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About this blog

continuing a workbench thread from the old RMweb

Entries in this blog

From T49 to U25: yet another GWR 4-wheel coach

We've seen several GWR 4-wheel coaches on the blogs in recent weeks so I thought I would add one that I've been working on. The origins of this project go back more than four years to this topic in the early days of the current incarnation of RMweb and long before I started on the current incarnation of my Camerton layout. I'd almost forgotten it until I was reminded by a post by Miss Prism in this topic. The original intention had been to identiy the unusual brake coach used on passenger and mi
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7

Falcon Brassworks GWR CC3 Tool Van

The old Jindenco/Falcon Brassworks kits will be well-known to old hands, but there has been some interest shown on the forums in their recent re-introduction under new owners so it is perhaps worthwhile to present a review of one of the 'new' kits. I recently ordered a couple of these kits, an AA6 PW brake van and a CC3 Signal Dept. tool van and both arrived within six weeks. I assume that if you are the first to order a particular kit then you'll have to wait a similar period, but they may be p
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24

Buffalo rescue 3: back to 1911

At the end of the last entry, I had just managed to avoid assembling a 1911 engine with a 1925 bunker. I hadn't really expected to make much progress over the next couple of days but things have gone rather well, so I thought a brief update was in order. A search through kit leftovers and other bits and pieces failed to locate any suitable replacement bunkers. In fact, I'm managing to collect a fair number of later cabs and bunkers so maybe sometime Ill have to try building something in 1920s or
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8

Buffalo rescue 2: the new look slimline Buffalo

At the end of the last entry I was left with a kit of parts needing cleaning and, in some cases, reshaping or replacement. As I was starting on this task an interesting discussion with Miss Prism developed in which he suggested that the widths specified on the Swindon drawings reproduced in Russell were wrong. After much discussion, a couple of new books and some measurements from photos, I had to agree with him. So, firstly I had to accept that my previously built saddle tank is about 9" too wi
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5

Buffalo rescue

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the work of cat and dog rescue centres, donkey sanctuaries and so on. This entry is intended to be the start of the story of my attempt to rescue a bedraggled and mistreated Buffalo. In this case, an Alan Gibson pannier tank kit that I spotted recently on eBay and managed to obtain for rather less than half the cost of a new kit. Was it a bargain? Only time will tell. What follows is something of a catalogue of errors and, though I have no intention of poking f
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27

High Level 57XX with added CSB

Although the main focus of my Camerton layout will be in the Edwardian era, I do hope to run a variety of stock from later Victorian years through to nationalisation. For this, like all good GWR branchline layouts, I'll need some pannier tanks. At some point I would like to include an early pannier conversion from an early saddle tank, for example, a representative of the 1813, 1854 or 2721 classes. I'm going to start, however, where everyone else does, with a 57XX or 8750. As I already have a c
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34

CSP Radstock Sentinel, part 4

I had been making steady progress with this kit up to the end of last month, then life, work, health, dentistry and so on intervened leaving me precious little time when I felt able to do any modelling. Nevertheless, some work was done though not enough to make it worth posting a weekly update. In odd hours or half hours I managed to build up the chimneys and roof, and to add the numerous small details provided in the kit. These included many rivet strips, lamp irons, the forward/reverse gear me
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6

CSP Radstock Sentinel, part 3

Only a little progress this week because limited modelling time has been split between building a bridge for Camerton and the Sentinel. Nevertheless, the kit is now beginning to take on the unmistakeable form of the prototype so I thought it worth posting one photo showing the engine and tank covers resting in place on the running plate.     Apart from end pieces, the kit includes a couple of formers to help get the shape right. The curves were formed around various lengths of steel rod of
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5

CSP Radstock Sentinel, part 2

Since last weekend's entry, most of the work on the Sentinel has focussed on a myriad of small pieces. The first of these to be added were the sandboxes and the axleboxes and springs. The latter castings are highly detailed and capture the characteristic shape of the spring supports. Small filler tubes were fitted to the front sandboxes. These pass through the running plate and have their filler caps added.     Two other points of interest in the above photo. Firstly, I've had to make a sma
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6

CSP Radstock Sentinel

Back in early December on the Radstock Sentinel thread, I had mentioned that I ordered one of the new CSP kits. However, Roger Slade told me that he had sold over forty kits in the first couple of weeks, so I had to wait until new etchings, castings, etc. had been made. Last Tuesday it arrived so, after a quick look in the box, I settled down to read the instructions. The instructions appear to descibe every stage of the build and are accompanied by many expoded isometric drawings and other diag
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4

P4 wheels for a Dapol Class 22

Earlier today I posted a short note on the Dapol Class 22 thread about my first attempt at converting the Dapol wheels to P4 using tyres from Gibson coach wheels. With the aid of a fan heater, I'd survived the cold garage for long enough to produce my first wheel.       Since then, I've made three more so it is probably worth explaining how I did it in greater detail. The next two photos show the various stages of the process from the original Dapol wheel at the left to the new P4 wheel
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10

58047 painted and weathered

I had been expecting the next post here to be about the chassis of my 1P, but since my last post way back in January, very little has happened on that front other than a minor disaster when I needed to take some pieces off the bogie and managed to melt more solder than was intended. Since then, the number of different unfinished projects on my bench has multiplied. 58047's body received its first coat of Halford's satin black a couple of months ago but since then I've been distracted by other pr
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10

Johnson 1P, more fiddly bits

Not so much to show this week, I've had less free time and have been using it to add some of the small fiddly bits. Now I've reached the point where I need to wait a few days for some new supplies from Eileen's. These include some brass channel section that I hope to use in producing the little brackets on the buffer beams that hold the electrical connection cable when not in use.     The first photo shows most of the new additions. Starting from the rear, the bunker step is quite prominent
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11

Johnson 1P, adding some detail

At the end of part 1, the basic brass body was ready for the various castings and details to be added. I had already used a Gibson cast brass whistle, dome and Salter valves, not because there was anything wrong with the white metal castings in the kit, but I just prefer brass and was a little nervous about the longevity of white metal Salter springs. Again, the rear safety valve cover was quite a good casting but both the Johnson and Deeley chimneys supplied in the kit were terrible. Both were
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0

A Johnson 1P 0-4-4T for the S&DJR

As we all know, the best way to ensure that the RTR manufacturers will release something we want is to build a kit version. So it was that on the thread about the new Bachmann 7F, when thoughts turned to what might appear next, I jokingly suggested that I should get on with building my Craftsman 1P kit that has been languishing on the shelf for some time. Then, after Xmas I felt that I needed a break from scenery and ballasting on Nowhere, I thought about it a bit more and decided to give it a g
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7

What can I do with my Hornby NRM 28XX?

Over on the Hornby forum, a thread called New Hornby 28xx/38xx has been running since late September. As the various versions of these models have been released discussions have turned, as they often do, to which of the prototypes had which features and when. Now, I bought one of the models that represents the NRM's 2818 because I wanted something that would pass for a reasonable representation of an early example of the class.     It is a good model and has a livery and general appearance
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12

Chipping a Brawa Köf II

Something a little different from the mostly GWR content in this blog. If you have read any of my other (layouts) blog, you'll be aware that Camerton has been on hold for a while while I rethink and strengthen my scenic skills. In the meantime, I've been working on a wholly imaginary layout called Nowhere or Nessun Luogo or Nirgendwo according to language preferences. This is a fairly simple HO and HOe layout that will allow me to run whatever continental stock I like without too much concern fo
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9

Painting the Dean Goods

To complement yesterday's entry on painting the Buffalo, I thought I would add a couple of photos of the Dean Goods and 2500 gallon tender in their current state. Like the Buffalo, these will be finished in the colourful pre-1906 GWR livery, so the initial green coverage was done in the same session as the saddle tank. So far, only the green has been done and I intend to finish most of the black and indian red on the Buffalo before returning to complete this one.     The tender chassis has
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1

Slow progress on painting, but I'm getting there

Nearly two months since the last post here, so time for an update, if only to show that there has been some progress.   With the chassis running quite well, I turned my attention to painting the body but, first, I needed to practice with my new air brush and compressor. After a week in which I experimented with paint/thinner ratios, air pressures, spraying distances and needle openings, as well as learning how to strip an clean the brush, I was ready to start on the buffalo.   Unfortunatel
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8

Testing the Buffalo chassis

The Buffalo body has been resting in a box protected from dust and handling while I decide whether to start painting it with what I have now, or to buy a new airbrush. Of course, the weather and the temperature in the garage have meant that any such decision has not been high on my agenda.   In the meantime, work has continued on the chassis. The frames have been painted and plunger pickups fitted. Those who read earlier parts of this story on the old RMweb may remember that I had problems wit
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13

Goods stock

Like everything else I have shown here, most of my goods stock is in varying stages of completion, though none are actually complete...   To kick off this section, here are a couple of early GWR brake vans built from variations of the ABS (formerly D&S, I believe) kits. I am starting with these because they have been mentioned in a couple of threads in recent weeks (hereand here), so some people may be interested in seeing them close up. The kit is available in two forms. The first represe
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0

Pre-grouping stock

2009-11-29: N6 horsebox added at end of this entry.   Progress on the Buffalo and Dean goods awaits a warm weekend suitable for painting in the garage. At least that's my current excuse In the meantime, I thought I would show some of the other items that have served to fill in gaps in locomotive construction over the past few months. You can blame Mikkel for this he has recently shown a selection of pre-grouping stock on his blog illustrating various approaches to kit building/bashing, etc.
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10

Some progress with the U28

2009-11-28: Brief update added at end of this entry.   Since the last entry I've made some progress on the IKB U28 kit. The body is now complete and internal partitions have been added using 10 thou brass. I mentioned that I'd just started this kit, but I also have a separate chassis like the one in this kit that I built about a year ago. It has been languishing at the back of the bench since then because I was never happy with the suspension system. It has sprung internal hornblocks which I c
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3

2500 Gallon Tender

I finally finished making and fitting the lamp sockets to the 2500 gallon tender, so it is now ready for painting. The engine and tender have been scrubbed with 'Bar Keepers Friend' and warm water, and are now drying after rinsing in cellulose thinners. In the meantime, I'm trying to warm the garage sufficiently to get a coat of primer on before it gets dark and the temperature drops. This was the state of the tender and its chassis a little earlier this afternoon.         Nick
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4

Dean goods - ready for primer

Now that all the Buffalo and 48XX pages have been brought over from the old RMweb, it is time to introduce something else that has been on my workbench for a while. This is a Martin Finney Dean Goods kit with matching 2500 gallon tender. This was my first brass kit, started early this year before the Buffalo arrived. At that point, the major brass components had been assembled into a reasonable likeness of one from the early, narrow footplate, lots with an S4 boiler around 1900-1905. As this wil
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