TomE's N Gauge Modelling

Although not a preserved loco in the same sense of yours, I have a Tornado that I plan to do something similar too, thanks for the inspiration!

 

jo

Nice job!

 

Time to banish the plastic coal loads now perhaps?

Ah, yes indeed Andy! The latest GF models have improved in that respect, many having a representation of the full coal space now the motor is located where it should be, but the Black 5 & Std4 will always look like they are fully loaded as a result of the tender drive. 

 

Tom. 

Interesting stuff Tom, thanks for replying to my pondering......

 

Weathering on models of preserved stock is an interesting subject. While the frequency of cleaning (especially for the more common 1948-68 'look') is higher, the odd converse effect is that a locomotive might actually spend longer carrying a livery  than it did when in 'front line' service. Due to this, the effects of sun bleaching, and presumably plenty of polishing, add up!

 

A favorite of mine, was the SVR's Bradley Manor, which I recall appearing as a gleaming freshly restored example in 1993 ish, then building up a distinct patina of not dirtyness, but well loved fadedness, over the next two decades. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bradley_Manor_7802_5.jpg

 

Bradley Manor presumably carried elements of this paintwork for far longer than any 50's / 60's decoration. 7802 has now faded from the limelight to be made all rather spick and span and new again, hopefully my patronage of the owning group's shop at Bewdley will help a little!

In the case of the Black 5 Farish went beyond plastic coal, giving us a hefty slice of metal coal to aid adhesion on the tender drive. I tried putting some glue on the metal coal and giving it a light dusting of 'yer actual' coal dust, however I overdid it and the tender appeared to be wearing an elaborate coal 'hat'.....    still working on a plan B.

Yes, that is a problem with the black 5. Removing the metal "coal" does make it even lighter on its feet, and it's not exactly heavy to begin with!

 

My current line of thinking is a thin sheet of lead for weight cut to the size of the opening, with some coal superglued to the top, however I haven't tried this approach yet.

 

I would be interested in peoples recommendations for N Gauge coal though, particularly something to match the more rounded lumps you tend to find these days. A lot of the stuff marketed as coal is more like small splinters of the stuff rather than lumps.

 

Tom.

Looking good Tom. I think that getting the right degree of shinyness in 2mm scale is a very tricky subject but your Black 5 certainly looks the part.

 

I'd suggest that a close inspection of the buffer beam on the real thing reveals a bit of muck in hard to reach places and a personal favourite of mine - the buffer heads have a brownish tint but with a big black splodge of grease in the middle - all very restrained but these little things all add up.

 

Regards, Andy

Tom,

 

The other thing which you may or may not have spotted already is that often the top of the boiler isn't actually polished because the cleaners can't reach without a little more effort. The effect shows quite clearly in your photograph of the prototype.

 

Cheers,

Alex

Thanks Alex.

 

I have dusted the top of the boiler with black weathering powder, although that was more to represent ash/soot deposited over time. It's not immediately obvious in the photos as its quite a subtle effect, maybe too subtle!!

 

Its a little more obvious in this photo hopefully:

 

 

Tom. 

That '5' looks great Tom, I think you've got this about right IMHO.

 

Re. the coal load. You could cut a piece of lead sheet to size mount it in the tender and pile real coal on top of it - you might actually increase the traction weight this way!

 

Keep up the outstanding work!