31A C & W

[31A]

Thank you Neil, I'm sure you'll enjoy doing that.

 

If anyone else has got any spares they don't want, I've got about 4 Bachmann ones which I could do with slimmer replacements for!  Plus two Mogos and a Fruit Van; I wonder whether it'd be possible to cut the sides off the Bachmann Fruit Van and attach it to the other bits from an ordinary Ratio van?

[danstercivicman]

Really good!

[31A]

A long time with nothing to report; I've not had so much time for modelling recently, and have also been making a couple of 'commissions' for a friend.

 

However I've just finished this LNER-designed BZ six wheeled passenger brake van, from the kit produced by Ian Macdonald.  The kit is made up of frets in nickel silver and brass, and includes whitemetal components from various outside suppliers.  The roof is MJT aluminium section.  There are a lot of bits but it is very well designed and produced so that everything fits together nicely with a minimum of 'cleaning up' required, and results in a strong and good looking vehicle.  The wheels are carried in Cleminson type trucks with an element of springing and compensation, which has resulted in a very smoothly running vehicle.  I managed to solder virtually all of it (even where the comprehensive instructions tell you to glue) apart obviously from the roof.  Paint is mainly from Halfords aerosols; the design meant it was possible to paint the underframe separately from the body.  Transfers are from the Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet BL98 which I already had, from which I was able to 'cut and shut' a suitable running number.

 

 

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

I was surprised on how many of those you could see at the 'Cross'  Half dozen a day, in the early 70's.

 

manna

 

[31A]

8 hours ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

I was surprised on how many of those you could see at the 'Cross'  Half dozen a day, in the early 70's.

 

manna

 

 

Indeed; they always seemed to be everywhere on the ER so I always thought there must have been more than the 80 that were actually built!

 

So I'm very pleased to have a model of one at last.

 

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Think they fudged the figures, had to be in the 1,000's.

 

 

manna

 

[Mallard60022]

13 hours ago, 31A said:

A long time with nothing to report; I've not had so much time for modelling recently, and have also been making a couple of 'commissions' for a friend.

 

However I've just finished this LNER-designed BZ six wheeled passenger brake van, from the kit produced by Ian Macdonald.  The kit is made up of frets in nickel silver and brass, and includes whitemetal components from various outside suppliers.  The roof is MJT aluminium section.  There are a lot of bits but it is very well designed and produced so that everything fits together nicely with a minimum of 'cleaning up' required, and results in a strong and good looking vehicle.  The wheels are carried in Cleminson type trucks with an element of springing and compensation, which has resulted in a very smoothly running vehicle.  I managed to solder virtually all of it (even where the comprehensive instructions tell you to glue) apart obviously from the roof.  Paint is mainly from Halfords aerosols; the design meant it was possible to paint the underframe separately from the body.  Transfers are from the Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet BL98 which I already had, from which I was able to 'cut and shut' a suitable running number.

 

 

 

I have had the privilege of a sneak preview of this Van and it is a cracker. 31A has done a damn fine job and the kit is excellent, however there are some very small bits to deal with and patience of a patient saint is required I am sure.

Mad Duck

Edited July 16, 2019 by Mallard60022

[31A]

1 hour ago, Mallard60022 said:

I have had the privilege of a sneak preview of this Van and it is a cracker. 31A has done a damn fine job and the kit is excellent, however there are some very small bits to deal with and patience of a patient saint is required I am sure.

Mad Duck

 

Thank you for those kind words M. Duck; myself and saintly patience is not things that always go together but I found it was just a question of taking things methodically and getting there in the end, so well were the parts and instructions designed.  The provision of 'spares' for a lot of the smaller bits was appreciated, too!

[Jamie]

Very nice work 31A, and you've beat me to completion by a week or two.

 

I agree it's a wonderful kit to put together - I'm pretty much a beginner at the soldering lark, but the kit flatters my skills and it looks great in the bare metal.  Most of it almost falls together - good fun.

 

I'm a little bogged down with the MJT J-hanger castings at the moment, but I think you've given me the encouragement to grit my teeth and fettle the rest of them.

 

Hope mine look half as good as yours when I'm done.

[31A]

Thank you Jamie, glad you like it!

 

I wasn't looking forward to drilling out the J-hanger castings but found that went better than I expected, by following the advice in the instructions.  What I did find was that the suspension links, once soldered to the ends of the springs but before they were passed through the J-hangers, were quite fragile and I managed to break one.  After that, I reinforced the bend at the top pf these pieces (where they turn down to the vertical) by running solder into the half etched bend after I'd bent them up, which made them much stronger.  Contrary to the instructions, I did manage to solder the J-hangers to the inside of the solebar but it was very difficult to get the iron into the right place and I think using glue as suggested would have been easier.  But as you say, most of it almost falls together!

 

[31A]

I've been playing about with a couple of the new Hornby LNER brake vans.

 

Having not long built a Parkside kit not long ago, I wanted one with wooden duckets and being impatient, I bought one in LNER livery and repainted it.  That's the one on the left.  It has wooden end stanchions.  Of course they then brought out one in BR livery, so I bought one of those, which is on the right.  It has steel angle end stanchions (so my earlier repaint wasn't in vain!).  Not much to do to it apart from some light weathering, but I carved off the moulded door bars and replaced them with wire ones in the closed position.  The van ends are moulded in clear plastic with the solid bits printed grey, but for some reason they've omitted to paint the bit above the windows so I touched that in with Humbrol no. 64, which was a good match.  The interiors are detailed, but the seat boxes / lockers are moulded in clear plastic and are also unpainted, so I painted them in red/brown, although they can't be seen!

 

 

[31A]

Recently thanks to the generosity of a fellow forum member I was lucky enough to come by another Chivers Finelines kit for an LNER 4-wheeled Passenger Brake Van (BY). I made one of these a few years ago and found it enjoyable to make; sadly as far as I know these kits are no longer produced. This one went together more or less as intended. The Guard's lookout (ducket) provided is a plastic moulding, which fails to catch the appearance of the real thing, so I replaced it with an MJT brass ducket. I carved off the moulded handrails and door handles, and replaced them with wire ones. Whilst carving, I removed the hinges from the Guard's door - as this door opens inwards, the hinges were on the inside. For some reason, only one of the ends has mountings for the lighting control jumpers, so I added them to the other end and made the actual jumper cables from cotton thread. The vacuum and Westinghouse pipes on the ends are from wire. Painting to represent BR Maroon livery is with Halford's Ford Burgundy Red; insignia comes from the Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet BL98, placed as per the photos in David Larkin's BR Parcels Stock Vol. 1.

[Mallard60022]

Well Steve, I learned something from that; the hinge binge. Thanks....also a grand job old bean.