jjnewitt's Workbench - Anchor Mount Tanks

[jjnewitt]

A complete redesign of the Rumney Models website has taken up a fair amount of my time recently but there has been some progress on projects, most of which will end up on the whizzy new web portal.

 

A second round of wagon axlebox and springs test prints were recieved at the Scalefour Society's AGM recently and have been signed off. They have since been sent off and recieved back from a firm that does lost wax casting to see what they looked liked. Pretty good is the answer. The folowing shows a 6 leaf spring with plate front axlebox as well as castings for GWR plate freight bogies.

 

 

All the development work for this project is now complete and I can move forward to getting the production masters printed and then turned into castings. Not a moment too soon either. I've got a load of wagons waiting to be finished!

 

I've also recently been very busy with artwork for United Dairies and Unigate milk tank plates. Assuming all looks good when I recieve the etches back they will be available in both 4mm and 7mm scales.

 

 

The test build of the BR 1/448 clasp braked Tube chassis is now complete. I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out. These will be available soon. I like long wagons like these. The chassis takes about the same length of time to build as a 17'6" clasp brake chassis but you get nearly two wagons worth of train length for your time!

 

 

The mamouth Bogie Bolster C project also rumbles on and the first round of detailing parts are on schedule for release in September. The following photo shows unfitted lever brakegear fitted to a Bachmann model. More details will be posted nearer the time.

 

 

Development work on the freight bogies is also complete. There will be four at first, all plate types: GWR and GWR heavy duty with those lovely scallop shall axleboxes as well as BR oil and roller bearing. These should be available before too long but I wont be ordering the etches until I know when the castings (see above) are going to arrive which means they may not make the September releases.

 

 

Rumney Models will be at Larkrail later this month. It looks like it's going to be a great day so if you're in the area come do along.

 

Justin

[Porcy Mane]

Hmmmmmmmm. (Scratches chin & glances skywards) thinking about ever diminishing finances.

[jjnewitt]

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s update I had an exciting package this morning. Yesterday I mentioned some United Dairies/Unigate milk tank plates that I was having etched; well they’ve arrived and look pretty good:

 

 

These were something I’d always wanted to try and do and I was inspired to get on and sort them out by a Rumney Models customer who has actually painted his David Geen/Rumney Models milk tanks. They turned into a bit of a labour of love. Research was bit of a challenge and there was a complete redraw of the artwork as much was well under what could be reliably etched. A lot of thanks goes to Brian Hanson of Shawplan who was really helpful giving advice on the artwork.

 

There are 4mm and 7mm scale plates with both United Dairies and Unigate styles as well as a couple of S scale ones. Next job is to fill in the half etched areas with black paint and get them packaged up. I might have to try and finish painting my four Unigate milk tanks which are still in primer!

 

Justin

[Colin parks]

Hi Justin,

 

That tube wagon looks very impressive indeed.  It could be mistaken for a 7mm scale model - the detail is so crisp!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[jjnewitt]

The wagon axlebox and springs saga is finally drawing to a conclusion. The production brass castings have been returned to me and I've just spent the best part of two days tidiying them up ready to be sent off to make the whitemetal moulds. Very nice they look to!

 

All being well I should have these available at Scalefourm and will look forward to adding some proper BR era axlebox and springs to my own underframes.

 

If anyone wants a sneak peak at the initial range then have a look here. I've yet to finalise prices but they are likely to be around the £2.50 mark for a wagon's worth in whitemetal.

 

Justin

[jjnewitt]

The arrival of a baby daughter recently has meant that there hasn’t been as much time as usual for modelling time. However in between the nappy changes and feeds a few things have passed by my workbench.

 

First up is a 14T anchor mount tanks wagon. I’d been wanting to try and do a completely open underframe for use with tank wagons for a little now but wasn’t sure how robust it would be. The arrival of the Bachmann model spurred me into thinking further about it and this is the result:

 

 

The tank won’t stay like that. The Bachmann model is a 14T tank (technically I think it’s a 14T class A tank), the 20T class B tanks were longer and of slightly greater diameter which although not huge has a knock on effect on the profile of the saddles. The underframes also had heavier axleguards, springs and axleboxes which you would expect with the increase in load. I want to try and finish it as a National Benzole class B tank as seen on Paul Bartlett’s wonderful website. If getting transfers done proves to be problematic I’ll think again.

 

My desire to see a decent sized range of BR steam era wagon axlebox and spring castings has led to some more virtual modelling. One of the really nice things about doing these drawings is knowing that you’re going to end up with something that, as far as I know, hasn’t been really available before such as these 10” x 5” RCH 2 part and BR 2 part square axleboxes:

 

 

And these LMS platefront and LNER welded axleboxes:

 

 

Also a trip to Peak Rail on a very fine October day last year gave me chance to measure up some BR brake van springs. I’ll have to try and get round to building a couple of my Bradwell underframes now.

 

 

Of course having all these spring and axlebox castings is no good if use isn’t made of them… So one of the things I am doing at the moment is getting some of the wagons that I’ve been building over the past few years finished and ready for painting. Some of these have been seen before but not so complete.

 

LMS D.2050 5 plank open

 

BR 1/056 Shocopen

 

BR 1/109 16T mineral

 

In all cases the wagons are built from Parkside bodies and Rumney Models underframes with Rumney Models axlebox & springs castings, vacuum cylinders and Lanarkshire Models buffers. Wheels are Exactoscale.

 

Justin

[Porcy Mane]

Super tank chassis Justin. I've got a much modded Bachmann tank and walkways (Benzole) ready for paint & just waiting.

 

P

[Enterprisingwestern]

A news update from the commissions desk in a hidden corner of the Rumney empire.

 

 

 

 

As all the hard work so far is Justins, I thought I'd drop these here by way of thanks.

If I can work out how to do it I'll start an On My Workbench thread, (probably in Railways of Spain category), to keep up to speed if anyone is interested.

 

Mike.

[jjnewitt]

Looking good Mike. All the fiddly bits really lift the basic model. It's looking something like it should now!

 

Justin

[Wizard of the Moor]

Who's doing the Croxton & Garry transfers for them?

[Enterprisingwestern]

Who's doing the Croxton & Garry transfers for them?

 

You if you like, I'm doing L & S and Blue Circle!

There are differences between the two when rebuilt as slurry tanks.

 

Mike.

[jjnewitt]

Around four years ago when I was working on the Rumney Models GWR and LMS milk tank underframes and detailing parts I drew up etches for an SR milk tank. The SR take on the 3000 gallon milk tank always seemed to be a little more fun than their GWR or LMS couterparts with their quirky spring dampers, L shaped brackets for the wagon end stays and the additional bracing on the ends. I started to put the etches together but the whole project stalled whilst a solution was found to the problem of the axleboxes and springs, which were very distinctive. Recently, thanks to some 3D prints and lost wax castings, the project has found new life and whilst there are still additional etches to be done to comeplete it there are no major obstacles now to getting it finished. There's lots still to do but it's looking like an SR milk tank. The model will be finished as an Express Dairies diagram 3161. Express Dairies didn't, as far as I know, have any creameries or loading points itself in South or West Wales but their milk tanks could be seen at the Milk Marketing Board establishments at Felin Fach and Pont Llanio. With this you may not be suprised to hear that Express Dairies company and number plates are on their way to complement the United Dairies/Unigate ones that I already do. 

 

 

Justin

 

 

[Brinkly]

Hi Justin,

 

Are your SR milk tanker etches and castings available buy yet? I've been battling with a David Geen GWR kit this weekend, which I've almost lost patience with! The castings need a lot of work: perhaps you could produce a new kit!!

 

Best wishes,

Nick.

[jjnewitt]

Are your SR milk tanker etches and castings available buy yet? I've been battling with a David Geen GWR kit this weekend, which I've almost lost patience with! The castings need a lot of work: perhaps you could produce a new kit!!

 

Hi Nick.

 

I saw your post last week but have only just had chance to reply, sorry for the delay it's been a crazy week with Scaleforum.

 

The SR milk tank hasn't progressed much further than the above picture which means that it still isn't finished. I'm hoping to do some more work on it this Autumn. When it's finally finished I'll have a look and see if I'm going to release it as a kit; I'm not sure at the moment. There's an awful lot to it and I'd have to do castings for it as well.

 

With a young daughter, Rumney Models to look after and commission work to be done there hasn't been much time for modelling for myself. A couple of things that I have been playing with though are bodies for a couple of anchor mounted tank wagons. I've never been convinced by the Bachmann body as a 14T class A or 20T class B (both 7'3" diameter tanks), always thinking that it looked a bit small, which it is. With some Air Ministry and other tank wagons in the pipeline, all with proper sized tanks, I didn't think that Bachmann body would sit well with them and so have been putting together a 14T class B (6'7" diameter tank) and 20T class B (7'3" diameter tank) wagon.

 

It's interesting to get a proper visual comparison between my two and the Bachmann model, which is pretty good for a 14T class B but doesn't really convince for most of the liveries it's been released in so far. 

 

Justin