Rob R
Western Thunderer
I didn't expect you to be scratchbuilding this one...........
7mm Mickoo's Commercial Workbench
- Thread starter mickoo
- Start date
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Apparently so
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Well I didn't 'have' to, I 'chose' to for several reasons.I didn't expect you to be scratchbuilding this one...........
The kit tank skin has flat etched beading, for coal rail tenders that needs removing from the front edge, very hard and time consuming to get a perfectly flat surface, then the sides need the cut out at the top front, this removes some of the top beading which then has to be re-instated with a flat half etch piece and trimmed to match the cut out. Finally I've found that flat beading near a flair bend nearly always tends to put a visible crease in the skin when rolled.
So taking all that on board is was significantly faster and easier to cut a new flat skin with no half etched beading, form the flairs and and then add correct profiled D shaped beading afterward.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Nearly finished the GWR 2500G tender, 3D tool boxes and vacuum pipe moisture trap/drain to be drawn up and fitted, plus associated brackets and removable pipework.
The white metal axle boxes will be split from the springs, a spigot between the two will allow the springs to be fitted post paint as that allow easier lining of the frames. The rear quarter handrails will also go on after paint as they need to be polished and the vacuum pipe stand splits at the footplate. A 0.8 mm wire spigot between the two allows the top part to be fitted post paint and lining of the rear panel.
There are a few gaps in the coal space area but being as this is having a coal load there is no point expending time and energy filling and dressing them.
The cleaning agent (Limelite) has turned a lot of the solder dark grey and I can see a few areas that need a waft with a file and fibre brush, but overall I'm satisfied with it so far.
The white metal axle boxes will be split from the springs, a spigot between the two will allow the springs to be fitted post paint as that allow easier lining of the frames. The rear quarter handrails will also go on after paint as they need to be polished and the vacuum pipe stand splits at the footplate. A 0.8 mm wire spigot between the two allows the top part to be fitted post paint and lining of the rear panel.
There are a few gaps in the coal space area but being as this is having a coal load there is no point expending time and energy filling and dressing them.
The cleaning agent (Limelite) has turned a lot of the solder dark grey and I can see a few areas that need a waft with a file and fibre brush, but overall I'm satisfied with it so far.
freelance7
Western Thunderer
I do like the look of this tender, nice job.
Paul
Paul
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
mickoo
Western Thunderer
David Andrews S&DJR 7F all done ready for shipping to DCC.
It'll get a good run in before then and I may swap the rear crank pin nuts and washers for steel ones. I've also just noticed the reversing lever drops links have not aligned with the radius rod, a simple tweak with tweezers will sort that.
Painting by that geezer with the sharp crayons......Warren Heywood.
It'll get a good run in before then and I may swap the rear crank pin nuts and washers for steel ones. I've also just noticed the reversing lever drops links have not aligned with the radius rod, a simple tweak with tweezers will sort that.
Painting by that geezer with the sharp crayons......Warren Heywood.
Last edited:
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Mick
Wow, that just looks stunning, another paint job by Warren ?
Richard
Wow, that just looks stunning, another paint job by Warren ?
Richard
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Cheers and yes, paint by Warren, OP amended to credit that
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Appreciated
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Weekly update on the Finney7 Duke.
Rolling chassis built and set up. The kit has you stacking washers on top of the bogie bolster to set the front end ride height, it didn't go well
so I measured the approximate height needed and turned some 6 mm brass rod, 5.9 mm is the target height, then you can add a few thin washers for accurate adjustment.
The bogie wheels are loose, the top hat bearing holes have been slotted underneath to allow them to drop out. Once painted they'll be dropped in and a smidge of solder will hold them in place, then the axle boxes will be fitted. This'll help accurate lining of the bogie and stop the painter throwing his crayons across the floor
You're supposed to add the front buffer beam, rear drag beam and outside frames to the chassis, the footplate with thin overlay then snuggles on top. I wasn't happy with the exposed thin edges and inevitable gap over the arches, plus the fact that fixing the outside frames forces you to adopt removable main axle bearings, not a lot of good if you had a rigid chassis in mind; or in my case fixed rear axle as part of the three point set up.
I fixed all those bits to the footplate sub frame and ended up with a traditional set up, much stronger and less chance of the thin footplate edges getting damaged.
I've had to adopt the narrower frame stays as the minimum radius for this model is 5' - 6", having said that, even at 6' I think the bigger stays will present numerous shorting opportunities around the bogie area without some additional stops and side/rotational control. You also get next to no side play on the main drivers with the bigger stays, pretty much forcing all the lateral side play to be worked into the front end.
The big down side to using the narrower stays is that you have to hack off the footplate section between the rear drivers as it impacts the raised frame section there in. You also need to take quite a lot off the inside valve gear motion bracket and pseudo cylinder face, but we'll get to that elephant shortly
Rolling chassis built and set up. The kit has you stacking washers on top of the bogie bolster to set the front end ride height, it didn't go well
so I measured the approximate height needed and turned some 6 mm brass rod, 5.9 mm is the target height, then you can add a few thin washers for accurate adjustment.The bogie wheels are loose, the top hat bearing holes have been slotted underneath to allow them to drop out. Once painted they'll be dropped in and a smidge of solder will hold them in place, then the axle boxes will be fitted. This'll help accurate lining of the bogie and stop the painter throwing his crayons across the floor
You're supposed to add the front buffer beam, rear drag beam and outside frames to the chassis, the footplate with thin overlay then snuggles on top. I wasn't happy with the exposed thin edges and inevitable gap over the arches, plus the fact that fixing the outside frames forces you to adopt removable main axle bearings, not a lot of good if you had a rigid chassis in mind; or in my case fixed rear axle as part of the three point set up.
I fixed all those bits to the footplate sub frame and ended up with a traditional set up, much stronger and less chance of the thin footplate edges getting damaged.
I've had to adopt the narrower frame stays as the minimum radius for this model is 5' - 6", having said that, even at 6' I think the bigger stays will present numerous shorting opportunities around the bogie area without some additional stops and side/rotational control. You also get next to no side play on the main drivers with the bigger stays, pretty much forcing all the lateral side play to be worked into the front end.
The big down side to using the narrower stays is that you have to hack off the footplate section between the rear drivers as it impacts the raised frame section there in. You also need to take quite a lot off the inside valve gear motion bracket and pseudo cylinder face, but we'll get to that elephant shortly
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Mini Finney7 Duke update.
Quick question to the collective, there's a polished cover ring between the smoke box and boiler, the kit is nickel silver (held temporarily in place with the 6BA pan head screw), my gut feeling is that this would have been brass on the real engine? If anyone can confirm that I'll turn up a new brass one and polish it to be fitted post paint.
On with the build, couple of areas to be wary of creeping in, the footplate overlay is too short where the splashers end, you're left with a small gap to fill. I think the idea is to leave a little ledge for the splasher ends to locate in, which it does very well, just a bit too well
It does only seem to be the areas that are half etched that suffer, the rear edges at the cab end are perfect which is full thickness material.
Some engines have an external L bracket here, well more like \_ and _/ but I don't think the Duke had this get out of jail card?
Inside motion, if you fit it as per instructions and fitting locations then you're left with a big gap between the smoke box rear and cylinder rear faces (2nd picture), the half etch slots for the motion bracket line up with the frame extension fixings nicely though.
In reality the rear faces are on the same plane (an assumption based on other inside cylinder engines to which I have drawings for) but achieving that will take a lot of hacking of the cylinder block stay and smokebox rear base. The best you can hope for is to move the cylinder rear face....plus slide bars...forward to meet the smokebox rear face. You're still left with a 0.7 mm lip but I'll cover that with a riveted strap.
You still need to trim the cylinder stay and smokebox rear base but it's manageable without resorting to a total strip down. Then you can move the inside motion forward (1.2-1.5 mm) and close up the gap (3rd photo); of course the motion bracket is now going to be out of line with the frame fixings
So tomorrows first task is to hack off the kit slide bars and make new longer ones so that the motion bracket can now fit in the right place.
Quick question to the collective, there's a polished cover ring between the smoke box and boiler, the kit is nickel silver (held temporarily in place with the 6BA pan head screw), my gut feeling is that this would have been brass on the real engine? If anyone can confirm that I'll turn up a new brass one and polish it to be fitted post paint.
On with the build, couple of areas to be wary of creeping in, the footplate overlay is too short where the splashers end, you're left with a small gap to fill. I think the idea is to leave a little ledge for the splasher ends to locate in, which it does very well, just a bit too well
It does only seem to be the areas that are half etched that suffer, the rear edges at the cab end are perfect which is full thickness material.Some engines have an external L bracket here, well more like \_ and _/ but I don't think the Duke had this get out of jail card?
Inside motion, if you fit it as per instructions and fitting locations then you're left with a big gap between the smoke box rear and cylinder rear faces (2nd picture), the half etch slots for the motion bracket line up with the frame extension fixings nicely though.
In reality the rear faces are on the same plane (an assumption based on other inside cylinder engines to which I have drawings for) but achieving that will take a lot of hacking of the cylinder block stay and smokebox rear base. The best you can hope for is to move the cylinder rear face....plus slide bars...forward to meet the smokebox rear face. You're still left with a 0.7 mm lip but I'll cover that with a riveted strap.
You still need to trim the cylinder stay and smokebox rear base but it's manageable without resorting to a total strip down. Then you can move the inside motion forward (1.2-1.5 mm) and close up the gap (3rd photo); of course the motion bracket is now going to be out of line with the frame fixings
So tomorrows first task is to hack off the kit slide bars and make new longer ones so that the motion bracket can now fit in the right place.
warren haywood
Western Thunderer
Yes Mick,
Brass ring between boiler and smokebox
Brass ring between boiler and smokebox
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Cheers pal, brass it shall be, it'll be removable so you'll not have to faff around masking it or cleaning it up.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Slow progress on the Finney7 Duke this week.
The cab has no slot and tab aids to help with construction, so it's slowly slowly catchy monkey, check and recheck; plus ample use of your Octopus fingers to hold it all square whilst waving the hot stick around.
The really critical parts are actually the splasher sides, again no slot and tab or alignment aids, if one of these is out then the splasher top will be out and thus that cab side will not match the other.
Beware also the boxed splashers inside the cab and floor, they have half etch guides on the underside to aid trimming depending on which chassis spacers you used, they didn't quite match on mine (early narrow short cab, other types of cab might be fine though). It pays to trim the boxes first, then trim the floor to fit the gap (ignore the etched guides underneath). To be fair it wasn't much, about 0.25mm each side, but it will show and the open nature of the cab means it's more easily seen.
I've changed the cranks for MOK CNC machined ones, much nicer and more chunky than the kit etched laminated ones or the stock Slaters plastic ones. To be fair, the etched laminated ones only fit the old style Slaters wheels with the D shaped axle end, so you're stuck with MOK or Slaters plastic ones really.
The cab has no slot and tab aids to help with construction, so it's slowly slowly catchy monkey, check and recheck; plus ample use of your Octopus fingers to hold it all square whilst waving the hot stick around.
The really critical parts are actually the splasher sides, again no slot and tab or alignment aids, if one of these is out then the splasher top will be out and thus that cab side will not match the other.
Beware also the boxed splashers inside the cab and floor, they have half etch guides on the underside to aid trimming depending on which chassis spacers you used, they didn't quite match on mine (early narrow short cab, other types of cab might be fine though). It pays to trim the boxes first, then trim the floor to fit the gap (ignore the etched guides underneath). To be fair it wasn't much, about 0.25mm each side, but it will show and the open nature of the cab means it's more easily seen.
I've changed the cranks for MOK CNC machined ones, much nicer and more chunky than the kit etched laminated ones or the stock Slaters plastic ones. To be fair, the etched laminated ones only fit the old style Slaters wheels with the D shaped axle end, so you're stuck with MOK or Slaters plastic ones really.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Another week gone by and very little obvious progress achieved 
but at least it's beginning to look like an engine now
The dome is a bit of a hard place and a rock, if it were to be painted it'd not be a problem at all, you'd never know at the end of the day. But this one is to be polished and you can't polish resin, it is however perfectly circular and the beaded rim matches the boiler diameter without a gap. The cast one can be polished (yaaaa) but it's oval and the beaded rim (probably due to shrinkage) does not match the boiler diameter. The very small and shallow flange makes it almost impossible to tweak the flange without damage or the bead breaking away.
There's some very good metallic paints in other modelling genre's so I'll explore some of them, they'll never match polished brass but the choice is fake brass paint and perfect dome or real polished brass and dome that sort of just fits.
Other than that is was a simple dot to dot exercise.
There's a few fittings left to go topsides, the back head to complete, brakes and rigging, inside motion plus connecting rods and she'll be about ready for paint.
I still need to turn the front brass boiler ring and I'll probably add a bar across the smokebox front to take a fixing (typically I replace the cast dart securing peg with a length of 12BA screw) to hold the smoke box door in place. I need to polish the rim once it's painted and before it's fitted.
but at least it's beginning to look like an engine now The dome is a bit of a hard place and a rock, if it were to be painted it'd not be a problem at all, you'd never know at the end of the day. But this one is to be polished and you can't polish resin, it is however perfectly circular and the beaded rim matches the boiler diameter without a gap. The cast one can be polished (yaaaa
) but it's oval and the beaded rim (probably due to shrinkage) does not match the boiler diameter. The very small and shallow flange makes it almost impossible to tweak the flange without damage or the bead breaking away.There's some very good metallic paints in other modelling genre's so I'll explore some of them, they'll never match polished brass but the choice is fake brass paint and perfect dome or real polished brass and dome that sort of just fits.
Other than that is was a simple dot to dot exercise.
There's a few fittings left to go topsides, the back head to complete, brakes and rigging, inside motion plus connecting rods and she'll be about ready for paint.
I still need to turn the front brass boiler ring and I'll probably add a bar across the smokebox front to take a fixing (typically I replace the cast dart securing peg with a length of 12BA screw) to hold the smoke box door in place. I need to polish the rim once it's painted and before it's fitted.
michael mott
Western Thunderer
I see that you keep using that invisible solder
Lovely work!
Michael
Lovely work!
Michael