Chris Heighton Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hi folks! Thought it was about time to break cover with my latest project: an ex-NER V1 brake van, sold into industrial use with the Concert Ironworks Company. The prototype has led an interesting life, and is still in regular use on the Tanfield Railway as the Pway tool van: As you can clearly see, it has been modified since its' NER days, with the ducket removed, several lamp-irons removed, new windows cut into the ducket end and the footboards shortened. It's still in quite good nick for a vehicle in more-or-less constant use since the 1890's! The obvious starting point would be Connoisseur Models' V1 Brake van kit, so I bought one off Jim at the York show this year, and made a start of the kit during the Tanfield's Gala in September. The most daunting part of the build was modifying the ducket end, and it was with some trepidation I took a pair of snips to the kit and removed the window frames. I then marked out where the new windows had to go with masking tape, before drilling holes and roughly cutting out the windows with a fine fret saw, before finishing off with files: It was then just a case of rolling a new roof from a sheet of brass, and painting and weathering the van. The Whole vehicle got two coats of Halfords red oxide primer, which was close enough to the actual shade to make little difference. The lettering was then added using Fox Transfers' 3mm Gill Sans white lettering (these, I discovered, were too big to represent the prototype lettering - a mistake I made when measuring the originals, but look good nonetheless), each letter applied individually - my poor eyes!. This was then sealed in using Phoenix satin varnish aerosol; once it had set the body was given a wash with railmatch matt black. For weathering, I dry-brushed on Railmatch 406 "Sleeper Grime", before giving the axleboxes and "W" irons a once over with Tamiya weathering powders - Oil Stain, Rust and a hint of Burnt Blue to highlight the oil spills a bit. All that remains now is to add a floor and the glazing, then take it down the Bait Room at the Tanfield for everyone to have a good look at! Please not that the final two pictures were taken under artificial light in the evening, and doesn’t show off the weathering to best effect, as well as bleaching out the colours somewhat. I'll try to get some shot in natural daylight if any occurs between now and April! -Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold DaveyH Posted November 10, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 10, 2012 This is lovely stuff. May I ask what you use to roll the brass for the roof? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Heighton Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 A stout peice of 1" dowel and a thick wodge of kitchen towel. It was not ideal and I spent some time forming the brass with my fingers around the dowel; next time I'll try to get my hands on an old mouse mat and some mild steel rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Very nice work, Chris. You've captured the prototype extremely well (just need to blacken/darken those three-link couplings now :-) David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Pulham Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 It looks excellent Chris, you can never have too many brake vans Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Have a look back at this topic, http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42047-rare-wagon-photograph/page__fromsearch__1 There is a picture of it while still at Derwenthaugh as a tool van. Mark Saunders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Heighton Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Took the model down to the Tanfield this weekend to let the guys and girls have a look at it. Comments were generally very positive, apart from people commenting that the model was in far better nick than the real thing! I managed to get a couple of shots of the model with the real thing, but only on my crappy 'phone camera. Still, at least it got me out of the firebox of Renishaw for a bit (four hours needle gunning the tube plate and foundation ring - I still can taste the rust now!) The colour is quite a good match for the real thing, and the weathering looks better in natural light. Van on a van - quite a smokey atmosphere due to an epic cold start from the railway's RSH Huskey shunter! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyfox Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Lovely work Chris. Of course Connosieur kits are so good the hardest part is typing the company name into a search... ...I would imagine the brass was a pain to work as I found the etches to be quite thick and tough. An excellent little project. It's a shame that we can't replicate a bit of wood rot in brass easily! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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