A4 Pacific Sir Nigel Gresley, O-scale

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you Tim, Ricardo, David and Douglas! Your kind words are well appreciated .

There are basically two options for each of the left and right driving gears. The basic option is a flat face gear, with all the cranks and rods in one plane. This doesn’t look realistic and is simply impossible to install as it doesn’t connect with the wheels, cylinders and brackets as these connections are not in one and the same plane.

The kit leaves the option to prepare all cranks and rods separately, which is by far more realistic but labor intensive. Another reason to have the laser cut set at hand but still you have to cut out all printed parts and paste them on the laser cuts, which I did on front as well as rear faces. Quite a bit of work and the 0.5mm thick edges of the laser cuts have to be painted or colored with a marker. I chose to use flat aluminum rather than steel as I found its tone too dark. The Alu color matches better to the print of the parts.

As said before, the rear wheels have to be removed as their position needs to be corrected at a later stage. Luckily I hadn’t glued them in position yet and managed to take away the axle and wheels without much problem.

Started with the left gear first. The laser cut of 83a did not match but this can be corrected easily. I cut out parts of the left-over flat face gear (in this case part 83) to highlight the individual parts. During dry-fitting it appeared that bracket 69 was not positioned correctly and had to be removed. As I followed the instructions carefully, it wasn't me. Also one of the small lifting lugs (63b/64b) had to be cut away and reinstalled later.



For me the following order of installation worked best:

• Install parts 83b/f first. 83b should be glued against bracket 67 first and then 83f to be put in place
• Then glue the three leftside driving wheels in place and install 83. Use small spacers made of left-over 0.5mm laser cut material, which are visible in one of the pictures. The instructions do not mention or indicate any, but you will have to add some sort of clearance between the various cranks to get proper alignment
• Then part 83a, which extends into the steam cylinder. Note that you still have to glue one or two spacers in between the parts to ensure proper alignment of 83a into the cylinder The instructions do not mention or indicate any, but you will have to for a good alignment. I used small circles of left-over 0.5mm laser cut material. If you look carefully at the pictures you will notice them
• The other cranks/rods can be installed now, in alphabetical order. Also you need similar spacers here
• Finally parts 77 (only on the left side) and 85. For 85 I also used spacers and other left-over laser cut bits and pieces to beef up the part for better connection to the chassis (note that the extra material will normally not be visible).

So far so good and the left side driving gear is not a difficult part of the build but quite some time is required for edge coloring. The pictures reveal the progress of installing the driving gear and the last five show the end result.

I must say it is a rewarding sight: For me all of a sudden the model has become a steam locomotive!

Next time the right side driving gear, which is slightly different. Progress may take a few weeks though as I will be on a one week's hike in the Swiss Alps next week. Paper break time!

Cheers,
Erik

[Diderick A. den Bakker]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (getting old if you remember that phrase...)
Have a nice week in the Alps!
Diderick

[Marcin Jakubiec]

Cranks and shafts – that's a magic of steam locos!

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you guys. Signing off now for the next two weeks. Heading off to Unter Engadin in Switzerland tomorrow.

Cheers,
Erik

[Don Boose]

The running gear is extraordinary!

Don

[ricleite]

Beautiful work and pictures, Erik! Those steam mechanisms have a charm of their own

Viewed from the side, the locomotive seems to be always accelerating, even if it is stopped!

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you Don and Ricardo! The driving gear indeed turns the model at once into a real steam locomotive.

The short getaway to the Swiss Alps was very refreshing. Back to basic, no fuss, no stress, no hurries. Just hiking in the mountains, ploughing through fields of snow at 3000m altitude and sleeping in deserted mountain huts. The cold water that knocks you off your feet. But above all, the absolute silence all around if you stand still for a while and hold your breath. Just listen. A moment of tremendous joy, amazement and healing. It still exists in this crazy world of terrorist attacks and horrible disasters like the recent London apartment tower and Portugal forrest fires. Welcome back to the real world I thought very cynically when listening to the news again. So far for a short moment of reflection.

Time to continue with the Gresley, the right side driving gear. Although the layout is different from the left side, the assembly follows the same procedure. Much work is required to cut out the printed parts of each bar, and to paint the edges. To get proper alignment between the individual bars, small cardboard circles are required as spacers.The simple flat-faced one part driving gear (no. 84) provides a perfect template for how to position the various parts one by one.

The step by step build up of the driving gear is indicated in the pictures.

Note there is a surprising difference between this template and the assembly of the individual parts. The other problem that arose is the opening in bracket no. 68 being too small for part 84d to protrude properly, preventing fitting with 84e. Both issues are shown in one of the pictures.

As the bracket is already firmly in place I need to figure out a way to solve this without causing too much damage. By checking actual pictures it looks like the actual opening in the bracket is much bigger than what the model provides, which also goes for the left one (no. 67). However, this bracket did not result in an issue.

So, to be continued next time, in any case: GRRRR.

Cheers,
Erik

[Tim Crowe]

She's still looking fantastic, though

Love the close up photos

Tim

[abhovi]

This is a great thread. Almost inspiring enough to quit ships and convert to trains... Well, better not I guess.
But your technique sure makes me jealous.

[TramFan]

Fantastic workmanship for a great model of a great loco. I watch in awe as this machine unfolds.