Lamp Irons for ex GWR models.
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Entry posted by Silver Sidelines
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My last Post looked at Dapol County engines. These models appear to me to be essentially the same as the latest Hornby Rail Road models. At one end so to speak the models come with a working fall plate, at the other there is a lack of detail – such as no lamp irons.
Dapol County and Airfix Castle fitted with lamp irons
To my knowledge the earliest ready to run models that came with lamp irons fitted to the front foot plate were the Airfix 14xx models.
Recent Hornby 14xx showing stubs for lamp irons
The body shell moulding for the 14xx with its stubby lamp irons appears to have remained unchanged, from its early Airfix origins, through the Dapol era, right up until the most recent Hornby models. I would say that the only change made by Hornby to their recent models, is an improvement to the front vacuum pipe – and this is really an ‘add on’ to the body shell, rather than a change to the body moulding itself.
Early Bachmann Hall (Wraysbury Hall)
I think lamp irons first appeared on ready to run models when the Mainline branding was withdrawn and Bachmann began marketing their models under their own name.
Recent Bachmann Hall (Raglan Hall)
The pictures above show the bent metal brackets used on all the early Bachmann ex GWR types and continued right up to the present day.
Recent Hornby Castle (Earl Cairns)
Whilst Bachmann appear to have used the same rather heavy bent metal ‘lamp irons’ throughout their range of ex GWR models, Hornby appear to have adopted different designs of plastic moulding for each class of engine.
Hornby 28xx type
The lamp irons fitted to the latest 28xx appear identical to those fitted to the Grange models and are much finer than those shown above fitted to the ‘new’ Castles.
Smiths etched lamp irons
What lamp irons to fit to the Dapol County? I am familiar with the etched fret produced by Smith’s models.
Instructions
The Smiths etched fret makes up two types of lamp irons suitable for attaching to both the footplate and the smoke box door.
Cutting and Bending the Lamp Irons
In contrast to the official instructions I cut the individual lamp irons from the fret to include all the linking material which I then bent over and used to key the lamp iron into position – much as Bachmann appear to have done with their metal lamp irons. The fret can be cut with a sharp craft knife on a tough wooden surface, not on something soft like a cutting mat which will allow the iron to deform.
0.5mm twist drill bit
To form the locating holes in the footplate I used a 0.5mm twist bit. Wrapping the end with drafting / masking tape assists with rotation by hand.
The finished item - Dapol County of Stafford that was
I used a dressmaking pin to put a spot of Super Glue in the completed hole to fix the individual lamp irons. These were then given a coat of black paint – all now finished.
Lamp Iron for smoke box door
The lamp iron for the smoke box door is a little bit more complicated. This picture was taken after one went missing. It had obviously not been attached properly and was found lying between the rails!
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