Fat Controller Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I have a fleet of Lima siphons on the to do list Pete, so looking forward to seeing your progress. Blacksmith models detailing kits purloined (last year and brand new) and Bachmann Collett bogie route as you have done. I'd like to have a go at the American bogies too, but understand the ABS kit is the only choice here - are they only available secondhand? I very much like the ex GW versions with side ventilators (hence the Blacksmith kits) I think giving the vans a bit more character. A question for Flood re the Collett BG - did you completely strip the Hornby Crimson/cream paintwork? Looks marvellous. Another on the to do list as well. The Siphons were regulars on Newspaper trains to and from South Wales in the mid 1970s. Neil The ones with the additional ventilators were the 1950s BR build (Diagram O62). The GWR ones with vertical planking were Diagram O33, built from the late 1930s onwards. Prior to that there had been outside-framed, horizontally planked ones, then inside framed, horizontally planked. I'm pretty certain the BR-built ones only used the 9' bogies, though their immediate predecessors also included vehicles with 7' and American bogies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Downendian Posted January 4, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 4, 2016 I've noted as well that Blacksmith went into the nearly Black Hole of the Coopercraft business, and I wonder if anyone has recently been succesful in buying a set of the detailing etches for these vehicles? Many thanks, John. Yes I did John, bought from Coopercraft about 12 months ago. Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tomlinson Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Yes I did John, bought from Coopercraft about 12 months ago. Neil Many thanks Neil. The proprietor had a stand at the Nottingham Show last year, and hopefully will do so again in a few weeks time as the various ranges have all sorts of goodies! Further to Chris's post above, I took a look at Dave Geen's website, and he appears to do a variety of GW bogies in white metal that might be just the ticket for some Syphon G's. John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Thanks for the info re: transfers. I certainly won't be going too far with this and trying to source any etches... as a first time detailing project, I'll be happy with prototypical(ish) bogies, improved corridor connections (if they stay), scale couplings and perhaps a little extra underframe detail. If all goes to plan, I have other departmental/parcels vehicles in mind for the future. One more question... can anyone shed any light on the holes in the double doors at approx. door handle height? I thought this was a peculiarity of the Lima moulding and that they'd need filling. The more I look at prototype photos (including Post #14 of this thread), they actually exist. Not sure of the purpose, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flood Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 A question for Flood re the Hawksworth BG - did you completely strip the Hornby Crimson/cream paintwork? Looks marvellous. Another on the to do list as well. Neil I should have stripped the crimson and cream off completely (I normally use brake fluid) but I gave the BG a coat of Plastic Primer to see how it looked. As there was a slight ridge between the cream and crimson I smoothed the lower join with wet and dry (probably 360 grade) until it disappeared in the light. The upper demarkation is still there but as it is next to the row of rivets you don't tend to notice it. It is very easy to remove the middle hinges if you are not careful, that is why it would have been better for me to strip the body of paint before adding the primer. Two more on my to do list are an old Phoenix K42 BG (with gangways removed) which I started in about 1996 and an old Ian Kirk inside framed P18 Monster which I bought from ebay about 2 months ago which will be slightly altered to become a P23 Monster. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I've noted as well that Blacksmith went into the nearly Black Hole of the Coopercraft business, and I wonder if anyone has recently been succesful in buying a set of the detailing etches for these vehicles? I tried back in May at ExpoEM and he didn't have any, but promised to pack some for RailEx a couple of weeks later and was as good as his word, he also had some on the stand at scalefourum last September, but if you really want these I would suggest phoning him about a week or two before the exhibition to try and make sure he has some in stock. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopardml2341 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I picked up some at Wigan show iirc, so they are definitely still available - any advance on October. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted January 4, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 4, 2016 Bogies, I carved off the tie bar, fitted 14mm wheels, reshaped the ends and they look better, need 9ft with no steps to replace them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Timely thread as I am partly through converting one of these to an NNV for my 80s, Barnstaple based layout. I have the Railtech transfers for these which I have found to be excellent on other projects. I just apply them to a thin layer of Johnsons Kleer and then add matt varnish afterwards. For the time being, I have butchered the standard bogies to remove any un Collett like bits and filed them down a bit here and there. I was going to use Replica's Collett bogies as they are local to me (and c heaper) but Godfrey said they had sold the last ones and will be unlikely to have any more made. I may get some Bachmann ones in the future. The worst thing for me is the undergubbins which doesn't seem to resemble the real ones at all. What do these etch kits include and how much are they? I may have a go if the price is reasonable but brass and me have an up and down relationship.....mainly down! If you are doing a Newspaper version, I'd be interested in your (or anybody else's) thoughts on the plating over the side vents. The real only just sit proud of the bodywork by a small amount. I've cut out some sheets from the thinnest plastikard but they still look thick. If you haven't already got some, I bought a pack of the Comet buffers for these at Warley which includes enough to do 3 vehicles. I may do another one but I don't see myself doing a third one so you're welcome to a set if you want them. Just PM me your details. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Timely thread as I am partly through converting one of these to an NNV for my 80s, Barnstaple based layout. I have the Railtech transfers for these which I have found to be excellent on other projects. I just apply them to a thin layer of Johnsons Kleer and then add matt varnish afterwards. For the time being, I have butchered the standard bogies to remove any un Collett like bits and filed them down a bit here and there. I was going to use Replica's Collett bogies as they are local to me (and c heaper) but Godfrey said they had sold the last ones and will be unlikely to have any more made. I may get some Bachmann ones in the future. The worst thing for me is the undergubbins which doesn't seem to resemble the real ones at all. What do these etch kits include and how much are they? I may have a go if the price is reasonable but brass and me have an up and down relationship.....mainly down! If you are doing a Newspaper version, I'd be interested in your (or anybody else's) thoughts on the plating over the side vents. The real only just sit proud of the bodywork by a small amount. I've cut out some sheets from the thinnest plastikard but they still look thick. If you haven't already got some, I bought a pack of the Comet buffers for these at Warley which includes enough to do 3 vehicles. I may do another one but I don't see myself doing a third one so you're welcome to a set if you want them. Just PM me your details. Re: plating the vents. I'm sure I read that somebody had used self-adhesive film, the clear stuff used to cover books. Not an issue if repainting, as once applied, a thin mist of primer and then top coat should be all that's needed. I'm still working out which vehicle to loosely base my conversion on. I'd actually quite like to lose the corridor connections and plate over, but in this case I think thin plastic sheet with embossed rivet or bolt-head detail would be ok. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 5, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 5, 2016 Thanks for the info re: transfers. I certainly won't be going too far with this and trying to source any etches... as a first time detailing project, I'll be happy with prototypical(ish) bogies, improved corridor connections (if they stay), scale couplings and perhaps a little extra underframe detail. If all goes to plan, I have other departmental/parcels vehicles in mind for the future. One more question... can anyone shed any light on the holes in the double doors at approx. door handle height? I thought this was a peculiarity of the Lima moulding and that they'd need filling. The more I look at prototype photos (including Post #14 of this thread), they actually exist. Not sure of the purpose, though. I believe that the holes are for opening the doors from inside, ie stick your hand out through the hole to reach the handle.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I believe that the holes are for opening the doors from inside, ie stick your hand out through the hole to reach the handle.. That makes perfect sense, which is no doubt why I'd never have thought of it! Many thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted January 5, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 5, 2016 The NNVs were mainly AFAIR gangwayed And BR1 bogies are descended from 9ft GWR bogies Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 BR1 bogies are descended from 9ft GWR bogies That does seem to be the official story, but take a look at the GWR articulation bogie - apart from the GW style axleboxes it's a dead ringer for the BR1 and the same wheelbase. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CloggyDog Posted January 5, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 5, 2016 It seems that most people who undertake the upgrade ignore the planking on the Lima model which does not match nearly all the real ones but once the finished article is covered in crud this deficiency is not very noticeable. Chris The wrong plank width on the Lima moulding becomes even more apparent when the Blacksmiths vent etches are fitted. I thought about re-planking the sides using individual overlaid 5 thou plasticard planks of the correct width, but put the thing back in it's box instead. I might yet resurrect the idea... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 The NNVs were mainly AFAIR gangwayed And BR1 bogies are descended from 9ft GWR bogies The Newspaper Vans (not all of which had plated-over louvres) retained their gangways, so the sorters could move between vehicles. The bulk papers would be stacked on the floors, and the sorters would pick from printed lists for the mixture of papers for each customer, stacking the tied bundles on the fold-down shelves. What is interesting in Paul Bartlett's photos of the vans in their later days is that that a number of them appear to have acquired ETH-jumpers- http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrsiphon/h3fd58712#h3fd58712shows one such. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flood Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 The Railway Observer has the Siphon Gs being ETH fitted from 1976 onwards. By October 1976 the following had been done: 1004, 1031, 1034, 1038, 1312, 1326, 1328, 1332 All those Siphon Gs classified as Newspaper Vans in the 1978 RCTS Coaching stock book were dual heated (34 examples). By this time the diagram O33 Siphon Gs which had been Newspaper Vans were no longer designated as such. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waveydavey Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I upgraded a Lima siphon G a few years ago to one of the BR built ones using the Blacksmiths Models bits and pieces. The body kit went on well and I remember removing part of the door hinges to closer represent the BR pattern. I didn't attempt to correct the planking though. Most of the chassis kit was not much use and I ended up just using the battery boxes and using ABS whitemetal bits for the rest. For the bogies I used MJT GW Pressed Steel cosmetic sides on MJT bogies but I quickly realised that the leaf springs are far too long (presumably ok for passenger stock though). A set of ABS bogies for parcels stock have been bought to correct this at some point. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Pictures, including an end shot, of an ETH fitted van in my post here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 and a few here from the 80s showing they weren't all filthy all the time. http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/north_devon_line_okehampton_web_optimised/277%20Siphon%20G%20Newspapers%20Barnstaple.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the article in MRJ 240 by Gerry Beale [bulwell Hall]. Admittedly he has an etched underframe, which he commissioned, to help him but mere mortals can buy these now from David Geen. .... Not yet they can't! David Geen hasn't announced a price for the thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Not yet they can't! David Geen hasn't announced a price for the thing. I bought one from him at Scaleforum. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8, 2016 Not yet they can't! David Geen hasn't announced a price for the thing. David had more or less sold out when I got to see him at Scaleforum. The cost is dependant on which bits you buy, it is not a one off kit to suit all the variations, but a custom kit based on your requirements. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I bought one from him at Scaleforum. Interesting. His advert in MRJ didn't mention a price at all. Oh well, another missed opportunity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 9, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 9, 2016 Interesting. His advert in MRJ didn't mention a price at all. Oh well, another missed opportunity. You will need to email David for the details of the various bits and pieces or you canwait until later next week and I will scan my sheet if I can find it. Please PM after Tuesday if you require me to have a look for the details. Once you have sorted out which bits, etches and whitemetal bits you will need to email David for a price. Emailing David is an exercise in patience as he spends quite a bit of time away from home visiting relatives. 0 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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