From a "Hunt" to a "Shire"

[luckymucklebackit]

Superb job Ex-Pat, I am told that soaking Plasticard in hot water for a while before trying to form it makes it more "plastic" (in the engineering sense of the word)

Jim

[Ex-Pat]

Thanks for the tip Jim - I'll have to "test the waters" with it so to speak!

[Ex-Pat]

The tender cab shelter on 65317 had a very different design from that on 65331, being almost a partial mirror image of the cab itself. However I have not been successful in finding any photographs of the rear of this shelter. What I do know is that, somewhat to my surprise, the spectacle plate has rectangular rather than circular cut-outs. I have had to guess at their location and dimensions

Nevertheless, and thanks in no small way to luckymucklebackit’s tip above – (cheers Jim!) this construction was far easier than that for 65331.

1080590 After studying photographs I roughly sketched the outline of the tender cab shelter onto my J36 drawing (available from the North British Railway Study Group) and prepared a cardboard template of its profile.

A few words on Jim’s tip – at first I just dropped the roof piece into the washing-up water for several minutes. On extracting it I could bend it only slightly but with hardly any real effect. So I went the whole hog, filled a ramekin with boiling water and immersed the roof for a couple of minutes. After fishing it out with tweezers and drying it, I bent it to shape against the drawing and then for good measure dropped it back into the water for another minute – very pleased with the outcome.

This is the roof back in the boiling water after initial bending.

The proof of the pudding – the formed roof retains its shape and can stand upright on the drawing.

these are the 4 basic pieces forming the cab shelter – I did trim a bit off the furthest left piece to bring it more in line with the other side.

they all go together nicely

T.B.C.

[Ex-Pat]

The stray adhesive on the “glass” pane will be washed over with black – in fact weathering will be a huge general project to which I will resort after other more pressing things are done.

P1080607.JPG (76.87 KiB) Viewed 3106 times

The “finished” model - I use the term “finished” in inverted commas because there will be one extra detail added if, and when, I can find a photo of precisely where the stay-wires were attached to the rear upper corners of the shelter down to the top of the tender sides. Plus the fact that the tender will be closer to the loco when coupled back up.

Ready for duties!

I will chicken out with the next J36 and model a 64A St. Margarets example which needs neither tender cab shelter nor the extra set of handrails – but it won’t be “Haig”.

[Ex-Pat]

This is the work mentioned in my layout thread at: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=50019&p=667225#p667225

The first job was to trace out the smoke deflector from an A2 drawing - but allowing a greater height so that it would fit the A3.

and then cellotape the drawing to a piece of brass and start snipping away

nearly there.

Threading the handrail knobs was probably the most frustrating job I have ever done, and I found the best way was to make the handrails oversize with bent-up ends so that the knobs did not come off the handrail.

A trial fitting

T.B.C.

[Ex-Pat]

the top curve in the smoke deflectors was made using a round brass bar and steel rule.

resulting in these.

the handrail knobs were then soldered in place from the back of the deflectors and the handrails were trimmed to length.

A rough trial fitting looked ok

so they were painted

T.B.C.

[Ex-Pat]

followed by another trial fitting

Only remained to glue the deflectors to the loco - back to viewtopic.php?f=22&t=50019&p=667225#p667225

[manna]

G'day Gents

Now that you have made a good job of scratchbuilding some smoke deflectors and a tender cab, will we be seeing scratchbuilt loco's taking to the rails in the near future ???

You have taken the first steps, loco's are built the same, one part at a time, running plate, cab, boiler, try a 0-6-0 on a Hornby chassis.

manna

[Ex-Pat]

Thanks manna.

My scratchbuilding days started (and ended) way back in the 1960's. In view of your interest I thought I'd better dig these out (took longer to find than I thought they would!).

I started building a J39 whilst still at school using brass and nickel silver, and this is as far as I got. Can't remember why I never proceeded any further though. (I know my tool kit wasn't that extensive in those days - no electric drill etc..)

Just about recognisable as a J39 even without the smokebox door

With no appropriate tools I think I must have just used sand/emery paper to clean up.

The wheels turn freely enough.

I think I have some tender sides and frames cut out somewhere but I can't really see them being assembled.

T.B.C.

[manna]

G'Day Ex-Pat

Nothing wrong in that, and a lot further than I've ever got in Brass, I bet now, if you went back to it, you'd finish it in no time.

manna

[Ex-Pat]

G'Day Ex-Pat

Nothing wrong in that, and a lot further than I've ever got in Brass, I bet now, if you went back to it, you'd finish it in no time.

manna

Thanks manna you've hit the nail on the head with the words "no time"!

Another ancient scratch-build I started way back in the 1960’s was an A1 – destined to be 60137 “Redgauntlet”, but it just fell by the wayside as attention switched to other interests etc..

I tackled the tender first.

I never got round to painting the tender.

Note the rusty edges on the old Hornby-Dublo coupling - a sure sign of its age!

The chassis got this far and ran superbly well and silently thanks to the Romford Phantom Gearbox motor.

The running plate was cut and bent to shape from brass sheet.

This shows how far I got in rolling the smokebox, the tapered boiler section and forming the firebox, cab roof and one of the running plate valances. The cab sides and smoke deflectors were also cut out.

And here endeth the story - unfortunately too many other things to do at present.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Looks Bl**dy good to me, something to do when you 'retire'

manna

[Ex-Pat]

Some 3 years down the line and the Route Availability (RA6) transfer (from Fox transfers) has at last been applied.

[glencairn]

Some 3 years down the line and the Route Availability (RA6) transfer (from Fox transfers) has at last been applied.

P1090595.JPG

One does not rush these things then, eh!

Well done.


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... backit.jpg

Glencairn

[Ex-Pat]

Some 3 years down the line and the Route Availability (RA6) transfer (from Fox transfers) has at last been applied.

P1090595.JPG

One does not rush these things then, eh!


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... backit.jpg

Glencairn

Thanks glencairn - you know what it's like - it's all a question of getting the staff (no problem), the parts (only got them in March 2019) and finally the inclination (the most difficult of the three, and which only came to me like a bolt out of the blue yesterday).

Anyway, more importantly, I wonder what relation Jim might be to Elspeth?