Union Mills - Cauliflower Makeover

[PLD]

Union Mills Models locos may not match up to the level of detail present on the most recent products from Dapol and Farish, however just a little effort can, I think, make a big difference...

 

The subject here is the latest release - the LNWR 18" Goods Engine or 'Cauliflower' (Well the layout is set in North Wales in the 1920s so it kind of compulsory to have at least one!)

 

So what has been done?

 

Firstly Improving what is already there:

• The gap and the electrical wire between loco and tender just has to be dealt with. The wire has been shortened and rerouted to keep it below cab floor level. The gap is filled by fitting a plasticard 'fall plate' to bridge the gap.
  
• Both the buffers and coupling rods come in shiny metal finish, these have been toned down with a thin wash of oily black (to stain them without painting them completely a uniform colour)
  
• The wheel rims and axle ends have also been painted black.
  
• Handrails have been picked out in a 'gunmetal' colour as has the moulded on horizontal part of the reversing lever (the vertical lever being added from flat section steel wire)
  
• The safety valves were picked out in brass colour.
  

Secondly Added Details:

• Most importantly that big open cab is crying out for the addition of a Driver and Fireman. (in this case from the Fleetline range)
  
• A headlamp has been fitted (Spingside) showing the local pick-up goods headcode, and wire lamp irons in the other three positions.
  
• Vac Pipes were added - home made from 0.31mm wire with 1.5a fuse wire wrapped round representing the flexible hose part.
  
• Coupling hooks have been fitted to front and rear bufferbeams (etched brass leftovers fron kits)
  
• Most visibly below the footplate, a representation of the priminent brake blocks and rigging has been added using plasticard blocks and wire rigging. (ensuring they don't actually stop the wheels turning!)
  
• My standard B&B couplings have been fitted in place of the standard Rapido type.
  

 

 

Finally the loco has been renumbered to one allocated to Bangor in the late 1920s, and numbered/lettered in the first (Midland inspired) LMS style with the number on the tender and LMS on the cab side.

 

While the overall effect is still more impessionist than super-fine detail I think just a little effort can make a big difference..

 

Paul

[Dr Al]

Very nice job that - it's true that the UM models can really be made to look very good without too much effort.

 

One I did was this D20, though I did quite a lot in the end once I got going!

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/30905-union-mills-n-gauge-d20-superdetailed/

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Flying Pig]

Am I wrong in thinking that the cabside lettering should be gold in a red panel for this period (as on this photo)? The tender numbers don't look quite right either as the black shading disappears on a black loco. Should they be shaded red?

 

Also, I'm pretty sure that LMS headlamps were painted black, though of course they may have gone their own way on the former LNWR.

 

Sorry to nit pick, but it's a very attractive model and worth getting right.

[PLD]

Very nice job that - it's true that the UM models can really be made to look very good without too much effort.

 

One I did was this D20, though I did quite a lot in the end once I got going!

 

http://www.rmweb.co....-superdetailed/

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Thanks Alan,

 

Not as drastic a rebuild as yours!! I did think about doing something with the tender (which is overlength) and the handrails, I'll see if I can live with as it would be quite a job to remove the cast on versions...

 

Paul

[PLD]

Am I wrong in thinking that the cabside lettering should be gold in a red panel for this period (as on this photo)? The tender numbers don't look quite right either as the black shading disappears on a black loco. Should they be shaded red?.

The answer to that is 'sometimes' Both the red panel and plain lettering were used on ex LNWR and L&Y goods engines. (red panels admittedly were the more common and almost universal on ex MR and Scottish locos) I didn't have any transfers for the red panels to hand at the time but I am thinking about changing that...

 

I'm pretty sure that LMS headlamps were painted black, though of course they may have gone their own way on the former LNWR.

Throughout the existence of the company, LMS Lamps seem to have come in both black and white bodied varieties (plus a few crimson lake ones). The black ones seem to have been prioritised for ‘red engines’, whereas a humble freight loco would get whatever was left in the stores, maybe even an ancient pre-grouping example…

[R Marshall]

Paul,

 

Here's a picture of a Union Mills J27 (finished as a J26 with shaped cab spectacles, rather than round). It's much improved with etched coal rails from Bob Jones' Fence Houses Model Foundry and a paint finish by Simon Howard of Durham Trains of Stanley.

 

I shortened the wiring, as you did, reprofiled the front frames beneath the buffer beam, added a 3-link coupling, unfitted goods lamp code, reversing lever, cab glazing, crew and real coal. The tender needed a bit of filling at the front end of the sides with bracing to support a higher profile. There are a number of compromises still, but for me it looks the part. I've a second J26 and a D20 from Union Mills, which shows what I think of them. I've also got Farish locos, including the excellent A1, but the D20 and J26s are my favourites.

 

Regards,

 

Roy Marshall