JLTRT 37 517 in Loadhaul, S7 & lots of detail.

[tomstaf]

Hi,

I've had 2 trips to Telford recently, the first to pick up a JLTRT 37 and associated parts, the second to see what tools, paints and techniques the military modellers are using. My aim being to make the 37 as realistic as possible using a range of techniques.

First up was matching my research with the kit. There are a few details omitted but nothing that my roaming tape measure and some etches couldn't overcome. I'll work my way through the etched parts over the new few posts.

Here's the etch

I'm adding a few parts to the roof. The Shawplan fan assembly, and my own boiler port blanking plate. More on those later. Moving down to the roof vents there are drainage holes on the pillars between the vents. The loco is largely black so I need to make use of weathering techniques to add relief and ensure it doesn't turn into a solid block of black. The prototypes have rain marks so I wanted to include the source of these on the model. As there were quite a few holes to drill I etched a template for accurate positioning and speedy execution. It simply folds up and clips round the roof's pillars mouldings with a pressure fit. Here's the result.



More to come soon.

Cheers

Tom

 

[Steph Dale]

Nice start, I do like this approach to detailing. Compromise be damned!
Steph

 

[richard carr]

Tom

Looks good, I shall watch with interest, I'm now onto number 4 and number 5 of my batch of 5 37s in S7.

Which wheels are you going to use and are you going to modify the bogies at all ?


Richard

 

[tomstaf]

Hi Richard,

I'm using Slaters wheels and Col (Eastsidepilot) has turned them down to S7 profile as well as splitting the axles so I can use the axleboxes for electrical pick up.

There will be some cosmetic detail mods to the bogies but nothing more planned at the moment. Would you recommend anything?

Cheers

Tom

 

[richard carr]

Tom

From a performance point using the supplied chassis is the best way to go, they work with 2 axles powered on each bogie, you definitely get vastly improved pulling power with both bogies powered, I tried one but I'm now changing those to two as they just don't work well enough with one powered bogie.
The slaters wheels have quite a large boss on them that needs to be turned down quite a bit so that the bogie side frames will fit, you will then need to shorten the retaining screw.

There is metal bar connecting the front brake blocks together, its quite visible, its a lot easier to drill the brake blocks for this before you fit them to the chassis. I suspect there is a similar bar at the rear of the bogie but it is not visible.

There are lot of air pipes at the front that run across in front of the bogie, I haven't fitted them, there are no parts in the kit for them but they are visible if you look closely it depends how dirty they are as they should be painted white.

Thats about it, it is a really nice kit, one thing I would say is that getting a seamless joint between all the main body resin parts is harder than it looks, start at 200 grit but the final rub down wants to be with 800 grit or finer, and be careful not to take too much off.

Richard

 

[Ressaldar]

Tom
There is metal bar connecting the front brake blocks together, its quite visible, its a lot easier to drill the brake blocks for this before you fit them to the chassis. I suspect there is a similar bar at the rear of the bogie but it is not visible.

There are lot of air pipes at the front that run across in front of the bogie, I haven't fitted them, there are no parts in the kit for them but they are visible if you look closely it depends how dirty they are as they should be painted white.

Richard

Hi Richard & Tom,

the detailing that you describe above is what I did to a Heljan 37 some time ago



the tie rod was done out of necessity as the bogie side frames would not stay on their locating spigots, so I threaded a rod 14BA both ends, drilled out the nut on the brake block and job done - the one in the foreground ready for fitting to the rear of the bogie.



air pipes added courtesy of telephone wire, they toned down well with the weathering



close-up of 14BA nut



general view of finished front end.

The cast feed pipes to the brake cylinders were removed and replaced with more white telephone wire.

Hope that this helps.

cheers

Mike

 

[alcazar]

Nice weathering.
I wish someone would do a step-by-step on weathering. Brian Daniels weathering is brilliant too.

 

[Ressaldar]

Hi Jeff,

many thanks for your comments, PM being organised.

cheers

Mike

 

[Steph Dale]

Tom,
I've just been looking for pics of your loco. Looks like it should be riding on cast steel bogies? Are you using the JLTRT Class 50 bogies, or modifying the class 37 ones?
Steph

 

[richard carr]

Tom/Steph

In this photo I would say it has fabricated bogies.




RIchard

 

[Dog Star]

Guys,

I pursued the question of bogie type when researching 37408 for the period circa 1986-88 - see Cl.37 Group subforum on RMWeb. The discussion established that there were four different bogie styles which could have been carried by Cl.37 - two cast and two fabricated - and that photographic evidence suggested that bogies from withdrawn Cl.50 and Cl.55 were finding their way under Cl.37 that went through re-furb. As for 37408, photographs indicate that over the last 20 years of existence the engine went from fabricated to cast and back to fabricated - in that order based upon time order of livery. Thankfully the engine had fabricated bogies for our desired period and that the headstocks of the prototype bogie were of the pattern supplied by JLTRT.


regards, Graham

 

[SteadyRed]

Every picture I have found of 37517 it has been on fabricated bogies, as above.

Dave

 

[Steph Dale]

You're right guys - my bad - just a rubbish picture viewed on a smart phone. Sorry Tom, panic over...

Steph

 

[tomstaf]

You're right guys - my bad - just a rubbish picture viewed on a smart phone. Sorry Tom, panic over...

Steph

Hehe, 517 has always had fabricated bogies but not always one window on each bodyside!

Cheers

Tom

 

[richard carr]

Tom

So when did they fill in the second window as they all started out with 2.


Richard

 

[Dog Star]

So when did they fill in the second window?

Good question.

Why was one window removed? From which side?

thanks, Graham

 

[43179]

The windows were removed when the class 37/7 sub class was created in the late 1980s - these locos had extra ballast added inside the body, which was where the sealed up windows were. Stating the obvious a bit , but the extra weight was to improve adhesion and is why the /7s are sometimes referred to as 'Heavyweights'
Makes it easier to fit Loadhaul logos on them too

Jon

 

[Pugsley]

Hello Jon, glad to see you over here, how's things?

The removed windows on '517 are purely cosmetic, as Jon says, it makes putting the Loadhaul logos on easier.

Graham - It's the windows closest to the No 1 end on each side that are removed.

 

[tomstaf]

Hi progress has been slow as I revised the etches a little and have been doing some other ones, not to mention hatching the ideas for a S7 Southern region late 1990s layout - more on that another time. I've been busily painting away the interior parts of the 37 so thought I'd show you the results. I think my paintbrush best sums up the job here. These parts are ultra small. I've seen the rubber seal around the AWS indicator is a tad smudged so I'll have to attend to that. Note to self - don't take photos of your modelling, it shows up the areas that need to be revisited.

Cheers

Tom

 

[tomstaf]

Here are the cab interior bulkheads. I has a slight accident with painting a white patch on the doors and ended up stripping that part. I've since sprayed over and there is a faint marking from overpainted chipped paint. I've decided to work this to my advantage when weathering the interior for chips and highlights, watch this space. I've started weathering the right hand side of the cab but not sure it's the right colour/effect. I've looked at too many interior cab pics recently. Any views?


Cheers

Tom