The following narrative describes the conversion of a Bachmann 1:20.3 2-8-0 to the 1.22.5 D&RG K-27 "Frederick John"

The conversion is one of many projects and so has been a long time in the making. I hope the following article will be of some use to any one who decides upon a similar venture. My thanks to David Fletcher and all those at MLS who find the time to help.

The engine is named for my late Father, Frederick John Hayward.

Rod Hayward Nov 2005

Here is a pic of the tender sides being marked out, the Annie wood burner tender is in the background suitably modified. The paper templates are marked out using and stuck to the cladding. I stick down one end of the paper first, It has slots cut in it either side of the rivet runs so as to allow more tape to be applied an hold the template in place.

At least added together it provides some consistency. I must try doing it in the mornings tho, not at night after the PUB :)
Oh btw I leave it the same room at a constant temp, moving it about might screw up the paper tension.

Here it is lurking in the dark. Just going to let the welds go right off for a bit.

.

Here are a couple of pikkies. I decided as I am going to weather the finished loco I would inflict some damage on the tender sheets. If you look close you will see some folds, creases and dents here and there.

I discovered by accident years ago that if you are too free with the poly weld when you glue thin cladding sheets to a shell it pulls at them from the back and produces subtle wrinkles and creases. Exactly what I wanted for this project.

I yet to see R/L tenders on operating locos that don't have any stretches, dings or crease marks from constant emptying and filling over the years, not to mention the dropping of shovels and fire irons. Bit like a B52 when its on the ground :)

Here it is temp sitting on an Annie chassis,

Lowered the sand dome 4mm and added the modified pilot deck.

A bit more progress, of course it helps to have detailed drawings :) Thanks to Dave Crocker

Some more bits, first up a new stack, the connie stack tapers too much for my eye. Here it is, a piece of rolled styrene sitting on the connie stack base, with a steel insert at the top for a nice crisp finish to it. The pic above shows the original idea of extending the smokebox, which I subsequently discovered was inappropriate for the period I wanted to model. This pic shows the smokebox restored to the shorter length and the stack repositioned.

This next shot shows the inside. I just made one cut from about just forward of where the generator is, back to the backhead, where it was about 3/10ths on an inch. I then warmed up the boiler a wee bit and pressed it around an old stair banister rail. The styrene holds it in place with out any tension.

The push rod which runs under the roof to the back of the cab. Stops them flapping about and allows you to set the door opening from a vent to wide open. Here is the actuator rod for the front doors. Its a bit of 32 gauge steel wire which runs to the back of the cab. I cant see me getting my podgy figures far enough forward to where the handle should really be. Its virtually invisible from most aspects. If you look close in pics 2 and 3 you can just about make it out

First up a shot of the new metal footboards and tanks with piping (as per #454, not the MR drawing, not so many bends :)

Next up is a shot of the pilot area scratched out of brass stock.

The spindle brackets and spindle

From the side.

Now for some detail Firstly for the motion, I drew a scale plan of the bits.

Then I stuck it to a piece of card and made a mock up. It’s much less painful to bin bits of paper, rather than brass when you find out that it’s the wrong size.

When I was satisfied I had got the right proportions, I started the preparations. Lots of pics and questions to the people at MLS before I even started cutting. Virtually all of the parts are made from 25 by 1.5 mm scrap sheet strip I got years ago from a metal supplier.

I cut the drawing into the required bits and stuck them on to the brass sheet with paper gum. I then traced around the outlines tapping with a punch and marked the sheet with a series of dots. Next the paper was peeled off and the dots joined up or drilled where necessary.

Wherever there was a pair of items required they were soldered or sweated together and made as a pair, e.g. the cage, spindle brackets, etc.

The cage was actually cut out as a flat item and then the center aperture was drilled out at the corners to with an 1/8th drill and the bits in between with a 1/16th drill, following a line scribed just inside the marked area. Again, these were made as a pair sweated together.

A small point here, there are a number of preferred choices for soldering techniques and what follows is what works for me, not a definitive “must do”.

It is a given that all the parts must be clean and free from dirt. I use a glass fibre stick to polish up the parts. I first tin both sides of the materials to be joined and then I hold one end with a pair of long nosed pliers in the torch flame.

With a second pair of long nose I work back from one end to the other, following the second pliers with the first as the work cools from behind. A tray of water is kept at hand to drop the work in when done. This washes of the flux and the stuff I use is aggressive (Bakers No 3) and has to be got rid of after.

At this point the work is drilled and filed to a point where only minor dressing is necessary after separation. Each piece presents it’s own puzzle, I now needed to bend the flat cage. The center section was the problem. Sure I could bend one “arm”, but how then to turn it round in the vice? Another problem would be the distortion around the corners, as these were very close to the center aperture.

In the end I cut the cage top to bottom and made two halves, rather like a pair of forks with the middle two prongs missing. I annealed these in a flame to ease the bending process. I stuck the prongs into the vice and then gently tapped over the “handles”.

Afterwards I soldered them back together. If you look closely you can see a piece of code75 OO rail behind the join, reinforcing it. (I don’t throw anything away :).

Lots of filing with small rat-tails later you have the bits all ready.

The wishbone was made the same way, bent around from strip and a thicker piece of brass soldered on.

I don’t use any clamps, just tweezers, the vice and long nose pliers. It is difficult, even after years of practice. I still manage to melt a bit I did not want to when adding another detail, It’s just stubborn persistence that gets one there.

The best way to avoid this annoying melting I find is to hold the work next to the previous join with a pair of small pliers. They act as a heat sink and then you just have to be quick and accurate with the join in progress. Not always easy and not always achieved first time.

The cowcatcher was pretty much the same. I used brass tube for the body, much easier to flatten. These were marked out and drill prior to soldering. All the rivet stuff is brass or copper wire snipped up and soldered in, very much as you would use styrene and rodding.


When done it will all be painted with a coat of selenium dioxide, which will blacken it all, without adding layers of primer and paint, most of which would certainly get chipped off, especially the cowcatcher. If you look closely at that the top bit has been beefed up (cowcatcher—beef, oh never mind) with an extra row of rivets.

One last tip, the marking out is everything, take your time. God knows how many bits I chucked before I was happy. I use a magnifier lamp with one of those round strip lights it’s a must. Even then the photos show some errors I missed.

Be critical, ask yourself if that is really Ok, or could I do it again and take out that hole that’s a little high? I got a few of those wrong and filled them with brass wire and re drilled. Yes I know it’s picky, but the attention to detail in this scale is a moot point. If it does nt bother you, then don’t bother. Can it be seen? Etc etc.

To me the bits I spend the most time on are those parts that are strong characteristics in a model. There is no doubt in my mind that a K27 has many of these and it’s going to take a while.

I adopt my day job practice here. When I write a letter, or a report on something that I now is going to be subject to close scrutiny I never send it out that day. I always put it to one side and read it first thing in the morning. Usually I cant believe what I had written the day before.

Here are some pics of the crosshead assemblies

This is so it can be fixed to the outside plate, whilst the guides and piston rod are fixed to the inside.
This in turn means I can remove the con rod if required without undoing the whole lot. Here is a shot from the back that show the recessed heads and the con rod bolt secured to the outside plate. The con rod bolt head also sits flush on the inside with the top retaining screws. This makes for good clarence around the leading driver crank pin

This is a shot of the assembled right hand side, showing the castellated 8 BA nut and split pin. The nut was made by screwing it on to a bolt with a second nut to secure it, whilst it was drilled with a .6 mm drill. The castle slots slots were then cut with an Ex ACTO razor saw. The nut was then screwed onto the con rod pin and a hole drilled through the pin to accept the split pin, which is just a piece of .3 brass wire bent to shape. Fiddley, but fun. It certainly emphasis the possibilities that can be explored in such a large scale.

Here is a shot of it all in place.

Took some time out to finish up the cylinders prior to painting. Here is a general shot. I used the brass for finer detail, such as the "snifter valves" and also made some rings to protect the cylinders from damage and give a nice crisp edge.

And lastly this is the whole sub assembly.

Some general shots so far

Here is a close up shot of the pilot end, now painted, showing the cylinders to good advantage. Already they have had some knocks and the brass rings around the caps have discolored, so it does Ont show as badly as white styrene.

This is a general shot of the left side motion. I had to re think the rear bracket support. If you look at the earlier epics, they are different. Once I got into the reversing gear it was obvious I had deviate from the prototype a little. Now there is a brass tube that runs across the chassis with a steel pin inside for reinforcement that pokes out through the brackets. There just was Ont the room to fit a curvy rod as per R/L (not with out hours and hours of additional fiddling) Most of this arrangement is obscured anyway.

Top view showing how tight all the clearances are. Surprising when you consider its all flapping around out in the breeze. General shot, gear in forward

Lastly a general shot with one of the cars from the 5 car set is going to pull. This is all ready for it and consists of Full brake baggage, 3 pax and a combine.

Its been a while since I did any work on the loco and the main reason was the making of the second set of valve gear. I finally got my finger out and finished it off. It was gutty, but now it's done it does look quite nifty. Some here are some shots of the finished gear, runs as sweet as a nut, no binding at all I am pleased to say. No at last I can push and get the thing finished

The next job was a complete change. I had been looking at some of the air pumps around the bazaars and was n't too impressed, so I decided to indulge myself in some fine detailing for a change. I collected a some shots from all angles and eventually ended up with a pretty close rendition of the duplex pump fitted to these locos. Styrene tube and sheet, with some 1mm bolt heads added from a military modelling detail pack

So with a bit more stuff added and the flowers starting to bloom I decided some more general shots would be in order. Here is an update on the loco. I have to thank Jack Thompson for sending me the headlight from his Berlyn T-19 for my Annie T-19 bash. From this I was able to get the details I needed for the K-27 light you see here. Its the usual Bachmann job, fitted to all their stuff with some wings and fasteners added. Thanks Jack.

The steps up to the sand dome were also added. The generator is not quite right as its the original Connie one, but where do you stop? You can see it here raised up as per the K-27 and just about make out the firebox taper. The thick plastic exhaust pipe was binned and a new brass one added. The cab doors open by means of rods from the inside of the cab roof at the rear. Again the door hinge pins are temporary.

I have added some details to the boiler too. The washout plugs would have been easier to do much earlier, that is If I had remembered. Funny how some things go "Oi, you forgot this...."

One again I notice I have knocked off a smokebox stay and its lying in the bottom of those plants somewhere...

Like I said before, it's a bruiser in this scale. I just couldn't run a 1.20.3 job on this RR.

May 26, 2007

Here are a few shots of the loco with some very slight weathering (powders mostly) less is more. Nealy there, I have added a fair bit more detail since I took these pics, but as usual as it's July in England it's chucking it down outside. Looks like the smokers are going to get soaked when they get chucked out the local pub tomorrow when the Smoking ban comes in.

Shame..

June 30, 2007