Ivatt 2-6-2 Mickey Mouse tank engine in 7mm scale

Discussion in 'Workshop Benches' started by York Paul, Nov 13, 2019.

  1. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Kettles, that's more like a real loco, none of this oil burning malarky

    Paul
     
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  2. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Well this one will look super when turned out in Rail Blue with large logo "intercity" arrows on the tank sides and full yellow smokebox and wrap round coal bunker... oh and a Stratford stylee silver cab roof :avatar:
     
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  3. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    erm.....

    AB0ECEB6-E880-46E2-9D85-64BFE4387E55.jpeg

    (not my photo) courtesy of Endon Valley Custom Transfers)
     
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  4. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Nah... that's not right in a million years... the smokebox and front footplate should be all over warning panel yellow along with the cylinder fronts, the cab should be yellow with black window outlines and the rear bulkhead of the tender complete with buffer beams should also be yellow. Cab roof silver and all motion bright yellow, the TOPS number should be in bold along the side of the boiler. Maybe a red stripe or two somewhere just to make the livery look convincing to customers... oh sorry I mean passengers. :avatar:
     
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  5. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Sorry to say Andy, but that looks horrible
     
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  6. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    So last night I felt the magnetic forces of building another steamer too great to resist and after considerable thought and initial planing I put the main frames together, before starting anything a pair of compensation beams were made and marked into position so that the axle holes could be elongated by 1mm on their vertical axis. I held off dealing with the front axle holes until the beam was fitted because I needed to reposition the front axle hole centre in order to accept the new (correct size) side rods. Here is a general view showing last nights work, the bar across the centre is the reversing shaft which will be trimmed accordingly when work reaches that stage.

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Possibly vile I'd say... it reminds me of the VofR tank engines in the early 70's with vinyl stick on arrows on the tank sides and a rail grey cab interior.
     
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  8. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    With the front end frames sliced off at an angle of 1 in 20 a new end piece was made with centre line notched to allow for lining up of the cylinder block and refitted front frames, two 1.2mm pilot holes have been added at 6mm either side of the centre line, these will accept the block when fitted. Note also the new end section is slightly lower than the side frames this is because a support bracket will be fitted on the cylinder block to hang onto the mainframe and this must not fowl the footplate and smokebox saddle from locating properly. The end piece is just tack soldered on for now and will be seamed up when I'm happy the block will align to it correctly.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2019
  9. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    The compensation beam is made from slightly thicker brass etch than the Acme frames which is 16thou and flimsy, here I have added in a line of rivets to simulate the bottom of the firebox. The two small outer holes are intended for sprung pick ups to be fitted... I cannot see how this could ever have worked properly given their position so I'll be using a wiper contact for the centre and rear driving wheels. The other hole below the frame cut out is to carry the brake hanger and I have already made clearance in the compensation beam for this.


    [​IMG]
     
  10. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    I've checked the axle hole positions with my sprung dummy axle aligners and the new side rods fit perfectly, the mainframe is quite straight and sits nicely flat on my trusty stone slab, so now its on with the wheels and test rotation with the side rods in place then fit the brake hanger brackets. Next job after that will be to set up the brake rigging, that will be fun as I'll have to scratch build the cranks that go on the brake shaft. Looks like another tag on order to Laurie this time for back sand boxes, cylinder excess pressure relief valves and drain cocks... that hopefully along with a set of outside motion and con rods from LGM will see the frames wanting for nothing except a decent motor and gearbox.

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    So the driving wheels are now test fitted and the chassis free rolls nicely, I was going to fit siderods using the Slaters crankpins but they just slipped into the wheels with a ton of wobble, this won't end nicely if I glue these in and the siderods bind so it was a rummage through the parts bin and to the rescue came a full set of Markits 10BA heavy duty crank pins and return crank. When the wheels come off again I'll drill the back of the wheels to 2mm dia and this will give an interference fit and if I get it right the siderods will just slip into place. Now whilst the wheels are in position I decided to install the brake rigging, guess what... the original hole spacings for the brake hanger brackets were wrong so I drilled new hole positions 1.5mm closer to the wheel rims, this was still generous but looks much better. Next problem to raise its head was the brake hangers looked rubbish, so another trip to that now overworked parts bin found a full set of BR standard brake hangers made from nickel silver etch, these were spare from the Scorpio BR standard 4 kit which I didn't need. These look a heap better with greater detail, so onward and upward I thought until I realised the etches didn't contain the brake shaft cranks which transmit motion from either the hand brake handle or vacuum brake control... a bit more scratching was in order... I'm getting used to this ... a kit with no bits. :avatar:

    I also fitted the white metal springs... probably one of the few castings that are any good... here are a couple of pictures of progress so far.

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Here is the scratch built brake shaft with cranks and brackets, from the drawing these are about the right size. On order from LGM are a couple of lost wax rear sand boxes and the cylinder drain valves... next job is to make the new removable cylinder block.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Thank goodness it’s not mine.. (was posted else where and nicked for fun for Paul’s post! :avatar:)
     
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  14. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Having never done an O gauge loco kit (ok, I did the slaters Leek and Manifold Kitson) how do the wheels go together? Your going through an eyelet in the chassis, so unlike OO wheel sets, I guess they come off the axle?
    How do you get them quartered etc?
     
  15. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Hi Andy,

    The ends of the axles are squared on Slaters wheels (a bit similar to Markits in 00) so quartering is quite easy. For those that are really particular they also do axles quartered at 120 degrees for 3 cylinder locos but you have to request them when placing an order.
     
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  16. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Ah, I see. how do you secure them on? I remember a OO DJH kit I had where there was a threaded (round) nut which you secured with a U shaped prong to lock it on.
    do these secure in a similar way? (I don’t do loco kits as you may guess but find them very interesting)
     
  17. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    The Alan Gibson driving wheels secure in the same way in 4mm scale, using the same type of forked nut driver. Building kits is a good way to get a model of any loco unobtainable in RTR Andy, but it's certainly not a cheap way of getting anything that is available RTR. By the time you've sourced wheels, motor, gearbox etc, not to mention replacing items which may be supplied but fall short on quality, bought, assembled, sprayed and lined the loco (and that's assuming that items like valve gear will assemble and operate as they should!), if you've still got your sanity by this point, by the time you've added up what it's cost in money terms alone, you could be excused for thinking "Why did I bother?"
    On the other hand, if it's one not available in RTR but you 'Really, really MUST have one', then it's a case of 'Bite the bullet' and be prepared for the cost. How do I know this?? 'Cos I've already "Been there, Done that" (to my cost both financial and sanity-wise!). It can be very satisfying though, and the only way to get experience in kit-building is to have a bash at it, there's no short cut I'm afraid......if you can solder reasonably, and this ability is almost compulsory with model railways, then do have a go, you may be pleasantly surprised at how even white metal goes together so long as you have the right tools, as with most things.
    Keith.
     
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  18. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    This is what you do if you use the Slaters wheel system, there are other wheel manufacturers such as Walsall and Markits but
    Too true Keith... bite the bullet I must have swallowed a hand grenade and Toto eaten a whole magazine case.:avatar:
     
  19. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Here you are Andy, these are the basic components to make one of the two trucks on this Ivatt tank, the wheels are by Slaters, you can see the square ends on the axle which press fit onto the wheels and held fast with the countersunk screw. The brass bushes hold the axle onto the truck frame and the white metal spring assembly will be reamed to accept the brass bush, the white metal spring is merely cosmetic but does add weight. Notice how flimsy the truck frame is... it will need substantial modifications to add strength and weight, also I'll add a pivot spring which will hold the truck down onto the rails and add lateral sideplay to hold the truck neatly in the mainframes. The object of the exerciser is to prevent the truck from spinning round whenever the loco is lifted off the tracks and to reduce stress on the truck pivoting pin. I'll also add dummy secondary coil springs and the swing link assembly.


    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Hi Keith,
    Yes I’ve done a few kits, but not always with success.

    by chance, here is one I made earlier which is white metal.
    C8F269E4-E729-494B-99C1-E5858235A2E1.jpeg
     
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