Paul's workbench

[Atlantic 3279]

I've only ever assembled one High Level Roadrunner gearbox, so I was feeling my way slowly and carefully as I did the job. It certainly ran very nicely once it was done, although I can't now remember what I did about the gear shafts when I also had doubts about use of glue alone. I have a feeling that the number and thickness of supplied spacers didn't quite meet my expectations.
As I retired from "real" work early (albeit 8 years later than my original master plan, and not a moment too soon by my reckoning) and had to settle for slightly more modest finaces than I would have liked, I'm now very much "in love" with economical model making. Hence, although the results are not as quiet, possibly not quite as silky smooth, and certainly involve more construction time / effort, rather than buying any more HL or other gearboxes I feel much more likely to either assemble more of my own gear systems from cheapo nylon gears and worms, or to use any suitable gearbox from old stock.

[jwealleans]

I'm with Mick here, these boxes are very easy to assemble and very forgiving if you're a bit hamfisted. I've always used their layshafts and done as Mick suggests only with Loctite. I've only had one come adrift, in one of the Grantham C1s after a few shows use. I'd cut the shaft a bit too short and it slipped into the box - even so, the loco kept going until someone tried to reverse it, then it stopped working. It took longer to spot the problem than to cut a new shaft and fix it.

[Pebbles]

When some time ago Highlevel introduced a final drive with a locking screw this solved the main problem. However, the issue of fixing layshafts is still an issue. The last one I assembled I soldered a brass washer flush on one end of the layshaft prior to assembly. This gives a much larger surface area for glue to adhere to, minimises any gearbox width issues and makes disassembly far simpler. A method I haven't tried is to open the layshaft hole one side of the gearbox and solder in a top hat bush with a 2mm internal thread, the bush would be filed almost flush. The layshaft would have a short 2mm thread one end the other end having a screwdriver slot. If Highlevel etched the hole one side under size I'm believe this arrangement could be achieved without the bush. I hope this all makes sense.

[nzpaul]

I've only had one come adrift, in one of the Grantham C1s after a few shows use. I'd cut the shaft a bit too short and it slipped into the box - even so, the loco kept going until someone tried to reverse it, then it stopped working. It took longer to spot the problem than to cut a new shaft and fix it.

That's exactly what I can't afford to happen, the Roadrunner is going in a loco for someone else and I'd like to assure them that the drive chain is bullet proof within reason, hence the extra effort to ensure that there is no way for the gearbox to toss its toys out.

I have made many High Level Boxes in about 30 minutes or less.
The main gear may need a reamer through it, but takes seconds to do.
The Silver steel shafts cut them 1mm wider than the etched sides and a dab of superglue holds them , never had a issue with any.

I was aware of your liking for them Mick, in fact it was a good part of my decision to try them. I have one left to build and now that I've got a method that I'm happy with and knowledge of the corrections required, I'd hope I could have it assembled in less than an hour, not forgetting that I modify the motor mount to suit a motor the gearbox wasn't designed for.
I'll reiterate that the finished boxes do run very nicely, one thing that became immediately apparent was the lack of a preferred direction, most Comet boxes tend to run quieter in one direction (usually backwards in my experience) which has lead to my preference of mounting the drive on the rear axle of a chassis with the rear of the motor facing the front of the loco, both of these High Level boxes run equally well in either direction, it's a small thing but it's noticeable. I don't think I'll be giving up on Comet anytime soon though, I prefer their much heavier components .

Paul

[mick b]

The main reason I like them is that they can be used in any loco and totally concealed. Due to the variety of designs and gear options I have them fitted in a tiny Y8 to a A2 . As you say silent running as well.

I have never used a Comet box , due the size of them they are off very limited use nowdays to me at least.
A similar discussion has also been made on the Dark Side ,relating to the very overpriced and sized DJH boxes which have even more limited use, unless you are willing to see them under the Boiler or even the Cab area.

cheers

[nzpaul]

Perhaps not the proper thread to post this but, it has just been brought to my attention......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 1470/4470 "Great Northern"

Apologies if this is being discussed elsewhere,but April 1922 was a fairly momentous month in locomotive history after all.

Edit: Just to credit Ian McCabe and the Gresley Society for the colourised pic.

Paul

[Atlantic 3279]

An important centenary. Well spotted!

[nzpaul]

Alas, the keen observation of Great Northern's 100th is not mine. It belongs to a bloke called Mike, an expat living in NZ, but currently lurking somewhere in the UK I believe.

Paul

[manna]

G'Day Gents

What a loco.

manna

[nzpaul]

HI All
A couple of projects from the roundtoit pile.
Open 1st for the East Anglian set.
Fitted with 22 passengers, only to realise they're completely invisible in a side on photo like this. Roof painted with a rattle can colour called "Classic Cream" , a bit too yellow perhaps but it's growing on me.

Second photos of the Brake 3rd and Open 1st showing the differences between the Kirk Kit (1st) and Comet sides on Hornby donor (3rd).

Lastly a Mercedes 6500 Bus, a Brekina body fitted to a heavily chopped up Faller starter kit bus chassis. A great deal more work than anticipated as the steering mechanism is not really designed to be hidden under such a narrow bonnet. The front of the mudguards are very thin to make room for wheel movement.

Paul

[jwealleans]

How did you get on with the Comet sides, Paul? I find them just a little squat to be convincing. Having built some of their other carriages, I think their Gresley ones are much less convincing.

Your picture also shows that Kirk kits, with suitable extra bits and finishing, still hold up well against more modern products. IMO.

[nzpaul]

How did you get on with the Comet sides, Paul? I find them just a little squat to be convincing. Having built some of their other carriages, I think their Gresley ones are much less convincing.

Your picture also shows that Kirk kits, with suitable extra bits and finishing, still hold up well against more modern products. IMO.

Assembling the coach using comet sides was easy enough, cut the donor in half fix the sides with contact adhesive and add an extra piece of Hornby roof to repair the resulting hole from lengthening the donor. The sides fit the old Margate Gresleys reasonably accurately, so the squatness may be partly caused by the window frames being quite substantial, the photo shows that well when comparing the two.
I have a few Kirk kits purchased years ago from Mainly Train, this one is the first I've assembled and I'm disappointed with my past self for not buying many more of them. They have some issues for sure but nothing that a bit of work can't overcome, and they were relatively cheap when readily available. In the hands of someone like me, and a few additional parts (Graeme's Battery boxes and a Comet dynamo) a half decent model can be made. Yourself and others have made the effort to create excellent models from them.
I'm toying with the idea of trying the Isinglass kits for the restaurant cars, they're a bit pricey but they do make the proper coaches for the set, so this East Anglian will end up a real mixed bag.

Paul

[nzpaul]

Some time ago I became aware of Mike Edge's partial kit for for a V4 2-6-2. I'd already built the ABS kit for myself but when asked if I'd be willing to have a go at the Mike Edge kit I thought it would be an interesting project. This has been underway since January and is starting to resemble a loco. It's a typical Edge kit, so everything including the crosshead is soldered up from multiple layers of etched bits, time consuming but quite rewarding.

I've also made a small step forward with the Mk2 C11, cylinders made up from thick wall plastic tube with 0.8mm brass rod for slide bars and Comet crossheads.

Paul

[Atlantic 3279]

Good to see progress and quality.
Tiring of what seemed to be a loco building marathon I was only too happy to have a ready-built ABS V4 requiring "only" a repaint last winter, although I imagine the etched version, carefully assembled, will be a much sharper rendition.
Even when using a couple of pre-curved layers, bonded together, thin plastic splasher tops seem to show an irritating tendency to go flat near the ends. I tried to combat that in my D7s by arranging for the splasher top to fit down tightly into the wheel aperture in the running plate, denying the plastic any freedom to flatten out.

[john coffin]

At the risk of teaching you all to check your drawings properly, could I suggest Graeme that you think about following the prototype,
and add splasher end caps to withhold the item. In general, and certainly on the GNR, they were a piece of angle which was shaped
to fit on the footplate and then bent to the shape of the splasher top.

They are shown on many Isinglass drawings.

Paul