Boiler and footplate assemble’s loosely positioned back together after painting them both separately. Smoke box door, and cab drop plates plus the side window screen supports still drying off. I’ll leave the model alone now for a few days to harden off before reassembling it and adding the final detailing bits.
Excellent work. One of the things i particularly like about djh kits is how they lend themselves to making sub assemblies making painting easier
Cheers Paul. Yes I’m impressed so far. Not much more I can do now till the hornblocks arrive other than to laminate all the rods together. kim
Made a start on laminating the rods today. First job to identify which ones go where and on which side and in the correct order.
Next job was to add the 4 screws to allow the rods to articulate. These need to be tapped 12BA then assembled. Not really liking the “screws” that are supplied. They come supplied cast on a sprue, first thing in the kit I’ve not really been happy with. They did eventually go together and the rods are free moving. I then continued laminating all the remaining parts with a small amount of assembly. The chassis now needs to be built so that the rods can be installed and checked for free running then add these following remaining assembled parts. As luck would have it, postman Bruce arrived today with the hornblocks so all steam ahead .... onto the chassis......
Trial fit of the cylinders that’s about as far as I think I can go now, so it’s time for a good clean up and then the chassis can be primed and painted. A trial fit before cleaning.
The only thing I'm not keen on so far in this kit is the screwed spacers. I've had this on a 4mm kit (think it was the DJH 'Rebuilt Merchant Navy') and to prevent any loosening of the spacer screws over time, I substituted the supplied cheese-headed screws for countersunk, countersunk the holes in the chassis frames, 'Loctited' the screws in place then soldered the screw heads and filed them flush. I can see that there are several soldered spacers in addition in this kit so perhaps not so critical, but those cheese-headed screws sure don't look pretty when they're on view! Keith.
First test run with just the main rods fitted. Rods to assemble next, lots of nice small nuts and bolts to play with. First test run with rods attached and chassis pickups wired wheels / rods blackened Now due to my decision to install horn blocks, has caused a slight issue installing the springs as they would not fit. Part of the etch had to be cut away to give clearance to the horn block. I didn’t fit them straight away as I needed to test and run the chassis allowing me the option to and remove wheel sets should there have been an issue. Thankfully as the videos show she ran without any further work needed so these springs now need installing. Painted up and then the fixing points cleaned up. Their position on the chassis lots of metalwork in the area to be soldered up and due to the white metal components I opted to try out my new toy, a RSU, which should give an instant soldered joint before the white metal dissolves. add the solder paste, press the probe tight against the joint, press the foot pedal and instantly and good joint with no damage to the white metal. all eight soldered up in a couple of minutes. RSU and heavy base plate to work on plus the solder paste and carbon probe. ( I’ve used a long tip here as access between the gear box and the spring joint was very tight. Normally the tip is only about 5-10mm long) brakes to install next, again white metal parts which need a little cleaning up before I can fit them. Kim
Hello, I`m having a Gladiator 8F built for me , the rivetted tender is built . I would like LMS livery for my ( 4 ) 8305 but there are too many decals to choose from and Fox transfers cannot be sure which would be the correct livery, any ideas?. The loco now preserved on the GCR was on shed at Wellingborough ( 15A ) January 1948.
Wow - just catching up this build, and simply WOW. How you getting on with the RSU - I have been tempted for one of these for over 30 years , but not taken the plunge yet, I could never justify the cost, however, I know have 6 loco kits (O gauge, and several 4 mm kits hiding in fear some where ), and that temptation is starting to raise its ugly head again . Paul
Hi Tony, I’ve not decided on my intended victim yet, but it will certainly be a BR livery version. Yes, decals can be a bit of a mine field, you will need to gather as many pictures of 8305 as you can to decide which ones you need. A google search has thrown up this link:- https://modeleng.proboards.com/thread/5208/lms-black-5-font-help
Hi Paul, early days as I’ve only had it for a week, but so far I’m very impressed with the results, and if it continues to perform as well as it has so far on the next kit build then I think I will be kicking myself for not taking the plunge along time ago when I first saw a demo using one. So far results both tacking together, seam joints and adding large brass off cuts to brass etch have been amazing. Very clean joints and virtually no clean up. White metal needs more testing as you need to get the amps spot on, but the small amount I’ve done helped me do the springs on this build, which I know I would not have been able to do with a soldering iron with out melting the white metal. you soon learn to hold the probe in place and release the foot switch BEFORE moving the probe as the resulting arc weld and flash soon wakes you up I’ll try and do a few tests on a video for you if your interested. Kim
I must admit I've thought about an RSU myself but felt I couldn't justify the cost, since I normally use a microflame for all my brass soldering as I find it so much easier, though flux cleanup can be messy as I use Phosphoric acid, and only use a temperature controlled electric iron for white metal soldering. I've never used solder paste myself and I gather it has a limited shelf life of around 6 months. Is your RSU an Australian brand or 'London Road Models' one Kim, a 'Demo' video would be great? Keith.