7 1/4 Gauge 08 Shunter build.

[Dad-1]

barks,

As it's going to be battery powered it'll miss out on diesel clag.
Any diesel loco without blue smoke is a let down, can you make
an oil burning/boiling box to fit safely in the front somewhere ?

Geoff T.

[barks]

maybe.
Can’t you just sniff diesel when you look at the pics.

A little more today. Bent first top rail. Added supports for top hand rail and box thingy on cab.

Cheers
Barks

[barks]

It’s been more difficult staying after work lately due to the m45 being closed at 8pm until August.

Soooo.
Shortened the box in the other side and started the second box. Horrible to attack it with an angle grinder.

Gen box. Air filters. Handles and roof bar done

Added some boxing to the roof.

Added pipework to the front.

[barks]

Added top rail and first roof rail.
I think both sides and the front are done now just a little tidying.

Just need to finish roof and some pipe work on rear.

Cheers
Barks

[Dad-1]

I'm just amazed at the rate of progress.
Regardless of previous metal working experience this is becoming a work of art !!

Geoff T.

[Phred]

Great stuff! Well worth clicking on the pics to see the images in detail.

[barks]

Cheers guys that’s really nice of you to say.

Need to decide on paint now.
I always thought I was going to paint it br blue but most do so now I’m not sure.
Maybe ews or rss.

Barks

[Mountain]

If you paint it B.R. blue you will need wasp striped ends.

If you paint it B.R. green or black, you will need to add ladders around both sides of the radiator. These were removed in B.R. blue days onwards due to regulations to prevent staff accidently electrocuting themselves on the overhead electric system, so your body does suite that B.R. blue period onwards...
B.R. green was either red bufferbeams with a green body (With ladders) or green with wasp stripes as wasp striped ends came in when they were in the green livery.
My favourite looks wise, is B.R. black with the red buffer ears and con-rods etc. Black did have the ladders though... But in this colour they looked stunning! (Green with wasp stripes looked good as well!)
Blue is nice.
EWS colours are OK, but is a more complex livery to achieve.

Also of note (If one wants to get it right, though it depends how fussy one is), different locos in this class (Assuming it is a class 08 and not an 09, 10, 11 or 12 etc) the battery boxes and cabinets were in different places from one 08 to the other. I know some early 08's were unfitted, others had vacuum only brakes, others had vacuum and air, and still others had air brakes only depending when one is modelling and which individual loco one is modelling.
Due to B.R. having departments who refused to communicate with each other (A union thing) and also the occasional government interference, B.R. had ordered many locomotives for use on shunting duties on lines that no longer existed, so many of the class 08's were sold and exported to Libyia in the 1970's and had been rebuilt with extended triangular buffer exams for central buffers, had their side windows sheeted over etc (One assumes the country was at war and the locos needed protection against stray bullets?) But quite a sizable number of surplus 08's were sold on to the government in Libyia. Not sure what colour they were painted as the pictures I saw where a row of 08's was waiting for export was taken in the days when books were in black And white. It may have been a grey colour but I could not tell for sure. ).

[barks]

Wow. That’s a massive amount to digest.
Thanks for the reply bud.
I think Libyia is out as we’re both nearly 1/4 Scottish.

One of these 4 I think.
It was always be blue as that’s what I remember when I was a kid.

RSS does look very smart.

Cheers
Barks

[barks]

Few hours tonight. Managed to get the roof bars bend and welded in.

Barks

[Mountain]

That blue one is a "One off" which a specific depot did as it broke standard practice, as standard practice specified the con-rods were yellow and not red. BUT one can certainly copy that specific loco. I remember blue when I was younger, and we still saw blue right in the 1990's... Some 08's never had a repaint after BR blue and ended up a faded light blue! B.R. blue itself became a slightly darker shade later on, as I assumed the model railway manufacturers had made a mistake with some models, but later found they were spot on, and that in the last few BR blue repaint, they were to a darker shade of blue. Of course, when they first experimented with livery, they did a very light blue, and they painted their electric locos in a much lighter shade of blue with white window surrounds at one time but not on the class 08... Though they did experiment with vertical stripes and other ideas before they decided on the diagonal wasp stripes. I believe they first just painted the ends in yellow, hence Wrenn using this livery on their 08's. Thing Dublo did that or did they do a blue version? Think they did... Dublo did 3 rail versions and 2 rail versions.

[Phred]

Hope this build is still going on. I was enjoying it.

[Mountain]

Is great isn't it. Wonder how much it will pull?

[Phred]

Looks like it could pull a house over. I particularly like the look of 08 locos. Proper no-nonsense workhorses.

[barks]

Hey all.
Been stupid busy recently.
Kids had a new bedroom house needed some maintenance and my reef tank needed attention.

So here’s a quick update.

Added the eyes to the top rails and roof vents.

Treated the inside to hammerite.

Finally found time to buzz it down tonight and prime it.