Thompson BZ 6 wheel brake van

[rogerSDJR]

Again I’m very interested in a LNER BZ 6 wheel non-passenger brake van. 

[macgeordie]

Hi Roger, I have sent you a pm.

 

Ian

[rustynuts]

I am also interested if still available.

 

regards

 

paul

[macgeordie]

Hi Paul 

 

I have just checked and I have a couple of kits left in stock, I will pm you with details tomorrow. 
 

Ian

[roythebus1]

I'm grdaually finding my way to finishing my BZ kit after 3 years...what put me off was the small cast bits that attach to the solebar and need a hole drilled through them to go on a pin that drops down from the end of the spring. There's 12 of them to do. Is there an easy way of doing them or should I have fitted them before assembling the rest of the chassis?

[macgeordie]

Hi Roy

 

When I designed the BZ chassis, because the springs are behind the W irons, I couldn't use the usual one piece casting. I had to use the castings from Wizard models and as you say you need to drill a hole in each one. It's not difficult but you need to take your time. In a worst case, if you mess it up, you can always buy more from Andrew at Wizard but as I have said, it's not difficult. I assume you have a pin chuck, which is all you need along with a 0.5mm drill. File the bottom of the castings flat before you start so that the drill won't slip off the centre point. You can easily hold the casting in your fingers to drill it. Just drill a small amount at a time and keep removing the drill to clear the whitemetal from the flutes to prevent the drill sticking or jamming.

 

Ian

[roythebus1]

Yes I done that with 3 I think so far! One has been eaten by the carpet beast, never to be seen again, andother the drill went off centre, and I've got several 0,5 holes on my fingers! Maybe I should have put them on the chassis sides before I done the rest of the kit, it's difficult getting the soldering iron in there. Not to worry, I'll get there eventually.

 

Meanwhile the remnants of my Kings Cross wooden kit has gone in the bin!

[macgeordie]

10 hours ago, roythebus1 said:

Yes I done that with 3 I think so far! One has been eaten by the carpet beast, never to be seen again, andother the drill went off centre, and I've got several 0,5 holes on my fingers! Maybe I should have put them on the chassis sides before I done the rest of the kit, it's difficult getting the soldering iron in there. Not to worry, I'll get there eventually.

 

Meanwhile the remnants of my Kings Cross wooden kit has gone in the bin!

Don’t try to solder the pieces in place, just use Evo Stik impact adhesive. The parts are so thin that you will probably just melt them if you try to solder them. 

[roythebus1]

Low melt solder, low melt flux and an iron set to 180 degrees. :)  I'll try glue for the others.

[Flood]

After four years I finally decided to have a go at mine this July during 2 weeks holiday.

 

Just finished this afternoon, apart from some light weathering. You'll notice that it's a different colour to most of the ones that will be made.

 

 

 

Thanks again for making this kit available. It's been a pleasure to make, the only problems being my inexperience and not using 145 solder from the start. The photos make the rain strip look worse than how the normal eye notices.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Flood

[Iain.d]

This week I finished a kit by @macgeordie of an LNER Thompson 6-wheel NPCCS BZ. It came with everything needed less wheels and couplings and included a CD-ROM of build images and instructions.

 

 

The only thing I did differently to the instructions was that to represent the door bumps/stops, I drilled out the half-etched holes and soldered in .45mm wire as opposed to pressing them out.

 

 

The chassis is reasonably complex but built in steps and following the instructions (pretty much a must for some bits) it soon comes together. I like the design of the Cleminson style design to control the movement of the centre axle and the axle boxes (there being no cast type available) are a really novel design of layered brass. They certainly look the part.

 

 

The main components – the instructions suggest gluing the roof on, but I like them to be detachable, so I drilled the roof for a 12BA bolt and then partway drilled in with a 2mm bit, then filed down and curved the head of the bolt until it sat in the drilled 2mm hole. It's secured on the underside of the roof with a nut, and I then filled the slight recess on the roof with filler. A piece of brass offcut with a hole in the right place, is soldered to the centre partition. The roof rain strips are secured with superglue.

 

 

And the final test build. I’ll add the handrails and window bars after painting. The screw couplings are a hotchpotch of bits: Roxey hooks, Rumney links and 14BA nuts and bolts for the screw part.

 

 

Its finished in BR Maroon (Tamiya TS-11) and lined with a pen. The kit also provides for glazing (a transparent sheet with the window outlines printed on it) but I opted for cut glass.

 

 

Like the two Siphon G’s I recently completed, it was a pleasure to build. I think is captures the look of the prototype really well.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[hmrspaul]

What did you do with the CD-ROM? It's years since players have been installed in PCs, and never on tablets.

 

Very nice modelling, the Cleminson suspension is nicely done. I wonder why the prototype had these, apparently many years after used on new build stock.  

 

Paul

[Iain.d]

11 minutes ago, hmrspaul said:

What did you do with the CD-ROM? It's years since players have been installed in PCs, and never on tablets.

 

Very nice modelling, the Cleminson suspension is nicely done. I wonder why the prototype had these, apparently many years after used on new build stock.  

 

Paul

Hi Paul,

 

Reading the CD-ROM wasn't an issue, I have had mac desktops for about 10 years and with the first one I bought, I 'invested' in a USB SuperDrive, so copied the disc contents to the hard disk. The CD drive has seen little use in all those years - the last three uses have been to copy this CD and the two for the Siphon G's. It probably hasn't been used a dozen times in all the time I've had it!

 

Thank you for the kind comment, re modelling.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

 

 

[Flood]

Sorry to Iain for not mentioning the following on completing my build.

 

The Guard's door opens inwards so there shouldn't be any hinges visible for it.

[Iain.d]

20 hours ago, Flood said:

Sorry to Iain for not mentioning the following on completing my build.

 

The Guard's door opens inwards so there shouldn't be any hinges visible for it.

 

Hey, thanks, but no problem - I should have seen it myself, I have enough pictures of real ones! It's a case of looking but not seeing. I also forgot to add the door handles to the other set of doors, on both sides, when I photographed it. I've since added them.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain