Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

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pete_mcfarlane
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Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Mon Jan 02, 2023 8:26 pm

I bought this part assembled a few years ago from a fellow Scalefour East Midlands Area Group member, and it's now worked its way to the head of the queue. Another of Mike Edge's 4mm diesel shunter kits - this is the batch of 330HP shunters from North British for the London Midland region. I don't really have a use for any LM diesel shunters in P4 at the moment, but these kits are very nice. 

This was the state of things when I got it - basic chassis and footplate assembled.
20221112_210727.jpg

The next thing to do was the steps. These were cleverly thought out, with sacrificial cross members to keep everything aligned, but fitting the actual step treads was a bit fiddly. I got there in the end with a bit of swearing and some burnt fingers.  
20221205_214059.jpg

Other than that it all went together really easily. Basically follow the instructions - the only real deviation so far was to use 1mm tubing for the brake cross hangers, so I can make the break gear removable. Even the cab roof was straightforward - roll the main curve with GW rollers, and then form the side curves using the vice and a 1.5mm drill bit. This took a bit of trial and patience to get the curve correct - bend it slightly, remove from the vice and test fit against the cab, then repeat until it's the right shape.
20230101_195034.jpg

This is the state of play tonight (the top half of the body isn't screwed on at the moment). It's since been taken to bits and is in the ultrasonic cleaner having a good clean up. I've assembled the gearbox (High Level Roadrunner plus and cheap Chinese motor) and checked for clearances, so the next step is to reassemble (using the tiny 14BA screws provided - I've now invested in a bag of spares as I keep losing them) and assemble the bonnet.
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20230102_194827.jpg
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jim s-w
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby jim s-w » Thu Jan 05, 2023 7:17 pm

pete_mcfarlane wrote: I don't really have a use for any LM diesel shunters in P4 at the moment, but these kits are very nice. 


Yeah but they are pretty cute though :D
Jim Smith-Wright

http://www.p4newstreet.com

Over thinking often leads to under doing!

Tony Wilkins
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby Tony Wilkins » Fri Jan 06, 2023 1:09 pm

Hi Pete
When Devons road shed closed in 1964 some of the class were transferred to Stratford shed and thus became ER locos for a couple of years.
Some very similar looking locos were purchased new by industrial users as well.
I have one of those kits in the to do pile myself, so am interested to see how you get on.
Regards
Tony.
Inspiration from the past. Dreams for the future.

dmsmith
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby dmsmith » Sat Jan 07, 2023 11:50 am

I thoroughly enjoyed building mine, D2912, which spent a few months on trial at Nuneaton. During that time, it appears to have had an extension to the exhaust.

The locomotive waddles a bit. It is probably no more than the prototype would, but I’d like to eliminate it. It is fitted with a DCC chip and stay alive. I originally had some problems with the DCC chip resetting, presumably because the phosphor bronze pick up wires acting on the treads of the wheels created some electrical noise, but the stay alive solved that. Apart from the slight waddle, it now runs faultlessly.

Best wishes
David
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Noel
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby Noel » Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:29 pm

dmsmith wrote:The locomotive waddles a bit. It is probably no more than the prototype would, but I’d like to eliminate it.

The prototype had an overhang of more than 8ft at both ends, with a wb of 6ft, so at its maximum speed of 20 mph I would be surprised if it didn't waddle. I suspect that persuading the model not to do so within the constraints of P4 is probably going to be rather difficult, especially at higher than prototype speeds.
Regards
Noel

dmsmith
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby dmsmith » Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:32 pm

Thank you Noel! I’ll use your post as reassurance that I am worrying too much. I fitted a 108:1 gear box, so its top speed is rather limited, but still more than prototypical. At a crawl, the waddle is barely perceptible.

Best wishes
David

Daddyman
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby Daddyman » Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:35 pm

I can't tell from photos of the real thing whether these locos actually had the vertical dividing bar in the cabside windows. The 2700s certainly didn't, although it's there on the kit. In reality (on the 2700s) there are just two panes of glass which overlap in the centre. As this dividing bar is prone to bending during construction, I'd remove it if the prototype allows.

Very good job on the roof, by the way, Pete!

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pete_mcfarlane
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Sat Jan 07, 2023 5:53 pm

Daddyman wrote:Very good job on the roof, by the way, Pete!

Thanks, I'm getting good at diesel shunter roofs after doing a few over the last few years. It's one of those jobs that you can spend longer worry about than it actually takes to do.

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jim s-w
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby jim s-w » Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:02 pm

Just saw a post on facebook that showed Cadbury had them as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/279288603563599/permalink/507580850734372/
Jim Smith-Wright

http://www.p4newstreet.com

Over thinking often leads to under doing!

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pete_mcfarlane
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:02 pm

Some more NBL progress.

The chassis is off being sprayed (black rattle can followed by a dusting of Humbrol metallic gunmetal through the airbrush). Meanwhile the bonnet has been soldered together (which took a bit of fettling to get the top curves right, and even now I think it's a tiny bit asymmetrical in profile, but not enough for anyone but me to notice).
20230124_221826.jpg

All the soldered on details have been added, the resin ones will be added after I've got the thing running. I've also left off the front grill (to avoid clogging it with paint) and the buffers. The buffer beams on these are lined, so I'm hoping the gluing the buffer on after doing this will make it easier.

The only really tricky bit was forming the exhaust cover. This was too small to roll using the GW models rollers, so had to be done the hard way by hand. And not having a gas cooker meant that I couldn't anneal it. 

Next step is to get the chassis working. 
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nberrington
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby nberrington » Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:53 pm

A jet flame cigar lighter or brûlée torch work too!

Daddyman
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby Daddyman » Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:40 am


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pete_mcfarlane
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:37 pm

I shall give those a look. Presumably I also need a firebrick or something to stand the victim on whilst I'm heating it?

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pete_mcfarlane
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby pete_mcfarlane » Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:05 pm

Months of slow progress later, the NBL is pretty much finished.
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dmsmith wrote:The locomotive waddles a bit. It is probably no more than the prototype would, but I’d like to eliminate it.

Mine also waddles, but otherwise runs well. I put some of this down to the short wheelbase, although I slightly foolishly followed the instructions (which have you solder the cab floor and footplate support on before fitting the wheels) and then found I couldn't fit the wheels using my GW models press. So they went on the old fashioned way using a vice - quartering is OK, but one of the wheels is ever so slightly out on the axle. So next time I build one of these Judith Edge shunters, I'll either figure out a way to fit those bits after painting, or bite the bullet and make all the axles removable so the wheels can be assembled off the loco. And there will be a next time, I suspect an 06 will be next.

The other thing I'm not 100% happy with are the cab steps, which aren't *quite* straight. They were a pain to solder up, so I suspect the best plan of attack is to solder the side pieces in place and then superglue the treads in place. Otherwise you end up with a Sisyphus like circle of soldering them in place only for other bits to unsolder.

Anyway, it's done. It was sprayed in Precision green, HMRS transfers, NBL plates from Light Railway Stores (with the correct works number, obviously) and a dollop of weathering. Slightly more weathering than planned, as the Tamiya varnish went crackly on one cab side, and it needed rubbing down and repeating (and then the weathering redone and blended in with the rest of the finish). The weathering is based on a real example that had clean patches under the grilles, as if something had leaked out.....
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Paul Willis
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Re: Judith Edge NBL D2900 kit

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Sep 06, 2023 5:43 am

pete_mcfarlane wrote:The other thing I'm not 100% happy with are the cab steps, which aren't *quite* straight. They were a pain to solder up, so I suspect the best plan of attack is to solder the side pieces in place and then superglue the treads in place. Otherwise you end up with a Sisyphus like circle of soldering them in place only for other bits to unsolder.


Different temperature solders?

For something that sounds as complex as that, I'd be deploying 179, 145 and 100, which should give you sufficient differentials.

Lovely looking finished model though!

Best,
Paul
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk


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