extreme Jintybashing

[gtmspyder]

Hello Ted,

The hip is doing alright at the moment thank you, a bit frustrating 'cos I can't do much other than sit here, with a few exercises occasionally to break up the boredom  ::)

Looking forward to resuming more building work on Glen Ogle, and running my new radio controlled loco up and down the Glen. :)

Kind regards,

BrianT.

[tedp]

Good to hear, Brian - watching NG railway videos will help as well!

Late yesterday, after some remarks made on the other forum about the inclined cylinders and slidebars of the jinty bash, I managed to straighten the slidebars a little by melting them into their nylon supports fitted to the chassis. This improved the looks of the loco. No photos yet.

[tedp]

After a time, when you are putting together a loco from different sources and materials, it starts to look like the patchwork it really is. At some moment the time is there to put primer on and see what it will really look like, and where you have to do some work to improve the finish.

Today I sprayed the body in an undercoat of light grey, and painted the chassis, cylinders and wheels very dark grey. In addition I temporarily fitted Mick's chimney and dome which arrived in the mail today. Here is the result, still showing some painful blemishes on the tank sides and a split in the smokebox door. This is the wrong pattern anyway, but again - it's not a scale model. Mick's chimney is quite close but perhaps the dome is still a fraction too tall. We'll compare with what's in the other package that is on its way to me from Garry.

There is a lot of detail to be fitted still - better safety valves and a whistle, the steps to the footplate in front of the slidebars, handrails, etc., but I think we are getting close now!

[Krizzy]

Ted

Another super model Ted, you are probably putting many of us to shame with this and the Kitson. I am struggling to paint a Paul Windle loco though I'm doing other things at the moment.

Keep up the good work and inspiration.

Roger

[tedp]

Having seen your work I don't think I can put you to shame, Roger.  ;D

[gtmspyder]

Very nice Ted, nothing a little more filler won't sort, and the chimly looks better proportioned too.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

Kind regards,

BrianT.

[tedp]

Thanks, Brian - look what I did since your post.

A few rather weird days have passed since I posted my last. On Saturday we had to take my aged mother to hospital after a fall and I'm glad to say she is doing better than expected. Tonight I finally had some time to myself again, and I did some work on the Jinty bash.

Gentlemen, the King!

Several improvements have changed the looks of the loco. I will first show a photo of its present state which is rather more like the 'King' than I would have dared hope.



The first improvement is a dome from the package sent to me by Garry. This is slightly smaller than the one sent by Mick and it had an internal bore which I drilled through to the top. The fixing screw of the body is directly beneath the dome. In addition I did some work to level the body on the chassis. It had a list to the left, probably due to the position of the fixing hole which was a little to one side.

I also cut down the detail on the LMS smokebox door, removing the raised number and shed plate, the handrail and the door clamps. A central firebox dart and screw will be added later.

You will notice the lining on the primer coat which is similar to what I did on the L&MVR Kitson. I have a photo of the real 'King' in a similar guise which makes it easy to compare. The joint in the Jinty body is a bit prominent along the footplate - the old shells apparently have distorted a little with age.

Next was the cowcatcher, which is a Langley Baldwin specimen. This is made up without the centre bars to clear the coupler. This was copied from Robert the Bruce. Here is how I made it up:



The frame was modified as shown - later I even took away the remaining stub inside the pointed edge of the bottom frame.

Then it was folded up and test fitted on the loco:



The second part of the cowcatcher consists of a cross beam and inclined bars. The folded frame is folded slightly back, then the cross beam is soldered in place. Next, the frame is folded back to a right angle and the bars are folded up at the same time:



Note that in the above photo there are still two bars that need to be removed. The cross beam will be cut back to the edges of the slot in the frame above. This will produce enough space for the coupler to peep through. Here is the result:



The cowcatcher is fitted to the chassis, not to the buffer beam. The latter slides behind the cowcatcher frame so the body shell can still be taken off. The cowcatcher is fitted to the chassis using thin brass strips folded along the coupler pocket and the stem attached to it, under the loco frame.

Next was fitting a headlight. Originally the C&L locos were fitted with huge oil-burning headlights, and the photo of the 'King' in works grey which I have shows it fitted with one. Here is how I made it up. First I fitted a high power LED in front of the chimney by drilling two tiny holes through the smokebox top. The 1K resistor and connecting wires are concealed in the smokebox, and the LED stems are glued in place.

The headlight housing was made up of styrene, with a 1mm section of aluminium tube for the glass rim. The LED lens was sawn off and the remaining front surface varnished. The back of the LED was painted black, as was the interior of the plastic light housing.



The end result was shown above.

The model is a bit shorter than the prototype - I think my initial idea of having a longer boiler wasn't too bad, except for some reason it didn't look good. Here is a comparison between the semi-freelance model and the prototype. The prototype photo came from the Cavan & Leitrim book by Patrick Flanagan which I mentioned above. I think in editing the two together the prototype photo looks a bit taller than it is in reality. This is a long, big loco.



Hope you like the result.

[gtmspyder]

It was worth waiting for Ted, very very well done, a masterpiece of modelling from very little.

Informative, understated and extremely educational, I love it.

Kindest regards,

BrianT.

[tedp]

Thanks Brian.

Obviously the model isn't completed by far, but at least it shows building a loco from simple sources isn't difficult. In a model like this you have to shut an eye to various deficiencies. I simply used the old chassis I had available, but a far better one might have been a Farish 4MT.

The running gear is very crude - new connecting rods and some sort of valve gear might be fitted using etched components for instance. In addition there is a lot of wear in the chassis that can be reduced using brass shim in the journals. When it runs you actually see the wheels wriggle as the coupling rods do their job. But it is smooth to operate so for the moment I'll leave it.

The model itself needs various details. There are what looks like sandbox fillers behind the smokebox of the prototype. What I initially took for sandboxes on the footplate actually is the covers for the valve gear. The bogie needs to be detailed, and handrails, better safety valves, a whistle and a blower pipe added. Cab interior will be basic since there is a huge motor in there that at the moment is taped down. I will stick it down using silicone sealant. Finally there is the question of painting, name and number plates. Nothing decided yet on that account.

[Tigger]

Superb Ted, Superb!  Well done - it's a very nice representation of the prototype and, as has been said, a source of inspiration - if not to do something similar, then just to do SOMETHING!!  Thanks!

As for track cleaning and Relcos, I've never been sure about them.  Some people love 'em and some hate 'em, I know.  I've always wondered about the interactions of Relco, ECM Compspeed controllers and small motors.  But I digress...

[Krizzy]

David, Ted

A quick comment on Relco 'track cleaners' if I may. I have had one or two to hand for many years to go the G&WR, Tan-yr-Allt and any other layout for that matter. None have ever been fitted or wired in on any layout. The good running achieved is down to clean track, clean loco wheels and clean rolling stock wheels. It is amazing how much dirt accumulates on wagon/coach wheels and then deposited on the track. It does vary from one exhibition to the next.

Ted, another super model and again many thanks for sharing your exploits with us on the forum. If someone does not get any inspiration and have a go themselves then they should be ashamed. What you have done is not rocket science but a plain old common sense simplistic approach to have an authentic model to run on the C&D.

Well done

Roger

[tedp]

Thanks, Roger and David. If someone sees this and says 'I can do that too', I would be glad. Even if you use the unmodified Jinty body on an N gauge chassis, modify the cab and detail the model, you have built your own loco.

Regarding Relcos, if I run trains regularly, I hardly have to clean track. I should switch them off for some time and see about the difference.

[tedp]

Today the manufacturers, Robt. Stephenson & Co, demonstrated the new 0-6-4T ordered for the C&DR. The loco worked a trial train of two miner's carriages, 12 empty open wagons and a brake van uphill to the colliery.

Although the loco ran very well, the suspension needs to be seen to due to excessive 'nosing' of the engine. Pulling power and steaming were very satisfactory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVP1_Ooe7c8

In the photo below, Lord Dunalistair is seen inspecting the new engine (which is still in works grey) at Rae Bridge, comparing it to the older 2-6-2T 'Robert the Bruce'. His Lordship hasn't yet decided on the final paint scheme, but he has been heard muttering something about dark green.

[tedp]

Developments!



Today I started painting the loco, after some detail work done yesterday and today. As promised it is dark green, with red buffer beams. No lining yet - i'll have to let the stuff dry properly first. The tank tops, footplate and smokebox are anthracite black.

The detail I added consists of the following. I first added proper frames to the bogies. These had to be ultra thin, so I made them of paper, with the rivets embossed from behind. The springs are whitemetal, I think from a Chivers kit. I had only 3, so the fourth had to be copied in styrene. I'm proud to say the difference cannot be seen. Here is a photo showing the result:



I also added vacuum pipes (Nine Lines L&B ) and better tank fillers. These were made up from styrene. The covers are meant to flip up and fold towards the dome, with a hinge on the inside. I added tank vents made of aluminium tube just in front of the cab and brass safety valves. There are smokebox door handles made up of fine wire.

There is no whistle yet and no piping and handrails. I found cylinder cock rods which were taken off Atlantic as they fouled the lineside. These will fit comfortably under the cylinders. No lining yet, no numbers and various other details are still waiting to be added. But the end is nigh! I rather like the livery and that front view which is very colonial, don't you think?

[MickT]

Excellent Ted! That is exactly the shade of green that I imagined for this loco. It looks both colonial and Irish - as it is supposed to!

One tiny comment. The front view and overhead front view photos seem to show that the cowcatcher frame is listing to starboard from the buffer beam. Is this camera close-up distortion or a flaw?

Mick