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About this blog

A record of the trials and tribulations of an average modeller

Entries in this blog

Yet more wagon matters and a Siphon C

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog. Weather has been too good to sit at my workbench.   I think I mentioned that I acquired a Coopercraft 04 open wagon kit at a railway fair at Horsted Keynes. I've now constructed this but comparison with photos of the prototype does underline the shortcomings of the brake gear. These wagons were fitted with Dean Churchward brake gear and whilst plastic kits include the actual brake gear assembly and the operating levers at the end, there are n
JDaniels

JDaniels

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Yet more wagon matters

For those of us modelling the early days of the GWR, I've just found out that Coast Line Models do an etch of GWR wagon plates along with the numbers for the Ratio Iron Mink (V6). Most importantly they also do the cast solebar plates that carried the carrying capacity and tare so I can take off all those sloping Pressfix transfers.   The website is well worth a look. I've just ordered a couple of two plank Cambrian open wagons from Cambrian (who else?) and Coast Line also do the necessary tran
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JDaniels

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Yet more photos

A few more photos that I took today.   The first shows the Blagdon branch goods in the mid 1930's. The second van is another ABS kit, as I mentioned in my earlier blog these are excellent and cover the more unusual prototypes. I would also add that not all my coaches and vans have roofs this white!   The second and third are shots of the platform and station building. The station buildings on the Wrington Vale line followed a standard pattern but that at Blagdon and Langford were extended a
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JDaniels

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Yet more on those GWR 4 wheel coaches.

Thankfully the three coaches constructed from a mixture of mainly Trains, Shire Scenes and Ratio parts are now completed and boxed ready to be handed over to the painter at Expo EM. I'm still not sure whether the quality of my work justifies the considerable expense of having them professionally painted.   However this has left me with three spare Ratio chassis (two short and one long), some roofs and the sides for a composite. In addition I have many spare sides acquired in the distant past b
JDaniels

JDaniels

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Westbrook Station Building

I've now painted and therefore completed the station building. For the most part I used Humbrol acrylic paints and was pleased with how I got on with them. I've had problems in the past but I like the matt finish (unlike some so called matt enamels), the way in which you can mix the paints and the ease with which they dilute with water. I collected a number of greyish acrylics whilst I was at Gaugemaster at Ford but didn't realise that some are a satin finish, this is not shown on the container.
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JDaniels

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Westbrook Station Building

Underneath my Blagdon layout is another smaller baseboard with a representation of Westbrook station on the Golden Valley Railway. This prosaically named branch has always appealed to me and some years ago I laid the track and started the scenery for a model of Westbrook. Wanting a change from constructing locos and coaches I had a go at resurrecting this. I firstly stripped all the scenery off and cut the baseboard so that it follows the line of the track only. My intention was to mount this on
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JDaniels

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Westbrook Station Building

I've now completed the station building apart from the painting. Unfortunately due to the weather it looks as though we won't be going down to Ford tomorrow (celebrating Mrs. D's birthday) so the light and dark stone I was going to get from Gaugemaster will have to wait.   In my last entry I was about to make substantive progress with the roof. The jig I made to cut the tiles (in 5thou Plasticard) worked well apart from the odd occasion when I failed to notice the strip was firmly against the
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JDaniels

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Westbrook

As a change from Blagdon I can share some of the limited progress made with Westbrook. This was a very small station on the Golden Valley Railway that ran between Pontrilas and Hay. I had already constructed a baseboard and laid the track but since then that baseboard has sat under Blagdon. Rather than buy anything new I thought I should get the unfinished projects completed so a faltering start was made on completing Westbrook. The first job was to construct the station building which I did som
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JDaniels

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Those red wagons and some general thoughts on goods traffic

Red wagons.   Well I've now painted my first red GWR wagon. Having looked at those in Mikkel's excellent blog and taking advice from MikeOxon I've mixed red oxide and vermillion (well actually the closest Humbrol equivalents) which has produced a colour that fits the "light red" description given in contemporary sources. The only currently available kit that could justify the red livery is Ratio's iron mink, other available kits all postdate the change to dark grey. Incidentally it seems to be
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JDaniels

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The final part of the steam railmotor saga

Christmas Day and having watched SCD I had the greater pleasure of seeing the steam railmotor work under its' own power. There have been times though when the chassis nearly ended up in the bin.   Following on from my last entry, having done the basic chassis it was time to set up the motor and gearbox. Unusually the High Level gearbox was not as smooth as they normally are when I fitted the brass final drive. The motor was a Mashima 1624 which fitted neatly in the brass frame I had constructe
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Siphon C and GWR 64xx

I've now been able to add the gas pipes to the roof to complete the model. Those who have read my blog will know that I'm quite obsessive about roof detail. It always surprises me that people spend so much time detailing the underframe which is hardly seen whilst ignoring the roof which is always visible. We don't look at models like you look at the prototype.   Having said that I'm not sure of the exact layout of the piping. I recollect a photo of what may be a Siphon C on the Highwor
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JDaniels

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Siphon C - an update and thoughts on the future.

There's nothing like a photo to embarrass and that's hom I felt about the photo of the Siphon C in the last entry. It hadn't looked too bad until I applied the Pressfix transfers.   It's a good idea to use 3mm transfers, the 16inch GWR would then become 12 inches. as Mikkel pointed out, thye size is given in the Fox Transfers website and I think it was 5.3mm which equates to 16inches in 4mm.   I had another look at the Pressfix sheet and noticed that for wagons, i.e. in white
JDaniels

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Siphon C

This winter has been fairly aimless as far as modelling is concerned. I thought though it might be good to try and finish one old project, the conversion of a K's Siphon F to a Siphon C. (By cutting and shutting.)  This has been attempted before and I referred to an old Model Railway Constructor for information. This advocated putting the body on a Ratio 4 wheel coach underframe but as I already had the Mainly Trains running gear kit as well as the Dean Churhward brake fret I thought constructin
JDaniels

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Setting the scene

I've had an interest in model railways, on and off, since I was about 16. As I retired a few years ago (albeit at 62) that's a long time. Model railways are not my only interest, indeed during the summer months I normally don't touch the railway preferring instead to be in the garden, travelling around the country, visiting stately homes and walking. Since I retired my son and I have walked the South Downs Way, the Ridgeway, St. Cuthbert’s Way, part of the Two Moors Way and the Norfolk Coast pat
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JDaniels

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SE Finecast 517 0-4-2T

This has been a frustrating project. Progress has not been helped by having to clear, and eventually sell, my mother's house. She is living with my sister and modelling has taken a back seat of late.   In my last entry I commented on the difficulty in trying to find a suitable prototype. Although a large class the number of individual locos that mirror the Finecast kit is very small. I eventually settled on 848, there is a photo of this loco on the internet and, fortuitously, a photo of the ot
JDaniels

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SE Finecast 517 0-4-2T

Well I've just about completed the kit and I'm reasonably pleased despite the shortcomings outlined in my earlier entry.   I tried two new features (for me) on the chassis, CSB suspension and Alan Gibson plunger pickups. The CSB suspension does make life a little more complicated as all hornblocks have to move up and down (not sideways!) and unlike a compensated chassis, the suspension only works when weight, i.e. the body, is applied. I used spring steel wire but even here care is required as
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JDaniels

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SE Finecast 517 0-4-2T

I noticed that whilst I included a photo of the chassis in my previous entry, there wasn't one of the almost completed loco. Now rectified. It will look a lot better once decked out in GWR unlined green.   I also noticed that in my previous entry I referred to the motor as being a 1620. I should have said 1420.   One small point I forgot to mention which illustrates well the frustration with modelling this particular class. There are two spare lamp brackets on the left hand side of the footp
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JDaniels

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SE Finecast 517

I've come to a dead halt with the construction of this kit. The chassis commendably includes three different types of brake shoes, two types of brake pull rods and three types of guard irons. All you need to do is find a good photo of your chosen prototype and work from there. It wasn't until I looked more closely at the kit and prototype photos did I realise that my chosen prototype, 540, was quite different from the kit.   Firstly, as the kit is based on the Collett cab version initially tha
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JDaniels

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Progress to date.

I wil get the hang of this eventually. I've tried taking a few photos and in the process broke my desk lamp so no modelling tonight. Instead I'll let you know what I've done so far this season (as those who read my earlier blog, modelling for me has a season, rather like grouse shooting).   My first task was to finish off the outside frame brake van which needed painting. This was one of the ABS kits and I have to say they're rather good, excellent in fact. The white metal castings are crisp a
JDaniels

JDaniels

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Progress on the steam railmotor chassis.

Since my last entry I have made more progress but it's painfully slow. I did have a good photo of a railmotor chassis which looks to be taken outside Swindon works. I had been using this as a basis for the model but now I'm not so sure whether this is the right thing to do. The GWS railmotor was built from plans so must be correct and there are many photos on their website but there are subtle differences from the photo I was using. In particular on the photo the frames protrude beyond the cylin
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Photos

Rather than add them to the album I've done them as an attachment here. Slightly concerned that the rectangular photos appear square. My son is something of a whizz at computers but even he found this more complicated than he imagined.   Looking at the 64xx shows how far handrail knobs have advanced!
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JDaniels

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Parkside Dundas kits

I've just had an E-mail from Eileen's Emporium. They have now taken over the marketing of the Parkside Dundas kits from Peco.   Whilst the kits are predominantly BR wagons, there are a number of GWR types there as well as the interesting SR CCT truck.   I've never really thought about the Parkisde kits as they seem so hard to find but that should now change. Not sure I could justify any more wagon kits but the range on offer will appeal to many.
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JDaniels

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Musings on the forthcoming modelling season

As readers may know from my earlier blogs, I treat modelling as very much a winter or at least dark evening hobby. As the days are getting shorter, (yes really) I am thinking less of gardening, holidays and walking and more about modelling.   I have completed a couple of the POW sides private owner wagons. I was conscious that on a prototype based in Somerset the wagons should be from collieries in that county and POW sides do have a number of examples.These are based on the excellent Slater's
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JDaniels

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More wagon matters

I haven't spent much time modelling as I have set myself a number of jobs to do around the house, too many my wife says. I have though had another look at a David Geen kit I have that is rather wobbly on the track. The kit is for the outside framed van and whilst the detail is excellent I found having separate axleguards for each wheel did cause some problems. The problem arises as white metal has no "spring" and one of the wheel sets was very loose in the bearings. Try as I might I could not cl
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