Middleton Top and the C&HPR

[JustinDean]

Dapol J94 surgery part one….

 

The victim:

 

First of all strip it down to its component parts:

 

 

The section of tank remaining on the bottom half of the body is sawn off just behind the handrail:

 

 

The weight that has been separated from the motor is glued into the top of the tank:

 

 

The freshly chopped off strips of tank are glued onto the upper section of tank:

 

 

Filler is smeared over this join and left to harden. Handrails trimmed and straightened 

Moulded door dart removed and brass one fixed in. Plastic buffer beams replaced with etched brass overlays. Cast brass lubricators replace the plastic blocks that were hideous. Moulded cab rails removed ready for brass wire. 

 

Part 2 coming soon….

[SteveyDee68]

Thank you, Justin, for showing the process step by step. Following with much interest.

 

Steve S

[JustinDean]

The observant may notice the constant switching between stock and layout on here at the moment. I’m managing to get a day on the layout in the week and a day on stock at the weekend. Feeling very productive at the moment!

This morning I’ve started hacking up and figuring out the planking at the top of the incline. Nothing fixed yet and need to make sure wheel flanges have enough clearance. 
 

Jay

 

 

[JustinDean]

Some more details have been added to the J94 and the chassis reassembled. I took the opportunity to clean and adjust the pick ups and lube the gears. Just need some dry weather now so I can spray some undercoat on. 
 

Jay

 

 

[SteveyDee68]

Do you mind me asking about suitable buffer shanks/buffers? I already have some of those nifty buffer plate etchings, but honestly as soon as I start looking through listings of things like buffer shanks etc I get completely overwhelmed and unable to decide which are right! (That’s due to ignorance, of course - if I knew what I was looking for, I’d be able to find/recognise the right thing when it is in front of me!)

 

Steve S

(still following with interest!)

[JustinDean]

27 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Do you mind me asking about suitable buffer shanks/buffers? I already have some of those nifty buffer plate etchings, but honestly as soon as I start looking through listings of things like buffer shanks etc I get completely overwhelmed and unable to decide which are right! (That’s due to ignorance, of course - if I knew what I was looking for, I’d be able to find/recognise the right thing when it is in front of me!)

 

Steve S

(still following with interest!)

Hi Steve,

 

J94’s were fitted with varying types of buffers. Best to pick a particular loco then use that as a basis of the model. In this case I’m modeling 68013 which was fitted with BR Oval buffers (made by Alan Gibson in 4mm scale). Other variations between engines included rear windows, in this case rectangular, some had center steps omitted, ladder on the bunker added plus handrails and steps on the tank  varied. 
In short, find a suitable prototype and modify the model to suit!

 

Jay 
 

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by JustinDean

[JustinDean]

Rattle can red oxide followed by black. 
Just noticed I should have removed the short handrail off the tank. I think this is one time I’m going to live with it rather than undo work. 
 

 

[JustinDean]

A lone Gannet stood outside Middleton Top shed this morning. 
 

 

[TT100 Diesels]

21 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

A lone Gannet stood outside Middleton Top shed this morning. 
 

 

 

Please, can you tell me which of the Foxline books did you lift this picture from ? 

 

Joking apart, this is an object lesson in scenery transition and the craft of observational modelling. Just first class work.

 

I have a great interest in the railways of Derbyshire, esp the high peak and love this and others like which are either based on or try to replicate the actual C&HPR and Ashbourne line.

 

Thanks for sharing your work on here.

 

Best regards

 

TT100 Diesels

[JustinDean]

39 minutes ago, TT100 Diesels said:

 

Please, can you tell me which of the Foxline books did you lift this picture from ? 

 

Joking apart, this is an object lesson in scenery transition and the craft of observational modelling. Just first class work.

 

I have a great interest in the railways of Derbyshire, esp the high peak and love this and others like which are either based on or try to replicate the actual C&HPR and Ashbourne line.

 

Thanks for sharing your work on here.

 

Best regards

 

TT100 Diesels

Thank you that’s very kind!

 

Jay

[SteveyDee68]

18 hours ago, JustinDean said:

Rattle can red oxide followed by black. 

Justin - is there a particular reason why red oxide undercoat rather than grey?

 

(Asking from a position of complete ignorance!)

 

Steve S

[SteveyDee68]

Oops!

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by SteveyDee68
Duplicate post deleted

[JustinDean]

13 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Justin - is there a particular reason why red oxide undercoat rather than grey?

 

(Asking from a position of complete ignorance!)

 

Steve S

This probably stems from a childhood of spraying motorbike and car body parts with my dad. He always used red primer for darker colors and that has stuck with me. Maybe more coats would be needed with grey primer due to the slightly translucent nature of paint but I’m guessing here. 
I reckon @MrWolf would be clued up on this!
 

Jay

[MrWolf]

Eh? Who? Me? No, it was on fire when we got there...

 

An undercoat of dark red, as you say helps with coverage when applying a darker colour such as black, maroon or dark green. You will still have to apply a couple of coats though as the red can show up the lack of opacity in a thin coat resulting in a brownish tint. 

 

If you use grey primer you could need a further coat of the topcoat to get the required depth of colour because the lighter primer shows through and we don't like putting too much paint on tiny models because it soon looks like a scale 4 inches thick.

 

Grey primer works best for the lighter greens, red and blue for the above reasons, although some light reds cover so poorly that white primer is your best option.

 

When it comes to yellows, white primer is your only option as grey will turn the yellow green on corners and edges where the paint layer is thinnest and by the time you have coverage and even colour, it's going to look like an accident in a custard factory.

 

Hope that's useful information.

[JustinDean]

8 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Eh? Who? Me? No, it was on fire when we got there...

 

An undercoat of dark red, as you say helps with coverage when applying a darker colour such as black, maroon or dark green. You will still have to apply a couple of coats though as the red can show up the lack of opacity in a thin coat resulting in a brownish tint. 

 

If you use grey primer you could need a further coat of the topcoat to get the required depth of colour because the lighter primer shows through and we don't like putting too much paint on tiny models because it soon looks like a scale 4 inches thick.

 

Grey primer works best for the lighter greens, red and blue for the above reasons, although some light reds cover so poorly that white primer is your best option.

 

When it comes to yellows, white primer is your only option as grey will turn the yellow green on corners and edges where the paint layer is thinnest and by the time you have coverage and even colour, it's going to look like an accident in a custard factory.

 

Hope that's useful information.

Exactly the kind of answer I thought you’d give Rob. Thanks for that!

 

Jay

[JustinDean]

68012 and 68013 just need couplings, crew and weathering now. 
 

 

[Sasquatch]

You have made a good job of that Justin! 

Do the Dapol ones run well? My Hornby 8009 is quite a good performer, so I hung on to it when the DJ version came onto the market.

 

There's also a Kitmaster one (I think it's Kitmaster?) I need to complete buried somewhere. It probably got shelved over frustration trying to fit pickups. Now I'm inspired to dig it out and have another go. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Regards Shaun.

[JustinDean]

16 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

You have made a good job of that Justin! 

Do the Dapol ones run well? My Hornby 8009 is quite a good performer, so I hung on to it when the DJ version came onto the market.

 

There's also a Kitmaster one (I think it's Kitmaster?) I need to complete buried somewhere. It probably got shelved over frustration trying to fit pickups. Now I'm inspired to dig it out and have another go. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Regards Shaun.

Thanks Shaun, the Dapol models run well however the Hornby one I have is a shocker. 
 

Jay

[JustinDean]

The two J94’s now have crew, wooden cab shutters, couplings and have been weathered. 

The Dapol model:

 

The DJModel:

 

and the pair from the front:

[mullie]

6 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

The two J94’s now have crew, wooden cab shutters, couplings and have been weathered. 

The Dapol model:

 

The DJModel:

 

and the pair from the front:

Jay

 

The locos look great, do the lamps need a bit more toning down or is that the lighting? Would a thin black wash bring out the grain of the wood and the detail on the steps, as you know I'm a big fan of thin washes using artists ink thinned with water.

 

Just an observation.

 

Martyn

[JustinDean]

38 minutes ago, mullie said:

Jay

 

The locos look great, do the lamps need a bit more toning down or is that the lighting? Would a thin black wash bring out the grain of the wood and the detail on the steps, as you know I'm a big fan of thin washes using artists ink thinned with water.

 

Just an observation.

 

Martyn

Hi Martyn,

 

I think you’re right. I’ll revisit these when I’ve regained some objectivity!

 

Jay

[cctransuk]

32 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

Hi Martyn,

 

I think you’re right. I’ll revisit these when I’ve regained some objectivity!

 

Jay

 

If you're doing that - check out the (Dapol applied?) number on 68013.

 

Dapol used a font which is not Gill Sans Medium - it's close, but compare it to 68012; the stroke width is not constant on 68013, whereas it is on 68012.

 

CJI.

[mullie]

1 hour ago, JustinDean said:

Hi Martyn,

 

I think you’re right. I’ll revisit these when I’ve regained some objectivity!

 

Jay

I will now go back in my corner, lamps are something I have yet to get round to! Interestingly no one who has seen the layout has ever commented on the lack of lamps, it is on the list of jobs to do.

 

Great modelling Jay.

[JustinDean]

18 minutes ago, mullie said:

I will now go back in my corner, lamps are something I have yet to get round to! Interestingly no one who has seen the layout has ever commented on the lack of lamps, it is on the list of jobs to do.

 

Great modelling Jay.

Thanks mate. On the C&HPR lamps only ever seem to have this particular configuration so felt like an easy addition. Unlike some layouts/locos where different positions are needed for different types of train. 
 

Jay

[jwealleans]

Morning,

 

Forgive me if this is something you know already (I haven't read the whole thread) but it came up on the wife's Facebook this morning and this thread came to mind:

 

 

Caption: A somewhat scratched but (I think) historic shot from my September 1962 trip to the Cromford and High Peak. This is the Middleton Top stationary boiler, apparently an ancient LNWR 0-6-0. I was amazed to find it in steam; I don't recollect many shots where it was, but I'm probably wrong! My (Halina 35x) photograph.

 

Photographer's name was Ian Krause.