassis. Dropping the wheels out of the chassis is like a quick release system, because there are no keeper plates or retaining screws it's just a case of pulling out the the two wires and the wheels drop out. So I've still to finish the kit to test it in operating conditions but I think I'll be using the system on my next scratchbuild effort.
     
    Regards
     
    Adrian
     
     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:51 pm
     


    Will_Ayerst wrote:
    Probably a bit of a newbie question - but how do you keep those coupling rods aligned while you laminate them? I had big problems doing it with my 4mm Jinty and ended up just supergluing them together!
    Now you're into the mysterious art of jig building! Actually all I did was knock a couple of panel pins into a block of hardwood. These provided a stop against which I could push the various laminates with another smaller block of wood whilst I soldered them together, I used a couple of cocktail sticks on the holes to keep them aligned. The silhouette in the photo should illustrate where the rods were placed, the burn marks are where the iron was placed, pushing the rods onto the stops.
     

     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:27 pm
     
    The latest progress now I have a rolling chassis is to make a move on the footplate. With the wider frames in S7 if the footplate was left as supplied then it'll will overhang too much under the boiler. So as shown below a bit of the footplate is cut back, the lefthand side has been cutback whilst the righthand side is still as supplied, the marked line shows how much needs cutting back.
     

     
    After pressing out the rivet detail the side valances and buffer beams were soldered on. This was all as per supplied in the kit, the only mod here was to move the rear chassis nut forward. This was something mentioned in a previous posting in this forum, if you put the rear chassis nut where indicated because of it's close proximity to the rear buffer beam then it leaves you a little short of space to fit in a sprung coupling hook.
     

     
    I then started the main bodywork by tacking the inner tank sheets and front spectacle plate to the footplate. The front spectacle plate had a few extra rivets added. There aren't any half etched on the spectacle plate so I just worked off the photo's I had. This requires another mod for S7, with the wider wheel track the centre wheel is getting close to touching the inner sheets.
     

     
    So before soldering the inner sheets they were cut back to give a bit more clearance for the centre drivers.
     

     
    Adrian
     
    ??? posted on Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:12 pm
     


    lnerjp wrote:
    Coming on well and looking good Adrian.
    Do you use a proper rivet tool?
    Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated.
     
    Yes I use a "proper" rivet tool, in fact I made my own! Many moons ago my Dad use to make tools for the scratchbuilder (Cherry Scale Models) one of which was a rivet tool. I spent many a Saturday making rivet tools and rolling bars to earn a bit of pocket money, so I made an extra one for myself. Although it's since been converted to "silent running". I have two young kids and the rhythmic tapping of the hammer was too noisy late at night so it got converted to lever press operation. My first attempt put the lever at the front in much the same way as many other rivet presses. This arrangement flagged up two problems, first pressing down on the lever tended to tip the rivet press forward, secondly the hand on top of the lever tended to obscure the the view to the punch and die.
     

     
    So "mark 2" silent running moved the fulcrum point forward with the lever arm to the rear. This works a lot lot better, the rivet press doesn't tip up when in use, I can use it free standing and the hand on the lever arm is to the rear of the tool and out of the way of the punch and die.
     

     
    If you're looking at getting a a rivet tool I suggest you try them first to find one that is comfortable for you.
     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:21 am
     
    A little more progress to report. The observant may have noticed that the loco I picked to model was one of the few batches built with the sand box filler on the top of the tank so there is no "keyhole" in the side of the tank. The etches in the kit have the "keyhole" etched in. I couldn't see any easy way of filling in the "keyholes" so I decided to make a new set of tank sides from a bit of 15thou nickel silver sheet. I cut a strip the same height of that in the kit, then rather than fold the nickel the front and sides were cut as separate items. Holes for the handrails will be drilled out later. So it's a little extra work but it makes it a little bit different to the standard kit.
     

     
    After a bit of rivet detail the tank sides were tacked onto the footplate in position. I usually leave them tacked in position for a week or two so that I can see if it looks right. I find it usually takes a couple of days to see if something doesn't quite look right. Once I'm happy with it then I'll solder all the joints up, probably need to get the rear tank on first to see if it looks right.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:44 pm
     
    Found a bit more time to make progress on the bodywork, this time making up the rear bunker. Looking at the prototype the folds in the rear bunker aren't sharp, so I have tried to put in a slight roll by folding it over some soft jaws in the vice and then stroked a bit with a hammer.
     

     
    With these main body work bits I like to tack them in place and spend a few days looking the model to see that it looks right. On this photo the verticals at the back makes the bunker look like it is tipped forward. It might need a bit of tweaking before fixing properly.
     

     
    I was going to crack on with the cab but I realised that the detailing around the cab doors is sparse. So I think I'll add a bit more detailing like doors first.
    __________________________________________
     
    Back to the Jinty. I've switched to the front as the cab will require some detailing before sorting out the roof. So to the smokebox, the basic unit went together without any problems.
     

     
    I soldered together the inner wrapper on the frame, the edges were then given a nice large radius before fitting the outer wrapper with the rivet detail. It was only after rolling the outer wrapper that I realised there were 4 half etched rivets to be pressed out for the steam ejector ( or whatever it is ) on the right hand side of the smokebox. Fortunately being a thin wrapper it wasn't too difficult to get it in the rivet press. So the finished article, although still needs a bit of tidying up.
     

     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:48 am
     
    I've managed to make a little more progress on the boiler and firebox.
     
    The firebox has a front and rear former, the front one has an extra etch for additional thickness to allow filing of the radius when complete. The firebox wrapper was formed around a piece of 3/16" steel bar held in the vice. The boiler was pre-rolled and only needed a little tweaking to get a couple of supplied formers fitted inside.
     
    If you look at previous photos of the side tanks, the inside walls have little etched tabs which are bent at 90 degrees inward. These provide a little step to drop the firebox and boiler onto, so that's what I did to get an idea of what the loco would look like.
     

     
    For some reason it didn't look right. After a few minutes looking I decided that it was slightly too low, the rivited beading around the firebox should almost touch the cab windows, and the boiler and smokebox step was too large.
     

     
    Finally with the dome on, the top line from cab roof to dome top wasn't horizontal, it was pointing down. To test out this I cut a small bit of 1mm plasticard to rest on the tank tabs and jack up the boiler and firebox by 1mm. This looked a lot better to me, although I haven't fixed anything down yet. With the boiler raised by 1mm the dome is then closer to being the same level as the cab roof. I'll stare at it for a couple of days before tacking everything in place.
     

     

     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:44 am
     
    Whilst I'm sorting out the boiler height, I made a start on adding some detailing to the firebox.
     
    The kit is supplied with a couple of white-metal castings for the mud-hole door bolts. The loco's seem to have had a cover plate, often circular although I have seen some square ones, over the mud-hole door. It seems that they often went missing are just weren't always replaced after a boiler clean. So it's one where we need to check back with the photo's of the loco we're modelling. The items supplied with the kit seem to be for modelling the case where the cover plates are missing.
     
    I couldn't see anything in the etchings so I made up some cover plates. Basically I used 6thou half-hard nickel sheet, marked out 4 circles, 1/4" diameter. Before cutting out I pressed in a few rivets, I then cut out the discs using tin snips. A final fettle with a file to get a circular disc, which was then bent round a 3/16" steel bar, finished off by soldering to the fire-box.
     
    Hopefully the photo shows the progression of the plates, one down three to go!
     

     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:01 pm
     
    After a long interlude I've been shamed into action and spurred on by the Ministers rapid progress. So time for a little progress update on the Jinty.
     
    I finally sorted out the boiler height, deciding it was too low so it was was raised by 1mm and soldered in place. The looked a lot better but led to the next problem, the brackets between the boiler and the side tanks were mismatched. Also looking at the prototype photo's the step between the top of the tanks to the tank beading was less than the kit. So once again out came the nickel sheet an new tank tops were cut out and soldered on top of the existing tanks.
     
    So it was all starting to come together when I hit the next stumbling block. the cab sides and roof. The prototype photos show a distinct roll from the cab sides over to the roof section. In the kit there are a couple of etchings for the cab sides and a whitemetal casting for the roof. On the etching there is a slot at the top of the cab side to aid folding, I couldn't see an easy way to get a seamless join from cab side to roof and so it got parked to one side to cogitate over.
     

     
    There was nothing for it but to replace the cab sides. A piece of nickel was cut out the correct width but slightly over tall. I then folded the top part round a 1/4" steel bar, followed by the rivet detail. I find riveting close to the edge of a sheet causes a bit of distortion to the edge, so in these cases where possible I put the rivet detail in before cutting. So after the rivet detail was added the doorway was cut out in the cab sides finishing off with the beading. The rear cab spectacle plate was built as supplied in the kit.
     
    Once again everything is tacked in postion, getting this looking right is important so I like to spend a few days looking at it from various angles to make sure I'm happy with it. I'll make the roof from another sheet of nickel sheet, the cab sides have been cut back to where there is a rain gutter which will hide the join between the roof and the sides.
     

     

     
    So that's where I'm up to at moment. Once the cab is in place I can then crack on with the detailing as I think that is most of the superstructure sorted out.
     
    Regards
     
    Adrian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:42 am
     
    Just been over to the Guild show at Halifax today. I bumped in to a really good friend that I hadn't seen for a while. He was asking about progress on the Jinty which prompted two thoughts, thanks Rob! The first was that it was nicw to think that some people are actually following this thread, second was the realisation that I hadn't posted any updates recently. Progress has been made on all the etched detailing, I like leaving the whitemetal castings to the end.
     
    So for a few details on progress, more to follow once I've got the photo's sorted.
     
    First up is the coal rails around the rear bunker. This is one area where you definitely need good photo's of the specific loco you are modelling. The coal rails seemed to have endless variations, I feel some sympathy for the kit manufacturers at this point for even something as simple as coal rails I reckon I've seen more than a dozen different variations on the Jintys when I start looking at the photos in detail. They can't possibly include every variation in the kit, so just to emphasise the changes detailed below are due to the prototype I've chosen to model rather than a reflection on the kit.
     
    Any way with that caveat the following is the coal rail as supplied in the kit. The red makings indicating the bits I've removed from the supplied etching.
     

     
    The top plate has chamfered corners rather than rounded corners and at the rear there was no vertical support post in the middle so this was removed. Once again refer to the prototype photo's - they were all different! The result, note I've also filled the half etched slot for the rear step in the middle of the rear tank with solder, again the rear step has several variations so check the prototype. As luck would have it my chosen loco has it over at the side above the pipework.
     

     
    Moving forward I've added the beading to the top of the tanks and a bit more of the supplied detailing. This all went well and is just using stuff supplied in the kit. The only extra bit added here is the small bit of riveted angle at base of the cab side plates. This was just a bit of machined angle from Eileen's Emporium, embossing the rivets tends to distort it a bit so it was straightened with pliers. The machined angle often seems a bit on the thick side so it was then dressed with a file to thin down the thickness.
     

     
    Moving forward I've added a bit more detailing in the shape of handrails and steps.
     

     
     
    __________________________________________
     
     
    ??? posted on Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:28 pm
     
    Been making a little progress on the tank detailing. Thanks to Mike for the photo - I thought I'd crack on with the fire iron bracket plus others. These delicate bits always seem a bit vulnerable to me, the obvious way of making it was just a vertical piece of wire with another curved piece butt jointed to the side but this seemed a recipe for trouble, it would probably fall apart when soldering it to the loco or be the first bit to get damaged when handling the loco. So first option considered was silver-soldering the joint but all that gear is packed up in the shed at the moment. So option two was to file a flat on two pieces of nickel silver wire so they were half round in profile, one was then bent through 90 degrees.
     

     
    The two were then clamped together in a pin chuck for soldering.
     

     
    Final cutting and shaping - hopefully fairly robust.
     

     
    Then fitted to the tank, additional detailing includes the lifting plates, scratchbuilt from a few strips of nickel silver sheet, lubricators and pipework. The pipework was a pain, there was much cursing and swearing trying to fit the pipes into the lubricators.
     

     
    Finally got the steps fitted as well so hopefully it's looking more like a loco.
     

     
    __________________________________________
  11. Adrian

    Jinty - tank details

    By Adrian,

    I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by the feedback and encouragement given by various people in this community. It does give that added impetus to get cracking with the modeling, so thanks to all.
     
    At this early stage of the blog I'll have to admit I'm still learning on style and presentation, hopefully it'll improve as time progresses. One aspect I have decided on for my blog is that where people have taken the time to comment on my postings I'd like to respond either by editing the original blog or following up with another posting - hence this missive. I realize this is subtly different to some other of the blogs but what I'd like to do with my postings is provide a guide to Scale7 and scratch building and so if my explanations are lacking or something needs expanding then I'd prefer to post another entry rather than respond directly to the comments posted. Basically what I'm trying to say is that all comments are welcomed and taken on board however please don't feel aggrieved if I don't respond directly but I'll post a response in one form or another.
     
    So back to the reason for this entry. As posted in the previous thread and thoughtfully reminded by Buckjumper there is a query about the circular riveted plate on top of the tanks. This is something supplied in the kit and following the instructions I've fitted it.
     

     
    However virtually all the prototype photos don't show any such plate on the top of the tank.There was some discussion about some Jinties fitted with condensing apparatus that was subsequently removed, however according to MRJ 159 these were earlier Midland loco's so I don't think it has any link to these plates. The only thing I can think of is that the first 50 loco's in the class were fitted with the sand box fillers on top of the tanks before they changed to the keyhole access in the side of the tank. If the decision to change to the keyhole access was made after some of the tanks had been built then perhaps in the transition period they had to plate over the redundant hole in the tanks. The only potential photo I have is of 47437 on page 168 of MRJ160 - it's a not that clear but there just maybe some platework on top of the tank above the keyhole. Also as detailed in MRJ139 this loco is one of the second batch that Hunslet built, the previous batch built by Hunslet had the sandbox filler in the top of the tank. So if my theory is correct I'd be interested to know if anyone has tank top photos for 47427 to 47451 to test my hypothesis.
     
    However for my chosen prototype the sandbox fillers are on top of the tank so the next job for me is to remove them. Anyway my youngest lad (5yrs old) has just woken up and needs a cuddle so I'm signing off for the night. Got to get my priorities right - the modelling will have to wait!
     
    Blog update 6/11/09
     
    Many thanks for all the feedback on this detailing. To be diplomatic I think it's safe to say that Jim's research was not as exhaustive as it could have been. Certainly from some of the comments it explains a few other inconsistencies in the kit, fortunately there are some nice photo's in MRJ160, one of 47272 with the sandbox filler on top of the tank. So whatever the origin of the plate on some models and/or drawings it's going to be removed.
    Considering some of the suggested sources for the detailing might also explain the tank filler discrepancies. As shown in the photo below the casting supplied in the kit is a fair bit thinner and longer than that shown in the GA. Again now I've noticed it I'll probably try and fabricate a more suitable replacement.

     
    Finally as a complete aside - I've just volunteered as a Scout Leader for the local Beaver pack (it's the youngsters at 5-3/4yrs to 8yrs old). Tonight's meeting, given the date, we had a Science teacher in to give various demonstrations of an incendiary nature. Needless to say when he poured acetone over the floor and set fire to the floor in the school hall the kids were impressed - we just hope the head teacher doesn't find out, although I can imagine it'll be the hot topic (pun intended!) in the playground tomorrow!

    How cool is that!
  12. Adrian

    Project Plan.

    By Adrian,

    Well this it, in with both feet for the 2010 challenge!
     
    As indicated by the title, the intention is to have reasonable stab at modelling Tewkesbury MPD in Scale7.
     
    The background
     
    It all started with picking up the Wild Swan book LMS Engine Sheds - Midland Division. There buried towards the rear were a couple of photo's of a small single road engine shed with five loco's stabled around it and one where an 8F was parked by the old station due to overcrowding. On top of this a line through the MPD ran through the streets down to the quay side. All together I thought it would be an compact little layout (for 7mm anyway) to displaying loco's but with the operational interest of running a variety of freight through the MPD to the quay.
     
    The aspirations.
     
    So to summarise some of the aims I'd like to achieve with this.

    A recognizable model of the Tewkesbury MPD.
    Gauge will be Scale 7.
    Era : circa 1955 ( trying to get 5's in where possible!)
    The plan is to scale - I'm hoping to build it with no compression.
    Control DCC.
    Implement / Demonstrate MERG CBUS system.
    5 points - three standard turnouts and one three way.
    Size - 100"x20" to stay within the 2010 challenge.

     
    The plan.
     
    OK so it's not that original, in fact I'm sure I saw a model of the shed building on the previous RMWeb. However I like building loco's and the prototype provides a nice little diorama for them. There are suitable buildings to provide an authentic scenic break. The idea is that this is just one part of a grander scheme and we've never heard that one before have we? The MPD is stage one and is fortuitously within the challenge. If by any minor miracle I get it finished then I'd extend it down to include the quay side details. A few more details of the plan and a little more historical data in later postings.
  13. Adrian

    The trackplan

    By Adrian,

    Hopefully I'll get the copyright issues sorted out soon then I can publish a couple of photo's to show what I'm trying to capture.
     
    In the meantime I have the OS maps and the beginnings of a templot plan.
     
    On this map the goods yard, mainline and station are off to the right. The shed is to the left of the malthouse on Station street. It was called station street as the old Birmingham and Gloucester Railway used to have a branch terminus here, it's the covered bit by Sun street.
    The line then runs down left along quay street down to the quay. My understanding is that quay street was the limit for loco's, the wagons were then shunted around the quay by horse power. However I think I'll be using a little modellers license and allow loco's down to the quay if it ever gets that far.
    Crown copyright.

     
    The quay area is shown here, which is the location of the quay photos posted a few days ago.
     
    Crown copyright

     
    As mentioned there is no way this will fit in 2010" so for the moment I'm just concentrating on the shed area. I've made a start on a templot plan

    For the challenge it's just the middleboard and righthand board which works out at 100" by 20", annotated with a quick sketch to show the main features. The fiddleyard will be off to the right hand side hidden behind the Malthouse. The plan shows a board for the old B&G station on the righthand side, this will be a future extension down to the quay.
  14. Adrian
    As can be observed from the deafening silence, things haven't progressed as quickly as I'd hoped. I've done the usual trick of offering to help on numerous things, not thinking that all of them would be taken up. How wrong I was! Fortunately some of them are modelling related so I'll report back on those once I've sorted them out. Still I've been making some limited progress on the layout, so a quick update to show I'm still in the land of the living. I'm about half way through building the baseboards which I'll cover in another posting. I wanted to try a test piece for ballasting the track, this is the method and the result.
     
    So as a brief recap I'm using Exactoscale steel rail and chairs together with full depth timber sleepers from Perfect Miniatures, with modelling the shed scene the sleepers will be exposed in a number of places hence the full depth items.
     
    So a simple Templot print of a short straight is sellotaped down to a thick worktop offcut leftover from the kitchen fitters. I then put a couple of strips of double sided tape along the length and stuck the sleepers down. The sleepers were stained with Rustins wood dye - dark oak.
     
    Even with a couple of coats it still looked a little light so I tried the ebony wood dye which seems better. The sides of the steel rail was treated to a coating of Casey's Gun Blue before loading with the chairs and then glued to the sleepers with Butanone.

     
    Once dry the track panel was lifted and the template peeled away. It was then stuck down using copydex on to sheet of cork laid on a short MDF offcut. I then used some Railmatch weathered black to paint the chairs, not bothering too much about full coverage as there'd be more weathering to do. I was in Hobbycraft and spotted the Games Workshop paints which others had recommended so I thought I'd give them a try. Browsing through snot green and rotting flesh I found a vermin brown, this was dry brushed over the chairs. More copydex was painted between the sleepers and Woodland coarse cinders were brushed into place, this didn't give that good a coverage so I followed it up with a good dose of the fine cinders which seemed to work quite well. This being the result.

     
     
    Finally the ongoing research unearthed another gem from Transport Treasury. I've finally unearthed a photo showing the line from the mill by the river up quay street up to the site of the old B&G station. in the foreground left is the road bridge to the mill which can still be seen at Tewkesbury. In the distance can be seen the two GWR box vans at the site of the old station. The two cars parked on Quay street seem to be the same two parked down on the quay side in the other photo's I've found.

  15. Adrian
    The wheels have arrived for my next project which has spurred me on to get this Jinty finished before I plough into the next job.
     
    So having finished most of the etched detailing I've given it a clean before starting on adding all the whitemetal castings. So this is the current progress, the chimney casting was carefully drilled out before fitting so there is a decent sized hole down into the smokebox, sanding pipes have been fitted to one side and a few of the other castings have been added.
     
    So there are the final few details to add - handrail to the smokebox door, vac pipes, safety valves and whistle etc.
     

     
     

     
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