"Hmmm. That's not right", I thought as I tacked the first one of Ivor's spalshers in place. The footplate, not a strong structure at this stage. After some head-scratching, I realised that I'd miss-read the instruction about a half-setch line at the back of the piece. I doesn't line up with the cab floor, but something else exciting, yet to come.
A bit of desoldering, which is why I tack things together to check the fit, and all is now OK. I just need to fit the other side.
There's an odd pair of half-etched lines on the inside of the splashers. They confused me, and the instructions didn't really help much. Eventually, I worked out that the brass in the middle is at 45 degrees to the flat top, with the rest poking downward. Not seen this before, but as I've said before, this is an unusual design.
Forming these also foxed me for a while. It looks a bit like a job for some thin pliers, until I realised that my Hold'n'Fold was within reach. It has a tongue that is ideal to hold them while bending.
This is a useful tool, when it's useful. Most of the time I'm fine with some flat bladed, square ended pliers. They are less of a faff to use than the H&F where you have to position the part, screw the tongues down, and then do the bending. I mean, I've seen people using these things when demonstrating at shows, and think they use them all the time because they have spent the not incosiderable sum to buy the thing in the first place.
But, it IS a useful too. Perhaps the other benefit is that it slows you down and allows thinking time, which will lead to better modelling. Apparenlty. Or maybe it's just a badge that says, "I am a SERIOUS modeller"...
Yes, I've finally returned to the Ivor the Engine build, or at least managed to find an evening to devote to it.
We're moving on to the body, I want to have some of it assembled to check the drive unit will fit inside, before putting the motor/gearbox into the chassis.
This all starts by bending up the footplate. It's interesting to see how the designer has had to cope with this somewhat unconventional design. At this stage, it's all a bit floppy, apart from the buffer beam, which makes up into a nice box. Soldering with my 45W iron is going well, no need to resort to the gas iron yet.I think the amount of brass will demand this fairly soon though.
Fortunatly, no. The Slaters 7862W's are a perfect fit. The flanges are prettyclose, but apparently this is correct.
One pair went together straight from the packet, the second needed a little easing with a square needle file to slide onto the axle. Even then, they are stiff, so a touch more work is required.
Now, if someone can tell me where my Allen key for the centres has vanished to. I'm sure it was in the drawer with Romford screwdrivers and back-to-back gauges. But not any more.
The bearings are spares from my stash, and two pairs of different styles, but they will work perfecly well. Oddly, one of each pair was a pig to solder in place. They turned black and had to be removed to be cleaned up again. The others went stright in perfectly. No idea why, but that's kitbuilding!
The bearings have been reamed out to provide free movement for the axles. A little more tidying up, and I'll be ready to fit some wheels.
I now know what I'm doing!
Having said I didn't have any instructions for Ivor, two sets have now arrived. One from the manufacturer, and another (thanks) from blog reader Mark A Greenwood. I think a third set would have been supplied by a friend on Facebook, but I turned these down as two sets is plenty!
The are lovely. Perhaps not completely conventional, but great to look at. Loads of exploded diagrams and drawings extracted from the CADs used to design the kit, plus photos of a build, which proves it can be done. I think this is a builders kit, even though the prototype is pure fun.
Now, I just need to find some G1 handrail knobs. I'm sure I have some around here somewhere...
There's a slight snag with building Ivor. The power to half the sockets in our house are electricity-free. Two electricians have investigated, and the second one is coming back to have another look and see if he can fix it for more than 14 hours.
Of course, my workbench is in the dead zone, so soldering has to be carried out with the gas torch, which demands a slightly different technique to the Antex. The joint has to be prepared, fluxed and a little bit of solder put in place. Then hold it all together and blast with heat. It's not as easy, but I've managed to get some joins made - at the cost of two burnt fingers!
You might ask why I don't use the soldering iron attachment instead - simple it seems to take forever to warm up, and I couldn't be bothered to wait. Anyway, blowing solder around joints is good fun!
So, it works, but I'll be glad when the power returns to the sockets!
Time for another loco kit, well the Sentinel has stalled, and I'm enjoying the soldering. The PH Designs kit has been in my stash for several years. Bought as a present, one of those things you appreciate, while knowing it means quite a bit of expense to buy all the other bits required to finish the job.
Anyway, my thought had been to use the gearbox from the Senetinel, but on opening the box, I'd already sourced one from somewhere, so all I had to get were the wheels Slaters 7862W. Ordered direct from the maker, they arrived the next day, and I just ignore that they cost nearly 50 quid! O gauge isn't cheap.
Ivor the Engine was my childhood TV train. Thomas existed only in books, TV was in the future. I liked the quiet, home-spun style. And I loved the dragon, Idris.
Anyway, the kit is a mix of brass and nickel-silver parts, with details 3D printed in resin and cast in metal. What I don't have is any instructions, although such a simple (I hope) model shouldn't require them.
If all else fails, I know Ian Mellors has built one, and will be happy to answer any questions.
