Craftsman Kit

My strategy (if I can dignify my ramblings as such) is to try to clear some of the backlog of locos that have sat on a shelf for decades.

One example is this Craftsman kit of the subject loco.  It is a multimedia kit including nickel silver and brass etches along with whitemetal castings.

First off, the etches:




The kit shows its' age by recommending the X04 as motor, and the frames are cut out accept it - not likely methinks.

The rest of the kit:




Boiler, roof and smokebox as well as a bag of castings that I haven't really examined yet.

After a day or so work, here is the state of play:




The frames have been built up with bearings and strengthening pieces around the driven axle (not sure what they'll do).

I spent quite a bit of time with the motor and gearbox.  Before assembling the frames I though I'd better see if my choice will work.  It is a Comet 2 stage, 38/1 GB and Mashima motor.  The GB does take quite a bit of care to set up.  I did one a few years that got wrecked because I didn't get the idler gear directly below the worm.  This time I got it right.

This morning, I ran the system in using a DC power supply.  Alternating between dry, oiled and a jewellers' rouge/oil mixture, and cleaning in between.

One issue that can arise with these GBs is that, because there's a grub screw holding the gears on their shafts, you can get a slight high spot.  I always secure the worm to the motor using Loctite sleeve retainer to eliminate at least one source of high spot.

After about an hour of the process, I think I've got the system running smoothly and the high spots appear to have been improved, so I'm happy.

The drawing is to scale so I overlaid the motor/GB over it to confirm that things will fit.  They appear to at this point.

John

Some further progress:





The frames are joined together with numerous spacers using tab and slot construction.  As such, you should be able to get away with getting this square without any elaborate jigging.  I used mine because it's there.

Because I used a different GB, I had to modify the main spacer for the final drive gear.  The sloped area at the rear is supposed to take the X04.

John

I put some time in this evening on the bogie.  The kit supplies rather a horrid lump of whitemetal.  I have a Comet bogie kit and so I decided to construct a MR bogie using that kit as a basis.

First bad news is that this locos bogie has axles 5' 6" apart whereas my kit has them at 6" 3".  My approach, after having a bit of a think, was to open the slots of the base to 5' 3" and to cut the overlays so that the centers are at 5" 6":




You can see the difference I think.  Very much a case of making it up as I go along but the job turned out well.  I need to represent a pair of leaf springs on top of the bogie - haven't figured that out yet.  The slot will allow the bogie to move laterally as well as pivot.  I won't be using the dreaded swing link.

The book is extremely useful, containing a large number of photos and most valuably, a great many works drawings that appear to be scaled to 1mm : 1 in.

John

Last night I had a go at making my representation of the spring between the axles:




I measured up the spring in the drawing and then carved the shape from scrap brass.  A piece of strip in the center completes the effect.  None too bad, notwithstanding this cruel closeup.

John

Progress is slow as I make some details.

This morning, I fashioned a retention plate for the bogie by soldering a nut to it (twice, I screwed up the first time :twisted:).  The plate was soldered into place and the bogie attaché by a screw:




Right now the bogie is just along for the ride.  I must try to figure out a way to spring it so that it supports some weight.

I need to make some gizmos to hold the motor horizontal.

Later on, I made up the brakes and soldered the wire hangers in.

I also made some more springs for underneath the frames.  Why these weren't provided beats me.  This truly is a Craftsman kit since I'm having to make a lot of stuff myself.




The springs aren't the best but when the chassis is assembled, they'll pass muster I reckon.  You can see the retention plate for the bogie.

I looked at the castings yesterday - yecch!  So often these let the kit down and this is no exception.  I've been on to AGW for a chimney, dome and buffers.

John

More OCD ness today - sand boxes.  The kit includes two bits of whitemetal that I suppose are intended to represent the sandboxes on the loco.

In fact the loco has 4 sandboxes which are of a quite particular shape.  I used the drawing and a works grey photo in the book to guide me in the making of more accurate ones, viz:




On the left are the sandboxes as supplied - huh?  On the right sandboxes made from Evergreen strip.  I scaled the drawing  to produce the sketches, then carved the boxes.  There's a filler on the center pair.

I have since attached these to the frames.  Getting the location just so was quite a fiddle.  I like to drill for and solder in a brass rod on which to hang things like this.

Gotta love the instructions, one long run on paragraph.

John

Well, I painted the drivers today … again!  The first time I forgot to put the balance weights on - sheesh!

So I thought I'd make a start on the body tonight.  The footplate, buffer beams, valences and footsteps were assembled:







All fiddly stuff.  I got the valences on by progressively tacking and straightening until all was good.  Must give it a wash now.

John

Quite a lot of progress today.

Wheel tyres were cleaned.  These were then trial installed with the gearbox, and footplate tried - I'm delighted that the gearbox fits within the footplate without any problems.

Coupling rods were solder laminated and chemically blackened.

Crankpins were installed in the wheels.  These do need to be secured with a drop of Threadlok.  (If you use CA you will not get them out again without wrecking the pin and possibly the wheel.)

The rod holes were progressively opened out until the chassis ran freely.  They were temporarily held on the crankpins with pieces of wire insulation.

At this point, the chassis is in the paint shop having been primed this evening.

I also worked on the body.

The bunker was built up and installed:




Lamp brackets were installed at the back and front.  These were made by bending brass strip to suit.  The kit does provide some pieces of NS but these didn't work for me.  I found some brass strip of the correct width in my scrap box.

Tanks were also made up and beading installed.  Tricky thing this beading and it required quite some finagling to get it on straight and true.  The process wasn't helped by the beading being bent and twisted.  There are loops on the beading for the cab handrails.

It is very easy to get solder where it is not wanted and I spent a very great deal of time cleaning excess solder off the visible surfaces.  This was done with scrapers and fiberglass brushes.

Exciting stuff!

John

Watching with interest, John,

Doug

Ooh goody a peanut gallery.  No pressure then.

John

Well written, entertaining and humorous even if I didn't understand a word of it - what's a soldering iron ?

Allan

Glad I'm keeping you amused Allan, that's what it's all about.  C'mon a soldering iron doesn't even have software.

:cheers

John

Progress so far today - right now I'm shattered.





It doesn't look like much but there was a lot of faffing to get the tanks installed.  The handrail supports had to align and in truth I had to use a 0.020" drill to cut the holes back 0.5mm on the RHS to get the handrails to be vertical - lor'!

I also assembled the cab.  For the roof, I get irritated when I can't access the inside so I used a dodge that Iain Rice uses which, as you can see involves soldering springy wire to the inside of the roof.  It seems to work although there will be some adjustment needed.

At this point I'm supposed to solder the cab on, but I want to detail the inside of the cab so I think I'll wait for my backhead.  The model as designed would have the motor in the cab - how naff!

Tony Wright in his Right Track videos (Nos 1 & 2 - get them if you see them) has some very good advice on soldering.

John

All very impressive John!  Not something I. Would ever want to do but I do find it interesting and a bit jaw-dropping to watch these kit builds of yours.👍👍👍

Why not Gene?   Don't you want to join in the fun?

Actually this will be my first complete loco kit.  I've dabbled over the years with chassis and upgrading RTR locos.  I've got a fair few started, but for one reason or another the build stalled.  I want to make some headway in getting them done.

John

Love the use of the word 'naff' John. But what you're achieving is far from it.

Allan

Another one completely enthralled and entertained in the peanut gallery... :cheers

Perhaps I should sell tickets.

John

You obviously have tiny fingers and far more patience (and skill) than I do John.  I'm with Gene here, I wouldn't even know where to start ……………:oops::oops::oops:

The nice thing about brass and NS is that you get almost unlimited do-overs.  Believe me, I have needed these on this build.  I'm also a klutz and spend a lot of time on hands and knees looking for dropped parts.

Skill comes from experience so you need to make a start on something small and simple.  Also very helpful is some resource material on your subject - kit instructions usually have some info, but not nearly enough.

John