David Andrews Princess Royal - 6206 Princess Marie Louise

Discussion in 'Platform1mrc 2022 Loco Build Competition' started by Rob Pulham, Feb 3, 2022.

  1. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Hi Pete,

    I agree, when you are building for yourself, it's easy to accept a compromise that you perhaps wouldn't if you were building it for someone else.

    Building something for someone else, really does help you to push your boundaries. By coincidence I have just spent the whole of Sunday rolling a boiler for a fellow guild member who doesn't have any rolling bars. The reason that it took most of the day was that it was 8" long and made out of really thick nickel which had been riveted along the firebox crown. It was just too long to fit comfortably in my rollers so I borrowed a neighbour's who has a 12" version of the MiniFormit. What I didn't take into account when I agreed to do the job is that his rollers are thicker to compensate for the longer length.

    This meant that I could only roll half a circle which was hard enough then it was a combination of my two sets of roller and some persuasion with the rubber mallet. If it had been mine I would have scrapped it and made a new one from some thinner material, but because it was a favour I just kept plugging away at it. In the end it wasn't perfect but far than someone with no rollers would have achieved in such thick material.
     
  2. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    As sometimes happens I had a little distraction from levelling up the boiler. While stripping the firebox off to adjust it to get it to sit down snugly, I noted that I hadn’t fitted parts 74E and 74F which are ‘L’ shaped rivet strips that fit around the rear splashers. I thought it best to fit them while I had the firebox off. Just to catch out the unwary, these are supposed to be handed but are in fact etched the same hand.

    I did think about trying to press out the rivets from the face side so that I could use it upside down on the opposite hand but because its half etched, it made centring the rivet press on the half-etched rivets very difficult. In the end it was much easier to cut the leg off the ‘L’ and add it as two separate parts. Actually, you can barely see the joint when looking from above so it should be almost invisible from the ¾ side view once painted.

    IMG_0001.JPG

    Then I took a little more off the firebox arches where they clear the rear splashers to get the firebox to sit properly on the footplate.

    IMG_0008.jpg

    IMG_0009.jpg

    I also took a little more off the left hand middle splasher which has centred the boiler but it’s still a little high at the front. More needed off both sides.

    IMG_0007.JPG
     
  3. ianvolvo46

    ianvolvo46 Staff Member Moderator

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    It just gets better and better :tophat::tophat::tophat:

    Ian vt
     
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  4. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Before taking more off the middle splashers, I eased the cut outs and bottom of the boiler at the firebox end to get it to sit better against the front of the firebox it didn’t need much but it seemed to help. Then I removed some more from the middle splashers


    Test 1 Left.jpg


    Test 1 Right.jpg


    and I also milled some more off the smokebox saddle to reduce its height. I have had off forum discussions with a couple of people who have built these and both said that they had to scratch build the front saddle as they couldn’t get the casting to sit low enough. Just as a precaution I knocked one up from an offcut of 0.7mm nickel.


    IMG_0002_2.JPG


    At this point the scratch built one needs shortening.


    I took a couple of photos with the replacement in place to see how it fit.


    Test 2 Left.jpg


    Test 2 Right.jpg




    And finally for last night I took a couple more after trimming back the splashers a bit more and reducing the height of the saddle casting again – it’s getting there.


    Lower Saddle Left.jpg


    Lower Saddle Right.jpg
     
  5. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Rob,
    Having seen a few steam locos rebuilt, I assume there isn’t a cut out in the boiler cladding over the splashers? (Which is hard to replicate when you only have the one skin on a model)
     
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  6. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Hi Andy,
    Apparently there was on early locos before they had different boilers fitted later in life, behind the rear two splashers. But they are quite difficult to see on photos. The jury is still out as to whether I attempt to replicate it, because I am not sure that it's worth risking wrecking the boiler for something that you can't readily see on the prototype let alone the model.
     
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  7. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    No, I wouldn’t. It would mean a double skin to your boiler barrel. It was a mere question but it’s how we as modellers go about interpreting these little details.

    andy
     
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  8. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    At this point there was 0.1mm difference in the height of the DA saddle casting and my scratched up one from nickel so I popped it in the mill for one last skim and removed the last 0.1mm. The saddle casting is now 0.7mm deep in the centre and that makes the bottom of the smokebox 0.3mm below the frame tops.

    IMG_0003.jpg


    Now it was time to sit it on a sheet of toughened glass in lieu of not having a surface plate and checking with my height gauge to see if the smokebox is level.

    IMG_0790.JPG

    IMG_0791.JPG

    Yeay!! It sits dead level.

    IMG_0001.JPG

    IMG_0793.jpg

    IMG_0972.jpg

    In the last two you can just see that the smokebox is lower than the frames – just.

    Now I just need to get the secondary saddle to fit and ultimately fasten it together. For now, a darkened room beckons…
     
  9. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    For a bit of light relief, I took the secondary saddle for several brief trips on the mill until I got it to sit at the same level as the main saddle.


    IMG_10001.JPG

    IMG_10002.JPG
     
  10. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Over on the Guild forum there was some discussion about lubricators, centred primarily on the potential difficulties of drilling out brass castings. This prompted me to look in the box and see what the lubricator castings were like as supplied.

    IMG_0001-001.JPG

    They are nicely detailed castings, albeit missing the front and rear fittings. But, most importantly for this build, there are only two of them in the kit and we need three.

    In a bit of a dilemma but not needing them right now, I sent an email off to the gent that I am building it for with a few options on how we might proceed.

    While awaiting a reply/phone call, I rose to the challenge and had a look through my material stock to see if I had any bar of a suitable size for making some myself.


    I had a length of brass that was suitable, so I cut three lengths and machines them to the basic shape and size before drilling out the various holes.

    Next, I turned the circular front piece that the pivot mechanism attaches to. Which gave me a chance to try out the grooving tool that I ground. I am pleased to say that by taking very light cuts, I was able to turn down a part with a 1mm spigot then a 3mm centre and a further 1mm spigot beyond the 3mm section without having to reverse the workpiece in the collet to turn the second spigot without snapping it off.

    I then filed up and cut off around 50 small brass unions (I needed 42 but there were the inevitable pings off into space). It was only when I started to fit the blanking plugs on the front of two of the lubricators that I thought to take any photos.

    IMG_00012-001.JPG

    IMG_0006.JPG

    IMG_0004-001.JPG

    As you can see not all of the holes were dead in line due to the small drill wandering a little because I drill right through rather than from each side. But I had a cunning plan to get around that.

    IMG_0003-001.JPG

    The holes through the bodies were 0.5mm but the copper wire that I am using for the pipes is only 0.3mm. The smallest microbore tube that I had for making the unions has a 0.5mm id so I had quite a bit of wiggle room to line them up as I fitted them.

    The rocking [ shaped pieces on the rear, were made from some slices cut from a length rectangular brass tube that I have had in my stock box for 10 years or more. I don’t seem to use it often and then only in small slices but it’s handy to have and more rigid that if I had bent up some strip.
     
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  11. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Just to finish this little bit off, in all the three lubricators have 75 parts between them. Fiddly to make, and I know that I could have bought in some very nice castings or 3D prints from the trade, but I had immense fun and raised my personal bar a little higher. Would I make some more in the future, who knows now that I have scratched that particular itch.

    IMG_0001.JPG

    IMG_0002.JPG

    IMG_0003.JPG

    IMG_0004.JPG

    IMG_00012.JPG
     
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  12. Mossy

    Mossy A classic grump Yorkshire man Full Member

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    Has anyone suggested you get your sanity checked? :scratchchin:

    Mossy
     
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  13. ianvolvo46

    ianvolvo46 Staff Member Moderator

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    :faint::faint::faint::faint:nuff said ...
     
  14. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Not to my face....o_O I can't help it, if I like making things. The more challenging the more I enjoy it.
     
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  15. jakesdad13

    jakesdad13 Staff Member Moderator

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    Just WOW Rob :tophat::tophat::tophat::tophat::tophat:Definitely a five hatter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Pete.
     
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  16. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    Stunning work Rob, puts my efforts to shame
     
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  17. Walkingthedog

    Walkingthedog Full Member

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    Good grief. I guess once the loco is completed the next thing will be to make a sandwich box complete with sandwiches for the crew.
     
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  18. Mossy

    Mossy A classic grump Yorkshire man Full Member

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    Brian

    Ham and Mustard or Cheese and Onion?

    Mossy
     
  19. Rob Pulham

    Rob Pulham Happily making models Staff Member Administrator Feature Contributor

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    Tuesdays have become quite a busy day in the Pulham household so I didn’t have too much time at the bench. One of the jobs that I always seem to forget until the last minute when building are the balance weights. I normally wouldn’t have taken photos of such a simple thing but in this case, I wanted to share the type of adhesive that I used.

    After reading about it on Western Thunder as being specifically designed for etched metal and clear parts, I thought that I would give it a go and bought some. I am not a great lover of cyanoacrylate type glues, not because of their adhesive properties but because the fumes can leave unwanted residue especially on paintwork etc. which is difficult to get rid of.

    The glue needs 6 hours to fully harden and to be honest it doesn’t seem to have great “grab” when initially applied. But being able to wipe off any overspill with a damp cotton bud and no residue from fumes is a big plus, assuming that it works.

    Well, my scepticism was unfounded, the balance weights were nicely stuck when I checked them this morning.

    David Andrews Princess Royal - Balance weights 1.jpg

    David Andrews Princess Royal - Balance weights 2.JPG

    I also added the inner plates for the weights cut from some 10thou nickel sheet.
     
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  20. jakesdad13

    jakesdad13 Staff Member Moderator

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    I will look out for some mate, I glued the windows on my latest building with Gorilla super glue then the glazing with canopy glue which I would definitely recommend, however I should have let the Gorilla glue dry properly first as it has misted the gazing in places.

    Pete.
     
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