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

[Heather Kay]

Hi Pete.

It's just the standard primer. I was considering Precision 2-pack etch primer for the brass areas, but on consideration most handling is likely to be done on the resin areas.

 

[Heather Kay]

With the tender and boiler having been painted and varnished, I suppose I ought to pull a finger out and get the final details on this bit so it can be painted as well.

 

[Heather Kay]

The good news is the footplate now has sandbox covers and a reversing reach rod fitted, and has been given a dose or two of black paint. I shall let things dry for the rest of the day - it's nice and warm in the paint shop, so paint is drying quickly, but that doesn't mean it's hardening quickly. Tomorrow afternoon, after some domestic chores, I shall get some matt varnish in various places and hopefully I may be able to assemble things over the weekend.

Then it'll be lettering, more varnish, then some serious Heathering.

 

[Heather Kay]

Resisting the temptation to assemble things, the constituent parts of one very black WD will sit quietly at the rear of the bench over the weekend to "air".

 

[Heather Kay]

It's that nerve-jangling time when I attempt to put all the big bits together.

So far, I have the boiler fitted to the running plate. Next up is to try and fit that lot to the chassis, and connect the reversing mechanism to the valve gear.

Meanwhile…



I knew there was a gap between sandbox filler plates and the boiler, but this is bigger than expected. As the plates are etched, folded up and fixed to the running plate, it strikes me something is awry, and it's not all down to me. I don't see any easy way of resolving this, save finagling styrene shim in and hoping for the best.

There's also some daylight between the firebox and cab front, which I hope will diminish once the chassis is attached. If not, a fiddle with some tape to make a new boiler band will help.

Sheesh!

 

[Heather Kay]

I think I know what's happened. The instructions wrongly show the plate bottom flange folds back. This inevitably causes the plate to fit in the half-etch rebate on the running plate too far forward.

I rather think they're going to have to come off and put in the right place.

Unhappy.

Still, it's only black paint.

UPDATE: it's not an error. I've done a trial fit of the running plate on the chassis, with the boiler sat on top. Most of the daylight disappears from the sanding filler plates. Phew! In case it wasn't obvious, the running plate is quite a flimsy thing, being supported on brackets on the real thing. The model one will be very vulnerable to mishandling.

 

[john lewsey]

Superb Heather I'd better pop by before it goes

 

[Heather Kay]

Final detail bits. I really ought to do some of this stuff earlier in the build.



A pair of screw couplings, from the kit. With extra effort, it might be possible to make them actually work, but I chickened out. It took most of an hour for each set, cleaning up and fettling, as it was. Other sundry under-the-running plate details, and one pair of the buffer heads. The other pair are currently steeping in the chemical black concoction.



For some reason, there is no method of fixing the brake pipe bag to any form of stopper in this kit, at either end of the loco. A spare lamp bracket and some bits from the Bits Box are pressed into service, with the "bag" fixed to it. The other end will be fitted over the pipe upstand, which will be fitted once the chassis is fitted.



A similar effort on the back of the tender. I am not keen on the JLTRT neoprene pipe, so I've used some tightly wound spring ones. The tender one is reinforced with some copper wire to keep its shape.

Getting there. I think I will put the whole thing together before I letter it. Then it will be a slow and steady dose of weathering.

 

[Heather Kay]

Some days you really shouldn't bother. Today seems to be one of those days.

I thought it was high time the boiler was attached to the running plate, and that lot fitted to the chassis. The running plate is fixed to the boiler casting with a couple of self-tapping screws up into the front of the firebox. Until now, I hadn't thought about whether the smokebox needed to be fixed in a similar way.

The problem is the running plate is flimsy. The obvious way to pick up the loco and tender would be gripping across the boiler and motion brackets with one hand while the other hand grabs the tender. If the loco was picked up by the boiler alone, all that holds the chassis to the running plate is an 8BA bolt through the cylinder block and some friction holding the cab end. The weight could easily distort the running plate.

My solution was to make a hole up into the smokebox casting and tap for 8BA. There's a nice long bolt holding it all in place now.



With that success under my belt, thoughts turned to joining up the reversing levers to the motion. A couple of short lengths of 0.9mm brass wire acted as pins, with a drop of cyano to hold them. There's little movement at this point, and access for a soldering iron is limited, so I thought this would do.

Time for a running check. All went okay for a while, then a bind. One of those damned eccentric cranks had shifted again. After investigation, and some remedial works, it turned out the crankpin on one of the drivers had come loose. My hit rate with two-part epoxy took another dive.

As I type, I have removed the offending wheel from the loco, the offending crankpin from the wheel, cleaned everything up and some longer-setting epoxy is curing for the next few hours. I've decided to call it a day on all fronts.

Finally, I'll leave you with this…



Now, it could be the running plate has developed a slight droop at the front of the cab. It could even be a little overzealous sanding of the firebox end of the casting. Whatever the case, the daylight needs filling. I'm thinking of taking the boiler off and fixing some thin styrene sheet and making good. But, that's for another and possibly cooler day.

 

[richard carr]

HEather

It looks like the cab is sagging to me, you need a screw from the cab into the boiler.

Richard

 

[Heather Kay]

It looks like the cab is sagging to me, you need a screw from the cab into the boiler.

It does look that way, but it isn't. The running plate is meeting with the chassis frames all the way along, so I don't think it's that. There's a hole in the front cab sheet, obviously designed for a bolt, but a gaping void behind with a motor in it.

Thinks and thunks ongoing.

 

[chrisb]

...running plate is meeting with the chassis frames all the way along

Hi Heather,

Not sure if this helps or hinders but using the photograph that you posted I drew a straight line along the bottom edge of the footplate and there appears to be an upwards 'bow' rather than a 'droop' in the footplate (see below) with its apex at/near the cab front:



Could there be something pushing/pointing upwards from the chassis near the front of the cab that's causing the footplate not to be perfectly straight?

Chris

 

[pete waterman]

You need to use the hole in the etch to get them together and that will sort you out. Let me know but it will work.

 

[Heather Kay]

Hi Chris. I'll check again, though it might just be a lens artefact. I am pretty sure the running plate assembly is bedded down on the chassis frames.

Pete, there is a hole in the cab front sheet, but there's nothing for it to connect to. As the kit I'm building was acquired by the client from someone else, it's possible there's an etched part missing that should fit on the back of the boiler casting. I suppose I could fab a bracket, if I can't resolve the issue another way.

 

[OzzyO]

Heather, mark out on the front of the cab the outside of the boiler and the inside of the hole then drill a hole through the cab between them, then drill a hole into the boiler for a self tapping screw just make sure that the screw head is below the inside top of the backhead. That should then pull the cab back to square and give a good solid fixing.

OzzyO.

 

[Heather Kay]

Thanks Paul!

I would do that, but as I've tried to explain self-tapping screws or nuts and bolts don't get much purchase on empty space. The back of the boiler is open to the world. If there's supposed to be something there, someone at the factory was a little overzealous with the sanding!

I am considering whether I need to make some bracket, and whether it will fit in the right place without fouling the motor. The good news is today is much cooler and less humid, and I slept well last night.

 

[OzzyO]

Painting begins.

View attachment 45069

Heather if you look at this photo you have a nice width of resin between the top of the motor hole and the top of the boiler to get a self tapping screw in, That is why I said to mark out the outside and inside of the boiler so that you can get the screw into the middle of this bit. It involves drilling a new hole a bit higher up in the front of the cab, not using the existing hole.

I'd have done you a sketch but I can't upload anything at the moment.

OzzyO.

 

[Heather Kay]

Ah, with you now. I blame being up too early!

 

[Heather Kay]

You know, there are times in every build where you wonder why you ever started it. It came very close to one of those times with this build. The annoying part was I was so close to finishing it - I mean, it even had paint on for pity's sake! - that I knew I had to make an effort and at least try.

Or blame a house fire and give the client his money back.

Anyway, over the past couple of weeks I have been doing a spot of re-engineering. The third axle was extracted, the old Slater's 12BA crankpins removed and 10BA brass ones put in their place. I made my offerings to the goddess of epoxy resin (Araldite; like Aphrodite? Oh, never mind.) and set about tapping all the bushes for 10BA. And there things stayed for a spell, with the loco upside down in the maintenance cradle, various bits of valve gear carefully wired up out of the way, so the whole thing looked like some kind of game bird ready for the oven!

I knew the longer it stayed there, the harder it would be to make it go. Part of me wanted to leave it, because if I couldn't get the eccentrics to stay put I would be very disappointed in myself and would probably give it all up and go into a nunnery or something.

Well, today, that ugly, warty, fat old frog had my name on it, so I set to in a bid to consume it once and for all.



And there it is. The cranks don't keep unwinding, there are no tight spots or parts knocking, it blinkin' well works! Let the bells ring out and joy be unconfined!

While I was in a winning mood I refitted the various under-running plate parts that had been knocked off, fitted some new parts that were due their time in the sun, drilled out a hole for a self-tapper in the cab to the top of the firebox so that was all pulled up nice and tight without daylight showing, and fitted the backhead and the whistle. The top feed pipes were also slotted in. I think it's fair to say if anyone wants to disassemble this beast in the future, they'll need a lot of patience and some replacement parts!

Having exhausted the antacid tablets, and with the mortal remains of Nemesis the Frog scattered about the workbench, the next step is to retouch some bright metalwork, and get the loco back into the paint shop for a finishing top coat. After having sprayed the Lanky Tank with gloss enamel, I have been impressed by the strength of the finish. It will make a nice base coat for the weathering process eventually. Tomorrow, then, I shall probably be in the paint shop for a while.

I shall sleep better tonight, I think.

 

[dibateg]

Well done Heather - it looks a very nice job. You got there in the end!