I don't have any thin enough, it won't be seen and I have used what I have. I'm happy with it. Cheers, Pete.
I do use real wood where it will fit, but strangely it doesn't always scale well. Sometimes, depending on the wood used, it can look out of place in model form despite it, in theory, being the 'correct' material.
Just for interest and to show you arnt missing out on any parts. Here's the cab floor fitted to my ACE j69. This is the latest version of the kit you have. Notice how i've modified the cab to the earlier narrow design by cutting the sides and cab front/rear . The floor fits perfectly without any modifications. This means if you are making one of the later locos with the wide cab as you are it would be useless.
From the look of it I may not have an Ace kit, still I'm persevering with it though it is definitely fighting me! I will take and post some more photos later, if I can remember to take my camera with me . Pete.
I reckon you have the orignal ravenscale kit or a very early ace version before william redrew it with a few modifications on CAD. Your boiler, tanks and running plate are identical to mine. I've butchered mine somewhat to make an earlier version with a narrow cab
As promised a few more photos of progress, some will show up my mistakes but to be honest this was never going to be a showcase model and I have no doubt there will be more gaffs but I will be happy with the end result regardless. I've fitted the dome, Ross pop safety valve which I've pinched from the other kit as the ones supplied looked nothing like the correct type. And the whistle which I also had to make more like the real thing. The coal rails to the rear windows were a faff, on the next build I will fit them while still in the flat. In fact there will be a lot of pre assembly of detail parts as this kit is really educating me! The hand rail knob looks wrong, so I've ordered some short ones from Roxey models, hopefully they and some brass wire from Eileens will arrive soon. Cheers, Pete.
looking good. you have done a better job with the smokebox than i did. The kit now comes with an etched overlay for the rivets. Problem is that it is not long enough and theres a gap where it meets the running plate. hopefully this is hidden by the front sand fillers. Mine didn't come with any ross pops but i managed to source some LNER ones from a B1 i believe which look similar to the ones the loco i'm building had. I particulary like the way you have split the body into two parts.
I've had a delivery from Eileens and Roxey Mouldings, to be fair they both arrived about a week or so ago but only just got around to using them. Anyway I had to do some remedial work by fixing my c^&k ups. Holes drilled in the wrong places, holes too big, after sorting those I fitted the short handrail knobs with the new brass wire, a little stressful but I got there. Also the lamp bracket above the smokebox door (which I have to fit yet). I also made this pipe and fitting on the smokebox side, I don't know what it is for but unfortunately it wasn't with the kit. The loco I'm building has this fitting so I just made my own. I had a short piece of brass bar and cut and filed it to shape, soldered a nut for the pipe and jobs a guddun. I've given it a clean up and washed the flux off and is drying ready for the next job! Cheers, Pete.
I believe its vacuum ejector. I will have to make one too. Theres so many variations on these locos. I reckon the kit was designed to make one of the air brakes passenger locos as built. If you want to build a freight loco with vac brakes it's up to yourself.
Paul beat me to it Pete, To save you much filing should you need elbows for vacuum ejectors again, Jim McGeown does a sprue of lost wax castings for pipe elbows and clack valves. The sprue has plenty for several locos.
An update on the pipework and other gubbins. I have fitted the Westinghouse pump and piped it up with brass wire and 16BA nuts. Not a true to life representation but the best I can come up with. Also I've fitted the buffer bodys, soldered from the rear, when they're cleaned up I will drill through from the front and fit some representations of bolt heads, now I think I have some Grandtline plastic ones, somewhere......... If I can't find them I will order up some brass 16BA nuts from Roxey Mouldings and make my own. Thats all for now. Cheers, Pete.
Hi Pete, you can make your own mini hex nuts from microbore tube for pennies. I am fortunate in having a pin vice to hold the tube which has a hex shaped collar but if you don't a normal small pin vice can be modified by slipping a suitable sized tight fitting hex nut over the shaft and using a file with a safe edge to file flats corresponding to the flats on the nut. Just keep filing a couple of strokes turn it over to the next flat and so on until you have a hex nut. I recently made some and tapped them 14ba to replace some rather chunky nuts on the valve gear on the Streamlined Coronation.
A bit more done. The smokebox door glued on, the pipe on 'tother side of the boiler, I've used some bluetack type of putty to hold it in place, I'm not impressed with Araldite 5 minute epoxy, it takes an absolute age to set where the Wickes own brand I normally use, they've sold out, works a treat! I've also started on the backhead, the drawing it came with is dubious to say the least. I hope the parts I've fitted give a reasonable look of the real thing as I don't have a decent photo of the real one. Also, like a lot of the rest of the kit, parts are missing particularly the regulator handle, something I can scratch build. Anyway thats it for now, me doggys need feeding before they waste away Cheers, Pete.
Nice looking backhead casting though Pete Given the kit's other quirks, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had shown a misshapen whitemetal lump.
Thats a nice looking blackhead. My version of this kit didnt come.with a blackhead at all. Not even a flat pack one that ace kits are famous for. Not sure if it's a deliberate omission or missing as it's not mentioned in the instructions