Last week I completed another circuit of the sun, and was rewarded with gifts, including this lovely Kerr Stuart Sirdar by Rapido.
It is truly small but delightfully detailed. I picked the yellow not just because it is attractive, but it reminded me of the Minitrains Bagnall which was my first ready-to-run 009 model. The Rapido model is a brighter shade - it looks more yellow in the photograph, which is odd as it looks more orange in reality - although I expect it will tone down with a oily-cloth finish weathering. I'm pleased to say it runs as well as it looks too.
I also got a couple of the new Rapido wagons. I have plenty of kit-built wagons, but I couldn't resist some with witty liveries! They could work well in Loctern's shunting challenge, although I'd need to change the couplings. There's also another Peco Glyn Valley coach which will complete a short rake for Hexworthy.
There was also a loco kit - more on that another day. I have to say that Rapido's arrival in 009 looks to be excellent, and will complement the products of Peco, Kato, Heljan and Bachmann.
Last week I got a parcel - my Rapido Manning Wardle L-class arrived!
Posed on Loctern Quay it looks great, quirky and characterful like a narrow-gauge loco. However, clearly it's not for Loctern, I ordered it with Whittingham Hospital in mind, so I pulled the diorama out the garage...
The question is, how does it run? Well, Whittingly isn't yet wired up, so some creativity was required. Taking the power supply from Loctern, an adaptor lead for the old club layout, and a pair of crocodile clip wires, I powered up the front track for a short test run.
It ran very smoothly. The mechanism is a little noisier than most modern mechanism, but not excessively so. Feedback needs to be switched off though!
It's a very small loco, so I thought it worth comparing to other small locos. It's a little longer than the Peckett but not a lot (~6mm), and considerably shorter than a Terrier. I think it will fit in well with the short trains of Whittingly.
It's barely longer than 4-wheel wagons, and slightly lower than a van.
It will need a little weathering, but first I just need to crack on with turning Whittingly into a layout!
Some years ago I built a WD Hunslet using the Langley Models whitemetal kit. I was very happy with how the model came out, but the running was a bit rough and unreliable, so it has never seen much use. It uses a Minitrix N-gauge 2-6-2 chassis, quite an old chassis and although generally robust, the kit required significant modifications including moving the cylinders and motion. I spent some time adjusting the motion and ensuring quartering and gearing were in sync when I built it, yet running was still rough and occasionally the loco stalled without apparent reason.
It was time to do something about it. With the body removed, I removed the motor clips and released the motor from the gearing. This allowed me to check that the chassis rolled freely. The chassis is robustly rather than finely engineered, but rolled easily without any snagging or binding. However, turning the motor over revealed that wasn't so free, with serious cogging, possibly something catching.
Fortunately, Tramfabriek offer a remotoring kit for this chassis. The kit includes a coreless motor, worm, brass flywheel, and 3D printed motor mount. Fitting the upgraded motor is a little fiddly, the most tricky part being soldering the wires. It didn't help the pickup contact on one side of the chassis snapped off, leaving very little to solder to, but the motor contacts are very small too, and I could have done with finer wire (a pity wire wasn't in the kit). My epoxy glue had dried up, but UHU seemed to work. However, the online instructions are excellent, the motor and its mount a perfect fit, placing the worm precisely in mesh with the gear. I had to trim a little of the whitemetal footplate from the inside of the loco body to clear the wires, then the body refitted without issue.
Even better, it worked straightaway, and the motor upgrade has made a big difference. The loco now runs smoothly and is controllable even down to slow speeds. It is still noisy, due to the coarse brass gearing, and it can be slightly hesitant when setting off from rest. So, perhaps not quite up to the running standard of modern RTR locos, but vastly better than the old motor could manage and easily useable on the layout. I've since been testing it on a rake of coaches; it has plenty of pulling power, and with a controllable crawling speed, coupling and uncoupling is reliable. Finally, this fine loco can be used at exhibitions - expect it to be in service at Narrow Gauge South later this month!
After the push to get Whittingly ready for the deadline, then prepped for the NEC, it was time for an easy and quick project. This Fourdees kit seemed ideal. The 3D printed body kit "Whiting" is a tram loco inspired by Hunslet designs, and fits the Kato 109 chassis.
Very little prep was required. I cleaned up some printing marks and burnished some faint layering on the boiler. I also opened out the square coupling pockets for Microtrains couplings, this took a few minutes with a file - it's not often that fitting Microtrains is this easy.
The body, plus separate roof and backhead detail, and some crew, were primed. One of the crew is a poor quality whitemetal casting of unknown origin, but his face won't really be visible and his weight might help. The other is from my favourite recruitment agency - Dapol. The body was sprayed with a Halfords green enamel aerosol, which turned out to be problematic as the can seemed to be leaking propellant, clogged the nozzle, and when I realised I'd missed an angle it would only dribble. Fortunately, I could dribble some into a jar and touch-up the final bits with a brush!
The remaining painting was done with acrylics and a brush. The backhead detail is rather good, the half-height cab rear means there is a chance of seeing it though the crew mostly hide it.
The resin body needs some weight, which helps the light chassis too - the Kato 109 runs smoothly enough but doesn't have much inertia. Roofing lead was cut and squashed to fit through the gaps into the side tanks, and a length was stuck under the boiler.
Chassis fitted, and couplings installed with the screw through the coupling pocket. I had to use long-shank Microtrains to clear the nice cowcatchers.
Crew stuck into the cab before fixing the roof (with PVA so it can be removed if needed). A little crushed coal was added over the moulded stuff in the bunkers.
And complete. A very light weathering of water soluble oils has been applied, more may follow but I think it will stay reasonably clean. This view shows how good the print is, with no obvious layering, 3D printing has come a long way since the early days. The handrails and cab roof are a little clunky, perhaps the only clues of it being a 3D print?
I took a couple of photos with the new camera too.
And the final shot, a viewpoint on Loctern Quay that has been very difficult to capture due to the depth of field needed to get both loco and background buildings in focus. The new camera, set to F32, manual focus, and a long exposure on a tripod, can do it with no post-processing.
As expected, this kit has gone together quickly and easily, with most of the time painting it. It's a good looking and smooth running loco, which I hope will fit in well on Loctern Quay. The Fourdees kits are a great introduction to 009 loco kits, especially using the good value Kato chassis.
A few additions to the stock list today. A couple of Ffestiniog bug-boxes and a yellow Baguley Drewry.
The bug boxes will of course go well with the England and Double Fairlie locos. The Baguley will probably end up on works trains, I don't really need another modern diesel but it is nicely detailed, looks great on the layout, the yellow pops out, and of course it runs sweetly.
However, I was also drawn to it because of the one at Amberley, in which I had a cab ride a year or so back.
My model will no doubt get some weathering to make it look like a well-worked loco, but I don't think I'll go as far as the "weathering" on the Amberley loco!
It was time to bite the bullet, take a brave pill, and weather a whole batch of not exactly cheap Bachmann ready to run locos. The techniques are the same as described in the last post - water soluble oils and a faint misting of black from above and brown from below using the airbrush - the aim being for a clean but working preserved loco finish.
I must confess this was done a couple of weeks ago and the locos have sat around, doing test runs on the layout to check couplings etc., and now I see these photos seem to show a little dust picked up by the camera which I'd not noticed!
Dorothea has been kept largely clean but the motion is oily and the smokebox dulled. The crew are by Model-U and were rather tricky to get stuck in place in the cab! All these Bachmann locos come with etched name and works plates which have been stuck in place with matt Modge Podge.
I've just noticed the mould line on the cylinder, must be less visible to the eye, but it's not easy to deal with without needing to match paint colour so I'll have to ignore it.
The black wash toned down the brass dome and copper pipes nicely, as well as the prominent motion. The Model-U crew must be posed for the FR Ladies as the chap this side is in a driving pose, fortunately it's not too obvious and his hand rests on the bunker rather than the cab-side. The bunker had a sliver of sponge foam inserted topped with crushed coal.
The other crew member leans both hands nicely on the cab side, which is slightly worrying if he's meant to be driving! The prominent injector pipework looks much better for the black wash.
Linda shows a little dirt on her buffer beam as well as a dulled smokebox and oily motion, but the paintwork still shines.
The Model-U "open cab" crew fit nicely, the driver the correct side this time and does appear to be in control, and I've posed the fireman in the tender because it looks interesting and allows the best view of the cab detail (and firebox glow). I couldn't see if the moulded coal load could be removed (and didn't fancy taking it apart to find out), so it's coaled up like it's about to haul the Flying Scotsman up the East Coast Main Line.
The Double Fairlie got a little grime around the frame below the cab, the bank of whistles and the area behind the dome got the oily wash treatment, and the top of the boiler shows slight evidence of soot (black spray). A Model-U crew was the only way to go with this tight cab and even they don't seem keen to be inside it! The driver is reaching for the regulator, sadly his arm is about a scale 6" too short to reach but no-one can see that!
The fireman is looking a bit confused, perhaps he lost his shovel. In this case I found the coal loads could be popped out of the bunkers, which are of course only as deep as the tank tops, but at least the coal didn't have to be piled quite so high. The real coal makes a big difference here as it does with Linda, plastic coal just doesn't pass.
These locos don't show obvious signs of weathering, and probably at a glance they don't look weathered just as a preserved loco looks clean. However, the subtle changes make a difference and they seem more natural and at home on the layout.
All locos ready, all stock tested, hopefully all ready for Hexworthy's first exhibition tomorrow. There were a few last minute jobs, I'll update on those next week...
Waaay back in 1993 I remember attending the Festiniog "Hunslet Hundred" celebrations as a teenager. The elegant lines of the Penrhyn "Ladies" made an impression on me, especially Linda. When Bachmann launched their models of the locos in Penrhyn condition last year it was clearly just a matter of time until the modern 2-4-0ST+T incarnations arrived.
So when I heard they had arrived, exclusively, at the Ffestiniog Railway shop I scraped together my savings and ordered Linda. There is something rather rakish I think about her longer cab roof and open tender.
As with other recent Bachmann models, the detail is exquisite, with Linda's open cab showing off the cab detail nicely (but crying out for a crew!), and the livery and finish is very fine. Of course, it runs as well as it looks. This will look great pulling trains into Hexworthy - although I expect some subtle weathering may be applied, and it will need a crew.
As with the other models of these locos, there is a firebox glow. A nice touch. Really, the only thing I don't like is the plasticky full load of coal in the tender. Why does it always have to be full?
Both my models of the Penrhyn ladies together. Comparing them, the addition of the pony truck to Linda is barely visible, but the tender and indeed the re-profiled cab roof are obvious. Look closely and there are other differences - the addition of sandboxes, blower pipe, lubricator, vacuum pipes, drain cocks, and a conversion to left-hand drive (note the obvious reversing rod on the left side of Linda, found on the right of Blanche). Bachmann appear to have done their homework.
For my birthday recently my wife got me a very nice present...
Blanche is a "mainline" class Hunslet 040ST from Penrhyn quarry, and this superb model is by Bachmann. It has a high level of fine detail, and a crisp finish including delicate lining. The prototype's outside frames and unusual inclined cylinders with con-rods inside the coupling rods give this model real character and elegance.
The cab interior is detailed too, and if you look closely you can see a glow in the firebox, this provides a flickering light in the cab as the loco moves. There are also etched plates in the box to be be fitted. As with recent Bachmann models the running is every bit as good as the looks too, smooth and controllable down to a crawl, and being a little heavier than recent Bachmann offerings it should be quite capable.
While I have pictured the loco on Loctern Quay, it's a little large (long overhangs) for Loctern and of course has the wrong couplings, I've found it difficult to fit Microtrains couplings to Bachmann locos. It will earn it's keep on Hexworthy in due course where it's fine lining will suit preservation era passenger trains. No doubt it will get some subtle weathering nonetheless, along with a crew of course.
Both the Narrow Planet little Bagnall kit and the Paul Windle Kerr Stuart refurbishment are now finished. I decided to break out the airbrush using Vallejo mid green, of course I had to clean the airbrush before use as my previous clean clearly wasn't good enough. I struggled to get a good finish to start with so the first coat was perhaps a little orange-peely, but in the end got a reasonable finish.
Black was also Vallejo acrylic but brush painted, the red buffer beams used cheap artists acrylic - a terrible idea, couldn't get a good finish, will keep those for scenic work only I think! Detail painting was with enamels as I have a bigger selection of colours. A well-thinned enamel wash was used for weathering, aiming for an oily clean finish that could reflect a well used but cared for loco in industrial use or even preservation, neither prisine nor decreptit, supported by some subtle weathering powder for coal dust and ash. Finally, a coat of Testors Dullcote toned the lot down. The Bagnall cylinders looka little shiny not having been Dullcoted.
I'd wondered how to fix the Bagnall to its chassis, then noticed the keeper plate protrudes past the rear of the chassis block and had a screw hole, presumably to fix the original body. Of course, this keeper plate blocked the hole I needed to screw the coupling in, and the hole in the keeper plate was in the wrong place. A few moments with a burr in the dremel opened the hole out rearwards along with a countersink, allowing the Microtrains screw to pass through the keeper plate, body, coupling, and into the body again, securing them all together.
The loco is tiny, so the crew were recuited from the HO scale Faller truck drivers pack - and still don't really fit, although a cab full of motor is forcing them half out the doorways anyway. The drinks can roof is suitably thin and doesn't look like a replacement, but I can see paint wearing off the brass steps pretty soon! A little coal in the bunker and glazing in the window and she is ready to go.
A superb slow runner, she looks right at home on Loctern Quay where I expect she'll take up shunter duties, today I've been "testing" it including for reliable coupling operation.
The Kerr Stuart Haig crew are from the Dapol recruitment agency. Not sure where the bits on the side tanks came from, amazing what shows up in a photograph. In the flesh, the new paint job has really tidied up the tatty body, and I think the green looks better than the black.
Once warm the running is fair, but not as good as the looks sadly, with both surging related to the motor mount, and a tendency to stall which may be failings in the pick-ups or the wobbly wheels due to the stub axles. I expect it will see duty on Slugworth and perhaps Hexworthy but not Loctern Quay, which is why I didn't bother to change the couplings. Maybe one day I'll have a brainwave of how to improve the motor mount and pick-ups, but for £5 and a little work I'm pretty pleased!
With the chassis now sorted, I could crack on with the build of the little Narrow Planet Bagnall kit. I'd already primed the 3D printed body and cleaned up any lines (mainly the boiler and smokebox), and primed the etched parts on the fret too. I decided to fit Microtrains couplings, so cut square holes in the body print in the appropriate places, and rather than try and modify the etched buffer beams, I cut new ones from 20-thou plasticard using the etched one as a template. These and the etched tank sides and cab front and rear were superglued in place, and the chimney, dome and clack valves added too. The wire cab-side handrail was added as per the instructions.
So far all pretty straightforward, but it looked rather bland. I dug out my copy of The Rye and Camber Tramway (Laurie Cooksey) and some pictures of Polar Bear for inspiration for details. I added some wire pipework to the clack valves, probably not correct but impressionistic, plus a blower pipe on the left side, and a representation of a reversing lever on right. I made a crude impression of a lubricator from a sewing pin and a slice of wire insulation to fit behind the chimney, and a whistle from bits of plasticard and plastic rod to fit to the front of the cab. I use a piece of fine wire to make an impression of the smokebox door handle, it's not great but looked better than nothing.
I also added some cab steps folded up from brass, Camber and Polar Bear don't have them but the slightly larger Victoria did, they should have a "waisted" vertical but by cutting skills don't run to that. The chassis slide bars didn't have a vertical support at their rear end, so I made one from 20 thou black plastic, a fiddly job! You can see I've filled any gaps with green Squadron Putty, including where the etched cab front and rear meet the body. The footplate had developed a slight curve at the front and in attempting to straighten it while fitting the front bufferbeam I broke the corner off, fortunately it superglued neatly in place and the filler hid the gap. The loco body then got another coat of primer, another rub back and filler touch-up, and a final coat of primer.
The Paul Windle Kerr-Stuart has also had some attention. The cab rear looked to have been dislodged and glued back in place, or slightly out of place. I have cleaned up the glue as much as possible, relocated the uprights and supergued them. The body was cleaned up with a damp brush, and even scraping the accumulated crud with a screwdriver, to clean it up ready for painting. The tank sides were lightly rubbed down with fine emery paper where the paint had become scuffed.
The sanding gear operating rods were repaired. I also added some cab side handrails as they seemed to be lacking, but otherwise the detailing looked fine. It was then sent for a coat of primer, which showed up a couple of gaps needing a little filler, and some spots needing a rub-down, before a final coat of primer.
Some time ago I started a Narrow Planet kit for a little Bagnall tank using a Minitrains Porter 0-6-0 chassis. The Porter body had to be removed, which involved cutting part of it away from around the motor as I recall, but after having done so the chassis didn't run smoothly. I then noticed the motor looked wonky, and on closer inspection I found one of the retaining screws had a stripped thread and didn't tighten. After some frustration I put the kit away to think about what I could do about it.
Having made some progress with the Kerr Stuart Haig chassis I figured I'd pull this kit out to see if I could revive the chassis too. The first discovery was that the two screws that hold the top plate of the chassis down are the same M1.4 thread as those that hold the motor, although very slightly shorter and countersink head. However, one could be carefully screwed into the motor in place of the stripped screw, the motor thread is damaged too but not so bad that the new screw couldn't bite. This is made far more difficult by wheels being in the way preventing a screwdriver being lined up straight. The old screw went into the top plate of the chassis where it is not under strain.
The motor still looked wonky, and the chassis still ran badly, jerking and clunking. With the screws backed off slightly the worm slipped. I tried adding packing (10 thou plastic) under the front of the motor tilt it back slightly, but then it wouldn't run at all. I then rotated the motor 180 degrees, which seemed to result in less of a lean - I've no idea why. The chassis was still jerky and clunky.
With the motor removed it span freely under power - but the chassis didn't roll smoothly, with a definite clunk once per revolution. Gently, the rear crank-pins were prised out to free the con-rods, but the clunk remained. Finally I had to accept I would have to do what one should never do with these chassis... open it up!
Tiny screws, tiny gears, even tinier washers. Scary. Anyway, on close inspection I discovered one of the gears (on the middle axle) has a damaged tooth. These teeth are tiny so it is very hard to see, but just visible in the picture below - look for the unequal gap between teeth.
I have no idea how this can have happened, but the real question is how to fix it. I can't fix the gear, but I could swap the axles so the damaged gear is at the front, and remove the idler gear, leaving the just rear and middle axles powered. Of course, getting the two axles in place with the idler gear and their crank pins aligned was rather tricky, but I suppose the same challenge with 3 axles and 2 idlers is even harder. Fortunately it all went back together in the end, and the chassis ran smoothly as a 2-4-0. Encouraged, I then re-attached the coupling rods and connecting rods, first omitting the middle axle crank pins to drive the front axle from the rear, the middle axle appeared to rotate with it's crank pin holes in line so I added the middle pins too. Somewhere along the way one of the tiny washers from behind the coupling rods pinged off the tweezers into space, but it seems to manage just fine.
Yes, amazingly after all that work, the chassis actually works, and appears to run as smoothly and sweetly as you'd expect a Minitrains to, despite it now lacking an idler gear and relying on the coupling rods to drive the front axle.
You see from the video the body is placed on. Before giving up on the chassis I'd spend some time smoothing the visible parts of the 3D print and given it a coat of primer. I added another coat, but found the lightweight body blew away from the spray can! It needs weight anyway to balance the chassis and aid pick-up and traction, so I added some lead. The "Swiss rolls" are slid into the boiler, and the flat pieces into the small side tanks, wiped with a little contact adhesive to hold them in place. As you see from the video this is enough to aid good running.
Chassis problems fixed, I can now continue the build of this dinky little loco.
