All,
Decided it was time to build something , this time I wanted to work with a topic I wasn't familiar with so I have chosen this little WWI era steam locomotive:


and after a search of the libraries and interweb I managed to gather enough info to satisfy my needs:

now armed with some decent plans and some nice walk-around photos of a preserved example it's now time to put blade to plastic.
With my selection of styrene sheet, strip and tube (each drawer contains a quantity of each thickness sheet plus brass/alloy/tin sheet and the last three drawers hold the wet'n'dry sheets) plus a new 100 pack of blades it's time to head off the rails :


Please feel free to point out any faults / thoughts on how you might build a component etc etc. Hopefully I might be able to pass on a few tips and tricks I've picked up on over the years and hopefully I might learn from your suggestions and experiences .

On with the marking, cuttting and glueing:
Thought it best to start with the main chassis, my marking out method is to scribe all the lines using a fresh blade then rub with a moistened finger (leaving the grubby lines) then shave off the raised ridge with a round blade which leaves a very fine and accurate mark - all marking out is also done with vernier calipers.

and after a bit of hacking and slashing some bits:

more to follow

Hey Casper

I have found a few faults already !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are far too bleeding organised, far too well supplied and far too talented for your own good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not fair



Will be looking in on this one. Already looking damned fine !!!!!!!

Nige

[/quote]You are far too bleeding organised, far too well supplied and far too talented for your own good
Nige[/quote]

Nige,
Organised - you ain't seen the playroom after a "session"
Well supplied - guilty
Talented - currently under debate
Cheers.

Anywho on with some glue sniffing, about 15 years ago I made up this little jig to assist with keeping things in alignment (square) - things like truck chassis rails that aren't aligned just look darn ugly. Its just a hunk of melamine wood with some alloy angle bolted on, the other items I use to keep everything square are a set of milling parallel's:

and with these simple devices I can start glueing the main chassis:




This is just the bare bones as I still have to mark out all the rivet points and add all the reinforcing strips.
More to follow

That looks disgustingly good already Roger. Good to see you building again.

I like that "Squaring rig", it looks extremely useful. I'll have to make one.

Murdo,
Best thing with using the alignment jig is that you then have two hands free to make any final adjustments. use mine all the time when making things like fuel/tool boxes etc.

Just been messing about with the smoke box:


The main tube is a hunk of 33.5mm OD PVC tube and the steam boxes are the disgusting 15.9m Plastruct Butyrate tubing (definately wouldn't recommend this stuff to anyone - pain in the b... to glue). Have to wait till tomorrow to see if my glue experiments have worked before I can continue .
The reasoning for the plastic rods going right through the main tube are to assist with alignment when adding the other components (another little trick of the trade).
Must off now and continue with more marking out and with the rivet experiments

Hmmm ,
Just thought I'd show that even semi-experienced scratchbuilders can make real stupid mistakes . Was just working on the Journal Boxes (Bearing/Axle Blocks) and noticed things didn't line up with the Spring Pedestal - then it dawned on me I'd made a real boo boo and messed up while transferring measurements from plans to plastic .

Time for a liquid relaxer and have a think to see if it's salvagable or if it's back to square one.
Ahh well, all part of the learning experience.
Hope everyones projects are progressing well

Ha ha ha ha ha

I am on to my third attempt at getting the ride height of the cab correct on mine. Was a full 10mm out as I looked at the wrong reference line when transferring measurement from drawing to model. OOOOOOOOppppppppsssssss

Yours is looking so good. would be a shame to have to start again, but I know how you work and your stuff always looks so neat.

Nige

Nige,
yep it's a bit of a bugger when these "little problems" occur. Whenever I mount cabs I've always blocked the chassis to the correct height (and double/triple checked ) then with a basic cardboard template plonked the cab on, this gives ya two hands free to make any adjustments to the cab mounts etc - no matter what, it can still be a fiddly process.

Been through and triple checked all my measurements and have marked out a new set of chassis components (well two sets 1 @ .75mm sheet and 1 @1.0mm sheet). Just have to wait a few days till I get my "little" 1:75th project off the workbench before I can start cutting out. Will probably throw out the 15.9mm Plastruct tube parts as this stuff seems impervious to getting a good fused bond (even their own brand glue) or I suppose I could drill right through the smoke box .

Hi Casper,

Your project looks great. Sorry to see you run into difficulties but in a project this cool it's probably to be expected. As Nige indicated many of us know what that's like! Can be a bit frustrating at times. Have no doubt whatsoever that you'll get it all sorted out. Your work is always amazing.

I've run into the same thing with Plastruct tubing before and thought it was just me. Had some success using superglue to attach it to resin but even that was problematic. Hope one of us figures it out someday.

take care,
Jim

Jim,
Yer this Plastruct tubing is a real pain in the b___. Normally my 50/50 mix of Tamiya glue bonds pretty much all known styrenes (inc ABS), the main steam box is PVC tubing and that reacts with my glue but the Plastruct . CA glues do work but because this area is going to get some heavy abuse while filling and shaping I need the best bond I can get. Previously I've used MEK but don't have any at the moment (nasty stuff) so I've just done a quick experiment with straight Acetone (the commercial type) seems to have had a fusing, but will wait another 24 hours before I suject it to any abuse.
Of course the next concern is if any fillers will attach and bond with the name that shall not be mentioned in this house again . Probably would have been quicker and easier if I'd "rolled my own".
Anywho must plod on with the crank-arms etc.

Hope everyone elses projects are going well.

Oh sure, here I was just getting over the pinewood derby builds and getting ready to settle in for some sci-fi{campaign}getting ready to rewire the old 1:1 car{12v neg ground conversion} and the new revell london bus{aquired end of december} and you have to go and start this...well, I can watch at least! I think I had an LGB engine like that long ago...now if you were building a 1/24 CB&Q Aeolus I'd drop whatever I was doing and join in!....

BTW- MEK is great stuff so long as you don't breathe...waiting to see how that acetone works out for you with the stryene to PVC bonding.

Bob,
Was just thinking the other week that we might have to send out a search party to look for ya as you'd gone MIA .
24 hours has passed - and I'm not totally convinced it's a good bond, might give it another 24 then see. Was talking with my plastic sheet supplier and they have something they guarantee will get an excellant fused bond so am heading into town later to check it out - will report back (it's of US origin).
Lots of coarse language and head banging going on at the 'mo as I fumble my way through while trying to make this maze of steel:



Must admit - definately a learning experience plus trying a few new techniques.
Just did an image search of that CB&Q train. Thats a pretty sleek looking train.
Must off, my 1/5th scale truck chassis rails are ready to be picked up from the engineers

Almost forgot,
seeing as this train is narrow gauge (European) but a fairly decent axle spread it has a neat piece of engineering to help with the tight track radius:

A), becoming the new cubscout master this fall so my son could be a scout as well as a new edition to the family{40 plymouth touring sedan} at the same time has been taxing to say the least- - but it's been a good trip so far.
B), yeah, that's a hudson, with attitude!

Great start so far despite the lil slip up you had....fill them in with flat sheet, sand and redo...easy enough.
So, are there going to be any cars to go with this engine?