A West Midlands Works

[Scanlon]

This week has been devoted to detailing 34010. The major construction has centred on building the lower firebox and ashpan. A lot of patience was necessary to ensure the hoppers were in "vertical alignment" to provide the pony truck with sufficient clearance to enable it to swing.

In this photo the pony truck had yet to be levelled out. Trials on Heyside with it in the correct orientation identified minor alterations quickly achieved by slightly reducing the overall height of the leading spring hanger bolt on the pony truck castings.

The engine body has also received attention and now the fireman's side is almost fully detailed, only smokebox sandbox and handrail to add.

This photo shows the deflectors temporarily fitted to correctly locate the huge main steampipe castings in place. Progress on the driver's side has been slower but hopefully next week will see this finished and then a start will be made to install the injectors and pipework.

The tender for 73092 has also progressed and it is now well on the way to being completed.




Rather than fit the etched lampirons cast ones from Laurie Griffin have been used. 73092 was delivered new to Shrewsbury fitted with LM style brackets, not the side on GWR variety. On transfer to the SR additional lampirons were required and two Southern castings have been used reflecting the differences is styles.

To improve the level of detail a number of castings and etches have been ordered from the Ragstone range and hopefully they can be collected at the Bristol show. This should see the tender completed.

Finally the owner of the ex Taff Vale auto coach has finished painting and lining it

 

[warren haywood]

Rogers Stanier 4MT, big loco!!

 

[Scanlon]

Wow

 

[Scanlon]

Detailing of West Country 34010 has continued, why does it take so long to apparently achieve very little?

The detailing of the engine body is about 60 % complete, the major outstanding items being injectors, cab detail, AWS and speedo, while on the tender there are just the rear steps to construct and one spring to change.

Alongside 34010 there has been some progress with 73092. The side rods were built up and this enabled the chassis jig to be set up. The frame etches are formidably strong and a very robust chassis has been built up.


Using ideas from Dibateg the whitemetal springs were assembled on their hangers and then offered up to the frames. A dab of whitemetal solder on the front faces located each spring and then they were more robustly soldered on the inside. The wheels and crankpins have been added and the bogie built up, the latter is a superb set of castings. Fortunately I have constructed a number of these bogies but if I were a first timer the exceptionally brief build description would be a challenge.


Tomorrow is the Bristol show and alternative castings will be acquired to allow the build to progress further alongside 34010. The next job to be tackled is building the cylinders and motion brackets. A very satisfying build so far.

 

[oldravendale]

Detailing of West Country 34010 has continued, why does it take so long to apparently achieve very little?

You've not built any 4mm signals recently then, Roger......

Hope I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be loitering around the F7 stand, plying for business.

Brian

 

[Scanlon]

It has been quite some time since this thread has been updated. Many will realise this is because Duchess of Abercorn has taken up most of my time although even she had to take second place to completing Sidmouth. The West Country is now with Warren Haywood for painting and the Duchess is awaiting running trials. But alongside both locos my Standard 5 73092 had been progressing very slowly but now it is first in the queue.

The Bristol show was as usual excellent and I collected castings from Ragstone for the tender axleboxes, springs and sieve boxes which has greatly improved things so work can now concentrate on the engine.

Initial work concentrated on the frames, running plate and cab. The cylinders built up very easily and the wrappers just needed taking back with a file to achieve the correct finish. I was not happy with the whitemetal castings for the rear piston covers and managed to find brass ones from my spares chest. All the other cylinder castings were useable but the relief valves have been replaced with Ragstone parts. Construction of the slidebar brackets was relatively straightforward although soldering the slidebars to them was not so easy. I had already been forewarned the slidebars would be too close to the rear cylinder covers and like other builders this proved to be so and is something I have to live with.

Castings or a complicated etch are provided for the reverser/lifting link brackets and I sought advice from Tony as to which was best to use. Frankly I did not like the the castings as they would require a huge amount of work to achieve a decent finish and Tony agreed.

This presented a new problem as the build instructions for the etches were missing. Looking at them I was working with nickel silver origami and was bound to make a mistake without a build diagram, fortunately I was able to obtain a copy. They have built up beautifully.

Very few issues arose with forming and detailing the running plate so I could concentrate on the cab. BR Standard cabs have all kinds of nasty angles and differing radii for the curved roofs but the etches built up very quickly. Etched lines inside the cab sides ensure the angle under the windows is formed accurately and using the rear cab etch as a master the differing radii to form the cab roof made life much easier. The sides and roof are one etch.

The next part of the build was to roll the boiler and smokebox and trial fit them to the firebox. The latter is a very large whitemetal casting which is intended to be "hung" off the cab front except the screw holes do not line up with their counterparts on the cab. I decided to tack the firebox to the cab front using whitemetal solder and using scale drawings established the exact position before soldering. When in place and the frames offered up the lower firebox sides should be a snug fit, no chance! It has taken a huge amount of time to form the lower firebox sides but now they fit beautifully.

Both Richard and Tony found it necessary to remove a lot of metal from the running plate to get the boiler assembly to fit properly inside and I followed suit. 2.5mm has been removed from the inside face of each side of the running plate. To create the upturn on the running plate adjacent to the boiler/firebox I used 2mm L shaped brass angle there being nothing in the kit. Both the boiler and smokebox built up very easily. On the boiler the boiler band cleats are inserted from inside the boiler and hold the two edges together to aid soldering.

A very neat idea and once completed the boiler was offered up to the firebox casting and the next problem arose.

There is a ring cast onto the firebox front which fits inside the boiler but of course it didn't, it was too small. Eventually the diameter was spread outward by about 5mm, the gap filled with solder. Now a neat join has been created. A nickel silver etch is provided for the smokebox saddle the only trouble was it was 8mm too long. Rather than try a cut and paste of individual parts I built it up then cut out the offending 8mm and reassembled the two sections.

oops just noticed part of the upturn has come unsoldered!

My plan over the weekend is to complete the smokebox, boiler and saddle, offer the parts up to the firebox and running plate and hopefully install everything after final cleaning. Time will tell.

 

[Scanlon]

OK now I'm on a roll - whatever that means.

Although I was tempted yesterday to push on and assemble the smokebox and boiler to the firebox I'm glad I waited. In the cold light of day I found the smokebox had been assembled incorrectly by yours truly. Fortunately this was a simple job to deal with and at the same time I soldered 0.5mm brass wire around the inside of the front lip to make a better fit for the smokebox door. After cleaning up, everything was assembled "dry" to ensure no more hidden nasties were there to hijack me. Fortunately there were none and so 73092 started to take on her personality. The boiler has been glued onto the ring at the front of the firebox. The smokebox was simply tacked to the inside of the front apron to ensure everything stayed in place and I went away to let the glue cure.

I allowed two hours for curing before going back to the engine and then fitted the body to the frames. I knew the running plate would not be completely level at this stage and placed the loco on glass and measured the height from the glass to the top of the running plate in 4 places. This showed the fireman's running plate to be about 1.5mm too high at the front when compared with the other side, also corresponding height measurements down the length of the running plate were incorrect. By playing my "gas gun" on the area of the apron under the smokebox front the twist naturally evened itself out. A little more work was required before I achieved equal measurements along each side of the running plates.

This photo shows 73092 taking shape

The fitting are just in place for show. Now the majority of the basic build is completed detailing can start in ernest.

 

[Scanlon]

It was my hope to start detailing 73092 on Monday but on checking the castings found some of the major lost wax fittings were missing or were whitemetal castings which I did not want to use. As most of my other Standards have Ragstone parts I decided this loco would also benefit from them and only the manifold has been used from the original kit.

Before any major work could start it was necessary to mark out the position of the handrail knobs, the ejector and blower pipe. Fortunately there is an excellent drawing of the Standard 5 in Volume 1 of Ted Talbots book "A pictorial Record of British Railways Standard Steam Locomotives" which is almost to 7mm scale and this was my guide. Having created numerous holes they now had to be filled and I started by fitting the ejector, blower and the pipe trunking along the boiler. With these parts in place the clacks and delivery pipes could be made up and fitted.

Next to be detailed was the firebox and creating all the pipework and associated fittings. This has taken two days to complete and I used photos of my chosen loco to replicate the pipework. No two locos from the same class are ever the same and shed repairs often took the easy way out and pipes were not necessarily relocated exactly where they had originally been, '92 was no exception.




From early on in the build I was not over enamoured with the smokebox door. Both Richard and Tony had managed to obtain castings from another supplier and I tried the same route but to no avail. In the end I had three different doors but eventually decided the one supplied in the kit was no too bad. Having detailed the door and fitted it I am not disappointed with the result. The lampirons are from the Laurie Griffin range.

So now the upper detailing is mostly complete although the photos show where more cleaning up or levelling is required.

Work will now concentrate on building the injectors and completing the body, then work will also resume on the frames. Up until now I have used the cast connecting rods but find they are very chunky. I may still decide to use the etched ones instead, time will tell.

 

[dibateg]

Looking very tidy Roger!

 

[Scanlon]

Detailing is ongoing with the major task of fitting the injectors taking up a lot of time. I had completely overlooked the need for a piece of 3.5mm brass tube for the exhaust injector. Fortunately I had about 60mm of copper rod of the same diameter in my spares box which saved the day. This is not quite enough so I'll have to be creative to extend the "pipe" into the frames.

On checking the handrails I discovered the drivers side was 2mm higher than it should be. I blame my ruler; whatever I could not live with this discrepancy especially when the loco was viewed from head on. The problem was limited to the smokebox and the old holes were plugged with 1.4mm rod and then carefully filed level with the original etch. New holes for the handrail knobs were drilled and the replacement rail fitted.

With the exhaust injector almost fully installed I decided to spend a day on the frames. My favourite form of wiper pick-up has been installed on all the driving wheels with the wiper bearing on the flange.

The wheels had become rather rusty and required considerable cleaning up before the pick-ups started to work properly. Currently they are rather close to the lower fixings of the springs but after spraying I will slide some heat shrink material over them to avoid any shorting. The side rods have been carefully checked and the bearings reduced in length as appropriate. The cast connecting rods will remain in use considering the remainder of the valve gear is also cast. The big end "boss" has been thinned down to give just enough side to side play on the bearing.

Earlier this week the loco was tested on Heyside and the bogie presented a number of problems. At first I thought I had inserted the pivot mount incorrectly but after consulting drawings found the pivot point was 2mm too far towards the coupled wheels. With this issue resolved a further trial took place and the loco absolved itself albeit requiring much more running in.

Today all work has been concentrated on the cylinder block with drain cocks, anti vacuum valves and mechanical lubricators fitted.

Following more testing further detailing was undertaken and the loco is now almost complete as these photos I hope show

and


My outstanding list is now getting considerably shorter but there is still a few days work ahead.

 

[Len Cattley]

Hi Roger what kit is it?

Len

 

[Scanlon]

Hello Len, This is a Sans Pareil kit.
Roger

 

[Scanlon]

Detailing on 73092 is almost complete with the boiler backhead the major outstanding item to detail and fit. A trial fit of the whitemetal casting has produced some major problems and maybe it is not the right casting for the kit. Tony Geary provided me with photos of his build of 73066 and I noticed he had a brass backhead. Currently I'm investigating ways to pack out my casting by 5mm!

The excellent weather last weekend has enabled me to spray the frames and cylinders. I used Clostermann black etched primer followed up with a quick coat of Halford Satin Black. They were then left to bake in the paint shop - oops conservatory, to dry.


Today all my work has been concentrated on installing the valve gear. The fireman's side has built up perfectly but some of the castings for the driver's side have proven to be rather brittle. Drilling out the holes for the pins resulted in three of the castings breaking up. I knew there would be next to no possibility of obtaining replacements in a reasonable timescale, so there has been some creative thinking/soldering necessary to rebuilt the various damaged parts. Fortunately only one of the affected parts is that visible and with weathering I hope it will be unnoticeable.

I do have a concern because there is no movement in the radius rods, they are fixed at the rear at two points. Tomorrow could be interesting when the wheels are reinstalled and connecting rods fitted.

 

[oldravendale]

Roger - please describe the technique used to turn the conservatory in to a paint shop. 'er indoors will be most interested.

B

 

[Scanlon]

Brian - more than my life's worth! R

 

[Scanlon]

Fortunately my worries about the radius rods were unfounded. With only the middle drivers in place plus the connecting rods and gudeon pins everything worked perfectly, well almost. Both combination levers required very minor tweaking to achieve smooth running.

Buoyed by this success the wheels and coupling rods were reinstated and tested. For some reason both the leading crank pin bushes want to work loose, they didn't before. I use 10BA bolts for crankpins and Geoff Stratford's threaded bushes and on the leading wheels the bushes are installed back to front, i.e. from the front of the rods. The rear of the rod is packed out with a suitable washer soldered to it. I have put some thread lock onto both bolts and hope that will keep the bushes in place.

The driver's side castings for the return crank and eccentric rod continued to play up. I had to replace the cast pin on the return crank with a piece of 1.6mm brass rod after the former broke off during cleaning up. The frames were finally completed with the operating rods for the lubricators being installed.
More testing tomorrow and paint to touch up, then I can tackle that boiler backhead.

 

[Scanlon]

Courtesy of Richard 73092 was put through her paces on Heyside and ran very well until the grub screw on the gear wheel to axle worked loose leaving the gear wheel spinning. A minor problem.

Work has turned to the boiler backhead, always a tricky item for a BR Standard because the cab is so tight and the backhead very large. These however were the least of my problems because the backhead in the kit, while resembling the shape was otherwise far too small. I had to add a 3mm strip to the bottom of the casting, the area added has red marker pen on it,

and an 8mm strip around the "rear face" of the casting again the area added has red marker pen on it.

In the upper photo you will notice there are six holes for fittings, Standards only need four!There then followed numerous trials to ensure a good fit in the cab and interface with the frames. With this achieved detailing could start. I'm not one for fitting every pipe etc. but do like to get backheads at the very least looking correct and this is the result. Pity it will probably never be viewed in this plain again.

After cleaning up getting it back into the cab became a challenge. A number of fittings had to be removed to give just that tiny bit of wiggle room and once in place I decided to leave it there as shown.

That's what I call a snug fit.

Just six more things to do and then the loco will be on its way to Paul Moore for painting in WR lined green, the livery worn by 73092 from May 1960 when overhauled at Doncaster.

Now what's next?

 

[Scanlon]

Well some of you will not be surprised that my next build is another Southern pacific, to be precise the MOK Merchant Navy. I have long wanted to acquire one of these kits and had numerous conversations and emails with Dave Sharp in the hope the kit would be reintroduced. Fortunately one of the original kits became available via the Gauge 0 Guild Sales and Wants and I was lucky to secure it. The kit includes a 6000 gallon tender so this restricted me to a limited number of engines and my model will be 35022 Holland America Line.

Ordinarily for my own collection I steer clear of building a model of a locomotive that is in "preservation" but poor 35022 is a very long way from returning to steam, if ever. Also years ago my family had business relations with the Holland America Line so the choice of loco became rather obvious.

My kit is one of the very early ones and over time MOK have upgraded parts and revised build instructions. Dave Sharp forwarded me a copy of the final instructions for the engine build as the tender is almost finished. Construction of the tender progressed with only a few minor issues. I decided to detail various parts before final assembly, this is the rear of the tender.


The main build went together very quickly and accurately and frankly needed almost no soldering. The most testing part of the build was to solder the curved sides to the coal space. This should have been done before assembling the basic body but as usual I did not take the easy path so gave myself unnecessary problems.

The tender frames also built up very easily and have full compensation on the usual MOK method. Fitting the brake gear has been fiendishly difficult as it follows Mr. Bulleids design quite closely.

In all there are 42 parts to this assembly with each casting requiring full cleaning up and trial fitting before any assembly could take place. However the end result is worth all this effort.

I am now into detailing and probably the most difficult part to form and fit has been the cover over the vacuum reservoirs. More work on this particular item is required


With luck the tender can be completed next week and then a start made on the engine frames.

 

[mickoo]

Lucky devil ,

I've been on the look out for one of these for some time.

MD

 

[Steph Dale]

Roger,

In the words of Roy Walker, 'It's good, but it's not right' - in this instance you've done Mr Bulleid a disservice by knitting his brakegear!

I've got a diagram somewhere, but basically the tender has two separate, independent brake sets; one pulls forward, the other backward.

The brake cross beams are joined with pull rods, one set running over the beams, the other set running under the beams. It's actually a great deal simpler than you've made it, unfortunately.

It's a bit of a pain that I can't remember which set runs over/under the other set. You should be able to crack it if you build the two sets as completely separate operations.

That's assuming you'd like to build it again. If not I'll happily get back in my box...

Steph