7mm On Heather's Workbench - a rebuilt Scot

[Heather Kay]

Nearly two days just cleaning up castings and etches. I tend to be pedantic about mould marks, and to be fair most of the brass castings in this kit are pretty good, but still…



Progress is glacial. While the frames are almost ready to erect, I wanted to get most of the detail castings that go on or around it sorted out. So, files, broaches, drills, ankle-deep in filings. I felt the loco brake gear out to be a sub-assembly, as the SDK consists of up to nine castings.



And this is what you end up with. While not quite of Mickoo or Dikitriki levels of neatness, it'll do. At this stage, the pull rod leading to the brake yokes is left loose on the pivot. I don't know whether the supplied cast rod will be long enough to reach the yoke, or what angle it will take, so these parts may change later once I get to a point of fitting wheels.

I would like to thank @mickoo again, for his forensic detail walk around of the Stanier Jubilee. There are sufficient similarities between Jubs and the rebuilt Scots, especially under the running plate, that make his images invaluable. As an example, a shot of the loco brake cylinder and bracket really helped me understand how the pull rods went together. Although taking a different form on the Jubilee (or at least in this kit), it let the brain cell see how the model parts were designed to fit together despite the supplied drawing!

 

[mickoo]

Shucks, you give me too much credit

There's nothing to be ashamed of in the neatness dept on that sub assembly, it's square, it's clean and with a quick scrub over with a softish burninshing fibre brush would look very spangly. But as has been said before, it's under the loco, will be covered in paint so whats the point, there is none other than the fact that you can........if you so choose to

I'm with you on casting marks, nothing worse than a round object with the halves out of register, you file it all down and end up with an oval item.

The rebuilt Royal Scots were pretty close to the other Stanier 4-6-0's that went before, specifically the Black 5 and Jubilee, so as you note, whilst not exactly the same are close cousins. What I really want is a good detailed kit of a Jubilee or Rebuilt Patriot and having hankerings and tendencies to 1:32 might just lead me down the road of building one, sadly getting good drawings of either class is rather difficult, I'm hoping Wild Swan will do all of the hard work and bring one of their books out with the GA's in, but I suspect it'll be several trips to the NRM archives in due course.

I'm glad to see your broach is broken too, I've given up using them by hand, the plastic handle is just too soft and breaks off easily, I stuff them in a pin vice now, it grips the handle easily and is much easier on the fingers and overall, easier to control too.

 

[Heather Kay]

Having spent the week sorting out real life - adulthood is seriously over-rated, in my opinion - and failing to achieve much of any great worth on the workbench, I finally decided to kick my backside into gear.

Not in the mood for main frames, I thought I'd start hacking about at the Scot's Stanier tender.



This is about as far as I have got. The main body carcass folded and tacked together, the sub floor and main floor fixed in place, and the main side frames riveted and folded. If I feel strong enough, I'll probably have a bash at getting the side frames fitted, and perhaps the steps.

This is one of those kits that looks fiendishly complex in flat fret form, but comes together pretty quickly once you start bashing away at it. I really ought to go and study some photos before I get too carried away, though. I don't want to rely on the kit being at all accurate without checking against the real thing!

 

[Heather Kay]

You know that feeling when you discover something so obvious you have to stop and wonder why you hadn't noticed before?

Today is like that. I was looking forward to ploughing on with the tender. I've acquired some new reading material, namely a copy of the Wild Swan LMS Locomotives Profile for the rebuilt Royal Scots, and was comparing notes, checking details and so on. I sat at the bench, and realised the tender kit I've had in the box is for a flush-riveted or welded tender.

D'oh!

I need a riveted one. Scots never ran with any other kind. And I've already cut out various parts from the frets - though, happily, the flush sides and ends are untouched. Email buzzing off to Irvine for some swapsies.

So, what should I pick up next, I wonder? I can't build the loco chassis as I have the unsprung hornguides and axleboxes. I don't really want to build the upperworks until I have a rolling chassis. I can't finish the tender, save for the bits below the running plate. Perhaps time to stash it all away again for another day.

 

[3 LINK]

So, what should I pick up next, I wonder? I can't build the loco chassis as I have the unsprung hornguides and axleboxes. I don't really want to build the upperworks until I have a rolling chassis. I can't finish the tender, save for the bits below the running plate. Perhaps time to stash it all away again for another day.

There's always the 2251 that you could get on with .

Martyn.

 

[Heather Kay]

Oh, yes. I'd completely forgotten about that!

 

[daifly]

We hadn't!

 

[Heather Kay]

I've got as far as I can without the correct bodywork. In other words, steps, side frames and front and rear drag beams have been fitted.

Detail pickers please note that I've turned up the ends of the steps. The original builds had just outer corners turned up, but over the years this transformed to the whole side of the step. Yes, I did check the images I have of 46134 in the date period being modelled.

I do like that the step support brackets are included in the kit, so no need to resort to scrap etch this time.

Right, pending replacement bodywork, time to jump regions again!

 

[welshwizard]

The other issue with the resin is the grainy texture. When I painted Petes crab it needed about 10-15 flood coats to totaly smooth out. If just a couple of coats are used it looks too sand papery
I have a castle to do here so I have spent a good while giving it the wet and dry treatment, it seems much smoother now, just got to be carefull that any cast in detail is not lost although it does stand up to a bit of abuse

Same with the class 41 Warship I am building Warren, the surfaces of this kit are like sandpaper and I have gone down the same road as you with preperation of the surfaces before primer and colour, being aware of the riviting detail on this class of loco.

 

[Heather Kay]

Hello again!

This build tends to slip occasionally. One reason is because it's being done as a sort of favour, so paid commissions tend to take priority. Anyway, with some reasonable progress being made elsewhere, and the correct tender body etched in stock, I felt it time to resurrect it for a week or so.



This is where I got to, after about a day and a bit. The major bodywork is now complete, without major hiccups or diversions. The only awkward part was working out how to attach the sides and ends to the inner framework, since access inside is denied once you start. The instructions are unclear, implying assembly before fitting the frame to the chassis as well as after, so I bumbled ahead and managed without too many swear words.

While other classes swapped tenders quite often - 8Fs with late Fowler tenders is my particular favourite example of this - the rebuilt Scots kept swaps within the class to a large degree. This was due to the difference in height of the firebox compared to other classes, and the tender front floor is built up accordingly. My next job is to work out how high it should be, so I can replace the rather tatty parts provided for the job with something better resembling the prototype.

Best Beloved is making some coffee, I'll grab the biscuit barrel and some reference material, and settle in for some armchair modelling!

 

[Heather Kay]

I am holding back on fitting the whitemetal castings at this stage until I'm convinced the hot soldering is all done. I reckon I'm about there.

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time figuring out the higher footplate level, and while it's not quite right it's closer than the bits I found in the box. The lamp brackets are a right fiddle, formed of two tiny etched parts. If I was doing this again, I would opt for some cast ones to save on turning the air blue!



So, pending the various info plates and the whitemetal details, here's the front of the tender.



Despite my best efforts the coal space floor didn't quite fit as snugly as it might. I've used Carr's 188 as filler, and spent a while scraping things back until I'm satisfied. I will probably supply the finished model with an empty bunker, leaving the client to fill it as they see fit. I've just realised the crew locker has no back, so there's empty space up behind it, so this would need a blanking plate if you wanted to show a depleted coal load.

The instructions now move to the chassis area, so I'll leave the whitemetal bits for now.

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

Heather,
The locker is on the right hand side, looking back. The doors in the centre are for access to the coal space to pull coal forward or to let the fireman get into the bunker. The kit is correct it should be open to the inside and would be full of coal at the start of a shift.
Ian

 

[Heather Kay]

I realise the central area should be open, otherwise the fireman would have to crawl through the coal hole! I meant the area behind the locker ought to be blocked in. Still, fill it with nine scale tons of best Welsh steam coal and it won't show! I may contrive a sheet of something to fill the side of the locker at least.

 

[Heather Kay]

Today was mostly about the chassis.

A fairly standard fold-up affair of nickel-silver, the fret also supplied with S7 as well as FS spacers. This bemused me. Why would I bother widening the frames for S7? None of the other components would fit widened frames, and the simple expedient of spacing washers and adjusted brake shoes would suffice. Something of a mystery, then.



This is where I've got to with the underparts. Like the loco, I'm building this rigid. The box contained a set of brass bearings, but I spotted they were probably intended for Finney-style axles. The set of wheels I have include the standard Slater's axles, so I need to (a) make the chassis holes larger, and (b) source bearings of the right size. It would have been better if I'd had my head on straight and noticed the problem before folding the thing up! Ho hum.

As you can see, there's a fair amount of brass etch knitting that goes in under the tender. Most of this represents stays and braces, and part of the water scoop mechanism.



I spent a pleasant hour or so cleaning up the super detail kit castings for the scoop linkages. While the instructions have a clear exploded diagram of how the bits fit together, it's not entirely clear how they fit into the chassis. After a quick rummage on t'interwebs, and a flick through my reference books, I found some photos and a drawing that will help me in due course. For now, the parts will remained free of solder as I am short of one balance weight casting. Incidentally, I've joined the two scoop parts with a working hinge, which will be soldered or glued solid once I'm happy with the way things sit under the tender.



While I had the iron set at a low temperature I cleaned up and fitted the filler, dome and vents. I had hoped to have the thing on wheels by the end of the week, but the bearings issue rather out a kybosh on that. So, things will return to the box for a while, as another paying commission is calling.

 

[OzzyO]

Heather,

have a word with Slater's about the tender wheels, as long as they are in the package they will exchange them for the cost of P&P.

OzzyO.

PS. you may want to check the front bogie axles as well.

 

[Heather Kay]

PS. you may want to check the front bogie axles as well.

Good thinking. I'll consult with the client, as they sent me the wheels in the first place.

 

[Heather Kay]

At a recent model railway exhibition I managed to finally buy a decent size taper reamer. That meant I could open out the tender axle holes to suit the bearings I have. So, after some tedium, the tender now runs on its own wheels. Time to get back to the loco.



All that prep work I did ages ago bore fruit. I took my time, and used a small engineer's square - he didn't object - to make sure the frame spacers were at right angles to one main frame side. A quick tack or two, a check, then as neat a fillet as I could manage. Happy with the one side, I then test fitted the other side. Once happy all was still square, more tacks and seams. There is a folded brass affair across the front of the frames, which exercised the brain cell, with no location points or clear layout in the destructions. Still to fit is the brass casting for the "inter frame bogie support", another item I can't find clearly - yet - how it actually fits. Brass overlays went on without major hassle. Well, apart from the lack of slots for the cab support brackets, which entailed some punching and drilling through.

As this model will be rigid, I'm doing my best to ensure it is square as I work. The next job will be to start on some of the frame details, such as spring castings and brake rigging. I plan to spend most of April on this job to get it as far as I can, after it's been languishing as a shelf queen for so long.

 

[john lewsey]

Looking good Heather I should pop by
John

 

[Heather Kay]

John, you know you're always welcome.

Surveying yesterday's efforts, it was obvious the brass overlays were ever so slightly larger that the NS frames. They fitted properly, around the various protrusions and still showing daylight through various apertures and holes, so I assumed it was an intentional thing. It's all on the underside, as there's a rebate formed along the top edges. I spent a few minutes carefully filing back carefully to the NS.



I haven't filed back along the front headstock area. I'll leave it for now, until I'm ready to actually fit the front of the loco. It can always be taken off, but not replaced, as they say!

A couple of things needed to be worked out. First, where the bogie mounting bracket should go, and secondly, where to drill holes for the Slater's plungers. Some likely pilot holes are obvious for the latter, but it made sense to install the springs and axleboxes so wheels could be fitted to confirm suspicions. The bogie bracket will need the bogie built up so it can be checked. Reference to the Wild Swan book was inconclusive, even showing the cast part bore only a vague resemblance to the real thing - odd, when so much effort seems to have been expended on making all the frame spacers like the prototype.



The axleboxes needed to drilled out. A large moulded parting line right in the axle hole. The poor old Proxxon pillar drill got a workout, with the chuck right at the limit for the largest drill I needed. I think I might need to investigate the acquisition of something a little larger for the shed workshop, but I digress. I don't have a 3/16th inch bit, but the vernier gave the Slater's axle as 4.75mm. With a rigid chassis, I reckoned a teensy bit of movement would be acceptable, so opened the holes out to 4.8mm.



Next, I assembled the axleboxes with their spring castings. My reasoning here was the springs would provide an automatic level for all the axleboxes when fitted in the frames. I left the axleboxes free to wobble on the pins, to aid with the setting up later.



I opted to used low temp solder to fit the castings to the frames. If I think it needs it, I can run something of higher temperature in later. Low temp gives some freedom to make adjustments more easily, I find. Eventually, I got all the gubbins installed and it still seemed square on the jig. To be sure things were free-running, I finger-twiddled a 3/16th parallel reamer across the axle holes, testing with the jig dummy axles first, then a wheel on an actual axle, until I was happy things could be spun freely.



I stuck the wheels in, and gave the thing a gentle punt up the test plank. Off it shot like greased lighting! I don't think I've ever made a chassis that rolled that freely before!

The only thing was the centre wheelset were about three-quarters of a millimetre off the rails. I checked things, and reckoned the outer pairs were a little low. To cure that, brute force and fire (set up on the jig with a low flame played across each set of castings until pressure caused the frames to settled with a satisfying click) got the discrepancy down to something acceptable. Once the wheels are coupled, having the centre ones a fraction high shouldn't be a problem. Better than rocking on the centre axle, anyway. If it proves an issue during the build, I'll deal with it then.

I think that will do for the day. I'm quite pleased with the progress so far.

 

[Heather Kay]

Today I was going to construct the bogie. However, the client-supplied wheels, while absolutely the right ones for this loco (Stanier 10-spoke 3ft 3in) have the standard Slater's axles. The kit requires the Finney style. I sense a pattern developing here! A quick call and a chat to Laurie at JLTRT - he is, to all intents and purposes, the client in this case - and he's popping some replacement wheels in the mail.

While there is a ton of detailing to go on the frames, I thought it might be prudent in the interim to start on the loco superstructure.



As with most JLTRT kits, the running plate is built up on a sacrificial cradle to aid rigidity during construction. Having folded up and down the various sub-structures, I spent some time fitting the running plate overlays. This is from the smokebox end.



This is from the cab end. The curved section of the lower cab front is made of half-etched overlays, and it paid to take time fitting and aligning these areas. Inevitably, things are very slightly awry, but nothing I'm going to worry about. What's a thou between friends?



Something I'm not too happy about is the fold relief slots along the edge of the valance. Try as I might, I can't locate an overlay part that would cover these. It's not a fold error, because the footplate overlay sticks out at just the right amount to match the real thing as far as I can see. Some of these will probably be hidden by things like AWS conduit, but I suspect I shall run some solder into the rear of the valance fold later to bung the slots up.



With the wind in my sails, I set about the splashers. Again, half-etched parts form easily, and only needed a little fettling to fit fairly neatly over the fronts which were previously folded up from the main running plate.



I tried my best to make sure things are straight and level, but it's actually quite hard when you're trying to balance a component along an edge while pumping several hundred degrees of heat into it! Anyway, 'tis done now, and only a couple of singed fingers.

While the work day is done, I'm tempted to perhaps look at fitting out the front drop frame details this evening. There's naff all on the telly these days, after all!