Nick Dunhill's 7mm workbench.

Welcome Martin.

I hope you find time to advise us and add your two penn'orth. It would be of interest to many on here to see what sort of things you model, if anything?

And I wish you hadn't retired.........but congrats anyway.

Well thanks for the heads up Martin (and belatedly Steph!) What a shame I enjoyed making the spacers, into the scrap box and rivets ground off in the morning. Think I need to do some of my own research too!

Nick Dunhill said:

Think I need to do some of my own research too!

Click to expand...

I feel suitably chastised.
or
Off you go then.

Depending on how I'm feeling....

Steph

Hi Steph, just a comment on my lazyness! I appreciate the help.

The hornguides in the piccy are for the front drivers. The rears are just cosmetic. One slight problem I will encounter with the modified parts is where to put the spring to push down the hornblocks. I soldered the nut for the adjustment screw under the top structure to prevent it from being torn off, as has happened in the past when I have put the nut on top. (On the Princess build I scratchbuilt hornguide patterns and beefed up the top structure so I could drill and tap the casting for the adjustment screw.) Space in your LSWR engines is so tight I have had to thin the horncheek etching to 1.2 mm, and that only leaves enough space for a flimsy 14 BA screw. But the real problem is that there is barely enough room for a spring round the adjustment screw. I might put two, one on either side?

Nick

.....where the compromises begin.

I don't like the step often apparent between the portion of the chassis above the footplate (often attached to the footplate itself and usually at prototypical spacing) and the portion below. This is of course because of the huge compromises of FS which has chassis miles too narrow. I have decided to have the dimension between the outsides of the frames at 28.4 mm. This gives easily enough end float for dinner plate radii and gives me an opportunity to make the chassis extend above the footplate with no unsightly step in the frame when admiring all that moving valve gear. The down side to this is that the smokebox sits between the frames and will have to be narrowed by about 2 mm at the base, and the footplate and splashers will need a mod.

This is a picture of one of the modified frames with an extension butt soldered to it. The frame extension will have an overlay on the outside of it to carry the rivet/bolt detail and the handrail, which would not pass through the footplate, and be soldered to the footplate. The footplate will need extending inwards too.



I may live to regret this!..........

JB do you have these issues in S7? Can you achieve prototypical frame spacing or is it a bit narrower to accommodate splasher rear panel and curves?

Hi Nick, afraid not, no problems at all..

I actually took the L1 a bit too far on its frame width.. In theory it shouldn't work as the wheels rub on the frames, and so should be shorting, but I think with probably more luck than I'd like to admit it's okay...

I like the idea you've had, but I'd be a little worried that it might not look quite right.. I'd be tempted to have a little mockup.. Or just build it in S7... Awaiting the flames...

JB.

Was just thinking , from memory there is 0.5mm between the wheel backs and frames on each side...

JB.

The wheel back to frame gap is 0.4 mm on each size, but I can nick a bit more by reducing the height of the rivets embossed round the axleboxes. I think that FS is hampered by standards that originate in course scale, and manufacturers that are lazy, but we are where we are and there's no point in moaning. I'm never asked to build stuff in S7 as I suppose all you exact scale people are skilled enough to build your own. But to be fair with FS I can see the the advantage of reliable running and the wide appeal of being able to run your stuff on other people's layouts (in theory!)

I did the frame thing on the Princesses (and an 04 I previously built) and it was not noticeable as the steam pipes disguised the junction where the frame spacing changed above the footplate. This model has one of those ancient looking 'wing plates(?)' at the front of the smokebox that will disguise the fact that the frames and therefore smokebox is narrower than should be. The valve chest cover at the front can then be prototypical or thereabouts.

I know the next time I see Warren he will say 'Why have you said all this in public? No one would have noticed otherwise!'

Here's hoping....

Nick,
If you thin the wheel in the spoke area you can retain the frame detail in full...
Steph

......more chassis progress.

I have put a bit more detail on the chassis, overlays and hornguides/axleboxes for the rear driver. It just needs the inner overlays where the frame is joggled in round the bogie wheels and I can attach the spacers.



I have decided to ditch the crude frame spacers in the kit and build prototypical ones. The following is the intermediate spacer in front of the firebox.



At the top is the finished spacer, the parts to fabricate it are at the bottom and the long thick double riveted strip at the side will form the attachment flange which I will attach to the frames first to act as a guide.



Another view of a finished spacer...........

.....more work on the chassis.



As can be seen I have made semi-circular overlays to represent the portion of the chassis that it is joggled in round the bogie wheels. Also I got some LGM cast LSWR springs to replace the laminated ones in the kit. I dispensed with their crude method of attachment and scratchbuilt some prototypical spring hangers to improve their appearance, although this was partly thwarted by the lack of spring detail on the rear! The fixing plates for the frame stretcher in the previous post can be seen on the upper frames.

More spring hanger detail is shown below.



I am a bit disappointed with the spring castings though.

Next will be the rear frame spacers and the coupling rods......

What about engraving the rears with a sharp point? from a distance you won't notice the lack of 3-D.

Yes just looked at drawing and realised that most of rear of spring is against ashpan so not visible. As aren't the spring hangers!!

.....coupling rods.

This is how I laminate them using a cocktail stick as a mandrel and plenty of solder. If the hole is too big I wrap tape round the stick.





The rest is just lots of filing and filing and polishing. The oil boxes have been drilled out and a fine brass tube and rod inserted.

More chassis next..................

....I am becoming a bit obsessed with frame spacers. The one on the left is the foldy-up thing that comes in the kit and the one on the right is what the spacer (rear-under cab) should look like. The pile of components in the middle are to fabricate the second one!





This one has the bracket to support the brake cylinder casting added.



Brake cylinder in place........

Oooo, good craft, but s'not right Nick. More tomorrow as per my email...
Steph

.....well after some help from Steph and another closer look at those drawings I present rear frame spacer mark 2



I thank you........

Nice work Nick,

You can watch me bodge mine up in due course...

Steph

Hello Nick,

one thing that the Mk1 did have was the supports for the water and steam heat / vac. pipes.

Or are you thinking about these in another place?

OzzyO.