West End Workbench

[trw1089]

Thanks for posting your mods to the J39 Jonathan, you’ve given me a few ideas for mine now. I’ll have to see if I can track down that article.

 

Cheers

Tony

[jwealleans]

In advance of the trip to the NEC, I made the most of a day at home (a rare occurrence recently) to weather the J39. It had been lettered and varnished over the last couple of weeks:

 

 

For the moment we're serenely overlooking the matter of the incorrect tender; moves were already in hand to source a correct one and I have located one in stock which in due course, possibly even before the next Grantham outing, will replace this one. For the moment it will do the job.

 

So, a filthy wash and a good dose of powders later, this is what we have.

 

 

 

Some tidying up to do and maybe an oil stain on an axlebox, even a slight water leak round a washout plug, just to show what can be done. I've got a crew on the way from ModelU, a coal load for the tender is drying, fire irons are in stock and there will be a rake of wagons behind it. It's starting to come together.

Edited May 4, 2018 by jwealleans

[Jesse Sim]

Just ordered two of the LR Models tenders to start of my kit building career. Thanks for all your help Jonathan. 

[Dominion]

Jonathan, the S7C wagons a page back look excellent. When you renumbered them S&C, did you find a good match for the large wagon numbers, on the sides and ends ?

Tom

[jwealleans]

Hallo Tom,

 

Thank you for your kind comment. Anyone who has tried to use Powsides transfers will know that they can be a bit of a trial. In this case more so, as the additional numbers provided on the sheets were not the same size as the sample number. If you look carefully you'll see the same sequences of numbers repeating where I cut them in half, or moved the last digit to the front, or similar subterfuges. As I had plenty of sheets, I was able to make up new numbers from the spares from other wagons, but it was still a fiddle on. You don't get all the numbers, either, so some will be conspicuous by their absence.

 

What helped was that on the older lettering style sheet there was a sheet for the fixed end which was never going to fit any of the wagons, so I left it off. That provided spare numbers and more importantly a spare TARE set as that was the only one I wrecked irretrievably. Again, close study will reveal that they all have the same tare weight because no spares or alternative digits are provided for these.

 

I did look at the HRMS Private Owner sheets, but they weren't quite a match. I could have used them as an alternative, but not mixed them. Overall I'm very happy with the end result, but the transfers weren't perhaps as good or well thought out as they might be.

[jwealleans]

Well, it has been a while hasn't it? Barely seems a few days since I last posted. I've been laid low by a heavy cold over Christmas which has kept me all out of motivation to do much. Things are picking up though and a few small projects meander towards completion while another makes a start.

 

These Comet E147s are a commission. They seem to have been on the bench for months, but I did spend most of that time working away. They're to be supplied partly finished, which is as the now appear. There is a full 3rd to go with them but it's had a bit of a mishap in the paint shop and needs a spot of refinishing.

 

 

Some wagons now. You can tinker on with wagons when you can't think of anything better to do, I find. Most of these were bought at Middlesbrough show in May and have awaited refinishing since.

 

Firstly, here's a blast from the past for some of you. I'm not old enough to remember these. I was given this and a similar recently, clearly in the knowledge that I'd feel compelled to finish them off. I wasn't even going to repaint this one but removing the brake wheels left too much mess. The bolsters really were that low according to the drawing in Tatlow; I've added some 10 thou strip to represent the steel plate on top. Not much more to do, really.

 

 

There were quite a few LMS wagons in this batch and the next, which is under way. The van to left is either Ks or ABS, I'm not sure - it looks ABS to me but the buffers were definitely Ks and were replaced. I didn't get the roof off so I couldn't look inside. The MAJ one has just had grab handles added. I finished these and most of the LNE ones in the later livery for a bit of variety. I usually prefer the large lettering.

 

 

Pair of 3H opens. One as a Cheshire Lines example just for a bit of variety.

 

 

MAJ long low - lettered as per their instructions, did they lose the 'LONG LOW' marking at some point?

 

 

Lastly, Ks shock wagon, rebuilt after it fell apart. The huge corner castings make it very difficult to run this one empty or with an uncovered load, so it will have a sheet over it when complete. With it Oxford Diecast PO picked up cheaply. I couldn't find Adrian's list of everything wrong with these, so this one has had new buffers (LMS), capping strip clips removed and a London plank let in. Hopefully it's nearer passing muster.

 

 

Now, to the next project. The Stirling Single is finally within sight - I saw the production sample at Warley and it's been done to death on here - and although it's two years late for the birthday for which it was intended, it's time to start on the train to accompany it. This will be the 1938 exhibition train which ran to various parts of the country after the Flying Scotsman launch and (hopefully) will feature on Grantham when complete.

 

For anyone not familiar, Mike Trice led an excellent analysis of the makeup of the stock here. To quote from that thread, the train comprised:

 

"GNR Diag 303 (LNER 4220) Full Brake 29' x 7' 11.125" wide, 20' 0.5" w/b

GNR Diag 245 (LNER 4179) 5 Compartment Third 32' 1.5" x 8' 2" wide w/b 22' 5"

GNR Diag 155 (LNER 4078) Composite 34' 10.5" x 8' 2" wide w/b 24' 6"

GNR Diag 84 (LNER 4047) Toilet First 33' 8.25" x 8' 2" wide 24' w/b

GNR Diag 84 (LNER 4047) Toilet First 33' 8.25" x 8' 2" wide 24' w/b

GNR Diag 155 (LNER 4078) Composite 34' 10.5" x 8' 2" wide w/b 24' 6"

GNR Diag 303 (LNER 4220) Full Brake 29' x 7' 11.125" wide, 20' 0.5" w/b"

 

Of these, Bill offers the D 303 in brass (and shortly in resin) and Dan Pinnock the D 245. For the rest you're on your own.

 

So, let's go for the low hanging fruit first.

 

 

I think Dan did these in one of the 2016 lists. I've had it a while, anyway. Nothing clever or innovative, just a pleasant way to spend Christmas Eve. The D.303s are on the way from Bill.

 

For the rest, I have been talking to friends on the Grantham team and so was in possession of these:

 

 

These are Rowmark sides, laser cut (I think by York Modelmaking, but not entirely sure). The upper panels have a layer which pulls away to give the recessed panelling, the lower side has grooves to quide the attachment of beading, in this case Evergreen 20 thou rod. The upper side (D. 84) is unstarted, the lower (D. 155) has had panels removed and beading attached. Unfortunately I have run out of rod, so I'm making floors (Paxolin), ends and whatever else I can while some more arrives. The springs/axleboxes are by Mike Trice from his Shapeways shop.

Edited May 4, 2018 by jwealleans

[Adam]

Very nice Jonathan - the LMS van is indeed by ABS; I’ve built one (though haven’t got a photo to hand). Cambrian, I think, do a plastic version.

 

Adam

[LNER4479]

Sorry to here about the cold but good that you're on the mend.

 

1938 train looking good. Working on a couple of D.245 bodies at the moment myself for the Grantham Quint set. The second of these will be from a Bill B etch so he does (did?) this type as well as Danny. Although that's all a little academic for you now.

[jwealleans]

Yes, worth remembering that Bill does offer 6 wheel GN carriage etches and is also threatening some more of his excellent resin kits.

[Compound2632]

Pair of 3H opens. One as a Cheshire Lines example just for a bit of variety.

 

Out of curiosity, for how long did the CLC maintain its own wagon stock? If not until nationalisation, did 1/3 pass to the LMS? Could one have a LNER standard open with LMS markings?

[jwealleans]

The stock was divided in 1930 and yes, it would be quite possible to see LNER diagram vehicles in LMS livery. One third of the goods stock went to the LMS.

[Barry O]

And don't even think about the CLC coaching stock...a real mix of ex LnEr and LMS vehicles ...all filthy dirty..

 

Baz

[jwealleans]

We were talking about Knutsford East Junction just before Christmas, weren't we?

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by jwealleans

[grob1234]

Lovely work as always Jonathan. I wish I could match your productivity!

[Barry O]

and just to complicate matters, the CLC coaching stock was so dilapidated by 1945 the LMS converted some corridor 3rds from ex Ambulance Car coaches to produce corridor, non ganwayed, Thirds...I have looked for more information on these (did they paint these brown or maroon??) but it sits in a rake of Gresley non corridor coaches (a Third and a articulated pair on Herculaneum Dock.

 

 

comet sides and "bits" from my coach spare bits box.

 

baz

Edited January 5, 2018 by Barry O

[jwealleans]

The last of the Comet GW carriages is now put together and ready to go to the owner for final finishing.

 

 

There's a bow ended B set and a few other bits and bobs in the offing, but don't hold your breath.

 

Still working through the wagons; had to remake this D & S Colwick open as it fell apart in the paint stripper. The other open is a Colin Ashby GC example. This came from the second hand stand at Wakefield in 2016 and was built at the Ormesby modellers weekend last October. I wouldnt' mind finding some more of these but he tells me he has none left.

 

 

I thought this twin bolster was D & S as well but on investigation it's NER, ex-51L and now with David Geen. Another which had to be resoldered. I also had to make up a bolster as one was missing when I bought it.

 

 

This Cambrian LMS open was also part of the Ormesby demonstration. The Ratio LNWR is my own work from way back, stripped and repainted.

 

 

Most of the effort this week has been concentrated on the 6 wheelers. I was away for work most of the week but that did allow me to fit the beading to 3 of the four sides I have in stock. That done, I've moved ahead with the D 155 Composite, really to establish a best methodology for building the others.

 

 

The sides have had a coat of filler primer and the beading then gently filed so it has a flat top surface. This is prototypical (although too fine to see) but will also help with lining as it levels it all out and the primer shows up any gaps. Here the ends have been attached with superglue. Ends are from 20 thou plastikard using one of Dan Pinnock's as a template. Beading from Evergreen 10 x 20 thou strip.

 

 

 

The floor is cut from Paxolin, which will allow solebars and underframe fittings to be soldered. It also strengthens the whole assembly without being too heavy. Inside, plastic angle is glued to each end then captive nuts on offcuts of fret glued into place, allowing the floor to be bolted up from underneath, which is my preferred method of building carriages. I've no 4mm brass angle left for the solebars, so while I wait for that I can get on with the fourth side and and start putting the first D 84 together.

 

 

Finally, as I had made up the W irons while the iron was on, I couldn't resist putting it next to the D. 245. It's starting to come together.

Edited May 4, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Progress on the 6 wheelers has slowed as another Grantham show hoves into view and so attention turns to testing, preparing and repairing stock. I tend to leave repairs and servicing until just before the next show, then any defects are fresh in my mind if they recur.

 

A few pictures from the running weekend - I don't put too many layout shots on the thread, so here's something different. These are almost all taken at the south end during a pause in running on the Sunday.

 

 

Mr. King's J2 about to push its train back across the main to platform 5, I believe. The local coal empties in the foreground (these are only lettered one side, so you can see that the wagon to the left has been put out the wrong way round). Wagons outside the Ruston works are a Cambrian Midland van, 51L H & B van and a Stelfox GE open.

 

 

More wagons (and why not?) - these are the full local coals which have been worked in on one of the southbound coal trains and detached. The LMS open is Parkside, the G2 van either 51L or D & S and I think the Garton wagon is a Slaters. The SC is a Bachmann by the look of it.

 

 

Right down at the south end the on loan shunter didn't do a great deal all weekend. The van here is a converted Parkside, the LMS open a Slaters ex-Midland, the longer LMS a Cambrian and I think the one nearest the Sentinel is by 51L, an ex-NB open.

 

 

This is the other end of the local coal working, ready to be collected and tripped out to Ambergate. The GN brake is a McGowan kit, the 4 plank mineral an Ian Kirk and the Thorne 7 plank by ABS. Both the Bowman and Garton wagons were found in the background of other photos.

 

 

At Hartlepool, John Smart most generously gave me a D & S GE horsebox which now occupies the south end bay. It's a lovely bit of construction which deserves to be prominently displayed.

 

 

Here it is seen again from above the coaling stage. Mr King's B5 on shed and his NRM Atlantic awaiting a southbound working.

 

 

I do like a C1. After disgracing itself on Saturday morning by shedding a wheel, 3276 behaved much better over the remainder of the weekend.

 

In preparation for the weekend and the upcoming show, I had started to detail and weather a couple of locos. With that perversity which makes model railways an unpredictable hobby, when I took the weathering mixture to Bachmann's 4482, it removed the white lining from the tender (but not the red) while equally stripping most of the red lining from the loco (but not the white).

 

 

I left the loco as most of the red lining would be lost under the dirt. The tender has been stripped back, new lining applied and it now awaits a second dose of the dirt.

 

 

Also complete and awaiting weathering as they may be called into service at Lincoln or Ally Pally, a pair of D & S NER insulated vans.

 

 

 

These have been lettered for a couple of weeks and may well be weathered with the current batch. The G2 is either D & S or 51L, the NB van definitely 51L and the Mac L a really nice scratchbuilt example which came to me last year.

Edited May 4, 2018 by jwealleans

[Mikkel]

Very nice layout views, Jonathan.  Your stock is superb but it's nice to see them in a layout context sometimes. Please keep it coming.

 

With that perversity which makes model railways an unpredictable hobby

 

Well put. I am now able to look more philosophically at the glazing that has just frosted on my workbench!

[gobbler]

Jonathan

 

What are the wheel centres on the Mac L?

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[trw1089]

Great work Jonathan, you must have a nice stash of kits as you always seem to bring out ones I've never seen before.

 

Cheers

Tony

[jwealleans]

Thank you, Mikkel. I try to be phlegmatic about this kind of thing, but we all have our limits - if you ask him, Tony Wright will tell you that one of his former residences has the impression of an 8 wheel chassis in the plaster where he threw it in disgust.

 

Scott - I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but I measured this morning - the wheels are 12mm spoked at 74mm axle centres. I was surprised to find they were 12mm not 10.5, but it may have been built to suit what was available. It came to me with a selection of scratch and kit built wagons, one of which was built by Danny Pinnock. When I asked him about the brass ones he said that they were probably made in the 1970s by John Judson. I had heard that name before and it seems he is still active but modelling in the larger scales these days.

 

Tony - I do have the odd kit in the cupboard (!) but I'm in the happy position now that people offer me oddities and unusual kits as they know I'll probably be interested. I am still finding kits at shows I've not seen or heard of before as well. There is far more out there than any of us really know about.

Edited January 31, 2018 by jwealleans

[Denbridge]

West End Workbench

 

by jwealleans

 

original page on Old RMweb

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Comment posted by craigwelsh on Fri May 18, 2007 10:42 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

jwealleans wrote:

Can i ask what the maroon paint is?

Err... it isn't! It's actually Railmatch Crimson. It's on a base of Railmatch Maroon (because I picked the wrong can up) but there are two coats of Railmatch Crimson on top. I can't tell now if it's the photo or it is a bit darker than the others I've painted but if it is so much the better for a bit of variety.

 

For LMS and BR Maroon vehicles I have in the past used the Precision LMS Maroon (brush paint) which seems a bit on the purple side to me.

 

Erm, oops! It does look good though and maybe if sprayed over a dark colour could make a good match for the Bachmann colour. I don't mind minimal differences in shades but my current paint job is totally different . Precision dull BR maroon is also very purple and looks horrible sprayed over white. Think I need to look for this car paint..

 

My parcels stock will get a lot of weathering over the top though eventually but some will have the original colour showing through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Kernow wrote:

jwealleans wrote:

Next time I'm in Halfords I'm going to try to find a can of British Leyland Damask Red which is apparently quite a good match as well.

One thing I've wondered when in Halfords picking up aerosol primer, is whether the car colours that are a close match to railway colours won't come out too glossy for our smaller scale models?

 

Someone on here showed a few models sprayed in gloss/satin black and oversprayed with matt varnish and this took the sheen off nicely.

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??? posted on Sat May 19, 2007 6:33 am

 

I'd have said much the same - satin/matt varnish tones it down remarkably. It's like when you put gloss varnish on a model and think you've overdone it, then when you apply the satin over the transfers all the detail reappears.

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??? posted on Tue May 22, 2007 3:23 pm

 

Put primer on these last night and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the joins are hidden. Top and bottom are the two I've butchered, middle is an untouched full Third.

 

 

I've removed the moulded door handles and made holes for the grab handles. I did start carving off the door vents as well but the plastic they've used on these is harder than some other Kirk sides I've used in the past and I've given it up as a bad job. The moulding is very crisp on these so it may not be too much of a loss.

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Comment posted by mozzer models on Tue May 22, 2007 3:36 pm

 

looking good

 

have a look on my bench later as there will be a Y5

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??? posted on Thu May 31, 2007 5:43 pm

 

Some progress while the rain in France has fallen mainly on ... us.

 

It's been a few years since I put a Kirk kit together and some of the wrinkles had escaped me. The new ends I ordered were a little shorter than the sides so there was (and is) a bit of fettling to do. I've also come without the microstrip for the beading where I've cut in the middle of a panel so that will have to wait until we get home.

 

This is the full rake (Coopercraft didn't send the sides for the full brake before we left) perched perilously on the woodpile:

 

 

These are the two Dia. 9 composites. The pale yellow (it is yellow, honest) is an acrylic primer from a motor shop over here: I may try that as the basis for a teak finish on a future build.

 

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Comment posted by Jules on Thu May 31, 2007 6:52 pm

 

Looking good! I admire you doing five at a time - one at a time was enough to make me curse like a person who curses a lot!

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??? posted on Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:56 pm

 

Well, what with the rain and the flu and the kids I got bu**er all done on holiday: best laid plans and all that. There has been some sporadic progress since, however, leading us to the present state of play.

 

I've made up all the bogies (I use ABS ones as they're satisfyingly heavy, easy to make run freely and you can't see if they're out of square when they're underneath. The paxolin floors are good and solid, but now that the price of brass has gone through the roof I expect it'll be plastikard for the next ones I build. I've run out of channel and so these are awaiting solebars and attachment of body to floor.

 

 

The two brakes are moving on; I used a trip to Wales this week to make up the interiors from 20 thou plastikard and Coopercraft seating. The one on the left looks as if I cut it out on a moving train - it isn't really that bad. Note the packing on the left one - I made it according to the diagram, then had to adapt it to the slightly compromised measurements of the actual coach.

 

 

I did spend a large part of last Sunday making progress with the Wickham after weeks of inactivity. I see Charlie Petty's now doing one - well, mine's got an interior. It remains to be seen whether the idea of pushing it with a Gandy Dancer will work well enough to get it over baseboard joints....

 

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??? posted on Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:49 pm

 

The heavy rain is having one positive effect - I'm getting a bit more modelling done. I've done a bit on all of the coaches today but concentrated on the D42 brake which was the furthest advanced (probably due to having the lowest scratchbuilt content). It has been pulled out of a full kit while all the others are just ends, sides and roof.

 

Fitting buffers has made the whole rake look a great deal more advanced:

 

 

while this one has had the underframe fittings added and only needs jumpers, steps and other details before it's ready for the paint shop. Then we're waiting for SWMBO to paint the Preiser figues which came on Saturday morning and she's all done. The ride height needs looking at as well - it looks as if someone's dropped half a dozen paving slabs into the boot at the moment.

 

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Comment posted by Jules on Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:15 pm

 

Looking good. Next time I make another one of these, I think I'll try the ABS bogies

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??? posted on Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:48 pm

 

This week I have mostly been finishing interiors.

 

 

Some progress on the rest of the coaches - more pics when there's some paint on.

 

SWMBO also now has 100+ Preiser people to paint before we can seal these up.

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??? posted on Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:39 pm

 

Suddenly it really feels like these have made progress. I've ground to a halt on the bodies until Mr. Cleal delivers more materials for steps, jumpers, etc, so I decided to make the roofs fit. They were all awful - around 2mm over length even on those coaches where I hadn't butchered the sides. So they were all chopped in half and reglued, matching each one to a specific coach so as to avoid tears when they finally have to be made to fit.

 

Suddenly they look like coaches and the whole thing feels like it's taken a huge leap forward.

 

 

 

The assortment of primers is an attempt to vary the shade of the final finish as both carmine and cream are fairly transparent colours.

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Comment posted by iL Dottore on Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:23 pm

 

jwealleans wrote:

This week I have mostly been finishing interiors.

Oh I DO like those

 

Any chance of a blow-by-blow description of how you did `em?

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??? posted on Thu Jul 05, 2007 8:07 pm

 

Not really rocket science - in fact it's all plastikard. I cut a 40 thou 'floor' to fit the coach - fairly snugly as you don't want it rattling about when it's all sealed up. There are screw heads sticking up through the floors of the coaches and the holes to accommodate these help hold the floor in place.

 

I then put the floor in the coach and mark the divisions between each compartment so they match the sides. That is quite important - I did the first one while travelling and worked from the diagram, only to find the side wasn't quite accurate and I had to move the partitions.

 

The compartment side I had to experiment with to find the most rigid thickness which was still easy to cut: I ended up with 15 thou as the best compromise. It has flexed a little after being stuck in place but that won't be visible once they're in the completed vehicle. I did use a Kirk one for proportions of window to panelling - from memory it's 23 mm high, so 10 mm panel, 10 mm window and 3 mm above. I had to work out rough proportions for the windows and vertical bars for each compartment as well; I ended up leaving 2mm between windows, which made the central (door) one just a little larger, which seemed to work. In a third class compartment (6'2" or 25mm) you get 2mm, a 5 mm window, 2mm, a 7mm window, 2mm, another 5mm window and a final 2mm. Measure in from the sides and you end up with an even distribution of apertures even if your overall measurement is slightly out.

 

Rule all that onto the plastikard and cut it out. Slowly and patiently. I could only do one a night with plenty of breaks and a new knife blade. I take my hat off to David Jenkinson and those panelled coaches he used to produce.

 

Once you've got your corridor piece, cut out the compartment partitions. The corridor is 2' wide (8mm) so you can work out width using that and the height is the same as what you've already cut.

 

Stick together against a piece of wood to keep it square and allow to dry. The (inaccurate) toilet partitions are marked out using the interior in the coach and measuring a straight line between the corner of the last compartment and the far side of the corridor connection.

 

The seats and arms are Coopercraft's own. Arms in first class only, obviously. I've forgotten the shelf in one of the coupe compartments.

 

The colours are as per Michael Harris. The LNER mainly used different shades and finishes of wood, so I've used Humbrol 62 for the sides, 186 for the floor and 133 in first class where the finish was apparently darker. The seats ('fawn rep' in Harris) are Humbrol 93 and the first class ones 77 (? - I think). The first class will have antimacassars and I'll use Tiny Signs pictures as well.

 

Leave to dry and instruct wife to begin painting passengers.

 

Et voila!

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??? posted on Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:05 am

 

About time I posted an update. I struggled with masking the sides to spray the red (cheers to Brian - Mozzer- for the tip about euro tape) but we're about there now. Once the next Mainly Trains parcel arrives I'll have enough lining for all of them as well.

 

I've been adding in other details on the interiors, painting a lot of little people and getting the shells looking something like. Last night I decided to move one of them forward just so I felt I was getting somewhere.

 

This, then is one of the brake thirds with lining added, off-black paint applied and the roof posed in place.

 

 

Here is a closer view of the end showing the added jumpers, toilet fillers and an attempt alarm gear. It would be really nice if someone did a set of parts for the alarm gear as I don't feel I've got terribly close (but at least it's represented).

 

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Comment posted by mozzer models on Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:39 am

 

that looks very nice i am glad the tip worked for you

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??? posted on Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:53 pm

 

While I've been short of 'E's I've been getting the interiors ready to go and using those invaluable Preiser seated figures which Mrs W has been sporadically painting.

 

Pictures by Tiny Signs, mirrors from cooking foil stuck to A4 paper. Mirrors should be oval - does anyone know where you can get an oval hole punch? The window transfers are HMRS although I'm waiting for some from John Peck (can we still talk about him?) to try.

 

 

 

We seem to have a group of synchronised arm folders in this coach...

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Comment posted by number6 on Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:16 pm

 

Splendid! Nice muted 50s colouring there.

Hope that lav is locked out of use

 

I'm quite taken with these coaches. I had my fill of coaches last year [too many compartment door handles to form] but now I'm itching to get back to another batch. There is so much work in them but these are going to be a treat.

 

cheers

Raphael

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??? posted on Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:41 am

 

Now the sun's threatening to come out here's the first one of this batch all but complete. Brake 3rd to Dia. 146 - still needs just the corridor connectors adding, the ducket glazing and weathering once the paint's properly cured (and I've completed the other 4).

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, number6, I forgot to say how pleased I was to see someone notice the muted colours on the passengers - we did actually think about that and do it deliberately so your comment was quite gratifying.

 

Completely invisible inside the finished coach, of course, but I get that warm glow...

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??? posted on Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:14 am

 

The end is finally in sight for the Gresleys - they can now cure for a couple of weeks before weathering, corridor connectors and final troubleshooting. I had some running problems with them on the club layout (chosen because the track is like a rough sea) but we are gradually working through these.

 

This is the completed 4 set which was the original project:

 

 

From front to rear:

 

Brake 3rd to D41

 

 

.. and one of those cruel closeups which shows how hard it is to mask that beading successfully. It does show what a difference the MJT grab and T handles make to these coaches - well worth the effort.

 

 

CK to D9 - one of the 'cut and shut' jobs in the rake:

 

 

TK to D141 - this is as near the straight Kirk kit as I get:

 

 

BTK to D146:

 

 

.. and this is the only difference, the ducket. Again those lovely MJT handles make all the difference and save a very fiddly soldering job.

 

 

This is the odd man out - I did two of the Composites in case I screwed one up but they both came out quite well. The intention is to weather this one more heavily and add it as a strengthener, or use it in a separate rake.

 

 

The interior is visible but you have to get pretty close to see it. You can also see where I made the holes for the commode handles in the wrong place. The window signs are John Peck's.

 

 

For my next project - all the reading I've been doing around these has put me in a carriage frame of mind. There should be a full brake to go with these but Coopercraft haven't had any sides since May, so while I'm waiting I wondered about a quick project which might be done on the cheap...

 

Does anyone remember these?

 

 

I bet there are hundreds lying unwanted on swapmeet tables and available for pennies. This has been in the parental attic since the mid 70s.

 

Comparing this (D329 TK if you want to be technical) to the Isinglass drawing showed it to be about 4 mm over long but apart from that a pretty good match. Hornby have obviously used a standard end and underframe at the time and they've stretched the side to fit, so there's no single section you can remove to shorten it. That said everything is in the right place relatively and the overall length is actually spot on - the ends they've used haven't got the steep angles of the Thompson original.

 

Anyway, as long as you don't put them next to the new Bachmann ones I don't think it will show.

 

This is what I had left when I had stripped it down and thrown away what was useless:

 

 

I've filed all the detail off the ends and drilled the sides for more of those MJT handles. The buffers will have to go. The roof has also been filed flat.

 

This is what I then added in:

 

 

Floor from 40 thou plastikard, interior a mix of 30 and 15 thou as described earlier in the thread and solebars from 1/8" Evergreen channel. The bogies are what was left from the Kirk kits I butchered for the Gresleys and the wheels were donated by a club colleague.

 

This is the interior so far - these coaches had vestibules one third and two thirds of the way along their length, so the compartments were in little clumps. Notice also that the solebar is stuck to the side of the floor rather than the bottom. The sides have a lip underneath them (they slotted into the old underframe) so they do sit 'on' the floor rather than sliding down over it as the Gresleys do. The solebar has to meet the bottom of the Hornby side, so you have to arrange it like this.

 

 

Your thoughts/comments appreciated.

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Comment posted by mozzer models on Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:33 pm

 

Very Nice there mate the blood & custard look superb

& i will be following the Thompson as i have been looking at the 10 i have from when i was a kid

 

will you be painting the thompson Blood & custard as well it will be a lot eazer to mask up & will you be flush glazing it:lol:

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??? posted on Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:12 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

will you be flush glazing it

The man from SEF, he say yes....

 

.. and yes they (there are two) will be blood & custard.

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Comment posted by Jules on Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:40 pm

 

Those look great - I might have to have another go at some of those myself.

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??? posted on Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:50 pm

 

Well, this is certainly a quicker project than the Gresleys up to now and as Brian pointed out the sides are a damn sight easier to mask.

 

Here, after Sunday evening's efforts, is progress to date:

 

Sides painted and now awaiting lining; roof detailed and primed and now to fill and smooth; ends detailed and repaired where one corner broke off in sympathy with the old buffer it was glued to.

 

 

Interior built and painted; just awaits fitting of seats (drying), details and the odd passenger. There seems to be very little information about moquette colour for the seats in these vehicles (it's a conversation we've had on here before) so based on the LNER CA website these seats will be red with black patterning which was certainly a BR period scheme. I've also left the 'grainy' effect on the interior deliberately in case the larger windows on this coach make it more visible than on the Gresleys.

 

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??? posted on Tue Aug 21, 2007 8:47 pm

 

This appalling 'summer' we're allegedly having prevented outside pictures so we're stuck with what I can shoot in the workshop.

 

The sides are now lined, numbered, varnished and ready for the flush glazing. Trial fitting shows it to be very flush indeed (in fact a s*d to get in) so this will be undertaken when I'm firmly in the mood. These have to be numbered as the 1947/48 builds as they went over to rounded corners in 1949.

 

 

The interior has had the seats and glazing fitted. Sign of the changing times - in a 7 compartment coach, only one is non-smoking.

 

 

Most of the evening was spent on the underframe - I need the body assembled in order to set the ride height, but the central gubbins was able to be assembled. Trusses from the Kirk kits butchered earlier, with cross bracing added; the rest Comet and MJT.

 

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Comment posted by mozzer models on Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:11 pm

 

Looking Good

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I've just come across your blog and am finding it very interesting. May I ask who makes the cast brass Carriage coupling units you've used? 

[jwealleans]

Well, thank you. The couplings are an etch, produced by Bill Bedford and latterly available from Eileen's Emporium and Wizard Models. That said, I was going to post a link and now can't find them on either website. I shall have to ask both parties at Doncaster.

 

There is a cast version and i believe it may still be available, but I honestly can't now recall who now supplies it.

[Adam]

There is a cast version and i believe it may still be available, but I honestly can't now recall who now supplies it.

 

Here you go - Brassmasters: http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/coach_couplings.htm

Adam

[Denbridge]

Here you go - Brassmasters: http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/coach_couplings.htm

Adam

many thanks. I've always made my own, but getting lazier the older I get.