Just a quick update. Most of the main modelling activity has concentrated on the layout at the moment, but with a couple of trips away and a recent holiday in the Lake District over Easter, I had the opportunity of building a few wagons. Nothing particular exciting, just a selection of Cambrian, Chivers and Parkside kits. In no particular order these are an ex LNER lowfit, ex LNER goods van in BR condition, ex LNER fruit van, BR Palvan and BR Fruit van, diag 1/109 mineral, ex SR Tunney, ex GW Tu
In advance of the EMGS skills day at Kidderminster next weekend (hope the snow thaws), I've been finishing off a number of projects. They're all in P4 by the way.
I'm doing a demo about the various springing systems for wagons that I've used/or not.
First up is the Craig Welsh chassis for a RCH under frame. These are sold by the Scalefour society and fold up in a single unit. I really like them. I've posted pictures before and this sits under an ECC body I originally built (badly)
Haven't really achieved much of late, more kind of working on bits and pieces when I've time.
The brake van has been painted and lettered. I'll give it a little weathering before it enters service and must put the stove chimney on and find a suitable guard to stand on the veranda.
The ECC wagon has turned out nicely, once I'd scraped all the old glue off and rebuilt it on a Craig Welsh underframe. In my youth, I'd managed to put the end door on upside down. It's only taken 35 years to correc
Just a note in case you're interested.
I've started a thread in the Cameo Layout Challenge section of my entry, China House Quay.
This is set in the Sutton Harbour area of Plymouth.
More detail here
China House Quay
Now that the evenings are getting longer and the weather a little warmer, I actually have a chance to get the airbrush going. I've quite a few jobs in the queue.
The PDSWJR brake van is ongoing (more details to follow in another blog) but the Collett goods had got to the point where painting could commence.
The chassis were under coated in etched primer and given a coat of satin black from a rattle can.
The body was sprayed with railmatch BR (W) green from a pot which is almost as old as t
So whilst I was waiting for the family to get up this morning (they didn't), I spent some time adding all the remaining bits and pieces to the brake van.
Annoyingly, I don't have any of the right pattern axle boxes but I'm sure I'll find something suitable on the 51l stand at Bristol in a couple of weeks.
Just 3 links to add, along with the stove chimney on the roof (which isn't fixed down in the photo) and it'll be ready for painting. I'm quite happy with the week's work!
I've been off work, staying the week with the family up on the North Yorkshire Moors. I managed to sneak a small modelling box of bits and pieces in the car 'in case of rainy days' etc. In-between chasing real trains and trips out, I've been busy at the kitchen table.
The prototype in question is a PD&SWJR brake van, purely because I do have a soft spot for light railways and I recently acquired the Southern Railway wagons book with a drawing of it.
I've also got one of Roger Slade's CSP
Evening all
after a very inspiring but tiring day at Scalefour North yesterday, I found time to make a little progress on the Collett Goods today.
The tender chassis is virtually complete and just needs the vacuum tank adding before its ready for the paint shop.
The loco chassis now has pick ups too (36gauge phosphor bronze mostly hidden behind the steps) and bus bars with the final connection to the motor now in. I'm pleased that the CSB's are working well, even on the rear driven axle.
Just a quick update for today.
I started to thin down the Replica tender side frames and didn't get very far before I realised it was going to take far too long and had no guarantee of success. Indeed I soon put the files down and resorted to a disc cutter in the mini drill. This only confirmed my doubts about successfully thinning down to the stipulated thickness of 0.7mm.
So that got put to one side and I decided to make a new set of frames from 20thou nickel silver.
I sweated two layers
A return to the Collett goods has seen the wheels on and quartered, the motor and gearbox fitted and the brake gear added. Test leads have been fitted to the motor and I'm pleased to say the wheels go round.
Just the matter of pick ups to add now.
The body had been trial fitted and all seems to be fine and the CSB's work well.
Whilst the epoxy was going off for the copper clad for the pick ups I turned my attention to the tender, again building with CSB's. High Level have designed this to
I've been making good progress with the Collett Goods chassis.
The coupling rods were made up using my Avonside Chassis2 jig for the first time in anger. It's an impressive bit of kit.
I've made up the High Level hornblocks and tags (normal for the rear two axles, space savers for the front axle to allow space for the slide bars) and fitted the handrail knobs as the anchor points. I amended the 3rd anchor point to improve weight distribution as per comments in the last entry. I assembled eve
After my 7mm interlude (never again), I'm returning to 4mm and the next loco for Cheddar.
True to my mantra, this is the oldest thing in the modelling cupboard, namely converting a 35 year old Replica Railways model of the 2251 Collett Goods to P4.
The body is accurate according to the sources I have and the underpinnings are one of the rather splendid High Level chassis kits. In a fit of madness, I'm going to spring using CSB's.
There's a good article on the CLAG website about springing a
And that's that. Happy to say it's finished and ready to go off to the WCPR group.
It's a funny thing but I really haven't enjoyed building this as much as I do 4mm!
But what to do next? It should really be my Replica Collett goods as it's the oldest thing in the kit cupboard, but I was given a couple of books for Christmas, one of which has some photos of the PDSWJR. Maybe a slight deviation from Cheddar? Or maybe one of the 'round tuit' projects that's been kicking around the furthest corn
Compliments of the season to one and all. I hope you had a good Christmas. I'm in that post Christmas pre New Year lull, when I'm generally full to the point of bursting and ready to slope off to the modelling bench after spending enough quality time with the relatives.
Unfortunately my 7mm penance continues, but thankfully to the point of painting. Just glazing and transfers to do, along with some form of brake gear representation. The kit doesn't include anything in this department so I'll b
As a break from layout building type stuff (wiring mostly), I decided to turf a kit out of the modelling cupboard that has been there for a while. It's the 'Steam and Things' kit for the Weston Clevedon and Portishead Rilway Drewry Railcar. I'm building it for the WCPR group, having done the Fordson tractor for them a couple of years back.
As you may know I've scratchbuilt one of these in EM for my two WCPR layouts so I'm quite familiar with the prototype.
I have to be honest here and confes
Glad to report progress with the prairie at long last, to the point where it's progressed to the final painting stage.
The last bits and pieces have been added and the chassis now runs smoothly. Thank goodness!
Cylinders have been painted and the wheels and motion blackened. Think that'll need another coat though and I'll give the chassis a light dusting of grime too. I need to get some screw link couplings at Wells in a couple of weeks, along with a loco crew.
Both the prairie and the 57x
A lot has happened since the last blog entry. In modelling terms, most of it has been a right pain in the backside. I used to think I'd got this chassis building lark sussed, but the prairie has been one tough cookie. On the plus side, my expletive vocabulary and ability to use them has increased tenfold.
At the end of the last entry, I was struggling to get the chassis to run true and I'd come to the conclusion that the rods weren't the same as the wheel centres. I'd tried to pin the wheels a
Whilst I was waiting for ExpoEM to come around, so I could buy some body fittings, I turned my attention to the Comet chassis. Ive used the Brassmasters sprung hornblocks and I have to say I've been very impressed with them so far.
The chassis is being built pretty much straight as per the instructions and I've got to the stage where I've got the rods on and am turning my attention to the motion. For some reason the motion / slide bar brackets don't appear to be the same width as the slide bar
Evening all. Haven't put an update on here for a while as I've been out and about at the odd exhibition and finishing off some track work for a friends layout. But I have been slowly making progress on the prairie.
The body's actually quite good I've come to think although there's a fair bit of cutting and carving required.
The new firebox has been formed from the plasticard carcass made from 80 thou and I've added the bands and lifting covers from a mixture of plasticard and white metal par
Having taken my old Lima prairie apart, I've now made a start on the modifications. The recent series of articles in Great Western Journal include the works drawings for the 55xx tanks which have proved invaluable. First, the bottom 1.5mm was cut off from the base of the tank and the various fixing screw spigots removed from inside the body. Then, I've carefully cut away the firebox as its the wrong shape. Whilst I was at it I removed the safety valve bonnet, tank fillers and vents. The latter a
Well hello there.
Haven't blogged in a few weeks, due primarily to me exhibiting at Nailsea, then York and Cheltenham on consecutive weekends with all the preparation that goes with it. Still, a very good time was had by all.
It's also rather weird not having Lizzy around any more as I find myself without an operable p4 layout.
In the meantime I've been building some track for a friend who's planning to build a model of Wookey on the Cheddar Valley line. We've compressed things a bit, stra
Had a really good weekend at the Nailsea show running Wheal Elizabeth for the last time under my stewardship.
Ran a good selection of trains and spent most of this afternoon finishing off where it all started, with the more modern clay trains. Usually we don't get the time to run as much of them as we'd like, so it was really nice to make some time today.
Geof kindly make a selection of head boards for the various works shunters, Minion, Jamie and Treffry.
The last train was a single brake
I've managed to get the Bachman 45xx ready in time for Wheal Elizabeth's final show under my stewardship this weekend at Nailsea. It's been finished off as a St Blazey engine 4552 in unlined black. Blackening the wheels and fitting balance weights makes such a difference. The engine should be running under correct lamp codes too, though I haven't had time to weather it yet.
The only trouble is that 4552 never went anywhere near Somerset so will have to be renumbered before it can run on
Alas it seems that the 21st century has finally caught up with this little part of Cornwall and the works will be closing on the weekend of 12/13 March after the Nailsea show. The wharfinger, Mr Ebeneezer Blugwort is confident that the works will be sold as a going concern and job losses will be kept to a minimum.
An enthusiasts special will be run on the afternoon of Sunday 13 March. It is thought that a single brake van will suffice as there are not expected to be that many to worry about.
With the weather pretty awful down here in Somerset (though nowhere near as bad as it is in some parts of the country I grant you), I've just had to retire to the modelling bench and make a bit of progress with the 57xx.
5757 has reached working chassis stage and it's always a relief when things work. I put it down to Chris' design but this is the third kit I've built and the third which has run straight away without the need for tweaking/swearing/reassembly etc. I did quarter this one by e
