4mm Brighton Works - An EM Terrier

[AJC]

I've decided to spin the Terrier posts out of my general workbench thread - just to provide a bit more focus - the most recent post is here:
4mm - An EM workbench - Open Highs | Page 26 | Western Thunder

Anyhow, a quick summary of the current state of play:



Gradually, the loco is coming to life - it now has a full set of boiler handrails, vacuum ejector pipework (an SR retrofit - no two were alike). The smokebox has also acquired rivets (Archer's Transfers) applied over Klear and sealed with more of the same - I used a spot of Microsol to help them the transfer film sit right and the effect looks quite good but we'll see what it looks like under paint. There's a blower pipe on the right hand side of the boiler to go on and then the boiler will be painted - being a shed pet most of the pipework was burnished and will have to be added once paint and lining is in place.



Work has now moved on to the cab. The back sheet has had window bars added (fuse wire, soldered to strips of scrap etch). Most of this will be invisible...



With the coal rails added, you may wonder if that was worth the effort! What unquestionably was is the enlargement of the tool box on the back of the bunker: normal size toolbox, tiny wee loco. And yes, the slightly battered appearance is deliberate. I've also plugged the holes for the Westinghouse pump prior to adding a Gibson brass item (again, this will have to be pre-painted. And pre-plumbed). Thank heaven for transfer lining...



Adam

 

[AJC]

Remember this? Say hello again to Brighton Works.



There's not all that much that is obvious in the changes since the last round of activity, but there are some important changes. I have levelled the loco on its compensation beam and embarked on the (limited) cab detail. So far, we have splashers, seats, regulator handle and driver's brake valve (a nice Branchlines casting for what is, on such a tiny creature, a relatively prominent feature). Because of the crew, I shan't add all that much since it will be utterly invisible and the eye will - I hope - be drawn to the bonkers livery and mess of pipework which I really need to start thing some more about...



Adam

 

[john lewsey]

I've driven one of these so like it
John

 

[AJC]

Conscious that I really couldn't get any further before I paint the boiler - and that as it stood, the poor thing looks as though it's on life support - I've primed much of what I've added resulting in Brighton the Ghost Engine.



One reassuring benefit of this is that the extra bulk the Marsh chimney should have relative to the delicate Stroudley affair is present. The casting is from Puffers; I have some ideas about the copper cap. Watch this space.



Front on, I think the all important face of the A1X is achieved far better than Dapol managed it - the new smokebox door and finesse of the handrails (I've used 0.31 nickel silver wire and 'N gauge' handrail knobs: the latter have also made the smokebox dart). The transfer rivets are also shown to good effect, I think? Moving backwards to the cab where there is still more work to be done:



The brake valve is obvious, I think, as is the place where the air pump belongs. This is a rather lovely casting from Alan Gibson:



The various pipes were a bit of a swine to add, as was the lubricator pot on top (not supplied, I guess, because there were so many variants on the theme) but all are essential to the look of the thing. The pipework also to provides a means to fix the thing on securely. This too has to be painted (and lined!) before it can be installed. Thank goodness for the transfers produced by the Brighton Circle; if it weren't for these the loco would, even now, be headed for a repaint in BR black.

Adam

 

[oldravendale]

Hi Adam.

Those rivets look the DBs. I've used them previously with similar good effect on several 7mm models.

I now have quite a few of these to add to The Dreaded K, particularly around the smokebox. Previously I've applied on top of the primer coat. Ideally I'd like to apply them direct to the brass in the case of the K. Have you (or anyone else) tried applying them directly to brass?

I guess there is a risk in doing so as they will probably come off when the loco is washed before painting, but I wonder if it's any worse than the risk if applied after primer, as I usually go over the primer coat with IPA well let down with water to clear up any grollies before the top coat, and then once again before the varnish.

Brian

 

[AJC]

Hi Adam.

Those rivets look the DBs. I've used them previously with similar good effect on several 7mm models.

I now have quite a few of these to add to The Dreaded K, particularly around the smokebox. Previously I've applied on top of the primer coat. Ideally I'd like to apply them direct to the brass in the case of the K. Have you (or anyone else) tried applying them directly to brass?

I guess there is a risk in doing so as they will probably come off when the loco is washed before painting, but I wonder if it's any worse than the risk if applied after primer, as I usually go over the primer coat with IPA well let down with water to clear up any grollies before the top coat, and then once again before the varnish.

Brian

Hi Brian,

They're certainly much more consistent than I could have achieved by any other means. I've not tried applying them directly to brass, no. Plastic in this case though (sealed with Johnson's Klear before painting) but prior to that, always over primer, glossed with Klear. I don't see any reason why brass would be a problem, but sealing prior to paint is probably sensible.

Adam

 

[oldravendale]

Thanks Adam

 

[AJC]

A preview of wider progress: the first(!) stage painting of the Westinghouse pump. Actually it's nearer the third - white (two thin coats), ochre (Precision, let down with quite a lot of light grey to match the Hornby finish - two thin coats), green (Humbrol no. 30, again, a match for the existing Hornby finish). Over this, I've applied a couple of coats of Klear...



... Lining transfers next.

Adam

 

[AJC]

And now, a fair amount of Micro Sol and held breath later:



Boiler bands and splashers above and below, tank fronts - a rather better effort than Hornby managed - thanks to the Brighton Circle and the good offices of Eric Gates for producing and supplying these transfers.



The thing is now far enough along to finish the pipe runs, fit clack valves, top feed, tank lid clamps (and countless other bits and bobs). The second of the two shots show that I need to add a spot of filler under the saddle as well. There is, naturally, much, much more lining still to come; thank you Mr Stroudley!

Adam

 

[AJC]

After the fancy paintwork, some minute metal bashing. In this case, the clacks (a modified Gibson casting) and the safety valves. I've not built anything with Salter valves before and while the spring columns were a pair of turnings bought from Branchlines - and thus straightforward - the levers were fettled from shim, doubled-back on itself, wrapped around a bit of 0.45mm brass wire at the dome end, then filed to shape and then wrapped around the spring columns at the other and soldered. Add a washer on the top to represent the adjusting nuts - these were made from spare hopper door operating levers which were opened out, soldered on and then had the ends trimmed off - before cleaning, blacking and gluing in place.




The rest of the pipework will have to wait until I've found more suitable copper wire (0.6 nominal, untinned). Why untinned? One of the challenges of a shed pet is that all the pipework was scoured and polished regularly ... every other Terrier and most of the preserved examples have these self-same pipes unkempt, painted or - easiest of all, in model form, lagged! No matter, it's only today that I've worked out roughly where all these things are supposed to go and most of that cannot go on until I've finished and fixed the cab in place.

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Nice work Adam.

I had fun with the moisture traps, air and vacuum lines my O scale A1X.

 

[AJC]

I've barely thought about the under footplate pipework yet Dave!

I've spent a frustrating half hour or so seeking out the old-fashioned Romford handrail knobs to use as globe lubricators and valves that I *know* I have somewhere - does anyone have such things knocking around?

Adam

EDIT: FOUND 'em!

 

[AJC]

Here's what the chunky handrail knobs are for:



This tank-top cat's cradle needs to be represented somehow and a Terrier, being quite dainty (though generously proportioned in relation to many of the industrials I've built). Yes, one should be wary of copying a preserved example - in this case, the K&ESR's 32678 - but the boiler fittings are in the same place I imagine they've always been, the plumbing relates to a top feed that has been there for a century or more, the air pump was fitted from day 1 and pipe runs are something derived from what a fitter saw as the right solution and, given the space available, cannot have varied all that much. Besides, I have no appropriate picture of Brighton Works!

So, how to represent it? Fatso handrail knobs, drilled at 90 degrees:



I've threaded the knobs onto a length of 0.45 wire, soldered the string of knobs to a bit of scrap brass and gently flattened with a file before pricking a mark to take a 0.5 mm drill to. So here we are. With all those feed pipes heading into the cab, I have to complete that first, drill some holes in the front, and then fix it permanently in place. Patience will be required.

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Hi Adam

I'll check my research when I get home as I amassed quite a few photos of Terriers when I was building and detailing my model of 2636 in pre-1951 overhaul condition.

(I have an interest in the LBSCR and SR central section).

 

[AJC]

Thanks Dave! That would be appreciated. I'm more a devotee of the Western Section (being brought up in that neck of the woods), but have had a hankering for a model of one of the small number of locos turned out in pre-Nationalisation liveries (or versions thereof) and let's face facts, Brighton Works is more interesting than 4555 and a mite easier to justify - and build, never mind paint - than the Caley single!

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Hi Adam

I had found one of Brighton Works (colour) on the web which may be useful and one of Stepney (credited as shown). All used for illustrative purposes. I believe the two B&W photos are from a magazine.






Although the globe valves on Stepney are in a similar place to 32678 there is less pipe work. I'm still searching my records for further photos of Brighton Works.

 

[AJC]

Interesting, thank you - I can see that I'll need a Brighton shedplate as well as adding rivets to the smokebox door straps, bottom of the chimney and so on (those on the tanksides were already on the list).

Stepney should have a bit less pipework because it lacks air braking and thus doesn't need the steam feed for it; it is reassuring, however, that the globe valves are broadly in the same place! I must also check my other pictures to see whether the boiler handrails end shy of the cab in general, or on Brighton Works (I strongly suspect that they don't!) as this would make matters a lot easier. No work on it today though, it's a cricket evening.


Adam

 

[AJC]

The final steps before the big assembly job. The cab interior is treated to basic detail, paint (the driver will hide most of it) and paint and the spectacles glazed. Obviously I've also drilled a few holes: for pipe work and, less visibly, in the footplate for handrails and a spigot to secure the driver's leg...





Note that I've also painted and lined the toolbox - the very visible plank line was a feature of the real thing which just goes to show, no matter how pretty the paint job, an 85 year old loco will always show a bit of wear.



Adam

 

[Steph Dale]

Adam,

That's coming along very nicely, I like the use of decals for the lining panels it's given you a result which is so neat. The other thing which strikes me is how small the model is from my viewpoint as a 7mm modeller. I know Terriers are tiny, but even then...

The 'lump' next to the cab entrance on each side was, I think, originally a bracket for a spare lamp (does anyone know?). On the right hand side it was traditional for it to hold a hammer: handy to give a hefty wallop to a recalcitrant Westinghouse pump. I'll leave it up to you as to how to model the dents in the pump itself

Steph

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I like the addition of the train staff holder on the cab sides .

Quite often they were used by the Brighton crew to store a hammer. This is from my O scale E4.


I admire your tenacity in this scale - it wad bad enough trying to shoehorn the cab detail into my O scale Terrier.