West End Workbench

[jwealleans]

I'm probably not the person to ask - I use whatever's to hand.  I'm working through a sheet of OHP acetate on these coaches, but I recycle the clear fronts of Hornby and Bachmann boxes, other packaging, anything as long as it's clear and not marked or creased.

[richard i]

Easter provides the fronts of Easter egg boxes. Better than the chocolate within. As it provides my annual supply of glazing.

richard 

[thegreenhowards]

I use Peco point packaging. It’s clear, quite stiff and freely available.

[gr.king]

I can see the case for the flatness, transparency and scratch-resistance of real slide glass - or are we talking about slide cover slips?

 

Set against that. free and readily available clear packaging is safer to handle, won't crack or shatter in situ, can be cut to any desired shape, can be given a fine trim if not quite right, and isn't too fussy about the type of adhesive used (if any) to hold it in place.

 

Mechanical retention of the glazing has to be preferable to total reliance on glue.

[jwealleans]

Lots of shows through October, so not so much modelling time and not much worth showing.

 

I have painted the MJT D6 Composite which was in brass on the previous page.   For variety I've teaked this one, in wartime 'N E' branding, class indication on First Class only and a post-1946 number.  The intention is that this will be quite a scruffy vehicle relative to the rest of the set.  Once this one is complete I can crack on with building the Diagram 7 which runs beside it.

 

 

While I was doing blood and custard vehicles, my thoughts returned to this, a Bachmann Thompson bought out of curiosity at a show well before lockdown at a knockdown price.   You can always use a D 329 on a 1950s layout.   Back in the days when Larry Goddard was on here, he repainted the very dark Bachmann crimson and I have done the same.

 

 

The interior was also a very sombre dark brown, which went against my recollection of riding in the restored D329 which seemed very light and airy.   That was painted Humbrol 62 and the seats a lighter shade of red.   What was less successful was removing the printed corridor handrails and replacing with brass wire.   It's made a bit of a mess and i shan't bother doing that again.

 

 

I've had another distraction running alongside these and that young Jesse Sim needs to take responsibility here.   He brought to my attention a set of John Fozard carriages which were being sold by Ellis Clark.  They weren't exorbitantly dear and I can't resist a 58' Gresley, especially ones which are no longer available.   When they arrived it was clear they'd need some work.   

 

 

It goes very much against the grain to criticise other people's work, especially when they're no longer able to defend themselves.  I corresponded with John Fozard and met him once.  He was a nice chap who produced a sadly missed range of kits and I have no way of knowing what the terms of the commission for these was.   However, as LNER coaches, they were well wide of the mark.  Apart from the drab uniform brown finish, they had black solebars and wheel centres and no rain deflectors above the (roof coloured) cantrail.   The grab handles were also the wrong shape and size, so they'd have looked odd in a rake with other carriages.

 

 

They were never going to stay like that in my care, so into the stripper they went and they're now on their way to being refinished.   This is the D274 BT seen above:

 

 

It needs an extra skylight on the guards compartment so the roof is not yet repainted.   There was also a D164A Composite, the one with 3 lavs:

 

 

I have managed a couple of wagons too, both half finished kits which I've brought to completion.   Both Dave Geen examples as well, a D88 LNWR van and an L & Y D1 open.

 

 

Finally, I should say that I will be demonstrating wagon building at Warley on the 26th/27th.  stand A57E, adjacent to my friends and colleagues Mr Nicholas, who will help you plan your layout and Mr King, who will liberally shower it with resin.  If you're in attendance do please come and say hello.  We're very handy for the Gents.  I will be concentrating on cheap and cheerful kits and RTR upgrades this year, all with an LNER theme.

Edited November 15, 2022 by jwealleans

[Barry O]

and I am not far away from the mob.. so beware of low flying weathering!  

 

Baz

[drmditch]

On 14/11/2022 at 21:26, jwealleans said:

If you're in attendance do please come and say  I will be concentrating on cheap and cheerful kits and RTR upgrades this year, all with an LNER theme.

 

Well, I shall not be able to attend in person, but am very interested in what you describe.

Hope all goes well, and please take (and post) some nice pictures.

[jwealleans]

13 minutes ago, drmditch said:

... am very interested in what you describe.

 

You'll find it all on the LNER Forum on my or Mr. King's threads - the plan is an Airfix BV to  a Toad D, maybe even more than one, HB van to a refrigerated example and some Thomas van mouldings to NER F10.

 

That said, I'll have other kits and examples with me and am happy to discuss any medium or prototype.

[Jesse Sim]

7 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

HB van to a refrigerated example

That’s reminded me I still need to add the HB Mr King sent me to my one 

[gr.king]

That HB transfer should be well matured by now. 

[Jesse Sim]

38 minutes ago, gr.king said:

That HB transfer should be well matured by now. 

Might have to borrow some glue from the man in Grimsby 

[jwealleans]

To clarify for anyone not on the original email exchange (which is almost everyone), "The man in Grimsby" is not our resident Resinmeister, but this individual, who caused some mild mirth this morning:

 

https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/man-glues-himself-desk-grimsby-7835097

 

I was especially amused by "...his unimpressed wife has been watching on from the side."

[chris p bacon]

I initially wondered what was in his left hand ....😮

 

If all is well I will be at Warley on the Saturday, I may have some etches with me but not guaranteed.

[57xx]

On 07/10/2022 at 19:25, Compound2632 said:

I thought I had gathered that the other variant of this van came with the plain lever on both sides, so if you have one of each it is straightforward to sort out the dog's dinner the factory made of putting them together.

 

Whilst you're correct that the Banana van comes with plain levers both sides, it's not a straight forward swap of a couple of levers (as I thought it might have been too) as the tumbler on the clutch is moulded as part of the V hanger. Swap the V hanger you might say? Thought of that, but the brake shoe and rodding is part of the V hanger moulding too. It will require some minor surgery that I haven't bothered to get around to yet.

Edited November 19, 2022 by 57xx

[jwealleans]

If memory serves, I cut the lever off the V hanger, persuaded it upwards and added a small plastic disc to suggest the Morton clutch.   I have a much better recollection of making the end vents, the brakes only took a few moments.

 

Some of you may have heard that it was Warley at the weekend: this was what I had achieved by Sunday afternoon.

 

 

This year's demo concentrated on wagons on the cheap, and i was converting an Airfix brake van into an LNER diagram.   SWMBO also started her first ever kit, a Cambrian LMS van.

 

It hasn't taken too long to bring close to completion:

 

 

 

The roof must have been cockeyed on the bottle when I bent it.  It'll sort itself out once glued.   I'm thinking I'll keep this one for demonstrations, the garish Airfix plastic really shows up the alterations very well.  I have another couple I can build to use instead.

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by jwealleans

[57xx]

On 29/11/2022 at 21:39, jwealleans said:

If memory serves, I cut the lever off the V hanger, persuaded it upwards and added a small plastic disc to suggest the Morton clutch.   I have a much better recollection of making the end vents, the brakes only took a few moments.

 

That does sound like a lot easier way to do it rather than trying to swap levers between two different models.

[jwealleans]

I've been pressing on with the wagons I had at Warley this week as i had all the bits and reference material to hand when we came back.

 

2 more brake vans well on the way - just need the rivet transfers applying, roofs and brake pipe upstands and the usual tidying up.  If I do any more of these, I think I'll try the later diagram which had the concrete weights on the ends.  The spare solebar holes also need filling in, I'd forgotten about that.

 

 

Two of the Hornby F10 van mouldings also well on the way.   One still needs brake gear and the other looks as though either a spring hanger has bent upwards or an axlebox has slipped down.  The left one will be finished in oxide as if in meat traffic, the right one will be white.  These other liveries are much cheaper than the Thomas ones and also don't have the holes in the side where the circus panel is attached.

 

 

H & B van also now with undercrackers.  I might yet reinstate some strapping on this one - I cut it off to make panelling in the recesses easier.   All the bits and bobs for this and the F10s come from 51L/Wizard.

 

 

To show that I do take my own advice about buying and renovating show wrecks, a pair of Parkside LNER horseboxes I picked up at Cleveland Club open day in September.   They were both fairly battered and had awful paint jobs - one was light green, the other a maroony colour with apparently random lettering.    One is now well on the way, the other needs the lower steps making and one or two brake shoes reinstating.  I found a use for those brass buffers K's kits used to come with here, even though the heads are slightly small.  The door springs are made from the square wire Wizard sell for point rodding.

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by jwealleans

[Jesse Sim]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

I've been pressing on with the wagons I had at Warley this week as i had all the bits and reference material to hand when we came back.

 

2 more brake vans well on the way - just need the rivet transfers applying, roofs and brake pipe upstands and the usual tidying up.  If I do any more of these, I think I'll try the later diagram which had the concrete weights on the ends.  The spare solebar holes also need filling in, I'd forgotten about that.

 

 

Two of the Hornby F10 van mouldings also well on the way.   One still needs brake gear and the other looks as though either a spring hanger has bent upwards or an axlebox has slipped down.  The left one will be finished in oxide as if in meat traffic, the right one will be white.  These other liveries are much cheaper than the Thomas ones and also don't have the holes in the side where the circus panel is attached.

 

 

H & B van also now with undercrackers.  I might yet reinstate some strapping on this one - I cut it off to make panelling in the recesses easier.   All the bits and bobs for this and the F10s come from 51L/Wizard.

 

 

To show that I do take my own advice about buying and renovating show wrecks, a pair of Parkside LNER horseboxes I picked up at Cleveland Club open day in September.   They were both fairly battered and had awful paint jobs - one was light green, the other a maroony colour with apparently random lettering.    One is now well on the way, the other needs the lower steps making and one or two brake shoes reinstating.  I found a use for those brass buffers K's kits used to come with here, even though the heads are slightly small.  The door springs are made from the square wire Wizard sell for point rodding.

 

We are going to be left high and dry if Wizards stop stocking the mainly trains etch!

[Tony Teague]

Hi Jonathan

May I pick your brains on the subject of making a reasonable model out of a duff prototype please?

At some point in the past when I didn't know any better I acquired two or three each of a box van and a bogie bolster wagon respectively; they have been 'withdrawn' from service for some time and rather than just hit them with a lump hammer I have recently been wondering what could be made from them.

The box van looks the simplest; it was made by Dapol & sold as a 'special commission' by a model shop in Tunbridge Wells (Ballards) as an "SR Fish van" but so far as I can see it was a re-badged version of what Dapol had previously marketed as an LMS box van, and this in turn was based on a SR d.1458 2+2 planked 12T van of which the SR made 400 for the LMS and 650 for the GWR (as well as many more for themselves) during WW2. The overall dimensions are correct at body 17'6", 10' wheelbase.

I'd appreciate your observations, but if I am right this one could simply be re-liveried in any one of LMS, GWR or SR liveries, plus it would need vacuum pipes fitting at either end.

 

The second wagon is more problematic and I have been unable to find a viable prototype, although it is fair to say that I don't have reference material for the wagons of every pre-nationalisation company.

I think this is a Lima model supposedly of a BR era wagon but it's scale length is only 32' with 2 x 5' bogies at 22'6" spacing and I can't find any prototype that was this short! So if I am right these models will have to go.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on these two models; it would be good to be able to 're-purpose' them providing the effort involved is not too extreme.

 

Tony

[John Tomlinson]

5 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

Hi Jonathan

May I pick your brains on the subject of making a reasonable model out of a duff prototype please?

At some point in the past when I didn't know any better I acquired two or three each of a box van and a bogie bolster wagon respectively; they have been 'withdrawn' from service for some time and rather than just hit them with a lump hammer I have recently been wondering what could be made from them.

The box van looks the simplest; it was made by Dapol & sold as a 'special commission' by a model shop in Tunbridge Wells (Ballards) as an "SR Fish van" but so far as I can see it was a re-badged version of what Dapol had previously marketed as an LMS box van, and this in turn was based on a SR d.1458 2+2 planked 12T van of which the SR made 400 for the LMS and 650 for the GWR (as well as many more for themselves) during WW2. The overall dimensions are correct at body 17'6", 10' wheelbase.

I'd appreciate your observations, but if I am right this one could simply be re-liveried in any one of LMS, GWR or SR liveries, plus it would need vacuum pipes fitting at either end.

 

The second wagon is more problematic and I have been unable to find a viable prototype, although it is fair to say that I don't have reference material for the wagons of every pre-nationalisation company.

I think this is a Lima model supposedly of a BR era wagon but it's scale length is only 32' with 2 x 5' bogies at 22'6" spacing and I can't find any prototype that was this short! So if I am right these models will have to go.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on these two models; it would be good to be able to 're-purpose' them providing the effort involved is not too extreme.

 

Tony

 

I stand to be corrected, but isn't the bottom one a BR Bogie Bolster "E", the shortest of the lot?

 

John.

[Tony Teague]

41 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

 

I stand to be corrected, but isn't the bottom one a BR Bogie Bolster "E", the shortest of the lot?

 

John.

John

Could well be but I model 1938 - 48 and have no reference sources relating to BR wagons.

I was hoping it might be based on a "Big 4" wagon which might suit my era and to which it could be converted.

Tony

[jwealleans]

Evening Tony,

 

John has nailed the Bobol - Bogie Bolster E of 1961, diagram 1/479.   That model doesn't look too far off other than the axleboxes - the one illustrated in Don Rowland's book has roller bearings in 1962, so I'm guessing they were built with them - and the slightly astonihsing number of bolster pins.    I'm starting to get very fuzzy about things like liveries and lettering by 1961, so I'll demur to anyone more familiar with the era to make suggestions about how to improve it.  I can't think of anything pregrouping which you might try to make from it - I'd probably move it on and invest in a kit.

 

The van could be repainted and renumbered to any of the options you suggest.  The body looks OK, but I'd probably chuck the underframe and make a better one.  Those axleboxes and buffers are truly awful.   I don't have much literature on Southern vans, but if it's appropriate you could set yourself a challenge and do a fitted one with freighter brakes?   I had to replace those on my SR ferry van when someone pointed out that they were conventional Morton, which was quite wrong.  Here's a before and after to give you an idea:

 

 

[Tony Teague]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

Evening Tony,

 

John has nailed the Bobol - Bogie Bolster E of 1961, diagram 1/479.   That model doesn't look too far off other than the axleboxes - the one illustrated in Don Rowland's book has roller bearings in 1962, so I'm guessing they were built with them - and the slightly astonihsing number of bolster pins.    I'm starting to get very fuzzy about things like liveries and lettering by 1961, so I'll demur to anyone more familiar with the era to make suggestions about how to improve it.  I can't think of anything pregrouping which you might try to make from it - I'd probably move it on and invest in a kit.

 

The van could be repainted and renumbered to any of the options you suggest.  The body looks OK, but I'd probably chuck the underframe and make a better one.  Those axleboxes and buffers are truly awful.   I don't have much literature on Southern vans, but if it's appropriate you could set yourself a challenge and do a fitted one with freighter brakes?   I had to replace those on my SR ferry van when someone pointed out that they were conventional Morton, which was quite wrong.  Here's a before and after to give you an idea:

 

 

Thanks Jonathan

Very helpful.

Looks like I will have several Bogie Bolster E's looking for a good home!

I hadn't thought of the Ferry Van for this body, probably becasue that has a 9' underframe, but certainly it could be replaced.

Thanks for the ideas; I shall have to get busy.

Tony

[John Tomlinson]

16 hours ago, jwealleans said:

Evening Tony,

 

John has nailed the Bobol - Bogie Bolster E of 1961, diagram 1/479.   That model doesn't look too far off other than the axleboxes - the one illustrated in Don Rowland's book has roller bearings in 1962, so I'm guessing they were built with them - and the slightly astonihsing number of bolster pins.    I'm starting to get very fuzzy about things like liveries and lettering by 1961, so I'll demur to anyone more familiar with the era to make suggestions about how to improve it.  I can't think of anything pregrouping which you might try to make from it - I'd probably move it on and invest in a kit.

 

The van could be repainted and renumbered to any of the options you suggest.  The body looks OK, but I'd probably chuck the underframe and make a better one.  Those axleboxes and buffers are truly awful.   I don't have much literature on Southern vans, but if it's appropriate you could set yourself a challenge and do a fitted one with freighter brakes?   I had to replace those on my SR ferry van when someone pointed out that they were conventional Morton, which was quite wrong.  Here's a before and after to give you an idea:

 

 

 

I think when Lima tooled the Bogie Bolster E, they made the error of assuming that the bolster pins, the vertical stanchions on the bolsters, were fitted in all the available holes. Whereas, as I understand it, in practice there were only two actually in use at any time, and their position was adjusted to suit the load.

 

A stunning job on the SR ferryvan underframe, really looks the part!

 

John.

[41516]

3 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

they made the error of assuming that the bolster pins, the vertical stanchions on the bolsters, were fitted in all the available holes

 

Must have been the same person who who designed the Lima horse box with the multitude of ventilators....