oldravendale
Western Thunderer
This could be interesting........
The reputation of Ace Kits is, to be altruistic, less than stellar. However, Ace Kits are amongst the least expensive of all kits (currently this is £149.99 including tender) so I'm expecting that there may be some problems and a need to replace some of the detailing parts with upgraded versions. I've never built one before but I bought this kit a few years ago as the only available option for an LBSCR "K" Class 2-6-0. I saw a few of these and thought them one of the most attractive of the Moguls, and their reputation in real life was of a very high order.
I'll be building this as a late BR version, c1960.
Here's the prototype - in fact the very last "K" I saw, at Willesden Shed when on it's way to King's of Norwich for scrapping. It's 32337 on 14th April 1964.
This will be a long build. It'll be fitted in between and around other builds as I'm anticipating some frustrations and the need for thinking time.
So, what do you get for your money?
The kit comes in a very decent box, probably suitable for the completed model.
The instructions. I read these last night. There were only 4 or 5 sheets or so. Drawings leave quite a lot to be desired and there's no list of parts. I also found that some of the part numbers from the frets did not match those as discussed in the instructions. Not the greatest start.
These are the etches as supplied. Actually they look pretty good. The issue will be whether they are all the right size for each part to fit each other part and I'll not know that until I start building. The chassis parts are at least in nickel silver, although if there are any dimensional shortcomings that won't count for much - we'll see how we go with that.
Here's the first conundrum. There's an extra packet with a set of nickel silver coupling rods in it and a couple of other brass parts. There is another set of coupling rods on the chassis etch. So what's going on? At the moment I've no idea but I guess all will become clear if I build both sets and see how they work with the frames.
Here are the castings. All white metal (no lost wax) although the overall quality looks good at first sight. I anticipate replacing a lot of these with lost wax castings if I can find suitable alternatives.
These are the other components. I have a Portescap motor/gearbox and a set of Slater's wheels. The axles on loco and tender will be split and insulated. I'll be using a set of Steph's horn blocks and Slater's insulated bearings on the tender and already have a set of Slater's insulated horn blocks for the loco. There are no prepared cut outs on the tender so these will have to be marked up and fretted out.
Finally for the moment here's some of the prototype material to which I'll be working. Steph managed to get hold of GAs from the NRM and there are decent pictures of a number of the locos in the magazines.
I'm guessing that this build will take at least a year. It'll be interesting to review the situation in twelve months from now.
Brian
The reputation of Ace Kits is, to be altruistic, less than stellar. However, Ace Kits are amongst the least expensive of all kits (currently this is £149.99 including tender) so I'm expecting that there may be some problems and a need to replace some of the detailing parts with upgraded versions. I've never built one before but I bought this kit a few years ago as the only available option for an LBSCR "K" Class 2-6-0. I saw a few of these and thought them one of the most attractive of the Moguls, and their reputation in real life was of a very high order.
I'll be building this as a late BR version, c1960.
Here's the prototype - in fact the very last "K" I saw, at Willesden Shed when on it's way to King's of Norwich for scrapping. It's 32337 on 14th April 1964.
This will be a long build. It'll be fitted in between and around other builds as I'm anticipating some frustrations and the need for thinking time.
So, what do you get for your money?
The kit comes in a very decent box, probably suitable for the completed model.
The instructions. I read these last night. There were only 4 or 5 sheets or so. Drawings leave quite a lot to be desired and there's no list of parts. I also found that some of the part numbers from the frets did not match those as discussed in the instructions. Not the greatest start.
These are the etches as supplied. Actually they look pretty good. The issue will be whether they are all the right size for each part to fit each other part and I'll not know that until I start building. The chassis parts are at least in nickel silver, although if there are any dimensional shortcomings that won't count for much - we'll see how we go with that.
Here's the first conundrum. There's an extra packet with a set of nickel silver coupling rods in it and a couple of other brass parts. There is another set of coupling rods on the chassis etch. So what's going on? At the moment I've no idea but I guess all will become clear if I build both sets and see how they work with the frames.
Here are the castings. All white metal (no lost wax) although the overall quality looks good at first sight. I anticipate replacing a lot of these with lost wax castings if I can find suitable alternatives.
These are the other components. I have a Portescap motor/gearbox and a set of Slater's wheels. The axles on loco and tender will be split and insulated. I'll be using a set of Steph's horn blocks and Slater's insulated bearings on the tender and already have a set of Slater's insulated horn blocks for the loco. There are no prepared cut outs on the tender so these will have to be marked up and fretted out.
Finally for the moment here's some of the prototype material to which I'll be working. Steph managed to get hold of GAs from the NRM and there are decent pictures of a number of the locos in the magazines.
I'm guessing that this build will take at least a year. It'll be interesting to review the situation in twelve months from now.
Brian