Thetford Works (Cornwall)

Hi Steve,

What width wheel did you use in the Beugler pen to do the pinstripes on the wheels? Did you do the thicker inner stripe also with the Beugler? I still have to start doing this on my DCC road loco. Can't seem to pluck up courage to get going.

I like the boat, does it have an inboard engine?

Best wishes

Ian

The fish tails are done free hand at the hub end as guessing the distance to start is easy, i finish at the rim and place a sliver of masking tape to give me a turning point as ones hand tends to get in the way.

The wheels I use are the thin line is a No. 16 wheel and the wide one doesn't have a number but is 7.5mm wide & fits the standard beugler pen.

The boat does have an inboard 1800cc Volvo Penta engine & Z drive. Does 35 knots with a skier behind so I have been told, very nice boat & enjoyed rebuilding it. It was about ready to be turned into a planter on a roundabout!

Steve,

Many thanks for the information about the lines and the boat, a very lucky escape for the boat. I hate seeing boats as planters they never look right in my opinion. The boat sounds like it should be fun and quick. You have done a superb job on the front deck and the hull looks great.

Ian

Here's a shot of the original front wheels from 'General Gough' which is the colour scheme that Dean requested for his Showmans engine. After that is a few shots of my interpretation of that scheme. I've added a rim line as I feel it looks the better for it. In total there's 406 lines on the two front wheels!








I have to say that the Craftmaster paint I use really is superb and the wet look shine really lasts. Looking at the original General Gough wheel and my wheel the gold paint I use is just as good as the gold leaf on the original only much easier to apply.

Those wheels look superb! what a finish.
Any chance of a youtube video of the process Steve?

Im sure many would find it very interesting and helpful , I know I would for one .

Thanks

Kev

grate paint job

406 lines. A great job though.

There's not much chance of a video I'm afraid, besides I think it would be pretty dull if done in real time! Painting is like many other trades in that you can watch someone else do something but you still have to learn how to do it yourself as so many parts of it are how something feels etc. Preparation is the key, there aren't many short cuts that I know, I've listed a few tips below that I find useful.

1, Keep a very soft paintbrush handy when spraying so that before you leave it to dry, check it over & if a drip is forming you can brush it out.

2, Plan any lining with the Beugler well in advance, start from the centre & work out (on spokes)

3, Put a couple of pieces of masking tape either side of the Beugler to increase grip

4, Have a rub out tool handy for any lines that run on too far.

5, When spraying wheels get in the habit of counting spokes so you don't spray the same one twice.

6, Arrange an angled ark light to reflect the wet paint so that you can easily see when full coverage has been achieved

7, Have white spirit handy so if the lining goes wrong you can wash it all off & walk away & pour a cold beer.

Hope it helps
Steve

Nice work Steve, you must have the patience of a saint

I hope you are charging Dean appropriately, you may not be so cheerful after doing the rear wheels.

What colour scheme are you doing your crane engine?

Brian

For my crane engine I'm going to base it on 'Old Tim' as I didn't want two engines with Crimson Lake wheels. Having started on Deans Showmans I'm really enjoying the challenge of the painting. The hard bit is bending over the wheels whilst lining, it kills my back for a while. I was looking at pictures of 'Dolphin' today, which is about as fancy as a Showmans can get, and working out how to recreate that look. There's a lot to do yet though!

Three sets of wheels nearly finished, just got to lacquer the axles & then it's on to the back wheels, I've modified the perch bracket to take the jib of my crane engine. It's all welded mild steel, the casting welded really well (and strong!) so that was a relief. Here's some photos.


This is Steve's wheel based on 'The President' looking at my computer the centre of the spoke looks off-white whereas it is really pale gold, or dark straw. Probably just the screen not showing the true colour.


Top one is General Gough axle, middle one is Old Tim and the bottom one is The President.


This is the modified perch bracket , below is a shot of the front of 'Old Tim'

You're getting VERY professional with lining Steve!! Wonderful to see the different engines you're building.......... Do you have to squeeze in a day job too?
Regards,
Tony

There is a day job teaching construction so I'm kept pretty busy with everything.

I also went on a lining course run by Craftmaster which was very informative, good fun and well worth the cost.

Steve

Maybe you should turn professional painter and builder, you obviously have the skill and the speed judging by the work you have got through so far. I look forward to seeing more photos of "Old Tim" as you progress and can't wait to see it on it's wheels.

Have you begun to build the crane jib yet?

By the way, I am currently on holiday in Cornwall for the week and it is NOT sunshining yet!!!!! Staying at Porth Beach near Newquay, were here for the Royal Cornwall Show if you get the chance to visit - Steam Yachts are visiting.

Cheers

Brian

That grey wet stuff that falls out of the sky is called 'Cornish sunshine'. I know it well...

Tim

Hi Brian

Just got back from a week in Italy with wall to wall sunshine & 28 degrees, missed the RCS this year. Will be starting the crane jib pretty soon, I saw lots of cranes in Italy as every building site has one & kept thinking of how I was going to fabricate the jib for my engine, it's all pretty much past the planning stage now!

Judging by the number of branches & leaves blown down in the garden I guess the weather hasn't been too good, hope you enjoyed your stay though.

Regards
Steve

Here's a few pics of the engines so far:


The one nearest the camera is Dean's Showmans and the other one is 'Hercules' my crane engine.

Sorry about this one being sideways, it wouldn't fit the other way! bending the end of the jib round my knee was a bit painfull but worth it

It's scaled from a drawing in the Burrell Style book with a certain amount of guesswork. Very pleased to fit it & find the cable runs exactly as it does on 'Old Tim' which is through the bottom of the middle X to where the winch drum will be. Steve's engine (The President) is being assembled & painted into lifteable sections & stored until I have the assembly space.

That is scary. Was thinking last night that we had not heard anything from you in a while.

Nice to see an update. Take care of those knees. The jib bending is not as painful as the kowtowing

I use my Land Rover for that!

Very impressive Steve, wonderful project that crane engine!!
Regards,
Tony

Wooooohooooooo, well done Steve.......getting excited. I can almost see myself outside the beer tent generating as i type.

Will it be finished in time for Welland in two weeks? lol

Cheers

Dean

Not many workshops have lace curtains. I'll vouch for that impressive crane jib!
Tim

I did worry that I should do a lift out smokebox door, however they always look so dull & then I saw a smaller Burrell crane engine with a straight jib & a side hinged smokebox door. Probably a later conversion perhaps, anyway, all they did for access was knock a couple of pins out & lower the jib using the winch. 'Simples' as our little furry friends would say so that's why I've kept the standard side hinged door.

Windows in a workshop would be good.

Mike

As it's the time of year that I usually put the engine away for the winter I thought I'd share a few thoughts with some of the newer owners of these great little engines. The things I do are by no means exhaustive or offer any guarantee of reducing corrosion and others may have better methods but for what it's worth the following methods have always worked for me:



The first job is to drain the boiler down and wash it out. For this I've attached a length of microbore copper pipe to a garden hose with an isolation tap for some degree of control. This allows me to poke it into it's drain plugs and give a good wash out everywhere & I usually do this until the water runs clear. I then put a couple of pieces of paper towel in the drain holes just above the damper to act as wick to drain any last standing water.

I then remove the access panel to the tender and drain that out & check for corrosion. I used Isoflex to paint the inside of the tender back in 2005 and it's standing up pretty good (no rust to date). I use a sponge to remove the last 1/4 inch of water & then check the filters on the pick-ups.

The next job is to remove the safety valve, cylinder end cover & the valve chest cover. It's surprising how much water/condensation accumulates there and over the winter it can do some damage. I dry this all out with paper towel and liberally brush steam oil around all the surfaces and replace the covers, coating the gaskets with steam oil or grease so they don't 'stick'.

I leave the bungs out during the winter to let dry air into the boiler, it is chained up in a shed with a dehumidifier set on a timer to work for 4 hours every night. This also means the brasswork stays shiney until next spring!

I then drop the ashpan & give it a good clean (as opposed to a bang against a tree) and check all is well. I'm still on the original cast iron grate which is actually still in good nick. It seems to have grown slightly in width this year as it's a tight fit in the boiler so I ground a few thou off each side this year. How long it will last I don't know, a lot didn't make one season at the time and that is why the new ones are steel bars. I like to think that I control my fire well & that why it's lasted! but in reality I was probably just lucky to get a good one.

After that I then spend half an hour every so often cleaning one part really well. It's surprising then when next spring comes around your engine is gleaming again.

Hope this is of some use to the new engine owners, 'Trelawney' was the first Modelworks Burrell in steam & registered for the road back in Feb 2006 and last year when we put a camera in her boiler there was virtually no corrosion and the cylinder block is still like new.
Cheers.