Cookie's Workbench - 7/8ths Alan Keef K40

[Steve Cook]

Its coming up to Xmas, must be time for some EM distractions then
I bought a Hawksworth Brake 3rd from Hattons this week to go with my Pannier. Advertised as secondhand and therefore a bit cheaper, I was delighted to find that it has never run, in fact I'm not sure if it has ever been out of its box!



The money saved has offset the cost of the new wheels, it is now EM'd and has been fitted with Sprat and Winkle couplings.
The Pannier has also been fitted with S&W loops, both of which have been made removable. The rear loop was soldered to two tags through which the mounting screws for holding the rear bunker pass.





The front loop mounts inside the hollow section of the front sandboxes and is clamped in place when the body is fitted to the chassis





In order to test the new couplings out, the test track has made it down from the loft and magnets installed in a couple of positions



With a couple of wagons converted, I'm finding out just how strong the magnets are...



Time for some more playing / testing
Steve

 

[mth]

Looking good
. If the magnets are anything like the ones we first used on Milton Keynes, they will stop a train from moving. even with the loco on full power

 

[Steve Cook]

Thanks Not had that problem with the magnets yet...

Had a good session on the GBL this afternoon, motivated by time spent down at Simons and playing trains outside. The roof has been sanded to flatten some irregularities in the new centre section, the ventilators have been fitted into newly drilled holes and the rain strips added where appropriate. I've started adding the door furniture and for some reason have included the hooks for restraining the doors in the open position - I hope they catch the sun or cast a shadow when they are painted Steps have been made from some plasticard section and added above the gangways too, I'm leaving it to dry overnight before thinning things down a touch.



I finally got round to making the jig to hold the window frames for machining the chamfer, its not very pretty, but it works as hoped. The two copper clad strips clamp the ruler to the chipboard, with a thin section of plasticard under the ruler. Its all bolted to a table under my mini drill / mill to keep it steady.



The surround that had been added to the window frames is slipped into the gap between the ruler and the chipboard so the cutting is referenced against the outer edge of the frame. The cutter is dropped down and locked off at the correct height, then then turned on and the frame moved forwards or backwards as appropriate. The cutter has to be raised in order to rotate the frame but I couldn;t come up with a way of avoiding that. All twelve frames have now been machined - it only took and hour and a half to make the jig and do the machining, but that was plenty in the garage (which always seems to be colder than outside ).



I'm not sure why the frames have warped - they have been OK for months but were stored in the box with the rest of the van over Xmas - I wonder whether there has been some solvent evaporation which has had an effect. I will trim the excess off tomorrow and see what happens then.
Steve

 

[Simon]

What a handsome looking vehicle that is, the window frames will make it look even better

It'd look great going over Dave's bridge next summer.....

Simon

 

[Steve Cook]

Cheers Simon

It'd look great going over Dave's bridge next summer.....

Once I've worked out how to fit easily removable bearings to the current bogie design then I should be able to make the wheels swapable and it can have a good run through Dave's Bridge

The body is ready for the paintshop



The steam pipe that runs underneath the solebar was formed from 2 pieces of 2mm brass, annealed to get a tight radius where it turns under the headstocks. I don't have any decent photos of the pipework at the end so have just dropped the pipe down towards the track, I can glue something on if needed - I'm wary of making connecting up the screwlinks even more difficult than it already is.

Both types of door handles have been scratchbuilt in brass to replace the bent wire ones in the kit, I made an extra 4 of the top handles to start my entry in the PMV races too



A lot of the door detail was slimmed down whilst blocks were used to represent both the loop for the door hooks and the door stops on the side.
I made a couple of crude boxes for some wiring detail on the ends and finally reshaped the buffer heads to something more representative.



I'm going to give it another hour for the epoxy to go off, then it can have a gentle wash and scrub - I've got my fingers crossed we have at least one quiet day wind wise so I can get some primer on it. The window frames have had the excess material cut off and they are much flatter so I think I'll be OK.

Cosmetic bogie side frames are next on the hit list, but I'm going to have a quick diversion and start the PMV kit, I'm falling behind...
Steve

 

[Steve Cook]

Its been a bit of a wait to get a break in the weather, but the body has finally made it into primer



The buffer guides and window frames are currently drying off in the garage, going to have to start thinking about Crimson now.

Steve

 

[Captain Kernow]

I think I've missed your postings outlining the reason for the EM work, Steve - what's that all about, please?

Utterly wonderful work without any exceptions whatsoever, of course.

 

[Steve Cook]

Playing around Tim, its a time of year thing
I apportion a certain amount of blame for my interest in EM on Geoff and Neil - and the Pannier / Hawksworth combo will look great on the bridge over Morfa
Steve

 

[Steve Cook]

Thought I would try Simon's approach to the PMV races today by totally ignoring the fact I was in a race

Instead, I went to a friends and had a play in the sunshine with my Accucraft Leader and the narrow gauge coach. It was a first run for the latter, and the first continuous circuit run for the former. I have to say, she was a bit of a b*gger to light this afternoon, a combination of cold weather and in my opinion, too much air at the back of the burner. I think the lack of restrictor there is having an impact so I shall have to make one up. There are new gas and regulator valves from The Train Department in the states to try too, the standard controls are quite coarse and I would prefer a little more refinement in control. Still, she ran for half an hour and nothing went wrong, result for my first steam up of the year





In true scattergun fashion I have also started the construction of another kit Although its a change in materials, I've managed to stay with G1, but this one is at 10mm:foot rather than 1/32. Its a model of the GCR 15ton Bogie Fish Vans and it came from Andy at Woodbury Models. Laser cut from mdf and ply, there are some lovely little location aids that allow a large percentage of it to be put together without glue or rubber bands. It was the first kit out of Andy's new laser and whilst it isn't production ready yet, I've not find anything that needs correcting on the body side of things. Andy is doing me a favour, I want/need some to go behind a new engine and he has agreed to do me a set of bodies, leaving me up to my own devices to sort out bogies, buffers, underframe details etc. I know Andy plans to get there eventually and sell the kit as complete, but I'm not that patient and with no defined timescale I'm grateful for the opportunity to crack on.

A couple of shots of it as it arrived, starting with the body parts



There is an internal structure which is built first to keep everything square



The chassis copies the original in terms of layout, but for the sake of simplicity, the channel section is just sections of mdf.



It all slots together quite nicely, although the diagonals need a bit of shaping



The body starts with assembly of the internal structure which either slots together or uses tabs for location



The roof formers simply locate into the slots provided on the upper level of the internal structure and you can see the cruciform locating tabes used to locate the body sides.



The body sides are a layer of thin ply, overlaid with an mdf fretwork



The ends follow a similar pattern



As do the doors



Although the door are loosely mocked up in the above photo, everything else is just slotted together. In terms of the real build, the internal structure has just been glued together on mine and is drying with the sides loosely located on the cruciforms to keep it all in alignment. The doors have been built as quick subassemblies, I hope I can get away with 20 minute sessions over the next week to bring it up to the 'mock up' standard seen above.

As for the new engine which started this lot off...



Its a Tom Barrett GCR D9, meths fired with a single cylinder and slip eccentric valve gear. With no sight glass or axle pump its very different to the Castle and will provide a good contrast and I dare say it, a bit of a challenge It was restored by the chap I bought it off, when he picked it up it was in a sorry state indeed and aside from the cylinder block and crankshaft, it has been 'nut and bolted'. I've been able to trace the first three owners and have spoken to the second owner who wanted it back.. no chance! I've been after a Barrett for a while and they don't seem to come up for sale that often, or if they do, its all word of mouth - just like this one really! A chance comment that I was looking for another engine to run over the summer elicited the response 'You can buy the Great Central if you want', there was a very short pause and we shook hands on the deal

I've not run it yet, there are a couple of minor snags I would like to deal with and I may have to bite the bullet and strip it down to get some more lagging around the boiler to prevent the paint from discolouring any further. Having bought a working engine instead of another kit I really don't want to take it apart, but then I don't want to respray it or damage the paintwork any more. It'll have at least one run though while I make up my mind



Steve

 

[jamiepage]

What a splendid loco. Elegance indeed.

 

[Steve Cook]

Thanks Jamie
She is a little pearler, I'm looking forward to getting some meths through her and seeing how she goes.
Steve

 

[Geoff]

Playing around Tim, its a time of year thing
I apportion a certain amount of blame for my interest in EM on Geoff and Neil - and the Pannier / Hawksworth combo will look great on the bridge over Morfa
Steve

Guilty as charged M'lord and pray take at least another six cases into consideration

I do like your big toys Steve, the fish van looks superb as does the D9 but just to keep you interested in 4mm stuff I will be mailing you a little light reading later today

 

[Steve Cook]

I've been chipping away at the Fish Van in the odd 10 minutes here or there over the last couple of weeks. You have to profile the top edge of the sides to suit the roof after they have been glued togther and I honestly wasn't looking forward to this. However, the advice was to use a sharp file and profile to the witness line. The witness line is the etched line closest to the top of the body



And when the top edge is filed, that witness line helps to keep an even finish - much easier than anticipated.



It is all now glued up and ready for the roof to be stuck in place and trimmed to size



Steve

 

[Steve Cook]

A steady week, scattered with 10 minute spells here and there. It has seen progress on all three Gauge 1 vans though, probably a first to be honest

The GBL has been masked up ready for the application of black on the roof, ends and solebars - I am hoping the weather forecast holds good.
The Fish Van has had its roof glued on and that has been trimmed to shape. I need to sort out a minor assembly error on the floor next before worrying about the roof edging and underframe.
The PMV has had 8 pieces of angle soldered under the window openings to help support the glazing.


Whilst all of the above have been gently moving on in the 10 minute windows, the five minute ones have been occupied with the prepping of the all of the parts for a 16mm scale Tin Turtle


About 10% left to do.
Always busy.
Rarely focussed
Steve

 

[Steve Cook]

A rubbish week in modelling terms.
However, the GBL has seen paint applied to the roof, solebars, ends and buffer guides - it needs to be left alone for a while, then I can mask up for the Crimson
The fish van has had the floor sanded flat and the doors glued into position - the latter are required to help with gluing in the roof surround - a careful job for this week.
The PMV has not been touched as the slots provided for the window bars don't line up. No idea if its my assembly or the kit but the end result is another apparently easy job being more difficult and therefore sapping motivation.
The turtle continues to make quiet progress, even if some days my contribution is drilling two holes. The couplings are done but will be painted and assembled after the body is done, the roof is just resting on the supports which have been fixed in place.



Steve

 

[Rob Pulham]

Hi Steve,

Are these of any use/interest I took them at the NRm Shildon a couple of weekends ago







I have posted a few more detailed shots on my Flickr site as well as these.

 

[Simon]

Sorry to crash your thread Steve, but those pictures of Rob's are just brilliant. A highly modellable machine, especially in our bigger scales.

Thanks For posting them Rob

GBL looks great Steve.

If it's any consolation regarding modelling tribulations, I spent three hours in the shed on Sunday night making the insulated bolty bits for the tiebar for the headshunt turnout. I put it all together, cut off the spare thread, stood back and admired my handiwork and then tested it and found that I'd left out a piece of insulation and everything I'd done needed chucking and re-doing - rats!

Simon

 

[Steve Cook]

Hi Steve,
Are these of any use/interest I took them at the NRm Shildon a couple of weekends ago

Definitely of interest Rob, a funky little critter
Thanks for posting, it has Gauge 3 written all over it!

I have posted a few more detailed shots on my Flickr site as well as these.

I shall have a look in a bit, thanks Rob

Crash away Simon
Sounds like you've had one of those 'put the craft knife down moments'! Good luck with the second one, I'll keep fingers crossed for you.
Steve

 

[Steve Cook]

The turtle continues to make progress, albeit at the same rate as its namesake. Its good fun if deceptive - it didn't look like much but consumes a fair amount of time at each stage, the roof is ready to be finally soldered into position now.



However thats going to have to wait for a short period, a well aimed discharge with a fully loaded scattergun bagged what I think is pretty much the definition of absurd when it comes to scenic model railways.



I'm not quite sure how to convey the size of the thing, numbers don't help much even when you know its 32" long over buffers and 12lb in weight. Its large enough that I can't help laughing when I see it on the now massively undersized modelling desk. When compared to a Hornby 4mm coach, the latter is about the length of a bogie...



The only thing more daft would be to own two of them...

In my defence your honour, I couldn't say no. Painted, glazed, fitted with a scratchbuilt interior, populated and lit by Peter Rogers, I paid less than the new bare brass cost for the pair - and they have never seen rails. They have been made by Senchang though and their legendary reluctance to use solder was carried over into Gauge 3. Despite having had a once over before painting, one coach arrived sitting at a jaunty angle on one bogie. A strip down showed that a solder joint had failed on the top hat bogie pivot.


Its a poor piece of design, the top hat is soldered from underneath the bogie, meaning the weight of the coach is supported only by the soldered joint. That doesn't have much solder in it. Or much heat applied to it by the looks of things.
Both bits were cleaned up with a fibreglass brush



The fit was checked



Then the resistance soldering unit was cranked right up and a decent job made with 224 solder.



The three other bogies look OK, but its difficult to tell under the paint. If the soldered joint fails, the wheels end up caught between the solebars which is never going to be a good idea out in the garden. As a backup plan, I've machined up four spacers to go around the pivots - if the same failure occurs, the body can only drop half a mil or so onto the support ring and thus remain in a sensible place in relation to the bogie.



Theres plenty of things to tinker with though, the working screwlink couplings have been reblacked to get a better finish



The coupling hook retaining bolts have been replaced with R clips - my idea is to have a solid bar between the two coaches where the minimum radius is 15' or above and the screwlinks below that - I want to be able to swap components round quickly.





One bit of glazing had fallen into one coach which was the main reason for taking the thing to pieces - I used a bag of coins to hold the glazing to the curved shape of the body whilst the glue dried.



The truss rods at one end were both loose as well, more failed solder joints - not exactly confidence inspiring is it? They too were cleaned up and the RS unit used when everything had been realigned.



After repainting the new joints I could attack the niggly fabrication error at the centre of the truss rods. A simple vee is cut out of the angle iron before it is bent to shape and soldered in place. It would be OK if the cut edges actually met



Unfortunately they don't, and to make up for it they catch the light brilliantly. Not any more though, thin strips of nickel silver were cut to shape and epoxied behind the gaps, making sure there was enough to ooze out of the hole. It was all filed and trimmed back to shape before a quick coat of matt black was applied.



Thats all the quick win stuff done (blackening wheel treads aside), I need to find some photos of the coach ends to deal with the rudimentary detailing that has been applied and work out where steam pipes etc should be fitted. Painting wise I shall be doing the same as I did on the 4mm coach - roof dirt up top, frame dirt below and a blend of the pair on the ends. The door outlines are basically invisible as they are so shallow, I think I'm actually going to have to paint them in as opposed to running a bit of paint into them, I hope my lining pen will cope with paint that thin...
In summary its big, its heavy, its hopefully less fragile but its still bloomin' awkward to work around - top entertainment then
Steve

 

[Dikitriki]

Fantatic Steve, they'll go well with your G3......er what will they go with?

I had no idea San Cheng made these. I must get out less.

Richard