Paul's workbench

[nzpaul]

Thanks Graeme, I'll take that as a compliment. I'm sure in your hands the Triangness would be eliminated completely and a model of very high standard would be achieved.
I some ways the old FS was better than the model that replaced it, chimney looked like a chimney, expansion link hanger etc, why they all have their noses in the air is weird, some modest bending of the front mounting bracket and the body sits nice and level on the chassis, the factory could have fixed it pretty easily, bit late to tell them now of course.

Paul

[S.A.C. Martin]

Captain Cuttle shows just how good the Triang Hornby item nearly was.

Agree - and it's strange, but the tender drive bodyshell/original railroad tooling that replaced it wasn't as good in some areas. The tender was junk though.

Captain Cuttle looks very good - thoroughly approve of taking old stuff and making it better.

[Atlantic 3279]

Thanks Graeme, I'll take that as a compliment.

Paul

A compliment on your work was definitely the intention, and I should have made it clearer.

[nzpaul]

Hi All
Well, here we are again in level 4 lockdown, seems excessive and unnecessary where I live but....3 unexpected days off, which is not a particularly good thing when you work for yourself.
Given the success of the model, I've made a Youtube clip of Captain Cuttle. I tried to do some fancy editing but fell short of the fancy, best I could do with a phone to edit on. I tried to add extra sounds but things went badly so I'll try again another day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnONbQcDfAw

Moving on..
C1 4419
I wasn't sure how to feel about starting this, excited or scared. K's kits have something of a reputation but I figured that the two GEM kits and the Nucast P2 should be enough practice. The kit was in virtually new condition despite being the best part of 40 years old, possibly older.

I've assembled the frames as per instructions and that went well. The wheels needed some remedial work as rust had set into the tyres, but a scrub with WD40 and "lathing" in a drill has them nice and shiny again. I was prepared to throw the wheels out based on their reputation for wobbliness, but having assembled them I've found that they run surprisingly true, so they may end up staying. I'm also loathe to waste things that work and wheels aren't cheap, even the Scalelink ones are expensive enough. The supplied motor on the other hand is not so good, just idling it draws 300ma so I've substituted a Mashima/Comet gearbox. This was originally in the C11 but didn't run nicely under load with the gearbox leading but runs perfectly "backwards". The option to turn it around didn't work for the C11 so it got swapped out for a different gearbox, it should work out okay here.

A request for information... does anyone have any photographic evidence of 4419 running with Ross pop safety valve while still fitted with the booster engine? I have a photo of a beautifully made example running thus, but all prototype photos I have found show Ramsbottom valves with the booster, any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Paul

[jwealleans]

This do you? I'm assuming the booster's still present in this picture.

[nzpaul]

Thanks Jonathan, that was fast. Puts the subject to bed without question.
While you're there...page 102 of your own thread, you moved the cylinders to the frames rather than being part of the body on your own Ks example. Was that to improve the way the front end sits down on the chassis or just to have all of the moving bits on the same part of the model?

Paul

[jwealleans]

I found the K's arrangement an unnecessarily complex nuisance. You can't test the chassis without putting the body on and it's a nightmare to assemble. Having the cylinders on the frames worked much better.

The issue of the body not sitting down properly was separate - I can't honestly recall what was causing it - but not to do with the cylinders.

[Atlantic 3279]

I still have a K's kit to build for a C1. I shall watch with great interest.

[nzpaul]

Day 2
I started assembling the superstructure of the C1 and the fun has started. The boiler provided similar issues to the P2 as far as getting the top straight, not quite so bad but still a challenge. when offered up to the running plate with the original smokebox saddle, the boiler tilted upward by about 2mm. A good amount of the saddle is now filings in the bin.
I'm satisfied now that the boiler is level on the chassis and all clearances are adequate for the wheels to have plenty of room to do their thing.

Offering up the cylinder block/front frames part has thrown up an interesting concept. The question being, where exactly are the inner bogie wheel supposed to go when it goes around a corner? I'm pretty sure that's a short circuit waiting to go somewhere, among other things. Making a proper wheel arch is going to take a minor redesign of the front section.That's all for today, time to go do some family stuff, back to it tomorrow.

Cheers
Paul

[jwealleans]

Long time since I did mine, but at least one of the bogies was replaced with a Comet one and I have vague recollections of moving pivot points backwards as well. I can dig them out if you need to see them, but you're right that this is an area where you might have problems.

[Woodcock29]

I built a Ks C1 back about 1976-77. But remembering what I did is difficult as I dismantled it about 20 years ago to rebuild it - but that hasn't happened yet as too many other projects got in the way! And now I have two Bachmann C1s. However, it is now destined to provide a lot of the parts for a model of 3279 in due course.
What I do remember is that in order to get it to go around 2ft radius curves I narrowed the frames at the front by reducing the width of the frame spacer. I also remember the bogie had a centre pivot but can't remember if that was part of the kit design. I also had to fit 12mm bogie wheels. But in the end it didn't look too bad. I eventually fitted Romford drivers and a MW005 motor rather than using the Ks junk.
I remember fitting a nice brass chimney to it at some stage.
Andrew

[mick b]

I have one I built in the 1980's .
Mine has a one piece chassis including the cylinders castings. Its never been used much, as it does'nt like curves very much . It has the Comet slotted pivot etch for the bogie which helps a bit. Still has the K's drivers and a DS10 motor. I can do some photos if needed.

[Atlantic 3279]

You could consider using two pins to suspend / pivot the bogie. One would be central to the bogie, with spring to carry weight if necessary, and sliding in a lateral slot. The slot might be better if rather than being straight it were curved so that the bogie is brought forward when it shifts sideways, that will keep the front bogie wheels clear of the cylinders. The second pin would be above the rear axle of the bogie, in a close-fitting longitudinal slot, thus allowing the rear of the bogie to move forwards slightly as the front of the bogie shifts sideways (it will have to do that even if the lateral slot is straight) but not giving the rear bogie wheels any scope to move sideways. The loco will then track more like a 2-6-2, or possibly a 2-8-0 depending on what you do with the rear carrying wheels. You could of course drive those as well, I know somebody who was daft enough to do that on a DJH Atlantic which now does Pacific duties...

[nzpaul]

Hi All
Thanks for the offers of information and assistance, I'll keep you all in mind if things go pear shaped.
The small amount of progress on the front end has taken most of the day. Work included removal of the front fame spacer and cutting out the wheel arch. Make up a new spacer from thick brass shim and solder into position. Bend and drill for body and cylinder block mounting. Muck about with plastic shims to get the ride height back to where it should be. The chassis modification brings the cylinders down onto the chassis, stolen directly from JW's thread.

Much surgery was needed on the cylinder/front frames casting to make it fit for purpose. Mostly opening up the wheel arches to give adequate clearance for the bogie to have some up/down and left/right freedom. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the kit designer intended this loco for drag racing only, no corners.
I've been testing with the kits supplied front bogie fitted with 13mm Romford wheels and so far it seems comfortable down to 22" radius curves, no slide bars in the mix yet so my positive thinking might get thrown in my face.
I'm considering making cut outs for the rear wheels to give more flexibility but placing a wheel set under the rear end as it is suggests that it might behave well enough as a faux 4-6-0.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

You could of course drive those as well, I know somebody who was daft enough to do that on a DJH Atlantic which now does Pacific duties...

I know the one you mean, I've not met the guy personally, but pretty sure I've seen him on Youtube..... along with a few others who are known to frequent these parts.

Paul