Simo’s Workbench

[Jesse Sim]

48 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Does that mean you'll miss our next running session (16/9/23)?

All about you John isn’t it! 🤣

 

And no actually I can make that one, I don’t leave until late September and hopefully catch Andrew for a visit in early October. 
 

I’ve penciled in the date! 

[Jesse Sim]

The last few months have been a bit hectic; I’ve been rebuilding my fiddleyard, my workbench and replacing some wiring. It’s been a bit full on. 
 

It’s good to now sit down and get back to working on some models. 
 

Some jobs that needed doing was renumbering and renaming some locos, a few I’ve had for a number of years and they’ve never even run. 
 

Here’s an overall picture of the locos I worked on which can now be weathered. I’m going on a two week road trip down through Victoria and South Australia on Saturday so once I’m back I’ll go in to some detail on each loco as I weather them. 

[polybear]

On 22/05/2023 at 05:15, Jesse Sim said:

 

Obviously the eagle eyed views can see a plough machine on a lowmac in the background, I won’t leave you frothing at the mouth for too long…. Watch this space. 

 

Still frothing......four months and the locals think Bear has Rabies.....

 

[Jesse Sim]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Still frothing......four months and the locals think Bear has Rabies.....

 

I finished the flat wagon but I haven’t finished the plough machine yet haha 

[jwealleans]

On 20/09/2023 at 01:09, Jesse Sim said:

I’m going on a two week road trip down through Victoria and South Australia on Saturday

 

So the stripper pole is mobile, then?   Keep us posted.

[Jesse Sim]

Now that I am back from my short holiday down south with the missus it’s time to turn my attention back to railway modelling. 
 

I’ve been suffering this year with a severe lack of motivation for anything railway related-I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. I have a tremendous amount of lettering to do…so that could be it. 🤣

 

Anyway, I’ve had this Isinglass kit with me

since I last toured the UK in March, it’s come from a friend who didn’t want it anymore. It’s the GNR Gresley designed invalid saloon, No. 43087. I knocked up some bogies for her, just need to make up the trussing and need to order some coach buffers, can anyone point me in the right direction? 
 

 

It'll give me another chance to work on my teaking… and she will more then likely be marshalled into the empty stock train for a bit of variety. 
 

Now then, a wagon. I, like my colleague Jonathan Wealleans cannot go much more than a week without building or scratch building a wagon, it’s a serious medical condition. Others may suffer from it, it’s very contagious and symptoms can range from a cough to reciting wagon diagrams. 
 

So, the next scratch build is an LNER Flat-T built by the LMS in 1937 to Dia. 114. 
 

 

I tend to buy RTR wagons before researching them and I ended up with a Bachmann LMS flat wagon that was built during the war. As I was flicking through Tatlows I noticed the similarities with this Flat-T and the Bachmann wagon. So the saw came out and I now had the deck of an LNER Flat-T…I then yelped when I saw the bogies….

 

A quick chat with Al Turner at Niu Models and within a couple of weeks I had two sets (a spare in case of damages) of bogies 3D printed to suit. Thanks Al! 
 

 

 

There isn’t much left to do, I have some

suitable buffers on the way and I will make up a few more lashing rings and she’ll be ready for paint. 

[Jon4470]

I’ve used some of the turned brass buffers from Precision Paints for earlier coach types:

 

https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/4-coach-buffers

 

I think that I might have used the 16” heads on the shorter buffer shanks. The buffer heads can be filed into the oval shape if required 

[thetalkinlens]

23 hours ago, Jon4470 said:

I’ve used some of the turned brass buffers from Precision Paints for earlier coach types:

 

https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/4-coach-buffers

 

I think that I might have used the 16” heads on the shorter buffer shanks. The buffer heads can be filed into the oval shape if required 

 

Without wanting to hijack the thread too much, any recommendations for sprung buffers for NER bogie stock @Jon4470? The long 13" head type on Phoenix (4-40404) look to have the right shank but wrong head. I'd been recommended the L&Y one's on Wizard (LYRC025) but they've been out of stock for a very long time.

[Jon4470]

13 hours ago, thetalkinlens said:

 

Without wanting to hijack the thread too much, any recommendations for sprung buffers for NER bogie stock @Jon4470? The long 13" head type on Phoenix (4-40404) look to have the right shank but wrong head. I'd been recommended the L&Y one's on Wizard (LYRC025) but they've been out of stock for a very long time.

 

I don’t profess to be an expert, I just think that these buffers capture the look of the pre -grouping buffers.

 

I used these on an exGNR saloon (number 46) running in LNER days. I used the shorter shanks and mixed in the 16” heads. I used 16” heads because they seemed to be the correct size and allowed me to file them to the flattened oval shape.

 

 

I think that the NER stock used similar buffer shanks.  The 16” heads can probably be filed to shape….some photos seem to show round buffers, some oval(ish) etc. I think it depended on the date of building.

 

Hope it helps…and apologies to Jesse for the small hijack🙂

 

Jon

 

 

[Jesse Sim]

Great to see my fans representing me at Warley. @jwealleans 🤣

[jwealleans]

How could I not credit the man who pinched all my ideas    taught me everything I know?

 

Have you finished your Flat-T yet? I made two on Saturday in between proselytising your accomplishments to the masses.

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by jwealleans

[Jesse Sim]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

How could I not credit the man who pinched all my ideas    taught me everything I know?

 

Have you finished your Flat-T yet? I made two on Saturday in between proselytising your accomplishments to the masses.

 

🤣 Now I feel bad.
 

Only one sides lettered. But yours already looks better than mine….

[Jesse Sim]

So I’ve been working away on a few more wagons, can’t have too many wagons!

 

Ive recently discovered planked plastikard (a little late I’m sure) and I’ve been having fun with that- think of a 5 year old finding out about play-doh.

 

Lately it’s been mostly plastic kits, scratchbuilding, refurbishing and finishing of some projects. So up first we have a Parkside ex-NER bogie bolster, these are a dime a dozen and very easy to put together. I’m unsure if I’ll put a load on this wagon as I think I’ve done a rather nice job of the timber decking. Although I’ve just noticed there’s a chip in the paint on the left, bit of weathering should fix that. 
 

 

 

Please excuse the terrible background and photos, still using my iPhone and a white background wasn’t working- I don’t think blues worked either!!

 

Next we’ll go with these two brake vans. If you’re a regular follower of mine you’ll know I like the weird trains. Weird might not be the right word, perhaps; the trains that aren’t often modelled they’re the ones I like. One such train is the water train on @Tony Wright ‘s Little Bytham and I phoned and asked permission to copy it on Woolmer Green. I went a step further and created the barrier rail that sits inside to protect the milk

churns from falling out. 
 

 

Now we have the correct colour bogie sulphate wagon. The transfers were from

John Peck which Jonathan Wealleans kindly sent me so they could be placed on a grey painted wagon. 
 

 

I scratchbuilt this LNER Bolster to Dia. 27 about a year ago for my out of gauge train but I’ve decided to not model it anymore. Does the crane jib look okay or should make a new load for her? 
 

 

Now we have a pair of Wizard Models ex-NER bolsters. One of the two was built many years ago, could have been my second white metal kits to build and was terrible. The other lay in a drawer until I found it again recently. I decided on refurbishing the one I built a few years ago after I build the second one and repainted and lettered them up to what you see now. They’re in the queue for weathering.
 

 

Now, last but not least my scratchbuilt LNER Flat DV, I’ve been waiting to show this off now for a couple of weeks. This started out life as a piece of plastikard and I’m really proud of how she’s come along.

 

 

I’ll do a seperate post and Al you all through the stages of building her, as well as an update on the Flat T. 

[Jesse Sim]

Some update’s will follow over the next few days on a couple of things I’ve been working on…

 

First up is the DS GNR Compo-BK Third Dia. 198, it’s now been lettered and getting her first of a couple coats of clear. I’m really happy with how she’s turned out, I have another to build but I might make two six wheelers instead. 
 

On the workbench at the moment is a L&Y Family Saloon, this is a commission, my first kit building commission actually- this is almost finished. The owner will be painting and lettering it. 

[Jesse Sim]

On 21/09/2023 at 06:49, polybear said:

 

Still frothing......four months and the locals think Bear has Rabies.....

 

Ahem…

[41516]

The lowmac would make an excellent addition to the what have you done your with Keyser kit thread Jesse.   I've got two or three in the roundtuit pile.

[Jesse Sim]

Something I’ve been working on lately are these Bachman wagons that I’ve converted into an LNER Dia. 2 open wagon. 
 

I noticed the similarities with a pair of these wagons, although a smart livery and it’s a shame to repaint them, they are unsuitable for my layout. 
 

 

The main differences with the real thing is the overall length, the Bachmann wagons are a few millimetres shorter and also the top plank isn’t wider but the same size as the others. 
 

 

The first thing I did was pulled the wagons apart, removed the brake levers and the thick outside V hangers. This is to make cleaning up and painting much easier. 

 

 

I forgot to take photos of the next part, but you get the idea…

 

I stripped the lettering off with a scalpel and various fibreglass pencils. I then made up door bangers out of plastikard, glued them on and began painting the bogies.

 

I also noticed that there were other Bachmann wagon that were exactly the same but in black with different companies, so I began stripping them down as well. 

 

So far there are five wagons on the bench, with a few more awaiting the same treatment. Three of the five will be tarped over, which is a good way to hide the smaller top plank, but the other two will be open/empty. However, the Bachmann wagons come with a steel floor, so out came the planked plastikard (my new favourite thing) and new floors were made up. I’ll hide the lazy grooves with some scrap timber.

 

 

I then began painting the wagons, I’ve tried to paint them in all different colours to show how batches of paint often varied. 
 

 

I’ve already letters these, so another update shouldn’t be too far away.
 

I have a running session in a couple of weeks so the workbench is on. It’s running, cleaning and testing at the moment.  
 

Something else that’s almost finished is the LNER Flat T, here she is pictured awaiting her load. 
 

 

There was a debate on its livery, being a steel underframe it should be black, but it just didn’t look right. So I’ve opted for some rule 1 perhaps? I’ve painted her black, with her headstock grey as it’s timber and painted the top of the solebar or the edge of the timber deck grey- the black really drowned out the entire model. The photo doesn’t really show it very clear, I’ll take another tomorrow. 
 

 

 

 

[jwealleans]

39 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

There was a debate on its livery, being a steel underframe it should be black, but it just didn’t look right. So I’ve opted for some rule 1 perhaps? I

 

I've had the same rethink - I think mine is going to be grey with black bogies.   I'm just building a Bolrecs and the ABS instruction for that states grey body, which being steel you'd have thought would be black.

[Jesse Sim]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

 

I've had the same rethink - I think mine is going to be grey with black bogies.   I'm just building a Bolrecs and the ABS instruction for that states grey body, which being steel you'd have thought would be black.

It’s got my thinking I might do the same, it looked much better in grey, just like my Sulphate wagon. 

[jwealleans]

1 minute ago, Jesse Sim said:

just like my Sulphate wagon. 

 

Some things do look better even when wrong.

[Jesse Sim]

On the weekend was the North Shore MRC’s exhibition at Forestville which I attend as part of the BRMA (British Railway Modellers of Australia). 
 

It was an excellent show, the best in my opinion over the last few years. It was also an excellent turn out for the BRMA; Six demonstrators on Saturday and Five for the Sunday. 
 

A few photos from the weekend:

 

Here’s our stand at some point on Saturday. Clockwise from myself (far left) we have Charles Rudder, a photo bomber, Bruce Wright, Rodney Vanderwaals, Lee Styger and El Presidente John Nuttall. 
 

 

I took a few models with me, I like to show a mix of my capabilities (without sounding pompous). From L-R from the top: Three weathered Bachmann wagons and a suitable loco for them, a heavily weathered Bachmann O4.

Various wagons: A whitemetal lowmac with a Langley Models horse drawn carriage roped down, a DS GNR Vent. Van, a Parkside fitted open followed by a Bachmann wagon, both tarped and roped properly and lastly the scratchbuilt Flat DV. 
Next we have a DS artic, very happy with how she turned out, then a Craftsman C12 I built, painted, lettered and weathered. 
 

Lastly, the loco that children and adults liked to touch, a Hornby A1 altered to one of two that received the ACFI water feed gear; 2576 ‘The White Knight’. 
 

Children I can understand, they don’t know better (but they should), one parent decided to give me a filthy look for raising my voice at her children than teach her children not to touch. But I had one adult in particular go straight up and pick it up…. was it that bad years ago at exhibitions of old or has it gotten worse with the little shits that are around these days.

 

Enough of little shits and stupid adults, I spent the weekend getting some conflat wagons built. These are from, you guessed it, Jonathan Wealleans and Graeme King. I’ve had these a while now and really need to get them finished, so I decided to do the tedious work at a show….the punters see a soldering iron, brass etches and small white metal parks and immediately think you’re a wizard practicing a dark art, so you get a kind of satisfaction from explaining and demonstrating a very simple job. 

So we I worked on a conflat V and two conflats for the insulated meat containers, I forget the type. I took along my recently finished DS GNR Luggage Brake and three finished conflats and their respected containers to show the finished product.
 

 

Lastly a boastful picture of myself to finish off the post. 
 

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

Children I can understand, they don’t know better (but they should), one parent decided to give me a filthy look for raising my voice at her children than teach her children not to touch. But I had one adult in particular go straight up and pick it up…. was it that bad years ago at exhibitions of old or has it gotten worse with the little shits that are around these days.

 

Wire a few up to 3-phase - they won't touch again....

[Jesse Sim]

12 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Wire a few up to 3-phase - they won't touch again....

My dad said the same thing 🤣

[Jol Wilkinson]

Jesse,

 

from many years experience assisting a trader at shows, children and the occasional adult think that an item on display is an invitation to touch or even pick up. Most sensible people who want to do so, usually to look at the detail, will ask.

 

The only thing you can do it to put out a prominent "Do not touch" notice, also pointing out that the models are valuable and any damage will have to be paid for.  Sadly small children will probably ignore it but their parents should be aware.

 

It is also not generally appreciated that small children have a third eye in the end of their forefinger, which they use to closely inspect things.

 

Jol

[Jesse Sim]

Over the past week I have painted the three conflats I worked on at the Forrestville show, lettered the five dia 2 wagons and repainted the LNER Flat T. If that wasn’t enough I also decided to start another project: manure filled wagons. 

 

 

One of the trains I’ve chosen to model from a 1937 Working Timetable is 71 Down, a pick up goods. This carried manure out of London for Three Counties, Arlesey & Langford, Biggleswade & Sandy. I originally intended to tarp these wagons but it was pointed out by a friend/mentor that the LNER would not have wasted a tarp and they would have ran open to their destinations. So, after reading a very informative thread from RMWEB user ‘Mikkel’, on using Humbrol Weathering Powders, clumped together, as horse droppings, (which can be found here), I set about recreating it on a larger scale.

 

I started by making a false floor for the wagons, made from palstikard, I glued some polystyrene balls in with the powders and painted them different shades of brown.

 

I mixed in some plumbers hemp to represent straw and placed the entire thing inside a few weathered wagons.

 

I’ve made up a total of four and they are now glued in place. I chose to glue because I prefer permanent loads. If I ever decide to model

anywhere else that doesn’t require poo filled wagons these can be simply tarped over.

 

The wagons are from Rapido, show below:

 

 

Oxford:

 

and lastly, one of the Bachmann wagons I altered into a near enough representation of  an LNER dia. 2. I’m quite happy with the way the dia. 2, I’ll post the rest up soon. 

Edited March 11 by Jesse Sim