# The Rocket



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

This may be a little off-subject, but I thought youâ€™d all might like to see it anyway. Itâ€™s a half-inch scale (1:24) non-working model of George Stephensonâ€™s locomotive of 1829, called the _Rocket_. The plastic kit had been sitting on my shelf for years gathering dust and finally, during a â€œlull in the actionâ€�, I decided to tackle it.


















Thereâ€™s a popular misconception that the _Rocket_ was the first successful steam locomotive â€" which is not true. It was, however, the first successful _modern_ locomotive in that it featured a horizontal boiler with 25 copper tubes running its length to carry the hot exhaust gases from the firebox. This made for much more efficient and effective heat transfer between the firebox gases and the water. Previous locomotive boilers had been vertically oriented and used a single flue or twin flues. 

It also used a blastpipe, feeding the exhaust steam from the cylinders into the base of the smoke stack to induce a partial vacuum and pull air through the firebox, enhancing the draught and thus producing more steam (power.) These same features were still to be found in the very last steam locomotive ever built.


















In 1829, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway offered a prize of 550 Pounds Sterling (a princely sum!) to the company or individual who could build a locomotive that would weigh less than six tons and could pull a load of 20 tons. Of the five engines entered in the October, 1829, Rainhill Trials, only George Stephensonâ€™s _Rocket_ completed the course at the (then) astonishing speed of 24 miles per hour! (At the time, some people actually thought that speed would be fatal to humans â€" that the air would be sucked out of their lungs at such velocity.)



































The locomotive still exists, in somewhat altered form, and can be seen at the Science Museum in London, England.


----------



## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful Jack. I thought I was looking at artist's drawings in the first couple of pics. 

-Brian


----------



## flatracker (Jan 2, 2008)

Very neat Jack! The model is very detailed. Thanks for all the information on the steam engine and extra thanks for all the nice pictures of the different angles, which show how it is set up. It sure looks great with it's base, tracks, and ballast!

Did you paint it?


----------



## Dean Whipple (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful, beautiful, you do take the ordinary and make it extraordinary....


----------



## cjwalas (Jan 2, 2008)

Up to your usual standard, Jack. Beautiful! This is a nice model and you've done a great job on it. Maybe when I get a "lull in the action", I'll drag my half-painted kit down from the rafters! 
Thanks for the inspiring work! 
Chris


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Great model.... I've also got a Rocket, but in 1" scale. I built it from a machined kit by O.S.(which unfortunately? cost a BUNCH more than yours)









I noticed your kit was a bit skimpy on the valve gear detail...shouldn't be hard to scratchbuild, tho, just a bunch of rods and levers









The reverse gear is simple as well, the eccentrics shift side to side to engage pins on the outside collars. It is connected to a pedal on the footplate.









To give you an idea of size, the whistle is 5" in diameter









Another view of the valve gear and cylinder


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Just another quick note. Most of the Rocket type locomotives were later rebuilt with their cylinders repositioned more horizontal. Seems the inclined cylinders made the engines waddle very badly...enough to make the engine crews seasick.


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Jack, excellent job. I finally nailed down what it is about your painting style that appeals to me, driven home by your second photo. Your models are painted in such a style where they're 3D paintings. It's the coolest thing! When they're set in a garden setting, they look real enough, but with an ever-so-slight surreal air to them. When photographed like the Rocket, everything falls beautifully into place. Your models are always wonderful to look at, but these photos really put your artistry in an ideal light. 

Later, 

K


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks, Kevin (and everybody else) for the nice comments. Very flattering.
I guess I do have about as much fun photographing my models as I do building and painting them. (Yes, Bob, I do paint them) The real fun is in editing and tweeking the shots using _iPhoto_ on my Mac before I upload them here.

Thanks again to all.


----------



## flatracker (Jan 2, 2008)

I figured you had painted it (from seeing your past work) but had never seen the raw model, so wasn't absolutely sure. Very nice work!


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Jack, what lights are you using for photography? I'm seeing blues and oranges in the shadows, and if I were to try to replicate that, I'd use a mix of full-spectrum and incandescent bulbs and set my white balance on a card that receives both colors equally. (That, or I'd white balance for incandescent and gel the lights, but that's another level of complexity). What's your technique there? 

Later, 

K


----------



## Alan in Adirondacks (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack, 

Absolutely beautiful work on the engine and the photography. 

Best regards, 

Alan


----------



## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I am just surprised that it is not operable. With such maticulous detail, I thought I would see some steam and smoke. Somebody should stoking it. Absolutely incrediable.


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By East Broad Top on 02/10/2008 9:22 AM
Jack, what lights are you using for photography? I'm seeing blues and oranges in the shadows, and if I were to try to replicate that, I'd use a mix of full-spectrum and incandescent bulbs and set my white balance on a card that receives both colors equally. (That, or I'd white balance for incandescent and gel the lights, but that's another level of complexity). What's your technique there? 

Later, 

K

Kevin,

There's an old saying that even a _blind_ pig finds an acorn once in a while. Believe me, the lighting effects in my photos are the result of a happy accident rather than by any design or formula on my part.

I use a combination of portable fluorescent photo lights and the regular incandescent lamps I have mounted over my worktable. I set my Canon _PowerShot_ A710IS 7.1MB digital camera on "Auto" and just shoot away. I usually end up deleting about two-thirds of the shots, but eventually I get down to a few worth keeping and editing. Sorry, I can't share any specific techniques or "secrets of success" with you because I don't have any. I just keep messing with it until I'm happy with the result.


----------



## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

Very Purty as usual, If you ever make it over here some time I'll take you up to the said museum.


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Beautiful work and wondrous photography, too.

tac
www.ovgrs.org


----------



## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

A splendid piece of work Jack.   It certainly look fantastic, far better than the kit of parts on the shelf.


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Rod Hayward on 02/11/2008 3:32 AM

If you ever make it over here some time I'll take you up to the said museum.

Rod,

You're on.

Jack


----------



## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice work!

I tried coverting one of these to 45mm gauge, its very close, but at the time I couldnt figure out how to power it so I abandoned the project.


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I have one of those kits. The plastic molding isn't very good and it needs some attention to clean up. I'm probably not building it to such beautiful standards. I'm narrowing it for 45mm track. You need to take a couple mm off the sides of the frame, but otherwise it's not hard to do. For power, I have the motor and drive train from a RC car from Wal*Mart. The car was kindof cute itself, goes forward and backwards and steers right and left. Or at least it did before it met my trusy zona saw. It's back in the box 'cause I got interested in something else and haven't got back to it.


----------



## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Torby on 02/11/2008 9:32 AM
I have one of those kits. The plastic molding isn't very good and it needs some attention to clean up...

Torby,

I agree with you that the casting job for these kits usually leaves something to be desired. I had to do a lot of filing and filling just to get the pieces to fit together and look decent. Also, as Mik says, the level of detail is minimal - lots of stuff left off, complete lack of valve gear, piping to nowhere, etc.

Since I've always liked the looks and history of the original _Rocket_ - and this is the only kit that I've found so far- I took some pains in building it as a fair representation (if not as an accurate scale model) of it. Besides that, it was fun to do, which is always my final criterion for doing anything.


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack,

Beautiful model, as always.

Another 'modern' feature that was a first for the 'Rocket" was the inclined cylinders.  Until then, most locos had vertical cylinders attached to rocker beams, like a mill engine.

There's a replica in the UK that is steamed occasionally - I think it was built for the 150th anniversary of the Rainhill Trails.

Apparently there is some intrigue surrounding the Trials.  The nearest competitor dropped out with mechanical problems, and the offending part was actually made by Stephenson's!

There was also a 3 1/2" gauge model from Hornby:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hornby-Live-Steam-31-2-gauge-Rocket-for-restoration_W0QQitemZ300196965219QQihZ020QQcategoryZ14737QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And finally, I have a tiny HO scale version that is a puzzle - it all comes apart!  I think we bought it in the Museum Shop at the NRM.


----------



## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack. I built that same kit when I was about 8-9 yrs old. Of course I only glued it together. No painting what so ever. If I remember correctly, it was broken by the end of the evening. I was having too much fun running it around the house by hand.


----------

