Paul's workbench

[nzpaul]

Hi All
It's always a good day when a new A3 moves in, I bought this one from a local auction for the equivalent of about £45. It was claimed to be in good condition but missing a few parts. Close inspection revealed that it's done a lot of miles, the tender has been dropped and broken in a few spots and generally it's been un-loved and neglected, but it does go and all the breaks and missing parts can be fixed and replaced. I've started work on it by putting a round dome in the proper place, I bought a few of these domes from Mainly Trains years ago, I can't remember the manufacturer but they were supposed to be rebuilt Royal Scot domes I think, not perfect but it looks ok. Some time in the future the plan will be to give it a proper LNER paint job and it'll probably become Papyrus or maybe Felstead. Photos show a fairly sad Hornby A3, it's found a good home now though.

Cheers
Paul

[All thumbs]

Not that you'll want to hear this but if you have long term plans to re-paint back into LNER livery then you may want to set your existing tender to one side. The Hornby late BR A3s with the ex-GN 8 wheel tenders are just too good - the original sloping front coal plate was replaced in the 1950s by an upright one which Hornby has accurately reproduced. Just thought you would want to know...

[nzpaul]

No no, I've left part of the story out, must have been in a rush last night. The tender from this loco will be getting a bit of work so as to have a sloping front and will be transferred to Flamingo, currently under construction using a Trix body on a Comet chassis with Hornby tender (does that make it a Comixby or Tricomby....not sure ). I don't fancy altering the cab cut out, so this A3 will have to be a post 1936ish version, so I'm currently making inquiries into finding a high sided non corridor tender. Thanks for the heads up though.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
During my blogging about the construction of my Coronation coaches I mentioned the lack of an appropriate A4 with which to pull the train. I am lucky enough to have two silver A4's ,but redecorating one of them for Coronation service would be something of a no no. So, recently I purchased a Railroad version of Golden Shuttle (cheap too) with the aim of turning it into Dominion of New Zealand.
I tackled the tender first and removed the beading. I thought I might get away without having to repaint if I was careful, but no such luck, so I resprayed both the tender and the loco, very carefully avoiding the front end so as not to ruin the lining on the smokebox.

I've put the tender aside for a bit and concentrated on getting the loco sorted with renaming and numbering, I've used Fox name plates, cabside transfer and etched numbers.

As far as the chassis goes, all I've done is paint the wheels. I incorrectly assumed that the Railroad A4 would utilize the same running gear as the latest FS model, but I was quite pleased to find the familiar A3/4 chassis with its fat little 5 pole motor, I do have some spare etched valve gear I could use but the valences hide most of the moving bits, so I think I'll leave the more robust rods in place.

I was a little concerned about the shade of blue before the varnish was applied but after three light coats of gloss varnish I'm happy enough with the colour.

A little bit of finishing off work to do on the loco then back to work on the tender, the fairings will need reshaping, they're far to wide, the whole thing is a little to wide in comparison the the silver tenders, but only a little bit so I'll refrain from getting the saw out.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
The tender for DONZ is now done, the coal space fairing came in for a fair bit of attention from a drum sander in the rotary tool. I've added a false floor and extended the corridor through to the front. Now that that work is done the tender looks a bit less overweight that its original form.

My original intention was to weather the loco in a similar fashion to that done to Herring Gull in 2750 Toms workbench thread. But, after 3 coats of gloss varnish DONZ has taken on an appearance I don't wish to change, a glossy blue A4 is the very image a streamliner is supposed to have, and it matches the train perfectly as well, as it should. All but done now, just waiting for some transfers for the buffer beam (???) to turn up from Fox and and paint the cab interior.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
I've ended up with a pile of spare parts from the various cut and shut efforts and I thought it was a waste to not use them. Once again this is a work of fiction but it should fit in with the others ok. It's made up by assembling the remaining compartment sides, one side altered to put the 1st and 3rd compartments in the right place, so I've ended up with a non corridor composite. The GK resin roof used had become warped due to the way I'd stored it (thankfully only one bent) so I wasn't too worried about modifying it to suit the flat ends, and the structure of the coach is strong enough the keep things straight. I've fitted the same full length foot board as the last effort and finished it with the same darker teak effect. It's a mongrel thing at best and I'm not sure how I'll find a use for it yet, but it's all good fun.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
I've started work on my next loco project, a GEM D34 with their etched chassis. I'll cover the construction of the chassis only as I think Wills West Highland thread more then adequately covers the top bit.
Although I've only built a few etched chassis, I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised at the quality of this one and how well thought out it is.
This chassis built up nice and square and required no adjustment from the long rods through the axle bearings.

One issue that has cropped up is that the chassis is not quite a perfect fit to the running plate casting, it'll require some minor adjustment but things are looking ok so far. The motor/gears will be the Hornby type 7 with either 40/1 or 50/1 gearset, most likely 50/1 as it makes these slotcar motors behave at low/mid speeds.

[S.A.C. Martin]

All looking rather smart Paul. The change to the tender though is a very practical one and I like that very much. It's obviously not a correct type but it gives a very good flavour of the correct type on a budget.

[nzpaul]

Thanks Simon, if the rest of the build goes this well I'll be quite chuffed with it. I'll most likely copy Will's tender mods as they really do look good, only hope I can do as good a job.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
After fitting the Driving wheels to the chassis and mucking about getting the running plate to sit at the right height, it became apparent that there was no way that the suggested 14mm bogie wheels were going to be functional in combination with the chassis. I've ended up abandoning the entire front frame extension, thankfully I hadn't removed the cast frames from the running plate.

The altered front end has made it easier to arrange a simple suspension for the bogie, made up from spare bits from the chassis etch. The loco is extremely front heavy so the support from the bogie is essential. I think this will be a prime candidate for the GK tender weighting arrangement.
I've fitted Gibson 3' 2" wheels to the bogie in the mean time but I think I'll get away with 13mm wheels without risk of short circuits.

Progress so far, things starting to look recognizable.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
I've spent a bit of time playing with my new smartphone today, took a few videos of a couple of trains running on the clubs layout. I'm not going to win any prizes for cinematography, but it might be of interest.

Cheers
Paul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBjSqC6HtY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elMLpUDLP8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmqZ9f2YKac

[nzpaul]

Hi All
While working on the D34, I've also kept some other building going at the same time. This 3rd class coach is the latest to be completed. It's built using the same techniques as my earlier coaches but with the addition of Comet 6 wheel bogies and truss rods. Inspiration for this came directly from JW's Westend workbench thread (page 84).Again, it's obviously a compromised model but I hope it captures the flavour of the ECJS stock, regardless of its short length and questionable details.

I've included a before and after photo in case anyone wonder why I go to all the trouble, I think its provides justification but I guess that's inevitable.

Cheers
Paul

[Graeme Leary]

Hi nzpaul, have to ask the question - which part of New Zealand are you in? Not that I'm tackling anything of the magnitude of what you've done, as I too am resident of 'Godzone' you might just be 'down the road' to steer me in the right direction when needed.
Graeme Leary (Clevedon)

[nzpaul]

Hi Graeme
Not quite just down the road I'm afraid. I'm in Wanganui so in the same island at least. Quite happy to give you any help I can all the same. My experience of this forums membership are they are a very helpful bunch despite our half global seperation. PM any time .

Cheers
Paul

[Graeme Leary]

Greetings Paul,

Thanks for reply. Have a trip planned to South Island end of October and will be driving down to Wellington for the ferry on Tuesday 27th (ie day after Labour Day) and probably via the Parapara's. An early start from here could have me in Wanganui midday/early afternoon - would a quick call be in order? And, do you run a layout or is your interest more to do with some of the brilliant construction projects you have been posting?
Have to agree with you entirely about the Forum - I have asked endless questions about all sorts of arcane matters (mainly to do with liveries, tenders, running numbers) and there is always someone lurking about in the UK when we're sound asleep here who has exactly the answer I need waiting when I get up for an early morning cup of tea. I am totally in awe of what these people know.
Regards
Graeme