murrayec

Hi jhb The body shell above is still in LNER black livery- not painted yet, I'm waiting until all fixups and bits are on before painting.... Here is a snippet of the Humbrol Reference Chart and a photo of the tinlet, its the middle one, the other two are for comparison- light grey and black What do you reckon? Eoin

Hi jhb Yes, I picked up a dark gery for this project- Humbrol Matt 67, look it up and let me know what you think. It looked dark in the shop but in the workshop it looks like it may need a bit of black added! Eoin Edit;- Something went a bit funny with the computer and doubled up!!

Hi jhb Yes, I picked up a dark gery for this project- Humbrol Matt 67, look it up and let me know what you think. It looked dark in the shop but in the workshop it looks like it may need a bit of black added! Eoin

Some progress The body is now all cleaned up and sanded, ready for hole filling and bits to go on. The cab roof overhang was reduced, rain strips were removed, rounded edge formed on the back of the bunker, and moulding seams removed. The moulded dart and number plate were removed from the smoke box door. I then took a look at the chassis to see if it had implications on the changes to the body shell, one thing stood out- the upstand of the split chassis which houses the motor protrudes into the bunker, but should be able to cover it! A small amount of chassis will have to be removed at rear base to get the rear coupler in, a Kadee 146. To DCC this lump of metal is going to be fun! There is no space between chassis and body shell but I have a plan. It requires a bit of metal to be removed on the top of the chassis between the tanks, there is just about enough room for the DCC chip & wires. The motor will have to be hacked by cutting the brush tabs to isolate them from the chassis- the original screws that hold the brush plate are the contacts between these plates and the chassis, which has to be eliminated. Eoin

isbn 978 1 906578 26 8

Hey ....he could be stooped over a live steam loco model doing repairs, with lads in caps admiring the link rods! Eoin

Hi David Looking great, you carved the brickwork! thats like laying the bricks to build it... I vote for a motorcycle repair shop, you know the chap with a scruffy lathe and other oily rusty machines lying around, will fix anything including farm machinery!.. Wills do a kit for workshops its got everything in it, and I saw in the Guild Gazette some time back chaps doing brass etched workshop tools Eoin

Borithe I do, or should I say I did a set of DART hats- mini DARTs on a baseball caps for chaps going to the Dart Championships at the Point Depo a few years ago.... Eoin

jhb Are there any photos you know of showing the brackets? Eoin

Hi David Their just standard 12.6mm Hornby replacement coach wheels, having problems finding better wheels in that size! These wheels are used in the spud also... Eoin

Hi jhb I have a Worsley 'First Second Centre Lav' kit, it looks the business, I'll be making it up very soon as my own chassis will be made to take this body as I work things out.... The Brassmasters 6 wheel chassis look interesting Eoin

Hi Branchlines are here;- http://branchlines.blogspot.ie/ Its an old blog site but it has info and contact information jhb I'm looking at doing a chassis for 6 wheelers for myself but can do them for others- it's slightly on the bench but hopefully will have something to show!! Eoin

Hi DC I'm pretty close to all being sorted, I'm tipping away at it while I finish the other things! Then I have six orders to do- these kits have been on the high shelf for about 2 years now!! I also need to work out my pricing Say about 2 months, though I have said that before Eoin

Noel That's a case of 'Now' and 'Then' If a new build was to be designed anything is possible, all dependant on the group doing it- lets go authentic! or lets go modern and efficient! Eoin

Hi Check out L.D.Porta, he transformed the ould steam engine into a high efficiency, multi fuel burning system in Argentina back in the late 40's. His efforts were stunning but very little accepted by British loco engineers- they never even heard of him. Some of his small locos still run today.... Flash steam boilers are the one, though its not the same as shovelling coal or burning black oil, but very efficient, generating more steam than required to run a loco. These systems are very small would fit in any loco boiler and made of modern stuff. Currently used in modern heating systems for large buildings. They are also portable. On the preservation side of things Alan J Haigh loc engineer and others have designed high efficiency furnace & boiler systems for some of the preserved locos in the UK, one loco they did in North Wales runs it's trip on one bucket of coal where before its modern restoration it required several for the same trip. Eoin

Hi Thanks again for the comments Here is the video of the second bogie without the spring under test, the full chassis and model body on;- Eoin

Hi All Thanks for great comments Yes Kirley, I'm really having fun- I look forward to working on this when I get the time. Painting the patterns tomorrow night and hopefully moulding will start after Eoin

Hi Mike 84C Lovely model, very crisp detail, well done I like the coach to Eoin

Hi All I got the second bogie made up and ran some tests on it, this one does not have the wire spring for the pony truck and a small bit of lead tucked in under the frame- surprisingly it runs better without the spring! So the chassis plate was stuck together, the fixing brackets to hold it on to body were installed, an internal metal weight bolted down to the chassis plate. I used one of my Class C white metal battery boxes to add weight and detail- the A one is not made yet! and I ran the chassis without the body- it ran brilliantly. Now that I have the whole loco test assembled the bogie side patterns could get their final test fitting. All works fine and no need for adjustments to the patterns. They are now off to the paint shop to finish for making the moulds... Eoin

Security notices and barbed wire being installed today.... ....Expect the Witches Knickers pretty shortly Eoin & CM

Please note we have new opening times 11.00 till 4.00 Some items that will be at the Fair you just don't want to miss...

Hi RichL Yes it will work with 21mm gauge wheelsets if that's what you mean, a little bit of filing for wheel clearance on the frame sides is all thats needed Eoin

Hi popeye Yes I have a design for using the sides to hold the third axle, but I prefer to keep the axles and motor as one stand alone unit and bogies as independent units. After my testing of this design you never know I may revert.... Eoin

Thanks Noel Its 4 wheel pickup- the spud motor, but there's 2 motors in the chassis so overall the chassis will be 8 wheel pickup Eoin

Thanks all for the comments Here is a video taken this evening of the first bogie beefed up and under test, all went well except it trips up on the insulated frog points as its not carrying any weight. The second bogie is nearly done so I can then attach them to the chassis plate with weight on and test again... It does work rather well at speed, I'm going test putting some weight in the truck also Eoin