34055 Fighter Pilot from an Airfix kit.

[brightspark]

Hi everyone.

Here is the next adventure into loco building.

Once again be prepared for drama, action, romance and finally finishing with a car chase and locking the baddies away.

 

OK, it’s none of that, it’s just me drivelling on.

 

For those interested in such things, here is a link to the last loco build that I did.

 

 

So, what is this one?

This is going to be 34055 “Fighter Pilot” and it is going to be made from an Airfix kit.

 

 copyright Friends of the battle of Britain Monument

 

 

Why this loco?

This is going to be a new loco to run on Swaynton, a layout set in the New Forest in May/June 1960. Trains run between Southampton and Bournemouth. Most of the trains carry the head code for London to Bournemouth but a few travelled to and from Brighton. It is the Brighton trains that need improvement as we don’t have any locos running on the layout from that shed.

 

The Brighton H2 atlantics, that had been beautifully modelled by Bachmann, had all been scrapped in 1959 so in 1960 other motive power would be used on this route. Bulleid pacific loco’s and standard class 4 tanks seemed to be the norm. Although on the layout time might slip occasionally and an H2 may be seen running.

 

The layouts founder, Doug Smith, wanted an excuse to run an original Bulleid pacific (unrebuilt) with a high sided tender. These were getting rarer by 1960, but 34055 didn’t have the raves removed until the following year and so hits the target.

Finally, a couple of years ago, my good friend Gerry Bixley handed me an Airfix ‘Biggin Hill’ kit muttering that I could do something with it.

Mr Bixley (formerly Sgt) is a guru of things that came out of Brighton works. (He also does buses) He has produced several drawing and text on the subject and is often referred to when someone wants to produce something with LBSR origins. (But not Hornby…who quite often get it wrong because they turn down his offer of advice.) So, it seems appropriate that this donor kit should made into a Brighton loco.

So there we have it, we need a Brighton based locomotive, Gerry Bixley donated a Battle of Britain kit and 34055 has the high tender raves.

 

The Plan.

“I love it when a plan comes together”

 

First a brief history.

The kit was originally produced by Rosebud-Kitmaster and came to market in 1959. I would like to give the toolmaker who made these moulds a lot of kudos because the parts fit so well together.

In 1968 the Kitmaster range had been acquired by Airfix and the model was on the shelves in an Airfix box with new artwork. This is the version that I have.

1973 saw the box reworked with the Airfix roundel logo on the front.

Eventually with the collapse of Airfix the moulds have ended up with Dapol. How long the moulds remain viable remains to be seen.

Although not intended by the manufacturer to be motorised, others did see the potential. Kemilway is perhaps the most well-known name to do this with their replacement chassis for this kit and there were others. I have in my possession a chassis by Crownline kindly donated to me by Graham Muz of this parish.

 

 

The other key player in helping modellers produce more accurate models of Bulleid pacifics is the late Albert Goodall. He measured and recorded many details of these machines and then produced a range of detailing parts so that modellers could build better models of Bulleid pacifics from Wrenn, Hornby Doublo or the Airfix kit.

The Albert Goodall range is still available from RT Models. 

I will be using this range in the build. (No connection just a satisfied customer)

 

The final part of the plan, is to document the build here. Should anyone else want have a go they can refer to my notes. I will also record the cost and time taken. These are two questions I get asked but I have never really taken into account before.

I guess the cost would be value for money say against a RTR model of the same type of loco. In this case I think that there won’t be much in it unless you charge for time. I which case the cost will quickly soar.

But bear in mind if I did use an RTR model I would still have to convert it to EM. The only target I have is can get it to a better standard than the Chinese plastic.

Plus, it is something that I made, not something that I purchased and that is worth more than gold.

The other measurement is time.

To me, modelling is my hobby and so the time I spend building is the pleasure. But I suppose I should try to manage my time, so I can get on with the next project when this one is finished.

Plus, I will aim to have the loco finished and running at this year’s Bristol show.

If not then, it will be for the test track at ExpoSpring in May.

If looking at time and costs, I have not included research time and research materials. There are too many books and magazines that I refer to and the time spent is unmeasurable.

Reference

This brings me to reference material.

I have a copy of Derry by my side, some drawings by Albert Goodall and of course you to put me right.

 

So, eyes down and let’s begin.

 

Andy

Edited July 19, 2023 by brightspark
typo

[John Besley]

Great start Andy, will follow with intrest as I want / will be building a high sided tender version of a Westcountry (possabily Exeter) for Exhill.

 

This will be different as its designed to be a 10.1/4" miniture loco - I will be using a Kemilway Chassis I brought back in about 1978 and never built.

 

Look forward to how your chassis varies from the Kemilway version

 

 

[pete_mcfarlane]

I'm slowly building two of these using a similar route, so I'l follow this with interest.

 

Thread is here, I need to restore the photos....

(Edit - this spurred me to finally bite the bullet and spend 0 minutes restoring photos....)

 

 

Have you discovered this - Albert Goodall's instructions on detail the Airfix kit? 

 

https://www.rtmodels.co.uk/albert goodall wc,bob paper overlays instructions.pdf.

 

I have a later typewritten version but it looks similar. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by pete_mcfarlane

[sagaguy]

Out of interest,this is a Dapol kit fitted on a modified Hornby Dublo chassis.

 

                          Ray.

[LSWRmodeller]

Without wishing to intrude on Brightsparks topic I thought it might be of interest to see my version of the Airfix/Dapol kit modelled in EM Gauge as “Crewkerne” in mid 1950’s condition. It is running on a Comet chassis powered by a Mashima motor coupled to a DJH 2-stage gearbox. All the wheels are Markits. Both the loco and tender have been enhanced by various bits from the Albert Goodall range. I found the most difficult bit of working with the kit was removing the raised moulded stripes down both the loco and the tender which are not easy to get rid of neatly. After that the only issue is to decide how much extra detail to add and when to call it a day.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by LSWRmodeller
Add photo

[John Besley]

What did you resort to to remove the moulded stripes?

[LSWRmodeller]

In order to remove the moulded stripes I used a chisel type attachment in a Swann Morton knife. As long as you work slowly and don't try and take too much off in one go its works OK. I then just sanded the body to make it look as neat as possible.

[brightspark]

Thanks for all the replies.

Pete McFarlane has done, more or less, exactly what I aim to achieve. So thanks for updating the photos and giving me some nice pointers.

I have the same chassis, but only the etch. 

Oh and thanks for the link to the instructions. I knew that I had seen them somewhere.

 

So far half an hour has been spent on this reading the chassis instructions and working out the plan of attack.

The chassis as designed, is a fold up box which is a great idea as it will make for a rigid structure. However it is only 12mm wide. Fine for OO but a little narrow for EM. One of the advantages of working to EM or P4 is that you can enjoy wider frame spacing so allowing more room inside and better stability.

 

Tony Wright was showing me his only compensated loco. It's a B-o-B and I think it is a Crownline model made to the instructions for a review.

As this loco hammers around Little Bytham, it lurches from side to side to such an extent that I have no idea how it stays on the rails. Tony uses this as an example as to why compensation is a waste of time.

 

I have a worry that the design of the chassis may generate this wobble.

 

Now I think that having a wider frame might help and, as Pete identified in his thread that he linked above, that the thin wire support for the compensating beams axle is too thin and needs thickening up. I am certainly thinking of something more robust and possibly 1mm. I will see what I have in stock when I get to that point.

 

Now I am a little miffed as I did have some nickel silver sheet and I can't find it.

This I will use to make the new frame spacers of 14mm.

[34016]

1 hour ago, brightspark said:

Thanks for all the replies.

Pete McFarlane has done, more or less, exactly what I aim to achieve. So thanks for updating the photos and giving me some nice pointers.

I have the same chassis, but only the etch. 

Oh and thanks for the link to the instructions. I knew that I had seen them somewhere.

 

So far half an hour has been spent on this reading the chassis instructions and working out the plan of attack.

The chassis as designed, is a fold up box which is a great idea as it will make for a rigid structure. However it is only 12mm wide. Fine for OO but a little narrow for EM. One of the advantages of working to EM or P4 is that you can enjoy wider frame spacing so allowing more room inside and better stability.

 

Tony Wright was showing me his only compensated loco. It's a B-o-B and I think it is a Crownline model made to the instructions for a review.

As this loco hammers around Little Bytham, it lurches from side to side to such an extent that I have no idea how it stays on the rails. Tony uses this as an example as to why compensation is a waste of time.

 

I have a worry that the design of the chassis may generate this wobble.

 

Now I think that having a wider frame might help and, as Pete identified in his thread that he linked above, that the thin wire support for the compensating beams axle is too thin and needs thickening up. I am certainly thinking of something more robust and possibly 1mm. I will see what I have in stock when I get to that point.

 

Now I am a little miffed as I did have some nickel silver sheet and I can't find it.

This I will use to make the new frame spacers of 14mm.

Fyi Bulleid pacific frames are 3' 3" apart because of the oil bath. The rebuilds weren't altered.

[Dava]

I built one as 34055 “Fighter Pilot” on a Triang ‘Winston Churchill’ chassis back in 1977 or so. Painting the original body crimson had not been a great move!

 

Dava

[Barclay]

11 hours ago, brightspark said:

Thanks for all the replies.

Pete McFarlane has done, more or less, exactly what I aim to achieve. So thanks for updating the photos and giving me some nice pointers.

I have the same chassis, but only the etch. 

Oh and thanks for the link to the instructions. I knew that I had seen them somewhere.

 

So far half an hour has been spent on this reading the chassis instructions and working out the plan of attack.

The chassis as designed, is a fold up box which is a great idea as it will make for a rigid structure. However it is only 12mm wide. Fine for OO but a little narrow for EM. One of the advantages of working to EM or P4 is that you can enjoy wider frame spacing so allowing more room inside and better stability.

 

Tony Wright was showing me his only compensated loco. It's a B-o-B and I think it is a Crownline model made to the instructions for a review.

As this loco hammers around Little Bytham, it lurches from side to side to such an extent that I have no idea how it stays on the rails. Tony uses this as an example as to why compensation is a waste of time.

 

I have a worry that the design of the chassis may generate this wobble.

 

Now I think that having a wider frame might help and, as Pete identified in his thread that he linked above, that the thin wire support for the compensating beams axle is too thin and needs thickening up. I am certainly thinking of something more robust and possibly 1mm. I will see what I have in stock when I get to that point.

 

Now I am a little miffed as I did have some nickel silver sheet and I can't find it.

This I will use to make the new frame spacers of 14mm.

Hi I think my compensating beams usually use something like 2mm brass rod, the extra thickness does no harm at all. As to Tony, well, I am a great fan of him and his work, and have had the privilege of visiting LB and enjoying his hospitality, but I suppose he looks at compensation from the point of view of someone who mostly drives large tender engines at speed. In 00 and EM, compensation really comes into its own for great pick up at low speed with smaller engines, though I wouldn't discourage you from compensating this one - I find it easier than building one rigid. 

[RedgateModels]

10 hours ago, Dava said:

I built one as 34055 “Fighter Pilot” on a Triang ‘Winston Churchill’ chassis back in 1977 or so. Painting the original body crimson had not been a great move!

 

Dava

 

Way, way back in 2008 I did a similar thing for someone

 

 

[brightspark]

22 hours ago, 34016 said:

Fyi Bulleid pacific frames are 3' 3" apart because of the oil bath. The rebuilds weren't altered.

Interesting. I assumed that 12mm was chosen because of 16.5 track gauge and the desire to negotiate a reasonable radius.

Page 45 of Derry shows a plan view of the oil bath and the frames do look narrow. But no dimension.

Also this picture from the SLL website shows what looks like very narrow frames.

I'll go with 3'3" but is there something with a dimension on  to confirm please?

 

That will save plenty of time on the build.

 

I have started to make up some spacers, but the job is now stopped.

 

22 hours ago, Dava said:

I built one as 34055 “Fighter Pilot” on a Triang ‘Winston Churchill’ chassis back in 1977 or so. Painting the original body crimson had not been a great move!

 

Dava

Crimson! Your were a little ahead of your time. Still at least you didn't paint it a silly colour like say purple. 😀

 

12 hours ago, Barclay said:

Hi I think my compensating beams usually use something like 2mm brass rod, the extra thickness does no harm at all. As to Tony, well, I am a great fan of him and his work, and have had the privilege of visiting LB and enjoying his hospitality, but I suppose he looks at compensation from the point of view of someone who mostly drives large tender engines at speed. In 00 and EM, compensation really comes into its own for great pick up at low speed with smaller engines, though I wouldn't discourage you from compensating this one - I find it easier than building one rigid. 

The compensating beams on the kit are etched beams. It is the central pivot that  I think needs beefing up.

I am now in the habit of compensating my locos. That is except for my last  build, that was not documented here. It is P4 and is a small 0-6-0 and has a solid chassis. The loco designer said that  to not compensate using his design was a mistake. He was right. It runs awfully if it runs at all. That loco has been returned to the shops where it will be  having some major remedial work. 

[pete_mcfarlane]

There must be something not-quite right with Tony Wright's one, if it lurches around like that. A compensated chassis like this with a fixed axle will lurch slightly through points, but should otherwise be stable. 

 

One thing to watch out for (I think I mentioned it somewhere on my thread) is that the position of the coupling rod joint varies between different batches of these locos. I had to modify my Crownline chassis for my model of 35032 (after I'd built the chassis, as obviously I'd not noticed it earlier)

 

As for removing the banding, consider scraping the blade of the scalpel over it (blade at 90 degrees to the surface) to slowly pare it down rather than trying to cut it off. And if you use the Albert Goodall paper side overlays, you can hide the odd rough bit. In fact the odd rough bit is probably prototypical, given how wonky the casing were on these locos. 

[34016]

19 hours ago, brightspark said:

Interesting. I assumed that 12mm was chosen because of 16.5 track gauge and the desire to negotiate a reasonable radius.

Page 45 of Derry shows a plan view of the oil bath and the frames do look narrow. But no dimension.

Also this picture from the SLL website shows what looks like very narrow frames.

I'll go with 3'3" but is there something with a dimension on  to confirm please?

 

That will save plenty of time on the build.

 

I have started to make up some spacers, but the job is now stopped.

 

Crimson! Your were a little ahead of your time. Still at least you didn't paint it a silly colour like say purple. 😀

 

The compensating beams on the kit are etched beams. It is the central pivot that  I think needs beefing up.

I am now in the habit of compensating my locos. That is except for my last  build, that was not documented here. It is P4 and is a small 0-6-0 and has a solid chassis. The loco designer said that  to not compensate using his design was a mistake. He was right. It runs awfully if it runs at all. That loco has been returned to the shops where it will be  having some major remedial work. 

I'll see if I can find a drawing for the frames.

[Graham_Muz]

The distance between the frames was 3' 3.7/8" 

It was 3'5" between the centres of the frames, bearings, guides and springs. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Graham_Muz

[brightspark]

Thanks Graham,

3'5" is a tad under 14mm so I will still have to make up some spacers.

 

 

21 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

There must be something not-quite right with Tony Wright's one, if it lurches around like that. A compensated chassis like this with a fixed axle will lurch slightly through points, but should otherwise be stable. 

 

 

Yes I agree. But Tony did say that he followed the instructions as it was a review. So he deliberetly did not make any modifications as that would affect the outcome. So the blame lies squarely with the designer of the kit. 

However, I believe that Tony gets a lot of satisfaction proving that his solid framed locos run so much better than compensated. On your next visit ask him to demonstrate it and look at the old rascals joy as he demonstrates it.

p.s. I do enjoy enjoy visiting LB and Tony's company. I hope I get invited back soon and will have to bring something in 00 to run. 

 

21 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

One thing to watch out for (I think I mentioned it somewhere on my thread) is that the position of the coupling rod joint varies between different batches of these locos. I had to modify my Crownline chassis for my model of 35032 (after I'd built the chassis, as obviously I'd not noticed it earlier)

 

Thanks, I will have a look out for that. Another thing to be aware of is that the Gibson wheels have the crankpin hole set to far out. So the piston throw is too long. 

 

21 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

As for removing the banding, consider scraping the blade of the scalpel over it (blade at 90 degrees to the surface) to slowly pare it down rather than trying to cut it off. And if you use the Albert Goodall paper side overlays, you can hide the odd rough bit. In fact the odd rough bit is probably prototypical, given how wonky the casing were on these locos. 

Thanks for the tip. I didn't get the paper overlays and I am wondering if that was wise. I really didn't appreciate what they offered and looking at your thread and reading the instructions they look like they add value.

I will think about that.

 

Meanwhile I have printed off Alberts instructions from the link above. 

Gosh tiny writing but a lot of detail. I didn't realise how many errors there are with the body.

But I do have a fine collection of AG parts to hopefully make good.

 

Right back to cutting some nickel silver.

[John Besley]

Does anyone know who supplies a laser cut chassis jig... seen it mentioned somewhere as this helps get the chassis square, could do with one myself

[Graham_Muz]

2 minutes ago, John Besley said:

Does anyone know who supplies a laser cut chassis jig... seen it mentioned somewhere as this helps get the chassis square, could do with one myself

see http://www.poppyswoodtech.co.uk/tools.html

[pete_mcfarlane]

17 hours ago, brightspark said:

Yes I agree. But Tony did say that he followed the instructions as it was a review. So he deliberetly did not make any modifications as that would affect the outcome. So the blame lies squarely with the designer of the kit. 

That's true. My first thought on looking at the thing was to fit a stronger compensation beam pivot, so I've not built it as intended by the designer. And probably fixed the running problem without even knowing about it. 

[brightspark]

It's the end of week one and so far I have spent 5 hours on this.

Half an hour was spent marking out and planning the spacers. The rest is spent on marking up and cutting the new spacers, except for the half hour or so broaching out the holes for the ⅛" bearings.

 

Lets look at progress.

 

first the fret as it came out the bag.

 

Frustratingly I still can't find the sheet of nickel silver that had reserved for projects just like this. No doubt it will turn up when I am finished.

So I cut out material that is spare on the etch.

 

I now have spacers for the frames and have freed the frames from the etch.

Note that the spacers that replace the fold up part of the one-piece chassis have a different pattern. Where I can I made a 90° angle. This will put back in the strength lost with the modification.

Care was taken to make sure that each spacer was cut out and folded square and is still to the correct dimension. In this case a 13.9mm.

The frame side are split off from the original base. Before doing this I made sure that I marked key positions. In this case the hole that the pony truck will be mounted onto.

 

Finally the compensating beams have been removed from the etch and all the holes have been opened up for the ⅛" bearings that I purchased from Gibson.

 

Next is to solder in the bushes and assemble the frames. 

But before I assemble I will have to consider the arrangement of pickups and what additional holes will be required.

 

Andy

[brightspark]

On 16/02/2023 at 21:48, John Besley said:

Does anyone know who supplies a laser cut chassis jig... seen it mentioned somewhere as this helps get the chassis square, could do with one myself

 

I use an old bit of MDF with another bit screwed onto it. 90° are drawn onto it as a rough guide and I use an engineers square to check all is true. Everything is held in place with blue-tac ubtil soldered.

 

 

A jig might be easier to use. But I am too tight to buy one to find out...and I am used to the set up I have here.

 

As you can see, chassis is started to be assembled.

Measure....check, solder... check then check again then the next bit. 

If you get this bit right, then she will run like a dream.

 

Andy

 

 

[brightspark]

Week 2 and 11 hours totted up.

About 4 of the hours was spent on building the chassis.

Normally I set up the chassis on the axle positions set by the connecting rods. 

But this chassis scuppered that plan because of the unusual arrangement where the bearings are on the compensating beam and you can't mount those until the chassis is  assembled.

If the chassis was made up as intended it would be a very easy and quick construction. However dropping in the spacers and checking everything is square and true, then correcting, all took some time.

 

But here is the result  - I have a chassis.

 

 

As discussed earlier, the compensating beam support needs beefing up.

The design is to use 0,5mm wire to act as a bearing while also being the support for the brake gear, that will be added later.

I used a tube with a 0,5mm bore and an OD of 1mm.  The wire for the brakes will go through this.

 

Over this fits a tube 1,5mm OD and ID of 1,00mm. You can buy these as a set from model shops. Although I do get through a lot of the smaller size and got this from Eileen's (now defunct).

 

The larger tube was cut in half and fixed to the compensating beams so as to give a decent bearing.  So the two beams can move independently of each other.

Hopefully you can see the arrangement below.

 

Today, I started on the cylinders and the slide bars.

The cylinders were a bit of a challenge, especially forming the outside wall around the curve.

The cylinder covers are supposed to solder on, but I think that bonding will be  less of a hassle.

Anther problem I had with both the cylinders and the slide bars was they were intended to slot into the chassis in it's narrow form. But as I had widened the frames, this meant that I had to do some fettling to get them to fit. Some time again is spent on measuring to check that everything is central.

 

The slide bars are just bent into position. There are several layers of lamination to build up onto this yet.

 

 

 

 

[brightspark]

Hi All,

progress report on week 3. 

So far 18 hours clocked on this build.

 

This week, I have...

Made up the transmission unit. This is a Branchlines 30:1 gearbox with a Mashima 14x26 5 pole motor.

The pink wire is from my hoard. I am not sure that it is particularly suitable as it is very stiff. But for test it will do.

 

With that made up, I knocked up the motor mount from scrap material o the etch. With nothing else left to fix to the chassis before wheeling, I have sent it off to the paint shop. Accompanying it are the compensation beams and the pony truck procured from RT models.

 

While the painters do their thing, I have started to add detail to the cylinder bock and slide bars.

The Crownline instructions suggests soldering these small details, but as there is a risk of unsoldering the work already done, I preferred to glue these  details on. Some of the castings referenced in the instructions I do not have, so I shall use parts from the Airfix kit. These being the valve covers and lubricator on the slide bar.

 

 

I get ask regularly how long does a build take and what does it cost, so that is why I have been keeping a running total of these 2 themes on this thread.

It has been suggested that 40 hours is all that needed but Tony Wright is recording 150 hours on his thread. 

 

I have also just totted up the receipts that I have spent on this and I am really surprised that so far the total has just crept over £300. I thought that I had spent around half of that, so I am quite shocked. Oh and that is only for parts, that does not include labour. 

Now I could reduce that number, because I looked at the donated parts and checked their current value to purchase and added that to the total. However that only reduces the cost by around £50 to £80 .

The question is, is it cheaper & easier to buy a Hornby model and convert that? Also would I get a more realistic model?

 

Andy

[JeffP]

I model in 7mm O gauge.

I have to say I'm depressed when at look at kits, and finishing them, especially large locos.

Kit: £500-£750.

Wheels: £180

Motor/gearbox: £120

Name/number plates: £30+

Paint, transfers etc: £??

 

And you can easily add another two to three hundred pounds if you start adding more, better, or different parts.

Scarey.🤔

But it does put the cost of a Heljan diesel into perspective, and makes those from Dapol real bargains.