Scratch Building in Brass

[bob turner]

I note Retroniac's thread on building in brass:

https://ogrforum.com/topic/building-a-b ... locomotive

I am long since persona non grata on that forum, so cannot opine there - but I can do so here.
It looks like, having only viewed the first four minutes of the video, that the craftsman there is assembling a kit - and that the kit is of a Japanese Railway Hudson type (I am sure they do not call 4-6-4s "Hudsons" in Japan).

As I understand it, there were two versions of this kit - one was kind of cheaply done, the other was done with really good castings and sheet metal components. Not at all sure of this, but I believe the cheaper version was the IMP, or International, import to the US. The video seems centered on high quality components.

Really scratchbuilding a model steam locomotive in brass involves taking raw brass, and machining, rolling, forming, and soldering/fastening it into a form resembling a locomotive. It often allows for commercial castings - for instance, I would never even attempt a scratchbuilt O Scale Westinghouse cross-compound air pump. They are too easy to purchase, often for very few $. I have occasionally machined my own drivers, and while I have never personally cast anything, I have many times made masters and had castings made from them at a foundry.

I so far have not tried to load anything into Youtube, but if I were going to do so, I would show my technique for turning bar rail into boilers, and plate brass into frame sides.

[steamaheadstephen59]

Bob This is unfortunately a short version of a longer video. That video showed him forming the boiler, cab and tender shells and his drawings and calculations on paper. It also shows the turning of the wheels, his soldering technique etc a great watch indeed. https://youtu.be/o93J-ebHGhs?si=LCFcOoxF2LmHAyAy

[up148]

A friend sent that to me yesterday. The man is a true artist. It may not have all the whistles and bells of our main importers and builders, but it is built to last the ages. I love watching the solder work with that huge iron and his tools are very old, but very, very good. Great video.

[bob turner]

Good thing I said I was opining, huh?

So this model is not the Japanese Hudson that was imported in the 1950s, but rather a "one-off?"

[steamaheadstephen59]

Bob. I believe these are commisoned for retiring railway workers, there’s another video out there as well.

[Johnbeere]

Does anyone have the link to the longer version? Bob's explanation of the model being a kit makes a lot of sense to me - there's too many steps that we don't see for it to be fully scratch built. Very impressive regardless, but I wonder how much of it is actually scratch built.

[bob turner]

I think so - there is a longer version referenced in OGR. I will reproduce it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ8dA2sl1Dg

I looked at it - while I saw the lathe in action, I did not see a driver tire being machined, and the only soldering was touch-up to the cab. I do not mean to say that this gentleman is not a master craftsman; he clearly is. It is just that it still looks like kit assembly to me. The equalized frame looks great, but then one could buy such a kit right here in the good old USA in 1950. Assembly was fairly easy.

The thing does run like a Swiss watch!

[Dennis Holler]

Ahh man I just realized I posted a link to the same video!! Sorry for that lol.
This definitely looks like one of the cottage builders that would have built early import brass stuff like IMP or the better Katsumi stuff.

[Carey Williams]

Here is a link to see my International Swallow Hudson ...
I've had a couple of these engines .... quality varies greatly from model to model ...
This one is a huge step above of others in craftsmanship ....runs well ...2 rail

https://youtu.be/-pqJ5FJG_qk?si=Dfz9UJwSGO5-VGDn

Fun to see all the steps to build an engine

Cheers Carey