A Better Roof for HR57

Milliput roof (above) and metal former (below).

The roof in this picture is made by filling the spaces between the ribs of a former similar to that pictured below it with Milliput and soldering an edging of 1 x 1mm angle strip onto the base plate. It looks good from the outside but has a flat roof inside the cab, hardly noticeable really. But...it was noticed at the CD0GG running day in Carlisle and commented on which prompted me to re-open the case!
The bottom illustration shows the start of the new sheet metal roof. I made a former from the drawing and bent four triangles of 0.3mm nickle silver sheet to fit the four sides very accurately, butting up against each other nicely. One segment is in place on the former in the photo. The former of course could have been made out of wood or of Milliput. I then cut a voided rectangle of 0.45mm metal as a base plate which slightly overhung the sides of the cab. Then, with a scrap wood support in the middle, I tack soldered the four plates together and onto the base. When all was accurately assembled I flooded solder onto the underside to ensure a robust structure. The 3" strip of metal that runs across the top helped strengthen the roof too. Finally I added an edging of 1 x 1mm brass angle strip and a lamp bracket.

The concave metal roof inside the cab

The roof is soldered to the rear of the cab to form a solid assembly which is held in place on the footplate by screws from below. The front of the roof locates against a tongue attached to the cab front plate by means of a slot formed under the base plate of the roof.

HR57's new sheet metal roof in place.

And... as a final flourish to the project, I'm sculpting a crew who'll do nicely for any of the Stroudley Tanks, they're well under way at this moment on my desk and will be featured on this Blog as soon as they're finished.

HR57 Construction complete

HR57 Construction complete

I made a more accurately profiled roof for the engine with sheet nickle silver and Milliput modelling putty.
Here's how...
I first cut a rectangle of metal to overlap the cab slightly then soldered on an upturned rim all round from right angled material. I cut profile shapes, using the drawing as a guide, in sheet n/s fore and aft and corner to corner, soldering these in place to form a shape reminiscent of the Union Flag. Then I simply filled in the spaces between the formers with Milliput and smoothed it into shape. A little cleaning up and fettling when the Milliput hardened finished the job. 

HR57

 Note the brake cylinder and return-spring nestling beneath the footplate and partly obscured by the cab footstep. The brake pull-rods were a sore trial to get right. The coupling rod bosses just dip into the angled alcoves of the pull-rods without the crankpin nuts touching them.

Cab interior detail.

 Most of the cast detail on the backhead came from LGM, the rest was scratch-built. The floor is made from planks from a model ship kit, coal tumbles onto the floor from the bunker on the right of the backhead. 

HR57 from above.

HR57

Transfers for the name "Lochgorm" are a problem as there are none on the market; I hope to rectify the omission. I've had one false start already, a set of transfers which I returned as of too poor a quality to use. My second contact though promising the world has as yet produced nothing and seems to have gone to sleep on me. I'm working on it...

HR57 at CD0GG Kinchley Lane Station.

The engine ran very smoothly on the Carlisle Club's layout today despite picking up on only the four outer wheels and running with solid rather than jointed coupling rods. She pulled a quite prodigious train for her size though of course she was never designed for such feats being a little shunting engine, a role to which she'll adhere in future. Here she stands at Kinchley Lane Station with her train headed by a Caledonian Railway horse box.

Ben Klibreck and Ben Clebrig

Pete on Ben Klibreck 927m

I have been asked why I chose Ben Clebrig, as Ben Klibreck was known in earlier days, as the name for my 7mm HR Small Ben. I climbed Ben Klibreck in the summer of 1996 with my wife and our two Jack Russells,  it was one of the earliest of our Munros in a long campaign that started on Carn Dearg in the Monadliath in '93 and climaxed on Ben More on Mull in 2012. Ben Klibreck is one of the most northerly Munros and stands in uncompromisingly Highland territory, it's simply a great name for a great little engine.