I've mentioned before that one of the reasons why I like to model unusual prototypes is so that I can compare them with more familiar stock. Here's an example:
The Dean 4-2-4T was built around 1881, to explore the idea of a high-speed express tank locomotive for use when the broad gauge became extinct. It failed because of a severe tendency to de-rail, probably from poor bogie design, coupled with the large amount of water sloshing to and fro' in the long side tanks.
In comparison
In an earlier post in my blog, I described construction of a GWR Tilt Wagon, based on a photograph in a Forum Post by Wagonman. I also reported that, when Sir John saw it in North Leigh station, he commented that it might just hold all his daughter's hat boxes. So, I now call it my 'Hat Box'.
At the time of my earlier entry, I had designed and built the basic body and started adding some of the detail. Completing the rest has been a very fiddly task, using lots of rivet strip (from M
In my previous post, I described a little about the location of North Leigh station on the branch line to Witney, originally planned in 1849. For some reason, this line was omitted from Bartholomew's 1/2inch map of 1903 but I have restored it to its rightful position, in order to show the location of the station and its proximity to the tunnel through the ridge of high ground between North Leigh and New Yatt.
The later, cut-off, which allowed trains to run directly from the Worcester
When I started this blog, a year ago, I wrote that my aim was to follow the conversion of my existing layout to an earlier time-frame. In practice, I seem to have spent most of my time designing and constructing new stock, while I have done relatively little to the basic framework of the layout itself. So, for this post, I decided to make a start on some 'backdating' of the layout scenery. Fortunately, static features of the landscape tend to change much more slowly than vehicles: I often notice
In my previous post, I made the self-fulfilling prophesy that I would be distracted by the forum thread on GWR standard gauge 'tilt' wagons, started by drduncan. Initially there was some discussion as to whether the photo shown was, in fact, of a Broad Gauge wagon but the dimensions (especially the height) seemed sufficiently different to indicate that the vehicle under discussion was indeed Standard Gauge.
Something 'clicked' for me and I decided that I had to add one to my stock, s
My first post in the Forums was in July 2013 while I started this blog a little later, in August. I've not been doing much modelling recently, since other activities take up most of my time during the Summer months, but I do spend time thinking "where next?" and also taking stock of the past year.
A year ago, i had just started trying to re-create some late-19th century "atmosphere", while knowing rather little about how things were actually done. Thanks to the patience and help of m
I've been starting to get my 'painting eye' in, by working on some of my 19th-century vehicles, before I attempt any people.
For the Victoria carriage, described in previous posts, I first spayed the entire vehicle with red car primer. After that I painted the undergear, footboards, and folding hood with black acrylic. I chose Crimson Lake as the main body colour and painted all the relevant panels with Humbrol enamel (now RC403, though I used an ancient tinlet of HR116 - these paint
Oil lamps are continuing to prove awkward!
Following an appeal for help from the forums, I have established that the small circular fittings, adjacent to the lamp tops, are plugs to fill the apertures left when the lamps are removed for trimming and filling, rather than oil fillers, as I had originally thought.
I've now drilled the roof of my U29 model, to take the lamp tops and have another small problem to solve! Since the roof slopes down from the sides of the cleresto
The recent fine weather has kept me away from the modelling for a while, while I have been pursuing my outdoor photographic interests. I am also procrastinating a little, as my coaches are at the stage of needing a lot of fiddly detail work to be completed!
Because of my small radius curves, 'fine' flanged wheels are a bit unreliable, so I prefer to use 'Hornby' or 'Bachmann' wheels, which hold on pretty well round the corners! For my 6-wheel coaches, I decided to try 'MJT' Mansell w
Having built a Victorian train, I now have to think about providing some passengers. Since I know far less about 19th-century styles of dress than I did about 19th-century railways, when I started, I decided it was time for some reading.
As I pointed out in a previous post, I have found the Internet Archive ( http://archive.org/ ) to be a very useful resource. Old 'out of copyright' books can either be read on-line or downloaded in formats such as PDF. In my current search, I found '
As I mentioned in the previous post, I have been trying to track down a photo of the prototype of Sir John's special train.
Today, I have found one but unfortunately, the morning of April 1st 1892 was notable for the famous London 'pea-soup' fog.
Despite the photographer's best efforts he has been unable to capture much detail of the train. He has, however, used sepia toning very effectively to enhance the subject 🙂
Train in London Smog - 1st April '92
I've finally worked out a simpler method for constructing a clerestory roof, so now I have all the vehicles needed to take Sir John's family up to London for the season.
On my first U29 composite, described in recent posts, I folded the roof from a single sheet of 5 thou brass sheet but found it difficult to make the reverse folds correctly. For the family saloon, which I now believe to be Diagram G13, I have therefore made the roof in three parts - two separate sides and the raised
My photo alongside might look similar to the final one in my previous post but is, in fact, the result of a complete re-build, in an attempt to correct at least some of the mistakes I'd made!
I'd already found some of the problems in trying to adapt real drawings to an 00 gauge model, in that the wheels fouled the diagonal members of the chassis. Then, when my grease axle boxes arrived from 'MJT' (after 15 days and well within the 21 days maximum), I found that there was insufficient
I had intended to wait until my carriage truck was complete, before writing another post, but various events have introduced delays, so here is a 'work in progress' report. . Some of my readers seem to like my 'off-beat' approach to modelling and this one also has some unusual features!
It all began when I saw a box of 'extra long' safety matches on the supermarket shelves. I had been looking at a drawing of an early wooden-framed carriage truck (1866) in Janet Russell's book on 'Gre
In my earlier post about the 'Scale Link' kit for a horse bus, I mentioned that I had another of these kits to make a 'Victoria' carriage, which I've now constructed.
The 'Victoria' was an elegant 4-wheel vehicle, with a low and wide entrance, suitable for use by ladies wearing the voluminous skirts of the period. My example is destined to be loaded onto an open carriage truck, for the use of the local Lord of the Manor, on his annual trip to London for the Season. His wife and daughters wil
Since my last entry, I have been making slow progress with my coach construction. In fact, there has been a lot of trial and error, as I tried to find a way of incorporating printed sides from my Silhouette cutter.
I have not scratch-built coaches before, so had a lot to learn, for which the various posts by Mike Trice in the Silhouette cutter thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouettecameo-cutter/?p=1278380
have been particularly helpfu
This is an update on progress with building my GWR 6-wheel coaches. I have printed the sides, using the Silhouette cutter, but there is still work to do on the upper sides - why did I have to choose to build clerestory roofs!
I have, however, built the Cleminson chassis from the 'Brassmasters' kit, so will share my experiences with this, so far.
The kits are very well presented with detailed instructions and the 'extra bits' needed to complete them - wheel bearings, nuts and bolts, and b
Well, only two buses actually, but the latest one has given me enough trouble for 40! I described building a GWR horse bus from a white metal kit in an earlier post and commented then that an etched brass version might provide better details. I've now tried the etched brass kit from 'Scale Link' but it's not been easy! In fact, decidedly 'trying' at times.
If you suffer from any signs of hamfisted-ness or less than perfect eyesight, do not attempt this kit! By 4mm standards, it is very fiddl
In my very first post in this blog, I mentioned converting an old K's 14xx to a fair representation of a 517 class. Since the 517 was a very variable class, it's impossible to select a 'typical' version - they vary from the earliest tiny saddle tanks, with a short wheelbase, to the final re-builds, which were very similar to Collett's 14xx series. Nevertheless, there were significant differences between even the latest of these engines and the 14xx - most obviously in the cab but also the 14xx h
The parts I need to complete building my 6-wheel coaches have not yet arrived so, in the meantime, here's one that I made earlier!
I've mentioned before that one of the factors that triggered me into thinking in terms of a 19th century layout was that I'd already built the three types of 'Ratio' GWR 4-wheel coaches. I then came across a photo, taken in 1911, of a short train behind a 'Stella'-class locomotive at Leamington station (see http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrls826.htm ) T
Since my last blog post, I've been spending a lot of time familiarising myself with the Silhouette cutter. I think one of its best features is the 'print and cut' facility, which means that you can print an image, with filled colour and details, to your regular home printer and then feed the printed sheet into the Silhouette, to cut out around the printed image.
I have been experimenting with different materials, including card, HP Photo Paper, and styrene sheet. As described in posts in the
Following my initial trials with the Silhouette Portrait (described in previous blog posts), I began to think about pre-printing the sides, so that no painting would be needed at all! The Silhouette machines have the important provision to align the cutter with a printed image, which makes this possible.
Just after I had been exploring this, JCL posted another excellent tutorial in the Silhouette Forum at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette
After the diversion caused by the arrival of my CB09 blade holder, which works very well, I have returned to exploring how to construct a laminated coach side.
After preparing the drawings for the framing, described previously, it proved to be relatively simple to create the other layers - merely a matter of deleting unwanted elements from the original drawing.
The outer layer is, of course, the framing, then the main body side that only has the window cut-outs and, finally, the inner la
As an update to my previous post, I have just received a CB09 holder and packs of both 45 and 60 degree blades from China I ordered these from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/win-win-mechatronic?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 on 29th December and they arrived, very well packaged, this morning, 6th January, which I consider excellent service.
The holder is a nicely machined aluminium tube, which fitted smoothly and firmly into the Silhouette Portrait carrier. To fit a blade, it is only necessary to un
A large part of the appeal of 19th century railways, for me, is the appearance of the panelled coaches. Perhaps there is something lodged deep in 'folk-memory' from the days of finding warmth and comfort around the fire in simple timber-framed buildings. Whatever the reasons, wood frames and panelled in-fill stir emotions that plain steel sheets fail to do. The GWR even used papier-maché for panels, which doesn't seem that far removed from wattle and daub. Carriage Shop at Swindon Steam Museum
