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A Prototypical Prototype

D869

Entry posted by D869

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The latest of the coaches that made it to Railex but weren't quite finished is now done… barring the usual few bits waiting for some crud coloured paint.

 

To recap for those just joining the story, this is a Fleetline kit bought in the 1980s which has languished in my gloat box ever since. The kit has been assembled mostly 'as intended' except for discarding every whitemetal part (including the coach ends) and replacing with Plastikard.

I suspect that some readers may have been expecting me to finish this in blue/grey but looking critically at the etched sides I decided that they did not look quite right in terms of the window proportions and spacing so I decided to resort to a slightly different vehicle that really has different window proportions, namely the prototype Mark 2 FK W13252. Use of the present tense is deliberate, because happily it has been preserved on the Mid Norfolk Railway. Having gone for the prototype instead of the production model it wasn't much of a further step to paint it maroon. I could have done the same with a production FK, with the exception (I think) of the rather natty grey underframe.

 

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EDIT: I just noticed that one of the '1's has come off the door on the compartment side :angry:

 

The kit comes with no interior so I decided to make my own. At the time I started it the moulded seating was unavailable so I got my own seating made using 3d printing. This has the advantage of being made to the correct width so there is no mucking about cutting it to length. The interior itself has a floor of 15 thou black plastikard and partitions cut from 20 thou white plastikard. I considered printing the corridor partition on acetate but I didn't have any of the right stuff for my printer, which in any case is playing up at the moment so I decided it would be just as quick to do it the old fashioned way. I cheated a bit by cutting every opening all of the way to the top and then adding a separate strip across the top, which is where the pelmet for the sliding door would be.

 

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The thickness of the clear sides of Fleetline kits makes them less than ideal for interior detail partly because there is less room available than there ought to be and partly because they cause a prismatic effect that distorts the view of the interior. The first problem is solved by making the whole interior narrower than it should be. The second was solved (partly at least) by removing the passengers after I took the photos because they made the distortion really obvious. Still it wouldn't be the first empty first class coach that I've ever seen. The curtains are cigarette paper coloured with watercolour and then stuck inside the glazing.

 

The paint job was… err… entertaining and having decided on maroon it was a case of 'in for a penny'. I experimented by trying to get thinner lines than on previous coaches and this worked really well. Wrapping the lining around the ends was a bit of a conundrum. In the end I used the bow compass to offset from the buffer cowling underneath each corner. This idea would have worked really well if I'd planned it earlier - then I could have made sure that the cowling was actually properly level so that it would have made a better datum. As it is some of the corner lines are less than 100% level and a bit wobbly in places but I'm quite pleased… at least with the better corners anyway. The transfers are Modelmaster from the NGS, except for the OHLE flashes which are Fox.

 

The real W13252 started life allocated to the 'Bristolian' with occasional weekend trips to Weston. I was thinking that I needed a hefty dose of modeller's licence to run this at St Ruth but it ran at Railex anyway… and then in answer to a question on the BRCS Yahoo group yesterday I found out otherwise. This turned up a photo on the rail-online web site that shows D1000 in maroon entering Plymouth from the west with W13252 as the second coach in the train. The headcode indicates the Cornish Riviera around 1965 so it seems that I need no modeller's licence whatsoever. As a bonus, the first and fourth vehicles are Hawksworth SKs so we also have a nice contrast between modern styling 1940s style and modern styling 1960s style.

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  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
  • RMweb Gold

Very nice Andy

 

Hard to believe it started as the old Fleetline kit.

 

Will give the new Farish MK II's a run for their money.

 

PS - I was one of those expecting the blue/grey livery ;)

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D869

Thanks Pete. I guess that I just about got this done before the Farish ones were on the market... not that they will be maroon since Mark 1As were originally blue/grey... unless they go for 'preservation' maroon. More to the point I cleared that spot on my workbench that was making me feel guilty.

 

I haven't foresaken rail blue but the balance of my stuff was heavily towards the last couple of years of the 1960s so I've been trying to get it more suitable for St Ruth's 1965 nominal date. I'm not too religious about that date though... if we stuck exactly to it then we would have almost exclusively D800s on the main line trains and they would all be in GSY livery... which I like, but it would get a bit monotonous. I am planning some more blue stuff in the not too distant future... but need some more D800 window etches before then. But then... green warships with no warning panel look very smart too.

 

Regards, Andy

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  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
  • RMweb Gold

Tempted by that Dapol 22 at all?

 

It does look rather nice...:)

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D869

Tempted by that Dapol 22 at all?

 

It does look rather nice... :)

 

I'm in two minds about it to be honest. I did seriously consider buying one but then wondered if I could bring myself to spend that much dosh and then pull the wheels out straight away and send them away for turning. I suspect that it would languish in its box for a while so I think that I'll just hang on to my money for the time being, especially since I already have a 22 that does its job very nicely indeed. I'll certainly be interested to see how a Dapol one runs.

 

The Western on the other hand...

 

Although I do find it a little odd that Hattons are quoting less quids to pre-order a MSY Western than the 22 costs. After all you get more wheels on a Western.

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richbrummitt

You should speak to Jerry about the Western. He was giving one a test run at Expo EM. From what I saw of it the running/haulage has the potential to disappoint unfortunately.

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D869

You should speak to Jerry about the Western. He was giving one a test run at Expo EM. From what I saw of it the running/haulage has the potential to disappoint unfortunately.

 

Yes I gather from speaking to him at Railex that the one he tried 'had issues'. I'm hoping that it's an isolated bad example. If not then we'll need to see what can be done to remedy the problems because I'm pretty sure that the body will be a better starting point than the old Farish moulding. Rather an expensive thing if it works out that way though, so let's hope not.

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  • RMweb Gold
queensquare
  • RMweb Gold

Hi chaps. The Western I have does have issues, principally that there is so much slop twix worm and drive gear on the bogie tower that they disengage when there is a slight change in gradient (as on the front of Highbury) leaving the motor spinning but the wheels still. I have been in correspondence with Dave at Dapol and he has told me that the factory in China are tightening the tolerances so I'm confident that this is an isolated example.

That problem aside its a superb model that really captures the characteristic look of these handsome locos. I have a couple on order.

 

Jerry

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