Mr Simon's N and 2mm Workbench - pg29> N V1 2-6-2, 2mm L&Y class 23, assorted wagons and stuff

[MrSimon]

Hi Ben,

 

That would be brilliant - I was going ask about the NEM holders too, I'll need some wagons uncouplable and the new couplings sound just the ticket (and much simpler than mounting microtrains). Will the adapter fit in the ATM coupling boxes too?

 

 

Thanks Steve!

 

The O1 is a Langley B1 body filed out inside to sit lower on a Bachman 8F chassis (with a bit of milliput shaped to fit between the cylinders/pony truck and the footplate) back steps are scratchbuilt plasticard and the tender is a Union Mills tender with the motor taken out and the coal load drilled out. The footplate is a little bit high, but not too much

 

Cheers

 

Simon

Edited September 26, 2011 by MrSimon

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Simon,

 

As promised - Farish standard 100t tanker unmodified but fitted with ESC1 bogies.

 

 

Close up of the bogie. On this model, the wheels from the original wagon have been used, and the bogies will be supplied with or without wheels, so the customer can do as they please.

 

 

Farish Freightliner flat fitted with new Ridecontrol bogie and smaller 5.1mm diameter wheels. The flat has not had any detailing added to it other than the bogies.

 

 

A shot of both types of bogie, showing the NEM coupler socket.

 

 

With the freightliner wagons, because the wheels are smaller, the coupler does sit a little low. The bogies can also be used with standard Farish wheels which raises the coupler.

 

 

For me, the 100t tanks and Freightliner flats are pretty decent models, let down by "generic" bogies. They can also be improved with the appropriate TPM detailing packs. As I say, we are still finalising testing and fine tuning the tools, but I think they will make a big difference to these models!

 

I think Bernard Taylor is planning to launch some new detailing sets which will include the bogies and detailing parts all together in one pack. This should make ordering easier and will probably be slightly cheaper than buying all the parts separately.

 

Once the ESC1 and Ridecontrol bogies are in circulation, and assuming they sell OK, we are planning more types to improve existing models, and to provide a basis for new kits.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[MrSimon]

Hi Ben,

 

Thanks for posting these, the different bogies do make a massive difference and I can see myself ordering quite a few over the next year or so!

 

Cheers

 

Simon

[MrSimon]

Hello everybody!

It doesn't seem that I've been very busy, but I've detailed 12 tankers and started experimenting with weathering them. First up, I tried toning down the black I'd painted the frame in - first with Phoenix Dirty Black (just to see how it came out after buying a tin at Leammington) and when I found it too pale I had another go with my old favourite Phoenix Frame Dirt:


I'm hoping I'll be able to just do the coat of framedirt on the others. Next job is to start with the oil... then I'll un-kink the ladder...


I also detailed the bufferbeam of the last wagon on my cement train - I've got some more lamps somewhere, and when its fitted I'll start weathering practice for this train too


As soon as I've found my pencil sharpener I can get these matching the rest of the rake

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[MrSimon]

Hello everybody!

I've managed to make a bit of progress despite my desk (the dining room table) being commandeered to make curtains. In a lull from the frantic cutting and stitching I layed out all the trains I have for my layout and discovered, to my delight, that I am only a few wagons short of what I need for exhibition but they all need detailing

I also found my pencil sharpener, and while they need a spot of touching up on the yellow side (over-thinned the paint again ) they turned out quite well:



Just transfers and more weathering to go. For all 20 wagons.

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[BernardTPM]

Neat job on the welded Rudd, Simon. Not an easy shape for the Civils colours.

[MrSimon]

Thanks Bernard! I just paint up to the pencil line

[MrSimon]

Hello everybody!

I got slightly distracted from building buildings yesterday and started adding details to the first loco I need for exhibition:
 

I'm going to have a look in the bits box to see if theres anything to fill up/cover over the coupling-hole. I had fitted a screw coupling but this was fouling the front of the bogie. At this magnification I can see that the headlamp clusters need tidying up a bit, but its not bad for a model I made 9 years ago! Does anyone know a good way to make liquid glazing go clear again?

There are a few bits of paint I'd like to touch up, a dirty wash over the grills and exhaust and some oil spills from the fuel tank. Then some work on the rest of the fleet!

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[MrSimon]

Hello Everybody!

I've not forgotten about the 60, I'm waiting to be in the same place with the 66 which is on my bench and I'll dirtywash them both at the same time. I saw a weathering dye at Peterborough Show this morning, but was slightly put off investigating it furthur because the man was wearing rubber gloves to use it (and I model on the dining room table) but if anyone has used it I'd be interested to hear about it. I've been doing a bit more work on the ends of my rakes, this time it was the cement and one of the coal trains that I worked on:


The HEA had a screw coupling last night, but I'm not sure where it is this afternoon . Its not very impressive, but I've got pipes, lamps and couplings on all of the 'through freights' I'll be running at exhibitions, so I might go to the pub to celebrate

Following a conversation with Mr P this morning, these have made their way back onto the workbench for finishing off:

I've no idea what I did to the underframe on that Thompson, but it needs to be sorted out!

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[branchie]

Great stuff Simon. Can I ask where you got the air pipes from?

[MrSimon]

Hi Branchie,

 

The air pipes were from the packs that came inside the Farish Freightliner hoppers, and the bits pack in the Farish class 66 and 2-6-2 tank kits.

 

Hope that helps

 

Simon

[branchie]

Hi Branchie,

 

The air pipes were from the packs that came inside the Farish Freightliner hoppers, and the bits pack in the Farish class 66 and 2-6-2 tank kits.

 

Hope that helps

 

Simon

 

Thanks Simon.

[MrSimon]

Hello Everybody!

I'm beginning to think I'm a bit flighty. Infact, I am very flighty. There is currently an A5 on my workbench, and it was an accident. It started off yesterday morning when my Dad decided that it needed to be lined out so it could be put away, so I asked if he was going to sort out the blobby paint on the tanksides and the answer came back that I was going to sort it:


I'm not sure who made it, but my Dad fitted the temporary front buffers. I'd decided that the usual handrails and lampirons were going to be fitted, and I was going to take off the cab roof and put it on better. I wasted no time (I was trying to avoid fitting the other arches to the bit of viaduct I'd been working on) and painted the chassis so all the wheels were the same colour and stripped the paint from the body:

It was at this point that I realised that some of the blobby bits of paint were actually massive load-bearing lumps of glue, and when I picked them off the tankside and cab windows fell off, and then the roof (which saved me a job) and the bunker. So whats a boy to do...? The other bits "fell off" really easily, and this left me a great opportunity to straighten the footplate:


I decided to try making a stand out of firm plasticard to keep the footplate straight as I build - I've seen brass kits use brass or wood formers for years - and if it works it'll be adaptable for use on the next few whitemetal kits I've got in the "not Gresby" queue... but at least its something a bit different (and I'll order the handrails for the O1 at the same time I do for this)

Is there anything I need to watch out for with the Langly A5 kit? I'd imagine I could replace various castings (domes etc) if anyone does better ones?

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[millerhillboy]

Is that the standard Farish 0-6-0 chassis with adornments then?

 

The body looks 100 times better already stripped back, I think with a wee bit work you could turn that ugly ducking into something quite worthwhile actually.

 

Some N-brass handrails and knobs would be a huge leap forward as well if you can be bothered with the strain on your eyesight.

 

I done a Foxhunter A1 kit recently and whilst it was a fiddle it was worth it.

Edited October 20, 2011 by millerhillboy

[MrSimon]

Hi Millerhillboy,

 

The chassis is a Farsih J94 I believe, not sure about the front bogie (which needs a bit of tinkering at the top) but the pony truck is a Dapol B1 wheel (not sure where the old wheel went) on the whitemetal bit that came with the kit.

 

All the square-ish bits of the body have been glued back on to the lovely flat footplate (but its a bit too dark to take a photo and the kitchen is covered in chutney - its the light-est place) but it already looks a lot better than it did when freshly stripped down N-Brass handrails were the main reason I stripped the paint off in the first place... didn't fancy fitting them to the old paint job! That and I thought any lining I put on would fall straight off.

 

Would you reccommend the Foxhunter loco kits? I quite fancy doing a ROD!

 

Cheers

 

Simon

[millerhillboy]

Yeah, Foxhunter stuff is pretty good. Up until the advent of all these new lovely Farish steamers you could produce something better than standard Farish stuff, as in handrails, lamp irons and lots of other details Farish just didn't bother with.

 

I suppose nowadays they are a bit crude but still can produce a damn fine model, and there's always the enjoyment of knowing you built it yourself.

 

My Foxhunter A1 was a joint effort, my good friend done all the base work, soldering the tender together and as well as forming the boiler and cab nice and tightly together.

 

I done all the detailing work and from my point of view I'd say they were excellent kits

 

[BernardTPM]

Foxhunter are probably the best British N steam outline kits around, though their biggest limitation now is the choice of chassis. For their A1 kit I'd perhaps look at shortening it slightly for a Peppercorn A2 (with Minitrix Brit wheels?) or perhaps using it to create one of the Thompson A2/x types, the latter much less likely to be made R-T-R. If Farish didn't make the A2 I would be surprised; there's a lot in common with the A1.

[millerhillboy]

I also believe there is an issue with availability, certainly regarding the A1. I believe I was lucky to get one of if not the last one from the N Gauge Society shop.

 

I also spoke with the Foxhunter chap himself and I can't quite remember what he said but he certainly didn't have any kits available.

[MrSimon]

Looks good there! I'd not thought of doing one of the Thompson A2s with an A1 kit, but the club layout has gone GN/GC so I'd have to look if they're right - but its an idea duly noted I've got a spot of steam-age scratchbashing to do after this (in-between doing Gresby stock) which should be fun! Its a shame the kits aren't more available, the van kits were very good.


The nitromores ate the front slope thing (I know all the technical words for steam engines haha) so I made a new one out of plasticard. The smokebox isn't stuck down yet (not until I've drilled out the handrails, front lamp iron and made the funnel-hole bigger) but its looking better than before, because it had been slanting backwards. When I get the buffers and bits ordered I'll fashion a new front bufferbeam, because this ones wonky too!


The old buffers are coming off when I do the work on the front bufferbeam and I need to clean up the glue under the bunker and make a sort of cradle thing to hold the chassis (because I think it used to be held in with stickytape) then I can get cracking with the cab and boiler.

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[A Murphy]

Hi Mr Simon,

 

I wanted to ask you about your 01 conversion above. I met you at TINGS (is the layout called Parnham??) and was really impressed with the Langley B1 body on a Farish chassis. Was that the 8f chassis you used? I've now done lots of work on a Langley body, but no matter how much metal I gouge out of the interior, I cannot get the B1 to sit low enough on the (recent) 5 pole motor. At one point i had rippling on the outside of the firebox, so it seemed sensible to stop trimming. Did you use an older Farish 8f with a smaller motor? Or did you use a Union Mills GC tender? I'd love to know, because I'm currently stalled - I'm pretty happy with the body, rebuilt front end, handrails etc etc but cannot get the b****r on the chassis. Any and all suggestions gratefully received. Alastair

[MrSimon]

Hi Alastair,

I remember talking to you at TINGS, its good to hear you were inspired to have a go

I've taken some pictures of the 'insides' of the O1 that should help illustrate what I did to it, I'm pretty sure its a new 8F chassis bought last summer - but i rerouted the wire to go under the motor rather than go along the top:


Other than moving the wire the only alteration to the chassis was cutting and filing the back end to take the Union Mills drawbar rather than use the Bachman one (it was less work to alter tha loco chassis than alter it on the tender) I think the trick with it is that my O1 doesn't sit as low as it probably should:


I too got to the point where there wasn't much else I could scrape out of the boiler (I found the problem to be the corners on the top of the chassis - they touch the top of the inside but there is 2mm free space in the centre) so I decided that the body could sit slightly high - the footplate is about 1.5-2mm higher than the top of the cylinders so I had to build up a support at the front with milliput:


The cylnders sit in the sort of cut outs and the body rests on the chassis on the raised bit - I think I slightly moved the securing hole too, but I can't remember; it might just be a layer of milliput making up the height.

 

To make it sit level I built a plasticard cab floor that sits in the notch at the back of the chassis. Hopefully these shots should show how much is left inside the boiler. When I make steam engine kits I always line the inside with electrical insulation tape so they don't short out - it also has the advantage of blocking up any small holes where I've accidentally filed through the firebox (like on the North Staffordshire 064 that was running round Parnhams) which can be filled and smothed over during painting.

The tender is a Union Mills GC 4000gallon tender; I think it came from a J11 - it was a spare with a faulty motor which I removed along with the gears to make it run freely. I drilled out the coal load, smothed it all down inside and made a false bottom for the coal:

 

Hope these pictures help; they're surpsringly hard to take pictures of the inside of an engine

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[A Murphy]

Simon,

 

Fantastic - just what I needed. By the way I loved Parnhams - really simple but a lovely layout, with a great atmpsphere I enjoyed watching the trains go by. So, I shall go away and finish the 01 now and try and do a blog of my own. I was going to have a bash at scratchbuilding the GC tender body on the Farish chassis.

 

many thanks

 

Alastair

[MrSimon]

Hehe thankyou - i shall pass on your praise to Trevor (who's layout it is) I'm not sure where its next being shown, but I'm sure there'll be a panic-speed-build of prenationalisation/grouping stock beforehand! I'll be interested to see how you get on scratchbuilding the tender - its something I need to do for a future project and I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it to be honest!

 

Good luck

 

Simon

[MrSimon]

Hello everybody!

I've hit on a bit of a problem with the A5. When the kit was built the first time, the smokebox wasn't stuck on dead straight (vertically or horizontally it seems) and to make the boiler fit, the builder filed away the bottom of the boiler and firebox to meet the top of the tanks. I had a look around at some pictures of A5s just to look for anything glaring I could incorporate into the 'repaint' to make a better model and it wasn't unil I found a picture of the A5 taken side on that I realised that the top of the bioler should be parallel to the track, rather than slanting upwards towards the front. So I tacked the back of the boiler onto the cab front and the smokebox and found I had some filling to do:

 

I can fill in the gap between the boiler and smokebox with milliput, but I'm not sure if milliput is the way to go for the 2mm gap under the firebox, but I'm not sure what else to do? Could the missing bits be made in plasticard and filled? Or maybe a replacement casting? What a pain.

Butt the good news is that my indestructable drill-bit made easy work of the handrail holes - every cloud and all that

Lots to do!

Simon

Edited December 16, 2018 by MrSimon

[millerhillboy]

 

..... my indestructable drill-bit made easy work of the handrail holes - every cloud and all that

 

Can you advise where you get such a thing? I go through these mini drill bits like nobodies business?