Building the MOK Class Q1, or From the Sublime to the Cor Blimey

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
This lubricator has proven more detailed and difficult than I'd anticipated, but worth every moment of effort.

These are the necessary components. Cast lubricator on the left (lovely casting as they all are), then the actuator arm - two etches and a casting - below that the lubricator rod comprising two laminated etches and above that the dished lubricator handle.
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This is the etched mounting plate in place - the reason for showing this detail will become apparent next!

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This is the lubricator with two beautifully cast pins on the base. However, inspection of the prototype and photos of the model show that these are not required. Regrettably they created a diversion for a while during which I worked out that the lubricator had to be mounted directly on the bracket rather than using the pins.

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Next was drilling out the holes for the pipe runs and fixing the pipework in place. Once that was done the lubricator could be fixed to the bracket. Space did not allow this to be done once the lubricator was in place.

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The actuator arm was then placed over the pin ready to solder the lubricator handle in place. Then it went ping and I lost it to the carpet monster. I'll be grateful if everyone checks whether they've arrived on their carpet via the parallel universe.

As a result I found another which was just about OK. It's a bit bigger than the one I lost, was flat rather than dished and has five spokes instead of four but I'll not tell anyone so only I will know as long as I don't tell anyone else.:)

I dished the new lubricator handle by putting it over a bit of wide wall tube on some double sided tape so I wouldn't lose this one as well, put a large ended scriber over the hole in the centre and whacked it with a hammer. Well, more of a coupe of taps than a whack but it gave the profile I needed.

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Next was to fit the lubricator handle without seizing up the actuator arm. I used the old trick of painting the parts I wanted to avoid getting soldered up with a permanent marker and making up a paper washer to limit the chances of the solder running through to the actuator arm.

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Actuator arm is free and the first of the pipe runs can be fixed in place. The runs from the other side are a bit more complex so I'll wait until some of the other fittings are in place and decide how these can best be terminated.

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And I've just realised that the guard irons haven't been mentioned so far - in fact I can't find reference to them in the instructions. I'll have to locate them on the etches and work out how they can be fitted at this late stage.

Brian
 

richard carr

Western Thunderer
Looking good Brian

There is a spare lubricator wheel in the kit, as I lost one too.

As for the guard irons, I can't recall any problems fitting them so I can't see it being an issue now.

Richard
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Thanks for that advice, Richard. Oh booger, I thought, I musta missed it. But no, there's no spare in my castings.

In any event, if I'm honest, I'd probably not have removed the lubricator wheel as now finished anyway. Everything went just so when I soldered it in place, and the chances of that happening again are somewhere between slim and nothing!

As for the guard irons - they'd have been better fitted earlier. There's quite a jumble of stuff around the front end but I'm sure I'll find a way to negotiate a route around it.

B
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
So...... a brief bit of time today and the lubricator is all but finished.

It's now all set up. There's a single pin to put n place, but I'm saving that due to the risk of damaging some sensitive parts. The pictures are with the crank at two different angles - just to show that it'll work.



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Motor mount to be completed and then we're done with the chassis - apart from guard irons and painting. I'll remain hopeful that the weather will be reasonable next week so that I can get the chassis painted.

B
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Looking good Brian.

Nice little trick to dish the hand wheel. I'll file that away for future use.

Cheers,
Peter
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
So, for an update. Over the last few days, and allowing for four days away from home covering the period of Guildex with Finney7 I've had a few hours in the workshop and fitted the chimney, dome, safety valve and whistle mountings, and also the handrails. This where I was this morning. It's starting to look like a loco boiler at last.

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But from this afternoon the loco at last starts to take on its own special character with the fitting of the face. As can be expected from an MOK kit it's not just stick the door on, but there's cast lamp irons, door clips and hand rails as well as the front step. At this point many kits would be near finished but this is an MOK kit so now comes the detailing which will take at least a few more days.

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But it now looks like a Q1.

Brian
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Next item to tackle is the lubricators which sit either side of the smokebox. These are multi port and between them demand the drilling of twelve holes in the two lost wax castings. I usually drill by hand in a pin vice, but these holes are only 0.35 mm and having tried it I soon realised that the drill would flex too much to make drilling using this method possible. So out came the Proxxon drill.

Here's the set up. The lubricator is held in a clothes peg within a machine vice. This prevents the jaws of the vice damaging the detail of the casting.

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The drill bit needed some lubrication and I used a block of beeswax. This worked really well but initially I broke three of the drills - I thought this was down to me trying to apply too much pressure. However, I opened a new pack of drills from Hobby Holidays and then broke no more, which suggests that the initial batch - not from Hobby Holidays - was possibly not as sharp as they should have been. In fact I used a single drill from the Hobby Holidays pack to deal with seven holes and then put it back in the box for further use. In the shot below you can actually see one of the drilled holes.

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I'm quitw pleased with that in just 1 1/2 hours.

Brian
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the thought. That makes perfect sense - wish I'd thought of it! However, it makes the quality of those drills from Hobby Holidays even more notable.

Moving on, today was the day for fitting the detail pipework from the lubricators. Here they are, left and right side in their "raw" state.

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And following they are finally fitted as pipe runs. These are based on the Q1 in the National Collection.

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Brian
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
I love the detailing of a loco and, as a Bulleid enthusiast, I have to say that I'm amazed at the amount of detail there is to find. Initially a Q1 looks so plain and simple. So, next is the pipework on the left side. The more observant will note that I've also fitted the wash out plugs and the side cover plates. I also took a photo of the cab as I've fitted the exterior hand rails which can just be seen on the photo below, but the more detailed picture doesn't want to transfer from my phone.

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The cab is next on the list, and I've started with the steam reversing gear - see below.

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Phone cameras are not really up to this sort of detail, are they?

Brian
 

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Depends on the phone camera Brian.

Here's a few random close-ups taken by my 3yr old HTC phone:
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I also have a Canon 70D but find the phone can get places and shots the bigger SLR can't.

I do find though that it pays to clean the phone camera lens as it very easily gets covered in fingerprints which blur shots.
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
OK. Perhaps I should say that my phone isn't up to it, Dan.:) Lighting was very poor and I was probably asking too much of the technology. Additionally it was a choice of blowing up a section of a larger image or zooming in. I did both, and both were very similar.

I've used both my inexpensive Kodak digital as well as my Canon in the past without a problem, and while I know plenty about film and optics I know next to nothing about digital imaging, so I'm not a fit person to comment. In fairness that small cab part is only a matter of ten mm or so high, and I know that my Canon will do a far better job of photographing it. The disadvantages are obvious - tripod and time exposure to get a better image being but two.

I'll continue photographing my builds, using my phone, as I'm more interested in the build than in the photography thereof.

Brian
 

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
I find the phone camera an incredibly useful tool Brian. Amazing how a quick snap of an ongoing project often reveals something you've missed with the mk1 eyeball.

Like yourself I find that having the phone on the workbench minimises disturbance of the modelling 'flow' in taking progress photos. Something else I find useful is taking a photo of reference material and then having the ability to zoom in on an aspect without straining the eyes.

Loving the Q1 build, an ugly brute of a loco, which is almost attractive IMO, but I'm sure they did sterling service throughout their lives.

Anyway, to brighten your day here's a few snaps from the station this morning...

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oldravendale

Western Thunderer
I've been able to get back to the Q1 at last, having completed preparation of the photos for my friend's exhibition.

First the backhead.

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And then loco and tender built up from all the sub assemblies. Safety valves, whistle and loco buffers are held in place with blu tac. There remains work to be done to finalise and fettle so that the loco will run. Some parts like vac pipes and one of the tender lamp irons have yet to be fitted, so this exercise was simply to prove that everything would fit - apart from which I wanted to see the loco all together at last.

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Brian
 
A

Arun

Guest
Brian - I like the technique of using wooden clothes pegs as non-destructive clamps within a drilling vice - Wish I had thought of that!

Arun
 

7mmMick

Western Thunderer
Hi Brian,

Lovely work, I am so very fond of the unsung workhorse and the Q1 epitomises that! Top build, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh at Reading,

Cheers

Mick
 
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