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  • 1 month later...

After a few months spent repainting and detailing some Hornby clerestories (nine of them, some of them completely rebuilt into 'proper' GC diagrams, the others just repainted), I've decided it's time to look at getting some more locomotives sorted out. 

 

First on my list is GCR class 3 / LNER F1 #589, the only one of its class to retain a roundtop boiler beyond GCR days (by 1923 fitted with ross pop safety valves too).  I anticipate that this should be a 'simple' case of converting a Bachmann Lanky tank- most of the work being a rebuild of the cab and tanks/ bunker- being one of those of the class with the short bunker I won't even have to lengthen the donor loco.  

 

And then I'll look again at that Cotswold whitemetal F1 I've got....

 

Edited by James Harrison
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1 hour ago, James Harrison said:

After a few months spent repainting and detailing some Hornby clerestories (nine of them, some of them completely rebuilt into 'proper' GC diagrams, the others just repainted), I've decided it's time to look at getting some more locomotives sorted out. 

 

First on my list is GCR class 3 / LNER F1 #589, the only one of its class to retain a roundtop boiler beyond GCR days (by 1923 fitted with ross pop safety valves too).  I anticipate that this should be a 'simple' case of converting a Bachmann Lanky tank- most of the work being a rebuild of the cab and tanks/ bunker- being one of those of the class with the short bunker I won't even have to lengthen the donor loco.  

 

And then I'll look again at that Cotswold whitemetal F1 I've got....

 

I agree with your assessment. The top of the cab comes off the donor. So new roof, sides and cab front and rear to make.

then it is how far you want to go. Move the water filler cap? Fit the reverser? Change the cab instruments? 
look forward to seeing this.

richard 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm trying at the moment to work out exactly how I want to go about modding the Bachmann LYR tank, I've got two of these (because I want two engines) but I've also got a secondhand scratchbuilt body (which is falling apart as a result of my efforts to get it to fit over the Bachmann chassis, and which I'm plannin to cannibalise for bits) and a quarter-built whitemetal kit.  I am thinking it would be ideal if I could get the tanks and cab off the scratchbuilt body and simply fit them to the Bachmann boiler and running plates, but that is going to need a bit of careful surgery and before I rush right in I'm having a bit of a think about it.  

 

Meantime, things are progressing (of a sorts) in other areas.  I've bought a copy of the Sheffield- Worksop-Lincoln 1953 working timetable, but this is for passenger workings only, the freight WTT I don't think is available.  But taken in context with my Marylebone- Nottingham- Sheffield and Lincoln District WTT's of the same date it means I can start planning out more thoroughly exactly how Rufford fits into the jigsaw. 

 

I've been looking at the OS maps again and I've come to the conclusion that the ground gently rises to the west working away from the A614, this means that if I take the datum level as being the carriageway, and assume that Rufford RLS is level with that, but the time you reach Cremorne for Pittance the station ends up, as best I can tell, in a bit of a cutting, or at least on a slope (ie- cut into a gentle hillside). 

 

This is actually something I was rather hoping for as it means I can put the storage sidings under cover and there should be enough room to comfortably get my hand under there as needed.  My rough thought is to have the Worksop- Rufford line fall slightly and the Rufford-Mansfield line rise slightly so that the storage sidings end up at a lower level than the layout anyway.  A few buildings and trees in the 'V' of the junction between the two lines should assist in disguising the gradients.

 

I'm going to need to properly plan how I propose to phase the building of the layout, I've given up on the idea of being able to clear the room out before I start. There's just too much stuff in there- modelling equipment, bits and pieces, my railway library- nothing that wouldn't be missed if I threw it away or misplaced it... I really think I'm going to have to start by building some low bookcases and cabinets around at least two walls of the room just to provide storage and get some working space.  

 

A recent visit to Blists Hill Victorian Town got the creative juices flowing and I've worked out how I want the environs of Cremorne for Pittance to look.  Once it has been built into the layout proper there will be a goods siding on the far side of the road bridge, and that will have just a loading platform and a lock-up store.  I'm going to arrange the station so that the main range is facing Rufford, so Mansfield-bound trains come into the main platform whilst Rufford-bound trains serve the smaller waiting room.  My thinking there is that most passeneger traffic will be in the Mansfield direction, CfP being only 3/4 mile or so from RLS.  On the far side of the station, so going up the hill, I'm going to have one or two small cottages or villas, to give the impression of what I've discussed previously about Cremorne and Pittance being a garden suburb.

 

The slight difficulty is with this idea (what do I mean, difficulty?) is I can't find many suitable kits.  I don't want to have to scratchbuild every structure, at the same time I don't want a catalogue layout, this is why I've tried to aim for a lot of kitbashing and the like.  Thing is, there aren't many house kits around and those that you do find all tend to be very much on the same lines- semis and Victorian terraces.  So I've gone leftfield and bought a Superquick Village School kit, my reasons for doing so being that basically I like the overall form and outline of that structure and I think I can see a way that with a bit (or a lot!) of work I can turn it into the sort of house I have in mind. 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

I've finally bitten the bullet with converting one of my LYR tanks to GCR #589. 

 

51757771840_ae4b29eff8_c.jpg

 

Took the donor model apart to the degree required (simply separating the cab and the bunker from each other and the rest of the model).

 

51757151718_9e9a0ce3c1_c.jpg

 

Cut the coal rails off the bunker, and then smoothed down its back face.

 

51757774825_052cf20c4b_c.jpg

 

Added an additional 2mm to the bunker length through building up in layers of 0.5mm plastic sheet (I made this slightly oversize and then filed and cut flush with the bunker sides and top later).

 

 

Carefully removed the boiler handrails, and then a bit of ticklish work with file and sandpaper on the smokebox to remove rivets, door clips and the numberplate. 

 

51756077957_d4911323a1_c.jpg

 

Next steps will be to fit a smokebox door wheel, replace the handrails to the tanks with 'L' section strip, and look about rearranging the detail on the tank tops. 

 

51757554739_a513ef654c_c.jpg

 

The temptation to do another of these with just a weatherboard, and then finished in a ficitious green or red livery, is quite strong. 

Edited by James Harrison
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Another modelling session today. 

 

51759034561_25b25dea86_c.jpg

 

The tank filler caps were very carefully scrubbed out with a file, and new ones fabricated in plastic sheet.

 

51759037631_d7ab3f27b1_c.jpg

 

New cabsheets were traced off the drawing.

 

51758205332_bacd4db521_c.jpg

 

The handrails on the tank fronts were removed and replaced with footsteps.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Happy New Year everybody!

 

I'm not going to do a list of projects I want to have a crack at this year, the last few years that hasn't turned out particularly well.  So I'll keep my cards close to my chest and we'll see what transpires. 

 

Work on the first of my Class 3 tanks over the Christmas and New Years weeks, well...

 

51793310697_b0c95c054f_c.jpg

 

I built and fitted the cab, then three or four coats of Humbrol matt Brunswick Green acrylic to get it into the right basic colour.  Hat-tip to @HonestTom and @Corbs for their mentioning of Trimits (little round metal jewellery trimming things) as a way of achieving the spectacle plate beading.  I bought a pack of 200 5mm gold ones and they just slip neatly into the cab front and back, secured in place with a few spots of Glue'n'Glaze. 

 

Next step will be to form the boiler handrail and look at detailing the smokebox door. 

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There is indeed, and this evening I've done a bit more of it. 

 

51808904765_0ca873337c_c.jpg

 

A very cruel closeup.  All done with pressfix transfers and that was an exercise that nearly sent me boz-eyed.  Still, only the tank panels, bunker sides and boiler bands to do now...

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At least the back of the bunker is done now, that's the area I find hardest because positioning the loco can be awkward.

 

More generally speaking, some gadget to hold stock nose down would be useful. The problem is how to get sufficient pressure on the sides to secure it well, without damaging the item in question.

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I have resorted to clamping models end-up between my thighs, just inboard of the lumpy bits of my knees.

 

this works.  It’s ok for the fitting of a tender plate or something quick & simple, but does not provide ideal ergonomics for detail stuff like lining.  

 

perhaps clamping the model between a willing helper’s thighs might be better…

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The way I did it was to hold the model very gently in one hand and then twist it this way and that to best suit placing each bit of lining one-handed.  I think the only reason this worked is because being a tank engine there are relatively large flat sides to press on, so it should work also for a tender, but I wouldn't want to hold a tender locomotive like that as there's too much potential for damage or slippage.  

 

What I think would be a boon would be something like a padded posable loco lift, imagine something like a padded box section that you can place the loco in and then turn it to access just the ends.  But I can also imagine that you'd need a way of being able to fit the model without damaging it and provide a moveable end plate to support the model inside it for access (make the box long enough for a pacific but with something in the end to stop an 0-4-0 Peckett dropping right through it) and that starts to make a simple concept more complex...

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  • 2 weeks later...

The side tanks and the bunker were much easier to line out, as I could at least lay the engine flat... followed by Great Central insignia (does anybody have a source for these?- I used to buy 'new old' stock via Quainton Road Models but sadly Mr Howes passed away last year and I haven't seen them for sale since). 

 

So, pretty much finished...

 

51835982754_b505dec5d1_c.jpg

 

I do, of course, have another LYR tank lined up for similar treatment- the plan is to finish that one with a Belpaire firebox- but now I think for something a little different. 

Edited by James Harrison
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11 hours ago, richard i said:

If you have some Indian red, the buffer stocks and the side valences and steps were painted that colour.

richard 

 

The buffer stocks and valences were going to painted red but for a photo of a large scale model on the GCRS Facebook page which suggests they were green.  Unfortunately the photo doesn't state the date the model is representing.

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I agree, the pitfalls of modelling a model.  Well, I've got another one of these tanks planned and that one I think I will give the red bufferstocks and valences (even if 589 keeps the green ones for a little while). 

 

The other one is going to be #594 and whilst I was checking my books last night I found that this one was fitted with push-pull gear in December 1922.  Don't be surprised if I end up modelling some form or another of GCR autotrain....

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