Stoke Courtenay

[KeithMacdonald]

28 minutes ago, checkrail said:

Are the last two posts strays from Little Muddle perhaps?!

 

With CPO Pertwee, Fatso Johnson, Able Seaman Goldstein (et al) it was usually Greater Muddle.

[KeithMacdonald]

@checkrail - sorry for the thread drift.

[checkrail]

No problem Keith.  Feel free anytime.  But was beginning to wonder why I seemed to be in a conversation I couldn't remember, and blaming it all on last night's beers!

 

Cheers (and The Navy Lark was great).

 

John

[checkrail]

Pleased to report a successful recovery with my paint-spattered H33 restaurant car, with no need for new sides.  So not such a disaster after all.  Thanks to all for suggestions and encouragement. 

 

I remembered that I had in stock some De Luxe Materials 'Strip Magic'.  (Sounds like some joint in Soho.)  With usual disclaimer I can wholeheartedly recommend this stuff.  No need for baths - I just poured a little on each side, over a piece of old newspaper, spread it to cover the whole side, left it 10 minutes or so, then was able to remove all the paint using cotton buds and meths.  The sides were then cleaned up with a bit of Cif and run under a hot (-ish) tap before drying on a piece of kitchen paper.  Happily the 24 Microstrip door hinges survived this treatment without damage or dislodgement.  New coats of Halford's white primer were then applied, followed by Railmatch GW cream on the upper sides.

 

 

 

It would seem that Halford's don't do the Peugeot Cafe Noir any more, so I've ordered the same colour from the Hycote range via eBay.  When it arrives I'll be able to get back to square one!

 

John C. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

That’s great to see it recovered and fairly easily as well by the sounds of it.

[checkrail]

Happy new year to all.

 

Been away over Christmas at a family gathering so only got back into the loft a couple of days ago, but I'm pleased to report that the H33 project was finally completed yesterday evening.  Here are the 'official' photographs.

 

This is the kitchen side, as pictured in Russell, Appendix Vol.2.  

 

And here's the other side, the one that will normally face the viewer.  I had no pictures of this side in pre-war livery so had to use a bit of educated guesswork with regard to the position of lettering.  HMRS Methfix transfers were used for this, with numbers from Fox.  (I'm right at the limits of my eyesight with these and lose more than I actually get on the coach.)  Door and grab handles were from Comet.

 

And here's a cruel close-up. 

 

John C.

[A Murphy]

Lovely job John, a very happy new year to you, 

 

Alastair M

[checkrail]

Here are the main bits of the rebuilt H33 just before final assembly.

 

One or two of you might remember my first abortive attempt at painting.  I did receive the Hycote Peugeot Cafe Noir but it was far worse than my old Halford's one.  I'm glad I tested it first on some scrap plastic - it was like spraying creosote.  I should have expected that at £12.99 for 6 cans on Ebay!  Probably been sitting in some warehouse for donkeys' years. So I nursed the old Halford's can downstairs for a few days and cleaned out the nozzle before having another go..  This time it didn't look so bad, especially after several layers of Dullcote had covered it.

 

I cheated a bit on the droplights, cutting them out, including glazing, from redundant PC Models toplight sides. The lack of relief isn't noticeable at NVD.  Like the plain glazing they're attached with DeLuxe Materials' Glue 'n' Glaze.

 

Frosted kitchen windows were done as usual by sticking opaque sellotape over the back of the relevant glazing panels.  Curtains are from the sticky-backed parts of coloured post-it notes.

 

I've used superglue in the past to stick the sides on, but inevitably always got a bit on paintwork or glazing so this time I used contact adhesive.  The local B & Q was out of Evo-Stik so I used the Gorilla version.  It's good, in that it's clear and comes off paintwork and glazing with a bit of IPA (no, not that sort).

 

Having now done a number of brass sides on plastic bodies conversions I find the hardest part is getting a good fit under the cantrail.  Though thin, the brass sides do add a bit of thickness and it's easy (for me anyway) to lose the cantrail altogether, necessitating the addition of a false one in some cases.  I reckon I've just about escaped that on this occasion but I think in future I'd probably remove even more of the plastic carcass first,  as recommended by @St Enodocof this parish.

 

John C.

[Nick Gough]

Are the tables solid blocks or do they have a cloth over them?

[Neal Ball]

Happy New Year John aka @checkrail this carriage looks fabulous.

 

Im at the early stages of RTR conversion using the Comet sides. What is the thinking behind making up the sides and getting them completed before being attached to the carriage. I’m doing it the other way round, am I making a mistake by doing it this way round?

 

Thanks, Neal.

[checkrail]

4 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Are the tables solid blocks or do they have a cloth over them?

They're solid blocks Nick.  In fact the interior is the original Hornby moulding.  All I've done to it (some years ago when I first put the un-rebuilt H33 into service) is paint the first class seats blue and the table tops white to represent tablecloths.  With this new conversion I've had to add a bit more white to the tables at the sides - I hadn't realised until I started putting the coach back together that the lower coach waist and larger windows would expose the tables so much.  

[checkrail]

4 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

What is the thinking behind making up the sides and getting them completed before being attached to the carriage. I’m doing it the other way round, am I making a mistake by doing it this way round?

I don't think you're necessarily making any mistake Neal.  My  somewhat idiosyncratic way of doing things was partly inspired by the old PC kits with ready-printed sides but the clincher was probably the difficulty of glazing the already attached sides without making a sticky mess.  Also means I don't have to keep masking other parts of the coach when painting the sides.  And it's easier this way to avoid any glazing material blocking the back of holes drilled for door and grab handles.

[Neal Ball]

9 hours ago, checkrail said:

I don't think you're necessarily making any mistake Neal.  My  somewhat idiosyncratic way of doing things was partly inspired by the old PC kits with ready-printed sides but the clincher was probably the difficulty of glazing the already attached sides without making a sticky mess.  Also means I don't have to keep masking other parts of the coach when painting the sides.  And it's easier this way to avoid any glazing material blocking the back of holes drilled for door and grab handles.

Thanks very much John, I will try that with the H57 then and see how I get on.

 

If nothing else it will be interesting to compare it to the other carriages I am working on at the moment.

[Nick Gough]

9 hours ago, checkrail said:

They're solid blocks Nick.  In fact the interior is the original Hornby moulding.  All I've done to it (some years ago when I first put the un-rebuilt H33 into service) is paint the first class seats blue and the table tops white to represent tablecloths.  With this new conversion I've had to add a bit more white to the tables at the sides - I hadn't realised until I started putting the coach back together that the lower coach waist and larger windows would expose the tables so much.  

 

Thanks.

I had forgotten that you were converting this from an earlier version of the H33.

[checkrail]

As mentioned a while back my north to west train is about to take a rest for a while to free up a storage loop for the Wolverhampton train with its refurbed restaurant car. 

 

Here are a couple of shots of it heading west to north behind a Star......

 

 

 ... and another pair of it returning towards Plymouth the following day with Launceston Castle in charge.

 

 

Those Stanier coaches were unlikely to have been seen on such a train pre-war, I know.  Probably even less likely to be seen coupled to a GWR carriage still in the 1928-34 livery, but the Hornby Staniers are nice models and I like to give them an outing occasionally in place of the Bachmann period 1 vehicles.  (I guess some ancient LNWR vehicles would be even nearer the mark?)

 

John C.

[checkrail]

And here's Launceston Castle coming through the down platform at Stoke C.  I quite like this angle looking across the station.

John C.

[Andy R]

4 hours ago, checkrail said:

And here's Launceston Castle coming through the down platform at Stoke C.  I quite like this angle looking across the station.

John C.

Beautiful modelling … I recently looked at the BRM video on your layout and reconfirmed what a wonderful layout this is. Congratulations,  Andy R

[checkrail]

Many thanks for kind words Andy.  I'd almost forgotten about the video.  Andy Y. sprang it on me without warning at the end of his photo shoot.  But it was fun, and nice afterwards to see my trains set to music!

 

John C.

[checkrail]

Another day, and we see 5000 Launceston Castle on another duty, heading west with the reconstituted Wolverhampton - Penzance express .......

 

 

.... including the refurbished H33 restaurant car. seen here passing through the platforms.

 

 

John C.

[Nick Gough]

Very nice!

[37Oban]

2 hours ago, checkrail said:

Another day, and we see 5000 Launceston Castle on another duty, heading west with the reconstituted Wolverhampton - Penzance express ....... 

Did you use hot or cold water and how long did you have to leave them to soak?  Asking for a friend!

 

Roja

[checkrail]

Yet another day (time flies round here y'know), and the train heads back towards Wolves behind Knight of the Grand Cross, as seen in this series of shots from the lineside near Stoke Courtenay signal box.

 

 

 

 

 

John C.

[checkrail]

A couple of leftovers of the H33 in the train.

 

 

And now, new year - new projects.  What will they be?  I want to do a bit more coach building and make up an E set; I've got some scenic details to upgrade (signal wires, repaired fencing etc.); there are still a number of wagon kits & bits knocking around; and there's a failed Dapol signal to replace.  But the big project I've been putting off is (semi-) automating the fiddle yard to enable me to set up macros allowing remote control of entry and exit to the storage loops, making operation a lot easier.   This is going to take a fair bit of expenditure on point motors and lots of tiresome wiring and crawling around under the layout.  But thanks to a nice Christmas present from my wife I now have a new much higher wattage soldering iron and accessories.  Must get it out of its box and get to grips with it soon.

 

John C.

[checkrail]

An aerial photo of trains passing at Stoke Courtenay.

 

John C.

[gwrrob]

Lovely photos as usual John and all the talk about coaches has me thinking about next weeks Hornby announcement. A new restaurant car wouldn’t go amiss.