Modern Outline Kits GWR Armstrong Class 7 4-4-0 - Part 1
Raymond Walley
In this first instalment, Raymond Walley describes his build of Modern Outline Kits version of this elegant locomotive and starts with the tender
See also Part 2 and Part 3
Ian Rathbone concludes the series where he describes painting the finished model in Part 4
I have for some years admired the
Modern Outlines Kits Southern Railway
Q class 0-6-0 because it looks like a well designed
kit that would be interesting to
build. When passing their stand I would
stop and examine the methodology – rather
reminiscent of the Kiel Kraft airplanes I
built in my youth, but their offerings were
either the wrong company or the wrong
period so I could never justify the
investment.
At the 2011 Reading Trade Show I stopped by again, this time with credit card at the ready to collect their new kit for the GWR Armstrong 4-4-0, to Slater’s for the wheels and to ABC to order the motor/gearbox, which arrived two days later. The kit has been designed around Slater's wheels and a specific ABC motor/gearbox combination that is completely invisible from any normal viewing position in the finished engine. My Christmas present to myself also included CPL couplings and a set of Guilplates. I did not expect to spend anything further other than Ian Rathbone's painting fees, some Laurie Griffin tools and lamps, and a proper wooden box to carry it in. A crew is already waiting to get to work.
So what’s in the box? Seven packs of high quality lost wax castings in brass and nickel silver – there are no white metal castings, oh joy! A packet of nuts, bolts, handrail knobs, etc., and another containing the machined parts for the crank axle and outside cranks; the kit comes complete with provision for working inside motion. Four etched sheets of nickel silver and one of brass all made to the highest standard I have seen. A ringbound and colour-printed manual excellently produced with many pictures of parts being assembled, and various line drawings.
The manual consists of 26 pages for the engine and 14 for the tender including detailed pictures and lists all the cast parts. There was also a letter explaining that some parts of the tender etch are dimensionally inaccurate and replacement parts will be forwarded on return of the letter.
This was taken care of when I collected the kit and the parts were on their way to me when they had been etched, a couple of weeks later; later editions of the kit will no doubt have them in the box. This is the most impressive box of goodies I think I have seen and promised to be a most enjoyable build.
No prototype information is provided; one is, not unreasonably, expected to do some research. I have all the necessary books upon my shelves. The four Armstrong (No: 7 Class) 4-4-0s were built in 1894 and were nominal rebuilds, though the RCTS considers that only the wheel centres were used again. They were the first double framed 4-4-0 engines of their type to be built at Swindon for the 'narrow' gauge and very handsome engines they were until the turn of the century when modernization to improve efficiency meant that between 1901 and 1911 they were rebuilt with new standard boilers and Belpaire fireboxes. No doubt they were more effective as engines but I think it rather spoilt their graceful lines. My choice No 8, Gooch, remained as built until 1911. It was photographed in original condition at Paddington in 1910 and so it fits my period perfectly. The kit does not cater for the rebuilds
Generally, when I get a new kit to build I read through the instructions to see how the designer thought out his or her work and make a note of any important deviations from the norm. Then I largely ignore them and do it my way. I started by reading the manual from cover to cover. It has clearly been written by someone literate, used to technical writing and who has largely built the model too. I decided that I would build it, in the main, as the designer intended and follow fairly closely his instructions and use Slater's wheels. I began building on 3 December 2011 and by the time the project was completed I had recorded a build time of 275 hours.
In addition to the tools the instructions
suggests as necessary, taps for 6, 8, 10, 12
and 14BA and a 14BA die are needed. The
instructions assume a certain level of
experience and need to be read carefully (as
you will see later where I failed so to do).
They are not a step by step hand-holding exercise, or even completely accurate (later editions will be added to or corrected) but, a good guide to how it was designed and how to put it together. The builder still needs initiative and an ability to plan the work. Since all the parts fit properly, everything can be dry-run before soldering, which is not always necessary anyway. At various points I decided to alter the construction from that suggested in the instructions because that was how I wanted to do the build, they are not criticisms of the designer's original ideas.
The Tender
The kit comes with a Dean 3000 gallon tender. I began with the tender because it generally proves simpler and is a good introduction to the designer's methods though the instructions assume one will begin with the engine.
I have never built a kit with so much tab and slot fitting but the really enjoyable part of it is that all the parts fit first time, mostly without filing down the cusps (in fact the instructions say not to for most of the parts) and many of these joints do not need to be soldered, simply twist the tabs. There is very little edge soldering. This is my first experience of a kit made almost entirely in nickel silver and what an improvement it is over brass. The accuracy of the art work and etching is the best I have seen, without exception.
The whole kit is based upon building modules so one does not have necessarily to follow exactly the sequence in the manual, provided one takes care to ensure parts are not fitted so far out of sequence as to prevent other parts going in later. The designer's intentions must be read carefully.
The etched sheet is 0.4mm thick which seems pretty flimsy at first, but the floor of the tender is three layers for instance. I think nickel silver is stronger and stiffer than an equivalent section of brass. All the parts fit together perfectly and go together to produce rigid boxes (of one sort or another).
One single footstep contains six parts and is fitted with tabs to align correctly under the footplate. Needless to say, it goes together with ease and fits first time. There was far less need to make soldering jigs with the rare earth magnets for this build. One of the most fiddly jobs was fitting the beading around the top of the flares.
The side frames are double thickness and fitted using tabs. They are not soldered together but are fixed with twisted tabs and their combined tabs are soldered into slots in the foot plate. I fitted the castings for the axle boxes and spring mountings in the flat rather than when the body is largely complete.
Tender frames and top
Tender springs and hangers
Tender chassis
Tender chassis and brake rigging
The instructions suggest the springs and hangers should be assembled and left off until after painting then glued in place. I would rather they were bolted in place as I avoid glue and painted surfaces wherever possible. The designer has left the option open for the builder.
The cast bolts that hold the spring against the mounting are a little too tight a fit through the turned steel dampers. They must be close to the limits of lost wax casting for thin rod. I tapped the spring shackles 14BA before fitting them to the springs and used 14BA bolts, which fit perfectly. I used brass bolts.as temporary fixings and removed the springs to be painted separately from the model. They were finally fitted with polished steel bolts and nuts, cut to length and the bolt heads cut off.
Tender chassis with brake gear fitted
I began work on the tender chassis, a very well designed piece of miniature engineering. All the parts fit perfectly which means care is needed in fitting. Clearances are tight when assembling so it is wise to dry run it first. The rear two pairs of wheels are compensated in two axes. Each axle pivots around its own centre and the pair of axles also pivots around their common centre. The underside view shows how the axle bearings and supports protrude through the floor. The movement, of a couple of millimetres is quite enough to maintain the contact of all wheels with reasonably well laid track.
Many of the parts for the brake gear are partially dry-run assembled. The instructions suggest fitting the brake hangers to the body using pins or 14BA bolts (not supplied) by tapping the holes in the body side. Pins would have meant having to spring the rigging out but bolts would make them easier to fit and remove. I baulked at relying on 0.4mm of thread to hold the bolts bearing in mind the number of times they will have to be removed and refitted during construction and painting. Small pieces of nickel silver bar 1.5mm thick were soldered over the holes on the inside, drilled and tapped 14BA. The hangers were then fitted having been drilled out 1mm for the top and 0.9mm for the lower holes. I used 14BA nuts, with the threads stripped out as spacers to set the brake blocks at the correct distance from the frames; later I soldered them over the holes in the chassis, lining them up with the pointed end of a cocktail stick, thereby making fewer bits to get lost.
The side frames and main body box are now fitted along with the excellent corner castings, (brilliant idea) which were predrilled 1.3mm for the handrail knobs.
I replaced the brass ones with nickel silver knobs from Markits. Fitting the handrail knobs is much easier to do before fitting to the body. The holes are not out of alignment, it is a trick of the light.
The corner castings in place
The piping under the tender could be a little confusing. According to the drawings I have and the diagram in the instructions, the vacuum pipe goes on the opposite side to the steam pipe but the etching suggests that they both go on the same side. I decided to follow the drawing and fitted the vacuum pipe in line with the vacuum stanchion on the buffer beam by bending at 90º the tabs that should fit in the etched slots and soldering them to the base of the chassis. The vapour trap for the steam pipe is the wrong size and though a new one is being mastered I decided to modify the one provided by cutting about 1.5mm out of the centre. It fits well now between the cast operating levers. The brake pull rods hold the brake shoes at the correct angle and are bolted to the transverse pivot that is fixed to the body. The pull rods are adjustable to a degree by the three holes. The operating rod for the water scoop also fits in a lever on the main pivot rod but this one is left as a simple push fit in the slot as there is no room for a bolt.
Pipe works and water scoop
>
Tender front
Tender front buffers
No buffers are provided for the front drag
beam so I made some and decided they
needed to be sprung. The holes in the buffer plank were opened out and brass tube
soldered in. Two buffers were turned from
brass rod; one end was rounded off and a
spring soldered to the other end, they are
not fixed; pressure against the engine will
keep them in place; their length was
adjusted when the drawbar was fitted.
The back of the finished tender
I found etches for tender tool boxes not mentioned in the instructions and checked the pictures that I have of Armstrong engines. Sure enough, in 1900, the tenders had tool boxes fitted so I assembled them to be glued on after painting. The padlocks came from a Mitchell 517 kit in my 'to do' cupboard, I hope I can get some more.
Completed tender showing drawbar in place
Finally, the drawbar. The kit provides a pair of castings for the ends of the drawbar, to be tapped 6BA but these were misshapen. I could have sent for new but decided instead to turn some, tap them and connect them with 1.6mm nickel silver rod. After painting the tender just needs a full set of tools, a bucket, and the crew, already waiting their time in a box.
The back of the finished tender
The finished tender viewed from the side
