LNER (GCR) S1 Build

[Paul_sterling]

a quick pic partway through priming and primer-filler-ing.

IMG_20200103_122731[1] by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

a few more pics

IMG_20200103_143557 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

IMG_20200103_143605 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr
The filament layers show up still due to sanding, but the surfaces are pretty flat now, the next coat should be more representative.

IMG_20200103_143611 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

IMG_20200103_214806 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr
The S1 on a test run, pulled up beside the Q1

IMG_20200103_214815 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

IMG_20200103_214832 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

IMG_20200103_214847 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Paul.

[SAD Burdett]

What a beast!!!! nice one Paul.
Looking at the full side on shot there are so many similarities with my current L1 project you can see they came from the same guy.
Your "chunky" sandboxes are they made separately to the body???
If so can you provide any spares???
Would be delighted to come to some arrangement and they would save me a lot of time.

Regards,

SAD

[Paul_sterling]

Hi SAD,

the sandboxes are printed as part of the chassis. I do however have a spare chassis which was an earlier development that would probably be useable to cut the boxes out of if that helps?

Thanks. Paul.

[SAD Burdett]

Very kind offer Paul but a spare chassis may be of more use to someone than me hacking a couple of lumps off it,,, and just to save a couple of hours.
Have just looked through various books on the S1,,,yikes,,, and I thought the L1 was a monster!!!!

SAD

[Paul_sterling]

Very kind offer Paul but a spare chassis may be of more use to someone than me hacking a couple of lumps off it,,, and just to save a couple of hours.
Have just looked through various books on the S1,,,yikes,,, and I thought the L1 was a monster!!!!

SAD

Yep, one of the heaviest tank locos in the UK, its quite a beast. Though the loco is no taller than the O4 which has a lot of commonality with it, the short stubby front end gives it a real look of height and bulk.

The printed chassis/frame is a prototype, so its not really of any use to anyone for a project, but will i'm sure be okay for you to carve up, its polycarbonate, so not too bad to work with, and glues easily with superglue. Drop me a PM by all means if interested.

Cheers, Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

I paid a visit to Peters Spares yesterday, for various reasons. 1, I'm rebuilding my first Hornby Class 25, and in the course of cleaning and drying the frames for painting, they warped beyond repair, so a used set from PS has sorted that, the original was UK made, the replacement chinamax, but can't be helped. 2nd reason was that I was aiming for a self-gifted birthday treat of the new Bachmann Class 24/1, but when I saw it in person, I was not blown away by it, I'll wait for the SYP version, perhaps I had already had my purchasing high of the day by pre-ordering the Hornby W1 and Std 2MT?

3rd reason was to stock up the detail parts for the S1, whistle, ross-pops, etc etc. I don't need a smokebox dart for this one, as I'm using an O4 front end, otherwise the work is going to be much like the Q1 build henceforth, but I am going to use the staples advised by MickB. Smokebox door number and works plates were all ordered at the same time as those for the Q1.

Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

slight progress yesterday,

I bought a detail kit from wizard models, one of their general detailing etches/frets and within it, there were headcode/route indicator discs, which proved ideal for the water tank caps, even with a hand cut-out for a handle. Win.

I had my usual trials and tribulations with soldering/fitting the steps, I'm not by any means skilled at soldering, but as its on the back face, its less obvious. The steps have been araldited on to the loco, as superglue doesn't work so well between the brass and primer, its not an issue for the small detail parts, as they aren't subjected to handling forces, but the steps tend to be a bit vulnerable (from my Q1 experience), so Araldite on the unseen sides it is. With the S1 sporting water tank balance pipes directly behind the steps at the cab, it is a very inviting surface to get some additional fixing purchase onto, the same can't be said for those to access the lubricator and sanding equipment.

There is not as much detailing work on this loco as the Q1 had, the smokebox door is ready done, as is the boiler (mostly), leaving just the running plate, and a few underside details before I can put some paint on. Even most of the visible rivets feature on the boiler, and are already taken care of with this approach.

Thanks. Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

I've got last weeks pics still to upload from my errant phone, and those taken today aren't useable sadly, but hey ho.

So i've used a wheel type smokebox door lever to represent the priming wheel on the lubricator, so that is now fitted, and I've fitted the rear three lamp irons, and front three running plate mounted irons (staples). Plumbing for the lubricator will probably by thin wire.

The front steps are more flexible than i would like, so I have soldered a brace strip on behind, thin enough not to hopefully interfere with the motion.

At the top end, I now have a new smokebox door from Bachmann, of the O4 rather than GWR-ROD type, and also an O4 boiler, acquired most appreciatively from Mossie (Richard). The ROD variants have the backhead moulded as one with the boiler, so some surgery was required to assemble the ROD backhead onto the O4, but within my capabilities for once.

Paul

[Paul_sterling]

I've now put some wires in the back of the lubricator. I've got some strand electrical cable (the correct term for the size escapes me), with each wire being 0.25mm dia. by wrapping half a dozen together at one end, I've araldite-d them into a small hole in the back of the lubricator, and once that is cured, I'll distribute them around the front end similar to how they are on the S1, i.e. cylinders, motion, etc. Its probably quite a crude method, but as there is not a huge amount of fine detail on the S1 (I think its quite an austere looking locomotive, especially the unmodified ones), what there is, stands out, so I think i'll have to partake in the water-slide rivets for the front splasher boxes............ gulp.

As a separate subject, I was undertaking some surgery on a Hornby Merchant Navy at lunchtime, 35005, which was a Christmas present from my Great Aunt in 2000, the motor packed up some time back, so a spare working chassis has been installed. The spare was from a Clan Line, so the cylinders (which are lined differently) had to be swapped. finally, a friend needed valve gear for his MN, so the dead chassis gave up its valve gear post-swap. hopefully we should have two working MN's out of this productive session.

Thanks, Paul

[Horsetan]

..... I was undertaking some surgery on a Hornby Merchant Navy at lunchtime, 35005, which was a Christmas present from my Great Aunt in 2000, the motor packed up some time back, so a spare working chassis has been installed. The spare was from a Clan Line, so the cylinders (which are lined differently) had to be swapped. finally, a friend needed valve gear for his MN, so the dead chassis gave up its valve gear post-swap. hopefully we should have two working MN's out of this productive session. ...

OT, but are valve gear spares for the Rebuilt Merchant Navy now available from Hornby once again? There was a very lengthy period of some years when you couldn't get replacement valve gear sets for love nor money. The original motion could be quite fragile.

[Paul_sterling]

Not sure tbh, I suspect they aren't, (I haven't checked), but as my friend works very nearby he would probably have asked them before turning to me in desperation ha.

Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

I've just gathered up the waterslide rivets and gloss enamel spray, so riveting posts may be following in the coming days............

Paul

[Paul_sterling]

Pic updates,

Starting with the tank filler caps
IMG_20200108_091715 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Rear steps
IMG_20200108_091721 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Spectacularly out-of-focus lubricator
IMG_20200113_133721 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

And the O4 boiler and smokebox door in situ
IMG_20200113_135119 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Valve spindle caps "teets" getting glued in place
IMG_20200113_162516 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Thanks, Paul.

[Paul_sterling]

Some better shots taken by a friend

IMG_20200115_133559 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Ross-Pops installed
IMG_20200115_133620 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Lubricator plumbed in, with the grab rail partailly in place, but subject to some (considerable)adjustment.
IMG_20200115_133506 by Paul Sterling, on Flickr

Paul.