15 Ton Pillbox

[griffgriff]

Hello all.

 

I've been fighting with a 15T Pillbox (don't mention the war)... it's spent far too much time on the workbench and I'm trying to push it out. It's a model of DS455 of diagram 1581, pretty much as per the Cambrian kit. It was a very long lived example and spent most of it's last years on the SW division, I believe working at part of the structure gauging train - more mods for a Parkside PMV perhaps? - I'm not completely certain to it's use so any information would be useful, I suspect it spent long periods out of use at Woking and as the photos on PB's website suggest Guildford yard.

 

see link below.

 

http://cdn.zenfolio.net/zf/img/null.gif

 

I had one or two issues with ride height so I built in a fixed Comet wagon chassis. The underframe still needs some work and I have to finish the sand boxes along with the rather strange tool box that sat on one of the ends.

 

 

But here it is so far... I hope to see some more progress this week.

[Colin parks]

Hi griff,

 

Nice to see someone else's approach to the SR brake kit. The buffers are very neat. Where did they come from? I notice you have not added a stove pipe to the roof yet, but have removed the moulded one. I did the same, adding a new pipe from plasticard.

 

One other simple additional detail you can add is the curved moulding strip under the roof on the verandah ends. I made mine from 1mm wide 10thou plasticard. At the risk of repeating posts of pictures, here is my brake van showing (in white of course) the parts I added.

 

 

It occurred to me that I never took a picture of the way I clipped my roof on, but it's not exactly hard to devise a way yourself. You are going to have fun glazing the winwows - will you use *Krystal-Clear PVA for that? (*Not sure of the spelling!)

 

 

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[griffgriff]

The buffers are not quite correct being a compromise LNER/SR standard (sic) pattern, but they will do... they are better than the originals despite the lack of the distinctive webbing around the inner end of the casting.

 

Don't worry about the roof... I have just balanced it on the top... I made a simple clip - more of a plastic guide really - that aligns everything. I do need to add a stove pipe, curiously it's absent on the 15T van. I shall be glazing with clear plastic sheet once it's been painted.

 

Your photo has reminded me that I also have to add the vacuum pipe and the upper lamp brackets, I thought that they looked a little heavy.

 

Cheers

 

Griff

[griffgriff]

I was attacking the sand boxes the other night and I quickly concluded that my under baked efforts in trying to make them look half like the prototype were proving fruitless.

 

 

If only they were as nice as those Bachmann ones on their bogie brake, then I remembered I had a pair in the spares box

 

So after a bit of fettling (I took 1mm off their height at the base) I've managed to fit them to the ends and hey presto something that looks like a pair of sandboxes.

 

 

 

Thank goodness for the spares box

[Lyddrail]

griff,

 

I have modelled DS455 and the gauging van, but I used the 25t kit and didn't alter the chassis. The gauging van was converted from a Parkside BY.

 

I will take a few pics ASAP. Both were done many years ago.

 

Cheers.

[griffgriff]

griff,

 

I have modelled DS455 and the gauging van, but I used the 25t kit and didn't alter the chassis. The gauging van was converted from a Parkside BY.

 

I will take a few pics ASAP. Both were done many years ago.

 

Cheers.

 

Thanks, that would be interesting. Do you know the make up of the said gauging train?

 

I know its location was the South Western division and the vans general whereabouts was largely* split between Salisbury Yard (Cambrian Website), Woking Yard (Cambrian Packaging) and Guildford Yard (PB website) but I have no information on the BY or any other stock.

 

* during the 1980's

 

I suspect that I shall pop it in the middle of a mixed engineers consist.

 

Cheers.

[griffgriff]

Made up the tool box 'thingy' on the end from photographs, it's not yet attached and the lid is loose too.

 

 

 

Any thoughts? I think it perhaps looks a touch wide but the photos suggests that it's the same width as the sandbox and the Bachmann sandboxes scale up to be the same width as the prototype. Perhaps it's an illusion because it looks so bright and bold next to the darker body?

[griffgriff]

I just realised the link in the first post didn't work.

 

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/srbrakevan/h12b65980#h10c0fb89

 

 

Here's a working link to the appropriate page on Paul Bartletts website.

[Pennine MC]

Any thoughts? I think it perhaps looks a touch wide but the photos suggests that it's the same width as the sandbox

 

Thanks for the link

 

I think you have the lid too big Griff - by that photo, it overhangs at the front to give clearance for the padlock, but hardly at all at the side. It's also rather too tall, there's nearly a plank width of the sandbox visible above the toolbox

 

You did ask

[griffgriff]

Thanks for the link

 

I think you have the lid too big Griff - by that photo, it overhangs at the front to give clearance for the padlock, but hardly at all at the side. It's also rather too tall, there's nearly a plank width of the sandbox visible above the toolbox

 

You did ask

 

No problem... sometimes I'm blind to the blidingly obvious... obviously

[griffgriff]

Tool box adjusted.

 

 

...and a trio of southern region brakes.

 

[Colin parks]

Hi griff,

 

Good progress on your brake van there. It is an unusual prototype van with both sand boxes retained and that tool box. The handrails are nice and fine too. I see you have extended the van roof with plastic strip, is the kit's roof as supplied too small?

 

I look forward to seeing pictures of the completed model.

 

Colin

[griffgriff]

Hi griff,

 

Good progress on your brake van there. It is an unusual prototype van with both sand boxes retained and that tool box. The handrails are nice and fine too. I see you have extended the van roof with plastic strip, is the kit's roof as supplied too small?

 

I look forward to seeing pictures of the completed model.

 

Colin

 

Thank Colin. It certainly had character and the reason why I pictured it with the bogie and BR vans was to show how small it was.

 

I used .33 wire for the handrails, I nearly always do on wagon stock, they are robust enough for normal handling yet they still appear prototypically fragile. The plastic strips on the sides of the roof represent the timbers that keep the roof covering in place, there was quite a nice representation one side but the other side got splatted when I sorted out the sprue registration, it was easier to shave them both off and start again (so they match). The plastic on the ends just tidies things up a bit but they do need a bit of sanding down.

 

Cheers

 

Griff