I had to replace a piece of footplate in front
of the fire box as I'd tried to fit the oil tank underneath with the filler cap exposed. Unfortunately, I decided it
wouldn't work and so I moved it to the side. This meant drilling the footplate in situ with quite a large hole. The
position of the tank now means it is easy to get at to fill and to drain the water off after running. As the filler cap
is directly in front of the coal access, I've fitted a sliding cover to stop the ingress of coal dust into the socket. I
would have liked to have used countersunk screws rather than have those bolt heads proud, but the footplate is really
too thin.I didn't photograph the next bit which was lining up all the holes with the boiler bushes. This meant taking off the cleading and filing and re-fitting and taking off etc. I can't do any pipe work until the cleading is fitted, although I have done one piece from the pumps towards the clack with a cap on an extension. This is so I can remove the cap and check the water flow from the pumps. Normally, this is inside the tank and viewed when running, but with a well tank between the frames, it's not possible.
I have done a little painting. I've sprayed the smokebox and chimney and painted the inlet lagging. I wish now that I
had taken more time and sanded down the steel smokebox. It's got tooling marks and dents from handling during the
building of the boiler. I managed to reduce most of them to a minimum and they aren't too visible under semi-matt paint.
The front end looks quite reasonable but I will put white lines on the buffer beam when the time comes.
I've been putting off making the windows because I hate the tedium of cutting out all the brass rings!! I finally got down to it. I don't have a saw which will go round such tight curves other than a jeweler's saw which is slow going, so it was down to drilling the outer edge. 75 holes and join them up. Drill the centre, mount on a mandrill and turn on the lathe. Then trepan out the centre. I cut out the plastic window, sandwiched them together, drilled and bolted with 6 small bolts.
As the windows are to swivel, I had to put in a hinge pin.
This needed to be in the centre of the sandwich. I drilled the two holes slightly over size, to allow for the silver
solder, then took them to pieces. I silver soldered a short piece of 1/8" stainless steel for the hinge pin to one side.
I found the best way to solder this to brass was to tin the stainless with silver solder first, then bring the brass up to
temperature and place the pin in the groove and keep heating. The silver solder then fuses with the brass. If you try to
heat them together and add the solder, the stainless goes red hot long before the brass is up to temperature and the
stainless gets coated with oxide and therefore a failed joint.
The second picture shows the completed swivelling window.
One small problem is that the plastic is easily scratched and the static picks up all manner of little bits!
The hinge has to be let into the spectacle plate so that the pin is central and as this left part of it protruding, I cut
another ring to go on the front. It stiffens things and neatens the hole. To make sure I got things right, I bolted the
ring in place with bolts either side and then cut out the section.
It was not easy to get the pins absolutely central so that the window would swivel and not have a gap one side and bind
on the other.
There seemed to be a lot of filing off little bits here and there but the final fit is not too bad. Looking
at the finished window, I think it looks a bit overdone so I'll have a think about whether to polish this extra ring or
paint it. I still have to make a catch for when it's closed and also a clamp to hold it in the open position. This is
just a small wing bolt in one of the hinges. Now I have to make the other window the same. Then I'm ready to start painting.
The only things left to make are handles and bits like lamps etc. and of course the driving truck!
Having started to rub down surfaces I had a thought that a water gauge for the side tank could be rather a nice addition.
I managed to scrounge a piece of glass tube about 9mm diameter, but the only tube to fit round it was a piece of
thick-walled copper. Doesn't look too bad, but should look much better when the tank is painted. I should really
have made the top ring bracket a bit higher and that would have given more viewing space.
The bracket on the right
inside is for the brake control valve.
PAINTING
With everything clean and rubbed down, I had just enough etching primer left from my last engine to give everything a
coat. This was followed by two coats of ordinary primer. Some years ago I had the opportunity to watch an expert restoring
a vintage car. In the process of painting he rubbed down the primer finishing with wet or dry 2000 grit, which he then
polished so that it looked like a final finish. He told me that any imperfections left would get bigger with each layer of
paint, hence the fine finish.
I know that some people say that engines never had a finish like a modern car, but even
so, a bad paint job ruins an otherwise beautiful engine. So I'm striving for a mirror finish, although so far I've only got
a high shine! I've gone down the
cellulose road this time. The advantage is the speed with which it dries and it can even be cut back within half an hour
although fingerprints can get impressed! How many coats is a common question and an impossible one to answer. First, enough
to cover without the primer showing through also bearing in mind that some will be lost when cut back. Some areas have had
six coats others fewer and yet others may have had more in places.
The dark blue I have chosen means that is virtually impossible to remove all signs of scratching even though I'm finishing
with 2000 grit and Brasso. The result is a very high shine and needs a close inspection to spot the scratches. There's
not much to photograph as yet as all the pieces are spread about the workshop. This one picture I've taken is the easy
part. There are no rivets to contend with in the rubbing down. I assembled this far so that I could pipe in the water
pump extension which is behind the side tank. The pipe pointing down is the check to see if the pumps are working and
this will be hidden under the side tank. One thing I did find was that the primer came in a tin and was so solid I could
almost stand a spoon upright in it. I used this to advantage as a filler in small imperfections which showed up after a
first coat; a few file marks etc. and when rubbed down was the right antidote. The blue in the photograph has come out
much lighter than it really is, I suspect it has something to do with the flash and reflection off a white ceiling.
It is very tedious and time consuming business, rubbing down and polishing all the separate parts, especially round the
rivets. They are a good check to see if you've put on enough paint as it doesn't take much to rub a rivet bare.
This picture shows how I'm going to line the engine. The photo makes the white lines appear to wobble! This is the
effect of the cover plate not being perfect in the curve. I like to see an engine lined, it seems to be the finishing
touch it needs. I wasn't sure whether the black would show up but it just about makes it. I use masking tape and paint
the black line in with a brush. This is an enamel paint (Humbrol) as it's relatively quick to dry and has a high shine.
I have used it to paint a complete loco. Where the tape overlaps I make sure I've pressed down the join so that the
black can't creep underneath. As soon as I've painted, I carefully remove the tape. I've found that if I wait until the
paint is dry, then sometimes when the tape is removed, it can lift the paint.
Having got the black line dry, I paint the white lines. For these, I use the old fashioned spring bow pens. These are
fine when in a straight line, but when the line has to go round a curved body, as on the front of the side tanks,
it's another thing. So I've come up with this little device. The prong rests against the edge of the metal and keeps it
a constant distance from the edge. It seems to work well so long as there are no indentations or lumps on the edge! The
tape round the pen is to make it more comfortable to hold. The only problem with these pens is that they can soon run out
of paint and it's quite a knack to be able to pick up a join without it being obvious. The white paint I use is water
based acrylic artists paint from the local art shop. I've used it before and it shows no deterioration after five years
of use, engine cleaning etc. The big advantage is that if an error is made - and I often do! - then it's easily removed with a
wet cloth and no damage done. It dries hard and is quite difficult to chip off; no lacquer is required.
On the subject of
lacquer; the brass bands etc will quickly tarnish unless treated. It can be delayed by polishing with a silicone wax
polish but I'm going to try a lacquer. I've had no success with car acrylic clear, it just rubs off at the slightest
touch. So I'm going to try the lacquer I used on brass clocks. It's called ercalene and bought from a clock materials
supplier. It's little thicker than water and has a xylene base so it's compatible with the cellulose paint. When
applied it is between 4 and 6 microns thick. The only thing is, I don't know how the heat from the engine will affect it.
The way it is applied is quite interesting. Take a piece of cotton wool and soak it in the lacquer, squeeze out the excess
and just wipe over the brass and no, little hairs don't come out!
Had a break from rubbing and cutting back and worked on the steam dome. I bought a piece of thick-walled brass tube at the
exhibition and turned up the covers for the safety valves. It was easier to turn a few thou off the valves to make them fit
rather than off the inside of the tube. Being copper tube, they were rather soft to hold in the chuck and the ends being
bronze meant a lot of small cuts. However, I still managed to get the tool to grab, and completely wrecked one valve. So
I've had to make another!
I couldn't get the plate perfectly flat to bolt on top of the dome, so I've had to fit a
gasket. The two bolts (only one shows) in the centre are to take the boiler inspector's pressure gauge and the pump to
bring up the pressure.
There doesn't seem to be much progress at times because the work involved is labour intensive. However, I have managed to
do one tank, line it and fit. Setting up takes a long time as the masking tape needs to be accurate. Having painted the
black, I remove the tape immediately and when the paint is dry, do the lining. I've been experimenting with over-spraying
with clear acrylic lacquer and the results are quite reasonable. But as the acrylic reacts with black enamel paint, I
had to change to artists acrylic. The final finish isn't quite as good as cutting back the cellulose and polishing, but I
can if necessary do so at a later stage. It says on the tin 'leave for a fortnight before cutting back'!
I'll do the
same to the other tank and then begin the piping up.
It takes a fair time to do all the masking and only a few seconds to paint in the black line! As soon as I've painted,
I remove the tape because this stops a raised edge forming. I discovered that it is easier to paint one line all the way
round before doing the other one. This allows me to wipe any line off which I don't like and re-do without removing both
lines. The corners are probably the easiest part to do with a pair of compasses and they set the limits for the lines. The
hardest part has been the narrow top to the sides of the cab as the tight curve proved difficult to follow with the
outrigger. I had several goes and probably doesn't bare close scrutiny!
One thing I did notice was a big error in the
beading. I originally thought that a brass bead round the cab sides would be too much so I painted them blue. As soon
as I saw it on the engine it looked all wrong and knew it had to be brass. Small problem; I'd used steel as the beading
so as not to waste brass! And it's soldered as well as riveted. It took me several days work to remove them, replace with
brass and restore the paint. Being 1/8" thick and not having a sheet big enough to cut a one piece out, to avoid loads of
joins, I had to make a sandwich with a 20swg outer layer. The result isn't too bad and now painted and on the loco, it
looks much better.
I haven't got enough room in my workshop to stand back and take a decent photograph, so this is the best I can do. The
whistle does look a bit oversize so I might at some later stage, shorten it, but this will of course, change the note.
I've still to polish and lacquer the windows before I put them in but I think the next job will be to fit all the fittings.
There hasn't been much to show this time as I've been away on holiday.