April
2010.I have now sold this engine and it is here ready for delivery however, during its life so far it has been used for several different experiments and was beginning to look decidedly tired. There were also a few bits that begun to come adrift so I decided to strip it down, remove all the paint from the body, make repairs as necessary and then have Ian repaint it in clean, but well used condition. The above pictures are the result, as usual, Ian has made a great job of bringing it to life. Ultimately, I had to make a new backhead and find new buffers and plates because, between us, Ian and I managed to lose the originals! All part of life's rich panoply I suppose.
Back to top
Early in 2008
This
is another Mitchell 517 under construction (one of three more). The kit
will require some scratch building to match
the photograph I have of No:517 at Birmingham Snow Hill in about 1895. To
be finished in Wolverhampton livery, it will be one of two early 517's.
I now have an etch from Malcolm Mitchell to represent the rear weather panel
that was fitted to these engines, which saves some scratch building for the
second one.
If I can just find the time to finish it!
The bunker currently contains the sound chip (ZTC). The buffers are from a
Scorpio kit, heavily modified to suit the period.The speaker for the sound is located in the smoke box, directly under the chimney. The dome and safety valve cover are removable so that they can be polished regularly, like the real thing.
The chassis contains the DCC control chip (ZTC), hence the wires and
miniature connectors to link it to the sound chip and speaker. The ABC
motor & gearbox have been removed for now. Soon to be added is the exhaust
cam gear to the front axle and a passing wiper switch connected to the
control chip.Back to top
Once the DCC setup has been thoroughly tested, it will all be stripped out and the engine completed prior to painting. Then the whole lot will be refitted.
The
DCC chip can clearly be seen in this view of the underside of the chassis.
I usually turn up my own wheels (AGH) but in this case they are a set that
were offered to me at a price I could not resist.January 2010
It's about time I got some work done on one of these engines. No: 517 will have to wait a while though as it will require some new side plates for the tanks and that will mean some serious scratch building. I'd rather not take this one apart too much. Two years in a box seems not to have caused any problems and it was amazingly clean too. The ZTC gear was stripped out and put in a safe place though I shall probably look around for a different chip that will fit in the tanks and use the existing one in a larger engine. There is an Armstrong Goods lurking in a cupboard along with lots of other stuff.
One
thing they all need though are wing plates fitted to the smoke box.
This one was made from 0.5mm nickel silver sheet. Rather than punch up
the bolt heads on either side, I used instead some minute brass domed bolt
heads bought from Eileen's Emporium long ago. It simply meant drilling
four 0.5mm holes in the appropriate place, threading them through (a little
like threading a needle), solder from behind and file flush. I cut slots
for the tabs of the damper cover too. The control gear for the front sand
boxes would have better been fitted before the boxes, must remember for the
next two.Back to top
A
start has been made on the bunker. The new side sheets were made in
nickel silver by utilising one of those provided in the kit to use as a
master and then sorting out rivets appropriately. Once the milliput
has set I can get on with finishing off the flare and then see about adding
plated coal rails, which is what this engine will need. It will be
1475, based upon a (not terribly clear) picture of one at Snow Hill in 1905.
The original holes for handrail knobs have been filled in and new ones
drilled to match the picture. The front steps were somewhat flimsy I
thought and so strengthened them with 1mm square strip from behind.
The rear steps are designed to be double thickness and so did not need it.
The tool boxes are removable so that Dennis will have an easier time
painting and lining, Wolverhampton style.
Well
I discovered that Milliput is not really up to the job, a tad too delicate
once filed down so it would have all have had to come off anyway.But, I did discovered I was referring to the wrong picture (one of the dangers of leaving a model for two years in a box, one forgets where one was) and it should have this style of bunker instead. Now it has been fitted and some of Laurie Griffin's fine castings too.
.Back to top
The only big job now is the backhead.
Once that is completed there will not be a great deal left to do. There are some springs to fitted behind the splashers, handrails and a few little bits of detailing. Which turned out to be rather more time consuming than expected (what a surprise!)
The backhead proved to be 'interesting. Here is a shot of the basic unit with all its bits fitted and then another picture of it mocked up with the cab to shew the dials as well. The cab needed a proper back fitting so that the backhead can be fitted with a sliver of Blue-Tack, which is how I generally fit them. Back to top
Here
the chassis is near completion (the DCC kit will be added much later after
some testing) and only requires some restraint fitting for the ABC
motor/gearbox.
The
motor is temporary until I find a smaller one that will, hopefully, fit
vertically and leave room for the speaker in the smokebox.Now ready for the paint shop, for which the handrails will be removed. They are in two separate sections and join inside the knob on the smokebox. The only things missing aside from a crew at present are some long fire irons to go with the bucket hanging on the back. There is, unfortunately, no room on the footplate to fit a jack, which would have been bolted down, but not all these engines carried them anyway in 1900.
Last picture of her running-in on the rolling road under DC as the DCC equipment has not yet been refitted.
Back to top