Entry posted by Jon020
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Some progress has been made on the “Brush 4â€, to the extent that I think the “body†is now done.
The main area of focus has been around the front ends, in a bid to try and make the model look a bit more like the prototype. As I’m sure I mentioned before I’d acquired some Extreme Etchings Class 47 windscreen surround etches... and very nice these are too. So I wanted to use these and soon realised that these would be quite a bit bigger than the Bachmann openings so an improved look could result.
I also wanted to replace the handrail, having already removed the “thick†plastic handrail beforehand. Originally, I simply used some 0.6mm brass wire in three sections. Two short sections were fitted to the inner holes and a large piece shaped to the handrail contour (by placing it flush to the nose and easing it to fit) and then slightly bending to form the correct (or approximate) elevation contour.
The two inner pieces were then glued in and filed to size (under 1mm) and the main handrail glued in, with the rail touching the short sections... securely glued in place (zap-a-gap pink).
Once fitted these looked much finer.
Then.... aargh! Realisation dawns!
On comparing the model with prototype photos, it became apparent that the distance between the handrail and “nose lip†[dimension A] should be greater than the distance between the handrail and the headcode box [dimension B]. And on the model it wasn’t. I’d used the original holes... so is the Bachmann model wrong... well...
I removed the handrail pieces (the small bits refused to budge so were filed flush) and started again. This time, I drilled new holes about 0.4mm lower than the originals.
You can see the originals still in place which serves to illustrate the miniscule change. BUT, now the dimensions are better A is now > B... which is what I wanted... suddenly I think it looks a bit more “47†like. Which is good; it would have been a shame to put the effort in and see no improvement.
Now, I needed a replacement for the headboard bracket. I was trimming the original prior to refitting when it slipped from the tweezers: twing... dink dink dink. 45 minutes of searching later..... not found - was seen headed in direction of bookcase. I'll find it again... one day maybe. I posted a “help†thread on here and this revealed some useful leads, etch parts and ViTrains parts suggested.
Thanks to John Upton for sending me some spare ViTrains brackets; these arrived a few days later and looked very nicely shaped... but a bit big. So... hmmm.
Fortunately, I went to the Watford Finescale model show that weekend and had quite a nice chat (as ever) with Mike and Brian on the EE stand... and I discussed my project. Oh, and Nimbus came with me. Poor quality photos I’m afraid, but seen here on Brian’s stand next to his original “55†body conversion... where it drew some admiring glances (smug mode engaged)
and then she stretched here legs (wheels) on Mark T’s Portchullin where she ran... not very well... but she did move and what’s a little derailing amongst friends... it’s P4 for goodness sake! Oh and the volume was too low – seemingly a factor with either Mark’s Gaugemaster or my Powercab... because he was nice and loud when I got him back home.
Anyway... thanks Brian (and Mike for putting up with it) and Mark. But, I digress...
For the 47, Brian (or was it Mike?) suggested the EE lamp iron etch, just fold them up. Blimey I thought, that sounds fiddly... but you know what, er... it was! But worth the effort. Scale metal brackets... and glued on with rocket max they seem quite secure (fingers crossed).
The other item discussed was... er I’m not sure which loco I’m doing at the moment, but an Finsbury Park Generator.... “what, an early oneâ€.. beamed Mike, “maybe†says I.... “are you changing all the cant rail grills then?†My face fell. “What!?†“The grillsâ€, “They’re different on the early onesâ€. Oh ‘eck. I need to look this up – something else I’d not noticed. “Windscreen wipersâ€, I said, “do you do thoseâ€... “yesâ€, “straight or pantograph ones?†Oh eck... I bought both feeling a little embarrassed... all in good fun. We spoke about the 37 I plan to do next and a 08. DON’T ON ANY ACCOUNT START TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT THESE... YOU’LL REALISE THAT YOU HAVE QUITE A JOB AHEAD OF YOU... oh for a simple conversion. Sob.
As for the 47s cant rails... yes. See for 47404, which is different, and for 47414 which is reassuringly the same... I might have found one to model!
Anyway.., back to the real task in hand... Prior to the show, I’d rung Brian and had a chat about the laserglaze screens. I wanted to use these as they do look good... they’ve appeared in George Dent’s blog recently and probably Model Rail... so I was going to use them too. Now, if you’re just replacing the glazing and cleaning up the original frames, use them as advertised; if you’re going to fit the true-scale etch frames, think again.
Because the Bachmann screens are a little small, if you fit the etch frames, you’ll find that the screens sit inside the frames with a small gap between them and the frames. In some cases this might not show, but it didn’t feel right. “Brianâ€, I said “are the laserglaze items for the Heljan 47 any bigger?â€... knowing that this is the “tubby duffâ€... “Oh yes†says Brian... “in fact they fit the frames very wellâ€. RESULT. So, I’d acquired some of these and set about making the backmann openings bigger to accept the new glazing.
The photos show the comparison between the two, with the Heljan glazing and Bachmann glazing in the frames, and a direct comparison of the two sets of glazing – look how much bigger the Heljan ones are!
Oh, and some advice: these glazing items are not rectangular... they’re curved, but only very subtly... be very very careful to make sure you have them the right way around and up... it’s very easy to get them mixed up when trying to decide how to open-up the hole for them.
Anyway, to get them in the right place, I temporarily fitted the etched frames and then scraped the plastic away from inside the edges... as shown.
This left me with a “frame sized hole†to work to... the frames could them be removed and sanding gently, the hole was eased out “square†on each side equally to the point where the glazing would give an “interference†fit. The shots show the TI and frame carefully balanced in place to show the effect.
The glazing was removed and put away carefully and all frames then well and truly glued in place. I think they look ok... and the look of the 47 is improving.
These also show how much material was removed from the section in front of the windscreens... this really needs the lip lowering to provide room for the frames and give a neater, crisper profile. I don’t think that the quantity of yellow paint helps. Next time it’ll be stripper before starting. Too late now, this time though.
As mentioned before, an alternative headcode (lamp) bracket was sourced and bent and fitted. I think it looks very neat.
A slight weekend departure saw me helping to operate Brighton Road at the Modelworld show on Friday – thanks Matthew for capturing me running the Teak set on a south coast to Victoria slow. Learning the fiddle yard operation was challenging but very rewarding; thanks to Barry Luck for letting me help.
http://www.rmweb.co....ton-modelworld/
I managed to pick up a Bachmann 105 DMU (Blue/yellow) DCC fitted for £75 too, which I was quite pleased about. Then... I spent a little time on Sunday with the airbrush weathering track and applying some lighter shades to the scenic portions of my boys “roundyâ€. It’s getting there!
Back to the 47... and time to work on some finishing details. The Extreme Etchings roof fan grills were carefully removed from their fret (not careful enough) and rolled and fitted. You might see the slight damage to one grill but I’m hoping that some suitable weathering will eventually hide this.
Actually, I think that George Dent had a similar mishap... so I’m not too bothered about this ####s up. They are very delicate.
Finally, there were two more details to add. The first needed a little further research, which revealed this photo and I was able to construct something suitable using microstrip and <1mm length of .25mm wire. Not very precise, but I think it’ll do. The photo from Tomstaf was also very useful.
The photo shows that I used a tiny slither of bluetack attached to the (now blunt) tip of the SM blade to pick up the wire piece to position it.
The next photo shows one fitted and one microstrip piece awaiting its “bit of wireâ€. These are the ex-washer jets.
Finally... promise... I noticed that the Finsbury Park Generators (411-418 that I was focussing on included ... as these have the same cant rail grills as the model)... look again at the earlier photo of 47414 (linked) and you’ll see two rivets under the headcode box. Further research identified that this was for the 34G shed plate... and all FP ones seemed to have it (that I looked at)... others didn’t.
So, I reached for the Archer waterslides and approximately positioned two “rivets†as desired.
Oh, and as mentioned before 47414 now looks a likely candidate ... was crew built (eyebrows and tail lights are right)... and fuel tanks don’t look too bad (but that’s a future problem to resolve) so I think it’ll be ok.
The end results looks quite different from the start point... and possibly worth the effort... so I wrote it all up.
Photos uploaded to flickr as before... and a light dusting of primer to be applied as time permits. But this will do for now.
Chassis next... I hope that it’s not too difficult, but I’m not holding my breath.
That's all for now.., thanks for reading. Hope that some of it was interesting if not useful
Jon.
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