Geordie Exile Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 Happened to pick up a rattle can of red oxide primer today, as I've a few wagons in the pipeline. Saying that, the first batch are likely to be the 21t hoppers that only ever turn up on the photos as various shades of grey! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 @Caledonian, @doilum - I've just found a Flickr album with another 70 photos of the various rolling stock at Fenwick - here - and interestingly, the first two photos show the same loco (probably taken within minutes of each other looking at the location and the set it's pulling) as either green or blue! I'm obviously going to have to be careful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Dark blue was used for most of the South Northumberland locos. With the obvious exception of Backworth 49 any "green" ones are down to a combination of film stock/processing and light conditions. The red wagons on the other hand I reckon are down to the cheaper paint slapped on to wooden wagons. You can tell that some of them are freshly painted in what appears to be a bright russet red, but I remember helping my Dad paint a boatyard in that very colour over 50 years. It didn't last, it faded very quickly and that was in a pretty clean environment. Add in pit-head muck... The point is, and the Backworth photies demonstrate it, that there's a tremendous variation. There's not much jumbling up individually, but the cuts are different with one lot of wagons looking bright and shiny, another less so and others decidedly shabby. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Backworth actually had two No.49s, and their tenure overlapped. Both were Austerities, the preserved green one and another, which may also have been green but a darker shade. The second one was fitted with a mechanical stoker I believe, and was scrapped in the late sixties. Right at the end of steam there were two No.48s. again both Austerities, and both blue, though the second one was so dirty you would never have known it. The second one I never saw being used. It seemed to lurk in the far end of the shed and may have been a parts source to keep the others going. It was the only loco to be scrapped at the end of steam. The DJModels WD in lined NCB Black (No.4) was a Backworth loco, and the USA tank by Model Rail/Bachmann in lined black also spent some time at Backworth. No.16 was lined black when first transferred to Backworth but was repainted blue at the shed. When it first arrived it was the same colour as twin No.38 at Tanfield (which finished its career at Shilbottle known as "thirty-eight and a half" due to two of their four engines having the same number, but that's another story....) As a thought you could get away with one of the N Gauge Society's Hunslet diesels (no.503) as the North Eastern Area was formed before Backworth closed. There were a few unrecorded loco transfers and loans, so you could make a convincing back story. I took a photo of one of the Hunslets at Philadelphia which isn't recorded anywhere as a transfer or even a Lambton repair. Keep up the good work Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 On 27/08/2020 at 21:22, Geordie Exile said: @Caledonian, @doilum - I've just found a Flickr album with another 70 photos of the various rolling stock at Fenwick - here - and interestingly, the first two photos show the same loco (probably taken within minutes of each other looking at the location and the set it's pulling) as either green or blue! I'm obviously going to have to be careful. Many thanks for the link. I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It confirms exactly what I remembered and was trying to describe, the variation from bauxite to crimson lake, and every shade in-between. A really good mix of locos too including several Pecketts. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 (edited) It's been a while since I posted any progress. The buildings are pretty much unchanged, but I've been looking at a track plan, and at the most suitable way of building that track in 2mmFS. And while toying with the options, I've also doubled the rolling stock fleet. From 1 to 2. This is the beautifully detailed 21t hopper from Fencehouses: fiddly indeed for a beginner like me, but immensely satisfying to build, and actually prototypical for the pit. Just need a hundred or so more, of various types. Including the signature wagon for which I guess the only real solution is learning how to use a CAD package and create an etch. Meantime, baby steps such as this... Edited September 11, 2020 by Geordie Exile 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted September 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2020 excellent much better than my 1st or even 20th attempt you should consider posting you work in the 2mm section as well Nick B 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 Hmm. Is it time to make a decision about track? It's suddenly crowded. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted September 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Geordie Exile said: Hmm. Is it time to make a decision about track? It's suddenly crowded. I think the word you are looking for is “more”. You definitely need some more. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 11 hours ago, Regularity said: I think the word you are looking for is “more”. You definitely need some more. On a positive note, my micro-layout is nearly finished 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Well, I've done it. Our very nice Moderator has moved this thread into the 2mm FS forum. When I first had a poke around the forum, I felt like a school kid sneaking into the staff room, except the grown-ups have been very welcoming rather than hurling blackboard rubbers at the cheeky wee interloper. To celebrate, here's a photo of my first completed wagon, a 21t hopper from Bob Jones' stable. (The mineral wagon taster kit doesn't count, as that was practising!) I've four wooden-bodied hoppers in the paint shop, with the rattle-can red oxide still drying, but they're not complete until I figure out how to get the Fox Transfers lettering onto them. From what I can see, many of the metal hoppers such as this one weren't badged as NCB, so this one's done. I think I'll invest in some blackener, as the DGs aren't quite as loose now they're covered in paint, however lightly I tried to spray it. Every day's a school day. Richard 12 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Decisions, decisions. The wooden hoppers are back from the paint shop (ok, my shed then my desk) and the lovely Fox Transfers applied, with less fuss that I anticipated. I know all the wagons were numbered, with what appears to be a 5-digit number, but I can't make any out from the many photos I have. I know if I hand-letter them, I'll spoil it, because at that size it's way beyond my fine motor skills. If I cut up some numbers from the FT sheet, the individual numerals will look better, but is it possible to get five in a row all perfectly aligned? And while the positioning will be prototypical the numbering won't (although this is less important to me than how they look - I know, a heresy!). Do I risk spoiling the look of what I've done in the name of accuracy, or do I give them all a squirt of matt varnish and get on with the weathering? #FirstWorldProblems I've still got to attach the bodies to the chassis. Each ended up being tailored (a gouge out of the body here, a file off the chassis there) so a specific body will fit a specific chassis, but my enthusiastic spraying obliterated the numbers I'd very carefully given them . And I know the wheels ain't there. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted October 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) The coach numbers on these were individual digits from Fox Transfers. Apply on a gloss surface (use what used to be called Johnson's Klear, now called Pledge Multi-surface? it is a cheap way of buying what is actually acrylic varnish). I use a fine paintbrush and a cocktail stick to poke the transfers around. You can get special transfer slide and fix solutions (e.g. MicroSol and MicroSet) which might be of assistance. I completed numbering one side of all four coaches in a single evening. The wording was done on another evening, and was obviously simpler. Finish with a matt varnish spray. Why, oh why, did they need to put the numbers on both ends of such short coaches? Edited June 23, 2023 by Ian Morgan re-loaded image 2 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I think the numbers have to be there is some shape or form as they are one of those details which I would describe as 'significant by their absence', in other words the wagon would look 'bare' without it. Whether they are accurate actual numbers is a moot point. Is anyone going to be able to prove that you are wrong? There is no register of CR wagons, so, other than photographs and those few from order numbers or other paperwork which has survived, it's a case of 'think of a number'. The only thing we do know is the ranges of numbers that were used for mineral wagons and those of special wagons and brake vans, which had their own number series. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Dammit. @Caley Jim's given me the "why" and @Ian Morgan's given me the "how". Guess what I'm doing this evening. Thanks, guys. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Add numbers to the wagons, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Having identified that the wagons at the Backworth Colliery system carried (mostly) 4-digit numbering, I set about creating a mosaic of numbers that looked the right size and font and applying them to the wagons. All the while wondering if this was the 2mmSA equivalent of sending the newbie for a long weight or to fetch some elbow grease. 24 hours later, as recommended by Fox Transfers, I followed up with a spray of matt varnish. That went well enough until I got to the last wagon when a quick squirt sent 3 of the 4 digits flying into the nether areas of my shed. So, depending on which side you look at it, wagon no 1897 is also wagon no 1096. As only Marty Feldman can see both sides at once, I've decided to live with it. He may also spot that I put one side of the same wagon on upside down, so it's proudly sporting a sole bar at the top. Let's keep that between ourselves. Anyway, here are the finished products. The photo makes the weathering look a bit heavy-handed, but while a couple are quite heavily caked in coal dust, it's more subtle than the camera suggests. 12 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 These look great, @Geordie Exile! I'm sure you'll agree that having the numbers there makes all the difference. Whether they are correct or, indeed, the same on both sides, is immaterial. After all, we're not trying to make museum standard models (at least I'm not!). It's creating the character that is important IMHO. Jim 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted October 15, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2020 I’m not overly familiar with these wagons but certainly those numbers make a huge difference. Or perhaps it’s the wheels. And at 2mm scale amazing work too. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DavidLong Posted October 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 16, 2020 On 10/10/2020 at 21:15, Geordie Exile said: Well, I've done it. Our very nice Moderator has moved this thread into the 2mm FS forum. When I first had a poke around the forum, I felt like a school kid sneaking into the staff room, except the grown-ups have been very welcoming rather than hurling blackboard rubbers at the cheeky wee interloper. To celebrate, here's a photo of my first completed wagon, a 21t hopper from Bob Jones' stable. (The mineral wagon taster kit doesn't count, as that was practising!) I've four wooden-bodied hoppers in the paint shop, with the rattle-can red oxide still drying, but they're not complete until I figure out how to get the Fox Transfers lettering onto them. From what I can see, many of the metal hoppers such as this one weren't badged as NCB, so this one's done. I think I'll invest in some blackener, as the DGs aren't quite as loose now they're covered in paint, however lightly I tried to spray it. Every day's a school day. Richard Hi Richard, Some nice work on the 21T hopper but I have a small recommendation. For handrails it would be worth trying 0.2mm nickel silver wire as, even when the paint is thinly applied, it always contrives to make the handrails appear much thicker. The Albion Alloys product is excellent as it is straight and, being nickel, it solders well. In a shameless plug for my 2mm colleague Ed Sissling it can be found here: https://www.acsissling.com/?i=332639&f=332647 David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 On 16/10/2020 at 09:10, DavidLong said: Hi Richard, Some nice work on the 21T hopper but I have a small recommendation. For handrails it would be worth trying 0.2mm nickel silver wire as, even when the paint is thinly applied, it always contrives to make the handrails appear much thicker. The Albion Alloys product is excellent as it is straight and, being nickel, it solders well. In a shameless plug for my 2mm colleague Ed Sissling it can be found here: https://www.acsissling.com/?i=332639&f=332647 David I see what you mean, and the white paint highlighted every tiny blob of solder and associated modelling mank that I hadn't cleared off. As they're such a complicated arrangement, I stuck with the etch - it was already testing my skills just to complete the model. I've added grab rails to the ends of the wooden hoppers in 0.3mm ns wire, as they were a simple extended U-shape. To make them more robust they're drilled through and superglued in. I bottled adding any more (the sides should have two each according to the Dave Bartlett photos I've been able to find) but I wasn't sure I could produce 16 of such uniformity that they would add to the look rather than detract from it. In hindsight, a simple jig would probably have done it - and still might - but I think producing a jig for the 21T is still beyond my skill level. Thanks for the suggestion, and I've some more 21T ordered so I might give it a go. The worst that could happen is that I go back to the etched piece when my attempts go to pot. And a final thought - I don't think I've found a photo of the 21T where the handrails aren't bent to b*ggery anyway, so there's my prototype! Richard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DavidLong Posted October 18, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 18, 2020 19 hours ago, Geordie Exile said: I see what you mean, and the white paint highlighted every tiny blob of solder and associated modelling mank that I hadn't cleared off. As they're such a complicated arrangement, I stuck with the etch - it was already testing my skills just to complete the model. I've added grab rails to the ends of the wooden hoppers in 0.3mm ns wire, as they were a simple extended U-shape. To make them more robust they're drilled through and superglued in. I bottled adding any more (the sides should have two each according to the Dave Bartlett photos I've been able to find) but I wasn't sure I could produce 16 of such uniformity that they would add to the look rather than detract from it. In hindsight, a simple jig would probably have done it - and still might - but I think producing a jig for the 21T is still beyond my skill level. Thanks for the suggestion, and I've some more 21T ordered so I might give it a go. The worst that could happen is that I go back to the etched piece when my attempts go to pot. And a final thought - I don't think I've found a photo of the 21T where the handrails aren't bent to b*ggery anyway, so there's my prototype! Richard Hi Richard, What you need is a N Brass handrail jig: https://www.nbrasslocos.co.uk/kitimages/fitbr/n23284handrailjigweb.gif David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 46 minutes ago, DavidLong said: Hi Richard, What you need is a N Brass handrail jig: https://www.nbrasslocos.co.uk/kitimages/fitbr/n23284handrailjigweb.gif David I'm beginning to think you're on commission Thanks for the pointer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Exile Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 (edited) I've finally got a full train. Sort of. The J94 is an out-of-the-box Farish, so needs re-wheeling and a lot of detailing. At the other end is my latest kit, an association Toad E, awaiting its DGs and some weathering. It looks as though the brake vans were added at the exchange sidings as they don't appear in any pictures of the colliery system. And they're all sitting on 500mm of Easitrac. Progress feels glacial, but I don't have a deadline, so who cares? Edit: ooft, that close-up is cruel!!! Edited November 22, 2020 by Geordie Exile 8 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted November 22, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Geordie Exile said: Edit: ooft, that close-up is cruel!!! alas they always are looking good better than my first 50 efforts Nick B 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Geordie Exile said: Edit: ooft, that close-up is cruel!!! Close up photos always are! Nice work, Richard. Progress may be slow, but there's nothing to be gained by rushing things. I once had a poster on my study wall which said 'Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of travelling'. Jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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