Learning by trial and error.. StanB's work messy workbench

Progress on 69429 has slowed a little over the last few days: mostly as I'm now at a stage where I need to spend some time drawing up a few parts: cylinder/valve covers, the Cylinders themselves, and a few lockers for the cab. i may even try to draw up a vacuum valve for the cab. Its a slow process since I barely know how to use the software ( Solid Edge in my case although Fusion 360 is basically the same) so many times I have to learn how to do what I want to acheive.

the other bottle neck was waiting for this to arrive: a 3/32 stainless steel ball. 69429 had a rather prominent, spherical valve on the drivers side of the smokebox, and to replicate this I figured a small sphere was needed. unfortunately the smallest bronze ball available from our model engineering supplier in Aus was 1/8", a little too large for what I wanted, but smaller was available in stainless steel. The question was, would I be able to drill a 0.5mm hole through it!

Having annealed the ball, I managed to firmly grip the ball in the vice for the proxxon drill press.. Zinc alloy proved useful. Filing didn't do much, but i managed to cut a flat with the dremel, and with utmost care, I drilled through it without breaking the damned drill too ( I only dropped it once too, and actually saved it from the carpet monster as well!)

anyways , here it is , Cyano still drying!:


Once I get the valve and cylinder covers glued down I will fill a few of those cracks with epoxy..

 

a small success with the printer, valve and cylinder covers printed. the plan is to cut the print so only a small arc of the cylinder is showing, hence the lack of bolt heads. cocktail stick adjacent to give an idea of scale.

 

I would have, if I had one !

 

More progress, nearly time to set do the final assembly of the chassis (pickups, suspension and cosmetic springs), but the end of this project is in sight, Time to start looking for a suitable DCC sound project - Youchoos' G5 is a distinct possibility , but I'm open to suggestions

 

And nearly done, A few more details needed in the cab and buffer beams, and I need to wire in the decoder socket. A few touch ups here and there, decals, varnish and weathering to go ( assuming she actually goes)but nearly there, My first engine is nearly built...

I may need a little more work on the pony truck too: it still tends to ride up and derail on my sharper curves ,




And PS, I know there's cats hairs.. the joys of having 8 little floofs, and being spring they be moulting bad

 

and nearly ready for the fun bit.. a few days of doing bits and bobs, and this is the result:


PS, I've reattached the vacuum pipe under the bunker since I've taken these pics.. Plan now is to install Vac and Westinghouse pipes, matt varnish, lightly ( me light?) weather and drop a Lok pilot in her pending sound fitting. I still have to put a representation of valve gear in her, and may try to put a pickup on the trailing truck: at present the lead wheel, fitted with a first generation slaters driver doesn't pickup at all: the plunger doesn't quite line up properly with the rim, and is riding on the edge of the spoke moulding. The centre and rear, being current squared Slaters, dont have this issue. If a bit of wear or sanding doesnt resolve the problem, I may look to putting a wiper on the lead drivers. I do intend to put a stay alive in her as well. The solid brass boiler gives her plenty of weight, so I have lots of room for decoder, speaker and stayalive.

 

And done. there still a bit of tuning do but she's basically ready for service, Just needs to visit the coal stage P . I dropped a LokPilot into her and she is happy trundling around the layout.

I think Min approves

 

While waiting for the sound card for the N9 I got side tracked with something else...

 

Paul, you're making me think I need a better place to display my models !

 

and what is currently on the bench? One of these of course



A Johnson 3F,from a MAYGIB kit.. yup, another ancient blast from the past. The tender of this one had been constructed ~ 1982-85. possibly by my brother, and some work begun on the locomotive, which, judging by the amount of solder, was probably by me, so made sense to build this one. Major body work is basically done, now to clean up, and add all the details

 

Got a little parcel today ( actually 2, but the second is a long way off before a reveal) ... Nellie got her voice (it came with a name i think

 

Nellie shows off.. I spent the afternoon finetuning Nellie as far as I could. I discovered the pony truck issue was an over sized back to back, It had been assembled when i started the kit and I'd assumed the B2B was correct. Its now riding much better. I also dropped the lead and trailing axles, and opened up the horn blocks a little. they are still a little stiff, but are tracking better, and finally, while the lead driver was off, I took to the wheel backs with a sanding disk and they are no longer proud of the rims,, I now have pickups on all wheels.

After a little running in, I decided to see how well she crawls, here she is at Speed step 2, I'm really impressed with how the Zimo copes with the Portescap

 

Progress on the 3F, with me now back at work (part time) progress on the 3f has slowed a little. Am at the stage of detailing the boiler , although easily damaged parts like the safety valves, whistle and lamp irons will be left until last thing before priming. Next job is to build the backhead and do the final assembly of the cab interior, I may also do more around the Vacuum ejector, as I'm not totally happy with the simplified pipework I've fitted it with .so lots of handling to do before i get to the priming stage. I found a copy of the instructions for the tender online, which showed how the tender brake gear was assembled, so did that this afternoon.

The chassis needs its brakegear and sand boxes etc. There were no brackets supplied for the brake hangars, so I'll have to fabricate something there and once installed, can cleanup and paint before instaling the pickups, and assembling the wheels...

Still, its looking more like an engine every day

 

And basically ready for primer



I think I got all the bits in the right place, the instructions on the Slater backhead kit is a little vague


Next will be to prime then fill any rough spots / gaps etc. I'll probably draw up and print a piece to fill the back of the smokebox saddle at some point before she gets her first coat of black.

The ROD is out because she's getting a voice this week.....

 

And she has her voice.. 3006 makes noise!


Its been a while since I last had her out, and she needs her wheels cleaned ( as does the track)
- And yes, the 3F got its first coat of primer this afternoon

 

More progress this week on the 3F.. she's now black

This time I decided to use enamels as a base coat: I've found the Solvent based acrylics, while they spray beautifully, tend to dissolve any previous layers, which makes doing brush work, such as in the cab, quite challenging. My local hobby supplier does stock Tamiya enamels so a quick trip there and here she is. I will switch to lacquer for the rest of the painting/weathering. This weekends tasks are to do the final assembly the chassis, and complete painting.. one of these days I'll have a complex livery to paint ! The whitemetal whistle was an early casualty so I may replace with a more substantial cast brass from Laurie Griffin