P A D
Western Thunderer
Or maybe it was soldered with the same hand that scored the goal for Diego Maradona against England I the World Cup?
7mm Mickoo's Commercial Workbench
- Thread starter mickoo
- Start date
Or maybe it was soldered with the same hand that scored the goal for Diego Maradona against England I the World Cup?
mickoo
Western Thunderer
I was going to call this done, but noticed a few bits missing when processing the photos, tender tank water level gauge and J hooks on the buffer beams to stow the coupling.
I'll probably also add the oil pots to the splashers as they'd be black or brubby brass in BR days, plus they're a sight easier to do now than later.
Other than that, it's done
I'll probably also add the oil pots to the splashers as they'd be black or brubby brass in BR days, plus they're a sight easier to do now than later.
Other than that, it's done
mickoo
Western Thunderer
I'm afraid there's more than a fair share of slaughtered solder here
P A D
Western Thunderer
I'm afraid there's more than a fair share of slaughtered solder here
Yeah, but you hide it better than most!
Beautiful work Mick, as always. Much as I prefer the look of a nice clean brass model, there's no doubt that Nickel Silver is superior to brass in terms of not showing the solder as much and not tarnishing. I've just got back to loco modelling after a 3 year break and while the NS MOK 4MT and the Mike Edge 3P were not pristine after opening the boxes, the brass Andrews 4P was positively disgusting in comparison.
Cheers,
Peter
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Actually....I don' t hide it
I just use as little as possible and try to put it where it's not seen Being NS helps as it's the same colour as solder so easier to bend the two and as you say NS stays cleaner for much longer and is much easier to solder too. Brass I find depends on the kit, some DA kits keep brass cleaner than others for much longer, no idea why, others start to tarnish as soon as it's first washed.
Generally I find you have about three weeks working on a model before it becomes counter productive cleaning it, after that point you're just adding more time with no benifit, so long as the metal is smooth for paint then I just let them tarnish and get on with life. I've tried all sorts of cleaning agents and wives tails, all utter bunkum truth be told.
The only one that really worked was a very mild diluted solution of saftey flux and water, but being as I've got hard water around here you end up with a white deposit left in nooks and crannies and more so on any solder that's left, even if it's just a hint of smoothed solder or solder stain.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Finally reassembled the David Andrews 4F, there's a couple of backhead fittings in the post somewhere so they'll just drop into pre drilled holes to complete, coal will be added in the next few weeks before it goes back to Warren for some light weathering.
The inside valve gear does fill that nice big hole up between the frames and is worth the extra effort I think.
Pick ups are in the tender, as is a big Tangband speaker, in hindsight I could have put the chip and stay alive in there as well and save one jumper cable. It's in one of my 3D printed clips attached to the motor, call me old school, but that seems to be good cricket for positioning a DCC chip.
Paint work by Warren Haywood.
The inside valve gear does fill that nice big hole up between the frames and is worth the extra effort I think.
Pick ups are in the tender, as is a big Tangband speaker, in hindsight I could have put the chip and stay alive in there as well and save one jumper cable. It's in one of my 3D printed clips attached to the motor, call me old school, but that seems to be good cricket for positioning a DCC chip.
Paint work by Warren Haywood.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Onward with something new, Mercian LNWR Webb 2-4-2T.
It's an old kit and as noted in the instructions 'builds a representation of the target engine.
In lay mans terms, empty your scrap bin, grab the fret saw and make sure you're stocked up on brass sheet
To be fair what's in the box will build a nice model but there is room for improvement and it's aimed at LNWR engines, preferably without coal rails. My target engine is early LMS so quite a lot needs to be changed anyway irrespective of the kit parts.
First thing to go was the footplate, it has slots for the tanks, cabs etc but they're massively over sized so you're going to be spending an age filling and smoothing, second to go in the bin.....well it's actually quicker to write what's been kept.
Cab front, cab sides, cab rear, locker doors, rear bunker and buffer beams, everything else is scratch built and moving forward will be too.
The kit is aimed primarily for LNWR engines, ideally those without coal rails and the four coal space doors (which were sealed up and replaced with one large one at the top when coal rails were fitted). By chance the rear cab wall is a lapped sheet construction so you can hide the lower half etched lines to aid the door alignment with a new sheet.
New cab tanks and floor (tacked in as it might need jacking up a mm or so to clear the gear box; that won't be noticed as the tank balancing pipes run right across the entrance and will hide the little step up. New front tanks as the kit ones didn't allow for the depressed top and closure/weather plate, that plate will be added once the boiler is in place.
There's a bundle of other small changes needed to bring it to early LMS guise which will get added as it goes on, I'll try to remember to explain them all.
It's an old kit and as noted in the instructions 'builds a representation of the target engine.
In lay mans terms, empty your scrap bin, grab the fret saw and make sure you're stocked up on brass sheet
To be fair what's in the box will build a nice model but there is room for improvement and it's aimed at LNWR engines, preferably without coal rails. My target engine is early LMS so quite a lot needs to be changed anyway irrespective of the kit parts.
First thing to go was the footplate, it has slots for the tanks, cabs etc but they're massively over sized so you're going to be spending an age filling and smoothing, second to go in the bin.....well it's actually quicker to write what's been kept.
Cab front, cab sides, cab rear, locker doors, rear bunker and buffer beams, everything else is scratch built and moving forward will be too.
The kit is aimed primarily for LNWR engines, ideally those without coal rails and the four coal space doors (which were sealed up and replaced with one large one at the top when coal rails were fitted). By chance the rear cab wall is a lapped sheet construction so you can hide the lower half etched lines to aid the door alignment with a new sheet.
New cab tanks and floor (tacked in as it might need jacking up a mm or so to clear the gear box; that won't be noticed as the tank balancing pipes run right across the entrance and will hide the little step up. New front tanks as the kit ones didn't allow for the depressed top and closure/weather plate, that plate will be added once the boiler is in place.
There's a bundle of other small changes needed to bring it to early LMS guise which will get added as it goes on, I'll try to remember to explain them all.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Tough call on this one to be fair, most of it is just slab sheets and 90° bends so it's quicker to just fabricate yourself, plus I'm on a time line and waiting two or three weeks for etches is prohibitive, certainly for this model.Mick, surprised you didn't opt to produce a set of etches given so much work. You never know, you might have found a seller of LNWR kits who doesn't have this in their range and might have been interested......................
Besides, it's good to keep your eye in with the hand tools.
Regarding LNWR engines, I do like a lot of their engines so who knows what'll turn up in the future
I have your Precursor tank to do very shortly, mixed in with a Jubilee (the Jubilee is fill in whilst waiting for Precursor etches) I'll be doing a new chassis (possibly both types of frame as I may scratch build one myself on the back of this) with stepped frames and modified stays.
I've already done modified inside motion etches, the LG ones are okay but not 100% accurate so you need that pack for some of the castings and then modify it to suit the Precursor set up.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
End of week update on the LNWR tank, on the face of it very little achieved but it's all in the details.
The kit comes with etched coal rails as part of the rear tank sheet, they're very 2D and a mare to clean the cusp off between the rails, plus they're not in the right place in relation to the cab rear and bunker rear.
It took some time (quite a lot) to fabricate new rails and posts but they do now pass behind the rear sheet in one continuous length like the real engine and butt up to the beading, something you can't add with the etched rails in place. Despite the extended time, they do now look the part with the correct D profile.
New tool boxes to the correct profile and tank filler to the correct height finish off that area. The tool boxes had their lids sealed and pushed up to the cab rear, new doors were added to the cab rear wall (handles still to be fitted) to gain access.
The LMS removed the water valve handles on the cab tank tops, the glands remained and were covered in a wooden seat/cover affair (coming later) but new simple 90° open/closed valves were fitted to the cab rear wall above the balance pipes. At the same time the balance pipe was changed from box section to a tube with flanges.
Over the tube there's a simple cover with toe kick under and it's shortened either side to clear debris and check the flange seals for leaking.
This was a weak point in later lives as the footplate often split here causing the front tank to drop at the entrance and stress the tubular balance pipe joints.
Finally a new handbrake gearbox casting was drawn up and fitted, only 30% is inside the cab, the other 60% is inside the coal space.
The kit comes with etched coal rails as part of the rear tank sheet, they're very 2D and a mare to clean the cusp off between the rails, plus they're not in the right place in relation to the cab rear and bunker rear.
It took some time (quite a lot) to fabricate new rails and posts but they do now pass behind the rear sheet in one continuous length like the real engine and butt up to the beading, something you can't add with the etched rails in place. Despite the extended time, they do now look the part with the correct D profile.
New tool boxes to the correct profile and tank filler to the correct height finish off that area. The tool boxes had their lids sealed and pushed up to the cab rear, new doors were added to the cab rear wall (handles still to be fitted) to gain access.
The LMS removed the water valve handles on the cab tank tops, the glands remained and were covered in a wooden seat/cover affair (coming later) but new simple 90° open/closed valves were fitted to the cab rear wall above the balance pipes. At the same time the balance pipe was changed from box section to a tube with flanges.
Over the tube there's a simple cover with toe kick under and it's shortened either side to clear debris and check the flange seals for leaking.
This was a weak point in later lives as the footplate often split here causing the front tank to drop at the entrance and stress the tubular balance pipe joints.
Finally a new handbrake gearbox casting was drawn up and fitted, only 30% is inside the cab, the other 60% is inside the coal space.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
To be fair the accolade should go to the client for unlocking the door to improvements, otherwise the lid would have been gently closed and the box returned.
Put bluntly, old or cheap kits are not cheap to build commercially if you want them to today's standards, much more economical to start with fresh etches; but, being as this is such a simple engine it was determined that scratch building where necessary would be most economical approach.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Took the 4F to Bucks Hill today for traction load testing, happy to say all went tickity boo and managed a healthy goods with no slipping.
I'll now use that figure for the 3F and bring that up to the same weight for traction.
Unfortunately (annoyingly) it's been compressed several times from phone to Whatsapp to PC to Youtube
I'll now use that figure for the 3F and bring that up to the same weight for traction.
Unfortunately (annoyingly) it's been compressed several times from phone to Whatsapp to PC to Youtube
adrian
Flying Squad
It's not much of a traction test - all them wagons are empties!
mickoo
Western Thunderer
That's a very good pointIt's not much of a traction test - all them wagons are empties!
adrian
Flying Squad
I shall watch this with close interest as I have started a Precursor tank myself as a scratch build project. I'm using it as a learning project to mix scratchbuild and 3D printed components - teaching myself 3D modelling in the process.
So far I've turned the wheels to Scale7
Very Little Gravitas Indeed*
Adrian, that is looking very nice indeed! I am glad you opted for the machined angle strip for the trusses, well worth the extra cost in my opinion. I have used Malcolm's way of springing the buffers on most of my coaches and it is cost effective. Thanks for that info - I will set them up that...
www.westernthunder.co.uk
I've made a start on the bogie - in my own inimitable way fully sprung (hidden in the compensation beam) and miniature ball bearing races fitted. Still need to draw up the dummy leaf spring to finish it off.
I was also planning to do the stepped frames - more driven by the fact that I haven't got a long enough sheet of N/S to do it one piece!! Currently machining steel coupling rods. Somehow I suspect you'll have yours finished long before mine!
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Then there were two, progress on the second FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) BLP. A bit slower than planned but hopefully both will be completed by Stafford for delivery and paint.
To be fair the bulk of the hardest work is done, the last 3D chassis part will be finished shortly (some parts have been revised for ease of build and production) and then the whole lot will get witnessed coated, prepped and fitted. That'll just leave the brake rigging, bogie, Delta truck, injectors and pipework to finish.
I also need to take some photos and work up the cutting diagrams for the the 3D to fit the Finney7 kit; then produce a guide to help others fit their packs.
It'll also help me remember what on earth I have to do when I get to the next two commissions coming along in the pipeline.
To be fair the bulk of the hardest work is done, the last 3D chassis part will be finished shortly (some parts have been revised for ease of build and production) and then the whole lot will get witnessed coated, prepped and fitted. That'll just leave the brake rigging, bogie, Delta truck, injectors and pipework to finish.
I also need to take some photos and work up the cutting diagrams for the the 3D to fit the Finney7 kit; then produce a guide to help others fit their packs.
It'll also help me remember what on earth I have to do when I get to the next two commissions coming along in the pipeline.
david duxbury
Member
Superb quality and detail, what more can you add to any model? seen or unseen, A complete BLP along with the smokebox detail.