Atlantic's works: Portable layout - Scenic details next

[60800]

I assume Blackout's comment was a reference to the original name of your donor loco?

Yep

More progress on the A1/1 for EM

Another better than RTR quality stunner taking shape again Graeme

[auldreekie]

[quote="Atlantic 3279"]More progress on the A1/1 for EM.
. There were also a fair few small imperfections to sort out in the casting, and some trimming to do to make it fit the underframe. These shortcomings are not entirely Brian's fault. ]

It would not surprise me to find some casting flaws in Brian's tender top, and these need in no way be a reason for disappointment. In my experience as a consumer (definitely NOT a producer) of such things, Atlantic's castings are of an unusually high quality: others may fall a bit short by comparison, but are nevertheless much to be welcomed as serious modelling aids.

I'm still working my way through the foothills of some relatively simple Atlantic-documented conversions, in preparation for really biting the bullet with his A2/3 parts. But I have in my time managed to create models which I regard as decent from eg some of the Golden Arrow products which (unfortunately from the perspective of this forum) tend to major on S******n prototypes. When I've got it into a presentable state, I'll post a thread with some pics of a rebuilt Claud Hamilton arrived at in this way.


auldreekie

[Atlantic 3279]

Yes, I'd endorse the view that the tender moulding is / was fine for anyone with resonable modelling skills and willingness to use them.

[Atlantic 3279]

Although much of my time is currently spoken for, I've managesd to sneak off for a minute so I can send an update on the A1/1. Body is now pemanently assembled in basic form and has been adjusted to fit the chassis properly (still OO at this stage). Original valve gear removed, new cylinders installed and bogie re-located. I tried to dodge the need to drill and tap yet another hole in the chassis this time, and to add packing pieces, by re-bending the bogie carrier so that it puts the bogie in the correct new position and becomes rigidly located by the old cylinder cut-out in the chassis when it is simply screwed back in place in the original cylinder mounting hole. Bending the bogie carrier to this shape was probably just as much work in the end as the drilling, tapping and packing would have been!

AS A1/1 CONVERSION IS COVERED EARLIER IN THIS THREAD (SEE PAGE 1 FOR INDEX) AND AS A FULL SET OF ILLUSTRATED INSTRUCTIONS HAS BECOME AVAILABLE FROM ME BY E-MAIL SINCE THIS MATERIAL WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN, MANY OF THE IMAGES ARE NO LONGER DISPLAYED HERE ON ACCOUNT OF THE NEED TO LIMIT THE "IMAGE LOAD" ON THIS FORUM.

As a completely separate project, I've also been tinkering with a means of producing a model of the final versions of Wolf of Badenoch or Thane of Fife. Cutting the nose off one of my V-front resin cabs, plus a certain amount of trimming of the inner edges of its firebox space plus some slimming down of the raised bits on the rear of a Bachmann A2 metal running plate makes it possible to fit the cab to the A2 boiler and running plate. This gives the correct cab sides and the correct cut-down formerly streamlined roof with tapered fairing behind the central ventilators. Doing the rest of the loco conversion as per my A2/3 method, save for the smoke deflectors, the motion bracket outer facings and little details such as steps and ejector pipe, should produce the required result.

If you want the reboilered CotN or EarlM then you need the Gresley cabsides with turned-in rears but (I think) the Bachmann Peppercorn cab roof. Good luck!

[auldreekie]

Atlantic,

That's a very neat ploy (the butchered Wolf of Badenoch/Thane of Fife), which appeals to my sense of the economical by building on your past exploits. (By way of digression, I've always wondered why a senior civil servant should be held in bad odour for being "economical with the truth". That's exactly what he ought to be, since "economical" means "thrifty, not wasteful" according to the OED and to me. Perhaps some more recent economists, politicians and journalists would benefit from a reminder.)

Time MAY come when I'm moved to undertake a butchered P2 conversion using your resin etc bits, assuming they're (still) available when I shall at last have acquired the necessary nerve and skills. You may be amused that, having made a start 2 days ago, I am now nearing the end of the destructive phase of one of "your" O4/8 conversions. I regard this as a training exercise prior to embarking on an A2/3: how many stages of "training" will be required remains to be seen....

Nevertheless, I suggest that you ought to be heartened by the encouragement given by your example.


auldreekie

[Atlantic 3279]

It always seems sensible to make full use of what you already have at your disposal - it needn't prevent new ventures.

[Saint Johnstoun]

I find that I have to be in the mood for modelling (or writing which is my other main activity) and would agree with Atlantic in that one needs to work on what one has before attempting something greater. I have a number of projects under way and find that suddenly the urge comes to move some of these on. I'm gradually collecting jobs together for a major effort with the airbrush and those include a Great Northern using Atlantic's bits, my version of the proposed 4-8-2, the WD 2-10-0 conversion, and some other less attractive projects as far as LNER Forum watchers are concerned and these include a class 303 EMU, a 503 EMU and a 1927 Watford EMU.

I tend to model things that I like, so the canvas is broad, despite having a stack of LNER locos in both LNER and BR guises. We do have a lot to thank such as Atlantic for his efforts in enabling us to move onwards and upwards in the modelling world and create some prototypes that are not available from the box shifters.

[auldreekie]

Atlantic and St J,

I don't wish to hijack this thread (some hope, given the quality of A's continuing saga of hacking and rebuilding...). But grateful to both for encouraging words.

Actually, it's something of a relief to know that I'm not the only one with a cupboard (nay a spare-room, a large shed, and - during the winter months which are open to a wide interpretation by the domestic authorities - a greenhouse/conservatory) full of projects completed, in progress, or under consideration. It's interesting to me that, having achieved reasonable facility in producing all sorts of weird and wonderful narrow gauge locos in 4mm scale, starting from flat plastic and tube, I really do find it quite an effort to bring myself to hack proprietary SG models in order to achieve results otherwise unobtainable. The skills are not so VERY different, you'd think.....

auldreekie

[Atlantic 3279]

Remember this from last Autumn and the discussion of the Poultney Patent Locomotive that ensued? Well here at last is a fairly dismal reproduction of the picture of the loco that YEC never built. Straight comparison of the pictures makes it pretty obvious that cutting and pasting of images is nothing new.

[auldreekie]

Do I remember? Do bears **** in the woods?

This was my opportunity to demonstrate minor erudition in the daunting (to me) circumstances of the forum!

That's a super image, Atlantic. Do you feel able to share where you found it? I have a version of it on page 74 of Tony Vernon's YECo book, towards which I believe I steered you, but this one looks altogether clearer, if no doubt a nearer-the-original version of the same fudged-up image. The book has a side-view drawing of a 4-8-2+0-8-0 proposal in a similar vein....

For the little that it's worth, I have now reached the "constructive" phase of "your" O4/8, and I think it's going well. I've hit a minor snag, however, with your brass reinforcing angles at the rear corner bases of the cab. I had the foresight (?) to produce the angles in very thin phosphor bronze strip; but still they foul the Bachmann chassis. Not a serious problem, but you might like to know.... (On second thoughts, you might prefer history to stay that way.....)


auldreekie

[Atlantic 3279]

Replied by PM.

[Atlantic 3279]

I've started putting valve gear together for three locos today, although only one of them will feature on here. As this loco is to be for a gentleman who mentioned a particular liking for multi-layer expansion links, and I've never had a go at putting any together (despite the fact that the etches designed for me by Morgan Gilbert feature such exotica), I thought I'd better put my soldering skills to the test and demonstrate that the job can actually be done at the kitchen / dining table with nothing fancier than an ordinary soldering iron and a bit of care. So here we are, both in basic form on the bench and test fitted to the loco along with the motion bracket and forked radius rod (paper spacers still inplace as per instructions - I even read my own instructions you know). Don't go looking for raised representations of boltheads at the top and bottom of each expansion link, I deemed that to be a bridge too far. The etched dots are near enough. I mean, what do want, blood or something?

[Horsetan]

The next challenge is to make the gear reversible......

[Atlantic 3279]

Would that be linked to a workable screw reverser in the cab then? Please demonstrate. I think I'll settle for being satisfied with what I've acheived here. I did think about putting this loco in-gear, which I think would be possible without excessive difficulty, but given that the walls of the slot in the rear end of the radius rod are already quite thin I'm not sure it would be wise to have the pin of the lifting lever sliding back and forth in that slot. This loco is quite possibly going to have to run serious mileage, some of it at full tilt too. I don't think unravelled valve gear and regular down-time in works would impress the new owner.

[jukebox]

Would that be linked to a workable screw reverser in the cab then? Please demonstrate

I'm pretty sure Richard (DCCconcepts) Johnson did just that with one of his 4mm LMS kit builds... us mere mortals just stand back and collect our jaws off the floor.