Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

29 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I've a suspicion that you may have invented some new words when that happened - am I warm Tony?

 

 

When I started to read this post Tony I was sure that you were going to say that the beam compensation was junked and everything soldered up solid.  You're not being seduced by the pull of the "dark side" by any chance are you? 

 

Good evening Brian,

 

Roger Mellie (or is it Melly; I haven't read Viz for ages) ?) has got nothing on me! 

 

I thought I'd give the compensation a go, since it was already installed. I had to configure a pick-up pad to to be ahead of the leading drivers, otherwise the beam wouldn't have pivoted. And, it did work - very sweetly, but no better than any of my other five J6s, which are built rigid.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, mullie said:

In the spirit of showing what we have been up to I have built this, a wagon turntable cobbled together out of plasticard, scrap copperclad and track parts. In the absence of an EM gauge horse (never seen a narrow gauge one) I will have to rope shunt the siding which I believe was more common in East Anglia than using a chain. This simple video shows it working.

 

 

The operating mechanism was built using a kit of parts found on Ebay.

 

 

The photo shows my hacking of the baseboard, as it is just 2 foot by 1 the structure is not compromised, The gap to the right will be part of a small harbour. Now I know it works all will be tidied. I am no carpenter and I tend to build layouts out of recycled wood acquired from various sources, mainly free but everything works.

 

Martyn

Brilliant!

[t-b-g]

2 hours ago, mullie said:

In the spirit of showing what we have been up to I have built this, a wagon turntable cobbled together out of plasticard, scrap copperclad and track parts. In the absence of an EM gauge horse (never seen a narrow gauge one) I will have to rope shunt the siding which I believe was more common in East Anglia than using a chain. This simple video shows it working.

 

 

The operating mechanism was built using a kit of parts found on Ebay.

 

 

The photo shows my hacking of the baseboard, as it is just 2 foot by 1 the structure is not compromised, The gap to the right will be part of a small harbour. Now I know it works all will be tidied. I am no carpenter and I tend to build layouts out of recycled wood acquired from various sources, mainly free but everything works.

 

Martyn

 

How about one of these?

 

 

[Iain.d]

For my modelling, I haven’t done as much I would have liked to in the last week or so; work was busy and took me away from home for a few days. I have managed to solder the bodies together on the LMS D1938 Restaurant Composite and the GWR A44 Driver Trailer I’m currently doing.

 

This is the A44 Driver Trailer with roof loosely fitted. The body work is pretty much done and the next job will be to focus on the interior, then the roof and prepare the buffers and all the whitemetal bits for the underframe.

 

 

 

The kit came with the Ratio style plastic seating but this is ‘too thick’ such that the seat edges will be visible in the compartment windows – there’s nothing wrong with the seats, its because the compartment partition to the window frame on these carriages was so narrow. The D1938 Restaurant Composite came with much narrower backed seating (same as used to come in the Ian Kirk kits) so I’ll use this instead for this coach and the Ratio stuff in the restaurant carriage. I had intended to have the roof as detachable but I think it’ll need to be glued on, its such an integral part of the coach’s strength.

 

This is the D1938 Restaurant Composite. Its in a similar state to the A44 and the intention is work on this ones interior also. I also need to think about how it will couple up to the the adjacent carriages in the rake. I normally use a rigid hook and bar system but given the length of this carriage I'll try and engineer / cobble up something that articulates.

 

 

 

Apologies for the photos looking so grubby. I try and clean off the flux residue and heat staining from what I’m building pretty much after every session. They did get done yesterday, but maybe I had greasy fingers before photographing them. We had take out for tea...

 

What the images do show is that I need to trim and fettle the roofs a bit more, though this is not so readily apparent in real life.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[mullie]

8 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

How about one of these?

 

 

I have seen this before,  it is amazing and way beyond my skill level.

 

Martyn 

[jwealleans]

3 hours ago, Iain.d said:

The kit came with the Ratio style plastic seating but this is ‘too thick’ such that the seat edges will be visible in the compartment windows

 

I found last week that Andrew Hartshorne is again supplying seating like that formerly available from Coopercraft, which is a solid moulding so you don't get that problem.  It's also thinner than the Ratio product so works better in your kind of carriage.  Item UC045A.

[St Enodoc]

3 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

 

I found last week that Andrew Hartshorne is again supplying seating like that formerly available from Coopercraft, which is a solid moulding so you don't get that problem.  It's also thinner than the Ratio product so works better in your kind of carriage.  Item UC045A.

I like Southern Pride seats (usual disclaimer).

[Tony Wright]

9 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

How about one of these?

 

 

This is fantastic.

 

When I tried driving the tractor, my performance was dismal! 

 

'Needs to try harder' I think..........................

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, Iain.d said:

For my modelling, I haven’t done as much I would have liked to in the last week or so; work was busy and took me away from home for a few days. I have managed to solder the bodies together on the LMS D1938 Restaurant Composite and the GWR A44 Driver Trailer I’m currently doing.

 

This is the A44 Driver Trailer with roof loosely fitted. The body work is pretty much done and the next job will be to focus on the interior, then the roof and prepare the buffers and all the whitemetal bits for the underframe.

 

 

 

The kit came with the Ratio style plastic seating but this is ‘too thick’ such that the seat edges will be visible in the compartment windows – there’s nothing wrong with the seats, its because the compartment partition to the window frame on these carriages was so narrow. The D1938 Restaurant Composite came with much narrower backed seating (same as used to come in the Ian Kirk kits) so I’ll use this instead for this coach and the Ratio stuff in the restaurant carriage. I had intended to have the roof as detachable but I think it’ll need to be glued on, its such an integral part of the coach’s strength.

 

This is the D1938 Restaurant Composite. Its in a similar state to the A44 and the intention is work on this ones interior also. I also need to think about how it will couple up to the the adjacent carriages in the rake. I normally use a rigid hook and bar system but given the length of this carriage I'll try and engineer / cobble up something that articulates.

 

 

 

Apologies for the photos looking so grubby. I try and clean off the flux residue and heat staining from what I’m building pretty much after every session. They did get done yesterday, but maybe I had greasy fingers before photographing them. We had take out for tea...

 

What the images do show is that I need to trim and fettle the roofs a bit more, though this is not so readily apparent in real life.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Beautiful work, Iain,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Dunsignalling]

17 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

Is it my imagination or are lots of people far more critical of models. Such as the discussion on the B16's , If it looks like a B16 then for me anyway it would be good enough. The same seems to apply with the ready to run stuff that more and more fidelity and accuracy is demanded by some but then they are not happy with the price. It does seem sad that kit or scratch building appears in steep decline . Could it be in the 'instant' society which has developed over the last decade or so there is not the patience for such skills, which are far more satisfying. 

But, equally, even in lockdown, our time is not infinite.

 

If a ready-made model provides something (or a good basis for something) that fits into ones overall plans, the available time is surely better spent in kit-building or scratch-building items that cannot, and may well never, be obtainable any other way. B16s, for now at least, fall firmly in the latter category for those who need them.  

 

Quite aside from the fact that Tony's primary interest in the hobby is clearly building locomotives, he has a big layout that demands heavy (metal) locomotives capable of hauling full sets of heavy (metal) coaches. His personal boundary between a practical need for power and r-t-r being adequate for the traffic on offer therefore lies in a different place to mine and possibly, most of us.   

 

On top of that, my painting skills are similar to what Tony has confessed to, good enough for plain black goods engines, but little more; and I lack his circle of those with greater abilities with whom to barter my other skills (such as they are).

 

My guiding principle has always been "Buy what I can, make what I must". What has undoubtedly changed, over the past two decades, is that so much more of what I can buy nowadays is fit for (my) purpose. I don't consider that a matter for regret; if one really wants to build engines, the existence of a ready made version shouldn't be a deterrent.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Dunsignalling

[dibateg]

One of the B16/1 photos jogged my memory. Yes - the coupled wheelbase was too far forward on the DJH kit - that was why I hacked it apart. It's interesting to look back at some of these models in the light of more knowledge., knowing that we'd do it completely differently now!

We are having a J6 fest - mine is grinding along to completion.. I think yours will be finished long before mine Tony.

 

Watch out for the tender though - most kits seem to cater for them in GNR condition. There appear to have been changes to the front coal plates in LNER days....

[Roger Sunderland]

10 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

How about one of these?

 

 

Absolutely stunning!

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

This is fantastic.

 

When I tried driving the tractor, my performance was dismal! 

 

'Needs to try harder' I think..........................

 

You and me both! I can't get my head round the orientations of the controls. The tractor's left and my left are sometimes the same and sometimes not depending on whether it is heading away from you or towards you. 

 

The video shows the prototype tractor. Laurie has built and painted the proper one now and it is superb.

Edited November 15, 2020 by t-b-g
To add content

[Iain.d]

2 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

I found last week that Andrew Hartshorne is again supplying seating like that formerly available from Coopercraft, which is a solid moulding so you don't get that problem.  It's also thinner than the Ratio product so works better in your kind of carriage.  Item UC045A.

Thank you, that's actually the seating I have, that came with the Restaurant Composite and what I recall came with the Ian Kirk kits. I didn't realise it originated with/from Coopercraft.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[Major Clanger]

UC045A is nothing to do with Coopercraft - AFAIK it is the original Kirk design, as taken over by Colin Ashby. I purchased all his remaining stocks, and when it's gone there will be no more (unless Colin finds another bag full).

[jwealleans]

Thanks for clarifying that, Andrew.  Most of what I have left came from Coopercraft in the Tony Brown days, which I believe were cast by Colin.   Shame no-one is producing it now.

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

My guiding principle has always been "Buy what I can, make what I must". What has undoubtedly changed, over the past two decades, is that so much more of what I can buy nowadays is fit for (my) purpose.

An excellent principle to live (model) by.  I think though that the point made by the original poster, remains; in the annual wish-lists, people plead for a RTR model of a "LNER J101".  Then:

• Hornby/Bachmann/Heljan/Oxford Rail/whoever produce one.  Some people complain it's over £100 and it'll kill the hobby, others buy one. 
• Some complain the cab roof is the wrong shape, two years later the manufacturer releases a modified version (when all they'd done was make it according to a (what everyone assumed was accurate) drawing. 
• Then people complain that after three years, there isn't a J101/5 variant with the different bunker shape (there were only two J101/5s anyway). 
• A couple of years later, the J101/5 variant appears and half the pleaders now complain that they've made it with the wrong number for their own personal preference, or that it isn't available in BR black BRITISH RAILWAYS livery which it carried for at least 6 months in 1948.  Oh and why isn't available ready-weathered, with DCC sound and for under £80.....?

If I was an RTR manuafcturer, at shows I would keep a stock of Airfix beginners kits under the counter, the ones where you get a Red Arrows Hawk jet, glue, the correct paint and even a paintbrush.  Anyone who makes one of the above complaints should be offered one of the kits at a discount, "Here look, have a go at one of these, don't be scared....".

[Bucoops]

An alternative seat might be ones from Isinglass? I'll try and remember where I put the set I bought for the Quint and take some photos. Although as they are designed to go within resin sides as opposed to brass they may be a bit narrow - but then the Kirk ones are designed to go between plastic sides so similar?

[Dunsignalling]

My attitude is that if whatever is offered is close to what I want, I'll either fix it or put up with it. Quite often the latter until I get round to the former.

 

I have a fairly adventurous approach to modifying things so long  as it doesn't affect the finish enough to require a full repaint.

 

John

[Bucoops]

20 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

An alternative seat might be ones from Isinglass? I'll try and remember where I put the set I bought for the Quint and take some photos. Although as they are designed to go within resin sides as opposed to brass they may be a bit narrow - but then the Kirk ones are designed to go between plastic sides so similar?

 

Can't find the box at the moment but this is what they look like (I'm sure Isinglass won't mind me nicking their photo as it may generate some sales!

 

 

[t-b-g]

I can't remember the last time I bought carriage seats. A rectangle of plastic card for the back, another for the seat and a couple of squares added for armrests in 1st class only takes a few moments.

 

If I can be bothered, I take the corner off the 40 thou with a quick sand or file. The amount you can see inside most carriages is so restricted that it is hard to tell whether I did or not.

 

You can make the the right height or the right thickness to suit whichever carriage you are making and if you are doing an old time 3rd class, you can even use planked sheet to represent the wood.

[St Enodoc]

16 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

The amount you can see inside most carriages is so restricted that it is hard to tell whether I did or not.

That's true enough Tony, especially compartment stock. The old K's B-Set had no interior at all, not even a floor, so I added the floor and compartment partitions using black styrene. I didn't bother with seats as they wouldn't have shown up at all. Corridor stock, or any stock with large sidelights, is another story though.

[Headstock]

17 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

I can't remember the last time I bought carriage seats. A rectangle of plastic card for the back, another for the seat and a couple of squares added for armrests in 1st class only takes a few moments.

 

If I can be bothered, I take the corner off the 40 thou with a quick sand or file. The amount you can see inside most carriages is so restricted that it is hard to tell whether I did or not.

 

You can make the the right height or the right thickness to suit whichever carriage you are making and if you are doing an old time 3rd class, you can even use planked sheet to represent the wood.

 

Good morning Tony,

 

I have a photograph for you that I have been meaning to link for some time. I think that you will find it interesting with regard to splasher tops.

 

https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/LNER-and-BRE-and-BRNE/LNER-pre-grouping-locomotives/GCR-locomotives/i-8nvvH75/A

 

[ArthurK]

17 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

Is it correct the castings would also be suitable for the C7s ?. If they are you will be certainly having an order for a 2 sets of castings

A lot of the details on the C7 were derived from the C6 & v/09. the general design of the footplate/splashers followed the precedent laid down on the V/09,  They used the same chimney and boiler. The trailing axleboxes were the same. Initially the springs were 3' 9" but later increased to 4' 3". The tenders of the early C7s held 4125 gallons but, were not self trimming. These  were replaced by the self-trimming style "borrowed" from the later Q6s.

 

ArthurK

[t-b-g]

53 minutes ago, Headstock said:

 

Good morning Tony,

 

I have a photograph for you that I have been meaning to link for some time. I think that you will find it interesting with regard to splasher tops.

 

https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/LNER-and-BRE-and-BRNE/LNER-pre-grouping-locomotives/GCR-locomotives/i-8nvvH75/A

 

 

Great photo!

 

Not much room for any doubt on that one.

 

Tony