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

[Northroader]

I’m not saying shovel it out of loco tenders, just reclaim any small pieces left lying around the ballast.

[K14]

21 hours ago, ChrisN said:

... crawling around under the G20 trying to take photos of what is actually under there, and how different it is to what I have modelled, ...

 

 

I trust you know that the underframe of 2511 came from a 6-wheel Tool Van & has been "adjusted" to suit?

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, K14 said:

 

I trust you know that the underframe of 2511 came from a 6-wheel Tool Van & has been "adjusted" to suit?

 

Thanks, yes of course.  It will be still be interesting though.

[ChrisN]

You may have wondered what I have been doing?  I have wondered the same thing.  Before that though, just to say that I do have pictures of Didcot, but to post them in the gallery in any useful way I will need to be a 'Gold Member'.  I am not one yet, but may well be soon.

 

So we are coming out of lockdown and that for my wife, only means one thing.  Seeing the grandchildren, especially the little one who we have hardly seen.  Zoom is great but you cannot cuddle babies over Zoom.

 

Also, I have been spending a little time, maybe more than I should have been at the doctors, Dr Williams in fact, although I actually think he is a Surgeon Apothecary, but that is another story, or rather, post.  

 

So what have I done?  I have been continuing working on the G20.  Firstly, I decided to test again its ability to go round corners.  I tightened the nuts on the bolts holding the axles until they could just turn, and fixed a coupling to one end.  I then ran it at the end of a train and it ran alright in one direction for four or five laps.  The other way was not so good.  I then decided to see how it would perform if the end axles were fixed tight.  It ran perfectly.  Oh hum.  Yes, the old phrase, keep it simple.  I shall probably build future six wheelers in the same way with the option of movement but I will still tighten them up so as to keep them rigid.  The bolts are rather long, all of 10mm.  I am looking at some of 5mm.

 

So onto the interior.

 

 

I shaped the walls to the toilet from 20 thou plasticard, and scored and darkened the scoring with a lead pencil for the door.  Hopefully it will show through when painted.  I had assumed the doors were like the toilet doors I remember on trains when I was a lad, flush with no panelling.  I did not look at the Didcot site until after they were in, fixed with superglue.  Yes, you guessed it, they are panelled.  Too late, and I have not even put a handle on it.

 

 

10 thou plasticard at the ends.  (There are lots of things to stick in folks backs so they have to be covered.)  Seats are 10 thou plasticard, and supports were glued on first and allowed to set before fixing the seats in place.  My trip to Didcot showed that the backs at the end are higher, and the backs at the side are above the window, something I deliberately tried to avoid.  Also there is a tiny arm rest at the end.  

 

 

Hmm, maybe, just maybe.

 

I did the tests earlier as I was worried about the wheels turning when they had brakes on them and gas cylinders between them.  If they are solid no need to worry but there is still not a lot of room.  I made some brakes by drawing round a Ratio coach brake on 20 thou plasticard and cutting them out with a scapel.

 

 

They were in two parts, one part to fix over the W iron 'holder, the other an extra part for the shoe.  They were glued together, and then filed to clean them up.  These have not been cleaned up yet.

 

 

 

I then added the gas cylinder and the vacuum cylinder.  What I found was important was that they were far enough towards the edge not to foul the wire holding the centre wheelset.  You can possibly see that I have had to move the gas cylinder further to the edge because of this.  I was trying to have it nearer the centre so that the wheel sets could turn.

 

 

Here are the brakes having been added.  Not brilliant but they are there, mostly.  I had not intended to post until I had painted the brakes, but then when I looked at it again I realised that there is do much priming to do that I should leave it until then.

 

I am now working on the table in the coach.  Or to put it another way, I am making the table in the coach, and trying to make plasticard cylinders bigger, as it is easier than trying to get some more at the moment.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

[Simond]

Chris,

 

before you go away from using the pivoted axle guards as they were intended, swap your slightly distorted bit of brass wire for a dead straight length of piano wire, probably 0.2 or 0.4 mm diameter.  Hold it in with a drop of uhu or whatever, as bending the ends is something you’ll only do once.

 

I think you’ll find it then runs both ways, and I’d guess, through pointwork too!

 

atb

Simon

[ChrisN]

34 minutes ago, Simond said:

Chris,

 

before you go away from using the pivoted axle guards as they were intended, swap your slightly distorted bit of brass wire for a dead straight length of piano wire, probably 0.2 or 0.4 mm diameter.  Hold it in with a drop of uhu or whatever, as bending the ends is something you’ll only do once.

 

I think you’ll find it then runs both ways, and I’d guess, through pointwork too!

 

atb

Simon

 

Simon,

Thank you.  I do intend to change it.  It is a guitar string, one of three my son gave me.  I still have the other two.......  I shall have to see if he has any more.  He gives me his old broken ones.

 

The other problem with the pivoting is that the nuts work loose and the wheels get too wobbly.  That is why I tried using a locking nut, but it does not lock.  I can find M4 with nylon locks but not M2.  I could use a lock retainer, or superglue to hold them firm but that may be a bit irreversible.

[Simond]

Try a drop of paint, definitely not superglue!

 

it is really important that the wire is dead straight.

[MikeOxon]

In my own design of Cleminson chassis, I used two separate stout rods to link the outer swivelling wheels to the central slide as shown below:

 

 

I don't think your apparently 'bendy' wire is really up to the job!

 

Mike

[Simond]

It’ll be a balancing act between “stiff enough to work” and “not so stiff it derails”.

 

the Slaters 0 gauge ones have two bendy wires,  they, like Mike’s design, have the pivots inboard of the outer axles.  I rather think that will also help.

 

atb

Simon

[ChrisN]

 

1 hour ago, MikeOxon said:

In my own design of Cleminson chassis, I used two separate stout rods to link the outer swivelling wheels to the central slide as shown below:

 

 

I don't think your apparently 'bendy' wire is really up to the job!

 

Mike

 

27 minutes ago, Simond said:

It’ll be a balancing act between “stiff enough to work” and “not so stiff it derails”.

 

the Slaters 0 gauge ones have two bendy wires,  they, like Mike’s design, have the pivots inboard of the outer axles.  I rather think that will also help.

 

atb

Simon

 

As I have said, it does work when the wheelsets can turn, but are tight enough that they do not wobble.  When they get too loose they will not sit correctly to go through points.  I will try and get some more guitar wire from my son.  The main issue is the nuts working loose so I will try a drop of paint and see how that works.

 

The system is not too different from the MJT one for six wheel wagons, but they use a hairpin of wire which is much thicker and less bendy, but then the wheelbases will be much shorter.

[richbrummitt]

4 hours ago, ChrisN said:

I can find M4 with nylon locks but not M2.  I could use a lock retainer, or superglue to hold them firm but that may be a bit irreversible.

 

M2 nyloc are available e.g. from here: https://modelfixings.co.uk/nuts.htm#metric nyloc nuts

 

Loctite can be removed as long as you don't go for the strong stuff. 222 is a lightweight one. 

Edited May 7, 2021 by richbrummitt
link

[Mikkel]

 

14 hours ago, ChrisN said:

I then decided to see how it would perform if the end axles were fixed tight.  It ran perfectly.  Oh hum.  Yes, the old phrase, keep it simple. 

 

Sorted, case closed.  

 

14 hours ago, ChrisN said:

the backs at the side are above the window, something I deliberately tried to avoid

 

Argh, that kind of thing is always so annoying. Could this be one of those situations where not following the prototype gives you a more realistic end result?  Some things just don't look right in model form.

 

[ChrisN]

11 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

 

M2 nyloc are available e.g. from here: https://modelfixings.co.uk/nuts.htm#metric nyloc nuts

 

Loctite can be removed as long as you don't go for the strong stuff. 222 is a lightweight one. 

 

Thank you.  I am not sure which site I was looking at, I thought it was Eileen's Emporium, but this site looks very familiar, which is quite embarrassing, although I do not remember that page, so thank you for pointing it out .

 

Hopefully, the nyloc nuts will fix it so I will not have to resort to anything else.

[ChrisN]

6 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

 

Sorted, case closed.  

 

 

Argh, that kind of thing is always so annoying. Could this be one of those situations where not following the prototype gives you a more realistic end result?  Some things just don't look right in model form.

 

 

Mikkel,

Thank you.  It would look strange for the seats to poke above the window as you look in, and you would have to paint the backs.  I shall raise the seat backs at the end though and if there is a noticeable line, I can argue that the seat in the prototype is in two halves as well.

Edited May 8, 2021 by ChrisN
Clarity

[Simond]

Probably not where you’d go for 2 M2 Nyloc screws, but Westfield Fasteners are my go-to supplier for everything threaded for my motorbike and work.  They will supply small quantities anda wide range of sizes.

 

 Usual disclaimer of course.

 

Simon

[ChrisN]

Well, M2 Nylocs have been ordered.  I realised I must have been looking at Eileen's Emporium as I was trying to get the most stuff for the least delivery.

 

Now, you may remember this young lady.

 

 

Also you may remember she is inspired by this young lady.

 

She needed a suit, so I took her off to Lewis' the dressmaker.  Mrs Lewis handed us over to Mary Jones her assistant.  Now if you want to know anything about anybody in Traeth Mawr all you have to do is engage in a conversation with Miss Jones and she will have all the information you need, and some of it might be true as well.  If she does not know, or you want to corroborate what has been said, take a wander to the station, buy yourself a platform ticket and take a cup of tea in the refreshment room, and talk with Jane Evans, what Miss Evans and Miss Jones do not know between them will be filled in by the postmistress, Anne Davies.  None of this is of course relevant except that Mary Jones was heard to say what a fuss the young lady had caused.  The lady being Miss Ellen Williams.

 

The inspiration was a lady in a dark suit and it took ages for Miss Williams to decide on a colour.  She had just about decided on Black Green when she aid to me,

"Is that a very dark green with a hint of black, or black with a hint of green."

"Black with a hint of green."

"I cannot wear that!  Everyone will think I am in mourning."

I avoided jokes about, not in the afternoon and talked about what colour she would like.  We settled on one of the other short listed ones, namely Humbrol 5 Forest Green.  

 

The collar of her blouse was a thin strip of paper cut by a scalpel from a larger sheet.  Cutting against a metal ruler several strips were cut, and then one chosen as being of the correct width.  Another strip was painted in Humbrol 150 Forest Green for her bow tie.  (I was unable to find any spotted paint in 4mm,)  The blouse with the collar were painted white and the tie attached with a dob drop of PVA.

 

The parasol is from the Preiser 19th Century unpainted figures and had been stolen from a lady on the beach.  I had wanted to give her a bag but in the fashion plates of 1895 only one lady had a bag, and that one was really tiny, so it had to be a parasol.  The handle is Humbrol 186 Brown, and the end is poorly mixed Humbrol 36 Pastel Green.

 

I wanted to put a feather on her hat.  I bought a pack of Preiser Ostriches in the hope of plucking one, but that was a singular failure, so I took some cotton thread, and rubbed the last 1/8 inch, 2mm, or so with the back of the scalpel to fray it. It was then cut off.  I had already spray varnished the young lady as I was not sure what the varnish would to to the cotton.  A tiny drop of PVA was used just to attach the end.

 

So here she is.

 

 

Yes taken in a hurry and slightly out of focus.

 

 

Better, but showing I had not dusted her.  At the usual 3ft viewing distance when she is behind a tree she looks great.  If you are patient, her family might be along in a day or so.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

[Mikkel]

How delightful to meet Miss Williams!

 

That ostrich feather is a clever trick, must remember that. I had to see if Preiser do ostriches, it seems that Busch do, but one would have to fit the whole ostrich on the hat. That might be a little overwhelming and would make it difficult to enter railway carriages.

 

I have to say I am a little concerned that your figures are invited to partake in deciding on their colours. It's those unions again, isn't it? I think it is a slippery slope. Next thing you know they'll want a vote on what you yourself should be wearing.

[corneliuslundie]

Having just painted a border collie I have enormous admiration for your skills in painting figures

- and I just love the way they are real people with lives, foibles and opinions.

Keep it up.

Jonathan

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, corneliuslundie said:

Having just painted a border collie I have enormous admiration for your skills in painting figures

- and I just love the way they are real people with lives, foibles and opinions.

Keep it up.

Jonathan

 

Jonathan,

Thank you.  I have strong reading glasses and a large magnifying glass.  I still use small brushes for small details although I have taken note that Mikkel uses large brushes with a fine point, but have yet to buy some.  When paniting detail I have both elbows on the table and with a finger that is not holding eithr a brush or figure, I hold it against a finger on the other hand.  This gives some stability, and if my hands shake, they do it in unison.  I have looked at some figures I painted before I had a blood clot behind my good eye and frightened myself.  Did I really paint that?

 

Thank you again for your comments.

[Simond]

4 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

Having just painted a border collie ...

My admittedly limited experience of border collies suggests that it is a struggle to get them to stay still long enough for a photo, let alone to paint one...

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Simond said:

My admittedly limited experience of border collies suggests that it is a struggle to get them to stay still long enough for a photo, let alone to paint one...

 

I suppose if one was quick enough with an airbrush... 

 

But it probably comes under the heading of animal cruelty.

[Nick Gough]

17 minutes ago, Simond said:

My admittedly limited experience of border collies suggests that it is a struggle to get them to stay still long enough for a photo, let alone to paint one...

Or when giving them a bath after they have just rolled in something nasty!

[NCB]

On 07/05/2021 at 21:19, ChrisN said:

 

 

 

As I have said, it does work when the wheelsets can turn, but are tight enough that they do not wobble.  When they get too loose they will not sit correctly to go through points.  I will try and get some more guitar wire from my son.  The main issue is the nuts working loose so I will try a drop of paint and see how that works.

 

The system is not too different from the MJT one for six wheel wagons, but they use a hairpin of wire which is much thicker and less bendy, but then the wheelbases will be much shorter.

 

If the locking nut doesn't work, try Loctite Nutlock. Designed for this sort of thing. Now called Loctite 243.

 

Nigel

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by NCB

[Donw]

18 hours ago, NCB said:

 

If the locking nut doesn't work, try Loctite Nutlock. Designed for this sort of thing. Now called Loctite 243.

 

Nigel

 

 

Sold as Loctite Threadlocker.  BTW if you get Superglue onto threads and it sets  you can try applying heat it weakens the bond.

 

Great work on the figure as usual. 

 

Don

[ChrisN]

Distractions, distractions.  You may or may not know that the 1901 Barmouth Census is/was free to download by curtsey of someone.  (Sorry a long while ago when I did it.)  So I downloaded it.  (The Dolgelley one was as well but I am not sure how much of that I have.)  It gives a snapshot of a town, about the same size as Traeth Mawr, but a few years afterwards.  Before I decided that the young lady mentioned in a previous post was a doctor’s daughter I checked to see if Barmouth had one.  They apparently did, but he called himself a ‘Medical Practitioner’.  I found this strange and perhaps a little ‘posh’.  I decided on a plain old doctor. 

I then thought about where he lived.  He needed a fair size house, and I found one in Towyn, (Tywyn) on Marine Parade.  Looking on Peoples Collection of Wales I found another, bigger house.  I will eventually have to see which fits in the space, but it got me thinking, ‘Did GPs in the Victorian period have Surgeries like we do where you can all go and share your ailments, or did they make house calls.'  I started to look.

 

It turns out that GPs did not really exist.  They were in fact Surgeon Apothecaries, who had to be careful if they had a shop, of not being classed as ‘tradesmen’.  Also, due to in built doctor snobbery, they were not allowed degree level training and were not allow to be called ‘doctor’, just ‘Mr’.  (Nowadays there is the inbuilt snobbery of Surgeons who make a point of being called ‘Mr’ to show they are not physicians.)  They were known as ‘Medical Practitioners’.  So that is what the doctor in Barmouth was, and it was not just a grand title for being a GP.

So what is my doctor?  I think he is a Surgeon Apothecary as Traeth Mawr could not really support a Physician from one of the hospitals in a major town who makes money locally doing house visits.  He does, he has intimated to me, act as a resident doctor to the cottage hospital up the valley at Pen-y-Cilan.  (Now I am sure my Welsh speaking friends will tell me that it is the wrong gender, and it would never look like that, but I did try and check with a Welsh dictionary when I thought it up.)

So there we have it, and here is MR Charles Williams, Medical Practitioner to Traeth Mawr, his wife Katherine, his daughters Ellen and Mary. 

 

 

The doctor himself is from the Andy Stadden 1860s range so his hat is probably a little tall, but with a bag like that he must be a doctor.  (He acquired his scarf second hand off a railway worker who used it to stop trains.)

 

His youngest daughter Mary looks  little small.  It is fine to say that H0 people can do for teenagers, but there are other things to consider.  I had to change heads for Mr Price's son as he would not have been able to grow a full beard and moustache at 14.  Also, girls were not corseted until sixteen.  Now my mother-in-law always used to say that girls wore their hair down until they got married and put their hair up on the first day of honeymoon.  She came from Newfoundland and they may have done that there but I have not found any evidence of that over here.  When girls actually put their hair up is a moot point.  Whatever age these girls are, they have their hair up as I did not even think of it until after I had finished and I am not vey good at hair extensions.  My worst look like snakes crawling up their backs.

 

Does this matter and will anybody notice?   On a model railway, if they have a long skirt they are Victorian.  If they have a wide skirt they are mid- Victorian.  I am sure it is only me who cringes when I see Edwardian figures on an 1880s layout.

Edited July 28, 2023 by ChrisN