Inspired by Brent June 1947

[The Fatadder]

Todays focus has been on fitting the remaining ribs to the first side of the van, along with the corner section.  I found that sliding the flat section in first and then adding the vertical was a lot easier than my usual method of assembling off model.  
 

this would have been followed by adding the L section strip along the top of the sides, however it turns out it is this but I’m missing on the damaged etch not as I thought the diagonal truss.  I have fitted the one that I had and will have to find either L section brass or plastic to add the remaining three.  Typically the L section brass I do have is too small…

 

with that done the remaining 4 sets of bases for the ribs on the other side were riveted ready for the next build session (although If it’s dry tomorrow I plan to go out to the layout and start on point rodding…

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Looking good, sound construction.

[The Fatadder]

After an age trying to find one of the corner plates (naturally turning out to be on the soldering board the whole time), I’ve now

added the detail to the other side along with adding a test for the missing top section from L strip which has worked ok.  Now to add two more of them before starting on the doors…

[The Fatadder]

The rest of the L strip has been added to the tops of the doors, followed by the top strip along the roof edge.  The roof itself was rolled to shape with my GW Models rollers, however I just couldn’t get the formers soldered square in the right place.

 

instead I moved onto the first door, adding the strapping before soldering into place.  I think next time adding the doors before adding the roof strip would make life a lot easier. 
 

the angled braces on the side still need adding, but I haven’t decided if I will solder or glue these yet.  I will try the former, but previously I’ve struggled with this sort of soldering.

[Graham T]

Impressive.  If I'd tried assembling that with solder it would look like nothing more than a molten blob!

[The Fatadder]

7 hours ago, Graham T said:

Impressive.  If I'd tried assembling that with solder it would look like nothing more than a molten blob!

This is certainly pushing me to my limits at times, thankfully the kit is very well designed and all the parts fit really well which always helps.  Also no white metal to deal with at least. 

[The Fatadder]

The next step was to add the door, unfortunately I had blocked the lower hinge with solder so these have to be added after fitting the doors.  The doors were fitted with the strapping before soldering in place.  One small part (folded over 4 times) broke, so needs replacing with a bit of Evergreen strip once the soldering is finished.

 

next I added the L trusses, forming them with the Hold&Fold and then soldering the ends into place.

 

this side now just needs the rod adding half way up the holes in the side.   I have now started to repeat the process on the other side, I also have re trussing on the ends to tack in place.

[The Fatadder]

The kit is really starting to come together now, with the body now complete, the other side now fitted with doors and bodyside + end angle.  There are a couple of bits to glue on (the missing bit of the door strapping and the lower hinge), plus the vac hoses / door springs which will go on once the W irons are fitted.  Then its onto the brakes, which is the bit I am least looking forward to (so I may stop and instead build the second van to the same point...

 

Alongside is a W12 I had built previously, basically an Airfix kit modified following the MRJ (i think it was) article.  Both of these will need some buffers from LMS (I dont have castings for axleboxes or buffers with the scrap etches, but do have the vac bits which were left over from the P15).  

Building the scrap etch has been a useful experience, its showed a few areas to take extra care with (the lower handles for example), allowed me to make mistakes without ruining the kit (misfolding the floor) and to generally improve my soldering.  In the end I got lucky and was able to fabricate a replacement for the 3 missing parts which at a glance looks the part.  Hopefully the good kit will look even better still.

Edited December 9, 2021 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

After a bit of Friday night modelling on zoom with friends, (including loosing and then finding the vac cylinder linkage) I have finished the build.   (Other than the buffers which need ordering from LMS).

 

it took a fair bit of tidying to get the W irons to sit flat (solder getting in the way), but eventually ended up with everything square.  This was followed by adding the door bangers (offset as per the photo in Russell, I need to find another photo before building the other one to verify this was the normal arrangement).  Vac cylinder and pipes were soldered on (using the spare parts from the P15 kit).  Springs and axle boxes came from the scrap box (Coopercraft), thinned down to fit the new w irons. 

 

the hardest part of the whole build was the brake gear, it looks very good but in incredibly complex (each side comprises of 8 parts for the brakes).  I got there eventually, but in this case I’d have been happy with a less detailed 1 piece part. 

Time now to get it cleaned up and a coat of etch primer.  The roof will be glued in place once the inside has been painted. 
 

given the state of the etches after Royal Mail mangled the ends and solebar, plus the missing parts (not to mention my own mistakes in assembly) I am pleased with how it came out.   Next I think will be some layout work before I make a start on the proper build (for which a have the real castings 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Excellent recovery work Rich certainly is a grand wagon. Shame you have to clean away the flux residue as that does give a decide 'cleaned off' lime wash appearance as well. Good luck with the true build.

[The Fatadder]

the flux residue is an odd one, I have it the usual scrub with cilit bang the night before which usually gets it nice and clean, but the

morning after it looked like that.  I will be giving it another clean this  afternoon.

 

Just had a delivery from ModelU, so the rest of today will most certainly be spent on point rodding!

 

 

[The Fatadder]

Well I made it out to start on the rodding, then realised all the rod was in a package that was taken away for a Christmas present… 

 

So instead the cattle wagon has been primed 

[The Fatadder]

I forgot to add a photo…

 

it will get a coat of GWR grey tomorrow, ready for transfers (and roof fitting) in the week.  I think I will have one final go

at fitting the spacers to the roof as intended so that it clips in, else it will be glued in place.

[Neal Ball]

That cattle van certainly looks good Rich.

[The Fatadder]

After the disappointment of the Grand Prix, I’ve finished painting the cattle van (and added the buffers intended for the good one).   Transfers to follow tomorrow 

[The Fatadder]

And it’s now been fitted with 4 south Devon cows, transfers and it’s roof.   The latter isn’t quite square and will need to come off and be re glued.  I just couldn’t get on with soldering the formers in the right place (I wish there had been a location grove for it rather than just a couple of half etched markers). I will have to try again doing it properly on the other build…

[The Fatadder]

I have also been working on finishing off the P15 kit, after giving it a coat of Klear last night.  The transfers were a lot easier to apply with scale rivets / the right size sides.  Unfortunately the sheet comes with 2 sets for a P18 with Morton brakes (understandable given thats all that the Cambrian kit its intended for makes out the packet), but annoyingly I used half of it on my Cambrian model.  I have found two photos of P15 in my books, 80240 (as modelled) and 80228 which has the large W remaining from its old livery and is what I modelled on the Cambrian example.  I will now renumber the Cambrian to have the correct 80228 number rather than duplicating the correct 80240.  This photo is fresh from transfer application, it will get a coat of Klear before bed to seal it (and mat varnish tomorrow)

 

The reason for the difference in height between the two wagons is that the Cambrian kit has been fitted with a larger set of temporary wheels (while the Shepard kit is riding a tad low) 

Edited December 13, 2021 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

While I have formed the floor for the second good  W12, making sure I learned the lesson of the first one and folded everything the right way!  I have have a slight cough and dont fancy making it worse soldering.

 

So instead I am looking at another project, a couple of years ago I purchased a badly built Ks siphon K (which was missing a bogie).  at the time I took it apart, rebuilt the body but cracked the roof during removal.  Likewise the floor snapped in a couple of places while removing the bogie mounts (in order to replace with new mounts for replacement Mallard bogies.)   These bogies were since removed (if I recall correctly I stole them to put under the Dreadnaught).  Since then it has been left in a box with a few other siphons that are also awaiting bogies (the issues around the 247 developments bogie supply hit the project hard given i think they are the only "new" option for a metal American bogie)  

 

Reading @M.I.B's latest posts has resulted in digging the kit out to convert to a Siphon C, The body is now marked up ready for cutting so I should have something to show this evening.  The plan is to cut the body to shorten, remove the ribs from the floor (assuming I cant just remove the whole floor), which will then be fitted with Bill Bedford suspension units and scratch built brakes / trussing and to shorten the roof.  Should only take a couple of evenings work I think....

[The Fatadder]

The Siphon C conversion was pretty quick work, cutting both sides to length, then gluing a Bachmann wagon weight across the joint for extra strength before fitting the two halves back together.

 

the damaged floor was removed and replaced with 3 bits of plasticard glued in place, providing a base for the Bill Bedford sprung w irons, and the vac cylinder.

 

with that done the roof was cut to length (it snapped in a second place while removing the old detail).  Before gluing in place and filling the gaps.

 

now it just needs the w irons and underframe bits fitting and it’s good to go

[The Fatadder]

The siphon is now ready for transfers, just need to find a suitable candidate 

 

Slinn lists 1538, 1539,  1529 and 1491 as being marked simply as Return to Calne in 1939, though it’s not clear if this is on the large white plate as per the “to work between” or whether these also had the roof boards 

 

its interesting to see how widely travelled they were (Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth, London)

looking at Slinn and Russell (vo2 and appendix) there are no photos collaborating  the “return to calne” branding mentioned in the text.  I don’t recall seeing any in the Wild Swan Calne book either.

[Neal Ball]

5 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

The siphon is now ready for transfers, just need to find a suitable candidate 

 

Slinn lists 1538, 1539,  1529 and 1491 as being marked simply as Return to Calne in 1939, though it’s not clear if this is on the large white plate as per the “to work between” or whether these also had the roof boards 

 

its interesting to see how widely travelled they were (Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth, London)

looking at Slinn and Russell (vo2 and appendix) there are no photos collaborating  the “return to calne” branding mentioned in the text.  I don’t recall seeing any in the Wild Swan Calne book either.

 

Chris Leigh @dibber25 might have the definitive answer for you. At one time he had a layout based on Black Dog Halt further up the line from Calne. 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

2 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Chris Leigh @dibber25 might have the definitive answer for you. At one time he had a layout based on Black Dog Halt further up the line from Calne. 

Very interesting. I have seen a layout in Chippenham Museum based on Black Dog. I am planning on building Chippenham and Calne as my layout.

[Neal Ball]

49 minutes ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

Very interesting. I have seen a layout in Chippenham Museum based on Black Dog. I am planning on building Chippenham and Calne as my layout.

 

I'm pretty sure Chris Leigh donated his layout there.

[The Fatadder]

A little progress on the Siphon C front, all be it with a big question still to answer.

 

I have managed to find a photo of one of the Return to Calne branded siphons, p34 of Maggs' The Calne Branch dated 1937 showing a pair of Siphons at Chippenham.  The first (focus of the shot) is branded to work between Calne and Crew via Seven Tunnel.  The second more interesting van typically only shows the least interesting half of the van.  However it does confirm the roof boards, which say:

"HARRIS BACON AND WILTSHIRE SAUSAGES"

"           F  R  O  M              C  A  L  N  E               "

 

Just need to verify how exactly the Return to Calne branding was applied (as to whether it was in the usual yellow italic script somewhere on the side, or on the same sort of enamel plate as the "To work between Calne and xxxx"  I assume the former, but need to find a good photo from which to verify sizes for transfer production...

[The Fatadder]

While the hunt for a photo of the "Return to Calne" branding for the siphon continues without success, last night I cracked on with a little more work on a couple of coach projects.

 

The resprayed K40 underframe has progressed, with battery box, vac cylinders and dynamo  added, this now needs the finishing work (glazing, weathering, grab handles etc)

A little progress on the Slaters toplight third, with my last set of 247 Developments American bogies built and fitted to the Comet chassis.  I know some of the other toplights were rebuilt with L channel underframe trusses, but I havent found many photos of the diagram Slaters made.   Its a shame I couldnt get the nice cast Slaters queen posts (as I could do with some for the concertina brake third that will be arriving in the new year.)  For the moment it can keep the Comet trusses and be rebuilt in due course.  The coach has been fully glazed, but still needs an interior (I have DC Kits seats and a Slaters corridor wall, so it just needs an evenings work.)   The ends still need further attention, it will get one of Mark Seaward's folded card corridor connections at some point, the headstocks have been cut from scrap brass and just need a trip outside to drill them (after an age drilling one with the hand drill i dont want to do another 3!). This will also need the grab handles etc adding, and will better sit on its chassis once the headstocks are fitted 

Happy Christmas   

Edited December 24, 2021 by The Fatadder