murrayec

Yes Jhb, I said the same when the bag of bits was given to me Eoin

So a very nice man gave me a Leinster Models Gauge O J26 'Bat' kit, its stamped out tinplate and brass kit old style- amazing! I'm eventually building something for me and I want to complete it soon in appreciation to the chap whom gave it to me. Wheels, motor, and chassis fittings were ordered last week, the wheels and bearings arrived yesterday from Slaters- I was a bit limited on choice they only had 14 spoke in 4' 6'', it should be 16 spoke but only option for that was a bigger wheel so I stuck to wheel size. Today I set about preparing the drive rods to use as a jig to set the axle bearing centres in the chassis frames. After working out a chassis drawing I started to mark up the rods for machining , the rods are supplied pre drilled! the blue one in the photo. While marking out I found the drilled holes were way over size for the Slater crank-pin bushes and realised that the hole centres between each rod did not line up! So I bit the bullet and made a new set, drilled to the correct centres and the drilled hole size a nice fit for the bushes - they are the two above the blue one in the photo. So marked out again, the rods have a slight bow shape and I hope to replicate this, its very slight, hence the double lines in the markings. The oil cups will be there also- if that's what their called? All bolted up and ready for a bit of milling to remove the waste and then its down to files to get the shape. Eoin

Decals on the chassis and wheels was next, another handy use for the chassis jig- sticking on decals! The red lines were a nightmare, I finally figured it out- cut them up and stick each line on separate, if you try to say stick on those 'L' shapes they twist and stick to themselves and then break as one tries to untie them. Wheels were next, same nightmare and even worse- two of the bogie wheel transfers had been sliced up in the packet by metal parts they were in with, one was in about 10 pieces and they were floating around in the water- 'Decal Fishing' All done, just a coat of satin varnish to hide the decal-fix and seal them, then the chassis is ready to go back together. Is that the cab all test fitted up? Yes it is, first test burn of the boiler! Two flickering LEDs from Baseboard Dave- red n orange, mounted behind the backhead with fire door open and a bit of tracing paper with black marker on as a diffuser and coal look...... Eoin

Thanks Weshty Yes, I know the Hallery motors and it is under consideration Eoin

Hi all Thanks for the comments and likes I had a go at one of the bonnets last night and it was a challenge to get things right. After cutting the parts out, removing the cusps and sizing things up I worked out that the half etch lines for folding the bonnet start to early on the sides and the lines are poorly etched- so out with the scrawker to make them deeper. This photo shows the etch lines, the 3 decent looking ones are the early ones, the fold starts above these, the ones above, where we are folding need the scrawker, this shot also shows the 2mm dia steel rod to do the folding around The plan of action, bend the corners first, then the top This photo shows the set up I used for folding the corners in the Hold & Fold, pushing down on the 2mm rod while raising the folding blade. The brass was annealed before attempting this. After a fair bit pushing n shoving the assembly came out pretty close, good enough to tack solder and refine the shape. Ouch time- this is going to be done in the fingers as no real way to clamp this! lolly pop sticks help here between the fingers and the heat All soldered up and in shape, it will need the half etched lines filled with solder and a touch of a file on the outside to hide the fold line impression that comes through the brass- thats for later! Test fitting Starting to look like a Walker Diesel I think Eoin

heirflick Humbrol 27 for the grey & I'd say you couldn't go wrong with a few 6 wheelers at a guess..... and don't forget the tool box. Eoin

Hi Colin R I found pictures of the Chinery Bogies on the other site! and also info on Mike Savage- thanks for the above contact info While doing the Google search, it lead me back to the Bullant bogies, I developed a bogie for the DART model like a Bullant which I don't use any more, but I did buy gears and shafts from Branchlines to motorise them back at the time! I may revisit for this project... It needs a bit of working out but I have the parts and it could be fun. Still interested in seeing the bits, especially if you have bogie sides..... Eoin

Oooch!

Hi Andy Any chance you could post up or pm me a few photos of the bogie sides? even better if you could post a picture of Mike Chinery's complete bogies? and does Mike still make these? Thanks Eoin

Hi Colin R The jig is a sheet of 9mm MDF with two screw holes on the centre line to hold, from the underside, different blocks of MDF to mount the chassis on- all depending on the job. Then there are a number of 4mm threaded inserts fixed into the base dispersed around the work area to take M4 threaded rods to clamp down the model parts with lolly-pop sticks supported with off cut bits of timber to the rear of the sticks to allow clamping. M4 threaded bar is impossible to buy so I used bolts with the heads cut off and made up a few brass threaded sleeves to join two rods together. When setting up the clamps the support timber to the rear should be higher than the part being clamped, and as far away from the threaded rod as can be so the main down force is on the part, holes in the LP stick should be 4.5 - 5mm to allow the stick to be angled. The clamping force required on the nut is small, just enough to pinch it. New holes can be drilled in all this stuff for other jobs...... The second clamp seen above is a new soldering jig I made out of hardwood, my old one made with MDF started to bloat with the flux and heat so while making the kit jig I made a new one. It's featured here, the old one that is;- You mention bogies in your post, are they for the Walker? if so can you post up a few pictures to give us a look at them, thanks Eoin

heirflick Where did you get that kit! I'd like to stick one of them together Thanks Eoin

Then the roof was slip rolled and sized up, it comes short at the sides! ah thats for the gutters, those little 1x.4mm brass lengths below in the photo. The gutters were sweated onto the roof sides and the roof and cab were jigged up as below. Spacers were used to support the curve of the roof, aluminium ones under the gutters so they wont stick, and mild pressure applied with jiggery-poke to line it all up. Tack soldered first and then soldered all over while still in the jig. and done, a nice little cab with straight and perpendicular bits and the gutters stayed in place! Eoin

Hi Here is my take on a West Clare Walker Diesel in 4mm for a chap doing 00n3. The body is a Worsley Works brass etch which looks very nice and shiny in its bag, after doing a bit of research I reckon it will need a few extra holes and some score lining... Extra .5mm holes being added for; - Head Lamps, Marker lights, Water fill, Exhaust brackets, Screen wipers, Horns, Vacuum pipes, & Couplers. This was all done with the parts still in the sprue as its easier to hold this way. After cutting out the chassis and cab parts, removing the cusp and sizing things up, a plan of action was formulated. There will be four main components to build as individual items- Chassis, Cab, Bonnet 1, & Bonnet 2. When these parts are complete it will be decided how to put it together. I left some of the sprue in the chassis to give a bit of reinforcement while building, this will be removed when the time comes. After playing with the cab parts for a while I decided it was time to build the jig I had been thinking about for holding body parts while soldering. This cab is a bit twee and just about fits together, there is a few gaps when assembled on the chassis, I think the magic etch offset line was not used so gentile persuasion will be required and a jig is the man for this! This unit is designed to be adaptable for other kits n stuff Windows on first, slightly ajar Then three sides are jigged up, the chassis has slots and half etched lines to aid, but the parts just don't quite make it- a bit of filling later I think. The fourth side goes on when the other three are soldered. Tack soldering here only, to get it held in place, then finally soldering off the jig to complete.

Hi chris That's the Maritime Museum Boys - it's a ship from the Museum as far as I know, scratch built by a patron some time ago..... Eoin

Excellent George Great to see the above and to see you this weekend Keep it coming Eoin

A video of SDMRC's Dun Laoghaire DART Station Eoin

Back in style heirflick Nice tank 279 coming on there Eoin

...I don't have them, yet Eoin

Hi Borithe I could do this with the DART- put an Gauge N DART in an OO DART Eoin

Stunning Borithe Now that's a proper model village Eoin

Hi A know someone who will be delighted to see this, and I know a few who wont! It's the Mock DART, the body was made pre window era and sat in a box until recently, now it's just about finished and ready to go into service.... .......the Mock DART was a model built back in early 1980's to show the public what the train was going to look like, so this is a model of a model! I wonder is that a first? Eoin

Hi Glover It's this one.... .....I'm told by one of the chaps involved that they were the same down south Eoin

Just keeping you up to date, I know the photos are the same as previous but the J10 617 are in these ones, testing out it's new legs n gears, a few problems with the track showed up- 0-6-0 loco is a good engine to test track!! ....and pushing back to Dublin as the DART is on its way.... Eoin & CM

Hi Glover Have you seen Provincial Wagons now do a pretty good Cattle Wagon kit? its not the same satisfaction as kit-bashing to achieve a goal, but if your thinking of a train of them this might be a quicker starting point.... Eoin

Decisions, decisions, - when in doubt do them all..... Eoin