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Wagonologie


Nick Mitchell
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I have decided to start a topic for some of the 2mm Finescale wagons I am building. There are dozens in various states of completion, and "going public" with a few might nudge me towards finishing them off.

 

The title Wagonologie is inspired by King James I's Dæmonologie of 1597 which, amongst other things, discusses the methods various demons use to torment mankind.

I am not in any way suggesting that the progenitors of some of the kits I've attempted are actual demons... but the kit I'm currently working on is certainly tormenting me more than most.

 

As I add further entries to the Wagonologie, I will update the table of contents below with links to the first post concerning each wagon.

 

Contents

  1. LMS "Gannet" D.1804 25T Ballast Hopper (Kestrel Brass kit)
  2. LMS D.1680 Long Low (Plate) ex.WW1 underframe (Nigel Hunt kit)
  3. LMS D.2069 Plate wagon (Chivers body kit, Chris Higgs chassis)
  4. LMS D.2083 Plate Wagon (Stephen Harris kit)
  5. LNER/BR All Steel High variations (Stephen Harris kits)
  6. LMS D.2115 6-wheel fish van (2mm Assoc. / Bob Jones kit)
  7. BR "Catfish" diag. 1/586 19T ballast hopper (Stephen Harris Kit)
  8. L&Y built ex-MOD Rectank (shot-down Connoiseur kit)
  9. MR D.326 Deep Case Wagon (Bruce Cook kit)

 

 

This particular wagon saga started at our area group meeting last week, when a friend arrived staggering under the weight of a vast collection of gloat boxes which had belonged to a deceased Association member. The contents are being sold on behalf of his widow.

 

As the boxes were examined, my eye was caught by an unusual brass wagon kit. The only documentation was a post-it note, proclaiming it to be a Kestrel Brass kit for an LMS D.1804 25T ballast hopper. The kit had been started, but not much more that cutting out a few pieces had been achieved... a state of play with which I am all too familiar. Intrigued, I bought it, thinking it would make a nice addition to my engineers' train... when the other wagons are finished, of course!

 

I'd never heard of Kestrel Brass, but turning to another ancient tome - Geoff Balfour's Wagons from Kits in Two Millimetre Scale (slightly less ancient than Dæmonologie, but something else I'd never heard of until recently) I discovered this was a proposed range of 2mm versions of the Falcon Brass 4mm kits. I say proposed, as apparently on first production of photographically reduced etches, it was deemed necessary to re-draw the kits. Geoff's advice was to wait for the promised bonanza - which although well before my time - evidence suggests never materialised.

A bit more digging (I know little about 4mm kit history) revealed that the Falcon Brass range had its origins in Jidenco. Now this was a name I had heard of - but only as a by-word for extremely difficult to put together kits from the dawn of etching.

 

Being somebody who likes to make life difficult for himself, so far this kit has not disappointed! There are none of the refinements of "modern" kits. It is etched (with half-etching on one side only) onto 8 thou brass. There is not a tab, slot or even alignment marking in sight, let alone clever fold-over frames to aid construction... merely a plethora of tiny half-etched riveted overlays to be folded, bent, cut and layered by eye. Even the main body of the hopper was in four separate pieces, with no way of holding them in registration while they were soldered together. These bits did at least have fold lines, and I was able to fold them to the correct angles by holding them up to the drawing in Bob Essery's Illustrated history of LMS wagons. (Incidentally, Volume 1 has a nice picture of one of these posing with a ballast plough on the dust jacket.)

 

I've made some progress with the hopper body. Most of the strapping is there (although the rivetting is almost etched away completely in places) and I have started on detailing the doors. The end stanchions, when I get to them, look like being fun. The chassis, such as it is, has fold-up channel solebars which I have soldered to the "floor". These were spaced apart by some Association fold-up W-irons. The kit has its own fold-up W-Irons to take top-hat bearings. They fold up too narrow to accept a 2FS wheelset, but this is of no consequence as the W irons themselves must be separated and soldered individually to the reverse of the solebars - there has to be a gap between them for the bottom of the hopper. Having thus arranged the spacing of the solebars, the W irons (which can at least be aligned with the jig integral to the Association W iron etch) should accept a 12.25mm pinpoint axle.

 

The photo below shows how far I have got. Hopefully it won't be too long before this Gannet can go and play with some Grampuses... which have been built from Stephen Harris kits and are at the opposite end of the spectrum as far as etch design goes.

 

619008279_gannetunderconstruction.jpg.ca54f9c7bc8c2d0b3c60130c5807c8cf.jpg

 

Edited by Nick Mitchell
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I think my Macaw H is from the same or similar origins. I'd concluded they were from the connoisseur  PMK list, originally 7mm. Might be slightly different along the same thought process. I have an MR 4 wheeled milk van somewhere that I'm unlikely to ever start, which looks equally awful in approach, although easier to assemble thank your hopper due to it being a box that needs a roof. You do seem to be creating silk from pigs extremities. 

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53 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

I think my Macaw H is from the same or similar origins. I'd concluded they were from the connoisseur  PMK list, originally 7mm. Might be slightly different along the same thought process. I have an MR 4 wheeled milk van somewhere that I'm unlikely to ever start, which looks equally awful in approach, although easier to assemble thank your hopper due to it being a box that needs a roof. You do seem to be creating silk from pigs extremities. 

 

I think this was a different range of wagons, Richard. The Commoisseur PMK kits were sold through KRS Model Railways of Milton Keynes (or the Crocodile and 2 x Macaw kits I have were) whereas the Kestral kits were done by David Lidgate in the 1980s. Following David's death recently the remaining etches were made available through BH Enterprises.

 

A MR milk van etch (reduced from the PC Models 4mm etch) was available from Ultima/Etched Pixels (and he has a few other similar etches still in stock it seems).

 

Andy

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A great thread with a great name, wagonologie - marvellous.

I'm with David Long, I love a good gloat box rummage. I'm also on holiday but did manage to find a wagon in the most unusual of places!

20190514_123244.jpg.5fd807f4da9d92d63c939ad7834766e6.jpg

As for MR milk vans or any other NPCS -  there a always a home here - not sure what I can barter for it though:-)

 

Jerry

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6 hours ago, 2mm Andy said:

 

I think this was a different range of wagons, Richard. The Commoisseur PMK kits were sold through KRS Model Railways of Milton Keynes (or the Crocodile and 2 x Macaw kits I have were) whereas the Kestral kits were done by David Lidgate in the 1980s. Following David's death recently the remaining etches were made available through BH Enterprises.

 

A MR milk van etch (reduced from the PC Models 4mm etch) was available from Ultima/Etched Pixels (and he has a few other similar etches still in stock it seems).

 

Andy

 

Ah, I have some of each. All through BHE, which is where I probably got mixed up. I built the Macaw. The KRS stuff seemed to disappear quickly and I never got a chance of any others. Not sure I need any more stuff for my gloat drawer right now...

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On 17/05/2019 at 06:16, DavidLong said:

Oh bu**er, I missed a gloat box! :sad_mini: Teach me to go on holiday.

 

David

Hi David,

 

I'm taking what's left to Tutbury so you can have a look then.

 

Regards,

 

 

Nigel Hunt

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9 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

 

Are there any crocodiles in it? I won't be at Tutbury. 

Hi Richard,

 

If there were, they've all been snapped up.

 

I'll have my etched kits with me at Tutbury too.

 

Regards,

 

Nigel Hunt

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I've done a bit more work on the chassis of my Gannet, and every little thing has been difficult and taken ages.

 

I marked out where the centres of the W-irons ought to be, and soldered on the first one. The second one was lined up using the etched spacer I mentioned earlier.

Then I realised that having rested the top of the W-iron etch up against the underside of the "floor" of the wagon there would be no room for any springs.

If I was adding fold-up W-irons to a chassis, I'd expect them to fix to the floor, but not here. Not only do the W-irons need to be applied individually, they also need to "float" at the correct height - whatever that ought to be!

 

In hindsight, I should have used Association W-irons, soldered them in place, then cut out the middle sections... but I only had the later style plate irons in my bits box anyway.

In the end, turning the spacer upside-down and resting it edge-on to the bottom of the solebars helped to line the irons up pretty close to where they need to be.

 

The first picture below shows the underside of the chassis, with the fold-up spacer tool:

 

underneath.jpg.2a13a7adef9024997ba1cd84bd07f523.jpg

 

I decided to use etched LMS axle-box/spring units rather than cast ones. Even though the springs are a bit skinnier than ones in photos, I figured that soldering everything together this way would add some much-needed rigidity to the W-irons. This has proved to be the case, as the 8-thou brass was quite flimsy when I tried some wheels in the chassis before adding the axle-boxes.

 

I've also added the V hangers on one side. They revealed another problem with the kit. The outside one has half-etched fold lines (hurrah!) on the outside of the fold (boo!) and a half-etched length with rivet detail for the vertical part within the solebar channel. Unfortunately, the wagon builders plate etched into the solebar is in the same place as the left of these vertical pieces would need to go. I know I haven't got the sole-bar in the wrong place, so the kit must have the oval plate too close to the centre.

My solution has been to cut off the vertical bits of the V hanger. Any other solution would have looked more wrong than having a bit missing. Inside the solebar will be dark and shadowy anyway, so hopefully it won't look too bad.

 

In the next photo, you can see the chassis standing on its wheels. This lets you appreciate the delicate nature of things at this stage, with the chassis free to twist along its length. Once the hopper is soldered on, it will become rigid - but I will have to be careful not to assemble it permanently twisted! You can also see I've put one buffer beam on, and Association cast buffers. The buffers themselves were a bit lop-sided - I've attempted to straighten them up a bit.

 

632013355_onwheels.jpg.36d72bccb70bd204742efa2fe936294a.jpg

 

In the final photo, I've balanced the hopper in place to give an impression of what the wagon will finally look like. This was useful in that it has revealed the wheel flanges just rub against the bottom doors of the hopper, which will need a bit filing away. It is lined up next to one of my Stephen Harris Grampus wagons (which is waiting to be weathered) to compare the ride height. I think it looks near enough.

 

2099729154_withgrampus.jpg.edede106c67d594de6da9b1614b7fbbd.jpg

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I can't quite believe it has been a month since my last post, and I still haven't quite finished this wretched wagon.

OK, I've been "on tour" with a talk to the North Mercia Area Group and a stand at the 2mm Supermeet, and work has been insanely busy too... so more a case of not spending much time with it. I did some work on the hopper doors about 3 weeks ago, and managed to grab a couple of hours this evening to finish off the chassis, so here is a photo update.

 

The doors have a surround which folds up as an L section (one leg half-etched with rivets, the other full thickness). This then wraps up into a rectangular shape to solder onto the flat door pieces. Unfortunately, the rectangle was the wrong size for the doors, so the first one had to be unsoldered, cut into four, and each piece soldered on separately after filing to a fit. Quite a faff, for something that may hardly be visible under the wagon!

Then there were the vertical bits of strapping to divide the doors into three panels. I toyed with the idea of leaving these off, then thought better of it. When the 5th (out of 8) got crumpled up as I was adjusting its position, I regretted that decision even more. On the photo, the door on the left has replacement strapping made from pits of scrap etch. They're too thick, and don't have the rivets... but I can live with them.

 

871481095_hopperdoors.jpg.9d3fe871a1e050d2b36c2ac10b18bbd1.jpg

 

Anyway, on to the chassis, and more horrors. On the fret, the brakes are etched as separate push rods and crank. Not a chance of me putting these together - especially as there is nothing to hold the brake shoes in line. In the end I opted to cannibalise some from a Fence Houses wagon chassis that was designed to fit Parkside long wheelbase wagons (Shop item 2-351). To fix the bits to the chassis, I employed some 0.5mm square section brass to space the top of the brake etch from the backs of the solebars. You can see this in the next photo. Ideally, the brakes should be further inboard so the shoes line up with the wheel treads, but that would mean the top edge of the brake etches getting in the way of the hopper sitting down. I have had to bend the brakes inwards slightly to avoid it looking like the worst sort of N gauge chassis.

 

Curiously there are no brake levers in the kit. The ones I have used came from an ancient Association brass etch of brake components long out of production. I assume these were to go with the Waite underframes? I bought them second hand a few years ago as one of those "ooh, that looks like a rare thing that I have no use for, but might come in handy one day" purchases. Well, today was the day, and my collecting and hoarding policy fully justified!


The slots the levers move up and down in are adapted from a couple of spares from random association under
frame kits, with the levers and handles trimmed off (I never throw the spare bits away). They were designed to bend over at the top and poke through a hole in the solebar. By not bending over the inner layer and trimming back the outer layer just after the bend, I could solder them across the solebar channel to look more like the prototype.

1749984949_chassiscomplete.jpg.4cdd066013a8aab4ec1320901b47b3b5.jpg

 

The handwheel backing pieces were interesting - not least for having to drill out all 48 half-etched holes! Like the V hangers, they had a half-etched bit with bolt-heads to go vertically inside the solebar channel. These also did not fit (too long, and made the disk stand too far off the solebar) so were simply removed.

I soldered 0.45mm brass rod across the bottoms of the solebars to mount the wheels on, and cut out the middle sections afterwards. That way I could see that they were square to the chassis. Coupling hooks were also absent from the kit. I have used ones from the Association fret (2-345).

 

You can hardly see the hopper doors at all in this next photo, where the body is again just placed on the chassis. It is starting to look the business.

 

1538748835_sideon.jpg.a6ad58893416b6e8cba5d3af9f2aa26a.jpg

 

In the next picture you can see the end stanchions. More "fun" folding full/half thickness L sections, and soldering them back-to-back to make the T-section of the stanchions. The rivets on the half-etched parts do have a top and a bottom, indicated on the fret, but I'm not able to tell now whether I've got them the right way up!

 

At least the body and underframe have turned out to be the same length. They're just about the only aspect of the kit that has fitted together nicely!

 

97793594_hopperplacedonchassis.jpg.27384b01c1585c2045595aadf1bdf7c0.jpg

 

There are some more fold-up and solder back-to-back little triangle things to join the hopper to the underframe along the tops of the solebars, and then it'll be ready for the paint shop.

 

I'm still trying to decide if the extreme hassle at every step of the way with this kit is worth it. Of course it is, but I keep imagining how many I'd have been able to build by now and how much better they would be if Stephen Harris had designed this kit...

Edited by Nick Mitchell
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“I'm still trying to decide if the extreme hassle at every step of the way with this kit is worth it. Of course it is, but I keep imagining how many I'd have been able to build by now and how much better they would be if Stephen Harris had designed this kit...”

 

 

But think of all that fun you’d have missed out on.......

 

Seriously, thanks for sharing your experiences with us. For some years I also felt aggrieved by kits like this I had encountered, a Jidenco MR 3130 class (to P4) still burns brightly in my memories, but then came to realise how they had helped me to learn how to scratchbuild and not fear any kit that came my way. 

 

Izzy

 

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2 hours ago, DavidLong said:

 

I've got two more that I'm going to give him :biggrin_mini2:

 

David

 

And another one here....

 

Of course, if we were really cruel and sadistic, we could bring along the LMS roadstone wagon etches from the same kit range :diablo_mini:;

 

http://www.manlocosoc.co.uk/chulme/slide-webone-off.cgi?ch-021&27

 

Andy

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On 20/06/2019 at 19:55, Izzy said:

Seriously, thanks for sharing your experiences with us. For some years I also felt aggrieved by kits like this I had encountered, a Jidenco MR 3130 class (to P4) still burns brightly in my memories, but then came to realise how they had helped me to learn how to scratchbuild and not fear any kit that came my way. 

 

I can echo those sentiments about kits helping to teach the art of scratch-building, Izzy.

Mind you, Brian Hume once accused me of scratch-building every kit I ever put together... a thought which leads me nicely on to introduce another specimen to my Wagonologie.

 

I won't say too much about this one yet, as I've prepared a piece for the 2mm Magazine. Actually, I prepared it about 6 years ago, but I still haven't got round to painting the wagon so I can take a photo to accompany the article.

Perhaps I ought to have a wagon painting session soon!

 

Anyway, the subject is another unusual LMS wagon - Diagram 1680. It is built from a kit that to my knowledge has never been released, again on 8 thou material, but this time Nickel Silver.

 

The designer will recognise it when he sees it... and probably weep over what I have done to it! I decided to re-engineer the W-Irons, and add a few extra details to the solebars, to make the underframe represent an ex-WW1 design. A few different types of LMS wagon bodies were built on top of these during the 1920s.

 

Here's a snap of it on my bench in its underwear:

 

IMG_8160.JPG.fd918361b93ad3d421d0bdc3eb4ecc77.JPG

 

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On 20/06/2019 at 20:50, Nick Mitchell said:

 

I can echo those sentiments about kits helping to teach the art of scratch-building, Izzy.

Mind you, Brian Hume once accused me of scratch-building every kit I ever put together... a thought which leads me nicely on to introduce another specimen to my Wagonologie.

 

I won't say too much about this one yet, as I've prepared a piece for the 2mm Magazine. Actually, I prepared it about 6 years ago, but I still haven't got round to painting the wagon so I can take a photo to accompany the article.

Perhaps I ought to have a wagon painting session soon!

 

Anyway, the subject is another unusual LMS wagon - Diagram 1680. It is built from a kit that to my knowledge has never been released, again on 8 thou material, but this time Nickel Silver.

 

The designer will recognise it when he sees it... and probably weep over what I have done to it! I decided to re-engineer the W-Irons, and add a few extra details to the solebars, to make the underframe represent an ex-WW1 design. A few different types of LMS wagon bodies were built on top of these during the 1920s.

 

Here's a snap of it on my bench in its underwear:

 

IMG_8160.JPG.13aab3908f8c36f5b766549709cbfb78.JPG

 

 

1927 Long Low Wagon aka Plate. First diagram of many by the LMS and also the smallest. Strangely, considering that the LMS went on describing the numerous later diagrams as Long Low, the photo in Essery Volume 1 clearly shows it lettered 'Plate Wagon'!

 

I don't recall ever seeing this as a kit but a bit early for me anyway as I doubt that any of this diagram would have made it to the 1960s considering the numbers later built by the LMS, LNER and BR.

 

Nice work though, Nick.

 

David

 

David

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I've finally finished construction work on my Gannet ballast hopper. The final bits to do were to add the triangular brackets, and then solder the body to the chassis.

The tiny brackets are each in two pieces soldered back to back. They were then soldered over the vertical strapping on the hopper sides, having first scribed a line to get them all level.

The bottom edge of these brackets are just resting on the top of the sole bars, and set the level of the hopper

The chassis was soldered to the four corners of the hopper from underneath, and then the end stanchions soldered to the buffer beams.

I have added tubes ready to accept Electra couplings once it is painted.

 

portrait.jpg.de1954dc655f9cd99f138c15d238e758.jpg

 

1069979091_withclass11.jpg.76779bcdcf5baf794e5c83a59821b52d.jpg

 

Considering the difficulty level, I'm really pleased with the way this kit has turned out. Let's hope I can maintain my enthusiasm for it when David brings the two he has promised me to our next area group meeting!

I must be getting a reputation for being a glutton for punishment, as out of the blue Andy Hanson generously presented me with a kit for a prize cattle van from the same source last night.

I thought it had some little sections of picket fence as part of the kit - maybe to model cattle boarding the van from a platform? Then Andy pointed out it wasn't a fence, but a row of dozens of individual bits of ironwork to be cut out and fixed in various places. I think I'll wait a while before plucking up the courage to tackle that one!

 

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I've been experimenting painting "wood" coloured open wagon floors.

Below is a Grampus, before any weathering takes place. I'm going for a fairly new, clean look for the floor as a starting point. I imagine the insides of these wagons would have got pretty grim quite quickly.

Being etched, the plank lines are fairly wide, and it would be easy to make it look silly.

 

2104857284_grampusfloor.JPG.a2e67e7b2bee5b618527ea335dd7a0f4.JPG

 

The floor painting was done with Lifecolor acrylics, brushed on, as illustrated in the next photo. This was done on top of the satin black body colour which had been sprayed.

Stage 1 was a new wood beige colour, only slightly thinned. In the photo one coat has been put on, but it needed two.

Stage 2 was a wash with a much darker brown to highlight the plank lines and stain the planking.

Stage 3 was a very dilute wash of an almost white colour, like a filter, to take away most of the plank lines again, and age the wood.

 

1594800227_floorstages.JPG.459d7cce96585dab33acfd6c794b5df9.JPG

 

I've tried replicating the same effect (with a much smaller paint brush) on the sides of a Sturgeon A (another Stephen Harris masterpiece) which I desperately want to complete before the Revolution N Gauge ones are released! Again, this is a base for further weathering.

The dark brown wash helps enormously in making it look like I've painted neatly up to the lines... though there are one or two spots where it looks as though I haven't been so careful. I need to steady my hand and steel myself to do the other side and the insides now.

 

1859456134_sturgeonside.JPG.7956d86525a1d88b4ee6d1f128ce12a7.JPG

 

Any suggestions for improvement will be gratefully received!

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My first Gannet (I now have 2 more to build) is finally finished and weathered.

Alas, in this very cruel enlargement, the transfer carrier film is visible and the bottom doors that took so long to make are invisible.

I bought a sheet of Fox transfers for the word GANNET (couldn't identify a CCT sheet with it on), but didn't use it in the end. I was disappointed by the quality (not very fine) which is a first for me from Fox.

In the end I fell back on an ancient sheet of Woodhead transfers - the ones where the printing is reversed and you stick it down face first then peel the paper off and hope for the best. The lettering was white, and has been coloured with a felt tip pen, before attempting to blend it is with weathering.

The "London Midland Region" legend comes from a sheet of Modelmaster transfers I had in the box. The other markings are CCT.

 

IMG_9728.jpg.1d8267fb295cb84051405c4888356735.jpg

 

I've gone for a rusty interior for now. It'll get a load of ballast one day.

 

IMG_9729.jpg.e1757b086d53de879de8e75ed9ac3d98.jpg

 

While I had the airbrush out, the trio of Grampus wagons have also been weathered lightly. 

 

IMG_9745.jpg.f6f75b77af0ff6ee40a374586100732f.jpg

 

The Sturgeon A has also received the weathering treatment inside and out.

This time I did use the Fox lettering. It was so fat there wasn't room for the "A" after STURGEON. The running number below (Modelmaster) is much finer and sharper. How I wish I had bought the CCT Sturgeon A pack rather than using what I already had. From the proverbial normal viewing distance, it will probably not look too bad.

 

IMG_9747.jpg.05c08dc6861c1fcd9f68614f0e2aa63a.jpg

 

The steel floor is another shade of rust. This brute is so long I wasn't able to get the whole length of it in focus.

Incidentally, the couplings on this wagon are the "locomotive" version of Electras. They are soldered to the bogies. There wasn't an east way to fit the normal rotating kind, to I'll need a barrier wagon to be able to shunt it.

 

IMG_9757.jpg.215001c23741ca984af0a8379d18b216.jpg

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