A Ffestiniog Experiment: part 2 Merddin Emrys gets a makeover
- Thread starter David B
- Start date
LarryG
Western Thunderer
Thanks. I photographed David Lloyd George in black on its first passenger outing while covering the event with Handel Kardas. Your model is outstanding, more so now it's painted and lined out. As per mickoo, I would like to see this thread continue with more of your work.
Chris Veitch
Western Thunderer
Just to echo the comments of others, it's been a fascinating build and I would also be interested to see more. Is the "Bachmann" Fairlie one of the Chinese-made brass imports which appeared a few years ago and sold under their name?
It's furthered weakened my resolve to not dabble in 16mm scale with what little free time I have, so I'll have to avoid those boxes of wagon kits if I'm in the workshop this weekend...
It's furthered weakened my resolve to not dabble in 16mm scale with what little free time I have, so I'll have to avoid those boxes of wagon kits if I'm in the workshop this weekend...
Hi Chris - yes, the other Fairlie was, I think, originally commissioned by Garden Railway Specialists. It was later available under the Bachmann badge in plain black, and even later under the Finescale Brass badge in unlined maroon and black. It came in both 45mm and 32mm gauges with track pickups. Mine is fitted with rechargeable batteries delivering a nominal 24 volts (in reality 19v) - it runs very smoothly, but the bogies are constructed using a large number of tiny Chinese screws, most of which quickly worked loose when I’d run the loco for more than a few hours.
I’d throughly recommend dabbling in 16mm - it’s a very user-friendly scale.
I’d throughly recommend dabbling in 16mm - it’s a very user-friendly scale.
Allen M
Western Thunderer
I totally agree having dabbled for about 40 years until I lifted the garden line just before lock down as it was, at ground level, and my near 80 years old got too difficult to manage.
Over the years it saw battery, meths, gas and coal powered locos.
As a long time member I suggest 'The Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers' is well worth the membership fee.
Regards
Allen
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
As would I. It's only been a recent dabble of mine - about 2 years - but I'm deriving a great deal of enjoyment out of it.
I'm currently waiting for a Slomo to arrive, having just paid HMRC duties, for a Roundhouse Russell, and I'm keen to see what difference this makes to an already sweetly-running loco.
I would also like to say how much I have enjoyed this thread and admired your work.
Richard
michael mott
Western Thunderer
Nice work Dave on fitting all that live steam stuff into such a tight space. I e njoy running my Accucraft Bagnall during the summers. I rescaled it from 1:19 to 1:10 so can really appreciate how confined your cab and controls are.
Michael
Michael
Picking up this thread from a couple of years ago, here’s a quick update on how and why I have been taking a hacksaw to my battery r/c model of Merddin Emrys, which appeared above in the background of one of the photos behind Earl of Merioneth. As mentioned in my response to Chris’s question above, the basis is a commercial brass model. Most online comments refer to this Chinese production as a generic model, rather than a reproduction of a specific locomotive, but it looks to my mind like a pretty workmanlike attempt at David Lloyd George in oil-burning form, with the correct large cab side cut-outs, smokebox details and the flattened roof curve radius of DLG.
It is, of course, therefore completely wrong for Merddin Emrys, which is longer, marginally taller and has totally different cab and smokebox details. Even as a model of DLG, it has some inaccuracies - the cab isn’t tall enough, the chimneys are ridiculously puny, while the tank-top toolboxes are fitted on the wrong (fireman’s) side of the loco. The overall impression is a bit as if someone has sat on it and it definitely looks low when pulling rolling stock of the correct height, as here:
The valances and frames below the cab are also only represented in two dimensions, so the loco looks oddly lightweight because you can see under the cab right through to the far rail, as in the photo above, rather than having your view blocked by bulky curved frames and water tanks. Does anyone remember those early 1980s 7mm etched brass diesel locomotive kits which many people made up to be completely see-through, as if they had no engine and generator inside? I like my models to look as if they have real substance and weight. Talking of which, it also came fitted with unhelpful 20:1 gear sets, which made it a frisky sprinter on its 42mm driving wheels, rather than a gutsy heavyweight capable of taking 12 carriages up 1:70 gradients. This meant that the electronics would periodically cut out when I asked the loco to pull some of my heavier rakes of carriages. Hmm……
I had lived with all these issues for some time, but I really wanted an accurate model of Merddin in his current coal-burning form, to work alongside the live steam Earl. I should probably have sold the Chinese model and built a new locomotive from scratch, but fate intervened when the inevitable happened and the loco failed with a driving wheel shifting on its axle, locking up one bogie. I’ll use the next few posts to explain what led me to sawing the loco into multiple pieces, but here’s a couple of taster photos showing firstly the initial destruction and secondly some of the replacement parts that I’m in the process of completing. These include new smokeboxes and chimneys, a new upper cab, the valances, tanks and asymmetrical ashpan that sit under the cab, brass window frames, two whistles (one chime and one hooter) and coal bunkers to sit within the tanks.
It is, of course, therefore completely wrong for Merddin Emrys, which is longer, marginally taller and has totally different cab and smokebox details. Even as a model of DLG, it has some inaccuracies - the cab isn’t tall enough, the chimneys are ridiculously puny, while the tank-top toolboxes are fitted on the wrong (fireman’s) side of the loco. The overall impression is a bit as if someone has sat on it and it definitely looks low when pulling rolling stock of the correct height, as here:
The valances and frames below the cab are also only represented in two dimensions, so the loco looks oddly lightweight because you can see under the cab right through to the far rail, as in the photo above, rather than having your view blocked by bulky curved frames and water tanks. Does anyone remember those early 1980s 7mm etched brass diesel locomotive kits which many people made up to be completely see-through, as if they had no engine and generator inside? I like my models to look as if they have real substance and weight. Talking of which, it also came fitted with unhelpful 20:1 gear sets, which made it a frisky sprinter on its 42mm driving wheels, rather than a gutsy heavyweight capable of taking 12 carriages up 1:70 gradients. This meant that the electronics would periodically cut out when I asked the loco to pull some of my heavier rakes of carriages. Hmm……
I had lived with all these issues for some time, but I really wanted an accurate model of Merddin in his current coal-burning form, to work alongside the live steam Earl. I should probably have sold the Chinese model and built a new locomotive from scratch, but fate intervened when the inevitable happened and the loco failed with a driving wheel shifting on its axle, locking up one bogie. I’ll use the next few posts to explain what led me to sawing the loco into multiple pieces, but here’s a couple of taster photos showing firstly the initial destruction and secondly some of the replacement parts that I’m in the process of completing. These include new smokeboxes and chimneys, a new upper cab, the valances, tanks and asymmetrical ashpan that sit under the cab, brass window frames, two whistles (one chime and one hooter) and coal bunkers to sit within the tanks.
Before going into a bit of detail about how I’ve been hacking the loco about, I need to fess up to various cock-ups along the way. I’ve been scratchbuilding in 7mm and 16mm since my mid-teens, and I’ve clearly forgotten some key basics over the last four decades. Things like making compromises on how accurate I wanted the model to be and then regretting those compromises and having to undo my work and start all over again; trusting in the accuracy of published plans without taking the time to cross check the plans to photographs; measuring once and having to cut twice. That sort of thing. I could try to make excuses on the basis that I wasn’t clear in my mind about how far I wanted to go with this project when I started it, but they would just be excuses……
Back to the model. Before I took any steps down the road to rebuilding the loco, I wanted to know whether I could fix the power bogie with the loose wheel - if I couldn’t, I might as well start completely from scratch. The Chinese mechanisms for each bogie had a large flywheel-fitted can motor with a worm drive and ball race bearings on the driven axle. The two power bogies were well matched and the loco had run exceptionally smoothly in operation. But ideally, as well as fixing the loose wheel, those 20:1 gears had to go.
I looked into all manner of alternative solutions including replacing the wheelsets with alternatives from either Walsall Model Industries (cast iron and very desirable for garden railway operation) or Slaters, but the axle diameters were not compatible with the existing gearbox and bearings. I also couldn’t see how to alter the gear ratio within the existing gearbox, so I took the decision to replace the whole drive mechanism for both bogies, fitting Slaters 30:1 motor and gearbox sets. Sadly the ball races had to go too, replaced with good old fashioned brass bearings. I was able to reuse the existing wheels on some replacement axles I found in my 7mm spares stash. It was a bit hairy at times, but I ended up with this (old motor on the left):
I was worried about having smaller motors and no flywheels, but with both bogies converted, the loco was transformed out on the line. The helical gears and 30:1 ratio made all the difference - the loco could now haul anything I put behind it and run steadily for hours with the heaviest load. Even better, the electronics no longer overloaded and stopped the train dead. Better still, despite the heavier duties, the battery charge lasted longer, presumably due to lower overall current consumption (which will help with the onboard power requirements if I can find a way to incorporate a couple of Giles’s wonderful steam mister creations in the smokeboxes).
One other thing had bugged me about the original model - brass pistons. Who has ever seen a loco with brass pistons? I had used metal blacking to tone down them down, but they inevitably polished back to brass over time. So while the connecting rods were off, I cut off the brass pistons and replaced them with steel rod, as shown in this comparison photo:
The only other modification I made at this stage was to upgrade the tubular crash bars beneath the couplings to the correct diameter - the original model had lacked these and in the absence of a scale drawing I had previously used an incorrect smaller diameter tube (which you can see looking flimsy in the first photo of yesterday’s post). Still to add are the lubricators and their mass of copper pipework, while the two dimensional brake blocks also need plumping up. I really ought to replace the brass slide bars and motion bracket, and I’m mulling over how best to represent the draincocks - Merddin used to have steam operated versions, but photos show that they are now mechanically operated through linkages just ahead of the cylinders. The challenge for me is to find a way of making them sufficiently robust to withstand impacts in the garden environment……I have a small flock of free-range bantams which are more than capable of throwing debris into the path of a train weighing between 10 and 20 kilos, which is a great way of testing details to destruction. To finish this post, here’s a gratuitous picture of some of the bantams inspecting Tourist Car No 37 and doing their best to look like 16mm scale models of their dinosaur ancestors:
Back to the model. Before I took any steps down the road to rebuilding the loco, I wanted to know whether I could fix the power bogie with the loose wheel - if I couldn’t, I might as well start completely from scratch. The Chinese mechanisms for each bogie had a large flywheel-fitted can motor with a worm drive and ball race bearings on the driven axle. The two power bogies were well matched and the loco had run exceptionally smoothly in operation. But ideally, as well as fixing the loose wheel, those 20:1 gears had to go.
I looked into all manner of alternative solutions including replacing the wheelsets with alternatives from either Walsall Model Industries (cast iron and very desirable for garden railway operation) or Slaters, but the axle diameters were not compatible with the existing gearbox and bearings. I also couldn’t see how to alter the gear ratio within the existing gearbox, so I took the decision to replace the whole drive mechanism for both bogies, fitting Slaters 30:1 motor and gearbox sets. Sadly the ball races had to go too, replaced with good old fashioned brass bearings. I was able to reuse the existing wheels on some replacement axles I found in my 7mm spares stash. It was a bit hairy at times, but I ended up with this (old motor on the left):
I was worried about having smaller motors and no flywheels, but with both bogies converted, the loco was transformed out on the line. The helical gears and 30:1 ratio made all the difference - the loco could now haul anything I put behind it and run steadily for hours with the heaviest load. Even better, the electronics no longer overloaded and stopped the train dead. Better still, despite the heavier duties, the battery charge lasted longer, presumably due to lower overall current consumption (which will help with the onboard power requirements if I can find a way to incorporate a couple of Giles’s wonderful steam mister creations in the smokeboxes).
One other thing had bugged me about the original model - brass pistons. Who has ever seen a loco with brass pistons? I had used metal blacking to tone down them down, but they inevitably polished back to brass over time. So while the connecting rods were off, I cut off the brass pistons and replaced them with steel rod, as shown in this comparison photo:
The only other modification I made at this stage was to upgrade the tubular crash bars beneath the couplings to the correct diameter - the original model had lacked these and in the absence of a scale drawing I had previously used an incorrect smaller diameter tube (which you can see looking flimsy in the first photo of yesterday’s post). Still to add are the lubricators and their mass of copper pipework, while the two dimensional brake blocks also need plumping up. I really ought to replace the brass slide bars and motion bracket, and I’m mulling over how best to represent the draincocks - Merddin used to have steam operated versions, but photos show that they are now mechanically operated through linkages just ahead of the cylinders. The challenge for me is to find a way of making them sufficiently robust to withstand impacts in the garden environment……I have a small flock of free-range bantams which are more than capable of throwing debris into the path of a train weighing between 10 and 20 kilos, which is a great way of testing details to destruction. To finish this post, here’s a gratuitous picture of some of the bantams inspecting Tourist Car No 37 and doing their best to look like 16mm scale models of their dinosaur ancestors:
Feeling over-confident after sorting out the power bogies, I decided to tackle the cab first – those wide-open sides, so unlike Merddin Emrys’s enclosed cab, were shouting “David Lloyd George” and had to be changed. But how best to do it? I toyed with a couple of alternative approaches: could I use an overlay? Or could I use in-fill sections to reduce the openings? I know my limitations and felt that neither would look as good as brand new sides, and so the destruction began. At this stage, I was blissfully unaware that this would ultimately lead to sawing the locomotive into multiple pieces, per the photo a couple of posts above. I simply removed the existing cab sides and took copious measurements before replicating that characteristic profile in a single sheet of brass:
I then added overlays for the beading, before drilling and filing out the new openings. I finally added rainstrips and the rest of the beading:
Then I sat back and proudly looked at what I’d done. And didn’t like what I saw at all. I had made compromises in order to fit the new sides neatly into the existing cab structure. I had taken great trouble to do a neat job. But the existing cab was too small in all dimensions:
It needed to be materially taller and longer, with more of a curve to the roof. I had hoped to get away with it, but I had failed. I’d merely achieved a half-hearted bodge. Despite studying at the digital feet of Mick Davies for the last few years, had I learned nothing? There was a fundamental truth to be confronted: the existing cab structure had to go. But the only way that I could fit in a longer cab would be by slicing the cab floor into two parts and inserting a strip to lengthen it. And if I was going to do that, I should do the job properly and do the same thing between the front of the tanks and the smokeboxes to add the rest of the missing additional length. But what would that mean for the positioning of the bogie mounting brackets, clearance for the wheel flanges, etc?
That was all too much to digest, so I took the easy route and sliced off the smokeboxes instead…..
I then added overlays for the beading, before drilling and filing out the new openings. I finally added rainstrips and the rest of the beading:
Then I sat back and proudly looked at what I’d done. And didn’t like what I saw at all. I had made compromises in order to fit the new sides neatly into the existing cab structure. I had taken great trouble to do a neat job. But the existing cab was too small in all dimensions:
It needed to be materially taller and longer, with more of a curve to the roof. I had hoped to get away with it, but I had failed. I’d merely achieved a half-hearted bodge. Despite studying at the digital feet of Mick Davies for the last few years, had I learned nothing? There was a fundamental truth to be confronted: the existing cab structure had to go. But the only way that I could fit in a longer cab would be by slicing the cab floor into two parts and inserting a strip to lengthen it. And if I was going to do that, I should do the job properly and do the same thing between the front of the tanks and the smokeboxes to add the rest of the missing additional length. But what would that mean for the positioning of the bogie mounting brackets, clearance for the wheel flanges, etc?
That was all too much to digest, so I took the easy route and sliced off the smokeboxes instead…..
Merddin Emrys’s appearance has changed in the preservation era each time that its smokeboxes have been renewed. In the early 1970s it looked ugly as sin - small diameter smokeboxes and with the door at one end hung from the left hand side. (I mean, really? The left hand side?) Over time, Boston Lodge has improved the appearance and I personally think the new smokeboxes and doors fitted in 2016 are the best-looking so far. In order to reproduce them, I needed to bulk out the model’s smokeboxes to the correct diameter, replace the chimneys and fit new details on the doors. I also needed to pad out the doors themselves, which were noticeably deeper following the 2016 overhaul (I’m guessing this may have been to create more internal space to increase the gas flow around the spark arresters?).
The smokebox diameter was increased with simple wrappers of 1mm brass sheet. I added 1.5mm to the back of the smokebox doors and replaced the strapping and hinges (for clarity, please note that the plan below shows the smaller pre-2016 door). I made the new chimneys in the same way as for Earl of Merioneth, using Roundhouse Engineering chimney caps (brass this time, rather than copper) and thick wall tubing as the basis:
The addition of new square lamp sockets in place of the existing lamp brackets, together with replacement handrails, completed the smokeboxes. Here is a comparison between old and new:
I was happy with the new look, so I finally bit on the bullet and decided to press ahead with extending the loco to the full 520mm scale length.
The smokebox diameter was increased with simple wrappers of 1mm brass sheet. I added 1.5mm to the back of the smokebox doors and replaced the strapping and hinges (for clarity, please note that the plan below shows the smaller pre-2016 door). I made the new chimneys in the same way as for Earl of Merioneth, using Roundhouse Engineering chimney caps (brass this time, rather than copper) and thick wall tubing as the basis:
The addition of new square lamp sockets in place of the existing lamp brackets, together with replacement handrails, completed the smokeboxes. Here is a comparison between old and new:
I was happy with the new look, so I finally bit on the bullet and decided to press ahead with extending the loco to the full 520mm scale length.
And so now to the point of no return, when I finally did what I should have done at the start, and sliced the apron (the footplate and running board) into three sections. The extra length was needed under the cab and between the tanks and the smokeboxes. As I needed to maintain the relative positions of the bogies and the smokeboxes, I made the latter cuts close to the cab, so that the bogie mounting points remained unchanged. The extra sections of brass are self-explanatory:
The original model had a lot of gaps at the front of the apron between the tanks and the smokebox (presumably a legacy of the need to create flange clearance for the 45mm gauge option offered with the model). By extending the apron forwards while leaving the tanks in their original position relative to the cab, I was making those gaps even bigger. The real loco has a continuous apron with no visible gaps. It also has those unique Ffestiniog splashers which curve down and outwards from the boiler cladding. So before I could complete the apron, I had to make the new boiler cladding to fill the extended gap between the tanks and the smokebox:
I then had to spend a lot of time experimenting with infill pieces to ensure there were no gaps between the splashers and the apron, but the flanges still had enough clearance for my tightest curves.
Lastly, I made up the new under-cab substructure to represent the frames, tanks and valance. Helpfully the two-dimensional valances of the original model were set too far inboard, so I was able to fit the new substructure over and around the existing valances, which avoided further weakening the newly extended apron. At last the underpinnings of the model were starting to look as solid as the real locomotive.
The final exercise in brass origami was the ashpan arrangement. This is a fascinating set of shapes – asymmetrical, with one ashpan shorter than the other, and both having inset sections and angled sides. I modelled the dampers in a half-open position, which (I understand) is the usual running position. The photos show the checks I made to ensure that the ashpans were mounted at the correct distance above the railhead.
The original model had a lot of gaps at the front of the apron between the tanks and the smokebox (presumably a legacy of the need to create flange clearance for the 45mm gauge option offered with the model). By extending the apron forwards while leaving the tanks in their original position relative to the cab, I was making those gaps even bigger. The real loco has a continuous apron with no visible gaps. It also has those unique Ffestiniog splashers which curve down and outwards from the boiler cladding. So before I could complete the apron, I had to make the new boiler cladding to fill the extended gap between the tanks and the smokebox:
I then had to spend a lot of time experimenting with infill pieces to ensure there were no gaps between the splashers and the apron, but the flanges still had enough clearance for my tightest curves.
Lastly, I made up the new under-cab substructure to represent the frames, tanks and valance. Helpfully the two-dimensional valances of the original model were set too far inboard, so I was able to fit the new substructure over and around the existing valances, which avoided further weakening the newly extended apron. At last the underpinnings of the model were starting to look as solid as the real locomotive.
The final exercise in brass origami was the ashpan arrangement. This is a fascinating set of shapes – asymmetrical, with one ashpan shorter than the other, and both having inset sections and angled sides. I modelled the dampers in a half-open position, which (I understand) is the usual running position. The photos show the checks I made to ensure that the ashpans were mounted at the correct distance above the railhead.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
When you opened this latest episode on Sunday, my first thought was 'there's going to be a lot of cutting going on here' and so it appears to be 
I suspect every bone in your body when you were doing the first cab said it was not the right thing to do, but we bimble along coning ourselves how clever we are modifying what we have and we know the end result will not be what we really wanted.
The trick is to spot this long before you go down that road and just start afresh. On the face of it it'll look like a lot of work, in reality it's actually much less and far more satisfying.
Looking good so far, if it's anything like your previous work it'll look great when it's finished.
I suspect every bone in your body when you were doing the first cab said it was not the right thing to do, but we bimble along coning ourselves how clever we are modifying what we have and we know the end result will not be what we really wanted.
The trick is to spot this long before you go down that road and just start afresh. On the face of it it'll look like a lot of work, in reality it's actually much less and far more satisfying.
Looking good so far, if it's anything like your previous work it'll look great when it's finished.
Hobbyhorse
Western Thunderer
Like Richard I’m also very much enjoying your thread, it’s interesting seeing your ways to improve the loco.
This is for Richard showing testing of my slowmo which certainly improved running quality if a touch noisy.
Slowmo testing
Simon
Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
Lovely work. The uncompromising critical eye can be our worst enemy. I only have one criticism; you don't dwell on your obvious skills and talent!
Cheers
Jan
Cheers
Jan
Thank you for the likes and the kind comments. Mick – you are absolutely spot on. I was indeed conning myself and I should have listened to my instincts. I originally thought about keeping schtum here, in view of the amazing work that people showcase on WT, but I guess there’s no harm in a few war stories along the way.
Giles – yes, this is the model that was marketed by Bachmann, with a choice of gauge (32mm or 45mm) for the wheels. As far as I can tell, it was originally commissioned by Garden Railway Specialists of Princes Risborough, but I’ve seen some on-line comments suggesting that they (like me) weren’t entirely happy with the finished product, so it was then marketed by various other companies, including Bachmann.
I’m also grateful that nobody has asked the obvious question: why I didn’t simply change the nameplates to David Lloyd George, bung on some new chimneys and repaint it in Ffestiniog soup dragon red, rather than start on many months of work hacking the model into lots of bits simply to make it a couple of centimetres longer and less than a centimetre taller. But where’s the fun (and challenge) in that?
And so onto the main superstructure. There were some small changes needed, such as unsoldering the supports for the sand pots and moving them in line with the outside edge of the tanks. The model had them set too far inboard, which left so little room on the front of the tank that the tiny apology for a footstep reminded me of T-Rex’s shrunken arms. I could now fit steps of the right size. I also rolled some more brass to act as an extended internal support for the new boiler lagging. Apologies for the messy paint overspray in the photo – I had just filled and sanded some holes in the tank fronts (originally needed for flange clearance for the 45mm gauge version on LGB train set curves, but not needed any more). The vacuum hose and pipework on the front apron, plus the square lamp socket, are new too:
The photo also shows some of the changes I had started to make on the upper part of the tanks, including the strapping at the ends and some infill pieces between the boiler and the tanks, to match the cladding which Merddin Emrys has, but the model did not. I assume the purpose of these infill pieces in real life is to stop coal falling down the gaps between the boiler and the tanks to clog up the inside motion. It was an incredibly fiddly piece of work because all four gaps on the model were different, and securing the pieces horizontally and making good seemed to take forever. I still have further finishing to do in this area.
Slightly more brutal was the need to cut various holes in the model. Firstly in the top of the boiler cladding for the clack valves (they sit on top of the cladding on DLG, but are recessed on ME) and secondly in the top of the tanks on the fireman’s side (where the toolbox had originally and incorrectly been) so that I could insert the new coal bunkers.
And saving the best till last, I needed to detach and bin my embarrassingly undersized replacement cab sides and then grab the hacksaw to slice the superstructure into several pieces. I decided to cut it into three parts (firebox and the two sets of tanks) rather than into two parts (i.e cutting the firebox down the middle). Even though the superstructure will be screwed to the apron all along the underside of the tanks to provide strength and rigidity, I had already potentially weakened the apron by lengthening it and I didn’t want the cab sides and roof to be load-bearing. Instead, I wanted the firebox and boiler to play the role they have on the real loco as a structural spine. The existing firebox was a fairly flimsy piece of U-shaped brass, so I beefed this up considerably and doubled its length to give the locomotive a strong backbone:
Giles – yes, this is the model that was marketed by Bachmann, with a choice of gauge (32mm or 45mm) for the wheels. As far as I can tell, it was originally commissioned by Garden Railway Specialists of Princes Risborough, but I’ve seen some on-line comments suggesting that they (like me) weren’t entirely happy with the finished product, so it was then marketed by various other companies, including Bachmann.
I’m also grateful that nobody has asked the obvious question: why I didn’t simply change the nameplates to David Lloyd George, bung on some new chimneys and repaint it in Ffestiniog soup dragon red, rather than start on many months of work hacking the model into lots of bits simply to make it a couple of centimetres longer and less than a centimetre taller. But where’s the fun (and challenge) in that?
And so onto the main superstructure. There were some small changes needed, such as unsoldering the supports for the sand pots and moving them in line with the outside edge of the tanks. The model had them set too far inboard, which left so little room on the front of the tank that the tiny apology for a footstep reminded me of T-Rex’s shrunken arms. I could now fit steps of the right size. I also rolled some more brass to act as an extended internal support for the new boiler lagging. Apologies for the messy paint overspray in the photo – I had just filled and sanded some holes in the tank fronts (originally needed for flange clearance for the 45mm gauge version on LGB train set curves, but not needed any more). The vacuum hose and pipework on the front apron, plus the square lamp socket, are new too:
The photo also shows some of the changes I had started to make on the upper part of the tanks, including the strapping at the ends and some infill pieces between the boiler and the tanks, to match the cladding which Merddin Emrys has, but the model did not. I assume the purpose of these infill pieces in real life is to stop coal falling down the gaps between the boiler and the tanks to clog up the inside motion. It was an incredibly fiddly piece of work because all four gaps on the model were different, and securing the pieces horizontally and making good seemed to take forever. I still have further finishing to do in this area.
Slightly more brutal was the need to cut various holes in the model. Firstly in the top of the boiler cladding for the clack valves (they sit on top of the cladding on DLG, but are recessed on ME) and secondly in the top of the tanks on the fireman’s side (where the toolbox had originally and incorrectly been) so that I could insert the new coal bunkers.
And saving the best till last, I needed to detach and bin my embarrassingly undersized replacement cab sides and then grab the hacksaw to slice the superstructure into several pieces. I decided to cut it into three parts (firebox and the two sets of tanks) rather than into two parts (i.e cutting the firebox down the middle). Even though the superstructure will be screwed to the apron all along the underside of the tanks to provide strength and rigidity, I had already potentially weakened the apron by lengthening it and I didn’t want the cab sides and roof to be load-bearing. Instead, I wanted the firebox and boiler to play the role they have on the real loco as a structural spine. The existing firebox was a fairly flimsy piece of U-shaped brass, so I beefed this up considerably and doubled its length to give the locomotive a strong backbone:
And so, at last, to the point where the destruction ended and the reconstruction began….it had been a long time coming. Taking great care to keep everything aligned, I reattached the two sets of tanks to the extended firebox and breathed a big sigh of relief when the enlarged superstructure slotted snugly into place on the lengthened apron/footplate. A test fitting of the boiler wrappers and smokeboxes confirmed that the length was now correct for Merddin Emrys. Feeling hugely relieved that the project now had a fighting chance of success and I hadn’t simply ended up with a wrecked model, I set about making a new cab for the second time – and this time it would be the correct length and height (which is where I should have begun in the first place). This time I decided to make the upper part of the cab separately, so that I could detail and paint the interior properly without having to perform the modelling equivalent of keyhole surgery. So the new lower cab side sheets went on:
Also visible in that photo are the new cab front spectacle plates, which I was trying out for size and fit. More on them in a minute, but in the meantime I got to work folding a piece of brass to the profile of the roof and upper cab sides. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Merddin Emrys has a more rounded roof than David Lloyd George and I wanted to make sure I successfully reproduced this. After spending an inordinate amount of time tweaking the profile, I soldered on the spectacle plates and made sure the whole upper cab was square before adding the various bits of beading and the rain strips/gutters. Happy days!
Or was it? When I fitted the upper cab to the loco, there was something not quite right about the front spectacle openings – they made the cab look as if it was raising its eyebrows. I knew I had followed the published plan exactly, for the simple reason that I had photocopied it and glued it to the brass before cutting the parts out. It took a lot of studying photos to confirm that the cut outs were indeed too high and the plan was incorrect. I wasn’t prepared to take the cab apart yet again, so I soldered infill pieces into the top of the openings, dressed them back and increased the size of the openings at the bottom. This photo on the workbench just about shows the infill pieces in place:
Now that I had the basis of a half decent model of Merddin Emrys, it was time to start working up the extra details. The twin regulator handles were a must – you can see the part-finished handles and associated pipework (painted red) in the photo of sundry parts in the first post about this project above. The actual handles are 7mm scale handrail knobs. I used another pair as handles for replacement firebox doors – the original model had a simple, barely visible 2 dimensional relief representation of the doors, whereas I wanted to be able to catch a glimpse through the cab doorway of firebox doors that looked ready to be opened for the next shovels of coal from the bunkers that I had made up. Other details included the curved regulator guides, the two whistles (again shown in the earlier photo) and representations of the cat’s cradles of pipework forming the steam manifolds that sit between the cab and the domes. The four brass cab window frames each had to be cut out and shaped individually (definitely something I should have had etched), before soldering on the operating rods and (non-working) hinges at the bottom. That was definitely a labour of love!
Most of these details are still waiting to be fitted to the locomotive, and there are many more that I haven’t even started, such as the lubricators, draincocks, ejector pipes and the coal bunker greedy boards. However, in case anyone is interested in what the loco looks like right now, I put the main parts together over the weekend for a quick photo. Nothing is yet bolted together, so the fit of the components is not as tight as it will be, and the main superstructure hasn’t yet received its maroon panels, let alone any lining. Most of the bling isn’t fitted either (no nameplates, sand pots, tank handrails, whistles, cab window frames, makers plates, etc), but at least it’s the correct length and height for Merddin Emrys, with a cab that’s the right shape and size as well. If people are interested, I’ll provide further updates as the model moves towards completion later in the year. Thanks again for the interest, the comments and the likes.
Also visible in that photo are the new cab front spectacle plates, which I was trying out for size and fit. More on them in a minute, but in the meantime I got to work folding a piece of brass to the profile of the roof and upper cab sides. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Merddin Emrys has a more rounded roof than David Lloyd George and I wanted to make sure I successfully reproduced this. After spending an inordinate amount of time tweaking the profile, I soldered on the spectacle plates and made sure the whole upper cab was square before adding the various bits of beading and the rain strips/gutters. Happy days!
Or was it? When I fitted the upper cab to the loco, there was something not quite right about the front spectacle openings – they made the cab look as if it was raising its eyebrows. I knew I had followed the published plan exactly, for the simple reason that I had photocopied it and glued it to the brass before cutting the parts out. It took a lot of studying photos to confirm that the cut outs were indeed too high and the plan was incorrect. I wasn’t prepared to take the cab apart yet again, so I soldered infill pieces into the top of the openings, dressed them back and increased the size of the openings at the bottom. This photo on the workbench just about shows the infill pieces in place:
Now that I had the basis of a half decent model of Merddin Emrys, it was time to start working up the extra details. The twin regulator handles were a must – you can see the part-finished handles and associated pipework (painted red) in the photo of sundry parts in the first post about this project above. The actual handles are 7mm scale handrail knobs. I used another pair as handles for replacement firebox doors – the original model had a simple, barely visible 2 dimensional relief representation of the doors, whereas I wanted to be able to catch a glimpse through the cab doorway of firebox doors that looked ready to be opened for the next shovels of coal from the bunkers that I had made up. Other details included the curved regulator guides, the two whistles (again shown in the earlier photo) and representations of the cat’s cradles of pipework forming the steam manifolds that sit between the cab and the domes. The four brass cab window frames each had to be cut out and shaped individually (definitely something I should have had etched), before soldering on the operating rods and (non-working) hinges at the bottom. That was definitely a labour of love!
Most of these details are still waiting to be fitted to the locomotive, and there are many more that I haven’t even started, such as the lubricators, draincocks, ejector pipes and the coal bunker greedy boards. However, in case anyone is interested in what the loco looks like right now, I put the main parts together over the weekend for a quick photo. Nothing is yet bolted together, so the fit of the components is not as tight as it will be, and the main superstructure hasn’t yet received its maroon panels, let alone any lining. Most of the bling isn’t fitted either (no nameplates, sand pots, tank handrails, whistles, cab window frames, makers plates, etc), but at least it’s the correct length and height for Merddin Emrys, with a cab that’s the right shape and size as well. If people are interested, I’ll provide further updates as the model moves towards completion later in the year. Thanks again for the interest, the comments and the likes.