Model Forum / General / Railroads / July 2005

The closest I know is the DJH beginner kits, 1 steam 1 diesel, never
built one though :-)

http://www.djhengineering.co.uk/loco/oo-gauge.asp?region=Starter%20Kits

Kevin Martin

He will say what's needed. For most High Level kits you need wheels,
crankpins, axles and motor.
The wheels are usually from Alan Gibson, specifying the gauge (OO, EM, P4).
Gibson's crankpins are quite nice, though the bits are small and easily
lost - keep a strong magnet handy to find the washers and nuts should you
drop them in the carpet !
Motors are usually Mashima can motors, which High Level can supply.

I'd go along with the plug for High Level for the same reasons.  But, I
would recommend building a few etched wagon kits (or similar) first to get
the hang of things - its a lot less expensive in cash and morale to build a
sub-standard wagon than a loco.

A High Level 0-4-0 is probably OK with a rigid chassis in OO, which removes
the complication of springing or three-point compensation. A OO version
would also have the wheels closer together which means any of the types with
outside cylinders have less critical clearance on the connecting rods and
crossheads.

I've just about finished assembling a High Level Hudswell Clark "Coronation"
0-4-0 to run on P4 track. Its a really nice loco to build, though you won't
do it in a couple of days. The instructions are very thorough, and it builds
to something which comes apart with nuts and bolts to make servicing and
painting easy; my only very minor cricisms are that the wheelsets don't drop
out (unless you change the design), and you have to be imaginative on how to
paint the cab interior (I've chosen to fit the cab roof with springy wires
so it can be removed).
The resulting loco has a 100:1 (or thereabouts) gearbox, which makes for a
very slow and controllable loco.
Its a lot simpler build than the Neilson "piano tank", where the tank
assembly is a bit complicated to make.

To build it I think this is a rough tools list which I used (*):
- soldering iron (I'm using a 50w temperature controlled Antex),
- solders and fluxes (eg. Carrs 188 for most of it, low melt useful for the
whitemetal bits),
- araldite to fix the backhead to the firebox (you might also want superglue
or araldite for a few other parts instead of soldering).
- small drill bits (and archemedian spiral drill) for drilling out wire
holes in castings (for cab fittings, etc).
- small saw to separate lost wax castings from sprues
- small vice for holding things
- tapered broaches for opening out holes in etches to take wire (small
packet of broaches is about £8 from tool suppliers such as Eileens or
Squires)
- small files (for holes and removal of tabs after assembly where they need
filing flush).
- tool for pushing out rivets, such as a scriber hit gently with a small
hammer
- hard cutting surface (eg. perspex sheet) to cut parts from etch.
- garryflex block and glass fibre pencil for cleaning up parts prior to
soldering
- bending tool (a brass door hinge is ideal and a lot cheaper than a "hold
and fold" tool !)
- screwdriver, small pilers, wire cutters, tweezers
- Eveleigh Clamp to hold things whilst soldering (
http://www.2mm.org.uk/mag0897/clamps.htm )

(* excluding the lathe & gubbins I used to fashion my own hornblocks for
suspension as you can either build it rigid or use commercial hornblocks).

- Nigel