Black Notley - BR Eastern

[pwr]

So after finising the Gresley I am now moving on to the PVB.

 

The photos show what you get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the basic kit. I didn't opt for the BRBlue Oleo buffers as I wanted sprung versions so I got some from MM1.

 

The  problem I have is that the holes in the ends are too big for these

 

 

My options are to fill the existing and re-drill or get some plastic tube and fit to the exisiting hole to reduce the diameter. I favour the latter.

 

Transfers from RailTec

 

 

Wheels are Peartree Engineering from MM1

 

 

They come with the necessary brak discs to fit

 

 

The final piece is this 1:50 body from a Cararama truck.

 

 

This is a bit of a compromise as the number of straps it carries are too many for the wagon. I checked the Corgi alternatives and the same problem is encounterted. There is not much I can do about this unless I commission my own so a compormise it will be.

 

There are no instructions in then kit but you can contact Simon from BRBlue via Shapeways.

 

I have started to fit a floor which was not recommended by the manufacturer but I wanted to get some additional strength in the body and provide a base foir some weight, the actual wagon being very light.

 

 

So far I have not found any suitable glue. Liquid Poly doesn't work and neither does Butanone. Simon suggested superglue but I am not keen. I used some Gorilla glue for the first time the other day so may give that a go.

 

The roof will need a good sand down being laid down in layers. his is not evident on the rest of the body. A resin print would have avaoided this but its not an option.

 

This doesnt look as if this is going to take that long to build so watch this space.

 

Paul R

[pwr]

So the floor is fitted but yet to be glued. This is a just a test fit for now.

 

 

I have also fitted some plastic tube to the buffer apertures which can be seen in this next photo. These too are not glued in yet.

 

 

Also fitted are the bearings. I had to drill out the exisiting holes to 2.5mm and these are a push fit. The wheels have been trial fitted and run well enough.

 

I also just realised that these wagons are not disc braked so the wheel inserts will not be used.

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Another one from the recent running sessions

 

 

Paul R

[Baggies1961]

Adds a great dimension being outdoors Paul, layout looks great and enjoyed the running sessions.

Regards

Julian.

[pwr]

2 hours ago, Baggies1961 said:

Adds a great dimension being outdoors Paul, layout looks great and enjoyed the running sessions.

Regards

Julian.

 

Thanks Julian

 

The light certainly makes the photos better.

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Got the buffers on today. These are from MM1 and are lost wax castings

 

 

I need to enlarge the hole for the coupler and then its on to fitting sides and thats about it!

 

I tried sanding the roof with wet and dry and it doesnt want to play. Whatever this plastic is its very hard. I think I am going to need a putty primer before the usual painting treatment

 

kind regards

 

 

Paul

[pwr]

Adding some weight to the PVB before I cut the sides

 

 

These are lead seals that banks used to use back in the day to seal coin bags. When they were phased out in my area for H and S reasons I had a load of them sent to me for weighting trains!  Just don't use PVA to glue them!. This is Gorilla glue which I haven;'t really used before. I must say when used properly and activated by water it sticks like s**t to a blanket.

 

I may glue the sides on with this stuff.

 

There is still not enough weight inside so more seals will be fitted when this lot are properly dry.

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Right so this is all thats left off the Cararama trailer as far as this kit is concerned!

 

I now need to cut these to size and affix to the wagon.

 

 

Although they are moulded in the relief on the curtain straps is provided for by tampo printing so some of this may be lost when its primed. They will need to be repainted or gone over with a felt pen to brikng them up once the final coat of red is on.

 

Paul R

[Hal Nail]

20 hours ago, pwr said:

This is Gorilla glue which I haven;'t really used before. I must say when used properly and activated by water it sticks like s**t to a blanket.

 

I've never tried the latter so will take you word for that!

 

Lead is ridiculously expensive as I discovered when I looked at buying some on eBay! I should know this as my porch roof was nicked and I was too tight to replace it once I got a quote but am annoyed that i didn't keep the few bits they left when they cut round the nails! 

[pwr]

Hit an unexpected snag with the PVB.

 

The lead I fixed to the floor of the PVB has caused the solebars to bow out of straight which was unexpected.

 

So I have removed them for now and placed a weight on the underside and left the model upside down in an attempt to straighten it.

 

I am sure things will be fine ionce the ridgid sides are glued to the body, a job which is made more difficult I have to say because of the floor! I think I will glue the leaf seals to the inside of the sides as these are unlikely to cause the vehicle to box given they are of hard plastic. These are nearly ready to fit and are broadly cut to shape. Just final finishing off to do. I do however have a nagging feeling that I should have gone for a Corgi curtain sided trailer as the straps are more pronounced due to better moulds. On the down side they would have been more expensive. I might give them a quick go with primer before I fix them in and see how well they look.

 

More later

 

Paul R

[pwr]

OK I have had a look at this PVB again.

 

I am pleased to say the solebars are returning to a straight line so that is working.

 

I have now decided that the Cararama sides are no good and will need replacing with something from Corgi. Looking on that well now auction side suggests that there are several different mouldings. So I think I will go back down to Train Tinmes Eastbourne when I am down that way next week and see if I can get a cheap  Corgi alternative. If not there are several on Ebay that would suit but some are more expensive than others.  I only need one that has the curtain sides intact and the rest can be as beaten and battered as it comes.

 

More on this later

 

Paul R

[pwr]

So following a successfull bid for a Corgi trailer - along with another I didn't want - I have resumed work on the PVB. This photo sows the cut down sides and you can see the strapping is much more pronounced and won't disappear under a coat of primer!.

 

 

The top one is not stuck in yet. I am working out the best way to fit the sides into the frame which is stll slightly warped and as you can see from the photo the roof is (and always has been) slightly bulged. It will correct once the sides are glued in although I am sure the print could be modified to include an internal partition to prevent this.

 

I wll hopefully get them glued in today. I need to then fix a styrene strip piece at the top to represent the curtain runner. After that brake pipes and lamp irons and then it will be ready for painting.

 

Still not sure if 3D printing is a good thing but some of the resin prints I have seen are pretty good. I am still considering the bogie grainflow wagons and the airbraked modified blues.

 

This one  is not resin printed and it will be intersting to see how the putty primer I am going to use fills in the roof layers.

 

Anyhow all for now

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Finally worked out how I am going to fix the sides and decided to construct a frame in the box by using Liquid poly to fix the bottom, bar to the floor and super glue to fix the uprights. The rest is glued together with liquid poly. Its gone in strongly enough and will give me a good base to fix the sides. You can side how badly warped the roof is but it will close down to the top of the side and once the sides are dry I will glue it down with superglue which does seem to take to this 3D printed plastic very well.

 

 

This next photo shows the side fitted dry to check alignment. Reltively happy with this

 

 

Once glued in there needs to be  a bar put on the top which in reality would hold the curtain mechanism. It will be a piece of styrene strip.

 

Right - onwards and upwards. I've just got a VEA van so that needs to be unboxed for display!

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Roof stuck down now and curtain top affixed

 

.

 

You can see the end hasnt quite taken but thats now been adjusted with more superglue.

 

Lamp irons also stick on and holes drilled for air pipes. This will be a single pipe fitment rataher than twin.

 

I've since started to prime it usiing Halfords Putty primer and despite several coats the layers on the roof are stubbornly still there.

 

I'll keep pressing on.

 

Paul R

 

 

[pwr]

Decided to succumb to a Dapol VEA. I wasn't going to bother but felt it was an iconic van for Speedlink services so bought one! Here it is eing shunted by a 56.

 

 

 

 

 

These are fitted with screw couplings but I wonder if this is correct and should have been fitted with Instanters. Does anyone know or was it luck of the draw on the prototype.

 

Certainly the PVB looks like both types were fitted across the batch of wagons.

 

Paul R

[34006]

7 hours ago, pwr said:

Decided to succumb to a Dapol VEA. I wasn't going to bother but felt it was an iconic van for Speedlink services so bought one! Here it is eing shunted by a 56.

 

 

 

 

 

These are fitted with screw couplings but I wonder if this is correct and should have been fitted with Instanters. Does anyone know or was it luck of the draw on the prototype.

 

Certainly the PVB looks like both types were fitted across the batch of wagons.

 

Paul R

Our PW tool van at Chasewater is one of these,will check next Sunday,when I'm next over there.Got a feeling it has screw couplings,though.

 

Regards

Phil

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by 34006

[pwr]

So I have now sprayed the PVB with putty primer hence the yellow colour. Despite using nearly the full contents of a small aerosol, you can still see the lines onm the roof although not nealry as bad. I am now going to spray the vehicle in red oxide primer before I cover the sides in my chosen red colour.

 

 

I have kept the primer off the sides save for an initial coat as I didn't want to lose the curtain effect.

 

More later

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Got most of the colours on the PVB now. The pre-primer putty has done a relatively good job of covering up the layers so I am pleased with that as its usually the roof you see first. There is a bit of touching up to do mostly on the black and I need to paint the straps black with silver catches. I'll do that later as its too hot right now.

 

 

After that its the transfers and varnishing/weathering. The transfers will certainloy bring it to life.

 

Paul R

 

 

 

 

[pwr]

Hot weather and come charity work has hampered progress since last week but the PVB is now ready for transfers.

 

 

At the same time I thought I might as well finish off the 2 PFA wagons and the PFA containers have been treated to a coat of white primer. @Accurascale Fran gave me the RAL number for the yellow colour following the introduction of their own 4mm and I have a can of the stuff ordered through Amazon. The containers which are Skytrex resin will get the yellow treatment tomorrow. Transfers came with the containers which will need a coat of coal weathering. 

 

 

I must confess I don't like resin in models but as these are loads I am not bothered. I gave them a good scrub in washing up water (clean I should say) before priming them.

 

Paul R

[brossard]

On 07/07/2022 at 07:41, pwr said:

Decided to succumb to a Dapol VEA. I wasn't going to bother but felt it was an iconic van for Speedlink services so bought one! Here it is eing shunted by a 56.

 

 

 

 

 

These are fitted with screw couplings but I wonder if this is correct and should have been fitted with Instanters. Does anyone know or was it luck of the draw on the prototype.

 

Certainly the PVB looks like both types were fitted across the batch of wagons.

 

Paul R

 

I think it could be either screw link or instanter.  Best to check pictures of wagons.  I'm sure you know that Paul Bartlett's collection is excellent for this.

 

A niggle I have with Dapol RTR is the vac pipe is usually rigid plastic.  I would replace with Slaters LWB.  I would also add a representation of the vac pipe running under the wagon.

 

Something like this:

 

 

John

Edited July 24, 2022 by brossard

[pwr]

18 hours ago, brossard said:

 

I think it could be either screw link or instanter.  Best to check pictures of wagons.  I'm sure you know that Paul Bartlett's collection is excellent for this.

 

A niggle I have with Dapol RTR is the vac pipe is usually rigid plastic.  I would replace with Slaters LWB.  I would also add a representation of the vac pipe running under the wagon.

 

Something like this:

 

 

John

 

 

Yes I tend to agree. Slaters kits are generally very well detailed.

 

In my case. for this particular wagon  it would be an air pipe.

 

Yes I have been looking at Paul Bartlett's site. It's very useful.

 

thank you

 

Paul R

 

 

[pwr]

Another IXO 1:43 truck joins the fleet - this DAF Reefer

 

 

 

I think its French and again it has the TIR logo so its perfectly OK for an LHD vehicle in the UK - not that this ever was I suspect.

 

I've been eyeing this up since Christmas and the price seems to have been reduced so I jumped in. Having said that its a ghastly colour! 

 

I really must stop buying these scale trucks.

 

Paul R

[Hal Nail]

2 hours ago, pwr said:

I really must stop buying these scale trucks

ive got a ridiculous number of cars given i haven't even built a layout yet! Ive even got a few duplicates where ive forgotten what I've already bought.

[pwr]

13 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

ive got a ridiculous number of cars given i haven't even built a layout yet! Ive even got a few duplicates where ive forgotten what I've already bought.

Yes likewise!  I have several boxes in the loft the intention being to vary the vehicles on the layout!  I need to acquire some more 1970's as most of mine are 1950's and 1960's. We've got the Hadlow Down Tinkers park Model Railway Weekend in a couple of weeks so I hope to get a few more then!   doubt there will be any IXO stuff but should be plenty of second hand Oxford Diecast and Hornby

 

Paul R

[pwr]

So I have done some more work on the PFA containers in between doing bits to the PVB.

 

I got a coat of Cawoods yellow - Accurascale provided the RAL number- and applied transfers and an undercoat of black paint on the load.

 

 

The coal will be covered by some German product that I got in a model shop and looks like to sort of load that this would have carried. I have just enough for the two boxes.

 

That leaves me to weather an d varnish after finishing the transfers.

 

I don't have anything to represent the numbers of the containers but I reckon I might strike lucky at Railtech. However I don't want a full set as I already have the names which came with the boxes from Skytrex.

 

I need to look at the buffers again. The wagons are too far apart to effectively couple with instanters 

 

I should have some more photos of the PVB in the next couple of days or so.

 

Paul  R

 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by pwr
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