BR Standard Class 4 Loco Build

Hey Paul your Nellie is a crackin' nice little engine.. I'm very happy to know you like this build... thanks for the nice comments.

 

Thanks Toto I really appreciate your support and comments.. at the risk of repeating myself I,ve just emailed Hobby Holiday asking for an update on the jig.

 

Thanks Gents for all the kind comments and interest in the Standard 4 build.

 

I chose the Master Chassis jig over the Avonside version because the MC one has a rolling road incorporated which allows for testing at all point of the build, so I rang Phil at Hobby Holidays to ascertain if the "out of stock" status would change soon and was told new jigs would be made for sale and the delay was down to that old adage of time versus exhibitions... where have we all heard that before. Anyway Phil took my order which was in early March and said my jig would be available by the end of April, he would email to say when it is ready and payment can be made. Here is a link to what I ordered.

http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/masterchassis1.php

When it arrives I'll post up pictures and a bit of blurb on what you get etc... so yes I want to get on with the main frames as making the tender is just treading water but it does mean that when the engine is built there will be complete loco ready for painting with no hold ups.

 

When we were at York I asked the person at Eileen's Emporium if she had a 7mm jig and she said they only had 4mm ones in stock, so it looks like there has been a bit of an up surge in O Gauge kit building recently.

 

I don't know how he does it... soon he'll have more locos than British Railways ever did.

 

Whilst waiting for this soon to be chassis jig to arrive I started on prepping up a few of the other items needed in the main frame build and thought I'd flag up a couple of things I discovered to help others who may want to build this loco or similar. Firstly turning to the springs, these nickel silver etches comprise of three layers, a detailed top layer and a second which folds over in half... here is where I made the first discovery. The folded etch piece tends to spring back with an unsightliness and is difficult to hold nicely aligned as seen with the etch I'm holding.

So it is best to separate this item and laminate the spring as three layers, using my super duper clips and with the aid of an engineers square a nice alignment can be met sandwiched with flux before sweating the solder in.

And finally there we have it... a laminated spring cleaned up and ready, only another five to do.

 

So carrying on this afternoon from spring making attention was turned to the side rods as these components are fundamental in setting up wheel spacings on the chassis jig. Now the BR Standard 4 locos were originally built with fluted side rods, these were later changed for flat faced rods and since the loco I aim to recreate is from that later period I won't be needing the fluted side rod option which comes with the Scorpio kit.

The side rods are formed as a lamination, again there are three layers and great care has to be taken in positioning prior to soldering, a dry run using the good old micro clips and a thread stripped old bolt are good for holding the layers together.

Prior to actual soldering it is most important that the whole of each rod component layer is checked for flatness, I use an engineers square to do this.

Now on the middle layer forming the rod on top of the crank pin oil chambers a tiny pip represents the oil cork stopper, this must not be filed away when the fret pips are removed, also the BR side rods have an arc edge profile as they are not parallel in length.

The first segment of side rod is soldered and cleaned.

 

Finally the two halves can be put away safely whilst the other side is done, compare the profile with my unused fluted rod. It is also important at this stage to check again that the rods are both flat in length and have not warped whilst soldering.

Later on after the second rod is built up both side rods will be clamped together and all crank pin holes drilled out for a good snug fit, this will also ensure that the both side rod sets are of equal length and a trouble free setting up on the jig will happen. Remember wheel centres, bearings or hornblocks and side rods have got to all be set at the same equal distances in relationship to each other otherwise the loco chassis will not role freely and more likely cause damage and or adversely wear the smaller moving parts.

 

Thanks Paul, Yes I know what you mean, I did have a good look about for something to hold the rod ends tightly but everything seemed a little slack as it were, the stripped brass bolt was the best fit. I wouldn't recommend holding the rods together with something that could get stuck but with great care I managed by soldering down the top edge run to grab the laminates then removing the bolt and continuing the solder around the crank pin hole, the main concern is to avoid any heat buckling which luckily I avoided. For the life of me I cannot remember what I used on the F5 side rods when I built that loco.

 

Thanks Keith, I'll do that on the next build (keep you all guessing which loco it is ) ... actually there's the con rods to do, so a drill bit and a small panel pin set into a block of wood it is.