oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Following on from Warren's thread about the DJH Britannia, and my ramblings of an unsound mind as a part of the following comments I thought I should, as promised, put my money where my mouth is and show you the A3. So here it is. Sorry it's not all brightly shining - consider it to be weathered, pre-painting 
. Wheels and motion have been chemically blackened although not all the pins and fixings on the motion have yet been trimmed back. The brake gear was fitted but caused shorting problems on test so has been removed for modification, probably by using Heather's screwed fixings.
Loco is built with sprung insulated hornblocks on all driving wheels and split axles on the front and rear driving wheels.
Loco was bought from the Bring & Buy at a Guildex for less then £100 as a basket case with some wheels, (and some bits from another kit!) but so badly assembled I took it apart and started again. Even the tabs had not been filed off the chassis assembly! Nevertheless it was complete apart from the cylinder blocks which were supplied as replacements by DJH. The tender with the loco was of the corridor persuasion and I wanted a loco from the late 50s/early 60s so it went on e-bay. The selling price paid for a new tender!
Please excuse the bird poo on the table which I failed to notice when I started these photos. Pigeon now shot and in the pot. Poo collected for fertilising garden.
I had photos of the back head but the unit in the kit did not make up exactly as the prototype. The shield for the fire hole door interfered with the position of the pipes so they had to be kinked to go round it.
And here it is within the cab. There have been problems reported with a previous build of this loco whereby the backhead would not fit the cab when built but in this case, subject to a bit of twisting and turning (of the back head, not me), it fitted without having to remove the cab roof (and has now been removed once again ready for painting).
The tender I've matched with the loco is one of David Andrews' best, purchased before he stopped selling tenders separately. It was a pleasant build, but I struggled as I amways do with the tender flares. In this case the brake gear is the original David Andrews version with the brake shoes insulated using 5 minute epoxy. It has split axles for pick up using the Slaters original design insulated sprung hornblocks and there are no shorting problems with this.
And finally a photo of loco and tender in combination. (Notice - bird poo detected, pigeon dispatched and garden fertilised by the time this picture was taken)
Almost ready for the paint shop once the loco brakes are sorted and one or two minor details added or put right.
Brian
. Wheels and motion have been chemically blackened although not all the pins and fixings on the motion have yet been trimmed back. The brake gear was fitted but caused shorting problems on test so has been removed for modification, probably by using Heather's screwed fixings.Loco is built with sprung insulated hornblocks on all driving wheels and split axles on the front and rear driving wheels.
Loco was bought from the Bring & Buy at a Guildex for less then £100 as a basket case with some wheels, (and some bits from another kit!) but so badly assembled I took it apart and started again. Even the tabs had not been filed off the chassis assembly! Nevertheless it was complete apart from the cylinder blocks which were supplied as replacements by DJH. The tender with the loco was of the corridor persuasion and I wanted a loco from the late 50s/early 60s so it went on e-bay. The selling price paid for a new tender!
Please excuse the bird poo on the table which I failed to notice when I started these photos. Pigeon now shot and in the pot. Poo collected for fertilising garden.
I had photos of the back head but the unit in the kit did not make up exactly as the prototype. The shield for the fire hole door interfered with the position of the pipes so they had to be kinked to go round it.
And here it is within the cab. There have been problems reported with a previous build of this loco whereby the backhead would not fit the cab when built but in this case, subject to a bit of twisting and turning (of the back head, not me), it fitted without having to remove the cab roof (and has now been removed once again ready for painting).
The tender I've matched with the loco is one of David Andrews' best, purchased before he stopped selling tenders separately. It was a pleasant build, but I struggled as I amways do with the tender flares. In this case the brake gear is the original David Andrews version with the brake shoes insulated using 5 minute epoxy. It has split axles for pick up using the Slaters original design insulated sprung hornblocks and there are no shorting problems with this.
And finally a photo of loco and tender in combination. (Notice - bird poo detected, pigeon dispatched and garden fertilised by the time this picture was taken)
Almost ready for the paint shop once the loco brakes are sorted and one or two minor details added or put right.
Brian
, cheers Rob
. By this time it had been fitted and soldered to the footplate so the obvious choice of sticking it in the vice for a gentle squeeze was not possible. I ended up with wooden blocks under the footplate and supporting the boiler and applied vertical pressure on the bench. In other words I leaned on it - hard! Fortunately it worked and after two or three goes came back in to shape.