Show us your Pugbashes, Nellieboshes, Desmondifications, Jintysteins

[Tullygrainey]

21 hours ago, Ruston said:

 

 

 The plasticard frame plate is drilled ready for the tedious fitting of lots of tiny lengths of styrene rod as rivets.

 

 

Have you ever considered using Archer waterslide transfer rivets? Mind you, having used them myself, I'd say they're almost as tedious to do as styrene rod slices.

 

Lovely work all round. Really like those brass frames.

 

Alan

[SomethingTrainLover]

Well, technically this is a pug bash, it does involve a Hornby L&YR Pug chassis and bashing parts of the body and motion ;P. So last year, got one of the 2A-Rail Avonside bodies to build a RWS(Railway Series for those not in the know) Percy, yes, that Percy. Originally, I just painted up the shell straight up, and it was alright: 

But I decided to upgrade him to look more like his RWS counterpart, so tank flap, bigger mid dome, rear most dome became safety valve housing, handrails, and springs. Notably i took a page from Corbs's book, and modified some Bachmann Percy rods to replace the very simply pug ones, I also decided to mod the original cylinder block with new slidebars and to take an actual piston rod. Still wasn't satisfied, and used some spare Bachmann Percy crossheads and the original pug rods to create a more slim combo of the two, these are the ones currently fitted.

Comparison between the rods carried by the model so far:

Need to figure out a away to blacken the crossheads to match the rods but eh, i also need to replace the shell with a new one in the future anyway, as can be seen above at the ladder area. May just fit it with a Peckett chassis;), but here's how the model sits as of now:

Edited April 29, 2019 by SomethingTrainLover

[Ruston]

3 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

 

Have you ever considered using Archer waterslide transfer rivets? Mind you, having used them myself, I'd say they're almost as tedious to do as styrene rod slices.

 

Lovely work all round. Really like those brass frames.

 

Alan

I considered it for all of five seconds and dismissed it as expensive folly. I have used them before but only for the few rivets found on buffer beams and the wastage rate is crazy. How people manage to fit long strands of them successfully, and retain their sanity, is beyond me.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Ruston

[Gibbo675]

2 hours ago, SomethingTrainLover said:

Well, technically this is a pug bash, it does involve a Hornby L&YR Pug chassis and bashing parts of the body and motion ;P. So last year, got one of the 2A-Rail Avonside bodies to build a RWS(Railway Series for those not in the know) Percy, yes, that Percy. Originally, I just painted up the shell straight up, and it was alright: 

 

 

Hi there,

 

I've always liked the idea of a "Proper" version of The Railway Series locomotives and rolling stock rather than the not quite right RTR items that ate available. Do you have any more of the Railway series locomotives ?

 

Gibbo.

[Compound2632]

"Proper" in the sense of being based on pictures of the locomotives at the period if interest? That's the approach one would surely take with any other prototype. In which case, the point of reference has to be C.R. Dalby's illustrations.

[Gibbo675]

15 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

"Proper" in the sense of being based on pictures of the locomotives at the period if interest? That's the approach one would surely take with any other prototype. In which case, the point of reference has to be C.R. Dalby's illustrations.

Hi Compound,

 

My preference would be the locomotives and stock from the Gunvor and Peter Edwards illustrations with the look and style of the architecture and infrastructure from the John T Kenny illustrations. I was not altogether impressed by C R Dalby's illustrations even as a child although some were better than others.

 

Gibbo.

[SomethingTrainLover]

50 minutes ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi there,

 

I've always liked the idea of a "Proper" version of The Railway Series locomotives and rolling stock rather than the not quite right RTR items that ate available. Do you have any more of the Railway series locomotives ?

 

Gibbo.

Oh yes, That I have in supply ;D

 

48 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

"Proper" in the sense of being based on pictures of the locomotives at the period if interest? That's the approach one would surely take with any other prototype. In which case, the point of reference has to be C.R. Dalby's illustrations.

Not really, I, and most others, would never suggest using Dalby's as reference. Even Awdry, in a letter, ret-conned that he reasons why the engines appeared in rebuilt forms they wouldn't receive until periods after the books in which they appeared in these forms in took place as artist error...Mainly because he hadn't entirely worked out the backstories yet. But yeah, the Edwards's illustrations should almost always be the point of reference for any RWS modeling really.
 

 

26 minutes ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Compound,

 

My preference would be the locomotives and stock from the Gunvor and Peter Edwards illustrations with the look and style of the architecture and infrastructure from the John T Kenny illustrations. I was not altogether impressed by C R Dalby's illustrations even as a child although some were better than others.

 

Gibbo.

Mmm, not that Dalby never had good illustrations, some of the illustrations for The Flying Kipper are still very excellent, but for the most part...yeeeah.

[Compound2632]

The point for me is that, having been exposed to the original series - just the first four books - it is Dalby's illustrations that made an indelible impression on me at a tender age. For me, they are Thomas etc., in a way that the later, more "realistic" illustrations aren't. With all due respect to Awdry, I'm not sure the Railway Series would have been a success at the beginning without Dalby's illustrations.

[Ruston]

I still have no wheels for Nellie, so she's stood on some plasticard discs to see how she looks with the new wheel arrangement.

The chimney, a modified something for a GWR engine, is stuck on and the Westinghouse air brake pump is trial-fitted, along with its pipework. There's a piece of plasticard fitted for the divider between cab and bunker that needs some filler at the join and more filler has been put in the holes in the cylinder inspection cover, which, I presume were for holding the body to the original chassis.

 

I found a whitemetal casting for a Ramsbottom type safety valve in my parts bin and made a cover for it from brass. The strange holes in the cab front have plasticard pieces fitted to make the spectacles (almost) circular. These don't need to be that accurate as they will be overlaid with brass.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Ruston

[Ruston]

I'm so enjoying messing around with this fictional loco that I've just been on ebay and bought another one.

[RedGemAlchemist]

23 minutes ago, Ruston said:

I'm so enjoying messing around with this fictional loco that I've just been on ebay and bought another one.

See now why most of my locos are freelance bodges?

[RJS1977]

On 29/04/2019 at 21:17, Compound2632 said:

"Proper" in the sense of being based on pictures of the locomotives at the period if interest? That's the approach one would surely take with any other prototype. In which case, the point of reference has to be C.R. Dalby's illustrations.

 

Dalby's illustrations were bright, fun,  but terribly inaccurate and so unsuitable for modelling purposes. Some locos had different numbers of wheels from one page to the next. Gordon's square buffers turned up on Henry at one stage, and Thomas's stepped front end was also an error (as it made the buffers at each end different heights!) - this error is perpetuated in the Bachmann model which has no front coupling as a result.

 

"Proper" would be modelling the locos that inspired Awdry in the first place.

 

Incidentally Dalby's reign as illustrator ended when Awdry described his illustration of Percy as "a green caterpillar with red stripes" - a phrase which made its way into one of the later books!

[rockershovel]

17 hours ago, Ruston said:

I still have no wheels for Nellie, so she's stood on some plasticard discs to see how she looks with the new wheel arrangement.

The chimney, a modified something for a GWR engine, is stuck on and the Westinghouse air brake pump is trial-fitted, along with its pipework. There's a piece of plasticard fitted for the divider between cab and bunker that needs some filler at the join and more filler has been put in the holes in the cylinder inspection cover, which, I presume were for holding the body to the original chassis.

 

I found a whitemetal casting for a Ramsbottom type safety valve in my parts bin and made a cover for it from brass. The strange holes in the cab front have plasticard pieces fitted to make the spectacles (almost) circular. These don't need to be that accurate as they will be overlaid with brass.

 

That all looks rather fun! 

[SomethingTrainLover]

12 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

 

Dalby's illustrations were bright, fun,  but terribly inaccurate and so unsuitable for modelling purposes. Some locos had different numbers of wheels from one page to the next. Gordon's square buffers turned up on Henry at one stage, and Thomas's stepped front end was also an error (as it made the buffers at each end different heights!) - this error is perpetuated in the Bachmann model which has no front coupling as a result.

 

"Proper" would be modelling the locos that inspired Awdry in the first place.

 

Incidentally Dalby's reign as illustrator ended when Awdry described his illustration of Percy as "a green caterpillar with red stripes" - a phrase which made its way into one of the later books!

Essentially, though “proper” would more mean modeling them as they were described by Awdry and for the most part as they appeared in later books, mainly looking at the Peter and Guvnor Edwards for that one. Funny enough that they’re the ones who actually illustrated, the generally agreed, definitive Percy.

Edited May 1, 2019 by SomethingTrainLover

[RedGemAlchemist]

13 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

"Proper" would be modelling the locos that inspired Awdry in the first place.

Which if you're going by the original toy Awdry made for his son that Thomas was meant to represent that would make him an LNER J50. 

[Ruston]

More boshing.

Nellie has wheels and double frames. The cosmetic plasticard outside frames aren't fixed in place yet and still have more rivets to be added, plus springs and axleboxes for the carrying axle.

[RedGemAlchemist]

3 minutes ago, Ruston said:

More boshing.

Nellie has wheels and double frames. The cosmetic plasticard outside frames aren't fixed in place yet and still have more rivets to be added, plus springs and axleboxes for the carrying axle.

Very nice little engine. 2-4-0T definitely looks good for it. Do you know what kit(s) the metal parts came from? Like the look of the Westinghouse pump and feel like some of my older locomotives could have some, plus extra chimneys and such are always useful. 

[Ruston]

11 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Very nice little engine. 2-4-0T definitely looks good for it. Do you know what kit(s) the metal parts came from? Like the look of the Westinghouse pump and feel like some of my older locomotives could have some, plus extra chimneys and such are always useful. 

The buffers are from an old Nu Cast Neilson saddle tank that I had given, last year, and the safety valve casting have been in my parts bin for probably 20 years. It was bought as an individual part and didn't come from a kit. They're easy enough to make from scratch anyway, using bits of brass tube and screws.

[uax6]

The nu-cast bits can be bought from Dave at South Eastern Finecast. He can probably idenfiy a source of the parts from his stock of kits, and he is very helpful...

 

Andy G

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 minute ago, uax6 said:

The nu-cast bits can be bought from Dave at South Eastern Finecast. He can probably idenfiy a source of the parts from his stock of kits, and he is very helpful...

 

Andy G

Thanks man. I'll have a look. 

[RedGemAlchemist]

41 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Very nice little engine. 2-4-0T definitely looks good for it. Do you know what kit(s) the metal parts came from? Like the look of the Westinghouse pump and feel like some of my older locomotives could have some, plus extra chimneys and such are always useful. 

Dammit. Sorry Ruston. I'm apparently an idiot 

Edited May 3, 2019 by RedGemAlchemist

[PatB]

Dalby's illustrations, to my now mature eye, have the same air as tinprinted toys of the era (and earlier); bright, exciting and really very charming. There's even a similar degree of 2-dimensionalism to his representation of track, for example. Yes, as adults we now see the lack of realism and the continuity errors, but these were books for children. I know the Rev Awdry got somewhat frustrated with Mr Dalby, but, when I was of the target age group, I really don't remember having a problem with any of it. 

[rockershovel]

4 hours ago, PatB said:

Dalby's illustrations, to my now mature eye, have the same air as tinprinted toys of the era (and earlier); bright, exciting and really very charming. There's even a similar degree of 2-dimensionalism to his representation of track, for example. Yes, as adults we now see the lack of realism and the continuity errors, but these were books for children. I know the Rev Awdry got somewhat frustrated with Mr Dalby, but, when I was of the target age group, I really don't remember having a problem with any of it. 

 

I have to agree. They were “of their time” and well suited to the books as they then were. Same goes for the “model” tv series.. I can’t take to the CGI version

 

When the books moved into more specific areas, like Stepney the Bluebell engine and the narrow gauge lines, that was a different matter.

 

 

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 hour ago, rockershovel said:

When the books moved into more specific areas, like Stepney the Bluebell engine and the narrow gauge lines, that was a different matter.

Personally I feel that those later stories when it started to get a railway conservation message was when the series really hit its stride.

[Compound2632]

3 hours ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Personally I feel that those later stories when it started to get a railway conservation message was when the series really hit its stride.

 

Perhaps it's just my age and how I first encountered the books but for me it's the earlier ones that have the greatest charm. The later ones smack of trying too hard. I suppose in part it is the transition from stories written when the steam railway was something with which young children were familiar to stories written when it was fast disappearing. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Compound2632