HI All
We've had a mucky weekend here weather wise so I thought I might do a bit of P2 assembly to keep myself busy inside. So here is about 5 or 6 hours of work to have a chassis soldered together and a start on the superstructure. I think its fair to say that this one has provided some challenges, the C11 threw up some interesting problems but the P2 boiler was next level difficulty. Initially (and thankfully) I only tacked it together to check alignment and ended up with something of a banana, none of the meeting surfaces were square causing all manner of issues, so I ended up supporting the parts in a cradle to keep things straight along the top of the boiler, then soldered the joints properly once I was happy. I've never spent so much time trying to wrangle parts into the correct (or as near as possible) shape. The chassis on the other hand wad very straight forward, only requiring the soldering iron being wound up to make heat against the thick frames. I have no instructions for this kit so I'm relying on past experience to figure out where all the parts go, so far it all seems fairly similar to other kits. I'm not sure I'm going to rush out and buy a collection of NuCast kits to work through, too hard . It's a bit of a worry knowing that a K's C1 is waiting in the wings.
Progress so far:
The boiler shape looks like more of a challenge than my McGowan B4 was well over a decade ago. You might end up building up all those dips with lowmelt solder, hard-setting epoxy or polyester-based car body filler then filing the whole thing back very carefully to the shape it was supposed to be. Very good luck to you with that!
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1
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Thanks Graeme, it's just going to be a case of do the best with what I'm faced with I think. There's a couple of pictures of one on the Fox Transfers site that demonstrate what happens when put together with faith in the accuracy of the parts, a beautifully finished model but the firebox and cab are leaning backwards while the smokebox leans forward so the running plate is distorted and awful. I prefer to have the running plate level and some bumps in the top line of the boiler. I think that photo I posted is being very cruel though, the dip at the joint between the boiler barrel and firebox doesn't really look that bad in person (well that my story anyway). As for luck, that ran out when I opened the box, just as well this kit was cheap, I'd be feeling pretty ripped off if I'd bought it new for whatever price they used to go for.
A little more work on the P2 during the evenings and I've got a rolling chassis. The most interesting part of this is probably the motor/gearbox. The motor is from Ali Express, purchased in a pack of 10 for US $15 including shipping to NZ. The motor is rated at 1500 rpm 9volt so I wasn't sure if they'd be any good but after testing one for a very long time at 6 volts I thought it would be worth a go.
The gearbox is a Comet 50:1 and to fit the motor successfully I've had to move the holes for fixing the motor and alter the assembly of the idler gear to suit a central mount as opposed the the normal slightly off set motor alignment. It all work very well as it turns out, nice and quiet and appears to have plenty of torque.
The solid coupling rods made me a bit nervous to start with but no problems cropped up and it all ran nicely on the rolling road from the first test run (surprise surprise).
I've had to remove a fair bit of metal from the rear inner side of the running plate to allow the wheels to turn, so I'm thinking that the rear s bend should be a bit steeper but too late now.
This loco is on a break now until some brass tube arrives so I can carry on with the valve gear assembly, the crosshead arrangement is a bit odd and most of the pictures I've found on google reveal that I'm not the first to wonder how to assemble it correctly. Thankfully I found a picture of a streamlined one in TW's thread on RMweb that clarified things.
I'm building the P2 and another engine together at the moment, but I'll hold off splashing the second loco about publicly until I'm more certain of it's completion, I fear I may run out of talent trying to succeed with said mystery loco (some might say I have already).
Hi All
Although I had plans of continuing work on the P2, the plans changed in the absence of a 12ba tap (I thought I had one, where did it go???). So once again I've been side-tracked to the previously mentioned mystery loco. Some time ago I posted some work on a possible A3 using an old Hornby Flying Scotsman chassis fitted with an X04 and a set of gears from a Triang Jinty. I ended up abandoning that project because the bogie and the valve gear kept having inappropriate relations. The chassis runs ok so I shelved it until a better use could be found. So, a couple of weeks ago I had the idea of building a Raven A2 from scratch, measuring up the old Hornby chassis, it turns out it's only a couple of millimetres short in the coupled wheel base. Good enough for an attempt I thought and made a start.
The superstructure rests on a brass frame, made from 2mm square, soldered with normal electrical solder. The drop sections to the buffer beam aren't bent but overlapping pieces soldered, then filed to shape. The section bellow the cab was bent to shape and butt jointed to the rest. Each side was made up and then the cross braces were added last.
The front decking is 0.2mm brass sheet cut and formed around 2mm rod and then soldered to the frames with DCC Concepts 100Deg Solder (works well). The running plate and splashers are made of 0.5mm plastic sheet. The cab and backhead are all made from plastic and bits of brass wire with 10amp fuse wire for beading around the windows and rear edge. The boiler is a piece of 25mm electrical conduit with insulation tape cut into strips for boiler bands. This is it so far, I'm reasonably happy with it at this point, having been very unsure of how I was going to go about building it. Now if those 12ba taps would hurry up I could get back to work.
That's looking good so far Paul. I've often thought that the relatively clean, simple shape of the Raven A2 cried out for an attempt at scratch building, at least of the body, but it's one of many ideas I've failed so far to implement. I'm glad to see somebody demonstrating the viability of such a project.
Have you considered using a rectangle of thin card with genuinely square edges/corners, wrapped right around the boiler tube with edges meeting up (or with its centre line located on the boiler's top dead centre line if you can't get under the boiler), as a guide for the application of boiler bands? It avoids the doubts and errors inherent in trying to judge things purely by eye.
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1
Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
Aaaahhh,so that's how you go about it, thanks for that tip Graeme. The camera can be so cruel, I hadn't realised it was so bad until I was cropping the photo. The boiler and cab roof are just sitting there at the moment so easily removed for remedial work. I'll make sure the bands are straight before next update.
I have the DJH Raven A2 kit in my roundtuit cupboard.
I also attempted a model of 2404 after fitting with the A1 boiler. The boiler was simply a Hornby A1/3 with an extension glued between the boiler and smokebox. The trouble started with soldering several pieces of 1mm brass rod to form the footplate. As fast as I completed one solder joint, another came undone.
I like your method of bending parts, with only a few solder joints.
That's looking good Paul. Interesting to see/read about your use of an old A3 chassis. I started working on an N gauge version of this built around a Farish Peppercorn A1 chassis. I've still to got to finish the CAD for mine so will be using this build as inspiration.
thanks Steve, if you see anything helpful, copy away...no patents on anything I build.
I had been looking for a DJH one but they seem to go for silly money. I also get the impression that the kit can be a bit of a nightmare for the unwary and less experianced. There are some beautiful examples around in various auction photos but more there's more ugly ones, leading me to the conclusion that it might be a bit of an a@&?×#le. This scratch building thing is quite enjoyable as well so I'm no longer feeling the need to buy a kit.
Hi All
While these photo's don't suggest I've been doing much, there's been quite a bit of progress on the unseen parts. The A2 is now held together properly with the body secured to chassis. Externally, only the correction of the boiler bands , the addition of the steam dome and the safety valve bonnet and the trailing axle/Rear frame. The dome is from a Bowser Pennsylvania K4 kit and is almost perfect if the Beattie drawing is accurate, the bonnet is home made. The axle boxes are from Comet and the frames are built up from plastic.
Now, I really need a chimney and I wonder if anyone on the forum could help out before I go tracking down spare via manufacturers, ideally a spare from a DJH kit or even a B16 chimney looks pretty close.
Beg, Borrow, Steal time: Anyway (this might be akin to sinking a put from the tee on a par 4) my friend and countryman Graeme Leary will be in the UK and visiting the Scalefour North exhibition (next month...is that right?) If any chimney is floating about and could end up at said show in the hands of Jonathan Weallans or John Smart who Graeme is hopefully catching up with, that would be very helpful.(not to mention proof of miracles) Payment can be sorted via paypal of Graeme will hand over required cash if a chimney does crop up. Horrendous long shot I know but no harm in asking
Hi All
After studying where all of the small bits like lubricators and so on go on the model, I thought it best to start painting before the details get added. The lubricators sit on the running plate just behind the smokebox, so I needed to paint and line the frames before they get fitted etc. So I started and didn't really stop, so now it's almost done...almost. The boiler lining is Pressfix which I seal with a thin coat of varnish, the resultant visible shiny line will disappear under the top coats of varnish. All other lining is done with the bow pen.
The tender for the project will be adapted from this GBL D11 tender (apologies to those who's allegiances lie with the GC). The wheel base is about 2mm too much between axles but on the plus side, the side sheets are the correct height and it's the right length. Alterations will be needed to the chassis and coal space and rails but it's a good start point.
I also stumbled across a 5 pole variant of the X04 motor while searching through an old parts box looking for something else. I spotted it and wondered if it might be a better motor than the one already in the chassis but noticed it looked a little weird. Realising it was a 5 pole I didn't hesitate to give it a test and fit it to the chassis, the difference in remarkable to say the least. (I'd only ever read about 5 pole X04, no idea where it came from but I must have got it with some boxes of bits I've acquired). I've put a clip on Youtube demonstrating how slow it can go up and down the kitchen table. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy8trXqAAZM
This is after fitting with a decoder and spending some time tweaking settings but not bad for a dinosaur drive chain.
Cheers
Paul
Last edited by nzpaul on Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
nzpaul wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:08 am
Now, I really need a chimney and I wonder if anyone on the forum could help out before I go tracking down spare via manufacturers, ideally a spare from a DJH kit or even a B16 chimney looks pretty close.
The A2 chimney is two inches shorter than the B16 type. All other dimensions are the same, on the drawings in Ken Hoole's NER Loco book.
Thanks for that info John, that means the PDK B16 chimney will be viable if nothing else comes along, it's only errrr.... (counting on fingers) 2/3 of a mm too tall, that might just pass as acceptable.
Busy ? not sure I can ever claim to be that, puddling about, certainly. I'm still waiting for a box from Expo Tools to turn up with my 12ba taps and some other bits, The P2 is getting lonely sitting in it's box.
. It's a bit of a worry knowing that a K's C1 is waiting in the wings. 
, the addition of the steam dome and the safety valve bonnet and the trailing axle/Rear frame. The dome is from a Bowser Pennsylvania K4 kit and is almost perfect if the Beattie drawing is accurate, the bonnet is home made. The axle boxes are from Comet and the frames are built up from plastic.