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5726 - Replacement Whistles & Shield


alanbuttler

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One of the last detailing jobs for 5726 is replacing the molded whistles and whistle shield. For this I've used the Comet GWR Detailing Etch which has short and long whistle shields and a pair of Markit's turned brass whistles.

 

It took a little while to work out which of the 4 versions of whistle were the ones required, Markit's provide Long, Thin and two variations of short. Here's a comparison of Long, Thin and Short type 1 against the original mold:

 

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I'm not 100% sure, but I think the prototypical combination is the long and thin types. Either way they are a world apart from the originals!

 

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Another thing I'm not sure about - should the bottom of the shield be flush with the pannier top? If it is, then the top of the shield is too low, so I've gone with a best guess for now. Photos are quite hard to find as the whistles are usually obscured by steam or other parts of the pannier.

 

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So that's it, she's ready for a coating of Halfords Matt Black before adding the final details - brass spectacle windows, real coal, new BR early logo, etched 89A Shed plate and the etched number plates. Hopefully one evening this week!

 

Then work starts on a Dukedog, when I can finally decide which one it will be! Croes Newydd's 9004 (the best of the surviving 90's according to her driver!) or 9014 (last to be withdrawn along with 9017), both with topfeeds, or 9005 with its near 100% lifetime allocation to the Cambrian, with sandboxes to be modelled above the footplate, or 9018, an Oswestry favourite with parallel buffers! All present nice short projects to detail their individual variations. I'm thinking the top feeds and sandboxes could be a nice trial for the 3D printer...

Edited by alanbuttler

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Hi Alan,

 

Great progress you are making on your 57xx which is coming together very nicely.

 

Whistles and whistle shields, like most of GW standardisation, are a minefield of inconsistency! The vast majority (but not all) of the 57xx Panniers were fitted with the short shield you have modelled, from the early 1930's onwards. These were found to be inadequate and superseded by the longer (fireman's shovel) type shields on the 8750's from the late 1930's. These Collett cabbed Panniers of course had higher pitched roofs which necessitated a longer shield, but some ran with the short shield as well.

 

To try and answer some of your specific questions, your whistle combo looks correct although again there was variation. The shield definitely stands proud of the firebox top and should be almost up to the line of rivets (thus standing higher than the top of the whistles). In reality the whistles were piped horizontally through the shield and into the cab, but this is impractical in 4mm without a fair degree of work. You could try positioning the whistles closer to the shield if possible to disguise this.

 

For your info, Martin Finney does a nice whistle shield etch and have a look at the link to a real set due to be auctioned soon. Whilst this is good for detail the whistles appear to be the wrong way round!

 

http://www.gcrauctions.com/sale173/lot453.html

 

Keep up the good work and hope this is of help.

 

 

Regards,

 

Andy.

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Hi Andy, thanks for the link, it think it might be worth me trying to get these fitted to the cab front as per your photograph.  They have quite long shanks so should be able to bend ok, plus I've not glued them yet.  I think either way they need moving a little closer to the shield as you suggest.  I'll make an attempt this evening and let you know how I get on :)

 

One more thing I remembered, the front steps are a little on the thick side, I've looked for etched replacements but can't find anything suitable, have you come across anything? I'll have a look at the MF shield etch, thanks for the tip.

 

At the show I picked up Iain Rice's books "White Metal Loco kit builders guide" and "Etched Kit Construction", both for the bargain price of

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The only loco steps I can think of as an etch are the Comet products: LS34 GWR Loco & Tender Steps, LS76 Symmetrical Loco Steps. Pretty sure they are illustrated on their website, so you could see if they are suitable. I must confess on my Panniers I only took the file to the back of the front steps to thin them down a bit.

 

You can't go wrong with any of the Wild Swan modelling books, especially for

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I think I'll go with your option and take the file to the front steps to thin them down.  Well I've given it a go with the whistles, which themselves I think look better, but there is less room to accommodate the whistle shield now the whistle shaft's are bent 90 degrees into the cab front.  The problem being the large whistle, the shaft wasn't quite long enough to leave enough of a gap for the shield etch.  I think I'll leave it as is now though and get on with repainting :)

 

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Nice one Alan, that looks much better and about spot on height wise.

The main reason I thinned down the steps was to provide a bit of extra clearance for EM conversion. Replacing the handrail knobs with more refined Gibson ones is another option.

Once you start you can't stop!

 

Andy.

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Cheers Andy, yeah I'm beginning to get the impression that I'll have to have a cut off point somewhere if I'm to progress on anything else! Thank's for the recommends on the other wild swan books, I'll have a look on abebooks and see if there are any bargains.

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This is most useful! I have just acquired a Bachmann 57xx for the Shipston project and this will need some upgrading down the road. Thank you!

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Cheers :) I've got a few more reference photos of whistles, I'm going to give them another go with some thin wire when I get a minute:

 

7325

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4566

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1450

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