7mm Dikitriki's Dark side: A WD 2-8-0

S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
I tried my hand at S7, but it didn't quite work for me. In theory, it should have been a case of wider frame spacers, longer axles and different wheel profiles (32mm to 33mm is pretty much the same as EM to 18.83, after all) but I was astounded by the awfulness of the sample of things I tried: by the time errors had been corrected, missing detail added, holes filled, bumps flattened, cast or moulded details refined or replaced, it struck me that scratch building would not have taken much longer, and to me the whole point was that as an established scale, I should have had a head-start from kits.After all, a scale of 7mm to 1', or 1:43.542857 is a silly thing to use, unless there is lots of trade support.

Maybe I was unlucky, but I bought kits from leading ranges and based on products with glowing reviews (even in MRJ) and I was sadly disappointed.

Mind you, not long after I gave up on it and went back to one Imperial* scale and into an additional one, things improved, but there you go. I was disappointed by how backward things seemed, and how little forward movement there had been, and the tasting session had failed to delight my tastebuds, and it was too late by then as I had been seduced by the greater mass and presence of One32.

*I like dividing by two, or multiples thereof, as the sums are easier. Also, it suits computers better, being binary...
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Hi

''A day in the life of Tweedledee.''

I've finished the first of the saddle tanks - well, the building of it. Since it had been put back together for a final test, I took my video camera to Oldham and caught it entering the yard.....


and after a natter with the bobby, leaving the yard.......


It was then stripped, chemically cleaned and washed.....

P1010509.jpg

and over the course of a very sunny day, primed and painted gloss black.

P1010518.JPG

It's hardening off at the moment as the barbi is warming up, and I shall letter it after it's had a week in the boiler room.

I would like to point out that 7 of the wagons in the train were built by 7mmMick. They are very nicely done indeed and complement the rest of the Heyside stock, though if the evidence of the video is anything to go by, they could do with a bit of grease:D .

Cheers

Richard
 
7mmMick

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Bloody brilliant Richard, when will the little tanks be double heading the goods ? Love the sound by the way,

ATB Mick
 
lancer1027

lancer1027

Western Thunderer
Excellent Richard.:bowdown:

Heyside is also coming along a treat since i saw it almost a year ago:eek:. Time flies when your having fun.

I cant find or remember if this question has been asked before, so appologises if it has, but how long have you been building Heyside ?.

It is a real credit to you and your gang:bowdown::bowdown:

Cheers Rob
 
Ressaldar

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Hi Richard,

great work as usual - looking forward to seeing the weathered version at the end of the week. Which chip have you fitted - sound is very good?

cheers

Mike
 
dibateg

dibateg

Western Thunderer
WHAT ???

You mean you've found the paint??

Where's those smelling salts?

I know it will look as good as it sounds - excellent.

Regards!
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
7mmMick said:
Bloody brilliant Richard, when will the little tanks be double heading the goods ? Love the sound by the way,

ATB Mick
Click to expand...

Hi Mick

Thanks, to be honest, I'm not sure they will ever double head. The idea is that one or both will kick about the yard and act as pilot, and occasionally disappear down the branch on a pick up goods. The second saddle tank is only a little way behind this one, at least I know where I am going now! Love your wagons!

lancer1027 said:
Excellent Richard.:bowdown:

Heyside is also coming along a treat since i saw it almost a year ago:eek:. Time flies when your having fun.

I cant find or remember if this question has been asked before, so appologises if it has, but how long have you been building Heyside ?.

It is a real credit to you and your gang:bowdown::bowdown:

Cheers Rob
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob. Sometimes it seems as though we spend an age on one thing without any sign of progress, other times it seems to come together quite quickly. We started work on Heyside in March 2009, and spent all the first year building boards and building/laying the trackwork - and a lot of the next 2 years ballasting and doing trackwork! Tony has spent a huge amount of time on his back. He says doing the wiring, but we think avoiding the ballasting. Brian has spent most of the last 5 months painting rails, but things like this make a huge difference to the look. Roger has spent a similar time on the setts, so some huge tasks have been tackled. Clive has built some of the outstanding signals, and can turn his hand to anything, Allan is I/C buildings and scenic development. Steve and Tim come over when they can, and Cynric's bank is going to put everything else in the shade.

It is a gang, and while I sort of head the group, It would be wrong not to recognise everyone's considerable contribution.

dibateg said:
WHAT ???

You mean you've found the paint??

Where's those smelling salts?

Regards!
Click to expand...

:p :p

Cheers

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Ressaldar said:
Hi Richard,

great work as usual - looking forward to seeing the weathered version at the end of the week. Which chip have you fitted - sound is very good?

cheers

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike

Finished by Telford is the aim. It's going to sit in the boiler room for a week before I do anything, and then it's going to be finished off alongside the 1F (see shelf queen thread). I have some crew to paint too, which is a novelty for me!

The chip is a Zimo MX645R, Paul Chetter J94 sound profile, and the speaker is a Eckig mini oblong - tiny and with an astonishing output for its size. All from Digitrains.

Cheers

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Hi

I'm still painting away on the saddle tank and 1F and their crew, but in the meantime I've been fiddling with Lady Godiva. This is an Ebay purchase that Roger thinks will take me years, but I am determined to prove him wrong (probably), so I shall put it on here so you can all see how I get on.....

It's a pro build - which can of course mean anything from crap to pretty good - and this is fortunately at the pretty good end. It came to me as 45505, The Royal Army Ordnance Corps. I was quite prepared to keep it as this, except that it had obviously been renumbered, badly, and the plate didn't fit the radius of the splasher. So, faced with a repaint of the cab sides, I took the opportunity to renumber it for the Oldham Loop, and have ordered new plates for Lady Godiva from Severn Mill Nameplates.

Here's how it came...

Patriot.jpg

It's only going to be an interim rebuild. After all, I bought it built to play with. So, the schedule of works is:
Chassis:
New crankpins, bearings and retaining nuts.
Complete rebuild of valve gear.
Tidy up wheels and re do balance weights.
Remount cylinders and valve gear support brackets so everything can be disassembled.
Body:
Replace lubricators.
Alter path of ejector pipe near the cab.
Replace nameplate backing plate.
Fabricate one cab door, missing.
Repaint cab sides and renumber.
Scratchbuild new backhead.
Tender
Reduce height of rear fire-iron support.
Add front fire-iron support.
Fabricate new drawbar.
Add tender pick-ups.
Replace couplings.

Add crew and weather.

Not really very much, and it should be a pretty quick exercise, so I tell myself.

I've worked out where I'm going on the chassis, so that will be the subject of the next exciting instalment.

Cheers

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
It does look good - it makes it worthwhile to take it further without having to reach for the blowtorch.

I thought it a worthwhile exercise to go through my approach to outside valve gear. If you know what you're doing, skip to something more interesting. For those of you to whom outside valve gear is something to be avoided - surely the only reason to model the GWR - then I hope to demystify what is actually a straightforward and logical process.

The subject is a Gladiator Patriot designed by David Andrews - a good kit that I would happily use as the basis for a decent Patriot Model. In fact I have one to build in my kit pile, with Alan Harris wheels to boot. The valve gear is typical. It looks OK, is geometrically correct and works well. But, it can be made a whole lot better.

Let's look at what I took off the model...

P1010606a.jpg

...and see what's wrong with it.

Reversing arms - wrong shape - scratchbuild new
Radius rod - not forked at little end, slides too deep, oiler in wrong place - adapt
Combination lever - kinked, lacks detail at the top, no bottom oiler - replace
Valve spindle - rod too thick, cut too short - replace
Union link - not forked - replace
Drop link - etched, lacks bulk and detail - replace
Crosshead - not quite right, but it fits in the slidebars well and is OK - Keep as is
Expansion link - yeugh, awful - replace
Eccentric Rod - OK, but it should be plain, not fluted - turn over! Or scratchbuild new, not sure yet
Return Crank - Massive hole where slotted screw was fitted, no 4-bolt detail - scracthbuild new

Nothing there that fills me with alarm, though my spares box is going to take a hit, but then, that's what it's there for.

Next, I shall start to look at some of the individual components, starting with perhaps the most tricky part, the combination lever.

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
OK, lets look at the real thing. This pic is from a Jubilee, but the components are near identical to those of a Patriot.

Picture is of the left side...

Jub 1.JPG

whereas I am building the right side at the moment.

This is the combination lever from the spares box.

P1010607.JPG

It's from a MOK 80000 kit. Very decent, the only issue is the oiler at the bottom which has to be removed from the side and reattached to the face, which means some nifty work with the piercing saw. That's the only tricky bit.

Richard
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Dikitriki said:
Next, I shall start to look at some of the individual components, starting with perhaps the most tricky part, the combination lever.
Click to expand...

No, no, no... please start with the reurn crank as I have to make those for Merlin and I am stumped as yet as to how to do the four bolts.... please, you go first! (might even save you from getting arrested for continually fiddling with the Lady Godiva).

regards, Graham
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
It won't take me long to get there Graham!

Surgery over, and the patient is in post op for soldering back together....

P1010611.JPG

Not a good time to sneeze.

Richard
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
From here, I cleaned up the bottom part of the combination lever, and the oiler; though that is not without risk as I can imagine it pinging off into the distance never to be recovered, and soldered the oiler to the face.

I removed the excess solder (scraper and fibreglass brush) and 'tis done. Now I shall clean the rest of the link up and look at the valve crosshead.

P1010615.JPG

Richard
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
What's New?
Top