David's Workbench

[murrayec]

Excellent David

Great work

Lovely little contraptions, I got to do one of these

Eoin

[bantree]

Superb modelling again-developing very nicely.

[David Holman]

Much to my surprise, the hornblocks and bearings arrived in the post on Monday, despite the website suggesting up to 21 days - so well done Dart Castings & the Postie. Any ideas of continuing with the cab of the railcar were therefore ditched in favouring the chassis completed & this is what I have been doing these past few days.

 Having made a rolling chassis that really did run well first time, there was more than a bit of trepidation in modifying it, but the hornblock/compensation system is very forgiving. Indeed, I could probably have left the front axle as it was, but decided to follow the instructions and cut four slots 6mm wide and 4mm above axle centre line in the frames. A small engineers' square and a scriber was all that was needed, along with a slitting disc in the mini drill to do the cutting - seemed a tad more subtle than the brute force of the Dremel...

 A bit of tidying up with files and I was then able to solder in new fixed bearings for the driven axle. The sliding hornblocks have to be made up from the etches supplied. Nothing daunting, just a couple of folds and a bit of solder. A bit more filing was needed to enable the bearings to slide freely, but they were soon ready to be fitted to the chassis. It was at this point that I found my hornblocks alignment axles were 3/16" diameter, but it was not too difficult to make some 1/8 ones out of some old standard gauge axles in the scrap box. The axle ends need tapering, so you can fit the coupling rods over them, to ensure they are properly aligned. Just a few rude words and with the help of a couple of hair grips, the hornblocks were soldered in place. All that was then needed was a pivot, to ensure the rear axle sits level. This was easily done by drilling a hole in the rear spacer & soldering a piece of 1mm wire along the centre line of the chassis, thereby giving it the characteristics of the three legged stool - ie it will always sit level on the track, regardless of imperfections, with obvious advantages for electrical pick up as well as running quality.

 However, while I know the above to be true, I am also a devout believer in the Law of Sod, so there was a certain amount of trepidation when re-assembling the wheels & rods, but all was indeed well. Course, it then needed dismantling again, so I could fit the motor/gearbox! A small Mashima & 40:1 gearbox was duly installed, along with pickups [0.3mm phosphor bronze wire], followed by a bit of test running, before it was all dismantle AGAIN, to enable painting. Hopefully that will be the last time I have to re-assemble it for a while!

 A bit more work has since been done on the cab, while the two sandboxes were filed up from some 80thou plastic, laminated to the required thickness. Finers crossed, I'll be able to make a start on the passenger section soon, though attention is back on Arigna Town at the moment, with a show at Brighton over the weekend - so a bit of TLC required on locos - wheel cleaning, pick ups, lubrication & the like.

 As for the latest photos, the bottle of meths is always close at hand in my workshop - purely for cleaning purposes of course!

[David Holman]

A bit of a diversion...

As reported elsewhere, I've somehow got myself building the set of Worsley Works etches I bought at ExpoNG in October. This time it is the G class, Deutz, shunter. The Reading O Gauge Trade Show was probably the stimulus, as I suddenly realised I ought to try and get  all the bits and pieces for the model.  Hence I dug out the etches & soon found that it should go together fairly quickly. However, model making is not like that...

 The Worsley etches only cover the footplate, outer frames and general bodywork, but go together very quickly - no more than 3 hours work in total. So good, so far. Now we come to the measure twice, cut once bit, or in this case, read up on the prototype first. Ought to know better really, but it quickly became obvious that my preferred prototype was the 601 class, while the Worsley etches are for the later 611 type. B*gger.

 So, a bit more work needed, in addition to the stuff that the etches do not cover. The list is considerable, though nothing terrible:

• The 601s had smaller windows, necessitating a new front and rear to the cab
• There is no cut away for the front steps on the footplate, so a plate needed to be soldered in place each side.
• Lots of hand rails and grab handles
• 4 brackets below the footplate
• A filed up top for the front of the bonnet
• A door each side of the bonnet, instead of a grill on the later versions
• Various bits of beading on the cab & bonnet
• Guard irons
• Lamp irons
• A horn
• Cab interior
• Lifting rings on cab roof
• Exhaust stack
• Buffers
• Axlebox/spring castings
• The small matter of a chassis/sub-frame [none provided] including wheels/motor/gears.

  The photos show where I've got to thus far - not bad considering I only opened the packet on Wednesday afternoon, though I did give it my full attention throughout yesterday & today. Apologies to Eoin for the poor quality of my soldering - I must do more cleaning up than most! However, it does show where I've been working. Fingers crossed I can get the bits I need tomorrow as it would be nice to finish the model for the Bexley show on Sunday week, though, as I keep reminding myself, it is a hobby, not a race.

[popeye]

That looks really good and i don't see anything wrong with the soldering.

Try to add as much weight to it as possible or it won't pull much.

 

[jhb171achill]

Superb as always!

[murrayec]

Excellent David

I think the smaller windows are correct, when the larger ones were installed it lost a scale quality....

Almost my favourite loco, have a few OO but must get doing an O

Eoin

[David Holman]

Should be plenty of room for weight in the bonnet, but the plan is also to use Delrin gears & chain to make it four wheel drive. Quite apt really, as when you Google a G class, a certain Mercedes 4x4 comes up.

[Georgeconna]

Wow, should turn out nice in O gauge, I keep checking in on this one. Bexley eh, We used to live on Eversley Avenue in the 70's. The house used to overlook the Railway line. We could of been neighbours!!

[jhb171achill]

On 01/12/2017 at 9:25 PM, murrayec said:

Excellent David

I think the smaller windows are correct, when the larger ones were installed it lost a scale quality....

Almost my favourite loco, have a few OO but must get doing an O

Eoin

Large for the G611-7 class of 1962, small for the original trio (G601-3, 1955).

[Mayner]

David

I had to re-read your post before I realised you re-built the Worsley Works kit into a G601.  

Chain drive for these locos is quite prototypical. How did you cut out the windows in the new cab front and rear plates?

There are probably few people on this forum who would be familiar with the techniques for cutting windows and other openings in metal.

 

Edited December 3, 2017 by Mayner

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Mayner said:

 

Chain drive for these locos is quite prototypical. How did you cut out the windows in the new cab front and rear plates?

There are probably few people on this forum who would be familiar with the techniques for cutting windows and other openings in metal.

 

Very handy little locos to drive. Some drivers don't like them because there's no seat and the ride is, well, jolting. Your eyeballs, false teeth and replacement hips have all fallen out half way to Inch Abbey. A run on rough falling-to-bits track to Loughrea must have been an ordeal. 

But having driven them, personally I like them.

Chain drive is indeed usual. One of the reasons all three at Downpatrick have never been in use together is that there are five chains for three locos; each has two. New ones are readily available but at €4000 a go. These engines were in production for a long time and varied little throughout over thirty years in production. I saw a metre gauge one in Mallorca in 1993 on PW duty at Inca - its build date was 1984, I think. Early examples in Germany were built in 1951.

One of the benefits of a forum like this is to see how some of our more skilled modellers make up what will become outstanding models, so the "how-I-did-it" posts are of great interest and value.

Edited December 3, 2017 by jhb171achill

[David Holman]

Interesting to hear there were no seats in the cab, which saves me a job! Found pictures of the control desk on the web, so thank you JB.

 Replacement windows were done by cutting out the front and rear cab sections down to waist level with a slitting disc in a mini drill. The replacement sections were cut from same thickness brass sheet. Windows were marked out with a scriber, the corners drilled 3mm diameter while the two sheets were still soldered together. Am afraid I then used the slitting disc again to join the holes (a piercing saw would be better) and then tidied up with files. Tedious but effective. 

[jhb171achill]

They had "flip-down" seats against the rear cab end, but no use to driver unless resting after the trip! They were more for someone extra like a loco inspector travelling with a driver. To drive you must stand, though.

[murrayec]

Hi David

Can you post or pm a link to the photo of the control desk?

Thanks

Eoin

[jhb171achill]

I'll have a look. I think I have one somewhere, but not sure.

[David Holman]

It is on the Irish Traction Group website, Eoin. I found it by googling CIE G class diesel. On the site are notes about various withdrawn classes and among them the G. Each loco has a click on section and one of them shows a before and after shot of the control desk.

[popeye]

Here are 3 pictures of the control desk for the G class cab.

 

[heirflick]

Gee - smashing pics of one of my favorite little locos!

[jhb171achill]

Perfect!

Interior colours shown too - now light grey and cream. Recollection suggests all over light grey at one time, though the above is what that loco came in..

Edited December 5, 2017 by jhb171achill

[David Holman]

Superb. Thank you.

However, at the risk of stretching things even further, given the 601s had no vacuum brakes, presumably there must have been a handbrake somewhere. Was it a wheel type or the old style brake stand we see on Steam locos. And if so, where, please...?

[jhb171achill]

Lever on left....

[David Holman]

Thanks yet again, JB. The model is making decent progress, though am saving pictures of it until finished. However, built the chassis today. It is a sub unit, with the frames made from brass strip. Soldered two pieces together so I could drill out the bearing holes, then after separating them used some 32mm gauge spacers left over from my SLNCR Small Tank kits. As this inner frame cannot be seen, I've used the Alphagraphix/Tyrconnel trick of soldering the top hat bearings in back to front to give the correct wheel spacings.

 Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any broad gauge axles at the Reading Trade Show, so I've borrowed a pair from my J26 loco, to go with some 3'1 DMU wheels I was able to buy. Power comes from a Premier Components 40:1 gearbox and Mashima 1933 motor - this is a ready made unit & ideal for this model. I also got some Delrin chain and idler wheels from  Easy-Build Coaches. The idler gears had to be cut down a little to fit between the frames, but the model now has 4 wheel drive. Pick ups could be very basic, as they are hidden behind the outer frames, so not much more than a morning's work and the G could move smoothly under its own power. The Delrin gears make it a little more noisy than the other locos, but so far, so good.

[murrayec]

Hi David

Lovely chassis, love the chain drive

Where did you source the chain and sprockets?

Eoin

[David Holman]

Easy-Build Coaches, Eoin. Got them at the Reading Trade Show last Saturday. They do a lovely range of coaches, DMUs and the like, plus various bogie kits that are so good you only need to shake the box to make them. Well, nearly...

Website is easybuildcoaches.co.uk 

Proprietor is Shawn Kay, based in  Camelford, Cornwall.

[David Holman]

G Class complete -ish.

Remaining work was to fit the bits I'd bought at Reading. A nice set of sprung buffers [Markits from Roxey] and a much less pleasant set of axles box/spring castings from JPL, which I may well replace when I can find something better. Not their fault, these were just the best of a bad job in terms of trying to find something suitable. Despite being cut down, they are still too chunky. Thanks to all the photos and advice, I've managed to do a representation of the cab interior, while the roof [being etched in thinner brass than the rest of the 'kit'] was easy to form. A long wax casting of a horn [EDM Models], with a bit of brass shim soldered above it as a weathershield completes the picture.

 So to painting. I'd figured that getting some silver grey car spray paint wouldn't be difficult, as 50% of models in Britain seem to be this colour. However, there lies the problem - 50 shades of grey [at least] and all of them metallic, so not really suitable. Eventually, I found a can of 'aluminium', a bit shiny, but of course, like all other CIE silver diesels, this was never going to be clean. In fact, it is much dirtier than the pictures show, but certainly nowhere near as shiny as it started. Numbers are a bit of a bodge. I found some prefix transfers in my collection, so it is a GWR 'G', with BR numerals. Was briefly tempted to make it G604, as an extra loco for the SLNCR, but went for 602, with the cream colour painted over in green with a fine brush. Overall, not too bad, considering I only began the model a week last Wednesday and Sunday - Tuesday was at Birmingham Christmas market.

[murrayec]

Excellent David

Classic little model, I see the driver has weighted down the front end with the sacks of spuds....

Eoin

 

[David Holman]

Indeed! A 4mm scale Merit GPO sack masquerading as such. Don't look too closely at the builders plate either. It actually reads 'Built in Derby'...

[popeye]

A very nice model and it was a quick build, well done. 

[jhb171achill]

Outstanding work!!!! Looks superb.

....presumably there'll be a number also on the rear of the cab?

[Noel]

Stunning craftsmanship 

[David Holman]

12 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Outstanding work!!!! Looks superb.

....presumably there'll be a number also on the rear of the cab?

B*****. And there it is, in my 1960s Observers book...

[David Holman]

Back to the CVR Railcar.

 After the diversion of the G class diesel, I thought I'd better get back to my Clogher Valley project and Railcar No 1. It was mid November that I last did any work on it & had got as far as completing the tractor unit; over Christmas, I've been doing the trailer. This has been a total scratch build, apart from the wheels. The body is plasticard and the bogie is brass.

 It has proved to be quite a challenge, especially around the entrance doors, as there are all sorts of odd angles and curves, plus the trailer has to articulate from the tractor unit [just like a big lorry]. There was a lot of trial and error! The roof was also a bit of a pain & in the end I made it permanently fixed to the body. It is several layers of 80thou plastic sheet, laminated together and filed/sanded to shape. With hindsight, that was not a good idea, because I really did not do a very good job with glazing the windows & have no way of putting in new 'glass'. Eventually, I can see me doing a mark 2 version, or maybe buy the Worsley etches, because the paint job hasn't worked out as well as I'd liked either. 

 I brush painted, using Tamiya acrylics and the finish is not as good as using an air brush. A bit of work with T-Cut has improved things a little and overall it is ok as long as you don't look too closely. For the lettering, I bought a handwriting set [dipping pen with a variety of nibs] and did the letters by hand using white acrylic ink. Then went over this with a fine tipped dark yellow felt tip pen, before adding black shading with a 0.01 permanent marker.

 Have also been doing a bit more work on the Unit. This did not have any lettering [so used the same method as above], plus needed a load in the pickup truck type body, to cover the nut which fixes it to the chassis. Found a few parcels in the spares box, plus some more Merit mail sacks, the latter masquerading a spuds.

 Much will depend on how the rest of the project goes, as I am on a deadline for the Uckfield show in October. If all goes well, then a new trailer is certainly on the cards.

 Both still need weathering, but here a a few photos of progress thus far.

Edited January 4, 2018 by David Holman

[Garfield]

Straight out of the top drawer again, David. Hope to see this layout in the flesh at some point!

[jhb171achill]

W  O  W  W  W  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Outstanding!