57xx's Workbench - more wagons and a Siphon C

[57xx]

I've decided it's about time open up a workbench thread. Postings may be sporadic but I'm hoping to get some impetus and finish off a lot of the unfinished kits I have about. It'll be mainly plastic wagon kits, although I will be making my first venture into brass kit building too. I have finished a few kits last year so these will get included eventually. So on to the first victim kit... a Parkside GWR O11 open wagon I made sometime last year.

 

I always paint the insides before assembly, I find it's easier to get the brush strokes for the wood in the right direction.You can just spot the extra micro strip that had to be added to the floor to make it the right width (as per the RM review of the kit). This was one of my first attempts at replicating internal wood. I started off with a dark-ish base coat...

 

And then added highlights...

 

Before finally bringing it all together with a wash of gouache diluted with Microsol. The acrylic GW paints I used for the wood effect are in the background.

 

 

The underframe was detailed as far as I could with brake rodding. The tarpaulin rail as supplied was just a bit of plastic rod. I've no idea how they expect you to bend it so I used brass wire instead. (visible in the background).

 

Finally, painted and lettered. 

 

 

The glossy effect noticeable around the 'G' is the Klear that I put on to help the Pressfix lettering stick. I have since found they will stick just as well on a matt surface, I think gloss is only really need for waterslides. I need to matt varnish over the lettering still and apply some light weathering.

 

All in all, a gorgeous little kit. I have to say, Parkside kits are my favourite to put together at the moment.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restore pics

[Kev_Lewis]

Very nice work.

 

The wood effect interior looks spot on to me.

[57xx]

Cheers Kev. I've been evolving the painting method and have been drifting towards paler colours for the wood. whilst pleased how the above O11 came out, I think the lighter colours are probably closer to real weathered wood.

 

Anyhow, on to a couple of foreigners... firstly, a SR D1379 8 plank open. This was my fist Cambrian kit and unfortunately was not a pleasant experience. The way the solebars assemble means it is all too easy to end up with a wonky 3 wheel wagon, which is what I got. Of the Cambrian kits I've built so far (3 now), they've all been the same - solebar are mouldings not crisp requiring a lot of fettling to get them flat/square to fix to the floor and axleboxes requiring a lot of trimming and work before fixing to the solebar. 

 

The completed unpainted wagon. Corners are filled and smoothed to remove any gaps and the buffers replaced with much nicer MJT items.

 

Painted and lettered. Apart from the chassis, it's nice kit. Compensated W irons are on order so it is a candidate for some ventures into compensation.

 

Next up is an LNER 6 plank open (diagram unknown). Another Cambrian kit, although this time I managed to get it rolling on all four wheels. One of the other things I have found with these kits is the floor is quite flimsy and due to the planking on one side tend to be bowed a bit. In an attempt to get the floor straight before fitting the sides, I glued a couple of pieces of styrene L strip on. It did work but made it more of a pain fitting the lead weight later. Again, the buffers were replaced with MJT ones.

 

Painted and awaiting lettering.

 

Pressfix lettering finished.

 

 

Fresh out of the paint shop and ready for a Work's photo. A recreation of Plate 32 in Peter Tatlow's "A Pictorial Record of LNER Wagons" (although with different number).

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restore pics

[Kev_Lewis]

The interior colour of wagons would have varied quite considerably. Older wagons would have been darker inside, but what the wagon had carried would also affect the colour too.

 

Keep up the great work.

[46444]

Really nice work on these kits.

 

I like the unpainted wood effect too and it looks like you've got that to a 't'. The GW acrylics are lovely to use. Try Vallejo acrylics if you can as well. Think you'll be suprised. 

 

Your comments re: the Cambrian kits are interesting as well. Cambrian do produce a some lovely 'Big Four' wagons but as you say the solebar/ 'W' iron assembly affair can lead to a few problems with running if you're not careful. Thankfully, I've only had this with a couple of the Cambrian kits I've built. Some of the older cheaper kits I've used Parkside chassis on. Saying that-I think the newer Cambran kits come with one piece mouldings. 

 

Look forwards to the next instalment.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Castle]

Hi Ric,

 

This looks like an excellent start to a workbench thread - the wagons look like a top job as well! The colour of the weathered wood effect is great, especially if that is your first go at it! I do very similar and find the inclusion of the games workshop washes can give you lots of different and very useful effects so give them a go.

 

As Kev says, the colour that wood weathers to can vary from quite dark and stained, through the shades that you have produced right to such bizarre shades as a sort of silvery grey. This is of course dependant of the timber and the type of weathering it is exposed to. The best thing to do is to have a look at the world around you when you step out your front door.

 

I shall enjoy reading this...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[57xx]

Thanks chaps.

 

Mark: I've seen the new one piece underframes on the Cambrian site. It'd be interesting to see if they upgrade their older kits, as it is really only the underframes that are letting their great range down.

 

Castle: I have been observing various woods for a bit now, from taking down an old shed in the garden to looking at the boardwalks in Florida. The silvery grey colour you mention is one such I have seen fairly often and I have some GW "Boltgun metal" paint in my arsenal to try and give that silvery sheen.

 

On to some more Blue Peter builds (here's one I made earlier...).

 

First up, an LNER Diag 94 12 ton van from Parkside Dundas. This one spray painted (all the previous ones above are brush painted. I use Halfords primer for undercoating all my kits and as the undercoat chosen for this van was Red Oxide , I just left it, lettered it and then applied a coat of Klear. The roof is simply using the white undercoat spray. It will get suitably weathered at some point along with the rest of the fleet. Detailing wise, the moulded handrails were carefully removed and replaced by brass wire and the vac pipes are by MJT.

 

 

I'm thinking of buying another one of these but finding a 9' unfitted underframe for it to make one of the earlier versions of this van. There's a few nice illustrations of them in Peter Tatlow's book.

 

 

Next up, a little deviation from wagons, the Coopercraft AEC Monarch. I spend ages trying to decide what colour to paint this one. Tried a couple of times with dark blue, then dark green but neither looked right. Finally I spotted some Crimson Lake paint while at the St Alban's show earlier in the year and instantly knew that would work. Haven't decided on how to sign write it yet.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[Castle]

Hi Ric,

 

Yet more lovely work good sir!

 

Have you thought about printing your own decals using some of the DIY decal sheets that are available on line for your lorry? Is there nobody out there doing transfers for these things? I must admit to not looking as I am only building rolling stock at the moment but someone out there in RMWEB land will surely know...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[57xx]

Hi Castle, I've found that Fox Transfers do road vehicle decals, but not really had a close look at any in particular. I'm too fussed at the moment to be honest, I'm sure one day inspiration will strike. 🙂

 

On to a couple more builds and a trip to the Midlands.

 

First up is a Slaters MR 8T 3 plank open, which I believe is to Diagram 305. I had got as far as painting it but when it came to lettering, the instructions were a bit vague on where to place the lettering as the diagram did not show planking. I had a quick search around t'internet and found no prototype pics, but several interpretations on models of how to letter one. So I took the plunge and found a copy of An Illustrated History Of Midland Wagons by RJ Essery. I was very pleased to find a LOT of prototype pictures, however they only caused more confusion - there were so many variations!

 

There were different types of axle boxes, double or single V hangers, long and short brake levers, single sided brakes, double sided with both levers at the same end or opposite ends, drop sides with single or double counter balance springs and some with no door springs at all and just wooden bumper blocks at each end! It also turned out all the previous variations in lettering I'd seen online were correct! I didn't have a lot of choice of options with the brakes, long lever double V hangers had already been assembled as supplied in the kit. However the model had none of the previous options for the sides which is correct in the form as originally built by the MR in the 1870-80's, but by the late 1890's they appear to have started fitting the bumper blocks on the ends so I took the easiest route and fashioned some wooden blocks from plastic strip.

 

 

Next is another 3 wheel Cambrian kit of an LMS D1666 5 plank open. I have another one of these yet to build and will have to be extra scrupulous with the chassis to get it running right. I used the supplied buffers with this one, and whilst presentable don't quite have the finesse of the MJT ones so the 2nd kit will use those.

 

 

In the end, I just had to make a decision with the lettering on the D305 as there was not a pic with all the right combinations of construction in pre-1937 LMS livery. Both kits have turned out nicely, just the one being another candidate for some compensation units.

 

 

 

There's still a few unfinished "rebuilds" of some kits I originally made about 30 years ago to do, but my next efforts will be making a proper start on my permanent way train.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[Loxborough]

Really enjoying this thread. I agree with the others that you have got the wood interiors just right, and the contrast between the colours on the two LMS wagons speaks nicely to the point about them all weathering differently.

 

I'm knocking out coal trucks at the moment but when that is done I will be moving on to model an express goods train, so will be looking at your recommendations for kits (I have already taken on board your comments about the earlier Cambrian kits and may be looking for an alternative source of underframes; Coopercraft perhaps?)

 

Thanks for sharing,

 

George

[The Fatadder]

Really like the effect of the insides, will definitely be trying the approach of painting the insides before building on my next open wagon kit

 

Interesting to see your view on parkside / Cambrian. Given that I use etched w irons, I much prefer cambrians construction style with seperate w irons / axleboxes / solbars makes life a lot eaiser than removing it all and thinning bits down that you get with parkside.

 

Reading this does make me think I need to get the paints out and make a start on painting up my backlog

[Castle]

I have already taken on board your comments about the earlier Cambrian kits and may be looking for an alternative source of underframes; Coopercraft perhaps?

Hi George,

 

While I know next to zero (well, zero really!) about LMS wagons, with the assistance of my fellow RMWEB members, I managed to model the two LMS vent wagons at Didcot. I used Ratio uppers and a Parkside chassis on one of them which was a straight swap and required no further work than building the kit as prescribed by Ratio themselves. My build is here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/51212-little-didcot/page-8

 

I hope this is useful and thread hijack over - sorry Ric!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[57xx]

Hijack away Castle!! Your thread was one that inspired me to pull my finger out and get on with my kits and start a thread. 😀

 

Thanks George and Rich. On the subject of inspirational threads, this one by Craigwelsh was the one that got me experimenting with the wood effects. Here's an aerial view of as many wagons as I can fit on my photo plank showing the variations achieved so far.

 

 

Rich, my MJT compensation units arrived the other day and after my preliminary investigations, I would agree that the Cambrian kits are most suitable for them. This is fine for me as I have never had problems getting Parkside or Coopercraft kits running squarely so probably wouldn't be inclined to use etched W irons on them. I want more D1666s and NE opens and if my first attempt goes ok with the MJT units, this will open the door to more Cambrian kits being purchased. It is also good for my idea of creating a 9ft wheelbase NE van, as Cambrian are the only ones I can find so far that do a 9ft wooden solebar chassis as a separate item. 

 

George, as above, if you fancy playing with compensation units, the Cambrian kits should be ok. They cover some excellent ranges of diagrams so it is wort persevering I think.If you are used to kits that "fall together" like I have been, they are a bit of a learning curve but with some attention can be made to work. I've got my latest build, a Cambrian GWR P15 ballast wagon running nicely on all four wheels. However just to show you the sort of thing you have to contend with...

 

 

Each set of W irons is identical, not a mirror image, so the error shown will double when you flip one round to mount on the other side of the chassis. The middle of the springs sit on the spring stops on the solebars, so you need to either carve off the spring stops and hope no one notices or shave some off the middle off the springs so you can tweak things as you glue these units to the solebars. It can be done, it just requires attention to detail and is a pain in the b*tt when you get it wrong.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[Loxborough]

Briliant overhead shot of the wood variations. Something to aim for...

 

Don't worry, you have not turned me off the Cambrian kits, just managed my expectations. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

 

Thanks,

 

George

[57xx]

Some progress has been made on the Permanent Way train. In the Little Didcot thread I mentioned that the body of my first P15 being built up didn't seem to be sitting right on the chassis. To amend this I fixed the floor a little lower in the body with the aid of some microstrip so that the bottom of the solebars were level with the bottom of the buffer beams.

 

I then fitted the buffers to the P15 and rolled it up next to another wagon and to my surprise it turned out ok and the buffers near enough lined up.

 

 

However, the buffers just didn't look right when compared to prototype photos, they were to short and dumpy and the gussets seemed to big. So a quick order to Lanarkshire Models resulted in some rather tasty buffers for the P15s. On the left of the picture below you can see the original Cambrian buffers, with the very nice LM product on the right hand end. The bits of white plasticard sheet are to space out the etched brake gear that will be fitted to this wagon.

 

Being one not to be able to concentrate on one thing at a time, I've also been building up the T12 sleeper wagon. This has gone together fairly smoothly, although the parts did require a lot of flash removal and squaring off. I've used a set of Bachmann wheels under it. At 12.7mm, they let the wagon ride a little bit higher, bringing the buffers in line. Again, the self-contained buffers used on here are from Lanarkshire Models, I didn't even bother to see what the plastic ones came out like and cut the base of them straight off the ends before assembly. The T12 is weighted up to 30g with some lead strip, there's plenty of room under the ends to pack it in.

 

 

 

As this rake is suppoed to be fixed (e.g. I have no intention of shunting it), scale couplings are going to be used. For the T12 I have build up some Masokit screw links. They are not really that bad to build up, athough care is needed to stop you soldering the links up solid. All I need now is some blackening solution. The drawgear plate just visible on the hook is from the Bill Bedford DCIII brake gear etch.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[Castle]

Hi Ric,

 

Great stuff - I have done the T12 too and it's a great looking wagon. The least interesting bit I found was filling it full of chaired sleepers but I hid all my weight in there too so I can't complain.

 

Keep up the good work - some lovely progress there!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[57xx]

Thanks Castle. I must admit filling the T12 with sleepers is not the most exciting prospect lol.

[57xx]

The T12 has been through the paintshop but the sign writers forget to get their hands on it!

 

 

I don't seem to be able to find any pictures of the prototype to go off for this one. My "combined" Atkins et al book is the smaller version with no pics of this diagram at all and Google has not been kind to me so far. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated!

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx

[Loxborough]

I have no advice to offer the signwriters, but I can say that the painters (and weatherers!) have done a fine job. Lovely lookiing wagon.

 

George

[57xx]

Not a huge amount of progress in the last 3 months. Work stopped on the P15 ballast wagon when I got to doing the brake gear. I'd got Bill Bedford's DCIII brake gear etch for this job but then spotted that on the P15, the V hanger that the brake handles are mounted on are a different shape to most other DCIII equip wagons (a proper V rather than an asymmetric shape). Topped off with the fact the brake push rods on the etch are just a copy of RCH gear and not proper GWR pattern, I put the kit in "get round to it later" pile until I can find someone who does proper DCIII brakes and work out a solution for the lever hangers. 

 

So, moving on I recommenced construction of a part built Parkside LNER van. I'd only got as far as putting the body and floor together, so the underframe need attaching. I found that using the locating pips on the floor resulted in the solebars being too close together for the wheel to fit so some microstrip was used to space them out (the white bits on the back of the solebar). Buffers were replaced with some excellent Lanarkshire Models RCH buffers. The door grab handle was formed from brass wire bent to shape in a Bill Bedford handrail jig. I also used the jig as a drill template to make sure the holes were properly spaced.

 

 

MJT vac pipes were attached and brake gear fitted. Once completed, the van was given a few wafts of Halfords Red Oxide primer.

 

 

Finally HMRS pressfix transfers were used to letter up the van based on a picture in Tatlow's LNER Wagons book.The van was then given a coat of Klear to seal it all.

 

 

As the van was being built I also tackled another Parkside kit of an LNER vac fitted open. Spraying and lettering was done concurrently seeming to make it less of a chore. Again this kit has Lanarkshire Models buffers and MJT vac pipes. Lettering was again referenced from the Taltow book. Unfortunately whilst brimming for of excellent detail, the book seems to be missing diagram numbers so I have no idea what diagrams this van and open actually are.

 

 

 

Next up... what is this BR wagon doing in my pile of kits...? Any guesses?

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[57xx]

A few extra parts are required for the next build....

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx

[57xx]

The current mission is to back-date the Parkside BR Hybar into an LMS D1839 open wagon. I've only got a couple of images to work on, the first a picture in Essery's "The LMS Wagon" which was where I first saw this diagram. The other is an online pic sample from a book that is out of print and rare as hen's teeth. If anyone knows if this diagram is covered in "An Illustrated History of LMS Wagons Part 1", then please let me know!

 

So onto construction, or rather destruction. There are quite a few detail changes required to backdate the kit. Firstly on the underframe, the axle boxes and W irons both appear to be the wrong type.So out comes the scalpel and off comes the running gear. The W irons are to be replaced with MJT etched items and MJT Midlands axle boxes will complete the transformation.

 

 

 

I was then looking at the floor to work out how to fit the W irons on. At first I was going to hack away the ribbing on the underside of the floor, but then though, why not save the floor for another project (as yet unknown) and make a new one from Plasticard. So some 1mm thick sheet was cut to size and planking was scored using a marking gauge, taking the dimensions from the original floor.

 

 

 

The W irons should fit straight on the bottom, aided by the Brassmaster axle spacing gauge that has been ordered to make sure I get the wheels parallel and spaced correctly.

 

I then tackled one of the sides. These have to be basically stripped of all strapping bar leaving only the corner plates. The D1839 has only 1 door bang plate vs 2 on the Hybar, the diagonal strapping is at a slightly different and and the door strapping differs. The sack truck plank at the bottom of the door was also absent on the original wagon so that have to be filed flat. 

 

 

The side at the bottom is marked out in pencil and ready for the Mainly Trains brass detailing to be applied. I didn't do too god a job with re-scoring the planking on the first side as the pointer on the marking gauge was a bit blunt (as can also be witnessed on the floor). That will be rectified for the other side!

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx
Restoring pics

[Zero Gravitas]

57xx - two comments

 

(1) Excellent work, in particular the wooden interiors.

(2) Brilliant tip about using Bill Bedford's handrail bending jig as the drilling guide as well. I'd never have thought of that...

 

Best Regards,

 

ZG

Edited August 7, 2013 by Zero Gravitas

[Adam]

Some nice wagons there - I especially like the LNE open and the attempts to make the lettering conform to the underlying planks; many otherwise excellent pre-nationalisation models are spoilt by their builders not doing this.I'm less keen on the white van roofs, however; white lead oxidised to grey quite quickly and got rather darker. the vac' bags should be a nice matt charcoal grey too - definitely somethign to do as a batch.

 

 A point about assembling Masokits screw couplings too - I metal black the centre section prior to soldering the links together, a dodge which has reduced the solering solid rate to just about nil. That said, I tend to batch produce the things which helps; once your eye's in, it stays in.

 

Keep up the good work, nice to see someone else taking wagons seriously.

Adam

Edited August 7, 2013 by Adam

[57xx]

Thanks for the comments chaps.

 

Adam, The light grey vac' pipe was a one off, I usually paint them with Phoenix "dirty black" which is the colour you can see on the underframe of the SR open above, pretty much a charcoal black as you described. I agree about the white roofs, the first van actually started grey but then got repainted white for the "ex-works" photos while the paint work was still looking fresh. My idea is to start off white and weather it with soot, gunk and grime till it looks right. I'll be doing a big batch of weathering at some point with all the wagons getting treated.

 

Good tip on the couplings, thank you. I have the blacking on the way so will probably do a session and make up the whole etch in one go.

 

I think wagons are vastly overlooked given there were the mainstay of the railways for so long. Your workbench is one of those that has inspired me to get into these builds.

Edited August 7, 2013 by 57xx