4 COR

[Ceptic]

Hi Colin.

 

A one-off 4-SUB, eh !.... Blimey, you are a glutton for punishment. I'm sat here, (on me backside, as usual) thinking of you and all those windows, commode handles, door stops, etc, etc,...etc.

 

Joking aside, your 4-COR is a superb example of the very best of scratch-building, coupled with true perseverance. I'd a given up when that pot of solvent went over, if I'd got that far.

 

A couple of loose-ends, though. You gave a clue that your next project would involve 'plenty of steps'. The 4-DDs have been ruled out, so where do the 'steps' come in ?... Unless they're the stages of the build ?

Secondly, you asked us to name the source of the corridor connections' canvas topping. I may have missed the answer, so I'm guessing it's either the tissue , or the thin poly-foam packing found in Hornby's or Bachmann's r-t-r boxes ?.

 

All the same, what it boils down to, is,... Great Modelling.

 

Many thanks Colin.

[5Bel]

Hi Colin,

 

The 4Cor is a stunning model. It will look excellent on Newhaven alongside the rest of your collection. I look forward to seeing your summer project as I will be tackling the same thing myself. Good luck with the 4Sub when you get going, you will probably finish it before I finish mine!!

 

Again stunning modelling,

 

Cheers for now, Ian.

[Colin parks]

Miss Prism asked to see some photos of the glazing process:

 

It is exactly the same as for the 4 CIG done last year. All glazing was cut and stored before the sides were assembled some months ago, then stored on paper in the order in which the inner and outer panes would go. The transfers were applied at lunchtime thanks to Rick's help with directing me to relevant photos in a book I fortunately have: 'A Southern Electric Album' by Michael Welch.

 

Here, the inner glazing is offered up to the side and held in place whilst the signage transfers are applied. In this case, 'First Class' totems:

 

 

My thanks to Clive Mortimore for the link re. positions of transfers. Each inner pane was then returned to its place on the piece of paper for the transfer to dry. The only snag was that the Slater's 0.015" Plastiglaze pieces used for this layer of the glazing, reacted to the Kwikfix glue that was used to temporarily tack the glazing to the paper. This has left a mark on one corner of each piece, though the marks are hidden by the rebates/slots in all but two cases. Those were re-cut.

 

In the next shot, the outer pane is being inserted into the rebated opening behind the window frame (on a motor coach in this case):

 

 

There is no glue involved in holding the .020" PETG outer pane in place , as it is held by the inner pane (complete with 'No-Smoking' transfer facing outwards) which comes next. This inner pane locates into a slot at cantrail level to provide a positive hold at the top:

 

 

The next bit needs a steady hand and nerves. When all is judged to be OK, and the panes proven not to have any dust or finger marks on them, spot of super glue is dotted into each bottom corner. This is then quickly followed by breathing hard onto the inside and outside of the window several times. Doing this sounds crazy, but there will be no milkyness caused by vapours from the glue. Believe me once the glue has set the pane will not come out without a fight!

(The paper holding all the glazing for this motor coach can just be made out behind the foam cradle.)

 

 

The resultant completed window is as flush as is as possible with the outer surface of the body side without, um, falling out!

 

 

Colin

[Colin parks]

Hi Colin.

 

A one-off 4-SUB, eh !.... Blimey, you are a glutton for punishment. I'm sat here, (on me backside, as usual) thinking of you and all those windows, commode handles, door stops, etc, etc,...etc.

 

Joking aside, your 4-COR is a superb example of the very best of scratch-building, coupled with true perseverance. I'd a given up when that pot of solvent went over, if I'd got that far.

 

A couple of loose-ends, though. You gave a clue that your next project would involve 'plenty of steps'. The 4-DDs have been ruled out, so where do the 'steps' come in ?... Unless they're the stages of the build ?

Secondly, you asked us to name the source of the corridor connections' canvas topping. I may have missed the answer, so I'm guessing it's either the tissue , or the thin poly-foam packing found in Hornby's or Bachmann's r-t-r boxes ?.

 

All the same, what it boils down to, is,... Great Modelling.

 

Many thanks Colin.

Thanks Frank,

 

Yep, a 4 SUB in the autumn! Maybe the 'steps' comment was not so well thought out after all, but there are some on a 4 SUB I'm sure. Yes, the corridor top canvas is that very thin translucent film found in Bachmann packaging.

 

I've still got that motor coach side that was drenched in solvent. There are some disturbing parallels to 'A Picture of Dorian Grey': as the model nears completion, the affected side has become ever more hideously distorted and disfigured. I wonder what this means?!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Colin parks]

Hi Colin,

 

The 4Cor is a stunning model. It will look excellent on Newhaven alongside the rest of your collection. I look forward to seeing your summer project as I will be tackling the same thing myself. Good luck with the 4Sub when you get going, you will probably finish it before I finish mine!!

 

Again stunning modelling,

 

Cheers for now, Ian.

Thanks Ian,

 

The 'summer project' awaits its lamp tops! I thought your 4 SUB was finished! Your model certainly inspired me to build one. (The stock does not all fit on the layout any more!)

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[uax6]

I for one am very sad that this build has come to an end, as it now means that I'll have to wait for August for something as interesting and inspiring to come along..... ;-{

 

The 'modifications' to the Bil will be interesting to watch, and prbably just as awe-inducing!

 

Well done Colin, I can't wait for you to be back!

 

Andy G

[John Oxlade]

Can we have a shot o the 4-COR on a layout alongside other scratchbuilt masterpieces? Pretty please.

[Colin parks]

The last pictures of the construction of the 4 COR, which now is replete with windows throughout. Just over five months work! There are still on or two refinements I shall make after we have been away later this week, but it really just needs a touch of anti-flash grey on the shoe beams and fuses and some light weathering of the sides(unless I've forgotten anything!)

 

Who says BR blue wasn't attractive (when clean)? This is the trailer composite S 11832 S in rather smart condition:

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6570-newhaven-harbour/page-25&do=findComment&comment=1079088

 

 

Thanks to all who assisted in the making of this model and to everybody who hung on through the boring bits. I shall post some photos later the Newhaven Harbour topic (The link seems to have appeared above.) The summer project will appear in the modifying and detailing RTR models sub-forum.

 

Colin

[5Bel]

Hi Colin,

 

Thanks for the comments re my 4Sub. Two coaches are complete, only about four hours work to finish the other two. Thats when I get some spare time! Good luck with the summer project.

 

Cheers for now, Ian.

[Gwiwer]

Thanks for a fascinating and blow-by-blow account of a superbly crafted build.  I've followed most of the way as a mute observer and only spoken up in the later stages which I hope has proved of some use.

 

If they are not already aware the SEG might be rather interested in this as a feature and - again if you're not already in touch - I can supply the contact.

 

Long live 3142 - best wishes with 4377.

[Tigermoth]

Great work with the Windows, all in all an excellent thread and also very inspiring, well done. Really looking forward to the next one.

[Colin parks]

Great work with the Windows, all in all an excellent thread and also very inspiring, well done. Really looking forward to the next one.

Thanks Tigermoth,

 

You will be glad to hear the buffers are to be glued in permanently (level) today!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Colin parks]

Can we have a shot o the 4-COR on a layout alongside other scratchbuilt masterpieces? Pretty please.

Hi John,

 

I've just begun to post pictures of the COR on the layout topic http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6570-newhaven-harbour/page-25&do=findComment&comment=1079088

 

Will have to dust off some other stock this afternoon to pose with the unit.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Enterprisingwestern]

Congratulations Colin, I reckon you may well have just beaten the RTR version to the finishing line

 

Mike.

[Colin parks]

Congratulations Colin, I reckon you may well have just beaten the RTR version to the finishing line

 

Mike.

Hi Mike,

 

Do you know something the rest of us don't?!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Enterprisingwestern]

  Depends which rumour you listen to I s'pose.

 

Mike.

[uax6]

Colin, having seen all the effort you expend on your builds, may I ask how you store them all please?

 

Andy G

[bazza.]

I'm very sure the SEG published a broadside (or near as) view of 3142 in Barnham down siding immediately after withdrawal and possibly even before the fire which caused one vehicle to go for scrap and be replaced with a substitute before transfer to preservation at (initially) the former SESC Ashford.  The image in my mind would have shown the extent of the yellow which IIRC came around the corner stopping just short of the driver's door and would have been in an early edition of their Live Rail journal which I no longer have.  Sadly everything pre-2000 had to be left in the UK upon departure; the magazine runs which went back to LIve Rail no. 5 of 1972 (and in other cases to around 1965) were offered to dealers or the second-hand market.

 

I also seem to recall there being a suitable view of 3142 published in their Foxley Slides range.  Does anyone have a copy?

 

This image may also help http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac4/peter_f55/Rail/SR/emu4-COR3142.jpg

 

And while it's in monochrome this of 3142 also shows the extent of the yellow quite well http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3659/5835257517_3f0c9d2a92_o.jpg

 

 

[Edit : to remove link cached by Google Images of now-removed shot of 3142 at Ashford and my related text]

Hi Colin,

 

Sorry I also could not find the photo of 3142 in my back numbers of Live Rail as disussed by Rick. I also would have been interested in this photo also as it was taken at Barnham Junction, the station that I am modelling.

 

How ever in my search I did find this photo of 3142 which might be of interest to you.

 

Beautiful model of 3142 that you have built Colin,  and built so quick. I know how much time and work that you would have put into that model.

 

[attachment=295258:020.JPG

 

Regards

 

Bazza.

[SRman]

As always, superb, high quality and inspirational work, Colin.  

 

As for that 4 SUB, with all the practice you have had building these other units, you should be able to knock that out in a couple of afternoons!    

[Guest maxthemapman]

020.JPG

 

How ever in my search I did find this photo of 3142 which might be of interest to you.

There is a distinctly weird optical illusion in this picture, almost as though the train hit a bridge.

 

Or perhaps it was the prototype for one of these:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29997762@N05/4646018448/

[Colin parks]

Colin, having seen all the effort you expend on your builds, may I ask how you store them all please?

 

Andy G

Hi Andy,

 

The scratch-built EMUs are mostly stored in shoe boxes (teenage children get through lots of trainers, so there is a plentiful supply of them). The boxes are lined with 1" foam above and below the models and 1" x 1/2" strips divide the models. Packing pieces are cut to suit at each end of each coach to fit around any coupling etc.. Four coaches fit nicely side to side and each coach is held in a thin polythene bag (which have previously contained bread from the village shop!). The bags act as cradles form lifting the models in and out of their allotted spaces.

The boxes are held tightly shut with a band of Velcro around the outside. On the inside of the lids of the boxes of the four-car units there are diagrams to show the exact order of assembly of the unit. The 4 CIG being particularly hard to get right!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Colin parks]

020.JPG

 

Hi Colin,

 

Sorry I also could not find the photo of 3142 in my back numbers of Live Rail as disussed by Rick. I also would have been interested in this photo also as it was taken at Barnham Junction, the station that I am modelling.

 

How ever in my search I did find this photo of 3142 which might be of interest to you.

 

Beautiful model of 3142 that you have built Colin,  and built so quick. I know how much time and work that you would have put into that model.

 

[attachment=295258:020.JPG

 

Regards

 

Bazza.

Hi Bazza,

 

Thanks for your comments and that link. It look like the unit is passing from a super-elevated curve to the left onto one to the right. It does give the train a very unusual look.

 

Re. the time the model took to build the 4 COR, five months seems like an age to me! Admittedly, the start of a scratch-build project always seems to go quickly followed by a lot of tedious slow progress in the middle, culminating in going at it 'hammer and tongs' just to get the dratted thing finished! I have been very lucky in having so much advice and assistance from RMweb memebers (including yourself) in this and other projects, which makes it all the more interesting and rewarding.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Colin parks]

As always, superb, high quality and inspirational work, Colin.  

 

As for that 4 SUB, with all the practice you have had building these other units, you should be able to knock that out in a couple of afternoons!    

Hi SRman,

 

Thanks once again for your comments. Re. the 4 SUB, it will be back in the 'comfort zone' to a degree, but those clean lines are deceptive and the glazing has to be very neatly fitted to the many windows. As with the Tin HAL, there is no hiding dodgy side to roof joints under the cantrail gutter!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

 

(Edit: I shall be away until Monday, so excuse the lack of response to any replies in the meantime.)

[Ceptic]

Hi Ceptic,

 

You have been busy!

 

I look forward to seeing a definitive proof. Perhaps the artwork could be used to make water-slide transfers? I have a feeling they would look better than printing onto paper.

 

There must be an 'S' in the letter codes too, as there was a bread advert featuring a picture of five 1925 SR units spelling the word 'HOVIS'! (As reproduced on the back of G T Moody's 1959 edition of the 'Southern Electric'.)

 

All the best,

 

Colin

 

For completeness' sake, letters A-K (I think no further? no reference books just now) for the roller blind headcodes on 33s, 73s. If you can't get reference material off flicker etc, let me know - I've probably got most of those letters on halfway-usable photos. 

 

Hi Colin, Judge Dread, Eastwestdivide and everyone else with an interest.

 

Just to let you know that the 'SR / BR(S) Headcodes' thread is up and running in the 'Special Interests / Southern Electrics' sub-forum http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73227-sr-brs-emu-route-numbers/

 

 Possibly not the most prominent of places, but the most pertinent.

Maxthemapman and Gwiwer have replied with some professional advice, along with others with favourable comments.

 

As you may observe, the layout / content of the images are still not definitive, and I'm still working (?) on the small BR roller-blind alphabet.....

Eastwestdivide,.... I may well need your assistance with these, please.

 

End of Ad......

 

All the best.

 

Frank.

 

 

[NXEA!]

The last pictures of the construction of the 4 COR, which now is replete with windows throughout. Just over five months work! There are still on or two refinements I shall make after we have been away later this week, but it really just needs a touch of anti-flash grey on the shoe beams and fuses and some light weathering of the sides(unless I've forgotten anything!)

 

Who says BR blue wasn't attractive (when clean)? This is the trailer composite S 11832 S in rather smart condition:

 

IMG_6490.JPG

 

 

IMG_6488.JPG

 

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6570-newhaven-harbour/page-25&do=findComment&comment=1079088

 

 

Thanks to all who assisted in the making of this model and to everybody who hung on through the boring bits. I shall post some photos later the Newhaven Harbour topic (The link seems to have appeared above.) The summer project will appear in the modifying and detailing RTR models sub-forum.

 

Colin

Gawd blimey, that looks fantastic Colin! Might have to pay you to build one for me! But all jokes aside, that looks absolutely brilliant, you've really done the real thing justice, and it looks absolutely fantastic in blue.  Dare I say BR Blue suited Maunsell designed coaches better than Green... Stunning model, well done!