Dapol Austerity - part 3 smokebox door and handrails.

The smokebox door, like the rest of the loco, needs a bit of work.
The first job was to carve away the numberplate, not really needed on an industrial loco..., and the moulded dart. The moulded hinge is huge and ugly so that came off as well, leaving a couple of small pads to mount a length of .025" Evergreen rod on, and for some reason there are rivets on the hinge straps which the prototype lacked so they came off as well.
The front handrail is set too high so I filled the moulded holes and fitted a new handrail set at a scale 5' from the footplate;

The side handrails are also too high and were also replaced. This was a bit of a headache as of course the holes in the tank sides will be lower than for the front due to the fact that the stanchions sit at an angle. After much trial and error (drill, fill, re-drill...) I've got them about right, although one stanchion is slightly out of place (I'm not saying which one though!). The moral - sort out the side handrails first and fit the front to suit!

Note the filled holes marking the old handrail positions.
Also seen in the photo above is a replacement tank step, included on the RT Models etch. The moulded step is far too high, it should sit slightly above the boiler centre line. The step is only temporarily in place for the photo, I'll fit it later on as its rather vulnerable. It has a tail which is fitted into a .5mm drilled hole.
Gibson short stanchions are used, medium are far too long for this job, and .45mm wire. I also replaced the two short handrails below the filler, again with .45mm wire.

I've been using a 7mm scale drawing whilst checking and setting the handrail heights etc. To save lots of complicated maths I use a 7mm/foot scale rule on the drawing then transfer the measurement to the model using a 4mm/foot scale rule.

On putting the model back together to see how it looks I've spotted a problem;

The handrail should line up with the middle of the curve of the spectacle plate, not the bottom as mine does, which means that I've fitted the spectacle plate too high. I glued it in place as low as I could whilst covering the existing opening.
I now have three options;
1. Ignore it and carry on,
2. Remove the spectacle plates, fill the top part of the hole with plasticard and filler, re-fit the plates at the correct height and file away the excess,
3. Put the model away for a few months and do something else until I decide which course of action is best.
However, before I make any decision I intend adding some extra detail to the firebox backplate.

Some minor detail differences to be aware of if modelling a particular loco:
A few locos had the tankside handrails set slightly higher up. I've noticed this on locos built by Andrew Barclay.
Two types of stanchion are used, the normal turned type and the straight shoulderless type.
Two diameters of smokebox door hinge.

Paul.

N Brass Locos Glyn Valley Tramway Horse Drawn Coach - part 4.

The steps are now fitted below the doors. These are again quite delicate therefore the instructions tell you to reinforce the two uprights with wire. After bending the step itself along the half etched line I made a little jig to bend the legs on all four steps to the same length as the legs don't have a bend line etched onto them;

Once all four steps were bent I soldered a length of brass wire onto the back of the legs. The wire was filed flat on one side before being bent at a right angle and trimmed to fit;

 

Note that the wire was left overlength to give me a handle to hold whilst soldering. I used 188 degree solder for this.

The steps could then be soldered under the floor, again the legs needed a little trim so they stuck out at the right distance from the solebars;

 

Not my neatest piece of soldering I'm afraid. I used 145 degree for this stage to prevent unsoldering the reinforcing wire, the only time that I've step-soldered on this kit.

Its now almost ready for the paint shop, here it is with the wheels and coupling loops temporarily fitted;

In the foreground can be seen some of the etched vents, these fit above the windows. As they're painted in a contrasting colour to the body sides I'll paint them seperately and glue them in place before varnishing. Before painting I'm going to add some lead weight under the seats as the completed coach only weighs 17 grams.

The instructions mention that this coach was possibly painted with buff sides and mid green ends and ventilaters at some stage, which is probably the livery that I'll use.

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 2 cab.

I've been working on the cab these past few days. An RT Models body detailing etch has been aquired which includes spectacle plates and a new cab rear.

The first job was to hack out the cab rear and bunker top with a piercing saw;

 

Ready for etched replacements;

 

The back sheet has had its spectacle plates soldered in place and the cab interior back sheet has been folded to shape and had the coal door soldered on.
Before I fitted them I epoxied the replacement spectacle plate frames onto the cab front after carving the old frames off. Once the glue had dried for 24 hours I opened up the spectacle plates to suit the new frames;

The right hand (in the photo) window has been opened up to size, the left hand shows just how much plastic has to be filed away.

Then I epoxied the cab rear and back sheet in place;

I used plastic microstrip to represent the cab roof shutter runners and a piece of scrap plasticard for a new bunker top, ready for some coal.

Here's the cab after a light waft of primer, its not fixed in place properly yet;

 

I still need to add lamp irons and works plates.

Opening out the spectacle plates I think makes the biggest difference to the bodywork, its amazing how much better it now looks.

Boiler top handrails and backhead next.

Paul.