Gladiator 7mm GCR 11F 4-4-0

Stirling O

Active Member
That does look nice - the GCR locos do have some good flowing lines.

Quite - this is the reason I ended up going down the Scale7 route (not track appearance which many seem to focus on because IMHO Scale7 and O-MF are almost indistinguishable). Just having the wheels that bit further apart makes building loco sooo much easier - for example those leading drivers look awfully close to the boiler to me.

Sorry, but I can't agree that the difference between Scale 7 and O-MF is indistinguishable. Compare photographs of Scale7 and O-MF point-work and I think the difference is glaringly obvious, as evidenced by the gap between stock rails and check rails and between the stock rails and the toes of switch blades.

Please don't think I'm being contentious, I'm just offering another point of view.

Davey
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Most of today's session was spent scraping and scrubbing excess solder from the various seams and finishing off the firebox shoulders so the boiler could be soldered to it.
20191003_203623.jpg

20191003_203254.jpg

More scraping could be done inside the splashers but it's awkward to get at and you have to draw the line somewhere. As JB mentioned, the window beading was on the heavy side so I have thinned it down.
20191003_203214.jpg

Here's the boiler and firebox after soldering. Cleats have been added to the top of the firebox and under the boiler for the bands, which will be represented by the lining only.
20191003_202624.jpg

20191003_202549.jpg

Not a lot to show for today's efforts but I think the hard bits are done now.
20191003_202028.jpg
20191003_202152.jpg

Here's a shot with the smokebox door in place. It's not fixed yet as the casting is quite "porous" and will need some filling to make it smooth.
20191003_185426.jpg

And a quick trial fit of the reversing mechanism cover. When epoxied in place it should not interfere with the fitting and removal of the firebox.
20191003_185541.jpg

Cheers,
Peter
 

adrian

Flying Squad
I can't agree that the difference between Scale 7 and O-MF is indistinguishable
That's not quite what I said though - I was careful to preface it with "almost" indistinguishable and for a significant majority I believe that to be the case. What may be obvious to yourself as you've studied it in detail will be a subtle difference to many others.
Compare photographs of Scale7 and O-MF point-work
I agree if you compare photos side by side then the difference would be obvious IMHO because you have the comparison to make. However if you just had one piece of point-work to look at without a comparison then many would struggle to identify well built O-MF vs Scale7.
 

Stirling O

Active Member
These might assist. I strongly suspect the bogie is too far back, not the running late too long, but I am only going of photos etc. Leading axle is in line with smokebox door and curve of cylinder coverplate....

View attachment 111720 View attachment 111721
Hi Larry,

Might I enquire where you got the D11 G.A. drawing from, as I've done a search of the NRM drawing lists but have been unable to locate a G.A. drawing of the D11. Any help or pointers as to where I might acquire such a drawing would be most appreciated.

Davey
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Slow progress again today with lots off fettling to get the cab splashes to fit to my satisfaction. When assembled they were too narrow to cover the slots in the upper footplate, this despite adding the sides to the outer edges of the top. To get around this I made additional sides from brass sheet and laminated them to either side of the splashers. Having got a nice fit I found the outer extension pieces were too wide and needed about 2mm removed for them to fit. I soldered these to the main splashers before fitting them into the cab as a unit. There is also a footstep on the right hand splasher and this was also added before fitting the splasher into the cab. The instructions don't mention fitting the step until later on, but fortunately I had read David Hill's build on RMWeb so thought it better so do it outside the cab.
20191007_222025.jpg

Here's a shot with the blackhead placed in the cab. I'll have to replace the 6BA firebox fixing screw with some counter sunk 10BAs, as the back head is just a flat slab with no space for the larger screw head.
20191007_222242.jpg

The roof on the other hand went together without issues although the groove for locating the ribs needed widening. The first three ribs require filing either side to taper them down to the rain strips, which are yet to be fitted.
20191007_222205.jpg
Hopefully the backhead can be located with the roof on, but I'll check that when it's complete, before soldering the roof in place. I think David mentioned that it could be got in on his build.
20191007_222106.jpg

Cheers,
Peter
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
By the way, if anyone has a photo of a D10 or D11 back head, it would be useful to see it. Even the back head in the preserved Butler Henderson or a similar GCR loco would be helpful.

Many thanks,
Peter
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
The cab front plate and firebox back have now been modified to accept 10BA screws to fix them together. First the firebox back was thickened up with an extra layer of brass plate soldered on the inside. The holes in the cab front plate were then drilled to clear 10 BA and then with the firebox in place, the holes for tapping were marked. I cocked up the position for the upper hole and had to redo it. After drilling the holes in the back of the firebox, they were then tapped 10BA to accept the fixing screws. I much prefer doing it this way than soldering nuts in place as it is far more robust .
20191008_184045.jpg

The cab roof has also been completed with the addition of the rain strips.20191008_183933.jpg

Moving back to the boiler, the smoke box door casting was fettled up. Here's how it started out.20191003_202709.jpg

Rubbing it down avoiding the rivets was tiresome, so I marked their positions with a point and rubbed them off. After the door was smooth enough I drilled holes for the rivets and and replaced them with items from Prime Miniatures. After fitting the handrail, I found it was sloping so the hole for the pillar opposite the hinge was elongated to move it upwards. I need to add a little filler to disguise it. The rivets, door handle and hand rail pillars were all super glued on the inside, so no cleaning up was required.
20191009_190237.jpg

Here's the inside of the door casting. I decided to make if removable by making a simple " bayonet" fitting by cutting two slots opposite each other, top and bottom and then splaying out the sections between the cuts. One of them showed signs of cracking so this was repaired with solder.
20191009_190314.jpg

On the smoke box front ring, two slots were filed at 3 and 9 o'clock. The door is then slotted in and twisted 90 degrees to lock it in place. This will allow the owner access for fitting steam sound if desired.
20191009_190354.jpg

Finally, the chimney and dome have been epoxied in place. In this image, the door casting has been twisted too much so the handrail is not level.
20191009_185654.jpg

The semi cured epoxy that oozed out from under the castings has been scraped away, but further tidying up will be done later.
20191009_190010.jpg

Starting to look the part with the furniture on.
20191009_190152.jpg

Cheers,
Peter
 
Last edited:

Genghis

Western Thunderer
Sorry about the smokebox door: that one should have gone back in the melting pot.

I recently changed the casting alloy for one that is better able to produce small parts but I have found it isn't so good for larger flat castings. Mrs Gladiator has given permission to procure another melting pot so I will have a choice of alloys. Hopefully will reduce wastage and improve quality.
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Thanks JB.

No worries David. As I said earlier, you have done well to keep the range alive and juggle your day job in Thailand. Think of the fun you'll have updating all the kits when you have more time.

The chimney and dome needed a bit of fettling as well, but nothing untoward. The fit of both onto the smokebox and boiler was excellent which is often not the case.

Cheers,
Peter
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Fantastic Mike! Many thanks.

Cleaned up the remaining epoxy this afternoon with the scratch brush.
20191010_192743.jpg

And added the reversing lever cover to the top of the right hand splasher. Prototype photos show that it was right above the edge of the splasher so it was padded out on the inside with a strip of plastic card super glued to the casting. It is epoxied to the splasher and cab front and remains in place when the firebox and boiler are removed.
20191010_193037.jpg

And the roof after a bit more attention from the scraper and scratch brush. It just tacked with a tiny drop of super glue at the front and sides.
20191010_192841.jpg

20191010_193105.jpg

I decide to have a break from the loco and made a start on the tender. The valances, front and rear beams a d fixing nuts have all been added to the running plate.20191010_192941.jpg

The rear plate has been tacked in place and a start made on prepping the sides and flares. I've added some waste fret strips over the grab rail holes on the rear plate and the rails will be just push fit until after painting. The extra layer will give some purchase to the rails when they are glued in place. I'll make up the central hand rail in the pillars, but again will leave it loose for final fixing after painting as the rear will be lined out. I wonder if the lamp irons will be in the way of the lining???
20191010_192909.jpg

I was going to start on the chassis but found that one of the side frames was missing. Apparently this is separate from the main etch and was missed at packing. An e-mail to David Hill received a swift response and he will send me the missing part. Just as well really, as the instructions mention that the chassis frames may need some filing to fit and this can now be sorted out before the chassis is assembled.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Top