RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 24, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2021 Obtained from the Bay of e to build over the Christmas break. First off a clerestory roof 3rd brake. The coach body and chassis are separate assemblies and will be screw fixed together using shelf ends in the coach body - like I did with the Ian Kirk LNER coach kits that I built a few years ago. Still need to add the roof vents and lamp holders, bogie step boards and interior compartments. I substituted Hornby metal wheels for the Ratio plastic ones with brass bearings in the bogie sides. Cheers Darius 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 These are very nice kits. If you want to add extra detail, like the alarm gear, roof plumbing and other things, you should seek out Stephen Williams book on the subject: https://britishrailwaybooks.co.uk/books/ISBN/1874103127.php Another thing I would suggest is to be very careful with the bogies. My experience has been that they are extremely fragile. My approach was to use an etched brass core such as MJT from Dart, then glue the details on. Also better if bogie steps, if applicable, are brass and not plastic. Lining is HMRS LMS yellow/black transfers. I am useless with a lining pen. Note the piping on the roof. You can just make out the alarm gear on the end. Also note the dummy coupling made from wire. John 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 24, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2021 Thanks brossard. I read your RMWeb post earlier when researching these kits. Book duly ordered. Cheers Darius 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 19 minutes ago, Darius43 said: Thanks brossard. I read your RMWeb post earlier when researching these kits. Book duly ordered. Cheers Darius Well you are doing better than me, I can't find the thread. I like to think of kits as the basis for building an actual model. Iain Rice was a strong influence to me. John 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Scotian Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 I had the same issues with fragile bogies - I ended up layering/laminating with some plasticard where it couldn't be seen to make them more rigid, and included a couple of extra stretchers too. Can't see the reinforcement when coupled up and running normally, so was happy with the trade-off. Was likely my fault the first time for being thick fingered (snapped one), but after that I proactively reinforced as I built. Good luck - they look great! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 27, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2021 Six Compartment Third assembled. Cheers Darius 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 27, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2021 So far I have been building the “yellow box” Ratio kits. The plastic used in these kits doesn’t respond to liquid polystyrene - no noticeable bonding effect - so I have been using cyano glue . The next coach is a more recent Peco/Parkside version so I wonder if the “new” plastic will be more amenable. Cheers Darius 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenser Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 31 minutes ago, Darius43 said: So far I have been building the “yellow box” Ratio kits. The plastic used in these kits doesn’t respond to liquid polystyrene - no noticeable bonding effect - so I have been using cyano glue . The next coach is a more recent Peco/Parkside version so I wonder if the “new” plastic will be more amenable. Cheers Darius It certainly responds to solvents like PlasticWeld. One comment - it may be easier and neater to paiont the sides in the flat before assemble. Also - yes, the Ratio bogies are fragile. A particular vice is sheering of the plastic pin that they pivot on. I have two running on a bodge involving some brass rod inset into the bogie pivot, and fitting into a hole drilled into the remains of the pin ion the bolster. The bogie is loose/detachable , but the vehicles run on the layoiut, and the brass peg is an adequete pivot 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 27, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2021 Hi Ravenser - good point. I have modified the bogies to accept a brass bolt that is self-tapped into a hole drilled in the chassis. Cheers Darius 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 27, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2021 (edited) Halfords white primer applied to the coach bodies. Cheers Darius Edited December 27, 2021 by Darius43 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 Darius, I have found that when using Crimson Lake, the undercoat is important because CR is translucent. I use red oxide primer which would be similar to what LMS called Lake. A bit of trivia is that as an austerity measure, NPCS vehicles built during the war were just painted Lake. John 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Coach body basic painting completed. I used white primer to keep the CR “bright” as grey primer tends to dull down red paint finishes. I also wanted white painted roofs so the primer helped in that respect. Two coats of CR airbrushed on. To make masking the roofs easier I left off the vents and lamp holders. These will be pre-painted and installed next. Cheers Darius 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Panel edge beading painted black - Humbrol enamel applied with an 00 sable brush. Intermediate panel lining will be undertaken using decal lining strips. Cheers Darius 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Curious as to the interior layout of these coaches. The Ratio box labels state that they are “non-corridor” but there is a central lav. between the compartments so how was this accessed if there was no corridor? It would make sense if there were corridors, staggered on each side of the coach to facilitate lav. access. Was this the case? Granted there are no corridor connectors. Cheers Darius 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR Chuffer Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 (edited) Access was from the compartment either side for each of the two lavatories only. I recall travelling to school on the GC from Rothley in the late 1950s in a similar, more modern non-corridor coach and thinking "weird".... Edited December 28, 2021 by MR Chuffer 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted December 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 28, 2021 25 minutes ago, MR Chuffer said: Access was from the compartment either side for each of the two lavatories only. I recall travelling to school on the GC from Rothley in the late 1950s in a similar, more modern non-corridor coach and thinking "weird".... That practice was very common, so passengers had to plan ahead. I've seen plans of partition layouts where in composites, only first class passengers get the facilities (indeed the Ratio composite clerestory, is a model of this pattern), or else it's the dividing line between 1st and 3rd, where one of each type of compartment get access to the toilets. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted December 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Darius43 said: Curious as to the interior layout of these coaches. The Ratio box labels state that they are “non-corridor” but there is a central lav. between the compartments so how was this accessed if there was no corridor? It would make sense if there were corridors, staggered on each side of the coach to facilitate lav. access. Was this the case? Granted there are no corridor connectors. Cheers Darius Some coaching stock by companies used the staggered corridor arrangement, but not for long until full corridors became standard. These coaches did not. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted December 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 28, 2021 19 minutes ago, kevinlms said: Some coaching stock by companies used the staggered corridor arrangement, but not for long until full corridors became standard. These coaches did not. The problem is that corridors are wasted space, so less seats. With more trains having corridors, it meant that trains were heavier to provide the same number of seats. This led to needing bigger locos to haul the trains. This meant that the days of Singles were effectively over and most companies (not the Midland!) went to the 4-6-0 type or even 4-6-2s, when services needed for marketing reasons, to be speeded up. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Roof lamp holders and vents installed. Cheers Darius 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Decal strip lining applied to one side. Still got the other side to do…plus the other coach…plus three more coach kits. Think I’ll take a break. Cheers Darius 11 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, kevinlms said: Some coaching stock by companies used the staggered corridor arrangement, but not for long until full corridors became standard. These coaches did not. They were still building non gangwayed lavatory stock into the 1950s and some were still in use up until 1977. Beloved of heritage railways. KWVR. Llangollen, North Norfolk and others have full sets of them. https://kwvr.co.uk/locos/british-railways-mark-1-non-corridor-coaches/ With the MR type they had a seat missing in the corner and that was where the door was. Best idea is to look at the interior layout of an Airfix/Dapol LMS Suburban Lavatory coach as they were derived from these. Jason Edited December 28, 2021 by Steamport Southport 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 Interesting. I’ve seen some coach interior plans where the door is in the centre of the compartment wall (with seats either side). The dividing wall between the two toilets is on the diagonal. Cheers Darius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Darius43 said: Interesting. I’ve seen some coach interior plans where the door is in the centre of the compartment wall (with seats either side). The dividing wall between the two toilets is on the diagonal. Cheers Darius Could well be. I'll have a look later if no one else gets there first. Thankfully the MR carriage books are within easy reach. Jason Edited December 28, 2021 by Steamport Southport 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold k22009 Posted December 28, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Darius43 said: Decal strip lining applied to one side. Lining looks tidy, which brand have you used? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted December 28, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2021 7 minutes ago, k22009 said: Lining looks tidy, which brand have you used? I have a collection of Modelmaster, Fox Transfers, Railtec and HMRS lining sheets (including leftover offcuts). Those used here were Fox Transfers, I think. Cheers Darius 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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