Dunalastair for sale

Sometimes you have to admit defeat. The Dunalastair project has been hanging around since 2008 and I'm finally giving up on it. The locomotive nearly works but not nearly enough for me. Truth is though that the long build time is more to do with the frustration I feel with the model than any particularly unsolvable issues with the kit. OK, it's not perfect but most of the problems are in my head. If you aren't ever in the mood to build something, it's time to stop.

However, there's too much effort gone in to this model to chuck it in the bin. Also, I bought the guy I was building this for a new kit to replace the one I've been working on so there is the little matter of trying to claw back a bit of the lost cash. Hence, the model is on eBay. I don't know if it will sell, but it's got to be worth a go.

You can see the auction here.

If, at the end of the week, no-one is interested then I can always strip out the wheels and gears but I hope it doesn't come to this. It would be nice to think that someone with more commitment and skill can finish the engine.

Chassis with wheels

Dunalistair Chassis
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

The gearbox is now in the chassis after a little it of a struggle. As expected I had to take a little metal out of the front of the box to get it to fit under the frame spacer. What I hadn't banked on was making cut outs with the piercing saw in the frames so the chubby motor would sit down.

Not sure that there is much that can be done about this. A thinner motor might work but could be a bit underpowered. A taller gearbox would help but the space above the motor is limited. Of the two I suspect the later is a better bet if you can get a decent ratio and not end up with a thoroughbred that travels at shire horse speeds.

Markits Gearbox

Gearbox
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

If you fancy ordering one of these beasts you need to quote MM1-85382s. And what you would receive is a very nice nickel silver etch which folds up well to hold a set of 38:1 gears. The motor is offset from the centre line of the box, something that worried me when I noticed it but seems to work very well.

The motor mount holes have to be drilled and reamed out - 4 are provided and I used the inner pair. I also snipped off the "ears" that allow the motor to be mounted flat as these would get in the way of the slimline chassis sides.

I only had one problem - the worm was intended for a 2mm shaft and the motor I was using had 1.5mm. Obviously this has occurred before as in my spares box was the correct version, now replace in there by the one supplied.

The mesh was excellent straight away and the axle turned in it's (supplied) thin bearings freely and with no tight spots.

I may have to hack away a bit at the metal to get the 'box into the chassis but there is plenty of meat to allow this without affecting anything.

Primed tender

Primed tender
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

The tender underframe is an unusual and complicated beast. First you have the sideframes which are actually fixed to the body. Then a set of inside bearing bogies fit inside this and swivel very slightly.

Inside the valances are a set of half etch markers to indicate the position of the side frames. These are soldered in place and then the axleboxes, equalising bars and springs fit on the outside. To fit the equalising bars (I think that's what they are anyway) I use a bit of scrap etch to space them away from the valance otherwise you miss the separation that shows up in the photographs of the real thing.

Priming is as usually carried out using an etching car primer. This showed up some minor tweaks would be required although surprisingly little around the flare.

Tender flare

Tender flare
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

There's not much more horrid a part of building a locomotive than forming the flare at the top of the tender. It's not helped in this instance because the flare parts are separate to the sides. This is for production reasons - the wrapper is a single etched part and in the 7mm original it would have made this even bigger to include the flare in the sides. You'd still have to do the back separately anyway. Every kit manufacturer does this in a slightly different way and it's no more fun.

So I fitted the sides which isn't too difficult except this is a but joint visible from both sides. The the back. This has to be joined in the same way BUT you have to bend and trim the corners as well.

In the corners I'll admit to be completely unscientific. Rather than spend hours trimming and fitting the brass I get it near enough and then blog a load of solder all over it. This is then carefully (!) filed into shape. Sometimes this gets too thin and I have to fill it up again and start over. Sometimes it works well, sometimes there is a lot of swearing and grumpiness. Bit like life really.

Dunalastair tender frame

Dunalistair tender frame
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

With the show out of the way I really need to crack on with this loco. It's one of two to be delivered by Warley and I have it in mind I'd like to have built three by then.

To re-invigorate my interest in the model the packet containing the parts for the tender (tender parts - arf !) was opened and started.

First up the footplate has the buffer beams bent down and then a frame is folded up and attached to give the structure and support for the bodywork. This give the ski-ramp top you can see which will eventually disappear under a coal load.

In 7mm scale those holes would be easy to poke a soldering iron through to make the joints. In HO they are a bit small in places and the iron hasn't shrunk.

Boiler Fitted...

Boiler Fitted
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

...I think. Sitting down with a hot cup of tea and an even hotter soldering iron I took the plunge and separated the smokebox from the boiler. To my surprise the nothing fell apart as I'd expected.

Putting a wire through the washout plugs gave a handy indication of how accurate the fit was - if the wire was level so were all the other holes. I'd made it three quarters of the way through the tea before I was happy.

Then the smokebox went back and I cleaned up. But I'm still not sure. I think the boiler might go up towards the front but I can't be sure. Measuring the top seems to indicate that everything is OK but sometimes I look at it and see a gradient, sometimes not.

Time for another cup of tea I think.

Boiler badness

boiler
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

The Dunalastair boiler comes partly rolled - much better than many model locomotive kits where you have to do the job yourself. There is even a fold-up former to strengthen the tube inside.

I joined the bottoms with solder and then cleaned most of it off again for a nice neat finish. At this point everything looked fine.

The smokebox is a separate part with a back, front and wrapper. These are all marked with etched indications of the top centre, a boon when you are trying to line everything up and another thing other kitmakers could copy (please). I soldered the front on first with some tacks followed by a seam inside. The ends of the wrapper perfectly matched the bottom of the front former. The back went on just as well.

The centre line was then extended using a square to the bottom of the smokebox back. I used this line to align the join on the boiler.

It was only when I started fitting this to the footplate I noticed a problem. The firebox sides were longer on one side then the other. Then, looking along the loco the holes for safety valve and dome weren't at the top.

Somehow I've managed to get the boiler rotated around slightly. I'm going to have to unsolder this and re-do it. And when I heat it up for this, the smokebox will come unstuck. For a couple of days this is going back in its box while I work out what went wrong and how I'm going to fix it.

Dunalastair footplate

Dunalastair footplate
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Apparently Dave wants more model railway posts on this blog and less model boats. Well, the good news is that I have a load of railway projects on the go and several of them need to see some progress over the next few weeks. So stop moaning :-P

First up - back to the Dunalastar. This has been sitting around while I track down some photos of the prototype. These showed that the checker plate top I'd fitted to the footplate only existed on the Belgian version of the loco. The Scots were happy to slide around so it had to be replaced with the smooth top.

With that done the combined splasher and cab assembly had to be tackled. The sides are laminated from two sheets. Then a wrapper bends over the top of the splashers and provides the cab front. There's also an extra layer for the cab front proper to fit inside.

All this is fine except the splasher tops. Bending this is a pain. Smooth curves are the order of the day, not a series of straights. I bodged away tack soldering on the outside of the splasher until I was reasonably happy and then made the joint properly on the inside of the part. This is one of the few areas where I'd prefer a whitemetal kit - all the hard work is done for you.

Finally after a lot of cleaning with the fibreglass pencil and a scrub in the sink I think I'm there. Let's hope I've got everything in the right place and the boiler fits !

Dunalastair bogie

Bogie
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Quite a simple bit of construction here. The main part folds up with a couple of spacers across the end to strengthen things and retail the wheels.

The brakes are soldered to a separate spacer that fixes in the centre over the pivot. Finding these bits is slightly awkward as they are spread around the fret but the shapes are obvious enough for this to be a minor irritant - identifying the contents of a box of whitemetal components is far more taxing !

Dunalistair chassis

Dunalistair chassis
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Funny thing this chassis - it doesn't run the length of the locomotive. The bogie hangs underneath the front of the footplate and this also contains the front of the frames including some of the inside valve gear.

What you see is a Morse's worth (about 1hr 45 minutes) of reasonably pain-free construction. It's a bit flimsy when being built but not bad when finished. I don't yet understand how the front end is supported but I'm sure I will eventually.

The only problem was working out the cosmetic valve gear. I replaced a couple of side bits with bent wire because it will look OK but be stronger and whole lot easier to put together and a collection of tiny brass bits. Of course normal people don't like the idea of beating a bit of wire flat in the vice but it's a surprisingly useful technique to get the hang of. I want a forge really...

Dunalastair Kit

Dunalastair Kit
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

With my other projects stalled or requiring me to keep my hands off wet paint I've dug out something new to play with. A Mercian Models Dunalastair HO scale locomotive kit.

The model will be built as an LMS version in black so no fancy Caledonian lining for me thank goodness.