GWR No12 Sentinel

[JonL]

Sorry, it was my daft sense of humour. A bit like when my ex-wife's analog watch stopped working and she asked "I wonder when that happened?"

[lesstoneuk]

Sorry for the lack of an update, had an adverse reaction to my Pfizer vaccine jab. First night I was right as rain. Second night I was rough as hell, ached, weak and queezy. Third night, I had improved a bit. Fourth night, back to normal.
Anyway, back to the Sentinel build.
The roof has been fitted, I'm half way through sanding the profile before glassing. This will provide a smooth, hard surface that'll take paint well.
As a break from the sanding, I'm fitting the riveted strips on the sides, back and front. These I got from Cornwall models, 1 x 5mm lime Strip along with some 1.2mm brass dome head rivet. They're really good on model ship building and there's a lot of stuff that transfers over.
Oh well, let's finish my coffee and get back to it

ibb.co/5k8sGcN

[lesstoneuk]

Well the body is 95% done, I just need a sunny day to glass some ultra light glass fibre cloth to the roof.
I never realised during the early build how much small ancillaries I would need. Things like terminal posts, pcb mountings, aluminium angle, 12v horn (I would have preferred a whistle but that requires a pressure reservoir which brings in a required pressure vessel test).
I've also ordered a loco headlamp.
As and when the parts arrive, they'll be installed.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.... Exciting times.

ibb.co/zFyv7R8
ibb.co/jH69hhy

[lesstoneuk]

Well, things are creeping along ever so slowly. Just this minute finished the panel loom. Rather than plough straight in, I did each mini loom following the drawing supplied by Maxitrak.
I was a bit peeved that the loom wasn't included inthe kit, seeing as my reference for the entire assembly on YouTube had his included. See here by what I mean.... youtu.be/yAmOLNq_X0s
Luckily, her indoors works in the electronics industry so she has tidy insulated terminal crimper. It's worth using the proper ratchet crimper and not the thin sheet plier version. Personally, those ones belong in the skip.
After maybe an hour, all was done.
Technically, I can now do a test run... Just need the battery there. Let's wait until pension day, shall we

ibb.co/x8tv010

[lesstoneuk]

Nobody told me that the final kitting out would take so long and entail using more bits than the main build took.
I'm doing the last few tweeks of the electrics, fitting a kill plug. I'm using a 1/4" long thread stereo socket as fitted to an electric guitar. I'm also tidying up the wiring loom in the control space.
I'm wondering if I should fit a cooling fan over the speed controller. I'm of the "cool is good" faction regarding motherboards/pcbs. Your input here would be appreciated.
I've mounted the horn right at the front on an aluminium bracket. It's loom has been crimped and installed as has the push button on the control panel. Shame it couldn't be a whistle.
The body has had the handrail knobs fitted, I may secure the handrails too as they're the same colour on spraying. The chimney is a problem though as the right size tube is too thin. The tank filler is similar.
Missed out on an opportunity to do a test run. The missus had the campervan battery out for a trickle charge. Was going to do a test run this morning but she took a holiday from work to prep the van for a weekender. Some people can be very inconsiderate.
That'll do for now

[andyhigham]

I mounted a heatsink and fan on my 4QD.
I powered a relay from the parking brake output, the relay either drives the solenoid valve to apply the brakes or drives the fan when moving

As the full size NDM6 loco has air horns, I have fitted car air horns to the model

20230127_124210 by Sigma Projects, on Flickr

20230127_124705 by Sigma Projects, on Flickr

[lesstoneuk]

Latest update
All the wiring loom is finished. All terminals are tightly crimped and cable tied neatly together. Kill plug and socket all soldered up along with a break plug in the final feed loom. This will allow me to remove the body easily for fitting the battery after charging.
Today, I got stuck into 4 buffers I had from ebay. Only two sprung properly. I dismantled them to find less than workable springs.
Luckily, I had a bag springs, yes I know they're Chinese springs but they are there in the right place at the right time.
The spring rod varied in diameter and out of 4,only one would accept a spring. The drill, wet n dry and time got the rods all to the same size. Some adjustments to a couple of buffer stocks and I now have four working buffers.
All handrails are fitted now. To drill the holes in the right place, I had to use a spotting jig. It was simple after that.
Give it a week or so and I'll have the battery. I can't believe testing is imminent.

[lesstoneuk]

Postman Pat delivered two pipe/hose joiners today. They're made from a tough plastic and thick to boot. The small one after an hour or so of cutting and fettling has made a very passable chimney.
The 32mm one is destined as the water tank filler.
Once I get back from taking Mrs S to fat club, the tank filler will be done.

[lesstoneuk]

I made the tank filler lids today. I wasn't sure whether to post here or in "What I've done today". I figured there because more people would read it there.

[JonL]

We still read these posts Les, don't worry about that.

[stevep]

In both threads!

[lesstoneuk]

At last, we had two days of warm, dry, sunny weather..... Now I was able to get on with the glassing of the roof of the Sentinel. To keep a scale-ish lip around the roof, I used 2mm slats. Pros.... They gave me a good, thin curvature. Cons.... Little edge on joining surface for the glue to grab. The glass fibre and resin will cure that problem in one go and provide added strength to the top surface.
Well, I cut the lightweight glass cloth to an inch bigger all round then mixed up the resin and hardener according to the bumpf supplied in the glassing kit.
With a foam brush I applied a good coat of resin to soak the cloth. Job done, time for a tea.
Wouldn't you believe it, as soon as I got up to go inside, I saw a midge on finals ready to touch down. After a perfect 6 point landing it bogged down in the sticky runway. Sods law springs to mind here.
Come early evening the resin was set, the roof was smooth and hard.
If its dry tomorrow, the filler paint will go on.

[lesstoneuk]

Well, the battery was ordered on Thursday and after a nail biting 24hrs,was delivered yesterday evening.
First thing this morning a brought the chassis down to the kitchen. I can do a short run of 15ft on the cabinet worktop. The astute amongst you may have guessed that Mrs S wasn't in residence.
I fitted the battery, mounted the bodywork and checked for movement... None. This was to be expected as I hadn't fitted the dead man's plug. All good so far.
In went the plug and after some fiddling with the brake switch position..... She moved.
To quote or probably misquote a famous doctor..... "It lives... Mwah-ha-ha-ha".
I can finally see why all of you are in this business.
Hopefully, i'll go down to Derwyn Fawr tomorrow for a run. It's an open day so I won't be holding my breath as the public's enjoyment is paramount.
I love this feeling.

[JonL]

Fantastic Les. Well done

[lesstoneuk]

Hi all. Had a shed load of stuff to do after the first outing.

First was loss of traction control. This manifested itself as I was going to load the Sentinel back in the car. Power was there then gone.
Looking at the problem in the house the following day, it was obvious the fault lay in the solder connection to the potentiometer. Two of the five were broken. I can put that down to opening and closing the control panel for viewing.
I stripped it down, desoldered all of the joints and spliced in more flexible wire.

More seriously, the dead man plug locked in the socket and wouldn't pull out. This is a definate no-no. The Sentinel doesn't run until this is sorted.
I thought that by buying good quality components would give me good service for years. Not so. The 1/4 inch stereo plug rotated in itself, misaligning all of the parts when twisted. This, of course, provided a very efficient locking system to the dead man.
I've gone to a 3.5mm plug and a panel mounted socket. Things are getting small so we'll see if there's a power drop..... Fingers crossed

I took the opportunity to paint the body in GWR Loco Green. For once the missus said it was OK the do it on the dining table provided a dust sheet was down. After 3 coats, leaving at least 24hrs between coats, on went the monogram and the number plates. Two coats of varnish and she's ready to go back to go the track.
While I was at it, the roof vent and the chimney went on.
Damn, she looks smart