7mm Dikitriki's Dark side: A WD 2-8-0
- Thread starter Dikitriki
- Start date
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi JB
Just belt and braces. I reckon it's much easier to drill a few holes now than to try to replace a hornguide in exactly the right position should the glue fail in 10, 15 years time.
I've always screwed them in, so I don't know whether I'm being paranoid or not - but I'd rather not find out.
Richard
Just belt and braces. I reckon it's much easier to drill a few holes now than to try to replace a hornguide in exactly the right position should the glue fail in 10, 15 years time.
I've always screwed them in, so I don't know whether I'm being paranoid or not - but I'd rather not find out.
Richard
lancer1027
Western Thunderer
Hi Richard,
Your " man cave " is looking amazing. Is this room purely for your workbench with a workbench/area for Mrs Dikitriki.?
Your " man cave " is looking amazing. Is this room purely for your workbench with a workbench/area for Mrs Dikitriki.?
lancer1027
Western Thunderer
Sounds great. Just what the doctor ordered
Rob
Rob
rosspeacock
Modelling on a £1200 table.
Ressaldar
Western Thunderer
and some bookshelves (railway and modelling reference mainly
......not to mention the chhhhiller cabinet for the wine and beer
cheers
Mike
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi
I'm now getting to grips with the Fowler 2-6-2T. I've attached the front and rear buffer beams and removed the body from the cradle. I then tried to fit the chassis and it didn't, or rather, the cylinder block didn't. More of that tomorrow when I have some daylight to take photos, but I was delayed by a couple of days while I worked out how to sort it.
In the meantime, I have prepared the loco springs and brake gear ready for a soldering session later, and my workbench currently looks like this:
I normally replace the brake hangers and shoes with cast items, but the etches were thick enough and multi-layered enough for me to be happy to use them. The spring castings came from my scrapbox. I had removed them from a second hand purchase - I can't remember what - but they were covered in thick paint and some superglue. A dunk and scrub in Nitromors, and work with some files sorted that, and from my LMS profile on the Fowler 2-6-4s, they seem spot on for its smaller brother.
I was looking at Tony's Ivatt and musing how much more detail there was on his kit. But then if you look at the Fowler 2-6-2Ts, they were pretty plain and simple locos, and not often seen in 7mm.
Richard
I'm now getting to grips with the Fowler 2-6-2T. I've attached the front and rear buffer beams and removed the body from the cradle. I then tried to fit the chassis and it didn't, or rather, the cylinder block didn't. More of that tomorrow when I have some daylight to take photos, but I was delayed by a couple of days while I worked out how to sort it.
In the meantime, I have prepared the loco springs and brake gear ready for a soldering session later, and my workbench currently looks like this:
I normally replace the brake hangers and shoes with cast items, but the etches were thick enough and multi-layered enough for me to be happy to use them. The spring castings came from my scrapbox. I had removed them from a second hand purchase - I can't remember what - but they were covered in thick paint and some superglue. A dunk and scrub in Nitromors, and work with some files sorted that, and from my LMS profile on the Fowler 2-6-4s, they seem spot on for its smaller brother.
I was looking at Tony's Ivatt and musing how much more detail there was on his kit. But then if you look at the Fowler 2-6-2Ts, they were pretty plain and simple locos, and not often seen in 7mm.
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi
A bit more of an update.
First of all, all the drivers have been prepared for split axle collection.
I have drilled the axles in the lathe for the reinforced rod and when I fancy getting messy, they are good to go.
I mentioned that the cylinder block was too wide. There is absolutely no room for manoeuvre here as the block is hard up against the valance on the real thing. So I had to saw both cylinders off my nice square block, remove about 1.5mm from the width (trial and error and a lot of time) and solder them back together, only it was harder to get them square this time, as I had no flat datum.
Recovery complete.
The cylinder block mounted on the chassis.
The following shows how tight it all is:
And here's 2 photos of the current state of play.
Dimensionally it is accurate, so I think I now have a good base to proceed, and it seems to me to look like what it's meant to.
Richard
A bit more of an update.
First of all, all the drivers have been prepared for split axle collection.
I have drilled the axles in the lathe for the reinforced rod and when I fancy getting messy, they are good to go.
I mentioned that the cylinder block was too wide. There is absolutely no room for manoeuvre here as the block is hard up against the valance on the real thing. So I had to saw both cylinders off my nice square block, remove about 1.5mm from the width (trial and error and a lot of time) and solder them back together, only it was harder to get them square this time, as I had no flat datum.
Recovery complete.
The cylinder block mounted on the chassis.
The following shows how tight it all is:
And here's 2 photos of the current state of play.
Dimensionally it is accurate, so I think I now have a good base to proceed, and it seems to me to look like what it's meant to.
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi
While not quite as rapidly as I'd hoped, I have managed to make some progress on the Fowler tank.
The plan to use the kit etchings for much of the brake gear came to nought. The brake spreaders were too short, which meant I couldn't use the pull rod, and the brackets weren't long enough either. So I used some Laurie Griffin spreaders and steel rod for the pull rod:
and scratch built some replacement brackets to go over the top of the brake hangers. I also had to widen the slots in the chassis for them as my wheelbase, based on correct milled rods, differs from the model's wheelbase.
You can see that I am using 12 BA crank pins for the middle and rear wheels and 10BA for the leading axle. The reason for this is that I shall be tapping 10BA and reversing the top hat crank pin bearing on the leading axle so that they will be totally flush with the outside of the coupling rod. I have also added a nut over the ends of the brake spreaders as a little bit of extra detail.
Richard
While not quite as rapidly as I'd hoped, I have managed to make some progress on the Fowler tank.
The plan to use the kit etchings for much of the brake gear came to nought. The brake spreaders were too short, which meant I couldn't use the pull rod, and the brackets weren't long enough either. So I used some Laurie Griffin spreaders and steel rod for the pull rod:
and scratch built some replacement brackets to go over the top of the brake hangers. I also had to widen the slots in the chassis for them as my wheelbase, based on correct milled rods, differs from the model's wheelbase.
You can see that I am using 12 BA crank pins for the middle and rear wheels and 10BA for the leading axle. The reason for this is that I shall be tapping 10BA and reversing the top hat crank pin bearing on the leading axle so that they will be totally flush with the outside of the coupling rod. I have also added a nut over the ends of the brake spreaders as a little bit of extra detail.
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
And on to the bodywork....
I've finished all the major platework, with the exception of the cab roof, and I'm now on the detailing.
The cab door and return with the hand rail knobs on had to be replaced, as the kit components were the wrong size by some margin.
The buffers come from Hobbyhorse Developments - Reynalds range Fowler buffers - which have only one minor drawback; namely the heads are cast nickel silver, and there always seems to be a bit of pitting on the front where the feed is. I spun them in the lathe to clean the fronts up, but they are still visible.
On to the fun detailing now.
As an aside, decent photographs of this class seem pretty scarce. Chowbent provided a few with the kit - double sided A3 on photographic paper - and what a good idea that is, but my book sources are meagre pickings, despite my LMS leanings.
Cheers
Richard
I've finished all the major platework, with the exception of the cab roof, and I'm now on the detailing.
The cab door and return with the hand rail knobs on had to be replaced, as the kit components were the wrong size by some margin.
The buffers come from Hobbyhorse Developments - Reynalds range Fowler buffers - which have only one minor drawback; namely the heads are cast nickel silver, and there always seems to be a bit of pitting on the front where the feed is. I spun them in the lathe to clean the fronts up, but they are still visible.
On to the fun detailing now.
As an aside, decent photographs of this class seem pretty scarce. Chowbent provided a few with the kit - double sided A3 on photographic paper - and what a good idea that is, but my book sources are meagre pickings, despite my LMS leanings.
Cheers
Richard
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Richard,
You achieve a consistent result to your photography of models under construction - an appearance that I shall be happy if I achieve anything similar. How do you light the work when taking pikkies? How do you set up the camera focus/aperture/speed?
thank you, Graham
You achieve a consistent result to your photography of models under construction - an appearance that I shall be happy if I achieve anything similar. How do you light the work when taking pikkies? How do you set up the camera focus/aperture/speed?
thank you, Graham
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Richard
Yes please tell us your lighting setup as it does look very good.
Graham, as for a camera I would recommend a good compact something like a Canon G9, thats what I use on a tripod set to F8 and about 1/4 of a second in normal room lighting at 400 asa (or ISO). It has a proper macro feature and the small sensor means you get much better depth of field than trying to use an SLR.
They sell on ebay for between £80 and £120 it all depends on the condition and what extra bits they come with. Its 12mp more than enough for posting on here.
Richard
Yes please tell us your lighting setup as it does look very good.
Graham, as for a camera I would recommend a good compact something like a Canon G9, thats what I use on a tripod set to F8 and about 1/4 of a second in normal room lighting at 400 asa (or ISO). It has a proper macro feature and the small sensor means you get much better depth of field than trying to use an SLR.
They sell on ebay for between £80 and £120 it all depends on the condition and what extra bits they come with. Its 12mp more than enough for posting on here.
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi Graham
I will start off by saying I am a useless photographer, and I've known this for a very long time. Anything I am required to focus manually comes out as a blob. So I worked out that I needed a good, idiot proof camera that did everything for me. To that end, I invested in an Olympus C7070, hoping that the good lens (including in low light) and basic functions would overcome my ineptitude.
So, to answer your question, and in no order...
* All model photographs are taken in my conservatory - in good, but not direct light, to avoid burn out as far as possible. If I have to take a shot at night-time or at the workbench (very rarely), I will use 2 x daylight lights, but I don't find it easy to get uniform lighting in such circumstances.
*I don't use any additional lighting (but see above).
* I never, ever, use flash.
* The camera is set to automatic, so I don't have to worry about settings.
* I use a really good tripod: Uni-Loc system 1700.
* I am able to increase the F setting to about F8/F9 on automatic, and this I do.
* I always use the timer.
* I work on the principle of multiple redundancy - you only see the pics that work!
Hope this helps, but I feel Heather will give you a much better idea of what you're supposed to do
Regards,
Richard
Heather Kay
Western Thunderer
Hope this helps, but I feel Heather will give you a much better idea of what you're supposed to do
I think you've covered most things. There's not much I can add.
john lewsey
Western Thunderer
I like the fittings on the end of the pull rods were they in the kit or obtained from elsewhere
John
John