Keepin' on building

First post for the new year, and something new. I have recently been working on a Baldwin Steam Tram Motor in N scale, the chassis, which I initially had a go at in printed circuit board turned out to be a bit of a failure, so I reverted to my usual methods of using brass with bearings and whipper pickups made from Phosphor Bronze. A Caramel N motor is used with gears from a Life Like switcher bogie used to transmit motion to drive a single axle with side rods being used to transfer power to the other set of wheels.

I have also completed models of:

3229 - with 6 wheel tender

3229 was inspired by a photograph in Train Hobby Publication's book "Central - The Steam Station" and the tender is fairly unusual in that the hungry boards are flush with the tender sides. Archer Fine Transfers form the rivet detail and the motor is mounted in the tender with a shaft across to the engine.

5278 - Standard goods with etched turret tender

The engine was scratchbuilt and the tender was an etch already completed which I merely made a chassis for with Kato Caboose bogies fitted for smooth pickup. The motor is mounted in the smokebox and the worm is just visible above the centre drivers.

3044 - C30 Tank Engine

My second build of a 30 class tank, this time without headlight. 

A 73 starts to look like a 73 and a 32 is painted

I have done some more work on my 73 class project, adding some more details. Just about to move on to the handrails, which is a little bit scary. 

Above you can see how bland the loco looked compared with adding a few extra details, such as window framing which help to create the "73" class look. 

I have sprayed my pair of 32s, 3214 and 3390 (not shown) once a bit of time is allowed for the paint to cure I will begin final assembly and testing. Tamiya flat black was used, Testors Gloss coat applied prior to fixing decals and Dullcoat was used to finish. 3214 has a little bit of red along the footplate to jazz it up a little. It was very tempting to spray one of them Crimson like 3265 is at the moment. 

NSW P Class

My pair of 32 Class locos are starting to come together with the boilers attached to the footplates + cabs. The beauty of doing locomotives in pairs is that you get more bang for your buck - making things in pairs instead of doing 1 then doing another later means that you have all your measurements to mark out without having to calculate them again from plans. 

Next to come is the chimneys, domes and handrails, plus some pony trucks. More coming soon.

Slow progress...on the Z19 with Baldwin Tender

Months go by and I do a bit here, and there on the loco that has sat on my workbench for quite some time now. The following photos show progress made on the body and the construction of the tender. 

The body is almost ready for final detailing, a drawbar needs to be fashioned to join the tender and engine. Pickups need to be fitted to the engine, but in a cool stroke of God's grace the engine has taken its first steps under its own power with pickups fitted to the tender. The piano wire link between tender and engine works! 

Brass Z19 Class - The Chassis

Following on from my previous post, I've done some more work on my Z19 chassis. The following pictures depicting how the gear and related wheels have been progressively fitted. Note also the 'blackening' of the frame with a marker prior to fitting the wheels...

Finished Models

The other day some time was taken to properly photograph some of the completed models I've made. 

1301, lined up as the "Vintage Train" locomotive. The 13 is scratchbuilt from brass, with driving and bissel wheels turned down from Fleischmann offerings, Gopher Models wheels are used on the pony and Railey Paint was used to finish.

1948 is modelled from brass, nickel silver and a bit of phosphor bronze. It is very low geared so it can crawl, does make a bit of 'noise' though, nevermind. 

The 20 class is brass with Fleischmann wheels, turned down to size, a very good runner.

The 79 Class shunter is a lightly modified Bachmann 44 toner, with paint stirred from a mix of Humbrol Crimson and Tamiya Hull Brown (I think). Z scale couplers were added to finish.

A recent scratch building review NSWGR Z19 Class

Stone Station Building

The finished freelance stone station - complete with garden.

NSWGR Brass Z19 Class

A Badgerbits Brass etched chassis forms the basis of this model, shown in its development in the following photos. A brass diesel bogie was taken for the gear box and Fleischmann wheels were used following turning down to a finer profile. 

Following assembly of the frames and soldering the bearings the wheels were tested for fitting and free turning. 

The near complete chassis is shown with rods attached, the rod pins are turned down nails. 

Testing the chassis with tender, no pickups had been installed at this stage. 

Progress is made on the footplate and cab, note another footplate in the foreground. Several were made at the same time because I intend on making multiple Z19's to various eccentricities, a Baldwin Tender version will hopefully follow...

The boiler with smokebox and firebox wrapping being soldered on. The boiler itself is brass tube with bolier bands turned into the side on the lathe. 

Soldering the splashers on was fairly straightforward, 

phosphor bronze for the splashers and nickel silver for the footplate. 

The largely completed footplate with cab and boiler fitted. Note the excess solder around the smokebox wrapper. 

Fabrication of the tender was difficult in respect to the coal bunker rails, soldered using a wooden jig with slots for the brass wire to ensure similar spacing, the excess wire was trimmed down at the ends and soldered as necessary. 

The largely complete body of the loco. 

Detail largely complete nearly ready for the paint shop. 

Note that more wire detail is yet to be added to the tender.