Countdown to Christmas - an Australian Advent Challenge

[Sithlord75]

20th December

 

Technically something for me day but given the opportunity mentioned yesterday of getting some of Bruce's wagons to him I decided to work on another one for him - last one for the year most likely!    I think this makes it 53 or something like that - he'll have to count them up when he has them all.  

 

This one is a T type insulated ice van - the three hatches on the roof are for loading ice for perishables to survive transportation in the Australian summer - particularly in Victoria where if a Northerly or Northwesterly wind sets in it comes from the Red Centre bringing soring temperatures and the risk of bushfires.  Currently they'd probably welcome it a bit as the Riverland up near Bruce has been quite wet (like most of the East Coast in 2022) and the Murray River looks like reaching a flood peak in Murray Bridge (my mum's home town) as high or higher than 1956 (when she was 11 years old and a Girl Guide riding her bike around delivering messages - I don't imagine the Guide Unit doing such things in 2022!)

 

A bit of weight in this one - not sure particularly why to be honest although I guess with the solid walls rather than the open sides of the M cattle wagons, there is a bit more metal in it.  I didn't think to take a shot of it next to a M wagon to show the different heights, but it is significant - the advantages of the 5'3" loading gauge I guess.

 

 

One other job I did today was paint the M wagon from yesterday - and then realised I hadn't put the shunters steps on it!  This has now been rectified so touch up painting tomorrow, a bunch of wagons to have decals put on them in the morning and then clear sealed in the afternoon before knitting tomorrow night.  Back on the UK wagons tomorrow.  Something simple - GWR DC Brakes for some cattle wagons I have from @Ian Smith.

[Sithlord75]

21st December 

 

I spent some time this evening (had planned on it being this afternoon but Management decreed we had to brave the second largest shopping complex north of the Brisbane River instead - and three days before the deadline!) getting a packaged ready for Noswal Couriers to take to @VRBroadgauge - so Merry Christmas Bruce, hopefully it won't matter your present is delivered on the 27th not the 25th!

 

Once that was all sorted I went into my collection of unbuilt chassis etches from Shop 2 and grabbed the 11'6" GWR one (2-363 for those playing along).  I purchased this to put under the W1/5 GWR Mex B 3D print which @Ian Smith had drawn up.  Initially I obtained some (plus a W2 and W3) from Shapeways but Ian has since kindly sent me the .STL files so in due course I shall have to build a couple more chassis.  Ian I think used the drop in W irons and cobbled up some suitable brakes from his spares box - being a GWR modeller of high skill I doubt this would have extended him much!  My GWR spares don't run to much at all - I've built one GWR Chassis (under a V3x Mink - can't remember which one it is - my daughter built the other) and I've got some Open Cs on replacement chassis but I don't think they ended up with DC brakes.  In any case, it wasn't that much effort to adapt the underside of the print to accept the basic chassis - so basic I didn't add the solebars nor the axleboxes.  I will in due course (having discovered tonight I'd used up my stock of plug on springs and axle boxes doing the LNWR D13s earlier in the month) sort the missing bits but over all I am pretty happy.   I had to reacquaint myself with how DCIII brakes go - fortunately the rain stopped long enough for a quick dash to the shed to get the finished wagon out - and I also had a bit of a time carefully removing the Shapeways resin (FUD? FXD?  who knows.  My file didn't seem to worry too much but I did use a cheapy rather than my good one) to clear the space.  I'll have a look at the .STL and see if I can alter it to accept the Shop Chassis for the extra two or three.  I tend to think a GWR cattle wagon making it to Herts is unlikely to have come alone and even with the options of a W2 or a W3 to accompany it, extra W1/5s would be welcome in the LAG where there are more Western interests.

 

At some point I had added buffers to the print and painted it, otherwise, expecting the modifications to the base to allow the chassis to fit, it's how it prints.  A roof shall be sourced in due course too.

 

 

[richbrummitt]

@Sithlord75 I’ve already made Ian’s file(s) into something that takes the basic fold up of 2-363 without modifying the print for my own use. I think I can email them to you. GWR cattle wagons were in and out of the common user pool (mostly out). W1, W2 and W3 had ordinary lever brakes. That makes them easier? Many/Most/All? W1 were rebuilt with DC3 vacuum (W5). 

[Sithlord75]

22nd December

 

Something for Yeovil again today - although to be honest I am not sure if it fits @Laurie2mil's chosen/preferred time period.  However, as I had the chassis built up, I thought it would be silly not to use it and so organised a print, which was then painted, to go with the chassis, which was also painted before applying decals from my Modelmaster collection.  I should tweak the file to do the uneven planked versions (I've done the ply) and change the vent around (along with possibly the ellipse for the roof) for the SECR.   I'm really pleased with these bodies - not particularly useful for my preferred period to but a vast improvement on the Farish or NGS versions which sometimes are seen on 2mm layouts.  The advantages of CAD to get an accurate scale model!

 

[Sithlord75]

23rd December

 

Over the course of this Advent, I think I have built over a dozen wagons or NPCCS items drawn by Bruce Cook (aka @VRBroadgauge).  Amongst the items which he kindly organised etches for me, were some chassis for planned 3D printed bodies.  These included some MR/SDJR  25' 4-wheel chassis suitable for the Milk and Fruit vans shown in Tatlow on P106 (yes, big fan for the Tatlow drawings).  The idea being that either @nebnoswal or I would draw up the bodies to plonk on said chassis.

 

And then...

 

The 2mm Association publishes the PDFs for the Newsletter and Magazine in the Members Only section of the website and so it came to pass that I read the newsletter the day it was uploaded and noticed that @2mm Andy (I think!) had some etches going cheap of the aforementioned MR D419 Milk and Fruit Van (I don't know what the SDJR diagram was, but the differences include foot-steps at one end on the SD one for access to the oil lamp so you could see inside.  Obviously, the MR staff ate more carrots or had lanterns or something and didn't need the light).  Andy also had a bunch of other etches so I sent him, and email and it came to pass that a) I was first to ask and b) I was able to obtain a pair of etches for three different vehicles.  The etches from Andy arrived today, along with the magazine and newsletter.  I suspect that had I inquired tonight, the answer would have been too late!

 

So with new etches in hand - both from Bruce and Andy - I set to work to see how the 30-year-old hand drawn artwork (which I think has been shrunk going by the gap between the items) matched up with the 2022 CAD designed chassis.  Fortunately, it would appear both draftsmen did indeed work to the same scale, and everything lined up - even down to the buffer holes so the body was able to be easily located on the chassis.

 

Like a few things I have been working on, this one will require a roof - but the artwork for that is much closer to completion.  I also need to pay a visit to a LHS and see what they have in the way of nickel silver or brass sheet in suitable thiness.

 

As usual, I will need to tweak something after seeing the photos - in this case the footboard!

 

 

 

[VRBroadgauge]

14 minutes ago, Sithlord75 said:

23rd December

 

Over the course of this Advent, I think I have built over a dozen wagons or NPCCS items drawn by Bruce Cook (aka @VRBroadgauge).  Amongst the items which he kindly organised etches for me, were some chassis for planned 3D printed bodies.  These included some MR/SDJR  25' 4-wheel chassis suitable for the Milk and Fruit vans shown in Tatlow on P106 (yes, big fan for the Tatlow drawings).  The idea being that either @nebnoswal or I would draw up the bodies to plonk on said chassis.

 

And then...

 

The 2mm Association publishes the PDFs for the Newsletter and Magazine in the Members Only section of the website and so it came to pass that I read the newsletter the day it was uploaded and noticed that @2mm Andy (I think!) had some etches going cheap of the aforementioned MR D419 Milk and Fruit Van (I don't know what the SDJR diagram was, but the differences include foot-steps at one end on the SD one for access to the oil lamp so you could see inside.  Obviously, the MR staff ate more carrots or had lanterns or something and didn't need the light).  Andy also had a bunch of other etches so I sent him, and email and it came to pass that a) I was first to ask and b) I was able to obtain a pair of etches for three different vehicles.  The etches from Andy arrived today, along with the magazine and newsletter.  I suspect that had I inquired tonight, the answer would have been too late!

 

So with new etches in hand - both from Bruce and Andy - I set to work to see how the 30-year-old hand drawn artwork (which I think has been shrunk going by the gap between the items) matched up with the 2022 CAD designed chassis.  Fortunately, it would appear both draftsmen did indeed work to the same scale, and everything lined up - even down to the buffer holes so the body was able to be easily located on the chassis.

 

Like a few things I have been working on, this one will require a roof - but the artwork for that is much closer to completion.  I also need to pay a visit to a LHS and see what they have in the way of nickel silver or brass sheet in suitable thiness.

 

As usual, I will need to tweak something after seeing the photos - in this case the footboard!

 

 

 

Might be worth doing a redraw of that body off an original etch. A roof would be easy and it might be handy if others wanted a copy.

[Compound2632]

44 minutes ago, VRBroadgauge said:

Might be worth doing a redraw of that body off an original etch. 

 

Or the original Derby C&W DO drawing, a scan of which should be available from the Midland Railway Study Centre if you ask nicely.

 

Incidentally, the van being built here is Midland diagram D418, 25 built in 1893 to Lot 316, Drg. 970. The D419 vans, Drg. 1405, 61 built 1900 - 1904 to three lots for the Midland and 12 built in 1902 for the S&DJR to Lot 523, were rather different in appearance, with square-cornered panelling and three-arc roofs, matching the contemporary clerestory carriages.

 

Here's one doing its thing at Bournville:

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Compound2632

[Sithlord75]

24th December

 

Given we are hosting Christmas Day lunch (with 28 degrees C forecast!) and with my wife having German heritage, there wasn't any chance of me being able to do any modelling today - it was spent getting the yard mowed, desserts made, house cleaning before we started the Christmas celebrations this afternoon with German snacks (although given the temperature, the mulled wine didn't make an appearance but some lager did!).  We are presently having a bit of an inter-regnum before heading off to Midnight Mass at our parish church before an undoubtedly early start tomorrow.

 

Thank to those of you who have been following along with my count down.  I have managed to either complete or make significant inroads into over 24 wagons (which was the goal - obviously doing a few VR K wagons helped as these are really easy) and I've learnt a bit (special thanks to Stephen Lea @Compound2632 for the various insights into Midland practice.  I haven't been scared off the MR cattle wagon - I just haven't found the chassis to put under it again.  Stored somewhere "safe" but I'll get it finished.  I will also track down some information on the D418 since that's what I am building in the NPCCS realm).

 

In closing all that is left is to follow @queensquare's tradition of a suitably inscribed photo - in this case, a photo of my highlight 2mm wise for 2022.  A train I built (or converted in the case of the Jinty) on CF at Derby.