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Hogwarts Express, Scratchbuild, 1/48 Scale


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At the risk of boring you with details here's an early approach I took.    I made a pair of frames from my favourite Formica/Arborite panels and glued my early-version cast wheels onto them such that the entire thing (bogie wheels, drivers and cab wheel) would sit on my jig.   It was great to have all the wheels immovable and placed with the precise spacing between them.   This really aids in fabricating and fitting the pieces of the motion* that will eventually attach to them.

 

*Motion ... the metal bits that whirl round and round and up and down.

 

In the end I switched from Formica to a soldered-up heavy brass apparatus but used the same approach.    The key point here is that the motion and wheels can be assembled independent of the boiler and all that stuff top-sides.   In fact, for a long time, all that topside stuff was just mounted on posts in between the wheels and was never connected at all.

 

http://48776367912_8e41f02231_c.jpg

 

http://48775828458_4ac7d1e48a_c.jpg

 

Frank

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hmmmmmmm.....

 

Hmmm…. I thought, as I fiddled with some lego.  I wonder.... 🤔

 

Hmmm.....  if I put a thin quarter-thickness block (pink in this case) onto that big full height block it looks about the right thickness....

 

Hmmmmmm….. :think:

 

336Xgid.jpg

 

And if I make a whole line of lego at that height all the way along these two base boards, and use tape to hold down the ends of the base boards to stop them warping upward so they lie dead flat...  Hmmmmmm…. 🤨

 

FCxWykN.jpg

 

I wonder if this jig might hold the frames for the locomotive and the tender at exactly the right height above the base of the base board while Baby Bandsaw sticks the wheels on...?

 

Hmmmmm…. Maybeeee……? 🤔

 

E0l9qU3.jpg

 

First these bits that she cut out on the last post have to be glued on though - otherwise the wheels will not be at the correct gauge... Still, a bit of PVA and the issue is resolved...

 

4BLkx5T.jpg

 

And here's what the project looks like with those bits stuck on... Good job BB!  I wonder if this will work....? :think:

 

ToMVJO7.jpg

 

Hmmmm….. seems to be working. Just get Baby Bandsaw to stick a bit of two-part araldite on each wheel, stick it on and make sure that each wheel is sitting in contact with the base.  Glue the wheels on the other side also and then let the glue start to grip (so that the wheel's cannot slide about) before...

 

ItPgPDe.jpg

 

sticking the whole assembly in a vice and leaving it an hour or so for the araldite to cure. :waiting:

 

EaUJGS1.jpg

 

Repeat the process with the driving wheels - taking special note of @Heather Kay's expert advice WRT the starboard wheel's cranks leading the port side by 90 degrees. you can't see it here Heather but we did do it - true story!

 

RR9cGHv.jpg

 

Repeat the 'partial cure then transfer to the vice' method. :waiting:

 

9XCxY3P.jpg

 

And after about an additional hour's curing time we have this.  All 12 wheels sitting on the flat and the two frames lined up at exactly the correct height. :yahoo:

 

hAaHUsn.jpg

 

And the gauge is consistent too - although you cannot see it in this photograph because the track is still at 18mm gauge not the 30mm that the loco's wheels are now set at.

 

gLzSDDo.jpg

 

Here's another view - I'm very proud of this - Baby Bandsaw is sticking with this project like a real trooper and during this very tricky phase followed her instructions to a tee. I did most of the thinking on this but she did the work.

 

Today I was showing everyone at work what my 13 year-old daughter can do!  :party:

 

BD0NwTK.jpg

 

Note that each wheel has a hole drilled through the hub. That's there so that we have the option of adding a fine-gauge screw to each wheel if we feel we need to at any stage but frankly that two part araldite has a grip like an octopus so I don't think we will ever need to.  Hmmmmm…. time will tell.... 

 

Bandsaw Steve

 

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As always ... BB and BS have come up with a never before seen approach to the problem.   Well done team!!

 

This project is definitely "on track".

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Sorry I’m late but I’ve only just seen your thread! I am amazed at what BB has achieved so far; my daughter is 15 and has built a few models but has so far bottled it where scratch building is concerned! 

 

I can’t wait to see how you progress and I promise I won’t mention motors or lights.. but how about a small smoke generator? 🤔

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2 hours ago, brianthemodeller said:

 

I can’t wait to see how you progress and I promise I won’t mention motors or lights.. but how about a small smoke generator? 🤔

Good idea! Insert a smoke generator inside this wooden model. Can’t see any problem with that... 😳

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So, I'm in for this one  Never knew anything about Harry Potter. Too old and really not my case like Sifi,  but I love those skills. A good attention for creating and drilling ship bodies in 1:600 for conversions (the only scale). So for a locomotive, this one:

Cheers

Edited by bbudde
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"Locomotive Breath" ... I had a girlfriend once who had that.

 

Ian Anderson comes from my old home town of Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland.

 

His "Thick as a Brick" album is in my top ten of all time.

 

We now resume the previous program.

 

Pardon the digression BB/BS ... won't happen again.

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Ah, Jethro Tull.

A blast from the past that was.

I remember seeing them at the Colston Hall, Bristol in 2005. Absolutely superb. They did a brilliant cover of 'Kashmir', with a Julliard trained violinist doing the lead 'vocal' on the violin.

 

 

Ah, memories … :)

 

Cheers, Alan.

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23 hours ago, bbudde said:

Never knew anything about Harry Potter. Too old and really not my case like Sifi, 

Cheers

You might not know much about Harry Potter, but It doesn’t matter ‘cause I reckon Jethro Tull is magic! 👍 

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Probably wasn’t Charlie that stole the handle...

I’d say it’s more likely to be Voldemort...

Steal one handle and the entire student population of Hogwarts would be wiped out - including that bothersome Potter boy and his meddling friends! 👿

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On 10/6/2019 at 8:25 AM, Bandsaw Steve said:

Probably wasn’t Charlie that stole the handle...

I’d say it’s more likely to be Voldemort...

Please don't tell Mr Anderson! "Voldemort stole the handle" really doesn't work as well!

 

Ian

Edited by limeypilot
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3 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Please don't tell Mr Anderson! "Voldemort stole the handle" really doesn't work as well!

 

Ian

Oh Ian, I don't think, that Mr Anderson would mind, who stole the handle, as long as it doesn't slow down to make her a really outstanding  (ok, my way of thinking of whatever that could be) an exquisite Hogward Express to show him Don't you think?

Cheers Benedikt

Edited by bbudde
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Nice to see a steam engine being built especially by a younger member :) and I'm following with interest and advice if I can

The halls were a great class of locomotives and always looked the part

My interest in them is in a different scale though, 12" to the foot scale, as I'm a volunteer at a preserved railway and am part of an owning/restoration group responsible for restoring and maintaining 3 locos and steam driver

I've had the good fortune to drive 2 halls during my time and think of the old, if it looks right it is right adage, and they do look right :)

The only thing is your plans say it is a 4-6-6  where it is classified as a 4-6-0 as the tender wheels aren't counted

 

Good luck and looking forward to seeing more progress

 

Any questions I can hopefully help with as we have an operational hall on strength at present and another on test after restoration

 

 

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2 hours ago, Redstaff said:

 

The only thing is your plans say it is a 4-6-6  where it is classified as a 4-6-0 as the tender wheels aren't counted

 

Excellent pick up sir! 😀

 

That’s my note hand written on the plans that’s in error. It wasn’t long after I had run off several copies and laminated a couple that I realised my mistake.  At the time I thought ‘what does it matter?- no one will notice’ but I was not counting on your sharp eyes sir! 👍

 

Its great that groups such as yours are preserving and restoring these important, attractive and interesting vehicles. Thank you for you efforts and thanks for looking in on this thread. We might get a bit more done this weekend. 

 

As for help, do you have any photos showing the general arrangement of the top of the tender, the inside of the cab and the coupling  & space between the loco and the tender?  The top of the tender in particular will be highly visible in the model but is almost never captured in real life photos.

 

Steve

 

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Hi Steve

I'll see what I can do next time I'm over and take a few pics for you

The tender on ours is a Hawksworth straight sided one rather than the flared top Collett one that Olton hall has, but I'll see what I can do

 

Ian :) 

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Thanks very much Redstaff. Any such help will be greatly appreciated. If I might be greedy, can we get a square-on photo of the rear of the tender also. It is also almost never photographed as there are generally carriages attached.

 

Steve

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One source of information about the tender might be the current Hornby Model. I put "Hogwarts express tender" into the Bing search engine and this came up with a few images that might be useful.

 

Keep up the excellent work BBS and BS - this looks like it will be a masterpiece.

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Hi BS

 

I'll see what I can do next weekend when I'm next over the railway

This site may give you some of the answers and pictures as well to be going on with as a lot of tenders were interchangeable

Halls usually ran with the Collett 3500 or 4000 gallon ones, but a lot of features were the same

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

 

Ian :) 

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