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Jim Martin

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Blog Comments posted by Jim Martin

    NGT6 1315

    Posted

    No worries. There's another, similar file that's linked from http://www.renfe.com/empresa/mercancias/intermodal/vagones.html which covers intermodal wagons, including the various 4-wheelers used for carrying swapbodies (the "catalogo vagones" link on the right). http://www.pecovasarenfe.com/EN/parque_vagones.html has some info on vehicle-carrying wagons (Pecovasa is Renfe's auto-business subsidiary).

     

    When I went searching for this stuff a few years ago there were similar data sheets for hoppers and tank wagons, but I can't see them any more. It might be worth poking around the website though.

     

    Jim

    NGT6 1315

    Posted

    Hi. Go to http://www.renfe.com/empresa/mercancias/siderurgicos/parque_vagones.html and select the "Cerrados(PDF)" link at the top right of the page. It goes to a pdf of wagon data sheets, including number ranges. "Cerrados" are covered wagons, including coil wagons; "Abiertos" are opens and "plataforma" are flats.

     

    I developed a minor side interest in Renfe after a trip to Port Bou a few years ago. It never went anywhere but I did find some interesting wagon data!

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Hi Jonas

     

    It's crossed my mind, but it's never really been close to happening. I know that someone did cast this type of wagon - there was a photo in issue 6 of Grahame Hedges' old N'spirations magazine - and if I'd known how long this project was going to take, I'd have been sore tempted myself. That said, I've always been keen to explore the different looks that the hoods of these wagons have; and that would require doing each one separately.

     

    I did give serious thought to casting the core - essentially the part that I've just completed - for consistency of dimension and shape. I didn't follow it up because I had doubts about the adhesion of the filler to the resin.

    James Harrison

    Posted

    Coming along very well. It has a definite Great Central look to it.

     

    I think you've made the right choice with the splashers. I first saw that drawing years ago (in Tuplin, I suspect) and they never looked right to me as drawn. The continuous splasher definitely looks better, not to mention more in keeping with other designs of the same period.

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    I expect it'll work out for the best. At times like this I try to remember the Samuel Beckett quote:

     

    Ever tried, ever failed

    No matter

    Try again, fail again

    Fail better

     

    I've started on the replacements and I'm happy, at this very early stage, that they're going to look better than the originals.

    RobboPetes

    Posted

    Dapol are producing a conversion kit which is supposed to allow you to retro-fit older models and non-Dapol stock with NEM pockets (and, by extension, with their couplers). This looks like a very well thought-out product, from what I've seen. I was planning to standardise on MicroTrains' couplers, but I'm now leaning towards Dapol instead, simply because this product is available and I think that Dapol couplers will work out cheaper than MT.

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Simon

     

    Airbrushing sits right up there with soldering as a thing that I did a few times (badly) many years ago and haven't mastered since, but if ever a livery was designed for the total beginner in mind, surely this is it? This is definitely on my long-term to-do list.Your blue looks spot-on: will you be adding white logos?

     

    Martyn

     

    I must admit to not having noticed the difference in the cab doors. I was thinking that it would be relatively straightforward to rebuild the ends of an FNW blue unit and renumber it, but in fact it would probably be easier to start with a 150/2 unit out of the box and just work out a way of marking out the gold star. I should have known it was too good to be true!

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Interesting: I've been reading about Green Stuff and it sounds like a stickier version of Milliput. Is that a fair description? I have to say that I have minimal experience of Milliput too, but at least I have used it.

     

    Is the superglue necessary to actually stick the putty to the base structure underneath, or does it form a surface that the GS adheres to better than it does to styrene? I dob (technical term) the filler on by hand and I'd be a bit hesitant about doing it that way with a load of superglue around. I don't fancy walking round with a wagon stuck to my hand!

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    I hadn't noticed that in the photos, but now you mention it...

     

    To be honest, it never occurred to me to only take off part of the rib. You're probably right about it not being absolutely necessary, but I was thinking about the wheel moving sideways slightly when the bogie swung on curves.

     

    The chisel blade isn't a bad idea. At the very least you would always be working in towards the centre of the wagon, which would be a bit less stressful than doing it the way I did.

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Thanks guys, for your kind words! To be honest, I was thinking of doing the underframes of the next batch - they're pretty easy to do - and then taking a break from IHAs and doing something else for a bit!

     

    One thing that I forgot to put in the original post was that I haven't fitted the low-level lettering placards. I just couldn't see a way of adding them which would allow the wagon to get round any sort of curve. Even those ferry cleats are pushing it a bit, although it should handle about a 12" radius all right.

     

    I also forgot to mention that the brake wheels are from the same TPM ferry wagon etch as the cleats etc. Because of the way I did the hood, I had to cut away part of the wheel and butt it up to the bottom of the filler.

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Good job on this so far Jim. Any further progress to report?

     

    cheers

     

    Ben A.

     

    In fact, there has been. I've finished the hood and detailed one of the ends, but I've been too busy to sit down and draft any deathless prose. I'm away from home at the moment, looking after my Ma, who's just come out of hospital; but once I get home I'm hoping to post an update and some photos pretty soon. I got hold of a couple of tippler underframes from Bernard Taylor, like you suggested: next job is to get them underway and start on the other three IHAs.

     

    Jim

    grahame

    Posted

    That certainly looks a lot more like it. The 50s are my all-time favourite diesel class but I've never felt that the Farish model really caught the character of them properly.

     

    I suppose it's too much to hope that you're going to paint it in large-logo blue, rather than NSE? LLB on a 50 is the finest loco / livery combination of my lifetime, in my view.

     

    Jim

    Jim Martin

    Posted

    Will

     

    Thanks for the kind words :) I'm going to try and do some of the other side so that rather than dipping between the supports, the hood bulges out slightly and comes back in towards the support. I think that's do-able. The other thing I'd like to try - if I could work out how to do it - is an effect like this, where there's a pronounced "pull" in the hood. I'm not sure that my filler-based method is that well-suited to it, though, because the filler can be a pain to work with. It might need something that can be "carved" more easily.

     

    Jim

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