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You need to get the wiring away from the pipes if possible ,or shield them , a big potential  fire hazard.

 

I would use the soft round insulation sleeving/pipe wrap instead of the "straw" as it will flex and absorb movement as well.

Edited by micklner
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What have I started? :D

 

The power cable is about 1 1/2" from the pipes - hard to tell as the photo was from above. The black cables are network cables I did years ago before the heating. Again, over an inch from the pipes, there's no contact anywhere.

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Thanks for the picture Bucoops - like several others here, that's the first time I've seen that stuff in use.

 

Re. cables running alongside each other, heating vs electricity and so forth, I have to say better safe than sorry IMHO... Actually, if your network cables were in contact with your heating pipes I'd be more concerned about the network cables plastic outer sheathing melting. Sounds (and looks) like you have it well under control though :good_mini:

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Thank you to all those who have clicked a 'like' or other icon on this thread - I appreciate your appreciation!

 

Another piece of pre-grouping rolling stock, the D&S kit of a CLC / GCR 15 ton brake van, in CLC livery (how can I resist seeing my initials going by...?:D). The main addition to the standard build is a Train-tech AL2 automatic tail-light module. Unlike the ECJS Luggage Brake, in this case access for battery changing wasn't possible from below, so I discarded the kit's plastic roof and made one in brass. I then super-glued some 1mm neodymium magnets to the underside of it, with further magnets in corresponding places beneath the roof, sitting on top of plastic-rod pillars - sounds more complex than it is and hopefully the final picture showing the roof off will make it clear.

This kit was made before I discovered Modelu's superb lamps, so I just used the LED that comes with the AL2 - not exactly realistic looking but OK from normal viewing distance and when in motion. The guard is Monty's Models and the grey is actually Halfords primer: building this 3 or 4 years ago, I read so many conflicting reports about the 'correct' grey, and several comments to the effect that after allowing for differently mixed batches and widely varying effects of ageing and fading, a very wide range of shades could all be correct, that I decided to stop after the primer stage... which did have the advantage for the appearance of details of avoiding the paint getting too thick! Looking at the pictures now, it does look as if I didn't quite prevent light leakage from the rear of the lamp - this doesn't show in normal use though, so I wonder if the camera's reacting to the red light with enhanced sensitivity.

 

In case anyone reading this hasn't tried them, Train-tech automatic lighting modules are simply amazing: a CR2032 coin cell powers a tiny motion sensor which turns the LED - or multiple LEDs - on when the vehicle moves, switching off again after 4 minutes with no movement detected. There's a wide variety available - tail lights (flickering or steady), flickering tail (or firebox) light plus single steady light (e.g. brake van rear red and inner illumination), full length coach strips with multiple 1mm SMD LEDs, warm white, cool white etc. They seem to be totally reliable - I installed several in Hornby LNER teaks going back a few years now and they're still working perfectly. Usual disclaimers - no connection, just a very happy customer!

 

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Edited by Chas Levin
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Back to the LNER with another fish van - this one's a Nu-Cast kit and it made me very happy at the time as it was only about the second or third kit I built and unlike the first couple that were all plastic, this had a white metal frame under the plastic body: exciting stuff! 

 

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Morning Chaz,

 

Others may already have pointed this out, but the solebar on that van should be body colour.  Steel solebars were black, wooden ones were painted the same colour as the rest of the body on LNER stock.  I meant to say the same about the GN Milk Van back upthread - the solebar should be teak colour, like the wheel centres.  I also think the ends on that should be grained and lined, but I'm less familiar with GN practice.

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Morning Jonathan, thank you and yes, I do know that about GN/LNER solebar colour now, but when I built the Nu-Cast fish van and the GN Milk Brake I didn't!

You'll see that the ECJS Luggage Brake at the top of the thread and the LNER Pigeon Brake a little later on both have teak painted solebars, but when I realised I'd got that wrong on the GN Milk Brake I was already several builds on and decided not to change it: perhaps at the carriage works situated near my layout, there had been a brief policy change and an experimentation period with painting the entire underframe - including the solebars - black, for streamlining of paint shop procedures... ;)

 

For the GN Milk Brake ends however I did read up and found several references - including in Danny's instructions I think - that the ends of GN NPCS were black. I was quite pleased about that at the time, because the GN Milk Brake was not only the first etched kit I built but also the first teak painted vehicle and I wasn't looking forward to trying to achieve a reasonable teak effect. Excluding the carriage ends seemed like a relief at the time... a few teak vehicles later, I find the teak painting one of the most enjoyable parts, because there's a genuinely creative - even artistic - element that's missing from plain black, white or green.

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Here's today's build, another ECJS brake vehicle. This is actually a GNR Dia. 303 6 wheel full brake and is one of Mike Trice's 3D prints; I imposed the ECJS livery on it as I had no ECJS vehicles completed at the time and I find the livery and history of the company very attractive. Although this might not be strictly prototypical, I persuaded myself that there was sufficient amount of movement of vehicles between the ECJS, the LNER and their various constituents that it wouldn't look too out of place...

It rolls along very smoothly on a Brassmasters Cleminson chassis with Wizard Models 14mm Mansell wheels. I read quite a bit on 6 wheel chassis methods (including Mike's excellent RMWeb thread about systems he'd tried, with very interesting and informative charts, calculations and pictures). My layout has 'train-set' curves so I needed a versatile solution and in spite of difficulties with the narrow underframe, I decided to persevere with the Cleminson, even though thinning parts of the solebars was a very long and delicate operation, as the plastic is quite brittle. It means that underneath it looks far from prototypical, but in normal viewing and use, none of that work is visible and the Cleminson ride is really excellent!

Teak paints are Phoenix Precision (including a teak sole bar, JW :)), Halfords Leyland Rover White on the roof and HMRS transfers on the side... Lining was done with a bow pen and 50:50 Humbrol buff and yellow. This was the first lining I'd done, so please excuse the less than pin-sharp appearance in places :rolleyes:. I managed to achieve quite an attractive woodgrain effect on some of the panels, but the overall hue looks a little more like oak than teak I think... Fun though: the next Howldens will be a Bit Bedford resin composite brake and a D&S 45ft full brake...

 

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I like Howlden stock and that's an especially nice example.  I built two of those for the 1938 train and was particularly pleased at not having to try to roll the roof to the right shape.   Danny Pinnock must have built more of those than most and he still says they're ba***rds to do. 

 

Bill's resin kits are dead easy after you've done an etched one, you won't have any issue with that.   I did one of Dan's Howlden full brakes last year for Grantham and that was a pleasure to build as well.  Steve Banks' notes on the build are worth reading if you haven't seen them already.

 

Quote

I did read up and found several references - including in Danny's instructions I think - that the ends of GN NPCS were black

 

I wonder if that was echoing in the dark recesses.... I did have a vague thought that I'd read something about that.  Unusual for the LNER to then take the more expensive route by reverting to teak.    Unless that only applied to vehicles with end doors?

 

 

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Jonathan, I like Howlden stock too :). I remember following your 1938 build, and referring to your pictures at times, very helpful! I share your pleasure at having Mike's pre-formed roof, but I have to say I wasn't as comfortable with the material (the type called FUD, Fine Ultra Detail I think?) because it's quite brittle - tread very carefully if attempting to correct bends in a side or solebar: I know whereof I speak :rolleyes:.

I'm very familiar with Steve Bank' site and I also have several magazine articles on his builds, very informative and helpful - I  also referred to his build of the ECJS Luggage Brake when making mine.

Bill's resin kit looks excellent in its box and pictures of them finished look as true as brass - I'm looking forward very much to starting it, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Do you know if he's doing any more? I'd signed up for the Howlden bogie full brake and emailed Bill a while ago but never heard back.

Re coach ends, Danny's instructions for kits DS 278-81 GNR Gresley 'Cross Country' Stock say: "COACH ENDS. - Black including buffer beams and shanks" and I also think from memory that there was at least one thread about this on the LNER Info forum, though like many similar questions there was some debate...

It's funny to think of such questions as the colours used on different vehicle parts being so routine and unimportant at the time, only to provoke such head-scratching years later :D

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I believe Bill is moving more and more towards the resin kits.  There are a raft of new wagons on his website at the moment. 

 

He was very helpful in supplying the last of his bogie Howlden kits when we had some stock stolen from Grantham and I have to say that they did make up very well.  In normal operation you'd be hard pressed to spot the brass ones from the resin.  The clips on one of them have failed so the body was separating from the underframe which caused some alarm when setting out stock, but that was easily solved.  I don't know whether you've seen my builds of two of his 6 wheelers but the fit of parts on one of them was dreadful.  Once I had it all together, though, I'm very pleased with the result.  It does look from his website as though another run of Howldens is on the way but you do have to be patient.

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Glad to hear the resin vehicles look so good alongside brass - the pics I've seen suggested they might! Patience, indeed: something I battle with on a daily basis :rolleyes:. I don't think I knew you'd had stock stolen from Grantham: how appalling! Must check out Bill's new wagons - I haven't made any of his yet...

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Here's another pre-grouping wagon I was pleased with and another D&S kit, a GNR 10T Implement wagon ('implement' in this case typically meaning farming implements such as tractors). Jonathan may remember helping me figure out what happens at the ends of the platform, as he was building one too :). Paint is Phoenix Precision's GNR Freight Brown, transfers HMRS, chains and fastenings from Cambrian, the ropes are a type used for model ship rigging and the tractor's from Oxford Diecast. The wheels are Romford Lowmac - I tried Gibsons but my trackwork's too coarse. It does sit level by the way - the last picture's got some camera distortion...

 

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I'm not an expert on tractors but I think there's a bit of time-travelling going on there. Which brings me to a question: there's an eclectic mix of pre-grouping and grouping-era stock here - is there a particular theme or themes in mind?

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I have to admit I'm not a tractor expert either but I think you may be right about the time-travel ^_^ - it seemed to look right though.

The main theme is the LNER and it's constituents, with an emphasis on the GNR. I live in East Barnet - my local station is Oakleigh Park - so I tend to concentrate on things that might have gone through that station. Originally it was entirely the LNER but I've been increasingly drawn to pre-grouping. I particularly like ECJS vehicles because there's something quite Victorian about the style; also the idea of stock built by the pre-grouping companies working together, that might be seen all over the network.

I have quite varied running days in terms of dates, from the late teens / early 1920s, through the 1930s to - occasionally - the 1950s and 60s, that last era being really an excuse to run old Triang RTR stock that my dad ran on the layout when I was a boy. And occasionally I visit the continent: I change a couple of buildings for kit-built Swiss ones and run Swiss and other European stock, again mainly from my youth.

But my real favourite is that wonderful combination of teak coaches and NPCS with green, black and garter blue locos and lots of freight with GNR or NE on the side! My favourite types of workings are NPCS and departmental: NPCS seems fascinating because you wonder what's in the vehicles - all those mysterious parcels and packages and the pleasures they may bring... And departmental vehicles are always interesting because they have a flavour of 'behind the scenes'. I'm an engineer by trade - actually audio engineering, but an interest in the way things work and how they're put together makes engineering stock irresistible. I'll put up some pictures of an LNER ballast train this week (actually partly LMS refugees!) and the D&S NER Tool and Riding vans are soon to be built :).

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There's a fair bit going on here before we get to anachronisms and none of it to do with Chaz.   Is that a Fordson Major?  If so it should be blue with orange wheels.  I'm not an expert on tractors (I do own and drive a few) but chrome light fittings and a chrome exhaust are so unlikely as to look outlandish.  When I did my FE35s on wagons the main criticism was that the exhaust would be removed for transport in case it was knocked off.  Oxford (? I think it's one of theirs) are guilty of a bit of fantasy here.

 

Your wagon is more accurate than mine, mine's been altered so the ramp is full width at the ends which I now know is wrong.  I've not long finished and weathered mine and it's now awaiting a load. 

 

Enjoy all the beading on the tool and riding vans.....

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Well, fantasy is often a key component of railway modelling - it certainly is in mine :). And yes, I have read about the beading on the NER tool and riding vans - probably on your Workbench thread, Jonathan! Do you literally mean that you own and drive a few tractors? Sounds fun!

For the ends of the Implement wagon's platform, in the end I wrote to Danny and he sent sketches showing the curved covering over the inner ends of the couplings where they emerge at the ends of the platform - he is always so helpful with things like that.

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Here is a Departmental ballast train; it's a bit of a cheat for the LNER: I got the GNR Ballast Brake - a lovely kit that went together beautifully, looks lovely and runs very well - from one of Danny's reissues of a couple of years ago, but he didn't have the wagons and although I do sometimes buy D&S kits on Ebay I cannot always match some of the prices and for some reason the matching GNR Ballast wagons seem to fetch very high prices, so I used the Ratio kit instead. There seems to have been a fair amount of movement of Departmental stock between regions so I thought I could stretch a point, as I really wanted to have a ballast train to run^_^. I hadn't found the Cambrian Models black chain then, so I used the rather unrealistic looking ones that came with the kit - they'll be changed for Cambrian ones when I get around to adding a load of rails to the bolster wagons. Oxford Blue by Phoenix Precision, transfers from HMRS, ballast from a mix I use for the layout...

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Edited by Chas Levin
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Some very fine modelling here and a pleasure to see. Useful, too, when the origin of the model, paint and transfers used etc is stated.

 

Slightly confused as to era, though  While you could count what I know about tractors on the fingers of one foot, that's surely a post War (WW2) tractor on a GN-liveried wagon.  How about a plough or a portable steam engine instead?

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7 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

I do.   Not to divert too far but this is me last AugustIMG_1054_small.jpg.08822a793d8a71961ec3af9c87ffdfb9.jpg

That ballast brake is a lovely piece of work.

 

Now that is what I call a driving experience, Jonathan! Very impressive :good_mini: and a fine diversion! Like a lot of grown-ups in touch with the child within, I long to drive a big tractor :D.

Glad you like the Ballast Brake - I was pleased with it too. I didn't include working tail lights like the ones on the ECJS and CLC vehicles because I was trying to finish it quickly and it's surprising how much extra work is generated by incorporating those lights. I don't begrudge the work once it's done mind you, because I think they are so wonderful, but sometimes, when the next kit's beckoning, time is generally short and it's not a 'peak use' vehicle, non-working lights must do:rolleyes:.

 

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Some very fine modelling here and a pleasure to see. Useful, too, when the origin of the model, paint and transfers used etc is stated.

 

Slightly confused as to era, though  While you could count what I know about tractors on the fingers of one foot, that's surely a post War (WW2) tractor on a GN-liveried wagon.  How about a plough or a portable steam engine instead?

 

Hello Edwardian, glad you're enjoying the models :). Glad also that including the paint and transfer details etc isn't considered too detailed: it's something I often wonder about with others' kits, especially when comparing different representations of colours such as LNER Red Oxide or teak...

You're quite right about the era-compromised GN wagon, with its post-WWII cargo. I felt at the time that my main concern was with the wagon itself and that provided that looked good and rode well, a tractor was a tractor. The Oxford Diecast one was widely available and to my townie's eye looked fine for the job; I must admit it didn't occur to me that anyone would question it, partly because at that time I hadn't considered putting pictures of my models online. Changing it for something else is something I might do in due course, but I'd be a little concerned about removing the securely cyano-glued tractor, chains and ropes without damaging the deck. That being said, wooden decking like that is one of the few areas I do try to make look a little weathered or distressed so perhaps it might add to the effect?

By the way Edwardian, as you're here, may I please ask who the gentleman is in your avatar picture? I've seen it many times before and often wondered - there's a slight air of mystery because he's turned away from the camera...

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9 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

 

By the way Edwardian, as you're here, may I please ask who the gentleman is in your avatar picture? I've seen it many times before and often wondered - there's a slight air of mystery because he's turned away from the camera...

 

Me, obviously.

 

It dates from 1904 and is clearly taken in London, that's about all I know. These days I'm fat and old and broken down, but when I was as young as the chap in the picture, I had that exact posture or way of carrying myself.  A friend seeing the picture for the first time remarked how like me from the back it was, so it seemed appropriate to use it when considering an avatar picture. 

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6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Me, obviously.

 

It dates from 1904 and is clearly taken in London, that's about all I know. These days I'm fat and old and broken down, but when I was as young as the chap in the picture, I had that exact posture or way of carrying myself.  A friend seeing the picture for the first time remarked how like me from the back it was, so it seemed appropriate to use it when considering an avatar picture. 

 

Wonderful - I love it! It has a personal connection but still preserves the mystery :). Thank you for explaining, 

 

Chas

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6 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

 

Wonderful - I love it! It has a personal connection but still preserves the mystery :). Thank you for explaining, 

 

Chas

 

Thanks! it was a spooky moment, as if it had been me, or an ancestor of mine, because it really did look like me, from the back!

 

Now that GN wagon is a nice piece, really well executed and it deserves something era-appropriate built for it - treat it to something nice!  Just sayin'

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Time for some more fish, this one courtesy of Parkside Dundas, a well known kit of D134 that I thought turned out nicely, though like the Nu-Cast one earlier, my efforts at over-painting with white the word 'FISH' on the door's cast-iron sign don't look quite so good in the photos (though it looks fine when it goes past in the middle of a K3-hauled fish train :D). At any rate, by the time I built this one I'd learnt the correct colour for the solebars ^_^.

LNER Red Oxide from Railmatch again (though I now have the Phoenix Precision one to try next time I have need of it) and transfers were Modelmaster waterslide for the numbers and HMRS for everything else. The HMRS were Methfix this time, as I thought I'd give them a try. Swings and roundabouts between Meth vs. Press I found: it's easier to see for positioning purposes using Methfix, but the process overall is more fiddly than Pressfix. On balance, I think I prefer using Pressfix and struggling to see the position. I also find with Pressfix that once the transfer has been given the first fairly gentle press onto the surface but hasn't been really firmly pressed down, it can be gently persuaded to move, a little at a time, using a cocktail stick, enough to re-centre or re-level if need be. In this situation, the quite noticeable thickness of the HMRS transfers is an advantage as it means they don't usually tear... I used the waterslide for the numbers here because I didn't want to have to line up the separate HMRS numbers, but the backing film has bridged the grooves between the planks, something that looks more prominent here than in person, but now I've noticed it I shan't be doing that again!

 

Cod and chips, anyone? :P

 

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