Stephenson's Rocket, 1:24 OcCre Kit

[tony.]

Wow that loco looks great mate, she really does looks the part. When it's all together mate your going to have a lovely display. Be Good. Tony

[gjdale]

Keith,

I tried to send you a PM but must have done something wrong because I can't find it now in my sent items. So here is the info again.

The kit I am building is 1:24 scale, manufactured by OcCre (a Spanish company). Here is a link to their website: http://www.occre.com/model-train/rocket-locomotive.html

While you can buy direct from OcCre, I purchased my kit through Cornwall Model Boats (CMB) in the UK. I have always found CMB excellent to deal with - competitive prices and very prompt service. Here is a link to their website: http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/...g/OC54000.html

I hope this information is useful for you.

Cheers,

[Keith_1]

Keith,

I tried to send you a PM but must have done something wrong because I can't find it now in my sent items. So here is the info again.

The kit I am building is 1:24 scale, manufactured by OcCre (a Spanish company). Here is a link to their website: http://www.occre.com/model-train/rocket-locomotive.html

While you can buy direct from OcCre, I purchased my kit through Cornwall Model Boats (CMB) in the UK. I have always found CMB excellent to deal with - competitive prices and very prompt service. Here is a link to their website: http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/...g/OC54000.html

I hope this information is useful for you.

Cheers,

Thanks Grant

All PMs have come through

Keith

[artme]

Grant - I have been alittle slack on following this thread But i'm glad I have finally caught up!!

Wonderful job on the |Rocket!!!!

[gjdale]

It's been a while since the last update - life's been pretty busy all round of late. Hopefully that will change now as I have four weeks off from work

Anyway, here's where I'm up to as of tonight. The Tender carcass has been planked and is ready for painting - actually, it's had an undercoat of white Gesso, but that was after the photos were taken.

55 Tender Planked 1.jpg

56 Tender Planked 2.jpg

I also discovered the “perfect” tool for sanding the insides of the wheel structures. It is a sanding strip that is constructed in a similar fashion to a coping saw, and uses thin strips of “sandpaper” that is actually plastic film with sanding grit applied to one face. The strips come in a variety of grits, but the coarse grit is ideal for removing the laser char and giving a good surface for painting. Here’s a couple of shots with one of the Tender wheels to give the idea. The second one shows a 20 cent piece for scale:

57 Sanding Frame 1.jpg

58 Sanding Frame 2.jpg

I hope to have some significant progress to show over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.....

[Keith_1]

Hi Grant

The tender is coming up beautifully - well done

Keith

[tony.]

Tenders coming along nicely mate. I like your strip sander, I've never seen one before and I'm wondering if that would be easy to replicate, have to give it some thought. Be Good. mobbsie

[gjdale]

It's been a while since I updated the log - mainly because a lot of the work done lately has been "re-work" . Anyway, things have progressed through to completion, so a couple of posts here to finish the build sequence and finalise the log.

To pick up from where we left off, here is a shot of the components of the Tender wheel and axle assembly components ready for painting and fitting:

59 Tender Wheel Components.jpg

Construction: The Water Reservoir

The Water Reservoir is a barrel constructed around a former, in much the same way as the Engine Boiler.

60 Barrel Former.jpg


The tricky part about the barrel construction is that the barrel staves need to be tapered at each end. There are two layers of planking used for the staves, the first being 1.5mm thick, and the second being 0.6 mm thick. The first layer of planks were first marked out in pencil for the approximate taper needed:

61 Barrel Stave 1.jpg


The planks were then individually filed to shape in the vice, using the top surface of the vice as a reference plane/s

62 Barrel Stave 2.jpg


Here is a fully shaped barrel stave ready for installation:

63 Barrel Stave 3.jpg


And here are the remainder:

64 Barrel Stave 4.jpg


The first layer was then glued to the former and sanded smooth:

65 Barrel 1.jpg


The whole process was then repeated for the second, thinner layer:

66 Barrel Stave 5.jpg


And here is the fully planked barrel:

67 Barrel 2.jpg


The barrel was then painted (Raw Sienna) and the metal hoops fashioned from Aluminium strip:

68 Barrel 3.jpg

Continued in the next post.........

[gjdale]

Construction: Finishing Touches

The tender was then painted.............and re-painted................. twice . I just wasn't happy with the finish on the first two occasions, so I bit the bullet and sanded it back for another go, and another..... Finally, on the third attempt, I achieved something I was satisfied with. The wheels and various bits of hardware (cast metal fittings) that I had previously painted up, were then added:

69 Tender 1.jpg


Coal for the tender is provided in the kit in the form of small stones, which are glued in place with a diluted mixture of white PVA glue and later painted black:

70 Tender 2.jpg


The display base is a separate (optional) kit and comprises a piece of MDF board, some timber mouldings to frame the board, pre-cut timber for the sleepers, the tracks and the track dogs (both cast white metal), and another (large) bag of rocks. A paper template is also provided to assist in laying out the sleepers and tracks. Here is the first version of the completed base:

71 Display Base 1.jpg


Unfortunately, after completing the base, I realised that the white of the paper template glued to the base board showed through the rocks in places. I decided to remove all of the rocks (which were glued in place) and to paint the base board a dark brown (Raw Umber). The hard part was removing all of the paper and glue from the rocks, but that was more time consuming than difficult.


With the display base complete, and the coal painted, the model is complete. Here are a few final shots:

72 Final 1.jpg

73 Final 2.jpg

74 Final 3.jpg

75 Final 4.jpg

Despite a few frustrations with re-work (all "own goals") this has been a most enjoyable little kit to build and I am very satisfied with the end result. More importantly perhaps, She Who Must Be Obeyed is also very happy with the end result and the model now has a new home on a cabinet in our dining room.

Thanks to all who followed along and especially to those of you who offered comments and encouragement along the way. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me.

I will be back when I have another non-ship project to compete (and there are a few in the wings...... )

Cheers,

[crowie]

It's been a while since I updated the log - mainly because a lot of the work done lately has been "re-work" . Anyway, things have progressed through to completion, so a couple of posts here to finish the build sequence and finalise the log.

To pick up from where we left off, here is a shot of the components of the Tender wheel and axle assembly components ready for painting and fitting:

59 Tender Wheel Components.jpg

Construction: The Water Reservoir

The Water Reservoir is a barrel constructed around a former, in much the same way as the Engine Boiler.

60 Barrel Former.jpg


The tricky part about the barrel construction is that the barrel staves need to be tapered at each end. There are two layers of planking used for the staves, the first being 1.5mm thick, and the second being 0.6 mm thick. The first layer of planks were first marked out in pencil for the approximate taper needed:

61 Barrel Stave 1.jpg


The planks were then individually filed to shape in the vice, using the top surface of the vice as a reference plane/s

62 Barrel Stave 2.jpg


Here is a fully shaped barrel stave ready for installation:

63 Barrel Stave 3.jpg


And here are the remainder:

64 Barrel Stave 4.jpg


The first layer was then glued to the former and sanded smooth:

65 Barrel 1.jpg


The whole process was then repeated for the second, thinner layer:

66 Barrel Stave 5.jpg


And here is the fully planked barrel:

67 Barrel 2.jpg


The barrel was then painted (Raw Sienna) and the metal hoops fashioned from Aluminium strip:

68 Barrel 3.jpg

Continued in the next post.........

Oh my Grant, That's just amazing sir. Lots of time and patience done to make that look so good, well done..Cheers, crowie

[crowie]

Construction: Finishing Touches

The tender was then painted.............and re-painted................. twice . I just wasn't happy with the finish on the first two occasions, so I bit the bullet and sanded it back for another go, and another..... Finally, on the third attempt, I achieved something I was satisfied with. The wheels and various bits of hardware (cast metal fittings) that I had previously painted up, were then added:

69 Tender 1.jpg


Coal for the tender is provided in the kit in the form of small stones, which are glued in place with a diluted mixture of white PVA glue and later painted black:

70 Tender 2.jpg


The display base is a separate (optional) kit and comprises a piece of MDF board, some timber mouldings to frame the board, pre-cut timber for the sleepers, the tracks and the track dogs (both cast white metal), and another (large) bag of rocks. A paper template is also provided to assist in laying out the sleepers and tracks. Here is the first version of the completed base:

71 Display Base 1.jpg


Unfortunately, after completing the base, I realised that the white of the paper template glued to the base board showed through the rocks in places. I decided to remove all of the rocks (which were glued in place) and to paint the base board a dark brown (Raw Umber). The hard part was removing all of the paper and glue from the rocks, but that was more time consuming than difficult.


With the display base complete, and the coal painted, the model is complete. Here are a few final shots:

72 Final 1.jpg

73 Final 2.jpg

74 Final 3.jpg

75 Final 4.jpg

Despite a few frustrations with re-work (all "own goals") this has been a most enjoyable little kit to build and I am very satisfied with the end result. More importantly perhaps, She Who Must Be Obeyed is also very happy with the end result and the model now has a new home on a cabinet in our dining room.

Thanks to all who followed along and especially to those of you who offered comments and encouragement along the way. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me.

I will be back when I have another non-ship project to compete (and there are a few in the wings...... )

Cheers,

FIRST CLASS - Prizing winning result Grant....simply magnificent result sir....one can easily sir why your good lady is so pleased with the end result of all your efforts....it certainly deserves it's new home on display for all to admire...Cheers, crowie

[Repliconics]

An absolute pleasure to be able to watch the progress of this beautiful model from start to finish.
Congratulations Grant on a truly wonderful piece of work.

Cheers
Trev.

[Keith_1]

Hi Grant,

You have done an excellent job on the "Rocket". Well Done

Great Stuff

Regards

Keith

[tony.]

Hi Grant, You've certainly finished her off to a very high standard mate, she looks absolutely splendid well done. Now all that needs to be done is to fire up that boiler. Be Good, mobbsie

[artme]

Superb effort and result Grant!! Something to be really proud of!!bravabravabrava