murrayec

@Galteemore That first photo is pretty handy after a bit of contrast adjustment a lot of cab detail can be seen. Getting ready to do the compensation beam so we need wheels n axles. Alan Gibson wheel sets came with the kit- not my favourite type, with their push on axles. I prefer squared end axles and screw on wheels, easy to put on & off as the build requires, where if one pushes the Gibson wheels all the way on their a devil to get off! But I do have a trick for working with these..... .....the trick is to make up 1/8'' dia brass axles with the ends filed down slightly in the lathe so that the wheels are a slight push fit and then easy to get off again, I estimated the length required- 24mm and made them to this length which can be used to size the final steel axles. As you see in the photos the drivers come with separate crankpin wheel boss! This adds 2.14mm to the axles which will push out the rods by the same- Not sure about this and have an enquiry out to SSM. .45mm NS wire keepers soldered onto the bottom of the hornblocks of the bogie front axle. Axle'd up. Front axle compensation test, the axle pivots on the central bearing downstand from the stretcher. All wheels on. In this photo one can see the 3mm long tube above the rear bogie wheels that the bogie pivots on. Parts for the comp beam- 1.6mm brass wire beam, front screw plate from the kit, 1.6mm brass cross pin, 1.6mm internal dia brass pivot tube, and little bits of tracing paper with holes in, which will be used while soldering in the cross pin to stop solder wicking through into the tube- we want that to pivot! This is a handy tool for punching holes in things, I got it in the Art & Hobby shop- in the paper card section, with heads of 3 hole sizes and 3 dome sizes. Screw plate soldered onto the front of the beam first. Then it has it's 10BA screw fitted and threaded into the chassis, which will only work with the front driver axle removed. The bogie mounting screw also has to be filed down flush with it's corresponding nut, otherwise the end of the screw fowls the beam! The cross pin is soldered on the outside of the frames with the tube threaded on and the paper washers on each end of the tube against the frame. Then the front axle is fitted and the beam soldered under and to the pivot tube, soldering at the top is easiest. One can now see the screw at the beam front protruding through the fame stretcher which will act on the bogie creating a 3 point compensation suspension system with the front drive axle. Wheels back on. The beam front screw is now adjusted to level up the wheels, the front driver axle ends up in mid position on the hornblocks. After running and weight tests a splash of Loctite will go on the screw. Next will be the gear box and motor...... .........in a while! other projects to be getting on with! Eoin.

I Fixed up that frame spacer and did a bit more of the build. De-soldered the frame spacer, also the bogie mounting plate to facilitate bending the frames to sneak the spacer out of it's half etched tabs! Now its soldered back in the right way up. Bogie parts prepared for soldering up. Main parts folded and front axle hornblocks prepared with a bit of solder to sweat them onto the frames. Frame soldered and stretcher parts ready to be soldered in- oops! upsidedown parts again- that main stretcher is in the wrong way up and I did not notice until the bogie was complete but it was easy to rectify. Stretchers in and now the outside frame laminates are prepared to sweat solder them on. Soldered on and the iron is run around the edges to fill any gaps. Bogie cleaned up and holes being sized for rear axle bearings to be soldered in. This is the bogie end plate for the compensation beam a 10BA screw is the rubbing pin which is bolted through the plate, this allows adjustment of the beam. After soldering the nut onto the plate a 10BA tap is run through to clean the threads. The bogie pivots on a 3mm long 3/32'' tube fixed with a 10BA bolt to the bogie fixing plate on the chassis, the tube is not supplied in the kit. Thin tube is easy to cut with a craft knife by rolling the tube with the knife blade, after a few goes the tube eventually cuts- light pressure should be used otherwise the tube will deform at the cut. All the bits to fit the bogie to the chassis. Note the bogie main stretcher is now in the right way up! Test fitted. After a good rummage through the spares box I found a 'Puffers' Flexichas Hornblocks and bits, this will do the front driver axle bearings and compensation beam. Chassis holes cut out and hornblocks made up. Coupling rod holes are sized to fit the Alignment Jigs. The rear axle bearings are soldered in and all is jigged in the chassis. The hornblock frames are set at the top of the chassis opening and then soldered in on the inside. Done. Eoin.

This is the build of a Studio Scale Models Kit of Merlin, building it to Gauge OO and not decided on suspension type yet!! Main chassis components & coupling rods removed from the fret, edge cusp removed and ready all for soldering. Soldering the frame spacers to alternate frames, the ash pan sides and the coupling rods. The frames are then bolted together with screws supplied in the kit and then all soldered. Note;- **** The Motion Plate frame spacer, Part No. 108 - is in upside down in this sequence of photos. I will show it in the correct orientation in later photos when the error is fixed***** Captive screws and nuts are also fixed into the frame spaces to hold the front bogie and body onto the chassis. Crosshead parts ready for soldering, the long bits are a jig when soldering the parts together with a bit leftover as the sliders! see below. Jigged up and parts being soldered in. Soldering complete. Then the jig ends are cut off to complete the crossheads, a pit of filing and clean up is required. Motion brackets, cylinder wrappers and ends removed from the fret, cusps removed and ready for soldering. Motion brackets jigged up on a piece of MDF for soldering. Bracket folded n soldered. Preparing the relief valves for the cylinder front covers- these small bit of wire have a tendency to float out while soldering the covers on so I put a burr on one end with a hammer, thread the wire through the hole from the inside and solder on the inside, this stops the wire popping out later. Embossing the bolts on the covers. Inner cylinder wrapper bent to shape around a 6mm brass bar and ready to be soldered. Solder applied to inside of the wrapper, then the top is soldered onto the bracket first, then the wrapper is forced around the bracket, held with a strip of wood to save the fingers and the bottom soldered. Soldered. Front cylinder ends soldered on. Bogie front splashers were bent up and soldered to the chassis, gusset plates also done at front and at the firebox. Crosshead slide bars being folded up and soldered. Installing the slide bars into the back of cylinders and the motion bracket. A bit of fettling was required to the crossheads to ensure they could move freely in the slide bars, this was done before soldering the bars in! Outer cylinder wrappers bent up and ready to be soldered as per the inner wrapper method. Wrappers on and whole assembly cleaned up. Eoin.

That sure is a big can

It's Gauge 1 - 1:30, or 10mm/foot. Eoin.

I started on the valve gear for the Gauge 1 800, getting ready to assemble the chassis frames and axles so need the coupler rods first, so into the metal scarp box to see what we have;- Various bits of mild steel were found that would work, 8mm thick bit at bottom for the drive rods, 4.5mm above for the coupler rods, then 5mm for radius rods, and finally 2.5mm sheet for the other bits. Cleaning up the 4.5mm bits for the coupler rods. Blued up for marking up. And marked up, this is for initial guide to set-up a jig to hold the metal parts on the mill machine. First operation done- removing the straight bits along the rods by chain drilling and then milling slots with a 6mm endmill. Next the curvy bits are done on the rotary table with a 6mm endmill. Curvy bits complete, just needing the remainder scrap to be cut off. Here the rods have been mounted on the jig in the vice and recessed face side cut with an 8mm endmill and then the flutes cut with a 3.2mm woodruff mill to 1mm depth. And the completed coupler rods after the oil boxes have been cut back on the front face and 1.2mm dia holes drilled in top for the oil filler plugs. The rods still need a rub down with grades of emery paper to remove the machine marks- but that will be done later. Next up will be the turning of axle jigs from 6.35mm dia aluminium rod, for soldering in the axle bearings in the chassis frames, the coupler rods will be used for this to line it all up..... Eoin.

Lovely stuff @popeye

Have to agree there on brass kits! I would recommend kits from Studio Scale Models- J15, Bandon Tank, Maebh and Merlin are all available in full kit form including the chassis and can be built to 21mm if required. Eoin

Looks like I did! my under cover IP location has been found Eoin

Here is a link to the build, these are Studio Scale Model kits though, I have a few of the Worsley Works kits also, the advantage of the SSM kits is that you get all the parts for the model- seats, white metal castings, wheels and instructions! Though does cost a little bit more..... Eoin

Man! you cant put Donny Osmond in the same sentence as T Rex & Wizard!! Eoin

On DCC the led is getting 12v all the time irrespective of the throttle control, so if that's what you mean by 'increase power' all will be OK! Eoin

@seagoebox Yes a fantastic drawing and a great description in the Journal's text of the loco by the indexed letters assigned to parts in the drawing. When I first saw this it confused me, and others to, on the drawing detail of the bellcrank- the crank is outside the outer frame and the driver wheels are inside the frame!! After finding a copy of the Sharp Roberts works drawing which featured in The Engineer 1883, all was explained! The guy who did the Journal drawing obviously had no engineering experience - just a draughftsman. Eoin

Baltimore railway station is closer to the village than the Lifeboat station, the building still stands although a bit modified by previous use as a sailing school and other things;- Eoin

@ShaneC Old thread!! Your first enquiry;- It is believed that the 3 Hibernia type locos were supplied by the manufacture to the D&KR in light battleship grey, they later received livery colours like the Fry model- it's hard to find when this happened! I believe maybe much later in their lives?? but these locos were gone by 1842 with one of them blowing up in Kingstown station and the other two sold for scrapping. I found this painting in my search;- https://www.ssplprints.com/image/88968/steam-locomotive-hibernia-1834 © NRM / Pictorial Collection / Science & Society Picture Library The only problem with this picture is that the locos were originally supplied without tenders, the company believed they could run the locos from Dublin to Kingstown and back on coal & water fills at each end! As time went on with more stops along the way this became a problem and tenders were ordered to add to these locos and the Forresters. Your second enquiry;- I would say the newspaper article was taken from the picture above and its the 'nameplate' that's muted green not the footplate- no one would paint a footplate green, even back in those days..... and why would someone refer to the colour of the footplate. Your third enquiry;- I would say its not unreasonable to accept it was painted green all over at some time, can you show this drawing? Also there is this pen & ink drawing, and I believe there is a painted version, showing a D&KR train with loco & tender in a green & black livery;- The green could be grey on the loco but it's defo green on the tender. This loco looks more like a Forrester than a Hibernia type, but I understand all six tenders acquired by the company were of the same design type. I will be going for the light grey livery on the model above. Eoin.

It's looking great David, If the lining is water based a spray over of lacquer/varnish would seal it for handling. Eoin

Yes @Georgeconna it's a shame the track up the road is not used and left to rot! Interestingly though! that 3.5 inch gauge Royal Scott I mentioned above in this thread, is back on the list for repair & restoration to live steam running!! The chap also says if we can get it running he will build a track in his 'large' garden- this could be interesting? We have discussed about making it look like a Class 800!! Eoin

Amazing George, I was wondering about progress..... Eoin

Final bits and assembly of the Bing! With the lathe back in operation the replacement steam whistle handle could be done. Turning the handle from 10mm square Tufnol. Part made. And stuck on with epoxy glue, the valve assembly was given a light wire-brushing and polished with Peek metal polish. The new boiler handrail knob being setup, using a bar of 6mm NS for the knob, a 10mm brass rod for making a holding mandrill when doing the round bit and drilling the rail hole, and 1.5mm NS wire for the new handrails. 6mm rod turned down to head diameter and just about to cut the 6BA thread on the end. After threading the knob blank its then threaded into the brass mandrill and the ball end turning is done with that red ball turning tool mounted on the lathe cross-slide. With the ball end complete the knob is screwed onto the boiler and the location of the hole is checked, marked, screwed back onto the mandrill, then the mandrill is put in the vice for drilling a 1.6mm hole. New knob fitted and new handrails trimmed to size and installed. After a good clean down of the paintwork the parts where given a few coats of lacquer, when well dry final assembly was done. Complete. Eoin

Lathe Turning Gauge G Wheels for an Alco RS-3 This is a job turning 4 replacement wheels for the loco, it was decided to change the traction tyre wheels for plain ones as the layout is relatively level and the tyres disintegrate over time. A 41mm dia EN8 mild steel bar was sourced for its relative hardness and ease of machining, the wheels are fixed on a 6mm taper axle with a screw to lock in place. This adds to the complexity having to turn a small taper bore from 4.8mm to 6mm, needing a rather small boring tool which had to be made. Also required to turn the taper was a 'taper gauge' - this is for testing the fit of the taper in the wheels while turning it and to hold the wheel blanks in the chuck as the face truing is being done, again this had to be made first. Boring tool being ground from a broken 3.75mm dia cnc tungsten carbide bit, using a green stone on the bench grinder to do this, grey stone does not cut carbide very well and generally just falls apart and over heats the tool which is not good- the tool looses it's hardness. An existing wheel was removed to use as a pattern, 10mm thick wheel blanks were cut from the 41mm bar on the bandsaw the final thickness of the wheel is 8mm so a bit to play with! the taper gauge/mandrel was turned from 16mm dia EN8 ms bar to replicate an axle end from the loco, it has a M4 bolt and washer to hold the wheels when being used as the mandrill, and the boring tool was setup. The wheel blanks were mounted in the 4 jaw chuck and dialled in to run on centre as the blanks were the exact diameter of the wheels including the flange so no waste to spare. The blank was faced off first as this is the back of the wheel and now is the time to do it. A 4mm dia hole was drilled through using a centre drill first 4mm gives just enough space to get the boring tool in. The boring was done by setting the top slide to the taper angle, the saddle and cross slide were locked and the cutting was carried out using the angled top slide only to create the taper. This is where the bore gauge comes in for checking the fit when doing the final cuts. When setting up a taper gauge to check fit in this kind of job one sets the top slide to the angle, cuts the gauge and then cuts the bore in the item being made- without resetting the top slide or the cutting tool so that the taper angles will be spot on! I have no photos of that work but this is one of the completed tapers and faced off wheel backface. The blanks were then turned around in the 4 jaw chuck and a counter bore was cut for the bolt recess when fitted to the loco and also to be used for holding the blank on the taper mandrill while processing the front of the wheel. The counter bore was done with the little boring bar. Now the taper gauge/mandrill is mounter in a collet chuck, this kind of chunk is very handy for round bar as it always tightens up on centre, even if one removes the bar and re chucks it- it will be on centre. This chuck is an ER25 type for the mini lathe and can hold bar from 1mm up to 16mm by changing the appropriate collet in the chuck- the 16mm collet is being used here. The wheel blank has been mounted on the mandrill with the M4 cap screw, the head of the screw and washer needs to be turned down to fit into the counter bore of the wheel blank, an extra washer is installed for packing to allow the outer washer to be turned down to size. After the screw and washer are turned down and re-fitted the full face of the wheel blank can be faced off and brought to the finished size of 8mm thick. A dial gauge is been used here off the saddle to measure the cut so that when the other 3 blanks are set up to be faced they will all end up at the same thickness. With all the blanks set to the same size the front of wheel recess detail is part done- the top slide is set to an 8deg angle as the recess is at an 8deg angle, it get deeper out near the tyre. The saddle has a dial gauge set up to watch the depth of the cut and only the top slide is used to traverse the tool. Inside done to 1mm deep but then the tool binds. The tool is changed to do part of the outside of the recess but cannot be completed yet until the wheel thread is cut to set the distance, so the detail will match the existing loco wheels. Outside being done but have to step the tool out near the tyre as it also starts to bind. Two dial gauges are used her, one to measure off the saddle for the depth of recess and the other off the top slide to stop at a point adjacent the location of the tyre. Recesses part complete which will be completed with a boring bar after the tyres are cut. Tyres and flanges are rough cut square first. All done square. Now the top slide is set over at 20deg to cut the flange faces. The tool is set in the post to have a 4deg angle to cut the tyre face when the top slide is wound in to the full flange depth. The saddle and cross slide are locked and only the cross slide is used clocked with a dial gauge to measure the depth and get all the wheels the same. Now that the tyres are finished the rim dimension can be set. The final cut being done on the front face using a boring bar tool to finish the outside of the recess. Dial gauges again being used to measure the depth of cut and distance out to the edge of the recess. Cleaning up the edges with a file. Blackening being done with blowtorch and WD40. Blackened. Complete, the one on the left is an original. Fitting and going for a test run........ Eoin.

It looks stunning, yes hours & hours! I stopped counting when working on models- just go till it's done..... Eoin

The smaller details going onto the Seapoint Martello Tower diorama;- Card templates were cut on the Cameo Silhouette for cutting the steps, the shed, and the bathing shelter. The foam is cut to applicable sizes and the card templates are pinned on, some of the templates are glued on to give strength and to guide the hot wire cutter on items like the steps which are cut vertically! And cut. Starting to glue on the bits. The bathing shelter coming together. Shelter roof on with the tower in place. Walls, footpath and kerbs done on the western side. Just the bridge and embankment to finish...... Eoin.

Back to the Martello Tower, just before Christmas the parts for the Seapoint tower diorama were set up and cut out of aeroboard and polyfoam;- These are the paper templates printed from the drawing, cut out and will be pinned to the foam to guide the hot wire cutter. The main parts cut and setup for a few photos. And with the tower on. Next is to add walls, steps, ramps, bathing shelter, and a few other bits of detail..... Eoin.