Jump to content
 
  • entries
    42
  • comments
    298
  • views
    39,103

Par Station in N Gauge (soon to be 2FS!) - A Cornish Class 37 - 37181

cornish trains jez

Entry posted by cornish trains jez

1,837 views

 Share

Good evening all,

 

Before I embark on the complete change of track on Par, I thought I would write a quick blog on a little ongoing project that has been progressing slowly on my workbench for the last couple of months.

 

There are a trio of Cornish "Lizzie the Lizard" branded 37's that I want to model for Par. I have already done 37207 "William Cookworthy" and I would like to add 37181 and 37185 too.

 

So up first is 37181. I wanted to model this loco as she was in the mid 80's and thank you to all who contributed with photos on this subject loco within the "Cornwalls Railways" section. Ok, so here is the first photo showing the donor Farish BR blue liveried loco number 37238 for the project. I managed to pick this up on ebay, including a DCC chip, for a good price.

 

blogentry-10222-0-83383600-1364666409_thumb.jpg

 

This loco had it's buffer cowlings trimmed, oval buffers, domino centre headcode, and snowploughs added. The model will also have a detailed buffer beam to one end, usual coupling to the other, and a bogie modification to reduce the gap between the bogies and the body.

 

So I started by removing the oval buffers, cutting away most of the cowlings, and then carefully filing it down to the right height and removed the remainder of the moulded buffer beam.

 

blogentry-10222-0-53225200-1364671574_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-10222-0-30878500-1364671600_thumb.jpg

 

Then, new buffer beams were created for each end from sheet plasticard using some scale drawings of the class 37/4 that I had stashed away, being a supplement with an issue of model rail.

 

blogentry-10222-0-35540300-1364671764_thumb.jpg

 

And then glued into position. I subsequently had to trim and file down the bottoms of the new beams to allow clearance for the bogie modification but this is now hardly noticeable and actually looks more true to scale. Etched brass oval loco buffers were then added.

 

blogentry-10222-0-72846700-1364672082_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-10222-0-89869300-1364672122_thumb.jpg

 

Side on view showing bogie modification and original transfers, including printed TOPS numbers and BR arrows, removed.

 

blogentry-10222-0-45610300-1364672265_thumb.jpg

 

Buffer beam and bogie modification strengtheners primed and painted up in black. Also holes pre-drilled ready for the buffer beam detailing.

 

blogentry-10222-0-47164500-1364672357_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-10222-0-31019600-1364672401_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-10222-0-70925100-1364672480_thumb.jpg

 

I have also decided to replace the moulded roof fan grill with one of the excellent Shawplan extreme etchings versions. Here is a roof shot showing the precut hole, I just need to smoothen this off before adding the grill.

 

blogentry-10222-0-52012400-1364672747_thumb.jpg

 

Well, that's the progress to date. Still quite a bit to do, "lizzie the lizard" transfers and numbers to be added. Snowploughs, detailing to the buffer beam, roof fans and then an attack with the weathering powders!

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

  • Like 8
 Share

8 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
  • RMweb Gold

Good stuff Jeremy

 

How did you modify the bogies? The Mercig way, by raising them up slightly?

 

Good to see it being photographed on both 2FS track and streamline...no need to comment anymore about that from now on... :D

  • Like 1
Link to comment
D869

Good to see someone willing to attack these modern mouldings with cutting tools Jez. I'm beginning to worry that we're starting to treat the latest offerings with far too much respect.

 

How did you remove the double arrows etc?

 

Looking forward to the 2FS track making an appearance. Maybe some slightly earlier Cornish locos might come and visit then.

 

Regards, Andy

  • Like 3
Link to comment
cornish trains jez

Good stuff Jeremy

How did you modify the bogies? The Mercig way, by raising them up slightly?

Good to see it being photographed on both 2FS track and streamline...no need to comment anymore about that from now on... :D

Hi Pete,

The bogies were modified the mercig way by cutting the bogie sides away using a razor blade and then raising them by 0.5mm (ish) and adding some plastic strips in as strengtheners. Can't wait to get the track changed over, but there is so much of it to do!!! I must admit though, the 37 looks more at home on the 2FS track than the streamline.

Best regards,

Jeremy

  • Like 1
Link to comment
cornish trains jez

Good to see someone willing to attack these modern mouldings with cutting tools Jez. I'm beginning to worry that we're starting to treat the latest offerings with far too much respect.

 

How did you remove the double arrows etc?

 

Looking forward to the 2FS track making an appearance. Maybe some slightly earlier Cornish locos might come and visit then.

 

Regards, Andy

Hi Andy,

The arrows were removed using a very small amount of T-Cut and a blunt cocktail stick. I have some very nice transfers from precision transfers of the Lizzie the lizard arrows.

Looking forward to making a start on the track....maybe a Warship or 2 might visit!!??!!

Best regards,

Jeremy

  • Like 1
Link to comment
RobboPetes

Excellent work. I agree with the respect bit. I believe there is always something we modellers can do to improve the new models, such as replacing the brake wheels on the BDAs or adding the end steps/painting the end handrails white on the VGAs, etc.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
cornish trains jez

Excellent work. I agree with the respect bit. I believe there is always something we modellers can do to improve the new models, such as replacing the brake wheels on the BDAs or adding the end steps/painting the end handrails white on the VGAs, etc.

 

Totally with you and Andy on this one, I think by tweaking the excellent re-tooled models, we can make them look just that little bit better. To be honest, you can't beat a nice set of brass buffers to enhance any loco.

Best regards,

Jeremy

Link to comment
Kaolin2FS

Very nice indeed Jeremy. Those Farish mouldings are a big improvement on the old ones but the detail you're adding looks very worthwhile. I'm waiting for the new Farish 37/4 and 37/5 to come out before I increase my fleet size of St Blazey tractors, but in the meantime I've seen enough good lowered examples now to turn my hand to one of the older Poole models to get my eye in...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
cornish trains jez

Cheers Graham! I am also waiting for the 37/5's to be released so that I can get one resprayed into railfreight grey.

Best regards,

Jeremy

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...