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I got out the transfers today and had a look at the lining - Drat barely any of it left. Oh well I’ll have to get another pack. Then I looked at the numbers and didn’t notice anything wrong until I went to number the engine and realised I had no 3s. This was more annoying as I’d have to buy a pack just to get 2 3s. I numbered the engine but left out the 3s and then realised I had an abundance of 8s. With one end cut off I think it will pass muster from 3’ and with strategic weathering.

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The cack on the cab is glue residue from the transfers (pressfix) and has since been removed.

Luckily I had just enough double lining to do the boiler bands and I might just have enough lining to do the loco.

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It’s a bit wobbly in places but it’ll have to do.

 

Jamie

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G'Day Folks

 

Great idea with the number changing a 8 to a 3, I to use a lot of 3's and not many 8's, the joys of modelling the GN section of the LNER. I'm going out to see how many 8's I have, plenty I'll be bound........

 

manna

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  • 2 weeks later...

My transfers arrived yesterday (as well as some carriage goodies) so I pressed on with the lining and got so engrossed that by the end of the day it just needed coal and the tender pickups connecting up to the engine’s. These were done today and so Doncaster’s little known Ely branch was able to outshop its latest engine.

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Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I think this is my best weathering job yet. I really wanted that ‘worked but clean’ appearance and I hope the contrast in finish and colour shows this.

 

It still needs screw links but I don’t have any yet so those can wait.

 

Jamie

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ve started a few smaller projects now that the D2 is finished.

First up, a conversion of a Hornby Railroad shortie. This will be the 52’6” Restaurant First used in the Scarborough Flier. I’ve filed all of the detail off the sides and cut the carriage down to length. I’ll use  part of the chunk I’ve cut out to lengthen another Hornby donor and this will become a D151 RTP using Bill Bedford sides. The RF will have scratchbuilt sides and I’ll modify the underframe and roof. The bogies needed to be changed to heavy duty examples so I made some Comet ones.

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I haven’t cut the windows out where the kitchen will be as they’ll be opaque on the replacement sides.

 

I need some microstrip to make the beading on the sides and it’s not worth ordering some as the shops will reopen soon so I’ve turned my attention to improving my A4s. Hornby don’t provide full length drain cocks so I’ve nicked LNER4479’s idea to use handrail knobs and .45 brass wire. So far I’ve done Mallard and Commonwealth of Australia.

I started off using handrail knobs but I decided it wasn’t worth the faff of reaming out the eye of one to take another so on one side of Mallard and on 4491 I put an s bend in the wire to achieve the same offset as the knobs. The offset gives a bit more clearance for the bogie to swing.

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For those of you not familiar with LNER4479’s rather clever idea, you put one handrail knob into the eye of another so that the vertical hole is offset slightly. My photo doesn’t show it very well as I used black plastic knobs. In my opinion, this is probably the most worthwhile improvement  you can make to Hornby’s A4 as it vastly improves the look of the front end. Of course, the guard irons should be attached to the casing rather than the bogie but I decided to leave them as they are because they look ok unless you get down to track level, where the daylight between the guard irons and the casing  becomes apparent.BA1434FD-0BA9-4D69-AFBC-B8E28755F988.jpeg.f8f9191ae2bd804dfba109b6c752397c.jpeg

4491 required a bit more work as Hornby modelled the steel strip on the tender at the bottom of the tank whereas is should be on the side of the soleplate. I painted over the original strip with Humbrol 404 and a little bit of black mixed together. Then I glued some microstrip onto the side and painted it silver. It still doesn’t quite line up but all of Hornby’s 8 wheel tenders ride slightly high.

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For some reason my phone has made the repainted stripe appear purple. It certainly looks blue to the eye and is invisible from 3’ away.

 

Jamie

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've made quite a bit of progress on a few small projects.

 

This is a Parkside private owner grain wagon and a Dapol cattle wagon. As you can see, they've got 3 link couplings fitted; a first for me. I'm now using these couplings on my shunting stock as my eyesight is still up to the job and I don't like the shuffle you get with Kadees and Spratt & Winkles.

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The grain wagon has since been painted black and I'm in the process of trying to make my own transfers for it. I've converted about 8 wagons over to 3 links now but that's probably only about half the number that will need them. My fixed rakes will use homemade couplings as I don't have the money to fit everything with 3-links at present.

 

The 52'62 RF sat in the rounduit pile for a few weeks until I got some Evergreen strip for the beading. It's expensive but worth it just for the consistency. I made a 4mm scale drawing as I couldn't see one in the Isinglass range for this carriage and by using clear plastic for the sides I was able to lay it over the drawing and use the latter as a guide for where to stick the beading.

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The beading is a bit wobbly in a few places but it's good enough for me. Today I cut the windows out, drilled holes for grab rails and door handles and glued the sides on.

 

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And as a 'before and after':

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I've also been experimenting with teak. I wasn't happy with the technique I'd used in the past and decided to try out Messers Wealleans and King's methods, as outlined in their threads. I found the former's method quicker but it was difficult to get the transparency needed using acrylics (I assume JW uses enamels). Mr King's method, however, I found much more to my liking. It consists of a base coat of yellow and then several layers of brown tinted varnish. Here is my second attempt at it (I'd made the varnish far too thick on my first try)

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It's still a bit too thick so I'll do some more experimenting but I think this is the way to go.

 

 

Jamie

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'd like to say I've actually finished something but I keep getting distracted by new projects.

 

I've flattened the underframe of the RF and I'll scratchbuild the necessary details.

 

When Mike Trice contacted my to say that my 3D printed V2 body from his new kit would be on it's way, I lost motivation with coaches and set to building the V2. The body wasn't designed to fit the updated Bachmann chassis (which I have) and Mike asked me if I was OK with modifying a body designed for the split-chassis. I gave him my feedback and he very generously sent me a second, revised body FOC. I've detailed the second body and sprayed it black. The next step will be the apple green.

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The camera has made the finish look a lot worse than it appears to the eye. This will be 4774 of New England because I wanted a Doncaster built one; the green cylinders look horrible. The other will be a Darlington built engine but I'll have to find one with a low fronted tender as I've got one spare.

 

I was given my late great uncle's model railway collection last weekend so I've also been fixing some of those items and making good use of them. AFAIK, my great uncle never ran the models so most were in pretty good condition.

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This stood out the most to me. It's a DJH A1 and while nicely built and painted it's been glued together and suffers from Portescape whine. I've no idea who built it as my great uncle bought it in this condition. I've tinkered with it as the tender was very draggy. The axles were running in holes drilled in the whitemetal frames and the frames weren't quite lined up so the chassis was a parallelogram. I broke one of the frames off, fitted bearings and filed the casting so that the frame now has 90 degree angles in each corner. At some stage I'd like to at least rebuild the chassis, soldering it together.

 

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This Hornby Railroad Flying Scotsman will be detailed and converted in to a RHD A3, most likely Harvester.

 

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I'll repaint and rewheel this Airfix N2 so that I can use it as 1744 as preserved on my model of Weybourne station.

 

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We were quite surprised to see that this B17 had been left as Manchester United as my great uncle came from Tottenham and was a lifelong Spurs fan. I may renumber/rename it but I'll have to do it as the original Tottenham Hotspur (which became a B17/5) as the second one had a GER tender.

 

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I've no idea what I'll do with this terrier, although as 662 is preserved at Bressingham, it wouldn't be unrealistic to run it on Weybourne.

 

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My great uncle was fond of schools classes and had a gauge 1 live steam version so I won't touch this. Saying that, I did have to fix the tender drive. The gear attached to the armature was slipping so I degreased it and superglued it on.

 

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Again, no idea what I'll do with this, although I've always fancied a Metropolitan G class 97 Brill in Met livery and the chassis is pretty close so I may find a use for it. Those wheels will have to go, however.

 

Along with the locos there was a Hornby van that was based on a H&B type and I've got several others so hopefully one day I'll be able to make a fish train with them. There was also a pair of shorty teaks and I've already put one to good use, inspired by the cut'n'shuts that Graeme King did a few years ago.

 

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This is a 52'6" TK to diagram 25, made from a composite and a brake composite (which I'd given a brown wash years ago to try to improve the teak finish). From the other half of each carriage and a little bit of plasticard I've made a 61'6" D149 (IIRC) BFK for use in my Scarborough Flier set.

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I've made an attempt to inset the brake portion. I've done it to scale which means moving the brake portion in by 1mm on each side. I don't know how noticeable this will be so it may be a case of having to model it overscale to make it worthwhile. At least I know it's there. And yes I did muck up the roof dimensions. Filler is my friend here. I'm hoping these will be a quick project (although I said that about a Parkside grain wagon which I still haven't finished nearly two months later- I've got the bits to finish it, but not the motivation) as all of this has taken 24 hours to achieve. Next I'll shorten/lengthen the underframes and then it'll be the fun job of modify the beading to fill gaps or make gaps for doors.

 

Jamie

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Those 80's era Hornby models are so nice, it seems a shame to modify them.  This is why I buy battered, worn second-hand stuff.  Then I feel like they are getting a proper second wind with some TLC and the condition (and hopefully, fidelity) will only be improved!

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I agree the livery and decoration is nice but the flanges are far too big to fit through even my generous code 100 track and it irks me to see them jumping over the frogs and checkrails. The 4P, Schools and B17 will probably stay untouched and will only be run very occasionally. The Terrier, interestingly, is fine despite the flanges looking quite large. The 4P and N2 have the worst wheels and I'm hoping Hornby ones will be drop-in replacements on the latter.

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  • 1 month later...

A surge in enthusiasm has seen several projects cleared off the bench.

 

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The Parkside private owner grain wagon has been finished. It's unlikely that C.J.Hempsall & Sons had a wagon but it's something a bit different and it gives me another wagon for my pickup goods. The transfers are home made, based off a sign painted on the side of a malthouse in Tuxford.

 

I went on holiday for a week and to keep me busy, I took two more wagon kits. A Parkside fitted van (I forget the diagram but it's kit PC61) and a Cambrian unfitted 6 plank open. This is the first Cambrian kit I've built and I'm impressed by the quality of the mouldings. They've been built on each others' underframes as I wanted an unfitted van for my pickup goods and an open for the Scotch goods. The tarpaulin on the open is from Smiths; another first for me.

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The TK is also finished now. I'm very pleased with the teak as it fits in well with other stock I've got but it took a few attempts so I'm not sure how easy it will be to replicate the colour on other carriages. This is also my first attempt at using a bow pen I bought off eBay very cheaply. I think the pen needs to be honed a bit more. It looks like the previous owner tried to hone it but it doesn't sit perpendicular to the surface you're lining. I'm left handed but if I try the pen in my right hand it feels a bit better so perhaps the pen was right for the previous owner. I'll consult the videos Mike Trice has made on the subject.

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I've gone for a recently out-shopped carriage, hence the light grey roof. I've seen a few pictures where it's obvious that the cleaning staff could only reach up to the rainstrip so I've deliberately kept that area a bit cleaner.

 

The V2 is currently being painted apple green but I'm not entirely sure on the colour so I may strip it off again. The joys of trying to match a loco to a Bachmann tender. If necessary, I'll just repaint the tender as well.

 

Jamie

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been working on the V2 this weekend and it's finished for now. I say 'for now' because it still needs the wheels lining but I need to get some enamel black and white to do that.

 

The colour is completely home-brewed and I don't think I'll be using this approach again. In future I'll go for railmatch or precision. The engine and tender initially looked completely different colours but a coat of satin varnish and a very thin light grey wash on the tender brought it to near as dammit the same colour as the engine. It's as good as it'll get without a full repaint so I'm happy with it. This is my first attempt at painting and lining a green engine and I'm rather pleased with how the lining has turned out. It's HMRS pressfix, as per usual, with the washout plugs brush painted.

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My phone makes the loco and tender look different colours but it's much less noticeable to the eye.

 

I'm not sure if the mudhole doors should be black or green so I've left them green for now. I'll consult colour photos later.

 

Overall, I'm very impressed with the V2 body. Like all 3D prints, it needs some work to smooth off the ridges (although I found a few places in this print where it looked like it had sagged and needed some filler to smooth it). The other body I've got will likely become 4792 so I'll need to source a high fronted tender body.

 

Jamie

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  • 4 weeks later...

I’ve done a few little projects this last week.

 

I got round to fitting 4489 with full length drain cocks and my other A4s will hopefully soon have them as well. I need to paint the handrails silver at some point.

 

I was looking at my J11 and decided it was about time I renumbered and weathered it. I started doing research but I hadn’t appreciated how many variations there were. It quickly became apparent that I would have to do more than renumber the engine. My options were change the chimney, dome or safety valves, move the lubricator or add a snifting valve. I settled on 5208 which required new safety valves, snifting valve and the lubricator moving. Luckily the parts are all separately fitted so I could pull them out. I had a few spare Ross pop valves so I used these and made a base for them out of plasticard. The snifting valve is two pieces of plastic tube with some filler in the end.

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I also replaced the tender coupling and the coal load.

 

Then some filth was applied based on a picture on the RCTS website.

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Jamie

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  • 1 month later...

I decided that I really needed to finish off my RF as I have no other catering vehicles so about a week or two ago I finished off the roof and underframe and at the weekend I finally called it 'done' (although it still needs passengers and I've just noticed that I've forgotten the bogie stepboards).

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Sorry about the last pic being out of focus. The light is abysmal at the moment and getting decent photos is difficult. The coach looks very matt in the pictures but I've since put another coat of gloss varnish on which seems to have helped. The colour is intentionally darker than my other coaches as this would have been quite old by 1938. I suppose I ought to fit 'Scarborough Flier' roof boards but they can wait until I've got some of the other coaches needed to complete that set.

 

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this considering the sides are scratch-built although if I was to do it again I would've filed the sides of the donor vehicle down more below the windows as the tumblehome isn't as pronounced now.

 

Jamie

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Another week, another carriage.

 

This time, the D149 BFK I started in the summer. It’s now ready for paint. The photos are quite self explanatory in terms of where the cuts have been and which bits I’ve had to scratchbuild.

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I’m debating whether or not to replace the ducket. I think I’ll keep it as is for now and in the future I’ll make/buy a replacement. I’ll have to compare it to the duckets on my Hornby super detail BG and Kirk BCK and decide if it looks a bit flat or not. I may also replace the bogies in the future.

 

 

Jamie

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  • 4 weeks later...

The BFK is now finished...

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... so I’ve started yet another carriage

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These are Bill Bedford D151 RTP etches. They’ll go on a Hornby Margate donor which I’ve already started hacking into to cut the sides out and lengthen it.

 

Jamie

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  • 4 weeks later...

I really ought to update this more often.

 

As with most people, I had a lot more time over the festivities to crack on with ongoing projects and start some new ones.

 

The RTP was primed just before Christmas and is now in lined teak awaiting transfers. Unfortunately I don't seem to have any pictures of this.

 

For Christmas, I was given a Mousa Models O4/5 body kit and a Bachmann O4. I'd read about this kit on the LNER forum but had been a bit disappointed, frankly. There were lots of print lines and some rather over-scale 3D-printed handrails. Thankfully, Bill seems to have updated the CAD and it's much better now. The body is now printed in resin with holes for handrail knobs and very few printing lines. The body needed a bit of filing around the cab to fit over the Bachmann running plate (which was an issue spotted by Graeme King when the kits were first released). It's been designed to screw onto the Bachmann running plate but in all the filing I had to do around the cab (where the screws go) I didn't think there was enough material for the screws to bite into without splitting it so I glued the resin bits on.

 

I've done mine as Colwick's 5008.

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As with the O4 I did about this time last year, the cylinders and slidebars have been raised at the rear. The tender may well be wrong for 5008 as Bachmann model the ROD (no water pickup and steam brake only) type but 5008 had vacuum brakes so either it towed a GCR tender or its ROD tender was built with vacuum brakes. I've gone for the latter as it meant I didn't have to faff about with the tender.

 

My SEF J6 had developed a tight spot (no idea how I didn't notice it before). I realised that there was far to much slop in the rods and attempts to plug the holes and re-drill them were unsuccessful so I ordered a set of B1 rods from Lanarkshire Models. They're designed for RTR crankpins so I needed some Markits crankpin bushes as well (I had tried the bushes in the SEF rods but the bosses were too small and in trying to ream them out to fit the bushes I broke through one boss). Happily, the loco runs much better now. It's not as smooth as my D2 but I'm not convinced I built the chassis perfectly square.

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Another Christmas present was an Isinglass D5 SFO. This was put together in a few hours. I did have a few issues. The roof has tabs at either end designed to slip behind the ends but I found that these were too far apart so there was no way I could fit the roof on. I snipped the tabs off and filed the remnants down. The roof also seems a bit tall. There was a gap at the ends but the fit over the sides was perfect. I don't think I glued the ends too low on the sides. The other problem was that the vehicle rode too high. I used Isinglass bogies and building the pivots as the instructions suggest, the coach was very noticeably high. I took out the risers Isinglass give you but then found the solebars were resting on the bogie frames so both were filed down. Compared to Hornby and Kirk bogies, the side frames are considerably deeper above the axleboxes.

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This is my second attempt at teak on this coach, the first was far too orange. Overall I'm extremely pleased with this and certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

 

Jamie

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  • 4 weeks later...

Progress has slowed down a bit recently but I've been able to finish the RTP1155732237_IMG_20210207_1237493722.jpg.c37b436cb4a03cbd2464bcf7d27110f0.jpg1558979588_IMG_20210207_1238118072.jpg.29cdde484efc5f98a0dd299426e6254a.jpg

 

So this means I've started, you guessed it, yet another carriage. This is a Bill Bedford D37a BTK (5). I picked up some Hornby super detail Gresleys for a good price recently to use as donors so one of those will provide the basis for this coach.

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Here's the first side prior to fitting ventilator hoods and door hinges.

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And placed on top of the donor after cutting the Hornby side out. I've soldered a bit of scrap etch along the top to provide some land to glue the roof to.

 

Jamie

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

As you may have seen on my Tuxford North thread, the BTK is now finished.

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I'm very pleased with the teak on this one, although it's a shame that the white part of the 4s came off on one side (lower picture). Not sure how that happened; it came off when I removed the backing paper (they're pressfix transfers). It's a relatively new set of transfers, but I didn't have this problem when I lettered the RTP using the same sheet. My phone makes the carriage look banana-shaped but it is straight.

 

Jamie

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  • 2 weeks later...

Something a bit different this week, in the form of some locos.

 

This Bachmann C1 was a Birthday present a few years ago and has been in out-of-the-box condition since then. I got hold of the relevant Yeadons volume and had a flick through that to decide on a new identity. Eventually, I settled on Grantham's 4446 but that required the smokebox saddle to be removed (being a slide valve engine rather than piston valve). Luckily the smokebox is soft plastic so careful work with files saw the saddle disappear. It's not perfect, but it'll do. Unfortunately when I took the numbers off the first cab side I accidently removed some of the paint so I had to do a little bit of patch repainting. It looks ok from a distance but not great close up. A coat of Clear gave the loco a really nice metallic sheen.

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Only after I'd applied the numbers did I realise that, for some reason, Bachmann have done the shorter handrails on the tender that only a handful of tenders received. This makes the tender correct for the original engine (4421) but not 4446. It's not that they only did this variation for 4421, their model of 3251 has the shorter rails as well. Oh well, I can live with it but I may change them on my 3251 when that becomes 3280.

 

Something I've been working on quietly over the past few months has been some CAD files. I sent them off to Shapeways to be 3D printed a few weeks ago and they arrived on Friday.

 

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The tender is a GN Ivatt horseshoe type. I'll be needing several of these and I struggled a bit with the LRM kit so I figured this would be the best way to build a decent fleet of them. Obviously, it needs coal rails. I'll make them from brass.

 

The tender was ordered in a cheap plastic so the surface finish isn't great. In total, it's probably had about an hour of cleaning up, just on the sides and rear and it's still a bit grainy. To clean the sides up, I've copied someone off the LNER foum by using an electric toothbrush with the bristles cut off and fine sandpaper/emery cloth glued on. In future, I'll use fine detail plastic. It's nearly double the cost, but it will give a much better finish. Some of the detail I'd designed into the tender has disappeared despite it being over the minimum Shapeways will print.

 

The cab is a GN K3 side window cab. This is made in fine detail plastic and it's already much better than the tender. It did, however, arrive warped. A few minutes under boiling water sorted that out. The K3 will hopefully become 91 as I wanted a low numbered one with a GNR tender. For now, it'll tow the 3D printed tender but eventually I'll do a swap to get the prototypical Ivatt self trimming asymmetrical wheelbase one and use this tender on a C2.

 

Jamie

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  • 3 months later...

Apologies for the lack of updates; I hadn't realised how long it has been!

 

Around this time last year I won an Isinglass D120 van at the BRM virtual exhibition and as I had a week off school in mid May I thought it would make a nice quick project.

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It's been built largely as it came but I have added metal handrails and some of the underframe components (including brakes which I forgot to add until after taking this photo!). I've done it as the preserved one on the North Norfolk as it can then run on either Weybourne or Tuxford North, hence the ex-works condition.

 

A wagon I've been wanting for ages is a GNR 19' van. I felt for an ex-GN mainline I ought to have at least one but with the non-availability and stupid eBay prices of the D&S kit I decided to try and scratchbuild one, encouraged by Steve Banks' models. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, the hardest bit being scribing the planks into the plasticard. I used 30 thou braced internally with 2mm plasticard. The W-irons are from Eileen's, designed for Mike Trice's 6 wheelers. I had some left over and just modified them to suit the wagon. Most of the brake gear is from the spares box, predominantly Cambrian (the bufferbeams came from the same source) and the axleboxes/springs from Wizard, being the only parts I had to buy specially for this model. Roof vents were from Isinglass, again found in the spares box.

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As I mentioned previously, I've started to get into 3D printing and a few weeks ago, my first loco design arrived, a J5. The CADs were done from Isinglass drawings and rather than Shapeways I used a company called Hexa Cubed. They can print in high detail resin for far less than Shapeways could in fine detail plastic and being UK based I didn't have to pay huge shipping/customs costs. The quality of the prints are absolutely superb (all thanks to Hexa Cubed, I might add); there were very few print lines and no warping which was very pleasing. I can absolutely recommend Hexa Cubed and James who runs it is very helpful (usual disclaimer applies).

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This photo was taken a while ago so the frames have guard irons and have been painted and I've started on the pickups and brakes. The chassis is one of @chris p bacon's J50 kits suitably cut down in length. I've used Hornby L1 wheels due to Markits/Romford wheels being hard to get hold of and I managed to get all 6 Hornby wheels for less than one Markits wheel. The axles are splined so it's quite easy to quater the wheels and the crankpin threads are identical to Markits ones. I've had to file out the balance weights as they were wrong for a J5 and I'll add new ones from plasticard. The wheels have been tidied up since the photo was taken. My preference for a motor and gearbox would have been High Level but as they're temporarily out of business I got a Comet gearbox and Taff Vale 1015 motor. I'll certainly be avoiding Comet gearboxes in future as this one is very noisy (the gears are metal rather than nylon as in High Level 'boxes) and I had problems with it jamming, hopefully sorted now. I'm just waiting for an order from Eileen's Emporium to start detailing the body.

 

Regards,

 

Jamie

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Haha thanks Manna but I don't think my scratchbuilding skills are quite up to the same standard as yours so 3D printing was a better option for me. At least you're making locos for a few quid each!

 

Jamie

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14 hours ago, JamieR4489 said:

Haha thanks Manna but I don't think my scratchbuilding skills are quite up to the same standard as yours so 3D printing was a better option for me. At least you're making locos for a few quid each!

 

Jamie

G'day Folks

 

True, my J5 cost about 25 quid.

 

manna

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  • 1 month later...

The J5 is finished now (or until I spot something I've missed). It's taken a while as I decided that I couldn't live with the Comet gearbox, it kept jamming, was very noisy and I picked too low a gear ratio (although that's my fault not the gearbox's). I then had to wait for High Level to re-open and when I received my gearbox, one of the gears was of the wrong type and had to be replaced twice. I then kept getting tight spots caused by the Hornby axles (3mm diameter) running in 1/8" bearings (a twitch over 3mm). I didn't think the difference in diameters would matter and was hoping the bearings would be slightly undersize but the axles were very sloppy so I replaced them for Scalelink wheels and axles. Now it runs very smoothly and quietly so although it turned out to be an expensive mistake, I have at least got a good runner.

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3022 was ex works 25/6/1938 so it would still be very clean in the period I'm modelling (July-September 1938) hence just the light dusting of weathering on the frames, bunker and smokebox.

 

I'd been thinking for a while that a good way to model a D198 steel panelled BG would be to get a PC kit for a D113. For those who aren't aware, the PC kits came pre painted and lined but had no beading so aren't really suitable for teak vehicles but are perfect for the steel panelled versions. I'd worried about trying to line a non-beaded coach so a pre lined kit would solve this. Eventually a PC BG kit turned up on eBay but I left it too long and someone else got it. Luckily, a second one came up at the same price so I immediately snapped that one up. I haven't got any photos of it at the moment but I've got a rolling chassis with ends and I've painted the interior. I'll do the roof next and then fit the sides and printed overlays for the ends last.

 

Another project I've been considering for a while is a C1 to C2 conversion. There is, of course, a DJH C2 kit but it's quite expensive and overscale. Originally, I was going to convert a Bachmann C1 which has the motor slightly too high in the firebox for a small boiler conversion but when I saw a kitbuilt K's example for £100 I got that instead. It had been both glued and soldered together on every joint making separating the boiler and cab from the footplate quite difficult. In the end, I cut them off and had to get brutal on the smokebox saddle as the builder had put a bolt through there with the head in the smokebox. The motor (open framed) and gears have been replaced with the Comet box I got for the J5 as I have now managed to stop it from jamming. It's not quite as smooth as a High Level box but I can always replace it in the future. I've also fitted a flywheel to help the loco over my insulfrog crossings.

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For the boiler and cab, I designed 3D prints and got them from Hexa-Cubed again. The photo shows the print just perched in place; it will need a bit of filing to get it to fit properly.

 

The K3 with GN cab and tender I showed a while back has progressed. Initially, it was going to be 91 with a GN coal rail tender but after realising how uncommon this was outside of Scotland and having a spare flared tender, I've changed it to 170 and the new tender just needs lining and lettering (it was in BR livery). The buffer stocks have been painted black after taking the photo, by the way.IMG_20210905_181943084.jpg.88180c2e440f1138a7ed8674534d319d.jpg

 

Regards,

 

Jamie

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