Nile's Mostly Freelance Bodging Bench - Pre-Grouping Locos

[WD0-6-0]

Did I see the completed coach on your Wyndal thread?

[Nile]

 

[Nile]

It would seem things have got a bit out of sync with my various topics. I blame the clocks going back   .

Now where was I? Bogies! I have some Triang mk.1 bogies that cost me nothing, so I've used them.

I've replaced the wheels with new Hornby coach wheels, and removed the couplings.

 

A trial fit to see how they look.

 

Gauging the ride height with some Ratio coaches.

 

It needs to be a little higher, about 1mm.

 

Now for the underframe. The holes in the middle of the floor were filled with black plastic card, as these would be visible.

 

 

For the frame I used Evergreen strips. The long ones are 1x2 mm, the ends are 1x3.3 mm and the footboards are 0.5x2 mm (20x80 thou).

 

 

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

I made mounting points for the bogies from some plastic tube and off-cuts of plastic. The tube matches the holes in the bogies.

The different orientation of the supports should allow some degree of compensation.

 

 

With the bogies fitted. They will be retained by screws that screw into the floor, the hole is hidden by seats.

 

 

Compared to a Ratio coach it seems about right.

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

I made some extra seats from Ratio parts to match the existing ones in the blue coach.

 

And painted dark green.

 

The inner (double) units are shorter than the end ones, to allow for the glazing.

 

The body was painted using the same method as the previous coach.

 

The interior is painted dark earth.

 

Transfers are mostly HMRS pressfix.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Corbs]

I'm running out of alternative phrases for 'I love it'....

[RAWRlab]

Not only is that some very nice crafsmanship, but the livery you've chosen is superb. 
That deep blue with the pearl white and the gold is extremely aesthetically pleasing 
Keep up the great work. 

[Nile]

Thanks for your likes and nice comments, all appreciated. On with the show, and the roof.

Having finished with painting the body I glued the seating inside. After a bit of a think I decided to remove the rain strips from the two roofs and replace them with new ones. Here is the model with one roof unit refitted.

 

 

With the other roof fitted I tidied up the join with filler. New rain strips were made from 10x20 thou styrene strip.Fix it in the middle and it naturally forms the right curve, with little adjustment needed.

 

 

Then it was on with the light grey paint, being careful to keep it off the sides.

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

Buffers! That's what's next. For these I used some 51L LNWR carriage buffers (whitemetal).

 

The coupling hook is from Ambis.

 

 

Next, some underframe detail. I made some basic framework from bits of 0.8mm plastic rod.

 

 

A brake cylinder from the bits box, plus some more odd bits of plastic.

The gas cylinder is 6mm plastic tube with the ends blanked off. None of that new electrickery here.

 

Nearly there.

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

For the vacuum and steam pipes I used some 51L LNWR carriage pipes, pre-painting them black makes life easier.

 

 

I added footboards to the bogies, using 20x80 thou plastic strip.

 

 

With all the underframe bits now painted black, here are some photos of the finished model.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[knobhead]

My favourite Hornby 4-wheel conversion! Well done, Neil!

 

Regards,

 

Stefan

[Nile]

Thanks all, looks like that experiment turned out ok.

While I was in a coach sort of mood I thought I'd repaint my old Ratio 4 wheelers, or at least one of them. These were built long ago and painted with a matt blue paint.

 

I've gone over the first class coach with Revell Lufthansa blue, the brake coach shows the original dull finish, which is what I wanted at the time.

Then the white paint in the panels, as before, followed by retouching the mistakes with more blue paint.

 

But only on one side, I'm leaving the other one plain blue.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

Pressfix transfers applied.

 

 

The different styles represent different periods, the plain blue being earlier. 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

After sealing in the transfers with a coat of Klear, which gives a glossy finish, I needed to spray on some matt varnish. This meant masking the windows. Fortunately when I built this coach I only glued the glazing to the sides between the compartments, making it possible to slide paper between them to mask off the windows. I also added some masking tape on top to protect the insides of the windows.

 

 

On the roof I removed the second rainstrip to make it look a bit different.

 

 

The almost finished model, I still need to paint the handles brass.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

Not being happy with any of the brass paints that I've had I tended to use gold instead as that tended to look a lot more like real brass. This time I've used Phoenix Paints brass, which does actually look like it. Here is the result.

 

 

The now finished coach next to the previous conversion.

 

I'm going to leave the Kadees on as I may actually use them in the future.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

The next model into the workshop is this.

 

 

I shall be back dating it to Midland Railway condition with a round top firebox and Johnson safety valves and dome.

Here is the model stripped down.

 

 

The main task is to remove the belpaire firebox top and replace it with some curved plastic.

To create the new firebox top I wrapped some 40thou plastic card around the spindle from a CD tub, as it was about the right diameter.

 

This was placed in some boiled water and left for a while.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[NHY 581]

Just bought one of these, Neil.

 

Lovely model.

 

Given your usual high standard, this will be well worth seeing...

 

Rob

[Nile]

This is the result after it cooled down.

 

 

A trial fit into the model shows it to be about the right shape.

I've also cut away the area under the dome, as it was in the way of the replacement dome.

 

After cutting it to the correct length, I've glued it in place.

It's also glued to the flat piece at the bottom that is helping keep it to the correct shape while the glue dries.

 

I added an extra support piece at the end to help maintain the shape, it will be just above the gears.

When all the glue have fully set I will cut away the excess plastic.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Spitfire2865]

I am impressed. I dont think I could bring myself to cutting up a loco. Looking very nice. The curving came out perfectly.

[Nile]

Cutting up a new model? I'm clearly bonkers! 

 

On with the fun, with the glue fully set I cut away the excess bits of plastic.

 

 

A test fit on the chassis shows there is just enough clearance.

 

 

With the cab on you can see some work is needed here to fill the gaps.

 

 

I've added some thin plastic strips along the sides of the new firebox, to match the rest of the boiler.

 

 

On the cab I've removed the raised bit around the firebox and filled the gap with plastic card.

 

I'll be adding filler after it's set.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

After filling the joins I stuck the cab onto the body. I had to fill a small gap at the back of the firebox with a thin piece of white plastic card.

 

 

When I cut out the Belpaire firebox I removed the tank straps (I'm guessing that's what they are).

 

As you can see they are now too short. So I made new ones from micro-strip.

 

 

After studying photos I decided that the boiler band at the front of the firebox needed to be moved back, so that it was mid-way between the next one and the cab. I cut off the bolt at the top, for re-use, and sanded down the band. I made the new band from pieces of sticky tape, and glued the bolt on top.

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Mikkel]

You do choose some nice stock for your line! And the transformation of the 4-wheelers is extraordinary.

 

Will you be weathering the stock a bit? I'm thinking it would help complete the illusion, but it's a matter of taste of course.

[Nile]

Thanks Mikkel, the coaches could do with some subtle weathering, I'll put it on my to-do list.

On with the 1F, the new Midland dome from Alan Gibson fits perfectly into the hole vacated by the LMS dome.

 

Unfortunately this leaves it sitting too low, below the top of the boiler. So I made a 'disc' of plastic card to fit into the recess.

 

 

 

While gluing it I held it in place with the dome, pushed down with a file.

 

 

A trial fit of the new dome and safety valve cover.

 

Some filler will be needed around the disc before I glue the dome on. The safety valve cover won't be glued on until after painting, as it's staying bare brass.

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

In the cab, the firebox back-head needed to be reshaped to match the round topped firebox. With most of the detail bits removed I filed it into the new shape.

 

 

Back in the cab with the details stuck back on I think it looks ok.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Nile

[Nile]

Onto the smokebox. I could have left the handrails as they were, but thought the earlier style single handrail would look better. This is a lot more work, the knobs need to be moved, holes filled and a new handrail bent to shape.

First, new holes drilled and old holes filled.

 

 

Bending the handrail. Take some 0.4mm brass rod and bend it around a AA battery.

 

 

Lay it on the front of the smokebox and adjust until it looks right.

 

 

Bend the side parts round so they line up with the knobs. This is the tricky part.

 

I've re-used the original knobs here, even though they are a bit long, because they line up with the holes in the front of the tanks.

 

One of the leftover knobs was used on the front of the smokebox.

 

 

Putting it all together.

 

Edited January 7 by Nile