Brian Madge Alice Class Hunslet 'Velinheli'

[Hugh Norwood]

Stunning!

[jaymzhatstand]

Thanks!  But trust me, that's all down to the design of the kit, not my abilities!

I've had a small disaster, while fitting the piston rod to the second crosshead, some of the solder got inside and seized the whole thing!  So it has been dismantled and will be cleaned up, then re-assembled with some vaseline on the pivot to try to keep it from getting all clogged up again!

I did surprise myself when it happened though, I just calmly uttered a naughty word, de-soldered the assembly and tidied everything up and left it to cool.  No hint of a temper tantrum or an attempt to repair it while it was still hot and making myself crosser!  That's more progress than building the whole loco!

Cheers

J

[jaymzhatstand]

A new set of crosshead/rods and associated 14BA nuts and bolts arrived in the post on Tuesday (Thanks ever so much Brian!) and I have managed to assemble a second coupling/piston rod and fitted it to the chassis (of course I knocked the other pistom rod off in the process, so that will be glued for ease of both the job and my sanity!)

I have tested the chassis and it still seems to run as it did before so the second cylinder assembly was soldered in place and tested again, I was shocked that nothing had gone wrong!

So the next step is to finish off the body detailing and fit the couplings, followed by a good clean up and then into the paint shops!

Here's a couple of photos of the valve gear in place




Cheers

J

[nigelk]

Nice job - where will you be getting your dome?

[jaymzhatstand]

Thanks, the dome has been specially made for me by Brian, and a very nice bit of brass it is too!  I'll be fitting it once its painted, to save having to mask it off.

Cheers

J

[MickT]

If the new dome is brass, have you considered polishing it up and leaving it in bare brass rather than painting it? I think it would look very impressive that way. Just a thought.

Mick

[jaymzhatstand]

That's exactly what I'm going to do with it (hence levaing it off until after painting the loco). Nowt looks more like brass than brass!

Cheers

J

[MickT]

Good man! I misinterpreted "until after painting it" as after painting the dome rather than after painting the loco. All is well!

Mick

[tedp]

As I wrote on the other forum, well done, James. Now for the paint shop!

[jaymzhatstand]

Just a quick update, the loco is now ready for painting, all bits fitted including couplings so its time to open the window and get some rattle-cans out (for the primer and undercoats at least!)






Cheers

J

[jaymzhatstand]

After a coat of grey undercoat my plan was to post some 'works grey' photos, but then I got to thinking that there is never just grey on a loco, the smokebok at the very least would be black, so I set about adding a bit of colour.  The bright red parts have been painted (buffer beams, cranks, wheels, and inner frames) and then I started double checking reference photos for which bits should be black and have ended up adding some detail bits instead.  These include the tool hooks on the tank, a bit of relief detail on the springs and something to represennt the boiler under the tank, the coal bunker, the whistle, the (what I presume is) guard bar at the front and the pipe  and actuation gear for the vacuum brakes.

So here are a few pictures to illustrate said additions


Full side profile with vacuum brake gear under cab, regulator between cab and smokebox, whistle on smokebox and spring/gap filling.


The brake gear in close up, made from offcuts of N/S sprue and some brass wire, the regulator was also made from the same N/S fret, from a 'Knightswork' kit


The guard bar from a piece of Evergreen square section and the brass wire vacuum pipe are visible here


Into the cab showing the coal bunker, which may not be 100% correct, but the best I could do from the photos I could find.  The tool hooks are als visible, also from a fret from a 'Knightswork' kit, they started life as rings, but had a section cut out, and I'm rather pleased with them, as I don't know how I would've made them otherwise!

I've also painted the driver figure, and here he is ready for action, although what sort of action with a pose like that, I'm not sire.  He is designed to fit into the cab with his hand on the regulator, and does so splendidly, and looks much more comfortable there too!


So now it's time to get some black paint on and maybe press Velinheli into some test services, rather than posing on my photo plank!

Cheers

J

[Frank]

This is looking really good - difficult to believe how small it actually is!

You will have a really great model at the end of this.

Keep up the good work!

Frank

[tedp]

As I wrote on the other forum, this is a very good model of a very small prototype in a very small scale. Anything I would add to that is useless!  ;)

[jaymzhatstand]

Thanks very much for the kind words!

I've taken a few photos of Velinheli in works grey livery, although not yet in service, as the dome is yet to be fitted!  I also intend to order some worksplates from Narrow Planet (but not the nameplates as these are in the kit, and very good they are too!)

The more observant may notice the firebox that has been fabricated below the footplate, this is just three bits of plasticard to represent the three more visible sides of the firebox and glued to the underside of the footplate, carefully avoiding the drive mechanism and still allowing removal of the drive unit.






I think a brass smokebox door dart will be fitted once I've got one, but that can wait as it's do-able after everything else!

I gave it a bit of a run again this afternoon and since painting (although I'm sure not related) the loco has developed a limp when running forwards.  I'm not sure how to fathom why it's almost sticking in one direction and not the other, I've checked the cranks and the quartering doesn't seem to've shifted at all so I don't think it's that.  If anyone has any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them!

Cheers

J

[tedp]

It's a lovely little loco, James. Regarding the sticking, it may be the paint. What you could look at is the coupling rods. If they seem to move not quite horizontally it may be the quartering. But if it came on after the painting I'm sure it's the paint. I've had similar troubles with one engine or the other. I'd check the slidebars and the cranks first, maybe put a little light oil or fine graphite on them and I'm sure it will improve. And see if a rod was bent when you held the loco during painting. They sometimes do!