It's all Coachman's fault

[Guest Max Stafford]

I'm strangely obsessed with doing coaches right now, but I've yet to start one properly due to other projects cluttering the bench!

 

Dave.

[Penlan]

Coachman, perhaps Mallard60022 has yet to realise the time required for the next stage(s).......

[Mallard60022]

Coachman, perhaps Mallard60022 has yet to realise the time required for the next stage(s).......

 

Ah, the joys to come; would that be Stage 6, 3a, 7, 3b etc.?

I can understand what Coach is saying here as the paint job is just so important and he and Mr. Rathbone et.al. make such a superb job of it.

There are folk on here who never/hardly ever post their fantastic work. They are probably too busy actually doing stuff, but congratulations to all them as well. To those that occasionally show us theirs, congratulations on such lovely craftsmanship.

I'm just going to have to grasp the nettle air brush and get on with it as I am getting a bit quicker with the old soldering lark!

So, thanks for all the support chaps. I've a he*l of a lot to learn yet, but (as Max S [Dave] says) I just have this strange obsession about building coaches just now; I need therapy I think.

P @ 36E

[iak]

It is a bug that once bitten is baaad!

I actually get excited by what need to learn with coaches so I ken the meaning...

[jwealleans]

I need therapy I think.

 

No, you don't. What you need are more coaches.

[Mallard60022]

No, you don't. What you need are more coaches.

 

Ah, JW I forgot to mention the 'collections' stacked away in various hiding places in the house (some of which has been 'hidden' for so long I get a nice surprise when/if I find them!)

Then there's the wagons & locos, part built and unbuilt as well as the bits of baseboard/EM trackwork still to be completed blah, blah etc. etc.

I'm getting my dressing gown now!

P

[Mallard60022]

No, you don't. What you need are more coaches.

 

Ah, JW I forgot to mention the 'collection' stacked away in various hiding places in the house (some of which has been 'hidden' for so long I get a nice surprise when/if I find them!)

Then there's the wagons & locos, part built and unbuilt as well as the bits of baseboard/EM trackwork still to be completed blah, blah etc. etc.

P

 

Here is one of the 'collection'. I'm doing this (in parallel with other builds) for myself just to spite Hornby for bringing out a Gresley Full Brake.

I'm mumbling about this Comet build on one of my blogs so will only say it's going to be a later D260 version in EM and maroon or blue. As it's for me I've got to finish it (notice there are hardly any windows and I won't bother with an interior )

The 'door bumpers' don't show at all on the full pic so -

 

Apologies for quality but that hides numerous 'sins'.

P

[Rob Pulham]

Very nice Phil.

 

I agree with Jonathan, you need more coaches and possibly a few horse boxes for good measure.

[jwealleans]

I think it's in his blog, coach - one of the new roofs 51L are selling. We had a a discussion about them on here or the LNER forum some time ago.

[Mallard60022]

Were'd you get the roof on the all-steel Gresley full brake Mallard?

It came in the Comet box of goodies Coach. Geoff of course would tell you the 'source'.

Just the right length, but as I mention on the blog, seemingly a touch narrow and I'm sure I've done everything as usual.

I would file the end etch sides to reduce their width by (say) 0.5mm approx if I did another. CBA to unsolder this one and do that; I'm going to fiddle the roof fitting with some 0.20" microstrip so the roof sits down well on the etched sides. Think you have done similar fettles like this?

 

I think it's in his blog, coach - one of the new roofs 51L are selling. We had a a discussion about them on here or the LNER forum some time ago.

 

Grey is 51L, white is from Comet.

This one from 51L was a tad short for this kit and so is of no use. (61'6 moulding - there does not appear to be another length on the web site). Also it does not have moulded destination board 'racks', presumably so you can choose to fabricate those as you require?

 

Sincerely, P @ 36E

[Mallard60022]

Shock-horror, I wasnt aware Comet produced a Gresley domed plastic roof. Thanks for the info.

 

Strangely neither was I despite loads of communication with Geoff. Probably because I've only ever done Comet Gresley Suburbans before and not a main line coach (not needed to)! However I think I remember some comments about Mr Jackson (Retford) wanting Gresley roof mouldings for his coaches; maybe that's how these came about? I had it in my head that the roof was done in a similar way to the Hawksworths (normal generic ally extrusion with white metal domed ends)? Maybe they are MJT? I'll wait for Geoff to tell us.

Cheers, P.

[Mallard60022]

Just to illustrate the plassi roof with vents fitted so Coach can see what he thinks of this moulding.

I used microstrip on the underside of the roof edges, about 0.5 mm in from the outer edge to keep it in place. As I used polystyrene cement for the microstrip I was able to adjust its' position once the roof was sitting in the body shell. This allowed adjustment of the roof position itself. It think it has worked (more or less).

What was brilliant was how easy it was to drill the holes for the vents; usually it's a bit of a chore with the ally roof extrusions.

P

[Mallard60022]

Good morning.

Somethin' strange in the neighbourhood?

 

Wonder what's in here then?

 

Having taken a peek, methinks I need to up the skills level a few hundred degrees .

There is a good pic of the van in the Tatlow volume but I have no references for the coach.

Any advice on sources would be really helpful

 

In fact any thoughts on the sorting of these cheeky little items would be gratefully received.

[jwealleans]

If I knew where you lived I might mug you for that sundries van, very nice. The coaches (I have the same upstairs) IIRC make up into a body which screws down onto the chassis. A brass roof might make the whole assembly more rigid and should be fairly easy to roll up - I think it's a plain arc. The chassis is quite straightforward as well -one fixed axle, one floating, one rocking?

 

I think Dan was talking about reissuing these next year if your friend wants any more.

[gwrrob]

Good morning.

Somethin' strange in the neighbourhood?

 

Wonder what's in here then?

 

Having taken a peek, methinks I need to up the skills level a few hundred degrees .

There is a good pic of the van in the Tatlow volume but I have no references for the coach.

Any advice on sources would be really helpful

 

In fact any thoughts on the sorting of these cheeky little items would be gratefully received.

 

I'd be tempted to put them straight on ebay and retire on their proceeds.

[Mallard60022]

OK, so I have not done much and I still have to get a grip and do the 'commodes'/grabs and vac pipe down the solebar. I've also got to fettle the buffer beam to accept MJT buckeyes and the pipework; (will I actually do this?).

Decided on 'sprung' bogies, Comet style and it's EM. Could be finished by 2013.

One thing I must mention is the usefulness of having Mike Harris' LNER Carriages. The pic on page 111 has been a Godsend, as well as the written info on the various Diagrams.

Apologies for not putting this on the layout but SWMBO told me to put that away for a while.

P

[Mallard60022]

Glad you didn't make my mistake and plonk the full brake body on the chassis the wrong way round.....Might have got away with it had I not posted pictures on a website!

 

You got me worried now!! I've done it as per Comet diagram - honest. Harris P111 - can't see the battery boxes on the ducket side; oh no!! I'm sure you would have been polite and pointed out a hash up, as would Messers Trice/Welleans/Pulham et al.

If I do another of these some time I think I'd drill the sides to receive MJT commodes or is life too short?

Slightly off subject Coach, do you know if Fozzy has the Thompsons available yet as they don't seem to be on his WWW.?

P

[billbedford]

I'm not going to dignify this with a response.

From Harris' LNER Standard Gresley Coaches p.13

"Carriage solebars, headstocks buffer shanks and sleeves were painted in teak paint and varnished. Wheel centres were were also the same colour, unvarnished. Solebar nuts, at least in ealier days were picked out on green. The teal paint was a mixture of not less than 80% zinc oxide and linseed oil.

The pine stepboards were painted black. The underframes, bogies, drawgear, brakework, and bufferheads were black. Wheel rims and axles were painted black. Wartime finishes standardised in November 1941 dictated that the whole underframe, bogies, wheels and axles were to be painted black laquer.

Underframe lettering was picked out in white."

 

I case anyone is in doubt about the meaning of the last sentence of the second paragraph, there are photos of new Thompson coaches were the solebars are definitely not black

[billbedford]

It's a pity you can't get the correct bogies for BGs.

[Mallard60022]

Thanks Bill. Good job I'm not having to be authentic pre Nationalisation. Mine is to be BR 60s/70s so will be filthy anyway.

Bogies are always a bit of a compromise and the Comet ones look OK to me. However I've used some MJT (Mike T's) and 247s (Gary's) Gresleys on a couple of Comet Gresley builds (suburbans) as they had nice inbuilt bogie stepboards.

These BG bogies didn't have stepboards. With my lack of knowledge is there another set I could obtain that are more prototypical?

P

[Mallard60022]

I'm not sure to be honest, although expressions of interest will go down well as John can then judge potential sales better.

Cheers Coach.

OK Lads you have seen it here. Comments to Fozzy ASAP I think is the way forward.

P

[billbedford]

Bogies are always a bit of a compromise and the Comet ones look OK to me. However I've used some MJT (Mike T's) and 247s (Gary's) Gresleys on a couple of Comet Gresley builds (suburbans) as they had nice inbuilt bogie stepboards.

These BG bogies didn't have stepboards. With my lack of knowledge is there another set I could obtain that are more prototypical?

Late BG were fitted with 8ft single bolster bogies. To see the difference between these and the standard 8ft 6in type see the last but one post on this page.

AFAIK no one makes an 8Ft bogie,

[coachmann]

Dear Bill Bedford,

 

In case you are not aware, perhaps I should explain that painting & lining models has been my sole form of income since 1972, and of course I was doing it long before them. Naturally I have a good library of coach books too.

 

So why would'nt I know that the solebars were teak? I didnt realize I had to explain to all and sundry why I happened to paint the solebars black on my coaches. But here's the anwer....They were mine and it was through choice for the following reasons:-

 

A study of LNER teak coaches in in David Jenkinsons 'The Big Four in Colour' was enough for me to decide it wasn't worth the effort when the solebars did not scream out 'teak' colour so I sprayed them black before weathering them. I doubt whether many cleaners in LNER days bothered to squeeze a rag between the bottom of the coach and the footboards and below the footboards even in LNER halcion days. They certainly wouldn't have during the war and afterwards. The regularly cleaned white-roofed teak coaches in the cosy world of preservation are a world apart from the daily life of a teak coaches on our past mainline railways. If people want to copy them and make believe they are reflecting the real LNER, that's their choice. I am merely reflecting teak coaches as they looked in BR days.

[MikeTrice]

Late BG were fitted with 8ft single bolster bogies. To see the difference between these and the standard 8ft 6in type see the last but one post on this page.

AFAIK no one makes an 8Ft bogie,

Cooper Craft do a nice 8'0" bogie. Highly recommended.

[Mallard60022]

Thanks Mike. I'll get a set of CCraft and see what they look like (plus some other bits & pieces just for fun you understand )

P @ 36E