Rebuilding the Rails Limited Dynamometer Car

[John Smart]

Hi Mike,

 

I find your finish on this model a marvel.

 

I think it might be much in demand for photographs.

 

Cheers,

 

John

[MikeTrice]

Thanks. Now I am getting used to taking videos I will try and do one on the "teaking" process.

[micklner]

Superb work Mike.

[Flying Pig]

10:10 for chutzpah and execution.

 

Oh, and congratulations to Rails - their product clearly makes an excellent basis for a scale model

[Colin_McLeod]

It takes a keen eye to notice the blemishes in what I thought was a perfect model.

 

Mike, your nerves of steel and your modelling skills have turned what was already a very good model into an excellent one. Thank you for sharing.

[Mallard60022]

Despite the hints that you were at times on the verge of launching it into the void, this is a work of art. I think you will have gained a huge amount of satisfaction from achieving this result. Congratulations Mike, a splendid read so thank you.

Phil

[it's-er]

All the comments above agreed - absolutely! What can one say, though I did hear myself say at one point "He must be mad"!

 

On more mature reflection (that wonderful civil servant's phrase!), it is great to watch the master at work. Many thanks for documenting everything as you have done.

 

Just one quick question on the graining. When you apply the graining of the body using Liquin and Vandyke Brown oil paint - is that also 50/50?

 

John Storey

[MikeTrice]

Just one quick question on the graining. When you apply the graining of the body using Liquin and Vandyke Brown oil paint - is that also 50/50?

Probably 25 percent Liquin and 75 percent Vandyke Brown. To be honest it varies as I go. The more Liquin the more transparent the graining coat which is not always a good thing.

[MikeTrice]

Despite the hints that you were at times on the verge of launching it into the void, this is a work of art. I think you will have gained a huge amount of satisfaction from achieving this result. Congratulations Mike, a splendid read so thank you.

Phil

Satisfaction? Yes in bucket loads as it has resulted in a model Dynamometer Car that I only dreamed of a few years ago. That said I am glad it is over and I would not like to do another one in spite of being forewarned. At £125 for the original model it is a shame I had to put so much work in to get an accurate model.

[Jack P]

The finished product is absolutely fantastic!

[ikks]

Brilltant.......What ,more can I say!!

 

Mike

[JaymzHatstand]

Absolutely astounding! I might borrow a couple of ideas for mine. Not the full repaint, probably, but the roof tweaks and underframe mods are definitely giving me ideas!

 

It really does look gorgeous!

 

Cheers

 

J

[JSpencer]

I thought the original model was a work of art.... now I'm not so sure. A brave move to really bring it to life.

[griffgriff]

Well you managed to make the original model look very poor.... which takes some doing. Excellent work

 

Griff

[MikeTrice]

There were some tasks I intended to undertake on my model which for various reasons did not happen before publishing my account of the rebuild.

 

During the original build I had repainted the bellows of the vestibule dark grey rather than the odd buff colour supplied. Yes I know the preserved vehicle had new bellows fitted which were also an odd colour but I felt for the period grey would look better:

 

 

Of the tasks I originally intended to do was to add the central strap to the double battery box visible in photographs. Had I done this I might have noticed that there was something wrong with the alignment of the double battery box and gas cylinder. They were set back from the solebar by the same amount. In fact it was Adrian Swain who noticed this and pointed it out to me:

 

 

 

 

In fact the double battery box is too wide so it was cut down the middle and about 2mm removed:

 

 

New styrene end pieces were added as reinforcements:

 

 

The missing strap was now fashions from 1mm N/S strip and glued in place. Before painting this was chemi-blackened:

 

 

The final battery box is probably still too wide but after refitting to the underframe is now set back from the gas cylinder and looks far better for the mod:

 

More obvious when viewed from an angle:

 

 

Something I conveniently forgot about were the painted "V"s on the solebar to denote the location of the vacuum release valve cords so decided it was time I tackled them. As before custom transfers were produced in Inkscape and printed out:

 

 

These were then fitted to the solebars in the correct location:

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by MikeTrice

[MikeTrice]

Whilst making the changes to the underframe I took the opportunity to remove the body, a process which is very difficult once painted. Fortunately I managed it OK. During my description of detailing the interior I found I had not taken as many photographs as I might have liked so took the opportunity to do so now:

3 images

 

 

 

Some of the fittings were treated to a pin wash to give them a bit more depth such as the fitting in the floor ahead of the recording table. Note also where I had painted the surface of the table to represent the paper being fed through under the pens:

 

 

If you look closely at pictures of the prototype interior you might notice a vertical beam which can be seen in this in an image from the Rapido Newsletter partially hiding Jason (9th and 10th photos down page):

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Rapido-News-UK-Vol--11---Greetings-from-York-.html?soid=1101318906379&aid=IOb8EWv7Czc

 

Exactly what this spar is for is unclear but it is highly visible. I had been unsure as to whether I could reproduce it during the original build but felt I had to try.

 

A 0.5mm hole was drilled in the corner of the recording table:

 

 

A strut was made from 1.5mm square Evergreen styrene, a 0.5mm hole drilled and a short length of 0.5mm N/S wire inserted. With the strut temporarily fitted to the table I could judge the required length by laying a ruler along the partitions and trimming to match:

 

 

Having got that far I decided that 1.5mm looked far too heavy so remade the strut using 1mm square styrene:

 

 

This was then painted and glued into place using superglue:

 

 

 

 

While the body was off I took the opportunity to straighten the bent measuring wheel lifting handle and remove errant bit of dust from the windows before reassembling. If you look at the last image from my previous post the new strut can be seen in place.

 

Hopefully that will be it (unless Adrian spots something else)

Edited July 19, 2022 by MikeTrice

[Free At Last]

Exactly what this spar is for is unclear but it is highly visible.

Some form of cable containment?

[Paddy]

The end result is simply stunning and looks very "real".  Before reading this thread I thought the factory delivered model was excellent but you have shown how hard it is to get a model accurate.  Do you think the issues you have found are down to compromises that Rapido/Rails had to make or just genuine errors?

 

Paddy

[MikeTrice]

Interesting question. A lot are just errors as getting them right would not have cost any more. The painted finish is down to compromise although changing some of the colours would have helped (I am specifically thinking of the black overgraining when dark brown would have been better). For the price paid the number of errors is disappointing.

[Enterprisingwestern]

Just as well it was voted model of the year Mike, if it wasn't, who knows how much work you would have had to do!

 

Mike.

[micklner]

Mike,

       What information do have to indicate a Black underframe/solebar ? I have never seen a LNER vehicle with a Black underframe/solebar other than on goods vehicles.  

Edited December 12, 2018 by micklner

[MikeTrice]

It is not black it is heavily weathered, and I do mean heavy. There are at least two colour photos showing it in this condition.

[Martin_R]

Even with my very sub standard eyes that is absolutely stunning, modelling the way it should be done and a true inspiration to all of us. Thanks Mike for sharing it with us.

[Rail-Online]

Brilliant Mike - 'modeller of the year' stuff to me.

 

Tony

[HonestTom]

I love everything about what you've done with the model, but I particularly like the teak finish - it looks absolutely dead-on for a vehicle in service.