brossard Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Glad to be of help. You may pick up on the discussion about interior lighting, which I had no idea about prior to this. IIRC GWR vans were gas lit and had a gas cylinder. BR built vans, of which mine is one, had electric lighting. Therefore a dynamo, battery box and switch on one end. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) Subsequent to John's excellent photos I have now created the under frame details, and added the rain strips, ventilators and gas lamps to the roof. I have yet to decide on the size and position of the gas cylinder. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 9 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) The Fruit D now has two coats of chocolate paint on top of the under coat, and the transfers will be applied in the next few days. It has buffers and Dingham couplers attached and has been successfully around the garden loop without falling off. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) I have also started work on an old CCW white metal kit for a 48xx. Very big white metal castings so I got out my 75 watt iron and lamp dimmer combo to deal with it. All moulded hand rails have been removed with a sharp chisel as they will be replaced with wire and knobs as appropriate. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) These old kits can be made to look very good with a bit of hard work. It is not unusual to find one tank side might be longer than the other (!) but as long as you can file and solder, you can produce an acceptable model. The bonus is that it will weigh a ton so traction will not be a problem. My J50 also a CCW kit irons out the track as it runs! Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Nice to see the Fruit D more or less done. Glad you had etched steps for it. Mine came with whitemetal steps, which, predictably, broke as I was looking at them. These were replaced with brass strip but I kept the WM steps. One of these fell off so I will have to revisit them with brass ones. Interesting to see a J50 on a GWR layout. I bought the Tower version which made my CC scream in agony, but worth it as it is a great runner. I note you seem to have a Kirk Gresley coach kit in the background. I have 3 of these to do, but only finished the full brake so far. I'd like to get more into loco kits but there is so much to do with the layout. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 (edited) The Fruit D now has its transfers and some light weathering applied with the airbrush. The J50 in the previous pictures runs on the LMS/LNER line on the other side of the shed which goes around the garden. It has now been weathered. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 (edited) The 48XX is progressing, I now have all the big bits soldered together, and I am in the process of filling all the gaps in the castings with Squadron white putty. As regards the chassis, I think I am going to let the front axle rock on a middle pivot bar, and spring the trailing axle. The boiler is going to be full of lead so it should balance nicely. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Freeman Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 Many years ago I built one of these and then upgraded it with Nickel Silver shim panels duly rivetted, took some time I can tell you. Underframe is a Slaters sprung one. It's packed away at the moment as I have nowhere to run it just now. May have some pics somewhere that I can scan. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 I think I am going to use Archer surface details water slide rivets on this one. I have used them successfully in the past on cast kits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Today I modified the chassis so the front axle rocks on a central bar, and sprung the trailing axle. The front axle bushes will be prevented from rotating either by sprung wires in holes, or flats filed on the sides of the flanges and strip soldered to the chassis. More filling of joints has taken place. The motor gearbox is made from a slice of 19mm aluminium channel, drilled to accept brass bushes and then reamed for an accurate fit. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) I have been busy over the last few days, making and adding details to the 48xx, including the brake hangers, rodding and shoes, sand boxes and pipes, fire iron supports, lamp irons, handrails etc etc. I am astounded at the number of little details still needed to be added to the loco. I previously semi-scratchbuilt an A3, and it seemed to have a lot less bits and pieces! A lot of the pipework comes from redundant household electrical cabling, with pipe supports made from twisted 15 amp fuse wire. I used a card jig to hold the supports in place whilst soldering them to the pipe, then used the card jig to drill the holes in the valance, so they had to line up. The photos are slightly out of focus due to the amount of sunlight yesterday (!) reflecting off the shiny metal. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 The next job is to make the firebox backhead and add more pipework from more copper wire. I have some good photos to work from. I was suprised to see that these locos were screw reverse, rather than the lever type as on the pannier tanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) I have applied a coat of glossy grey primer to the engine, so I can add the rivet details. These are from Archer Surface Details, and are water slide lines of rivets at set distances from each other. They are very fiddly to apply, and need spray coating with primer once dry, to prevent them coming off. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) The rivets come in small sheets, and are cut with a very sharp knife and a straight edge, then applied as per water slide transfers. They do rivets, bolt heads etc in a range of sizes and spacing to suit most scales. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) I mark the position of the rivet lines in pencil on the model. These rivets give the ability to add detail to cast models or older models. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Handy things these Archer transfers. I used them to detail a plate girder bridge based on the Scalescenes kit. The span was made from plastic, not card. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) It was 32 degrees in the conservatory yesterday, so of course, I fired up the air brush and sprayed the 48xx Green. It then cooked well in the heat. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted April 24, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 24, 2020 What's that coach you've sneaked into the background please?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Hi Hal - it's an Ian Kirk plastic kit - D98 non corridor brake 3rd. He sells the kit complete with bogies for £44. He also does the matching E131 non corridor compo for the same price. The stock numbers are 7905 7906. They require wheels buffers couplings and door handles, but can be made into nice models. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) The 48xx is nearly finished - just needs coal, lamps and a coat of weathering. I am very pleased with how this has turned out considering it was a 40/50 year old CCW white metal kit. It has similar track-ironing tendencies to the J50 due to the weight. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes . 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 The Collett coach hiding in the background has now been painted and glazed, and only needs a few foot steps and transfers adding. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 I also found some old coach sides in my scrap box, some etched ends, wheels and axle boxes, so I am creating something of a hybrid. One axle is fixed, the other end rocks and the centre one dangles on a hinge. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 There is just enough rock in the centre hinged axle to allow all the wheels to stay in contact with all my track and for it to go around my tight hand made points. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kes Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) Progress has been slow as I have been doing more repairs to my motor home during this stunning weather. The platform has now appeared, made of two layers of polystyrene glued together with PVA and weighted down for a few days. The platform sides are plaster casts made from a silicone mould which I took from a plasticard master. I have used ordinary household finishing plaster because the sides are quite thick. I found that by supporting the mould at each end on some thin ply, I could cast sections which went gently around a curve! They are left to set for a few hours then carefully released from the mould, and left to harden in the sunlight in the conservatory. The sides are glued to the polystyrene using "no more nails" type adhesive. I filled the joints, excluding those where the board joints are (!), and still have a few pin holes to fill before I start colouring the finish. One thing to remember is to try your biggest/longest item of stock for clearance before gluing the sides on. I got out my auto coach and found I needed to slice an edge off the polystyrene to allow more clearance due to my tight curves. Edited December 29, 2022 by kes spell corrected 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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