Scalefour Forum

I think I've just experienced a modelling first. Not much work on the Scot recently as I've been occupied by other things but am making a jig to position the angle section sand pipe supports and, for the first time I think, I've had to change a piercing saw blade because the teeth were worn out, rat...

Will L wrote:if you have a tender drive with a nice big motor in the tender and the loco chassis drive chain jams solid, even a rigid chassis tender may start revolving around the drive shaft

Shades of Wallace and Gromit's a Grand Day Out.
Dave.

I too am a bit sceptical whether a straight re-wheel of a rigid chassis would be a success in P4. I've seen 2-8-0s like this run satisfactorily, presumable helped by the slight play in the narrow axle slots/holes in the frames. But a 2-10-0 might be a step too far. If it were me, I'd build a replace...

Thanks for the kind comments.
The cylinder drain cocks and operating linkage have been fitted and, I'm fairly sure, that completes the cylinder/valve gear unit.

In this photo, the connecting and eccentric rods have been disconnected from their crank pin; hence the strange angles.
Dave.

Error corrected. I realised that I had fitted the outside cylinder snifting valves upside down. This has now been corrected - thank goodness I hadn't fixed them very well in the first place! The inside valve has also now been attached, probably a fraction low as the mounting hole had to fully in the...

Not much modelling over the weekend, but the cylinder relief valves are back on and clear the combination levers. I've also added a representation of the exhaust passage ways inboard of the front valve chests so that the vacuum relief or snifting valves can be fitted. Strangely, two rather nice N/s ...

The remainder of the valve gear has been assembled and fitted. No clashes detected so that's a good outcome. That said, without the driving axle springs in position, the coupling rods do hit the rear cross member of the valve gear support frame near top dead centre, but since it's not required to ru...

Thanks, gents, for the supportive comments. I suppose it is where experience comes in when these sorts of problems occur. And it's useful to have spare bits from previous models just lying around waiting to be needed! I'm now back to somewhere near to state before I noticed the problems. Thankfully,...

Morgan,
It's an awful long time since I built the Jubilee chassis but I can't recall any particular problems with the valve gear - and mine is in forward gear, too - although at a fairly short cut-off.
Dave.

Houston, we have a problem! Well, several problems, actually. As shown in the photo, now everything is in place, there is interference between the combination lever and the rear cylinder relief valve, preventing the wheels turning to front dead centre. Obviously, something is wrong. Scot_130.JPG As ...

Happy New Year to all.
The front portion of the outside valve gear is now complete and fitted to the cylinders and support frame. The two latter have been joined into a single removable unit.

And, just to prove I have done both sides:

Dave.

I'm no expert on things Western, so I'm happy to be proven wrong, but the castings look to me like standard GWR type which were also adopted by BR as their live steam injectors. The large part attached to the sprue goes at the bottom and also connects to the overflow pipe. The part on its own at the...

Thanks, Mike. Don't hold your breath! Hope everybody had as good a Christmas as possible under current restrictions. I certainly did. Today has been very much a case of a step forward, a step back and another step forward again, so a bit of progress overall. The mountings for the reverser shaft have...

Not too much modelling right now, mainly due to domestic Christmas preparation duties, but a little progress has been achieved. The detached inner valve gear support members have been fixed in their new positions, much closer to the outer ones. The openings in the front of the support frame have had...

Thanks, John. A start has been made on the outside valve gear. I need to make up the expansion levers to determine the correct position for the inner supports which I earlier removed from the valve gear support frame. Experience with another of these models showed that the inner frame members, as et...

John.
A very impressive recovery and looking good for further progress.
It does seem a bit odd for the kit to provide no backing support for area of such thin overlays. Perhaps there's a few bits missing from your example?
Best wishes for Christmas and New Year.
Dave.

Work has progressed on the cylinders. Except for the drain cocks - the castings in the kit are disappointing and nowhere near as good as those in the Black 5 kit, so will have to be replaced - the cylinders are now complete and the piston rods have been added to the cross-heads. A bit more work is r...

Other than some fettling and cleaning up, the bogie is now finished and trial fitted. Bogie ready to fit: Scot_115.JPG Scot_116.JPG And fitted to the chassis. Boy, are those rear wheels close to the brake hangers. I can see some judicious paring away of the front edge of the hangers. Scot_117.JPG Da...

A bit of progress has been made with the bogie, in amongst writing and posting Christmas cards. The things that get in the way of modelling! It's been more of a struggle than it might have been. I couldn't find the side control springs and arranged with Brassmasters to obtain a replacement set. Whil...

The slide bars have been fixed to the cylinder frame, ensuring they are square to the cylinder faces in all planes. A trial fit shows the top bars to sit nicely in the support bracket. The connecting rods and cross-heads run smoothly, without any clashes.

Dave.

Whilst trying not yo overload the finger tip, I decided to make a representation of the exhaust steam passageways between the three cylinders and the smokebox saddle using plastic card, laminated where necessary to represent the required thickness. Not too sure why I've bothered with this detail as ...

Thanks, Paul. Not much modelling just now. I've acquired a small but very painful cut near the tip of my left index finger - might have caught it with the piercing saw but can't remember doing it. It's making it too uncomfortable to try to grip parts between finger and thumb as any pressure on the f...

Thanks for the kind words. I must admit, I'm rather pleased by how it all fits and runs smoothly, considering it's mishmash of parts from left over etches and a few scratched bits.
Dave.

Ivan, you're quite right. The lack of diagrams in this kit does make it more difficult to assemble. The written instructions are very comprehensive and there are a couple of sketches, including the dreaded valve gear frame, but there have been a couple of areas where I haven't been sure which way ro...

Thanks for the comments and commiserations. Continuing with the valve gear frame/bracket, a substantial tie bar has been fixed across the front to hold the sides together once the centre section of the front plate is removed. On the real thing, this plate across the frames does not exist, with the e...