LMS D1832A vans, BR grey

[SM42]

Not sure if this should be here or in the help and tips section, it sort of fits both

 

Having a little bit more time on my hands of late, I have built a Parkside 0 gauge kit of an LMS D1832A van

 

I am modelling BR period so into unfitted BR grey it will go.

 

The question is what colour were the ends painted?

 

The colour photo on the front of the Geoff Gamble Railway in Profile Series  book on vans (No 3) appears to show such a van in grey with black ends.

 

Is this an optical illusion? I suspect it isn't looking at the contrast with the grey sides

 

Is this a standard paint scheme for these vans or  just some one off meaning I can get away with all over grey? 

 

For the sake of my sanity in applying the decals I  have opted not to copy the photograph exactly but to use a ready made number and use the photo as a guide for painting and weathering, so I could apply rule one, but it would be nice to know if black ends were a common feature or not.

 

Thank You

 

Andy

[brossard]

I think I might have the same kit but unbuilt.  My understanding is that BR painted their vehicles with the same colour (grey or bauxite) all over.  Parkside instructions are pretty good as a rule so should be of help.

 

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsvan

 

John

[Wheatley]

It should be grey all over as per the LB&SCR van on plate 18. But you're right, the ends are darker and much darker than just being in shadow might suggest. I suspect it has been patch painted after a repair, either in black or smudge (mixed leftovers) depending on what was to hand. By the date of that photo (1964) it would not be in traffic much longer. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Wheatley

[SM42]

Thanks John.

 

That is what I suspected until I happened upon that photo and the doubt crept in.

 

The instructions disappeared shortly after completion of the build and are either in the modelling room detritus or  being converted to something else in a factory somewhere, hence the fall back onto the photo search when it came to painting an applying decals.

 

It is currently grey all over, I just can't decide if I dare to do the ends black or not.

 

Andy

[SM42]

Thanks Wheatley

 

Grey all over seems most likely then and the van in the photo was of a one off

 

Still managed to get the brakes on backwards though If I can live with that the colour of the ends is a mere trifle, but interesting to speculate all the same

 

Andy

[brossard]

I'm always a bit reluctant to make definitive statements about rolling stock colour.  The prototype has a knack of throwing you for a loop.

 

As for the brakes, join the club.  These can be a minefield and you need to make absolutely certain that they are on right.  Despite knowing that I've cocked it up a time or two.  Nothing for it but to disassemble and do it over.

 

I like to keep kit instructions since they are a good source of info.

 

John

[SM42]

Throwing a loop is exactly what it has done.

 

The brakes on mine would work. That bit is right

Appears I have the dog clutch on the wrong side (compared to the photo) and I'm not convinced that the prototype has four shoe gear as the photo caption states. It looks very empty on the far side of the underframe in that photo with only one set of safety loops visible.

 

Plate 62 in Essery Vol 1 only has brake shoes on one side and confirms I seem to have put these on the wrong side. Ho Hum.

The end also looks black, (now I look closely) but I can't tell in that B&W picture  if there is a hint of grey around the end vent or if that is just light coloured  dirt or if the whole end is just very rusty and dirty

 

The instructions are lord knows where now. Probably turn up in about 10 years, bit like the half finished kit did.

 

Andy

 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by SM42

[brossard]

Just checked my instructions for the Parkside D1828 van I have.  Not the same as yours as I thought.  Still this van has brakes one side only with the non clutch side having these.  The other side would have a Morton clutch to reverse direction when applying brakes.

 

Instructions say:  "Body; grey..."  Good enough for me.

 

John

[Steamport Southport]

Just good old fashioned dirt.

 

It did always seem to adhere more at the ends when they had steel corrugated ends. Look at this one for example.

 

https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsvan/e15613bfb

 

 

 

Jason

[SM42]

Thanks to those who replied

 

All over grey it is with black ends being an abberation.

 

However it seems I have acquired two 00 Cambrian kits for the same van in the past somehow, so one will get black ends.

 

Andy

[The Johnster]

Thead bump alert; in the process of building a Cambrian and yet to investigate source for BR era transfers but first port of call will be John Dunsignalling's CCT site.  I have never heard of a BR wagon or van with black ends except NPCCS, and this will be in grey with black from the solebars down, a darker grey for the roof, and a bit of weathering including rust streaks to make the point that this is a steel body van.  My first Cambrian kit for many years; going well so far!.

[Aire Head]

On 18/04/2020 at 15:31, SM42 said:

I'm not convinced that the prototype has four shoe gear as the photo caption states.

Fitted vans of this diagram had four shoe Morten brake gear.

[The Johnster]

Finished it now.  The kit as supplied is unfitted, and had 2 brake shoes on one side only.  Painting tomoz and filling in a dimple on the roof.  I’ve given it Bachmann spoked wheels and Parkside PA34 NEM mounts for my standard Bachmann NEM couplings, short cranked in this case.