It's a while since I posted about this, but.....
Firstly please may it be noted that
is not an appropriate response to this tragic thread. Neither is "I told you so."
You know that noise you get when you run your fingers rapidly over your lips? Sort of "bluppabluppablubba" before they carry you away in the big white van to the funny farm? Well, "bluppabluppablubba".
So, to pick up approximately from where we left things I completed the tender frames using my scratch built spacers, split axles and Slaters sprung horn blocks.
Here they are, complete with brake suspension wires. Unsurprisingly the holes for these in the frames were not the same size as the holes in the brake hangers. Fortunately this is not critical, so in view of the other issues this is hardly worth mentioning (but now I have, so there). I then made up the brake gear.
Fairly obviously from this view the brake blocks themselves are a single etch thickness and need considerable beefing up. Of more concern is that the holes in the brake hangers and brake rods are all of different sizes. I took educated guesses on the sizes of the cross rods, but the forked ends of the brake rods are also of different sizes, so had to be filed out and matched to the rod size where the forks are not wide enough. These assemblies were made up on a temporary jig - so temporary that it's now in the scrap bin. Anyway, it all fits together in a fairly symmetrical manner and the wheels rotate. Smug grin.
Time to refer to the instructions so that I could fit these in the proper locations. The instructions say "Brake Rods (parts 98 and 99) complete this part of the assembly". That's all. So that's alright then. Fortunately young
)) Steph (gave) sold me a set of drawings for the "K", so I could approximate the proper layout except that there's no brake cylinder for the tender to which I can attach the working end of the brake rods, hence they are not yet fitted. Does anyone know where a suitable brake cylinder may be had?
Nonetheless, I'm passably satisfied with the position I've reached with this part of the tender (please remember, I still have the loco to which I'm looking forward immensely
) so moved on to the tender body.
I bet you're enjoying this, Pete. This demonstrates the standards with which you must compete.
So, some more instructions. "The tender body is built up on it's footplate (part 84) the sides and end are formed from one piece (part 101) located in the half etched line on the top of the footplate." Not so - the half etched line is, I suspect, for the outside frames, the location for the tender sides is clearly by slot and tab, but.....
the tags do not fit the slots.
Furthermore.....
the slots are not symmetrical as those on one side are closer to the edge of the footplate than those on the other. Oh joy!
I see no alternative but to mark up the footplate with the proper location, remove the tabs and solder the sides and rear in to the proper location via some sort of comedy right angle butt join. EDIT - just thought that I can solder some right angle on to the bottom of the sides and that will give a bigger area to which I can apply solder. Maybe I could also drill the tender footplate and install some location pins to keep the sides straight and parallel.
Shaping the tender sides and back comes next. The instructions advise: "The radii at the end are formed by bending the half etch areas of this part around a 9mm bar and the top flare is formed in a similar way."
Well, the GA and a photo both confirm that the "flare" is not flared, but a straight section. More surprisingly (or perhaps not by now).....
the drawing provided by Mr Ascough with the kit shows that the flare is straight and not rounded. I'm pleased about that as I don't enjoy trying to create rounded flares, 9mm bar or not. But then along comes another problem - nothing in the instructions to deal with this one.....
The etch thoughtfully has a gap at each rounded corner. Every other kit I've built with a flared corner either has a molding to drop in or (and the method I prefer) a series of fingers cut in to the flare which can be bent to shape, flooded with solder and then filed back to a perfect rounded corner. Does anyone have any ideas how to deal with the approach offered here?
(Does it look to you as though forming the corner around a 9mm bar would work? Funnily enough neither did I. So I formed the corner around a 3mm bar which worked out just fine.)
There may have been some effort made to help with the issue of the flares at the corners as, although not mentioned in the instructions and a part without any part number we have these:
Do you think these are intended to be soldered in to the corners with a flood of solder and then filed back to shape?
Believe it or not, so far I'm actually enjoying the challenge. I must be out of my tree. bluppabluppablubba.
Brian
