7mm Mickoo's Commercial Workbench

[mickoo]

Ermmmmm.... as silly as this sounds why not use a permanent marker to draw a line or colour the excess pony pivot screw thread, dismantle it, put a nut on the screw up to the marked line/area, cut of excess thread, clean up, remove nut and replace the shortened pivot screw in the chassis.

Saves having to cut the excess thread whilst it is in the chassis.

Because......if you look at the last photos, you'll see that the screw is trapped from below by the front spring beam and equalising bar to the front pony, it's also soldered to the cross piece as well.

To remove the screw will require dissembling the front springs and even then the cross beam passes through two lugs on the frames. To remove that will require one side frame to be separated from the front stretcher/platform and probably the motion stay further aft.

The only way to get that screw out is a frame strip down or cutting the cross piece it sits in and then working out some bodge to get it back in neatly.

Anyway, the job has already been done, I simply nibbled it down with a ball ended cutter and then flattened off the thread, so all is good. The only ugly bit is the end of the thread, the rest of the model survived intact

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Because......if you look at the last photos, you'll see that the screw is trapped from below by the front spring beam and equalising bar to the front pony, it's also soldered to the cross piece as well.

Sorry Mick... did not look that far..... I should have gone here first



The fact the screw is trapped from below by the front spring beam and the front pony equalisation bar, and being soldered to the cross piece - is this your variation or a design flaw in the kit?

 

[mickoo]

Neither.

As designed and using the parts in the kit, the design works well, is functional and fit for purpose, the fact that I have how restricted access to the area with solid sand boxes is not the kits fault.

The reason the screw is fitted below is because to the front and rear are fold down tabs, these have holes in to allow the pony spring wire to pass through, it passes through the slot in the screw head.

It's a very clever bit of design for such a compact area, made worse by me filling it up with 3D printed sand boxes

I could of got the pony in and out with the screw that long, it was a bit of a wriggle, but I'd never do it with the spring wire in place, I may still not be able to, then plan Z comes into force.

 

[mickoo]

Slow and painful....literally (decided to tussle with one of the pets at work, at 284 tons...he won).

The cylinders are a nice little etch up project, fiddly but manageable with care. More modern kits have cast stuffing glands, often not cast well or require cast line removal; this is all etch, tube and wire so you have more control over the final product.

Sand boxes fitted and piped, footplate core structure formed up and test fitted.

 

[Scale7JB]

Think I just wet myself a little bit.

That looks awesome!

JB.

 

[mickoo]

Think I just wet myself a little bit.

JB.

Mmm, there's a thought, once thought, can't be unthought

That looks awesome!

JB.

It's getting there, the cab is going to be a hard slog though, no core structure just front and two sides (no tabs, though the footplate and cab floor might help), each side a half etched affair already bowed from the full surface etch process.

 

[mickoo]

Another small update....visually, but hours wise, quite a lot of effort.





A few more nick nacks to add, then onto the cab and kettle.

Cab steps will go on last, they are half etch fold up affairs and as such, prime targets for damage during building.

 

[Scale7JB]

Is the 'policemans helmet' a bit underbaked? Looks like it should be bigger..?

JB.

 

[SimonT]

By chance I have the 28XX GA open and I've just measured the pony truck spring cover - 5.38mm tall, 5.32mm diameter. The casting in the kit measured - 5.28mm tall, 4.61mm diameter, so under diameter by 0.71mm. Mind you the draughtman's lines are 0.2mm wide!
First person in thirty-odd years.

 

[dibateg]

A thick layer of paint will help!

 

[dibateg]

I hope you are ok after your crane incident Mick - are you off work?

 

[SimonT]

Incoming Viking - Take Cover!

 

[Scale7JB]

By chance I have the 28XX GA open and I've just measured the pony truck spring cover - 5.38mm tall, 5.32mm diameter. The casting in the kit measured - 5.28mm tall, 4.61mm diameter, so under diameter by 0.71mm. Mind you the draughtman's lines are 0.2mm wide!
First person in thirty-odd years.

Thanks Simon, far from end of the world then.

The other day noticed that the J15 Smokebox door casting is 1mm to small on diameter. Doesn't seem much but just looks wrong now I've seen it, and it being so close to the outer wrapper (or at least should be but now really isn't).

JB.

 

[mickoo]

Finally back to the 47xx, personal injury, key worker, lock down, fatigue and the big fat ugly B1 elephant in the corner of the room all played a part in the downing of tools on the 47xx, but the biggest block was/still is total apathy/disinterest toward anything UK biased.

Taking all that on board I've adopted the view that it's just bits of metal, stick A to B, add C and bend D; so with a blank mind the bits just drop slowly into place. That said, it does not mean that I do not care about the quality of the build, that drive remains, just that I'm completely ambivalent toward the subject matter.





The cab roof side/rear gutter strip is to be blunt, the devils playground.......



Filing the firebox shoulders on the throat plate is a chore I'm beginning to dislike immensely, usually requiring additional backing material and copious amounts of solder, then, hoping you don't blow through it all when you round the edges off.

No one said it was ever easy but I'm rapidly coming to the view that as modellers/developers we're making things difficult for what appears the sake of it.

In hindsight I should of just used the front former as just that, inset it back from the leading edge by 3-4 mm and 3D printed a new rounded front end to slot in the recess, couple of holes up front would allow the boiler to be affixed with screws, job done in a few hours.......

The firebox and back head are just posed and once finally fitted the gaps should close up. The plan is to get all the major parts formed/fitted over the weekend, just leaving the details to pick off in the evenings next week.

In time I'm sure the UK interest bubble will meander back, until then it's a case of head down and one foot in front of the other.

 

[LarryG]

Interesting to discover that I am not the only one.

But I have to say that loco so far is looking pretty damn good.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Filing the firebox shoulders on the throat plate is a chore I'm beginning to dislike immensely, usually requiring additional backing material and copious amounts of solder, then, hoping you don't blow through it all when you round the edges off.

No one said it was ever easy but I'm rapidly coming to the view that as modellers/developers we're making things difficult for what appears the sake of it.

Mick,

What are sometimes possibly good kits are often ruined by the fire box problem, sheet metal and formers are ok when the're accurate but the castings for the fronts are often diabolical, probably to do with shrinkage, and get thrown in the scrap. This shows up in older designed stuff mainly, that's probably drawn by someone with no draughtsmanship.

Your idea of a 3D print would work well Mick especially if it's of high quality.

I can understand your lack of interest in the British based subject, especially when we see your escapades around the U.S. , I often get a similar feeling with GWR stuff, walking around exhibitions and seeing new stuff on the market, in what ever form, " Look here we have just introduced our latest, it's a GWR............". Oh not again, give us a break.

Building loco's, especially large ones, and when it's not for yourself, can become tiresome so with my own project I'm glad it only requires mainly a few tank loco's and I can concentrate on the other subject matters that make up our world of railway modelling.
I think as beings that enjoy making stuff with our hands we need to turn off and refresh sometimes, that's when I'm glad I trained as a Carpenter & Joiner, when the models get boring I pick up a finely tuned hand plane and fill the floor with wood shavings .

When you gonna start building that switcher yard ?

Col.

 

[Lancastrian]

That said, it does not mean that I do not care about the quality of the build, that drive remains, just that I'm completely ambivalent toward the subject matter.

Mick,

Ambivalent, perfect word to use in this case, but looking at it with those wheels on, smashing. Keep up with the great work

Ian

 

[mickoo]

Col,

You're right about castings, the more I do, the less enamoured I'm becoming with certain aspects of this malarky.

We, collectively, seem to be entrenched in the mind state of 'it was good enough back then, it's good enough now'.

Rightly or wrongly I see model railways like this, not all, there are exceptions, but as a whole.



The rest of the world hobbyists are like this.



Collectively we are resistant to new ideas and mediums, we challenge anything that breaks into the must be brass, white metal, nickel silver material envelope, almost to the point of scorn.

Granted these materials do have their place, as other mediums have theirs, but it's the basic arms length refusal to even accept there may be another way that's infuriating.

It does of course depend on your sphere of activity, if you have a garden railway then robustness is a better feature than fidelity, but if you're building a fixed layout like your's where handling of items is much less, then fidelity is a more desirable attribute I'd say.

Many castings now head into the bin, the smart part is recognising those that are just going to eat your time before you get to them, replace or make new is often easier and quicker than fighting the in the box.

Regarding 3D quality, if you can draw this........


........and it prints like this........



........then a round shoulder firebox front is not much of an issue. The only issue is the general aversion to it not being metal, frankly once painted you'd never know.

I have to be honest, I walk around shows now looking for that 'something new spark' and like wise come away completely uninspired, that's not a slight on others who do find it of interest, not at all, it's how I view where I'm at right now. Scale is also playing on my mind, O gauge is detailed and good for a layout, but limits your fidelity somewhat.

The US stuff is a strong distraction, as are SAR and DB and I think a layout would ease some of my stress, I don't have the space to do what I'd like so have to work out what I can do in the space I do have. The limited space almost excludes US operations (I like big engines) and heads more toward Europe.

I think the best thing is to just do something, make some boards, throw down some track and see what happens, having a need for a plan before hand seems to be the biggest hurdle to progression.

 

[David Boorman]

I never have had, and I'm highly unlikely to ever have, the space for any sensible layout. I admire other people's limited dioramas - but I know I wouldn't be satisfied with one. From experience with Fence Houses 2mm finescale layout I have seen what can be done in terms of applying technical skills to every aspect of a layout - and rolling stock. In my opinion, and for my taste, Fence Houses is the minimum size that would satisfy any of my layout ambitions in terms of the layout being able to take me to enthralling viewing and operation. If you haven't seen Fence Houses I suggest you should - and talk to Bob Jones and his team. It just might encourage you - either way!! - to finally reject having a satisfying layout or maybe proceed in the smallest scale that enables locos to look like locos. Maybe rethink on a US prototype layout - so many fabulous RTR N gauge US prototype locos and rolling stick available!

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Mick,
.....I like the comparison, I see it like this sometimes




The only thing in common is that it's got wheels ! That's dear old Steve Baldock R.I.P. in his steam car by the way.

With regards castings etc. the South Koreans seam to get it right having been able to get up close and personal with the Masterpiece Models product.
I'd be happy scratch building a loco in nickel and using a 3D print for the backhead with all the fittings etc, trying to source the right components is a nightmare and when you do find them they are normally out of scale or really don't resemble the real thing !

How much space do you have for a layout, perhaps I can come up with a design for you mate. Layout planning is something I enjoy, you have to study the prototype though to make them convincing.

Col.