murrayec

The Walker Diesel Loco build got a bit of attention over the last month or so, after making further mods to the bogie sides the extended axles were cut n sized and all the gear was set up to build the bogies;- The gears were glued in with Loctite, small brass sleeves also around the axles on the inside of the bogie to hold the wheels on centre and stop them shorting on the bogie frames. I decided to glue the sides and stretchers to the bogies with epoxy, it was a bit problematic getting the soldering iron into the space between the wheels and the sides, also it would be easier to dismantle if required- so epoxy takes time and that means a jig to hold every thing in place for the glue to set. MDF, styrene card and a screw clamp- sit the bogie in the space in the middle and screw down to hold. I first used .7mm steel rivets to join the cranks to the connecting rods, soldered at the rear with a bit of tracing paper between so the cranks would not get stuck also. This proved problematic when fitting the crank assembly to the axles, there was a slight misalignment with the centres of the rods and after several attempts of de-soldering and making adjustments I changed tack and settled for 14BA screws n nuts to fix the rods to the cranks, which made the job a lot easier to get them adjusted. Only drawback is we now have nuts to hold the rods which on final fitting will be filed down after Loctiting. The body was attacked next with the radiator filler caps being soldered on the bonnets, these are small brass turnings from the lathe. Then the bonnets & cab were soldered to the running plate and cleaned up for a test fitting to the chassis. I couldn't resist sitting the assembly on the chassis and taking a first look at the loco with it's wheels on. Very close to painting stage, just have to put the under-frame parts on the chassis, set-up and check the electrical pick-ups which will be installed after painting. Eoin

@LostCarPark There are very few off the shelf chassis suitable for the 141 because of running boards from cab to cab! most chassis have the motor way to wide to allow for this. The chassis I'm developing for this project- see beginning of this thread above, allows for the 141 design.... Eoin

@LostCarPark Yes card rolling stock is on the 'cards', I have artwork for- cravens, laminates, 6 wheelers and a few others set up- but the usual time restrictions are involved! I do do a Gauge N DART;- I have built 3 of these so far. I had a meeting with my printer guy this week and Xerox have come up with a solution to the orange printing problem! so I expect some new test prints in the coming week....... Eoin

Hi Guys The Train & Model Fair this Saturday is a one off, the club house is booked for every Sunday in February for Wheeler's campaign on introducing new cyclists to the club & sport. Eoin

Came across this Gauge O Acorn Kit at the Stillorgan Toy Fair today, could not resist so I bought it. Its staggering the amount of parts in the box, etched brass, nickel silver and white metal- bags of...... 14 etched sheets approx A4 size, that instruction book down in the corner is A4 size for scale idea, the book is about 50 pages! To busy on other projects at the moment so will have to put it away for some rainy 5 years work in the future

@DiveController Its on the list to do but I'm a bit busy at the moment- I need to beef up the masters and make the moulds again, it was rather difficult to mould the sides I made for this project because some of the detail parts of the masters were to thin, the white metal would not flow by gravity to fill the mould completely as cooled to quickly. Thicker parts should hold the heat a bit longer?? ...... I have a number of orders for these so hope to do it soon! Eoin

Their harder to put logos on, their a moving! Eoin

Maybe this will help.....

Hi David It's all looking excellent and congratulations on the win, nice trophy and well deserved. Eoin

The February date for the Fair, note due to hall availability the Fair is on the Saturday;-

@Broithe A great collection of layouts, your spoilt for viewing choice. Eoin

Thanks guys, There is allowance for strip lighting and maybe some passengers but that work was not included in the project now- maybe later as I have a few more kits to build for this client and he may decide on that later.... Eoin

...and finally the laminate coach lightly weathered;- A light spray coating of track dust to the running gear and the coach ends, a few small rust patches here n there, a brown & black wash was dripped down the sides and then cleaned up and the roof was kind of dry brushed with a grey wash and and a rust wash and then cleaned off, axle boxes were painted with metal cote black and polished when dry, same to the buffers, suspension springs given a rust wash..... This project is now complete. Thanks for watching, helping, and posting your great comments during this build. Eoin

@controller Set up the marker lights to run off the green or purple wire, you will have to switch them on/off manually on F1 or F2 depending on which wire you use- thats the simplest way. or You could wire the marker lights off the directional yellow & white wires but you will have to use diodes in the circuit to stop an electrical loop when you alternate between forward & reverse, otherwise both headlights will stay on! thats the complex way. Eoin

Does she not have an on/off button?

So on the Class 800, after sorting the valve link problems I returned to final body and chassis work;- Fixing up the gaping hole in the cab and installing a not so prototypical backhead (it's what the client gave me and he's happy to use it!), the brass cover piece was folded up and made to fit. I installed a BA screw in the backhead so that its bolted in and can be changed in the future. The step in the floor is required to clear the wheels and to allow the chassis to be fitted in. Next is the steam dome- its missing it's edge for about 70% and just would not look right! I cut a hole in a piece of .5mm styrene card to the diameter of the flange and stuck it on around the dome to fill the recess with plastic filler. The dome seems to be part plastic and lead so decided to keep the soldering iron away from it. Filled ready for painting the undercoat then I will clean it up. Next the oil pump boxes on the running boards- I'm doing the drive rods from the valve gear for these and as the came they are in the wrong position- to far back and to far in from the edge so..... ....pop them off, filled the holes in the boxes with brass rod for drilling new 14BA taped holes..... .....soldered back on in the correct position with BA screw showing which will hold the little brass hand-wheels and drive gear in place. Detail bits are now glued onto boiler front with epoxy. The buffer shanks were de soldered for the painting process. Bogie truck is next, I made frame stretchers in .5mm brass for back and front of bogie with a little bit of rivet detail. After folding up the stretchers the bogie was jigged up to keep all straight n level in relation to the axles, the stretchers taped to a piece of mdf to hold in position while soldering. All soldered up. Then the tender chassis, one of the the middle axle bearing needed to be re fixed to the springing system, a short length of brass tube was used to slide over the spring and then soldered to the bearing without soldering it to the spring or chassis frame. Next installing the tender breaks. The breaks are done as per the loco and can be removed by springing off the spigots soldered into the chassis frames I decided to de-solder the tender WM spring n axle boxes, this will make the painting and lining process in this area far easier. The buffer shanks were also de-soldered for the painting process. Cleaning up. Done. Soldering up the vac pipes. Done, bent into shape and cleaned up. and we are now ready to start the painting process.....yippee Eoin

@LM186 Yes that would be correct, if you build a lateral beam with brass channel like the Bull-Ant type you can then hang the Spud and the third axle frame from it. Eoin

Hi @LM186 Tenshodo motor bogie also known as the 'Spud', Branchlines in the UK have the best price on them Eoin

Some more photos of the old Fry layout at this link;-

Yes, really is a shame, not much of that stuff will ever been seen again, nor a Gauge O layout of that size- very sad, I believe an opportunity lost....... Eoin

Mike Sharman stuff;-

My favourite of the Fry Models has to be the D&KR Hibernia Loco and coaches;- Eoin Edit;- 'R' for 'W'

My own little 185th year celebration for one of the first locomotives on the Dublin & Kingstown Railway;- Eoin

Hi Colin R Studio Scale Models do a brass Class S kit. Eoin oops! narrow gauge I see in the title, ignore me!