Hitting the G spot

[Mol_PMB]

It feels like my E class is on the home straight (and I hope I'm not tempting fate) and as usual my brain is working more quickly than my hands, not always in a helpful way!

I'm building my E as E410 on a Fenit theme, and I'm well aware that the G class also worked to Fenit - initially G601s and later G611s. So I was wondering about the options for a G class model. 30-odd years ago I scratchbuilt one in plasticard but it wasn't very satisfactory and is long gone now. I've seen references to several different G class kits, but I'd just like to tap your collective wisdom! 

In particular, which of the kits would be suitable for 21m gauge and might satisfy my OCD levels? The issue with 21mm gauge is that on the prototype the wheels are very closely spaced inside the frames, so that when using the correct gauge and slightly overscale width wheels, they definitely don't fit behind frames made overscale thickness.

It appears that Silver Fox do a resin cast G601, which looks OK if a little basic, but with a one-piece resin chassis that looks like it isn't suitable for 21mm gauge:

IR / IÉ 601 Class (G Class) 0-4-0 Deutz | Silver Fox Models

Then there's the DC Kits G611, looks a bit tidier but again I'm unsure if this would be suitable for 21mm gauge?

CIE/Irish Rail Class G Shunter

The third option I've identified is the Worsley Works etched kit for a G611. This looks like it might be suitable for 21mm gauge though I'm not 100% sure:  

Irish Railways Deutz Diesel CIE Coras Iompair Eireann in 4mm Scale

My gut feel is that the Worsley Works G611 is most suitable, but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has built one of these to 21mm gauge.

Also, are there any options for the G601 suitable for 21mm gauge?

 

If this turns out to be too hard, I can always just build another E class!

Many thanks,

Mol 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Horsetan]

The Worsley Works one is probably the one with the most potential, but you have to make your own detail castings.

[Darius43]

I’m not sure DC kits kits are available any more.  Their website still lists them but I’m sure I read a while back that most of them don’t exist anymore.  You can still order them but don’t expect anything to turn up…

I know this from experience.

Cheers

Darius

 

[Mayner]

The Worsley Works G builds into a nice model and is supplied with a 21mm gauge chassis.

Des SSM produced a very nice waterslid transfer set for this loco including legible Duetz makers plates, unfortunately the origonal cabside transfers wore off with handling when I attempted to convert the loco to OO several years ago

Although originally motorised with a "Black Beetle" motor bogie re-gauged to 21mm, G611 currently runs on a scratchbuilt chassis powered by a Coreless motor driving a pair of Hi-Level Roadrunner+ gearboxes using a layshaft with a Tender-Riser steo down gearbox. Like my other locos with can or coreless motors and Hi Level gearboxes could never get this loco to reliably operate on DCC, in this case driving each axle with a separate gearbox may have resulted in increased friction and current consumption.

Long term plans are to power the 21mm gauge version of this loco with a customised "Quad-driver" arrangement similar to Pauls E401 Class

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, Darius43 said:

I’m not sure DC kits kits are available any more.  ....

 

They're not. Charlie Petty stopped production of all of his kits years ago. Something about it not being economically viable to carry on, especially as the RTR lads muscled in on his DMU territory.

He earns his money from that bewildering range of DCC sound chips, DVDs and books.

[Mol_PMB]

Many thanks for all the info! Looks like Worsley Works is the one for me. 
A local supplier too - Worsley is only a few miles away. 

cheers,

Mol

[David Holman]

I've got one in 7mm scale that went together well enough. It uses Delrin chain and gears to give four wheel drive. Must be on my Workshop thread, but you'll have to go back a bit to find it.

[Mol_PMB]

2 minutes ago, David Holman said:

I've got one in 7mm scale that went together well enough. It uses Delrin chain and gears to give four wheel drive. Must be on my Workshop thread, but you'll have to go back a bit to find it.

Many thanks David, I'll take a look back through the thread. It's good to hear that several people have built them and achieved good results.

I've used the Delrin chain on 7mm scale models, but with small-wheeled shunters in 4mm scale it's hard to get fine enough chain or small enough sprockets.

[Mol_PMB]

Well after placing an order yesterday afternoon, this was just delivered to my door by Allen himself. Can't get much better service than that!

The kit doesn't include a chassis, and Allen says it never has done. However, he did put in a couple of nickel silver strips that I can use as a starting point, which was very helpful.

The comments in some of the linked threads about the cabsides being in the wrong orientation on the original etch are correct - hence the provision of a second cab etch with them the right way round.

Of course this has me wondering about rebuilding the 'wrong' cab as a G601, and if that works then buying a second kit to finish it off.

It will have to join the queue as I definitely have too many projects on the go!