RNAS Glencruitten - Relocating Lenabo

[Caley Jim]

Your doing a grand job there Angus.  The secret is to drink just sufficient of the water of life to give you confidence!  How much is that?  Ah!, now there's a question!  

 

Jim

[queensquare]

Being on holiday for a week I took some wagon etches and associated tools with me to try and decrease the "to do" pile a bit.

 

First up one of Caley Jim's Buchanan Kit etches for a D22 dumb buffered wagon.

 

These were quite numerous and similar to the NBR coal wagons and many Scottish PO wagons.

 

I did have a concern that dumb buffered wagons would be inappropriate for my WW1 setting.

 

Reference to Mike William's Caledonian wagon book reveals the following board minute from 1914:-

 

"1,250 solid buffer wagons to be converted by rebuilding....being part of the whole stock of 10,000 solid buffer wagons to be dealt within the next 4 years from 1st January 1915."

Mike goes on to record that 6,000 had been converted by 1917.

 

The etch is a work of art in it's own right:-

 

D22 etch.jpg

 

including some very fine door retaining straps that I wouldn't have thought possible to etch (bare in mind the background grid is 10mm x 10mm).

 

D22 door retaining straps.jpg

 

A couple of hours work saw the chassis up and rolling.

I need to straighten out the axle box covers and the dumb buffers are not as neat as I'm sure Jim intended, a bit of filler prior to paint will sort out any small gaps.

I'll add the brake lever once the body is done to prevent damage.

 

D22 chassis complete.jpg

 

Too much whisky in front of the log fire makes it unwise to be waving the soldering iron around any further tonight. 

 

Jim's kits are excellent and your'e making a cracking job of it. Good to see you have the axleboxes on the right way up - some damn fool put his on upside down and then published a picture in MRJ - unbelievable!! 

 

Jerry

[Argos]

Ah! that explains the comments I've heard about axle-box orientation.

 

I read the MRJ article but didn't notice the mistake, I must pay more attention!

The Caley is a long way from the S&DJR so some misinterpretation is forgivable.

 

I'm sure adequate penance can be arranged, a verse and chorus of Flower of Scotland, or perhaps recite Ode to a Haggis in dialect 

 

I nearly made the same mistake myself on the first of Jim's kits I built (but don't tell anyone).

[Caley Jim]

.....some damn fool put his on upside down and then published a picture in MRJ - unbelievable!!

 

Jerry

I wasn't going to say anything about that, at least not in public!

 

Jim

[Argos]

Last night saw the D22 wagon nearly finished.

I've not got the correct drills with me to complete it, so some small details  are still to add.

I'm leaving the brake lever off until these details are on.

 

 

Next up is a LNWR D43 Gunpowder van.

 

 

I'm rather fond of these little, rather archaic vans and have one in 7mm scale.

It's probably a stretch to have one running on the C&O so rule 1 will apply.

 

Perhaps Ben Cruachan quarries have ordered some English gunpowder to sway negotiations with the Scottish manufactures?

 

The etch is one by David Eveleigh (available from Roland Smith).

 

It is not the usual fool-proof 2mm Society brass origami  so will need a bit more care when building.

 

[Caley Jim]

I'm not familiar with the GWR gunpowder van, but if it is similar to an iron mink, then it will be almost identical to a CR dia 78 gunpowder van. In fact, I converted the Association kit for an iron mink into a dia 78 many years ago. I can PM you the dimensions of the dia 78 if you don't have The Book to hand.

 

Jim

[Argos]

Hi Jim,

 

The kit is an LNWR van, it is the early one not the one similar to the GWR mink.

In fact it is a lot (lot) smaller.

 

I did buy the Dapol Gunpowder van a while ago with the hope of converting it to a Caley gunpowder van.

The Dapol van might be many things, but a scale model it isn't!

[Argos]

By way of comparison the photo below shows the gunpowder van as compared to the D22 wagon, which isn't exactly large.

The D22 would look small when compared to any of the 20th century RCH standards.

 

 

The van is built about as far as I can take it at the moment.

I need some brass tube to roll the roof.

Also the kit has the iron stantion strapping extending onto the headstock. I seem to recall these wagons had self contained bodies being held on the frame by two wooden uprights at the ends of the underframe.

I need to check the LNWR wagon book whenn I get home.

[Argos]

Back on more familiar ground with another of Caley Jim's kits.

 

 

This time a Caledonian Railway D24 8t open wagon.

 

I had set myself the target of building three wagons on my week off.

I've not quite managed it though.

 

I was starting to rush to get finished before the promised last night bonfire and BBQ in the garden. (Yes....in Scotland....in November....).

 

In the end discretion won out as I was starting to make mistakes.

There is a bit of remedial work to when I get back.

 

Being a glass of wine and a couple of large drams into the evening I'm now in no state to finish!

[Argos]

This week I have mostly been sanding my airship.

 

and no, that is not an appalling euphemism!

 

 

The airship gasbag construction had stalled.

I formed the shape out a foam swimming float and sanded this to shape.

Whilst this achieved the basic form, the surface could not be made smooth as the foam tended to come off in small lumps.

 

I didn't want to use normal filler to smooth the surface as a thin layer would be brittle over the compressible foam. I feared this would crack and peel off.

 

Initially I used Mod Podge to seal the foam. This worked to a degree and being flexible and when dry didn't peel.

It still showed the underlying surface texture though.

 

This was the point the build stalled.

 

Whilst doing some decorating prep I realised that decorator's caulk might be the solution being both flexible and sandable.

 

A couple of layers were duly applied and sanded.

This wasn't the easiest as the underlying foam still compressed whilst being sanded.

 

Still, I'm now happy with the result.

 

The tail wings and nose detailing can be added prior to priming.

 

If I was starting again though I would use balsa wood to create the shape.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Argos

[Argos]

I've decided it's about time I focused on getting the scenic side of the layout complete.

 

I've attacked the outcrops with a mixture of paints to represent rock and cleaned up and detailed the stream bed ready for some water.

 

 

The outcrops really lift the scene.

Ignore green in the photos it isn't as stark in reality.

 

 

All was ready for some water.

After doing some research I decided that Vallejo Still Water would be ideal for the bottom layers of the stream.

I've always found Vallejo products good to use.

 

Wanting slightly brown tinged water to create the impression of peaty water I added some Humbrol Brown acrylic paint.

 

I think I over did it!

 

 

 

Whether to Humbrol acrylic reacted badly with Vallejo water product I don't know. But I was left with a pretty hideous result.

 

The surface when dried had split.

 

 

All is not lost though.

The water has formed a rubbery layer that hasn't adhered to the stream bed and peels off relatively easily.

 

A bit of tidying up and I'll be ready to go again.

Not sure what to use this time.

Any recommendations out there?

Edited November 18, 2018 by Argos

[Northroader]

I tried water way back, just kept applying plenteous layers of varnish, which I felt quite happy with.

[Northroader]

P.s. there’s a comment on using this method appeared this morning on the “Toller” thread.http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/139435-toller-diorama/#ipboard_body

[Edwardian]

I have used a 2-partclear resin, in layers.  It was wargames terrain, built whilst in the Caribbean, so will have been a US product designed for the yacht market.

[Argos]

Thanks both,

 

I did trial Matt medium (it just leached into the surrounding scenery) and pva (took forever to set) before deciding a specific modelling product would provide the answer.

 

Reading around some more acrylic varnish seems the way to go.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Argos

[Caley Jim]

Rather than mixing the colour in with the 'water', apply a layer of the stuff representing the water, paint that, and then apply more 'water'.  That way you can vary the colour and put in streaks of white, to represnt bubbles, and green, to represent weeds etc.

 

Jim

[Argos]

Thanks Jim,

 

I added the colour following advice on a couple of online tutorials.

 

They were using Vallejo paints though. I suspect the Humbrol paint reacted with the water product.

 

Using varnish I am not sure I'd bother adding colour to the vanish.

 

I guess it can always be adjusted in the manner you suggest as the layers are built up.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Argos

[Argos]

Whilst I've not posted in a while, I've not been inactive.

 

There are various figures in various scales going through the paint shop

 

 

And the Caley brake van is being lettered. Hopefully I will get the other side finished tonight.

 

 

I've also been working on the river. I decided to persevere with the Vallejo water. Having done some reading around I painted the river bottom various shade of green, grey and black.

 

I think I might have got it too green though.

I'll have to try and tint the next few layers.

 

 

The bridges has gained some check rails, although I'm still fitting the cross ties. These are quite frustrating as they have to be just the right length.

 

 

Finally the coal yard has some coal!

 

 

 

So progress is steady rather than speedy.

Edited December 9, 2018 by Argos

[Argos]

The gap at the front of the airship shed was starting to annoy me so over the holidays I set about filling it in.

 

The concrete apron is split into 8' foot bays as normal practise to suit a sheet of ply ( but then would a sheet of ply have been 8'x4' in 1916 and would they have used ply as shuttering? ).

The inset rails are set to a gauge of 26' ( are sure your want to call your 7' gauge broad Mr Brunel?) on which the shed doors will run.

 

These doors are huge structures in their own right being 70' high. 

The counterweights on the door platforms were made up of 28 tonnes of concrete blocks, on top of which the structural steel of the door needs to be added!

They were opened and closed using a hand winch on the platform.

I don't fancy the doorman's job much.

 

 

I've still to touch up the grass and bring it up to the edge of the concrete.

I really must tackle the shed next.

[Argos]

As I had the paints out for the concrete apron, I decided to added some detail (the fun bit!).

 

Albert and William have been ordered to provide coal to all the barrack huts as punishment for bringing the base into disrupt.

Apparently a result of some enthusiastic drinking at the Caledonian Hotel in Oban whilst on "shore" leave. 

At least they didn't have far to stagger to the station to catch the train back to base.

 

Whilst the barrack huts are not exactly luxury (un-insulated crinkly tin) compared with the Western Front they must be a distinctly cushy number.

 

To shovel the coal Albert and William have sensibly changed into their khakis from the normal naval uniform worn on the base.

This indicates they have already experienced the Western Front so know just what they missing.

Just visible is the dark (navy) band around the base of their caps indicating a navy issue cap with a khaki covering.

 

They had better get a shift on though, the empty barrow isn't going to impress anyone!

 

 

[Argos]

I knew I forgot something......

 

They were never going to shift much coal without shovels.

 

[Regularity]

They look very new and shiny. Have they used them yet?

[Argos]

No....they're too busy blethering!

Edited January 3, 2019 by Argos

[ChrisN]

If they are on fatigues that probably had to clean and polish them before they started.  What is more worrying is that the coal is still black and has not been painted white.

[Argos]

White paint posed a risk of being sighted by a passing zeppelin.

As camouflage they have had to paint the coal black instead......