Down Under Work Bench

[VRBroadgauge]

On 16/07/2022 at 16:57, Sithlord75 said:

 

I had additions to the gloat box too recently when a package arrived from Wodonga containing more parts for the train shed at St Albans. Not sure when work will start on this but hopefully I do justice to Bruce’s art work.
 

 

I look forward to seeing the results. Let me know what doors and windows you need Kev.

[Sithlord75]

Thursday Night is Knitting Club every week (usually) which effectively means @nebnoswal and I have three hours of either building, decorating or designing depending on our mood.  Yesterday evening I decided to build one of the Shop 2 arrivals in the post that morning, the L&Y 12’ chassis to go under a D62 van.

 

Unusually I remembered to take photos of the build:

 

The basic chassis off the etch.  As is, it’s for a steel chassis with automatic brakes.  As I’m not building one like that, I removed the unwanted bits.

 

As modified.

 

I prefer to build on the flat.  Much easier and quicker.  There are three layers added here and unusually all were able to be easily lined up - two using the top hat bearings.

 

Flipping over once the axle boxes are on, I fold up the DG locators.

 

 Next, the brakes are added - in this case the bit marked unfitted. 

 

Once the brakes are located I then fold up the sides and ends before threading some wire through where required.

 

Finally I put the brake handles on, then put the finished chassis in the ultrasonic cleaner.  

Edited July 30, 2022 by Sithlord75

[VRBroadgauge]

Watch out next week Burpengary Wagon Works...

[Sithlord75]

As @VRBroadgauge warned me, in yesterday's post I received quite a heavy parcel containing enough bits for 50 5'3" (10.5mm gauge) VR Wagons (and four spare bodies).

 

The contents of the package!  Fresh etches are a thing of beauty, as I have said before.  What is particularly exciting is etches which, only a few months ago, you couldn't get.  Bruce has done a great job and I am very much looking forward to building these for him - and other things which I know he is working on (some things which will be more use to a UK LNWR layout...)

 

30 of these 10'6" wheel basis chassis to go under either M class cattle or K class flats - the K tops can be seen in the extreme top left of the group shot, near the packet of bearings.

 

5 of these RY opens - these come with their own chassis so are a complete kit.

 

15 I class open wagons - also with their own chassis as part of the etch.

And 24 M class cattle wagon bodies - yes, 4 more than the chassis but that would appear to be from the generosity of PPD including a couple of extra sheets than ordered!  One way to ensure future orders of the chassis sheet I guess.

 

I've promised the Burpengary Wagon Works (which is also building 10 LMS Vans for @2mm Dabbler) will deliver these painted in VR Red Oxide and individually numbered.  Bruce is on his own for couplings, wheels and weathering (I might do a couple to try out some ideas I've got - might as well use someone elses to learn on before doing mine right?).

 

Stay tuned for some build pictures over the next couple of days.

[VRBroadgauge]

There's some parts on the M wagon etch that don't belong. If you look carefully there are a number of architectural items namely sash windows and 4 panel doors. Each of these fold up into a unit.

 

*Kev. Three windows (2 sash and a fixed multi pane for a VR engine shed) and two doors (one four panel and a timber number with the diagonal framing to the back).

Edited August 3, 2022 by VRBroadgauge

[Sithlord75]

Who'd have thought the East Somerset Light Railway livery would have been seen on wagons in Victoria, Australia?  And yet...

First fully completed wagon for @VRBroadgauge - not sure what number is destined to be on it but it is one of the 15 I/IA opens being built.  I managed to find a dozen 12BA nuts to put in the coupling boxes so that the Z scale microtrains couplers could be fitted later - some more are on the way - so figured I'd get half a dozen of the 50 done.   We shall see how we go in the progress before the 100 nuts make their way up from Sydney.

 

Having built a variety of wagons from a variety of designers I can say from my experience Bruce designs wagons to go together easily.  He did send instructions, which I didn't read (but I did look at pictures) but I didn't feel I needed to such was the logic of his placement.  I'll write up how I did it in due course and send my instructions to Wodonga and we'll compare notes!

 

In other news, I've conned (!) Bruce into designing me some stuff.  Watch either this space (when the etches arrive) or his (if he wants to share what he is doing between VR designing!).

[queensquare]

30 minutes ago, Sithlord75 said:

Who'd have thought the East Somerset Light Railway livery would have been seen on wagons in Victoria, Australia?  And yet...

First fully completed wagon for @VRBroadgauge - not sure what number is destined to be on it but it is one of the 15 I/IA opens being built.  I managed to find a dozen 12BA nuts to put in the coupling boxes so that the Z scale microtrains couplers could be fitted later - some more are on the way - so figured I'd get half a dozen of the 50 done.   We shall see how we go in the progress before the 100 nuts make their way up from Sydney.

 

Having built a variety of wagons from a variety of designers I can say from my experience Bruce designs wagons to go together easily.  He did send instructions, which I didn't read (but I did look at pictures) but I didn't feel I needed to such was the logic of his placement.  I'll write up how I did it in due course and send my instructions to Wodonga and we'll compare notes!

 

In other news, I've conned (!) Bruce into designing me some stuff.  Watch either this space (when the etches arrive) or his (if he wants to share what he is doing between VR designing!).

 

 

Looks good Kevin, will be interested to see what Bruce is designing for you -particularly if it's something pre-grouping!

 

Jerry

 

ps interesting to hear that the East Somerset Light Railway has the same livery as the North Somerset!! 😊8

Edited August 6, 2022 by queensquare

[Sithlord75]

5 minutes ago, queensquare said:

 

 

Looks good Kevin, will be interested to see what Bruce is designing for you -particularly if it's something pre-grouping!

 

Jerry

 

ps interesting to hear that the East Somerset Light Railway has the same livery as the North Somerset!! 😊8

Don't want to spoil his thunder but I'll be surprised if you don't rise to bite the hook when it flicks out.

 

The East Somerset is the mis-remembering of the North Somerset by Aussie travellers....

 

[Sithlord75]

I took delivery of the transfers for the wagons being built for @VRBroadgauge and @2mm Dabbler (and a few other people - me included) today and got the first ten of the VR board gauge four wheelers done.  12 in the pic but two need paint touch ups before I put the decals on.  $1 for scale instead of UK currency owing to prototype!

 

[Sithlord75]

Too busy working (and also on the paid employment side) on these wagons for @VRBroadgauge to be posting over the last few weeks.  I didn't quite get all 50 Bruce sent up built prior to the Australian N Scale Convention in Goulburn but I did get 40 built, painted and decaled.  I came home with three which we decided had failed quality control (to be honest they were all ok but we're trying to set a high standard from the get go as it is easier to maintain than to retrospectively try to achieve) .  I also came home with 40+ unbuilt VR wagons plus a few other goodies.

 

[Sithlord75]

So having done the marathon job on the VR wagons (work on which continues but at a much less frenetic pace) I've been doing a few things for me.  One of which has been trying to sort out the curve into the platform and yard on the templot version of St Albans with the hope of using the Christmas break to at least build some base boards and put the platform down.  However as the break isn't until December I've time to sort out the curve (which I am still not happy with and think I might just stop tweaking and start a fresh plot).

 

Knitting club on Thursday nights coupled with the LAG meetings on the Third Saturday have seen me doing some work with the soldering iron.  I decided to have a look at some of the older etches in the gloat box and so it came to pass that the 2012 David Eveleigh designed LNWR D436 Horsebox pair came to light.  

 

This is what I got - very cramped by a lot of design standards which I am not a fan of.  I guess it is done for economic reasons but I don't think the difference in cost is really worth it - I like things with fold up rather than stack on top as it winds up being an easier build and usually a neater and squarer result.  However, I don't design etches!  There are also a few bits and pieces missing (the location for the oil lamp for the grooms compartment, the emergency brake apparatus, the axlebox covers are wrong when looking at pictures - nothing significant but these things, together with a more "builder friendly" design would make a satisfactory kit into a good or even great kit).

 

89.9 degrees square in all corners 🥴  The strapping got itself into a knot getting it off the etch and it looks ok in real life but in the photos, well you can see it.  I'll live with it.

 

What I didn't live with was the louver - this got sorted once I looked at the photos.  In that respect the ability to take a decent digital photo and blow the model up to see what is glaring is useful.  Somethings you can live with, somethings you can't - and it's individual.

 

I added the emergency brake T section.  I'm wondering if it would be better to solder the chassis to the body (David's design has a nut and bolt in the center) but then glazing the grooms compartment becomes an issue.  However, since I've a second etch I could use that as a template to cut out all the necessary windows (and some spares!) to glue in with canopy glue.  I haven't done this before so worth experimenting.

 

Biggest issue I now have is painting.  The LNWR painted their NPCCS "quick brown" rather than the Plum of their coaches.  In practice this seems to have been a shade similar to the plum but with less varnish and effort.  Most modellers it would appear just use the plum and a matt finish rather than a semi-gloss and that's what I did in days of yore when I did a PC models shoot down obtained from Etched Pixles.  The recipe for quick brown is Indian Red mixed with Black with a touch of Umber - but given Indian Red comes in at least 6 shades at my local paint suppliers this isn't particularly helpful.  Thoughts would be appreciated.  Given the weather (and the need to use the airbrush) it won't be getting painted for a while (and there is the second one to build along with the  CCT which was done at the same time which will help justify the hassle of using said airbrush) so no hurry.

[tapdieuk]

Great stuff Kevin, as for the livery. Try the same top colour (plum) but a different colour under coat/ etch primer. That may give a subtle variation compared to coaching stock when side by side.

Will

[Intraclast]

Thanks for posting your horsebox build Kevin.  I've not attempted any of David's LNWR etches yet, and its very helpful to get build examples off them.  I'm intrigued about any future LNWR etches that may be in the pipeline that you hinted at a while ago...

 

Mark

Edited October 24, 2022 by Intraclast

[Sithlord75]

No new LNWR etches yet - although progress on finding drawings for some I’m interested in has been tentatively made.  However, a package arrived from the Wodonga Design Office for the Burpengary Wagon Works Gnome containing a number of goodies.  The Chief Designer has shown three on his 5’3” thread.  The rest are shown below.  

 

 

So far so good - comparing them to the drawings I sent Bruce he doesn’t appear to have missed anything significant.  We shall see how I go building them.  
 

Those who’d like some, can form an orderly queue!

[Caley Jim]

Ooooh! Now these are tempting, there being a racecourse at Kirkallanmuir! 

 

Jim 

[Sithlord75]

I put the Furness one together tonight.  A few minor tweaks to maybe be made on the etch (really depends on if enough interest to justify doing it) and I made a couple of forays into the bits box - again something which Bruce could amend easily enough should the demand be there.   Still have to add buffers and the roof vents (which I’ll make out of some square plastic or brass).

 

Very pleased considering the Chief Designer is a VR modeller and the drawing was pretty basic.  
 

[richbrummitt]

Kevin,

I’m interested to know why you decided to etch the bodies, rather than print them? 
 

[VRBroadgauge]

11 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

Kevin,

I’m interested to know why you decided to etch the bodies, rather than print them? 
 

Because the result is better and way more resilient. All of my wagons and locomotives are etched. 3DP's have their place but a good etch will trump them every time.

[Sithlord75]

Hi Rich,

 

As Bruce said, the result is better and way more resilient.  For vehicles with windows, 3DP tends to leave the window frame either too thick or, if thin, the print is prone to failure or breakage.  As we (i.e. those down here doing 3D design and printing) prefer to have an etched chassis, it wasn't that much harder to have the whole vehicle done. It really is a case of, excuse the pun, horses for courses.  I'm drawing a couple of Caley cattle wagons in class at present but have yet to identify the best chassis for them in Shop 2, so still expanding the 3DP library.

[Caley Jim]

13 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:

I'm drawing a couple of Caley cattle wagons in class at present but have yet to identify the best chassis for them in Shop 2, so still expanding the 3DP library.

Which one is it your doing? I did an etch for the 1880's one. Is it the later one, Dia10 IIRC (on grandparent duties at the moment so can't refresh my memory from Mike's book). Doubt there will be an underframe to suit in the shop, but I'll check the details later when I'm home. If its the standard 9ft w/b 15ft o/h then it won't be too difficult to adapt the underframe from my kits. 

 

Jim 

[Sithlord75]

I got an email from the Chief Designer on Monday but it wasn't about 2mm Victorian Broad Gauge.  No, it was a file of 35 A3 sheets (if printed out) with a very comprehensive plan for St Albans drawn on it as shown below:

 

 

The numbered sheets, when printed out, are full size - track centres and rails together with important bits like the platform, signals, goods shed etc all drawn in.  Beats my Templot attempt by miles.  Bruce traced over the OS map I sent him along with using Google (I think) to produce.

 

I've printed out 1-6A and B which will be enough to make a significant start.  Now I just need the fine weather to build the boards to go under it and send off an order to Shop 1.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Sithlord75

[VRBroadgauge]

That's about 3 and a half 1200 x 600mm (4' x 2') modules. Add the same again top and bottom and you have a pretty creditable scene.

I did a measurement on google earth from the western fence near the station building to the centerline of St Julians Road. I drew a line to scale and then dropped the provided map over and scaled it up. It's pretty close.

 

I'd rather do something to scale if at all possible. Our friend Laurie has a thing about proper radius curves. This is something I share. You really can't beat the original. It's particularly important when the modeled site doesn't exist in the modeled form. I would call this a form of historical preservation which we as modelers can achieve.

[DavidLong]

On 09/11/2022 at 10:45, VRBroadgauge said:

You really can't beat the original. It's particularly important when the modeled site doesn't exist in the modeled form. I would call this a form of historical preservation which we as modelers can achieve.

 

Very true. Examples from West Cornwall that I could cite are the P4 'St Merryn'* and John Greenwood's 2FS extravaganza of Padstow/Wadebridge/Wenfordbridge/Bodmin. These both show the railway as it was and how it operated. This is something which 'heritage' railways struggle with. They can be fun but just accept that they are a pastiche of the past.

 

David

 

* I accept that St Merryn is not a model of an actual prototype but is a skilfull  reworking of Padstow. I would still maintain that in its operation, stock and buildings it demonstrates an accurate view of the past.

[Sithlord75]

To save mucking up the Advent Challenge Thread with the things I am doing separately I'll stick them in here.  As it happens the extras I did today whilst watching Australia win (rather than put to the sword) the 1st Test in Perth (which in itself is weird - the 1st Test of the Summer is traditionally in Brisbane) were tidying up and adding to the wagons done as part of the challenge (I'm pleading weather on two counts and a mis-directed drill on one - and in any case, there aren't exactly rules to the challenge!).

 

The Midland D362 has had the offending bit of wire joining the independent brakes removed and a coat of paint applied.  Letter is my home brew ones but annoyingly I didn't think far enough in advance when putting the sheet together back in August to select a number so it shall have to wait - I have a few wagons needing numbers so it probably won't be too long.

 

The IA similarly was painted, and decals applied.  Fortunately, the big advantage of doing the decals myself is I can put all the lettering on one decal rather than having to cut out lots of small white letters and numbers.  I even found some 10.5mm gauge wheels to put in it.  Shall have to wait for couplings, however.

 

Finally, yesterday's wagon was examined, and it appears in drilling for the buffer I managed to put a dent into the chassis floor which has forced up the corner.  Short of dismantling the wagon (3DP on an etched chassis) and restarting, there wasn't much I could do.  The buffer was refixed square, and at least the livery is the later LNWR one - I suspect this wagon may find itself being more heavily weathered and put in the LMS box (there are D84s running well into the 1930s with LNWR still visible) and the slightly damaged corner shall be explained by an 8F or something like that.

 

[DuncanFogg]

Kevin,

 

If you have a wagon with a warp or a bit of damage, why not add a sheet? Here are a few non-mineral loads I have produced recently. The three wagons on the left are 3D prints from Shapeways, the others Association RCH kits. Sheets are from Smiths (sold by Osborns), although I much prefer the paper of the older batch the SR sheet came from. Cable drums are from York Modelmaking. 

 

Duncan