Mallard and her sisters

kevsmith Aug 6, 2020

  1. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Having renovated the Z Club-GB A3 my thoughts turned to the other bodyshell I got off Graham Jones years ago. It was a whitemetal casting of Gresleys famous LNER A4 4-6-2. The streamlined locos that ran the crack expresses from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh and whose most famous class member 'Mallard' set the steam world steam speed record of 126 mph that has still not been bettered to this day.



    I finished it as sister engine 4486 'Merlin' in Garter Blue and to be honest it was one of my first attempts at a Z gauge British loco and not up to the standards I hope I achieve now but it served its purpose back in those days

    Seen with the underscale Atlas editions A4 which does not look as if it can be turned into a working model



    Now this model, which shares its chassis with my Streamlined Pennsy K4 Pacific has done a serious amount of shows since 2007 and was also in dire need of restoration.



    I have always said that if you get a good Marklin chassis you get a good 'un and if you get a bad one you get a dog. This chassis, which has had the sides of the cylinders shaved off to fit under the streamlining is one of those that works every time you get it out of the box despite the hundred of hours of exhibition running it has done. And it is a three pole one

    If I was to model it as I remember it on family picnics and holidays in the 1960s it would have the side valances removed and be running in BR Green and it should have the Kylchap double chimney fitted which is much bigger than the original single blast pipe one



    Kev
     
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  2. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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  3. eXact Modellbau

    eXact Modellbau TrainBoard Member

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    Can You explaine, what do You want to cut off?
     
  4. Ajayrav

    Ajayrav TrainBoard Member

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    The valances are the parts of the chassis on either side that cover the big driving wheels. If compare the picture in the first post to the last one, you will notice that the valances are gone in the last version and the driving wheels are entirely visible.

    Ajay
     
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  5. eXact Modellbau

    eXact Modellbau TrainBoard Member

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    Thanx Ajay!
     
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  6. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    60027 passes through Portobello in Scotland with the Up Elizabethan in July 1960


    In the rear 3/4 view you can see the cab windows are a bit vague so I'm going to fit brass frames in


    Now the big empty space under the cab and the rather bare trailing truck bugs me! Its the same with the Marklin pacifics and mikados that run on Cuyahoga. I had an old white metal one lurking arund that firs the Markiin truck. Deep in the recesses of the workshop lurked some old Mastermould silicone rubber and some even older Biresin G26 two pack resin. i had no idea whether it was still any good but it was worth a try

    fresh out of the mould


    I'll try and get as many as i can out of the mould as i can as i don't think it is going to last that long!

    Stood behind it is another story. A 3D printed british railways class 158 DMU sat on a modified Rokuhan Shorty chassis, More to follow on that one

    Kev
     
  7. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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  8. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    looking a lot better than when it was in blue!

    [​IMG]

    A Sir Nigel Gresley gathering

    [​IMG]

    The first coach in the train is an Atlas editions Gresley coach out of the Flying Scotsman set which is the first of a rake I'm doing in BR Maroon.

    [​IMG]

    Stood in front of two more restorations I'm starting next. A 00 scale Hornby Dublo A4 60023 'Golden eagle' which was given to me a few years ago. It is very battered and has been converted to 2 rail at some stage and lost some valve gear. Although Hornby Dublo was ultra collectable and originality was paramount this one is too far gone to restore to factory condition. These models were notorious forthe magnets losing their power and usually require re-magnetising at a specialist. I'm tempted to reconfigure the motor and stick a big neodymium magnet to see what it does! Behind that is a 0 gauge Varney 4-6-0. This is the model with the cast boiler and weighs an absolute ton. It has never run whilst I have had it as it has never been wired up

    [​IMG]

    Kev
     
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  9. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Still in ticket on its boiler but soon to be withdrawn is 60009 Union of South Africa. I avoided doing this one as I have to use N scale nameplates and these would look silly in Z

    [​IMG]

    Back in 1996, sadly before HD camcorders were available' I captured this loco in maain line action around Chesterfield



    Cheers

    Kev
     
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  10. JoeS

    JoeS TrainBoard Member

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    So I’m always impressed with your work Kev. No exception here. But I seem to recall you were building a Berkshire a while back and I may have missed that progress. How’d that one go?
     
  11. eXact Modellbau

    eXact Modellbau TrainBoard Member

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    Sounds like a 3 cylinder engine.
     
  12. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    3 Cylinders with Gresley Conjugated valve gear. The inside cylinder derives its motion from the two outside ones by a system of levers. Works well if all the bushes are O.k.

    Peter Handford, who was one of the premier Railway sound recordists, one caught a down at heel LNER V2 2-6-2 on the Waverley Route where you can hear the off-beat from miles away.

    And yes. I must make a start on the Berkshire again Joe!
     

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