Showmans/road loco Kit 18

the next kit we are working on is the steering kit.

basically the steering chains, chain shaft, steering shaft and steering wheel.

chain shafts...



chain shaft bearing...



steering wheel blank casting...

Looks like someone's spent a bit of time polishing that steering wheel!!
Tony

yeah, we had two samples sent from the casting company. one was the rough casting and one was polished up like this.

its made from the blank that Steve made a couple of months ago. i posted a slide show somewhere

I guess that means I'm not going to be deprived of polishing my own steering wheel after all !!
While on about this steeing kit, do we get the worm gear & it's cog too?
No pressure!!
Tony

yep they are included. you can just see one of the cogs on the edge of the chain shaft box in the pics above

Hi Craig, do you know if Steve/Dean plan to have a stand at Innishannon rally this year? just like to know coz if they are maybe they could bring over a couple of kits for me?
Ive tried 2 different email addresses off STW website and PM'd them on this forum and have had no reply...guess they are extra busy putting our road locos together!!

i doubt they have put much thought to the shows to be honest and i know dean has a huge load of e-mails to catch up on

Hi Craig,

Any chance of some pics - it's gone a bit quiet over the last fews weeks and I'm sure I speak for all because it really is good to see the parts being machined/finished as we go with the build. I know you've all been busy with the move and organising the coming weekend, but it's great to see how things are progressing on a regular basis.

cheers

Rick

most of the parts are now done, we are just waiting for the steering wheels to come in from the polishers. the one in the pics below is the sample that was sent

steering shafts...



top mounting...



steering wheel handle...



oilers...



chain pins...



gears and worms...



RH chain shaft bearing...



chain eye being heated...



and bent...



into this...

chain...



parts laid out ready to fit to control model...



and fitted...

If I'm not mistaken I spy a swivelly bit on the steering wheel rather than a fixed one. This is great as you hand doesn't slip off it during tight turns as one does with the fixed one.

Hi Craig,
In the photo showing the steering cog & worm, I notice a pile of washers between the tank & its fixing bracket to the horn plate. does this mean we have prepare ourselves for another modification?
Tony

Tony King wrote:Hi Craig,
In the photo showing the steering cog & worm, I notice a pile of washers between the tank & its fixing bracket to the horn plate. does this mean we have prepare ourselves for another modification?
Tony

Hi Tony
We have already been given the heads up and apologies regarding the belly tank mounting. We should be getting the modified brackets this month as well.

Thanks Lynn,
I'm obviously abit slow on picking up this latest mod & hadn't realised the tank was going foward as well as down, stupid of me as Isobel did tell me, "now the tank had gone down there was no room for the boiler drain plugs to be removed!!"
I've not even looked at my showmans for nearly two months now, so missed the implication totally!! Not a problem for me, however STW must be getting a little frustrated making more new brackets!!
Can't wait to get going again, it'll be exciting from now on as next kits will start to give the engines abit of caractor!!
Tony

yeah, thats the basic story. it needs to go down and forwards to keep the angle on the steering shaft.

frustrated ??? maybe a bit but at the end of the day we are committed to providing parts that work so its all part of the job really.

i would say we are disappointed that we have caused inconvenience to some builders.

the reality is, if we didn't have to produce the belly tank out of sequence then the problem would have been sorted first time, as the cladding would have been in place.

the model is designed in solid works and sometimes (very rarely thankfully) it just does not translate over to reality.

we are waiting for the new laser cut brackets but they are just not here yet. we have moved ours with the washers so as not to delay the steering kit.

oh yeah, still no sign of the steering wheels

Great pics. Have you any of how the chain system is fitted to the front axle?

Cheers,

Brian M

i knew it, no sign of the steering wheels yet

although we have been on to the suppliers and they say around half are finished so far. they are going to see what they can do to get them to us as soon as possible.

we have talked about sending the kit without them, and then sending them on as soon as we get them. i'll let you know when things develop.

good news is... we have started work on the new belly tank brackets and they should be in the kit...



of course, this is not good news for Ian, as he has to take it all apart yet again...

Hi STW

Looking at the picture of 2 material bins. The left one appears to have the Horn plate brackets in it. Are these being changed instead of the angle bracket on the actual tank. If so that would mean we have to take the tender and horn plates off the loco to replace the bracket as you can not otherwise get to the nuts. Am I correct in this worry?

nope, the brackets are now flat laser cut parts that need bending

now have an (estimated) delivery date of next wednesday for the steering wheels

looks like steve is going to send the kit without them and then send them on as soon as. if so the kit should go friday

kit 18 went out today... without steering wheels !!

Cool that a kit is on its way. Bummer that it was sent out on a friday. Won't get it until Tuesday