Bulleid bodging and other Ilfracombe projects

[PeteN92]

My cousins presented me with a model of Blackmoor vale which had certainly had a rough time of it. It was missing both smoke deflectors, didn't run, had part of the raves on the tender snapped off, one ladder missing and one of the cylinder fairings missing. It was in a bit of a sorry state. I saw this as a good opportunity however to try my hand at fixing and repainting/ renaming/renumbering a loco.  I first took the body of the loco and found a loose connection to the pin that connected onto the tender. A quick bit of soldering and the loco was running again. I found that that motion also needed taking apart and straightening out in a vice. Once reassembled she ran like a dream.  

 

For those unaware this is the original model which shows Blackmoor vale in its preserved state, It carries a 4500 gallon high sided tender in southern malachite green livery with cylinder covers still at the front. The loco also has a southern roundel on the smoke box and no AWS equipment. The model also depicts the loco with short smoke deflectors however this was irrelevant as they had gone missing on mine. I decided that the loco was to become 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair as there is a nice picture of the loco pulling the Devon Belle in 1951 with the full headboards. It also happens to be in the same condition as the model with the cylinder fairings still in place and high sided tender. The only downside is that I will have to be careful with putting the new plates on a might have to be creative with filling the holes and marks left from the older plates as west country class locos and battle of Britain locos have them in slightly different places.  

 

 

First of all was to remove all the separate parts that either I didn't need or needed to keep aside while I paint stripped the model. The smoke box door came off relatively easy after some persuasion with a scalpel blade. I also planned to replace the ash pans with Albert Goodall cast ash pans. I have a number of Bulleid pacifics but this was my first time doing this mod.  The top part of the ash pans came off from the body as they are just plastic pieces and the chassis was modified by cutting off the lower half of the ash pans with a razor saw.  The body of the tender and the loco were then dipped in 99% isopropyl alcohol which removed all the paint in no time.  

 

Getting the ashpans to fit right were a bit of a pig as you need to ensure that the bogies still has enough swing on it to get round the same radius curves that the loco could get around before. The whitemetal castings where just superglue'd onto the plastic body. I need to fashion a new cylinder fairing as this seems to be another part of the body that has gone missing after its trip down the stairs.  

 

I used Games Workshops "Green stuff" to rebuild the ends of the raves on the tender which had been snapped off. You just mix the blue and yellow parts of the putty together and kneed until it turns green. I then shaped the putty into the corners and let the mix go off. Afterwards I used files to and wet and dry to rub down the join line between the fix and the tender body until I was happy with the finish. I may have to do this a few more times before painting to ensure a smooth join line but will have to put some primer on the tender body to see how obvious the join is first. 

 

New ladders were order and drilled and glued into place, I also have some more lamps on order to fit to the tender and the front of the loco as these have also gone missing.  

 

New etched brass smoke deflectors have been soldered up. I decided that it would be easier to paint the loco first then fit these as one side is black and the outside will be BR Brunswick Green.  You can also see the new BR smoke box door that comes with the loco number plate. The handle is separately fitted and I have then used staples to add lamp brackets and the handle to the left of the door. 

 

New Nameplates, Headboards, number plates and shed code as well as lining transfers have been order from Fox transfers and in time will be added to the loco.  

 

I am currently waiting on an order of cylinder drain cocks, lost wax front steps and Bulleid lamps form RT models who sell the Albert Goodall range. Once I have received these and fitted them I can look at sticking the loco into primer and smoothing out some of the imperfections before getting it into the paint shop.  So far I've really enjoyed the process and look forward to making further progress with the loco.  

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

Edited May 20, 2020 by PeteN92
Title change

[Oldddudders]

I fear the safety valves are in the wrong position for 1951.

[PeteN92]

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I fear the safety valves are in the wrong position for 1951.

Oh B***** and there was me thinking that I had accounted for all of the little niggles that come with the light Pacific's. I'll have to consult the book and see when it was re-sited on Sir Archie and if that's the case it looks like I'll be putting yet another order in with @RThompson.

[Oldddudders]

19 minutes ago, PeteN92 said:

Oh B***** and there was me thinking that I had accounted for all of the little niggles that come with the light Pacific's. I'll have to consult the book and see when it was re-sited on Sir Archie and if that's the case it looks like I'll be putting yet another order in with @RThompson.

November 1954, sadly!

[PeteN92]

I ordered some new safety valves from markits and have moved the position since oldddudders advised me of that detail and the loco has been sat collecting dust since I've been working on other things. 

 

The safety valves moved back to their original position and the previous location blanked off. (It's a lot tidier than it looks, I spent the day smoothing it over and priming in order to really work on the patch) 

 

Again since I've now got a wealth of time on my hands just like my layout I thought I'd crack on with this project too.

 

 

So today I spent the afternoon priming and rubbing down to blend in the areas where I have patched the loco, mainly the tender raves. I'm pretty happy with how it's looking. Having it in grey kind of wants me to try out a photographic grey livery which they would have come out of the workshop in, it does look very nice as it is in my opinion. 

 

However..... I must stick to my original plan. Since I've purchased all the stuff for it. I may do another repaint if this goes well and if I can find a cheap original WC/BOB in malachite then I could strip it down and have a go at the grey livery for something unique. 

 

With the rest of the week looking like it will be nice weather hopefully I'll make some more progress with the paint job, fingers crossed. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[PeteN92]

Today I had a crack at doing the black paint on the model. I attached the smokebox door as I thought this way I was able to cover up any glue marks or superglue haze with the black paint rather than vice versa.I spent some time masking up the lines with tamiya masking tape and once I was happy used my spray booth and airbrush to do all the black bits. 

 

I have just a basic airbrush so it is prone to clogging up but I got there in the end using railmatch black and thinners. 

 

 

The results of my handiwork, and I was pretty impressed. I've used humbrol maskol on all the bits I didn't want paint getting on such as the safety valves the windows remain masked up until I do the green.

 

 

It looks like my patience with the masking has paid off, I think it looks pretty straight and clean. The real way to see will be once the green goes in but I can of course touch up any little issues.

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[Tony Teague]

Looking good!

I'm interested as I have several of these to work on!

[John Tomlinson]

I'm really glad you've posted this topic as it's given me an idea. I'd toyed with trying to buy Hornby's 34064 in works gray - sadly seem to go for silly money, but a better Idea would be to pick up a tired, pre-owned example off one of the commoner runs and do some modelling. Might even have a crack at going back to the original cab style at the same time using the RT etch, something I've been reluctant to do on a "mint" example.

 

You've really made a silk purse from a sow's ear on this one, excellent.

 

John.

[PeteN92]

On 09/04/2020 at 15:53, John Tomlinson said:

I'm really glad you've posted this topic as it's given me an idea. I'd toyed with trying to buy Hornby's 34064 in works gray - sadly seem to go for silly money, but a better Idea would be to pick up a tired, pre-owned example off one of the commoner runs and do some modelling. Might even have a crack at going back to the original cab style at the same time using the RT etch, something I've been reluctant to do on a "mint" example.

 

You've really made a silk purse from a sow's ear on this one, excellent.

 

John.

Cheers John I think it's definitely the way to go and the malachite ones seem to often go cheaper. I'm tempted to have a go to at a grey one with original cab for a proper challenge too.

 

So I I did the green and was happy that my masking was pretty good, there were a few bits that needed touching up where there was some bleed and even an odd bit where I'd managed to mask it so there was some grey left. This was the result with a Hornby model for comparison.

 

Now I know that the Hornby model is lined as well as having a satin finish which will of course alter the perception of the colour however I'm not happy with how this has come out. I used railmatch BR Brunswick green but I think that compared to the Hornby model it's too noticeably different. I think where I've gone wrong is that I've out the green over a grey primer. Hornby have a black plastic shell and then the green is applied over this.

 

I decided to put my theory to the test just by painting over part of my spray turntable that had been oversprayed black and it seemed to make a difference. 

 

There was also a couple of imperfections on some of the surfaces which really showed once the green was on so I've tried to rub them down.

So that plan is now to strip back the model again unfortunately and have another go at the green. I've also for the purposes of testing, before I paint the actual model again ordered some humbrol brunswick green. You would like to think that since Hornby make that colour it might match. I guess we will see? 

 

In the order I also got some enamel varnishes so again I can test all the various finishes before actually painting the model itself. The smoke deflectors seem like a good candidate to do the practice runs on once I've had a play around on some scrap plasticard. Until then I'll just have to wait. 

 

Hope you find my experiences interesting even if I'm now having to take a step backwards however I knew that I wouldn't be happy with my current results and it's best to stop before going ahead and using all the lining ect. to then realise my mistake.

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[John Tomlinson]

Hi Pete,

 

A very interesting post.

 

FWIW I've been less than impressed with the coverage I've had from Railmatch Brunswick Green of late (the enamel version), and this with different pots. No problems however with other colours, and I've used the brand for years and been generally very satisfied. I've recently done a Hornby P2 in the early BR blue as a "what if", and that sprayed beautifully. You might try simply re-coating with another blast of the Railmatch, as I do think it is quite a good rendition of the original, whereas the Hornby version on various models can look a bit insipid. It will be intersting to see how the Humbrol turns out, and of course the great thing about spraying is that you can do several thin coats without losing any of the detail.

 

Like you I'd noticed that the malachite ones seem to be a bit cheaper, just a matter of matching cab width and tender type to the required outcome. Bulleid certainly knew how to make things complicated for us modellers!

 

Best wishes,

 

John.

Edited April 22, 2020 by John Tomlinson
typo

[PeteN92]

6 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

Hi Pete,

 

A very interesting post.

 

FWIW I've been less than impressed with the coverage I've had from Railmatch Brunswick Green of late (the enamel version), and this with different pots. No problems however with other colours, and I've used the brand for years and been generally very satisfied. I've recently done a Hornby P2 in the early BR blue as a "what if", and that sprayed beautifully. You might try simply re-coating with another blast of the Railmatch, as I do think it is quite a good rendition of the original, whereas the Hornby version on various models can look a bit insipid. It will be intersting to see how the Humbrol turns out, and of course the great thing about spraying is that you can do several thin coats without losing any of the detail.

 

Like you I'd noticed that the malachite ones seem to be a bit cheaper, just a matter of matching cab width and tender type to the required outcome. Bulleid certainly knew how to make things complicated for us modellers!

 

Best wishes,

 

John.

Hi John, you make some interesting points there. Yes I agree in some cases the Hornby Brunswick green does look a bit out and it definitely varies across some of my models.

 

I guess though I like the idea of them roughly matching, with some of my later Pacific's with cut down tenders ect. Weathering will help balance this out. This loco will be in early BR livery with the full Devon belle regalia so I can't get away with covering it up with weathering. 

 

Maybe I was too hasty with the current finish as I forgot about your point that when airbrushing you can get away with more coats, while I can't strip it maybe I'll have a play around with so more coats of paint to improve it and worst case I'll just strip the lot back. 

 

I'm still waiting on my other paint order so it might be something to do in the mean time. 

 

Cheers

 

Pete 

 

 

[Guest Jack Benson]

Pete,

 

Excuse my interference, I use Humbrol enamels for BR Brunswick Green because their pigmentation and coverage is consistent. For some unknown reason Humbrol list at least three Brunswick greens, experimentation is essential. Moreover, the shade subtly changes when Testors  Dullcote is applied prior to weathering.

 

Stay safe peeps

 

 

[PeteN92]

On 29/04/2020 at 11:06, Jack Benson said:

Pete,

 

Excuse my interference, I use Humbrol enamels for BR Brunswick Green because their pigmentation and coverage is consistent. For some unknown reason Humbrol list at least three Brunswick greens, experimentation is essential. Moreover, the shade subtly changes when Testors  Dullcote is applied prior to weathering.

 

Stay safe peeps

 

 

Cheers jack so far the humbrol acrylic seems to be too light. I've got the enamel version on order. Railmatch Brunswick is pretty close after a couple of coats however interestingly I tried railmatch southern stock green and that is also very close to some of the Hornby models. Mixing to the two railmatch seems to be about right but I will continue experimenting before giving Sir Archie a respray. 

 

In the mean time however I have been busy chopping my other Bulleid Pacific's in order to get the correct ones for my layout. 

 

I started off with a model of Wilton which has a cut down tender, battery box and Speedo cable this therefore dates it to the 60s onwards. The model depicts it during the later years when it worked the Somerset and Dorset line so I knew I'd need to rename and renumber. 

 

I also had a model of tangmere this is the early version where it has a high tender with raves, no battery box and no Speedo cable. My plan therefore was to swap the tenders to give tangmere the later cut down tender as well as giving it the battery box and Speedo. What I hadn't realised until recently was that the battery box is a separate fitted item that if you can get a scalpel behind will come off.

  Tangmere now with Wilton's battery box.

 

 

To get the Speedo cable on tangmere I had to swap the two locos rear driving wheels I found that a longer spacer was provided on the loco with the Speedo and if you just took it off there would be slack on the rods. This wasn't too tricky to do however in the process I managed to sheer off one of the nuts a careful dab of super glue fixed this however I won't be taking Tangmere's rear drivers off anymore. Tangmere now represents her condition from 1960-1963 when she was based at Salisbury shed and there are a couple of photos of the loco on the Ilfracombe line around this time. I need to update the lining on the side of the cab to the later style still but I will do that in time.

 

 

34002 Salisbury was an Exmouth junction loco for a large portion or her life so made the ideal candidate with the parts I had. She will be in this condition which represents 1954- 1960.

 

The plates were gently prised off using a scalpel and replacements from model master were purchased as I wanted to compare them with fox transfers offering.

 

 

You also get the waterslide transfers for the cabside numbers as well as the shields.

 

 

These were stuck on then gloss varnished into place. The real ones would be enamel so a gloss finish will look good.

 

 

Out came the tcut on a cotton bud and cocktail stick to remove the smokebox door number.

 

 

As well as the cab lining and cabside number. 

 

 

I decided to leave on the west country class scroll as I then had a guide to go from with the plates.

 

 

First part on and only a little touch up to the paint work will be needed.

 

 

One side complete bar cab lining the smokebox door plate has also been done. I'm waiting on an order of plain lining and some 72A shed plates to complete the model and will continue on the other side soon.

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[John Tomlinson]

Funnily enough I have done a straight "Wilton" to "Salisbury" change with the later tender using Modelmaster plates!

 

A word to the wise. Even though you've glued them, the "West Country Class" scrolls are quite likely to fall off with all but the most gentle of handling. You can guess how I know this. One I lost I managed to find on the bench quite quickly, the second appeared several months later on a thorough sweep of the floor, and this despite several earlier efforts on my hands and knees to no avail.

 

John.

[PeteN92]

So I gave sir Archie a final spray of green yesterday and I may finally be happy with the colour....I had a look at the tender and still wasn't happy with it as I'd had to rub down a patch a couple of times so it was now not a smooth finish. Finally  I fully stripped back one side and reprimed it ready for another crack. I'm happy with the rest of the loco now, although I need to touch up the black in a few places.

 

 

Today I set about mostly completing Salisbury my lining from modelmaster turned up so I was able to the other cabside numbers and the lining on that side. Now all that is left to do is the lining on the other cabside and add the 72a shed plate and it will be complete. 

 

I purchased a Hornby M7 off of a Facebook seller this week for a bargain price as the loco has cosmetic damage. It's a good runner however and having got a couple of these myself and taken them apart multiple times I reckon it could get it up to scratch. 

 

 

The chimney had been snapped off and blutacked back on so i chopped that off and will source another from 247 developments. 

 

 

The rear bogie had also become detached there should be a round peg that has a rubber nut within the chassis to attach this but they've both gone missing.  I decided to use a 10BA bolt and glued it onto the bogie. I can then use a nut to fix the bogie back onto the chassis.

 

 

As you can see an assortment of parts I had after disassembly. It seems to have lost the cab roof at some point as the front spectacles are missing and a new roof has been fashioned. It needs a little trim to fit better and I'll try to make it copy what should be there better.

 

 

The loco also came with wire hooks for couples the back one had broken away so was easy to remove the front however is set pretty solid and the black gunk is pretty hard so I'll have to look into how to remove it. The gunk is also stopping the spring buffers from working. 

 

I'll order some new parts for the loco and hopefully another pigs ear of a loco can become something much more appealing again. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[AdeMoore]

Great work Pete,

I also gambled on an M7 a while back off eBay but needs work. I’m yet to take it apart so the above is helpful. DC Controller flat out it runs about walking pace, a clean it would seem is in order.

 Cheers 

[PeteN92]

1 hour ago, AdeMoore said:

Great work Pete,

I also gambled on an M7 a while back off eBay but needs work. I’m yet to take it apart so the above is helpful. DC Controller flat out it runs about walking pace, a clean it would seem is in order.

 Cheers 

Having sound fitted one and then subsequently dropping it i know my way around them pretty well now. This is my 4th one although I sold the previous long frame one on. I'llprobably do the same with this one but should be a nice little profit hopefully. I tend to do a few mods to the M7s as they don't pull anything near what they should do. If you need any help with yours let me know. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

 

[AdeMoore]

9 hours ago, PeteN92 said:

Having sound fitted one and then subsequently dropping it i know my way around them pretty well now. This is my 4th one although I sold the previous long frame one on. I'llprobably do the same with this one but should be a nice little profit hopefully. I tend to do a few mods to the M7s as they don't pull anything near what they should do. If you need any help with yours let me know. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

 

 

Thanks  Pete I’ll probably take you up on that when the time comes!

Even with all this extra time on furlough, the weather has been too good for modelling! Mrs Ade has an extensive job list and railway modelling does not feature on it!

so Meldon’s pace is glacial! I dreamt I could do it rather quickly not to be.

 Cheers 

[PeteN92]

Finally completed both tangmere and Salisbury today. I've added crew and the detailing pack to Salisbury, I need to still find some steps for tangmere and add the rain cover between the tender and the cab. Both locos in time will need weathering. 

 

Lining Tangmere's cab proved to be a challenge as the transfers I had from fox were too small. I'm not sure if it's because it also had the shield on the cabside. I ended up having to use my model master lining and after much swearing I used 4 corner pieces on each side to make up the cabside lining. 

 

 

Salisbury was much more straight forward as I just needed to add the straight lines to the side of the cab. I've modified the Hornby driver to sit on the cab seats as they come in the bag sat on a box. 

 

 

I've run out of paint thinner so am waiting on an order once that arrives I'll be back onto working on Sir Archibald Sinclair and once the parts arrive for the M7 I'll start work on that too. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[PeteN92]

My order from 247 developments has arrived. I managed to get the remains of the previous chimney out and have fettled the white metal casting. 

 

 

Currently it's just placed on but I will need to attach it securely probably with some green stuff or filler get it all sat nicely and fill in the gaps left from it being damaged.

 

 

I completed the spray on Sir Archie. The green was touched up and then the black was completed on the tender as well as places I had to rub down previously where I wasn't happy with the finish. 

 

 

After a blast of satin varnish the loco is now curing in the sun out in the garden. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[PeteN92]

I decided to change up my plan slightly when I came to refitting the chimney to the M7 I realised that what was left of the original if filed down would be a more suitable base for the new casting. 

 

 

Filed and glued back in I could then get a snug fit for the new white metal chimney. Once I had fettled the casting I gave it a blast of Halfords primer and then a spray of black and left to dry in the scorching sun. The chimney was then superglued into the hole and left to set. A few touch ups with black paint were needed but all in all it looks good to me. 

 

 

A convertible M7?

 

 

The previous owner looks to have lost the original roof and had tried to make a new one with plasticard this was not cut very straight and was too large. I made a new one myself from 20thou plasticard as a base and 20 thou for the panelling.

 

 

Another trip to the garden for priming and spraying black and we are nearly done. I gently bent the plasticard before gluing it to the roof so that it would already have some shape and not rely on the glue holding it in place. Again a couple of touch ups with a paint brush and voila all done. Not bad for 37.50 really...

 

 

Now I said that I'd be selling it on however....

 

After finding a couple of photos on the Ilfracombe line of push-pull fitted M7's this loco will be duly renumbered and will join the fleet. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete

[PeteN92]

Today's project was adapting one of my N class moguls to represent one of the locos that was adapted by British railways between the late 50s and 60s. Alot of the N class had been running for a long time by this point and were pretty knackered BR allowed 50 N and U class moguls to have frame replacements. In some cases these were full and others just partial. Many locos were also fitted with standard 4 chimneys and blast pipe. This resulted in the locos gaining outside steam pipes and curved frames at the front. They were also a little longer beneath the smokebox after modification. 

 

 

This photo shows 31848 after modification it didn't have it's smoke deflectors refitted for a while so you can see the modifications that have been done clearly.

 

 

First off came the original chimney which is just plastic into the diecast body. The smoke deflectors also just come off as they are glued into the running frame. You can see the frames at the front the left is the original sloped and I've started filing the right one down.

 

 

Filing complete. I'm not actually going to extend the frames at all as one, it would be very minimal in 4mm scale and two the front of the loco is all metal so would be a right pain to do. I used some plasticard and cut out the curved frames and drilled a hole through the centre as per the prototype. I may add the rings at a later date but couldn't think of a good way to make them with what I had. 

 

 

The chimney is also from 247 developments and was giving a spray of primer and then black and was duly glued into place. The frames were also glued onto the loco and then painted black. These will blend in once the loco gets weathered further.

 

All that's left to do is add the outside steam pipes. Unfortunately no one does any castings of something similar so I'll have to make my own. After a chat with @Graham_Muz it seems the best way to go about making these will be to get some square plastruct or evergreen tubing then round the edges off. The outside steam pipes arnt just conventionally round neither are they square. This will be added on my list of things to do and I'll try to gain a better idea of the size i will need to make them by looking through some more photos. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[34101]

What about the RT models castings & etchings?

I have a set in the 'to do' pile for one of my class N's and nice castings and etching  they are.

[PeteN92]

4 hours ago, 34101 said:

What about the RT models castings & etchings?

I have a set in the 'to do' pile for one of my class N's and nice castings and etching  they are.

Wow thanks I use them for all sorts of stuff for my bulleid's unfortunately they are out of stock on this item however. 

 

Thanks 

 

Pete 

Edited May 22, 2020 by PeteN92
Edit

[PeteN92]

Recently I have been renumbering a number of my locos to make them suitable for my layout. This has allowed me some more practice using pressfix and waterslide transfers in preparation for doing to transfers on Sir Archibald Sinclair. The loco has recently had another coating of satin varnish so that it was somewhere between satin and gloss, I was then happy with the finish on it ready for applying the transfers. 

 

Having got a little experience with lining when adjusting Tangmere and Salisbury I knew that a lot of patience was going to be needed, I also found that as I was using much longer strips a good technique was to anchor one end in place with a cocktail stick then while holding the other end with a bit of tension try to lay the banding down. Sometimes this would work and other times it went all over the place. Lots of small nudges to get everything to sit in place were needed. 

 

Some parts bottom body line was a real pain as you don't have much to check that its in line however on the top line you can count the rivets and go by them. One side down and one to go lining wise. Iv'e still got to complete the cabside number and power classification and have ordered some more early emblems from fox as i realised the HMRS ones rely on the fact that your background is black otherwise the British Railways part of the emblem will be in this case green, 

 

 

I'm pretty happy with how its going so far and am now nearing the end with just the transfers and plates left to go on and DCC sound to be fitted. Once I have got more done i'll try to snap a better photo outside once the weather gets better again. 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete