JDaniels

The Finecast kit arrived this morning, impressive when you consider I only phoned yesterday. The kit has the 15ft overall wheelbase (7ft 4in + 7ft 8in) with provision for both inside and outside bearing trailing wheels. One disdavantage is that the kit only comes with the later extended bunker although I may have one of the earlier bunkers that hopefully may fit. The full covered cab is supplied but the instructions do say that this could be modified to a half cab. The kit also includes three variants of the front steps. I don't think it's a particularly important issue but I think the outside bearing trailing wheel versions had a 15ft 6in wheelbase. The instructions refer to the final 6 locos as having the 15ft 6in wheelbase but RCTS part 6 refers to these having been built with this wheelbase from new, most of the locos originally with a 15ft wheelbase were converted to 15ft 6in so if one was pedantic none of these, either those built as new or those converted, could be built from this kit. The chassis has provision for CSB suspension and a quick look at the castings show them to be of the quality one expects from Finecast. Also included with the package I received was a note of the Nu Cast kits now also available under the joint venture between SE Finecast and Branchlines. The kits are: LNER J70 tram engine NER Class H, LNER Y7 LNER Sentinel Railcar Sentinental shunter LMS Fowler 7F 0-8-0 GWR Autocoach Dia A26. BR (WR) 16xx pannier. Coming soon is the GWR 2021 0-6-0 in saddle and pannier tank forms. I have one of these partly assembled. The autocoach looks interesting and despite being out of period, I have a soft spot for the 16xx pannier. I hope this is of interest.

ian, Thank you for your comments and the photo. I see your version has the outside bearings. The M & L kit I have only made the inside bearing version. The Finecast advert was a little confusing as it refers to being able to make both inside and outside bearing versions but my understanding is that the outside bearing locos had a 6in longer overall wheelbase. I don't suppose there is any provision to make this alteration in the kit so I guess you accept the discrepancy or perhaps move the trailing wheels back by this amount.(the coupled wheelbase did not change at 7ft 4in). Perhaps rather hastily I've ordered one from Finecast so will report when it arrives. I gather it was sent today so should be with me very soon.

Thank for that guys. It looks as though both wheelbases can be made from the kit but it doesn't mention whether the earlier bunker is included. The photo shows the later Collett bunker. This would rather restrict the period covered. I recollect that the Metro kit had both bunkers, at the time I opted for the Collett version with full cab as I was then more interested in the early 1930's period. I still have the earlier bunker which, with careful selection of prototype, should be suitable for the 517 but this kit may have the alternatives. I will not make any comment on marketing strategy!

I'm thinking of constructing another 517 0-4-2T to work alongside the M &L kit I already have. I was contemplating the Malcolm Mitchell kit but really wanted something that would not take as long to construct and I'm also a little put off by comments that on some of these kits the boiler has to be rolled. I've since read reports that SE Finecast are supposed to have produced a kit for this locomotive but although it appears in the price list, I've yet to find a photo of it. The M & L kit represents the short framed, inside rear bearing version of the 517 which, by the 1920's were quite rare, most having been converted with a longer frame and outside rear bearings. Does anyone know which version the SE Finecast kit represents? I have a SE Finecast kit of the GWR Metro tank and the quality and fit of the castings is outstanding. The kits also come with a detailed etched chassis. I'd be grateful if anyone has more information on this kit which I can imagine will be very popular.

Hi Mikkel, Only just started looking at the blogs following a frustrating time grappling with 4 wheel coaches. I agree that the period you are modelling shows the GWR at it's most elegant. I don't keep up with the proprietary scene as I should but the standard (and price) seems to be getting ever higher. I'm always impressed with the finish of proprietary models these days; the painting and lining is superb and you have to consider that these are churned out in their thousands. It therefore takes a special kind of confidence to take a hacksaw to an expensive model! The photo of the prototype accompanying your blog is interesting as it shows the peculiar swirls on the paintwork that appear in photos of many other locomotives of this period. In the photo this is particularly prominent on the splashers and tender. I believe this was caused by the materials used to clean the locomotives at that time but I've yet to see any models showing this feature. I like your step by step guide which has obviously taken you some time to do. It's much appreciated.

When it comes to the running qualities of our locomotives, I've long thought that the weak point are the current collectors, the way in which the current is picked up from the tyres. We have very good motors and gearboxes and with compensated, and now CSB suspension systems there is no longer any problem in ensuring all wheels are in contact with the track. However when it comes to collecting the current from the wheel tyres we end up fiddling about with pieces of phosphor bronze wire or strip.Not very high tech! I've been on the lookout for something better and think I found it in Hobbycraft (this was whilst Mrs. D was wandering around the sewing section). I was looking at the jewellery section and discovered that you could buy small metal beads that are used for making jewellery. Unfortunately I threw the packaging away but I think this is what I used. http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/beads-unlimited-midi-metal-rounds-3-mm-gold-plated/561573-1001 Put simply, the bead is threaded through and then soldered to phospor bronze wire and it is the bead, not the wire, that bears against the back of tyre. Being round there is no scratching and as it is gold plated this should mean better electricial conductivity. The hole in the bead is larger that most phosphor bronze wire but as it is soldered this is not a major issue although a closer fit would have been better. For 1384 I had to use one piece of wire for the two driving wheels each side and I found one advantage was that once the wire had been soldered to the baseplate it was possible to move the bead on the wire using a soldering iron to ensure it was exactly in line with the tyre. Another advantage over using phosphor bronze strip was appearance, the wire is far less noticeable. Clearly the wire needs to be cut off where it comes out of the other side of the bead. I've adapted three of my locomotives so far and found that current collection is much improved whilst friction is reduced. I'd recommend giving this a try, at £ 2.70 for 100 it's hardly going to break the bank.

I have been modelling on a semi-serious basis now since the early 1970's and in my collection of rolling stock are items that I have no recollection of buying or detailing. Some of these have absolutely no place at Blagdon so occupy a separate box to the other stock which is relevant to the Wrington Vale. That box currently hold two Airfix auto coaches, both in as built condition (with windows both ends) and detailed with the Dart Castings kit, a Stephen Poole 64xx 0-6-0PT that recently acquired a Cotswold etched chassis and the Gem Cambrian 2-4-0T, this though may find a place on a future Cambrian micro layout (Fronfraith). In addition to these is the subject of this brief article, the Siphon H, not sure whether it was Airfix or Mainline that did this but I'm quite sure that the prototype would never have found its' way to Blagdon, or any other branch line for that matter. On a related matter, I do sometimes think that as modellers we overdo the incidence of Siphons attached to branch passenger trains. My understanding is that from the 1920's on, road haulage really ate into the railways share of goods traffic using army surplus lorries and being able to collect milk direct from a farm gave road hauliers an unbeatable advantage. Blagdon was supposed to have a reasonable trade in milk but the photos I have seen show this being loaded into the guards compartment of passenger trains. The amount of milk from the whole of the Wrington Vale would hardly justify even a 6 wheel Siphon (although I do have two of those). Siphons were of course used on other traffic, the strawberry trains on the Cheddar line for example and prior to 1920 there are photographs of Siphons on passenger trains, an early photo of the Abbotsbury branch train shows a milk truck (not a Siphon) attached to the branch train. Siphons appear to have been more generally used on main line trains, either attached to an express passenger or as part of a dedicated milk train that would serve a milk processing centre (the milk having been taken from the farm to the centre by lorry).. I digress, back to the Siphon H. This was detailed all those years ago with new bogies, brake rodding, wire handrails and lamp irons, additional trussing, brake and steam pipes and screw couplings. Sorting out the models for the "non-Blagdon" box I had another look at this and thought it could be further improved with, naturally, gas pipes on the roof. I laid out the two pipes running along beside the lamps, one of smaller diameter than the other but as I don't have any information about how the feed came up from the gas cylinders I have done no more than this. If anyone can clarify how the gas reached the roof I'd love to know, the vehicle had end doors so I can't imagine they'd have reached the roof that way.. I have also noticed that those who have commented in the past on detailing this model query the bogies that were used. The Russell book has several photos of Siphon H's and all have the American 9ft variety as my model. Sadly though none of the photos show the arrangement of the plumbing on the roof. Only 20 of these vehicles were ever built so they were very rare birds indeed. The Siphon G was far more common although there were more variations over the various lots. If I was doing this again I'd certainly change the handbrake levers and maybe add a little more underframe detail. I also need to remove the inner bogie step. Ah well, the trouble with this hobby is that as you delve further the shortcomings of your work become apparent with the ncourse of time. Like many people though I like the brown vehicles and the body of the Airfix / Mainline model is excellent. The model was quite heavily weathered using Hubrol washes, in this case "dust" colour which, from years washing my various cars, appears to be the predominant shade of "dirt.". You can rest assured though I won't be doing this to the auto coaches.

Thanks Mikkel. The T47 (which I think was the 4 compatment brake third) had a different roof profile from the Ratio kit so if they are doing a roof for this version it will save messing around with boiling water and formers to shape the plasticard. GWR coach formations were often haphazard so the different profiles will add authenticity.

Thankfully the three coaches constructed from a mixture of mainly Trains, Shire Scenes and Ratio parts are now completed and boxed ready to be handed over to the painter at Expo EM. I'm still not sure whether the quality of my work justifies the considerable expense of having them professionally painted. However this has left me with three spare Ratio chassis (two short and one long), some roofs and the sides for a composite. In addition I have many spare sides acquired in the distant past but as there are no chassis I have no idea where they came from. This set me thinking that I could make up three coaches using, for the most part, Ratio components but with the knowledge gained from using the etched components I thought I could add a fair amount of additional detail. I had the sides, end and roof of a composite that I could not use with the etched chassis, a set of sides for an all third and for the long chassis I thought I would get the Shire Scenes sides for the third brake with duckets at the end. This for no other reason than it would make a change from the usual Ratio brake third. I have made many of the Ratio coach kits before but despite this on my first coach I merrily cut off all the pips on the chassis sides, belatedly realising that some should have been retained to locate in the holes in the floor. My usual method of assembling the underframe is to locate the bearings and wheels whilst the glue is still tacky, wrapping an elastic band around each end to hold the wheelsets firmly in the bearings and then standing on a sheet of glass (a small mirror is one of my most useful tools) with some weight on the floor. However cutting off the pips did create a few problems as the elastic bands pulled the sides of the chassis in. I had hoped to preface this entry along the lines of "Detailing Ratio 4 wheel coaches without the need for the Mainly Trains kit" However I had several of the Mainly Trains Dean Churchward brake gear etches which I used so that was out of the question. I would have thought however that the parts I used would be readily available elsewhere. Taking the chassis first, I was impressed with the level of detailing in the springs and axleboxes. The brake gear however is lacking and I replaced this with parts from the Mainly Trains etch. The photo below (again apologies for my camera) shows the parts I added in their unpainted state. The Ratio brake blocks were drilled to take the etched brass yokes which connect each side. The V hangers, brake actuating and cylinder cranks all came from the etch all connected up with brass wire. I omitted the vertical rod connecting the yokes and the rod from the brake actuating crank as this is not visible being behind the wheel. I also added the gas filler. I noticed that some of the brake hangers were almost identical to the gas filler bracket so made up a bracket adding a piece of wire to represent the nozzle. Most of this is in fact hardly visible but it brings the chassis almost up to the same level of detail as the Mainly Trains kit. The latter does score however with the superior solebar detail which cannot be replicated with the Ratio kit. One afterthought, I added the gas pipes from the ends of the cylinders. The body is well detailed but I thought separate handrails and door handles would look better. I used handrails (or should that be commode handles) from Roxey Moulding with etched brass door handles included in the MT chassis etch. Etched brass cannot replicate faithfully a round handrail but I thought these, and the door handles in particular, vastly improved the appearance. It can be difficult to pare off the plastic handrails neatly and holes need to be drilled exactly on the line of the moulding to accomodate the etched handrails. One problem I had with one of the sides was that in trying to file down the inside to fit the MT chassis I inadvertently took off part of the outside resulting in a small chunk taken out. I used filler on this but it is still visible. The ends had a little re-working, I pared off the handrails and replaced these with wire as also with the lamp bracket. The MT kit refers to the vacuum pipe as being to the right of the coupling so this was moved over. I didn't bother to replace the alarm gear though. Whilst I can't claim all my stock has metal buffers, I don't like plastic and Markits supplied suitable turned alternatives. I felt the Ratio buffers (like the vacuum pipes) were a little puny but the Markits ones may be a little on the large side, they are after all intended for bogie stock. Oddly, those supplied in the Mainly Trains kits are even larger. Finally, the roof had the rainstrips, gas piping and associated brackets added. As I've mentioned before, bearing in mind this is the part of a coach most people see this simple step improves the appearance out of all proportion to the time taken in accomplishing it. The sides were painted all over chocolate to represent the (economy) livery many of these old coaches received in the early 1930's. The transfers are Pressfix and caused some grief. The Pressfix sheets I used were years old and had lost their adhesion with the result that separate letters tended to float about on a film of water. The numbers were an absolute pig and I resorted to varnishing each number separately before fixing the next one. I do find it irritating that you need to buy a whole sheet, and they're not cheap, knowing that the 95% you won't be using can't be stored for any length of time. The result is shown below (using my wifes' camera this time): The transfer film shows up far more on the photo than it does to the naked eye. The all third is well under way although the chassis awaits its' Gibson wheels. This has been painted chocolate and cream but in researching the details of this livery I made an interesting discovery. I always assumed the two colours were divided by a black and gold line. In fact whilst this was the case with prestige coaches, on lesser stock the colours were separated by a yellow line only. Fox supplied suitable transfers.The brake third has a completed chassis but the sides are currently unavailable. On a separate matter, whilst looking at the Markits website I noticed that they did GWR loco buffers with a larger head. Whilst I'm very pleased with my model of 5807 from the Puffers etched kit the effect is ruined by the ridiculously small buffers supplied that, stupidly, I fitted without a second thought. For years I've been looking for large buffer heads with shafts that will fit the existing base, as the loco was painted professionally (by Larry Goddard) replacing the whole buffer assembly was out of the question. Joy of joys, the Markits ones fit and even though I can't spring them as the chassis prevents this, the improved appearance is remarkable. The Markits website is well worth a look. I hope other modellers find these notes useful. There seems to be a lack of detailed knowledge of these coaches which results in the differences between kits of supposedly the same prototype. The MT kit has very detailed instructions and using the information gleaned from these I have been able to improve the Ratio kit.

Mike, Thanks for this, the old broad gauge coaches seem to keep their white roofs longer than those built later, the painting method must have changed. Certainly photos I have seen taken in the 1920's and 1930's show mainly varying shades of grey, mostly the darker end of the spectrum I did have a look again at the HMRS GWR livery register to see what it had to say and there is a copy of the painting specification taken from a GWR apprentice's notebook dated 1918. The roof is basically white lead but what intrigued me was the instructions for painting wagons. These were "2 coats of white lead with a little black added followed by 1 coat of black with a little white lead added." And there we are debating the exact shade used by the GWR!

Mikkel, Pete, Thank you very much for your responses. Pete, your detailed account of the way in which the roofs were painted has answered one question. I always thought that rain would wash some of the dirt off, we have a white car and whilst it gets dirty the underlying colour is always apparent. With the coaches if the muck sticks to the linseed oil as it dries it's never going to wash off. It also raises the question of the texture of the roof, I suppose with the dirt it would be a lot rougher than we perhaps imagine. As with the red wagons, it looks as though the colour is an incidental result of the preservatives used rather than a conscious decison to use a particular shade. BTW, you mention SRM 93. Congrats to all involved in the work, I went on it when visiting Didcot and it was a brilliant experience, it really feels like stepping back over 100 years. Mikkel, thanks for sending the photo. It does show that the colours varied although I suspect even the one white roof is probably stained when looked at closely. At least with your gas piping you only have to model the main gas feeds. Later on there was s econd pipe for the incandescent gas (?) feed. Whilst sanding down the roof to remove the paint I also removed the rather ineffective rainstrips to be replaced with the same 20thou Plasticard as used for the gas pipes. Thanks again both of you. John

Mikkel, Thanks you for your entry. It has always seemed odd to me that modellers concentrate on the underpinnings of wagons and coaches ignoring the top surfaces. This may be because the photos we see of the prototype are generally side on whilst when it comes to models we see them usually from above, in fact it is very difficult to find photos of the prototype showing the roof detail. On a model the lack of gas piping on the roof is far more obvious than the omission of internal parts of the brake gear. In fact even on broadside photos of the prototype, the brake gear is barely discernible. As to coach roofs, yes I think I will use various shades from off white (rarely) to medium grey. A characteristic of GWR coaches as seen in photos was the various shades of grey whilst it wasn't unknown for the odd coach roof to be sparking white. Coach sets, such as the three four wheelers used on the Wrington Vale would, I have thought, been overhauled and painted together and the roofs would therefore be the same shade of grey. White was a ridiculous colour to use, only abandoned in 1940, guess why! John

P, thanks your entry. Sorry about my previous attempt to reply. It's a great shame that the coach side has been put into store. When I first saw it I thought it was remarkable but in a general transport museum with so many people these days interested in cars I guess they thought the space was better turned over to the Bristol Motor Company. It would be better if the remains of the coach were loaned to someone like the GWS at Didcot where it would be better appreciated.

Having assembled the two brakes, I turned, with some trepidation, to the composite. This uses the Ratio sides and I was concerned that as these were thicker than the etched brass the problems with clearances might be more acute. Also as they were plastic I couldn't be so carefree with the soldering iron and I was concerned that gluing might not give as good a bond as solder. With the brake thirds I soldered the sides to the ends and then, allowing for the slight overlap of the sides over the solebars, located the L shaped bracket that would take the fixing screws securing the body to the chassis. As I was concerned that the plastic sides would not take kindly to the heat, I soldered the brackets to the ends first. By using the roof as a guide, I estimated the correct position of the sides against the ends and allowing for that slight overlap of the solebar soldered the brackets to the end without the sides in place. Locating the roof showed that the sides were at the very limit of the width allowable by the roof so I filed the end of the sides down to reduce the thickness where they located against the "wings" and therefore the overall width. This had the advantage that the ends would more closely match the brakes which used the thinner Shire Scene sides. The next step was to Araldite the sides to the ends, I was grateful that the Shire Scene ends had the wings that folded out to give a greater area for the adhesive. Once again I located the roof in position just to ensure the sides and ends were located in the correct position. Once the Araldite had completely set I then tried locating the body assembly to the floor. This was the point I had problems before, I can only think the width of the MT floor is greater than that in the Ratio kit as the body tends to sit on, rather than slightly overlapping the floor. Oddly the problem more or less resolved itself as the "wings" to which the sides are secured were at the top and halfway up the height of the body. The bottom of the ends, which weren't fixed, bowed out slightly to fit over the solebars. With the sides and ends in the correct position I filled the gaps at the bottom of the join between the ends and sides with Araldite whilst the body was located on the chassis. Having satisfied myself that the body was correctly located on the floor, I marked the holes for the 8BA screws, drilled the holes and soldered the 8BA nuts to the top of the bracket, ensuring the soldering iron did not linger longer than was necessary. Whilst I hadn't intended to fix the compartment partitions in place at this stage, I thought that as the assembly only relied on adhesive rather than solder, fixing the central partition would add strength. The photo shows the body at this stage, the internal soldering looking a little neater than on the brake thirds. Now the time came to fix the roof, as will be apparent it would be impossible to solder the nuts on the brackets with the roof in place. The one slight hiccup was the partition, this was slightly too wide causing the sides to bow out slightly in the centre. This was simply solved by cutting a section out of the partition and placing a new piece of Plasticard over the gap once the roof was in place. As it was the roof only just covered both sides but once fixed with plastic glue (sides) and Araldite (ends) the whole assembly was quite rigid. The photo shows the coach virtually complete. For once, this coach was more straightforward than I expected. Apologies for the focussing but a macro lens is out of my budget. I had wondered just how much the MT chassis kits adds to the appearance of the Ratio sides so for comparison I attach two photos, broadside views of the unpainted composite and another of an old Ratio kit (in the livery for 1902) assembled as per instructions. I think from most viewpoints there is little difference between the two. IMHO the Ratio kit can be improved by just two simple steps, adding the gas lighting pipes (as will be evident from the photo, something I am doing on all my old coaches) and paring off the end handrails and substituing them for brass wire looping round on to the carriage roof. I also have a set of the same three coaches in post 1927 simplified chocolate and cream and these do have basic brake rigging added. Again though from most angles this underframe detail just cannot be seen. To my mind the ends are the biggest drawback of the Ratio kit, not the underframe. There is no doubt that the etched ends, whether MT or Shirescenes, look better with the pipework etc. added separately rather than moulded on. The stepboards of the Ratio kit are also a drawback, not because they're not realistic, they are far too fragile. I don't know what other GWR modellers do but I'm never sure what colour to paint the roof. Yes there is the odd photo of a pristine white coach roof but more usually they seem to be shades of grey depending on how long the coach has been in service since its' last repaint. I've alternated between painting the roof white and then weathering it or just painting it a light shade of grey. Common sense dictates that the roof started white and would weather unevenly (i.e. with blotches and streaks) but photos show an even grey colour. Finally, recent blog entries by MikeOxon prompted me to search out a photo I took of the side of a BG coach at a Bristol Museum (I think it's called the "M Shed" now) which I had forgotten about. It's remarkable that this has survived for so long and gives us a real insight into the liveries and construction of coaches built over 150 years ago. The coach was probably withdrawn in 1870 and is in the same condition as it was then. Because this is not on a preserved railway it is probably not as well known as it should be. Hope this is of interest.

Mike, Excellent article as always. It's a real challenge modelling very early railways but also very rewarding. You refer to the colours of the coaches. Were you aware that at the transport museum at Bristol (just along from the Great Britain, definitely also worth a visit) they have the side of a broad gauge coach in the same condition as when scrapped, presumably in the 1870's. The coach was used as a shed (probably living accomodation in those days!) and the side was panelled over for a hundred years or so. It's a remarkable example of long term preservation. I have a photo of it and having looked at it again the level of detail is breathtaking. As you say, the "cream" is more white. Lettering, coach numbers are all there. If you haven't seen it I would say it's well worth a visit. John

I was going to write something this evening but the rain has driven me out of the garden. Hopefully I have more success with railway modelling than I do with growing clematis! The second brake coach is now almost finished and ready (just about) for painting. A photo is attached. As with the first coach, glazing and handrails will be fitted after painting. Unfortunately it's not quite the same as the first brake as I dispensed with the ends that came with the underframe kit. The ends are, for some reason, etched in very thin brass, you could cut paper with the edge. Shire Scenes do etched ends that have the advantage of "wings" that locate against the sides making it far easier to solder and they are also more substantial. With the MT ends I had to strengthen the join with fillets of brass angle and because of the thickness of the metal the ends flex and eventually the constant mauling to get a decent fit created so many creases and folds I realised that they were only fit for scrap after so many attempts. What I didn't appreciate until I received the Shire Scenes ends was just how different th detail is from those in the MT chassis kit. Taking the step end first, the steps are far larger than those in the MT kit. They do however have a better fixing with a tab that folds up enabling the step to be soldered against the back of the coach end. This also made it easier to solder the inside fixing bracket as it was against an almost flush surface.The Shire Scenes sides also had rivet detail and an etched lamp bracket, the latter I replaced with brass rod suitably flattened and filed to represent the flat surface as the etched ones wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. At the other end, the communicating cord gear, the rod across the top of the end, was represented by etched brass in the Shire Scenes kit. I replaced this with brass rod and also used from the MT kit the small fold up box that is just to the right of the centre line and from which a vertical rod goes down to underneath the buffer beam. Another difference between the kits, this box on the Shire Scenes end is to the left of the centre line. The release lever for the alarm gear was again taken from the MT kit. Again the position on the end of the coach is slightly different between the two kits, MT show this as being along the line of the moulding, Shire Scenes as above the moulding. Again I used the MT part positioned along the moulding. The alarm gong is not represented in the Shire Scenes kit and MT do not have what I think is an accurate representation of the gong which from photographs was quite elegantly shaped. I used a small washer as the MT gong is quite fiddly to make. A white metal casting would have been better. So all in all the ends are something of a hybrid. Looked at separately no one would notice any difference between the ends of the two coaches (the steps are the most prominent difference) but if viewed end on together the size of the steps is quite noticeable. Once everything is completed I may look at replacing the smaller steps on the first coach I completed (the Shire Scenes sides do have a number of spares) but with the roof now fixed that may be impossible. It may be that the MT and Shire Scenes ends were produced from different drawings but the differences I encountered do show that we can't assume the kit we have lovingly built is an accurate model but given the number of different designs of 4 wheel coaches this is hardly surprising. I remembered only this morning that I do have a scanned copy of an old article in Backtrack with photos of some 4 wheel coaches as colliery trains and one photo confirmed that the steps were larger than MT show, although not perhaps quite as large as Shire Scenes. I wouldn't have fancied trying to climb up either of those steps! At the other end the box on the communicating cord gear was on the right, as MT show. However it is quite likely that other designs may have been different. Now that Mainly Trains have ceased trading I'm fortunate to have the kits at all but I really hope that someone, maybe Shire Scenes, can take over the artwork and produce a complete kit (chassis, sides and ends). The Ratio coaches came out, probably in the 1980's, when nothing similar was available and were enthusiatically received. However plastic might be fine for the sides but in common with the many wagon kits it cannot represent the fine detailing of the brake gear and other chassis features. To my mind though the most noticeable flaw is the omission of the gas piping on the roof. What part of a coach is the most viewed? There was an excellent article on the GWR modelling website by Steve Farrow that included much useful information on the layout of the piping which I used. What would be ideal is to have the MT chassis which looks to me very accurate, Shire Scenes sides are also very accurate (although some are not true to prototype to accomodate the Ratio chassis) but new ends would defintely be needed, slightly wider so the sides fit over, rather than on, the solebars. The roof would be simple, a sheet of plasticard maybe with information as to the positioning of rainstrips, gas lights and associated piping. It wouldn't be that difficult and making such a kit where all the components were designed to fit each other would be a pleasure, not the expensive chore that frankly this has become.

Mikkel, These are the first model tarpaulins I've seen that look like the real thing. I experimented with black plastic dustbin liner which captured the folds better than paper but it was impossible to then letter or paint (weather) them. As has been observed elsewhere sheeted wagons were far more common on the prototype than might be inferred from the models one sees and to model them in paper does not really cut it (excuse the pun) . I was interested in your thoughts about seeing your own modelling through different eyes. Modelling always entails a degree of compromise, how many steam locomotives do you know of that have a large brass gear wheel under the chassis. Also, as has been demonstrated by the debates on the wagon red livery, sometimes the information is just not there or is often contradictory. I think everyone has to find their own level at which they compromise. As skills improve, and more importantly more time becomes available, then that level can rise. I discontinued my subsciption to MRJ many years ago as it always seemed to be a race to the peak of perfection requiring skills, tools, time and expense that were beyond the reach of many. We should be like golfers, enjoy the pastime even if you're not Rory McIlroy.

Reading K14s comments, could it be that the whole wagon (body and underframe) was coated in red lead and then tar applied to the metalwork (i.e frames as well as the wheels)? I appreciate that the postcard I mentioned may not be definitive evidence but whoever coloured it saw red and grey wagons (which fits with the period the original photo was taken) and the red wagons are clearly shown as having black underframes. I would guess too that the tar would have worn off with wear exposing the red lead underneath which may lead to further confusion. However wouldn't this hypothesis fit all the various theories mentioned here?

Mikkel, you haven't seen the cost of having the professional paint job! From experience though I know that particularly where lining is concerned a proper paint job really lifts a model. One point worth mentioning is that Dart Castings now do the correct size springs for these coaches. I hadn't realised it until I read the Dart Castings guide but the springs supplied with the Mainly Trains kit, and for that matter the CSP / Haye Developments kit are too short. The very comprehensive guide states that the springs should be 6ft whilst the MT ones are 5ft 6in and the Haye Developments ones only 4ft 6in. I've not done any further research on this but would have thought it should be realatively easy to swap the incorrect springs for the new Dart Castings ones. Yes it's also good to see a new use for a cocktail stick!

I haven't yet worked out how to attach a photo to a reply so in response to Mikkel's comment I attach a photo of the inside of the first almost completed coach. Unfortunately my camera and lens is better at landscapes than close ups but I hope this shows how I tackled the fitting of the body to the chassis. The folded tabs on the ends are no good as using these means that the ends, and consequently the sides, sit on top of the floor. I cut these off and made my own tabs out of brass sheet bent to an L shape. The shorter side is held against the ends with the longer side resting on the floor. When the position is correct, i.e. the ends and sides are just overlapping the floor, the shorter side of the L is soldered to the end. In retrospect the angle of the "L" could be a little more than 90 degrees to accomodate the slight tumblehome on the ends. The steps on one end don't help in getting a good fit between the new bracket and the end but I filled the gap with some scrap brass. Having accomplished this I then turned my attention to the holes for the screws located at each end. These had already been drilled through the floor so it was a simple matter to mark the position of the holes on the bracket, drill through the bracket, and firmly solder the 8BA nuts on the top of the bracket. A good tip in the instructions was to use cocktail sticks to locate the nuts through the holes which avoids soldering up the threads. I hope the photo and the explanation clarifies. I hope the finished coaches justify the huge amount of time and expense incurred in contrsucting them.

Jim, Mikkel, Thanks for your comments. I don't suppose the chassis kit will be obtainable which is a shame. It's a great advance on the Ratio chassis and the compensation is an asset on this long wheelbase. Jim, the problem I found was trying to fix the ends and sides in the correct position whilst ensuring the sides located in the roof. I wish I had another pair of hands! Trial and error is needed. The ends are possibly too narrow as the sides, when soldered to them, fit on top of the floor rather than just tucked over the solebar. It takes a lot of fiddling to get the sides to just overlap the solebar, I left a slight gap between the ends and the sides at the bottom to get this greater width which I then filled in with solder. If I was doing this again; and I quite like the fact that the Shire Scene sides expand the variety of GWR 4 wheel coaches available; I would know the problems and adapt accordingly. It was annoying to have to cut off the fixing bracket on the ends but the replacement worked just as well. Locating the new bracket after I had the sides and ends in the correct position meant that when the screws were tightened up the whole assembly should revert to the correct position. Should also have mentioned that I fixed a narrow metal strip across the middle of the coach, resting on the floor, to connect the two sides together. I need to access the inside of the coach to put in the partitions and glazing hence the narrow strip. If you want me to post a photo of the inside to show how I tackled this I'll be happy to do so. Incidentally, I should have mentioned that the door and grab handles also need fixing, I will do this after painting. It's great that we can all learn from each others endeavours!

Just thought I'd share progress on the GWR 4 wheel coaches. These utilise the Mainly Trains chassis, Shire Scenes sides for the brake thirds and Ratio sides for the composite. I'll start off by saying this is probably the most difficult modelling exercise I've ever done. Nothing wrong with the chassis or the sides, it's when you mix the two together that problems occur. When you put them together it results in what my dear late Dad would call a "b*****s muddle." It seems I won't be doing much else this winter. I've temporarily abandoned the composite and will need another Ratio kit. I soldered, no welded, the sides to the roof with the sides tucked inside the ends. In that position though the sides sit on top of the solebars rather than just overlapping them, doesn't sound much but it looks totally wrong. I tried filing the inside of the sides down (to nothing) but still no joy, they can't be persuaded to fit over the solebars. The only way to solve this problem is to separate the roof from the sides and re-fit them outside the ends so the sides are spaced wider apart but because the roof is so firmly fixed to them that is impossible. I'm concerned too that when the three coaches are seen together the composite will look different from the other two because of the thicker plastic sides. Putting the composite to one side I had a look at the brake thirds which use the thinner Shire Scenes sides. Originally again I fixed the sides inside the ends but encountering the same problem I had to resolder them so they were outside the ends. It was very difficult to get a neat join between the two but once I did I soldered some small brass angle into the joint to strengthen it. The ends have a section at the bottom that folds over to create a bracket for fixing to the floor. However this then locates the ends far too high, solder the sides to the ends so they abut the roof and you have a clear gap between the base of the sides and the floor. I therefore had to cut these fixings off and made up some new L shaped brackets which I would fit once everything looked OK. Getting everything OK was again difficult. not only did the end / side join have to be neat but I also had to make sure the sides fitted snugly under the roof eaves. Once I had a box comprising ends and sides (the roof would be fixed later but I made sure it fitted correctly) it took a lot of fiddling to get the ends to just slide over the solebars, it also made a mockery of my careful attempts to roll the tumblehome before I started this work. Once the position looked right I soldered the L shaped brackets to the ends (and also the sides), the small arm against the end, the longer one resting on the floor covering the holes for the 8BA screws.This would locate the whole body assembly in the correct position on the floor. I then marked the position of the holes on the bracket (from underneath), drilled the holes through the bracket and fixed 8BA nuts on top of it. This meant I could separate the body from the chassis to glaze the windows and add partitions after painting and the carefully aligned screw holes should mean the sides go back in the correct position. As I am getting these coaches professionally painted, I made sure that the nuts and brackets were firmly soldered, it was easy to do this whilst the roof was off, it will be impossible once it is fixed with Araldite. Talking about the roof, my intention was to use two spares that I had. It appears though that the design had changed and one of the spares did not fit the sides as well as the current version. That means another kit required, just for the roof. I had to tidy up the ends again, soldering the sides to them had resulted in some of the steps and piping coming away. I also had to file cutouts for the two steps that are fixed to the buffer beam, the ends had to be lower but the steps would then have obstructed them. I attach a photo of one of the brake thirds, it would be easy to show the sides only but in fairness I thought I should also show the less than perfect end. The roof isn't fixed and I need to add the gas lamp piping (there is an excellent article on the GWR modelling website that details the arrangement of pipes) and couplings but otherwise it is complete. I've now sorted the sides on the second brake third so after a few evenings cleaning up that will be finished once I get some plastic rod and couplings. I'd reiterate again that this has been a painful and difficult exercise, far more difficult than any etched loco kit I've built. The ends need a lot of hacking to get a decent fit, possibly because the chassis kit is designed for many applications but is not quite right for any one. As so often the case though, if I was doing this again I know I'd make a better job of it, trust me though I won't be doing it again!.

Just returned to modelling after a pleasant trip to New York. Interesting times over there! In my last entry I mentioned how construction of the Mainly Trains 4 wheel GWR coach chassis was proceeding well. I spoke too soon. I had completed the chassis and coach ends but the problems started when I tried offering the Ratio coach sides to the chassis and ends. It was immediately obvious that the ends sat too high and as a result the sides were actually clear of the coach floor, the instructions do make a passing reference to possibly having to cut off and raise the bracket that sits on the coach floor. The problem I had though was that to ascertain the correct height of the ends meant the sides and roof had to be fitted and then there is no way to access the brackets. I eventually decided to cement the ends and roof together locating the ends as a guide to ensure the sides and roof set in the correct position. The bottom of each end bends up to form the bracket through which nuts are soldered. Screws can then be fitted through the coach floor into the nuts holding the whole assembly in place. I cut off the brackets and soldered some brass sprue higher up the end, the 8BA nuts being soldered over the convenient holes in the sprue. It could be that when finally located in place the new bracket may not rest on the floor but hopefully this won't be a problem, the screws are certainly long enough. The next problem was fixing the ends in place. On the Ratio kit the sides sit over the ends. The instructions aren't clear on this point but as the MT ends are wider than the Ratio ones the sides must fit inside them rather than over them. I was concerned that it would be difficult to align the ends and the coach sides so decided to solder some L shaped brass section on the inside of the ends in the correct position; the sides would then butt against them rather than be pulled in. The sprue I used for the bracket was also bent so that it would again hold the sides in the correct position lower down. These additional butt joints also give a better bond for the araldite. I hope the photograph of one of the ends illustrates this. It's not a neat job as I wanted to ensure there was no possibility of the bracket breaking away but it's all on the inside anyway. The photo also shows the sides and roof as cemented together This evening I araldited the ends in place using several elastic bands to hold the ends tight against the sides. It looks as though this has worked, the very thin brass used for the ends helps. The pieces of L shaped brass also ensured the ends were flush with the sides. One final note, I pared off all the handrails and door handles and will use some of the etched ones in the kit. The MT chassis kit is designed for many types of GWR 4 wheel coaches and as a result needed more modification than I expected. I'm also a little concerned that I may have problems with the join between the sides and solebar. The sides should overlap the solebar slightly but they seem a tighter fit. I've filed the inside of the sides down which I hope will do the trick. I will look next at the Shire Scenes sides which might be a little easier as I can solder these in place. One thing I can say though it is a lot more complex than I envisaged.

Mark, you're right, this is not an easy kit, the biggest problem I had was with the chassis. I got it working reasonably well but was never satisfied with the appearance. To give some semblance of mainframes just behind the wheels (I model in EM) I applied plastikard overlays to the sides of the cast chassis. Alos I had to split the (not that well detailed) cylinder casting and separate the two halves to accomodate EM gauge standards. Recently I bit the bullet and dismantled the chassis throwing away the casting. This was replaced with an Alan Gibson chassis with one axle sprung. I had to fashion an assembly from strip brass to take the top bearing that fits into the body. Because of the soldering required on the valve gear I was concerned that Gibson wheels would melt to used the Romford ones, now marketed by Markits. I used the NuCast valve gear without the combination lever as there was no way this would fit without fouling the valve gear. I do have some alternative etchings which I will try. A High Level gearbox with the chunkiest Mashima motor that would fit between the two legs of the support structure completed the running gear. If you want to see photos of my efforts have a look at my Blagdon blog. It is a shame that currently no kit is availabe for the steam railmotor although I believe a RTR one is available (obviouly no good for EM modellers). These vehicles, in their day, were as much a part of the GWR branch line scene as the 48xx 0-4-2T's of later years and how many models are there of that prototype? I've tried to get hold of the Blacksmith chassis kit without success as I feel it would produce a better result, the NuCast body actually is quite a good representation of a Diagram O railmotor (although watch out for the water filler covers). If anyone knows where I can lay my hands on a Blacksmith chassis I'd be very pleased to hear from them.