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Class 47 detailing project. Conversion of Bachmann 47. "A P4 Brush 4". Part 4 - More on those bogies

Jon020

Entry posted by Jon020

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It’s been a while since I posted anything on here; work and other life events have taken their toll on the available time and energies so there’s been little available to enable me to crack on with this project. I admit that when I started this, it was intended as a simple “post Deltic” project; it’s turned out to be anything but. The difference here is that with the Deltic there are plenty of “bits” available commercial, thanks to the likes of Brian H et al, for the 47 the bits are limited... but this allows some “proper modelling”, I say that, although I’m still trying to convince myself of this.

In June, I was able to pop into Swanwick Jct and grab some close up shots of 47401 and D1516... which was useful. The useful photos are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbus20/sets/72157630150264568/

I wanted to get back there next Saturday for the “47 gala and Railex”... but as the wife and I are “glamping” (don’t ask!) through to the Friday before, just a few miles away ... and need to get back South to collect the boys from tired grandparents, luck would be being pushed to stay over the extra night... not sure quite what the wife would make of the event either (I’m sure she’d love it... well, maybe, ahem)... anyway, it’s not to be.

So.... last time I wrote here I was contemplating the bogies. Do I stick with the Bachmann bogies or the nicer Heljan ones? Whilst the Heljan mouldings are very crisp, they have drawbacks.. so I stuck with the Bachmann ones, deciding to improve these.

This coincided with receipt of a etched kit from Ian Penberth... a sprung bogie kit. I opened this... looked at it all, felt a bit feint, and put it away again. I’ve not given up... I’ll tackle this in my own time. It looks great for fine running, but I want visible correctness and finess, so it’s the “look” I’m striving for, not necessarily the running; that’s the artist rather than the engineer talking. The kit comes with a nice “add on”... an etched kit for the brake hanging gear... and I might just start off with that... ‘cause it looks very nice.

Anyway, I spent some time on one of the bogies, removing all the wrong pipework (the wrong side)... removed the “57” hanging loop bits, and then removed all the pipework on the right side because it doesn’t go far enough. I then cleaned up the frame to give a cleaner “casting” feel to the shape. New pipework was made using 0.25mm nickel wire, with fine plastic rod hollowed out to represent the connectors and clips. The upper wire was bent to shape and check-positioned a number of times. The lower pipework will follow the same process.

The springs on the mouldings are poor... too thin. I removed all of these and tried to make some new ones with 0.6mm brass wire, with a thin slither of plastic tube thinned out and fitted over the ends for the “spring cups?” They’re a bit crude but might be ok once cleaned up.... very fiddle though. The end result is worth it (I hope).

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I’ve yet to work out how to construct the end “bits”... i.e. all the brake actuators and levers ... but that’s a problem for another day.

Before and after...

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So, what else.....

 

Alex’s and Robert’s railway has seen some activity (class 47 bogie diverting activity) and that’s now all ballasted... and they still enjoy playing.

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Robert lacked a decent diesel loco... so I bought him a Heljan 26 – which he loves. It runs really well and we’ve added the indicator discs to one end. Now we’re back from camping, we’ll do the other end. I’ve promised to weather it for him too. I bought 2 actually; I love these little diesels.... and detailing one should be a nice simple project (Please don’t tell me otherwise Brian or Mike). I knoe there’s the window frame issue... and I’ll be using etch discs and a new fan grill... other wise a paint touch in and weathering... with P4 wheels, should do it.

 

Finally, today I weathered my brother’s 47. It’s a job that’s been waiting for me to get around to for a while. So given that we were stuck at home for this morning... and it was faaaarrrrr tooooo hot to be modelling upstairs, I grabbed the airbrush and some powders... and with the brief of “make it dirty”, this was the result. I kept the sides clean because they seemed to stay clean... or get cleaned, but I gave the underframe and roof a good going over.... the bodysides were coated and wiped-off.

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Hope he likes it!

 

That's all for now folks... I hope I can produce something more soon... at least the holiday has brought the energy levels back up.

 

Jon

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bcnPete
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Jon, hi - Go on...dish it on 'Glamping' :O

 

Glad those bogies seem to be going well again - yes, the effort definately looks worth it...and I can see this duff looking the business as the Deltic did once finished...only, being a duff, it will be better ;)

 

Am impressed with your sons layout too - that ballasting and scenics have taken it to the next level and am feeling rather inadequate now with the efforts on my sons layout...you have set the bar high for fatherly input :D

 

Do tell more on the 26 too...does that mean a MPD location further north to allow a Deltic/26 overlap?...or perhaps a small scottish P4 layout?

 

Good to see you back again posting....

 

EDIT: Forgot to say, the first image is just a black square for me and the weathered duff for your bro looks top work...moss excepted :D

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Jon020

Hi Pete, oh all right then.... http://www.belvoirbe...lamping-breaks/

Oh, and now that you're back in the deep south... here in the mere south east, the temperatures have been a nice mid 20s and sunny... lovely to come back from camping to this; shame we didn't see much of it last week. Same for you though I guess.

Hopefully, whilst the bogies are going to be a long haul job, the end result will hopefully be worth it. We'll see.

Thanks for the comment re the boys layout... it's a long term project but it's getting there. Just started toying with the road surface - using wet and dry paper stuck with PVA. Looks ok. I think you're the one setting the bar height Pete... I'm just trying a different approach to disguise the fact that you're still leading ;)

The 26s.... nah, I just like them that's all. but whats wrong with a visiting Northern visitor to a depot.... now, are these the tiptop or the Tea cup? never can remember. Must search Youtube and listen.

First black square was a Flickr link. It should automatically run in slideshow format. If not, the link is in my usual signature field.

 

Thanks James. Ivan was right though and it bothered me. I dismantled it today and re-coated the wheels and bogies in a misting of track dirt to tone it all back; the bodyside lower edges got some dusting over too... as did the lower nose parts.... to represent thrown up dirt. Looks better anyway. With some sun tomorrow I'll grab another shot for comparison.

 

Early night tonight... want to get up before dawn to try searching for the Persids... should be a good show - more than 15 meteorites an hour forecast according to http://www.spaceweather.com/. Hope we wake up and it's not cloudy!

 

Thanks for the comments

 

Jon

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James Hilton

Jon that bogie looks incredible - fantastic attention to detail (again). It's good to have a mix of hard and quick projects on the go - something I always try and stick too... as usual a good and enjoyable blog :)

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bcnPete
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Thanks for that Jon...as charming as it looks, I gave up all relations with tents 25 years ago after so many disastrous occaisions...not to mention waking up and putting on damp clothes :( I need my home comforts at my age ;)

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Jon020

Thanks James, nice to see you on here. Caught up with your blog earlier - wow you've been busy with the big stuff.

What's that Pete..? is that why you moved to sunnier parts then ;-)

As I mentioned above, I re-did the 47 and posted a gallery shot earlier... shown here. Now a little happier with the result.

IMG 3273a

 

Oh, and we didn't see the meteorites... moon too bright? - nice triangular formation with Mars and Jupiter though.

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