Upgrading The Bachmann Collett Brake Composite: Episode II

[iL Dottore]

I blame Pendon and Wild Swan Publishing, I really do! If it were not for having been exposed to the standards set by Roye England and his team, furthered by MRJ and other WS publications, I'd be content with "out-of-the-box" and Hornby Tension Couplings...

 

Anyway, that off my chest, I have to say that whilst I await some etched Grab Handles needed to finish the PC Kits Toplight, I started upgrading the Bachmann GWR Brake Composite - following the guidance laid out by Stephen Williams in his two books on the 4mm Coach. Mr Williams builds for Pendon and his books do assume that the reader already has a lot of modelling expertise - I'm still improving my skills in this area and below are my first faltering steps to emulating Mr Williams.

 

First off, I disassembled the model and laid it out on my work bench adding material that would be needed for the upgrade from my stores (this also had the advantage of showing me what was missing before I actually needed the item):

 

 

I started by testing potential colours for the interior on the underside of the brown plastic compartment moulding, allowing me to see what would be the best match:

 

 

This done, I painted the entire interior with the "light wood" colour, allowed to dry then masked off and painted the "dark wood". Despite some runs and some minor repaints it came out acceptably:

 

 

 

In order to add the moquette, I decided to try out a new method. Starting with colour photos of original GWR moquettes (often a small part of a big picture) using photoshop manipulation I was able to create "rolls of moquette" that could then be printed out on paper. This I did for both First and Third Class - below shows how I applied the "moquette":

 

 

By applying white glue to both plastic and the paper I would have a soft enough paper that would be "grabbed" by the glue on the plastic and mould itself to the seat contours. Third class was quite easy to do: apply, conform to contours, let dry, trim. First Class - with the arm rests - was different matter entirely. Cutting individual seat moquettes and applying them was tedious, required some touch up with paint and could be better. Carriage prints (actual GWR carriage print images taken from a railwayania auction house site and scaled down) were also applied. The results are as follows:

 

 

One of the advantages of using this method is that if it all goes horribly wrong, just dunk the interior into warm soapy water for a while and all the "moquette" will come off with a little rubbing (thumb or pencil eraser).

 

NB. Once I have redesigned the moquettes to better take into account the contours, I'm thinking of using DIY transfers instead of plain paper. With a better moquette design, the thinness of the transfers plus using microsol and microset, it should a lot faster to get a neat and thin finish on the seating.

 

Finally, I am planning to add lighting to all my coaches, but for this one - instead of using a proprietary lighting board (which I have, but hadn't planned for with this coach), I created a lighting strip using mini-LEDs in series:

 

 

Unfortunately, I will have to revisit this rig as the effect is quite faint (as this photo taken under extreme conditions [absolutely minimal light in the cellar] shows):

 

 

F

[Steph Dale]

 

In order to add the moquette, I decided to try out a new method. Starting with colour photos of original GWR moquettes (often a small part of a big picture) using photoshop manipulation I was able to create "rolls of moquette" that could then be printed out on paper.

 

I like that idea an awful lot. I think I might be able to get suitable images for the seats of my Southern coaches from the Blubell Railway website(s)...

 

Thank you for the tip!

 

Steph

[Barry Ten]

Very good, Il Dottore. Are you going the full flushglaze route, which I think Stephen Williams touches on in one of the books?

[DavidH]

Unfortunately, I will have to revisit this rig as the effect is quite faint (as this photo taken under extreme conditions [absolutely minimal light in the cellar] shows):

 

I love what you've done - gives me inspiration for a similar project. But, the lighting in the picture as you've shown it looks ok - weren't these older coaches quite faint anyway? Lighting in trains is pretty bright nowadays, but I remember finding it hard to read a book at night in Mk1 stock (which is unfortunately as far back as I go).

[chrisf]

I'd go along with DavidH about the lighting. Even with individual lamps above each seat, as in Mk 1s, reading was very difficult. What amused me was that the central bulb poking out diffidently from the ceiling of each compartment could be made even dimmer by flicking a switch. Sleep was no problem though!

 

It might be an idea to touch in the floor part of the interior moulding with dark grey to make it less obvious that the floor is so thick.

 

Chris

[iL Dottore]

... Are you going the full flushglaze route ...?

In theory, yes. But I'd have to source the flushglazing from somewhere. An alternative - which is to use casting clay or RTV silicon to receive an imprint of the coach sides and window apertures and create a clear resin strip that would fit into the window apertures and give the appearance of flush glazing - has two drawbacks; firstly the mould creation process could be destructive to coach finish (which I want to preserve), secondly, clear resin casting is very temperamental I hear - especially when casting thin items (as would be the case here). I'll keep to the existing windows until I can source the flush glazing.

 

But, the lighting in the picture as you've shown it looks ok - weren't these older coaches quite faint anyway? Lighting in trains is pretty bright nowadays, but I remember finding it hard to read a book at night in Mk1 stock (which is unfortunately as far back as I go).

That's a useful reminder - and I'm old enough to remember travelling by train to Devon - presumably in a Mk 1 or Hawksworth or Collett (whatever was still around in the WR in 1962) - but I'd forgotten that aspect. I have bumped up the lighting intensity somewhat (wiring two resistors in parallel) but it is still quite dim and era appropriate.

 

...

It might be an idea to touch in the floor part of the interior moulding with dark grey to make it less obvious that the floor is so thick... Chris

 

Excellent idea, the paintbrush comes out this afternoon!

 

thanks for the feedback

 

F

[Jack]

In theory, yes. But I'd have to source the flushglazing from somewhere. An alternative - which is to use casting clay or RTV silicon to receive an imprint of the coach sides and window apertures and create a clear resin strip that would fit into the window apertures and give the appearance of flush glazing - has two drawbacks; firstly the mould creation process could be destructive to coach finish (which I want to preserve), secondly, clear resin casting is very temperamental I hear - especially when casting thin items (as would be the case here). I'll keep to the existing windows until I can source the flush glazing.

 

SEF do the stuff, just about to start on a collett today ...

[iL Dottore]

Well I have been very busy carving off some of the moulded details on the carriage ends (as suggested by Mr Williams). I used a special chisel I acquired from MicroMark which is so much better than using a knife blade. The footprint is just the right size to carve off most 4mm details neatly and it is easy to control/handle so it doesn't go "wandering" during the work.

 

The photos below show the denuded ends. I have touched up the bare plastic left behind by the removal of unwanted details.

 

 

Although - in these photos - the traces can be seen fairly well, at normal viewing distance and with the replacement parts in place and painted these will not be seen.

 

In his book, Mr Williams suggested soldering together the brake alarm gear (right name???) in situ on the plastic coach ends. Mr Williams is clearly a better solderer than I. Having decided that discretion is the better part of valour, I drilled out the mounting brackets on the appropriate end to take an 0.5mm brass wire and then (taking measurements with digital calipers) built the alarm gear (which will be etch primed off the model and then installed and finished)

 

 

I know that the "arms" are too long, but these will be trimmed to size when I add them

 

Finally, having had some useful advice from fellow forum members in the electrics section, I rejigged the lighting rig - to get this:

 

 

Finally, thanks for letting me know about SEF flush glazing - I'll have to investigate further.

 

F

[chrisf]

This is coming along nicely too. I have one under way myself but, as with everything I do, the work proceeds in fits and stops. One fun task was to add grab handles from Frogmore Confederacy to the ends in which I rediscovered my love-hate relationship with superglue.

 

There is a preserved example on the Severn Valley. I took lots of photos of it last time I was there BUT I noticed that it had acquired the sort of combined handrail and tank filler that are found on BR Mk 1s. What I think happened is that, in common with many coaches, it had the end steps removed and replaced by the aforesaid handrail/fillers to stop staff frying themselves on 25kV overhead wires. Mine will be as running in 1961 when the process of modification had barely begun!

 

Chris

[gwrrob]

Found this fascinating thread via another and wondered if you found success with your moquettes in the end as they look to have potential here.

[iL Dottore]

Due to other "adventures" (BCB. "The Brunel" Pub, scratchbuilt siphon, etc)  this project has stalled and is (quite literally) gathering dust.

 

I plan to reactivate once Camden Lock (the station, not the rolling stock) has been built. If feeling energetic enough, I may even run two projects at once

 

iD