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Inspired by Brent June 1947


The Fatadder
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  • RMweb Gold

Another evening of track work on pseudo Kingsbridge, the etched fret spacers have been added to the next point, which means the first two  points are now ready for the rail to be soldered in place.  My plan is to only solder every forth sleeper and the superglue chairs in place on the rest. 
 

because the DCC concepts straight track is slightly under gauge, I am adding the vee first then the flex track, before adding the rest of the point (in order that I can blend in with the flex track.)  I have now glued almost all of the copperclad strips in place, I was one strip short!  I am 99% certain that there is a who load of suitable strip on the remaining Blackcombe torr board that’s up in the rafters.  So tomorrow I need to climb up and investigate.   The plan is to use a similar linkage between the two sliding timbers that I used on the mk3 London end double slip on Brent. So a couple of sleepers have been left loose.

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More work last night and the first point is built, along with the outer rails on the second.

 

D1091D79-2ACD-453F-80F5-CA27E333A114.jpeg.40fc4e91bc27be67f5e0e23c08b52652.jpeg

 

i was convinced that I had a lot of copperclad strip on Blackcombe up in the rafters, so on my second order of copperclad from Railroom I only ordered on pack as it should be “just” enough.  Turns out it is all 2mm thick not 1mm as I thought so i am about 20 inches short. I now need to look at the other two points and remove alternate sleepers to provide enough material as I don’t want to pay a third lot of postage!

 

the plan was always to solder every forth sleeper or so, and superglue chairs on the rest. So using a plasticard sleeper the is probably a bit easier 

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Point number two is now complete, both 1 and 2 are ready for the tie bars fitting and the first (and until I buy more only) tortoise, along with the check rails.  However this will likely wait until more track has been built
 

I have looked at the other points and removed a few sleepers, this gives me enough to add the solder points on the slip.  The rest will be filled in with 1mm plasticard and Exactoscale chairs.  

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next up will be the vees on the points at the other end of the station, before finally moving onto the slip.

 

more interesting modelling was that as a result of the warm evening temperature I could do some painting.  So the A22 and the TPO have all been sprayed with a coat of cream (a Vallejo model air shade) and hopefully should have the brown sprayed tomorrow.  Can’t wait to have these fully painted and moved onto the layout!6326C238-C27C-40B7-ADF8-F24C8FEE2CFB.jpeg.48ba615dcc27868f1a836ce7d0a8f040.jpeg

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  • RMweb Gold

The siphon was sprayed brown before work today (I am fairly sure I am correct in recalling that siphons is not get the black ends other coaching stock would have, but TPOs did)

 

I am chronically short of brown paint, so there’s a good chance my plan to spray the rest brown after work is not going to be possible....

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I’m going to treat the TPO as you would a passenger coach, I’m 99% sure that’s right from photos 


 

speaking of TPOs, I did some painting at lunch.  There was enough paint to get the chocolate on, and bar one small error on the L18 (which thankfully will be hidden under the net) all came out well.  Once fully dry I will add the weathered black ends and the grey roofs.  The L18 also needs the brown strip around the top of the roof cutout hand painting.  
 

then need to decide if I will line with transfers or paint, the lining for the recessed doors is the only thing making me consider the former...

All being well my aim is to get the rake running by the end of the Easter weekend.

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I almost had enough paint left in the cab to finish the A22, however there are two patches on the lower side (just above the relight hand battery box and the left hand bogie), which didn’t have great coverage.  Thankfully I have a Vallejo jar that’s a close match, so it can be touched in before linings.4980FF8A-4502-4C43-B79D-5BCCA1749111.jpeg.6f57662e088c7c87485035ff8cd7314f.jpeg

Edited by The Fatadder
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40 minutes ago, Penrhos1920 said:

What number Vallejo are you using for GW coach brown?

 

Here’s a TPO coach roof that has a rain strip over the recessed door.  Don’t know the diagram I’m afraid.09D18E26-F639-4F9F-B921-B88D735C9DC7.jpeg.aa79fb1a87752ea1706b41e63f192106.jpeg 

I think that must be one of the South Wales diagrams, as the location of doors / post box does not match up with the L18/L21/L22/L23 that I have made.  Looks to be in the earlier livery without the wider chocolate band that was added for the full Hawksworth livery.  So far I have seen one L18 in full Hawksworth and three different diagrams in the earlier style single line with G W R over crest (dated 1948).  I am in two minds about Didcot's example as to whether it would have carried the full Hawksworth double lined given it was still pretty new in the late 40s (and was outshoped in shirtbutton during the war.

 

4 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

TPO 814, at Didcot, definitely has black ends.

Why didnt I think to look at the hundreds of photos I took of it on one of the RMWeb visits...

 

 

More photos later on, painting is progressing well

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Today has seen a lot of progress on the TPO, after spraying the chocolate at lunchtime, the roof and ends were then painted after work (along with masking and painting the red rectangles around the post boxes on 2 coaches).  

10 hours ago, Penrhos1920 said:

What number Vallejo are you using for GW coach brown?

 

70.822 German Cam black brown, although the chocolate on these was sprayed with Halfords extra mat camoflage brown which is a very similar shade.

 

Once the first two coaches were dry I made a start on the finishing, my first thought was to add the droplights. Previously I have found this a very straight forward job, as any mistakes wiped away easily on the Phoenix cream.  This time having used a Vallejo paint for the cream, it didnt want to shift nearly as easily so I stopped after one window.  My logic is that after varnishing with a satin varnish it should hopefully be a bit easier to remove the inevitable mistakes.  With 12 droplights per coach, anything that helps is a good thing!

 

So next up was the transfers, fortunately I have enough sets of HMRS Royal Mail transfers (given you only get one coach per pack) for the 4 coaches I have built plus the L25 once I commission the etches.  So these were added first, followed by GWR in yellow over crest and appropriate numbers.  Why oh why did the Great Western have to have numbers on both ends of the coach, such a tedious job to add!

 

With that the L21 and L23 are now ready for a coat of varnish on one side, while the other still requires lining + numbers.  The plan is to line one side of each coach first just in case there are any mistakes (as I only just have enough lining transfers).  I can always go back and line the non visible side at a later date if necessary.  Once varnished I need to paint the edge of the gutter brown, handrails black and the droplights. the holes will also need to be opened up to take the side handrails and the spotlights.  A decision needs to be made on the latter as to whether to use the white metal castings provided or to try and 3d print something clear.

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edit: I should add that the L21 bogies have yet to be adjusted for height as they need removing for paint.  While the L23 is riding very high as the Comet bogies and Lima chassis didn’t work well together (rather than hacking it about I am going to add another 50ft underframe to my next Comet order)

Edited by The Fatadder
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Hi Rich,

 

I’m venturing into painting coaches using rattle cans.  If I’m following correctly, you paint cream first and then the chocolate.  I assume you mask the top half before spraying the chocolate?  I’m going to investigate tomorrow but I’m concerned that my masking is not as effective as yours.  Any tips?

 

thanks

 

David

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7 hours ago, Clearwater said:

Hi Rich,

 

I’m venturing into painting coaches using rattle cans.  If I’m following correctly, you paint cream first and then the chocolate.  I assume you mask the top half before spraying the chocolate?  I’m going to investigate tomorrow but I’m concerned that my masking is not as effective as yours.  Any tips?

 

thanks

 

David

Exactly that, cream, chocolate, roof, ends.  
 

Effective cleaning of the model is also important, as is the right primer (using an etch primer if it’s a metal kit).  I use Tamiya masking tape and  would highly recommend it, the wrong tape (or dirt under the paint) can result in the paint lifting with the tape.

 

The hardest thing I find is masking over a hinge, masking around the hinge then covering the proud bit with maskol masking fluid can help

 

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This morning I have managed to get one side finished on the L22, along with paint repairs to the cream on the L18. I have enough lining left to do the 3 lines on one side of the L18 and the other side of 2 of the other coaches.  (The A22 I will use my normal method of painting a black line then adding the gold with a pen). 
B1E7E589-ACD0-45D5-A2DA-FDD10AF5417E.jpeg.684fbe50ace2defb271f74caf5654890.jpeg


I have probably done too many coaches in the simplified post war livery and not enough in full Hawksworth, but so far the only photos I have seen in the latter are the Hawksworth built L25 and 2 photos of an L18 (one in Russell and one on the Steam website

 

Still a lot of work to get them finished....

 

I’m sure I have previously posted the numbers of the coaches I was planning to model but can’t find it.  Need to reconfirm the number of the O33 that was in the pool!

Edited by The Fatadder
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Does anyone with a copy of the HMRS siphon book know if there is a photo in there of a siphon with the "To work only on the Down and Up West of England TPO" please?  Ideally something in the late 40s, but will take whatever can be found.

 

I have been offered a custom transfer for the siphon and need to find a reference to work from.  Thankfully found a semi clear photo of the lettering on the K17 in Russell which was branded (in 1950) 

"10.10pm Postal

Paddington

       to

Penzance" 

 

So I am assuming this would be unchanged from 47 given the age of the coach and the fact it was a back up vehicle. 

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After two coats, it’s come out better than I had feared.  Line is pretty crisp in places but a couple of points where the chocolate has bled through.  Needs a couple of bits of touching up but overall I’m not too disheartened.  I’d primed in a red colour so I’d masked the drop lights so need to peel off the Maskol to see how that’s worked.

 

David

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096ED791-F451-4752-99F9-0D9105CEC8CE.jpeg

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Im interested to work out what went wrong with the masking on the left hand side in the first photo, the first blob looks aligned with a door hinge, but I cant see what would have caused the bit at the far left.

 

My own approach is to leave fitting the door grab rails etc (and more often than not the hinges) until after painting, then gluing in place.  Given that it allows for a much easier job masking.   Which tape did you end up using, as that can make a big difference.  

 

I still have a feeling of dread every time I peel off the masking tape

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2 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

Does anyone with a copy of the HMRS siphon book know if there is a photo in there of a siphon with the "To work only on the Down and Up West of England TPO" please?  Ideally something in the late 40s, but will take whatever can be found.

 

I have been offered a custom transfer for the siphon and need to find a reference to work from.  Thankfully found a semi clear photo of the lettering on the K17 in Russell which was branded (in 1950) 

"10.10pm Postal

Paddington

       to

Penzance" 

 

So I am assuming this would be unchanged from 47 given the age of the coach and the fact it was a back up vehicle. 

Cannot see a pic but it is late here. In the NOTES though1246 and 1241 were branded with to work up and down west of england tpo then it says 4/50


HTH
Khris

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2 minutes ago, kandc_au said:

Cannot see a pic but it is late here. In the NOTES though1246 and 1241 were branded with to work up and down west of england tpo then it says 4/50


HTH
Khris

There is a pic of W1036 which is branded but frankly it is not worth scanning for you. (Dia 062)

Khris

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29 minutes ago, Clearwater said:

After two coats, it’s come out better than I had feared.  Line is pretty crisp in places but a couple of points where the chocolate has bled through.  Needs a couple of bits of touching up but overall I’m not too disheartened.  I’d primed in a red colour so I’d masked the drop lights so need to peel off the Maskol to see how that’s worked.

 

David

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096ED791-F451-4752-99F9-0D9105CEC8CE.jpeg

Need to make sure your tape is rubbed down and stuck down securely to help stop the bleeding.
don't know what tape you have used but I use Tamiya. Found that pretty good.

Khris

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37 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

Im interested to work out what went wrong with the masking on the left hand side in the first photo, the first blob looks aligned with a door hinge, but I cant see what would have caused the bit at the far left.

 

My own approach is to leave fitting the door grab rails etc (and more often than not the hinges) until after painting, then gluing in place.  Given that it allows for a much easier job masking.   Which tape did you end up using, as that can make a big difference.  

 

I still have a feeling of dread every time I peel off the masking tape


 

Thanks Rich.  I used some unibond tape I had though I’ll invest in some Tamiya tape based on recommendations.    I opted to put the handles on as I was in a rhythm soldering them and figured I could scrape paint off later appreciating the trade off with ease of masking. 
 

David

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30 minutes ago, kandc_au said:

Cannot see a pic but it is late here. In the NOTES though1246 and 1241 were branded with to work up and down west of england tpo then it says 4/50


HTH
Khris

Thanks, I have been passed a photo of an O66 siphon from the book showing the lettering on a board added to the side of the siphon, but obviously in BR days.  I am starting to wonder if there wasnt actually a dedicated fleet of vans for the TPO in 1947.  in the winter 46/ spring 47 carriage working document nothing is listed as a dedicated allocation.  In the summer 1948 document there is a list of allocated vans (all 12xx series), again with no mention of dedicated branding.  The first 29xx series siphon in the allocation appears to be in 1950.   Clearly I wanted to use the O33 for this as it is by far the best siphon I have, and hence better suited for one of my signature trains.  I think the best bet is going to be having no branding (not least because it makes life easier with transfers.)

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Rich

 

In 1948 the Siphons G branded "To work only on Down and Up West of England TPO" were 1223, 1228, 1242, 1250, 1258 and 1275.  Six branded Siphons leaves little margin for substitution of defective vehicles.  It would be true to form that only the most modern would be selected for such a prestigious working.

 

Chris

 

 

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After a coat of varnish the Halfords brown really comes to life, and the coach is a lot easier to work with for the detail paint.

speaking of which the droplights and handrails are now painted, although once dry there are a few bits to touch up.  I’ve now realised part of the reason I found the droplights so much easier on my last coach was they were separate (and hence a bigger step between the two layers!)

 

the first two sets of castings are now black, I have 3 sets of the Hammond (now 247) castings and one of the Peter K etch. The latter is very poor in comparison so hopefully 247 will have castings available again soon...

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the two frames are now glued to the mesh.

 

I have found there is a lot of slop in the comet bogie mounts, so I think something more substantial is needed. Right now they are a nightmare to get level.  They all need removing for paint in the next few days so I’m not too worried about the different height in the photos 

 

the next job is the thin brown line along the gutter, once the varnish has cured overnight so that I can mask it up...

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