Martin Shaw
Western Thunderer
This thread was going to have another title, but I thought better of it, too open to misconstruction. I have been researching quite a bit today, along with getting the brain into at least second gear, to come up with a plan.
The starting point is this,
As can be readily seen the painting is a bit too tarbrush, but there are on investigation significant other issues.
There's no interior to the cab
Both the chimney and dome lean backwards, I feel the taper on the lum is a bit narrow at the bottom as well. What isn't obvious from the pic is that where there should be a smokebox saddle, there is a void, so the whole boiler smokebox assembly is resting via the smokebox front plate, at the bottom of which there isn't a piano lid. There is also an issued with the feed pipes. At the running plate they are in the correctish position but the clack should be centred on the dome with a set in the pipe. Some engines retained the 6"/6.5" Westo pump on the tank front but a lot had it changed for an 8"/8.5" mounted on the boiler side.
At some time past the whistle has moved from the cab roof, and the safety valves and dome have been moved forward, the witness marks give this away. I'm a bit puzzled, the dome was definitely in the wrong place but the safety valves would have been more or less correct for a 160 psi boiler. The 180 psi boiler fitted to some of the F4s (downrated to 160) and the F5s, had originally a 4 column Ramsbottom valve but mostly replaced by 2 pop valves, so it's wrong as it is and could have been left where it was.
Having itemised all the deficiencies with the body, forgot a bent buffer at the rear, it looks reasonable and could with a bit of work be made adequate.
The chassis, to coarse standards, bears little resemblance to the prototype. Essentially an 0-4-0 with 2 pony trucks with mock front and rear frames that are there for the ride, it is I then asking a bit too much to obtain decent running qualities.
My original thought was a new chassis with hornblocks for the drivers, and radial trucks, utilising a set of fine standard wheels that came with it. Having looked at the long list of corrections needed, the smokebox saddle being pretty major, and the state of the paint job, I think a better alternative is,
Sell the existing model to someone else.
See if Mr McGeown will sell me body etches for his F5 kit.
Get a load of castings from Laurie Griffin, he seems to do everything necessary.
Make new chassis as outlined above possibly reusing existing motor.
Hope sentence 1 makes large inroads in to sentences 2-4.
Seems like a plan, any thoughts welcome.
Regards
Martin
The starting point is this,
As can be readily seen the painting is a bit too tarbrush, but there are on investigation significant other issues.
There's no interior to the cab
Both the chimney and dome lean backwards, I feel the taper on the lum is a bit narrow at the bottom as well. What isn't obvious from the pic is that where there should be a smokebox saddle, there is a void, so the whole boiler smokebox assembly is resting via the smokebox front plate, at the bottom of which there isn't a piano lid. There is also an issued with the feed pipes. At the running plate they are in the correctish position but the clack should be centred on the dome with a set in the pipe. Some engines retained the 6"/6.5" Westo pump on the tank front but a lot had it changed for an 8"/8.5" mounted on the boiler side.
At some time past the whistle has moved from the cab roof, and the safety valves and dome have been moved forward, the witness marks give this away. I'm a bit puzzled, the dome was definitely in the wrong place but the safety valves would have been more or less correct for a 160 psi boiler. The 180 psi boiler fitted to some of the F4s (downrated to 160) and the F5s, had originally a 4 column Ramsbottom valve but mostly replaced by 2 pop valves, so it's wrong as it is and could have been left where it was.
Having itemised all the deficiencies with the body, forgot a bent buffer at the rear, it looks reasonable and could with a bit of work be made adequate.
The chassis, to coarse standards, bears little resemblance to the prototype. Essentially an 0-4-0 with 2 pony trucks with mock front and rear frames that are there for the ride, it is I then asking a bit too much to obtain decent running qualities.
My original thought was a new chassis with hornblocks for the drivers, and radial trucks, utilising a set of fine standard wheels that came with it. Having looked at the long list of corrections needed, the smokebox saddle being pretty major, and the state of the paint job, I think a better alternative is,
Sell the existing model to someone else.
See if Mr McGeown will sell me body etches for his F5 kit.
Get a load of castings from Laurie Griffin, he seems to do everything necessary.
Make new chassis as outlined above possibly reusing existing motor.
Hope sentence 1 makes large inroads in to sentences 2-4.
Seems like a plan, any thoughts welcome.
Regards
Martin
