Ramblings from the Man Cave

Superb Rich - looking forward to both the magazine article and seeing more of those couplings! Graham

Very impressive Rich. The couplings really make them look the part. Cannot quite see myself adopting them for 2mm. You may have a point about the Mink roof.

Don

Hi Richard, what a superb batch of wagons. In fact, they really are very lovely :-)

 

Those underframes are a treat. I also wonder about that V4 roof. Is it the 7ft 6

Lovely (sorry) stuff Rich - some beautiful wagons there

...what the others said really...

 

I especially like the Minks. I hadn't previously given these any consideration myself. The photo on the Association catalog doesn't really do them justice so I might have to put one or two on my shopping list.

Great set of wagons Rich! I'll look forward to reading the magazine article.

Best regards,

Jeremy

Fully agree with comments above.....outstandingly good.

Ian

Great stuff, Rich. I agree with Mikkel's eventual conclusion that the bands on many Swindon MINK drawings are internal. Mostly they are shown correctly as dotted or dashed lines, though it is not always clear, and I don't think we can always treat these drawings as an exact record. The only exception that I can find on a wooden vehicle is the one-off V19. The photo in plate 513 in the latest Atkins et al clearly shows a roof very similar to your's. Perhaps this was what was intended?

 

Nick

Great work, it's hard to believe they are 2mm.

I also wonder about that V4 roof. Is it the 7ft 6

I especially like the Minks. I hadn't previously given these any consideration myself. The photo on the Association catalog doesn't really do them justice so I might have to put one or two on my shopping list.

 

No - the photos do nothing for them. They are that funny colour and finish that is so hard to see the detail on until painted, like many of the 3d printed items we are seeing more of.

...I'll have to look up the V19, although were they not 17'6" long -from memory Minks took RCH sizing starting with V18? I expect that plate 513 will have the same picture in the 3rd edition...

V19 was a one-off flush sided version of V18, No 10450. V18 and V19 were both 16' long, the RCH 17'6" ones start with V21 (V20 was the longer 20T grain hopper van). Atkins et al mention (p379) that some of the vac fitted lot 919 of V18 were fitted with iron roofs.

 

Nick

V19 was a one-off flush sided version of V18, No 10450. V18 and V19 were both 16' long, the RCH 17'6" ones start with V21 (V20 was the longer 20T grain hopper van). Atkins et al mention (p379) that some of the vac fitted lot 919 of V18 were fitted with iron roofs.

 

Nick

 

They are out of time period: grouping is my cut-off. There is a model on GWR modelling of a V4 Mink with a steel roof. This doesn't have the central rib but would otherwise match. So do I; a, remove the rib and try to find an appropriate number or; b, make a new roof from 0.005" sheet?

Right, I can see how in 2mm scale the difference between the different V4 heights wouldn't be noticeable!

 

Thanks for the info on your cut-down LSWR wagon. I didn't realize it was meant to be a GWR open (that's a clever trick), so thought I could get away with making two different LSWR wagons from the 4mm Cambrian. Your model of the LSWR 8 planker is very good, including that lettering on the tarpaulin! 

 

As for that roof, I am not sure it is safe to assume that the Coopercraft version is entirely correct (assuming that Graeme didn't modify the kit of course)?

I've checked in An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons vol. 1 and it states that the LSWR first built 8 plank wagons in 1904.

Gosh you have been a busy bee  

Gosh you have been a busy bee  

 

Well the chassis have been built ages. I stuck them to the bodies and rolled the roofs whilst peddling the association and it's publications at Watford Finescale the other weekend. Buffers and couplings were two evenings work. I have a lot of part finished jobs and these still need painting but God's own spray booth seems closed for business for the foreseeable...

What a fantastic collection of wagons, I especially like the minks, but all the etched underframes are excellent.

 

3 links and instanters in 2mm...I love that particular brand of hair shirt

I've checked in An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons vol. 1 and it states that the LSWR first built 8 plank wagons in 1904.

 

Thanks Richard, that'll fit nicely :-)

A little more info on the iron roof question from John Lewis' six-part series of articles on 16' vans in GWRJ 62/63/66/67/68/70.

 

In Part 1 (62) he mentions that "Some vans were fitted with iron roofs, and these were given what appeared to be an additional, small central bonnet ventialtor at each end." Unfortunately, no dates or diagrams are mentioned here.

 

In Part 4 (67) the above becomes clearer as he lists 26 of those built on lot 873 and 48 on lot 882 as having iron roofs and these additional ventilators. These were all V16 and built between 1920 and 1923, so perhaps just in your period. There is a picture of No 100390 (lot 822) in 1951 on p171. The roof is not particularly clear, but it does appear to have the five bands as in your example.

 

I don't have GWRJ Nos 63 and 68 so it may be worth checking these, particularly the earlier one, to see if there are any earlier examples.

 

Nick

Thanks Nick, I should have all those issues. I must be careful when numbering the one to diagram V16 then... I could have swapped the roofs around if I hadn't glued most of them already. It might however give me the excuse to build at least one more!

Check No 63 first, Rich, as it should cover diagrams V4-V9. You never know, there might be som iron roofs there as well. Do let us know if you find anything, I've ordered copies of the missing ones but it will be a few days before I see them.

 

Nick

As the man who created the roof etches, I always based them on real photos. And there is a photo of just such a van with external roof strips, although it's one with end vents, and so not as in your build. The van in question was W89667, and it is found in "Pre-Nationalisation Freight wagons on British Railways" page 30. Although to be fair, the strips are nowhere near as prominent as those on the etch. That's the problem with etch, you only get the one thickness. You might try rubbing them down a touch.

 

These resin vans are just about the only thing on the market that does to scale the gaps between the planks and the bolt heads.  Everything else in 2mm/N is horribly overdone.

 

Chris

I might fit it and file them all off.

...The van in question was W89667, and it is found in "Pre-Nationalisation Freight wagons on British Railways" page 30. Although to be fair, the strips are nowhere near as prominent as those on the etch...

 

89667 would have been a fitted V12 built as part of lot 731 in 1913. Lewis (GWRJ 66) shows photos of 89662 in 1920s livery and 89713 in BR days, both of which were from this lot. Roof details are unclear for the former, though there is no sign of any strapping at the edge. The latter does, however, appear to have straps visible under a canvas covering.

 

Lewis makes no mention of iron roofs on these V12s. Lot 731 had sprung rod buffers and twin bonnet ventilators from new and may have been one of the first lots to have the diagonal bracing rather than the earlier X bracing.

 

As you say, the straps are very thin and much less prominent than those seen on most models.

 

Nick