Monthly Archives: June 2017

Braking News!!!!!

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In my last post on the subject I said
“I also need to shorten the rod that connects to brake the the link below the cab too. The plan is to solder a piece of scrap to the end with the boss on and file a second boss which will allow me to create a forked joint once I shorten the rod.”

Which I duly did on Wednesday night. In fact I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until this morning when by chance I found a photo which showed me exactly how the brake gear should fit at the cab end.

It will be good news to David (Hill) that in fact you don’t need to shorten the rod to the cab rear at all, you just need to connect it to the right lever from the cross shaft.

All being well I should have it corrected on Monday evening and I will post before and after photos to show how I got it wrong initially. In the hope that it will prevent someone else from making the same mistake. I have say that the instructions are lacking in this area being of the ‘fit parts X,Y,Z,’ styke and an email to Steve Barnfield although it elicited a response didn’t help because he couldn’t remember how it fitted.

To give Steve due credit he did offer to assist in person if I was in his area but I am a long way from him.

“Pound Shop” value well not quite but only a quid anyway

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I thought that I had posted photo’s of a Model T tanker truck that I picked up for a pound but perhaps I didn’t.

1912 Ford Model T Tanker

1912 Ford Model T Tanker

In between other modelling projects I have resprayed it into LNER blue and added some transfers and a light waft of weathering.

LNER Model T 2 Ton Tanker Truck

LNER Model T 2 Ton Tanker Truck

LNER Model T 2 Ton Tanker Truck

LNER Model T 2 Ton Tanker Truck

I just need to glaze it now.

Cut and Shut with Kirk Sides

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In response to a query on the GOG forum I promised that I would take a photo of some Kirk sides that I needed to cut and shut and repair the beading on – The beading is Plastruct 0.8mm half round.

It looks like Ian has now run out of the colour pigment that he used to use to colour the LNER coach pieces because they came in white so I had to give them a quick spray to get them to show anything.

Kirk BY120 Sides

Kirk BY120 Sides

I have marked which beading I replaced with a red square. For some reason the top one picked up some much in the solvent (Limonene) which has made it look a bit ragged in the photo but I am sure that it will disappear once I apply the teak varnish to it.

Although it doesn’t look it in the photo the base colour is orange.

Gladiator B16/1 – fitting the brakes

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After an exciting weekend doing other things I got back to the B16 last night and cracked on with fitting the brakes.

I wound a few layers of masking tape around the wheels to both space the brake shoes away from the wheels and to help reduce the risk of rusting from soldering with the wheels in place.

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Gladiator B6-1 Brakes

I was forewarned by a gent on RMweb who has recently built a 4mm version of this kit that the length of the yokes that fit to the brake spreaders is a bit long and so it was with the 7mm version. I used a diamond disk in the Dremel to cut a slot in the brake spreader to allow the fork in the yoke to slip back and effectively shorten the rod. – see photo above.

Gladiator B6-1 Brakes

I also need to shorten the rod that connects to brake the the link below the ab too. The plan is to solder a piece of scrap to the end with the boss on and file a second boss which will allow me to create a forked joint once I shorten the rod.

Gladiator B6-1 Brakes

Gladiator B16-1 Scratchbuilt Oilers

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A slight diversion from work on the chassis has had me looking at the oil boxes that are quite prominent on the sides of the frames above the footplate.

Although I have some castings they are too long and wouldn’t cut down very well so I decided to have a bash at making some from scratch.

I measured the length of three together and marked it off on a length of square bar and then marked a line 1mm from the top, along what will be the front edge. Next I filed the marked section down to the line at the front while maintaining the full height at the back. – To give me a sloping top.

A strip of scrap etch to form a lid and another length with two rivets punched in either end forms the mounting bracket.

Before cutting each individual oil box off the bar I drilled holes for the pipes in the bottom and then added some 08mm OD tube and length of fine brass beading wire to represent the oil pipes. Three down three more to make for the other side but at least two of them don’t need the tube/pipes fitted because they sit on the splasher top.

Gladiator B16-1 Scratchbuilt Oilers

Gladiator B16/1 Loco Brakes

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With the tender virtually complete my return from Doncaster saw a start made on detailing the loco chassis. I add the springs to the drivers and then looked at the brake gear.
The instructions are along the lines of fit parts…. with a couple of build photos to assist with the general positioning.

Thankfully looking at prototype pictures helped answer most questions. the first being how the hanger mounts fit
There is a better view in Yeadon but I found this and it saved me scanning the book.

As with some older kits, the forks in the etches for the rods connecting the brake spreaders are a little over etched so needed bushing.

Gladiator B16-1 Loco Brakes

By accident or design some scrap from the chassis etches folded over the spreader was just the right thickness to fill the gap.

Gladiator B16-1 Loco Brakes

They just need soldering together once fitted.

More Gladiator B16/1 Tender detailing, but it’s almost there now

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This week has been a good one at the bench seeing the tender almost complete.

Gladiator B16-1 Tender Details

Gladiator B16-1 Tender Details

Gladiator B16-1 Tender Details

The brake/water scoop standards rotate and you now need to unscrew them to get the chassis from the body.

When refitting the chassis during testing the cranks on the bottom of the shafts of the standards I realised that the brake rods were catching on the outer frame and had held one end of the chassi from fitting flat to the underside of the body. There is a plate with a slot in it in which two slots in the front ends of the inner chassis engage this was about 1.5 too high. To cure it I adjusted the offending brake spreaders and the rods inwards and then with the chassis upside down and engaged in the slots I used the microflame to run around the etches of the plate while pressing on the underside of the chassis with a block of wood. After a few moments the plate eased slowly downwards into the correct position and when the solder set again it was as it should have been.

Gladiator B16-1 Tender Details

As far as I can tell there is just the vacuum pipe and the axleboxes/spring castings to fit. I may also make the central ‘buffer’ from styrene but I will see how it goes when I test the running to see if it needs it.

Next it’s on to detailing the chassis before tackling the body details.