I speak as a complete novice, around 10% complete on a 3.5 gauge loco, so please bear that in mind before reading my answer!

I spent a long time going in circles trying to work out what I should build and eventually just came upon a set of castings at the right price. If you are looking for an easy build I suspect your best bet is see what is most common at your club so you've got plenty of advice on tap! The best bit of advice I had was to build something I wanted to own at the end; don't try to build something based purely on how easy it will come together as you will lack the motivation to finish it.

I don't know the Scamp in particular, outside cylinders makes life easier, the inside valve gear maybe slightly less so, but at 5" I don't suppose it will be too much of an issue.

Whatever you choose I wish you the very best of luck, its a journey I've only just started but am enjoying immensely.

Luke

I built the 0-4-0ST "Gemma" , also a David Malcolm design, which is very similar to "Scamp". In fact the whole cylinder/valve/valve gear is basically identical. It was my first loco build and I found it a straight forward build. The most challenging part I found was the inside Stevenson's valve gear. There are no complex machining operations and as a first build it was of a large enough size that it wasn't 'watchmaking" and also not so large that it was unwieldy with multitudes of parts. I personally feel that if you build something that you like the look of that the chances of it getting completed are that much better. Whether it is the right one for you is only for you to decide!

As an aside "Gemma" performs very well on the track with very few teething problems from the start. It will easily pull two adults (+me) and quite often runs for 2 to 3 hours at a time. The only major fault was that the lower boiler tubes would plug up. This was cured by the addition of a stainless steel arch in the firebox. I imagine that "Scamp" would perform similarly as mechanically it is almost the same.

John

Luke

The build series for "Scamp" in EIM ran from Apr. 84 to July 85.    The reeves casting set I believe contains only the castings, no steel for the frames, buffer beams rods etc,  you have to source that yourself.  I believe they do show the frame and buffer beam steel in their listing though.

I've sent you a PM.

John

Edited By John Purdy on 11/10/2018 21:22:14

Luke, when your PM comes through the In Box sign/envelope in the green line at the top of the page will flash, just click on it, and there you are. Best wishes on your choice of Loco.

Ian S C

I also have the EIM build series, and it strikes me that Scamp is a very small engine by today's standards. The boiler does not have very many tubes in it due to a round top firebox design – simple but limiting. If you are thinking of hauling more than yourself around a track, I would say it is not a good design.

Sweet Pea or Simplex would be somewhat more challenging, but far better models IMHO.

Just my opinion.

Martin