Great Southern Railway (Fictitious) - Signalling the changes...

[Annie]

The lining looks to be very effective Linny and my eyes are certainly fooled into seeing the lining as being correctly done.  An absolutely lovely coach and it's going to look fine indeed once it's done.

[Skinnylinny]

A little break - thanks to Gary, I've started building a Dart Castings milk float which has been sitting in the "to build" pile for a while. It'll be painted up in cream and mahogany, and lettered for "E Price", as the model is very very close to the one seen in footage of the fastest milk cart in the West. Of course, the horse's name is Trigger, and I'll need to sort out a baker's van...


 

[Skinnylinny]

The Roxey carriage has led to various other projects. 

Firstly, I've come up with a bit of a bodge for making bar-form underframe trussing - model boat handrail stanchions. Caldercraft produce a range of these in turned brass, for single, double and triple handrails. I've used 10mm long ones (from the carriage floor), taking 0.7mm brass wire, on my laser-cut card 42' carriages (roof loosely fitted until glazing has been added!):

 

The same trussing was applied to the 42' brake third, and will be fitted to the 46' 1st/2nd composite in due course.

I also acquired a pair of rather battered, but beautifully painted and lined ex-LSWR 48' carriages from eBay - the old vac-formed Roxey kits, but very nicely made. I felt very guilty painting over this lovely livery application - all hand painted, no transfers here!

 

Dismantling these was rather hair-raising, as the plastic sides are thin and brittle. I've dismantled the lavatory composite, and that's had a basic coat of chocolate and salmon. as well as removing the battery boxes. I'll need to add roof gas lamps (for which I have a stock of ABS castings), and some gas tanks.

As for the 48' brake third, I haven't taken it apart yet - it was in a much worse state. The bogies were missing entirely, as was one bufferbeam (and its fittings), several end steps, the vacuum brake pipes, one end handrail (with a complex curve to be formed), a side handrail, a roof handrail... These have all been replaced - the bogies from some old PC Models carriages, which also gave up their buffers, bufferbeams from spares I had cut from carriage kits back in time immemorial, footsteps from plastic strip, and handrails from 0.4mm wire. I have some vac pipes on order, which will join the end details.



With everything painted black, it all blends together very nicely. Next step will be to remove the roof and glazing before repainting into salmon and brown. Oh, and another half-built (unpainted this time) Roxey 48' carriage has just arrived, a full-third this time. 

Between the above, and the 4-carriage 4/6-wheel set I've been building, I think that's sufficient LSWR passenger stock for Linton Town:

"Early rake": 30' 6-wheel full brake, 30' 6-wheel third, 24' 4-wheel 1st/2nd composite, 30' 6-wheel brake third
"Secondary set": 24' luggage van, 30' 6-wheel full brake (elliptical roof), 42' third, 45' 1st/2nd composite, 42' brake third
"Mainline set": 30' 6-wheel full brake (might be replaced with 44' full brake?), 48' third, 48' lav. tricompo, 48' brake third
Loose: 48' tricomposite brake (to be used as a through carriage attached to GSR services).

[Skinnylinny]

Some more LSWR stock - the 1882 brake van has had its handrails fitted to one side and its first coat of paint. The underframe needs a bit more work before it can be printed, so for now I've plonked it on a Bachmann brake van underframe:



I'm hoping that the transfers I've ordered from Roxey will arrive tomorrow, along with a few other bits, so that the van can gain some lettering.

Moving over to the LB&SC, the B1 has been tweaked for 3D printing. The bodyshell has come out beautifully, with only two small print failures - one cab footstep broke off when removing the supports, and the smokebox dart didn't form correctly. The former can be corrected quickly with some superglue, and the latter with a drill and a brass dart from the bits box.



A quick mist of primer, and the harshest lighting I could manage, makes the print look fairly terribly stepped, although with Phoenix Precision paints I've found that the paint levels itself out pretty well, filling in the stepping. I'll pop an update on when it's painted and dry.



Even the safety valves and cab details have come out nicely - the backhead is being printed separately for ease of painting - and the chassis is printing as I type. I expect that it will be ready by the morning, but it'll have to wait until after work to be cleaned up and test-fitted.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Skinnylinny

[Skinnylinny]

A parcel from Roxey Mouldings has just arrived at the office, with some nice cast duckets and gas cylinders for the brake tricompo, and some etched kits including point rodding stools. 

Ever feel like you might have bitten off more than you can chew?

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, Skinnylinny said:

Ever feel like you might have bitten off more than you can chew?

The solution here is to take smaller bites...

[Skinnylinny]

The point rodding stools will have to wait until I get some 0.4mm wire in, but looking at the instructions, they look like they've been designed to be simple, if a little fiddly. We'll see how they go!

Meanwhile, the B1 chassis printed, but was damaged coming off the supports. That's ok - I wanted to see where I would need to thicken things up, but it shows that I've left ample clearances for brakes and things, which is a good start!



This evening will probably be spent making the relevant changes, then setting up the supports for another overnight print. It's definitely all coming together!

Edited April 26, 2021 by Skinnylinny

[AdamsRadial]

You're right about the paint making good the surface

[Caley Jim]

23 hours ago, Skinnylinny said:

I know there was 'Invisible Green' and 'Improved Engine Green' , but that's the first loco I've seen in 'See-through Engine Green'!  

 

Jim

[Skinnylinny]

Well, the loco is definitely looking rather better in Improved Engine Green. This is as far as I'm likely to go with painting this print, as I'm planning to print a modified version of the underframe,. with slightly bulked-up brake rigging and plumbing. The bodyshell is also getting a few small tweaks, with the smokebox dart being replaced by a turned brass one, and the buffers being replaced with sprung turned metal ones. 



My Roxey duckets and gas cylinders have found a home, so the LSWR 48' brake tricomposite is nearing completion - tasks still left include trimming the roof down to fit (a task I'm dreading and keep putting off), finishing the glazing, fitting an interior and making some underframe trussing. The vacuum brake gear has been made up from wire and plastic strip, but as it'll all be painted black and can't be seen through due to the gas cylinders behind, it's not perfect but close enough.



And finally, another project (yes, another!) has been started... Can you guess what it is yet? I couldn't resist sticking the lining on...
 

[James Harrison]

A12 'Jubilee' class?

[Skinnylinny]

It is in fact an A12, yes! Given it's for 3D printing, I decided to plonk the wheels from the B1 (squashed slightly to be the right diameters!) into the chassis to see how it will all look when completed. They're completely the wrong pattern, but just having some wheels makes a huge difference to the appearance. I've lots of details still to add, though! Unfortunately, the scan of the GA I have doesn't include any cab details (having only side and top view), and neither does the Model Railway News drawing. Does anyone have any reference photos or drawings for this beautiful piece of Victorian engineering?

[Edwardian]

2 hours ago, Skinnylinny said:

It is in fact an A12, yes! Given it's for 3D printing, I decided to plonk the wheels from the B1 (squashed slightly to be the right diameters!) into the chassis to see how it will all look when completed. They're completely the wrong pattern, but just having some wheels makes a huge difference to the appearance. I've lots of details still to add, though! Unfortunately, the scan of the GA I have doesn't include any cab details (having only side and top view), and neither does the Model Railway News drawing. Does anyone have any reference photos or drawings for this beautiful piece of Victorian engineering?

 

Bravo!

 

I had to research A12s of the Drummond period reasonable extensively for the commission model.

 

 

It's going to depend on batch, tender, period/condition.

 

The summary I worked from was this:

 

Builder                 Built             Numbers       Delivered               Reverser            Blast Pipes            Chimney                              Tenders
Nine Elms             20                  527-546           05/07-06/88           screw                                                    shallow base built up         built without tenders*
Nine Elms             10                  547-556           06-12/89                 lever                      vortex                    1 pc cast                               standard 3k & 3.3k
Nine Elms             10                  597-606           12/93-04/94                                                                         deep base built up              standard 3k & 3.3k
Neilson & Co        40                  607-646           11/92-04/93           lever                      vortex                    deep base built up              standard 3.3k
Nine Elms             10                  647-656           11/94-05/95                                                                         1 pc cast                                standard 3.3k

 

*  28, 529, 532, 533, 537 to 544:    Beattie standard 1,950 gallon
    546 to 553:                                    348 Class 2,250 gallon
    545:                                                Small Beyer, 2,000 gallon
    527, 530, 531, 534 to 546:          Large Beyer, 2,500 gallon 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skinnylinny]

That's some very useful information, thank you James. Also, what a beautiful model! Is the firebox/ashpan a separate part? I don't think is should be possible to see between the running plate and brake rodding behind the driving wheels. It does appear to be basically the same configuration I'm going for, with the shrouded safety valves, stovepipe chimney, and lamp sockets. I'll need to try to figure out a likely allocation for a loco to appear at Linton Town. I see no. 529 was allocated to Guildford in 1895, so that looks like my best bet.

That would mean the shallow base built-up chimney, screw reverser, and a Beattie tender at building, although whether this would still be in use by 1900 I don't know. The tender GA I have (marked "A12 and T3 tender" with no further details) lists its water capacity as 3,300 gallons, and the line drawing in Russell Southern Locomotives suggests 3,000gal so I'm not quite sure what's going on there!

[Skinnylinny]

Update: I've found a photo of 529 in what *appears* to be Drummond livery, but still with stovepipe chimney and cast numberplate. It was printed as a postcard by "Pamlin Prints", apparently, but it shows that the loco was Westinghouse fitted (a surprise to me!) and also shows clearly the cranked reversing rod to the screw reverser. Unfortunately it looks as though it's lost the lovely brass beading on the splashers (which is surprising given the number plates remain!) but it's hard to tell from what's still not a particularly sharp photograph of the print.



It also appears to have a standard 3300 gallon tender, so that solves that one at least!

[Nick C]

There's a photo of 556 on the HMRS site in similar condition, also with dual brakes. - https://hmrs.org.uk/photographs/0-4-2-lswr-a12-556-drummond-built-by-nine-elms-12-1889-withdrawn-04-1929.html

 

The air reservoir looks really out of place!

[LNWR18901910]

Impressive A12, Linny! Have you thought about a 2-4-0 tender locomotive based on the LNWR Improved Precendent Class, the GER Class T26 and the Midland Railway 155 Class?

[Skinnylinny]

It does look rather odd, doesn't it? With the reverser, Westinghouse pump and air reservoir all being on one side, the right-hand side of the boiler looks quite cluttered compared to the clean lines of the left!

[Skinnylinny]

A little actual modelling has been happening lately - I was doing some tidying and came across an old draughtsman's set I had picked up from a jumble sale many years ago. The pens are a bit rusty and rather battered, but I decided to give them another go, as it's been a few years since I tried them and was unconvinced. 

I did some reading and found that I'd been using them all wrong (of course!). For a start, I couldn't get the paint consistency right, but some experimenting there helped. Also, I'd been holding them like a normal fountain pen (about 30 degrees from the horizontal), and getting either blobby paint or no line at all - working with the pen nearly upright makes a huge difference. Finally, acrylic paint just dries far too quickly to use in a bow pen, so I switched to some Phoenix paint I had, still in fairly unused tins. A bit of practice on some plasticard, and I decided to have a go at something a little more complex - the test print of the LB&SCR B1 bodyshell. The result is a long way from perfect, yet, but very promising, I think. Certainly an improvement over my brush-painted curved lining before. 



Still plenty more practice needed, although the advantage of the enamels is that I can just wipe everything off with a piece white-spirit-dampened kitchen roll, allow to dry, and practise again. 

[Compound2632]

On 02/05/2021 at 21:49, Skinnylinny said:

 

William who, I wonder?

 

4 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:

 I decided to have a go at something a little more complex - the test print of the LB&SCR B1 bodyshell. The result is a long way from perfect, yet, but very promising, I think. Certainly an improvement over my brush-painted curved lining before. 

 

With practice, you'll be out-Rathboning Rathbone!

[Skinnylinny]

17 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

With practice, you'll be out-Rathboning Rathbone!

Flattery of the highest order! I'll be happy enough if I can just get the right colours in roughly the right proportions without blobs everywhere, and I don't feel like attempting fully-lined Wainwright green yet...

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Skinnylinny said:

Flattery of the highest order! 

 

I didn't say how much practice...

 

But you've started in a hard place, with those splashers. Looking good.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Compound2632

[Annie]

My word that takes me back.  It's been years since I last attempted lining with a bow pen.  I do remember though that getting the paint thinned correctly so it flowed smoothly was absolutely essential.  As with all such things practice makes perfect.

[Skinnylinny]

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, so not much modelling has been done.

Some LSWR wagon transfers have arrived from Mr @Corbs, meaning that the LSWR Adams brake van now has numbers and letters, and is another step closer to completion. The transfers need Micro Sol and varnishing, yet.



I also dug out a Roxey Mouldings etched kit of an SER Grand Vitesse luggage van which has been sitting in the pile of shame, half-started, for a few years. Staying behind after work for two hours, I've tidied up a lot of the mistakes I made before, assembled the body, and got a move on with the underframe as well. It's been at least two years since I last looked at this, and in the meantime Gary @BlueLightning has taught me to solder whitemetal, so I attacked it with a bit more knowledge this time, and it is looking much better now. 


 

I'm not quite sure what it's doing in Linton - I imagine it wouldn't have run in a goods train, and short of having an SECR carriage running to meet a boat train, I will struggle to justify its appearance here!

[Skinnylinny]

Another week, another excuse as to why I've not done much modelling!

I've been working myself rather ragged at the office job, and I've had a second job going on the side. After the latest product release, I have been given permission to admit that I've been working for Rapido, as part of the UK design team working on (among other things) the new SECR wagons, more details of which can be found on the announcement thread here: 

This has, however, eaten up a fair bit of my modelling energy over the last half a year or so! That being said, work is still ongoing with the LSWR A12 (which now has a basic tender), and a friend has sent me lots of lovely reference pictures of obscure angles of Gladstone's tender, taken on their recent trip to the National Railway Museum. 

The A12 now looks like this:



Still on the list are bufferbeam details, cab whistle and injector pipework, tender toolboxes, lamp sockets throughout, brake gear, sanding gear, the Westinghouse tank... Then again, is a model ever really completed? 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Skinnylinny