Tullygrainey

Thanks David. Yes, it is a watershed moment. This is the stuff I use. Halfords stock it. Strips paint very effectively but will also dissolve some plastics! I clean the airbrush with it too.

It's that time again... Paint! There were a few hiccups and in keeping with tradition, the cellulose thinners was deployed at least once thanks to some ham-fisted work with the airbrush. However, I'm confident that before the decade is out, I will have figured out how to work it. Here's No.6 before the paint flew, scrubbed up and with most of its fussy bits loosely attached. Then a rattlecan coat of Halfords etch primer. Next, an undercoat of Tamiya acrylic black applied with the airbrush. I didn't use the rivet press for the smokebox so these rivets are Railtec 3D resin transfers. Topcoats of Tamiya acrylic dark green XF70. Airbrush again. I don't bother wearing a mask when airbrushing because mostly I stop breathing. The lining will be a challenge on this one because there are curves that won't be possible using transfers. Can ordinary mortals master a bow pen? How long does it take? Drop me a line, Alan

The sort of job that would try the patience of a saint David but worth the effort if you can make it work. Frequent tea breaks will preserve your sanity. The Donegal formation looks the business. Such an appealing livery.

Nice one! More power to your soldering iron! Great job with the weathering.

Lovely stuff David. Betjeman seems impressed too. Looking forward to seeing both progress.

A masterpiece Patrick. You've nailed the snowy atmosphere perfectly. You've even managed to achieve that hard winter light in the photographs.

Can only echo and endorse all the above Leslie. Thank you. Alan

Every one a gem! Such a pleasure to see this develop.

A great start. Beautiful building. You don't pick the easy ones Kevin!

One element that might make the idea attractive is ready-made EM gauge track available through the EM Gauge Society and manufactured for them by Peco.

Thanks David and you’re right. It needed a fair bit of thinking through to avoid having inaccessible joints that needed soldered. As it was, I’d intended to bolt the bodywork to the frames bur realised too late that I’d missed the opportunity to put in captive nuts. They ended up soldered together.

You're making me blush Patrick. Thank you. This one's been quite a challenge but the crises along the way haven't been too severe (he said with hindsight). Mind you, it was threatened with the big hammer last night when the pivot wire for the compensation beam came adrift and the loco developed a limp. Another example of that fitter in charge of the soldering iron doing substandard work. He's been warned before. This was the first loco I've built where the wheels went on for the first time and didn't have to come off again. Until last night. The front drivers had to come off in order to get at the beam and re-solder it. So, an aspiration still to be achieved. When refitting them using a GW Models quartering jig, the magnet in the motor kept attracting the wheels and making them jump out of the jig. I seemed not to have enough hands for the job. Hence the stirring of the big hammer. Got there eventually and thankfully, it still ran ok after all the messing about. On this loco, more than any of the others I've done, it's very apparent how out of scale OO 16.5mm gauge is. It may be because No.6's splashers are so prominent. The driving wheels are quite clearly a long way inside them. It would be good to model in 21mm gauge but I'm not sure I'm up for making track. A long finger project, that one. Alan

Thanks David. I agree, nickel silver does look good. Also, less heat transfer when soldering- less likely that adjacent bits will fall apart. Doesn’t tarnish as badly as brass either.

Riveting done, the tender is now largely assembled. A lot of edge to edge soldering at the corners which is always fun . Keeping the solder away from all my lovingly embossed rivets was a challenge. Complicated little beast. Still a few details to add. I've built it almost entirely in nickel silver. The springs were cobbled together using white metal wagon spring castings from MJT (Dart Castings), cut down and soldered to brass rod with low melt solder. I vaporised one and broke another before I got 6 usable ones. They'll go on like this but won't be finally attached until the paint and lining is done. Axle boxes are also MJT castings. Undoubtedly not accurate but they'll do until something better turns up. If ever. The coupling between tender and loco involved a bit of faffing around. I'm using a simple hook on the loco locating into a hole in the tender and that seems to work ok but it might not be the final arrangement. IMG_1634.MOV Alan

Those coaches are shaping up really nicely David. Neat work with the panelling.

Now there’s a thought…

That is magnificent!

Thanks David. Yes, I did use scribed lines to guide the work. The screw up came from not paying proper attention while merrily punching rivets! As you say, very addictive.

Back to No.6's tender. Taking a leaf from @Mayner's book (thank you John), I attacked the tender chassis again and fitted patches inside the frames to give it two sprung axles riding in slots. Bit of a dog's dinner by the time I'd finished hacking it around but it works and it won't be seen. Tender frames cut and shaped as a pair before being separated... ...then a role for my new toy, a GW Models Universal Rivet Tool. A lovely bit of kit and quite addictive. Tender body sides cut and shaped as a pair then separated for another riveting performance. I made a mess of the second one - that diagonal line of rivets strayed off line and trying to fix it only made things worse. I had to cut another side and start again. Eventually got a matching pair. The beading along the top edge is 0.33mm brass rod. I thought this tender would be fairly straightforward to assemble but the more I look at it the more complicated it becomes. More soon. Alan

Sorry Leslie, yes, I was thinking of DC powered locos when I mentioned the battery trick.

Leslie, if it’s the kit-built loco in your photo that’s causing the short, I would check if a brake shoe is touching a wheel somewhere. Easy to disturb these while cleaning wheels.

To turn the wheels a little at a time for cleaning or painting behind the rods, the terminals of a PP3 battery applied across the wheels on one axle works a treat. For 4mm that is. Not much use for you 7mm lads!

Some small stuff for No.6. Step this way… A nice little hand wheel etch from Wizard Models (51L CWSHB)... Smokebox door casting also from Wizard (MT329)... Slight flaw in this one. Never mind. Scrap etch for a reverser lever... Some cut down wagon springs from Dart Castings (MJT 2284) plus 0.45mm brass rod Over time I have gathered a small collection of chimney and dome castings, none of which were right for No.6 of course so it was back to cobbling together bits of brass tube, washers and dowel. The old Black and Decker earned its keep yet again. Trial fitting of some of the bits. Fussy little blighter isn't it. Back to the tender now, I think. Alan

Beautiful. The colours of the square setts are spot on

A compelling back story. Love it. Good luck with this one David.