Signaller69's projects

[Signaller69]

As is often the case the Dapol Class A tank conversion is sidelined awaiting parts. However some Bachmann 45T glw Esso class A tanks are being backdated to c.1970 condition vacuum braked examples (there is a discussion here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/141420-Bachmann-tta-to-ttv-backdating-anyone-done-one/ ).

These vehicles are evidently a complex subject so my efforts are representative.

 

Just to get a feel, my repainted example has had the air cylinder removed and replaced with Replica Railways Vacuum cylinders.

Bachmann air brake arrangement:

 

Vacuum brake cylinders fitted:

 

Whether it makes much noticeable difference is open to conjecture (in the first pic the "L" shape attachment from the suspension hanger to the solebar doesn't seem to feature in photos of Vac braked vehicles so may be removed if feasible):

 

A little more work is needed yet though.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Signaller69

[Signaller69]

Back to the Esso 35T Class A tank. I opted to use the Dapol walkways from the kit, but ladders came from some recycled brass signal ladder and are not yet glued in place. Small trianglular plasticard gussets were added to the tank supports before painting and adding transfers. The wagon is numbered after one I have a photo of in ex works condition which shows the chassis to be grey with black running gear and bufferbeam and the obligatory red solebars. Transfers were home produced apart from the Esso logos taken from the Dapol kit. 

 

Second photo shows it with a Bachmann out-of-the-box 45 tonner. 

[Signaller69]

Couple more pics. As I'm still having problems navigating this new layout, the new 10mb limit per post means only 2 or 3 of my photos can be added per post so I will have to size photos accordingly in future. I had to Google this page to find it and have yet to find my "followed content" either. Hey ho.

[37114]

Nice to see the progress on the tanks they look great!

[Signaller69]

16 hours ago, 37114 said:

Nice to see the progress on the tanks they look great!

Thanks pal, just got the fun of weathering to do now! 

[Fat Controller]

Lovely work.

Before weathering, I'd suggest giving the buffer stocks a touch of silver paint. Oleo buffers have a chrome plating on the stocks to reduce wear, a very conspicuous feature of the prototype.

[Signaller69]

5 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Lovely work.

Before weathering, I'd suggest giving the buffer stocks a touch of silver paint. Oleo buffers have a chrome plating on the stocks to reduce wear, a very conspicuous feature of the prototype.

Thanks for the reminder, I have far too many locos and wagons which need the same treatment! But yes I agree it is more noticable on the larger "modern" Oleo buffer styles. Will add it on all the tanks in one hit I think.

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

The class A tanks have now had silver buffer shanks added but await weathering as I need to buy more enamel paint thinners. The black class B tank is another Dapol kit I built a while back but in later condition and fitted with RT Models etched walkways and ladders, this one still needs the buffer shanks doing. I am aware of the schoolboy error regarding the ladder position, largely due the Dapol solebars having the ladder holes in the wrong location (ladders should be at the Vac cylinder end, with the top filler hatch at the opposite end), but I'm not sure I want to risk wrecking them during removal.

 

The extra length of the Class A tank barrel is apparent too.

 

[Signaller69]

A little weathering has now been added. Studying a good colour photo of some Esso Class A tanks at Oban in 1971 showed that the tank barrels were generally fairly clean, except where fluids had spilled down the sides during loading, and then attracted all manner of dirt (mainly brake dust presumably), leaving a dark brown rather than black staining (the load would probably be petroleum rather than dark oil). Air flow during transit fanned this staining outwards lower down the tank sides to leave a fairly well defined triangular pattern of dirt, which varied slightly from one wagon to the next. 

 

The underframes are a different story and appear as filthy as other wagons, to the extent that the red solebars are barely noticeable, yet the yellow axleboxes can be picked out fairly clearly.

 

Having messed up some grey tank wagons in the past I decided to proceed with a "less is more" approach this time.

 

Each tank barrel was given a thinned wash of Humbrol 98 dark brown all over, which was quickly wiped away with a tissue to leave a very slightly grubby finish (care is needed as some lettering is easily removed with thinners). Less thinned paint was then streaked down each side from the filler hatch with a broadish brush and fanned out towards the lower edges, leaving a slightly translucent effect. A little further working with a drop of thinners varies the effect; once dry a little more work will be done.

 

The chassis were simply given a wash of only slightly thinned paint, some dry brushing will be employed once this has fully dried.

 

[Signaller69]

With the tanks pretty much done, I have made a start on doing something with some of the van bodies I picked up a page or two back; the previous owner having built lots of kit bodies to fit on fettled Hornby-Dublo 3 rail die-cast wagon chassis, but never got around to doing so.

 

First up will become a late (fourth pattern) vacuum fitted BR Standard Vent Van (B7857xx series). I think this is a Parkside kit body. A Parkside chassis kit has been suitably modified as regards the handbrake arrangement, with my interpretation of the unusual off centre 'V' hanger and linkages that this batch had, coming from the bits box, which gives a nice variation along with the Lanarkshire Model Supplies Oleo buffers. Chalk boards and rainstrips need adding to the body yet.

 

Also started is one of ex LMS design, (B7517xx batch) the body being of Airfix RTR origin, thankfully devoid of the strange hybrid chassis that the manufacturer fitted......

Another Parkside chassis of the correct type (PA16) has been started for this and will mostly be as per the kit - this kit actually contains parts for 2 LMS chassis of different styles so is good value; the other will end up under another van probably. Bufferbeams were produced from plasticard as with the BR van, with Lanarkshire buffers still to be added. 

Again the roof will need a little work as photos suggest the BR built batch did not have roof vents (by 1970 at any rate). The LMS corrugated ends are very slightly different to the BR style but I can live with the discrepancy.

[Signaller69]

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you just seem to run out of bits for projects all at once? In my case wheels, couplings, coupling mounts and red primer! However some rummaging through a box of "stored" wagons and other bits provided most of the parts until more can be sourced, and the 2 vans seen previously have now had undercoat applied (and I still forgot to fit chalk/label boards, hey ho a job for tomorrow). The LMS type van (top) has had the roof remodelled and the loose chassis needs spraying black, whereas the BR Standard Van had a fixed floor so the chassis was built in situ, so this will either be masked before spraying or brush painted black.

 

Another van body "out of the van bag" was a Ratio Ply sided SR design to become a BR built variant which appear to have used either the SR chassis arrangement or the early BR standard van chassis; I'm going with the latter; a generic Airfix/Dapol 10' w/b RTR chassis has been modified to suit by removing the bufferbeams, fitting new plasticard axlebox covers for greater relief, adding a vac cylinder & operating bar and adding cast brake levers vice the thickly moulded ones, which were trimmed away; axleguard tie-bars remain to be fitted. This chassis is also still loose to allow the red body / black chassis paint application.

After adding chalk/label boards obviously....

[Signaller69]

The 3 vans have now been numbered etc for my usual 1970ish timeline and a coat of Matt varnish applied. Weathering will follow, along with fitting of Kadee couplers.

[Signaller69]

For anyone wanting to fit Kadee couplings to older Airfix/Dapol wagons (and possibly coaches) with the clip fit style couplings, here is a simple ruse I have used several times, which is easier than having to cut away coupling mounts, fill the ensuing hole in the chassis and then fit No.5 or similar couplers at the right height. 

 

The Dapol coupling mounts are the perfect height to match Kadee NEM couplers (as are older Mainline and Hornby models with screw-on or rivetted couplings).

 

Using long (No.19 - for gentler curves) or extra long (No.20 - for sharper set track curves) Kadee NEM couplers, I use a round needle file to carefully form a slightly rounded "hole" near the outer end of the coupler tail as shown here:

 

Having pulled out the tension lock coupling, the Kadee is then inserted to test fit and position. I then add a dab of UHU glue to hold it in a central position and prevent it swivelling thus:

An alternative would be to pack either side of the Kadee with small fillets of plasticard, which may negate the need for glue.

 

The flexible coupler head allows enough movement to cope with third radius curves (No.19 coupler) with no issues and allows remote uncoupling in the normal Kadee manner. Some experimentation with different lengths is useful.

 

The photos below show the position of the coupler jaw using the no.19 for close coupling:

Note that the rear open face of the jaw should be level in the vertical plane with the buffer heads if using no.19s. This distance is fine pulling and pushing over down to Peco small radius points in my experience but the extra-long no.20 is better for anything sharper, with a correspondingly larger gap between buffers of course. I have not tried this system on Airfix/Dapol coaches or over first radius curves but it should work; any problems I have encountered have been due to buffers touching causing the odd derailment on sharper curves. This photo gives an approximate idea of the play with no.19s:

 

By using only a small amount of glue, this method is reversible back to tension locks in future if required too, providing any glue residue is removed from the coupling mount.

[Signaller69]

The latest 3 vans are now ready for traffic....

[Signaller69]

A spare half hour before loading "Crinan" into the car for Rainhill Show was put to good use by stripping down the Fowler shown a couple of pages back.

 

Being based around a Dapol Pug chassis, a previous owner had replaced the nylon gears with brass ones but the play was very limited and the motor tended to run warm. This was cured by loosening the motor mount plate and inserting a thin strip of plasticard under the rear end, to effect a slight angle on the motor; this seems to have done the trick as it now runs more freely and quietly. Hopefully it will haul it's first "revenue earning" train this weekend. As can be seen it is quite a diminutive loco.

[saxokid]

More top modelling there Martyn

[Signaller69]

Another van project underway, this time an LNER designed, BR built Shocvan (Lot 2045, built 1949). Only 100 were built, numbered as B8500XX, so it was something of a rarity, but survived in general use until at least 1970. I am using a 1971 David Larkin photo for reference.

 

The model uses another old Parkside kitbuilt body from the stash (which had to be dismantled back to its constituent parts!), and an appropriate Parkside LNER design chassis kit has been sourced as can be seen. The body has been cut down in length by removing 1mm or so either side of the central door before being put back together with a plasticard strengthener affixed behind, and rebuilt onto the shortened roof. The carefully removed headstocks will be modified and affixed to the chassis. Details specific to the Shocvan variant such as the strengthened floor and lower door reinforcing have been fitted, chassis will be assembled next. Photo makes the roof distortion look worse than it actually is!

Edited March 14, 2019 by Signaller69
Add to prototype info.

[Fat Controller]

Nice- pleased to see I'm not the only van obsessive out there.

[Signaller69]

A little further progress, the Parkside floor has been modified with plasticard to fit the body and the solebars fitted, along with the vac cylinder and Hornby wheelsets to give a basic rolling chassis. The headstocks were then added with the addition of small plasticard spacers to give the characteristic open frame look behind; they need a little more refining yet. I need to source some Shocvan buffers, or perhaps have a go at making my own.

[saxokid]

More impressive modelling here Martyn

[Signaller69]

Decided to have a go at the Shocvan type buffer casings using a scrap of plasticard, drilled to accept 2.4mm plastic tube thus:

 

A couple of spares were added, just in case! Once fixed in place with solvent the shanks were trimmed back with a file and the depth of the base reduced:

 

They were then cut out and trimmed further to ensure consistent sizing:

 

After rounding the squared corners they were fitted to the headstocks:

 

A little more refining needed yet. I have some 13" Parkside buffer heads left from previous kits which may be used for this, once painting is complete. Brake gear will be added next.

 

Thanks for looking and for the comments too folks!

 

Martyn.

[ISW]

On 18/03/2019 at 12:12, Signaller69 said:

Decided to have a go at the Shocvan type buffer casings using a scrap of plasticard, drilled to accept 2.4mm plastic tube thus:

 

A couple of spares were added, just in case! Once fixed in place with solvent the shanks were trimmed back with a file and the depth of the base reduced:

 

They were then cut out and trimmed further to ensure consistent sizing:

 

After rounding the squared corners they were fitted to the headstocks:

 

A little more refining needed yet. I have some 13" Parkside buffer heads left from previous kits which may be used for this, once painting is complete. Brake gear will be added next.

 

Thanks for looking and for the comments too folks!

 

Martyn.

Martyn,

 

What equipment are you using to get such accurate cutting? It does look very impressive. Is it all done with a simple sharp knife (and loads of experience), or do you use a specialist cutting board?

 

[Signaller69]

1 hour ago, ISW said:

Martyn,

 

What equipment are you using to get such accurate cutting? It does look very impressive. Is it all done with a simple sharp knife (and loads of experience), or do you use a specialist cutting board?

 

Hi Ian,

Nothing more complex then a Stanley Knife, scalpel, steel rule and cutting mat to be honest, plus a little sanding of cut edges on a flat surface if needed; very small parts are usually cut and sanded by eye and reference to photos rather than using a rule, but its not often I make buffers as the consistency needed does test the eyesight and castings are generally better detailed of course, but on this occasion I decided to have a go.

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

Painting and transfers done, save for a top coat of Matt varnish and some weathering, painting the vac pipes and fitting the buffer heads:A sealing coat of Humbrol gloss has just been applied. The photo I am working from was taken in 1971, the David Larkin paperback books (Bradford Barton) shown are perfect for modellers of the late 60s / early 70s period if they can be found, I just need the PO Wagons edition to complete the set; these were £1 each from various shops in the late 80s and have been well thumbed!

[ISW]

18 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

Hi Ian,

Nothing more complex then a Stanley Knife, scalpel, steel rule and cutting mat to be honest, plus a little sanding of cut edges on a flat surface if needed; very small parts are usually cut and sanded by eye and reference to photos rather than using a rule, but its not often I make buffers as the consistency needed does test the eyesight and castings are generally better detailed of course, but on this occasion I decided to have a go.

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

Martyn,

 

Thanks. You clearly have a very good eye (or even 2 of them!). Me thinks it will be a while before I reach such standards.