Wolfy's new workbench - Connoisseur Loriot M

[Wolfy]

After a lengthy hiatus I am back modelling again, and to start off I have a few wagons on my workbench. I started last week with these two; a Parkside 12 ton goods van and a Slater's 1907 RCH 10 ton mineral wagon:

 

 

There is also a Parkside BR 21 ton coal wagon.The Slater's wagon came via POW Sides. It has their sides fitted and the upper section was pre-painted. I have no idea why I ordered this particular one as the side reads "Stratford, G.E.R." which places it outside my eras and area of interest (the Midlands in the 30s and 50s). All I can think is that I got my Stratfords mixed up. The 21 coal wagon has been the trickiest of the three as the solebars don't fit as positively as on the other two kits, but it all went together fine. Here is a photo of the state of play on the van and the big coal wagon:

 

 

I've added the cross rod for the brakes (what is that bit called?) from brass wire. The open wagon just needs the door bumpers and will be ready for painting. I'll add buffers and couplings after painting, and I'll add the roof to the van once the body is painted.

 

As for the PO wagon, the body is complete but I've decided that as the ironwork on the solebars will need to be picked out in black, it'll be easier to paint them before fitting them.

 

All the best,

 

Tom

[Wolfy]

Hello everyone,

Things are very quiet on my workbench at the moment; I had an operation on my left hand on Monday so that is in a cast until next week. Obviously this makes modelling a tad tricky. Nonetheless, I have made a start on my next project. To give you some background, for my thirteenth birthday I got a Wills 1854 pannier tank kit. Sadly, soldering white metal and getting a running chassis proved to be beyond my limited skills at the time and, after much frustration, it went into my parents’ loft where it languished for over 20 years.

Anyway, on a recent trip home I rescued it, and yesterday I decided that even if I couldn’t build a model one-handed, I could pour a can of Nitromors over one. Today I went to get it out (not an easy task when you need to keep the green goo off your cast!), and here are the parts:

 

 

As you can see the running-plate/cab-side mouldings are missing. This is because the buffer-beam mouldings didn’t come off so they are still in the Nitromors. My next plans are to do some research into the 1854 class and to contact SE Finecast to order an etched chassis.

[Wolfy]

Well post-op recovery took longer than I'd expected (but not longer than the surgeon expected - I was just being over optimistic about how long it would take) and then work and summer holidays have got in the way, so I have not done a great deal of modelling.

 

The two open wagons have been painted although I don't have any photos. I'll try to post some when they have buffers and couplings. I've also made a start on two other kits; one of them is a GWR 20t coal wagon by Parkside. Here's a photo of it next to the BR 20t coal wagon. The eagle eyed will spot a slight difference...

 

7mm has always really tempted me and I decided that as I have no space for an actual layout, I might as well move to the bigger scale, so the pannier is on the backburner again. I'm really enjoying working in 7mm. I've included the BR wagon from post 1 in this photo to give an idea of scale, and 7mm is big, much more than I expected. I can see why people talk about its presence.

 

The kit is excellent; the only problem I had was my own doing. The solebars snap into place between the headstocks, but they do need a little fettling to get a good fit. Foolishly I didn't check the fit enough before gluing and so ended up with a wagon that didn't quite sit on all four wheels. Thankfully the kit allows the axleboxes to move up and down a little so a spot of glue to fix them has cured this problem. The next step is to fit the breakgear.

 

My other project which I started today is this a GWR Connoisseur Loriot M:

 

I'm very excited to be working in brass, and so far have found the kit an absolute delight to work with, although all I've done so far is punch out some rivets and boltheads and make the first few folds. I don't have proper folding bars but seem to have coped okay with an offcut of MDF, two metal rulers, some clamps and a Stanley knife blade. I'm hoping to start soldering tomorrow (wish me luck!). Anyway, here is the stet of play (the long fold on the bottom of the frame was done with a vice and a metal ruler):

 

 

And here is my rivet press (pink hammer from my girlfriend's tool kit not pictured):

 

[3 link]

Welcome to the slippery slope of 7mm, as the parts are nearly twice the size if 4mm, it makes kits much easier to work with.

 

Been building in 7mm for over 25 years and never regretted it for a moment.

 

Martyn.