Steve Beattie kit NBL Class 21 build

Today I moved forward by fitting the roof panels and other detailing parts such as the exhaust port, radiator fan grill and trim around water fillers, this is a not particularly difficult part of the build but care must be given to ensure obtaining the correct curvature on the roof panels otherwise they won't sit down on the bodyshell properly, this means re-rollering these panels and dry fitting them to ensure they are seating properly. I started with the panel which has the circular cut out for the radiator fan grill because the across roof edges of this panel need to line up with the square cut out on each of the body sides and this is a good datum point to start from. So the first job after dry fitting is to scribe across the roof using this panel as a ruler, this will aid alignment when soldering, also mark a centreline on the roof but be aware that the other roof panels which have a catwalk which is offset from centre along their length, so don't use the mid point of the catwalk as the centreline.

Next I tinned up the back of the panel fluxing both the roof and panel and then positioning in place held with micro clips and hairpins, when ensuring this was seated properly I used my Proxxon microflame to sweat the panel in place.

Once a thin trickle of solder started to seep out around the outer edges I withdrew the flame and cooled the brass. This action is near identical to sweating plumbing joints onto copper pipes except on the model I was much more economical with burnishing the flame, in reality to make the surfaces connect it only needs a quick and short passes with the microflame. When you hear the flux fizzing the heat is about the right amount. Here is the first roof panel finished.

At a later stage in the build I intend to fine detail these panels with 1mm phosphor bronze strips which will make the panel edges.

Now all the other panels are dealt with the same way, now on the panels which have apertures for the water filler there are two small holes which will hold a grab handle, I didn't tin around this area as I didn't want to loose these holes when the solder flowed in the sweating process.

And this shows the method of holding down where clips can be passed through the vent holes and hairclips can be used along the roof line to make a good connection for sweating the pre tinned surface.

All the other roof panels are treated in the same manner.

 

Once all the roof panels have been fixed I dressed the roof with the detailing parts, basically I used the same fixing method which involved tinning the back edge, fluxing both faces and sweating with either the microflame of the tip edge of my replacement 40watt Weller iron.

Now before fixing the circular radiator grill there is a series of half etch marks on the underside of the rim which first need to be embossed before tinning. With a little care I was able to sweat this piece in without spoiling the vent mesh.

Finally here is the water filler surround trim and the recess for the boiler header tank along with an overlay on the end roof panel.

Tomorrow I shall fix the side louvers in place and have a look at the cab ends.

 

Sorry for the late reply Toto but I've been sweating it away in the Long Shed on the 21. No the parts are on order from the etchers which Steve is dealing with, basically I'm doing the 24 with full fairings and these are the etches needed, also on the same fret is the buffer beam for the 24. The one I temporarily fitted is for the 25 which is slightly different, so the only job I can do on it right now is complete the bogies but I got distracted by something North British . So far I've only formed the main cab etches but haven't have yet to do the windows and gangway connector.

 

This was the part of the build which involved fitting the side louvre vents and grills, easier said than done because a bit of research is needed at this point because the fixing involved knowing which side the hinges face. Now there are two grill types, four grill etches containing three vent apertures and eight grill etches with two vent apertures and it is these that care has to be taken. Basically the three vent grills are easy because the hinges are on the top, however on the smaller two vent type the hinges always face towards the Number 1 cab end, this means that with the Number 1 cab on the right hand end the smaller grills are fixed with their hinges on the right hand side, conversely if looking at Number 1 cab on the left hand side the hinges are on the left. Now all these grills need to be aligned equally over their bodyshell openings and care must be taken not to solder them out of alignment because the contact area is quite small.

I found the best way to solder these grills was to tack them on one side on the outside so the grill was held in position then turning the loco over hold the grill against the bodyshell and solder from the inside. I used a wooden lollipop stick pressed against the vent whilst I soldered it from the inside, all very basic really and the process has been covered with pictures already. Anyway after fitting the grills I added some more roof detailing.

The circular fan grill is tack soldered into position to hold it and the soldered from the inside with care to avoid spoiling the mesh, note again that a ring of fixing bolts needed to be embossed beforehand, I used my MRC embosser fitted with 7mm scale rivet punch and anvil. I've started to edge the roof panels with 1mm phosphor bronze strip which can be purchased from Albion Metals Ebay shop. I need to order more in order to complete edging the lower trims on all the roof panels.

Here is the smaller two vent grills with the hinges on the right and the Number 1 cab is to the right with the large square side wall radiator grill on the left.

And here is the larger three vent grills showing the hinges on the top edge as these opened upwards.

Finally the pose shot with main frame refitted again... there is still a lot of soldered cleaning to do. The final detailing is done after the cabs are fitted, this will be the next job this week.

 

There you are Steve, D6122 or was it D6121 ... the top roof panels definitely seemed to have had these strips across their arc but not along the length presumably so as to allow rainwater to flow away unhindered. It does look as if shallow rivets were used on that part of the panels, although I've left this feature out on this build.

 

Now this evening I did some serious thinking with a cursory move towards fabricating the cab assembly which hopefully will happen without incident. Firstly here are the main forward components, these consist of two cab roof sections which are profiled differently, the windshield etch which needs gentle forming, window frames and the three whitemetal cab front castings which need careful cleaning in order to make tidy fitting with the etches.

Note the forward cab roof section is tapered and incorporates a gentle downward slope, also note the half etch edges which assist location. There is also an etch beading strip which is soldered centrally over the both cab roof pieces.

Here is the front roof dome casting, the lower cast has been cleaned whilst the top one has yet to be dealt with, note the inset groove across the arc which is where the tapered forward roof etch will fit over.

Now in Part 4 of the kit instructions governing the cab assembly the first construction stage is to form the angle of the cab windshield piece, the way I did this was to place this etch face down on a foam sanding pad and gently press a Stanley blade down over the central window pillar. The back of this etch is the side which hasn't the half etch rebate lines in where the window frames fit into.

And here is the formed windshield, there is a diamond etch piece attached to this item on the fret, I used the shallow angle of this to help guide me in making this form. Now the next job will be to solder the frames in place and this will then instantly add some strength to this very delicate piece. I think a prudent move at this stage would be to cut the glazing which will be fitted after the soldering process and priming is complete.

 

Well I cannot see what other reason the rebates serve and the etches fit snugly onto them, also you will notice on the lower back of the cab nose castings there is a lug extrusion, I am fairly sure this can be used to help locate the buffer beam position... but I will stand corrected if otherwise stated. The main thing to be mindful of when cleaning away the flash is not to erase any rebate marks and lines, you will also find them on the sides of the cab nose casting too... its all part of the fun of the build. As I pointed out to folks here some time back I build these kits because I enjoy the making process and experience, its all about "horses for courses".

 

When cutting out the cab windshield glass from the transparent sheet provided I must admit I wasn't sure I'd achieve success and a reasonably good fit just by freehand, so I thought what was there to loose and in I went. Firstly I fixed the transparent sheet down onto one on my flat stones using "Frog Tape" making sure not to trap dust or tiny particles behind which could affect the cutting, then with a new Stanley blade and mag lamp brought in close I laid the flat cab window etch over the transparent plastic and gently scored around the perimeter of the opening taking great care not to move the etch in the process. The next step was to then follow around the fine marking with the blade making a deeper score mark.

Very carefully after a couple of turns I was able to release the glass shape needed for glazing.

It was just a matter of trial fitting into the etch and carefully "shaving" any excess from the edges which might prevent a reasonably flat fitting.

Now only another three to go, these glasses will be glued into position from behind after the cab soldering is finished, the front window frame etch will cover the glass edge and act as a form of seal just as in the real one.

 

Principally because I would like to see the glazing flush with the window frame and not inset by the thickness of the cab window etch, the side windows may be a little more tricky and a simple internal overlay there would suffice I think.

 

I had thought about inserting sections of glazing glued to the inside of the cab etch but on all Steve's kits whenever the build becomes intense it recommends not rushing and taking care which will reap dividends in the long run, so I work on that basis because I want to display this loco with "superfine" detailing just like a piece of art. Right now I'm heading into uncharted territory so it could all end up going horribly wrong... but its great fun and if I can pull some sort of a result it will be worth it.

 

Right that's the Delrin cogs and chain sets and the 1833 motors (five pole skew) ordered... I'm buying mine in from Taff Vale. Just got to order up the gear sets from Markits. When this lot comes I'll make a provisional start on the bogie frames.

 

There are a lot of different angle and radius lines that need to all come together correctly when putting the cab together, so after quite a bit of thought this is what I deduced. Obviously the start point is the cab sides on the main bodyshell, now on mine these have gone a bit out of true due to handling ... however careful I tried to be, not an issue but I had to bring them back into true and the only form I have is the whitemetal cab dome piece, remember the sides have to slope slightly inwards forward from the cab doors. At this point I have elected not to cut a slit in the sides as the instructions suggest... I may regret this later but I'm mindful of not weakening the sides any more than needed. So I started with the wider roof etch which is tapered and tinned the forward underside edge and offering the dome casting to it made sure it sat centrally and that the etch had equal overhang either side, I found wooden clothes pegs held them together nicely without any unwanted movement.

Then a very quick "in / out" in the middle with my Weller 40watt iron chisel tip, beware the whitemetal melts quickly so I didn't hang about with the heat! Once it had caught I tacked each end in the same way... my picture shows how I applied pressure to the ends so that the arc in the roof etch met with the casting which I had cleaned previously.

And there we are all jointed nice and snug, later on all the gaps and dips will be filled with an epoxy sanding compound such as Squadron Green Putty after priming in grey.

Now this assembly is the datum that is needed to bring the sides together correctly and to check that the cab windshield etch has been folded the correct amount, also note that this forward roof panel overhangs the cab side windows and that the thinner second roof panel sits flush over the doors... see the picture of D6122 posted previously. The roof panels are not soldered into place at this time as the cab windshield needs to be fitted first to set the widths.

 

As Toto says "steady ahead" which is just what I've been doing on the bench this evening, so the careful job of putting the cab together has started, now the next few pictures I'm showing mustn't be seen as a finished job as other segments of the build have been. The assembly starts with soldering in the glazing frames onto the cab windshield etch, I fluxed the frame rebate and started soldering in a top corner and slowly worked my way around the perimeter gently teasing the frame into shape with the tip of the iron. Getting solder on the frame doesn't matter in fact since the original ones were made from stainless metal this won't look wrong.

The second step was to tack solder the front windshield into place noting a correct alignment of edges, this took me a couple of attempts to get right because if this item brings the cab sides in too much then the nose casting won't fit correctly, so its worth taking a bit more time on this bit even if it means undoing some of the joints. Now it is worth noting at this point that the Class 21 I'm modeling has window wipers fitted above the windows so the lower hole for loco's fitted with low wipers can be filled in with solder.

The next step is to test fit the front dome which I'd previously soldered together, points to note are that the roof edge overhangs the side windows and it joins the rear roof panel midway between the cab door and side window.

Once satisfied I tack soldered this piece in from underneath, it is most important to realise that the white metal will melt very quickly as I found out to my cost when tacking the top of the cab windshield up onto the centre of the roof dome, I then soldered the rear roof panel in position. This piece tucks up against the main roof section just under the half etch line and also does NOT overhang the door, later on I will add a gutter strip at this point. When I was satisfied everything was good I seamed up the etches from inside the cab. It is worth noting that at this stage the cab is nowhere near finished as the photo's are deceiving and give the impression of a not so accurate shape. Worry not as I am going to dress the cab in the next phase after some initial fillering with Green Putty to gain the shape.

Now here is the first pass with the filler knife over the front of the dome, I will leave this to harden overnight and then wet and dry into a basic shape tomorrow, this will aid me when it comes to fitting the blunt nose and buffer beam into getting the correct forward profile shape. It's a bit like making a piece of art, a little piece at a time and incremental progress is made All will be revealed soon.