GKP Goes Live Steam - Body

The body I chose for this project was the Simply 7/8ths 18" Gauge Henry from Mikes Models.

The body kit as it arrived.

I really like the proportions of this body on the Billy chassis and boiler.  Along with the body kit I also had them supply two domes (which are actually from Roundhouse Engineering) one drilled for the safety valve and the second not drilled.  The picture on their web site shows a model which uses the Katie boiler instead of the Billy boiler which means the safety valve and dome are close to the cab rather than near the chimney as on my model.

This was my first etched brass kit assembly but it was a fairly simple job to fold up the body parts that needed folding and then work my way through soldering up the body.  I used a small gas torch bought from Aldi as a chef's creme brulee torch for soldering.  This makes the job nice and fast.  Clean components are essential and a little flux to encourage the solder to flow where you want it to and a nice clean job can be made of it.

Body test fitted.  You can see my beginner's soldering job.

Having made up the body I needed a way of fitting the second dome to the boiler.  I had a bronze plumbing fitting which was surplus to requirements and seemed a good place to start.  This was mounted in the lathe and turned down till it was a nice fit inside the blank dome.

Dome mount fitted.

Then a radius was filed into the bottom to fit the boiler and the mount was fitted to the wrapper.

Dome fitted to boiler.

Coupler rear face being trued up.

Next it was on to the couplers.  They are 7/8ths scale castings from the Talisman range supplied by Si Harris at Model Earth Design.  I wanted to true up the rear of the castings so in turn I temporarily soft soldered them into another surplus bronze plumbing fitting for mounting in the lathe and turning.

Then it was time to paint the body.

Parts etched and ready for the next stage.

First up was a good clean and then a spray with etch primer.  Etch primer is particularly important with brass as brass is notoriously difficult to get paint to stick to.  Proper preparation is key and selection of an etch primer that is suitable for brass is a must.

Baking the paint.

For the top coats enamel paints were chosen.  Satin black for the bodywork and boiler, a red engine enamel for the buffers, and a flat pot belly black for the smoke box and chimney.  Each coat was baked in the oven and the result has been a nice tough paint job.

Newly painted, Melly sits on the rails.

And from the rear.

Buffers undergoing modification.

Having mounted the couplers I found that they were too low for my 7/8ths stock and needed to be raised up a few millimetres.  30mm rail to centre was chosen as a suitable height and the buffers and couplers removed for alteration.

Couplers and chains raised to a more suitable height.

To complete the job she needed a set of name and works plates.  These were ordered from Narrow Planet and fixed on with a silicone free acrylic caulk.

The "completed" locomotive ready to enter service.

GK&P Goes Live Steam - Boiler and Drain Cocks

Fitting the boiler is a fairly straightforward job so this was completed within a short time of its arrival.  Probably the trickiest part of this is bending the various pipes to make everything fit nicely.  Then it was finally time for a first steam test.  This was an exciting day!

One drain cock ready for fitting.

Now I had to save for the body kit but in the meantime I decided to have a go at building and fitting a set of automatic drain cocks.  These employ a 1.6mm stainless steel ball in a chamber which allows water to pass through the drain cock, but when steam tries to pass through, the ball is pushed against the seat sealing the exit.  This is a great aid in starting the loco as there is no need to push the loco back and forth to clear the condensate.

Ball in seat.

This was my first attempt at machining anything but despite this fact things went well.

Port in cylinder.

Port from inside.

I bravely (foolishly) drilled into my Roundhouse cylinders using a hand held battery drill.  I shudder to think of it now but fortunately I didn't mess it up and didn't have to buy new cylinders.  These days I have a drill press in my workshop and I'd certainly use that for this job now.

Cylinder with drain cocks fitted.

Once assembled and fitted the drain cocks were soft soldered into place to stop them from moving in service.  As you can see my workmanship was not the tidiest.  Did I mention this was my first attempt at machining anything?

After soldering the drain cocks in I had to remove the solder blockages and make sure the balls were free and seating properly.  :)

Then it was time to reassemble and steam test...

And soon afterward I was able to order the body...

GK&P Goes Live Steam - The Chassis

Back in the mid 90's I became keen on the idea of live steam locos running outdoors.  At the time such things were well out of my reach but I have had a soft spot for them ever since.  So on moving to Melbourne I decided it was time to dip my toes into the live steam world, hopefully without burning them.

Unpainted frames and spacers test assembled.

Chassis assembly coming along.

Much research was undertaken to make a good choice as to my motive power and at the same time what scale and gauge I would run.  My reasoning was that I would only be able to afford one locomotive anytime soon so I wanted to make a good choice.  With 7/8ths scale running on 32mm gauge the eventual choice and my preferences on locomotive style taken into consideration, it was decided to build a locomotive based on a Roundhouse Engineering chassis and boiler kits for "Billy" and a Simply 7/8ths "Henry" body kit.

With this decision made, and having saved my pennies, the chassis kit was ordered with some parts swapped out to suit my design preferences.  The guys at Roundhouse Engineering were very helpful with this.

Chassis assembly completed.

On arrival I began the job of assembling the chassis taking particular care to make sure everything ran nice and freely at each stage before moving on to the next.  This paid dividends when I was finally ready to test the chassis on air.

In the meantime I had started saving for the boiler kit and in time I was able to order this...