Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
We have departments? Corr...![]()
And an all expenses paid office Christmas party too. Did you not get told about that either?
We have departments? Corr...![]()
office. What office?office Christmas party
They look great Mickoo, but I'm curious, what do you allow for for contraction between master, wax mould, and finished casting?The first tranche of B17 casting masters has been completed. These are not be the actual parts that go for casting as this stage is simply about maximizing surface quality, deformation and orientation for printing the production ones.
However they are ideal to stick on the test build etches to make sure everything fits and aligns.
The red oxide paint is Tamiya fine filler primer, it's an excellent coating for casting and an important stage in the process. It gives a lovely smooth finish but most of all shows up the tiniest artifact or blemish; most can be worked out with small files, scrapers and fine grit foams but the worst really need reprinting with a better orientation or support structure.
Sharp of eye will note that the keep plates are all a little bowed, it's not by design but the optimum angle to print and get all the spring detail in puts extra pressure on those two arms and bows them.
You can spend further time exploring different orientations and supports but sometimes you need to be a little pragmatic and look down stream. In the end they will be in brass and it takes a mere few seconds to straighten with pliers before they go in the box.
It's much easier to push the (almost) inevitable bad part of a print into the easiest place to post rectify.
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Cheers, the shrinkage is dependent on the casters, their process and the material they use, it's hard to give an accurate figure as they all vary.They look great Mickoo, but I'm curious, what do you allow for for contraction between master, wax mould, and finished casting?
Pieter
Cwwooorrrgh!!! Me like!Studio shots of the Finney7 B1 test build by 7mm Mick
We are shot a couple of castings so these are being added to the final sprue.
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Some more DA N class work this week, nothing overly untoward so far on the upper works.
It did take a bit of the ole Geoff Capes to form the firebox, but it got there in the end and produced a nice square clean unit, just need to add all the details now.
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It should have been done by now (real life and other stuff/crap getting in the way) and missed the paint delivery run last week, so the next target point is Kettering for hand over.Coming along nicely Mick. To me they always look slightly naked without the smoke deflectors, but even at this stage it's obviously an N.
Connoisseur B12/3.
In these photographs, the two sets of side rods seem to have been swapped. The articulated part goes between the second and third coupled axles.
Having written this, I guess their ability to fit the wrong way round is quite a testament to the standards of the kit and of the build![]()
In these photographs, the two sets of side rods seem to have been swapped. The articulated part goes between the second and third coupled axles.

Copied from the Hall, which just proves that the B12 is another 4-6-0 that wishes it was a HallKnuckle leading or trailing makes no odds as the axle spacing is identical so just swap to suit.
