Entry posted by D869
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Some prototypes are just too much for we mere mortals to resist, even if we can’t completely justify them…
This is a Stephen Harris 35T GLW class ‘B’ tank that I’ve been working on (very slowly) over the summer. My original plan was to build three class ‘A’s and one class ‘B’. I thought I’d do the class ‘B’ first as a one-off.
While there is plenty of evidence of 35T class ‘A’ Esso tanks in Cornwall, I have not seen any photos of class ‘B’ tanks so had no good reason to splash out on a class 'B' kit or (even less) a set of transfers for four class 'B's but I do think that the photos of them when new looks rather more striking than the class ‘A’ so I could not resist building one. I like to think of it as a tribute to the Airfix kit and the artwork on the box. There’s also a nice photo of a very new looking D601 pulling a whole train of these (also looking very new) in Bradford Barton’s ‘BR Diesel Miscellany’. I have no plans to build a whole train of them though.
There is not a vast amount to say about the build – Stephen provides very comprehensive instructions including photos. There is a lot of work to do but nothing particularly difficult – in fact the kit goes together very nicely and is a pleasure to build.
I did of course find a few niggles. Stephen has provided for both of the prototype orientations of the ladder with respect to the chassis. I’ve used the Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet which only provides numbers for the earlier tanks so I had no choice about ladder orientation. This showed up a few things that needed me to go ‘off piste’ (even allowing for the multiple options provided in the etch).
Firstly I could not get the correct arrangement of the brake changeover lever, ‘V’ hanger and bottom discharge pipe shown in photos of the real thing so I had to remove the changeover lever plate and reposition it.
Then I noticed that the class ‘B’ tanks have some plumbing on the bottom of one tank end, possibly for heating the contents while unloading. The prototype (3300) has a very chunky looking piece of kit there but later vehicles have a fairly simple horizontal pipe that looks a bit like a handrail with what might be a small ‘T’ piece in the middle. I have a photo of 3331 when brand new that shows that it has the smaller pipe. 3328 is coupled next to it so hopefully I’m safe with 3329 having the same arrangement.
Finally the dimples in the tank top which provide guides for drilling for the catwalk supports invite you to fit the catwalk the wrong way around for the early class ‘B’s. Naturally I drilled the holes by following the dimples and only found out quite late in the build that the ladder should be closest to the bottom discharge handwheel rather than the filler hatch. It was a fairly simple matter to drill new holes for the two centre supports in the right place and fill the other two with superglue.
The above issues were very minor. This must rate as one of the best kits that I’ve put together.
And then we come to painting and lettering…
I’m intending for this to be nice and clean as in the early photos so the whole thing was sprayed with Humbrol satin black in the hope of providing a better foundation (than matt) for the transfers. The finish came out very well but I still found that the transfers showed a lot more silvering than I was happy with. Black bodywork turns out to be very unforgiving of decal imperfections. As I intended to use Tamiya varnish, I’d avoided the Microscale fixing solutions and stuck to water (as also recommended in the CCT instructions). I tried to resolve the silvering by brushing well thinned Tamiya varnish around the transfer edges before the spray coat of Varnish went on. This helped but the big transfers with the long company name still show some silvering. Maybe I’ll spray the tank (but not the chassis) with gloss paint next time around too.
Due to some changes of plan involving a couple of ‘extra’ chassis etches that I bought I now have one more class ‘B’ to build (as well as four class ‘A’s instead of three). Next time I will opt for a completely Microscale strategy for the decal fixing using Microset, possibly Microsol if the transfers don’t behave at the first attempt and finally their satin lacquer. Somehow while on the phone to Stephen for a second class ‘B’ tank body I also managed to buy one of his 45T GLW tank kits. Oh well.
I’ve also finished and painted the two mineral wagons that I started in Italy and also painted another one that has been languishing for years waiting for the paint brush. While doing the couplings I also took pity on a 12T van that has been floating around unloved since I stole its couplings a while ago for another vehicle that needed some in extreme haste.
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