Jump to content
 
  • entries
    261
  • comments
    1,413
  • views
    143,356

Nearing the finish line - toplights and bow end stock

Barry Ten

Entry posted by Barry Ten

966 views

 Share

The last job on the toplights prior to weathering and final detailing (bits that have fallen off in handling, etc) was to add numbers, so with my transfers sheets out I decided to complete the same task on the Hornby bow-end stock I covered earlier:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/63159-bow-ended-stock-roof-handrails/

 

While I had the bow-ended stock out on the workbench again, I decided I couldn't live with the visible seam between the sides and end of the brake, so (as I'd done with the composite) I used filler to conceal the join between the mouldings as best I could. I should have done this the first time, of course, but the first coach was a bit of an experiment to see how I went. Rather than repaint, reline and reglaze the entire coach again, I tried to do this work in such a way that I could get away with only selective repainting of the ends, especially as I still had the original paint in stock. It took a few coats and some varnishing but eventually I got the crimson and cream to blend in with the old finish pretty well. I didn't even bother redoing the final few millimeters of lining.

 

blogentry-6720-0-23520600-1369000234.jpg

 

The coaches have also been fitted with Spratt & Winkles at one end and Keen couplings at the other, of which more anon.

 

The toplights after numbering:

 

blogentry-6720-0-97769900-1369000341.jpg

 

This is a permanently coupled rake with Spratt & Winkles at either end, which I'm now standardising on. I use a simple piano wire drawbar between the two coaches which works well on my 30" curves and allows the corridor bellows to remain in contact. Having spent quite a bit of time fitting Keen couplings to various items of my stock, I'm now coming round to the idea that the simpler drawbar system is actually preferable since it looks much less obtrusive and still allows adequate close-coupling. The Keen couplings are actually an excellent product, but it's just with my eye-level viewing they're a lot more obvious and clunky than they used to be on my old layout, where I was looking down (and where the curves were tighter anyway). I don't really regard myself as a finescale modeller, but I've become much more intolerant of heavy couplings, and so on, now that my layout is set at eye-level, and the S&Ws seem like a good compromise between appearance and functionality.

 

Anyway, the bow-ends will normally run in a 3-carriage rake with a Bachmann Collett coach making up the set. At the moment this coach is also equipped with S&Ws at one end and Keen couplers at the other.

 

Here's all 5 coaches coupled up, making a nicely varied WR corridor train, which I hope would be plausible for cross-country or secondary services:

 

blogentry-6720-0-61742600-1369000712.jpg

 

And here's the same train with a loco on:

 

blogentry-6720-0-03504000-1369000805.jpg

 

These coaches (other than the Bachmann one, which is straight out of the box) have been real labours of love, so it's nice to see them running in service. The bow-ends go back to my childhood - they've got to be 35 years old or more - and as I mentioned in the earlier blog post, the toplights have been on the go for ages. As I mentioned to my wife, I remember working on one of them during the Beijing Olympics!

 

Edit - Artizen kindly sent me a tweaked version of the above photo, which does look a lot better, doesn't it? My own snaps are a bit underexposed - I think I had the wrong white balance setting at the time I took them.

 

blogentry-6720-0-25887500-1369216902.jpg

 

cheers, and thanks for reading.

  • Like 10
 Share

4 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Gold
Mikkel
  • RMweb Gold

Hi Al, very nice to see the Toplights finished. The mixed rake in the last shots works really well, I think. I share your view that oversized couplings can really ruin the illusion at eye level height, even if total finescale is not the aim.

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold
Barry Ten
  • RMweb Gold

Cheers, Mikkel! I think the real shift for me was when I started making smaller GWR goods wagons, on which even the small RTR couplers really look horrible. I've fitted 3-links to most of my pre-nationalisation stock but the way I'm going now will be with lots of hybrid rakes, with a mix of 3-links and S&Ws on goods stock, and mainly S&Ws on passenger vehicles.

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold
Mikkel
  • RMweb Gold

I was just looking at the mixed rake again. It really is amazing that the  bow ends don't stand out more, considering their age. But then that is also credit to the work you have done on them. Great stuff.

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold
Barry Ten
  • RMweb Gold

The bow ends really aren't bad models are they, for their time? They are of a definite diagram, as far as I can tell, and even the underframe detail isn't *too* heavy.

 

It's odd that Hornby marketed these for years - still in the Railroad and Thomas range, too - but they've never said what they are! Perhaps they were embarrassed that if they made it too clear, it would show up how bogus the Southern ones were, which used the same side mouldings? Another missed trick is that they could have released them in full panel-effect livery, which would have been of great benefit to modellers of the earlier period. And unlike the flat-sided clerestories, the flat effect would have been totally authentic!

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...