Alan's Workbench

[the Bandon tank]

Stunning,a fantastic piece of work.

[Patrick Davey]

Alan am thinking you must have worked in Queen's Quay paint shop in a former life.....

The precision here is on a different level - the amount of concentration needed to apply the lining must be almost superhuman!  I liked it in black but LOVE it in BCDR livery.  Your BCDR motive power fleet is surely the envy of us northern modellers!!

Looking forward to the final stages.  A total masterpiece.

[Galteemore]

O that Des Coakham were living at this hour. Spectacular. 

[Dunluce Castle]

This is an immaculate model! Thank you for the clear step by step build process, very useful to lean from. 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

Some progress with former fluffy loco No.29, at last. I considered trying to build an anti-gravity device in case I dropped it again but decided in the end to just be more careful.

Another black base coat sealed the brass, then the rivets were added. Again. 

 

Two coats of green enamel blended the rivets in. The boiler didn't get intimate with the carpet during the Butterfingers Affair so it wasn't stripped back. 

 

Next, the lining transfers (from Fox Transfers). As I've said before, the lining is over-scale but I can live with that.

Challenging stuff, this. Frustrating and satisfying in equal measure. The little jig made of card and cocktail sticks suspends the thing above the work surface so the transfers on one side one don't get accidentally abraded or rubbed off whilst working on the other side. Another lesson learned the hard way.

 

Lining finished and sealed with a coat of enamel satin varnish. 

 

I'll give the finish a few days to harden before re-fitting all the detail bits and re-uniting body and chassis. 

Onwards with a great sense of relief

Alan

 

 

WHAAAAAT!!! That is OUTSTANDING. Very well done indeed!

[Tullygrainey]

A big thank you to everyone for all the positive feedback. The enthusiasm and support on this forum is just brilliant. 

Alan

[David Holman]

Been on holiday, so only just caught with this. One word, three syllables: Fab u Lous!

[Tullygrainey]

The crew inspect their new charge

[Patrick Davey]

I love how you are teasing us here Alan!!!  

[Georgeconna]

A beautiful steed indeed!

[Tullygrainey]

A bit of a hiccup with No.29 since finishing the paintwork. After re-uniting chassis with body for the first time in months, I could see that the running plate and everything above it was sitting too high because of a fundamental build error. I’d made the chassis frames too tall. I remember at the time erring on the generous side to avoid the possibility of compensated wheels hitting the underside of the running plate. Big mistake! The whole thing looked quite odd and I don’t know how I missed seeing it before.

At first, I couldn’t see how it could be fixed short of a completely new chassis. I could sense the big hammer stirring in the tool cupboard. But having come this far and with nothing to lose, I attacked the chassis frames with a slitting disc, shears, files and appropriate vocabulary to shave metal off the top edges at front and back. It was a messy job which predictably had a knock on effect on other things. The motor had to come out, the pickup mounts had to be moved, two chassis spacers had to be unsoldered and relocated and the cab front had to be opened out a bit more to allow the motor/gearbox to sit higher inside the body. It was also painful having to butcher the chassis frames I’d carefully sculpted as a matched pair all those months ago. It took five hours of solid graft and picturesque language.

Anyway, all’s well now. The running plate is 2mm lower than it was and the bodywork no longer looks like it’s on stilts. The paintwork survived and the chassis still runs as well as it did (Phew). Better actually. Before, it had a strange little wobble, lifting and dropping a tiny amount on one side with each revolution of the wheels, defying attempts to find the cause. While cleaning the wheels after the surgery, I discovered a minuscule blob of superglue on the tread of one wheel. Removing this cured the problem.

It still needs number plates (tricky things to make) and a few more small details seeing to. That Kadee coupling needs relocated because it's fouling the bogie and causing derailments. A  bit of weathering would also be in order. I'm a fan of weathering but I still find it hard to dirty up a pristine model. I never feel in control of the process either.

The crew have gone on board to pretend to drive it but their primary role is to stand in the doorways, concealing the fact that the cab interior is completely devoid of detail. That’s for another time.

Alan

[Galteemore]

Absolutely gorgeous. It’s not a true scratch build unless some existential crisis hits you near the end. But what a result! Fabulous work.

[Flying Snail]

Beautiful looking loco. As others have said, the lining looks especially good! Thanks for sharing the highs and lows of the build with us too!

[Georgeconna]

superb model Top Drawer stuff, yo must be well chuffed on this one.

[David Holman]

An absolute beauty, Alan. Take away the track it is sat on and it could be a much larger scale, which says everything about the model's quality.

 Regarding weathering, the powders route might be the safest option - any issues and it can be wiped off with damp cotton buds. Agree that all locos benefit from a bit of weathering, so maybe sticking to the black bits is the way to go? Brakes, smokebox, footplate, cab roof and so on.

 We also need to see it on Loughan Quay with some wagons. Very much worth all the effort!

[Tullygrainey]

14 hours ago, David Holman said:

Regarding weathering, the powders route might be the safest option - any issues and it can be wiped off with damp cotton buds. Agree that all locos benefit from a bit of weathering, so maybe sticking to the black bits is the way to go? Brakes, smokebox, footplate, cab roof and so on.

 We also need to see it on Loughan Quay with some wagons. Very much worth all the effort!

Thanks David. Yes, that would be my instinct too. And maybe a dark wash over the buffer beams to simulate dirt round the rivets and buffer stocks. The chassis has already been weathered, in more ways than one!

No.29 has now been chipped, using a decoder and stay-alive from DCC Concepts. These fit nicely inside the boiler and her tanks are now filled with lead. Here she is, doing the job she was built for.

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Tullygrainey

[leslie10646]

A Masterpiece, Alan. Congratulations.

 

[David Holman]

A very special model. Well done, Alan.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Stunning 

[Tullygrainey]

 I made an inventory of all the proprietary bits that went into No.29. Quite a lot in the end.

High Level

Loadhauler gearbox and 1015FE motor

Alan Gibson

4849N : 16.5mm 12 spoke driving wheels

4836 : 12mm 9 spoke bogie wheels

4M42B : Crankpin set (6 wheels)

4M92 : Universal coupling rods

LM1-OO : OO frame spacers

4M104 : Midland Railway loco brake gear

4908 : Early GWR/Dean buffers

4M170 : Loco boiler bands (used for coal rails)

Dart Castings

4003 : MJT Locomotive hornblocks (basic 1/8”)

MSV39 : Monty’s Models whitemetal locomotive crew

Wizard Models

MT329 : Mainly Trains GWR smokebox door

DCC Concepts

DCD ZN8H : Nano locomotive decoder

DCD SA3-SM.1 : Control board and small  3 wire stay-alive

 

Chassis frames are 0.015” nickel silver, superstructure is 0.010” and 0.015” brass. Other bits from the spares box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Galteemore]

Beautiful just beautiful. The shopping list helps show just what goes into a scratch loco built to this standard. Part of the fun is seeing just how many diverse specialist bits you can use - as well as repurposing household staples. In 7mm, I tend to send Laurie Griffin a photo and drawing to see what matches best from his range of castings.  It’s quite possible to have an Irish engine equipped with parts from every one of the big 4 (LMS/GW/SR/LNER). One of my own bizarre quirks is to always include a small piece of Alphagraphix etch somewhere in each model as a tribute to the patron saint of 7mm Irish modellers - Roger Crombleholme!  

[Tullygrainey]

2 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

One of my own bizarre quirks is to always include a small piece of Alphagraphix etch somewhere in each model as a tribute to the patron saint of 7mm Irish modellers - Roger Crombleholme!  

What a lovely touch!

[Killian Keane]

Those Dean pattern buffers you mention really are the closest thing for a lot of Irish prototypes, I have a set earmarked for a particular project

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

This is Premier League standard, I'm still waiting to get promoted from league 1, this is a great thread.

[flange lubricator]

2 hours ago, Gabhal Luimnigh said:

This is Premier League standard, I'm still waiting to get promoted from league 1, this is a great thread.

The rest of us are non league by comparison.

[Broithe]

45 minutes ago, flange lubricator said:

The rest of us are non league by comparison.

I aspire to Subbuteo...

[David Holman]

Looks very much at home on your layout.

[Patrick Davey]

She looks well settled in now Alan!  Am sure all of us are itching to ask....... what's next?

[Tullygrainey]

2 hours ago, David Holman said:

Looks very much at home on your layout.

I think so David. Starting to get some logic into the loco roster on Loughan Quay

 

26 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

She looks well settled in now Alan!  Am sure all of us are itching to ask....... what's next?

Ah Patrick, a lie down in a darkened room

[Patrick Davey]

12 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

Ah Patrick, a lie down in a darkened room

Good idea - I hope you dream about BCDR No. 6........

[Tullygrainey]

Some number plates for No.29. For previous models, I've made these from plastic but I tried brass this time and made a little jig to help shape the frames. They should be smaller but there's a limit to what I can usefully see (and find again when the carpet monster absconds with it). A great workout for the eyesight. And the patience.

 

0.33mm brass wire and 0.010" brass sheet

 

Soldered together and the wire filed flat

 

Humbrol Metalcote paint and Railtec waterslide transfers

 

Numbers applied and a little light weathering. I think we'll call it done. Maybe.

Shunting happily

Alan

[David Holman]

I shudder think how small that number plate must be! Soldering 109 to the sandboxes of Fly was more that enough of a trial for me.

 Seriously delicate work.

[Tullygrainey]

6mm x 4mm. A recipe for eyestrain. There were a number of failed attempts 

[Mayner]

Amazed at Alan's speed and consistent quality of build with BCDR No2 and No 29, building and actually completing locos from scratch in a fraction of the time it takes me to design and carry out the test build of a similar kit.

[Tullygrainey]

On 15/7/2023 at 11:01 PM, Mayner said:

Amazed at Alan's speed and consistent quality of build with BCDR No2 and No 29, building and actually completing locos from scratch in a fraction of the time it takes me to design and carry out the test build of a similar kit.

Thank you John. Poor weather and nothing much on TV helps  Though I suspect designing a kit suitable for others to build is a lengthy business. I would imagine that requires a whole extra level of work compared with a one-off.

As mentioned elsewhere, I started on a narrow gauge O:16.5 Peckett for my narrow gauge stone yard layout at the same time as BCDR No.29, getting as far as some rods and chassis frames. However, it got parked when the latter claimed all the bandwidth. Now that 29 is simmering in a siding at Loughan Quay, the little Peckett is calling to me. 

I used the one at Cultra as my starting point and was able to do a bit of measuring. I'm not aspiring to an accurate copy but something reasonably close which will look at home on the NG layout.

 

The chassis was built in the conventional manner. Rods (2 layers of 15 thou nickel silver) made first, to dimensions taken from the Cultra engine. Chassis frames (15 thou nickel silver) cut as a pair and the rods used to mark and drill the axle holes. Chassis erected with brass Alan Gibson OO spacers. Fixed rear axle and rocking front axle on MJT horn blocks.

 

 

Drive to the rear axle through the excellent High Level Loadhauler gearbox. 90:1 ratio.The wheels are 4mm scale L&Y Pug wheels from Alan Gibson, just about the right size for this tiny vehicle. 

 

We'll see how this goes. Travelling the narrow path

Alan

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Tullygrainey
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