Wright writes.....

[richard i]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Speaking of 'most-acceptable' locos, dear friend, Richard Irven, brought these two around yesterday......................

 

 

 

Both are entirely his own work in every department. Both had suffered slightly in their flight over from the 'States, but both ran well (if in reverse to polarity convention). 

 

I think the 'Sir Sam Fay' is built from a K's kit and the other 4-6-0 from a Millholme kit. The carriages are from Worsley Works and scratch, and are representative of the types built for the opening of the GC London Extension in 1897/'98. Again, both are all his work.

 

What fascinating examples of model-making. No RTR-dependency here, just perfect examples of determination and self-reliance. 

 

Having no 'baggage' (like me) of trying to model remembered late-BR steam (he's not old enough), Richard has chosen a period/railway where just about everything in and on a model of it has to be built. How refreshing.

 

Thanks for bringing these around Richard. Perhaps you'll expand on how you made the models, please.

Thank you for the kind comments. I must get around to fixing the knocks from the sea voyage. It is about prioritizing as there are also the other 30 carriages and 10 ish locos which need building to give a good representation of the era.  Build more or go back and repair. 
I do have details as I slowly build,  ( yes slowly as I have kids, a job and need to research each Item). The locos have a lot of filing and extra detail added. A huge amount of time on transfers and lining. Tony is right as to their origin. The carriages are worsley works. They lasted into the 1950s but started as front line on the GCML when it opened. The kit comes with sides and ends plus a floor. Roof fittings come as spares from d&s kits kindly from the gcrs. Bogies are spares from d&s kits but one had to be scratch built as there was one too few. The insides are plasticard and southern pride/ ratio seats plus pictures from internet of gcr carriage prints. So many helped with advice on building and painting or research to get a hopefully fair representation of the carriages.

it is the journey which is fun.

thank you Tony for such great hospitality. All had fun with the train set .

richard

Edited July 31, 2021 by richard i

[Iain.d]

I have been working on this old Ratio GWR Bogie Bolster wagon. There was one shown on this thread running on Little Bytham, way back on page 1832 (along with a whole host of other types of wagons) and on seeing that, it encouraged me to start on this one that I’ve had tucked away for a few years.

 

 

I think I’ve read the Ratio model is based on a Taff Vale wagon, but severely shortened. Despite the compromise I think it builds up into quite a realistic model. I did get rid of the plastic truss rods and replace them with brass wire. I also carefully scraped off the plastic representations of chain loops on the solebar and replaced them with wire loops from soft brass that in turn secure a link cut from some old chain I had. I also chopped off the plastic bolsters and drilled out the bolster holders and fitted some .5mm wire.  Buffers are from Lanarkshire Models, wheels are Hornby and I made up the transfers.  I’m not sure about the Tare Weight, it seems very light for a wagon supposedly capable of carrying 30T, but that’s what the instructions show.

 

 

I have also had a go with a bit of weathering; I used an umber wash, a dark wash and dry brushed a variety of greys and browns.  I cut down some matchsticks to represent dunnage from a previous journey and glued them at one end. I also fixed a couple of chemically blackened etched brass shackles (Roxey Mouldings), I’m not sure about them, they look too much like a couple of etched brass shackles that have been chemically blackened and stuck on the deck….. I think they need to look a little less uniform and a bit more discarded; maybe tomorrow’s job.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[t-b-g]

On a first look, the firebox on the GCR Fish Engine is 21mm wide, which is correct. The boiler is 22mm diameter, which is wrong! It should match the firebox at 5ft 3 (and a fraction) ins.

 

The smokebox is also 1mm too big a diameter, so if I make a boiler to match the firebox I also need to make a new smokebox. If I make the firebox wider it doesn't match the cab front and it isn't my way of doing things to alter something to make it wrong. So some serious work, involving a new boiler and smokebox, is needed to make an accurate model.

 

So much for a "spur of the moment" decision to open the box. It will go back away while I consider if all the modifications are worthwhile or if it would be easier to scratchbuild one.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by t-b-g
autocorrect changed too to to so I changed it back

[Michael Edge]

4 hours ago, Clem said:

Hi Michael. Would that be Klear, Humbrol Clear or spirit based?

Ronseal - but not the awful water based stuff.

[Tony Wright]

5 hours ago, richard i said:

Thank you for the kind comments. I must get around to fixing the knocks from the sea voyage. It is about prioritizing as there are also the other 30 carriages and 10 ish locos which need building to give a good representation of the era.  Build more or go back and repair. 
I do have details as I slowly build,  ( yes slowly as I have kids, a job and need to research each Item). The locos have a lot of filing and extra detail added. A huge amount of time on transfers and lining. Tony is right as to their origin. The carriages are worsley works. They lasted into the 1950s but started as front line on the GCML when it opened. The kit comes with sides and ends plus a floor. Roof fittings come as spares from d&s kits kindly from the gcr. Bogies are spares from d&s kits but one had to be scratch built as there was one too few. The insides are plasticard and southern pride/ ratio seats plus pictures from internet of gcr carriage prints. So many helped with advice on building and painting or research to get a hopefully fair representation of the carriages.

it is the journey which is fun.

thank you Tony for such great hospitality. All had fun with the train set .

richard

And, thank you Richard for your hospitality last evening.

 

Your three lads certainly had great fun running Little Bytham. Fast or faster seems to be their style. Great; that's what the trainset is all about. They certainly kept me on my toes, but it showed how well things ran. 

 

Speaking of your boys, how nice to find such a well-mannered trio. 'Please' and 'thank you' were immediate and always present. How different from one youth (of about the same age as your eldest at the time) who visited LB some years ago. All I got in response to questions/conversation was a series of different pitched grunts. Needless to say, he's never been back, nor ever will. That said, as you do, I always tried to expand our sons' vocabulary at every opportunity in their formative years. Why, I wonder? This kid's speech was certainly 'efficient'. Apparently, his peers spoke in the same 'limited' style, yet all could understand each other; even when discussing quite complex arrangements! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

6 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I certainly wouldn't (and didn't) fork out anything like that!

 

I haven't even mentioned the tender yet! Mine will probably end up with a Mike Edge designed etched one.

 

Perhaps I should have flogged mine rather than started it but I do like a challenge. 

Good evening Tony,

 

I have a 4mm Perseverance etched brass kit for a ROD tender here, if it's any use. It's yours if you wish; in exchange for all the signalling work you've done on Little Bytham's MR/M&GNR bit.  

 

It has no instructions! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Tony,

 

I have a 4mm Perseverance etched brass kit for a ROD tender here, if it's any use. It's yours if you wish; in exchange for all the signalling work you've done on Little Bytham's MR/M&GNR bit.  

 

It has no instructions! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Many thanks Tony. Very generous.

 

The kit has gone back in its box while I have a bit of thinking time over it. I have a nice 4mm drawing and a GA for the loco so once I can check dimensions I can see how bad the kit really is. I will still build one as I think it is just about the best looking of Robinson's 4-6-0 types, at least before the LNER messed up the proportions by lifting the boiler up. I just need to accept that it isn't going to be the "quicky" that I had hoped for and decide whether it happens now or takes a place in line behind all the other projects.

 

I have three part built (D9, C4 and J63), two finished but unpainted (B3 and C14) in 4mm and 4 part built in 7mm (J60, J63, C4 and B3) so common sense tells me I shouldn't be starting another one just yet and that I should get one or two off the bench first.   

 

 

[pete55]

7 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

........ while I consider if all the modifications are worthwhile or if it would be easier to scratchbuild one.

 

 

 

 

 

Go on Tony (t-b-g), scratchbuild one! You know you can....

It's good fun!!

 

Pete

[VikingSpirit]

Hello Tony

I hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, and I appreciate I am very late to the party, but I just wanted to thank you and congratulate you on the excellent BRM right track series.

 

Your superb insights into loco kit construction spurred me to have a go myself during the lockdown in 2020, I have enjoyed model railways for many years but always felt that loco kit building was beyond my abilities. Your patient and in-depth tutorials I felt completely demystified the process, so I was inspired to try my hand on some cheap white metal kits which I was able to purchase on eBay.

 

They were less than £15 for each loco, but were all poorly glued and painted as received. I have found that "Oven pride" oven gel cleaner does a grand job of stripping paint and glue and turning poor models back into a clean kit of parts again (it will also take the paint off Hornby loco bodies without melting the plastic)

 

I appreciate that these models are still far behind the highly detailed and researched specimens that yourself and others are building, but as practice mules I wanted to share them to illustrate that your generous wisdom has taught this kit-building newbie how to properly solder a white metal kit neatly and squarely (hopefully!)

 

My sincere thanks

 

Theo

 

[t-b-g]

39 minutes ago, pete55 said:

 

Go on Tony (t-b-g), scratchbuild one! You know you can....

It's good fun!!

 

Pete

 

I know I could too. The more I think about it the more I am tempted. 

 

The part built D9 is a scratchbuild so I may finish that one off first. If the Class 8 is my favourite Robinson 4-6-0 the 11B/D9 is my favourite loco full stop, so should get finished first.

 

The sad news about Mick Bonwick has really brought it home to me that none of us know how much time we have left so all we can do is make the most of it and not waste it.

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, Clem said:

Thanks for posting this. The Mk1 looks terrific. Where it's fitted within the frame like your pannier (good job by the way!) I've started using Glue and glaze. I do my kirk carriages like that. It was really for the BSL model and for etched brass models (for which I've previously used evostick). I suppose the point is it's possible to use evostick successfully when you're building it, but when repairing it, the stringiness can be a nightmare.

You've just reminded me of a line in an ancient (>50 years) Pendon guidebook, which said something like "X swears by Evo-Stik. Most of the rest of us swear at it". As a 12-year-old that struck me as very funny for some reason.

[Tony Wright]

9 hours ago, VikingSpirit said:

Hello Tony

I hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, and I appreciate I am very late to the party, but I just wanted to thank you and congratulate you on the excellent BRM right track series.

 

Your superb insights into loco kit construction spurred me to have a go myself during the lockdown in 2020, I have enjoyed model railways for many years but always felt that loco kit building was beyond my abilities. Your patient and in-depth tutorials I felt completely demystified the process, so I was inspired to try my hand on some cheap white metal kits which I was able to purchase on eBay.

 

They were less than £15 for each loco, but were all poorly glued and painted as received. I have found that "Oven pride" oven gel cleaner does a grand job of stripping paint and glue and turning poor models back into a clean kit of parts again (it will also take the paint off Hornby loco bodies without melting the plastic)

 

I appreciate that these models are still far behind the highly detailed and researched specimens that yourself and others are building, but as practice mules I wanted to share them to illustrate that your generous wisdom has taught this kit-building newbie how to properly solder a white metal kit neatly and squarely (hopefully!)

 

My sincere thanks

 

Theo

 

That's fantastic stuff, Theo,

 

Thanks for showing us. You've made my day! Thank you.

 

I assume the N7 is on an RTR chassis? If so, just undo the screw holding the coupling rods on (both sides) and swap the rods around. That way, the oil boxes will be at the top.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Having just read about Mick Bonwick's passing.......................

 

 

It rather puts into perspective whether the firebox shape on a DJH A3 is the correct angle or not. 

 

At the moment, it's totally irrelevant.

 

Having been a Missenden tutor myself in the past, his abilities with regard to explaining the mysteries of weathering were unsurpassed. 

 

 

[Bucoops]

10 hours ago, VikingSpirit said:

Hello Tony

I hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, and I appreciate I am very late to the party, but I just wanted to thank you and congratulate you on the excellent BRM right track series.

 

Your superb insights into loco kit construction spurred me to have a go myself during the lockdown in 2020, I have enjoyed model railways for many years but always felt that loco kit building was beyond my abilities. Your patient and in-depth tutorials I felt completely demystified the process, so I was inspired to try my hand on some cheap white metal kits which I was able to purchase on eBay.

 

They were less than £15 for each loco, but were all poorly glued and painted as received. I have found that "Oven pride" oven gel cleaner does a grand job of stripping paint and glue and turning poor models back into a clean kit of parts again (it will also take the paint off Hornby loco bodies without melting the plastic)

 

I appreciate that these models are still far behind the highly detailed and researched specimens that yourself and others are building, but as practice mules I wanted to share them to illustrate that your generous wisdom has taught this kit-building newbie how to properly solder a white metal kit neatly and squarely (hopefully!)

 

My sincere thanks

 

Theo

 

 

There's a familiar name, welcome aboard Theo

[Woodcock29]

21 hours ago, t-b-g said:

On a first look, the firebox on the GCR Fish Engine is 21mm wide, which is correct. The boiler is 22mm diameter, which is wrong! It should match the firebox at 5ft 3 (and a fraction) ins.

 

The smokebox is also 1mm too big a diameter, so if I make a boiler to match the firebox I also need to make a new smokebox. If I make the firebox wider it doesn't match the cab front and it isn't my way of doing things to alter something to make it wrong. So some serious work, involving a new boiler and smokebox, is needed to make an accurate model.

 

So much for a "spur of the moment" decision to open the box. It will go back away while I consider if all the modifications are worthwhile or if it would be easier to scratchbuild one.

 

 

 

 

Tony (G)

Your comments on the dimensions of the Millholme B5 boiler have made me go and measure mine built with high pitched 1930s period boiler back in 1987. It measures 21.2mm. I also have two more, one of which I purchased built but very cheap as it was a non-runner here in Oz. That one measures 21. 4mm. The third one is unbuilt and it's boiler measures 21.4mm (that was also bought second-hand relatively cheap - I'm definitely a sucker for a bargain). The smokeboxes are all around 22.6mm.

 

I intend to use the boiler from the cheap second-hand model for my B9. Which will be built from the Mike Edge etches I got after you showed me yours back in 2013.

 

Andrew

[t-b-g]

4 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Tony (G)

Your comments on the dimensions of the Millholme B5 boiler have made me go and measure mine built with high pitched 1930s period boiler back in 1987. It measures 21.2mm. I also have two more, one of which I purchased built but very cheap as it was a non-runner here in Oz. That one measures 21. 4mm. The third one is unbuilt and it's boiler measures 21.4mm (that was also bought second-hand relatively cheap - I'm definitely a sucker for a bargain). The smokeboxes are all around 22.6mm.

 

I intend to use the boiler from the cheap second-hand model for my B9. Which will be built from the Mike Edge etches I got after you showed me yours back in 2013.

 

Andrew

 

Was that really 8 years ago? Where did that go?

 

I would have happily lived with a boiler that was not the exact diameter and I would be happy to accept the odd 0.5 or perhaps even 1mm error if it didn't impact on the overall appearance of the model, especially on an old whitemetal kit. Mine is nowhere near round and the dimension I gave was a maximum. In other places it matched your dimensions.

 

The problem is that on my castings, the excess on the boiler is in just the wrong place and makes the boiler roughly 1mm wider than the firebox. I cannot see any way of making the join between the firebox and the boiler look right without major work. If I make the firebox wider (by altering it from being correct to being wrong, which goes against my nature!) then it won't fit nicely between the windows on the cab front so that would need altering or replacing too.

 

It is a feature of Robinson designs that the boiler and firebox are pretty much in line at the top and at the sides and the curved segment of the top corner of the firebox is a very characteristic shape. Many models have these features wrong and to me, it spoils the look of the loco. As an example, the old Ks O4 has the firebox wider than the boiler and you can see the front edge of the firebox all the way down the side of the boiler.

 

It might be possible to narrow the boiler by removing material but as it has cast on boiler bands, which I would remove anyway and as the front and back of the boiler don't form a flat face when put together, making a new boiler is probably easier than trying to make something good from the one in the kit. A slimmer boiler will make the step from boiler to smokebox much too big so a new smokebox would be needed too.

 

So by the time I have made a new boiler and smokebox, plus perhaps new frames, altered the cab to lose the armour plated roof and done a few other modifications, there won't be much kit left. All I need is a new footplate, cab, splashers and firebox in terms of the main parts and it is a scratchbuild.

Edited August 1, 2021 by t-b-g
Removing an incorrect correction! Must put brain in gear before doing even easy sums.

[t-b-g]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Having just read about Mick Bonwick's passing.......................

 

 

It rather puts into perspective whether the firebox shape on a DJH A3 is the correct angle or not. 

 

At the moment, it's totally irrelevant.

 

Having been a Missenden tutor myself in the past, his abilities with regard to explaining the mysteries of weathering were unsurpassed. 

 

 

 

You are quite right Tony. Mick was a super modeller and an all round good bloke to spend some time with. It does make discussions of half a mm. here or there on a loco seem rather petty when faced with the loss of one of our number.

[Woodcock29]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

Was that really 7 years ago? Where did that go?

My first visit to see Buckingham was 2013 but I did come again with my fellow travellers in 2017 so that's only 4 years ago. Hopefully there might be another time in the future - who knows at the moment?

Regards

Andrew

[t-b-g]

6 minutes ago, Woodcock29 said:

My first visit to see Buckingham was 2013 but I did come again with my fellow travellers in 2017 so that's only 4 years ago. Hopefully there might be another time in the future - who knows at the moment?

Regards

Andrew

 

You are most welcome here anytime you can make it Andrew.

[PupCam]

On 30/07/2021 at 18:05, thegreenhowards said:

I regard my K3 as a just about acceptable layout loco which would make yours more than acceptable. Mine’s clearly deficient in the cab department and being all white metal lacks some crispness. The chassis also suffers from the Bachmann small wheels. But it runs nicely and will outhaul any of my other K3s (two Bachmann and two SE Finecast). It’s the only K3 which will haul my 50 wagon loaded coal train as shown in this short video and so that’s what it gets used for and I’m very happy with it.

Andy

 

And very good it looks too.   Most impressive!

 

Alan

[MJI]

I did this today

 

[uax6]

I've been a bit busy as well, I dragged my soldering kit into work and decided to try and get a bit further on with some HR Banking tanks. One of the jobs was to shorten a chimney. I was almost all the way through cutting it, when I realised if I drilled a 0.45mm hole all the way through from top to bottom I could put some handrail wire in the hole to register it after I've shortened it.

 

I then soldered it up:

 

Cleaned it up and then added it to the body. I've added the smokebox fronts and splashers to all three of these today:

 

(Sadly the buffer on right hand one fell off and disappeared, so I'll have to find one in the bits box....) Hopefully the shorter chimney is noticeable. There's some cleaning up still to do, but I feel progress has been made (and that's what it's all about isn't it?).

 

These three are all designed to sit on the Triang 0-6-0 chassis, so when the bodies are done, work will move to the chassis to make them a bit better....

 

Andy g

Edited August 1, 2021 by uax6

[Atso]

Hello Tony,

 

It has been a while since I posted here (or anywhere) as work has been hectic. However, I've still been slowly building away and offer the following humble N gauge efforts.

 

 

A D.114 Brake Third. Ultima Models etched sides glued to a butchered Minitrix Brake Composite.

 

 

A D.113 Full Brake from the same sources. This one will be no. 4040, one of the cinema cars.

 

 

A D.40 Brake Third.

 

 

D.144 Restaurant First (although this will run representing a D.10C). I need to design some etches for a Pantry Third to go along with this one.

 

 

Finally, a D.34 Brake Composite. This one was cut 'n' shut from two damaged Minitrix D.143 Brake Composite bodies.

 

I'll get all the coaches painted before lining them out. Then I'll have to do something about the roof ventilator positions and extra battery boxes (where required).

[VikingSpirit]

12 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

That's fantastic stuff, Theo,

 

Thanks for showing us. You've made my day! Thank you.

 

I assume the N7 is on an RTR chassis? If so, just undo the screw holding the coupling rods on (both sides) and swap the rods around. That way, the oil boxes will be at the top.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Thank you for your kind words Tony, without wishing to derail your thread too much, I have managed to source a cheap Hornby J15 chassis which I hope will go under the N7 with some surgery. The wheelbase, balance weights, number of spokes and wheel diameter are all correct for the N7 so it should be a fair improvement on the old triang-Hornby one. I have also sourced a comet chassis to try my hand at for the Wills 2251, although this will mean carving the body up to move the front splashers back for the correct wheelbase.

 

I am afraid I'm not the world's fastest modeller as I spend most of my days mending the real thing for Bressingham steam museum. Today I was under this beauty repacking the cylinder and valve chest glands.

Edited August 1, 2021 by VikingSpirit
Grammar

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, VikingSpirit said:

 

Thank you for your kind words Tony, without wishing to derail your thread too much, I have managed to source a cheap Hornby J15 chassis which I hope will go under the N7 with some surgery. The wheelbase, balance weights, number of spokes and wheel diameter are all correct for the N7 so it should be a fair improvement on the old triang-Hornby one. I have also sourced a comet chassis to try my hand at for the Wills 2251, although this will mean carving the body up to move the front splashers back for the correct wheelbase.

 

I am afraid I'm not the world's fastest modeller as I spend most of my days mending the real thing for Bressingham steam museum. Today I was under this beauty repacking the cylinder and valve chest glands.

Thanks Theo,

 

Derail away, please....................

 

Twelve inches to the foot 'modelling'. That's really something!

 

Regards,

 

Tony.