Burrell DCC KIT 2

Hi Dean

True to your word kit 2 arrived at 9.30 am.

Some nice castings.

Cheque in post back to you.

Lets get back on track and get the next kit to us.

Cheers Mike

As has been said a nice easy kit, just castings to clean up. They come pretty smooth anyway but out came the flap wheel to take off any high spots. I've found that if you leave these then with the constant cleaning you end up wearing away the paint on the high spot until the primer shows through. (this time though my primer is the same colour as the top coat). The springs had a rounded edge and a stright edge where they had been cut to width. The flap wheel soon put a radius on this edge to match the other side. I did find that the threaded hole in the axle to take the plate the spring rests on was drilled slightly off centre on one side, maybe the jig slipped, hopefully it was a one off. I filed the hole in the plate to suit the axle and moved the chamfer across so the allen screw lies flush. The axle bearing surfaces I introduced to the polishing wheel so they had a mirror finish, me just being fussy I guess, they polished up beautifully and didn't take long. Generally it all went together easily and my big hammer stayed in the drawer. Here's a few pictures:
[url=http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=25&u=12656234][/url]

There's also a shot of a 4" SC Burrell axle for comparison.

Perhaps I have been a bit naive or not researched this enough but am I the only one who is in awe at the sheer size of the components so far??!! In comparison to the agricultural I have it seems huge! I know the original engine it is based on is bigger so it therefore scales out bigger but its a bit bigger than I thought it would be!!!

Approximately how much bigger will the finished thing be in terms of length and height to the 4" SC?

Kev.

Hi Steve,
Looks as though the pivot pin is inserted back to front ?? Did your axle go through the pivot castings with the spring hanger attached ok ? Mine won't fit without some encouragement from a hammer - is this correct? Not sure whether to file the pivot casting or the spring hanger - would it matter ??

Your wheels also look much wider than mine, or is it just the photo?

Cheers

Rick

Rickster wrote:Did your axle go through the pivot castings with the spring hanger attached ok ? Mine won't fit without some encouragement from a hammer - is this correct? Not sure whether to file the pivot casting or the spring hanger - would it matter ??

Rick

yes, filing would be fine. we had noticed this on some of the castings but was going by the fact that most people would be cleaning them up a bit anyway

craig@STW

Hi Rick,

It is not the photo, Steve's wheels are wider as he ordered wider rims as he is building a crane version of the engine.

Dean

Hi Rickster

Mine was a bit tight to start with however I filed the knobbles off the inside of the axle pivot and then used the flap wheel on the axle around the pivot area to make it a little thinner. The combination of the two made it fit easily. It will need to be painted so you don't want it a tight fit as on reassemble all the paint will be scraped away! My wheels are 15mm wider than standard as like Dean said I intend to make mine a crane engine and some of the crane engines had wider wheels so they didn't sink into the ground so easily. As far as how much larger than the SC Burrell the DCC will be is not clear yet. My guess is about 15% bigger however the front wheels on the DCC if anything are 'larger than life' on the full size engine. The axle width/wheel width is pretty much the same on the two engines, only a few millimetres in it. The boiler is about an inch bigger in diameter and I'm not sure how big the back wheels will be or the overall finished dimemsions. I certainly think that in three years time we will have some of the most impressive engines on the rally field and that STW will have raised the bar for everyone else to aim for!

Couldnt agree more Steve. I commented to a mate today that if you want a 4" agricultural then you can have a choice almost every month in Old Glory but I cant remember the last time I saw a Road Loco of any make come up for sale. It really will be something to admire and this time I can say I built it too Does it really have to take three years!!!!

Kev.

i'll echo the last few comments as i can't praise the STW team enough.
I have waited for years for a company to produce a 4" road loco.
I almost bought one which was a private sale but the owner pulled out..

your right Kev they very rarely come up for sale.

And to add to the joys of finally building one i know the team behind it are 110% dedicated to making the best model they can.

When these engines start hitting the field in a few years time there is going to be a lot of turning heads..

whilst on the topic of rallies...?? what of the STW Towers rally?

i want to put faces to all these names i see on here..

Nick

110% !?!?! i'll be wanting time and a half for that then

oh and trust me, you don't want to see our faces

Hi Steve,
I eventually got a good fit by filing up the inside of the axle pivot and the string hanger. I haven't got around to the axle itself as yet. Today's job.

Would you paint the individual leaf springs i.e. etch prime, filler and top coat then assemble or whether to grease the individual leaves,assemble clean up and degrease the outside part then paint them? I can see there is a potential for rust between the springs if kind of protection wasn't put on them before assembly - any ideas how to go about this ?

cheers

Rick

Rick,

The same thought crossed my mind however the springs are only for show and don't take any load.
The plates don't move separately to the axle they move with it.

As a result I am going to paint each one separately and then bond them together to stop moisture getting in-between the plates.

If anyone else has a better idea throw it on here..


Nick

Powder coat them. No prep needed, no undercoat, dont even need to clean stuff, just give it to them dirty they dip it and blast it and give it back shiny. If you are really fussy you can finish it first by trying to get super smooth surfaces but having done the Agricultural in it stuff that went in a little rough got a good thick coat of powder which pretty much looses most surface marks. A good example was the chimney base, I had seen soemone who had preped so it looked almost polished and I didnt even touch mine, the result being that once the powder cures and flows it softens all the surface pitting and mine looks just like the real thing and no worse than the shiny example. Plus I dont need to find somewhere to paint bits getting overspray all over things that dont need to be painted.

Besides when its been used a little it gets dirty and looks more realistic anyway. Super clean engines turn heads but look a bit too false for me, they werent like that in real life.

Just my opinion though, dont hold it against me. If anyone is going to the Burrel Museum Rally on Easter Sunday they can look me out to see what they think of the finished result. Engne is called Prince and I will have my two litltle ones with me, all in Burrell T shirts.

Cheers Kev.

I agree with Nick in that I will be painting each individual leaf spring seperately with three coats of high tempersture satin black (Plasticote) The reason I use this is that it requires no primer or etch primer, it sprays easily from the tin and it gives a good tough finish without being too thick. When all the leaves are bolted together there will be no movement of the springs themselves as they are purely for effect so the paint should keep them nice. Powder coating is a bit of a Marmite product, you either love it or hate it, I'm afraid it's not something I would go for however in the right situation it has it's uses. Incidentally when I built my SC Burrell I etch primed all the brass bits then painted them with the satin black and a week later the etch primer just with the black just flaked away, didn't stick at all. I then removed all the paint literally with my fingernail and painted then with the Plasticoat bar-b-que paint straight onto the brass after degreasing and it's still there today. Apparently with etch primer if it dries to quickly it doesn't etch properly as the acid doesn't have time to eat into the metal, likewise if the coat is too thin. Bit of a bu**er really when you only find out when the job is finished! From then on I used the satin black on everything brass and if I wanted it a different colour I just painted over the black! As you can guess I'm a fan of the Plasticote paint, I painted my chimney with it and after travelling up 'Engine Hill' at Porthtowan I was one of the few engines that didn't burn the paint off by the top of the hill. Properly applied it takes some beating.

Where do you get your Plasticote from? Do you order in bulk on line or from a local B and Q? And do thy do it in Gloss black?

Kev.

highpressure wrote:Where do you get your Plasticote from? Do you order in bulk on line or from a local B and Q? And do thy do it in Gloss black?

Kev.

i'm interested in trying this method and have looked at Plastikote's website..

try this link for gloss black super enamel.

http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/Product/pcode---4585/pccode---6751

the site lists stores who stock it too..

NICK

I looked on the net for cheap supplies of Plasticote Bar-B-Que paint but they were all dearer than B&Q when you added the postage. Last time I went to B&Q when they had a 10% sale on and bought them for around £6 a can which was the best price I could find. If anyone knows of it any cheaper then please advise!
Regards
Steve

HI Steve,

Is it the normal plasticote Gloss Black or the Metal Protext or the BarB que paint. I particularly wanted Gloss Black. Also are you suggesting that it might not need primer or would it be best to use the Plasticote primer just to be safe.

Cheers Kev.