Ive been away again for a while and not got a great deal of modelling done. It dawned on me that i have many projects on the go and keeping up with it all is difficult. For this reason ive decided to create a workbench blog style post where ill just post what (if any) modelling ive managed to do as i do it. A diary if you like.
Most of my projects are currently packed away due to various reasons so when i had a bit of free time recently i made a start on the nearest model i had to hand. Just happened to be an ACE Billington E5 0-6-2 kit. i picked it up recently from a Vectis auction complete with wheels and Mashima motor/etched gearbox for about the same price as id have paid for the wheels new from slaters. cant be bad.... T
The chassis has gone together reasonably quickly. Ive had to slice the wheel splashers off it to fit the body and shorten it slightly but all seems square and free running so far.
Some minor surgery was needed to the body also to get it to fit. I have a feeling the kit is developed from one of the smaller wheeled 0-6-2's so the cututs for the wheels werent large enough. Fairly standard stuff on an ace kit. I know almost nothing about LBSCR locos being an eastern region modeller predominantly.
thanks andy. its going reasonably well. A typical, but buildable Ace kit. Only real issue has been moving the sandboxes and brake gear as it appears no tolerance was allowed for slaters wheel tyres. the rest has fitted together quite well. Can't vouch too much on accuracy as I'm an LNER man normally and no close to nothing about LBSCR locos
More steady progress on the cab roof and some boiler fittings. i realise ive put the guard irons on in the incorrect place so they need moving
Never one to be shy of having too many projects on the go. I thought I'd share some images of my prototype lner K5 front end I've been tinkering with on and off for a while. The general idea is to convert an Ace K3 into the solitary Thompson K5. I drew up the 3d models in autocad and had them made quite inexpensively by a compoany called The 3d people. They are lazer sintered so have the texture of cast iron but I'm quite please with how they've turned out. I plan to get them printed in something a little mroe refined once ive proved the parts will work with the kit.
Very nice. ! good luck with this, looks a very interesting project. Despite what @Mossy says about my signal box models, I've little to no confidence in producing rounded parts. That looks like the finer prints would come out stunning. looks like a HP multi fusion jet printer to me.??
Thank you i believe that they do use the HP multi fusion. They look worse on the photos than in real life. My man concern is getting the geometry correct or at least compatible with the kit parts. a bit of finess can come later. this is a long term project as i havent got the loco wheels or the correct tender yet. Have a go at rounder parts its not too difficult. I'm still to master blending more complex shapes but cylinders and run plates seem fairly straight forward
Oh, I've done them, just to my own sizes rather than the scale curve. I made a very nice pot belly stove at one point, but that was simply round. I wouldn't be confident doing cylinders where radii may change from one side to the next like with cladding. The only models I had printed by Shapeways in this material were the Sleeve levers for the Hornby Lever frame and a N scale building and OO hopper wagon top, nether of which were great on detail, but in 7mm and for testing sizes etc, its great. and of course, they will already have worked out shrink rates etc when printing and a clean surface as no print marks.
Nice work Paul Be interesting to see what they look like wih a coat of primer. Currently with my exposure settings my print size accuracy on the x / y axis is less than 0.1mm (measures between +/- 0.04mm). Paul
With a couple of coats of some Halfords Primer and a rub down the cylinder sides are almost passable. the top of the running plate has had similar treatment. ive yet to touch the steam pipe or front frames
Back to the E5 0-6-2. Ive replaced the rather flimsy etched gearbox with an MSC one. cheap and cheerfull and easy to set up. its running well. i must clean those wheels.
I recently purchased a Dapol 58xx always like these despite not being my area. Using various shades of black, dark grey and earth colours ive toned it down a bit with my airbrush. i may or may not weather it further but i quite like the subtleness of it as it is.
