Tower Models White Metal kit Class 02 diesel in O Gauge

I was ordering this for collection at Telford but decided to take it now ( as there will be others on the day )

This is a starter kit. I bought one on the bay pre built but fancy having a go a one myself.

Pictures will be posted on arrival. Estimated for Monday

Cheers

Toto

 

Nah ..... It will be slowing down soon ........ After Telford that is....

 

Possibly but over the coming months I'll need to change to a SWMBO shopaholic as it her 50 th birthday coming up and we also have Berlin in December so it will be time to reign in the spending.

A couple of nice pressies and a dinner out somewhere.

Cheers

Toto

 

Postie visited today ......... here it is,


Mostly white metal with a liitle brass here and there.


Comes as a complete kit with wheels, gearbox, motor, couplings etc etc.


Buffer beams and doofers.


more bags of whatsits and weegits.


the three main white metal casts that go to make up the majority of the kit.


jesus ...... built it already ..... not quite. There is a fair weight in these three parts alone.
It'll need a bit tidying up to remove mould flash etc but this will be a great kit to build I think. Tower Models has it marked up as suitable for beginners. I'd agree.
Overall ..... happy with it so far.
cheers
toto

 

I've sent away for two part epoxy and superglue but I would really like to solder this.

I have a couple of spare white metal buffers which I could use to work out the correct setting for using my soldering station. I'd to determine the temperature hot enough to melt the 70 degree solder but not melt he white metal. The solder is apparently the first choice rather than gluing.

Fitting a decoder should not be an issue either as I think there would be plenty room under the engine bonnet even though the motor is housed there. If not, it would certainly go in the cab vertically against the back wall and still leave enough room for the crew o stand. Under the bonnet would be the #1 position though.

Painting is made easy. ( referring to access ) as the whole superstructure ( once soldered together ) unscrews and lifts of the chassis. I think it would also benefit from the large buffer beams being fixed after painting. Maybe not. That will be determined when the build commences.

I have one of these built which I bought from eBay and I am sure it's the same kit. Now I have the instructions, I can see how it comes apart. That's handy as the paint job, whilst passable, isn't the best so I'd like to strip it back and do it again.

Not sure when I'll start this as I was going to tackle my Nellie tank next but that may change if I can get the melting temperatures sorted out confidently.

Cheers for now.

Toto

 

No worries Pete.i will do. It should just be a case of trial and error with the temperature until hot enough to melt the solder but not the white metal. I'll play around with it on the scrap materials.

A great little kit that should add some character to the layout. Looking forward to building it.

Not long until Telford now. I can almost taste the beer.

 

Well,

Its been a while since I bought this and its lay for donkeys due to my " fear " of the mighty white metal.

However, tonight saw me heading for the shed with a completely different build in mind ( MOK Q1 ) but with a worry / dilemma. The Q1 calls for a lot of low temperature soldering ( as advised in the I instructions) due to the mass of fittings ..... and ..... the fact that the skins to the loco and tender are VERY thin and can buckle easily if using normal solder. On top of this it is quite a build for the 3xperience that I have under my belt this far ...... but I wont be put off .... I'm on a mission.

So, I thought to myself, I have a couple of white metal kits which should be relatively quick and simple builds and will help me get some experience and confidence with the lower temperature stuff including getting used to temperature tolerances etc for both the low temperature soldering and the white metal itself.

So .... not thinking or procasrinating, I decided to jump right in and go for glory.

I started with a good clean up of all the white metal parts to aid the soldering process later and started to follow the instructions.

Clean away the flash and clean the parts. Drill all the individual holes required for hand rails, bonnet handles, window wipers etc etc. Then start test fitting the individual parts for fit and some filing and more cleaning.

Then...... you actually get to start soldering.

It took a bit time to get the soldering station set up temperature 2ise to a temperature that would melt 5he solder well enough without melting the white metal itself. Gradual increases in temperature until the solder was flowing easily without having to linger.

I started off at 160 degrees bit that was plainly not working so I hiked it up to 180 degrees. Still not the best with clumpy soldering. I ended up with a setting of 225 degrees using 70 degree solder and Carrs Red Flux and found that ideal.

Usually in my posts I go photo mad but in order to keep the build running at a decent rate, I decided against taking the time to post my usual plethora of photos. I do have a few but wont be posting them up until tomorrow. I cant stand the thought of the resizing and fannying around at this time of the morning. Apologies.

Basically, the footplate and bodywork including outside cabinets etc are soldered up and as mentioned all holes drilled in readiness for handrails and other furniture. The main body really is 1uite a quick build and you see very fast progress.

There is a bit settling to be done on the body work to get it sitting square on the foot plate and I will need to start again tomorrow addressing this. Then all the brass handles etc and wo e small white metal fixtures. I also need to realign the internal drivers control desk as this is definitely out a bit.

After that it's more or less onto the chassis, motor gearbox and wheels. I aim to have this comp,eyed by some time on Sunday if not earlier to allow me to move straight onto the Q1 build having refresh3e my soldering skills a bit again.

I think this has been a wise move ahead of the Q1 build and my mojo is definitely back. This could be one of my quickest build ever.

I would recommend this to anyone looking to do their first kit as it really is relatively simple ........ must be if I can do it.

More tomorrow ..... p,us progress photos.

Cheers for now

Toto

 

Hi Kimbo,

It's good to be back behind the soldering iron again. I'm glad I decided to give this kit a bash ahead of the bigger event. It took a bit to get the feel of soldering again.

I'll get a photo or two of my progress up shortly.

Cheers

Toto

 

A couple of general photos. Not much of the build as such.

The main cast parts after de-flashing and a good scrub clean.

A general view of where the build is at the moment.

and another from a slightly different angle.

and the last one for now. You can just make out some of the pilot holes drilled for the brass handles etc

The cab and bonnet come away from the footplate. These are screwed on via a couple of self tapping screws. the drivers desk is soldered to the footplate and is accessable for painting.

So later today I have some fettling to do to get everything sitting a bit better as there are one or two slight misalignments to fix between the body and the footplate. then I will form up the hand rails and handles from 0.7mm brass rod and ft the rest of the smaller white metal furniture parts.

that will leave the chassis, motor , gears etc. the chassis is a very basic affair. A simple fold up section. the motor is a standard Mashima. I hope to be testing the whole thing by the end of play today or tomorrow at the latest. I'll see how I get on.

cheers for now

toto

 

Hi Paul,

I'll be soldering them in place. i'm sure I have 145 solder somewhere. A few domestics to do this morning for mumsie and mumsie in law then back to the shed.

It will be a quick build thats for sure.

cheers

toto

 

Ok ...... so ..... another update from todays efforts. A bit of a mixed bag today.

before I could get constructive ........ I had to get destructive.

The upper body consisting of the cab and bonnet was not sitting as I would like it. I started to investigate and part of that was down to me. The alignment of the cab and bonnet was a fraction off. So ..... I redone it which helped. However ....... not totally as the underside of the bonnet and cab has a nice smooth finish to mate with the footplate ....... which has a chequered embostment on it which raises the footplate from the upper body creating an obvious gap.

To me ....this is a design flaw as ther should have been a flat rebate created to bed the upper body down into. never mind , rather than potentially messing up altogether by trying to file out the embossed pattern, I decided to leave it for now.

Next up was to start to attach the various brass handrails, handles and some white metal castings ..... buffers, window wipers, tanks, etc etc.

The holes I drilled for the rails was too big. I think this was exacerbated by drilling too fast which ..... creating heat, also slightly melted the outside top edge of the holes. I will fill in and sand down with milliput when I am ready.

I added a couple of extra handrails along the top of the bonnet. The dimples were there to drill the positions but this was not mentioned in the instructions so I decided ....... I want them.

Like wise with the rail running down the side of the rear cab door. No hand rail shown but I decided to add it in.

and with wipers fitted front and rear.

moving on to the chassis which is a very basic fold up affair with two stretchers to strengthen. The motor mount is encompassed within. You can see the predrilled holes.

Out with the folding jig .....

Bingo ......

stretchers soldered in place .....

bearings soldered into place .....

and a shot of the chassis loose fitted to the underside of the foot plate.

That's it for now. tomorrow I will be fitting the motor and gear, wiper pick ups and wheels etc.

There will be a fair bit of tidying and touching up with filler and the cab desk has to be re-fitted as I had problems getting a decent solder joint on it. All that still to come.

cheers for now

toto

 

Another good session on the chassis for the wheels, pick ups motor and wiring etc. Should be on the rolling road soon.

Another shift on filing and sanding / prep. I still have the cab desk to fix in place. Could be normal solder and a dirty big 80 watt iron.

Not really happy that doing this kit has my soldering skills to a satisfactory standard yet for the undertaking of the Q1. I am gagging to get onto it but I may see another kit done before I start it as I would be gutted if I make a mess of it. I'm sure there will be agreement on my latest way of thinking. Feel free to comment.

The important thing is that no matter what .... I'm back in the building mode so if not the Q1, there will be another kit on the go very quickly. Probably brass with a mixture of more white metal and some lost wax castings to get me more experience of my weakest point. White metal soldering. I also have two hospital projects with the 4F and the Ramsbottom. I want these finished and painted up.

Loads to look out for.

Toto

 

Back in the shed tonight to progress the chassis build. I'll post up my progress as I go. I'll be looking at where I left off with the 4F as well. If anything a bit of a clean up as its been sitting in the shed too long. I need to move it on as well before it succumbs to the elements.

Cheers for now

Toto