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Recent MET/LT models completed, BoBo, Pannier and Dreadnought


Jeff Smith
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I have been finishing off a few 4mm LT models in order to make way for a new 0n30/0-16.5 venture.

 

I have always been facinated by the MET BoBo but the heavy surface detail put me off doing a Radley one.  Some years ago I ordered a BullAnt and dummy power bogie in P4 from Hollywood Foundry in Australia but it took me several years to get round to scratch building the loco from styrene.  I thought it was just a simple box but there are multi-layer complications and the roof was a bit tricky and actually ended up slightly too high.  I used Radley bogie frames which are the correct wheelbase but had to widen them for P4.  I fitted Gibson handrail knobs which are about the smallest available.  Lining was a problem, luckily my chosen period of late fifties had the simplified post-war livery so not too difficult - I used the Steam Loco lining sheet (Modelmaster supplied by Radley) and nameplate directly from Modelmaster.  The finished model runs very well (pick-up on both bogies) but is very light weight and would need a lot of ballast to do any useful pulling.  Also shown is a Bachmann 57xx repainted as the first L91 and fitted with Ultrascale replacement brass wheels, Gibson coupling rods and finer brake pull-rods made from brass strip.  I modified the cab roofline and gutter and fitted tripcocks.  Per 'Red Panniers' the original L90 and L91 were a brighter red than LT were using at the time because they were delivered already painted by BR Swindon....

 

Last of the trio a resin 6 comp brake 3rd Dreadnought from Radley - mixed views, the complete body is actually very good with relatively thin sides.  I scraped off all the moulded door handles, grab rails and hinges and replaced with 20 thou brass wire and filed brass pins, also added the droplight safety bars and replaced the brake-end heater switch and conduit detail.  The K2 bogie sideframes are correct for LT so I installed them on MJT compensated coach bogies with Gibson P4 wheels and new shoe beams on the brake-end one.  The seating units are very good and were installed after glazing.  I also thinned the roof rainstrips and stepboard and replaced the moulded-on buffers - the shape was good but unfortunately they pointed up about 10 degrees and one had broken off in shipping.  There is no underframe detail supplied in the kit except the truss rod posts so I added a battery box, regulator box, generator and brake equipment from styrene - these are quite visible so need to be fitted for correct appearance.  All in all not a bad kit but if completed using the supplied bogie mounts would ride too high, however the solid resin seats, thick roof and floor make adding extra ballast unecessary.

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Edited by Jeff Smith
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Very good work there Jeff.  I particularly like the brake coach which looks the business.  I have 3 Dreadnoughts that I bought ready made and painted which need quite a bit of work on them. I shall be doing well if I can match this!

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Great work Jeff!  You mentioned brass wheels.  Would you be willing to explain the pros and cons of different materials of wheels?  I have come across brass and steel wheels I think, in my P4 reading.

 

I note that your track looks really great, and I love the information about the two reds.  I guess Swindon decided that if it could not be painted green, then better tweak the red, just to be awkward.  The 20 thou handrails look great.  Does 20 thousandths translate accurately into the prototype size of the grab bars on the coach?

 

Working in polystyrene is interesting.  I can see how that is easy to work, but is it not difficult to seal and paint?

Edited by rgmichel
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Bob,

 

My models are largely static - but they do have to function - my choice of brass was cost based as I knew the wheels were going to be painted and the flanges would hardly be visible.  No science involved......

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Bob,

 

Not sure about grab bar thickness - 20 thou is 1.5 inches, and is perhaps a bit overscale, probably more appropriate for loco grab rails.  Here's a picture of the real thing (7 Comp Brake 3rd) and another of the model (6 Comp Brake 3rd).  I hadn't realised until I saw the two photos together how near I got with the paint colour - living in the US means getting what you can in terms of paint, I always use acrylic - this is Leather from the Testors Acryl range.....

 

Also some more P4 track and an ex-North London 0-6-0 Tank from the Gem/Branchlines kit with Gibson wheels.

 

Painting styrene is no different to painting normal plastic kits - its basically the same material but probably a bit more flexible.

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Edited by Jeff Smith
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  • 3 years later...

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Here's a few low-res ones from a while ago when the layout was in one piece. It was dismantled for a house move nd has not been re-assembled. One day it might get third and fourth rails for MET/LT operation!

Edited by Jeff Smith
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  • 2 years later...

Time to pick up this thread again.  After another house move (to sunny Florida) the railway/art room has a 10 foot wall so a suitable just below eye-level shelf was built to hold the layout.  No room for a fiddle yard though.

 

Anyway, the track needed a good clean as most of it had not run for 10 years.  A couple of locos with steel wheels ran appallingly until given a good clean with isopropyl alcohol and a fibre glass brush where there was some light corrosion.  However the re-wheeled LT Bachmann Pannier, as noted above with brass wheels, ran perfectly with no cleaning.....  Maybe a good argument for brass wheels?

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