4mm and 7mm model musings

[coachmann]

Hi Coachman,

 

Well done for noticing the roof yes it was intended and to get that canvas effect, all I used was a paper kitchen towel glued onto the roof first then just add roof colour.

 

Martyn.

Good idea. "We" came across a similar idea by accident after David Jenkinson's early 7mm wooden roofs soaked up the paint. I suggested he glue writing paper to them. He was delighted because he said it resembled the texture of canvass.

[Ressaldar]

i'm about to make a start on a pair of these fruit Ds, both are the WEP kit and i like the look of these maroon examples

 

Can you narrow down which transfer sheet you used as i'll be needing some in about a months time, hopefully!

 

Thanks

 

The sheet that mine came from was Cambridge Custom Transfers BL54 - 7mm which covers ex GWR vans Y3/8/9/10/11 & 14 & BR vans 1/230/231/232/233 & 234 - 2 options for each van type. I have the BR types spare, if you are interested, please drop me a PM.

 

regards

 

Mike

[TheGhostofNigelGresley]

Some tremendous photos coming out of the woodwork Men, more please..........

[brian daniels]

Here are couple more of the GWR side of things. This and the 47XX are Finney kits by the way.

[3 link]

A couple more,

 

 

 

 

Martyn.

[Anglian]

To me the thing about O gauge is it becomes the point where the surfaces of models are sufficiently large enough to display the same effects of light bouncing off them as the real thing. Then of course there's the relative and contrasting thicknesses of materials that are usually exaggerated or somewhat compromised in the smaller scales. For these reason, my 'dream layout' (that other thread) would be O, without a second doubt.

 

To pick up on coachman's point (sorry) about the track looking better I'm convinced this is due to the chairs that give the right impression of being heavy. Well that's my take on it.

[Buckjumper]

Nothing more common in East Anglia for seventy years than the good old stager, that maid of all work, the J15. This from a Connoisseur kit with replacement etched tender frames to my own design to replcate the pre-1892 style not included in the kit. The weather sheet is painted and dry-brushed tissue the etched sheets come wrapped in, and the general filth is redolent of the condition most were found in during the 50s.

 

 

You don't need a lot of space for a small East Anglian branch train, and there were still mixed trains with one or two ancient carriages on branches like Framlingham. Continuing in the ex-GER c1950s theme, most GE carriages lasting to Nationalisation remained in one of several shades of Stratford brown to the end. This from a D&S kit with a wooden roof and 0.13mm thick glass in the windows. The gangway is scratchbuilt, the bellows formed from concertinaed 1 thou brass shim soldered up to hang like canvass.

 

 

Many GE goods brake vans lasted into the 50s too, the majority of which were the 20T 4-wheel version, and nearly 200 examples made it, though rapid withdrawal decimated numbers over the next ten years. This in careworn LNE livery was built for a transition period layout set c1948-51. From a Shedmaster (now Laurie Griffin) kit which is a blown-up Jidenco kit.  A horror to build, but worth it in the end. I drilled out the cast lamps and put in clear and red lenses, the latter fortuitously caught the sun as I took the photo.

 

 

With 7mm you an really go to town on the detail, though I still maintain that added texture needs to be tempered or it can look too much like a caricature. If I distress 'wood' I knock it back with wet & dry, and let drybrushed highlights and shadows take most of the strain, the same with texture on ironwork. This is a close up of a Parkside LNE van, the paint on the brake guard is bubbling and looks as if rust might break out any day, and the wooden planking looks tired with damp rising from the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Allegheny1600]

Re: Trackwork.

I did a calculation a few years ago where I worked out that O gauge track, if shrunk down by 4 sevenths - would approximately equal "EM gauge"! Therefore, no wonder O gauge track looks better - it is actually much closer to scale than "00" is, in it's respective scale.

Another way of looking at it is;

"00" track = 4'1 1/2"

"EM" track = 4' 6"

"0" track = 4'6 3/4" (approx!)

Being quite a fan of the 'Senior Scale' myself, I'm not advocating any kind of 'scale war' or slanging match - just supplying the figures!

Cheers,

John E.

[coachmann]

Lovely work Buckjumper and just up my street. The distressed wood is perfect in close up and that ex-GER carriage is sheer delight. Looks like we had similar thoughts when designing a diaramma with a sloping front (enabling low level ¾ views).  No one has uploaded any 4mm so far, but it's worth seeing for comparisons.

[N15class]

I thought I would add to the GWR vans.

 

This one is a Fruit D  from a DJB kit. Which I found a pleasure to assemble.

[Rob Pulham]

Sorry Larry more 7mm efforts

 

 

 

And just for fun I did this: Completely fictitious but I really enjoyed adding all the details just because I could and they are visible.

 

 

[Mike Boucher]

OK, I'll throw my photos into the ring...

 

7mm Slaters Stanier 20T brake.  Notice that the safety bars in each doorway are functional.  Fiddly to hook them up, but worth the extra effort IMHO.

 

 

7mm is big enough to put in the full interior.  The little lugs you see in each corner of the interior hold the roof on.  The roof has corresponding pieces that you put the roof on shifted to one end, and then slide it a little and it locks on.

 

 

And a Connoisseur Loriot, with load from Corgi.  This was my first etched brass kit.  The brake van in this photo is the same as above.

 

 

Note about the trackwork here.  The two tracks are NOT parallel.  This is a "transition module", as some people in my area made their modules to 3.5" track centers, and others to 4".  This is a 2' long module where the tracks transition between those two center-center distances.    So each piece of track in the diamonds had to be cut to fit.

[coachmann]

Rob, the IMP and tractor and the cattle wagon look the bees knees. The weathering is superbly done. I also like Mikes Loriot with traction engine and the goods brake interior. As you say, it is well worthwhile in 7mm.

[woodyfox]

Some incredible models here. Thanks for posting - really inspirational.

 

For what it's worth here's 2 of my efforts, one 7mm and one 4mm:-

 

 

and:

 

 

Thought the comparison between brass 7mm and plastic 4mm may be interesting.

 

Regards

 

Stu

[Softvark]

Here are a couple from me - this is an MMP 35.5 ton tank wagon.

 

 

And this is the underside showing the amount of detail available in the kit.

 

 

It took a while to make the first one but I've now made four.

 

 

Julian

[coachmann]

Looking at the amount of detail benieth the tank wagon, all I can say is wow! And the great thing is it is large enough to be visible even trackside. My thought have been drifting a bit since starting this thread for the following reasons.... It wouldnt matter on my garden section whether the railway was 4mm or 7mm seeing as trains wil be moving, but inside the shed at the station, 7mm really would be a boon for just sitting and looking at the same amount of detail as seen on the real things.

[84B Oxley]

Close up shot of cab and pipework of DJH Britannia 70053 Moray Firth. Built and painted by myself. In spite of having had it and run it for nearly ten years I hadn't noticed that the window 'glass' is a bit cock-eyed...........I don't think you could get this kind of realism in 4mm. scale, the pipes just wouldn't look as 'real'. But then after 20+ years in O gauge I'm bound to be a bit biased!

Jeff

[coachmann]

The Briannia shows there are some good painters and liners around..... (The radius of the corners differs on the Tender from those on the cab so I am presuming the lining is hand done and is not transfers). The 7mm scale locos look 'constructed' as distinct from  injection moulded. I like the impression of lagging on the pipework too, something I got away with drawing on in 4mm!

[3 link]

 My thought have been drifting a bit since starting this thread for the following reasons.... It wouldnt matter on my garden section whether the railway was 4mm or 7mm seeing as trains wil be moving, but inside the shed at the station, 7mm really would be a boon for just sitting and looking at the same amount of detail as seen on the real things.

 

From the sentence above I think we must of tempted you, go on the waters lovely .

 

I can honestly say I have never not even for one moment regretted moving up to 7mm, and theres a lot more 7mm on the market now than when I started some 23 yrs ago.

 

ATB,

 

Martyn.

[Pugsley]

Interesting that no high quality 4mm scale models photos have been posted (unless I've gone blind).......

Does this qualify?

The loco is a Lima body on a heavily modified Bachmann class 66 chassis. Most of the cable and pipe runs are present on the chassis, but I did omit the smallest ones to preserve a little bit of my sanity!

 

I think this one also counts, even if I didn't do much to it apart from the weathering and adding a few little details, like the washer hoses on the windscreen wipers and the cab sunshades:

[coachmann]

Welsome PUgsley, the weathering is spot on as I have come to expect. The scenes look good as well due to close attention to track and rails. Mind if I ask how the flat bottom track was made, as it looks very much the part.

[84B Oxley]

The Briannia shows there are some good painters and liners around..... (The radius of the corners differs on the Tender from those on the cab so I am presuming the lining is hand done and is not transfers). The 7mm scale locos look 'constructed' as distinct from  injection moulded. I like the impression of lagging on the pipework too, something I got away with drawing on in 4mm!

Coachmann

Whilst I'm flattered by your comments about good painters and liners around I'm sorry to inform you that the lining is by Fox...........And I've just noticed the lining on the running plate has got damaged. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The lagged pipework is in the kit, it's made from a very strange 'whitemetal' that will bend and form without breaking, though it does make a horrible noise whilst doing so !

Jeff

[Pugsley]

Welsome PUgsley, the weathering is spot on as I have come to expect. The scenes look good as well due to close attention to track and rails. Mind if I ask how the flat bottom track was made, as it looks very much the part.

Thanks coach, the FB track was the Exactoscale Fastrack bases, with the sleepers suitably painted and weathered.

[PatB]

Coachmann

Whilst I'm flattered by your comments about good painters and liners around I'm sorry to inform you that the lining is by Fox...........And I've just noticed the lining on the running plate has got damaged. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The lagged pipework is in the kit, it's made from a very strange 'whitemetal' that will bend and form without breaking, though it does make a horrible noise whilst doing so !

Jeff

 

 

Sounds like it might have a high tin content and is emitting the "tin cry" when bent, as noted here.  The rest of the website is also worth a look, being informative, funny and, in some cases, mildly disturbing.

[coachmann]

I may be in a position to upload a few shots of 4mm coaches tomorrow. I am converting my stock of etched sheets into coaches and aim to complete as many as possible in unpainted brass by the end of this month. It has been a pleasure viewing the models, the 7mm ones in particular, because of a gradually increasing interest in this scale.

 

In the meantime here are two plastikard 7mm coaches built by David Jenkinson. The gas-lit 12-wheeler found itself working local duties in LMS days.

 

I was able to include the very fine red lining along the gutter and at the base of the bodyside in 7mm, whereas it tends to look too much in the smaller scale. Not many people know it was there on real coaches....