Thursday 20 May 2010

BR 9F 92220 'Evening Star' Progress Part 2

Here is the second part of my progress report for the Evening Star. As i stated in part 1 the model is nearly complete and will be ready for the Golden Jubilee.

Assembly of the running gear went without any hitches until i introduced the locomotive to my homemade rolling road. I have found out now after many hours of fiddeling with gear alignment, motor alignment even rod clearances that none of this matters if your wheels are not perfectly quartered.

I originally thought my chassis worked well as it rolled without aid down a slope but when connected to the rest of the running gear there were problems. A slight tweek of the quartering has improved much of this and now just needs running in. The Evening Star sat on my homemade rolling road that will eventually become my display stand for the locomotive, surrounded by wood to make it look good.
Here is a close up detail shot of the copper pipework that i have created. Of course i could have used the items supplied in the kit, but to be realistic i have adapted the kit with brass rod of various diameters, this will then be polished and then coated with clear gloss.


The Evening Star standing proud on a short piece of 2mm Flexitrack. Over the next week or two i shall be applting the BR Green and Black body detailing before fixing my custom made buffers. Then i shall add some detailling paintwork on the running gear, followed by the lining, before finally applying a coat of clear gloss to make the model shine.

BR 9F 92220 'Evening Star' Progress Part 1

It has been a while now since i have posted my progress with the Evening Star. It has been a difficult few months with real problems. But now the end is in sight with the final pieces fitting together and painting well under way.

As you can see from this picture my chassis is almost complete just requireing the copper pipework.

Here is a close up of the front parts of the valve gear.

Here was my first major problem, after putting together all of the boiler components i filled it with liquid lead to add weight. When i then cleaned the boiler with thinners the lead reacted and expanded which you can see from the front end which i cut off (now deformed). What i then did was manufacture from sheet brass a new front end of the boiler. This worked very well, however i now have one of Bob Jones cast white metal boilers so all this hard work will now be used for my locomotive scrap heap.


This is an image of the painted tender chassis complete with motor (no drama's here)





Another view of the locomotive chassis. For more please see my second part.