Jack P

Smack bang in the middle of the Q3 release of the D.. hmmm. Jokes aside, Mental health is so very important and all to easily falls by the wayside when something like COVID poses a very real and dangerous threat to your physical health. Removing the stigma and opening up the discussion is just the first step. Reminding yourself (and others) that "it's OK to not be OK" is very valid in a world where everything feels so far away from OK. Congratulations on your new position, I look forward to the announcement of the annoucnement!

I'm certainly not complaining (too much) that the loco affords me a large amount of space for fixings. Luckily I don't have any small complex tank engines in the project pile. Having said that, I wouldn't rule out a D1! I am having a real blimmin nightmare with transfers at the moment. 4 different HMRS sheets of Bulleid transfers have all been duff. They are a good few shades darker than all of my others, the surface of them is also very rough, like small blisters and the real pain point - they won't stick!! I've tried different mixtures of Meth + water, but no matter what I do, I can't get them to stick. The worst was the J, I went to go and apply the big "SOUTHERN" transfer, all going well, went to peel the backing paper off, and the lettering came away with it. Ho hum, i'll leave it for a little while longer. 10 minutes later, same issue. Ok I'll count my losses and remove it completely. The issue was that while the colour part of the transfer hadn't stuck, the backing glue had stuck meaning that there was a transparent and very prominent raised legend on the side tanks. No amount of meth mix or thinner would shift this either. That mean that I had to strip the side tank, and repaint it. Not happy. I'll fire an email off to HMRS and inquire. Some careful masking has left me with this: I'm frustratingly close to being done, and i'm sure readers are sick of seeing it! Excuse the average photo, it's a still from a video: I've finished off the B4 body! it's been glossed and is now ready for a light weathering. Slow progress on the I3, fitting the last of the fiddly bits ready for paint.

Wondering if someone can offer some advice, as rails has yet to respond. I'm planning on repainting my terrier when it arrives. This will require some alterations to be made to the body. I've sprung for the sound fitted version, and my main concern revolves around what happens if something goes wrong. If I repaint the loco but don't touch any of the electronics, and something fails, am I still covered under warranty? If it's something 'common' am I covered? Thanks in advance!

I spent some time making myself blind and angry yesterday. Untitled by Jack Pedersen, on Flickr I completed most of the bodywork on the I3, realising mid way through that i'm missing one of the parts that make up the coal rails. No fuss, I have to make the filled in rails anyway. If that doesn't go well i'll give Dave a call and order some spares. This meant it was time to start on the detailing work. Handrails and pipework.. This has been an exercise in copper wire and split pins. There is a real myriad of pipework. I'm getting close to having completed it all. The next steps are the other finnicky details, lamp irons, steps, sanding gear, etc. She will be finished as 2078, one of the locos that wasn't dual braked click the link to see a photo of her on Brighton shed. I'm also considering replacing the bogie wheels with AG ones, as the romford ones just don't look quite right.

Thanks so much for the pictures! I've just ordered some of the 'Old gold' Bergeon Blades, hopefully that helps! Do you score the line to be cut, or hold the saw again a flat edge (etc) to guide you through through the cut, or is it done by eye? Thanks Mike, how do you grind them down, and how often do you have to replace them?

Thank you Tony, and also you Tony! TG, Is the Olfa cutter one of the rotary disc ones, or a straight blade? The piercing saw I've got appears to work, but the blade seems to wander, a lot! I wonder if it's the type of blade i'm using? TW, Thank you for the advice, I wouldn't have known about the distorting of metal. 6th form Physics was 10 years ago..

What do people use for cutting brass and other metals when scratchbuilding? I'm getting to the stage where I would like to have a go at making my own 'parts' and scoring with a craft knife 100 times to cut through 0.5mm brass surely isn't the most efficient way? I was thinking about straight cut aviation snips (which are effectively tin snips), what else would people recommend? Thanks in advance!

I'm sure you're not taking expressions of interest yet, but (especially after seeing the built model), I'd certainly put my hand up for a C14 kit.

I decided to have another look at the I3, only because if the chassis is out of true then that's a much bigger job than just a new gearbox. I built up a two stage comet box and fitted a motor sourced locally. (I actually built the single stage comet box first, and then found it wouldn't fit.. d'oh!) I don't want to 'blame the tools', as it could well be my own ham fisted attempts that meant the other gearbox didn't run well. However, after fitting the new box and motor Lo and behold, it runs sweetly - and honestly, that's all I care about. I also fitted pickups to the rear radial truck. This coupled with a very simple wire arrangement pressing on the axle provides effective horizontal and vertical springing. Next steps will be fitting the balance weights, and final tweaking before the chassis is complete. Then just a few little bits and bobs to finish off on the body before it can all come together. It's relieving that the end is finally in sight for this long standing project!

I recently obtained some 10spk 14mm bogie wheels for my SECR L from Alan Gibson

I recently went from an no-name, ebay special 40w temp controlled iron, to a Hakko FX-888D. The difference is night and day. The 70w Hakko takes all of 10 seconds to come up to temp, and the extra wattage means I never run out of grunt. You won't regret it!

In other news, I've been comparing parts of the DJH 0395 to the drawings in Russell. It seems to me that there are a few issues, all of which compound the visual appearance being wrong. The cab is close, much closer than I thought it would be, but the issues i've identified so far are: - Cab window cutouts are too deep and the curve profile is wrong - The roof is too thick, and the curve profile is also wrong, making the whole cab too tall - The curves onto the footplate at the bottom of the cab protrude out too far - the boiler sits a fraction too low, about 1mm There's also not something quite right about the front end, but the more I look, the more depressed I get. I've scanned the drawings in the Russell book, I'll cut them out and make some templates to see if the cab can be altered or if a new one needs to be built. I've ordered replacement frames from AG, as well as a new chimney and sprung buffers. I'm tempted to order the Martin Finney 3300g tender from brassmasters. I'll see how much more remedial work is needed before i make a final decision, but i've also been toying with the idea of converting it to one of the class that received a different boiler:

I decided I wasn't a fan of the colour, for some reason the B4 isn't actually black, more like a very dark grey with a hint of brown. Glossing over this only exacerbated the issue. The body was then stripped and sprayed with tamiya semi gloss black. While I was at it, I found a photo of number 87, showing that there was no right hand tool box, and the smokebox straps needed to be shortened. The most glaringly obvious omission by Dapol is the front bufferbeam rivets. I spent some time with archers transfers, and did my best to replicate these. Annoyingly my photography seems to be getting worse, I also made up the bottom parts of the vac pipes, copper wire and some left overs from markits clack valves. They're then attached to the front of the chassis. Still a few little odds and ends, but it's coming along nicely. I think the modifications really improve the front end view of the loco.

This is exactly what I'd thought i'm glad to see it works! Looking fantastically neat and tidy as per usual.

I know I shouldn't be starting any more projects before clearing my bench of the existing ones. But I was fitting a DCC chip to my Dapol B4 last night and couldn't help myself - I had to have a play with my new toy. This is the result They are just glorified blanking plates for the NEM socket cavity. This requires some trimming of the baseplate. Lessons learnt from my previous B4 (now moved on to a friend), meant I didn't have to spend time reassembling the valve gear. when I took the body off. The plates aren't 1000% accurate. The rear one most so, as on the protoype there is empty space under the cab. Not perfect, but I think they both look much nicer than the plastic ones I fitted to the old B4. Excuse the wonky steps and lamp iron, there is still much more to do!

Yes! I'd seen you talking about it when you started the Z. The idea was cemented when I ran into issues with the i3. Dave, if you don't mind sharing, how do you cut brass? So far i've been scoring small parts and then snapping them off, often this requires a lot of cleanup though, I can't see this being a feasible approach to larger parts (like the 0395 cab..) Thanks for dropping in Mike, you're right I noticed that the bottom of the securing bolts are pretty rough. I like DLT's idea of using some PCB to protect the brass sheet. I can already tell that for anything more complex than a single line of rivets, some careful planning is required - and quite likely some material will be wasted. Do you have a preferred rivet press?

That compensation beam looks great. I hate to sound like i'm dumbing it down, but is it just a piece of brass bent to shape, and soldered to the bar between the drivers?

I feel like i've done lots of posting, but haven't made huge amounts of progress. I've spent some time finishing off little bits and bobs on the J's. I added some lead sheet to the side tanks, and rolled some up to stuff into the boiler. I wanted it to be as close to the middle driver as possible. I'm not overly worried about throwing the balance off, as the bogie is sprung. I just want to make sure she rides properly. I gave the cab a light weathering and added some odds and ends. A bit sparse, but once the roof is on you can't see anything! She's also finally received her identity. On the bufferbeam at least. My GW rivet press arrived, I'm blown away by these bits of kit, and would highly recommend them to anyone that's even slightly interested. I was a little concerned about how easy to use the press would be, I shouldn't have been. The instructions are so comprehensive, and even explain how to do rivets in a circle! The two knobs adjust the longitudinal and latitudinal position of the sheet to be worked on, there is also a flat stop for the work to sit against, secured by 3 bolts. Different punch heads and anvils for scales and for half etched rivets. Really looking forward to breaking this in.

I've just placed an order for the poppys jig. I'm going to sideline the i3 until it arrives to make sure that the chassis isn't the issue. I've earmarked a new gearbox for it though. I'm sure i'll figure the jig out, most things seem much more complicated than they are - our hobby to a T!

Hi John, The chassis actually fits perfectly fine as is, it just sits a tiny bit too high, 1.5mm or so. The issue you run into if you drop it down a bit is that the bogie won't swing properly without taking some meat out of the underside of the footplate. The chassis was not jig built. I can't seem to figure out how exactly they go together on a jig, (but I will get in touch with poppys wood-tech and order one!). However, it did roll freely prior to the motor and gearbox being fitted. I've had some single and double stage comet + high level boxes arrive today, so I might give it a go with them instead.

I had an exiting delivery at work today. After the headache the i3 has given me, it brings me so much joy to see the J running under her own power. There are now precious few bits left to do. The primary thing is the appropriate transfers (as I have run out)

A somewhat busy weekend. I've been fighting with my SEF I3 to try and get it running right, but for the life of me, I can't! The below video shows the replacement chassis complete with height modifications to lower the body. It looks like its running sweetly, but as soon as it goes on the track it binds up. I can't figure out if it's the rods or the gearbox. I've got some High level boxes enroute, so I can have a play and try and figure out the issue by process of elimination. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be the rods. A call to A. Gibson for some replacements might be in order. I spent some time getting the SECR J closer to being 'done', there are still a couple of little bits left to do, I made a cab floor, and painted the Interior cream. I also added some etched window bars, I don't think they are exactly the right number of bars, but they look better being there than not. I also added the balance weights, My first time doing this as DLT did them on the N15x. I made them from plastic card, using the nickle silver ones supplied with the kit as a guide. I chose not to use these as I think they looked too thin. Some fettling was needed and the wheels need a repaint, but I think they look alright! I also started, finished, and painted a tender kit, a SEF Ashford 4000 .gal one, to run behind my S15. It's not quite finished yet, It still needs a few lamp irons added, and some of the coal space details will be added with plastic card. I pinched the DCC socket from the S15's tender, and have made a home for that up inside. Unfortunately this is one of the S15's that suffered from motor issues, however it was my first purchase when I returned to the hobby in 2017, I cannot bear to get rid of it - although with a replacement chassis, and tender, how much of the original model is left? Finally, some of my GW items are starting to turn up. My rolling and folding bars arrived yesterday, which hopefully means the wheel and rivet press aren't too far behind. These rolling bars are absolutely gorgeous, blackened steel, Allen key bolts, cogs and springs. It's been well oiled, and (this might sound weird) smells fantastic. I'm probably not quite at the level where I need rolling bars yet, but I'm hoping as my skills increase I will have a chance to use these. I've certainly learned that the best chance you have at producing good results when building something is to have the right tool for the job!

Modelu Lamps are extremely fine, and some care has to be taken with the handle. I'd love to see some photos of the 247 discs, and your tarted up B4!

You say this, but I can't seem to see any! I think one of the stand out aspects of your modelling is the standard is the same (and very high!) across the board - a cohesive effort that paints a very pretty picture.

AFAIK, this is the set that I've used, usual caveat, no connection, angry customer etc etc. Hope that helps! https://hmrs.org.uk/transfers/br-coach-lining-up-to-including-blue-grey-period-150443.html Motors look good!