4mm Shrewsbury’s big beast: stepping out

AJC

Western Thunderer
“Have you built it yet?”. So ran Mike Edge’s cheerful greeting at Expo EM. The ‘it’ in question was his new kit for Sentinel’s more innovative industrial designs, an 0-6-0 (and here it defies the usual definitions). I’ve had the kit since March, and he knows I’ve built one or two of his kits in a week so it’s not as outlandish a question as it might appear!

Aesthetically, they’re perhaps an acquired taste, but I gained that taste some time ago - 4mm - The Sentinel (and derivatives) in EM - and have built two of their post-war designs and one of the later Thomas Hills, already.

So what is it? A geared, 6-coupled, oil-fired (actually even that isn’t simple - the idea was to warm it up on diesel and switch to heavy oil once hot: a bit like a petrol/TVO tractor), vertical-boilered loco sold to the steel industry, at Dorman Long on Teeside and to GKN in Cardiff. They were mechanically interesting, since the boiler was harnessed to the usual high speed Sentinel engine units atop the 6-coupled chassis which was also paired with a decidedly eccentric ‘fireless’ system (that one didn’t work but was quite attractive in a sleek ‘50s sort of a way). The soundness of chassis element of the design was eventually coupled to a Rolls Royce diesel and the 0-6-0 Sentinel is still just about in use in industry today.

Anyway, the kit is typically Edge in concept: lots of sub-assemblies, bolted together, in relatively sturdy brass, and everything fits. Here are the first two assemblies, the basic chassis, and the footplate and outer frames.

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The one slightly puzzling element is that Mike seems to have missed off a lifting bracket from the artwork so I had to raid the spare etch box which happens to have a few bits that could be modified to suit. The baseplate for the bodywork is bolted on and the next job is to solder the nuts on: I’ve blackened the footplate so the solder shouldn’t stick, I hope.

Adam
 
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AJC

Western Thunderer
A bit of lunchtime meddling results in a mostly assembled cab. The height is an attempt to keep the thing coolish - a challenge with a boiler in the cab - this is the GKN version, Dorman Long’s trio had a very low cab, a feature shared with diesel Sentinels which were developed with Teeside in mind. This didn’t work because every picture shows the floors, windows and vents wide open…

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NB - the apparent chasm twixt bottom and cab is a consequence of the blackened footplate, it's actually pretty tight. The window frame could be better though.

Adam
 
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AJC

Western Thunderer
Moving on a bit: cab roof, door slides, window frames and the doors. The latter were always open when in use and will be modelled thus - obviously they’ll have to be glued on with epoxy once painted so the one shown here is just offered up for fit.

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The Sentinel badges (positioned to be visible with the doors open - the builders knew…).

Adam
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Some big sub-assemblies next, the casings for the boiler (rear) and engines and fuel (the long snout at the front). As you can imagine these are a bit of a faff, as they were for the designer! I promise that it's a bit tidier in the flesh, but this is probably past the limits of my 25W Antex so the soldering is a bit messy. But it'll be painted, so who cares?

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The smaller of the two ends were the more difficult as the bends are tighter and the brass is relatively thick and resistant to fiddling around. The front was slightly easier but soaks up more heat, though the footplate assembly is part of the reason for that. Now that I have these bits soldered together, the upper works can be unbolted for the remainder of works to be done slightly more conveniently and with reduced risk of full thickness burns...

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At this point we have a better idea of the finished article. Perhaps only a well-intentioned liar would call it handsome, but it certainly has presence!

Adam
 
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AJC

Western Thunderer
Just wondering if the designers of the front, rear and middle sections were allowed to talk or see what each was doing. :))

Lol! I suspect Engineering said something like ‘Here’s what you’ve got. Put some cladding on that and do your best.’

To be fair, all those tapers must have helped with visibility (compare it to something like an Austerity which is about the same size and a similar date. The inset steps at the front and the back plates to the cab steps suggest that they did at least care, even if the crew must have cooked in summer. Even in Cardiff.

The Dorman Long versions were worse in this respect - they had low height cabs. DL’s requirements were also the reason that Sentinel diesels had low roof cabs (also too hot - they routinely run with the doors and windows open).

I still like the thing though. It’ll look good in black with wasp stripes.
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
This is worth a look (though only if you're in the UK, I fear) as it includes film of both the articulated 0-6-0 + 0-6-0 Sentinel (at 9.00 minutes) and the Dorman Long version of the 0-6-0 I'm building (at 17.10 - note the GWR-inspired stock Sentinel livery): Watch Steel Strides Ahead - BFI Player

Screenshot here for illustrative purposes, BFI copyright acknowledged:

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Adam
 
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AJC

Western Thunderer
After something of a hiatus, all handrails and door catches now fitted which means that it’s complete above the footplate. The handrails are 0.3mm nickel silver in n gauge handrail knobs: fiddly!

Lots more detail to come at and below footplate level, but not for a day or two.

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Adam
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Ooh! Where did you get those from? Are they actual knobs or flat etches?

Actual brass turnings. B and H Enterprises (though N Brass Locos also supply them, it turns out, they work out a touch dearer). The 3mm suppliers sell them too. A colleague at work, who works in 2mm Finescale, tells me that they mostly use etched these days and has offered me his stock… Small locos benefit from smaller fittings, and Sentinel seem to have used 1” bar for handrails.

Quite what I’ll do with 36 Austerity type ‘normal’ handrail knobs I don’t know!

Adam
 
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Overseer

Western Thunderer
Quite what I’ll do with 36 Austerity type ‘normal’ handrail knobs I don’t know!
I can think of three options -
1. 4mm scale Austerity locos,
2. 4mm scale CSB pivot points,
3. 7mm scale Sentinel loco handrails.

Personally, I recommend option 3.:)

PS. Just remembered another use - smokebox handrails on Beyer Peacock built locos from the 1860s onwards.
 
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AJC

Western Thunderer
I can think of three options -
1. 4mm scale Austerity locos,
2. 4mm scale CSB pivot points,
3. 7mm scale Sentinel loco handrails.

Personally, I recommend option 3.:)

PS. Just remembered another use - smokebox handrails on Beyer Peacock built locos from the 1860s onwards.

All good options (especially 3.). Since there’s already a packet of 40 in the drawer for 1., I suspect I have a lifetime’s supply. Must give 2 a go…

Adam
 
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