Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Unfortunately that's not possible. The door to the toilet is locked and I can't find the key. Obviously I am not inside the building.
Thank you.
Captain Kernow's layouts
- Thread starter Captain Kernow
- Start date
Thank you.
LarryG
Western Thunderer
Good tone and colouring; A very healthy bowel ....
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Thank you Larry (I think!).Good tone and colouring; A very healthy bowel ....
Now look what you've started, Mr Sheepshanks!
Stubby47
Western Thunderer
Don't expect any sympathy from me!
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
To be fair, CK, Larry is known for being very good with colour.......
But is it art, Darling?
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Art is as Art does.
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
I've now started another OO loco for 'Bethesda Sidings', which might be the last one in that gauge for a while, as 'Callow Lane' needs to be completed.
My starting point is an old Sutherland Model Casters whitemetal kit, which dates from the 1970s.
Although Sutherland kits had a good reputation in their day, this project is something of a return to old school modelling, such as I remember from years ago, when I used to build quite a lot of kits like this.
The wheels and chassis provided with the kit are not fit for purpose now, so they will not be used. The wheels are steel tyred, with plastic centres, quartered by a 'D' shaped fitting between the wheel and the axle (they may actually be old K's wheels). The frames have a large cut-out for an old-style motor and are really too flimsy for what is quite a heavy loco body.
The kit eventually became part of the NuCast range in recent years and has now been taken over by a partnership between SE Finecast and Branchlines, known as 'NuCast Partners'.
The kit I'm building is an original one from the 1970s, unstarted until I began work on it, but I am using the delightful etched nickel silver chassis recently produced for NuCast Partners by Justin Newitt and which is available separately.
Despite Sutherland having a better reputation for quality than (say) K's, the parts have all needed a lot of fettling before they can be fitted together, involving much filing, cleaning of clogged files, scraping of excess whitemetal away with a scalpel etc.
Although I am following the chassis instructions more or less to the letter, the Sutherland instructions are being adhered to in a slightly vaguer way. I decided that the priority was to ensure that the chassis frames fitted the footplate casting, once the buffer beams had been attached, so this is what I did first:
The footplate casting itself needed a lot of fettling, to remove excess flash, which I had done over the a period of a few months last year at DRAG meetings.
The area behind the buffer beams needs to be clear of all unnecessary whitemetal once the buffer beams have been attached:
I am soldering the body together where possible, using Carrs low melt solder.
One of the features of the new chassis is that the springs have the option of being 'beefed up' with an additional layer, which I chose to do. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that the High Level gearbox that I'm using (which I'd assembled a couple of years ago for something else, but not used it) is just shy of 11mm wide and that matches the distance between the etched frames, when building in OO. So, part of the spring overlay then had to be removed, to allow the drive extender from the gearbox to fit:
In the meantime, the motor was attached to the gearbox and given a bit of 'running in':
With the frames confirmed as fitting the footplate casting and the basic chassis assembled, it was time to solder in the hornblock assemblies for the leading two axles. This is to give basic three point compensation, which even in OO helps running and electrical pick up.
The frames were put into the chassis jig (Hobby Holidays) and made ready:
The hornblocks (which were spare Perseverance ones) need to be pressed onto the inner faces of the frames with springs. Here is one prior to soldering:
Once the hornblocks were in place, it was time to solder the coupling rods up and try them on the rolling chassis. One other thing I had to do was to fabricate and fit a compensation beam, as the NuCast Partners chassis is only designed for being built rigid or with springing, so it was necessary to mark the position for the beam pivot between the leading and middle axles, before the spaces for the hornblocks were cut out.
Here all the hornblocks are in place, together with the Markits wheels and the pivot for the compensation beam is also in place:
Here is the very basic chassis being shunted about on 'Bethesda Sidings' by 7418:
Happily, the chassis ran nice and freely when being pushed along. I am aware that the 16XX is riding a bit too low when compared with the 74XX, but I've since rectified that.
After that, I fitted the motor and gearbox and wired the motor directly to the controller and was very pleased to note that the chassis ran nice and smoothly under it's own power as well (because nothing runs very fast on 'Bethesda Sidings', the 16XX has a 90:1 gearbox).
This afternoon, I have turned my attention to the whitemetal body and soldered the basic cab structure in place. The photo belies the considerable amount of fettling required to get the castings to fit properly!
More in due course!
My starting point is an old Sutherland Model Casters whitemetal kit, which dates from the 1970s.
Although Sutherland kits had a good reputation in their day, this project is something of a return to old school modelling, such as I remember from years ago, when I used to build quite a lot of kits like this.
The wheels and chassis provided with the kit are not fit for purpose now, so they will not be used. The wheels are steel tyred, with plastic centres, quartered by a 'D' shaped fitting between the wheel and the axle (they may actually be old K's wheels). The frames have a large cut-out for an old-style motor and are really too flimsy for what is quite a heavy loco body.
The kit eventually became part of the NuCast range in recent years and has now been taken over by a partnership between SE Finecast and Branchlines, known as 'NuCast Partners'.
The kit I'm building is an original one from the 1970s, unstarted until I began work on it, but I am using the delightful etched nickel silver chassis recently produced for NuCast Partners by Justin Newitt and which is available separately.
Despite Sutherland having a better reputation for quality than (say) K's, the parts have all needed a lot of fettling before they can be fitted together, involving much filing, cleaning of clogged files, scraping of excess whitemetal away with a scalpel etc.
Although I am following the chassis instructions more or less to the letter, the Sutherland instructions are being adhered to in a slightly vaguer way. I decided that the priority was to ensure that the chassis frames fitted the footplate casting, once the buffer beams had been attached, so this is what I did first:
The footplate casting itself needed a lot of fettling, to remove excess flash, which I had done over the a period of a few months last year at DRAG meetings.
The area behind the buffer beams needs to be clear of all unnecessary whitemetal once the buffer beams have been attached:
I am soldering the body together where possible, using Carrs low melt solder.
One of the features of the new chassis is that the springs have the option of being 'beefed up' with an additional layer, which I chose to do. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that the High Level gearbox that I'm using (which I'd assembled a couple of years ago for something else, but not used it) is just shy of 11mm wide and that matches the distance between the etched frames, when building in OO. So, part of the spring overlay then had to be removed, to allow the drive extender from the gearbox to fit:
In the meantime, the motor was attached to the gearbox and given a bit of 'running in':
With the frames confirmed as fitting the footplate casting and the basic chassis assembled, it was time to solder in the hornblock assemblies for the leading two axles. This is to give basic three point compensation, which even in OO helps running and electrical pick up.
The frames were put into the chassis jig (Hobby Holidays) and made ready:
The hornblocks (which were spare Perseverance ones) need to be pressed onto the inner faces of the frames with springs. Here is one prior to soldering:
Once the hornblocks were in place, it was time to solder the coupling rods up and try them on the rolling chassis. One other thing I had to do was to fabricate and fit a compensation beam, as the NuCast Partners chassis is only designed for being built rigid or with springing, so it was necessary to mark the position for the beam pivot between the leading and middle axles, before the spaces for the hornblocks were cut out.
Here all the hornblocks are in place, together with the Markits wheels and the pivot for the compensation beam is also in place:
Here is the very basic chassis being shunted about on 'Bethesda Sidings' by 7418:
Happily, the chassis ran nice and freely when being pushed along. I am aware that the 16XX is riding a bit too low when compared with the 74XX, but I've since rectified that.
After that, I fitted the motor and gearbox and wired the motor directly to the controller and was very pleased to note that the chassis ran nice and smoothly under it's own power as well (because nothing runs very fast on 'Bethesda Sidings', the 16XX has a 90:1 gearbox).
This afternoon, I have turned my attention to the whitemetal body and soldered the basic cab structure in place. The photo belies the considerable amount of fettling required to get the castings to fit properly!
More in due course!
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
A few days ago, I soldered the pannier tanks and the tank top sections in place, together with the 'under boiler' and the smokebox (most of the latter is hidden behind the pannier tanks).
The parts weren't the most brilliant of fits, with one pannier tank casting actually being longer than the other by just over 1mm!
So, much fettling was required, filing, scraping and sanding of whitemetal, to get them to fit in a way that I was happy with.
The original 1970s instructions simply advised one to assemble the relevant parts and didn't offer any guidance in how to acquire the additional two hands (or one extra hand, at the very least) that were necessary, in order to hold everything in place.
I was keen to ensure that the pannier tanks were at the right height. level and parallel with the footplate casting (which itself had to be continuously checked to ensure that the constant handling didn't put an unwanted bend or curve in it).
The solution was to cut four small cubes of balsa wood, to represent the correct height between the top of the footplate and the bottom of the tanks, so as to ensure the pannier tanks were at least parallel with the footplate.
A succession of tack solderings followed, with the alignment of the parts carefully checked each time, before more solder was used to properly secure the pieces in place:
The parts weren't the most brilliant of fits, with one pannier tank casting actually being longer than the other by just over 1mm!
So, much fettling was required, filing, scraping and sanding of whitemetal, to get them to fit in a way that I was happy with.
The original 1970s instructions simply advised one to assemble the relevant parts and didn't offer any guidance in how to acquire the additional two hands (or one extra hand, at the very least) that were necessary, in order to hold everything in place.
I was keen to ensure that the pannier tanks were at the right height. level and parallel with the footplate casting (which itself had to be continuously checked to ensure that the constant handling didn't put an unwanted bend or curve in it).
The solution was to cut four small cubes of balsa wood, to represent the correct height between the top of the footplate and the bottom of the tanks, so as to ensure the pannier tanks were at least parallel with the footplate.
A succession of tack solderings followed, with the alignment of the parts carefully checked each time, before more solder was used to properly secure the pieces in place:
AJC
Western Thunderer
Good to see, Tim and useful, because I have one of these to do, too. The footplate is my greatest concern so the tip about the balsa blocks has been filed for future reference. 1668 is a couple of locos down the queue, however.
One question, however - what are you doing to fit the motor in the boiler? Your motor and gearbox set up looks very similar to what I have in mind and my instinct was to mount the boiler bottom and perhaps the footplate to the chassis and assemble the panniers over the top but since you're at this point, I'd be interested to see what your solution is.
Adam
One question, however - what are you doing to fit the motor in the boiler? Your motor and gearbox set up looks very similar to what I have in mind and my instinct was to mount the boiler bottom and perhaps the footplate to the chassis and assemble the panniers over the top but since you're at this point, I'd be interested to see what your solution is.
Adam
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Hi Adam,
My plan is (using the underside of the lower boiler casting already in place on the loco body) to mark out (via a paper template) a piece of brass sheet, that will be shaped and curved to fit the gap under the cast boiler. The brass section will be soldered to the chassis, thus at the same time creating a small, thin cradle for the motor to sit on. There should be just enough room for this. I was planning to modify the EM and P4 brackets from my 74XX chassis to act as the supports for the piece of brass.
Once I've finished indulging myself with gluing and soldering bits of detail on to the body, this is the next piece of work that needs to be done, before I can complete the detailing of the chassis.
76043
Western Thunderer
I've got a K's J50 and an etched chassis to do fairly soon, so thanks for posting this. I've never soldered white metal before, have the right flux, solder and Iain Rice's book. What's your number 1 white metal soldering tip? (Tip as in advice not a soldering tip, although maybe that is your no.1 tip!!) 
Tony
Tony
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
Hi Tony,
I use Carrs Red Label flux and their low melt solder.
Clean the areas to be soldered to clean, untarnished metal and ensure that there is enough heat but not too much. I use my normal Antex 50w variable temperature iron on a fairly low setting.
Watch closely as you solder (obviously!) and be prepared withdraw the iron immediately if it starts to look like it might melt something you don't want it to.
Finally, remember that some parts are more easily glued!
I use Carrs Red Label flux and their low melt solder.
Clean the areas to be soldered to clean, untarnished metal and ensure that there is enough heat but not too much. I use my normal Antex 50w variable temperature iron on a fairly low setting.
Watch closely as you solder (obviously!) and be prepared withdraw the iron immediately if it starts to look like it might melt something you don't want it to.
Finally, remember that some parts are more easily glued!
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
The last few days has seen a bit more progress on the body:
Captain Kernow
Western Thunderer
As this kit is rather 'old school', there's a gap under the boiler, which really needs to be filled. There is a whitemetal 'underboiler' casting, but that has a large gap for the old type motors that were available in the 1970s, when the kit was designed.
I liked the way that High Level provide an 'underboiler' in their chassis kits, so I sought to replicate this, using a piece of spare brass, rolled to shape and two spare underboiler brackets from the High Level 74XX kit (the EM and P4 ones, which I didn't use). Both the support brackets were reduced in width before fitting, but the radius was pretty spot-on for what I needed:
Here is the underboiler now soldered in place on the chassis. The motor will rest on the piece of brass:
I liked the way that High Level provide an 'underboiler' in their chassis kits, so I sought to replicate this, using a piece of spare brass, rolled to shape and two spare underboiler brackets from the High Level 74XX kit (the EM and P4 ones, which I didn't use). Both the support brackets were reduced in width before fitting, but the radius was pretty spot-on for what I needed:
Here is the underboiler now soldered in place on the chassis. The motor will rest on the piece of brass: