DJH K8 Caledonian 439 0-4-4 Kit Build

[Dad-1]

Well here I go a new 'adventure' into the world of railway modelling.
My 2011 project is to make up the 4 mm scale DJH kit K8 of the McIntosh Caledonian 439 Class 0-4-4t.
Here are the kit contents, all bar the boiler and main footplate sealed in polythene for safety. Many are small parts and will be left sealed until required.
You may notice there are no wheels or axles as these need to be obtained from Markits. I wasn't aware that Tower would find me a kit until 21st December as a result the wheels have just been ordered.



I'll post an almost brush stroke by brush stroke pictorial record as I go.
The aim is to have a good running and reasonable looking example in deep Caledonian Blue to more or less match the painting as used in the Bachmann 2010 calender.

I have much to learn and will say that without the background of support and advice from NRM members as well as my club I would probably not have had the courage to start. I demand a good runner and know that that will only be obtained by very careful building.

I am also having trouble with Photobucket as they have AGAIN re-vamped their page and the way it works. It seems at this point I have a code and not a picture. I will amend when I find what they've done to my usual picture code !! Found at my 3rd attempt !!

Geoff T.

[Bushey Troughs]

I shall be watching with great interest Geoff.

[matt]

shall be watching this one with interest Geoff, aiming to get a loco kit myself next year, so look forward to seeing how you get on

many thanks
Matt

[0121modeller]

Great stuff Geoff .
Admitidly, I've never really been into the steam engine era of modelling, but I very much admire this & other "shows you how / step by step tutorials" that yourself & others kindly take the time to post up on this forum, as in the future I may decide to endulge in a similar diesel loco model building task made out of white metal or brass, so threads like this are a great source of inspiration & knowledge for myself & others

Dave.

[Dad-1]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for the support and interest.

Due to visiting family it will be a few days before I start cuting things about, but
You guessed it, I just had to open a bag and look at the first required parts .....



This fret has the two frame sides, the motor fixing plate, the rear fixing plate and 4 thick washers.
To remove these I'll get my middle sons dremmel with slitting disc, however with more visitors tomorrow
I won't be able to work on this until mid-week.
I'm going to use the Dremmel as cutting these parts cleanly from 0.90 mm brass would be difficult by any other means.

Geoff T.

[TerryB]

Hi Geoff .....I'm looking forward very much to reading this thread.

best regards
Terry

[b308]

Good luck! I've completed two Model Loco kits in HOe (M-L is DJH's European trading name)... The chassis go together well, just take your time with them and make sure you ensure the wheels are straight when you put them on the axles!

The body kit is a simple whitemetal affair, you should have no problems in that part... I used Superglue (the thick stuff - Gel?), but you can also use Araldite or low melt solder

[LN Lancs]

Hello geoff,

I've always fancied one myself so will look forward to your thread with interest.

regards

Clive

[Dad-1]

It was so nice to see them - but after lunch today our last Christmas visitors set off home ........

No way could I wait until the New Year before getting this out !
I've removed all 8 parts from the 0.9 mm brass fret. To get as clean a cut as I could, without putting any strain on the fret I used my middle sons Dremel with a slitting disc. Any remaining 'rag' was then filed off.



Then time to re-read all the instructions .....





At which point one is left asking yourself both why? and How?
The why is it if the frames can be cut so accurately that they leave you to drill out both the axle holes plus the screw holes which secure the spacers ?
Measuring the axle holes my vernier's inside measurements vary from 2.85 to 2.97 mm - Err and they advise using a 3.0 mm drill ?? why ??
Firstly running a drill through a hole that's nearly the same size is NOT good practice - very easy to move off centre !!
To me the answer to remove just 8 thou (or thereabouts) is to ream out to achieve the required diameter. O.K I may use a 3.00 mm drill to test several times as I little by little clean out the holes.

More observations to follow regarding the instructions.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Right, back for more.

I can't go much further as my letter to Markits for wheels and axles will still be in the post....

But - go read the instructions again.
No.4 ... from what I can see on the exploded chassis part 45 refers to the wheel sets for the bogie.
The motor mounting plate is Pt.28 and because they tend to supply assembled gearbox and motor as one unit
4 of the instructions is no longer relevant ... BUT note the scrap drawing of the motor assembly shows the motor
held to the motor mounting plate with a screw - there is no such screw or location for one in motor or gearbox !!

Later on in 13 it says glue motor to plate ..... what glue a motor in ? ..... don't be daft, what happens if it needs
replacing or servicing in some way ??

Lucky I'm happy fabricating things out of plasticard because I can see me having to make a secure motor mounting.
Phew and I've little more than 'looked' at this kit. Still confident it'll look good and work !!

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

Geoff - Re your problems with Photobucket. I had a problem the other day when uploading an image produced titles and the bits of code to make it display, but no image. For some reason Photobucket's software cannot now accept jpeg's created by the "export" function in Page Plus, it has done quite happily in the past.
John W.

[stuartp]

Geoff,

The motor fixing instructions look like a throwback to the days when this kit came with a bomb-proof Anchoridge open frame motor (with fixing screws), no gear box, and a set of Romford gears. You had to spend hours faffing about with shims getting the motor to sit just right on the plate so the gears would mesh properly and hope you never had to disturb it again.

With a proper gearbox such as the one in your photo the motor is effectively fixed at one end, you just need to stop the other end flailing about. Blu-tack will do, or one of those double sided adhesive pads if you want to be posh. You certainly don't need to screw it to anything other than the gear box.

The reason for not etching the holes exactly to size is because that's incredibly difficult to do accurately. A second too long in the acid and they're oversize, better to etch them slightly under and let the builder ream them to a proper fit.

[slackbladder]

Is it finished yet?

[Dad-1]

Hi stuartp,

As you say the instructions do mention Anchoridge and those part 4 details are the ones required for fitting that type of motor. You would think that when a change was made somebody would re-write the detailed build manual. I'm certain many purchasers would be happy to write modifed instructions to benefit the next generation of kit builders.
Reaming out to an exact fit may be best, but the instructions could again be more specific as to why. It's almost as if they want to deter all but the experienced builder, yet with finely detailed instructions that would take just one more sheet of paper the fog of confusion could be lifted.
Me, I intend making life more difficult by fitting a flywheel to help smooth slow running and may make a snap in engine locating box from plasticard, or plasticard and wire.
I thought I may get some 75 degree solder locally, but it seems not so. I'll now have to order some on-line.

Yes Slackers, given the wheels, axles & solder I could have finished by now ........ leaving a dent in the wall !!
It's all reasonably basic, but still think Airfix could do them superior instructions !!

While waiting my on-line purchases I'll look at the body, lots more small parts to play with !!

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Cleaning up parts time ...
All Resin, White Metal, and frequently plastic kit parts need 'fettling' before they'll give a nice tight fit.
The difference being White Metal takes more 'cutting' and that's exactly what I do, using a Swan Morton N0.4 handle with curved blade.
Here is an example where the inner corner where the smoke box door part fits needs cleaning out. Although out of focus the nearer side has been cleaned.
Expect to take a day or even two getting the parts right before even thinking of joining anything.



Then the problem arose ........

Cleaning and checking all parts were there I found 2 of the Cab rear spectacle plates, but didn't have the front one where there should be a ledge on which the back of the boiler rests.





I've filled in the 'missing' parts sheet and will be posting off to DJH tomorrow. I will keep the second cab rear wall because should they be unable to supply the correct part it would be quite easy to modify - although it would greatly reduce the strength due to there being no locating ledge.

Geoff T.