Kev_Lewis Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 As most of my current projects have stalled, mainly due to the awful weather meaning I can't do any weathering or painting, I decided to build something today. It was a choice between a JLTRT Mark 1 BSK or a Blacksmith A31 Auto Trailer. Despite it being a very recent addition to the unbuilt kits pile I chose the Auto Trailer. The kit is from Blacksmith, but the etches show that it was previously from Mallard Models. Supplied in a sturdy box which will hold the completed model. I even managed to get wheels with it when purchased from a certain well known auction website. I decided to start on the bogies first. The etches were very tarnished, but a quick clean up with a Garyflex block got them nice and shiney again. The photo below shows to good effect the difference between the cleaned and the yet to be cleaned etches. The bogie castings, all pretty clean. The two basic bogie assemblies all solderd up and washed. The wheels have been blackened using Gun Blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeT Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hi Kev, Watching the build with intrest as usual, good job so far, keep the pictures coming. George.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 On with the bogies. If anyone's interested these are 8 foot American type. The basic bogie assembly. This was folded up from one etch, with the steps and the strengthening peice in the middle the only additions so far. Axle boxes on first. These took some very careful drilling to get them to fit over the bearings. The first of the springs go on next. I forgot to take a photo after fitting the beam. Here it is with the centre leaf springs fitted too. Here's one I made earlier! Both complete. Hopefully I can make a start on the body tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Looking good Kev. Hopefully the rest of the build will go just as well. Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thank you George and Duncan for your kind words. I'll do my best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 I think I've made good progress on the Autocoach this week. Wednesday was spent removing a few parts from thier etches and cleaning up. Last night I constructed the basic body. And tonight I cleaned up after last night. First there was the preformed floor and sides. Lost of parts to be removed from the floor and then a good clean up with the Garyflex block. Here's the etches for the ends, partitions and solebars. One of the solebar overlays is a little mangled but it should flatten out okay. Now beginning construction. The centre door frames are folded in and soldered. The centre partitions go in. And then I got a bit slack at taking photo's. So here's a few of the basic body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Making good progress there Kev. One of these days I'm going to have to teach myself how to solder brass kits. Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack P Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 It's coming along well Kev, you sure do build fast! Making good progress there Kev. One of these days I'm going to have to teach myself how to solder brass kits. Duncan Remember, It's never as hard as you think it is! I keep telling myself that too! Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Looking good Kev, I wish that some one did a kit like this of an LNER Sentinal railcar. GP Models does a nice kit for the Clayton built rail cars but they don't have the same visual appeal of the Sentinels (to me at any rate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thanks for all of your kind words gents. One of these days I'm going to have to teach myself how to solder brass kits. Soldering really isn't as hard as you might think. Plus there's always lots of people here on RMWeb who are more than happy to offer advice. It's coming along well Kev, you sure do build fast! I don't think I really build that fast, Jack. So far I've spent four evenings and an afternoon working on the autocoach. I wish that some one did a kit like this of an LNER Sentinal railcar. GP Models does a nice kit for the Clayton built rail cars but they don't have the same visual appeal of the Sentinels (to me at any rate) I do have to admit that I have no knowledge what-so-ever of the LNER Sentinal railcar, so I Googled it. It's certainly an interesting prototype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Its been a rather hectic weekend and I still have cold toes from when I mowed the cricket pitch this morning, but I did find a bit of time to do some work on the autocoach last night. First jobs was to fit the centre doors. Then I made up the bogie mounts. I've not taken a photo of them fitted, it's not very exciting! Next I fitted the solebars. With it now able to sit on it's bogies it does look a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 I just done a few bits on the autocoach over the last couple of nights. Namely fitting the buffer beam and sole bar overlays, and the truss rods. More work on the underframe fittings later this week, hopefully. Here's a couple of progress photo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Hello Kev, nice looking build, you mentioned that a lot of parts were in the floor pan etch, when I get a kit that is like that I like to keep all the parts in place until I can get a "box" made. I just think that it helps add a bit of strength to start off with. No one way is right and no one way is wrong. I just think it may help in keeping things a bit more together. If you get what I'm saying? Also the more bits that I cut from the fret the more chance I have of loosing them. OzzyO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 Hi OzzyO, That does make very good sense. Thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 I didn't realise it's been so long since I updated my workbench. At the beginning of April I lost a bit of modelling mojo with the autocoach kit and put it aside to do some other projects. Namely finishing a few of the twenty odd wagons I had in various stages of completion and layout planning. Oh, and we've decorated my room, meaning that the workbench had to be completely packed away and setup again. So with Saturday's cricket being abandoned due to rain and yesterday's cricket being cancelled due to rain, I decided to resume work on the autocoach. I've fitted the vacuum cylinders and V hangers, made up the gas cylinders (these will be epoxied in place after painting), and fitted all the grab handles and T handles. Next is all the steps and lamp brackets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeT Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Coming together very well Kev, a very nice build, watching the progress with interest. what colour will it be finished in ? George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Coming together very well Kev, a very nice build, watching the progress with interest. what colour will it be finished in ? George Thanks George. It'll be finished in unlined maroon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Very Nice Kev, good to see you back at it - I know how you feel on the loss of mojo front I haven't done much modelling for a month or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Very Nice Kev, good to see you back at it - I know how you feel on the loss of mojo front I haven't done much modelling for a month or more. Thanks Rob. Hope you get your mojo back soon. For me it also doesn't help that we're well in to cricket season. Every weekend until September includes one or two games of cricket. Plus I'm currently spending up to ten hours a week working on the ground. That's a lot of modelling time lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 I managed to get in a couple of good sessions on the autocoach last week. Many of the foot steps were cleaned up and fitted, along with the vertical hand rails and the lamp brackets. I was unhappy with the etched lamp brackets, so I've borrowed the cast ones from the Scorpio 14XX kit I have waiting to be built. Still a bit more cleaning up to do and I've started preparing the parts for the retractable centre steps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 This is coming along nicely. It is the sort of coach I like, I may have the oppertunity to do one, one day. The unfortunate thing is I have wait until some wants one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 24, 2013 Author Share Posted June 24, 2013 Thanks Peter. It does have an oldie look to it. I did briefly consider filling in the toplights. Some of this diagram did and it does give them a more modern appearance. But I decided it was too much work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted June 24, 2013 Author Share Posted June 24, 2013 As the weather was nice today I took the opportunity to get a couple of coats of black etch primer on the bogies. Silly me forgot to do the gas tanks too. D'oh! I've also placed orders for castings to finish the autocoach and my next couple of projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gateman49 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Hi Kev This is a fascinating build, I'm impressed and also a bit embarrassed as I've had a 7mm Mallard kit for the same for years without starting it. You definitely couldn't get the built kit into the box though as it is a great big flat thing! Over the years, to improve it I have bought all sorts of bits and pieces (CPL/Aust have very nice detailing parts such as window grills, driver's vacuum and hand brake etc, Scorpio sold me a set of white metal seats at a very reasonable price as well as a brass roof and I upgraded the buffers too). I've taken a photo of my kit and the extras for comparisons and if you are interested I will post it separately. One particular thing I did was to buy a set of 7'plate bogies (CCW and still available I think) as the kit is a hybrid itself! If you want to be absolutely true to prototype then there are some quirks! Firstly, the bogies don't go with the kit with centre double doors (ex Dia Q)! There were two variants depending on the original builder and, as far as I know the single centre door version (ex Dia Q1) was the only one to appear with american bogies (of course, I stand to be corrected). The only coach with american bogies that I've seen photographed is No 204 which was a single door variant! Then there are the windows at the non driving end. These are plated over in my Mallard kit as designed (and, I think in yours from Blacksmith). Apparently these windows were painted black from 1935 and later they were plated over so, as long as you are modelling from the late 30's onwards this is no problem. But if you are going for an earlier era then watch out! That said, I must congratulate you for getting on with it! By the way, the pannier loco cab photo posted by Ozzyo at the beginning of the month was taken by me at Buckfastleigh in the last 12 months. It actually shows the tiny 1369 not a 57xx! This is the workhorse of the SDR fleet and is currently running back and forth to Totnes most days. This too is a quirky photo as the reversing lever has a padlock, I don't think that these were used in steam days! Keep up the good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gateman49 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Hi again Kev I hope that I've remembered how to post images. If so, here is my Mallard kit in the flatpack box and lid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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