Jump to content
 

Traeth Mawr -Building Mr Price's house , (mostly)


ChrisN
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

I have been away, the first week we were allowed to go, and I booked it the first week of January when there was no talk of a Lockdown!  :D

 

However, I have thought of changing the description from 'Building Coaches, (mostly)' to 'Lurching from one crisis to another', but think if I change it it will be to 'Rescuing disasters'.  Yes, I have had a good time!

 

This week's disaster is the reverser on the 645.  Now I was going to leave this loco but somehow the reverser got ordered and turned up, so who am I not to sort it out.  As a reminder here is a picture from Roxey Mouldings.  The first disaster is that I thought I had taken a photo of it once it arrived and I spent ages looking for it, but either a) I had deleted it off the camera to make space for holiday photos, or b) I never took the photo as I could use the link.  Either way 45 minutes of frustration.  (Symptom of getting older.)

 

It is made by Markits and it is a lovely little brass thing.  It came without instructions but there was a nice screw at the bottom and the arm moved back and forth.  The handles could not easily be attached as it came.  Little screw.  Obvious really, just unscrew it.  So I did, and the screw sheared.  No problem.  Fix it all together with superglue.  It worked!

 

927976321_Reverser1.jpg.0391a5c950b1ef081cba297b6af214dc.jpg

 

 

It needs some superglue removing but that is not an issue.

 

So I offered it up to the loco body and found that it was too high, way too high.  I think it is because the cab floor is too high.  Now you may ask, "Why on earth did you not check that before you started?!!"  You may well ask, and I asked myself that afterwards, but the only excuse I have sir, it that it was bought for this type of loco and I thought it would fit.

 

So what to do.  1) Go on holiday and worry about it afterwards.  2) Form a plan to drop the height.  I did this almost immediately but left it until I returned .  You may notice that the handle is only secured by glue at the top where it meets the bar at the back.  So, prise the two apart with my trusty Stanley knife, very gently of course, then using little saw saw off the funny bit at the top.  Then bend the bottom part in half so the hole in the handle is touching the screw.  Reglue.

 

1907798278_Reverser2.jpg.b9f7f96b800840390e4dc5f4a2570810.jpg

 

 

Yes it looks a bit of a mess at the bottom but it will be in the cab at the side, behind the driver so only the top will show.

 

As it appears that I will have to do one of the 1501 series as these were built with long tanks.  It appears that these had the filler cap between the dome and the valve cover.  I have several photos, not many but enough of the tanks like this and as I was trying to work out where the cap should go, it became obvious I would need to move the dome as well, but only by a little bit.  If I tried to do that I would have to move the hole for the dome by a fraction which means it would be quite tricky to do. I have also found a photo of 1508 with a six section tank and the filler between the chimney and the dome.  I cannot post it as it would infringe copyright, and it may be too late really but it will be the easiest option to produce something reasonable.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

  • Like 5
  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

It’s difficult to judge without some kind of reference, but pole reversers were not petite affairs.  They were substantial, and visible in cab photos.  Of course, the pivot was on the frame of the loco, so probably below the cab floor.
 

atb

Simon

Edited by Simond
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

That's a beautiful brass reverser Chris, good thing you managed to modify it, would have been a shame to just leave it.

 

I hope the 1501 solution works out for you. You really learn something about a class when you try to build one. Perhaps especially so when you haven't got a full kit to show the way. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
10 minutes ago, Simond said:

It’s difficult to judge without some kind of reference, but pole reversers were not petite affairs.  They were substantial, and visible in cab photos.  Of course, the pivot was on the frame of the loco, so probably below the cab floor.
 

atb

Simon

 

Simon,

 

Thank you.  One of the images I am going from is this.  Before I modified it it was much higher than the one in the photo.  I am not sure I have the option to sink it in the floor as it is going on an R-T-R chassis, but hopefully now it will look the part.  I did think I would have to take a photo of it in the cab, and will eventually, but I need to paint first.

 

 

  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
18 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

That's a beautiful brass reverser Chris, good thing you managed to modify it, would have been a shame to just leave it.

 

I hope the 1501 solution works out for you. You really learn something about a class when you try to build one. Perhaps especially so when you haven't got a full kit to show the way. 

 

Mikkel,

It certainly is a nice piece of work, and I was surprised it gave no indication of how it was to go together.  I did do a search and nothing came up.  I am having mad thoughts about perhaps I could have the filler cap further back and use Miliput to half fill a hole, but the filler ca hole is not just a hole but a hole with a wider rim, so what I think I need to do is have a lay down until the madness passes.  I think I have to aim for the possible.

  • Friendly/supportive 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Well here we go again.  I have been doing a little modelling, but this is an update from some a while ago.  

 

The MSLR tri-composite needed floors in each compartment, and seats.

 

656763664_Seats1.jpg.80b987e511820dc1b9f13d8eeaeb9aec.jpg

 

Yes, a picture of floor and seats.  The floor is 10 thou Plasticard.  I am a bit loathe to make it thicker as it might raise the seats too much.  There is a thread on how most passengers in models sit too high but most model figures fit the seats as made so keeping the seats themselves low seems the right thing to do.  The floor in the luggage compartment is 20 thou as thickness does not matter and it glues round better.  The floors were cut out and glued in but were then strengthened by fixing the seats to them and the compartment walls.

 

You may ask, why not just put a floor under all the compartments.  The floor heights should be at the bottom of the sides.  You may also ask why not make the chassis and hide the floor below the compartment dividers.  This is a possibility and to be honest now I may add a strengthener like that but it could not go all the way to the sides and the ends and I need to work out the relative heights of the W irons and springs before I commit to that.

 

So here is the underneath, not very pretty.

 

481650119_Underneath1.jpg.c303ed66f4722655abfbcc753a027d4d.jpg

 

 

Here is the coach with all its seats.

 

616354994_Seats2.jpg.a0e9ed19ebdd34d10e665efc5323c7f7.jpg

 

It is interesting to note the different amounts of space each class has.  There have been two films recently on threads I read, sorry not sure which,  called 'A Kiss in the Tunnel'.  They were obviously filmed either, 1) in a studio with imaginary amounts of space, or 2) a First Class compartment.  It gives the general impression that there is miles of space in a railway compartment.

 

At this point Northroader posted some very helpful pictures showing that the inside did not look like that at all.  :)

 

To be continued........

 

In other news, the paint shop has been busy doing some work between tea breaks and all the insides of my Dolgelley coaches are complete.

 

488735877_SeatsPainted.jpg.2b73e80d4d8c7e1ca6f777fda565864d.jpg

 

It is not a good pictures as none of the colours have reproduced properly.  The floor is Humbrol 110, Natural Wood, the sides of the third class coaches, Humbrol 186 Brown, the sides of the First and second, are Humbrol 71 Oak.  The oak is slightly yellow, and makes not too bad a blonde hair colouring.  

 

Seats, most are Drab Rep, which I took to be a mid dull brown, so they all are Humbrol 250 Desert Sand, which is not quite the colour I wanted but is horrible enough to do.  The First Class should be crimson so they are, Humbrol 20, which is gloss so they have been toned down with really old matt varnish.  I used it because it is not important how good the finish is and I wanted to see if it was still useable.  It was one coat over grey so if you look closely the covering is not perfect but I think that soft seats that have been sat on a lot look like that.  Also I will put passengers over the worst bits.

 

I now have to do the outside and to my amazement I have some proper GWR paint colours which I found I had bought when looking for something else, after having tried to make all the window frames indian red.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

  • Like 9
  • Craftsmanship/clever 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Chris, how are you finding the blue cutting mat? I ask because my current black one is really not good on the eyes. Fortunately it is now so worn that I can justify replacing it, but I don't want black again.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
4 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Chris, how are you finding the blue cutting mat? I ask because my current black one is really not good on the eyes. Fortunately it is now so worn that I can justify replacing it, but I don't want black again.

 

Mikkel,

I have no problem with it.  I do not lose things when they are sitting on it, so it gives a fairly good contrast.  I also have a pale green and a pale yellow one which are larger, (I am not sure why I have two), but I bought this one because it is quite small, 300 x 220 x 3mm, and was originally for taking away with me, but as I now have the tray to sit on my lap it gets used all the time.

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
48 minutes ago, Buhar said:

@Mikkel has a lot of green swatches to work from. However there is the risk of it camouflaging GWR stock. Some might consider that a bonus. 

Alan 

 

Careful there - the Great Western wan't the only Western with green engines!

  • Like 2
  • Agree 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Thanks Chris/all. I have used green before, was just wondering if the blue was even better. The black one makes me dizzy! Of course, I might also consider glasses :D

 

Edited by Mikkel
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Well, I have not done much but things have progressed a little bit.  I decided that I ought to do the roof.  I realised that my usual jar was too short and found a large olive jar.  it was just long enough.  I did my usual of marking in felt tip a vertical line on the jar then taping down the pre-cut 30 thou plasticard with masking tape, then cardboard on top, tied down with boot laces wrapped around it.  Boiling water is then poured into it, the wife warned not to touch as it is 'HOT' and it is left overnight.  I took it off and it seemed fine.  i was about to sort out the oil tops:-

 

994536021_Roof1.jpg.ab58f6f05d5b14120152c70450bc4911.jpg

 

You will notice that it is curved at one end.  I looked at the jar and then noticed near the bottom was a slight ridge.  It went in the recycling.  (I think.)

 

I found my old whiskey bottle.  Before I could find a funnel we went on holiday.  My wife was sorting out an irrigation system for her vegetables in pots.  My whiskey bottle volunteered.  When we returned it had fallen off the pot and had landed on one of the few paving slabs we have.  I have yet to drink enough whiskey/ port or whatever to make a replacement.

 

You will notice that the coach does not have any seats in that compartment.  No, I had a pang of, 'oh dear this is not good enough'.  My defence was that the website had been changed since I last saw it so that I had never seen the images Northroader posted.  I looked at the 'last changed date' and found that it was after I had bought the coach.  Why I did not download the images of the inside I will never know.  I wondered if I could get my trusty Stanley knife and prise the Ratio seats out.  I managed to do it without to much damage.  Someone had decided to spray the coach with primer so that it was possible to smooth the ridges.  It meant that the polystyrene cement only stuck to the seats and the paint which is why it worked.

 

I bought some 'T' section plasticard for reasons best known to me at the time.  Yes, it was again to make certain that the floor was fixed securely to the coach, so needed at least a contact with the seat and the seat with the compartment wall.  They seemed a little high in comparison to the Ratio seats but I asked a Stadden lady to try them out for me.  She was delighted and said she had only been in Third Class before but found that she fitted all three classes perfectly.  Although the 'T' was a little higher at the end than the Ratio seat, it was flat, whereas the Ratio was curved so the seat was actually in practise the same height.

 

1034230987_Seats3.jpg.eca6aa793c2448aafeb8c4a92706e72a.jpg

 

 

I did not take out the First Class seats even though I thought they might be a little high.

 

I then put the flat backs in, and the drawing of the coach supplied, was invaluable as I knew how high to make it.

 

 

475634134_Seats4.jpg.7e75b07c2669ae8143279fc46290d340.jpg

 

 New  seats, no backs but seat dividers.  These were drawn on 10 thou plasticard.  The back was drawn using a Ratio seat that had been removed and the front drawn freehand.  Having done one, the rest were then traced around the first one.  They were painted with Humbrol 225 Middle Stone, not very well to try and simulate streaks as per picture.  The white bits will be painted blue.  They have arm rests, so rectangles of 10 thou were cut, and a slit made down the middle and they were pushed on.  The ones at the end were left as they only need the armrest one side and I have no idea how to do that.  (The yellow squares are 10 x 10mm.)

 

Finally while I was working on the underneath, the First Class seats fell out, (paint again the culprit, so I took the opportunity to cut off the top part of the Ratio seat.  It will be much easier to attach the dividers and paint the seat like this.  Also they are nearer the correct height.  I shall probably do this to all my seats in future .

 

1874012842_Seats6.jpg.d944d485f674af4cdf1ccd8d4ff1a0a6.jpg

 

 

Seat covered in dust but marked for compartment divisions.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

  • Like 7
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Olive jars, boot laces and whiskey bottles.  Proper modelling! Hemingway would have approved. 

 

6 hours ago, ChrisN said:

a Stadden lady

 

And women of distinction, and old railway carriages. This really is a fine hobby :)

 

  • Like 2
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

What you want is a bottle of something that is packed in a cylindrical tin.  I think mine might have been brandy.  
 

and a pair of the good lady’s stockings, tights, nylons, whatever. (Which can be stored in said tin when dry)

 

Put the kettle on.  Align edge of plasticard with vertical seam on tin.  Apply as many layers of leggings as are necessary to retain plasticard to tin.  Pour contents of kettle into tin.  Wait as the plasticard settles into place.  Empty hot water into sink, and run under cold tap for several minutes.

 

remove, dry, use. When tights and tin are dry, store for next time.

 

as the meerkat said...

 

atb

Simo

  • Like 2
  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Sorry, did you want some pictures reposted? Forgot which. Tip, if you’re using her tights, be sure to cut your toenails first.

Conventionally, such tips are accompanied by the rider "don't ask me how I know". Did you press 'submit' early?

Alan 

  • Like 1
  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Northroader said:

Sorry, did you want some pictures reposted? Forgot which. Tip, if you’re using her tights, be sure to cut your toenails first.

 

Northroader,

Thank you, I have all the pictures that you posted and they have all been very useful, so thank you very much.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

Have you got a cafatiere?

 

 

 

Compound,

No, we do not have a cafetiere.  My wife has never really liked coffee so taught herself to drink it as a social exercise and usually takes it very weak.  I am not sure I could justify one just to bend coach roofs.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Are wine bottles too small  in diameter then? £4 a throw is rather cheaper than whisky. I must admit that I haven't tried one. My current roofs are from a coffee tin, though it is not a brand we usually buy (no it wasn't bought especially for making roofs).

Jonathan

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
45 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Are wine bottles too small  in diameter then? £4 a throw is rather cheaper than whisky. I must admit that I haven't tried one. My current roofs are from a coffee tin, though it is not a brand we usually buy (no it wasn't bought especially for making roofs).

Jonathan

 

Jonathan,

Of course I am being too narrow in my description, and thought about what I could use.  Any straight sided bottle will do.  Your post made me think again and look at the 'Raspberry Lemonade' that my wife has just finished.  Just need to find the funnel.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
On 28/08/2020 at 08:47, corneliuslundie said:

Are wine bottles too small  in diameter then?

 

Wine bottles are generally around 3" diameter, which is close enough for 10 ft radius roofs in 4 mm/ft scale - suitable for many goods vans and older arc-roof carriages. I have used a Tesco olive jar about 2½" diameter, ideal for the 8 ft radius roofs of Midland arc-roof carriages but limited in length to about 25 ft. I recently received a very kind gift from @richbrummitt of an Australian tawny desert wine bottle that is the same 2½" diameter but has a longer useable length - good for up to 45 ft, which covers most Midland arc-roof carriages except the 54 ft 12-wheelers. He very thoughtfully provided it in ready-to-use condition, having removed the contents. 

Edited by Compound2632
54 ft 12-wheelers not 6-wheelers!
  • Like 2
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...