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Coming up we have some very exciting news to do with Cliddesden and Thornycroft for 2016. Please stay tuned.
Thanks for following. Happy 2016!
Ed
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #10
The tenth and last photograph, in this photo series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
A high view looking over the Thornycroft works, at the Dutch wood drying barn, and the onsite museum, with Worting bridge in the background.
Everything you see in the photo (apart from the sky), is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #9
The ninth photograph, in the photo series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
A high view looking over the Thornycroft works from Worting Road
Everything you see in the photo (apart from the sky), is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #8
The eighth photograph, in the photo series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
The Southern "278" G6 0-6-0T passes the Thornycroft wood store on it's way to Basingstoke station. carrying covered loads on 1 blank wagons.
Everything you see in the photo (apart from the sky), is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #7
The seventh photograph, in the photo series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
At night, a view across the railway crossing looking into the yard, as the Southern "278" G6 0-6-0T comes in with it's last load of the day.
Everything you see in the photo, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Sunday, 13 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #6
The sixth photo in this photograph series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
An XC bus chassis is being tested with load in the yard just outside the running shed and export/ repair shop, in the back of the picture standing outside the onsite museum is the very first Thornycroft No. 1 Steam Van. Centre of the picture is the fire station.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #5
The fifth photograph in this photo series showing the Thornycroft sidings...
The Southern "278" G6 0-6-0T on shunting duties in the sidings by the chassis store. Manoeuvring the guard van into place. In the back you can see a man unloading bundles of hay/straw into the store shed.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Sunday, 6 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #4
The forth photo in a new series of photographs showing the Thornycroft sidings...
The view from the top of Worting Road bridge, looking into the Thorycroft sidings.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #3
The third one in a new series of photographs showing the Thornycroft sidings...
Here we see some A1 class chassis waiting outside the paint shop. In the distance the timber drying shed - One of the original buildings on the site, which dated back to 1898 or there about.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Sunday, 30 August 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #2
The second in a new series of photographs showing the Thornycroft sidings...
Here we see the Alton passenger train going past the Thornycroft factory heading under Worting Bridge to it's next stop at Cliddesden Station. In the foreground outside the chassis store, as a deterrent to ward of German enemies during WW2, is the J-Class lorry fitted with anti air-craft missile launcher. It was left rotting on the embankment until given away in the 1960's to an enthusiast.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Sunday, 23 August 2015
Thornycroft Photo Series #1
In a new series of photographs showing the Thornycroft sidings.
Everything you see in the photo, apart from the sky, is all "real" and part of the model railway, scratch built and scaled in n-gauge; (approx)2mm:1ft.
Here we see a stormy day with a break in the cloud to allow the sun to sine for a few minutes. In the yard the lowmacs are loaded with some PB class lorry chassis, ready to go.
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D.
Ed
Saturday, 16 May 2015
That's Better
The J Class War Department general service lorry recreated by 3D printing it as a kit of parts. A far more accurate representation than that shown made with FIMO clay in the previous posting.
And in situ outside the Thornycroft Museum alongside Van No.1
For an in depth study of how the J Class was made please visit my other Blog.
David
And in situ outside the Thornycroft Museum alongside Van No.1
David
Monday, 4 May 2015
Oh Dear
I mentioned in the previous posting that 3D print is more accurate than modelling in FIMO clay. I knew already that our Thornycroft J Class general purpose War Department lorry made in FIMO clay was too tall but I did not appreciate how out of scale it really was until putting both models side by side.
Clay on left, 3D print on right.
The clay model starts to go wrong above the chassis line. This will not do so, I'll need to remake it in 3D print for our Thornycroft Sidings layout and maybe a total of five to replace the batch displayed on our Cliddesden Station layout.
I keep mentioning 3D print in these postings (I have made quite a number of different models using it during this project) but not gone into detail about the process. Well, I'm now going to take you through the entire process, warts and all. But, not here. The series will be shown on our sister Blog - amodelrailway.blogspot.co.uk. You may wish to follow there and set up email alerts for new postings. But don't give up on this Blog, there is much more to come here.
To begin with read about the 3D printer we are using.
David
Clay on left, 3D print on right.
The clay model starts to go wrong above the chassis line. This will not do so, I'll need to remake it in 3D print for our Thornycroft Sidings layout and maybe a total of five to replace the batch displayed on our Cliddesden Station layout.
I keep mentioning 3D print in these postings (I have made quite a number of different models using it during this project) but not gone into detail about the process. Well, I'm now going to take you through the entire process, warts and all. But, not here. The series will be shown on our sister Blog - amodelrailway.blogspot.co.uk. You may wish to follow there and set up email alerts for new postings. But don't give up on this Blog, there is much more to come here.
To begin with read about the 3D printer we are using.
David
Sunday, 3 May 2015
Thornycroft J Class Anti-Aircraft Lorry
History
Thornycroft manufactured 183 of this J class variant between 1915 and 1916. Each carried a 13 pound anti-aircraft gun. This one (below) had an interesting history, which you can read at The Great War forum here.
Briefly, it was acquired by Thornycroft in the 1920s for their own factory museum but during WW2 it was placed on the road embankment between the factory Chassis Store and Deep Lane to ward off German fighter planes! There it languished, rotting away until given away for free to an enthusiast in the 1960s. You can see the state it was in at this time on The Great War forum here.
This movie shows the gun in action. It actually shows two different gun emplacements. Look for the one mounted on the lorry, which is the Thornycroft. Note the number of Tommys operating it and their deployment of the lorry stabilisers.
A super detailed 1:32 kit is available from Tommys War.
Our 1:148 N Gauge Model
Regular Blog followers will know that we previously made a J class general purpose War Department lorry out of FIMO clay.
Now we have a 3D printer the J Class Anti-Aircraft Lorry was designed in 3D CAD and 3D printed in plastic as a kit of parts. This facilitates a much greater level of accuracy and detail than using clay. The model is our most detailed to date, much of which is not seen in the photo. Did you notice that I fitted the gun barrel upside down? It has since been corrected. I'm not showing a larger photo because there are blemishes in the parts, due to the technology of this process, that are barely noticeable at normal viewing distances in this scale.
The trouble with 3D printing is that the plastic is extruded like string and laid down in rows, which are visible. It can also get a bit blobby for very small parts. In fact the wheels did print as blobs. The machine could not cope with the 8 x half millimetre round vents in the wheels! Much filing and drilling was required to get some resemblance of the cast wheels with solid tyres.
david
Thornycroft manufactured 183 of this J class variant between 1915 and 1916. Each carried a 13 pound anti-aircraft gun. This one (below) had an interesting history, which you can read at The Great War forum here.
Briefly, it was acquired by Thornycroft in the 1920s for their own factory museum but during WW2 it was placed on the road embankment between the factory Chassis Store and Deep Lane to ward off German fighter planes! There it languished, rotting away until given away for free to an enthusiast in the 1960s. You can see the state it was in at this time on The Great War forum here.
This movie shows the gun in action. It actually shows two different gun emplacements. Look for the one mounted on the lorry, which is the Thornycroft. Note the number of Tommys operating it and their deployment of the lorry stabilisers.
A super detailed 1:32 kit is available from Tommys War.
Our 1:148 N Gauge Model
Regular Blog followers will know that we previously made a J class general purpose War Department lorry out of FIMO clay. Now we have a 3D printer the J Class Anti-Aircraft Lorry was designed in 3D CAD and 3D printed in plastic as a kit of parts. This facilitates a much greater level of accuracy and detail than using clay. The model is our most detailed to date, much of which is not seen in the photo. Did you notice that I fitted the gun barrel upside down? It has since been corrected. I'm not showing a larger photo because there are blemishes in the parts, due to the technology of this process, that are barely noticeable at normal viewing distances in this scale.
The trouble with 3D printing is that the plastic is extruded like string and laid down in rows, which are visible. It can also get a bit blobby for very small parts. In fact the wheels did print as blobs. The machine could not cope with the 8 x half millimetre round vents in the wheels! Much filing and drilling was required to get some resemblance of the cast wheels with solid tyres.
Below is the lorry alongside the chassis store in 1939.
david
Sunday, 5 April 2015
We Need More Chassis
The cry went up 'We need more vehicle chassis for the yard'. So, here are another five.
This time it is the Thornycroft PB chassis, manufactured from 1926-1928. Perhaps a little early for the period of our Thornycroft Factory model but they are the vehicles shown loaded onto LOWMAC railway wagons in a photo from our reference book, a scene that we can now replicate.
The PB chassis is noted for its 'Forward Control' cab which covered part of the engine affording a larger payload area than previous models with the same wheelbase.
The wheels are of interest being spoked cast steel with solid rubber tyres.
The models were designed in 3D CAD and 3D printed in plastic as a kit of parts. I did not think the spoked wheels could be made this way, being so small, and expected a biog of plastic but was surprised to see the larger rear wheels were a good rendition with light showing between the spokes! The smaller front wheels needed a drill passed between the spokes to remove 'flashing'.
The model is finished in black framework with grey primer wheels and body work, ready for either Thornycroft or the customer to fit the loading platform and finish in the appropriate company livery.
Do we have enough chassis in the yard now. Apparently not!
David
This time it is the Thornycroft PB chassis, manufactured from 1926-1928. Perhaps a little early for the period of our Thornycroft Factory model but they are the vehicles shown loaded onto LOWMAC railway wagons in a photo from our reference book, a scene that we can now replicate.
The PB chassis is noted for its 'Forward Control' cab which covered part of the engine affording a larger payload area than previous models with the same wheelbase.The wheels are of interest being spoked cast steel with solid rubber tyres.
The models were designed in 3D CAD and 3D printed in plastic as a kit of parts. I did not think the spoked wheels could be made this way, being so small, and expected a biog of plastic but was surprised to see the larger rear wheels were a good rendition with light showing between the spokes! The smaller front wheels needed a drill passed between the spokes to remove 'flashing'.
The model is finished in black framework with grey primer wheels and body work, ready for either Thornycroft or the customer to fit the loading platform and finish in the appropriate company livery.
Do we have enough chassis in the yard now. Apparently not!
David
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Thornycroft No.1 Van
The No.1 van was the first vehicle to be made by Thornycroft in 1896 and still exists today in The British Commercial Vehicle Museum collection. It was steam driven and heralded the start of commercial vehicle design and manufacture by J.I. Thornycroft.
The model has been on the agenda for some time because I was not sure what material to make it from. There were a number of concerns from an N gauge modelling aspect for something so small, like the thin window frames for the large open windows, body planking and cart wheels.
In the end the bodywork was made quite quickly by using actual photographs of the prototype. These were opened in a photo editing Application and scaled to an assumed cabin entrance height of 6 feet. The panels were then inkjet printed onto photo paper, cut out carefully to preserve the thin window frames and glued to make up the rectangular body. The cross braced bars in the side windows are thin wire glued in place.
Inside is the oil fired steam boiler made from FIMO clay.
The cart wheels were initially a problem. I could have bought some from P&D Marsh but as I did not know the dimensions of their units and only needed 4 not 20 I could not justify the purchase. The solution was FIMO clay again and after several failed attempts acceptable wheels were achieved.
In the photo below is No.1 van and a J class lorry in 1916 war department livery, which by the 1930s (our model period) was a museum piece itself. They are on display outside the Museum Garage at the Thornycroft factory. The odd angle is because the roadway slopes away from the garage doors.
David
The model has been on the agenda for some time because I was not sure what material to make it from. There were a number of concerns from an N gauge modelling aspect for something so small, like the thin window frames for the large open windows, body planking and cart wheels.
In the end the bodywork was made quite quickly by using actual photographs of the prototype. These were opened in a photo editing Application and scaled to an assumed cabin entrance height of 6 feet. The panels were then inkjet printed onto photo paper, cut out carefully to preserve the thin window frames and glued to make up the rectangular body. The cross braced bars in the side windows are thin wire glued in place.Inside is the oil fired steam boiler made from FIMO clay.
The cart wheels were initially a problem. I could have bought some from P&D Marsh but as I did not know the dimensions of their units and only needed 4 not 20 I could not justify the purchase. The solution was FIMO clay again and after several failed attempts acceptable wheels were achieved.
In the photo below is No.1 van and a J class lorry in 1916 war department livery, which by the 1930s (our model period) was a museum piece itself. They are on display outside the Museum Garage at the Thornycroft factory. The odd angle is because the roadway slopes away from the garage doors.
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Wagon Train
This posting concludes what turned out to be a 3 month project to recreate the goods train pictured in our reference book*. Our train includes five 1-plank wagons with tarpaulin covered loads and is hauled by a G6 0-6-0T locomotive. The view of the train in the book is truncated so we can't see its full length but our model train length shown here is ideal for the size of our layout.
The G6 is a brass etch kit from N Brass Locos (with added detailing) on a GF 57xx chassis and its build was described here: G6.
The final addition to the loco was the lettering and numbers from fox transfers, which were extremely fiddly to apply, being so small.
Number 278 is shown in the book photo. It was sheded at Basingstoke and operated goods traffic between the Thornycroft factory and the marshaling yard at Basingstoke. The 02 class loco was also used for this purpose.
The 1-pank wagons have scratch built bodies and loads on Peco chassis. Their build was described here: 1-plank.
* The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway by Dean et al.
David
The G6 is a brass etch kit from N Brass Locos (with added detailing) on a GF 57xx chassis and its build was described here: G6.
The final addition to the loco was the lettering and numbers from fox transfers, which were extremely fiddly to apply, being so small.
Number 278 is shown in the book photo. It was sheded at Basingstoke and operated goods traffic between the Thornycroft factory and the marshaling yard at Basingstoke. The 02 class loco was also used for this purpose.
The 1-pank wagons have scratch built bodies and loads on Peco chassis. Their build was described here: 1-plank.
* The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway by Dean et al.
David
Sunday, 15 March 2015
A view from behind
Most people won't see this view. Looking behind the station From the operator side.
Sharing information
One of the great things about going to a show is meeting people who know a bit aabout the line and can share some further information. A very kind man introduced himself and had some pictures we had not seen before. He kindly left us a card with a picture depicting the station in the same year of our layout.
Question
One of the popular questions we get asked is, is it dcc controlled? The answer is no, it's lunch box controlled:
Saturday, 14 March 2015
That's it for today
All done for the day and neatly packed away.
What a great day with an unexpected surprise. Hopefully see you tomorrow. Show opens at 10am.
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
One for the Bus Anoraks
From what I understand Thornycroft was not a prolific bus manufacturer, unlike their lorries and vans. Nevertheless there are a couple of photos I have seen of bus chassis under test on the road.
These photos are quite rare and unusual among the plethora of lorry photos in that they depict the chassis loaded with 1 ton concrete test loads, representing a typical payload for the vehicle during road tests.
Seeking variety in the models I am making for our Thornycroft Sidings layout I choose to model the XC chassis as there is a detailed article about it in The Commercial Motor Archive.
The XC chassis was designed in 1931 to meet the special requirements of Thornycroft's customer - The Eastern National Omnibus Co., Ltd. They wanted a very low frame that allowed for a easy step up onto the rear passenger entrance platform. In fact the height from ground to platform was only 11.75 inches.
Thornycroft supplied five chassis for use on bus routes in Essex. The bodywork, accommodating 51 passengers on two decks, was made by another company - Strachan (Acton) Ltd.
The vehicles were not in service for long, being withdrawn one by one between 1941 and 1949.
Photo right is the model. A photo of the prototype on which it is based is in the article linked above.
The chassis is being driven from the test load storage area between the Running Shed and Repair/Experimental workshops towards the main entrance where it will journey to the long, straight Buckskin Lane a mile or so away for brake testing.
Without colour photos I have assumed the chassis and engine cover were grey primer. A temporary body wrapped the chassis to contain the test loads. I assumed this was wooden. At the rear you can see the chassis jutting out. This is the rear platform supporting frame.
The model was designed in CAD and 3D printed as a kit of parts, except the mudguards are paper and the driver is made from wire and FIMO clay.
David
These photos are quite rare and unusual among the plethora of lorry photos in that they depict the chassis loaded with 1 ton concrete test loads, representing a typical payload for the vehicle during road tests.
Seeking variety in the models I am making for our Thornycroft Sidings layout I choose to model the XC chassis as there is a detailed article about it in The Commercial Motor Archive.
The XC chassis was designed in 1931 to meet the special requirements of Thornycroft's customer - The Eastern National Omnibus Co., Ltd. They wanted a very low frame that allowed for a easy step up onto the rear passenger entrance platform. In fact the height from ground to platform was only 11.75 inches.
Thornycroft supplied five chassis for use on bus routes in Essex. The bodywork, accommodating 51 passengers on two decks, was made by another company - Strachan (Acton) Ltd.
The vehicles were not in service for long, being withdrawn one by one between 1941 and 1949.
The chassis is being driven from the test load storage area between the Running Shed and Repair/Experimental workshops towards the main entrance where it will journey to the long, straight Buckskin Lane a mile or so away for brake testing.
Without colour photos I have assumed the chassis and engine cover were grey primer. A temporary body wrapped the chassis to contain the test loads. I assumed this was wooden. At the rear you can see the chassis jutting out. This is the rear platform supporting frame.
The model was designed in CAD and 3D printed as a kit of parts, except the mudguards are paper and the driver is made from wire and FIMO clay.
David
Sunday, 8 March 2015
Exposure
Back in the Autumn of 2013 an article I wrote about our Cliddesden layout for the 'Your Model Railway Village' part work series was published in issue 8.
A guy on YouTube has reviewed every issue of the partwork and he has just (March 8th 2015) got around to reviewing issue 8.
If you would like to hear what he had to say about my article then play his video from time mark 3.10 minutes. By the way, it is pronounced Clid-des-den.
It seems to be all happening this week as the layout is being exhibited on Saturday and Sunday.
A guy on YouTube has reviewed every issue of the partwork and he has just (March 8th 2015) got around to reviewing issue 8.
If you would like to hear what he had to say about my article then play his video from time mark 3.10 minutes. By the way, it is pronounced Clid-des-den.
It seems to be all happening this week as the layout is being exhibited on Saturday and Sunday.
Aldworth Science College,
Basingstoke, RG22 6HA
Saturday 14th March 10-5 and
Sunday 15th March 10-4
David
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Cliddesden at BNHMRS Show March 2015
See Cliddesden in person at Basingstoke North Hampshire Model Railway Show:
Stand 6L in the Gymnasium. Hope to see you there!
In the mean time to refresh your minds of the layout. Here is a video of the local goods train and passenger train arriving and departing from Cliddesden station.
Ed
Aldworth Science College,
Basingstoke, RG22 6HA
Saturday 14th March 10-5 and
Sunday 15th March 10-4
Stand 6L in the Gymnasium. Hope to see you there!
In the mean time to refresh your minds of the layout. Here is a video of the local goods train and passenger train arriving and departing from Cliddesden station.
Ed
Saturday, 21 February 2015
There Are 9 Million Bicycles in Basingstoke
With apologies to Katie Melua, only 50 shown here.These are the bike stands outside the Thornycroft running shed. Each bay accommodates 5 bicycles. They are fully populated and awaiting their owners collection towards the end of the working day.
50 bicycles is the limit for the third of the factory we are modelling and represents about 10% of the total bicycle storage capacity on site. To put this into context take a look at the movie on the Thorncroft Sidings page. Towards the end you'll see the swarm of cyclists leaving the factory.
David
Monday, 9 February 2015
Cliddesden at BNHMRS Show
See Cliddesden in person at:
Hope to see you there!
As this blog has focused recently on Thornycroft, We thought it would be good to refresh your minds on Cliddesden, so as a start take a look at the Cliddesden Photo Series and read the background/ introduction to the layout.
Ed
BNHMRS Show
Aldworth Science College,
Basingstoke, RG22 6HA
Saturday 14th March 10-5 and
Sunday 15th March 10-4
Hope to see you there!
 |
| Picture from Farnham MRC expo |
As this blog has focused recently on Thornycroft, We thought it would be good to refresh your minds on Cliddesden, so as a start take a look at the Cliddesden Photo Series and read the background/ introduction to the layout.
Ed
Sunday, 18 January 2015
0-6-0 G6 Tank Locomotive Kit build - Part 3
Click for Part 2
The body was now ready for painting...
Some of the gaps created by some edges not being flush where appropriate were filled in, and sanded back. The brass was cleaned up ready for painting
Halfords car primer was sprayed on all sides covering the body. Light coats were applied, leaving 15 minutes between coats. I started with the underneath, waited for it to dry, and then turned it over to paint the top and sides. It took about 2 hours to get a nice even coat around the whole body.
Now we could apply the top coat. Using a mixture of gloss and matt black paint, and some white spirit to thin the paint, a couple of coats were sprayed on the top and sides. The underneath, touchups and inside of the cab were hand painted with the matt black paint. The buffer beams were then hand painted with red.
The top coat ended up with a slight mottled effect due to the mixing of the gloss and matt paint, which is noticeable on the cab roof. Although not perfect I think it will pass as "distressed".
A couple of extra details were added like the valve, vacuum pumps, coal and of course the fireman and driver (to hide part of the motor that can be seen in the cab).
The body was now ready for painting...
Some of the gaps created by some edges not being flush where appropriate were filled in, and sanded back. The brass was cleaned up ready for painting
Halfords car primer was sprayed on all sides covering the body. Light coats were applied, leaving 15 minutes between coats. I started with the underneath, waited for it to dry, and then turned it over to paint the top and sides. It took about 2 hours to get a nice even coat around the whole body.
Now we could apply the top coat. Using a mixture of gloss and matt black paint, and some white spirit to thin the paint, a couple of coats were sprayed on the top and sides. The underneath, touchups and inside of the cab were hand painted with the matt black paint. The buffer beams were then hand painted with red.
The top coat ended up with a slight mottled effect due to the mixing of the gloss and matt paint, which is noticeable on the cab roof. Although not perfect I think it will pass as "distressed".
Just need to find the right southern N gauge transfers for the livery.
Ed
Sunday, 11 January 2015
0-6-0 G6 Tank Locomotive Kit build - Part 2
Click for Part 1
With Christmas holiday season upon us, and an improving wrist, we started on assembling the G6 body. This project has turned into a father son affair, I took on the role of sanding the edges, and bending the brass, while dad was chief gluer, cutter and assembler.
Parts were cutout from the fret using a sharp knife, and then either filed down or sanded using wet and dry paper to remove the notches. Using the supplied instructions which were very comprehensive and detailed the parts were assembled and glued. Using a vice, and a straight edge parts where bent into shape. There are some very fiddly small parts especially the detailing. We found that it was difficult to create the ribs on the boiler using the supplied wire, so in the end a novel idea of using cotton thread soaked in glue and then applied to the boiler was slightly easier than trying to form the ribs from wire which just kept on springing out. The iron handles and boiler rails were also particularly tricky especially threading the wire though the boiler rail fixing, in fact we lost one in the carpet as it pinged out and landed on the floor - good tip: Don't use pliers for that part, as no spare is provided. However a few hours later we managed to find it, but slightly too late, as by that point the whole boiler railing had already been glued in place minus one fixing. In the end we still glued in the rail fixing but we could not thread it on the wire any more. From a distance you don't notice this and even close up you really have to look for it.
At every stage we were testing the body on the chassis to make sure it fitted and aligned correctly. It is mentioned in the instructions that the body will sit higher than it should due to the motor impeding on the boiler. There is a rather drastic fix which is to file down the magnet. We were not too happy in doing that but to give us some extra room we compromised on filing the edges of the plastic surrounding the motor, this made it sit a little lower but still not as low as filing the magnet.
Once we had finished the body and some of the detailing we thought it would be good to make sure we have not damaged the chassis, nor that any of the body was impeding on the mechanics. We were a little worried to begin with as when we set it going on the track it would not move. On closer inspection we found that one of the steps was bent a little too close to the wheel interfering with the side rod. Once we bent it out a little bit away from the side rod, the train moved without needing to do anything else, pretty impressive we thought.
All in all about 4 afternoons and a few evenings to get it to this stage.
Next up painting...
Ed
With Christmas holiday season upon us, and an improving wrist, we started on assembling the G6 body. This project has turned into a father son affair, I took on the role of sanding the edges, and bending the brass, while dad was chief gluer, cutter and assembler.
Parts were cutout from the fret using a sharp knife, and then either filed down or sanded using wet and dry paper to remove the notches. Using the supplied instructions which were very comprehensive and detailed the parts were assembled and glued. Using a vice, and a straight edge parts where bent into shape. There are some very fiddly small parts especially the detailing. We found that it was difficult to create the ribs on the boiler using the supplied wire, so in the end a novel idea of using cotton thread soaked in glue and then applied to the boiler was slightly easier than trying to form the ribs from wire which just kept on springing out. The iron handles and boiler rails were also particularly tricky especially threading the wire though the boiler rail fixing, in fact we lost one in the carpet as it pinged out and landed on the floor - good tip: Don't use pliers for that part, as no spare is provided. However a few hours later we managed to find it, but slightly too late, as by that point the whole boiler railing had already been glued in place minus one fixing. In the end we still glued in the rail fixing but we could not thread it on the wire any more. From a distance you don't notice this and even close up you really have to look for it.
At every stage we were testing the body on the chassis to make sure it fitted and aligned correctly. It is mentioned in the instructions that the body will sit higher than it should due to the motor impeding on the boiler. There is a rather drastic fix which is to file down the magnet. We were not too happy in doing that but to give us some extra room we compromised on filing the edges of the plastic surrounding the motor, this made it sit a little lower but still not as low as filing the magnet.
Once we had finished the body and some of the detailing we thought it would be good to make sure we have not damaged the chassis, nor that any of the body was impeding on the mechanics. We were a little worried to begin with as when we set it going on the track it would not move. On closer inspection we found that one of the steps was bent a little too close to the wheel interfering with the side rod. Once we bent it out a little bit away from the side rod, the train moved without needing to do anything else, pretty impressive we thought.
All in all about 4 afternoons and a few evenings to get it to this stage.
Next up painting...
Ed
Sunday, 4 January 2015
0-6-0 G6 Tank Locomotive Kit build - Part 1
Following on from this post ...
Back in August as a Birthday present my parents brought me the N Brass Locos 0-6-0T G6 Kit. The kit is made up of etched brass parts which when cut out, folded and then glued/ soldered form a 3D body, and using the Farish 57xx chassis makes the complete train. However, August turned out to be a month fraught with danger as I managed to break my wrist in a off-road cycling accident. I was in no fit state to build the model so it laid in the display cabinet until my wrist recovered sufficiently enough to build it.
Ed
... And Happy New Year to all our followers. This year sees us attending Basingstoke Model Railway Show, in March with Cliddesden.
Back in August as a Birthday present my parents brought me the N Brass Locos 0-6-0T G6 Kit. The kit is made up of etched brass parts which when cut out, folded and then glued/ soldered form a 3D body, and using the Farish 57xx chassis makes the complete train. However, August turned out to be a month fraught with danger as I managed to break my wrist in a off-road cycling accident. I was in no fit state to build the model so it laid in the display cabinet until my wrist recovered sufficiently enough to build it.
Ed
... And Happy New Year to all our followers. This year sees us attending Basingstoke Model Railway Show, in March with Cliddesden.