3/4" Scale J1e

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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Today the full width turret casing got some attention. The front bulkhead was made some time ago, so the rear bulkhead was started today. This isn't really a bulkhead, just a curved bit of angle that matches the roof contour at the front. There was a thin metal pattern that was used before and it was stuck to the boiler with a hot melt glue gun, along with the front bulkhead. This is a handy way to stick things together for test fitting and developing patterns, which is what we are doing here. You can see in the second photo that the pattern doesn't quite match the roof line. A piece of file folder was glued to the pattern and then marked with a Sharpie using the roof as in the fourth photo. Then it was trimmed as in the last photo. This will now be used to mark a form tool to make the curved angle on. As said before here, it's easier to make curved angle than to make straight angle and then try to curve it. This turret casing is an interesting little fellow. It has five doors, each with two hinges, and two hasps' and clips. Each hasp and clip will have a short chain and a hook. There are also recessed areas to allow the cab ventilator windows to swing open. This turret casing will house a lifting injector on the engineers side. It will also contain the steam turret. These full width turret casings were a very prominent feature of the J1's.
See you in the funny pages...
Jack
Attachments
Casing1.jpeg
Casing2.jpeg
Casing3.jpeg
Casing4.jpeg
Casing5.jpeg
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Had a good day in the shop today, I didn't break anything or hurt myself :D These New York Central full width turret casings are quite a fiddle. The pattern made yesterday was used to mark up and trim the form tool made some time ago. The contour across the top was not quite right and was massaged a bit with the disc sander. Once it was looking good it was used to make the aft bulkhead which we have in the first photo here. Then both bulkheads were plunked down for a look. A small level was sat down across them and as you can see the front bulkhead is a little tall. A zoom with the drum sander quickly fixed that. Then the bulkheads were stuck down with hot melt glue so that a cardstock pattern could be developed. Cardsock is cheap and easy to work with. I usually just use an old file folder. The pattern was used to mark up some .020 brass and the openings were blasted with the mill using the universal holding fixture. The outer skins of these casings was made of several pieces, from what I can tell by looking at drawings and photos. There were a lot of variations on these casings. Different overall shapes, different hasp's and hinges. I don't have a good drawing of this piece. A main erection drawing includes the turret casing, but it's more of an outline and doesn't have details like the door recesses, or the recess where it meets the running boards.
Attachments
Turret10.jpeg
Turret11.jpeg
Turret12.jpeg
Turret13.jpeg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Sun Sep 05, 2021 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Here we have the two lower side sheets, and the front bulkhead. The sides and bulkhead were joined with some small screws and now the door recesses are the next little puzzle. Once again a cardstock pattern was made. This is one of the fiddliest of the fiddly bits. It has angles and a curved flange where it meets the side sheet. The recess was made of .010" brass. and by the time I got it bent and flanged and riveted in place, it ended up a bit lumpy. I'll see if I can't get it smoothed out a little. The recess on the other side must now be made, hopefully it will turn out a little better. Having fun here.
Jack
Attachments
Turret14.jpeg
Turret15.jpeg
Turret16.jpeg
Turret17.jpeg
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Pipescs
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by Pipescs »

Truly inspiring work.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
First off I want to thank Charlie for the compliment. Charlie doesn't do so bad himself. I have been following his project.
I had fun playing with the little Hudson today. Good progress was made, and tomorrow I'll be getting to the really fun bits like the hinges and hasp's. There is also a cool round access panel and a few other details. And some chains and hooks for the hasp's. But today the main body of the turret casing was made up and mostly stuck together with small screws. The door recesses were made up as in the first snappie. This door recess is made of .010" brass. In the second photo it's just being held in place for a look see. The next photo shows it riveted in place with .030" escutcheon pins. And lastly a mostly assembled turret casing body. It will be soft soldered together, the screw heads will be filed off. And then some metal finishing.
Attachments
casing30.jpeg
Casing31.jpeg
Casing32.jpeg
Casing33.jpeg
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Here are a few more. Some card stock doors were stuck on with hot glue just for a look. It's aways good to do this as card stock is cheap and easy. Now the doors can be made and the hinges fitted up. The bottom photo is just for fun.
Jack
Attachments
Casing34.jpeg
Casing35.jpeg
Casing36.jpeg
Asteamhead
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by Asteamhead »

Hello Jack,
Watching your progress step by step to me there is just one conclusion: You're t h e t r u e master of brass :!:
Using a good drawing of the prototype as a basis and photos where ever one can get these to compare and correct the model seems to be the method to get the best results and looks. The prototypes got little changes by getting repairs or being shoped every time :idea: Nice job 8)
Carry on!
Asteamhead
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thank you Asteamhead. I haven't got much time in on the Hudson for a few days but here is one snappy. The main body has been soft soldered and metal finished. Also a gaggle of rivets have been added. It looks pretty good but there will be some minor filling to do before painting. The two lower doors have ben made and are now just held in pace with some masking tape. Two hinges have been stuck in place with crazy glue for now. This will help in fitting up the hinges and I'll go more into that later. There are some cool details to be made. One is how the turret casing ties in with the cab roof, and how the top door is made.
More to come.
Jack
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Casing40.jpeg
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Help My Friends
Here is a little on fitting up small hinges. The top two photos show a set up for offsetting them. As the doors for the casing are .010" the hinges were offset. They were offset .020" to allow for paint thickness. A sheet of .020" brass was used and a wood block with a slot for the hinge barrels and also an offset of .020". You can see the offset in the top photo. This block was set on the hinge with the hinge centered on the edge of the sheet and given a a couple good smacks with a hammer. The second photo shows the offset. I used to put a shim under one leaf of the hinge until I came up with this. This is much easier. The middle snappy has some of the things you will need. Some super glue, and fine tweezers to hold the screws. In the fourth photo the glued on hinge is being used as a guide to spot the holes. First a clear drill is used to just touch the surface, and provide a little pocket to guide the tap drill. Then the holes are all tap drilled through. Make sure the hinges are all clear drilled before glueing on or the tap drill will twist them loose.
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Casing50.jpeg
Casing51.jpeg
Casing52.jpeg
Casing53.jpeg
Casing54.jpeg
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Now it's time to tap the holes and put in the screws. The screws used were #000-120 x 3/32". These can be held with tweezers when starting them. The optivisor helps a lot with this tiny fiddly business. This is the smallest fastener I have in the shop. They used to seem really small but after dealing with them for a while they don't anymore. Especially when looking at them through the optivisor. As the doors are only .010" brass, the screws would not hold the hinges sufficiently so they were soldered. The pins and the other leaf was removed to make sure the barrels were not soldered solid. After all I want functioning hinges. A drop of liquid flux was applied, and a tiny piece of solder was set next to the hinge. I like to use electronic flux core solder for this. It's available in small diameter, 1/32" and has good flow characteristics. Then it's warmed up with a propane torch and the solder slurps right in. Then the door is flipped over and the same is done on the back. Then some flush cutters are used to snip off the excess screw length on the back and the whole mess is filed flat. The screws into the body of the turret casing are not soldered so the doors can be removed for painting and such. The hasp's and clips are just stuck on with glue for now, and they will have the same treatment as the hinges. Then the upper side, and top doors will be fitted up. There will be some tiny hooks with chains made up to hold the doors closed. I looked through my stash of chain, but no chain small enough. Micro Mark sells some small chain and some will be ordered. They also have 1/16" x 1/4" basswood and this will be used to make some tongue and groove siding for inside the cab. Just because it's small, that's no excuse to get lazy :D
Having Fun Here
Jack
Attachments
Casing55.jpeg
Casing56.jpeg
Casing57.jpeg
Casing58.jpeg
Casing59.jpeg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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JBodenmann
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Just one snappy for now. Progress has been a little slow making and fitting up the turret casing doors. This little trinket has taken much longer than anticipated. This often happens, "lets see, this should take a couple days". So far I have about forty hours in the turret casing. If instant gratification is your bag, building locomotives might not be for you. :lol: So as I said just one snappy. Today the top door will be the focus. It has a lip facing down on the front edge that the hinges mount to. Some sort of form tool will be needed for this. So far card stock patterns have been made up. Also the piece that ties in with the cab roof. No shortage of things to do.
Jack
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Casing50.jpeg
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NP317
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Re: 3/4" Scale J1e

Post by NP317 »

Remarkable and tiny work.
You remind us what CAN be accomplished.
RussN
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