7mm JLTRT Crab

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Well with the B1’s stripped and ready for painting by @warren haywood its on with the next build. Up next is a JLTRT Crab. Having had a good look through the kit and studying the instructions two things were clear. The instructions were absolutely pants and there was scope for a call to Laurie Griffin for some upgraded castings.

So ordered from LG were smoke box door, chimney, dome, brake and pull beams, couplings and valve gear. To combat the woeful instructions I began research. Lots of photographs have been looked at and @Dikitriki ’S various online builds have been a godsend! If you have a crab to do his build photo’s are a must and have helped me make sense of the instructions. I’ve attached a couple of links for ease;

T’other place build;

Dikitriki's 7mm Workbench: Scratchbuilt Wagon

Western Thunder build;

7mm - Dikitriki's Dark side: A WD 2-8-0

And so onto progress...........

First the cab. This is where the majority of work is required on the body. A new etched front is supplied which states is the correct profile for the kit. Comparing with the original the new firebox is clearly wider and the back corners. The cab sides were built up in the flat and I’ve used some angel to represent the side window runners. The sliding window is blackened to prevent them being soldered solid. The reverser and cab seat castings are supplied with the kit and are really nice. I also made up the cab roof bracing as these aren’t in the kit but are very noticeable on the prototype. Still to fit is the fall plate. Also the floor was drilled through so the blackhead can be bolted in after paint;
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The only issue I had with the cab is that the half etched rebate on the front meant the resin firebox didn’t fit properly. To get over this I filled up a blank to fit. Once fitted this represented the angel beading on the prototype properly. Maybe this should have been with the kit ? Never mind I enjoyed a bit of scratch building;
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The footplate is built on a fold up cradle, which helps keep things nice and square. The age of the original kit shows here as it’s all butt joint, no fancy slot and tab, so it’s worth taking time to get everything bang on. The front footplate was detailed with some lovely LW castings supplied with the kit. The boiler firebox is a very nice resin casting, which saved lots of time;
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And finally a shot of things sat together. Boiler fitting are just sat in place. The smoke box door is designed to fit a rolled brass boiler so needed lots of adapting, I think there was a about five quids worth or brass dust on the bench after :)) And it still needs more work!
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Next onto the frames :thumbs:

Mick
 

micknich2003

Western Thunderer
Michael, here is the real animal at Southcoate Hull, this proves you can run a finished model on your "Drain North" layout. Best Wishes, Mick.
 

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7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Michael, here is the real animal at Southcoate Hull, this proves you can run a finished model on your "Drain North" layout. Best Wishes, Mick.

That’s a cracking picture Mick and as you say not a million miles from Drain North. And good news indeed as I would really love one of my own. I’m guessing the crab has worked in from elsewhere and been “borrowed” by Dairycoates men judging by the local pilot board? I’ll have to dig out my Ian Allen and find out where the crab was allocated out of interest.

Cheers

Mick
 

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
That is wonderful work Mick.
It’ll be a fantastic model when it’s complete!
Neil.

Cheers Neil,

I'm very much enjoying the build so far. The cab has taken lot of little details, like extra hinges on the cab doors to reinforce and the gutter along the edge of the roof is an addition. I think ill keep an eye out for another kit in the future:thumbs:
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Mick,

I built one of these about 10 years ago but I didn’t have to buy replacement parts. The etchings were Chowbent but a lot of the castings in mine were JLTRT remastered. The instructions were useless! I built mine in S7 so had to make new spacers etc and modify some of the castings for the scale width frames.

The boiler is quite heavy and the footplates are flimsy. I drilled into the boiler and glued in wire supports which were soldered to the footplate to reinforce them.

Ian
 

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Mick,

I built one of these about 10 years ago but I didn’t have to buy replacement parts. The etchings were Chowbent but a lot of the castings in mine were JLTRT remastered. The instructions were useless! I built mine in S7 so had to make new spacers etc and modify some of the castings for the scale width frames.

The boiler is quite heavy and the footplates are flimsy. I drilled into the boiler and glued in wire supports which were soldered to the footplate to reinforce them.

Ian

Hi Ian,

To be fair some of the castings in this kit were damaged as the kit appears to have been around the block. The replacement brakes are more of a preference as the definition is greater and I don’t have to spend extra hours preparing and fixing laminations and then the inevitable clean up. As you say though there’s some really lovely LW castings in the kit and I’m very much enjoying the build. The etches fit well and the resin lump is very nice.

I’ve not yet separated the footplate from the cradle but it does appear very flimsy, the drilling of the boiler to add supports is a great idea and ill definitely do this. Do you have any pictures of your build and can you recommended the location of your supports ? Any help would be much appreciated. I’d also be really interested in any photos of your S7 build as the one for myself would be an S7 build too,

Mick
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Hi Mick,

Sorry but I didn’t take any photos during the build. I do have a few of the finished beasty which I need to dig out, I will see if I can do that tomorrow.

As for the footplate supports. I fixed a couple of wires each side by drilling into the boiler and gluing them in with epoxy. Once set the were soldered to the footplate which has made the whole assembly quite rigid now. You cannot see them, one is at the top of the step and the other just above cylinder. Beware the resin ruins drill bits. I used an old one and frequently sharpened it with a disc, more like a spade drill but it did the job.

Ian.

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7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Hi Mick,

Sorry but I didn’t take any photos during the build. I do have a few of the finished beasty which I need to dig out, I will see if I can do that tomorrow.

As for the footplate supports. I fixed a couple of wires each side by drilling into the boiler and gluing them in with epoxy. Once set the were soldered to the footplate which has made the whole assembly quite rigid now. You cannot see them, one is at the top of the step and the other just above cylinder. Beware the resin ruins drill bits. I used an old one and frequently sharpened it with a disc, more like a spade drill but it did the job.

Ian.

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Thanks for posting this Ian, what a lovely model, I'm hoping this turns out something like, although it will be much cleaner as it will be in crimson lake. I was forewarned by a mate about the drill killing resin and it certainly hasn't disappointed :)) I've blunted two already! Would you mind explaining how you finished the end of the handrails, its a detail I'd like to replicate.
 

Deano747

Western Thunderer
Thanks for posting this Ian, what a lovely model, I'm hoping this turns out something like, although it will be much cleaner as it will be in crimson lake. I was forewarned by a mate about the drill killing resin and it certainly hasn't disappointed :)) I've blunted two already! Would you mind explaining how you finished the end of the handrails, its a detail I'd like to replicate.
I've experimented using 0.7mm tube, 0.5mm inside dia, and some 0.5mm dress makers pins inserted to replicate the ends.
I think it was an idea that Peter aka PAD used on a build, although IIRC he has used other methods using tubing?!

Regards, Rob
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
Slivers of microbore tube cut from the parent piece by rolling under a scalpel blade and soldered on. If you hold the rail vertically the solder sets in a nice domed shape.

When slicing the tube slip a piece of 0.5 wire inside to capture them as they make a break for freedom!

I have seen the red one on the East Lancs railway. Nice but not as I remember them!

Ian.
 
Frames

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Well it’s been a productive few days on the crab. I’ve made good headway on the frames. I’ve used Slaters spring horn guides, which are a doddle to clean and set up. With the use of the hobby holidays jig all went together and was straight forward. I’ve used Laurie Griffin brakes and cords beams, which once cleaned up went together very well, although the front brake hanger bracket had to be omitted as it clashed with the cylinder block. I’ve adapted the motion brackets so all can be removed to assist maintenance and painting, here’s part of it with the front brake cylinder and associated bits;

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This and other parts were then added. Also pictured are the axle box springs, these are courtesy of Andrew from Lanky Kits. The hangers are from som LG castings and having discussed with Laurie it looks like he’ll be doing a spring suitable for the crab without having to chop and change with bits here and there;
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Once the basic frames were together I made a start on some of the other assemblies. First the cylinder block. I just couldn’t get on with the wrappers supplied. They have etched lined to help forming but these leave witness marks which are difficult to hide. Also o e of the holes was octagonal and over etched so I set about and made some up from 10thou N/S
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These were then fitted as were the LG slide bars and cross heads. The piston rod was removed and replaced with 1.8mm N/S bar for ease. I then got onto fitting the WM front and rear but found the profile was very different at the base. I’m not sure what the correct profile is here so I chose to add WM and blend in so the covers looked right;
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Next was the pony truck. This came from LG as it’s much nicer than the basic etched version. After some cleaning up I got to this;
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Unfortunately it didn’t fit and couldn’t be made to without major modification to the frame stretcher. So I used some of the etched parts in the kit to put together a cut and shut version:D
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And finally some shots of progress;
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Next is the valve gear :thumbs:
 
Valve Gear

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
A quick update on progress on the valve gear. This loco is all valve gear :eek::D I’ve had a busy couple of days putting this all together and all now runs smoothly. I started out with the return cranks, probably because I find this tricky so wanted it out of the way! The LG motion kit supplies a cast return crank which is meaty enough to be drilled 3.5 mm with enough depth to accommodate a slaters crankpins bush. The shoulder on the bush is turned down to 3.5mm and tapped 10Ba. Then it’s tightened onto the crank pin, ensuring the crankpin is chemically blackened to prevent any solder causing issues! The crank is then gently heated until you feel the solder melt and the slaters bush drops into place. You then have a return crank set at the correct advanced angle with the fixing hidden;
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Next job was the valve rods. I somehow managed to loose one, eaten by the carpet monster :headbang: Having hunted high and low I could not find the thing so I cracked on and made a couple up from scrap etch. I bottled putting the key in but hopefully no one will notice :eek: I ended up making two so they matched. Having measured the valve guides the new valve rods were made wider as the originals are a little skinny.
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Once these bits were out of the way I cracked on with cleaning and polishing all valve gear items and fabricating the various frame stretchers and motion brackets into one assembly that can be easily removed in one lump. A lot of work look but well worth it to ease painting/servicing etc. I again followed @Dikitriki build here. At the beginning of the build I split the ash pan sides from the firebox and now was the time to knock up a quick ash pan floor with the sides to represent the ash pan;
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And the two assemblies together ;
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And now to get the footplate/cab assembly to fit the footplate:thumbs:
 
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