Popular Post Jack374 Posted October 25, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 25, 2020 Good evening all... As usual, university/work/life (in that order) have snaffled much of the modelling time I’ve had over the last 8 weeks since the last update. I’ve come off furlough and resumed work and university at full chat - the summer was good while it lasted! To continue on from the last post in September, Mick kindly held a socially-distanced gathering of Deadman’s Lane operators and we had a bit of a running session. I took along the container rake, which needed some adjustment of almost all the couplings, however the magnets performed superbly once adjusted. Below is a shot of the whole train and another summer project, the ZZAs: The container rake has been parked now, mainly due to lack of exhibitions to run the rake and also I’ve lost interest temporarily. I won an eBay listing for 8x modern container wagons (KFA, KQA, FEA twin & 2x FLA twins) recently, so I’ve got another KFA and KQA to add to the rake. The FLAs and FEA pair may be sold and replaced by a different intermodal flat set to those already in the rake, to be arranged at a later date... I also had chance to test the 222. By then it had received coats of Halfords white, black and Ford polar grey...since then it has had one blue band added but nothing more, as my mojo for the unit has waned and so have the ideal spraying temperatures! I'll probably pick this up next year now at the earliest. The last few weeks I’ve been finishing a Dapol 68 for a friend, adding my custom lighting PCBs which are now on their 3rd or 4th iteration. I’ve explained the principle before when I did my loco, but briefly: the Halo marker lights are produced by 4 tiny 0603 SMDs arranged in a square - routed through the thicker, custom milled PCB below - and shine through some 3mm OD (0.5mm wall) silicone tubing. I used to do the head and tail lights with 2mm bi-colour ‘lighthouse' LEDs, however I’ve now opted for another (thinner, below) PCB which I’ve soldered another pair of 0603 SMDs to, shining through some simple 2mm fibre optic. This means the heads and halos are the same hue. The 2mm optic and 3mm tube are separated between with your average household tinfoil, giving 0 light bleed! While I was at it, I updated my model, and although the lights appear blue below they look fine IRL. The picture is poor but I took it whilst both models were out... The space on my 'bench left by the storage of the container rake mentioned before has been filled by a new project, applicable to use on Fordley, DL or really any other modern layout. I’ve had some form of rake of 2-axle ballast wagons for some time, which has chopped and changed until now when I’ve got a small rake I’m happy with. The rake consists of 8x MHA/MPAs, 3x MFAs and 2x MTAs, representing any rake running around the network in the last couple of years, although the MTAs are a stretch with hardly any left now which don’t resemble baked bean tins... The MHAs are a mix, with 3 of Hornby's initial bodged attempts which represent no prototype. These are to be re-bodied; I’ve an order in with S-Kits currently. Some brake discs and other goodies have been ordered from Stenson Models whilst enough 13" and 16" OLEOs have been ordered from Accurascale - these are for the MHAs and MTAs...if anyone knows a source of 18" sprung OLEO buffers for the MFAs please LMK! For this rake I think sprung buffers will look really good with working instanter 3-link couplings - some Smiths instanter links have been ordered too. One issue I need to tackle on the MHAs - which I know Jules has resolved superbly by scratchbuilding - is the lack of air distributors on the wagons. There should be 2 per wagon in opposite corners, as shown below in a photo I took at Preston: In reality, between all 8 wagons I’ve got 4. Hornby only provide 1 per wagon, and whilst that means 1 has been lost to the carpet monster, the most recent triple pack I bought had none on any wagons. The solution will be to alter the current mouldings (shown below) as they stick out too much IMO, and then resin cast as I’m not making 12 from scratch! One second hand MHA I bought was ridiculously heavy as it had a permanent load. I weighed it out of curiosity and it was 430g - only 50g less than a ViTrains 47 or one of my Bachmann 37s!! I set about removing the load, and my suspicion as to load material was confirmed, as the previous owner had effectively loaded the wagon full of 'liquid lead' shot then dusted some ballast on top! Some chiselling, drilling and swearing later, and I made this: After a thorough clean-down including tools and hands (being a large amount of lead), I was left with the bottom-most layer of lead which was not for shifting, so I glued the two halves together, reinforced with plasticard underneath, and I’ll add a false floor of the thinnest plasticard I have to hide the lead. You can hardly see the join, and won’t at all when it’s weathered! Finally, the last major task I can start without any supplies having arrived is to convert one MTA into a higher-ended ex-Dutch variant, as seen below at Toton in 2018. I’ve seen a couple, and quite fancy a varied rake which will feature Dutch, EWS, DB and Mainline colours! I decided it was best to remove the ends altogether with them being way too thick, so this was achieved with a junior hacksaw, sharp craft knife and files: Thats all for now, so far the research and start of the ballast wagon rake has/will be enjoyable - getting back to some proper traditional bread and butter modelling such as disc brakes, buffers and general detailing. I’ll plod along with this as and when in the next few months. Ta for sticking with my workbench thread and reading the drivel...stay safe, and happy modelling! Thanks, Jack. 20 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Departmental203 Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Jack374 said: Good evening all... As usual, university/work/life (in that order) have snaffled much of the modelling time I’ve had over the last 8 weeks since the last update. I’ve come off furlough and resumed work and university at full chat - the summer was good while it lasted! To continue on from the last post in September, Mick kindly held a socially-distanced gathering of Deadman’s Lane operators and we had a bit of a running session. I took along the container rake, which needed some adjustment of almost all the couplings, however the magnets performed superbly once adjusted. Below is a shot of the whole train and another summer project, the ZZAs: The container rake has been parked now, mainly due to lack of exhibitions to run the rake and also I’ve lost interest temporarily. I won an eBay listing for 8x modern container wagons (KFA, KQA, FEA twin & 2x FLA twins) recently, so I’ve got another KFA and KQA to add to the rake. The FLAs and FEA pair may be sold and replaced by a different intermodal flat set to those already in the rake, to be arranged at a later date... I also had chance to test the 222. By then it had received coats of Halfords white, black and Ford polar grey...since then it has had one blue band added but nothing more, as my mojo for the unit has waned and so have the ideal spraying temperatures! I'll probably pick this up next year now at the earliest. The last few weeks I’ve been finishing a Dapol 68 for a friend, adding my custom lighting PCBs which are now on their 3rd or 4th iteration. I’ve explained the principle before when I did my loco, but briefly: the Halo marker lights are produced by 4 tiny 0603 SMDs arranged in a square - routed through the thicker, custom milled PCB below - and shine through some 3mm OD (0.5mm wall) silicone tubing. I used to do the head and tail lights with 2mm bi-colour ‘lighthouse' LEDs, however I’ve now opted for another (thinner, below) PCB which I’ve soldered another pair of 0603 SMDs to, shining through some simple 2mm fibre optic. This means the heads and halos are the same hue. The 2mm optic and 3mm tube are separated between with your average household tinfoil, giving 0 light bleed! While I was at it, I updated my model, and although the lights appear blue below they look fine IRL. The picture is poor but I took it whilst both models were out... The space on my 'bench left by the storage of the container rake mentioned before has been filled by a new project, applicable to use on Fordley, DL or really any other modern layout. I’ve had some form of rake of 2-axle ballast wagons for some time, which has chopped and changed until now when I’ve got a small rake I’m happy with. The rake consists of 8x MHA/MPAs, 3x MFAs and 2x MTAs, representing any rake running around the network in the last couple of years, although the MTAs are a stretch with hardly any left now which don’t resemble baked bean tins... The MHAs are a mix, with 3 of Hornby's initial bodged attempts which represent no prototype. These are to be re-bodied; I’ve an order in with S-Kits currently. Some brake discs and other goodies have been ordered from Stenson Models whilst enough 13" and 16" OLEOs have been ordered from Accurascale - these are for the MHAs and MTAs...if anyone knows a source of 18" sprung OLEO buffers for the MFAs please LMK! For this rake I think sprung buffers will look really good with working instanter 3-link couplings - some Smiths instanter links have been ordered too. One issue I need to tackle on the MHAs - which I know Jules has resolved superbly by scratchbuilding - is the lack of air distributors on the wagons. There should be 2 per wagon in opposite corners, as shown below in a photo I took at Preston: In reality, between all 8 wagons I’ve got 4. Hornby only provide 1 per wagon, and whilst that means 1 has been lost to the carpet monster, the most recent triple pack I bought had none on any wagons. The solution will be to alter the current mouldings (shown below) as they stick out too much IMO, and then resin cast as I’m not making 12 from scratch! One second hand MHA I bought was ridiculously heavy as it had a permanent load. I weighed it out of curiosity and it was 430g - only 50g less than a ViTrains 47 or one of my Bachmann 37s!! I set about removing the load, and my suspicion as to load material was confirmed, as the previous owner had effectively loaded the wagon full of 'liquid lead' shot then dusted some ballast on top! Some chiselling, drilling and swearing later, and I made this: After a thorough clean-down including tools and hands (being a large amount of lead), I was left with the bottom-most layer of lead which was not for shifting, so I glued the two halves together, reinforced with plasticard underneath, and I’ll add a false floor of the thinnest plasticard I have to hide the lead. You can hardly see the join, and won’t at all when it’s weathered! Finally, the last major task I can start without any supplies having arrived is to convert one MTA into a higher-ended ex-Dutch variant, as seen below at Toton in 2018. I’ve seen a couple, and quite fancy a varied rake which will feature Dutch, EWS, DB and Mainline colours! I decided it was best to remove the ends altogether with them being way too thick, so this was achieved with a junior hacksaw, sharp craft knife and files: Thats all for now, so far the research and start of the ballast wagon rake has/will be enjoyable - getting back to some proper traditional bread and butter modelling such as disc brakes, buffers and general detailing. I’ll plod along with this as and when in the next few months. Ta for sticking with my workbench thread and reading the drivel...stay safe, and happy modelling! Thanks, Jack. Mmmmm, I'm loving the two axle ballast wagon projects Jack! About the MHA distributor issue, on my model of 394829 I completed a year ago, I admit I cheated and only made 1 distributor as per Hornby did, mainly for consistency. But seeing what you're doing, I may whip out the scalpel and plasticard again, after all, I've only got 4 more to make, unlike your 12.....eeeeekkkk!!!! One think that annoys me is Hornby only made the earlier 16 rib variant of the MHA, whereas the later 11 rib ones are more numerous, but not produced yet! So, with 3 early and one late one in my collection, maybe it's time to adress the balance, so more plasticard...... Well, good luck on these ones Jack! (You may just have encouraged me to pick up the scalpel and plasticard again!) Jules 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Hi Jack, A nice update, plenty of tasty stuff. Your container train looks the part on Mick's layout, nice variety of boxes and weathering. I like your Coalfish project, that prototypical variety of types is does break the train up a bit, though as you say the MTA type have become a bit of a rarity lately. The part on the model underframe that you're working to add is the brake cylinder, this is what actually applies the disc pads to the wheel face. There are only two as only the two wheels without a handbrake lever are disc braked. The handbrake only applies to the wheel it is next to, using the brake blocks that act on the wheel tread. Hopefully the first picture helps to show the end on view, the Hornby moulding doesn't look too bad. Weird they've only modelled it at one end though! The distributor is the grey barrel shaped object visible in this second picture. It is only at one end (the end with a star on the underframe) and has a release string running across the width of the wagon, enabling it to be pulled from either side. It is usually actually two strings, both mounted to the toggle on the bottom of the distributor, one to each side of the wagon, ending roughly where the white area is bottom right of the under frame, next to the buffer beam. If you did add the distributor, being pale grey it's the sort of detail that would stand out. Hope this is of interest, keep up the good work! Oh, and don't look too closely at the wheels in that last picture... Jo 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 20 hours ago, Departmental203 said: Mmmmm, I'm loving the two axle ballast wagon projects Jack! About the MHA distributor issue, on my model of 394829 I completed a year ago, I admit I cheated and only made 1 distributor as per Hornby did, mainly for consistency. But seeing what you're doing, I may whip out the scalpel and plasticard again, after all, I've only got 4 more to make, unlike your 12.....eeeeekkkk!!!! One think that annoys me is Hornby only made the earlier 16 rib variant of the MHA, whereas the later 11 rib ones are more numerous, but not produced yet! So, with 3 early and one late one in my collection, maybe it's time to adress the balance, so more plasticard...... Thanks Jules! Once I've (successfully) moulded some I'll let you know and send you some, save you making more than you need to... S-Kits produce a resin body for the 11-rib variant, which I've seen used before (Mr Makin & Mr Bryan (?) spring to mind), so I've ordered 3, yet to arrive. 7 hours ago, Steadfast said: A nice update, plenty of tasty stuff. The part on the model underframe that you're working to add is the brake cylinder... The distributor is the grey barrel shaped object visible in this second picture... Hope this is of interest, keep up the good work! Oh, and don't look too closely at the wheels in that last picture... Cheers Jo...those pictures will prove very useful indeed - many thanks! It is odd Hornby supplied only one, and most recently none, per wagon. No bother though as I'll mould the 4 I have. The brake distributors are included by Hornby but severely malnourished in terms of size and detail. I've ordered some from Stenson Models for the MFAs so I'll have some spare for the MHAs/MPAs. Once again thanks for the info - I didn't know whether to rate your response as 'informative', 'thanks' or 'funny' due to the last photo - I hope you weren't involved in any way! Thanks, Jack. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Jack374 said: I didn't know whether to rate your response as 'informative', 'thanks' or 'funny' due to the last photo - I hope you weren't involved in any way! Yep, that was me! Well, a coalfish that decided it didn't like being on the rails under my control it was a flipping hot day, at least it meant I got to sit in the shade and watch TV waiting for a manager to arrive. just don't mention lobsters... Jo Edited October 26, 2020 by Steadfast 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Departmental203 Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 3 hours ago, Jack374 said: S-Kits produce a resin body for the 11-rib variant, which I've seen used before (Mr Makin & Mr Bryan (?) spring to mind), so I've ordered 3, yet to arrive. Jack, unfortunately I find it a bit difficult ordering from S-Kits here! Can you send me their 2020 catalouge for me please? Much appreciated Jules Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted October 26, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Departmental203 said: Jack, unfortunately I find it a bit difficult ordering from S-Kits here! Can you send me their 2020 catalouge for me please? Much appreciated Jules Hi Jules, The S-Kits ones can be found by emailing George Ansell, I’ve found a link here on RMWeb which shows his contact details - the MHA body is code no. CC9 if that helps! As Jack mentions I’ve tackled a few of these myself, there’s a ton of pics on my Workbench thread circa 2015 but essentially ordering S-Kits gets you the below! It’s a nice easy one piece body moulding that needs just minimal sanding, some of the mouldings had a touch of distortion to the sides but nothing that couldn’t be sorted with a little brute force! The kit comes with cast buffers too, then I’ve just fitted instanters to complete before final painting & weathering. Underframes seem slightly different too with less pipework in the solebar & ‘bits’ which becomes apparent when gazing at prototype pics! I’m looking forward to seeing some of the MPAs modelled, too new for me but they sound interesting! Cheers, James 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 40 minutes ago, James Makin said: As Jack mentions I’ve tackled a few of these myself, there’s a ton of pics on my Workbench thread circa 2015 but essentially ordering S-Kits gets you the below! It’s a nice easy one piece body moulding that needs just minimal sanding, some of the mouldings had a touch of distortion to the sides but nothing that couldn’t be sorted with a little brute force! The kit comes with cast buffers too, then I’ve just fitted instanters to complete before final painting & weathering. Underframes seem slightly different too with less pipework in the solebar & ‘bits’ which becomes apparent when gazing at prototype pics! I’m looking forward to seeing some of the MPAs modelled, too new for me but they sound interesting! Cheers, James Very nice models James, I’ve seen them before on your thread. I would’ve seen George (and yourself possibly!) at DEMU this year but clearly not. I must admit I knew there was a brake modification to warrant the MHA -> MPA code change but I’ve just found Adrian Nicholls' very informative Flickr photo on the subject: So effectively no wheel face brake discs! I’ll probably include a couple of MPAs for the sake of it, but of the 1000-odd MHA fleet they can’t have done them all yet! Recent photos of rakes I’ve seen suggest maybe 1/3 to 1/2 in each rake are converted. Jack. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 The only visible difference from a modelling perspective is the multiple sections and bolts holding the cheek plates onto the wheel on the MHA won't be present on an MPA. May well be easy enough to do by using the same brake disc etch as for an MHA, but with the 'blank' side outwards. The MPA is still disc brakes, it's just that the friction surface is the actual wheel face, not bolt on plates. Lots of the MPAs have quickly patch painted codes too, so lots of fun to model! There's still a good number of MHAs around, I'd say the mix is 50:50 at best, if not mostly MHA. Jo 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Awesome work as usual Jack! That 222 is a work of art - looks great on Micks layout. Although I must admit I’m surprised Mick let you leave with it! The 68 looks great too - the lighting mod you’ve done looks great! Keep up the good work sir! Will 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 On 27/10/2020 at 09:48, Southwich said: Awesome work as usual Jack! That 222 is a work of art - looks great on Micks layout. Although I must admit I’m surprised Mick let you leave with it! Cheers Will...he wants me to finish it first then he’ll nab it off me haha This week I did a bit more on the 2-axle wagons after deliveries arrived. The first task was to add the new floor to the (previously broken) MHA. This was done with very thin styrene sheet (10 or 5 thou?) simply cut to shape and glued in, with more glue flooded into each edge to seal it. Then I’ve inadvertently focused on the MTAs. This whole project is a bit like a chocolate box with each wagon requiring some form of work so all need doing, but which to choose first?? First task after a parcel arrived from Phil at Stenson Models was to remove the old style of leaf spring to add some very nice and crisp cast white metal Brunninghaus springs. The difference is fairly noticeable, and falls into the category of 'I know it’s there so I’ll never forgive myself for not doing it'! Firstly the handbrake levers were either cut off or prized away depending on the strength of glue, to access the springs. Removing the spring mouldings was a challenge but a fresh craft knife blade and patience allowed the old mouldings to be carefully pared off: Then the new springs were simply glued on. No flash on the mouldings so a very straightforward task really! Next job was to add some new 16" buffers. These are from Accurascale and are very nice units, lightly sprung. The old buffers were cut off, leaving 2mm or so of the old buffer which handily acts as a guide to drill out some holes in the right place. Once some 2mm holes were drilled through the buffer beams (and a clearance hole behind), the rest of the old buffers were removed down to the backplate and the AS new buffers superglued in: Finally, I scratched away (with a craft knife) the paint on the buffer spindles leaving a shiny silver finish. I’ve got a thing for OLEOs having silver shanks as the real things are always shiny silver, whereas other buffers ('class 60' style for example) always have greasy black spindles. Thankfully the AS 16" OLEOs are metal heads - I’ll have to paint or find another solution for the all-plastic 13" type for the MHAs. One wagon was done before Top Gear this evening giving a good comparison between shiny or painted: Sprung buffers might seem a bit 'finescale' for me, but for Fordley I’ll use 3-link instanter couplings and sprung buffers on this rake, which will give a nice effect when shunting. This is only possible with short wheelbase stock though due to the tight curves of 00 gauge. The MHA body which is to become 'high-ended' has been started but there isn’t much to show since last time so I’ll update on this next time. Then I need to tackle the MFAs and eventually all those MHAs..... Thanks, Jack. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jack374 said: The MHA body which is to become 'high-ended' has been started... High ended MHA do you mean cut down Tiger box to Doorand/MKA/ZKA? Edited November 1, 2020 by Mark Saunders Fat fingers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 15 hours ago, Mark Saunders said: High ended MHA do you mean cut down Tiger box to Doorand/MKA/ZKA? Doh, I meant high-ended MTA like I described in my last update post... On 25/10/2020 at 19:38, Jack374 said: ...one MTA into a higher-ended ex-Dutch variant, as seen below at Toton in 2018. I’ve seen a couple, and quite fancy a varied rake which will feature Dutch, EWS, DB and Mainline colours! I decided it was best to remove the ends altogether with them being way too thick, so this was achieved with a junior hacksaw, sharp craft knife and files: I knew with 4 different M_A codes I'd get some wrong... Jack. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 As far as I know the only cut down ones to receive Dutch livery were the 13 that became Doorands by BR at York WRD and later were renubered as the lowest numbered MTA’s. Paul Bartlett has some shots of these freshly modified and repainted! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 Thanks Mark...I must admit I’m not clued up on the history of these wagons other than I know they were converted/re-bodied at some point. The photo I quoted above, on closer inspection, actually looks like it’s painted black on the sides and yellow around the top. Another example - 395371 shown below at Carlisle yard - appears to be painted maroon or black with a yellow band. Either that or natural rust colour has taken hold, which I can believe! In any case, I’ll model what I see and try and describe it as best I can, admittedly the two photos I’ve shown don’t look Dutch but the yellow band makes them look similar...to me at least. Jack. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 The MTA wagons have a interesting history! The 1980’s saw Tiger Railcar Leasing rebuild a large number of former 45 ton tanks into boxes coded POA with some later recoded PNA and were used to mainly move stone but were later also used for salt, coal and scrap. Tiger went into receivership and eventually all ended up with BR almost all were converted on the cheap into Limpets ZKA, with two slots cut in the centre panel to prevent overloading with spoil. Thirteen were converted to Doorand by BR and the remaining 30ish became MKA’s for Load Haul; with some getting a full repaint! Some of the Limpets were uncovered for coal traffic by Transrail. Eventually the Limpets were cut down in the style of the Doorand, some were in use about two years ago in traffic for Stocksbridge with a DB branding! The DB MTA’s were built on the former Shell fleet that had been sold to TJ Thompson at Stockton for scrap but swapped for MSV/ZKV Barbels becoming some of the first EWS liveried wagons! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 To add to what Mark has said, the cut down limpets were largely rust / dirt / old livery with a fresh yellow painted top band, though a handful had the lower body either black or maroon. Some maroon ones are quite rough, I think graffiti patch ups? At least one of the cut downs you could still make out the ARC lettering on the lower body, below the fresh yellow on the new top edge. Jo 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted November 3, 2020 Author Share Posted November 3, 2020 Thanks @Mark Saunders and @Steadfast, very informative. This has actually prompted me to review my photos of 'high end' (as I call them) MTAs and I’ve found that the last photo I posted was in fact 395391 not 395371 due to the scrawled-on number. I’d found other photos of (what I thought was) 371 but they didn’t match my photo. So all in all, my wagon will represent 391 or 394, both which I have photos of. Jack. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted November 3, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 3, 2020 Jack now has more "high-end" MTA pics to peruse.............. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackB95 Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Some seriously stunning work here Jack. That Meridian especially just looks fantastic. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 So over a month has passed without update...as usual life has got in the way! This time of year is always busy for me but even more so this year... A small update on the 2-axle ballast wagons. The 'high-ended' MTA has the modified ends now, being made from styrene sheet and strip. The triangular top rim was filed from 0.75mm styrene strip after it was glued to the body. Also I’ve made a start on the instanter 3-link couplings, using Smiths instanter links and some 0.7mm plastic coated wire for the plain links. This allows me to set the correct length depending on drawhook type and the desired spacing. Also visible above are the disc wheels, which I’ve swapped for those on the Bachmann MFA. This is because the 3-hole discs Bachmann provide on the MTA were only used in their early days as far as I can see, being replaced by solid discs. On the MFAs however, all wheels are disc braked so the holes will be covered. That's all updates-wise I’m afraid, as I’ve had little time and have been concentrating on Fordley. This morning however, I did manage to take some festive snaps on Tighte End Yard, one of which will feature in the usual 'Christmas post' very shortly, but here's another shot I took while I was at it. As with previous years, the 'snow' is sieved flour... Thanks, Jack. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 Season's Greetings to all my RMweb friends, and anyone who has viewed, rated, commented or followed my work in 2020. I wish you and your family a peaceful Christmas and all the best for 2021. Hopefully a better year is in store and we can get some quality modelling done! Once again thanks for all the support, I really do appreciate it. Cheers!! Jack. 11 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Nice work as usual Jack - love the snowploughs I think you need to do another set really for me the MFA/MTAs are looking great too! Have a good Christmas and new year mate! Kind regards, Will 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 Happy New Year all! Post-Christmas/New Year I’ve had a small window of time between assignments and exams for university, so I’ve been doing some resin casting. This was to duplicate my 4 MHA brake units which I discussed previously, and for which Jo kindly supplied info and photos! The same casting 'kit' as I used for the 222 was dug out, and worked well after 6 months between use, as I’d been worried about it being dried up or unusable. The components (including a couple of suspension stops I am missing) were blu-tacked into a pin box, then the silicone moulding rubber was poured. After a couple of days, they were removed and the resin poured, which was a little more viscous than when new but worked well... ...a few casts later: I think I’ve got enough now... Obviously they’ll be tidied up. A couple of failed casts can be seen on the left. Finally for now, I’ve done a bit of work on the MFAs. The original draw hooks were thinned down with a knife, then instanter 3-links were added as per the MTAs. Also, the paint on the spindles of the metal buffers was scratched away as the OLEO shanks are always shiny metal... That’s it for the MFAs, except some new footsteps, as Bachmann did a reasonable job with their later chassis (with metal buffers). I’ll be turning to the MHAs next after making the steps for the MFAs...hopefully I’ve saved the best til last...gulp... Thanks, Jack. 9 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Hi jack, just spent an enjoyable hour catching up on your work, fantastic! Those ploughs look excellent! Graham 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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