Rob Pulham Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Sometime back on the workbench 3 Slaters Midland cattle wagons made an appearance. Since painting and transfers were added they have languished in the cupboard awaiting weathering, buffers and couplings to be added. in the intervening time I have either lost or used the couplings that came with the kits - one set I think was binned because the kit was so old the coupling hook was pressed steel. I replaced these with some Premier components couplings and got around to weathering them. One of the biggest jobs was loading them with cattle which in 7mm scale can work out quite expensive. Slaters do some nice cast ones that you have to solder together and I had managed to collect a few of these but the cheapest that I managed was £9 for three -Ouch! In the meantime I was reading one of the threads on RMWeb and someone commented that they had used Britain 1/32 scale calves to good effect as cattle in 7mm scale. A quick look on eBay found some at £6 for six much better to my tight fisted Yorkshire mind so I ordered a couple of packs to see what could be made of them. Having painted them and added them to the wagons they make a reasonable representation of heifers so they will do for me. I have added one of Slaters in each wagon to add a bit of weight and I am quite please with the overall effect. If I am totally honest each wagon could have used at least another one or two to fill them but I can live with them as they are. I had a go at making it look as if some of the canvas had come off showing the roof laths underneath but I am not entirely convinced that I have made convincing job of it.... And finally the three together.... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Sometime back on the workbench 3 Slaters Midland cattle wagons made an appearance. Since painting and transfers were added they have languished in the cupboard awaiting weathering, buffers and couplings to be added. in the intervening time I have either lost or used the couplings that came with the kits - one set I think was binned because the kit was so old the coupling hook was pressed steel. I replaced these with some Premier components couplings and got around to weathering them. One of the biggest jobs was loading them with cattle which in 7mm scale can work out quite expensive. Slaters do some nice cast ones that you have to solder together and I had managed to collect a few of these but the cheapest that I managed was £9 for three -Ouch! In the meantime I was reading one of the threads on RMWeb and someone commented that they had used Britain 1/32 scale calves to good effect as cattle in 7mm scale. A quick look on eBay found some at £6 for six much better to my tight fisted Yorkshire mind so I ordered a couple of packs to see what could be made of them. Having painted them and added them to the wagons they make a reasonable representation of heifers so they will do for me. I have added one of Slaters in each wagon to add a bit of weight and I am quite please with the overall effect. If I am totally honest each wagon could have used at least another one or two to fill them but I can live with them as they are. I had a go at making it look as if some of the canvas had come off showing the roof laths underneath but I am not entirely convinced that I have made convincing job of it.... And finally the three together.... What a good idea withe calves. I have 4 cattle wagons needing populating but like you have shied at the cost of a Slater's herd. Go mad with this little lot even if you have to re-sell the adults! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Britains-Freisian-Cows-and-Calves-Farm-Animals-/131178049523 or maybe this has some scope:- http://pegasushobbies.net/catalog/p170/%237006-Farm-Animals/product_info.html Looks like a Preiser herd is too dear but you get 3 adults ready for market: http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Preiser/65324.aspx Edited May 3, 2014 by LaScala 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 I have been struggling to have the head space for much modelling for a couple of months due to a house move - I had forgotten just how much you need to do when buying and selling houses.... This has meant that I started to make mistakes through in attention on the 06 so I decided that I needed something simple to maintain the mojo and this has taken the form of another of Connoisseur's offerings. I collected this from Jim at Cleckheaton after enquiring about it late last year and then promptly forgetting about it until Jim reminded me a couple of weeks before the show. It is his recently released, former Majestic models NBR tender truck. - The plan is that it will run behind Nellie. Jim's test build highlight a few areas where you need to do a bit of filing to make later parts fit and so far I have been doing this and making up some sub assemblies. This is the brake lever and guard as provided in the kit. I wasn't too keen on it being cast in one piece, because apart from lacking fidelity I reasoned that it would also be quite vulnerable. The lever guard is a Bill Bedford etch from the spares box, the lever I made from a strip of etch and the mounting was made from a piece of square bar that I cut to rough shape and finished with the Dremel. The instructions suggest soldering the step brackets directly to the front of the sole bars and to strengthen them with .7mm wire. I chose to mount them through the base of the sole bars using the slots provided but I did strengthen them (albeit with etched strip not wire) The outer sides are done as per the instructions. I couldn't resist fitting them together loosely to see how they would look when fitted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I have been struggling to have the head space for much modelling for a couple of months due to a house move - I had forgotten just how much you need to do when buying and selling houses.... This has meant that I started to make mistakes through in attention on the 06 so I decided that I needed something simple to maintain the mojo and this has taken the form of another of Connoisseur's offerings. I collected this from Jim at Cleckheaton after enquiring about it late last year and then promptly forgetting about it until Jim reminded me a couple of weeks before the show. It is his recently released, former Majestic models NBR tender truck. - The plan is that it will run behind Nellie. Jim's test build highlight a few areas where you need to do a bit of filing to make later parts fit and so far I have been doing this and making up some sub assemblies. This is the brake lever and guard as provided in the kit. I wasn't too keen on it being cast in one piece, because apart from lacking fidelity I reasoned that it would also be quite vulnerable. The lever guard is a Bill Bedford etch from the spares box, the lever I made from a strip of etch and the mounting was made from a piece of square bar that I cut to rough shape and finished with the Dremel. The instructions suggest soldering the step brackets directly to the front of the sole bars and to strengthen them with .7mm wire. I chose to mount them through the base of the sole bars using the slots provided but I did strengthen them (albeit with etched strip not wire) The outer sides are done as per the instructions. I couldn't resist fitting them together loosely to see how they would look when fitted. Does this moving malarky mean you have lost your vestigal garden roundy-roundy? You must be gutted? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Thankfully not. Rob is multi-residential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Does this moving malarky mean you have lost your vestigal garden roundy-roundy? You must be gutted? Thankfully not. Rob is multi-residential. Hi Hugh, as Jonathan says, we are fortunate to have a second home that we use for weekends, holidays etc. It's this that we are selling and moving further inland - the current house is close to the sea but we haven't been to the beach or seaside for the best part of ten years, preferring to spend our time on the North Yorkshire Moors. The house that we are buying is in County Durham and is only about 3 miles from the NRM at Shildon. It's also close to Cumbria and the lakes (somewhere I have never been) and even the scottish border isn't too far away. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted June 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2014 So no chance of bumping into you on Guisborough High street again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 So no chance of bumping into you on Guisborough High street again? Oh I wouldn't necessarily say that Paul Two evening's modelling on the trot sees more progress made. The body is well on it's and is now quite a heavy and sturdy unit. I added the steps and dug out the etched LNER plates that Brian, a kind RMWebber let me have. The ends, like the body sides are made up from 2 layers and the outer one has holes for pins that hold the cast end stanchions in place. Soldering them in before adding the inner layer has made them quite secure - the use of some judicious heat sinks should see the ends attached to the body without them coming adrift. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Still moving steadily along with this one. Unlike most of Jim's other kits (or at least those that I have had the good fortune to build) this ones has taken quite a bit of fettling to fit - I had to file the ends quite a bit to get them to fit properly between the sides (as the kit seems to have been intended) this is no reflection on Jim as he didn't design it and he does mention most of what you need to file of in the instructions (and he may have mentioned this but I neglected to look at the instructions by this point). The corner plates are a little fiddly but they do fit very nicely giving a realistic corner - it's a pity my blurred photo doesn't show them that well -I only managed those on the rear corners last night. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 Hi Hugh, as Jonathan says, we are fortunate to have a second home that we use for weekends, holidays etc. It's this that we are selling and moving further inland - the current house is close to the sea but we haven't been to the beach or seaside for the best part of ten years, preferring to spend our time on the North Yorkshire Moors. The house that we are buying is in County Durham and is only about 3 miles from the NRM at Shildon. It's also close to Cumbria and the lakes (somewhere I have never been) and even the scottish border isn't too far away. Hi Shedrail, If you can let me know what it is in my post that you find unclear and I will try to clarify for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Last night saw the shunting truck compete or so I thought. A chance look through one of the RCTS Green Books revealed that some locos had shunting poles on brackets along the valances. This got my mind working and I reasoned that if the tender truck had foot boards and handrails for the shunter why not a shunting pole too. A quick Google search this morning got me an idea of what they look like and the approximate sizes, so I set to this afternoon to see if I could make one. The hand rails look a bit worse for handling (if you will pardon the pun!) but given that the loco that I plan to run this behind is in post war LNER livery I would expect these wagons to be a little tired by then. The pole is made from a cut down cocktail stick, which I turned in my dremel wile applying a sanding stock. I cut the point off and drilled a hole approx 10mm down the centre. I then got the end of a brass pin that I had used the head as a rivet (I have a little pot on my workbench with all sorts of offcuts etc. just for such occasions. I annealed the end of it and twisted it with round nosed pliers to the rough approximation of what I had seen in photos. I then had a look in the scrap etc. box an found a piece of nickel that had been half etched so was quite thin. I cut a strip off this and shaped it to make the ferrule for the end of the pole and soldered it together. I then glued the pin in the hole and mixed up a watery mix of black\gunmetal\steel acrylics and washed over the handle to give a used look. A quick dunk in metal black sorted the hook and ferrule. As a slight aside I have found it very difficult to remove the excess solder on this build - or at least the staining of where it's been. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Since finishing the build of the tender truck at the weekend I have spent some time playing with additional details. I have also primed and started the top coats of paint but I haven't taken any photos yet (not much to show to be honest). First I got a bit carried away and made a few more shunting poles.... I found that the pin shanks bent so much better without annealing first. Then I had a rummage in my scrap etc box to see what if anything I had in the way of tool boxes or something that could be made into them. First off I came up with this it was a bit fiddly to make up and the first wash lost some of the bits of rod on the sides.... The oil can is one of the Peter Roles castings. Next up I really wanted an open toolbox. A spare etch and some scratch built straps etc. gave me this which I am quite suited with. With tools inside..... Jim also supplies a few cast details in the form of buckets, upright oil cans and shovels so I made a start on painting some of them. I am not too sure about the buckets...... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Not much has been happening on the construction front but I have been painting the tender truck I have also done a bit more weathering to the back log of Parkside vans the first of which is an LNER 12 tn unfitted van. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Still tinkering with the wagon weathering backlog, the next up is an LMS Steel Bodies vent van. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 I took up the building reins again in between bouts of weathering over the wet and dismal weekend. Next up is another simple project in the form of a pair of CR/LMS 8 ton Timber and Ore wagons. One is the original Majestic Models kit and the 2nd is the same kit as produced by Dragon Models under the Celtic Connection banner. The kits are a little basic but form the basis on which to add some additional details if you wish and come in as a very cheap addition to the stock box - £8 for the first kit via eBay and £20 for the second from Dragon. The sides are formed from two layers of etch which have separate hinge detail applied (I also added some rod to represent the hinge pins)and the ends and sole bars are whitemetal castings. There was a sheet of brass supplied with the Majestic kit for the floor but Dragon supply a sheet of planked plasticard. I replaced this with a bit of scrap nickel etch from the 8F kit which was just the right width. This allowed me to solder all the way making for solid construction - they weigh a bit too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeT Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hello Rob, Nice collection of wagons and some great weathering as usual... George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Meanwhile I managed to finish painting, weathering and adding the details to the tender truck. The pieces of timber are coffee stirrers cut lengthways, and I am particularly pleased with the bundles of rope which are made from 4 strands of 32 gauge brass beading wire, twisted together in a couple of pin vices. This was them wound around a lolly type stick to get the length of coil and further wound around itself then it was blackened and dipped in the mix of paint that I used for weathering the inside of the cattle wagons featured earlier. The lamp is by Slaters and the hammer another one of the Peter Roles castings. I have also taken a few pictures of the various stages of the weathering process on this and a couple more vans that I am on with and will post then to my weathering thread later. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaScala Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You seem to have have excelled yourself Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Thanks Hugh, It's a quirky little kit that needs a bit of work but allows the addition of the extra detaiols that I really enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Meanwhile I managed to finish painting, weathering and adding the details to the tender truck. The pieces of timber are coffee stirrers cut lengthways, and I am particularly pleased with the bundles of rope which are made from 4 strands of 32 gauge brass beading wire, twisted together in a couple of pin vices. This was them wound around a lolly type stick to get the length of coil and further wound around itself then it was blackened and dipped in the mix of paint that I used for weathering the inside of the cattle wagons featured earlier. The lamp is by Slaters and the hammer another one of the Peter Roles castings. I have also taken a few pictures of the various stages of the weathering process on this and a couple more vans that I am on with and will post then to my weathering thread later. Lovely little wagon!! I wonder if they ever got to Cornwall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Lovely little wagon!! I wonder if they ever got to Cornwall. Rule One Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 A bit of time over the last couple of evenings has seen the two timber and ore wagons up on their wheels and the buffer stocks fitted. I had to drill out the hole for the buffer shanks on the Dragon castings but this didn't present any problems. The next bit of fun is going to be the brakes because at the moment neither sets of brakes will line up with the wheels so a bit of improvisation will be needed - watch this space.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 As I mentioned in my last post, the next job was to sort out the brakes which are one sided on these wagons - they usually ran in pairs giving access to a brake from either side. This is what was provided in the two kits - the casting with the base being the Majestic offering and the rest came with the Dragon kit. The idea being that you solder the brass strip to one of the brake shoes with a few spares in case of accidents. Me being me, I didn't really fancy that so I went for a strip of scrap etch bent to shape and some modified etched shoes from the spares box (suitably filed to an approximation of the cast shoes). My apologies for the rather poor first photo the camera kept trying to focus on something else..... I also managed to get the lever made up for one of them but the work bench "ate" the locking nut for the second so more scrap etch needed for a replacement..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Last night saw the Timber and Ore Wagons completed. The chains that hold the sides up severely tried my eyesight and patience - my £7 magnifying specs really came to the rescue! The rings that hold the chains on the ends were spare rope rings from the Connoisseur sand wagon kit. The fine chain is from Slaters (David Parkins kindly pointed me at the source after using the fine chain in the MMP Glass Wagon). On the one photo that I have seen there are quite prominent wagon plates on the sides. I am not sure if these were replaced by the LMS but I found four badly etched loco build plates that looked about the right size and added them. Once they are painted and lost under some weathering they should look the part. Next up is the paint shop. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Looking good. What chain did you use for the side catches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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