The Siphon G, by Accurascale - From Milk To Mail!

[Harlequin]

17 minutes ago, younGGuns7 said:

Lots of Syphons then 🤣🤣🥴

No Syphons.

 

Lots of Siphons.

 

[Wickham Green too]

3 hours ago, Pteremy said:

... someone modelled a Bachmann Mk1 Brake Goods ...

"Brake Goods" ????? ........... is that a "BG" - other wise known as a Gangwayed Brake ? 😮

[AY Mod]

Jeez; picky!

[younGGuns7]

2 hours ago, Harlequin said:

No Syphons.

 

Lots of Siphons.

 

You never know what these guys may market and sell if it makes a quid they are there at the coal face 🤦‍♂️🤣🤣🤣🤣

[JaymzHatstand]

Excellent news! I've got a blue one on order, and am very much looking forward to investigating the prospect of fitting S&W couplings so it can be shunted about on Whitborough! I might not get much else into the sidings at the same time, but, no matter!

 

It will of course, in due time receive a judicious amount of filth, and I don't just mean the publications contained within!

 

Cheers

 

J

[Not Jeremy]

Awe inspiringly good models, just amazing.

 

The "accompanying" Wild Swan book on GWR Siphons is going through the final editing stage, John Lewis fully involved - there is a lot of detail to check over....

 

This picture doesn't appear in the book as I was unable to get an image without "unfortunate cropping", but is a nice scenario for your purchased siphons. Picture copyright of HMRS. and purchaseable from their website.

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by Not Jeremy
"Y"

[57xx]

On 11/05/2023 at 09:56, AY Mod said:

Anyway, I'm sure there's something nice that you could say about them as well?

 

Nice composition, well lit and sharp focus. 🙄

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, Not Jeremy said:

Awe inspiringly good models, just amazing.

 

The "accompanying" Wild Swan book on GWR Siphons is going through the final editing stage, John Lewis fully involved - there is a lot of detail to check over....

 

This picture doesn't appear in the book as I was unable to get an image without "unfortunate cropping", but is a nice scenario for your purchased siphons. Picture copyright of HMRS. and purchaseable from their website.

 

Most likely there, I presume, for loading  cut flowers recently landed very close by to the right of views?  

 

The building in the background looks far more interesting and visually  nicer than the one which replaced it.  but it still has the distinct advantage that Weymouth taxi drivers actually knowing exactly where it is should you need to get somewhere in its immediate vicinity - which in our case was about 80 yards from it.   No trains alas  and an unusual place as the starting point for a holiday - 'where you will be met'

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by The Stationmaster

[ClikC]

Any thoughts for offering EM/P4 drop in wheels as an accessory for these?

[Dunsignalling]

12 hours ago, JaymzHatstand said:

Excellent news! I've got a blue one on order, and am very much looking forward to investigating the prospect of fitting S&W couplings so it can be shunted about on Whitborough! I might not get much else into the sidings at the same time, but, no matter!

 

It will of course, in due time receive a judicious amount of filth, and I don't just mean the publications contained within!

 

Cheers

 

J

Fitting S&W's can get "interesting" on vehicles with the bogies very close to the ends and need careful thought. I've done a Hornby Van B and SR bogie luggage van (the new one) with similar layout to the Siphons and quickly realised that "business as usual" was not an option.

 

The problem is that, if the counterweight "paddles" are bent downwards as per normal practice/the instructions, they foul the bogie when it turns unless the bogie ends are cut away. That can cause worse problems in my experience (e.g. wheels falling out), and I ruled it out immediately!

 

My answer is to leave the etching straight and cut holes in the floor into which they can rise when uncoupling. Rather fiddly and time-consuming, but it does ensure trouble-free operation. My two SR vans haven't even been mentioned by other operators, which definitely means I've done something right! 

 

John 

Edited May 13, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[JaymzHatstand]

20 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Fitting S&W's can get "interesting" on vehicles with the bogies very close to the ends and need careful thought. I've done a Hornby Van B and SR bogie luggage van (the new one) with similar layout to the Siphons and quickly realised that "business as usual" was not an option.

 

Yes, I've had similar issues with bogie vehicles in the past, as you say, I've had inverted paddles, and shortened paddles with extra weight. A bit of lateral thinking (and experimenting) usually has it sorted! We'll see how it works once one arrives!

 

I could always cheat and just add coupling loops, and use barrier vehicles to couple to it! But where's the fun?!

 

Cheers

 

J

[MidlandRed]

On 11/05/2023 at 09:17, AY Mod said:

 

The digital edition of the mag should be out tomorrow but there was only room for a few pics so I thought I'd give you some thigh-rubbing entertainment. They're all O.33 (my others should be on their way soon).

 

The level of detail in these models is outstanding. However, is it me, or a quirk of the colour of these photos, but that rail blue looks a little weird to me (for instance it’s not the same as the recently posted pics of rail blue locos in the Accurascale class 37 thread). It looks closer in these pics to that achieved on the TMC Heljan Peak, D15, about which a number of comments have been made. 
 

I have an M34 (W2768W) on order and am hopeful, when received shortly, the rail blue might match to a reasonable extent my BGs and CCTs!! I just checked the order - made and paid December 2021 😄

Edited May 14, 2023 by MidlandRed

[Dunsignalling]

9 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

The level of detail in these models is outstanding. However, is it me, or a quirk of the colour of these photos, but that rail blue looks a little weird to me (for instance it’s not the same as the recently posted pics of rail blue locos in the Accurascale class 37 thread). It looks closer in these pics to that achieved on the TMC Heljan Peak, D15, about which a number of comments have been made. 
 

I have an M34 (W2768W) on order and am hopeful, when received shortly, the rail blue might match to a reasonable extent my BGs and CCTs!! I just checked the order - made and paid December 2021 😄

From memory, Rail Blue never stayed "the same" for very long, however it started out. 😇

 

It tended to weather differently on flat-sided timber bodies than on curved steel panels, too.

 

John 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[MidlandRed]

I thought they were meant to be pristine as opposed to weathered. Let’s hope it’s a quirk of the photos anyway, as that blue looks an unusual shade. 

[Bernard Lamb]

7 minutes ago, MidlandRed said:

I thought they were meant to be pristine as opposed to weathered. Let’s hope it’s a quirk of the photos anyway, as that blue looks an unusual shade. 

As John pointed out flat timber and curved steel will appear as different shades to the human eye, even when pristine.

From my time in photographic printing and paint finishing, a lot of people seem to be more sensitive to variations of blue tones than some other colours. Have you had a check for how your own eyes see things?

They are such an advance on any previous RTR NPC stock so jut lay back and enjoy them for what they are.

Alternatively buy some lower colour temperature light bulbs.😃

Bernard

[McC]

The accurascale website has photos of all the final production models online now also but bear in mind that studio shot images on screen and print can vary from what your eyeball sees in reality too 

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, MidlandRed said:

I thought they were meant to be pristine as opposed to weathered. Let’s hope it’s a quirk of the photos anyway, as that blue looks an unusual shade. 

Even when freshly painted the light reflects differently off vertical flat surfaces than it does off curved ones like loco bodies etc. 

[Roy Langridge]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Even when freshly painted the light reflects differently off vertical flat surfaces than it does off curved ones like loco bodies etc. 

 

It also depends upon what the colour they are contrasted with is as well. Look at the discussion on the "different" shades of colours between Intercity and ScotRail, when in reality they are the same. Excluding the red/blue stripe of course which is actually what causes the debate.

Roy

Edited May 15, 2023 by Roy Langridge
Typo

[MidlandRed]

3 hours ago, McC said:

The accurascale website has photos of all the final production models online now also but bear in mind that studio shot images on screen and print can vary from what your eyeball sees in reality too 

Thanks @McC - W2768W looks great and definitely rail blue (to my eyes), thus dispelling some of the theories given by others, and most importantly, my concerns. 
 

There is a lack of the green tinge to W2980 in the extracts from the article posted above (the same as suffered by Heljan/TMC’s D15 and commented on by umpteen people in the appropriate thread - I don’t recall people being advised they might not be seeing it correctly!!!).

 

It might sound picky given the standard of this model, but to me incorrect rail blue is as bad as incorrect BR standard loco green - of which there have been many instances and a multitude of comments. To me it’s far worse than a couple of missed rivets or other detail!!

 

To be honest, and based on my memories and reference photos, a weathered versionp of these would show virtually no painted surfaces anyway, being covered in a thorough layer of filth, in accordance with most (not ex works) NPCCS! Somehow these seemed even dirtier than, for instance GUVs. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by MidlandRed

[McC]

She's definitely blue :) https://www.accurascale.com/products/siphon-g-dia-m34-br-rail-blue-w2768w?_pos=1&_psq=W2768W&_ss=e&_v=1.0

[Roy Langridge]

Stunning, I can't believe just how many separately fitted pieces there are - the more you look, the more you find. Looking forward to my three five.

 

Top work.

Roy

Edited May 15, 2023 by Roy Langridge
So impressed I ordered more...

[Covkid]

30 minutes ago, MidlandRed said:

Thanks @McC - W2768W looks great and definitely rail blue (to my eyes), thus dispelling some of the theories given by others, and most importantly, my concerns. 
 

There is a lack of the green tinge to W2980 in the extracts from the article posted above (the same as suffered by Heljan/TMC’s D15 and commented on by umpteen people in the appropriate thread - I don’t recall people being advised they might not be seeing it correctly!!!).

 

It might sound picky given the standard of this model, but to me incorrect rail blue is as bad as incorrect BR standard loco green - of which there have been many instances and a multitude of comments. To me it’s far worse than a couple of missed rivets or other detail!!

 

To be honest, and based on my memories and reference photos, a weathered versionp of these would show virtually no painted surfaces anyway, being covered in a thorough layer of filth, in accordance with most (not ex works) NPCCS! Somehow these seemed even dirtier than, for instance GUVs. 

 

With respect though, from memory there was a subtle difference between NPCCS used for parcels and that used for circuit newspaper and Royal Mail. I started my career at Machynlleth in 1978 and one of the jobs was to meet the 0415 Salop-Abetystwyth "mails", by this time a Swindon cross country DMU hauling a CCT. Mostly a BR CCT but occasionally an SR or sometimes an ex LMS GUV. These were often filthy.

 

Hung around Paddington a couole of times late at night and from memory the siphons in Newspaper use were quite clean - remembering the orange ETH fitments clearly.

 

So maybe decide what traffic your siphons are in ?

[The Stationmaster]

15 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

The level of detail in these models is outstanding. However, is it me, or a quirk of the colour of these photos, but that rail blue looks a little weird to me (for instance it’s not the same as the recently posted pics of rail blue locos in the Accurascale class 37 thread). It looks closer in these pics to that achieved on the TMC Heljan Peak, D15, about which a number of comments have been made. 
 

I have an M34 (W2768W) on order and am hopeful, when received shortly, the rail blue might match to a reasonable extent my BGs and CCTs!! I just checked the order - made and paid December 2021 😄

Accepting that camera settings, 'puter monitor settings and our own eyes can all do various things to colour presentation and perception the blue in that linked picture looked absolutely spot on to me and I spent several years of my working life standing next Siphons in BR blue when they were in use for newspaper traffic.

 

As John ('Dunsignalling') said our perception of colours is affected by various things in the everyday world especially when seen on a flat surface.  The Siphons came back from Swindon with a fairly shiny finish which weathered down due to traffic dirt, the weather , and exterior cleaning (and even that could vary depending on which diluted chemical  they were cleaned with)  Thus you could see several vans together all presenting slighlty differeny shades of blue but they'd all been painted with the same paint - at different times 

 

On my 'puter monitor the blue in AY's photo looks very close indeed to the blue they carried when they arrived back from Swindon.  Should/when I get to see one 'in the plastic' the colour might present differently to me but if I were buying blue livery vans I'd be perfectly happy with what I saw in AY's photos

[meatloaf]

Just ordered 2 including the one above and a newspapers one. After the discount for buying more than one and my reward points only paid £85 :)

[ClikC]

TBH, shade of rail blue is immaterial, with the possible exception of those wishing to model an 'ex-works' Siphon-G*.

 

These require weathering to the point where you have to squint and get the angle of lighting just right, in order to confirm they were in fact intended to be rail blue at some point, but are now just filthy grey/brown/dirty.

 

Case in point, and as if I needed any justification for more NPCCS, the Class 86 85 is rail blue. Everything else is debatable.

 

From John Woolley on Flikr

 

*Said people should be shunned in the street

Edited May 15, 2023 by ClikC