Paul's workbench

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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi John
Thanks for that. Can you confirm that the location of the numbers and the LNER plate are the same as post 1946 version, also if you can tell if the numbers were the shaded or plain type. I think that's all...

Cheers
Paul
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
Thanks to some help from John Smart I've been able to get the Q1 to an almost finished state. 6139 is now complete except for the LNER totem on the bunker side and a pair of couplings and vacuum pipes. I have a couple of orders for various parts ready to go once lockdown ends and we can return to some level of normal.
The model is controlled via a Laise Dcc "Kung Fu" (wooohooo) decoder and the Bachmann 3 pole motor responds very well, with the weight in the tanks it's quite a hefty beast, I'm sure it will be very capable.
Until I can get hold of the missing bits here's the end result, thanks again to Paul (sterling) for making this 3D print available, it's been quite fun to build.
Q1_5.jpg
Cheers
Paul
Graeme Leary
GNR C1 4-4-2
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by Graeme Leary »

Following nzpaul's comment back in February - ye gods, seems like a lifetime ago - I have tried his adapted electric toothbrush suggestion and it works a treat ,especially for those hard to get places. In my case it was to remove patches of congealed glue after fixing roof top detail such torpedo vents, water fillers etc. Can heartily recommend it.

The only issue is to make sure you change back to your normal brush head before cleaning your fangs - any sort of sandpaper will not only remove any plaque but most of the enamel as well!

Graeme Leary
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
Graeme, yes the toothbrush sander is a handy gizmo isn't it, bet there's been a few built by now.

Work on the V2 has continued and since I had the airbrush set up thought I may as well do the P2 while I was at it . The V2 has become 4815, new to St Margarets in February 1939 and resident there until May 1941, so appropriate for a Waverley route inspired layout I think. I'm just waiting for our move out of lock-down to place an order with Wizards for a Comet chassis.
Earl Marischal is a few days behind on painting progress at the moment but not far off completion now.
V2_4.1.jpg
Also moving along with the Mk2 A2 and have had some success with getting the front end to behave, it will negotiate a Hornby 3rd radius curve quite well, that's a fairly big win as it should make it a much happier model than the first one.
I've never noticed before but have found that Hornby track is set at a slightly tighter gauge than other makes. the Scalelink wheels on the A2 are spot on according to the NMRA gauge but they don't like Hornby track and cause some minor rocking as the flanges are tight between the rails, no such problem on Atlas or Peco track.
GA2_3.jpg
Cheers
Paul
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
Returned to work proper today so that will be the end of daily model making for a while, back to a few hours on the weekends again from now on I think. The A2 chassis now has a rear end made up from little more than a brass box with plastic overlays to represent the ash pan. The whole thing is attached to the chassis via the old mounting screw for the original bogie. The advantage of the internal bearing rear axle on the first two A2s is that it can be modeled in this way and not look too weird going around corners, not like the old waggly truck under Hornby A3s and A4s anyway. looks like this:
GA2_5.jpg
GA2_4.jpg
I've made good progress on Earl Marischal as well, another couple of days and I could have finished it...never mind, next weekend maybe. Loco is nearly done and the tender is half lined.
P2_12.jpg

Cheers
Paul
Paul_sterling
GER D14 4-4-0 'Claud Hamilton'
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by Paul_sterling »

Hi Paul,

Apologies for not seeing this sooner, but I've not been on the forum for much of the duration of Lockdown, You'll probably see why on the LH&JC 29 thread. :D

You've done an incredible job on the Q1 it looks super!

Yep, the shell you've got was for a Q1/2, but its only 1.5/2mm longer than the original Q1/1m and it meant the chassis didn't need shortening to fit.


Cheers, Paul.
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Paul_sterling wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:28 pm Hi Paul,

You've done an incredible job on the Q1 it looks super!

Cheers, Paul.
Thanks Paul, very kind of you to say.

Rather ugly weather here today so I've had a chance to take some pictures of recent work. Earl Marischal is more or less ready for work, I've most likely forgotten something but that will become evident to me some time in the future I'm sure. Although a finer model could have been produced using a Hornby P2 and some cut and shut work or the use of one of Graeme King's conversion kits, I don't think any of the Hornby models will out perform or last as long as this, I suspect this will see me out, and the next owner, maybe the one after them too, as long is nothing bad happens to it.
P2_13.jpg
The A2 is coming along annoyingly well, this one is working out much better than the first effort, i suppose it should, wouldn't be so good if it was worse...
GA2_7.jpg
Cheers
Paul
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Atlantic 3279
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

I don't think many would complain about either of those two models Paul. The finish on the P2 is rather nice, and the A2 looks well on the way to being a good model.
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Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Thanks Graeme
It is probably the best green livery I've produced so far, I no longer feel like I'm stepping into the unknown. Also had some success honing one of my bow pens (about a week before Mike Trice put up the clip on how to do it) so the lining on the cab and smokebox is finer than I've been able to achieve before. Practice make perfect (maybe just better in my case) so by the time I get to the A2 I might be verging on confident, competent could be a stretch.

Cheers
Paul
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
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Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
With the recent discussion about the merits (or lack of)in Ian Kirk coach kits I thought I'd give one a go to see what they're all about. This one is an Open First which seems to be a reasonably close match to the type I need for the East Anglian set. I'm going to build it pretty much straight from the bag with only minor tweaks to suit the job, it just required some adjustment to the trusses to make them look more like the ones on the converted Hornby types I've already built. The only non-original additions are a pair of Mr King's resin battery boxes and a piece of tube to represent the tank next to one of the battery boxes. After a few hours work I think I've made the half way point and so far it's been quite enjoyable, no where near as awful as the Mailcoach Coronation sets and certainly better that what I was expecting. On first impressions provided by this kit I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy more when they were available.

Underside:
Open 1st.jpg
Bits plonked together to see how it looks:
Open 1st_1.jpg
Cheers
Paul
52D sub shed
LNER N2 0-6-2T
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by 52D sub shed »

The coach looks pretty good to me and should paint up well as a "layout coach" plenty of hints on this forum on achieving a good finish.
I see some kits on eBay at the moment, all at outrageous prices of course!
Woodcock29
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by Woodcock29 »

Hi Paul

I built many Kirk coaches back in the 80s and still have a few to build one day. I think you need another of the extra 'tanks' which are in fact vacuum reservoirs. I believe there was one adjacent to each of the vacuum cylinders on 61' stock at least.

Regards

Andrew
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
I was making a honest attempt to knock this over in a weekend but it's not quite going to happen, not that it matters, I was only trying to prove a point to myself anyway.
Although I have managed to get the teak finish done (using the technique I've been using since page one of the thread) I haven't made it to final assembly, and I've decided that it could do with some passengers as well which will be time consuming.
As Andrew has advised I've added one more vacuum reservoir, I'm not completely sure that they're in the right place as there seems to be some variation on location, some have the reservoir in line with the bake cylinder as per me, others have them on the opposite side of the floor, I went with the arrangement I found of an Open Third illustrated in John Crawley's book.
The term "Layout Coach" is an interesting concept isn't it...if it's not for a layout, what else would you do with it? I know what you mean though, less detailed/breakable more able to withstand the rigors of handling etc. In the right hands I don't see any reason one of these kits couldn't be made up to a very high standard though...there's ample evidence within the threads of this forum I think.

Almost, but not quite done in a weekend Kirk Open First..... 8)
Open First_3.jpg
Paul
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nzpaul
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 610
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:48 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Paul's workbench

Post by nzpaul »

Hi All
With the P2 completed I've added the old Hornby B12 to the job list. I originally intended to do little more that lower it to correct height and add some brakes to make it look more like a B12/3. Somehow things have escalated a little bit. With lowering and brakes fitted successfully, I still didn't like it much. It's too skinny to be a B12/3 and has the wrong cab to be a B12/4, the boiler fittings were just wrong, the whole thing was just a bit hopeless. After a few moments of research I figured I may as well go completely mad with it and see what I can come up with using parts from the spares dept. This is one evenings effort, the plan is to make it resemble an original B12 with ACFI water heater. So far I've cut away all of the original boiler and fitted a modified bachmann O4 boiler, cut the cab in half and relocated the front to the line of the old rear wheel spashers (splashlets??). I don't have a scale drawing so everything is referenced from a couple of photos...it could end up that I'll build a model that's less accurate than the original but I'm trying to make sure that all of the bits end up at least visually in the right place, so the firebox joins the boiler just in front of the centre wheel splashers and the smokebox front sits just behind the saddle. Looks like this after a few hours:
B12_1.jpg
Paul
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Atlantic 3279
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Paul's workbench

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

Previous "scale" conversions of Margate B12s that I've seen in print have featured lengthening of the whole model between the bogie and the first set of coupled wheels.
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1

Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
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