The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

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Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
I am working my way through the final detail work.

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I have fixed the power switch with glue. I would prefer screws but everything on this model is that bit too confined.

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The base for the coal is Sculptamold. I wanted something I could pick out one day if necessary. The Sculptamold takes black ink well.

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The top of the reverse lever will be visible but I have painted the whole thing.

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The inside of the smokebox now carries two magnets (to hold the door) and a power socket. This assembly was far more difficult than it ought to have been but of course the magnets want to stick to each other not to the model. Everything in here is encased in Araldite.

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I ended up respraying the smokebox and its door because the gloss cellulose showed up ever flaw and there were rather too many of them.

I'm still pleased with this chimney, though I probably put in far more effort than it really deserved. I suspect I will be touching up the edges of the smokebox door forever. Time to get out the black Sharpie :)
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave said:
Black Sharpie then dry brush with gunmetal paint. Gives the impression it is worn without having to retouch every time.
Click to expand...

I don't have any gunmetal but I have found an ancient tin of Humbrol Metalcote "polished steel". The colour doesn't resemble real steel (like Slater's wheels) but it is adding a bit of life when applied over black Sharpie (or paint) and burnished with a cotton bud.
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
I put the wiring into the loco today, and the superstructure got married up with the chassis along the way.

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The radio control board sits in the bottom half of the boiler with its aerial going forwards into the smokebox and then down between the cylinders.

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The rest of the wiring is behind the control board and (later) inside the firebox.

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The assembly of the model went along in tandem with putting in the wiring.

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Eventually, the firebox fitted over the motor and wiring, and I could secure the body to the chassis.

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Not much diginity here but it was a relief to see the control board come back to life after eight months in storage.

I have now run the model on the layout as well, and it stayed on the track thoughout. So far so good :)
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Allen M said:
Keep going, you will get there.
Click to expand...

Yes . . . the final session.

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There is more variation in the length of PP3 batteries than I imagined. The Varta one (previous post) slips in snugly, and so did the first LiPo one; but this one was a smidgen too long. So I cut a patch out of the plastic casing and covered the electrical parts inside with insulating tape.

Life would have been so much easier if the designers at Manning Wardle could have made their locomotive 80 mm longer. This would have left room for a complete battery snap too, instead of my two-part affair. Still, they did well to make the tank 43.5 times the width and height of a PP3 battery.

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I have slipped the saddle tank into place, and glued on the last few details like the sandboxes and the injector. The route of the feed pipe is compromised to let the power switch move.

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I have glued some coal into the bunkers, and so the model is now in much the same state as a RTR one out of the box with its first personalisation.

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The loco runs really well, I am so pleased with it :drool:
 
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Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
timbowales said:
Absolutely superb!
Envious of Llanelli
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Tim this is very kind of you. The high gloss paint reveals a few surface faults, especially in the wrapper of the saddle tank. This has a slightly lumpy appearance with more than the three curves I really wanted. Curiously the bounced flash rather wipes these errors away; some toning down with a satin varnish ought to do the same for viewing in real life.

I do think, the loco will blend in with my wagons, these include models I have made myself, and bought from other modellers and commercial manufacturers. It is also a really good size for "Heybridge Basin".

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This looks like the estuarial cable train, with tar for sealing up the cable connections and coal for the braziers. I am glad I have built most of the stock before the layout and not the other way round, I think this makes both tasks easier.
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
I could be taking photos of Lady Marion for a while. It is a nice size for the layout and I like the proportions.

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This is a bit of a guess of how the loco might have appeared using the orthochromatic film of the day, with the red parts showing darker than the black ones. Taking away the colour, the wheels shout "overscale" to me but they look much better in real life.
 
Osgood

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Slippery slope, naming a loco after a girlfriend.
The second girlfriend then wants one named after her, as does the third, at which point the first who until then didn't even know about the third gets jealous and, well .......

Better to go for ESTUARY VIEW No. 1

Is commercial manufacturers an anagram of RTR?
 
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Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Osgood said:
Is commercial manufacturers an anagram for RTR?
Click to expand...

I thought "RTR" was open to multiple interpretations, so I wrote "commercial manufacturers" to try to distinguish between the factory-built products and my models made by other modellers. Which are all "ready to run".

I don't want to sound like a pedant but I can't help it. Euphemism yes, but not an anagram.
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
Conclusions?

I feel I have posted so much about this build I really ought to include some conclusions so here goes.

I could try to claim that this kit has been far too difficult for me, but of course I have managed to get though to the end. I can remember my enthusiasm when I started the kit, but I lost it all along the way. I have altered and renewed so many of the etched parts that the build has been more like a particularly infuriating job of work than a hobby.

On the bright side, I have built the loco from only the parts supplied in the kit plus the new parts I have made. There is nothing bought-in here beyond the motor and gearbox, control equipment and etched plates. I think this is an achievement. The model weighs 300 grams, which is enough to let it pull a small train but (subjectively) small enough to not put too much strain on the 4mm scale gearbox.

I have made a model with three power options: NiMh charged through the smokebox door socket; a LiPo battery charged from its own charging port; or even a primary battery. The PP3 battery is a standard off-the-shelf item and it is easy to remove it and install a new one. Controllability using the Micron MR601a receiver is excellent. This is still the only controller board I know of which is powerful enough to drive the 12V motor and small enough to fit inside the model, and the radio control would not have happened without it.

For me, the best thing about the loco is the generous amount of daylight visible between the frames and especially the clear view down through the model onto the track. This is so much better than the appearance of a model with a monoblock chassis.

The loco will be useful on the layout and it was well worth building, but I will try a different brand next time.

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Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
To me, conclusions are ideas that arise from considered thinking.... so what lead you to think "I shall try a different brand next time"?

As for that last photo, all the parts play a supporting role in the end result - a good photo of a decent cameo. Welldone.

Rgds, Graham
 
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