Otto bash

[jim@NAL]

looking rather excellent cant wait too see it finished

[tom_tom_go]

Looks better Rik

[markoteal]

Looking good - great to see the build step by step - the 10mm wider version gets my vote!

[ge_rik]

Yes, that's my feeling too. Wider it will be.....

Rik

[LNR]

Rik, I'm wondering if the spectacle plate could be a little lower. On looking at the relationship between the drivers head and the roof plate in the video. Just a thought, perhaps cardboard could be used to see how it would look before cutting brass.
Grant.

[ge_rik]

Rik, I'm wondering if the spectacle plate could be a little lower. On looking at the relationship between the drivers head and the roof plate in the video. Just a thought, perhaps cardboard could be used to see how it would look before cutting brass.
Grant.

Hi Grant
Yes, I think you're right. The plate is mounted in a slot and so can be adjusted before I fix it into place. Ironically, I did try a card template before cutting the first plate, somehow it looked OK in card - except I didn't take and look at any photos before transferring to brass. I'm finding that photos seem to be more revealing than the eye somehow.

Rik

[FWLR]

Great build Rik, can i ask a really stupid question, you say you have used cardboard for the running plates and other stuff, is this just templates for cutting out for the brass, i have never done anything like this before and i am wanting to have a go at a bit of scratch/ kit bashing myself. do you have to solder the brass and how do i go about something like that. I have seen a few old battered locos for sale really cheap and thought after seeing your thread maybe.........

[ge_rik]

Great build Rik, can i ask a really stupid question, you say you have used cardboard for the running plates and other stuff, is this just templates for cutting out for the brass, i have never done anything like this before and i am wanting to have a go at a bit of scratch/ kit bashing myself. do you have to solder the brass and how do i go about something like that. I have seen a few old battered locos for sale really cheap and thought after seeing your thread maybe.........

Hi
When I've finished the build, I will post a more detailed article about the build on my blog. There are already a few accounts on there which you might want to take a look at in the meantime:

• A kitbuild - http://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2008/03 ... otive.html

• A bash - https://riksrailway.blogspot.co.uk/2017 ... -loco.html

• A semi-scratchbuild - http://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2014/09 ... 0-6-0.html

To answer your specific questions (no worries - no such thing as a stupid question, if you don't ask, someone else will):

• Yes - I just use card for templates - so as not to waste more expensive materials like plasticard or brass (says he who has just wasted a chunk of brass!)

• No - no need to solder the brass. I did solder in a section in the middle - but that's just a temporary fix while I'm waiting for a wider piece to be delivered. I'll fix the brass spectacle place into place, either with screws, nuts and bolts or maybe just some Araldite - not sure yet.

Thanks for the compliment - both direct and implied. One of the reasons I started the blog (and this thread) was in the hope it would give others the incentive to have a go themselves. Best of luck with your own bash. Nothing like getting stuck in. Always happy to answer questions if I can. I'm more of a bodgeller than a serious modeller - there are others on here with far more skill, patience and dexterity than me who will also be happy to offer support if needed.

Rik

[FWLR]

Thanks Rik for you’r reply, i will certainly look at your blogs when i have time, at the moment i am waiting for the weather to clear up a bit so i can get on with the paving. Then it’s full steam ahead (PUN) with the garden layout start next week.

[ge_rik]

Sorry - just seen your other question re soldering brass.

The most important thing is to have a heavyweight soldering iron. Mine is 75 watt, but others use 100W. This ensures you can get enough heat into the brass for the solder to run - it just won't work with a small iron.

I use ordinary multicore solder, but you can also use flux to paint over the edges to be joined. Find some way of clamping the two pieces together, apply the heat from the iron (if you have used flux, it should start to bubble and spit). Apply the solder to the joint (run iron solder slowly along the joint if it's longer). Remove the heat and solder and wait until it's cooled - can take a while if they are big bits of brass.

There are some videos on YouTube showing the process - worth looking at a few to get a feel for how to do it.

Rik
PS - Having asbestos fingers helps

[FWLR]

to above PS...

[Killian Keane]

Greak work! by pure coincidence I did an approximate scale drawing of Kettering no. 3 earlier this week to get a feel for it as a 16mm scale loco on 32mm gauge, looking forward to see how it turns out

[ge_rik]

Greak work! by pure coincidence I did an approximate scale drawing of Kettering no. 3 earlier this week to get a feel for it as a 16mm scale loco on 32mm gauge, looking forward to see how it turns out

Mine will very much be an 'approximate' model, inspired by the original.

Btw - if you want me to send you a selection of the photos I took at Penrhyn Castle, let me know.

Rik

[Killian Keane]

Greak work! by pure coincidence I did an approximate scale drawing of Kettering no. 3 earlier this week to get a feel for it as a 16mm scale loco on 32mm gauge, looking forward to see how it turns out

Mine will very much be an 'approximate' model, inspired by the original.

Btw - if you want me to send you a selection of the photos I took at Penrhyn Castle, let me know.

Rik

Thanks for the offer Rik
From what youv'e done so far I can see youv'e got the spectacle plate closer to the prototype than I did

[ge_rik]

Part 8 - Taking shape (and weight)

Latest progress. The new brass sheet arrived and I've cut out the spectacle plate. It's a few mm wider than the temporary wide plate - I did try making it even wider but it didn't look quite right. Because Otto is wider than No.3, it's difficult to get the proportions right.

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It may not look like a lot of progress has been made since the last posting but a lot has been done 'behind the scenes'. A fair amount of lead flashing strip has been shaped and forced into the saddle tank, the old side tanks (now bunkers), behind the front buffer beam and in the smokebox (to counterbalance the lead in the bunkers).

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Some of the gaps where mouldings have been removed have been filled, sanded, filled and sanded again.

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The chassis has been sprayed black and some of the rivet detail has been added (eg to the buffer beams).

IMG_6129.JPG (92.82 KiB) Viewed 4785 times

There's still plenty to do. I hope to fit the electronics this weekend so I can do some test running. The spectacle plate needs to be fitted into place permanently after some half round beading has been soldered around its edge (awaiting delivery). I'm not sure about the chimney - it's the Otto one cut-down, but it looks far too chunky. I might have to sort through my stock of biros and pens to see if I can find something a bit more delicate and in keeping with the original. Then it'll be time to spray the body and to start adding in some of the finer details like safety valve, tank filler and all that lovely copper pipework.

Rik

[philipy]

Looking good overall, Rik. I think the spectacle plate looks good as you have it now. I thought your previous wider one still looked a bit skinny, tbh.

[tom_tom_go]

I like it Rik and agree the chimney looks too big.

[Peter Butler]

Very nice conversion Rik. Proportions look good despite the variation from the original. Spectacle plate a vast improvement on the first one and worth the effort.
A spray primer will make all the difference to the overall effect and tie everything together Please show a picture of that before the final colour spray.

[ge_rik]

Looking good overall, Rik. I think the spectacle plate looks good as you have it now. I thought your previous wider one still looked a bit skinny, tbh.

Hi Philip
Yes - I agree. The problem is that Otto is wider than the Black, Hawthorn and so even if I did the spectacle plate to scale it would still look overly skinny. Proportionally, the plate is wider than the original but seems to look about right in proportion to the width of the firebox.

Rik

[ge_rik]

I like it Rik and agree the chimney looks too big.

Hi Tom
Yep - looks like the felt tip and biro drawer is going to have to be raided yet again!

Rik