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 Posted - January 28 2015 : 8:32:29 PM
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I'm finally doing it! I'm building an Arbour Models kit! And for those of you who don't know, the one I've got is the C&O 2-8-4 Kanawha, which is considered by many to be near impossible to build! I'll admit, many of the parts are poorly made, and it's taking a lot of work, but I think this'll really be something great when it's done.
The first video here shows how to build the chassis up to the siderods:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8GVTUAlsHQ
Next video will do the main rods, crossheads, and valve gear. Those are taking a while to finish, so don't expect the next video for at least a few days.
Darth Santa Fe, doing weird and challenging projects for the fun of it!
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 Posted - January 28 2015 : 8:41:30 PM
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Dang, you had to do quite a bit of drilling to get the mechanism together. It's no wonders these things had so many issues as you said. It's so sad because Arbour Models had a lot of potential and it was all wasted. Good video, though. Keep it up. 
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
Edited by - kovacste000 on January 28 2015 8:41:59 PM
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Posted - January 29 2015 : 09:16:57 AM
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DSF:
Great video, and it jogs some memories of an Arbour 4-6-0 i tried to assemble. I think, though I'm not sure, that Arbour may have originally supplied self-tapping screws for those holes you had to tap. Or maybe I filed flats on one, or maybe I just cram-a-lammed threads into the zinc alloy. The memories are vague on this point.
What I do remember is the axle fitting. I think this may be the single most 'dangerous' step in assembling an Arbour kit, because the alloy is so soft, and it's easy to remove too much. You were cautious and got good results. Looking at this, I now realize exactly where I went wrong. I had fitted the axle slots, but then, just as you did, I found that the rods didn't fit...but instead of doing the right thing and fitting the rods, I filed more from the axle slots. result - slop. And then I went and melted a crosshead guide bracket trying to solder it, but eh.
I wonder how the 4-6-0 mech would have worked out, had I done the fitting properly. As you noted, the alloy is soft, and those early-style rods are really small and thin. The Kanawha rods are much thicker, so they should be stronger.
The 4-6-0 was a beautiful-looking kit, though. Scale-sized, very small, and aside from the mech issues the castings looked great. I guess their downfall was in expecting too much out of their molding process. Pretty sure they used the same centrifugal-casting process, maybe even the same alloy, as Tiger Valley Models...but TVM made diesels, and maybe they did a better job of compensating for the slightly less accurate process.
Rod drive steam engines, though, need closer tolerances. Not real close as tolerances go! .001-.003 mostly, not splitting tenths, but still, Arbour would have been much wiser to cast the frames solid and mill the grooves, and maybe improve their drill fixture for the rods. Lost wax brass side rods could have been nice too. I think if they'd just done those simple things, their kits would have been successful.
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Posted - January 31 2015 : 6:06:24 PM
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Autobus, if you still have that 4-6-0, I think there's a parts unit on eBay right now with a good chassis.
I have a Tiger Valley diesel, and the metal and casting appears to be very similar. It's a well made kit, especially since it's all done by one guy, but there were still some minor casting issues to work out. All of the axles and shafts are mounted in separate bearings, so it's much easier to tune these to perfection. That TVM diesel is so smooth and powerful, I'd put it up against anything in a pulling contest!
Getting the main rods and PSC valve gear working is turning out to be a LOT more work than expected! Some of the PSC parts were poorly made unfortunately, and I'm also having to make a lot of rods from scratch. It is slowly coming together and working, and I'm getting the process worked out pretty well now. It's killing my fingertips though, and I'm taking long breaks to compensate, so it's going to be a while before the next video's up!
Darth Santa Fe, doing weird and challenging projects for the fun of it!
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Posted - January 31 2015 : 9:36:22 PM
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Oh gawd, you're actually doing it... the lengths we go to for our hobby
--CRC
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Posted - August 17 2015 : 01:21:31 AM
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Took a while, but here's part 2!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI-aU18poG4
For this part, I really wish I had the missing Arbour parts! I've heard it's tough using those, but even that would've been easier than what I've had to do here.
Darth Santa Fe, doing weird and challenging projects for the fun of it!
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Posted - August 17 2015 : 07:57:51 AM
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Wow! That's a lot of small intricate work, but it looks like you got it moving smoothly. 
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - August 17 2015 : 11:20:46 AM
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| Fine looking work and interesting machine work. Nice video Darth.
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Posted - August 17 2015 : 4:41:31 PM
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 You're really good at this stuff, man. I didn't think you'd be able to get this far because of how troublesome they apparently can be to build.
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
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