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Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.


jamie92208
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3 hours ago, lezz01 said:

What's more of a shame is that Slaters didn't take back the midland 6 wheel coaches like they did the MR wagons.

 

I think it's more a case of have not yet re-issued. 

 

My understanding, from what I've gleaned, is that the means of production of the Slaters 4 mm kits was never in Coopercraft's hands. That for the Coopercraft 4 mm kits certainly was which is how they come to be gone forever, it seems. What I haven't fathomed is whether Slaters can actually make the 7 mm Coopercraft kits or whether they just hold stock. I believe the original arrangement was one of reciprocal marketing arrangements but for a long time it was mired in legal wrangling, hence the lack of clear information for the public at large that has been clamoring for these kits. There's a long thread on Coopercraft in "Smaller Suppliers".

 

Part of the delay in Slaters re-introducing the 4 mm kits had been the instructions, of which it would appear they had not kept copies.

 

Re. the Coopercraft GW 4-plank wagon, although advertised as diagram O5, with Dean-Churchward brake gear, a batch of only 200 wagons, if built with conventional brakes it represents the 24,000+ standard open wagons built 1887-1902, which even in 1920 were still the most common type of GW wagon, making it a very useful kit.

 

As to inflated prices on Ebay, they're still there for the 4 mm Slaters Midland wagon kits even though they are now readily available new.

 

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Thanks, very much for the info.  It would appear that I've got another GW open wagon to add to a through freight. As I said in my post, the only missing part appears to be an end.  That shouldn't be difficult to fabricate.  Thanks to SM42's generosity I've enough transfers as well.  Happy days ahead.

 

Jamie

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4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 

Part of the delay in Slaters re-introducing the 4 mm kits had been the instructions, of which it would appear they had not kept copies.

 

 

 

 

If they want the instructions I am currently building two of the coaches, but to be honest the instructions could do with a substantial re-work anyway.   The diagrams are not overly clear - as in not always showing necessary detail as well as poorly printed.  

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8 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I think it's more a case of have not yet re-issued. 

 

My understanding, from what I've gleaned, is that the means of production of the Slaters 4 mm kits was never in Coopercraft's hands. That for the Coopercraft 4 mm kits certainly was which is how they come to be gone forever, it seems. What I haven't fathomed is whether Slaters can actually make the 7 mm Coopercraft kits or whether they just hold stock. I believe the original arrangement was one of reciprocal marketing arrangements but for a long time it was mired in legal wrangling, hence the lack of clear information for the public at large that has been clamoring for these kits. There's a long thread on Coopercraft in "Smaller Suppliers".

 

Part of the delay in Slaters re-introducing the 4 mm kits had been the instructions, of which it would appear they had not kept copies.

 

Re. the Coopercraft GW 4-plank wagon, although advertised as diagram O5, with Dean-Churchward brake gear, a batch of only 200 wagons, if built with conventional brakes it represents the 24,000+ standard open wagons built 1887-1902, which even in 1920 were still the most common type of GW wagon, making it a very useful kit.

 

As to inflated prices on Ebay, they're still there for the 4 mm Slaters Midland wagon kits even though they are now readily available new.

 

The issue with 4mm instructions was that the artwork was transferred with everything else to Mr Dunn as part of the proposed sale. He then managed to lose/ruin that artwork. Ive helped Slaters in a very small way by providing instructions for the GW kits. 

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7 hours ago, Denbridge said:

The issue with 4mm instructions was that the artwork was transferred with everything else to Mr Dunn as part of the proposed sale. He then managed to lose/ruin that artwork. Ive helped Slaters in a very small way by providing instructions for the GW kits. 

I have to say that Slaters instructions left quite a bit to be desired in the first place. Then again how much instruction do you need to build a van or open wagon to start with? The 6 wheel coaches are a different matter as the Cleminson bogie system isn't very intuitive and would be a bit of a mare for a novice. 

Regards Lez. 

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Over the last couple of nights a bit of progress has been made with the wagons. The two Midland ones are now in grey and one has had the requisite ironwork done in black.  The interiors of the 4 opens are now in light straw colour ready for some weathering with greys and some dirty turps. 

 

Can anyone tell me what font to use for the letters that would have been in the tablet racks on the brake van.

 

Jamie

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9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Can anyone tell me what font to use for the letters that would have been in the tablet racks on the brake van.

 

Not a font. No available font is going to match those boards, which were hand-lettered by sign-writers. Although they're outside my period, I could have a go at drawing them up in Coreldraw based on examples in photos.

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1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Not a font. No available font is going to match those boards, which were hand-lettered by sign-writers. Although they're outside my period, I could have a go at drawing them up in Coreldraw based on examples in photos.

Thanks very much Stephen, I only need 6 letters. L S H M and two others that give the time that I jeed to check. They are in the wagon book vol 2 and Midland Record No 2. I was thinking of using your trick of printing them on photo paper.

 

I'll get at my notes for the other two letters tomorrow, thanks again.

 

Jamie

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On 19/02/2021 at 22:47, lezz01 said:

I have to say that Slaters instructions left quite a bit to be desired in the first place. Then again how much instruction do you need to build a van or open wagon to start with? The 6 wheel coaches are a different matter as the Cleminson bogie system isn't very intuitive and would be a bit of a mare for a novice. 

Regards

Hi Lezz

    This is my youngest sons first effort, one of the Slaters 0 gauge kits.

He has since built a 6 wheeled brake 3rd and is now on with one of Slaters 43’ carriages.

Derek

70DDB360-5124-4F29-A535-390FFECB8BCA.jpeg.807f913614ec1e94c7c2921c7f775e8f.jpeg

 

Edited by Mrkirtley800
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On 02/03/2021 at 21:11, Compound2632 said:

 

Not a font. No available font is going to match those boards, which were hand-lettered by sign-writers. Although they're outside my period, I could have a go at drawing them up in Coreldraw based on examples in photos.

Hi Stephen, I've found my notes now and the 6 letters that I need are I, B, L ,S , H & M

 

Thanks again.

 

Jamie

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20 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Hi Stephen, I've found my notes now and the 6 letters that I need are I, B, L ,S , H & M

 

Thanks again.

 

Jamie

 

OK I'll have a go. Of course these can be scaled to fit, but what size would fit?

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Just now, Compound2632 said:

 

OK I'll have a go. Of course these can be scaled to fit, but what size would fit?

I'll have to measure up tomorrow.   

 

Thanks

 

Jamie

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20 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

OK I'll have a go. Of course these can be scaled to fit, but what size would fit?

Hi Stephen 

 

I've been to the shed and done some measuring.  The boards need to be between 5.8 and 6.5 mm high to fit into the runners and not fall out, 5mm wide would appear to be right.  As the the size of the letters I'll leave that to your discretion.

 

Jamie

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Good evening from a somewhat cool but quiet Charente.    There hasn't been a lot of progress over the last couple of weeks but I have made some progress.

 

All the wagons have at least had at least one coat of paint added and 4 are awaiting the application of transfers and weights.

 

I must have had a rush of blood to the brain cell yesterday.  I found one wagon, a complete Slaters PO lettered for Prince of Wales collieries at Pontefract.  I used to be able to see the it from my office.  This wagon was built by the late John Wall and was given to me along with another couple of 0 gauge wagons.   John had fitted it with Alex Jackson couplings at one end so last night I managed to remove the AJ's and fitted a 3 link coupler. I also weighted it to my standard 4.5 ozs and the varnish securing the lead is now dry.   Another wagon for the layout.

 

of the block of 5, the 6 planker was going to be Castleford and Whitwood Gas light and Coke Co.   This afternoon the transfers were applied.

P3180966.JPG.267f38772dd85f253a31ca8aa2da6198.JPG

Mine is the lower one and the top one is a pre printed Powsides example.  However I'm happy with it.   I now need to weather the interior.

 

I 'm quite happy with the colour match.

 

Jamie

 

Edited by jamie92208
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Just a heads up to anyone who us interested in wasting an hour on the 26th April.  I am due to give a zoom presentation about the layout organised by the Gauge 0 Guild

https://www.gaugeoguild.com/

It's at 20.00 GMT and yoy need to register to attend.  It's free to guild members and £2.00 for non members. Questions can be asked beforehand and will be asked via a chairman using the chat function on zoom.

 

There are other cures for insomnia amiravailable but if anyone wants to attend you would be welcome. I just hope that our broadband holds up.

 

Jamie

 

 

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I'm after a bit of advice.  I've decided to do a bit if work on Skerton Bridge and need to paint some resin castings that I made. An experiment with acrylics seems to show that they don't adhere very well.  Can anyone offer any advice on the best type of paint to use. 

 

Also I would like to say a big thank you to Dave Harris of the Midland Railway Study Centre, as well as several other hats that he wears. I asked him about the availability of some scanned drawings of open carriage trucks.  To my surprise and delight three drawings came back within 24 hours via email and dropbox, including one for a D409 open CT to Lot 551. I now have no excuse, apart from my highly developed  fondness for procrastination, for getting on with it.

 

Jamie

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Dave Harris is an amazing bloke. He is Secretary of both the Executive Committee and the Collections Committee of the Midland Railway Society as well as being the Co-ordinator of the Midland Railway Study Centre in the Derby Museum of Making in the Silk Mill. He fields a great number of enquiries that the Study Centre receives and the amount of work he does for the MRS is colossal. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the main reason that both the Society and the Study Centre run as well as they do.

 

He's also a really nice bloke.

 

Dave

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  • jamie92208 changed the title to Lancaster Green Ayre - A Bridge too far.
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Something strange has happened, my modelling mojo has been sighted.  I have even done some work over the past couple of days.  I had a chat to Mark Sheridan, @Shezand he suggested that I leave the dratted 4 F valve gear and do something completely different.   I therefore decided to have a go at Skerton Bridge.  This dominates the east end of the layout and has been in a partially completed state for some years.   

 

One of the tricky bits was the balustrades in the bridge parapets.   There are 9 sections each with 6 small pillars in sets. With help from various people, including Ray Clasper, Dave Tanner and Graham King, I got a master made a master and then cast them in resin.  

 

Anyway I set to work 2 nights ago and gave the resin units a base coat of Tamiya buff colour, that seemed to stick OK and looked reasonable.  These then needed aralditing into the pre cut gaps in the parapet, Then small strips of 1mm ply were glued on top of them to level things up.  The end result on the west side was like this.

P5051075_resize.JPG.bc1ee8193c9fea809591eb91ab961698.JPG

This is what the road side looks like.

P5051076_resize.JPG.0c32cd7ee4398c6ebc8e5efa334cf35b.JPG

Then tonight I got the wood strips sanded down on both sides and the east side now looks like this.

 

1P5051078_resize.JPG.29957b466e0a8b6a42c3c2a007ca1994.JPG

I will also need to give the grassy areas some tlc.  This is the area to the east side of Skerton Bridge.

P5051077_resize.JPG.9e8b124dcdb19c0ee33a02ec8cce12b6.JPG

As you can see the summer heat has damaged the plaster skim. I've got some ideas and there is a ready mixed filler paste sold over here for covering joints in dry lined walls. I'm going to do a test area this summer and see how it goes. The foxes will be pleased.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited by jamie92208
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If I remember correctly the base layer of the material under the plaster might also be a problem. I think it needs consolidating before adding anything else on top of it. It might be that it was not dry enough before the plaster layer was added 

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The plasterboard jointing skim product you said you would try, is very fine and may not be suitable. It is a little flexible, but does crack if applied too thick. (We have used loads of it here, but on house renos, not a layout!) I suggest you try adding PVA to the plaster mix, which should give it some better flexibility during expansion/contraction. Car body resin is the only really permanent solution I have used outside (on parts of the garden railway) but it is stupidly expensive to use over a large area.

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I've done a bit more on the bridge and have now started trying to recreate the ornamental pediments, or whatever they are called.  What I'm trying to do, on both sides.

P2111400.JPG.f13424786b2e86e3af21825944f088e0.JPG

 

P2111401.JPG.20b8a18aed7a15b8496bd7bb9a04c0e0.JPG

The first job is to produce some 10mm thick pieces of wood to form the foundation layer. These were cut to shape and then glued on.

P5081103.JPG.29287634a34fb11b3394aac0e823bf7b.JPG

Plenty of wood shavings produced by the power plane will be recycled as bedding for the hens.

 

I now need to form the fancy pieces that form what might be called a roof.  I've decided to have a go at producing a long strip of plasticard of various thicknesses that end up with the right profile on the edge, then cutting and filing to shape.

 

Onwards and upwards.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

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I have seen our American cousins use drywall mud on their layouts especially Steve Brown on Imrr.

 

Of coure I am assuming it is a similar product to what you are on about Jamie 

 

2 countries separated by a common language crops up again

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The "roof" is called a Doric arch Jamie. The triangular bit is also known as a pediment. 

Regards Lez.

Edited by lezz01
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Good evening.  I've done a bit more over the last two days.  Yesterday I cut 4 strips of plasticard of different widths and thicknesses and welded them together with Plastic weld.  This left me with a 300 mm long strip that had one side that approximated to the profile of the pediment.   I realised that I had to cut this at some very acute angles so I thoughts about how to do it and when I'd thunk I decided to make a jig,  This is what I came up with, no expense spared, two pieces of scrap wood and 2 screws.

P5111104.JPG.62bd1ac34afe3899fcd18e86f8dedab2.JPG

The strip of plastic was clamped to the jig and I then filed the end to the right profile using some sandpaper stuck to a piece of wood. I then turned the strip round and produced a mirror image at the other end. I then realised that I needed to cut a different angle at the other end so modified the jig after marking it so that the pieces would end up the correct length.   The strip was then clamped and as the angle for the ridge wasn't as acute I used a junior hacksaw to make the cut.

P5111105.JPG.2c036ed217d2b8ef3a177d8b371f42cb.JPG

After I'd done the other piece I couldn't resist tack welding them together and this was the result.

P5111106.JPG.7f7d38318fdb3c08801958e31ed43d94.JPG

I used the piece of plasticard that I had cut out before I glued on the wood block, as a guide.  

 

I'm quite pleased with the result.   Tomorrow I'll try and do the other two pieces.  Then need to work out what profile to make the base of the triangle.

 

It's nice to see a result.

 

Jamie

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