7mm On Heather's Workbench - Aintree Iron: an Austerity adventure

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
It's 90643. I have two pretty clear shots from front three-quarters of both sides. I'd love to find out which tender it has so I can get appropriate plates, but I think it's going to have to be a lottery pick. The images are some time in the mid-1960s, so the loco's original tender may well have been swapped out a few times by then.

Hi Heather.

Tender for 90643 was 644 from plating by BR on 17 Nov '51 up to 8 May 1963, then 528 from 8 May 63 until 8 Feb '64 when withdrawn.

Brian
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
IMG_0688.jpg

I know it doesn't look like much progress, but the frame overlays, tank supports and both drag beams have been fitted. I was working on the axle boxes and suspension, but I found some parts missing.

A call to the manufacturer has been made for spares.

I shall probably spend the rest of the afternoon fettling the parts I do have. I may also carefully scrape off the cast WD from the axle box covers, as the mark seems to have been progressively removed during the loco' service with BR.
 
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Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I was out of sorts yesterday. I couldn't see straight, my mojo had wandered off somewhere, and the weather went from warm sunshine to drizzle.

I fettled some metal bits, but the eyes weren't having it.

Better progress today, so far.

IMG_0691.jpg

I have fettled and fitted the axle boxes to the tender frames. These are cosmetic, with the inner frames doing all the work. I'm working through the various suspension link bits, though I can only do one side until the spare links turn up.

Speaking of turning up, on recommendation I bought a book.

image.jpg

Thanks to Mick (micknich) for suggesting it. Amazon delivery was exemplary, as I only ordered it around 4pm yesterday and it turned up before noon!

The MOK buffers have been ordered, too. I don't think the tiny differences between the LMS housing and the WD one will be that noticeable - I hope.
 
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Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I thought I'd mock up the tender suspension so I have a better idea how it all fits together when I get the missing bits.

Only there seem to be other missing bits…

IMG_0693.jpg

There really ought to be a casting for the bottom of the drop links. Only I can't find a suitable casting, nor can I find a reference to the missing part in the instructions or parts list.

Hmm.

UPDATE: The kit I have is apparently an early one. It seems to have been revised, and the required parts have been added. Hopefully the requisite parts (and some bits also missing) will be with me soon. Brownie points to JLTRT for the usual excellent backup service.
 
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Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
I have to agree with Adrian on this; all the more infuriating when I'd checked my kits and believed them complete and can now see I'll have to check them again...

Not <something> good enough. NQLTRT again!

Steph
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
To be fair I received the kit from the client and it had been through at least one previous owner. It also arrived in a box labeled for a different kit. In the interim the manufacturer upgraded the kit contents.

Laurie is always helpful if you call him about stuff like this. Once we had figured out I had an older kit, he's sorted out the bits I need and they'll probably be in the mail tonight!

I do agree, though, that packing errors do seem to be an issue with JLTRT. I don't think there's been a kit from them that hasn't needed something replaced or supplied because it was missing. Laurie is aware this is a problem, and seems to be doing his best to sort it out.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
I think many people believe JLTRT to be a large outfit.
Actually I don't think that is the case - I think many people appreciate that it is a small cottage industry, however I don't see why the size of the business has an impact on the problem. There should be a process and check list on packing a box, Jim McGowan, David Andrews, David Parkins et al, seem to be able to do it.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Well, that's been an interesting week. For various reasons, not a lot of modelling got done last week. Then my little car decided to throw its toys out of the pram, leading to a bout of new car shopping, insurance wrangling and so on. Here we are at Thursday, and I've only just started to make some progress.

My aim was to get the tender rolling last week. That aim has slipped by a week!

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The inner frames go together pretty well. Nice thick etched nickel silver, the only issue I found was this copy was slightly under-etched which meant some time spent fettling slots and removing cusps.

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Axle pairs 1+2 and 3+4 are beam compensated. Again, some time was spent cleaning the cusps for a smooth fit for the brass bearings and the rocking beam holes. The bearings ride up into slots in the frames, which have a curved top which limits travel.

I couldn't find anything mentioned in the instructions regarding stopping the beams sliding about, so I found some suitable brass tube to sit between them.

IMG_0728.jpg

Anyone contemplating building this kit with the S7 spacers should be aware that the wheels will need thinning right down. The boss, which contains the securing screw, is very prominent. Even in fine scale I had to sand quite a lot off the backs of the cosmetic axle boxes to let the chassis slide into the outer frames. I also found the outer frames weren't parallel, which required a bit of tweaking.

IMG_0729.jpg

Amazingly,the chassis rolls freely on the yard of track. I need to engineer a fixing method for the beam rocking rod, probably just a washer soldered on the ends. Next up, brake gear, and then considering pickups.
 
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Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
...I need to engineer a fixing method for the beam rocking rod...


If you just leave it long enough won't the outer side frames stop it coming out? I use this method to retain brakegear on some of my tenders, where the rods passing through the inner frames and brake hangers just touch the inside of the outside frames. If I want to remove or adjust the assembly I just take the inner chassis out of the tender and carefully unthread the rods. The brakegear is then entirely separate.

And I wonder with the pick-ups if you haven't missed a golden opportunity to get all the necessary pick-ups in the tenders by using split axles?

Just a couple of thunks!

Steph
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I like your thunks, but I will draw the line at split axles. A little beyond my skill levels right now. ;)

I am planning on using bolts and tube for spacing the brake hangers, like I did with the pannier.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Point accepted, but, how many people does it take to pack a box then :confused:

Not everyone can have in-depth knowledge of a every model. When your parts list runs to, I don't know, 250 bits, picked from various bins, resin bits made to order, etches on that shelf in amongst all the others… multiply that by the range of models available.

No-one can know each kit inside out, so packing relies on a parts list, and someone who has put the relevant parts in the right bins, and marked the bins correctly, mistakes are bound to happen. Unfortunately. Laurie tries to get round this by offering the "we'll replace it even if you c*cked it up" guarantee.
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
No-one can know each kit inside out, so packing relies on a parts list, and someone who has put the relevant parts in the right bins, and marked the bins correctly, mistakes are bound to happen. Unfortunately. Laurie tries to get round this by offering the "we'll replace it even if you c*cked it up" guarantee.
I suspect that a fair number of 7mm WTers recognise the result of this scenario... a white box which is almost JLTRT where "JLTRT" refers to the original model / intended packing list. There is probably just as many 7mm WTers who have benefitted from Laurie's good nature and received "spare" parts which do not feature in the packing list. Only earlier this week I asked about Instanter couplings for use with the JLTRT TTA kit - even though the kits were packed correctly with screw couplings the requested parts for three wagons have been dispatched foc.

regards, Graham
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Yay! We're on wheels!

IMG_0730.jpg

I'm still awaiting the replacement suspension details. I guess I should get on with the brake gear, work out how to run the pickups, and consider the upper works detailing.

By the way, I haven't fitted the upper works yet. In case you didn't know, the resin block is hollow, so room for a small speaker, DCC electronics, perhaps, and certainly some extra weight. To be honest, the weight right now is pretty good. One wonders if there is an optimum tare for model tenders without sprung suspension...
 
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Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Heather, for fixing your compensated beams, what about a length of 10BA studding instead of the rod, with a nut on either end?

Now that's a sound engineered solution which I will file away for future use. In this case, as Steph pointed out, the rod is prevented from falling out by the side frames.

I am currently scratching my noodle over the tender steps that lead up to the cab. They are an intricate series of folds, but unaccountably overlooked in the instructions. :rolleyes: happily, with plenty of drawings and some relatively clear photos I think I have managed to work out they don't fit properly. Well, yes, they do fit, but not quite like they're supposed to. I'll get back to you this one!
 

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Heather,
At face value it actually isn't sound engineering, using a thread as a bearing surface or any centre of rotation is a bad idea which tends to result in the centres moving relative to each other.
If said thread is used to retain lengths of tube then it may be a pragmatic solution. However, as you say; in your current application it's overkill.
Steph
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
It's seemed like sound engineering to me, but then what do I know. I just make models. :D

Interesting, though, because Best Beloved often used 12 and 14BA bolts to make motion bearings that were a bit stronger than the traditional rivet construction.
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Hi Heather, sorry I'm a bit late to the party (I have a good excuse) but thought this might still be of use to you:

Austerity Tender GA.jpg
 
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