Tuesday, November 12, 2019

J72 Brake gear

Time for some sacrilege.

I don't think the brakes on this J72 chassis are very good.

For a start, when hung, I don't think the centres of the brake blocks are a good match for the centres of the wheels. The pull rods aren't long enough by quite a long way either. I bodged them with some scrap fret and they look OK to those who know no better, and fine to those of us not that bothered because you can't see properly when the loco is on it's wheels.

Finally, the brackets at the top of the hangers are designed for the wider EM and P4 chassis, and therefore too short for OO. Maybe someone decided that OO modellers wouldn't care? Another bodge, this time with bits of Microstrip.

It will all look fine with paint, but unless I've screwed up (perfectly possible) this isn't as good as the finescale maffia would claim it to be. Still, paint and dirt will hide a multitude of sins and I quite enjoyed the remedial work.
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1 comment:

  1. Christopher2:27 PM

    Compared to the original brass Comet chassis, the brake gear here looks nicely detailed, but it is disappointing to hear that there are some shortcomings. I agree that the brake blocks should be in line with the wheel bosses. (Perhaps that is one reason why High Level Kits now offer a J72 chassis kit?)

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