airnimal

Thanks Brian, I was aware of the LNWR SDX but I think it would be to big for my needs. The is a photograph in NSR locomotives by Ken Hopkins. According to the text they were delivered in NSR livery with a NSR chimney. I have put a bit more ironwork on including the crown plates. These have been made by my usual method of punching a hole with a paper punch and then cutting around with a pair of cutters on a turned mandrill. Cleaning up by hand has always been a bit hit and miss so I have made a tapered mandrill to lightly sand with a fine file in the mini drill. This was a lot quicker and the results were a lot sharper.

A bit more progress has taken place today. The van is up on it's wheels and the correct shape V-irons found and applied. I did managed to find another vacuum formed roof which has been cut down to size but may need a little trimming near the end of the build. We have not been able to find a house that fits our needs ( her indoors needs ) in a location we would like. With it not being a large area there is not a lot on offer that we can afford.

I am surprised I haven't had my leg pulled of this latest issue. Still you can't make a omelette without breaking eggs! I have started to put the ironwork on the ends and chamfer the framing. The masking tape on the bottom of the headstock is protect the corners of the plastic from being bashed while I struggle with the build.

There is a famous saying about not being able to see the woods for the trees. This just about sums me up ! I started this second van because I got the number of planks wrong on the first one. Then a friend mentioned did they build the doors in different styles. What...... Staring me in the face was the obvious mistake I completely missed again. O dear or words a bit stronger were muttered reaching for the drawings and the photographs. The first build was made using the drawing of the 7 ton van but it is different to the drawing of the 10 ton van. The doors framing goes the other way up Thankfully I had got it right the second time. But how did I not notice such a glaring error ? Now the question is did other people notice and were to polite to mention it to me ? I have a thick skin so if you know I have dropped a clanger, please don't hang back and point any errors you spot. I wonder if the works ever did build any of the wagons with the doors the other way up ?

Well I have got back to where I was before I decided that the planks were not correct but this time I hope I have it right. The wrong one will hopefully become a line side tool shed along with the brake van. Thinking about the NSR wagons I have recently made, they are amongst my favourite in all the wagons I have. I find the livery very pleasing and the wagons very simple in design. Coupled with the area of the Potteries with there canals and bottle kilns in which these wagons would operate has it all for me. One problem I have I don't have a NSR engine to pull them. I did have a kit for a D class but I sold it because I didn't feel I could have make a good enough job of it. Loco building isn't for me although I have made plenty in the past I can never make them to a standard that pleases me. Perhaps if there was a really good kit of an early NSR loco I might be tempted to have another go but I don't think that is very likely as I don't think that there are many NSR modellers about to warrant anybody a kit manufacturer to go down this route. I will have to keep my eye out for a second hand loco that could be converted to S7 standards. Perhaps I could commission one from a good scratch builder, but who ?

We survived the 2 little boys today, they have such energy for us old folk. Back to the replacement van and new doors. Graham ask how I made the doors a short while ago so I took a couple of photographs this time. The door pillars are made from 40 x100 thou rather than 60 x 100 thou which the other framing is made from so making the backing of the doors 20 thou proud. It's not a lot but adds to the overall look.

A friend of mine had the same problem with dog poo and he told the gentleman to remove it and received a blank stare. He the followed him home and depositt it on his door step. He then covered the poo with a piece of paper which he then set on fire and rung the door bell. I will leave you to guess the rest !

I had already decided to fit the correct numbers of planks to fit the known dimensions so it looks right to the photograph. I have the basic shell now ready to fit the doors and other framing. I will do another hour now but we have our grandchildren tomorrow which doesn't allow for any modelling to take place. They are a little young yet to get them helping but the first place they want to go is to see the trains in grandad's cabinet.

Mol_PMB, I am not sure about copyright to post photographs and drawings from books. I have in the past posted little snippets of drawings but I am unsure if this is acceptable. I have decided to make the planks fit the space between the top and bottom frames but within the overall dimensions of the works drawing. I think after all these years a bit of guesswork is always going to be necessary. So I have cut the sides and ends out and hopefully I can make a better job this time, but I have said that before. I don't have any more of the vacuum shaped roofs left so I'm going to use a cut down one from a unknown plastic kit.

Now here is a dilemma ! The works drawing for the 7 ton van show 9 planks but the one photograph we have have shows 9.5 planks. Do I increase the height of the model or do I decrease the size of the planks to fit the overall height. That half a plank makes a difference visually but which way is the correct way. I have made a basic frame but the one photograph we have is quite small and not very easy to scale off.

I have applied the Posca pen to the wheels of the L&Y pug. I cleaned them with methylated spirit on a cotton bud before applying. I then painted them with Testers dull coat Matt varnish. This was successful on about 90% of the wheels but it removed a very small amount of the black. I let them dry and then went over them again with Posca pen. This seems to have been successful now they are all dry and rubbing them with a dry cotton bud doesn't have any effect on them. I think the loco does look better for the work. I just need to tone down the coupling rods to a more work stained loco.

Dave, just the simple matter of a plank missing. There is only one photograph as far as I'm aware of the 7 ton van and it's a bit smaller than the 10 ton van of the same design which we have better photographs. The works drawing of the smaller van is different to the only photograph that we have of it. Trying to construct this van, I took my eye of the ball regarding the number of planks and concentrating on the overall height of the body and where the planks lay in regarding to the farming. I dont know which size van Marc made when he released his kit or which drawing he used but building something accurate from so little information is never going to be easy. Now I know were I went so wrong makes me feel better about it and I will continue and make another. NeilHB suggestion about the Posca pens was brilliant. Mine came yesterday and I tried it out on a pair of stainless tweezers. Yes it does as Neil says and produce a Matt black finish but I was able to rub it off when it had dried. These pens are not the same as magic markers in which the steel is stained but are paints. So I did it again and when it had dried I painted a coat of Matt varnish over it. This time the results were just what I wanted, a perfect finish that appears to be hard wearing. Good call Neil.

First the good news ! I have a new tray to model on so I can carry it from my workshop and set up in the living room and clear it away very quickly. Then the bad news ! This van is going to be scrapped. I have made another fundamental mistake. I put it down to a combination of thinking about trying to find a new house and trying to get the old one ready for selling, plus I was at the hospital on Tuesday. Along with lockdown and lack of information about the prototype doesn't help as well as the lack of photographs all combined to making mistakes a whole lot easier. Will I be starting again ? Well I will be going out for the rest of today so I will have to ponder on it and think things over. Perhaps I need a brake from modelling for a short while and concentrate on clearing out the clutter before we put the house up for sale.

A small amount of work has been done today. The buffers are on with hexagonal bolts and a start on the ironwork. The chamfer has been done on this end but I don't think it will be noticed until after painting.

Richard, thank you for the kind offer of a scratch built narrow boat. I do love canals and narrow boats and will hopefully have at least one somewhere down the line when I move house and have a diorama or layout. But I think it is a bit premature to have one just yet even as a wagon load. I will come back to you because I do want some of your packing cases / tea chests / posters in the future. Neil, thank you for the information about Posca pens, one is on order. I have tried other brands that didn't work on stainless steel so hopefully this one will. I required some 3 bolt buffers for this van and I had some in stock but out of the 8 I have only 3 were of good quality. So I am making my own from my own plain castings that I had left over from my brake van kit. On the brake van kit the bolts were cast into the base plate on the body casting. So I have drilled 3 holes in a brass washer to act as a drilling jig. I soldered this to the base of the buffer casting and the 3 holes drilled before the washer was taken off. I just need to add the Masterclub bolts when I have fixed them to the van body. I have also cut some new plates to fit between the frames to rest the scalpel on when I do the chamfering.

A bit of a change from the usual. I bought this brass loco at Telford in 2019 and had it converted to S7 standards last year. I thought the paint work was brilliant but a little to clean for a working engine. The buffers were painted grey which I didn't like so I repainted them to a wood colour. I have then attacked them with some powders to tone them down to a more reasonable colour. The paint work is still clean but not with the very bright shine. It still needs a Jack and a few oil cans and a crew. The wheels need the tyres doing something with but I think they are stainless steel which doesn't take to chemical black as normal steel wheels do. I think I will have to paint them. I also need to change the links on the couplings.

Graham, I glued the outside door frame pillars to the ones already there and when dry added the backing planks before doing the rest of the door frame. I will have to make new metal pieces to place between the frames to rest my scalpel on to do the chamfering. I have a confession to make ! The body is a scale inch to narrow. It should be 7 ' 4" and it's only 7' 3". I hope that standards are not slipping. I will go to the back of the class.

I should really be doing work around the house to get it ready to put it on the market but my motivation is sadly lacking. I could do with a kick up the backside because it won't do itself. I am also waiting for model materials from 3 different sources which are taking forever. Now I have put the doors on it is beginning to look like a NSR van. The doors have been put on the other side so it's a bit further on.

The basic shape has been completed and a roof has been found but needs trimming to size. The doors are next but the frames are not as deep. That is the reason I didn't make the sides all in one. The difference is not great but I think it pays to have them slightly different depths.

Mol_PMB, thank you for the information about canal boats from Langley models. I hadn't been aware of them. I have decided not to do these just yet. I think I have to much on my mind with thinking about trying to find a new house rather than tackle something so bold. Jim, again thank you for your help. I do have other buffers that are correct for wagon No 27 but as i have put aside the Calendonian wagons because I can't find my etched W-irons for these wagons. Having enjoyed building the NSR wagons I have decided to build a NSR van. I do know that Marc at Furness wagons does produce a kit for this van but from my past kit building I wouldn't be able to do it justice if I bought one. So it's my usual scratch built which I am more familiar with. So a basic frame has been knocked up and a start on the body has got going.

I presume that Limonene stick nickel or brass components to plasticard. I have never tried it and was wondering if it is long lasting ?

Going through the Caledonian wagon book I think the buffers I have are from Caledonian Railway wagons. At least the two outside ones are, I am not so sure on the ones in the middle. I have been through my parts supply and now I have misplaced my etch W-irons to go with the buffers. I have had a right ear bashing from my better half for not putting them away safely. I spend hours looking for stuff that I have put away but can never find again. Perhaps the carpet monster has grown bigger and swallowed larger items. So looking in the same book I like the look of a furniture van truck in plate 12.1 that could be a contender for a model. But there isn't a drawing only a description which states that the early ones had 3' 6" Mansell wheels. The photograph of wagon No 27 clearly has spoke wheels but are they the same size or normal 3' 1" wheels ? I have the buffers I could use and the axleboxes look normal enough but would have to guess at the brake gear. This wagon could come south of the border with a nice carriage on it. The headstocks seem very thin and tall and the solebars are in shadow so not making it very clear regarding the iron work. Failure to find out about this wagons I could model a couple of wagons in the NSR wagon book that I have made before. The ones I like are unpainted dumb buffer wagons with a narrow boat load. Now if I can source a model narrow boat as a load it might be a runner. I know Skytrex do a couple but could I adapt on as a load ?

Jim, thank you but I have the book here in front of me and I dont think that anyone of the three matches exactly the photographs or drawings. It could be that the pattern makers haven't got it completely right or there isn't a good enough photograph that that show the buffers from all sides. It is a bit late now so I will check all the photographs in the the book tomorrow.

I have being doing work around the house to get it ready to be put up for sale including laying a new floor tiles in the bathroom after we had trouble with a perished bath seal. I want to move house after being here for over half my life, but I think it is going to be stressful after so long in the same place. We went to view a house today that was in the perfect location but it had not been touch for many years and would have required about 50K spending on it. Anyway I have being looking at doing a few more wagons but I am running out of parts. Or more precisely the parts I require for the wagons I wish to build. I still have lots of parts from various places acquired long ago but they don't neccessarily match up together. I have found 3 sets of white metal buffers that claim to be Caledonian Railway but which one is the correct shape. They all have a web down one side, but the shape on the other side are all different. Perhaps someone north of the border will know ? I have Cambrain buffers but no axleboxes. I have lots of other buffers that I don't know they origins but without W-irons. I think I could do with a clear out and restock on parts that I require. I really wanted to start some baseboards for a layout or diorama but it not worth it until I know the amount of space I will have when we finally do move house.

Somebody's is going to be very pleased when you deliver this delightful model. Richard you are a true artist. Wonderful more please.