Jidenco Class 700

[nberrington]

Well she's almost done. Now at a debugging stage. An old Jidenco kit - and my first attempt at P4. Compensated front two axles with a Mashima motor to power the rear axle. DCC with a Loksound chip. Doesn't like going forward just yet - the quartering needs tweaking. Also my first try at lining - I'm afraid it shows. Unfortunately no 699 was lined up until it was superheated, so in this configuration, she needs all those little green stripes.

I had enough bits left over to tackle converting a superheated RTR version I have in the cupboard (00 Works). That's another story!

[Philip Hall]

A very attractive little engine Neil, and one I suppose should eventually go on my building list for 'Mellstock' (nee Okehampton). But I hope you'll not mind my querying your problems with the quartering, and in so doing, apologize for a commercial plug. It's just that for donkeys years now I have used the GW Models quartering jig to press on my wheels and have never, ever, had to adjust the quartering. Right first time, every time, and any problems are invariably a problem with rods not matching the frames.

I seem to remember Tony Reynalds commenting that 'time is our enemy in this game', and, as he said, anything that speeds things up...

Looking forward to seeing the superheated one - which I do have a (Falcon) kit for...

Philip

[nberrington]

Oddly enough Phillip I just invested in the GW thingy. I just have to pluck up the courage to take the wheels off (again). My initial plan is to shift them a tad here and there and see what work.

Now the next loco.....

Regards

Neil

[Re6/6]

Neil, how did you find the build? I have a SR W Class to do, and have been told that these Jidenco kits were not the easiest to build.

[nberrington]

The kit itself is not too much of a problem - you do have to be thinking ahead. I trashed the chassis and used a Perseverance one. The etchings are good quality - quite hefty brass, and the fittings are beautifully turned.

Couple of problems:

The clearances are iffy. The footplate of the loco seems a few mm too narrow, and the steps can foul the coupling rods in P4. The wheel clearances also need to be widened on the footplate (trusty Dremel). Aside from this, everything seems to fit quite well.

The model is not overly detailed in the kit (but then it is an older kit - this is no Martin Finney) , and I added a few bits ( lamp irons, various steam pipes and the brake rigging.)
I used High Level hornblocks for the compensated wheelsets and the Perseverance coupling rods are much finer detail than the originals. The wheels are from Colin at Alan Gibson. (Fastest turnaround on a transatlantic order ever.)
The loco body is rather light (brass obviously), so I filled the boiler with some lead, and the anterior part of the tender is weighted, to give some extra oomph to the rear driving wheel.

The tender chassis I modified to have some simple wire springing on the middle and rear axles.
The other pain is the tender flare, but I followed Mr Rice and filled some fillets of solder and filed it smooth. Looks OK, but I'm sure there is a more elegant solution.

All in all a great deal of fun. Half way through building it I invested in a resistance soldering unit, which changes the game completely. If ever there was a piece of kit to facilitate building etched kits, then that would be it. If you plan on building a few bits of brass, it is well worth the investment.

[nberrington]

For comparison the 00 Works version - superheated 695 - now in P4.

[Re6/6]

Thanks for the advice Neil, it's given me hope! As for the RSU, I do agree that it is a most useful bit of kit. I used my then new RSU almost exclusively on my first brass kit, with great results.

[John Bateson]

Neil,
You mention the coupling rods can foul the coupling rods.
This was a problem with full size engines, some of the Robinson classes had these steps removed during use so given that the etchings are probably overwidth to the original steel plates this is probably no surprise. They would have been almost impossible to brace securely against the frames anyway.
John