LNER Gresley BG Diagram D45 in 4mm scale

[macgeordie]

The roof vents are now in place.

 

 

I have also fitted the corridor connector cover.

 

 

 

I've made the corridor connector bellows from black paper, I'll add the file for that to the Instructions disc so anybody who wants it can print one off. 

The end plate needs a piece of 0.9mm wire soldered to it which fits through the hole on the van end and the matching hole in the bellows which is easily made with a 2mm drill in a pin chuck. I haven't fixed it in place yet, I'll do that when it is painted. It is best attached with double sided tape which also keeps it lined up. A washer soldered or glued to the wire on the inside of the body will retain the wire in place and determine how far forward the bellows projects. Ideally you want the end plate on the vehicle to just touch the one on the adjacent vehicle. That way you don't end up with the tendency for one to push the other off the track on reverse curves.

 

 

Next job is the rain strips. These will need to be glued on as you obviously can't solder brass to aluminium. That's tomorrows job, VE day celebrations permitting !!!

 

Ian 

[MikeTrice]

Those top covers look odd and might even restrict movement around curves. Have a look at the method I use here:

 

[micklner]

Ian,

       Have you seen the Banks build of the steel BG ? He has added strips to the roof , in his model they are quite prominant. You can barely see them in the colour photo of the BR Version of the BG, you have already posted.

 

https://www.steve-banks.org/modelling/228-gresley-all-steel-bg-model

[jwealleans]

I did those using the tape Comet sell for their GWR carriages.   I was pleased with the effect that gave.

[Headstock]

I shan't be fitting concertinaed gangways to mine, not that Pullman gangways worked like a traditional concertina anyway. I shall probably use the Comet cast Ends and brass cover plate. Non of the BG's in my trains had the buckeyes or Pullman gangways deployed. They were not interconnected, to allow access from one van to another. There was no reason to do so, it being rather a pain when they were being attached or detached on route. Instead, buffers were deployed, three link couplings were in use and the vans were sealed. I would have thought this would be the norm in most cases?

 

As an aside, the corridor connector cover should extend up to the height of the roof on Gresley carriages.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Headstock
a bit better franglais.

[macgeordie]

14 hours ago, MikeTrice said:

Those top covers look odd and might even restrict movement around curves. Have a look at the method I use here:

 

 

I've tried to copy the top covers from the photo on Steve Banks site. They don't affect the movement of the bellows, it works perfectly and it's the same method I used on the Siphon G's which have never given any trouble on the layout. However, the choice is in the hands of the builder, the component is a separate piece so if you don't want it, simply leave it off. A drop of filler or solder will soon hide the small slots it fits into. I will however make the slots a little bit longer so that the position can be adjusted to get it right up to the roof line.

 

 

I copied the roof end from the two drawings I had, kindly supplied by Jonathan Wealleans and neither of them show the vent at the centre of the bowed roof end but when I looked more closely at the photograph as a result of the above posts I have noticed that on this van at least, the centre vent is present so I will need to re-instate the ones I have filed off.

I will add the thin roof joints once I get the rain strips in place. I don't have any of the Comet strip suggested by Jonathan so I'll try sticking some Cellotape to a piece of glass and cut some thin strips with a scalpel. I have also noticed that there is a roof joint line on the bow end which is just visible in the photo above which goes down to the corridor connection cover.

 

Ian

[macgeordie]

I have fitted the rain strips and the roof joint strips. The latter were quite difficult to do and very tedious, I'll have to see what they look like when they are painted. I noticed when I was measuring up for the roof strips that I had fitted the roof vent at the wrong spacing so I removed them all, re-drilled the holes and refitted them at the correct spacing.

 

I held the rain strips in place with elastic bands till I got them glued down.

 

 

I decided to use black electrical tape to make the roof strips so I could see what I was doing, cellotape was difficult to see on the aluminium roof. I'll have to try to get some of the Comet tape for the next one.

 

 

 

I've spaced the roof joints at a scale three feet which is what it looked like scaling it from the few photos I have but if anybody has more precise information on the spacing dimension, please let me know.

 

I'll try to get a coat of Primer on it next as that always shows up any imperfections.

 

Ian

[jwealleans]

Quote

quite difficult to do and very tedious

 

 You're not wrong.   I hope your tape stuck better than the Comet did.

 

Just to really  make you feel better, on the photo I used they seemed to stop at the rainstrip as if the joints had been stopped or filled below it.   Have you found a photo showing something different?

[Headstock]

42 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

 

 You're not wrong.   I hope your tape stuck better than the Comet did.

 

Just to really  make you feel better, on the photo I used they seemed to stop at the rainstrip as if the joints had been stopped or filled below it.   Have you found a photo showing something different?

 

Evening Jonathan,

 

they are just about visible in the image below, just beneath the rainstrip. Their appearance is very much dependent on lighting, the viewing angle and the condition of the roof to whether they show in photographs or not.

 

 

[macgeordie]

I got a coat of primer onto the model yesterday and I think the roof joint strips are too prominent. With hindsight (a wonderful thing) I should have stuck with my original idea and used cellotape and simply gone over it with a marker pen first to make it visible on the aluminium roof to aid alignment. I'll try that on the next one I make. 

 

 

I'll finalise the drawings over the next day or two and get them off to the etchers. Once I get them back I'll do a build to make sure everything is O.K. before I contact everyone on the list with an update.

 

Ian

[macgeordie]

I got some paint onto the roof yesterday and the roof joints don't look bad at all, not as prominent as I thought they would be. I'll paint the ends black and the sides in maroon and see if it still looks O.K. 

I had a message from the etchers today saying they had a backlog of work so it could be a while before this project comes to final fruition. 

When I get the next test build done I'll try making the strips with Cellotape as mentioned above so I can compare it to this one.

 

 

Ian

[macgeordie]

I managed to get the livery coat on yesterday, but the colour hasn't come out well in the photographs as I took the pictures too late in the day. I think the roof joints are too pronounced so it will be interesting to see how the Cellotape version works out.

I need to get the glazing in next and then some weathering to tone it down a bit.

 

 

 

[Jon4470]

Hello Ian 

 

It is really good to see the progress with this kit.

 

I agree with you about the roof joints, they are very subtle in the photos.

 

Jon

[Jub45565]

I think roof joints are in the same category as brick courses ad several other things - with the '3 foot rule' there are a lot of things which have no discernible texture or relief, but because we are looking from 3 foot rather than 200ft+ our brains expect to see it.  Alongside this, the way dirt forms in or around these features is easy to replicate if there is a change in surface, but pretty difficult if not.

 

Looking good though Ian, thanks for sharing! and for sharing the journey, it may be that different people choose different routes - but you showing us what you're producing takes out a lot of repeated experiments.

 

[macgeordie]

I drew up the glazing and printed it first onto plain paper to check that all the pieces fit properly. I've added a spare of each shape just in case anybody makes a mistake fitting it in place. 

 

 

 

Once I was happy I printed the drawing onto a sheet of Inkjet OHP film.

 

 

Most of the main body of the pieces can be cut out easily with a pair of scissors, but the two little sections either side of the Guards door window and the little recess where the small cover fits on the outer sets of windows is best done with a scalpel. I'll supply this sheet with the kit.

I'm hoping to get the glazing fitted over the weekend, but the wife has decided to start decorating so that may curtail activities for a while!!!

[macgeordie]

I finally got a bit of time to do some weathering on the van. 

 

 

I've still not heard when the next set of etches will arrive but I ordered them about a month ago so they shouldn't be long now.

 

Ian

[macgeordie]

I thought I would retrofit the rain strips to the first test build model using cellotape as suggested earlier.

 

 

I used plain tape and went over it with a felt tip marker so I could see it better as I fitted it. Brown packaging tape would probably work just as well and wouldn't need colouring. I stuck it to a piece of Plasticard and cut the strips roughly 0.8mm wide with a scalpel. A new blade is essential, more for trimming the bit out where it goes over the rainstrip rather than cutting on the Plasticard.

 

The difference is quite significant and the final strips are very subtle compared to the electrical tape. They would be a bit more apparent with some subtle weathering.

 

 

It's a very time taking job but worth the effort. The left one is the electrical tape and the right one is the cellotape.

 

Ian

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

In my experience brown parcel tape has patchy adhesive application (between none and great big gobs of it), tears very easily when being cut, and as it is used for short term application, the glue dries out pretty quickly. It's also very unreceptive to paint.

Personally I wouldn't trust it for modelling purposes.

 

Mike

[micklner]

I have used Scotch Magic tape for Boilers, the same problem as it is semi opaque. Shame you did'nt do the strips first then the rainstrips.

[macgeordie]

I received the new etches a couple of weeks ago and have now assembled most of the model. Apart from a couple of little tweaks it all went together pretty well. I still have the roof joint strips to add to this one but otherwise it is ready for a coat of primer.

 

I asked the etchers what the expected lead time would be for the next batch and they have quoted 6 to 8 weeks which is a bit of a disappointment. There are quite a few forum members who have asked for one of these vans so I will contact everybody I have on the current list over the next few days to see if they are happy to wait till the etches arrive or wish to be removed from the list. As I have said 6 to 8 weeks is not ideal but it is out of my hands. If you have requested a kit you should hear from me, if you haven't heard from me by the weekend, you are not on the list.

 

 

I'm building this one for a friend of mine, so it has Smiths couplings rather than the NEM ones shown in earlier photos. There are couplings on the nickel etch for a cosmetic or a Smiths style coupling for those who need them.

 

Just as a 'by the by' does anybody know what has happened to Horsetan (Ivan) of this parish? I was in contact with him some time ago and he just seems to have disappeared off the map. 

 

Ian

[Jon4470]

Hi Ian

 

Looks good!

 

Opening this post, and finding out that this kit is nearly there, has cheered me up no end after “ one of those days” at work!

 

Jon

[micklner]

1 hour ago, macgeordie said:

I received the new etches a couple of weeks ago and have now assembled most of the model. Apart from a couple of little tweaks it all went together pretty well. I still have the roof joint strips to add to this one but otherwise it is ready for a coat of primer.

 

I asked the etchers what the expected lead time would be for the next batch and they have quoted 6 to 8 weeks which is a bit of a disappointment. There are quite a few forum members who have asked for one of these vans so I will contact everybody I have on the current list over the next few days to see if they are happy to wait till the etches arrive or wish to be removed from the list. As I have said 6 to 8 weeks is not ideal but it is out of my hands. If you have requested a kit you should hear from me, if you haven't heard from me by the weekend, you are not on the list.

 

 

I'm building this one for a friend of mine, so it has Smiths couplings rather than the NEM ones shown in earlier photos. There are couplings on the nickel etch for a cosmetic or a Smiths style coupling for those who need them.

 

Just as a 'by the by' does anybody know what has happened to Horsetan (Ivan) of this parish? I was in contact with him some time ago and he just seems to have disappeared off the map. 

 

Ian

Ivan is on the LNER Forum, he had a "run in"on here a while back. I can send him a message if you wish?,  if you are not a member.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by micklner

[rustynuts]

Hi there,

 

Would certainly like one of these when they are available, please add me to the list.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[macgeordie]

12 hours ago, rustynuts said:

Hi there,

 

Would certainly like one of these when they are available, please add me to the list.

 

Regards

 

Paul

You have mail. 
 

Ian

[Mark Hamlin]

Any update on these beauties yet Ian?