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Reducing Gloatage

D869

Entry posted by D869

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I thought it was time for a few words and pictures to update folks about the latest happenings chez moi. Things have settled down to a more err... leisurely... pace since Nottingham and I've been trying to get some of those half finished projects completed and reduce the level of overcrowding in the gloat box (this never works, I know).

 

One item that didn't quite make Nottingham was one of two Association CCT kits. I've now finished painting it. Fetching it out for a photo reminds me that I still need to fit some handrails. There isn't much to say about this other than that I followed the instructions and it went together pretty much according to plan. The only departure was for the buffers because pretty much everything suitable was out of stock. I didn't want to hold the model up just for this so I used some buffer heads from the Association shop and brass tube for the stocks.

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The Thompson BG was one of two Ultima kits that I bought before Nottingham and intended to build ready for the show. Our practice session showed that we needed more locos, so Western Talisman got built instead. I'm glad that I did the Western because the BG proved rather more challenging than expected. The main problems were with the fit of the various body parts and also a moulding defect in the roof that needed to be fixed with filler. Nothing insurmountable but it did rather reduce my motivation to get on with the build. You can see some of the extent of the extra packing and filling in the photo below. You can also see my gangway end plates made from 15 thou black plastikard because the etched ones in the kit didn't look right - especially at the bottom. There is also zero chance of bare brass shining through any damaged paint with my solution.

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The roof provided with this kit is a Bulleid roof rather than a Thompson one so it needs some modification to the rainstrips and destination board brackets. I departed from the instructions by keeping the upper strip and shortening the lower one to represent the strip at the top of the destination brackets. The end result isn't quite right but neither would it have been if I'd followed the instructions and just deleted the upper strip. I didn't fancy trying to add new strips - I have never found a way to do them that looks anywhere near as good as the moulded ones.

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The hood vents over the doors are provided as etches in the kit but I couldn't see a nice way to hold these in the correct alignment while soldering them. Glue didn't seem like a nice option either (visions of them falling off during or after painting). Instead I used some nickel silver strip. This was almost cut through with a knife to the correct length and a slight bend introduced at the point of the cut. The strip could then be used as a 'handle' to locate the vent while it was soldered in place. Once the vent was fixed the rest of the strip was snapped off. I wasn't too hopeful when I came up with this idea but it worked a treat.

 

One final problem became apparent after assembly - the bogies seemed too far from the ends. This is a 'foreign' vehicle for me so I don't have a big pile of books about LNER coaches to check the dimensions. A query on the (excellent) BRCS Yahoo group yielded the major dimensions. Checking the model against these proved that my gut feel was correct. I've since exchanged emails with Mr Ultima and apparently there was a mistake on the artwork - the bogie centres were to 2mm scale but the rest of the coach is to 'N' scale. I unsoldered the bogie pivots, filed new holes to the correct centres for 'N' scale and refitted the pivots. The result was a big improvement.

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The bogies are Association kits bought in some haste before Nottingham. There were several alternatives available, so I rather guessed which ones to buy. The BRCS posting also yielded the correct bogie wheelbase (8 feet). Surprisingly I had actually bought the right wheelbase. Further discussion on the thread brought me to the realisation that they were still the wrong bogies though - they should be the heavyweight variety. Ho hum. I will order the right ones next time I'm buying stuff but in the meantime the BG can keep these ones.

 

The plan is to follow a photo in Dave Larkin's Bradford Barton parcels stock book and paint this vehicle in unlined maroon as E18E. It will probably replace the Hawksworth BG in the mail train. Neither BG is any more out of place than the other but the high windows on the Thomson BG seem more 'in the style' for a mail train. The Hawksworth BG will then be freed up for the milk train which currently lacks any guard's accommodation - fine for the early 1970s but not so good for the mid 60s.

 

And finally... following the success of my recent theme 'building stuff that is then announced by Farish or Dapol', I am now trying a new theme - 'writing about kits that other people can't buy'. The Thompson kits are now unavailable because there are no remaining stocks of the roof mouldings. Still, I hope you enjoyed the read anyway.

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  • RMweb Gold
46444
  • RMweb Gold

Nice work Andy. Looking forwards to seeing the Thompson finished.

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DavidK71

That looks lovely, despite your difficulties. The problem of how to do rainstrips has been taxing me recently, as I'd like to make several LMS period 2 coaches, but nothing looks good enough. My current plan is to hope that 3d printing soon gets good enough to handle this. I also have an etch of a GWR full brake with an etched roof that I periodically look at before losing the courage to try to roll it ...

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D869

Thanks. I've done rainstrips in the past with microstrip and with wire. The microstrip looks like microstrip and the wire looks like wire. Probably the best I've done was on an etched roof which had slots for the rainstrips. The slots had wire soldered into them so that only the top half of the wire remains visible... unfortunately this isn't an option when you are starting with a plain plastic or metal roof.

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  • RMweb Gold
bcnPete
  • RMweb Gold

Despite the setbacks, it looks like you have made a nice job of the Thompson BG Andy. The CCT also.

 

Look forward to see it once again when primed and painted...

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richbrummitt

I also have an etch of a GWR full brake with an etched roof that I periodically look at before losing the courage to try to roll it ...

 

The 3 arc profile is horrible to roll. The job is usually made use by having the rain strips included on an otherwise half etched part with holes along the centre, which conspire to attempt formationg of some odd kinks.

 

I use microrod on plastic or card roofs.

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DavidK71
The 3 arc profile is horrible to roll.

 

I was afraid of that! I think I will have to give it a try, then think of something else when that doesn't work ...

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D869

Despite the setbacks, it looks like you have made a nice job of the Thompson BG Andy. The CCT also.

 

Thank you Pete.

 

I use microrod on plastic or card roofs.

 

That's a thought... although I've never really got on with microrod if it's what I think you mean - coloured rods that seem to have a definite 'grain' and try to crush when you cut them with anything less sharp than a light sabre. I popped into my LMS at lunch time today (Antics) and they have a stock of Plastruct styrene rod in various sizes. I find this much nicer to work with although I'll need to save up because it's most definitely priced to discourage those 'might come in handy one day' purchases.

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