Latest project: ex-LNER C13, No. 67421

[Dave Holt]

I have continued to work on the dummy inside valve gear, blending a mix of parts from Dave B's J39 etch and new parts produced for me by Rumney Models. The latest additions are the suspension links and reversing gear. Here they are seen temporarily fitted into position so that the bottom ends could be soldered to the eccentric rod assembly. The latter is located using a 0.8 mm drill bit which will be superseded by brass/N/S wire for final fitment. I have tried the con rods in place, but these had been removed again prior to the photos.

Valve rockers and drive to the valves next. Then i suppose I'd better knuckle down and sort out the compensating beam issue and do the bogie and rear truck.
Dave.

 

[simond]

Dave,

Do you have a bit of Plastruct channel, or can you make something similar, to act as a filing jig to protect the hornways? As long as you don’t catch them with the edges of your file, taking half a millimetre off each leg doesn’t sound worse than dismantling.

You could put a pair of wedges in the other hornway to keep the beams level. You might even get a toolmakers clamp (or forceps?) in there to hold them tight to the frames.

 

[Dave Holt]

Thanks for the thought, Simon, but I've finally bitten the bullet and filed the tops of the axleboxes to correct the ride height. I came to the conclusion that this was far easier and less likely to cause further damage than trying to alter the compensating beams.
Once that was done, I fitted the valve rockers to the motion plate and fixed the latter into the frames, then finished off and fixed the dummy inside valve gear (except the reverser shaft, which is still loose) and con rods. I also reinforced the front axle keeps with small N/S strip fillets and solder as the coil springs kept getting bent inwards during handling and I feared the keeps suffering a fatigue failure with repeated straightening.

Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

The loco has now progressed to be a 0-0-2 tank! The rear pony truck has been finished and tested in place with the wheel set. Looks encouraging with a reasonable amount of side swing to the joggled in rear frames. The truck bears against the underside of the rear frame stretcher and has a 0.31 mm brass wire centralising wire, The axle is sprung in the truck using my design of hair-pin wire springs, now obscured from view by the axle. The pivot uses a cut down 2 mm pinpoint bearing with a 14BA countersunk screw, which needs trimming, as seen below.

Dave.

 

[bri.s]

Hi Dave great work on the c13
I’ve some michael edge etches for one to build so watching your build with interest
Just wondering where did you source the wheels and what will you be doing for castings like chimneys dome and so forth ?
Look forward to your progress

Brian

 

[Dave Holt]

Brian,
Thanks for the comment. The wheels are Alan Gibson P4 type, not the exact match to the prototype but about the nearest I could get.
My original plan was to use a reclaimed Nu-cast chimney and dome but a colleague from the S4 Society kindly turned a lovely set in brass for me. Some other parts that would normally be castings in a kit I'm having 3D printed - sand boxes, tank fillers, , tank balance pipes, lubricator, oil pots, etc.
Dave.

 

[bri.s]

Thanks for that
I’ve just had a look at nu cast kits and found they ended up bought by branch lines kits ,so will be asking if they still do or will be doing the c13 again

Brian

 

[Nigel Yule]

I shall be pleased to be given the relevant catalogue references....

Peter and I were at the NRM in March of this year and we looked at the GCR contractor rolls... and in many cases, especially the 4-4-2T, the GA and frame plan drawings have been removed from the relevant roll. So, no, the required 4-4-2T drawings are not at the NRM.

Yes but these missing drawings were removed to be microfilmed before these rolls were deposited at the NRM and these microfilms are in the OPC collection of microfilms held in the Search Engine. I am currently going through these microfilms when I visit with the intention of identifying the reference numbers for the missing drawings so they can add these to the catalogue.

 

[Dave Holt]

A start has been made on the front bogie with the assembly of the external compensating beams.
Here is one completed unit with the component parts of the second. The "spring" part is 5 layers thick. There were two issues with them, First, five layers of 0.3 mm should result in a 1.5 mm stack - which it was on dry assembly, but swelled to about 1.6 mm after soldering together, so a bit of filing was required to restore the required thickness and fit inside the buckle. Secondly, my cunningly provided alignment holes, visible on the compensating beams, were meant to position all layers and the beams to spring to give the correct ride height. Something went wrong with my sketches or the production of the CAD drawings, so they didn't give the right height. As a result, the setting gauge, which engages in the pivot hole and the centre alignment hole in the compensating beams, seen on the left, was made. Not as good as the original idea but overcomes the problem.

Here, the completed unit is positioned on the bogie frame etch, located by the pivot holes..


Dave.

 

[mickoo]

Thanks for that
I’ve just had a look at nu cast kits and found they ended up bought by branch lines kits ,so will be asking if they still do or will be doing the c13 again

Brian

I'm sure this is a Nucast I built 30 plus years ago, all white metal body I think.





One of only two OO kits I finished that I've kept, plus one part built.

 

[mickoo]

Yes but these missing drawings were removed to be microfilmed before these rolls were deposited at the NRM and these microfilms are in the OPC collection of microfilms held in the Search Engine. I am currently going through these microfilms when I visit with the intention of identifying the reference numbers for the missing drawings so they can add these to the catalogue.

I've found these in the current NRM OPC list.

10350 Pipe & Rod (9K)
10375 End sections (9L)
10713 GA (9K)
10716 GA (C13)

The exact same as David listed a few weeks ago with the exception of the extra 10375 end sections drawing.

 

[Stephen Freeman]

Hi,
Is the etch available to buy somewhere? I remember having a dalliance with this kit some years ago and whilst the chassis was scratchbuilt I did have a problem with trying to builld it with compensation as the steel driving wheels were seemingly fatally attracted to the motor. Worked OK with some ultrascale wheels but the project got sidelined and never completed.

 

[bri.s]

I'm sure this is a Nucast I built 30 plus years ago, all white metal body I think.

View attachment 197351

View attachment 197352

One of only two OO kits I finished that I've kept, plus one part built.

That looks a very nice build

Brian

 

[Dave Holt]

Mick, that is a lovely looking model. Indeed, the Nucast W/M kit could be made into a good representation of a C13 and this was the original basis for my project. A friend bought one in "OO" off e-bay for me bit it turned out to be poorly made and painted. Assembly had used some type of adhesive and a couple of weeks soaking in cellulose thinners resulted in a collection of relatively clean castings (and a load of horrible debris) from which to start again.
Obviously, a new chassis would be needed for P4 so I started to look at how to marry a new chassis to the footplate and body.
Then, at a P4 exhibition I saw a nice looking C13 running on the Knutsford layout and enquired about its origins and was told it was scratch built from a set of profile milled parts. Following some discussions, I arranged to have a further set made for me and the Nucast parts were put aside although I intended to use the rather nicely cast chimney and dome. Subsequently I have obtained turned brass versions so no Nucast parts will be included in this model.
I wasn't over-struck with the form of chassis included in the milled parts and, wishing to include a representation of the inside valve gear, set about designing my own chassis, which is the subject of this thread.
Regarding supply of the etches, that would be up to Justin at Rumney Models. However, I must stress that it is not a kit but a set of supplementary parts to enhance the set of profile milled parts I already had. Also, there are no instructions and, as already mentioned, I'm discovering a few errors, mainly of my own making at the design stage, that are making construction more interesting than intended!
Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

The front bogie has now been finished, ready for painting.
Here it is with the horn guides already attached and set up on a simple jig (vertical 1 mm drill in some MDF!) for a trial fit of the compensating beams and their retaining straps. This showed the need for some trimming of the top edge of the inner horn guides to give sufficient movement for the beams.

After these slight mods, the wheel sets were prepared and fitted.

The competed bogie is seen fitted to the loco, rendering it a 4-0-2.

Gearbox and driving wheels next, I suppose.
Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

Now it's a 4-2-0-2, or something. The front driving wheels have been fitted and the gearbox trialled on the rear coupled axle, as shown below.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with one of the wheels refusing to press onto the axle using my GW wheel press tool. I think it must have had a 3 mm axle hole rather than 1/8". I did get it on, as you see, by opening the hole with a rat tail file. As you can imagine, it's not running very true and will have to be replaced. Pity as quite a bit of prep work had been done before the problem became apparent. The other pair of wheels appear to be OK, so fingers crossed. Got to do the gearbox internals first.
Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

........and now it's a 4-4-2, at last.

Dave.

 

[Dave Holt]

I've just had a shock and probably need to go and lie down in a darkened room - or go to the pub!
I've been preparing the Ultrascale crank-pin bushes and modifying them to suite Alan Gibson wheels - fix the backing washer and remove the rearward extension that plugs into Ultrascale wheels. I thought I'd just try the coupling rods, currently with 1 mm holes from the chassis jig, onto the 14 BA crank-pins and, wow, the chassis just rolled along with no binding. What is astonishing is that, although the wheels were pressed on using my GW wheel press, I had twisted the rear axle wheels to try and centralise the axle in the wheel bosses and just re-set the quartering by eye.
Just hope it's all just as good with the replacement front wheel and the rods opened up to fit the crank-pin bushes.
Dave.
PS. The pub has it.

 

[Dave Holt]

Strictly speaking, the last photo showed a 4-2-2-2. Now it really is a 4-4-2, with the rods opened out and fitted to the shortened crank-pin bushes. I'll probably replace the 14 BA nuts with 16 BS items, drilled and tapped to 14 BA as the smaller nuts look more like the prototype.

Pushing along a length off track with the footplate loosely positioned has shown the need to cut some clearance slots for the coupling rod oil boxes at TDC.
Dave.

 

[Mike Garwood]

Fair play Dave, you've really got the bit between your teeth on this chassis. Lovely work as always.

Mike