BR Standard Class 4 Loco Build

Finally another dry fit to ensure the body sits nicely on the frames.

Once the body has been soldered up in its entirety the job will focus on adding edge beading and hand rails, the rear access ladder, lamp irons and the rear buffers, only then can the white metal castings can be added and the tender dressed complete.

 

Thanks Rob, it just seemed a very simple way to fix small rails and get them aligned equally and with ease, I'm really happy you will use this technique in your work... and of course anything else process wise for that matter you think holds merit. Yes I was surprised these buffers were brass, they needed a bit of drilling out and some filing but for something that won't easily be seen I do think they add to the overall standard of this kit, after all even if the etches have Acorn stamped into the frame edges and; it is definitely the remnants of an old Jim Harris kit Scorpio have made serious efforts to upgrade this loco with good replacement brass fittings. What I'd be interested in is to compare this build with one of their brand new offerings such as a Clan or a Brit for example which effectively is the same kit but with a larger boiler, pound for pound this whole build will have cost less than £500 when completed and I have learned so much in the mean time.

 

I'm seriously thinking of ordering a Proxxon microflame, I soldered the whitemetal brake hangers to their hinges and that was a quick in out with the heat... I'm not sure I'd feel ready enough at this stage to dress an etch side then seam up edges using a micro flame, but with a heat soak and water tray at the ready and a localised heat point with no messing about it should be ok.

 

I was talking to a bloke from Bridlington the other week who had been hang gliding off the top of the plantation ridge in our village, just off the top of my head I asked how much the kit cost and suggested £3500, the answer I got back was that might get you a set of second hand wings but head towards £10,000 for new and then the cost of the clothing and radio sets. So our hobby is cheap by comparison if approached with a level head, I think it can just be an initial shock to the uninitiated and of course keeping the hidden costs under control helps too.

 

I just thought I'd show the technique I use to solder on handrails formed from bending wire, there are three grab rails at the back of the BR2 tender, one perpendicular long rail on each side and a small horizontal one in the middle. The wire is 0.7mm nickel silver, keeping the bends aligned put the wire into its location with the long end intact.

The long end of wire can be held still with your thumb if difficult to use grippers.

Solder only one side for now, I solder the short end first then check for the usual levels and depth against the bodyside, when satisfied I solder up the long end and can use the long end as a lever if the wire moves slightly and spot reheating is required.

Once soldered up any final tweaking can be done using pliers .

Finally all rails should be the same distance away from the bodyside if a packer has been used at the soldering stage.

This can technique can be used in most situations as here on the long rails, all that remains now is the cleaning up of flux and the such.

 

With the tender body component pieces now all soldered up in good alignment, a job which was not as bad as I'd anticipated, attention turned to adding in some of the finer details such as the beading along to top edges of the coal hopper. The etch has a rebate lip on the straight runs in which to line up the wire before soldering, here the grippers hold this beading fast before tack soldering.

Afterwards the bead profile can be formed with needle files and all excess solder removed with wire wool.

 

Here are a few pictures of the nearly complete body, the lifting lugs inside the coal hopper are now fitted and only one end lug remains to be sweated on, the coal hopper floor shovel plate is installed as well also those gaps between the bulkhead cutaway and the long fire iron locker can be seen. This is a design flaw I'm sure since the bulkhead has been located correctly and as per the kit instructions and studying photos of the real thing... if I'd located this locker higher up then its floor would have been visible from inside the cab, it would have looked out of alignment by as much as 1.5 mm. I think after priming I'll fill out such anomalies as this with a sanding putty.

And the back end view.

And the front view... I couldn't resist remounting the body back onto the frames to take these pictures. Outstanding jobs include fixing the tank top handrails, adding the lamp irons and the last lifting lug then with a few pieces of lead fixed inside the tender body for weight the body can be soldered to the frames and the lower tumble home curve finally profiled correctly. All that is needed then is to dress the tender with all the white metal pieces.

 

London Road Models Rob... much cheaper

 

Trouble is with me Rob I get eye strain if I'm at the bench table too long, even tho I've a long reach mag lamp for aid... then I get distracted like I did earlier with our Parish Council business.

 

Well I've very nearly completed the small detailing pieces, everything going reasonably well and then having made up the access ladder as instructed I've discovered the etch is wrong. My etch has only four rungs and is actually about 3mm too short so when fixed the bottom of the ladder will hang free above the buffer beam, the real thing BR2 tender has 5 rungs. Ah well looks like we're in for a bit of scratching tomorrow.

 

The access ladder is too short ! Oh dear. The picture shows what I mean, so tomorrow a short extension will be made and the whole item cleaned up before soldering in place with allowance for a slight gap between the tank end wall and ladder rungs. We don't want the fireman falling off because of insufficient footing space.

 

You are probably right there Chatty, it seems to be a bit of an exclusive club reserved for the fit and healthy wealthy

 

Yes they are called Kirbigrips and funnily enough whilst working at a clients house the other day a mobile hairdresser turned up to "do" the ladies hair and she had a bag full of them. They looked like stainless the same as mine so presumably made so as not to rust from wet hair.