Q Class 0-6-0

In 2017 having decided to model my usual fare of LMS/LNER in Yorkshire I bought the 3 mm Society's kit of the LMS 4F as my first venture in 3 mm loco building. Before I started it, I was waylaid by 'Exeter Central' and this changed my plans for the 4F. Being a BR layout I could have supposed that the London Midland region had sent a 4F into Devon for some reason...but in the end I decided to see what else I could use the kit for. A perusal of 'Southern' books soon identified Maunsell's 'Q' class of 1938 as a possible candidate for conversion.

Drawings and Reference material.

I took drawings of the Q and 4f from "Historic locomotive drawings in 4mm scale" by F.J.Roche and reduced and printed them on my scanner. From this I drew up a comparison list of the differences between the two loco's and the kit.. This list allowed me to ascertain the viability of conversion and plan the method I'd use. Photo's were obtained from a copy of "Locomotives illustrated" number 52.

Chassis

The wheels and wheelbase were correct but the chassis needed extending by 4mm at the front and the guard irons repositioning. The Sandboxes were totally different and needed filing up from solid brass. The 'Hi-Level' motor and gearbox drives on the rear axle so is not visible under the boiler. The tender chassis was made to float resting on the modified loco drawbar and the rear tender wheels were fitted with pickups. The wires are led through a hacked about DCC plug/socket into the loco.

Body

The cab was cut down and rebuilt in plastic. The smokebox front was removed and the smokebox extended by adding a plastic spacer before re-attaching the front, adding a front platform and dummy front frames. The handrail holes were filled and re-drilled for 0.3mm N/S wire handrails and ejector pipe. The knobs are twisted 5A fuse wire. A rather complicated steam manifold and whistles were devised from O gauge handrail knobs and various washers as was injector under the cab steps. Fun was had making the steam reverser. Eventually a brass turning was made and assorted wires and washers used to simulate the piles and levers on the original. It was attached to a flat plate superglued to the body above the wheel arch.

One of the 4f domes was reshaped in the lathe using a profile gauge cut to match the Roche drawing. The large diameter chimney was made from scratch.

The tender body needed lengthening and reducing in height before new coal plates were fitted. A large lead casting was made to fill the coal space, as the weight was needed for the rear wheel pickups. The tender frame cut-outs were reshaped and the springs modified and new filler fashioned from plastic tube.

Finishing

The loco was cleaned up and primed with car aerosol before being given two lights coats of satin black. This was to help attachement of the Modelmaster BR decals which generally don't like sticking to my models. Once dry the loco was given a couple of thin coats of Precision paints varnish

The loco took a bit of running in with an annoying whine coming from the gearbox. It has settled down after several weeks and runs really well now. I had some problems tracking down a short caused by the picks up catching the brake rigging but the most irritating issue is the Society SQ wheels which seem to pick up dirt at a phenomenal rate.