News from Cooper Craft/Blacksmith/Slater's/Kirk LNER/Mailcoach Kits.

[Horsetan]

 

I have the drawings of the B12 from the RM 11/72 also the Isinglass drawings of it and will be looking to get the GER Society ones as well to make sure the boiler is correct.....

 

I seem to recall the flaw on the B12/3 resin boiler was due to the measurement for the unclad boiler being taken in error, instead of the diameter including the cladding, hence it ended up undersized.

[Kits from Somerset]

I seem to recall the flaw on the B12/3 resin boiler was due to the measurement for the unclad boiler being taken in error, instead of the diameter including the cladding, hence it ended up undersized.

But it is correct for the Scottish B12/4 which had the smaller boiler/firebox and also the J20 rebuilds.

[Kits from Somerset]

Few more updates.

 

A new roof forming tool for the Blacksmith kits has been made after David Smith (ex Blacksmith) supplied me with the measurements for it, as the last one is lost in deepest North Lincolnshire. I am still working on the white-metal moulds. The first etches for the missing SECR station fencing etc has come and the two existing platform and ramp/gates are back in production also with the new yard gates. The GWR yard gates need a bit more information done on them as where the drop bar is missing from the ones at Taunton so I will have a good look if there are any on the South Devon railway on Saturday and if not I will have to go to Blue Anchor station as there are a pair at the old station masters house. The drawings are complete for the GWR spear fence for platform ramps with other none railway fences as well which will be sent to the etchers very soon.

 

The SR machinery truck drawings are very nearly finished with a few parts need drawing and the odd mistake or too taken out but the castings for the axle boxes/springs are needing to be done, a test built will be done on it before it comes out to make sure it all fits with least work needed to build it, also the SR/BR 4SUB will be available with the centre coach after it had been changed as well.

 

I am hoping in the next day or two to have a lone of an old Cooper Craft F3 kit which has not been built so I can have a good look at but I have decided that the leading and trailing wheels will have to be 3'9" not the 4'0" for OO and EM so the front slasher will not be over big. The S4 boys will be all right with the 4'0" wheels. I will be designing the suspension as a CSB as this will be the best for the 2-4-2 type engines.

 

I am hoping to bring out the Mailcoach GWR toplight K22 again as the new roof is been sorted, and new ends will need to be done for it as well.

[jwealleans]

Are you working towards any date for the F3?

[Kits from Somerset]

I will like to by mid summer as the castings will be the ones that are used by Alan Gibson kits, or see if I can use the ones from the kits as masters for my own moulds. The kit which will be on lone to me will be returned at the Notts show so the main drawings will have to be finished by then. Most of the body drawings are all ready done so it is mainly the chassis left to do now. 

 

I need to get the size of the front splashier as the drawings I have seen don't show it on. Might have to have a busman's holiday to go and see the preserved E4 to get it right.

[Neal Ball]

Few more updates.

 

......... The GWR yard gates need a bit more information done on them as where the drop bar is missing from the ones at Taunton so I will have a good look if there are any on the South Devon railway on Saturday and if not I will have to go to Blue Anchor station as there are a pair at the old station masters house. The drawings are complete for the GWR spear fence for platform ramps with other none railway fences as well which will be sent to the etchers very soon.

 

 

I am hoping to bring out the Mailcoach GWR toplight K22 again as the new roof is been sorted, and new ends will need to be done for it as well.

 

 

I like the idea of the GWR gates and the K22, which will look good in a new a new Parcels train....

[micklner]

Are the LNER Coaches ever having new moulds??    The kits are now are very old and showing their age.

 

      It would be nice to have Tourist and Coronation Coaches which do not use the awful clear sides. The design simply do not work. The clear plastic is at best foggy with various imperfections due to poor moulds and being too thick  As a result you get poor quality windows which cannot be improved and they are a devil to paint too. I have built the Tourist set and speak from experience. I would never consider buying the Coronation set until the kits are improved.

     On the other LNER stock if decent Glazing could be moulded and supplied with the kits?.  Something like flush windows could then be achieved and make them nmuch more saleable to people now use to expecting Hornby type quality in the kits. They would make them much nearer the quality of the MJT range as well.

 

     Judging from the comments re Roofs you are suffering the similar problems, as people who try and build them into decent models.

 

I fully realise this all costs money but the kits would be much more saleable for the future

Second request !!

[Horsetan]

Hopefully there'll be some movement on the Mk.1 kits by the end of the year. Everyone has their particular favourite target kit, so I guess the Mk.1s will be somewhere at the back of the queue.....

[Kits from Somerset]

Second request !!

 

Yes they will get done but as they will have to be done as one complete set they will need to be done in one complete go so will be costly but the 8'6 bogie will have a new one done as the other one is so bad to run partly due to been designed for another type of machine means that it is a bad runner and has more bad than good days.

 

Hopefully there'll be some movement on the Mk.1 kits by the end of the year. Everyone has their particular favourite target kit, so I guess the Mk.1s will be somewhere at the back of the queue.....

 

I will see what I can sort out over this in the near future and hope it is not a new roof needed to do this.

 

The chassis for the F3 is finished now with a set of Alan Gibson S4 wheels in stock for the test build and will have to see if it will build all right and the CSB works for it, but at least the spacers will be the correct width as on the old ones was 9.8 mm, 12.8 mm & 17.54 mm wide  .. Also including the test etches for the 8 types of fencing are on the same order.

 

This was seen on the South Devon Railway on the Branchline Weekend (busman holiday as normal) and so I got permission to measure it up for a future Blacksmith Kit as they were built by the LNER and some were sold new to the LMS as well.

 

 

Logs will not be included.

 

Pre grouping coaches for another railway will be coming soon with most of the artwork is complete as this jumped the queue as the out of production kit I had got of ebay had an etching for one of the bogies missing so had to be sent back. 

[micklner]

Thanks for update , hopefully good news for the future !!

[Kits from Somerset]

New batch of etches come today for garden/park fencing, also including the etches for the LNER D16 class as the chassis for this one is far better than the other engine kits so coming out first.

 

Also a test sheet for the LNER F3 class chassis which I hope to do a test build before the Notts show so you can have a look at.

 

Will post photos of the new etches in the next day or two.

[Kits from Somerset]

Here are some photos of the new etches including the test etches for the F3 chassis.

 

F3 Chassis

 

 

Fencing for low wall and gates.

 

 

SRCR yard gates and other uses as well.

 

 

Now included the F3 Chassis showing underneath to show where the pegs for the CSB will go (one is missing   ) so will have to to the drawing, also the firebox/ash pan needs some work on it to get the row of rivets to show better.

 

  

[Horsetan]

I detect a lot of Pavlov's Dogs after those photos!

[colinjamesporter]

Is there any news on the 16mm slate wagon kits. I ordered one a while ago with a pack of the weights but have not heard anything since.

Best wishes

Colin

[ianwales]

Hi

 

As part of what you have acquired under the Blacksmith range does it include the LNWR coaches formerly produced by Mallard Models?

 

Ian

[Castle]

Hi KFS,

 

I hope things are going well in deepest, darkest Somerset! Have you any news on the Loriot L kit please as there is a well wagon shaped hole in the Little Didcot fleet that this would fill very nicely indeed...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[Kits from Somerset]

The list for the Blacksmith castings are steadily getting sorted as some are only listed "for 6 wheelers only" etc   and some like the GWR self contained buffer you can run at one time with plenty of other parts as well but not what you want.

 

Is there any news on the 16mm slate wagon kits. I ordered one a while ago with a pack of the weights but have not heard anything since.
Best wishes
Colin

 

I am still having problems with one of the moulds for this kit and are looking to see if I can get another grade of the plastic as the firm I got the last batch worked better than the current batch but they closed down.

 

Hi

 

As part of what you have acquired under the Blacksmith range does it include the LNWR coaches formerly produced by Mallard Models?

 

Ian

 

Most of the drawings are missing for the LNWR coaches and their were some mistakes in the original artwork as well, so will need to be redone.

 

I have contacted the drawing officer for the LNWR society over what is included in the drawings they have got listed as they list all the drawings I need and asked if they include any measurements to see if it is worth getting them form them but after more than a month there has been no reply. 

 

Hi KFS,

I hope things are going well in deepest, darkest Somerset! Have you any news on the Loriot L kit please as there is a well wagon shaped hole in the Little Didcot fleet that this would fill very nicely indeed...

All the best,

Castle

 

Not much progress yet as I need to get to one to measure up and must spend a weekend or two at Didcot (I am a member of the GWS) to measure this one up and other things as well soon as the weather should be getting better. The castings will be the same as on other kits which mean their wont be the cost to do these. 

[Castle]

Hi KFS,

 

Great - PM and let me know when you are there and if we are on site too, we will put the kettle on for you!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[Jol Wilkinson]

LNWR corridor carriage artwork can be drawn from the information in Jenkinsons LNWR Carriages and the HMRS Register of WCJS.

 

Both for sale here;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Books-Illustrated-History-of-LNWR-Coaches-Register-of-West-Coast-Joint-Stock-/380606920022?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item589df0b556

[Kits from Somerset]

LNWR corridor carriage artwork can be drawn from the information in Jenkinsons LNWR Carriages and the HMRS Register of WCJS.

 

Both for sale here;

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Books-Illustrated-History-of-LNWR-Coaches-Register-of-West-Coast-Joint-Stock-/380606920022?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item589df0b556

The ones that are missing are Dia 335, 337, 284, 117 and the converted Third motor driving coach and all of these were non corridor stock.

[Jol Wilkinson]

The ones that are missing are Dia 335, 337, 284, 117 and the converted Third motor driving coach and all of these were non corridor stock.

In which case  LNWR Non-Corridor carriages, pub. by theLNWR Society http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/Sales/book02.php should provide what you need.

 

There are 4mm drawings of the first three Diagrams but I can't find D117 in any of the books. Should it be D177 which does appear in Non-Corridor Carriages?

[Mikkel]

I am planning to build various kits with GWR DC1 brakes and so was wondering if the revised Coopercraft GWR wagon/van underframes happen to be due anytime soon? 

 

I appreciate things take their time to get right, so am only asking to see if I should wait a bit, or go ahead with other options.

 

It is excellent that the kits will now have all types of DC brake options.

[Mike G]

In which case  LNWR Non-Corridor carriages, pub. by theLNWR Society http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/Sales/book02.php should provide what you need.

 

There are 4mm drawings of the first three Diagrams but I can't find D117 in any of the books. Should it be D177 which does appear in Non-Corridor Carriages?

Jol

 

No drawings of D117, but a good photo in Russell GWR coaches appendix vol1 page 101. Just finishing off 4 of these!

 

regards

 

Mike

[Kits from Somerset]

Now the nights have drawn in and I will be spending less time doing gardening in the evenings it is about time I started updating you more often.

 

Please contact me by phone if there is a problem or chat with me at a show even it is only to give me a thick ear and I have found that Hotmail has decided that RMweb is now spam so if you have used this please try again and I will try to check my spam folder more often to see if there is any thing on there.

 

First the bad news that Slater’s have decided that as they have the Cooper Craft 7mm kits they will do everything to stop me doing their 4mm range so unfortunately it has turned legal.

 

The white metal part of the Blacksmith range is been sorted out so to be a lot more easy to run as it is set up now if I want some castings for one bogie I also will have parts for 3 other bogies, 2 different tender axlebox/springs, 2 different buffers and 2 parts for one of the engine kits and have to run another mould to get the other parts for that bogie. There are 6 moulds with the same part for the Dean 6’4” bogie.  When it is all sorted there will be one mould for each bogie and most of the coach kits will have a mould for their groups for the body castings ie for the Dean clerestories.

 

The LNWR 50’ coaches drawings are 90% complete and I am hoping to get one of the brake third off for a test etch by the end of the month. The first ones I will be doing is the coaches for the Birmingham 4 coach sets D337 brake third, D180 composite and D284 all third also the motor driving trailer as well the drawing for the D339 is also nearly done.  

 

I am hoping to get the drawings sent off for the SR machinery truck at the same time as well with the master for the axlebox/spring has been made for me all ready.

 

Also I am hoping to get some NER clerestories out as well as most of the drawings for these are done but the masters have not been done yet. There are some other machinery trucks in the pipe line and some other interesting vehicles as well which will tell you about nearer the time.  

[truffy]

I am hoping to get the drawings sent off for the SR machinery truck at the same time as well with the master for the axlebox/spring has been made for me all ready.

This is the SECR truck? I could be interested in that. Do you have an idea when you'll have images posted? Being in Switzerland, I don't really get to shows.