JLTRT 37/4 in S7

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
I use the same only mine is liquid rather than paste. I do have some Carrs but I find Birchwood Casey much easier to use somehow (hard to describe).

Reading a write up on paste vs liquid, it says that although slower to darken than liquid it will build up a denser finish.
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
I have only ever used the liquid, so i might give that a try. Is that a GWR 7ft bogie I spy on the bench?

It's a Collett bogie from a JLTRT kit for a supposed B Set, I say supposed as I have opened up a hornets nest ( on another forum :rolleyes: ) as to the real parentage of the Dia 98, so far no one has any actual proof of a true B Set !!

I use the same only mine is liquid rather than paste. I do have some Carrs but I find Birchwood Casey much easier to use somehow (hard to describe).

I'm afraid my description of Birchwood casey may have been a bit misleading as in my opinion it is between paste/liquid so probably the same stuff :confused:. What I would say with the technique I explained is to degrease, warm and blacken all in one session. Hope this makes sense.

ATB, Martyn.
 

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
It makes sense to me Martyn. Up to now I have scrubbed with a nylon abrasive pan shiner (sorry not sure of their proper name but I have a bag full that I got from ebay originally to cut into strips for hedges on an N gauge layout) I then apply the liquid like you with a cotton bud usually going over each twice before dunking in cold water then I dry them of with a rag and polish up with the pan shiner giving a blackened gleam.

However I will give your method a try to see which is easiest:thumbs:
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Oh yes, most of us use it on the loco's see my 42xx chassis below :thumbs:

ATB, Martyn.

Hi Martyn,

Sorry to ask a daft question & appologies to Pugs for hijacking his thread again :oops:...........but are the tyres painted (if thats the right term) or just the front & back faces of the wheels on your 42xx ?

Cheers Phill :)
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Phil,

Not a daft question at all it's hard to make out in the photo, the tyres or rims front and back are blackened also the tread the bit that contacts the rail. The front and back wheel faces ( plastic centres ) are not touched at all at this stage, although they will later receive a dusting of paint ( Railmatch sleeper grime and brake dust ) just to tone them down a tad.

ATB, Martyn.
 

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
Hello all,

I've used B/C for some time now before I paint the wheels. I rub the backs of them down on some wet 'n' dry (that is stuck down on a length of flat wood). The brass centres need a bit of work on them with a fibreglass brush, Then dunk them in cellulose thinners to degrease them and let them dry.

Then apply the B/C to the front and back faces of the rims using a cotton bud (some people will do the treads, I don't). Let them dry, then prime them and paint them. I leave the paint on the treads until I have done as much soldering around the wheels as possible, then mount them in the lath and scrape off the paint on the treads, and polish the treads using a Geriflex block to give a nice shine to them.

I also do the axles as well.

I was going to put some photos to show this but my photos are to large.

HTH

OzzyO.
 

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Hello all,



I was going to put some photos to show this but my photos are to large.

HTH

OzzyO.

I use Picasa 3 which is a free program to manage my pics & when you export a pic from it to your desktop or wherever it gives you the option to re-size the copy you are exporting :thumbs:
 

Pugsley

Western Thunderer
Back to the build now, and thankfully the second bogie hasn't taken anywhere near as long to (nearly) complete as the first! It's also a bit of a milestone moment, as the loco is plonked on to both bogies for the first time:

IMG_2369web.jpg
It looks quite imposing from this angle! It also shows the rippled sides, slightly, which I'm hoping to highlight with the painting and weathering that I'm not really looking forward to.

The threaded ride height adjustment has already proved its worth - the loco now sits more or less level on the bogies, before it would have been leaning towards the camera in the above shot. I've had to lift the side closest to the camera by roughly 1.5mm to get it sitting right. It does still sit a bit high but nothing a bit of:
IMG_2371web.jpg
won't cure :D

(As an aside, I reckon this has to be the most cost effective way of buying lead - OK, it did cost 23 quid, but there's enough lead there to last me for ages, possibly a lifetime!)

Looking a little closer:
IMG_2368web.jpg

The mechanism is fairly well hidden and the gears aren't that obtrusive. The white plastic visible in the pic above will be toned down with permanent marker, to disguise it. A couple of the primary springs need a slight tweak, to get them sitting right as well.

I've also turned up my own encoder for centre axle of the No.2 end bogie (on the opposite side to the speedo), this was something that was only fitted to the refurbed examples. I did umm and ahh about doing it, but decided that I'd only regret not doing it. The dimensions were worked out from photos and brass rod turned to the correct diameter, with a small piece of brass section soldered on for the square bit.

IMG_2370web.jpg

This angle does highlight the lack of brake gear, which is something I will be addressing soon, once I've cast the necessary bits in resin.

There now follows a most unlike me embrace of technology - I've filmed the bogie in action and have uploaded it to Youtube! It's not powered, but I hope it gives an idea of how effective the suspension is in action:

It should be able to cope with the worst track imaginable, which is just as well as I've imagined some pretty ropey track for the eventual layout that the loco will run on. I think the powertrain may be a little noisy once it's all under power, but a bit of running in may help with that. If it doesn't, I'll just have to turn the soundchip up louder! :D

Does anyone know if there's going to be an S7 test track at the Bristol show? I can temporarily bodge it together to run on DC if so - it'd be nice to give it a run somewhere to see if it actually works. I still have to work out how I'm going to retain the bogies though, there isn't enough room to put a nut on the original studs cast into the chassis. I'm toying with the idea of using wire rope retainers - I've got something from Eileens that should be suitable, but it's going to take a bit more thought.
 
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