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

[Mikkel]

28 minutes ago, ChrisN said:

Now I think I may have shared this image before.

 

I note the Armstrong smokebox door. As Brassey recently pointed out, it is bigger and not as dished as the Dean one.

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Mikkel

[corneliuslundie]

There are big  PO wagon letters on other HMRS sheets. I have plenty of the Pressfix type as I am doing 7 mm wagons as well. What size do you want PARRY? I may be able to oblige. I assume unshaded? (don't ask for anything with N or C as Nantcwmdu Colliery Co needs them all!

But yes, they are fiddly to use but worth it. One good feature is that you can mov them around if you do not get the position right at first.

I did trawl through all my books and made a list of all the photographs of Cambrian locos. I suppose I need to do the same for carriages and wagons.

I have been looking for 0.1 or 0.2 white pens but have failed so far. I have some 0.7 mm Posca pens and they work well but are not fine enough for a lot of things. I have just ordered red and yellow 0.1 mm pens to try for carriage lining but there seem to be no white ones available. I shall be interested in how you get on with your 0.1-1 mm pen.

Jonathan

Edited January 8, 2021 by corneliuslundie
Add paragraph

[Compound2632]

31 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

don't ask for anything with N or C as Nantcwmdu Colliery Co needs them all!

 

That can be a problem with those HMRS sheets. CHESHIRE LINES on both sides of one wagon rendered that particular size wiped out the supply of Hs.

 

33 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

I have just ordered red and yellow 0.1 mm pens

 

Are those Posca too?

[ChrisN]

10 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

I note the Armstrong smokebox door. As Brassey recently pointed out, it is bigger and not as dished as the Dean one.

 

 

Mikkel,

Yes it is.  It is surprising how often you look at things and not qunatify what the difference is between what you see.  When I look at those doors they 'feel' different. smoother, but have never considered why.  Another anomaly .  (I had better be careful, did the Cardassians not come through an anomaly.?  I will ask my son, he is into Star Trek.)

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, corneliuslundie said:

There are big  PO wagon letters on other HMRS sheets. I have plenty of the Pressfix type as I am doing 7 mm wagons as well. What size do you want PARRY? I may be able to oblige. I assume unshaded? (don't ask for anything with N or C as Nantcwmdu Colliery Co needs them all!

But yes, they are fiddly to use but worth it. One good feature is that you can mov them around if you do not get the position right at first.

I did trawl through all my books and made a list of all the photographs of Cambrian locos. I suppose I need to do the same for carriages and wagons.

I have been looking for 0.1 or 0.2 white pens but have failed so far. I have some 0.7 mm Posca pens and they work well but are not fine enough for a lot of things. I have just ordered red and yellow 0.1 mm pens to try for carriage lining but there seem to be no white ones available. I shall be interested in how you get on with your 0.1-1 mm pen.

Jonathan

 

Jonathan,

Thank you that is very kind.  I think I will not take up your offer as looking at what I have again I have the Commuted Charge sheet.  Looking at the HMRS site again I would probably be better off with the 4 &1.3mm sheet.  I have looked again in the daylight at the sheet and it is much better.  I looked yesterday as well but it was quite dull so it was no better than artificial light.

 

So, plan of action.  I will try the pen when it comes on something else and if it is acceptable I will try on the wagon.  If not I will order the 4 &1.3mm sheet and go from there, although as I do most of my modelling in the late afternoon or evening I will have to wait for the longer evenings. 

 

Thank you again.  

[NCB]

Would Modelmaster be any good?

https://modelmaster.uk/88-4mm-diy-private-owner-wagon-lettering

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

That can be a problem with those HMRS sheets. CHESHIRE LINES on both sides of one wagon rendered that particular size wiped out the supply of Hs.

 

 

Are those Posca too?

 

Stephen,

I have a Staedtler set of black felt tips in sizes from 0.7 down to 0.1.  I used the smallest to mark the arrows on my convicts.

 

I would also be interested in what type of pens Jonathan has bought, and are they any good?

[ChrisN]

26 minutes ago, NCB said:

Would Modelmaster be any good?

https://modelmaster.uk/88-4mm-diy-private-owner-wagon-lettering

 

Nigel,

Thank you, I will bookmark that page.  I will think about them.

[corneliuslundie]

"Are those Posca too?"

No, they are ShinHan Touch Liners from Jackson's. I'll let you know if they are any good when they arrive. The Posca  very fine ones seem to be very hard to find in stock.

That said, in normal times there is a very good shop in Machynlleth with lots of goodies. I bought my set of Posca 0.7 mm pens there, and could have spent a lot more money. There are also pretty good shops in Aberystswyth and Shrewsbury, though like Mach such places may as well be in another world at the moment.

And the snow is getting nearer.

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

Update. The pens arrived. Unfortunately they seem to need a matt surface as they will produce a very fine line on paper but not on the carriage side. I am going to paint a patch of matt varnish and try again.

The thicker Posca pans do take on the paint but are too thick.

I am wondering in fact if I need 0.2 mm pens anyway for the lining.

I thought of you this morning as I read the last few pages of a book I was given for Christmas - The Crowsnest Chronicles by the late Roy LInk. At the end of the book is the history of the line - complete fiction but woven so closely with facts and an actual place (the Stiperstones) that it is very hard to see the joins. It struck me that you would enjoy it, even if his modelling is both to a much larger scale (16 mm to the foot) and with a fully equipped engineering workshop. But also I realised that although we know a great deal about the main line railway at Traeth Mawr we have heard very little of the history of the narrow gauge line.

Incidentally, in the latest Model Railway Journal there is another example of someone who writes a detailed fictional history which fits the real world very closely - and in Wales (just) too.

Jonathan

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

Thank you, that is very helpful.  When my Posca comes I will have a go on various surfaces.  I could try adding the wagon number on the end which is the original red primer and see.

 

Thank you for telling me about the book.  As it happens, I have written a history and description of the narrow gauge line, from its conception in the 1860s to 1953 when the line was finally taken into preservation.  It was written a while ago so some details may have changed.  I also have a history of the town, but not finished as I have get Mr Price on a good day to fill me in, and there is a half completed street map, if I can find it in my pile of books. Mr Price also told me about his early life and how he joined the Cambrian, but has asked me to not spread it about to much, but Mr Lewis might spill the beans for me. There are a few interviews I have conducted with a number of residents which when I actually get to doing scenery, yeah, don't 'old ya breath, which I shall put in a blog.

 

I try not to do any imaginative writing when I should be modelling, which is why, although I have a timetable for the narrow gauge, it is half way through being corrected as Mr Lewis, the narrow gauge Station Master, said I had made some mistakes.

 

I will let you know what happens when I try my pen.

[Northroader]

Now on the Corris, the station master at the big station at Machynlleth also had the small station in his charge, an arrangement Mr. Price will wholeheartedly endorse.

When I was a kid, one of my bike excursions took me to the Snailbeach, (lovely name) when it was still functioning, albeit with a Fordson tractor as motive power. Must look out for that book.

[ChrisN]

21 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Now on the Corris, the station master at the big station at Machynlleth also had the small station in his charge, an arrangement Mr. Price will wholeheartedly endorse.

When I was a kid, one of my bike excursions took me to the Snailbeach, (lovely name) when it was still functioning, albeit with a Fordson tractor as motive power. Must look out for that book.

 

Ah, yes.  There is a story there, but maybe I will let Mr Price tell you it sometime.  Also the Traeth Mawr and Twll Du Railway is an independent company, and it is still a few years until the Cambrian try and take it over.  The Cambrian fails, and retires hurt.

[ChrisN]

Quick update.

 

I received my Posca pen today and tried putting a number on some card and the carriage wagon.  The carriage wagon is in primer and is awaiting painting so it is not a disaster.  The Posca comes and on the sides it states something like, 'any width you want'.  What it means is that it has bristles about a 10mm long which come down to a fine tip.  If you are very gentle you can get a straight line but not 0.1mm thick, probably 0.3mm.  However, when you try and do curves, or press too hard the line becomes thicker, so it is not what you want to do fine lettering with.  I shall look for something else.

 

In other news, this laptop is about to be lent to my son so that both his children can have a laptop on which to do their school work.  Their school has decided to do lessons on Microsoft teams so it is more important that they can access one at any time.  I was thinking I would use this opportunity to replace this one but there seems to be a dearth of laptops for sale, obviously everyone has gone out and bought all the good bargains last week.  My son has indicated that they will not need/want it after Lockdown so I shall be sharing my wife's laptop until then.  So, if I am a little slow in replying, then you know why.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking. 

[ChrisN]

An update!  I seem to have got on my wife's laptop more than I expected, although I logged onto my emails today and found I had not been on their since Tuesday.  So while my wife is cooking dinner looking the other way, here goes.

 

Firstly the carriage truck.  It needs some form of 'handle' at the side to attach the chains that hold the carriage in place.  The only picture I have is of a model and that has a strap.  I also have a pair of diagrams which show a bar.  I am not sure the wagon I have built matches either exactly.

 

 

I used 0.5mm nickel silver wire, then measured the length of where it should go on the truck.  Using a pair of long nosed pliers I bent the end, which was about a 2mm length.  I measured the length I had measured along the wire plus 2mm.  I used a file to mark the position with a ridge, then cut it with some pliers.  I then used the long nosed pliers to bend the end.  I did this for each of them and checked to see if they looked correct.  I should mention that the drawings were of the side only and gave no indication of how far out they should be.  They looked to big, so I took my pliers and cut a bit off each end.  Wondered why I had bothered to measure it really.  

 

I then took some 15 x 30 thou strip and drilled a 0.45mm hole in it near the end, and then pushed one end of a wire in it to hold it, and then cut it with a scalpel.  It was about, oh, so big.  *Indicated with finger ad thumb*  There seemed little point in high accuracy as any measurement would have as much inaccuracy as just judging it by eye.  Having made these bits for all four wires I then made sure that they were at the end of the wire and suerglued them to the wagon, trying to line them up as the diagrams and picture showed them.  I used the bits of plasticard as it gave the wires more of an anchor to the side.  The result is above, and er, below:-

 

 

You will notice that one is a bit too big, yes I did check them.  The piece of plastic is to stop it rolling of my temporary work bench.  Unfortunately while I was not looking, it made a run for it.  It lost an axlebox, a buffer and some paint, but nothing that a severe talking to and some superglue could not fix.

 

Brakes for coaches.

 

 

 

Sorry for the out of focus picture.  I took a Ratio brake moulding and drew around it as close as I could.  Half had the extensions on, and half were just the brake blocks.  The pairs were glued together to give the brake some body.  On the left is the Stroudley brake third and on the right the MSLR Saloon.

 

 

Hopefully you can see the width on the brake block.  I have glued to the bottom a strip of 15 thou square plasticard to widen the base for sticking to the floor.  The brakes for the Stroudley are much shorter as the floor is quite thick and fills the solebar.

 

 

Looking at the pictures it appeared that the MSLR Saloon only had brakes at one end.  (If I am wrong please tell me.  The Vacuum cylinder is a Comet Models one.  Now I would have thought that the activation rod would have gone to the middle of the wheels to a bar across the two, but the pictures seemed to have it to one side.  If I am wrong please tell me although it is too late to change it.  I have a nasty feeling the the cylinder is GWR, and appears to have a large hole in it so probably will not work, but working MSLR vacuum cylinders are a bit scarce.

 

Finally

 

 

The brakes on the Stroudley.  Those buffers are not bent, honest.  The wheels are straight too, runs like a dream.  I realised I should have done images from the side, so I shall probably do a couple for next time.

 

The Stroudley will need its Westinghouse cylinder.  Due to scarcity of laptop time I have only had a quick look to see where it goes.  All I could find was the Dapol '0' gauge coaches that had a cylinder on the right had side as you looked from the ducket end.  This looked more like a gas cylinder, so the air cylinder should be the other side.  Answers on a postcard please, or failing that, just reply here.  Thank you.

 

Questions and thoughts next time.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by ChrisN

[Simond]

Chris,

 

couple of thoughts which may help.  
 

Make a jig, bit of thick plasticard (or wood...), drill hole at the appropriate distance from an edge.  Bend the end of your wire & poke in the hole, bend other end over the edge of your jig.  Snip off at a suitable length, pretty much guaranteed to all be the same.   You can buy etched jigs with loads of different distances, but I’ve never felt the need to splash the cash.

 

Another quickie, again, card or plasticard, suitable thickness.  Cut to a shallow triangle, Use as a spacer to get them all the same offset from the wagon side.

 

jigs are worthwhile to get stuff consistent, and pay for the time they take to make in making the actual modelling quicker.

 

atb

Simon

[NCB]

1 hour ago, Simond said:

Chris,

 

couple of thoughts which may help.  
 

Make a jig, bit of thick plasticard (or wood...), drill hole at the appropriate distance from an edge.  Bend the end of your wire & poke in the hole, bend other end over the edge of your jig.  Snip off at a suitable length, pretty much guaranteed to all be the same.   You can buy etched jigs with loads of different distances, but I’ve never felt the need to splash the cash.

 

Another quickie, again, card or plasticard, suitable thickness.  Cut to a shallow triangle, Use as a spacer to get them all the same offset from the wagon side.

 

jigs are worthwhile to get stuff consistent, and pay for the time they take to make in making the actual modelling quicker.

 

atb

Simon

 

I must confess I find the Bill Bedford jig very useful:

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/tools/e017_4/

 

For getting handles the same distance from the body, find something of the right thickness to slip behind them when fitting. I did wonder if feeler gauges might be OK but haven't tried them.

 

Nigel

[Simond]

It’s that kind of jig I was referring to.  I model in 7mm so it’s a bit small.  
 

Card is better than feeler gauges as it doesn’t scratch the paint!

 

atb

Simon

[Northroader]

If you’re putting brass wire handrails into plastic bodies, put some cardboard packing behind the rail to limit how far it goes in, then lightly apply downwards pressure with a hot soldering iron. You may have to trim a little collar of displaced plastic from round the base of the handrail.

[ChrisN]

13 hours ago, Simond said:

Chris,

 

couple of thoughts which may help.  
 

Make a jig, bit of thick plasticard (or wood...), drill hole at the appropriate distance from an edge.  Bend the end of your wire & poke in the hole, bend other end over the edge of your jig.  Snip off at a suitable length, pretty much guaranteed to all be the same.   You can buy etched jigs with loads of different distances, but I’ve never felt the need to splash the cash.

 

Another quickie, again, card or plasticard, suitable thickness.  Cut to a shallow triangle, Use as a spacer to get them all the same offset from the wagon side.

 

jigs are worthwhile to get stuff consistent, and pay for the time they take to make in making the actual modelling quicker.

 

atb

Simon

 

11 hours ago, NCB said:

 

I must confess I find the Bill Bedford jig very useful:

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/tools/e017_4/

 

For getting handles the same distance from the body, find something of the right thickness to slip behind them when fitting. I did wonder if feeler gauges might be OK but haven't tried them.

 

Nigel

 

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

If you’re putting brass wire handrails into plastic bodies, put some cardboard packing behind the rail to limit how far it goes in, then lightly apply downwards pressure with a hot soldering iron. You may have to trim a little collar of displaced plastic from round the base of the handrail.

 

Thank you all.

 

I should have thought of that as it was not that long ago I watched @BlueLightning use a card spacer when soldering handrails onto a kit.  I was using the plier ends as my spacer but then lost it when I cut the ends off.  The kit is whitemetal so I had to get the lengths correct before I glued it on the side.    This will be the only carriage truck that I do but I must think about jigs for other things.

[BlueLightning]

1 hour ago, ChrisN said:

not that long ago

 

That would be my SE&CR 6 wheel brake then? The card I used for that was the card that came in the kit to stop the brass getting bent, and worked really well. I like that technique because it means you can cut the card to exactly the size you need, and get a consistent space along the whole length.

 

Gary

[ChrisN]

11 minutes ago, BlueLightning said:

 

That would be my SE&CR 6 wheel brake then? The card I used for that was the card that came in the kit to stop the brass getting bent, and worked really well. I like that technique because it means you can cut the card to exactly the size you need, and get a consistent space along the whole length.

 

Gary

 

Gary,

Yes it was.  I liked also that for one fiddly bit on either side you had a wire that went through the middle.  I see these things but do not always remember them until after I have finished.

[ChrisN]

Well, long suffering viewers I thought I would show you my modelling list.  It shows what is on at the moment, what is waiting in the wing, or half done, and what is finished.

 

 

I managed to start so many due to times when I was away from home and never finished them when I got back.  I will try and be more circumspect and not do side ventures like this

 

 

The lady o the right with the child is Mary Williams who lives in Station Road and is out with her son watching the parade.  The girl on the right is Jane Davies, who comes from Pwllheli and is in service.  I cannot get out of her if she works in one of the houses in Station Road or one of the hotels on the Promenade.  Either way she is going into town to the butchers to take the list of meat that her employer wants for the week.  It will of course be delivered.  She may go to the other shops, but not the market stalls as she has not got a bag with her.  She has of course stopped to watch the parade.  (Young men in uniform!)

 

Now a question.  I have got all four of my GWR coaches onto their wheels and with footboards, but not buffers.  I tried putting the plastic buffers on one of the Ratio kits and while I was doing something else, three of them broke off.  I have two sets of sprung buffers but will probably leave these for the clerestory coaches, so I am waiting for the Dart Castings ones to be back in stock.  So my question is to do with painting.  I am sure I read, and I thought it was on GWR.org, that prior to 1905 the ends of coaches were black but the panelling was red.  When I went to check this it said nothing of the kind.  There are three possibilities,

1) I was reading about another company

2) It was another thread

3) It was on GWR.org but I have jumped into another universe where this is not true.

 

Looking at all the pictures that I have found the ends are all black.  Could someone clarify this for me.  Are all coach ends just black, and did they do something different for brake coaches?

 

Thank you.

[Edwardian]

Chris, keep it up.

 

If I were to draw up such a list for my projects it would be a case of "do not pass Go, do not collect £200, go straight to a cup of hemlock"

 

Surely that way madness lies?

[corneliuslundie]

I too thought all ends were black but that appears to be for a later period. “Great Western Way” quotes an article in The Railway Engineer in 1895 thus: “The bottom and waist panels of the Great Western carriages are painted brown, as also are the whole of the ends. From the waist upwards the panes are creamy white. All mouldings have a broad jet black line on the flat and gold leaf on the edges, and about one inch from the latter a thin chocolate line is run on the white panels.” Ends appear to have become black with the 1980 all brown livery and remained so for the Lake livery in 1912.

Jonathan