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


57xx
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Hello 5700

I have just come across your workbench in the scratchbuilding forum where I also have a topic running.

Seeing the realistic wood finish you get on plastic wagon kits, I wondered if you have ever considered using real wood.

There are a couple of my wagons there that might interest you.

Just a thought

Michael

mikeandnel

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Hi Michael, no I've not really considered it. I'm more of a kit builder/basher than a scratch-builder. I have tried to use it for structures in the past though. I built a wooden platform with wood sleepers, but unfortunately it warped and so got binned.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

A little bit of progress on the D1839. The body parts have been stripped of redundant detail and been assembled. After gluing in the floor, the MJT units were place under the body to make sure the buffer height was in the ballpark.

D1839_5.jpg.84b5afe4e20e1c7d7f682f1bc8e3d856.jpg

 

 

Once satisfied with that, the solebars were glued on to the floor and then the MJT W irons were glued inplace using the Brassmasters wheelbase gauge t oget them the right distance apart and, more importantly, parallel. When I plopped on the axle box moldings, it became apparant some work needed doing...

 

D1839_6.jpg.0b3e801a52f25c9e1b3b8caf66afe3b3.jpg

 

Whilst a little bit of clearance will be needed for the rocking unit, the fixed end requires the hole in the back of the axle box to be elongated to enable the springs to sit on the solebar. I'll split the axle box and spring on the rocking end and have the gap in between them as the examples I've seen done this way seem more discrete. I'll also slot the axle box at the rocking end so both ends are the same height.

 

The wonky bit of brass in the middle of the side is the first bit of detailing to go on. Hope I can get the strapping lined up more accurately!

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Morning Ric,

 

This is coming together rather nicely.  I like the sound of the Brassmasters wheelbase gauge.  May have to invest in one.

 

Out of interest what are the origins of the POW next to your build?  Is it a kit with POW Sides transfers?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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Hi Mark,

 

The Brassmasters gauge is very simple but effective. I reckon I could have got the wheels on right without it but as I will have a few wagons to do, I thought I might as well make sure I take out all the variability (and bad luck) and get them all right.

 

Unfortunately the POW is nothing so exotic, it's simply an old Bachmann wagon that I picked up off eBay. Here it is in all it's glory...

GeorgeLove.JPG.95d050e8b45553c2227c952f88bcade1.JPG

 

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A bit more progress to report.It took a while to slot the axle boxes. I have lots of cutters but surprised to find none of 2mm diameter. The conical one I ended up using kept clogging very quickly so I think I spent more time cleaning the cutter than grinding! One the partly slotted example below, you can also see the microstrip attached to the spring hangers to try and get everything the right height. With hindsight, I would try to keep the spring and hanger mouldings off the original kit and just replace the axleboxes themselves. The original hangers are actually of the correct type for this wagon, the MJT castings being of a differetn type.

 

D1839_7.JPG.f826387441b351cb7ce3037559db8e4c.JPG

 

Once done, the two rocking axleboxes were parted from their springs and the whole lot glued onto the wagon. Buffers are again from Lanarkshire Models.

D1839_8.JPG.f8c68e15adc97d236614ac43e1608431.JPG

 

Once the running gear is painted black, the small gap between spring and axlebox at the rocking end should be nicely hidden. Next up, deep breath and strapping time!

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  • 7 months later...
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Crikey, when I was working on the D1839 last night, I never realised it's been sat languishing for 7 months!!!

 

Not long after the last post, I completed one of the sides using the Mainly Trains rivet etch. the result is as below:

D1839_9.jpg.db0302caca7ba81d8949c3bb3b44f816.jpg

 

However, despite the ease with which the etch allows you to add strapping, I wasn't 100% happy with how it looked overall and my modelling mojo ebbed away. Having had a copy of John Hayes's The 4mm Coal Wagon out on loan from my local library (a fantastic modelling book, much better than The 4mm Wagon of which I have parts1 & 2), I was inspired to have a go at making the strapping from plasticard and adding the nuts for the coach bolts on. Eventually when my mojo returned after finding an original copy of Bob Essery's Illustrated History of LMS Wagons at a bargain price and having an excellent reference picture to work off, I ordered up some .01 x .03 and  .01 x .04 strip and got stuck in.

D1839_10.jpg.7655912126e4369da016ee91cca75f31.jpg

 

 

The coach bolt nuts were made using .01x.01 strip and trying to cut them into cubes, not an easy task! You will see quite a few rectangular nuts on there which I will try and trim now they are in place. The black marks are where I used a marker pen on the strapping so I could see where I was placing the nuts. White on white was not very visible.

D1839_11.jpg.1d7cffa1016eb1372703f4992996f0b5.jpg

 

 

Now I have the cruel enlargements of the pics I can see a couple of details that need adding on.

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  • 6 months later...
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14 months on and the D1839 is still not finished completely, it is however getting much closer. Detail has been added and the wagon primed ready for final livery.

 

 

 

RIMG0032.JPG.6eb6d6a780671bd711141ebc57120f17.JPG

RIMG0030.JPG.c825ddab34e967eaf1227d41ea54bbc3.JPG

The door chains were inspired by the work of Adam on his wagon thread, but I need more practice to get the shape right so they look like they are hanging properly. The door spring is not the right profile, but after several attempts with some strip brass I gave up and resort to ones on a piece of spare sprue, might even have been the originals from the kit. The cruel harshness of the pics shows I need a new can of primer!

 

Meanwhile, the wagon works at Swindon have churned out another 5 plank...

RIMG0027.JPG.b3515d615447abbc790155a47734d837.JPGRIMG0028.JPG.b0b5a4ac7e688aa262d3ba3a863c6e8a.JPG

 

 

 

Ready for a bit of weathering!

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Looking back over the thread I realised I've missed another item of modelling I did to take my mind off the D1839! It was another D1666 kit from Cambrian, but I wanted to try something different with the painting to give it a distressed look. So instead of the normal grey undercoat, it got a spray of red oxide followed by Humbrol #83 Ochre for the planks and #70 Brick Red for the metal work.

D1666_old1.jpg.9ca01a37a5063804f40aa8b1b8ce33df.jpg

 

 

This was then painted with the regular LMS grey, transfers applied and then attacked with a fibre glass pencil to take off the outside layer of paint and reveal the "wood" and rust beneath. I had to take if very easy on the Pressfix transfers otherwise it would have been all too easy to remove great chunks of them rather then thin them down and make them look flaky.

D1666_old2.jpg.80216f57086ca619f1b14b4a8852739e.jpg

 

 

Once this was done, the wagon got a coat of grot wash inside and out, also bolt detail was picked out on the inside with the Brick Red.

D1666_old3.jpg.d58e761768390720095881fcf10387c5.jpg

 

 

Finally it got a waft with the airbrush for the frame dirt (probably the Ochre with some browns and black added to dirty it down) to finish it off.

D1666_old4.jpg.1f61d1029c4efb6b411fde2327058832.jpg

 

Edited by 57xx
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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

 

attachicon.gifLNER_Diag94_1.jpg

attachicon.gifLNER_Diag94_2.jpg

 

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.

attachicon.gifAEC Monarch.jpg

My approach has been to use the Parkside body and modify the wooden solebar to show a 9' unfitted configuration using Tichy Train rivets etc (his name is Tichy, not because the bits are 'titichy') then mount an Exactoscale unifitted 9' chassis on the floorpan. A slice of 1/8" lead in the body makes for a nice free running sprung van with no major hassles. HTH

 

Best,

Marcus

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Hi Marcus, I spent a while searching but could find no one who made a suitable underframe so I had also thought of using the supplied wooden solebars with MJT W irons, but the thought of redoing the rivet detail put me off. Have you got any pictures of the one you have done?

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Hi Marcus, I spent a while searching but could find no one who made a suitable underframe so I had also thought of using the supplied wooden solebars with MJT W irons, but the thought of redoing the rivet detail put me off. Have you got any pictures of the one you have done?

I'm about to do another so I can do a 'Blue Peter' sequence here if that would help.

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  • 8 months later...
  • RMweb Gold

Just a small update, not a huge amout of modelling has been done recently, I just dip in and out every now and again. I built up a few other kits, these included the Ratio LNWR open wagons and a Cambrian LBSCR open. The 4 plank LNWR open was finished in a late LNWR livery, probably not seen in the 1930s but I fancied something a bit different. Not sure how authentic it is but followed this page for inspiration.

 

LNWR1.jpg.d6d363f35580911ef84a3fd1d2aa73b8.jpg

 

The 5 plank coal wagon from the Ratio kit will be finished in LMS livery, it's painted and awaiting lettering. The LBSCR open will be lettered with LBSC, again not my normal era, but see Rule #1.

 

Painted.JPG.feb4db446b1a318abffeff2596e56594.JPG

 

See you in another 6 months!!

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Lettering is now completed on the other Ratio LNWR wagon. I normally use HMRS Pressfix lettering, but the Ratio kit includes waterslides used here. I was impressed with how Microsol removed any silvering and "melted" the lettering onto the bodywork. You can see how it has sunk into the gaps between the planks and over the strapping. Just weathering required to complete it now.

 

LNWR2.jpg.d403a74695d16ff3afd817ed381c5d71.jpg

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  • 6 months later...
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Been doing a few odds and ends over the last few months. A few kits part way through building that I need to finish of and put up.

 

In the meantime, in keeping with the practice of never finishing the previous kit before starting the next, I've taken a step into a new world and am building a brass kit. Progress so far:

RIMG0137.JPG.3638d4ecd6862edb16dbf8c096f4e888.JPG

 

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Progress is being made on the 4 wheel coach underframe. As my first proper brass kit, I've got myself past some of the "scary" bits - the brakes, layering up some overlays etc, I'm also writing up lots of notes as I have another 4 of these to build and there are a few quirks and bits I'll need to remember when constructing the others. I haven't decided which body to put on this yet, choices are one of the three Ratio GW bodies or some Shirescene sides that have enough parts to build up into a full body (except the roof).

 

4Whl-chassis.jpg.6d7025b09502e09e9685f77b0871c98c.jpg

 

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  • 2 months later...
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Back in post 7 I showed the LNER Diag 94 van from Parkside that I'd built and mentioned I was getting another to backdate to the earlier non-fitted 9' WB variant. Well I got the kit ages ago but had not been successful in finding a suitable underframe (wooden 9' WB, 17.5' over headstocks). My problem was I was looking for a separately available chassis kit. Then whilst looking in the Oxford Rail thread on their new LNER 6 plank open, the answer slapped me in the face like a wet haddock.

 

post-8964-0-32542000-1454087566_thumb.jp

10' fitted variant.                                                           bog standard                                                Cheshire Lines livery

 

I still have an unbuilt Cambrian LNER 6 plank sitting in the stockpile, with... a 9' wooden chassis! All I need to do is swap the chassis from the Diag 94 for the Cambrian one and I get TWO nice variants of the stock kits - a 10' WB vac fitted Open and an unfitted 9' WB van. Thanks Sasquatch!

 

Expect these to be finished any time in the next couple of years.  :blush: Must post an update on the coach underframe too, looking at the previous pics, more work has actually been achieved!

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  • 1 month later...
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Here's the other end result, the Parkside van body on the Cambrian chassis. You'll need to carefully chisel away the horizontal door plank, scribe in the v grooves and remove the boor dangs. Otherwise it's an easy build.

post-8964-0-35696100-1468606813.jpg

 

Regards Shaun

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Hi Shaun, good timing. I managed to grab a bit of modelling time recently and the end result was this:

 

Swap1.jpg.724709cb0ca88d3b5112d9405714a6b6.jpg

 

 

The horizontal plank has gone and planks scribed as per the pic in Peter Tatlow's book. :) I've also cleaned up the 9' chassis, the 10' one awaits further detailing (extending the strapping down etc)

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  • 5 months later...
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After yet another period of inactivity, I dug out the workbench and made progress on the chassis swaps kits over Christmas. The bodies have been mated with their respective chassis and extra underframe details added with microstrip as required.

 

 

swap2.JPG.fbd760b3c2ef82e909668b2e436566a4.JPG

swap3.JPG.6355e23c9f8d37b7c0419207598c0917.JPG

 

 

It's only after posting the pics that I noticed I have forgotten the vac pips for the open. Soon remedied and then it's off to the paint shop! I think I might break out the airbrush for the van and see how I do with it, the open will be staying in my usual Hellfrauds red oxide primer.

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  • 1 year later...
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Yikes, I didn't realise it's been over a year since I last updated this thread!! Various bits of modelling have been going on in that time. One of things I got done was finishing off the LNER wagons in the last post. They got painted midway through last year but I couldn't get into the zone for lettering. However I found the mojo last month and here they finally are.

 

post-7355-0-95534800-1521908575_thumb.jpg

 

post-7355-0-63618000-1521908583_thumb.jpg

 

post-7355-0-18256600-1521908591_thumb.jpg

 

The inside of the open needs a wash to tone down the wood, as does the roof of the van which is still in white primer. Other than that they are good to run as ex-works vehicles. They will enter the weathering workshop at some time in the future, but for now they are going into the "finished" pile.

 

 

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