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Gresley K.4 2-6-0 Tender Loco from ACE

Discussion in 'Kits, Kit bashes & Scratch builds' started by Toto, Sep 28, 2018.

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  1. Sep 28, 2018 #1
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Another of Aces product offerings on its way.

    A mid size Gresley 2-6-0 tender locomotive. Pretty keen prices. Photo's on arrival
    [​IMG]
    Toto
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2018
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  2. Sep 28, 2018 #2
    paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Aw that was on to get list, with either a D29, D34 or Dunalister.

    Looking forward to this build

    Paul
     
  3. Sep 29, 2018 #3
    Paul-H

    Paul-H Full Member

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    Photo when it arrives, so that will be next year then :scratchchin:

    Hat, Coat, Door :avatar:
     
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  4. Sep 29, 2018 #4
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    :avatar: I predict the middle of next week. :thumbs:
     
  5. Sep 29, 2018 #5
    York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    That's a nice looking loco there Toto and could well be tempted with one, I've seen colour film of these on the York Pocklington Beverley line before closure, the film shows vans being shunted over the level crossing at Market Weighton about 1964 or 1965.
     
  6. Sep 29, 2018 #6
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    The prices are certainly keen. Just needs the buildability to be confirmed really. Very much down to the builders skills I'm sure.
     
  7. Sep 29, 2018 #7
    paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Also frequent visitors to the West Highland line, hence my interest.
     
  8. Oct 5, 2018 #8
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    And here is the photo's

    out of the box .....


    we start of with the castings, brass rod and pre-rolled boiler parts .......


    and its worthe taking a little more time here to highlight that the firebox and boiler is a one part effort .....


    and on to the rest of the brass etches .......


    and the rest .....


    and then onto the chassis elements ....



    Now ..... I've bunged up three sets of photo's for various ACE kits tonight having taken them out of the box to inspect them for the first time and a common theme is emerging. first the etches are very thin ( probably reflected in the price so fair enough ) but I think the packaging is totally inadequate. The various etches are wrapped in polythene bags to protect them and whilst they may keep them air tight to prevent or slow down potential discolouration from the air, they are packaged so tightly that some of the frets are getting twisted and damaged. In fact to a pretty great degree. There are a high percentage of bent and buckled fret parts. I think that combined with the thin nature of the brass is a recipe for disaster. I dont mind the thinner frets but give them some decent protection.

    Again, I make reference to the price and try not expect too much but I'd rather pay a bit more and have them arrive in better shape.

    I don't think that any are beyond using but Mmmmm.

    apart from that .... look ok for the money.

    cheers

    toto
     
  9. Oct 5, 2018 #9
    York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    My suggestion to repair the twisted frets Toto is to carefully lay them onto a pane of glass or a flat stone like I use and then gently tease them back into shape using a pair of tweezers. You can hold the etches down in position on the glass pane or flat stone using a sheet of cardboard, then re-wrap the repaired etch fret inside a tissue paper wrap, a bit time consuming I know and yes these items should come properly protected but because they are thin section brass sheet you are going to get issues with handling them in the build, so extreme care must be taken when building these kits.
     
  10. Oct 5, 2018 #10
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Thanks York Paul,

    I wouldn't let it put me off totally but its a little disappointing. I'm not saying beef up the kit, I'm saying beef up the internal packaging. I think they are ok for the price point.

    thanks again

    toto
     
  11. Oct 5, 2018 #11
    York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    I've just checked their website and agree some kit prices are very attractive and I'd suspect when it comes to the build you'd need to take a different approach to the build than you would with a Gladiator, MOK, Scorpio, Connoisseur kit. Another initial though with thin etches is beware when building up the tender tank sides as it would be quite easy to "push" the etch sheet in through heat from soldering and / or constant handling... particularly annoying if you have marked out rivet detail with an emboss tool as body filler won't be a repair option.
     
  12. Oct 5, 2018 #12
    paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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  13. Oct 5, 2018 #13
    paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    You may even find your resistance soldering iron coming to the rescue, as the thin etches will be prone to warping with a lot of heat.

    Looks nice tho'

    Paul
     
  14. Oct 6, 2019 #14
    Gareth Coleman

    Gareth Coleman Full Member

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    i have a K4 on hold at the moment, will dig it out, sadly the K4 is only produced by ACE so no other choice and i'm not a scratch bulder, learning from the V1 incident i opted for the optional (at additonal cost) lost wax crosshead and slidebar set plus a whitemetal boiler backhead.

    Tender, no construction problems but lacks structure, the chassis is way too thin, and i added reinforcement in various places, the tender sides have nothing betweeen them and if you pick the tender up and hold it roughly where the BR crests would be it would bow inwards, so again suitable reinforcement applied.

    Will get some picture of its current state and explain why i stopped! Might just give me the incentive to have another bash at it.
     
  15. Oct 6, 2019 #15
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Looking forward to seeing your work. :thumbs:
     
  16. Oct 7, 2019 #16
    Gareth Coleman

    Gareth Coleman Full Member

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    I've retrieved my K4 from the work in progress cupboard...

    The tender was a pleasant enough build, pretty much built out of the box, chassis was stiffened up with extra cross members, tender sides ddint quite match the slots in the running plate, but no bid deal, the sides were also stiffened up, castings pretty good, hand brake and scoop handles are not from the kit, i think they were Laurie Griffin.

    20191007_201844.jpg

    locomotive chassis has a couple of issues, the chassis frames are too long and it doesnt fit under the body when you attach the front buffer beam, the chassi needs extra cross members between the rear and forward of the centre axle, this will very much depend of the motor fitted, in my case i intend to fit a MSC JH. The connecting rods, i didnt like so they are premier components, the wheelbase is correct as they fit perfectly, i came to a halt as the cylinders have an issue...
     
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  17. Oct 7, 2019 #17
    Gareth Coleman

    Gareth Coleman Full Member

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    Looking at the picture, this is how the piece needs to be if fitting to the chassis using the chassis spacers provided in the kit.. 20191007_201943.jpg
     
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  18. Oct 8, 2019 #18
    Gareth Coleman

    Gareth Coleman Full Member

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    So the plot thickens, cylinders made and they are too wide, looking at the isinglass drawing cylinder centres should be 45mm, need to reduce their width by 6mm...

    And thats going to make clearance of the front crank pin an issue with the slide bars, its tight before bringing the cylinders in..

    I remember why i put this to one side, not going to let it beat me this time..
     
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  19. Oct 8, 2019 #19
    Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Go for it. Sounds like you are on top of it. :thumbs:
     
  20. Oct 9, 2019 #20
    York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    A very similar issue existed with the cylinders in the original Transport Age BR 4-6-0 class 4 kit which had to a point been reworked by Scorpio, however the cut out slots in the frame were incorrectly spaced to mount the cylinder saddle into.
     
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