jwealleans Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) If you don't mind doing your own artwork (GIMP is your friend here) John Peck will do you a sheet of white decals only for about a tenner. He did me these - enough for four ferry vans and half a dozen LNER CCTs - earlier in the year. Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 While the light was good this morning I indulged in some micro-signwriting on my SR Shock or, as the real thing was labelled, 'Shoc High'. Yes, it looks slightly scruffy, but then so was the real thing which looked as though it was performed with a 1" brush on a Friday afternoon. The model, of course, is only about two-thirds the size I see it on this screen and the weathering will hide the worst of this, but the data panel will probably be a transfer - the real thing was stencilled so should be neater in any event. Coming on though. Adam 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Hi Adam, That's a good attempt at lettering. It must be absolutely tiny. Did you use some kind of visual aid? All the best, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 It's a smidge over 1mm Colin. I'll only go this small in full sun with additional light on top. No safety net or magification above and beyond my spec's. A mapping pen would certainly be easier and possibly neater but I've always gone for the 000 size brush and a deep breath. I've scraped away the overlong tail to the 'C' now but it's otherwise not too bad at all. Little worse, certainly, than the real thing. Adam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 One last shot showing the current state of play with the now complete mineral and another Bachmann one to keep it company. There's a third somewhere... not a bad match for the photo I feel, but judge for yourselves. Adam 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Hi Adam, A very good match to the photo I'd say! It does go to show the parlous state of the railways, with minmal maintenance and only enough paint allowed to cover the welded joints on the repaired sides. All the best, Colin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Thanks Colin - I think it probably says more about the place in the food chain of the unfitted 16 ton mineral in the late 60s' and early seventies - i.e., at the very bottom. The nature of the traffic was changing, the collieries which could only cope with these smaller wagons were either being rationalised or closed so it isn't all that surprising. 'Stationmaster' would the man with the detail, since he worked on the railway only a little later, but the amount of expenditure allowed to keep one of these going was minute. Since the picture was from 1971 and the wagon was built by Gloucester RCW in '56, this is a wagon toward the very end of its alloted span - and the running gear mst have been in good shape to allow for the new platework. It's still a heap though. Adam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2012 One last shot showing the current state of play with the now complete mineral and another Bachmann one to keep it company. There's a third somewhere... not a bad match for the photo I feel, but judge for yourselves. Adam Not a bad match if you'd have put the right coupling on, it doesn't pay to assume, guess how I know! Corking modelling though. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) Not a bad match if you'd have put the right coupling on, it doesn't pay to assume, guess how I know! Corking modelling though. Mike. Hah! That's what you get for only deciding which vehicle you're doing after the couplings have gone on and then deciding not to worry about it. The coupling links could be, and were, changed on occasion because they went 'ping' so it's far from critical. Well, in my view... The axleboxes are 'wrong' on the shoc high as well, but again, these were consumables and might have been changed along with wheelsets and goodness know's what else. Besides, I didn't have any RCH style 'split' 'boxes in stock. Adam [EDIT - it occurs to me - belatedly - that it's extremely unlikely that this mineral wagon had an instanter when new, for those of you who were wondering what on earth this was all about] Edited December 17, 2012 by Adam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Hah! That's what you get for only deciding which vehicle you're doing after the couplings have gone on and then deciding not to worry about it. The coupling links could be, and were, changed on occasion because they went 'ping' so it's far from critical. Well, in my view... The axleboxes are 'wrong' on the shoc high as well, but again, these were consumables and might have been changed along with wheelsets and goodness know's what else. Besides, I didn't have any RCH style 'split' 'boxes in stock. Adam [EDIT - it occurs to me - belatedly - that it's extremely unlikely that this mineral wagon had an instanter when new, for those of you who weer wondering what on earth this was all about] Hi Adam, As you say, the couplings on that wagon could well have been changed. I would imagine that you will easily find photos of wagon with substitute axleboxes too. I have even modelled some of my wagons with two RCH and two Kooler type boxes ( where photos support this on specific wagons). Then there are cases of wagons with split-spoke wheels, or even one axle with disc wheels and one with split-spokes. The list of variations goes on... All the best, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 8, 2012 Hi Adam, As you say, the couplings on that wagon could well have been changed. I would imagine that you will easily find photos of wagon with substitute axleboxes too. I have even modelled some of my wagons with two RCH and two Kooler type boxes ( where photos support this on specific wagons). Then there are cases of wagons with split-spoke wheels, or even one axle with disc wheels and one with split-spokes. The list of variations goes on... All the best, Colin The joys of modelling the "proper" era! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thanks Colin - I think it probably says more about the place in the food chain of the unfitted 16 ton mineral in the late 60s' and early seventies - i.e., at the very bottom. The nature of the traffic was changing, the collieries which could only cope with these smaller wagons were either being rationalised or closed so it isn't all that surprising. 'Stationmaster' would the man with the detail, since he worked on the railway only a little later, but the amount of expenditure allowed to keep one of these going was minute. Since the picture was from 1971 and the wagon was built by Gloucester RCW in '56, this is a wagon toward the very end of its alloted span - and the running gear mst have been in good shape to allow for the new platework. It's still a heap though. Adam It's a bad case of side-bottom rot, endemic in South Wales, where shipping coal would be left in wagons for weeks; the plating would have been purely a stop-gap, as the bodies of these wagons were intended to last 20 years (and the underframes twice that). The paint would have been confined to the immediate area of the weld, as this would corrode first. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 A quick question/request - if anyone has a copy of David Larkin's 'Wagons of the Final Years of British Railways' and could find the illustrations of the Coil H (or better yet, the numbers for the 10 vehicles) and tell me what they are I would be very grateful. Guess who forgot to write these down and left the book in Southampton before thinking about the lettering in Somerset?Merry Christmas, one and all.Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
durham light infantry Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 A quick question/request - if anyone has a copy of David Larkin's 'Wagons of the Final Years of British Railways' and could find the illustrations of the Coil H (or better yet, the numbers for the 10 vehicles) and tell me what they are I would be very grateful. Guess who forgot to write these down and left the book in Southampton before thinking about the lettering in Somerset? Merry Christmas, one and all. Adam B744621/50/9/79/81/99, B744706/15/24/46 Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 Mike, thank you very, very much. I can now add the last three digits to the running number and call it almost finished. Happy Christmas and thanks again. Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 And now, both Coil H and Shoc High are finished and pictures taken on dad's not quite complete 'photo plank' Thanks for all the comments and information: Adam 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted December 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2012 I hope that I'm not speaking out of turn if I suggest that Geoff Kent would be proud of you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ullypug Posted December 30, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 30, 2012 Very nice indeed Adam. Now when are you going to build a layout to go with it?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 When I'm good and ready Andrew. I've still nowhere to put one. Thanks Griff, I've no idea what Geoff would reckon to them, but I'm happy with them and that's what matters for the moment. Adam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Hi Adam, Excellent wagons as always. The hand-lettering looks very convincing on the Shoc High. (Did you use visual aids for that?) It makes my Bachmann shock wagon look very 'out of the box'. What about a Sludge wagon next? All the best, Colin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Hi Adam, Excellent wagons as always. The hand-lettering looks very convincing on the Shoc High. (Did you use visual aids for that?) It makes my Bachmann shock wagon look very 'out of the box'. What about a Sludge wagon next? All the best, Colin Thanks Colin. The only visual aids used were the ones I use to do everything else, from Cricket to cycling; glasses or contacts. And light, lots of it. You've done a sludge wagon haven't you? Did I see a picture of it on Newhaven? I don't need one of those. That isn't necessarily a barrier, of course, but there's a whole boxfile worth of other things on the go. The next scratchbuilds (well barring a pair of coil carriers converted from Highs which are awaiting the inclination to get the soldering iron out) will be a pair of bogie coil carriers like these: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/coiltferry/h341bec27#h341bec27 . I've got as far as assembling the basic frames, but work on these will go on the back burner until I've got the appropriate Cambrian bogies to put them on. The lightening holes in the cradles put me in mind of your Tin HAL... Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Hi Adam, It is amazing to think you can do all the work seen here without magnification! Perhaps the Sludge wagon idea would be a bit off-beat considering the types you have built so far. Are you building a collection for a specific future layout or is it just the types that appeal? All the best, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Hi Colin There's no specific layout idea - though something small* and industrial will probably happen some day - I just happen to like building the things. The Shochood B featured back on page 1 of this thread, though I'd always liked the prototype, was simply an application for a spare underframe I had by me and attempting the difficult bit, the hood, opened up another range of vehicles to have a go at. It's no great accident that these vehicles were products of the mid-1960s; partly it's the period dad has always modelled and that it makes sense that my stock can work with his, and partly that these new wagon types and the range of conversions show BR's attempts to cope with the changes in traffic and industry. Since I'm a historian by training, that sort of thing appeals to me as does making the best of indifferent and misleading resources! In any event, steel coil wagons did get around the country in ones and twos and threes so they have a reasonably wide application. Sludge wagons seem to be a creature of major works and large sheds (at least, until steam ended) so aren't of immediate appeal, interesting looking beasts though they were. Adam * We have, probably, about twenty times the number of wagons needed to service any layout we have the space to build. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Among the workbench clutter after a long gap, is this Bogie Bolster D, back converted from the Bachmann BDA. Yes, I know that there's a Cambrian kit for this very type, but the little underbody gussets on the solebars are the very devil to do (though not all had them), and well, it was quite cheap. The principal differences between the BDA and a diagram 1/484 are the bogies and the number of bolster. Oh, and air brakes but that's by the by.Here's the full thing: The Cambrian bogies with the 'one piece' mainframes aren't too bad, but the bolster detail could be a lot better (and should stick out more). The spoked wheels are temporary; they're there to set up the ride height on the new bogies. Anyone want a pair of untouched Bachmann Y25s? A scrap view showing the modifications to the deck. The chain rings are inset into the deck - tricky, but worth the effort. The technique is to mark out where they go, cut into the deck all around with a scalpel and using the same, make a series of nicks at an angle. Some form of 'micro-chisel' does the rest, in my case the sharpened remains of a broken jeweller's screwdriver. The chaining rings themselves are simply lengths of tinned copper wire about 0.4mm diameter wrapped round a 1.5mm drill and carefully cut off one at a time with a scalpel (be very wary while doing this). These are secured into the deck by means of a 1mm hole and a split pin made from the same wire. The theory is that I'll be able to chain a load to the thing in prototypical fashion. Don't hold your breath. The other bit of plastic with the square hole, by the way, is the spare location for the moveable end bolster. Adam Edited March 12, 2013 by Adam 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mark Forrest Posted February 3, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 3, 2013 Nice work. I've started to do the same also have a couple of the Cambrian kits on the go, what brake gear are you planning to use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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