A West Midlands Works

[Scanlon]

Hi Steph,
The photos provided by MOK show both sets above the stretchers, they are from 35027 which has an original MN tender. Have a look at
Rebuilt Merchant Navy Kit

To my mind having a set running under the beams would be unsafe.

I have built both sets in the operating fashion you mention and it would be relatively straightforward to turn one set over. Trawling the net for photos of MN brake rigging has proved fruitless for me. Might someone have a clear photo to show me the exact layout? For the moment I'll leave them as they are.

Roger

 

[Steph Dale]

Roger,

Try this; David's M.N.. about half way down. It's another model, but better aligns with what I was thinking of. Certainly Bulleid brake gear was typically equalised, rather than just a straight pull.

Steph

 

[adrian]

I could be wrong but to me it looks like the all the rodding connections are the same, it's just that the little equalising beams are not perpendicular to the stretcher bar, the bracket from the stretcher bar is twisted at an angle towards the nearer wheel. So if the ones connected to the lower pull rods are twisted down and the upper pull rods towards the upper wheels then it'd look the same. By angling the equalising beam it will mean that the pull rods should be able to be straightened.

 

[simond]

I too could be wrong, but the brake gear in the link to "Davids MN" appears to be equalised 50:50 at the first cross beam, and then 50:50 again at the second. This would appear to give 50% of the brake effort on the first axle, and 25% on each of the other two.

And the other set of gear would do the same in the opposite sense, so the end axles would have unbalanced brake forces of 50% one side and 25% the other, and the middle axle would have 25% each side...

I believe that the first equaliser should be assymetric to give 1/3 to the nearest axle and 2/3 to the other two, and then a 50/50 split at the second, which would apply the same effort to all axles.

If I've misunderstood the photo ( which to be fair is not taken from an angle to well illustrate the point) I do apologise for impugning a lovely model.

Edit - And then looking at the MOK photos, it does appear that there are symmetric (upper right, lower left) and asymmetric (upper left, lower right) equalising levers.

Best
Simon

 

[Scanlon]

Final detailing on the tender is almost completed, just the vacuum and steam pipes to be added, so attention has turned to the engine frames.

Given the complexity of the kit I decided to assemble the engine referring to both the old and new sets of instructions. Some of the etches have been renumbered from the original etches and I had to be sure I was removing the correct parts. In addition some etches have been replaced by castings. I am referring to the build of one of these kits which can be found on RM web at
7mm MOK Merchant Navy build - Kitbuilding & Scratchbuilding

There are 10 frame stretchers/constructions to be built



All assembled fairly easily although the inside cylinder motion bracket come stretcher proved to be very tricky. As will be seen they were assembled on to the one side frame to ensure everything was in the correct place. Sounds simple but a number of the assemblies look very similar and could be installed upside down but their fixings are always subtly different. I take my hat off to Dave Sharp because when the other side frame was offered up it fitted first time.

To ensure everything was square I built up the side rods and then put the unsoldered frames onto the chassis jig. The frames were then soldered up and the numerous tags ground away.


The horn ties for the leading and intermediate driving wheel axleboxes have been made removable by using 12BA screws.

At the moment despite much cleaning up the frames look as if they are suffering from chicken pox but the vast majority of these blemishes will vanish behind the wheels. However if they are still noticeable car filler will cover them up.

 

[Dikitriki]

At the moment despite much cleaning up the frames look as if they are suffering from chicken pox but the vast majority of these blemishes will vanish behind the wheels. However if they are still noticeable car filler will cover them up.

Is there not a half-etched overlay for the frames that covers all the tabs?

Richard

 

[mickoo]

Is there not a half-etched overlay for the frames that covers all the tabs?

Richard

Looking at the outside cylinder mounting plate overlay, it looks like there isn't not, unless it goes under that.

First time I've seen one of these being built....I rarely visit over there.....so nice to see all those nicely shaped stretchers and stays

Looking forward to this one, don't be backward in coming forward Roger with the photos

MD

 

[Scanlon]

I suppose as this is an early MOK kit and the frames of the real locos are largely welded that a frame overlay was not considered necessary. At first viewing the fixing points do look terrible when compared with the modern kits. After soldering, each fixing point was ground down and then a very fine file used to remove as much as possible that might still be protruding, finally 250 grade wet and dry was used to give a (near) final finish. Everything was then washed with Cilit and this highlighted where solder still remains to be removed. To demonstrate these blemishes will not be seen I have temporarily put wheels into the frames, here is the "before" shot

and "after" with wheels in place

The majority of the blemishes have already been obscured from view albeit by the very solid nature of the wheels. All the marks at the rear of the frames will be concealed by the ashpan and cab. As Mickoo has pointed out the cylinder mounting plate is the only overlay provided.

Responding to Mickoo's appeal for more photos here are two of the tender.


There are a number of fixing points and joins between etches and castings which will be concealed with car filler.Pipework from the reservoirs still to be added.

 

[mickoo]

Those wheels do cover a lot don't they, what you need are some etched overlays to help the model along

Nice clean work on the tender

MD

 

[Scanlon]

Cylinder building day, the instructions looked daunting but were in fact straightforward. This photo shows the etches to build the basic cylinder together with a built up example,

I decided to add all of the castings pertinent to the cylinders before fitting the wrapper. In all there are 7 castings per cylinder and they only required minimal cleaning up plus the holes in the etches opening out very slightly. With these items in place the wrappers were added. Trying to fit them as recommended, i.e. starting at the underside did not work but trying from the top did. They are a brilliant tight fit just requiring the slightest dab of solder to keep them in place. They now look like this

In addition to this lot there are 2 additional tiny fillet etches for each cylinder plus the large inspection hatch etch still to be fitted. I have no idea where the former go but I'm sure the instructions will eventually tell me. The cylinders themselves slot into the frames and are finally held in position with a 10BA screw. Hopefully more progress next week.

 

[Scanlon]

This build is slowly developing and this week has seen the ashpans, slidebar brackets, front bufferbeam complete with saddle plus AWS battery box and bogie built. In addition a start has been made on the pony truck.

The ashpan was a complicated construction and early on I had to smile at the instructions where they said each side could be built up without resorting to soldering. Well my fingers must be far too fat and frankly four hands were needed at times. That said once the odd tack of solder had been applied the etches built up easily, oops noticed a rivet is missing.

Much the same can be said for the slidebar brackets and the bufferbeam/saddle assembly.
Photos are cruel, they show every blemish but the slight twist and excess solder seen in this photo has been attended to!

The bogie is a lovely piece of engineering and a joy to build. Probably the only issue I had was fitting the springs on the front axle. I decided to ream out one casting and fit it over the bearing. This was an unnecessary and long-winded task and not worth the effort. For the other side I ground off the bearing level with inside the bogie frame, added solder to both frame and springs and then sweated the latter onto the bogie, simples to quote well known Meerkats!

The pony truck is a large whitemetal casting, more recent kits have a lost wax casting. With this item I have ground to a halt having become confused by the instructions. Fitting the wheels was not a problem but the etches referred to are much too big to fit anywhere on/within pony or its pivot point. Is there anyone who can help me out interpreting the instructions, preferably with photos of how they solved the problem?

This photo shows just one of the etches said to create the pivot but as you can see it is huge and will not fit anywhere on the frames.

Today I fitted the driving wheels and coupling rods and the frame runs without any issues. With the parts fitted almost all of the blemishes previously referred to on the frames have been covered up.

At last a locomotive is taking shape.

 

[Scanlon]

34010 has been returned from painting by Warren Heywood and is now with its owner. Here are two photos showing the loco just prior to delivery.



Work is now concentrated on three other pacifics, the Merchant Navy and the two Princess Coronations.

 

[warren haywood]

Roger
Any chance you can email the bottom picture for my website, I don't have a Rebuilt WC on there.
Cheers

 

[Scanlon]

Warren - on the way.

 

[Peter Cross]

Lovely looking loco. Nicely painted as usual Warren.

 

[Scanlon]

It has been some time since I updated readers on progress with 35022. Shortly after completing the basic running frame I started work on the slidebars and crossheads. The castings were ugly to say the least but I persevered until it became obvious they would never be remotely useable. An emergency plea for help went out to Dave Sharpe who told me he could supply a completely reworked set of castings. While waiting for them to arrive I decided to press on with building the engine body.

The smokebox was tackled first and has built up very nicely. It is bolted to the front of the framing at two points and it was a "right game" getting the internal fixing channels in the correct place within the smokebox. Thankfully there are two locating tabs to hold the smokebox in its correct fore/aft alignment. The outside steampipe covers are large whitemetal castings, the left hand one fits perfectly but the right hand one does not as this photo shows

Measurements have been taken to ensure the smokebox is central on the saddle, which is it, but this large gap will need to be attended to. This casting also needs shortening at the cab end to accommodate the cover for the inside cylinder steam pipe.

Next to be built was the cab, at first it looked daunting but following the instructions helped immensely. Earlier in this thread I said Dave Sharpe had provided up to date build instructions. Thank goodness he did because the original set had only 1½ pages and halfway through the build they petered out! The revised set has over 3½ pages! These photos show progress from frame to completion.

now with the basic "skin"

and finally

Just this part of the build has taken over 20 hours. The cab, boiler and smokebox assembly has been trial fitted one to the other and everything lines up although there is a slight gap between the cab and firebox. The revised instructions says this can occur and is to be filled.

Detailing of the running plate has started with the lubricators and the covers for the swing links of the piston valves being fitted. I had hoped to complete detailing today but find there are no oil boxes in the kit. Holes for the six that are required stand glaring at me so I'll have to find decent replacements.


A start has been made on building the complex brake gear. I am intimately aware of the complexity and devilishly difficult to fit replacement brake blocks on these locos having operated one on the main line for over 14 years. Obviously Mr. Bulleid was never invited to replace one of the leading brake blocks which ends up behind the crosshead! If he had he might have made life easier when designing the light pacifics! These photos show the leading hangers and stretchers and the linkage to the steam brake cylinders

and

This photo shows the trailing assembly which is integral with the front support for the firebox. For the moment the brake blocks have only been pinned to the hangers.

So far everything has lined up perfectly. Now to build the rest.

 

[Scanlon]

It has been a little while since I last reported on developments. Firstly the two Princess Coronation pacifics have reached the paint stage. The frames for 46234 are still being worked on but the engine and tender bodies are complete and have been despatched to Warren for painting. 46240 is complete and undergone very successful running trials on Heyside and is now away for painting into 1963 LMR Maroon livery.

Then Telford came along and I took delivery of 73092 from Paul Moore

The real loco was painted in BR green in 1960 at Doncaster. It was a WR loco until 1965 when it was transferred to the Southern Region to eke out its days. Unfortunately it never seemed to see a cleaners rag between 1965 and withdrawal on 7th July 1967.

Courtesy of Steamlines this fine machine came my way

Built from a Martin Finney kit it had spent six years as a shelf queen. Trials on Heyside showed it would run in a straight line but shorted out on the brake rigging whenever a curve was met. There were four problems and these have been slowly dealt with and hopefully another trial run will be successful. The model will become 34057 Biggin Hill in mid 1960s condition and consequently it has had AWS and a speedometer added. Shortly it will be away for a repaint.

There has been no developments on 35022 but now the flurry of Finney pacifics is out of the way I will return to this build in the very near future.

 

[Scanlon]

Work on 35022 has recommenced with the running plate being detailed. I seemed to have mislaid the oil boxes for the horn guides and the oiler for the middle cylinder but fortunately I was able to obtain suitable replacements from Iain Young. Next the large whitemetal main steampipe covers were adjusted to fit snugly against the smokebox. The casting for the middle cylinder steampipe requires the firemans side outside cylinder casting to be shortened at the cab end to accommodate it, also the smokebox saddle needed slight modification.




The model will have AWS and the opportunity is being taken to fit the electrical pipework for it and the lights before the boiler is finally put in place. I hunted high and low for the a photo of the conduit layout on the smokebox and eventually came across 35003 under repair in Eastleigh

Copyright Pinterest
The photo below shows the main run in place but the conduit roughly in place alongside the smokebox. Only once the boiler assembly is fitted can the conduit be soldered in place.


The deflectors have been built up and minor detailing fitted. The curve to match the smokebox has yet to be created

At the same time the lamp irons and lamps have been fitted above the bufferbeam.

A trial of the boiler, smokebox and cab revealed a slight gap at the smokebox joint. Further investigation revealed the smokebox was slightly too far forward. To rectify this the front fixing points had to be unsoldered and slightly moved forward. This apparently simple task required a complete rebuild of the smokebox. The smokebox and boiler casting are now slowly bonding courtesy of Araldite.


The next stage in this build will be to detail the boiler and then fit the cab. Getting there.

 

[Scanlon]

Getting there

but still lots to do.

 

[Scanlon]

Progress has been interrupted due to getting locos ready for the recent BRM show in Peterborough, in another life I am a member of the 82G operating team. Despite this diversion detailing has continued around the cab and at the front end with the smokebox door, front footsteps and the final detail added to the deflectors.


The exterior cab detail has seen the generator and its associated detail on the driver's side fitted and the injectors constructed for the fireman's side. The latter have been built up in accordance with the revised MOK instructions and the pipework fitted with reference entirely to original photos of rebuilt engines in "The Book of the Merchant Navy Pacifics". Some locos in preservation have re-entered service with "alternative" pipework.

This photo shows the completed unit as it would normally be viewed, the photo below shows the "inside" view and the water feed pipework

With the injectors built they were offered up to the loco and now I am completely stumped. The distance from the rear of the cab to the rear of the pony truck is 12mm, but the castings etc. require at least 17mm including pipework. Is any fellow WT reader able to tell me how they made the injectors fit and still give the pony truck the space to move side to side? I have looked at other models built from this kit and all appear to have compromised this aspect. For obvious reasons work in this area has temporarily stopped.

Completing the brakes and finishing the frames will now take priority while the injector problem is reviewed.