Hunslet 0-4-0 diesel hydraulic in OO...

I picked up this kit second hand at Warley with a view to trying some new (to me) techniques ahead of designing my own kit chassis in the Planet Industrials range for 2020. The Hunslet 0-4-0 diesel hydraulic in the Judith Edge range is an old kit, the etches say 2003, but it seems well designed as my previous (Sentinel in P4) build showed and I'm looking forward to making progress...

The first question is tracking down photos of prototypes, and deciding on a livery for my own model. By a little fluke I found that Pacific Elevators, a grain exporting concern in Vancouver, had a trio of them (see ::here:: and ::here::) sourced in 1968, '71 and '74 and one is still in service today (see ::here::). Why this one? Well those that know me may remember I have a connection with Canada, my father loved the country and as a child I visited three times and it's railways have left a long lasting impression on me...

Although fitted with buckeye and bell, I think I will use these light blue examples as my inspiration as I've already got a few green industrials! Time will tell, obviously mine will be fitted with 3 links and buffers, but the photos are large and of good quality so loads of detail is visible.

The kit only needs basic hand tools, I use a knife, tweezers, files, piercing saw and tapered reamers (up to 4mm) along with a small vice and an Antex 25W iron with liquid flux and 145degC solder.

The first 'new to me' thing was to try out some hornblocks to check their design, use, ease of assembly and their benefit in operation. I'm using the High Level basic ones, so the axle box in the frame, marked by the half etched lines is removed with the piercing saw once the side frame is removed from the fret with the knife and the tabs cleaned off with a file.

Once soldered in place, I reamed out the other bearing holes and soldered in the plain bushes before cutting and fitting the frame spacers and soldering it all together. I used a pair of plain 1/8" axles to ensure the frames were square and the horn blocks were mounted in the same position on each frame.

The motor and gear box is also from High Level - this is a hump shunter with the highest of ratios fitted with the 1219 cordless motor. The assembly is easy, but rewards patience with the cutting broaches to open out holes slowly and then following the excellent instructions to the letter. I found I had to file down the inside face of the axle bearings otherwise the supplied final drive gear and spacer wouldn't fit within the box. Once assembled it was tested and found to run very smoothly.

Trial fitted in the frames with the Romford OO gauge axles and Scale-link wheels the knife edge compensation can be seen on the non driven axle. It is balanced and level and provides a degree of movement to allow for variation in track so it will be exciting to see how this chassis performs.

The ideas I want to incorporate in my 'starter' non solder kit are the compensation and the style of gearbox. Both these work well in their High Level design, but I think the soldering puts of absolute beginners, so my plan is to use the concept to design something that can be assembled from designed parts with just glue. We'll see how I get on! I'm looking forward to pushing on with the body of this Hunslet in the coming week(s), more soon...