From a J21 to a J15

Frazmataz · Post by **Frazmataz** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 9:51 am

Due to the apparent lack of J15 in any form of model today (Alan Gibson is closing down his business, his locomotive kits sold out, and Nu-Cast kits being hard to find, and expensive), and having noticed the similarities between the preserved J15 and J21, does anyone have any ideas for converting the London Road Models J21 into a J15? I've had some conversion experience with model soldiers, so I'm willing to have a go with this provided it's simple to intermediate level. The fact that Gibson is still selling the J15 Chimney and smokebox front in 4mm scale is sure to be a big help.

jwealleans · Post by **jwealleans** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:55 pm

You can still get the NuCast J15 from Sherwood Models or the West Coast Kit Centre.

Frazmataz · Post by **Frazmataz** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 1:29 pm

yes, you can... at a price of £125.00. Without motors, gears or paints. At £68.00, the London Rd J21 is much more cost effective, escpecially if the conversion process turns out to be pretty simple.

rob · Post by **rob** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:40 pm

For what its worth,heres my contribution.I built 2 Nu-Cast J15's recently(there should be a photo in a post a little way back) and the Nu-Cast kit builds well,though the boiler halves(unusually top and bottom) need a lot of fettling and the tender side frames are tricky too-a consequence of the kits age,not production quality.However,given how long it takes to build a kit your initial outlay is well spread out and a Nu-Cast kits normally includes wheels.I guess the steep price rise may include the recent almost doubling of the price of Romford/Markits wheels and the lowering volume of sales as kitbuilding contracts in the face of better RTR.
If Nu-Cast still include wheels,the gap narrows and I think London Road are also due a price increase due to the rising cost of brass,so you may not save that much.Then you have to source and purchase detailing parts and at the end of the day not the least of the compromises is that a J15 has 4' 11" drivers at 7'7"+8'6" wheelbase whilst the J21 has 5'1" drivers at 8'+8'6" wheelbase,then you have the cabsides,tender etc-you will be coming quite close to scratchbuilding and end up with a hybrid I reckon.
Possibly your best option would be to see if you could source a S/H example .If its Nu-Cast, make sure it has an up to date chassis,if you find a Gibson,cherish it!Whatever you do,best of luck

Frazmataz · Post by **Frazmataz** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:49 pm

well, that settles it. The conversion is probably way past my skill level

thanks for adressing my problem in such detail

rob · Post by **rob** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:02 pm

Bass,don't even consider "skill" or imagined lack thereof! What matters in this hobby is patience and determination,and perhaps a level of accumulated experience-thats all I have,no skill involved!What I was driving at was that a conversion,esp of a brass kit which is of a very specific prototype is likely to be more uneconomic in terms of time and money than an initially expensive kit that is correct for purpose!I began kitbuilding 17 years ago because at the time(and I still think its the case)there was no other option if you wanted to produce some sense of what the LNER was like in the 20's and 30's.I had/still have no particular ability at all,I just took my time and persevered through all my mistakes-my first chassis stopped running after a day because the phosphoric flux had rusted the axles to the bearings!Genius,eh!

So I dismantled it,cleaned it all up and tried not to do that again,and its run fine ever since.No skill involved,just a certain demented determination!

Frazmataz · Post by **Frazmataz** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:33 pm

Not really sure what to say to that, heh heh XD

Thanks for the encouragement though