MSC Kitson 0-6-0T build from 88D models kit

[Ruston]

It makes a change to see someone else getting on with a project and seeing so much progress in a relatively short time, and all so well done, too.

[Mol_PMB]

3 minutes ago, Ruston said:

It makes a change to see someone else getting on with a project and seeing so much progress in a relatively short time, and all so well done, too.

Many thanks! I must confess that I'm not usually great at finishing things but this project has really got me enthused and is coming on well.

[Mol_PMB]

A small but important step forward today, as the new Chimney has arrived. To see how it would look I have reassembled the body parts.

Paul @ngtrains.com of EDM Models drew this up from my sketches and printed it - a great improvement in shape and proportion compared to the Swindonised version supplied in the kit:

It looks too tall but so did my prototype's chimney. One dimension I do know for sure is the height to the chimney top, and this is right.

The dome supplied in the kit is a fraction low and I'm wondering whether to try and raise it or not to bother. There is a lubrication cup to fit to the top which will make it look a bit taller, that may be enough to resolve it.

I may try and thin down the flange at the bottom of the chimney, and add a shim to the flange at the bottom of the dome, to bring the proportions slightly better. I don't think I will go so far as to cut the dome in half and make it taller.

A few other views while it's all together:

 

The next area of focus is the cab interior, the manifold and the plumbing, together with the cabside overlays. But before that, I'm off to Wales for a long weekend working in 12mm:ft scale.

 

[Sandhole]

22 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

A small but important step forward today, as the new Chimney has arrived. To see how it would look I have reassembled the body parts.

Paul @ngtrains.com of EDM Models drew this up from my sketches and printed it - a great improvement in shape and proportion compared to the Swindonised version supplied in the kit:

It looks too tall but so did my prototype's chimney. One dimension I do know for sure is the height to the chimney top, and this is right.

The dome supplied in the kit is a fraction low and I'm wondering whether to try and raise it or not to bother. There is a lubrication cup to fit to the top which will make it look a bit taller, that may be enough to resolve it.

I may try and thin down the flange at the bottom of the chimney, and add a shim to the flange at the bottom of the dome, to bring the proportions slightly better. I don't think I will go so far as to cut the dome in half and make it taller.

A few other views while it's all together:

 

The next area of focus is the cab interior, the manifold and the plumbing, together with the cabside overlays. But before that, I'm off to Wales for a long weekend working in 12mm:ft scale.

 

That's a work of art.
Regards,
Chris.

[Corbs]

Stunning!

[Mol_PMB]

I can't believe it's more than a month since I last did some work on this loco! Life has been busy, and I got distracted by some wagons.

Anyway, during that month there was another step forward in that the motor and gearbox arrived from ABC Gears.

Last weekend I was at Boston Lodge but had some discussions with @chrisveitch about these locos, and that's inspired me again. Today I've taken advantage of a rainy day off to make some progress on one of the fiddliest bits - the manifold and plumbing.

The kit made no provision for this at all, but it's quite a distinctive feature especially when looking from above. I've based it on photos which are not always very clear in this area, so it's not going to be perfect, but at least it's a reasonable representation.

 

The manifold is made from oddments of brass tube and wire, a couple of nuts, and a flange from one of my custom etches. Here it is mounted to the front of the cab.

And looking from the other side. I've also fitted the injectors to the backhead (all from Peter Mullen at 62C models) and plumbed them up, and added various handwheels from another of my custom etches.

The Ross pop safety valves are visible here too, also from 62C models. I added the lever from wire, a flange at the bottom from my custom etch, and threaded the spigot so they could be screwed into position:

Here's what it looks like when assembled:

And from the front:

Not perfect, but a reasonably plausible representation of this:

 

That's all for now. Hopefully some more progress this weekend, because now this bit is done I can finish assembling the cab.

 

[Mol_PMB]

As promised, some progress on the cab.

 

I have soldered together the front, back, and floor, and then added the side overlays.

I've fitted the cabside sliding shutters - these are fixed in place on the model with one fully open and the other nearly fully open, copying photos.

Inside the cab I have added reverser, regulator and pressure gauge. The former two are from my custom etch, the latter a casting from 62C Models.

I don't think much of this will be visible in normal use but it makes me feel better! The kit made no provision for a cab interior.

The roof is from my custom etch, as is the sunroof. It's fitted to the formers supplied in the kit, and the whistle is again a casting from 62C Models.

 

 

 

Remaining jobs on the cab include the handrails and the spectacles. I think the latter will be fitted after painting, though I will make them now.

 

Tomorrow's job is to finish off the boiler, and then to look again at the chassis now that I have the motor and gearbox. Hopefully it will all fit together!

 

[Mol_PMB]

On 04/03/2022 at 19:37, Mol_PMB said:

Tomorrow's job is to finish off the boiler, and then to look again at the chassis now that I have the motor and gearbox. Hopefully it will all fit together!

 

Well, some good and bad news. I have fitted the boiler bands (from my custom etch) which completes the boiler.

I then countersunk a few holes and shortened a few bolts before doing a trial assembly of the body parts. That all went well.

The problems began when I tried to fit the motor and gearbox. It's too tall! I expect it would have fitted in the kit built as intended, but the combination of a thicker boiler barrel, different safety valves, and washout plugs has reduced the space inside the top of the firebox area.

Although I ordered the motor and gearbox before Christmas, they only arrived a couple of weeks ago.

There is a possibility to mount the motor at an angle but it's not ideal and would require a lot of hacking of parts already completed and detailed. I think the best answer will be a smaller motor, but that could require modifications to the gearbox which will be a pain.

Anyway, to lift my spirits I have put it all together without the motor and brought it down to the layout for a photo. I've balanced a few of the 3D printed parts on it to give a more complete impression:

I think this photo is telling me that I really need a taller dome! It's about 2mm too short. @chrisveitch might be able to help...

 

Close inspection of the prototype photos suggests that they had lids or covers over the coal bunkers in front of the cab. There seems to be a flat plate with a handle on it, and sometimes an oilcan resting on top.

At first thought that seems unusual, but thinking of the coal dust problems I've experienced in the cab of the Lyd with a similar bunker arrangement, perhaps a lid is a good idea.

It's a couple more parts I need to make and fit, anyway. A shame to hide the inside shape of the front bunkers though!

I'm also wondering whether to try and sand off alternate rivets along the top of the bunker; the kit has the same spacing all along but they were more widely spaced at the bunkers. There's a risk of making a mess of it though!

 

 

[Kevin Johnson]

Mol the valve fittings and pipework on this build is amazing.

[Mol_PMB]

Last job for this weekend was the cab spectacles.

These weren't provided in the kit so I added some to my custom etch. In fact I did a set in nickel silver on the Kitson etch, and another set in brass on a spare bit of a wagon etch.

Having looked at the photos of my prototype in its last years there was no trace of shine on the spectacles so I chose to use the thicker and stiffer nickel silver ones.

Here is the etch; I'm half-way through fitting the bars that protect the rear ones from carelessly loaded coal:

The bars are from 0.35mm copper-plated steel wire (actually the finest Sommerfeldt catenary wire) soldered in place on the back.

The design of these is slightly unusual as the spectacles could pivot right round and end up with the bars on the inside (where they were useless at protecting the glass!)

Here's a photo with them the right way round:

And here's one where the nearest one is the wrong way round, but the one on the other side of the cab is correct. Mine will be mounted the correct way:

Only the Kitsons with the rear bunkers had these bars. Interestingly they weren't felt necessary on the front spectacles of any of the class, despite the fact they had bunkers right in front of the cabs too!

The front spectacles are therefore much simpler, but I've made these so they can be posed in a partly open position if I choose to do so. Here are the four completed spectacles in cruel closeup:

I'm not yet sure quite how I'm going to glaze these, probably carefully-cut discs of clear plastic.

[jdb82]

I've joined the party a little late, but just spent a very pleasant 30 minutes or so reading through your thread. There's some top quality modelling going on here! I find it really interesting to see modellers adapting kits to suit specific prototypes - love how you've made the modifications

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thank you! That’s very kind of you to say so. Hopefully it will be finished before too long - I am quite looking forward to the challenge of the weathering! 

Thanks to BR2975 for this image - the only colour photo I have of MSC 80.