RMweb Premium DLT Posted April 30, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 30, 2020 Sorry for lack of updates, but I'm having internet problems at the moment. Loco is progressing though, and the tender is well on its way. Cheers, Dave. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 2, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 2, 2020 (edited) The tender is being built pretty much as per instructions so far, so not a lot to say about it. As it features large flat areas of brass, the instructions advise great care in soldering to avoid overheating and distortion. With this in mind I'm using a lower melt solder for this job, 145degree to be precise. Anywhere that needs bending has nice half-etched grooves to assist you, making ther job a lot simpler, and the instruction advise bending round a length of 1/8" rod. Taking the fitting and soldering slowly and carefully pays off, in order to get the shape, fit and positioning spot-on. I soldered a bit at a time to avoid overheating, and making sure every bit was ok. Edited September 6, 2022 by DLT 7 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 2, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 2, 2020 For working on the tender, I dug out an old jig I made up years back for doing battle with previous SR bogie tenders. 16 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post DLT Posted May 5, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted May 5, 2020 As I said earlier, I'm building the tender as per the instructions. The long narrow overlays around the rim of the tender really do need a slow and methodical approach. It would be all to easy to mess it up by trying to solder too quickly and distorting the parts with too much heat. They need careful bending to begin with, followed by gradual soldering, a bit at a time, and letting it cool in between. I held the parts on with mini-bulldog clips and slowly worked my way along. I wanted to include that beautifully machined brake-wheel from Markits in the photos. Anyway, the whole thing currently looks like this: 18 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted May 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 5, 2020 Looks superb Dave! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 5, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 5, 2020 5 hours ago, Tony Teague said: Looks superb Dave! Thanks Tony, We are reaching the painting stage before long, so we need to decide on number etc. I think we decided not to do 483, as it had a stovepipe chimney for much of the SR period. Apart from that they were all much the same. Makes a change! Anyway, here are the current ingredients for tender pickups. I've fitted pickups to a number of tenders, but the method has been different each time! It all depends on the design of the kit. I've done some improvements to the bogie mountings to make the ride a bit smoother. The rather floppy screw through a loose hole was the perfect recipe for a wobbly tender. More later, Cheers, Dave. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 5, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 5, 2020 Its all together. I think the photos are fairly self-explanatory when it comes to the pickup system. If I'd thought ahead a bit better, I would have ordered half-insulated tender wheels, instead of fully insulated. Instead I've had to fit wiper pickups on both sides of the tender instead of just the insulated side. 10 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 12, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 12, 2020 Working a way of transmitting power from tender pickups to loco WITHOUT a fiddly plug & socket arrangement. More springy wipers on the drawbar should do the trick. Also being a numpty, I forgot to add weight inside the tender body before I soldered the top on, and its way to light on its feet. So having created some holes underneath I'm getting lumps of lead in, secured with Araldite. I will NOT be using lead shot secured with PVA, this has been known to lead to chemical reaction and expansion, damaging models from within. Cheers, Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 12, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 12, 2020 Well, so far so good, the system of wipers on the drawbar seems to be carrying power ok. The bar intself is make from double-sided pcb, so both sides carry power. The photos SHOULD be self-explanatory... The drawbar from above: wipers on the top bear against the tender body, that from the end is the pickup wiper, and bears on the insulated strip under the tender. The same from below, showing the pickup wiper and the connection from the drawbar to the main pickup plate. And finally with the ntender in place, showing how all the wipers work together. This method means that loco and tender can be coupled and uncoupled on the layout, and not have to turned upside down and a fiddly connector fitted before railing up. Cheers, Dave. 12 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 12, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 12, 2020 And just to prove that the tender pickups work, here is the loco moving on to a dead section. The orange knife handle shows the position of the section join, to the right of it there is no power. 9 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Nicely done Dave ! G 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted May 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 12, 2020 Good system Dave - much better than wires, plugs and sockets! Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 14, 2020 Just added some brass boiler bands, as the finish is going to be wartime black with sunshine lettering. Normally the thickness of the lining transfer is enough to represent the bands. After the problems I had with the SR livery (and the Railmatch spraycans) on the K10 a while ago, I think I need to get to grips with the airbrush before I try another green loco. Cheers, Dave. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 14, 2020 On 12/05/2020 at 20:18, bgman said: Nicely done Dave ! G On 12/05/2020 at 21:21, Tony Teague said: Good system Dave - much better than wires, plugs and sockets! Tony Thanks very much guys. Plugs and sockets are probably more reliable and maintenance free, but they aren't half a pain to connect and rail up! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post DLT Posted May 17, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted May 17, 2020 Heres the current "state of play", still a few more detail bits to be added (never ends!) but this is probably the last time I photograph it in brass. Next stage is to dismantle it for blackening and then painting. 16 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 20, 2020 If anyone is interested, I have replaced the photos on Page 1 of this thread, that disappeared in the change to the new format. They were of the PDK S15, and Finecast O2 and W class. Cheers, Dave. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold k22009 Posted May 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 20, 2020 That's a really excellent result from a pile of etched brass and white metal parts Dave, in one way it's a shame to paint it. It looks superb. Whats up next? Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 20, 2020 28 minutes ago, k22009 said: That's a really excellent result from a pile of etched brass and white metal parts Dave, in one way it's a shame to paint it. It looks superb. Whats up next? Dave Hi Dave, Thanks very much, yes I quite agree they look very nice in bare brass. That's why I make sure I've got plenty of photos! Next project is a Z-Class. from a DMR etched kit. I've done one of these before, its a superb kit and I'm looking forward to getting to grips with it. Cheers, Dave. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gz3xzf Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 4 hours ago, DLT said: Hi Dave, Thanks very much, yes I quite agree they look very nice in bare brass. That's why I make sure I've got plenty of photos! Next project is a Z-Class. from a DMR etched kit. I've done one of these before, its a superb kit and I'm looking forward to getting to grips with it. Cheers, Dave. Hi Dave The H15 is looking good, I like your solution to transferring power from the tender to the loco. I also am looking forward to the Z, I have a liking for this powerful looking shunter and I am hoping that one of the main stream R-T-R manufacturers brings one out before I have to resort to building One! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Interesting you say blackening and then painting - do you chemically black the whole thing and then paint it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack P Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 5 hours ago, Portchullin Tatty said: Interesting you say blackening and then painting - do you chemically black the whole thing and then paint it? Having started re-reading this thread from the beginning (for the umpteenth time!), It seems that Dave will chemically blacken everything possible and then paint over, the reason for this, is in case the paintwork takes a knock or a scratch, you don't get bright metal shining through. I wonder if blackening helps with adhesion? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 21, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 21, 2020 On 20/05/2020 at 23:11, Portchullin Tatty said: Interesting you say blackening and then painting - do you chemically black the whole thing and then paint it? 19 hours ago, Jack P said: Having started re-reading this thread from the beginning (for the umpteenth time!), It seems that Dave will chemically blacken everything possible and then paint over, the reason for this, is in case the paintwork takes a knock or a scratch, you don't get bright metal shining through. I wonder if blackening helps with adhesion? Yes, that just about covers it. Additionally, all bare metal areas (motion, wheels etc) are all blackened and not painted. Sometimes I don't even paint the chassis. Cheers, Dave. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 I've never had much success with blackening, can you give us some tips as to how you go about it. Ray. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 24, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 24, 2020 On 22/05/2020 at 10:03, tender said: I've never had much success with blackening, can you give us some tips as to how you go about it. Ray. Righto Ray. Like other techniques, its vital that the metal is clean. If its greasy it won't work, also if its a fresh sheet of brass so shiny you see your face in it it won't work. In either case the solution will "bead" on the surface and not fully wet it. I rub surfaces with a fine abrasive Garryflex block (the finest you can find) to achieve this. Make sure you get into the flange root, and don't forget the front face as well. How you then apply the solution depends on the object, in this case a Markits driving wheel. I use a large brush-full working it quickly to cover the whole surface. After a few seconds, wipe it off with tissue and Hey-Presto! If there's a bit that didn't blacken I abrade it again and apply again. As an alternative to the brush, you can pour a little in to a small container and submerge the whole wheel in it. You can then rinse it in water, which stops the reaction and washes it off. 5 3 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted May 24, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 24, 2020 For rods the method is the same but the execution different. I abrade them with a fibreglass brush and/or a wire brush, in order to get right down into the recesses. Then rather than trying to brush the solution on, I suspend them in the bottle from a length of brass wire. )Bend the ends over so that it can't fall in!) Or immerse them in a small container. Then again, dunk it in water to rinse or wipe with a tissue. Or both. The metal only needs to be in the solution for a few seconds, but like any technique, practice makes perfect. 9 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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