Atlantic's works: Portable layout - Scenic details next

[Atlantic 3279]

The saga of the A5 continues...

After improving the shape of the running plate around the lower corners of the tanks, and repositioning the angle-iron representation to suit, I had belatedly noticed on my umpteenth close inspection of the body that the original builder had "put his foot in it" when bending up the parts for the tanks and the bunker. The half etched fold lines were on the outside down the front edges of the tanks and the rear edges of the bunker, producing a cross between a bevel and a rebate where there should have just been a nice sharp, square edge. The error had been emphasized too, by wrapping the top edge beads around the corners, rather than applying separate straight pieces meeting at right angles.
I really didn't think that simply building up the edges with filler and filing back to a sharp line would give a lasting, chip-resistant result, and given that the handrails were already fitted to the tank fronts and bunker rear in close proximity to the edges I did not favour the idea of piling on solder and trying to file that back on both the sides and the ends of the offending parts. Solder alone might not have been hard enough to preserve a sharp square profile against the effects of handling anyway.
I chose to solder wire in place to get a hard edge in the right place, once filed back. I exploited the hand rails on the front / rear of the parts, pushing a tight fitting slip of card under each rail in turn , with the edge of the card sticking out slightly from the side, so that I could place a piece of 0.45 mm brass wire against the card, in the slight groove created by the unwanted bevel on the tank or bunker edge. The card of course prevented the wire from sitting any further forward or backward than the relevant edge. I then solder the wire in place.
This shows the card in place, although in this case it is a re-creation of what I did, long after I had filed the wire and solder flush with the side:

The solder didn't entirely fill the joints between the wire and the sheet metal on the fronts of the tanks or the rear of the bunker, but the residual groove with no overflow of solder was just what I wanted.

I'm quite happy to use a wipe over with easily sanded filler to stop up a shallow groove in flat surface away from the exposed edge and not in a prominently visible area of the model.
Rather than re-doing the whole beading along the top edges of the tanks and bunker I settled for simply building up the unwanted rounded corners by soldering on stubs of wire and very carefully filing back to match the line and shape of the straight portions of the beading.
I also replaced the lamp irons on the rear of the bunker. The originals were tiny, no more than L-shaped strips of brass, and fitted almost flush to the surface, presenting no hope of ever carrying a push-on, pull-off lamp. I've fitted some with enough stand-off from the bunker to accommodate a lamp, and with the short projecting foot which would support a real lamp. That horizontal handrail is straight by the way, no matter what the image suggests...

The more I looked at the boiler handrails, the more I was torn between thoughts of "they're okay" and of "they could be better". They weren't as crude and ghastly as some bits of clumsily kinked wire I've seen posing as handrails, but they were a little on the thick side, simply butt-jointed at the ends by solder to the tank fronts, and (remarkably, being of of stiff piano wire) bent to a fairly convincing and symmetrical set of curves around the front of the smokebox. In the end I decided that the bends were too sharp to be convincing on one of Robinsons locos, and in plan view they weren't lined up parallel to the sides of the boiler. Hence I took them off, spent quite some time bending up some 0.45mm nickel silver wire to the flowing symmetrical set of curves that I wanted, and made them long enough to fit securely into a couple of holes drilled in appropriate places in the tank fronts.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

So glad your having a 'Go' at an A5, I'm hoping to have a go at one shortly, using one of GBL 'Directors' as a starting point, I have another one making it's way 'Downunder'.

manna

[Horsetan]

Nowadays there's an entire A5 kit or two from 52F Models. The chassis from that might go well under the old Craftsman body, although whether it will take a twin-motor setup is anyone's guess.

[Pebbles]

Nowadays there's an entire A5 kit or two from 52F Models. The chassis from that might go well under the old Craftsman body, although whether it will take a twin-motor setup is anyone's guess.

I believe the whole point is to make something of a less than perfect kit and build, in that respect Atlantic is doing fine.

[Atlantic 3279]

That's the general idea, to which end I've had another session of swearing at it this wet, gloomy, miserable afternoon.

Not one of my better days.

Anyway, the new boiler handrails are now securely and symmetrically attached, new grab rails are in place in readiness for reinstatement of the steps in front of the tanks, and the previously excessive amount of badly shaped pipe-bend showing above each tank top has been re-formed and lowered. A loose front buffer has also be secured. Bit by bit...

[markindurham]

I'm impressed by the work going into this A5 - and am particularly interested in the errors with the Craftsman kit, which I can hopefully avoid when I build my own in due course. What will also be fascinating will be to compare it with the Nucast kit that I built a few years ago.

Mark

[Atlantic 3279]

I suspect that if you build the kit correctly in the first place, the only significant thing demanding correction may be that running plate shape, although I do wonder whether the cab roof is a touch low and the whitemetal chimney on my example a little too tall, but they are staying as they are!

We now have a top front lamp iron in place, a wheel and handle on the smokebox door, and a full set of steps re-instated. As there was already a turned brass stub of some sort sticking out of the smokebox door, and I had no idea of how difficult it might be to extract without collateral damage, I arranged the wheel and handle to fit on that stub, although I'd have liked to be a little longer. I couldn't use my usual shoulderless handrail knob as the handle, as the stub was too fat to fit in the hole in the handrail knob even after I'd carefully filed the stub as much as I dared. Also, the thickness of the handrail knob would have taken up too much space on the stub, leaving nothing on which to fit the handwheel, so I curled a piece of 0.45 nickel silver wire to a "question mark" shape and fitted that to the stub. There was then just enough still showing to take the wheel too. The fact that the stub does not project out beyond the handwheel, as it really should, will have to be a matter for examination with the blind eye...

The steps under the tank fronts were a bit of a swine to fit. The one set that had survived with the body "as acquired" had one tread slightly loose, so I thought it sensible to re-solder that before trying to attach the steps to the loco. A round of cursing ensued as it took several attempts to solder one tread in place without seeing the other one fall over or fall off. For the completely missing set, I substituted the closest I could find in a selection of left-over white metal crew steps. In both cases, after tinning the brass areas as necessary, I chose to try to minimize further swearing by attaching the steps to the loco using seventy-something degree lowmelt. Even then, I managed to dislodge one set of the grab rails that I had fitted because, with the tank fronts and sides acting as heat sinks I had to turn the iron up to get enough heat into the brass running plate to produce a good joint for the steps. Fun, isn't it?

At least the making and fitting of one replacement lower tread to the brass cab steps on one side was fairly easy.

Front guard irons next I think. Profanisaurus at the ready.

[markindurham]

Ah yes, the joys of a 'rescue', and I know exactly what you mean about soldered step assemblies. I would offer the use of my own Profanisaurus for your guard iron challenge, but it's well worn itself...mainly from repairing soldered step assemblies...

Mark

[Atlantic 3279]

We have front guard irons, and what I regard as a more satisfactory dome.

I also made numerous attempts to solder an additional step onto the front cover for the valve chest, below the step on the smokebox front, but I could not get the solder to both attach the step and flow out on the valve chest cover without leaving immovable lumps. The more I tried, the more trouble I got with heat spread, with both the step on the smokebox front and the middle lamp iron loosening and falling off, having evidently been held in place previously by prayer and luck rather than by thorough soldering. I decided that I could live without the extra step, so I cleaned up the mess, reattached the dislodged bits and moved on.
With the guard irons in place, even as more slender than scale representations, I found it desirable to move the bogie rearwards a touch. I'd suspected I might have to, as soon as I checked its position after gluing the pre-drilled mounting block firmly in place between the frames. The block had crept forward a "twitch" as the glue cured. I dealt with the problem by filling a little out of the front edge of the slot in the bogie frame, and soldering thin strip of metal into the rear edge of the slot.
Brake gear, sandboxes, building up of rear frames, and a seat of rear guard irons will be the next jobs. The water scoop under the bunker will have to be a pretend item.

[Woodcock29]

Graeme just wondering if you are aware that the bunker unit is actually too narrow on the Craftsman A5? Not that there is anything you could do about it in this project. But it might be useful info for others yet to build their Craftsman A5s.

I built my original one back in the early 80s. I picked up a second built one in s job lot from a deceased estate about 10 yrs ago. It has possibly Sharman wheels on it which had two narrow back to back but I managed to prise them out sufficiently so that the chassis runs quite well now so that's actually under my original body now. My body of course having been built as designed so incorrect footplate and too narrow a bunker.The second one is slowly having its body reworked so I will be attempting to rectify the footplate as you have done.but not much I can do about the bunker without actually scrapping that part I think as its all soldered up solid with high melting point solder (as I used to use!). It's not a high priority at the moment so it might be quite some time before I get back to it. If it eventually comes out ok I migth have a crack at modifying the footplate on my original body?

Andrew

[Atlantic 3279]

Thanks Andrew. It slipped my mind, but I do now clearly remember that you mentioned the bunker width a little while ago. With the shaped back plate supporting the sloping coal cage there's not much that I can currently think of as a satisfactory low-effort way to rectify the appearance. Just thickening the sides with overlays (including the running plate edges) and either thinning down or disguising the top edges wouldn't work in this case.

Anyway, I think I've had a new idea for that step that I could not attach the the front valve chest cover. I'll report back.

[Pebbles]

The running plate at the front end was 8ft (32mm) and at the rear 8ft 6inches (34mm), whereas the Craftsman kit has both front and rear at 32mm. Not much help at this stage!

[Atlantic 3279]

Useful to know for the future perhaps anyway.

The bunker width problem becomes apparent when studied from the rear, the rear steps on the model being tucked too far under the buffers as there's insufficient space for them behind the short buffer beam. They would be very awkward for the the fireman, cleaners (if any) or coaling crew to use...

[markindurham]

Reading the last few comments, I'm trying to get clear in my mind exactly how to resolve the footplate error. No doubt it will be obvious when I have the kit in front of me, and this thread open!

Those rear steps are awkward, aren't they? The extra 1mm either side would make a big difference.

Mind you, I'll now have to dig out my Nucast model when I get home & see what that one looks like

Mark

[Atlantic 3279]

As soon as I had rested my brain overnight the solution to the problem of fitting the extra step to the front of the loco became obvious. Yesterday, I had been trying to solder directly to the flat valve chest front cover, which is in turn soldered to the frames, the smokebox front, the running plate, and anything behind the cover that I cannot see - potentially quite a heat sink. I'd turned the end of the strip under, at an angle to match the sloping front of the valve chest cover, in the hope of getting a decent contact area, but as it wouldn't form a joint at all that was a futile measure! Even as a long strip for later trimming it wasn't very easy to hold it in just the right place and apply the iron too, so all in all the method wasn't a good one.
The "light bulb" came on when I thought about the possibility of cutting a slot in the projecting front edge of one of the relatively thin frame plates, pushing a pre-cut step into the slot, adjusting the position to get it just-so, then soldering from the outside of the frame plate and cleaning that plate back to a smooth finish. I do have plans to add some bolt / rivet detail later by the way.
Voila! One lower step added:

Frame smooth again: