BR Standard Class 4 Loco Build

Anyway focus has on this build has now moved back to the tender, as I'm still waiting for the 5BA shim washers to arrive which is preventing me from completing the inner frames attention turned to the tender body etches, and that means rivet embossing and lots of them too. So before anything happens the rivet impressions need to made first.

So a start has been made on the outer frame etches, I'm using a rivet press made by Midland Railway Centre in Kettering with two different sized punch and anvils, for the larger rivets I'm using a 0.07mm press and for the smaller rivets a 0.4mm press, when it comes to the boiler casing and forming the tiny impressions I'll use a gravity embosser as the press won't go inside the rolled boiler... anyway that's for later on.

 

Some of the main tender component pieces... all needing the attention of the press.

This picture shows the inside face of the tender body side and the curves that will need to be made to form the profile curvatures.

 

I did this last night, it's the inner firebox former which will have the outer skin formed from the half etches and the backhead and firebox front are white metal castings which will be soldered on, again this work will come later on. I'm not too worried by excess solder on the seams here as this inner piece will be hidden and house the motor anyway. The main thing is it sits square and flat on the granite flatbed so I know that the castings will fit flush and therefore the boiler barrel will sit neatly on its correct alignment.

 

Well that's all the large rivets embossed on the tender body etches, the smaller rivets of
the hinges on the coal doors are next and that is tomorrow evenings job, these will be embossed using the 0.4mm punch and anvil. While I'm at it I'll punch the ones on the loco footplate too.

So work starts in earnest now on building up the tender.

 

Pat Ennis at Scorpio Models is a really nice chap very obliging and very helpful, he is the man you talk to when you ring your order in. The Dean Goods is part of the Severn Models range and are great kits to build (as I am told by others much more proficient then me) and the pictures I've seen of this engine in the Guild Gazette certainly looks impressive. Anyway thanks for the nice comments David and I also look forward to following the Dean Goods build thread.

 

Well after Saturdays jolly in York it was back to the grindstone or more like the soldering and rivet pressing, here are a few update pics. All the large and small rivets on the tender etches have been pressed and the side etches have been profiled to shape now all that remains is to solder in the detailing and some castings before final assembly takes place.

 

The tender brake rigging is now complete and nothing catches or snags against the wheels, later on I'm going to install additional pick up wipers on the tender and use malleable silicone wire to the motor, sound advice offered by Moderator Paul. I just need to ask what gauge thickness wire is best suited for this job and what is the coding as it's all double dutch to me . So here are a few pics of the completed tender frame in the mean time and now its back focusing on the tender body.

 

Thanks Rob, yes I will indeed and credit here goes to Dundee Paul for this because we were taking about wire gauges and pick ups and the fact I've used a too rigid wire on the Hymek bogies which resulted in the sprung tips wearing flat and loosing connectivity. So silicone wire is what the radio control lads use on cars etc and it is pliable enough to still allow free movement in confined spaces... I just need to work out which gauge wire for maximum current draw then I'll post up the pics.

 

So for the last few evenings attention turned to preparing the tender body pieces namely the build and dressing of the bulkhead, there was not much of interest to post in the prepping of this item beyond the usual spot soldering ... a quick in and out with heat, folding parts and sweating on fittings all run of the mill stuff. The one main problem area I did encounter is that when the long locker for keeping the jigger picks and clinker irons in is folded from the etch it doesn't line up well with the apertures in the bulkhead, so I've only tack soldered it in place to maintain maneuverability when it comes to aligning it correctly onto the tender side panel and coal hopper, just a little thing to watch out for if anyone wants to do a similar kit at any time. Now the last item soldered in place is the tender grab rails which are formed from 0.7mm wire... very fiddly bits so this is how I did them so they looked right.

I formed the angles on the wire and firstly only soldered the bottom piece to hold in place, the wire was kept aligned by inserting a Stanley blade against the back and leaving the wire across to the other side.

When the top angle on the grab rail was soldered tight a nice clean parallel finish is achieved, it is then merely a matter to cut the wire and with a needle file clean the back of the joints.

The other side can be treated similarly except there is no opposite hole to use so keep the wire aligned with a bit of tack tape.

 

Attention also turned again to the tender frames, this kit asks the builder to mark and drill new points for the holding down bolts presumably because the tender I'm building which is the BR 2 version has subtle differences in its fixing from the origin Acorn etches intended for the Brit or 9F. Now the other decision that has to be taken regards the buffers, because the original 12 inches to the foot scale one had self contained buffers the choice for the model is either to fix the buffers as rigid and leave the rear portion of the frames alone or to cut small apertures into the end portion of each frame to allow the buffers to spring. I opted for the latter as the modification can be hidden behind the rear steps. So this is the next job on the tender frames.

The side frames have been fitted to the body frame base and the axle keeps have been folded up and sweated fast. The front and rear 8BA nuts have also been soldered and the complete tender frame is sitting down level all round and starting to look like a locomotive tender.
Anyway here are a couple of pictures of progress so far.

 

The tender sides are now ready to be tack soldered together but before I do that its a final check to see that the pieces will fit snugly, I use the tender tank end etch as a profile gauge for this job but before this item is soldered to the side etch there is a thin tab on the top face against the coal hopper back wall that will need to be removed with my Zircon snips.

And the front bulkhead now dressed complete is also checked for a snug fit before tack soldering tomorrow.

 

I've also made the buffer units up as well, they spring nicely and have good compression, not to soft and not stubbornly hard either, I will need these to check clearances when making up the rear side steps this week. I'll also make up the dragbox buffing gear and coupling pin at the same time.

 

Back at the second division locomotive build workshops where the apprentices are often a little slow on the production line the BR Standard 4 tender is progressing well. Since the last time I posted the outer tender frames have been put together with making up the side steps and tender running plate and assembling the tender drag box buffers, no problems at all here and a regular offering up to check clearances with the inner frames made this part of the build easy. For anyone wishing to build a similar loco of this type from the Scorpio stable please be aware that the tender detailing etches are handed, for example, on the etch carrying the left hand bodyside piece the footstep etches are also intended for the left side since they are located on the same etch frame. Sadly the silly apprentice at the Pocklington locomotive workshop cut all the side etches off and completely missed the fact that the side step etches could get put on on the wrong sides... some say sods law others tell the truth. Of course sods law won the day but really it is only down to which side the step rivets are on and they can hardly be seen... however for me I now know for the next time.

 

Now the dragbox buffers spring quite simply by a length of soldered wire pivoting on a fixed point, in this instance an 8BA bolt.

 

And with the outer frame mated to the inner chassis frame there is just sufficient clearance for the buffing heads to be compressed by the engine when passing through curves, as can be seen the ends of the inner chassis frame have been reduced to allow for free motion of the tender buffers.

 

So attention now turns to the body as this will need to be put together and soldered to the outer frame before any white metal castings can be added in the dressing stage of the build. I started by soldering the sides to the front bulkhead as previously described in an earlier posting, when I was satisfied both sides were square and a good fit I added the tank end piece which involved a fold to form the tank top. Now the instructions say to remove an end tab if making the BR2 version as otherwise it will interfere with the back etch that makes up the coal hopper, quite why the etch had a tab in the first instance I don't know since both these items have profile shapes that can only make a BR2 tender.

Here is the problem area that needs careful trimming and filing.

At this stage some of the pieces are still a dry fit and the lifting lugs have yet to be soldered in to the coal hopper sides.

But generally we can see the recognizable Riddles style slowly coming to life.

 

And here is that problematic jigger pick stowage tunnel, I will solder this tight when all the body pieces are marked up centrally and soldered together in one operation, for now it is best to go softly softly and consider each next move and what that will involve. Also the tank inspection hatch can be seen, this involved making a rectangular hole in the side piece and soldering a half etch into place from the inside. It goes without saying this needs to be done before building up the body.