GWR 57XX Pannier Tank.....a JLTRT 7mm kit build

It`s been a long drawn out Winter and Spring has stalled......There is a lot to do in the layout shed but I need the weather to warm up..........so, I was lucky enough to purchase this kit six months before the sudden collapse of JLTRT and I want to complete it over the next 8 weeks.

This is definitely my very last loco kit build as my eyesight is aging faster than me and I`ve built enough locos to fulfill all my playtime requirements for the rest of my retirement.

She will be a 1930`s version of Kerr, Stuart and Co Ltd batch 7700-7724 with rivetted tanks and vacuum brake, so suitable for passenger duties.



it`s a lovely kit and a well designed build plan... the pannier tanks are a heavy resin moulding.

So starting with the chassis........................

I am a strong advocate for sprung axles even in 7mm and this kit has lost wax sprung hornblocks supplied.




However, on studying other modellers successful builds of this particular kit and cleaning up a couple of the supplied bearings and hornguides , there is to my mind, far too much slop to ensure a chassis free of axle wobble and coupling rod binding issues.

For the first time I have substituted Slaters sprung hornblocks to ensure a more reliable working mechanism.


These are a new design from Slaters from their previous plastic hornguides that I have used in the past.
Once tidied up they are free of bearing slop in the hornguides and have a cast in axle centre mark as an aid to fitting to the chassis side frames.


The basic chassis frames are made from nickel silver sideframes and riveted overlays with nickel silver spacers which fit together with slot and tabs.
But first I needed to markup the axle centre line and ride height. The kit is helpfull here as there
are etched dimples to work with.


I then marked out the hornblock slots making sure I remain within the kits axle ride height.
I then chose to drill all the required size holes in the rest of the chassis fret.



I used a cutting disc to form the new hornblock positions and removed the etched spring details as the kit provides lost wax replacements.



The alignment using the fold up spacers is very accurate and the end result is a very strong basic chassis block.



Next was the fabrication of the coupling rod frets................................................



....and then using my favourite and very simple axle jigs solder everything in their proper place.



obviously the springs have been used to hold the hornblocks hard up against the inside of the frames prior to soldering.

 

There is a slight annoying issue with Slaters wheels in that there is a plastic triangle that encroaches onto the back of every wheel tread just where my chosen plunger pickups will touch the back of the wheels. I moved the plunger pickup position a little further out from the wheel centre to avoid potential electrical pickup problems.



the end result is a problem free and accurate chassis assembly...................................................................................

 

The next instalment has to be moving over to getting the footplate and superstructure reasonably completed so that the chassis can be fitted to it and clearances checked.



The kit has a very novel assembly design whereby the footplate is supported by a very clever fold-up framewwork.



There are some half etched rivets to be sorted on the footplate etch before soldering directly onto the sub-frame.



I am not a fan of fold-up etched lamp irons, so I carefully removed all the half etched relief base plates to replace with cast lamp-irons which are supplied with the kit.



I think these look much better ........................................................



The main cab and bunker is made up form three fold-up sub assembles to which some rather nice pre detailed overlays need to be soldered on.



Because of the combined thicknesses of the materials my 80watt iron was not sufficient for the cab section and extra heat from a flame was a more successful option.



The instructions strongly suggest the fitting of a lot of the lost wax detailing prior to final assembly. Above you can see the two lost wax castings bottom right which are the notorious bunker corners. Notorious for their poor quality in casting and design as they are too short lenght wise to fit accurately. The rivet detailing on mine was poorly cast and will not match up with the etched rivets on the overlays.

First you need to shape the rear bunker overlays before attaching to the bunker sub assembly which is the first of the three units to be attached to the footplate.



Attaching them to the rear sub frame is not that difficult and went quite well..........................................

 

It was struggling to successfully fit the cast corner pieces that was virtually impossible for me to get perfect, and am relieved that other modellers have needed to `fudge` things to work.



I`m going to have to settle for what I`ve done...........................................................................................................................





not perfect but the best I can do...........................................................................................................................................

 

I`m really not a fan of resin parts as the detailing can be easily damaged, particularly rivet detail. On the other hand however, a lot of time is saved not having to make those pannier tanks and smoke box unit.



Holes needed to be drilled and tapped 10ba in order to make a strong attachment to the footplate.



There have also been some additional work to correct a few kit issues..........................................

Supplied buffer heads are dome shaped so I flattened them with a carborundum disc.


The lost wax injectors are unusable as cast and needed reworking to look more realistic.



The footplate toolboxes are too shallow in depth and should butt up against the central splashers and then reach almost the edge of the footplate.



So I used scraps of whitemetal to make them nearer to scale depth.

My method with handrails is to make in two halves and then join at the central handrail knob on the smoke box front.






Then there is more detailing to finish the footplate and then test fit the pannier tank unit.

 

Thanks Paul.

The chassis was an easy build to finish.


I always make allowances so as to make removing driving wheels easy for painting and any future maintenance.

I use Tamiya low tack tape, brilliant stuff for masking.




Then I make good use of Clostermans black etch primer, a quality finish rattle can.



My other preference is to chemically blacken and then seal the driving wheels.






Then it`s a full reassembly. I also chemically blacken the coupling rods and then hand paint them with metallic paints of suitable hue`s as I hate bare metal shiny finished rods.



Another disadvantage with solid resin boilers , is that there is no free space for speakers and decoders.

However, by making plasticard platforms I fitted both the decoder and speaker between the chassis frames . Thank goodness for the mighty sugar cube speaker.



An advantage is no wiring between chassis and body..........

And because Zimo decoders have a protective cover I can disguise with black paint when all is finally tested.



....and you would`nt know they were there if I had`nt told you.............

 

I hate unfinished threads..... so here she is in a finished condition and in action on the rollers.