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The LNER Encyclopedia • On my Workbench
Page 1 of 54

On my Workbench

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:35 pm
by Blink Bonny
This is where I get opprobrium heaped upon me, I can feel it coming.

Having followed Graeme's conversion on the A2/3 I thought: What else could I use 'em for? An evening or two with the Good Bishop for company gave me the idea - Great Northern. Hopefully as 4470 in blue but this is dependent on finding the correct (straight) 'plate. Pity that: the version with the crest looks much better. However, I can hear my late grandfather's pithy and slightly Yorkshire tones saying that if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing proper. I'll give Modelmaster a bell next week and order 'em.

Anyway, here's the victim, er I mean, donor loco:
Donor and resin bits.jpg
And the donor stripped down for assessment:
Donor in bits.jpg

I did have a look at the Railroad Tornado - this has 30 good reasons to recommend it i.e. a £30 saving on the price of the Bachmann version - but would have needed much more work including a major refit to the tender, almost amounting to reconstruction. Plus I reckon the flywheel might have fouled the new cab structure.

If any of you fancy a run with the Hornby one, go on, prove me wrong. You know you want to.

Oh, and the cat asleep on the window bottom is Jim-Jim. You remember her - the one someone used for target practice. She likes to help me...

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:55 pm
by Atlantic 3279
Waiting with considerable interest to see how you tackle this.

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:37 pm
by Blink Bonny
A delay has ensued already.

There I was, crouched as if in the slips, behind the letterbox waiting for the valve gear bits to arrive...

... when...

... a bill appeared :( . And I dropped the catch anyway!

So, I decided to end 2 years of prevaricating and dug out my Caledonian Single set. Not LNER I know but it may be of interest. I also had to reassemble Great Eastern first because she was occupying my workbench, or rather a kit of parts for her was!
Coach Interior.jpg
These are carved up Peco interiors. I needed 6 :shock: to make up interiors for 2 composites mainly because of the number of State Apartments.

And my little helper in all this:
Nige's Little Helper.jpg
As you can see, Jim-Jim has made a full recovery and I really do not know how I ever made models before. :wink:

Now thew glue's dry, I reckon I'll get on and finish the first interior.

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:57 pm
by Blink Bonny
OK - Why bother?

Well:

Before:
Before.jpg
And after:
After.jpg
Despite the interiors being distinctly Mk1 in their appearance, the coaches have, I hope you'll agree, been improved beyond recognition. Now for a card fallplate for the Single and I'll be on Seventh Heaven. As will Mrs BB who'll no doubt be lobbying for the RCTS Blue Bell special to get lost on its way to Horstead Keynes...

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:11 pm
by Blink Bonny
Well, that's the BCK sorted. I am now waiting for a decent day to set up my trainset and run the Blue Bell.

I suppose I'll have to do the other CK - Mrs BB won't let me rest until I do...

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:51 am
by Bill Bedford
Roll up, roll up, get your coach sets here, cheap at half the price

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:47 am
by Atlantic 3279
Thanks for those links Bill, very kind of you to offer them freely. I wish I'd had access to those a few years ago, that might have saved much cutting of plastic moulded seating strip and partitions, painting in several colours etc.....

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:10 pm
by Blink Bonny
Bill, it ocurred to me while soaking in the bath last night with a can of Mild (I know how to live!) that you used to do these and I had copies of them on our old computer which went BANG!!! big time. I was going to ask you about them and you've saved me the trouble!

Many thanks. Beware the downloader.

As a Tri-ang collector you'd think I'd be used to monochrome, self colour plastic. I am. And I hate it!

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:20 am
by Blink Bonny
I've just scared the poor postman out of about 3 years of his life. There I was, crouched as if in the slips when a small, square box from Bachmann dropped into my waiting hands. OWZAT!!! I yelled, to the accompaniement of rapidly receding footsteps...

Anyway, the Bachmann V2 gear placed over the Roche drawing is spot on for GN.
GN Valve Gear.JPG
Is this cheating, or just doing it the easy way? :wink:


Mrs BB sez: and more unusually, he was up and about by the time the postie came...

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:54 am
by Atlantic 3279
Excellent! When is it ever a cheat to spot the easy answer?

I wonder if Mr Thompson also found that he could use stock parts?

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:04 pm
by Blink Bonny
Check this out...
Just laid in place to test the fit.
Just laid in place to test the fit.
Final fitting
Final fitting
The cylinders are epoxied onto some black 60-thou plasticard spacers. You will need to remove the front sandboxes and file their locating stubs flat. The valve rod is suitably stiff to remove the need to anchor the motion bracket to anything. The moulded bracket was glued to the end of the slidebars. I aligned the cylinders by eye which looks OK to me.

Just for the laugh...
Body temporarily fitted.jpg
Looks a bit like an LMS Princess beneath the footplate, dunnit?
Footplate marked up..jpg
And the next stage. Time for a Brave Pill before slicing up the 'plate. Wish me luck...

To answer you, Graeme, I reckon Thompson did use stock parts. I remember reading somewhere that he used V2 motion parts for something. Now I realise, the A1/1.

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 7:20 pm
by mick b
I think V2 parts is more likely on the A2/1 ? as they replaced the V2 which should have been built.

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:08 pm
by Atlantic 3279
But would not the shortened (6' 6") coupled wheelbase of the A2/2s and consequent "cramping" of the valve gear (as on the P2, A2/2 and A2/3) demand use of much the same valve gear as on those locos? With 7' 3" from leading to second coupled axles on the V2s and A2/1, would not the use of the same valve gear parts on these two classes be more feasible?

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:55 pm
by Saint Johnstoun
I've definately had a rethink on Great Northern and will not now take the Hornby A3 route to this conversion - I will now seek a Peppercorn A1 and do the butchery on that methinks along with a set of Bachmann V2 valve gear - hold on - did I not get a set of spare valve gear from them some time ago?

Changed my mind following other people's problems - will now return to using Hornby A3 with diagram 107 boiler as a basis.

Re: On my Workbench...

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:03 pm
by Blink Bonny
Atlantic 3279 wrote:But would not the shortened (6' 6") coupled wheelbase of the A2/2s and consequent "cramping" of the valve gear (as on the P2, A2/2 and A2/3) demand use of much the same valve gear as on those locos? With 7' 3" from leading to second coupled axles on the V2s and A2/1, would not the use of the same valve gear parts on these two classes be more feasible?
You'd have thought so - especially as the A2/1s was effectively a V2 with Thompson front end with Gresley valve gear to the outside cylinders at least due to wartime restrictions. Another easy conversion?

I'm starting to get the hang of this now!