The Brassgoggles Model Making Club (the second non-SP model making thread).

[The Bullet]

Had to deal with electric Gremlins.

After they were annihilated, little daughter wanted to run some trains.

Some pics:

[James Harrison]

Some more bits and pieces arrived last week;

- A Triang 'Nellie' 0-4-0, for my planned steampunk diorama (which the more I think about it, takes the form of a combination running shed and erection shop). 

Any chance of a photo please?

Ohh!  Yes!  This weekend I'll sort some out. 

Had to deal with electric Gremlins.

After they were annihilated, little daughter wanted to run some trains.

Some pics:

Nothing like a good running session, is there?  It's been too long since I last had one.

Oh- hopefully, 7th February I'll gain the space for Rufford Red Lion Square.

[James Harrison]

The new Nellie.  It's difficult to get good photos of an engine that's been painted black.  I've got some vague ideas of what I want to do to her but she's probably a fair way down the list at the moment.

[James Harrison]

Some modelling happened; building a Sutherland Models GCR class 3 / LNER F1 kit around the Bachmann 2-4-2 chassis. 



After some careful measuring and cutting, the running plate could be mated up to the chassis.



Then the tanks, cab and bunker were erected.  Parts needed a bit of fettling to get them to fit around the motor, but nothing too onerous. 



Pretty soon I had the basic shape of the engine sorted out. 

[Mercury Wells]

Thanks James, I bet it was blue originally. Nice work btw.

[James Harrison]

It would have been blue, red or yellow.  I've also got a blue one... the black on this one is pretty thick and not very well applied, so I'll be washing that off.  Then you may recall we had a conversation about the practicalities of a Nellie and how, if built with inside cylinders, the connecting rods would foul the ashpan.  I think I'll get around that by swapping the chassis out for a 'Smokey Joe' type.  Beyond that... I'm not sure yet.  Daylight under the boiler? Cut down side tanks? A half cab conversion?

[Wormster]

My new build arrived this week: Mobius's HAL 9000, should make a good PC build!

[Mercury Wells]

I had a blue one, didn't know about the other colours. Thanks anyway 

[James Harrison]

"Nellie" (blue), "Polly" (red) and "Connie" (yellow).

I've decided what I'm doing with mine.  New chassis, cut down side tanks, round the boiler out and cut half the cab roof away to come up with something like this. 



Eventually.

[The Bullet]

Assembled the bogies for the five-plank today.
Took ages for 17D to deliver the kit. Quite disappointed as they did not even bother to contact me about the delay. When I contacted them all I got was "yes, about christmas....busy time.....waiting for time on the machining centre...."
Went together ok. I had to file the sliding edges as they were laser-cut and radiused.
Most parts for the frame have been made today.
Buffers and couplings have arrived from my usual supplier (in less than a week).
Next workshop time will be welding session.

[Madasasteamfish]

Well, it's for my SP box file diorama, but I thought I'd post it here as well, purely for the unusual prototype inspired models. I'm hoping to make a private inspection saloon, akain to Drummond's private inspection saloon.



I think it'll be an interesting, and easy project, all it'll take is mating a small coach to the back of a small loco (the old Triang Nellie would be an ideal candidate).

[The Bullet]

Forget it.
This project is not going to be easy if you want that contraption to go round any curves...
It will take "some" thinking how to get them close enough together but still allow for some movement between the two.

[James Harrison]

Bogie on the front and a radial truck on the rear?  Otherwise it's a very, very long fixed wheelbase.  Or you could articulate it like a Kitson-Meyer. 

[Miranda.T]

In the first image the front and back wheels look to be the same - I'm guessing a bogie for both? In anycase, it is a fabulously Steampunk contrivance. I'm imagining a Victorian adventurer speeding around the world's railways with their living accommodation/laboratory in the rear.

Yours,
Miranda.

[James Harrison]

Last weekend I had a bit of a SNAFU in finding that after starting a locomotive kit, I didn't have the numberplates for it.  They've been ordered but it's likely to be a few weeks before they arrive, being custom etches.  So, I turned to one of my roundtoit jobs.  This afternoon I managed the first successful mating in captivity of one of my scratchbuilt/ kitbuilt loco bodies onto a chassis.  Usually they're just plonked on and left to rattle around....

So then, that done, it came off again for a repaint. 

[Madasasteamfish]

Forget it.
This project is not going to be easy if you want that contraption to go round any curves...
It will take "some" thinking how to get them close enough together but still allow for some movement between the two.

Well, since it's for a diorama and will primarily be a static piece, that isn't too much of a concern for me.

If I do decide to have it mobile I might look into replacing the back wheels of the coach with a bogie (I'm planning on using a Hornby 0-4-0 saddle tank and an old Triang 4 wheeled coach).

[The Bullet]

Maybe you could have two holes for the pivot. One for the mantelpiece and one if you are going to run it.

My bogie wagon is finished.
Little daughter (2.5 years) helped me.
She knows how to operate the vice and can bring tools.
She also held the buffers in place while I bolted them on.
As mentioned before the wooden body was nit straight.
The friend who made it already warned me about it.
Three corners lay on the wagon frame, the fourth corner was 7mm (!) above it.
Took a long M5 screw and a bit of "persuasion" to get that thing straight.

[James Harrison]

That's a fair bit of tension in that corner now.  Will the warp gradually sort itself out or is the screw a permanent fixture?

No work sadly at my end today.  Having given the loco quite a thorough wetting yesterday to get the existing transfers off I've left it to dry out and will look at it again next weekend, in between 'maybe' attending the West Midlands Victorian Society AGM, picking up my house keys and other bits and pieces.

[The Bullet]

The screw is one of the four fixing the body to the chassis.
So it will stay in place (hopefully) forever.
As it is countersunk it will not disturb anything.
After painting the floorboards the screw head will hardly be visible any more.

[James Harrison]

That's an impressive piece of kit. 

[The Bullet]

A bat will be coming my way.....

There was an LBSC Bat on offer here in Germany. I could not resist.
Grate for coal-firing and a paraffin burner (interchangeable) included.
In need of an overhaul.

Pics will follow as soon as I get it.

[The Bullet]

More progress on the Taigatrommel:
The etched numberplates and works plates have arrived.
I also got round to fitting the handrails properly.

Front before:


Front now:


Number plate on the side:


Works plate:


The works plate has been customised to show the correct factory number and year of build.

Now I can face the job I hae been putting off for a long time: drivers desk and cab interior. This might take some time, but wait, there are still some small bits to fit to the bogies....

[The Bullet]

The Eagle BAT has landed.....

Today I received a parcel.
A slightly BATtered LBSC Bat.
4-4-0 loco, o-gauge, loosely based on a Schools class.
There is a grate for coal-firing and the monstrous LBSC "axle dodger" paraffin burner.

Needs a good clean. Some minor bits (hand pump handle, coupling pin, water gauge blowdown pipe) are missing.
Not sure if I should repaint it.

The loco was shown in the book "bat & Owl" by LBSC.

[James Harrison]

The more I looked at my ideas for RLS, the more they seemed to pall.  Especially the goods yard, but also the centre road through the station.  Nice idea, but a lot of wasted space when you consider to run a loco around in it you need twice the length of the engine- 2' is a lot of room. So I went back to the layout plan books and the ideas that inspired me in the first place.  Turns out you can take bits of one and sections of another and join them with plain line and, Frankenstein like, build your own plan.  This one has elements of C J Freezer and Iain Rice and I'd go so far as to say the only bits of Harrison in it is the plain line.   



It still wants some tweaking- I'm sure (in fact I have this evening) extended that curve at the top left to get the station (top run) on more of an angle to get rid of the blocky following the walls look.  I want it teardrop shaped, almost.  I have this thing about layouts where all the track is dead straight- it just doesn't look right.  I have this thing about layouts where the track is parallel to the edge of the baseboard or the walls of the room- it just doesn't look right.  I have this thing about layouts where every square inch of board is covered in track- it just looks like a toy. But this, I think, with a bit more work, will be just what I'm after. 

[The Bullet]

Time to work on the Taigatrommel:

Guess what this might be:



With a bit of paint:



This is where they go:



Battery box lid and catches were next.


Now I need to make the air pipes to the brake cylinders and the sand pipes.
Decals have also been fitted over the weekend.