• Welcome to The Forum for Gauge 3 Model Trains.
 
The Gauge 3 Society       2.1/2 inch Gauge Association       Cookies and privacy HOW TO JOIN: to request forum membership please click here

Gauge 3 Society members must be logged in to view the Society section
  G3 Clubroom

Welcome to the G3 Clubroom. This is the friendly online forum where members share ideas and inspiration, suggestions and advice, modelling tips, pictures and drawings, and general chat about our fine hobby of Gauge 3 railway modelling. A warm welcome, and enjoy your visit here today.

The "Plastic Bugger" .... aka GRS kit for GWR 8750 Pannier.

Started by John Candy, May 05 2015 09:42

« previous - next »

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

John Candy

Has it yet played its Trump Card?

That "clang" you hear is whitemetal lumps hitting the bin!

Just when I thought I had finished making new bits, the "Plastic Buggers" play another Ace...... the sandboxes (both leading and trailing) are too small and of incorrect profile.

Patterns have been made and new resin boxes cast...... which leaves me wondering (with very little left to do to complete these locos), have these kits yet played their trump cards or is there more to come?

This is a kit which certainly "keeps giving"....... headaches that is!

Leading sandbox (whitemetal original with resin replacement)









Trailing sandbox with replacement.



My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

More Bangs for your Bucks.....
Those "bangs" (or metallic clangs) are the whitemetal toolbox castings hitting the bin.

Well. it had to happen..... more patterns, moulds and resin castings to be made.
The tool boxes are the most prominent features mounted on the running plate and need to "look the part".
The GRS castings just don't "cut it"....they are nondescript hunks of metal.
They are the correct height ..... that's their sole redeeming feature : Everything else is either too short, in the wrong place or missing altogether!

Below are the original casting and the pattern for the replacements, dimensions taken from the Swindon GA.




My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy


Look at the photo on the cover of the GRS instruction booklet and study the injector.
Now look at a photo of a "real" 57XX.....there is a passing resemblance.

The model photo reveals thin spindly pipework and a casting which has been distorted/bent/stretched to fit the holes provided in the running plate and tank underside.
The whitemetal casting is very flimsy in the area of the spindly pipe (in fact mine broke when trying to straighten  a "wonky" example).

The only solution is to remove the "U" shaped pipe (which connects tank to injector) and replace with a section of thicker metal pipe or rod. Save the flanged joint and drill through, so it can be threaded over the new pipework. Shape the new pipe so the completed injector will actually fit into the hole in the tank, without distortion.  Note also (see my comparative photos below) that the valve operating rod (not yet fitted), enters the upper valve cylinder from the cab and that the valve casting is mounted "wrong way round" as supplied.

The thick whitemetal pipe links to the tank-top pipework on a loco with external top feed but runs straight into the cab on locos without that pattern of top feed.

The new section of copper pipe has also had the strengthening flanges added along its length using strips of thin plastic card.

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

cabbage

John,
I do scratch building. To me this is a relaxing hobby for someone with a bad heart and dodgy eyesight. Reading this - kit building should come with a health warning(!)

Regards

Ralph

John Candy

QuoteReading this - kit building should come with a health warning(!)

Calling these "Easy Build" kits should be recognised by the UN as a crime against humanity.....or at very least a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act!

As soon as this pair of "Plastic Buggers" is off the workbench, it will be back to the relative relaxation of "metal bashing".... LNWR, GNR and GCR style!

The GWR is not my favourite railway but has become a necessity as a consequence of the Monkton Priors project (yes, it is still alive....just)!

Regards,
John..
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Remember Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson/"One Foot in the Grave") and his popular phrase, the exclamation, "I don't believe it!", well I am almost too flabbergasted to even get that out.

One curiosity of the photo of the completed 8750 on the cover of the GRS instruction booklet is that the leading sandboxes have not been fitted. I know all the holes for the cranks and fillers are in the wrong places (I have moved them) but that wouldn't prevent the boxes being attached, as supplied.

Having fitted my new resin sandboxes of the correct shape to the running plate, I test fitted to the chassis, the buffer planks and buffers being integral with the chassis and not fitted to the running plate.

It soon became pretty obvious why the sandboxes are missing from the GRS-built model...... when the buffer heads are depressed, the tail end screw strikes the sandboxes and (if attached with cyano/superglue as suggested)would soon knock them off in a hard shunt. If you look at photo "13" in the build sheet it is pretty obvious there is insufficient clearance for the buffers to depress fully.

No mention of the problem in the instructions nor of the obvious solution....mark and drill a recess in the boxes to accommodate the extended screw head when the buffers are fully depressed. The hole will not be visible once the model has been assembled.

When is a kit not a kit? When it is just a box of bits which don't fit together. When is an "Easy Build" kit not easy-to-build? When it has been designed by GRS.

Below:
6mm dia. holes in leading sandboxes to clear compressed buffers


My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Reference photos. for correct positioning of sandbox operating crank and filler cap.

The holes provided in the laser cut running plate are well away from the correct positions....if it were the "real thing", your sand would fall straight from the filler onto the track and the operating spindle would be dangling in thin air! Photos show items relocated to correct positions as per Swindon GA drawing.

BTW : The rivet detail on the hanging bars (valance) is not present on the etches as supplied. I marked positions on rear of etch, part-drilled shallow impression and then used "MetalSmith's"rivet punch.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Nihil Desperandum!

The quality (or lack thereof) inherent in the GRS whitemetal  castings can be a cause for despair, unless you are prepared to undertake some surgery.

In the case of the pannier tank supports, this comes in the form of a bone graft!

The malformed items (seen in the first photo) have (second photo) had the defective sections cut and filed away and strips of whitemetal have been cut from "scrap box" castings and soldered into the gaps (third photo).

The grafts were cut oversize and filed/sanded to profile after soldering.

The whole process took around 15 minutes and is not difficult but you will require a temperature adjustable iron, Carr's Green Label flux (or equivalent) and low melt solder.

A tip : If you use quite a lot of low-melt solder, don't buy those tiny (expensive) strips, go to a casting supplies merchant (e.g. Tiranti) and buy in bulk....it is listed as "Woods metal" at about one-fifth of the "model shop" price (1kg for 40GBP as against approx. 200GBP if bought in small strips).

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

One of two : GWR 57XX / 8750 class.

After a very long delay (see previous posts and the reasons why these kits have taken so long will be obvious) 4667 and 5786 have been completed!

Today we have 4667, which  rolled off the line at Swindon in the middle of WW2 (December 1943) and was finished in the all-black livery which, at that time, applied to all classes of loco, other than Kings and Castles, which were permitted to be re-painted in full GWR pre-war green livery. The supply of green pigment was limited, since it was required for military equipment.

A much "bashed about" GRS kit forms the basis (some mods to make the "easy build" kit actually fit together and more to correct faulty/poor/ inadequate detailing).

If you are building a 57XX or 8750 in GWR condition, one point to note is the route restriction disc : The colour should be blue (the yellow discs supplied on the GRS transfer sheet apply only  after 1950, when BR eased the restriction to yellow). The reason for the easing relates to "hammer blow" tests carried out and, although the axle loading was within the GWR blue classification, the very light hammer blow permitted the easing to yellow.

The (non-identical) twin to 4667 is No.5786, built January 1930: The paintwork is still hardening and more on that loco in a day or two.

John.
















My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

5786, which  rolled off the line at Swindon in January 1930, is of the original 57XX design and is modelled in 1930 original condition.

Another much altered GRS kit forms the basis, with the most immediately obvious difference being the new brass cab.

There are numerous other differences in detailing (e.g the tank fillers,  tank strapping and the lubricators by the middle splashers).

These earlier 57XX locos were later gradually given updated fittings (as applied to newer built locos), examples being the cab handrails, cast steel brake hangers and bunker steps, which can be seen by comparing with the model of 4667.

Again note the BLUE route restriction disc, in this case located high on the cab side, the standard position until WW2, when the discs were relocated to be above the numberplate, to aid identification under "blackout" conditions.

John.
















P.S. Before anyone says they can't see any lubricators, here is a blow up showing just ahead of centre splasher, set well back (they are on both sides).

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

753

John

Being a GWR man I much prefer your later version of the pannier tank, but there again you can't have too many pannier tanks.
The GWR stud must be quite large now!

Mike 

John Candy

QuoteThe GWR stud must be quite large now!

Currently operational GWR locos are:-

1364 (1361 Class 0-6-0ST)
2257 (2251 Class 0-6-0 Collett Goods)
2568 (2301 Class 0-6-0 Dean Goods)
3406 "Calcutta" (Bulldog Class 4-4-0)
4667 (8750 Class 0-6-0PT)
4817 (Collett 48XX Class 0-4-2T)
5786 (57XX Class 0-6-0PT)
No.8 (Gloucester RCW Diesel Railcar)

"On the stocks"....waiting on Slaters for the wheels..... is a 29XX "Saint" Class 4-6-0.....tender completed and loco mainframes ready for assembly.

For the future?
A Large Prairie tank (Churchward 31XX class), 30XX class (ex-R.O.D. Robinson 2-8-0) and a 43XX Mogul.....that's the GWR wish list!

Currently working on a trio of LNWR Coal Tanks and a pair of LNER (ex-GC) A5 4-6-2T are to follow, so the GWR stud is not likely to expand for a while yet!

Regards,
John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

753


MikeWilliams

and he still claims not to be a GWR modeler at all!

John Candy

Quoteand he still claims not to be a GWR modeler at all!

My non-GWR locos do outnumber the GWR!

5 x LMS, 5 x LNER plus two "industrials" (the "Worthington"  Bagnall 0-4-0ST and "Plantagenet", the Sentinel).

John.

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.