Atlantic's works: Portable layout update

[davidwest]

Thanks Graeme....

[Phil Brighton]

Graeme,

As always very impressive stuff. If you were to make resin versions of the K2 available I would certainly be interested.

Thanks

Phil

[Atlantic 3279]

Hooray. First day in a fortnight when I've been able to function without painkillers and decongestants. All of a sudden my cold (or for any female readers, extremely severe man-flu) is much improved! Despite my efforts to keep the microbes to myself Mrs Atlantic is now very groggy with the same affliction, so it wasn't just me being a real wimp....

This evening I've been doing a bit of a Mick B job, assembling bits and pieces from Ebay wrecks and from EKM in order to build up a Hornby A4 with the right features that can be refinished in Doncaster Green as Osprey. Even resin cast parts get a look-in as the streamlined corridor tender top and the single chimney. As I appear to have used a railroad chassis block I've had to reverse the polarity of the drawbar wiring in order to suit the pick-ups in the super-detail tender underframe. I don't have a slotted carrier for the bogie, so tomorrow I shall have to make up something suitable.
Oh well, all fun, innit?

Thanks Phil: If I get that far, give me a nudge again.

[Atlantic 3279]

Ready to join the queue for green paint, along with an Atlantic and two P2s when I finally get back to those:

The final identity is not yet fixed. Rather than Osprey, it may become Woodcock. RCTS 2A indicates that both of these ran on the Southern section of the LNER in the green livery with curved lining from mid '37 to mid '38.
The chimney, tender top and lubricator moulding are resin copies. Tender top fairings may be wrong as I'm not sure when the additional streamlining was removed, but I don't have time to alter it at this stage. The missing bogie carrier was a bit of a faff to make up from scratch, ditto the lubricator drive. I may transplant a Flaman spedo drive moulding from a GBL model. Mr Grumpy paid a brief visit when it turned out that the cab windows were stuck in very firmly and both of the main ones broke as I tried to pop them out. Maybe the GBL model will help in that respect too?
The drawbar pin on the tender has been moved back about 2.5mm to give a more realistic gap between loco and tender, using a slight variation on the Pete Hill method.

[mick b]

The Hornby Tornado bracket fits just cut the lug of the base of the cylinder base. GBL Glazing will fit with filing too.
Streamlined fairing are you talking about the front part ? never removed as far as I know . Rear was 1938 at a guess.

[Atlantic 3279]

The Hornby Tornado bracket fits.

Ta Mick. Is that the bogie carrier, or have I misunderstood?

Tender fairing: I was thinking principally about the extra stuff around the water filler. Probably 1938 as you say since the fatal accident on the troughs that prompted removal was in October '37. Only because I've chosen the green livery does the exact date become important. I'm hoping/assuming (for speed and convenience) that 4493 and 4494 had the extra metalwork removed before they had their full repaints into blue in mid '38. I've seen photographs of one or two of the blue A4s with "unofficial" black paintwork above the beading level on the tender, possibly suggesting expedient use of black in a partial repaint following removal of extra plating. Maybe this was done on shed in some cases rather than at works visits?

I don't mind the time I've spent faffing around with bits to create a loco that Hornby don't offer, especially now I've just read in the Hornby 2015 thread mention of an official £153 for a new Hornby Pacific this summer.....

[mick b]

Yes bracket re Tornado part.

Modellers licence if info not available re A4 ?


Black above the beading ? Yeadon has India with that in one photo never seen another picture. Perhaps a cock up quickly changed in the paint shop.

Sadly Hornby and Bachmann are cutting their own throats where my wallet is concerned. £14 for a Fish van was the start for me !!

[JASd17]

It was very nice to see the K2 working on 'Grantham' at the Nottingham show. It is a fine looking loco.

Even better to get the chance to 'drive it' (?) on the portion of the layout which was there.

3279's stand was raided for a few more locos besides.

Looking forward to more adventures, good to meet Atso of this parish too.

John

[Atlantic 3279]

If I've been absent of late, then I have at least two excuses. Firstly preparation for, and participation in a weekend demonstrating how to make a mess with resin at Nottingham Exhibition. Secondly, as well as some requested castings for others, I've been plodding away producing a few for the High Dyke ironstone train. One hundred and four rough castings for such parts now adorn my workbench, sufficient if they all clean up without breakage for the assembly of another thirteen wagons. It may prove to be a continuation of the tedium as I try to build and decorate them all.....

[LNER4479]

Blimey! That's gonna be some train Just need a big layout to run it on

[Atso]

Hi Graeme,

It was a real pleasure to finally meet you last weekend and thank you so much for putting up with me asking endless questions!

The K2 looked fantastic (even without numbering), as did all your other locomotives and stock. I look forward to seeing the completed ironstone train in the not too distant future.

[Flying Fox 34F]

Graeme,

As you have reverted to building more Hopper Wagons, how much more lumps of Ironstone do you need from my garden?

Paul 4475

[Atlantic 3279]

Hi Paul - I may already have enough, but if you unearth another chunk it would do no harm to have ample material to hand.

[Flying Fox 34F]

Graeme,

I'm certain I have another lump available somewhere in the garden with out resorting to spade! I shall arrange for it to be at the next Grantham session

Paul 4475

[Atlantic 3279]

Despite the lack of reports for almost three weeks, I haven't given up model making, although a box full of Appleby Frodingham hopper wagon parts awaits a return of enough motivation to incline me to get on with building another dozen of them. Visits to York exhibition at Easter, a spot of rest and recuperation in the North York Moors, a weekend with the Grantham team, a visit to Scalefour North yesterday, occasional strange remarks posted on various modelling websites and the minor nuisance of having to carry on going to work in order to make a living have occupied much of my time, but I have at last made some progress on the production of the main mould for the K2 body.

This image shows the outer mould already produced within the (now inverted) Lego moulding box and the original base of the box removed in readiness for production of the core piece.

I think the following points are useful to mention:
1. As I mentioned a while back, the grooves that I included in the underside of the loco running plate, near to its outer edges, helped considerably when I was trying to add the 5 thou white plastic skirt seen surrounding the central recess in the pink silicone mould. This of course had to completely seal off the space under and within the loco body, down to a straight lower edge. In this particular case I taped rather than glued the lower edge of the skirt to the base of the moulding box. The front and rear of the boiler barrel obviously had to be sealed off too in order to keep the silicone out. Tape, since removed, also sealed off the gaps between the boiler and the running plate. You can see a strip of pink rubber exposed where the tape has been removed.
2. The two pieces of brass wire sticking up out the void have been stuck into shallow holes drilled into the top of the boiler barrel. Clearly this was done after removing the base of the moulding box! They will serve to anchor in place down the centre of the boiler a paper tube (seen end-on above the mould in this image) as a means of ensuring that an air space remains within the boiler core-piece. This will later allow the core piece to deform by the necessary amount when being pulled out through the slot in the base of the body. Parts of the interior of the boiler are of course wider than that slot, and I want to keep maximum empty space within the resin boilers so that lead can be added if necessary.
3. Although the interior of the moulding Lego box was originally straight sided, you can see that I have now altered the top course of bricks in the picture to create a rebate around the mould. An extra course of bricks will also be added. That arrangement will allow the core piece of the mould not only to cover the top face of the outer mould, but also to extend slightly down the outer sides. I believe this will ensure perfect registration of the two parts of the mould and support the sides so as to resist their tendency to splay as resin in forced in.