Nile's kitbuilding bench - Midland 1377

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Nile said:

I'm only fitting the sheet rail to one of the 4 plankers for a bit of variety. The associated bits on the end of the body are etched brass.

 

 

Is this evidence for the conveyance of unbagged Birds custard powder in sheeted opens?

[Nile]

Now further painted and varnished.

 

 

Just the buffers and brake levers left to sort out. Oh and the sheet rail, to keep the custard powder dry.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nile

[Compound2632]

So what do you use over the custard yellow to get that rather nice raw wood effect?

[Nile]

MIG-036 Old Wood for the base colour, and then a thin wash of Humbrol matt black. Some other thin washes might also be added for variety, such as Humbrol 26 khaki, I tend to go for 'woody' colours. These are all acrylics, so it can be done quite quickly.

The original custard yellow is actually Humbrol enamel 63 sand, used as a primer in this case for the acrylics. The outside is Humbrol 64.

[Mikkel]

Nice batch of wagons, Nile. Are those etched brass bits for the sheet rail included with the kit? If so it's a nice touch by Cambrian. We could do with an etch like that for GW opens.

[Nile]

Yes, the etch comes with the kit.

[Nile]

Fiddly bits now fitted. Some weathering has toned down the light grey livery a bit.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nile

[AlfaZagato]

Camrys?   Are those for shipping Toyotas?

 

Sorry, I'll see myself out...

[Nile]

Continuing the Cambrian Railways theme I'm moving onto a Dragon Models kit of a 6T box van. I've built one of these before, way back on page 12, that ended up in GWR livery. With a one piece resin body the only assembly needed is the brass chassis.

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nile

[Mrkirtley800]

A very nice batch of ‘opens’.  I particularly like the unpainted wood effect.

Derek

 

[Nile]

Raw resin isn't the easiest thing to photograph, it's looks have been greatly improved with some paint and transfers.

 

I'd left the brake lever off to paint separately, that was before I realised the sole bars are painted black.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nile

[Nile]

With all the missing bits fitted, plus some weathering, it is now finished.

The next kit was due to be a Cambrian brake van, but as that's a brass kit it can wait for some cooler weather.

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Nile

[TrainMan2001]

Wow, that looks really nice. What method do you use to paint your wagons?

[Nile]

As this is a resin and brass kit I started with Halfords grey primer.

The main colours are Humbrol and Revell acrylics, brushed on.

Some gloss varnish (Humbrol Clear) was used where the transfers went, this was later dulled down with Revell matt varnish, sprayed on.

The weathering is thin washes of black and earth brown acrylic paint, just enough to tone down the light grey paint. I weathered the chassis with some Humbrol powder (rust, although it is mostly brown).

[Nile]

Good news everyone!

Some cooler weather this week has meant I've been able to solder together the Cambrian brake van, a Dragon/Taff Vale kit.

Time for a good clean now before primer and paint.

[Compound2632]

Looks like quite a nice straightforward kit, for a brake van?

[Nile]

Yes quite straightforward, it went together well. The footboard supports are quite fiddly to fold up and solder, but I managed it with only two hands and some tweezers and clips.

Here's how I soldered the chimney to the roof. As it was a loose fit in the etched hole I needed a way to keep it vertical, so I drilled a hole in a piece of wood. Tape roof to wood, apply solder paste around the hole and solder away, adding extra solder to avoid any gaps.

[Nile]

Now covered with Acid#8 primer, which is lighter than Halford's standard grey primer at bottom right.

[AlfaZagato]

Acid, as in acid-etch?

[2996 Victor]

On 03/06/2017 at 23:19, Nile said:

What a lot of knees! I've done one wagon so far. A length of 10x20 thou micro-strip painted black and then cut into pieces. After sticking to the sides they were weathered a bit.

 

 

On the subject of side knees, perhaps someone more learned than I could confirm whether they would be found on all open goods wagons?

 

Presumably, the internal ironwork corresponding to the door hinge straps and corner plates are washer plates in the same manner as those outside corresponding to the knees?

 

Neil, what is your take on suspension of 4-wheel wagons? Some of the wagons appearing earlier in this thread appear to be rigid while others are compensated?

 

I've a small stack of kits that I'm about to make a start on, and I'm in a quandary as the whether to provide some form of suspension or not.

 

I'vehad for 20+ years some Masokits wagon springing units and also some MJT compensated axleguards. Life is too short for the springing units, but I'm not terribly happy about the inevitable gap somewhere in the underframe on a compensated wagon. I'd be grateful to hear others' thoughts!

 

All the best,

 

Mark

[Compound2632]

It helps to get one's head around a general arrangement drawing of a real wagon, this one for example. The side knees are best seen on the left-hand side of the cross-section drawing in the lower right corner. Some wagons, particularly older ones and low-sided ones, had the knees outside the side planks, but the arrangement with them on the inside is more usual. They and the end pillars are the key components for holding the body together and connecting it to the frames. Note also the various washer plates on the inside corners. 

 

If you are working in 00, compensation isn't usually necessary, at least for 9 ft or 10 ft wheelbase wagons, unless one's made a pig's ear of the wagon and it's out of square! Where I have used compensation, I've used the MJT inside bearing units, where the pinpoints are filed off one axle - the W-irons etc. don't move. I quite like the springing system used by Bill Bedford in his Mousa Models kits, though it can be fiddly to set up. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Compound2632

[2996 Victor]

14 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

It helps to get one's head around a general arrangement drawing of a real wagon, this one for example. The side knees are best seen on the left-hand side of the cross-section drawing in the lower right corner. Some wagons, particularly older ones and low-sided ones, had the knees outside the side planks, but the arrangement with them on the inside is more usual. They and the end pillars are the key components for holding the body together and connecting it to the frames. Note also the various washer plates on the inside corners. 

 

If you are working in 00, compensation isn't usually necessary, at least for 9 ft or 10 ft wheelbase wagons, unless one's made a pig's ear of the wagon and it's out of square! Where I have used compensation, I've used the MJT inside bearing units, where the pinpoints are filed off one axle - the W-irons etc. don't move. I quite like the springing system used by Bill Bedford in his Mousa Models kits, though it can be fiddly to set up. 

 

 

 

Hi Stephen,

 

many thanks for the info and link - I've had a good look over the drawing!

 

The part-sectioned longitudinal and plan views seem the most informative, the washer plates for the end pillars and side knees being readily evident either solid or as hidden detail, as are the internal washer plates for the corner plates. The internal washer plate for the door hinge strap doesn't seem to appear in the plan, however, despite its' being on the sectioned longitudinal view! Interestingly, the internal bolt heads where shown appear to all have countersunk heads, which is logical of course but beggars the question why any internal detail that is actually depicted on kits etc show raised bolt heads ("rivets")!  And presumably, in later open wagons with tee-section external side pillars, roles are reversed with the internal ironwork being the washer plates?

 

From a model point of view, then, to correctly represent internal ironwork, then, plain microstrip etc can be used as the bolt heads would be flush.

 

With regard to suspension, my standard gauge stock is/will be 4mm/EM. I've got a few MJT internal bearing compensation units lurking somewhere in the bottom of a drawer: they seem like a good compromise, but how visible are they on a finished wagon? I've also read instances of modellers allowing the etched axleguard to rock while the axlebox/spring assembly is fixed rigidly to the solebar, but I would think that is quite weak and prone to being damaged.

 

All the best,

 

Mark

[billbedford]

2 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

From a model point of view, then, to correctly represent internal ironwork, then, plain microstrip etc can be used as the bolt heads would be flush.

 

 

 

Maybe, the holes in washer plates were square, so while the Midland specified a bolt with a squared shank an a countersunk head, I suspect that other companies may have chosen to use something akin to a modern coach bolt.

[Nile]

21 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Neil, what is your take on suspension of 4-wheel wagons? Some of the wagons appearing earlier in this thread appear to be rigid while others are compensated?

With short wheelbase wagons compensation or springing is only needed if modelling to P4 standards. As I'm mostly OO with a bit of EM I don't normally bother with it. Some of the kits I've built come with built in compensation (a rocking axle), it's easier to build them with this even if it ends up having little or no effect. The current build is an example of this.

 

22 hours ago, AlfaZagato said:

Acid, as in acid-etch?

This, bought from Halford's:

[AlfaZagato]

Cool, something else I don't have here...