Kit Building

Sailor said the following on 09/07/2008 12:14:

The kits are originally the old Jidenco range, and not to the sort of standard we would expect today. They perhaps ought to be thought of as a "scratch-aid" (to borrow Allen Doherty's phrase) to help you build a model rather than a set of parts that fit snugly together.

You may also run into supply problems due to the owner's health.

You also have to make sure the chassis is an exact match.

I've never done Falcon/Jidenco but some of the older kits were designed for a completely different proprietary chassis.

My Wills Saint was designed for the Triang B12 chassis which had the wrong wheel spacing.

Any conversion to another chassis would have needed the white metal splashers repositioned.

Point taken! I did find in one of their ads a Star fitted on a modern Castle Hornby chassis and reckoned that they would be very similar. Bit worried by Pauls comments on quality as it is an expensive ( for me) mistake to make but bodies (superstructures) seem to be very rare in kit form.

Regards

Thought I read somewhere falcon had upgraded at least some of the kits. I bought a second hand Jidenco big boiler Claughton kit - theres no rush but will start it soon. positive tips would be nice but no 'give up nows' required. :-)

Cheers, Simon

They have a section in their ad which lists the revamped models but like you I do prefer positive bad news or perhaps just encouragement in the sense of increased courage! For some reason the old Hornby R380 ish Saint does not look the part or at least does not look like those which I remember - I reckon it must be the funnel. In any case they are far too expensive on ebay. If this project was successful then I would break into the Camels, Dukes and Bulldogs and maybe an 8F

Regards

Have you considered they might be due for a release as a retooled version soon, I've no idea cos theyre foreign to me.

Cheers, Simon

Sailor said the following on 09/07/2008 21:24:

I didn't intend to worry you, more of making sure you're aware of what you might be getting! Personally, I wouldn't recommend Falcon to an inexperienced kit builder - they can end up in the classic scenario of not being able to build it and assuming it must be them rather than the kit, then deciding that kit building is not for them. It might seem counter-intuitive, but perhaps the best kits for beginners are the most expensive - Malcolm Mitchell, Martin Finney, High Level. (not that any of those do a Saint!).

I'd second that. It is vital that your first etched kit, be it loco, coach or wagon, goes together easily to give you confidence. If you have never built any etched locos do NOT start with Falcon. If you have built no etched kits at all then I strongly recommend the beginner's wagon kit which I designed and is now marketed by Lochgorm Kits (qv - they have a website). Falcon kits are 'buildable' but unless you have honed your skills elswhere they will defeat you. Since you are into GWR I strongly suggest you do your apprenticeship as indicated above and then get a Mitchell or Finney kit. Etched kits are expensive and you really don't want to waste money if it turns out that you just cannot acquire the skill level needed.

Alistair Wright '5522' Models

Thanks for that guys. I confess to having done a full apprenticeship in the navy ( 5 years) and undertook a lot of instrument work ( in the days when fine mechanics existed) and a model making apprenticeship with Bob Brown in Plymouth . He was a wizz scratch builder and railway fanatic and policeman. Etched kits did not exist then (1976) so everything started as sheet , bar or rod but having grown a tad older the etched chassis proved reasonably simple if not somewhat lightweight. My real concern lay in the realism of the final product

- I have seen some which defy belief ! In our scratch days there were literally hundreds of scale drawings to hand but these days I have to operate from photos and memory . My expectations are thus suitably moderated and I think that it gets a qualified go signal.

Regards

Really cheap:

Two steel rules clamped in a vice. (Or two bits of straight rectangular steel bar) A quality hinge with the edges filed flush. (works incredibly well with items up to about 3 inches long, above that can get unweildy unless fixed to something else.)

Clamp item between the edges, then use another piece of rectangular bar to push the fold into shape.

Slightly more ambitious for U-shaped bends:

Mill (best) or Saw/file a slot in a piece of plate which is the width of finished U item. Or fabricate from three layers, with centre layer being thickness of finished U.

Find/make suitable pusher bar which will fit in slot with two thickeness of etch. Place etch over slot and press down firmly but carefully. Extract finished U item.

Expensive, though effective:

commercial folding tools. I manage without one.

- Nigel

Metal wagon kits can be problematical too - or at least the older ones. I'm just building some old DA kits that go together a dream but bending the etched chassis rails has proved problemantic. I've managed by bending in stages with pliers (that should get a few people cringing) with pretty good results but a folder would be much better. If someone were trying to make a "perfect" job they'd have a problem. I guess I'm saying that adverts containing phrases like "only drills, pliers and files needed to complete" should be taken with a pinch of salt!

By-the-by, if anyone knows of a cost-effective bender.....

Cheers Richard

I'd tried that without the hinge and couldn't apply enough force to bend it (the DA etch is rather thicker that that suppplied with my Warship which was easy) - I'll give the hinge a try......

I'll have a ponder about that too - Mick in the unit next door likes making things!

Agreed - I looked at prices and neary died!

Cheers Richard

Wish I'd asked before attempting Johnson tender, may not have done a better job but would have been more confident with the method used.

Cheers, Simon

Hinge is alternative to the two steel bars. Has advantage of holding the edges in place. I tend to just use it hand-held (2mm scale stuff), but it will work in a vice. Has disadvantage of limited depth.

If the metal is hard/stiff, then heating it carefully with a hot flame (holding over gas cooker with tongues!) will anneal it. This means it is SOFT, so will bend/dent/stretch/deform with ease. Then when you bend it, the brass will harden again along the bend (but not elsewhere). If you need to bend further, then another annealing session will soften it again. But be careful, and try on some scrap first; brass which is too soft can be more of a problem than too hard.

Alteratively, clamp with big section steel bars in a big vice, and gently ease the metal over with a wooden pusher. Just go for 5-10 degrees at a time, working along the piece, then go back the other way, and in no time you'll have 90 degrees.

- Nigel

I am lucky enough to have a 2" vice which we had to make as apprentii. I use lengths of 15mm brass angle as jaws for bending square. I have modified two lengths by soldering 1.5 & 3mm brass rod along the lip to provide for radiused bending. This can of course be employed for larger radii. A small ball-pein hammer and a block of alu bar / hard wood applied close to the bending point usually does the trick. Avoiding sharp objects on the flat surfaces is always a good idea but I am not so sure about annealing as thin material tends to distort very easily. Most brasses used are semi hard and can be worked easily in that state (not too many times though).

It really is best to invest in a small table clamping vice ( a decent table may be a bigger problem!).

Regards

Peter A

Ouch!

MBQ

"Nigel Cliffe" wrote in news:g560qe$d0r$1 @news.albasani.net:

Held in the vice using one of the small blow torches used for soldering also works well. The vice works as a heat sink and helps to prevent over heating.

I have one of High Level's Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST kits, and the instructions are every bit as superb as the quality of the components themselves. I'm really looking forward to building it, but I have to finish my DJH C7 first.

I saw High Level at the Gateshead show last year, and they had finished examples of their entire range. Very impressive - I could feel my hand being sucked towards my wallet. In the end, I got the Hudswell Clarke kit for Christmas, ordering it a couple of weeks after the show.