Well, not much has been achieved since my last upload to this blog. Got involved in a bit of a controversy about clean rolling stock and, what with that and grandchildren needing to be accommodated, modelling time has been at a premium.

This week I have only managed to complete the Lancashire & Yorkshire 10 ton van and the scratchbuilt S.E.R. Sledge Brake van, also managed to spray the two LBSCR Open & Passenger/Luggage carriages with their ‘teak’ topcoat, and also sprayed the ‘Cavell’ SECR PBV.

Photo of Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 10 ton van with canvas roof opening.

The van is a modified MAJ kit and the canvas has been replicated by pieces of black tissue paper in order to give that crumpled effect. The roof opening components were not included as part of the kit, so were created from a drawing.

Sorry about the branch on the track but there was a slight slope on the table, and the wagon is so free running that it had to be 'chocked'!

Photo of scratchbuilt South Eastern Railway Sledge Brake Van

For those of you who may not know, these sledge brake vans were built by Brown, Marshall & Co of Birmingham. The idea was that when the van brake was applied, then a ‘shoe’ was forced down against the rail and the resultant friction would retard the movement of the train. Needless to say, it did not catch on!

I have also attached a photo of a recently finished LBSCR ‘Balloon’ Brake Third. The reason for showing this is really so that I can describe the method of painting, just in case nobody has thought of doing it the way I do.

The coach, when ready, is first sprayed with the LBSCR Coach Brown and allowed to dry. When perfectly dry I mix up a solution of the correct colour emulsion and float it into each etched panel with either an eye dropper of a small brush. If the consistency is right (and it takes a few tries to get it right), then the emulsion will flow to the edges of the recessed panel area and not flow over the raised part of the etch, thus retaining the colour where you want it.. One side at a time, let it dry, then do the other side

I estimate one coach side like this takes about 20 minutes with the emulsion.

I have also done a rake of four LBSCR 4-wheel coaches the same way, together with a Luggage Brake.

Concerning my work area, a photo of this is above and you can see how small it is. The mirror for me is very important because my stock is built on this in order to ensure that everything is flat and level

And the use of a square in conjunction with this mirror does mean that most things that I build are not rhomboidal!

Soldering irons range from 40 watt to 12 watt and I also have a resistance soldering table if the particular job needs that kind of soldering.

I will produce the other photos as soon as the items are finished.

Now let the brickbats fly!

Michael