Scalefour Forum

I drill 0.8 mm for the 14 BA screws I use. To guide the screw square to the wheel, I use a long Gibson bush with the flange held down to the back of the wheel with tweezers - I think I saw this on the CLAG site. Once the thread is formed in the plastic, I remove the screw and counter bore the back t...

This seems to be quite a lively discussion, so I thought I'd throw my thoughts in. I too have a Proxon vertical drill, my only machine tool, and find it invaluable for a few tasks. Like Philip, it doesn't get a lot of use as I still drill most holes using hand held pin chucks, etc. However, for dril...

Dave, Yes, I use lace making pins but only where the etched gear is simplified and doesn't have forked ends. I did think of using them here, after my problem. The issue is that some of the holes etched in the rods are already rather too big - the instructions state 0.45 wire for some joints but I've...

Progress continues at a snail's pace in between other interests and a series of set backs with the construction. I don't know why, but I seem to be struggling more than usual with this project. Hope it's not a sign of gradual decline! First up were the cast nickel silver valve guides. I had already ...

Ralph. Mmm, I hadn't appreciated the height difference between engine house and boiler house doors. As you say, it does create a dilemma. To facilitate coal lorry deliveries, you could widen the upper area a bit? Otherwise, you could argue that the lorries (or carts in an earlier age) would reverse ...

Ralph, As Howard says, it's looking very promising but I agree about the wall. Regarding the sets, my recollection is that they were a light buff/beige colour round that area, rather than grey. The gaps between were filled with tar (which we used to poke with twigs in the summer and get covered - mo...

Pity we didn't discuss this yesterday, at Warley. I could have browsed the traders for something suitable. I may just fit a couple of small PCB pads under the loco drag box to allow flying leads from the tender to be soldered on. As I use a permanent tender coupling, this won't be too inconvenient s...

I have a bit of a dilemma regarding the loco pick-ups. I've fitted pick-ups to the top of the front drivers and behind the brake blocks on the rear, but I just can't find a routing for pick-ups to the centre drivers. The dilemma is: do I live with pick up from just the two axles or do I try to also ...

David. The small vertical springs and plungers are used but they're hidden inside the tubular bearing pads (actually, they fell out whilst I was handling the chassis upside down, so I've removed them to safe storage for the time being). The two horizontal wire springs are simply to lightly push the ...

Moving on from crank pins, some progress has been made with the front bogie in terms of filling in the gap between the bogie frames and the chassis main frames. To do this, I've made a representation of the cast side bearer "pan" mounted to the top of the bogie. In order to retain the kit ...

Mike, I also avidly follow your entries in this thread and very much enjoy both the photos and exoplanetary text. Very much looking forward to the continuation of the B1 saga as they are much more to my taste in prototypes and, also, I've got one to do myself. I can sympathise with the chore of fili...

OK, here is my attempt at a sketch to show the return crank arrangement I use as standard, based on Gibson wheels and the use of Ultrascale crank pin bushes. The Ultrascale bushes are designed to fit their own wheels, which have a counterbore in the front of the wheel, such that the crank throw is s...

It's a 4-6-0! Well, sort of. Besides some progress with the cylinders - wrapper, inspection covers and front cylinder and valve covers, I've assembled the basic front bogie frame and temporarily popped the wheels in to see where the axles come in the slots. I've made a rather major boo-boo because I...

Thanks for the kind comments. Sorry to disappoint with this loco as I'm using the sprung suspension arrangement, as intended by the kit design. My previous Brassmasters Black 5 and Jubilee were also fully sprung. I do have yet another Black 5 to build and am intending to make that one fully compensa...

Not sure that's a good idea, could end up losing the whole kit, bit by bit. Had another search after tea, tonight, but still no sign. However, looking through my spares box, I've had a real stroke of luck and found the two layers of the exact type of rod, left over from my previous Brassmasters Blac...

Help! I've suffered a major set back with the project. I was laminating the connecting rods and dropped one on the floor. Nothing unusual about that, but search as I might, I have been unable to find it. 16BA nuts - no problem. A piece of nickel silver 40-odd millimetres long - just vanished into th...

I've been steadily, if slowly, ploughing on with the footplate/cab assembly over the past week or so. This is now complete as far as the main components are concerned although there are still various smaller parts to add at a later stage. The main reason for assembling the footplate before getting t...

Noel, From the loco drawings, it looks like the only things in common between the Austin 7 wheels and the Stanier 8F is the tread diameter. Without actually measuring it, the 7F wheel has a boss protrusion of at least 2" vs the 1/2" on the Stanier (bevel rim and different crank throw, also...

Not a great deal of progress over the past few weeks but I have assembled the cylinder/slide bar/valve gear bracket unit to help determine space and clearances for my intended pick up position on top of the wheels. Normally, I try to position the pick ups behind the brake blocks, where they are bare...

Julian. Good luck with the Crab rectification. I can't now remember which loco required the inside of the expansion link tail to be thinned to miss the con rod, but it definitely wasn't my Crab. Going back to the question of wheel boss protrusion, I had assumed that there would be some consistency i...

Dave,
The Bulleid BFB wheels are nominally flat on the front face but the boss protrudes 3/16" beyond the face of the tyre - effectively flush at our scale. The boss local to the crank pin is a further 3/16 beyond that, described as a "wear face".
Dave.

Philip. I don't know about any changes to Gibson wheel rims. The wheels in question (two different types - original Scot and Stanier types) are probably some years old. They appeared to have sufficient thickness in the lip outside the plastic centre to take a 0.2 mm reduction and, indeed, the machin...

An interesting topic which has prompted quite a range of approaches. I generally use Gibson wheels on my locos and, until very recently, have never reduced the outside boss, despite a few wheel sets where the axle doesn't quite come right to the outside of the wheel boss, as already mentioned. So fa...

Yes, indeed. A wonderful show all round, so congratulations and thanks to the organisers and participants. The layouts were good, plenty of useful traders and a great chance to meet friends and like minded fellow modellers.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day out.
Roll on S4North!
Dave.

Ralph. I very much enjoyed our extended chat, yesterday. I must say I hadn't really appreciated just how much work had been required to replicate the relief brick work and other decorative features which George Stott included in his Edwardian era mills. The end result is truly magnificent and it was...