30368

Good day. Running plate casting fitted to chassis and after the removal of material on the underside sits about 1mm lower so worth the effort. One good thing about white metail kits, apart from the excellent traction, is that progress is rapid. Boiler temporarily fitted. There are two motion plates supplied with the S15 kit. One suitable for H and N15s and one for the S15. Oddly, the S15 plate is designed to sit on top of the frames with a resultant raising of the running plate thus undoing my earlier work! so I have modified the S15 style motion plate so that it fits flush with the top of the frames. S15 motion plate on the left, marked out and I have started to file away the material so that it fits flush with the frame tops. H/N15 style motion plate on the right. S15 motion plate is now ready for bending and further modification of which more later. The SEF N15 now has a motor and gearbox so I may switch build to the N15 to catch up with the S15. Kind regards, Richard B

Jack's Hornby Flying Scotsman train set arrived today - tempted to open it and play to check that it all works ok. Wouldn't be right though. Onother issue with the S15 kit is the relationship between the white metal running plate and the brass frames. The running plate sits too high, the tops of the wheels should be hidden by the running plate valance, indeed the S15's did have a very tiny splasher. To drop the running plate I have removed material from the underside of the running plate casting so that the frames fit more accurately. Also the flashing on the edge of the running plate casting has to be removed and as a result, unless you are lucky, the running plate edge that extends over the valance will be lost in places. So I have removed this edging and cleaned up the edge of the casting with green stuff. I will add some 5 thou brass overlays to the top of the running plate casting to restore the edging. Remove about 1mm from the areas indicated so that the brass frames fit closer to the running plate. Ready for cleaning up after the Green stuff has been applied. Ready for the two captive nuts to be soldered in position and the overlays to be fitted. Kind regards, Richard B

Not much progress today. Visit from one of our daughters and her son Jack who is almost two. Lovely little chap so I have ordered Hornby "Flying Scotsman" train set for his Christmas present. It is important to introduce youngsters to our wonderful hobby ASAP - it may just stick. Coupling rods fitted - very free running. So on to the pickups and we should have a rolling chassis. Kind regards, Richard B

Many thanks Andrew, really much appreciated. The V2 is very at home in Basingstoke shed yard! Must get back to building the layout! Kind regards, Richard B

Coupling rods and frame alignment today. I am once again using Markits return cranks. The one downside being the necessarily large coupling rod/connecting rod journal diameter. This requires a large amount of material to be removed from the centre coupling rod crankpin hole. The marine big end used by Urie on his 4-6-0s has plenty of meat arount the big end so that is no problem. The DJH coupling rod for the S15 is very plain having no bosses for the crankpins so I have soldered washers to beef up the centre of the coupling rod and added the same to the other two crankpin holes for appearances sake. This also means I can use solder to create the chamfer around the crankpin bosses. Modified coupling rods and Markits return crank. The outer crankpin holes will be opened up to clear Markits threaded washers. I have slackened the screws securing the frame spacers so that the two frame halves are aligned in the Poppy jig. I then tightened these very carefully so as not to disturb the alignment then dabbed some superglue on the screw heads to secure. I will solder later when I am happy with the chassis alignment. Rods in place. Kind regards, Richard B

Busy today up in the loft changing the C/H header tank fill valve. Rather tricky access requireing great flexibility but job now done. Not bad for an old git, all that gym work is not a waste of time after all. The 26mm wheels for the N15 arrived today, they seem ok but one crank pin hole may require re-threading. Just waiting for the HL gearbox and then I will start chassis assembly. Meanwhile the S15 motor/gearbox has been assembled and the frames screwed together with those DJH frame spacers. Kind regards, Richard B

Frame axle bearings in place and on the N15 (SEF) I have added some rivet detail to the firebox. The first problem with the DJH S15 frames - no holes for the brake hanger brackets. There really is not much room between the leadind and middle driver for the barke gear so careful measurement (and some compromises re prototype location of the hanger brackets) is required. The S15 is going to have a Branchlines two stage gearbox and large Mashima can motor, the N15 a HL Coreless motor and Highflyer gearbox. I have drillled the hanger bracket holes in both frames. I have added the locational measurements to the lower frame. So from the RH end, 8mm from the frame end, 30mm from the first hole, then 25mm from the middle hole. Then the height from the frame edge is 1mm, 2.5mm and 3mm respectively. I do not claim that these are prototypical but they should mean that you have just enough clearance for the brake blocks and hangers. Check the location of the hanger bracket between leading and trailing wheel since there is barely clearance... Hope that helps if anyone is considering building a DJH Urie S15. There are some kits out there! Kind regards, Richard B

Totally agree Phil. However out of respect, I may have to build another N15....... Kind regards, Richard B

Well an interesting morning so far. Started to prepare the frames for the N/S15 ready for the axle bearings to be soldered into position. All very "routine" now that I have built a number of locos. No prizes for guessing which frames are from which kit. It illustrates well how our hobby has moved on over what, 25 years? The SEF frames were designed by Dave Ellis about 5-10 years ago, the DJH many years before that. I will be modifying the S15 frames. Then the pleasant surprise. When I purchased the N15 frame etches from SEF, Dave Ellis was going through a difficult patch. It helps to chat to a stranger sometimes. Whilst I had chatted with Dave over the years about our hobby I have never met him face to face. Anyway, I hoped that I had helped. So when I searched in the N15 kit box for the axle bearings I discovered that Dave had sent me two complete N15 frame kits in the one box. That is really too kind Dave I hope you are enjoying your retirement. Thanks mate. Life can often be just great! Kind regards, Richard B

Phil, You are really too kind. Will look up the reference. I understand that the tolerances on thr 26mm drivers on the N15 are tight. What I have done in the past is to firmly screw the wheel to the axle, put the axle in a piller drill (low speed, 400 rpm) and gently chamfer off the wheel flange. This creates enough clearance. Its equally tight on the 24mm drivers on the H15. Coincidently I have a spare whitemetal watercart tender that I built for my S11 4-4-0 which weighs a ton, too heavy for the S11 which now has a Hornby T9 tender. Will let you know how I get on with the 26mm drivers when they arrive. Kind regards, Richard B

Thanks very much Andrew, I always think that accuracy is really important but so is, as you say, capturing the essence of a locomotive's appearance. In some ways more so. It was, at times, a bit of a devil to build but it is a very old kit! Kind regards, Richard B

I have given a wee bit more thought on what to build next. Time to return to the SR, specifically locomotives of the LSWR. A little while back I built a model of H15 4-6-0 30491. That's the original Urie H15 design with a Maunsell tapered boiler fitted to release a large Urie parallel boiler as a spare for the other Urie H15s. I built this with a PDK chassis, originally fitted to the PDK contructed model of 30333 etc... I digress. Rather than use the resin boiler supplied with the PDK H15 kit I used the boiler from a (very cheap!) SEF King Arther kit and bunged the resin boiler into the N15 box and thought I'll build that sometime. I also bought an SEF N15 tender/loco chassis kit. Well that time has now come so I intend to build the hybrid N15 kit alongside a DJH Urie S15 4-6-0, a kit that I have had for some time. I must be careful not to mix up components! A reminder of what 30491 looks like. Larger 5000 gall. Urie tender converted from an SEF 4,200 gall. tender. The two kits ready to start. SEF chassis parts on the left, DJH on the right. Many years seperate the Kit designs. THe S15 came with Markits wheels. I have located 26mm/22 spoke Markits wheels for the N15 on EBAY, they are on their way. Kind regards, Richard B

Absolutely!

With your indulgance Tony, a couple of much better pics of my V2 on Basingstoke's turntable. And the Elizabethan film is grand, I have a fairly large selection of the BTF films they are quite wonderful not least for all the unwitting insight into 1950s social history. Kind regards,, Richard B

Some better pics of my V2 David. Kind regards, Richard B

I think these pics are a bit better... Kind regards, Richard B

Afternoon Tony, I wanted to thank you for the advice and help regarding the Pro-scale V2 kit that I have spent about 3 months building, at times it seemed a lot longer... The etches supplied to convert the tender to the high front type fitted to most V2 tenders fitted perfectly, thanks again for them. I am fairly happy with the results and with the HL coreless motor and HL gearbox the loco pulls well. The total cost came to about £130 with the various additions, the kit cost me £50. My pictures are a bit rubbish and that is not all down to the dust etc.... Some rectification required to tender lining this side. Kind regards, Richard B

Hi David, The Pro-scale V2 kit is just about complete apart from coal and a bit of weathering on the tender. I am satisfied with the results and grateful for all the help and advice received during the build. 60896 was one of the V2's transferred to the SR during the "axle crises" performed on the Belle fairly often. I decided not to remove the front footsteps and add the bracket supporting the cylinder drain pipes and I have not fitted the additional lamp bracket on the R/H side (as you look at it) of the smokebox door, I may change my mind on that temp. mod. The V2s did run with the front steps in place on the SR. Kind regards, Richard B

Apart from coal and some light weathering in/on the tender the V2 is finished. I am very grateful for all the help and advice receieved during the build I hope it made a difference to the result. I think that the Proscale kit is flawed and needs a great deal of preperation before assembly but can result in a quite decent model. The kit cost me £50, including all the wheels, and I spent about £90 for the motor and gearbox, the replacement cylinders and Markits return cranks as well as a few other items. So it was cheaper than the Bachmann V2 but that is ignoring the many hours of effort! I have not seen the new Bachmann V2 but by all accounts it is good. The bottom line for me is that the build gave me hours of enjoyment and some very blue moments and that real pay off.....I built that. As I have said many times, the loco looks better than my rubbish images! Some correction required on the tender lining! Kind regards, Richard B

Can't comment on the Dave Bradwell versions but Arther K's lost wax NER castings are very good, recommended. Kind regards, Richard B

Many thanks Phil, as always great advice. I will PM Tony for some guidance - I have a Bachmann A1 too so I thought I would build the DJH kit, with suggested improvements, and improve the Bachmann version where possible. French Line's SW tender looks great. A useful variation, if I recall, the tender moved about a bit? Kind regards, Richard B PS - Sorry, I have not built the LMS style buffer stops yet!

Hi David, Yes it would seem you are correct since the kit that arrived is for an Peppercorn A1! My 30 year gap in model railway knowledge strikes again! DJH do though, make a fine looking A2/1 kit in 7mm scale! The description on the Hattons website and on my order was very specific for an A2/1 painted number 60509 however to be fair to Hattons, the picture of the box (which I was too excited to look at in detail having been looking for an A2/1 kit for a while) was for an A1 kit! Hattons offered to take it back and provide a refund or some form of discount given the missleading description. Not wanting to re-pack etc... I opted for the discount. Ah well, I will have to build the A1 some day and save up for a PDK A2/1 kit. Kind regards, Richard B

I have located some suitable handrail knobs so tender is complete apart from water dome which should arrive tomorrow. On another, although very related V2ish matter, I have just located and bought a DJH A2/1 kit thus I will have an example or two of each Thompson variation of the A2 when this kit is built as well as a completed example (Crownline) of the A1/1. I will need to touch base with the LNER experts since I recall there are variations in the A2/1 class regarding cab and tender.... Kind regards, Richard B

Tender is now almost complete and ready for painting. Awaiting delivery of tender water dome and scoop and some handrail knobs - my large stock has finally depleted. I have solderd a 1mm wire to the tender so that I can couple to rolling stock and pull a load - a first for me usually only fitting (heavy duty) screw couplings which will be able to pull a load but will be very fiddly to operate so the V2 should be able to pull the Belle through Basingstoke and around to the fiddle yard without a lot of fuss! I have fitted the bracket for the fire irons to the side of the tender perhaps a couple of mm to far forward. In most pictures it hardly features. Kind regards, Richard B

Yes that makes sense Mick, many thanks. Kind regards, Richard B