John Arkell's workbench

[John Arkell]

Notes from a locked down workshop

After I wrote this article, I found out from the Railway Modeller that the designer of these Mallard kits, Fred Blackman, died in January this year. I am sure he would have been pleased that almost forty years since the kit was produced someone is finally assembling it.

As some of you will know I build models for customers as well as trying to do some for myself. Just before the lockdown I was able to buy on eBay one of the old Mallard First/Third (formerly Second) 51ft 1in lavatory composites with the first-class saloon in the centre (SR Diagram 306). Although they are definitely a product of their time and a bit sparse on detail, I decided to work on it and one of the reasons I continue to make models is that each one presents some new problem to solve. This kit is made in such a fashion that the sides and floor are designed to be folded up from a single piece of etch. It also has no markings for door handles and grab rails and no holes for hinges or door bump stops. The bonnet vents have been etched as if there are several louvres in them but the SE&CR vent was a smooth tin pressing that was lined out when new and the Skinley drawing which came with the kit shows lines on the vent which is where Fred Blackman probably got the idea he should etch the vents with lines. SE&CR vents were also sloping slightly and I have previously achieved this on other kits.

I made provision for hinges and drilled all the necessary holes using jigs made to ensure that all the holes were correctly spaced. Assembly followed which included making extra compartment partitions and thickening up the footboards with a second layer of brass from scrap etch as the single layer bends easily when heated. Here is body in its current state.

The next job will be to fit the roof and detail the underframe, which I will work on later.

For a bit of light relief over Easter I built two cast whitemetal wagon kits from 5&9 models. One is a dumb buffered lime wagon with a peak roof which I have done in the livery of the Dorking Greystone Lime company and the other is a mineral wagon which is based on the wagons built by Gloucester Wagon Company for Beadle Brothers of Erith. I had transfers for the Dorking wagon but am having to signwrite the Beadle wagon. The Beadle wagon came with solid cast whitemetal buffers, but I like to spring my buffers (except dumb buffers obviously!) and the prototype came with self-contained sprung buffers which have a much larger shank than the normal buffers. This meant that I had to drill out the whitemetal casting in the lathe 2mm and then 0.5mm for the tail. The shaft of the steel buffer head is only 1mm diameter so I had to drill a length of 2mm diameter steel axle with a 1mm hole and cut short lengths to go over the 1mm shank as a sleeve which was then soldered in place. All in all, a bit of a fiddle but it was just another small problem that needed solving.

Here are the two wagons. Beadle needs the signwriting finishing (both sides!), the interior painting and the buffers & couplings fitted and then both need weathering.

So now it is Monday morning and I will be back on my customer’s coaches which are now spread round the workshop and shed in various states of being painted. There are four to do in L&YR livery and eight in various Southern Railway liveries, mercifully five of those don’t require lining.

To be continued………

John Arkell

20th April 2020

[hobbyhorse]

I've put a few of the Millard kits together and your correct about the sparse detail, but go together well and adding the details from other sources or making them isn't a problem I've found.

 

Simon