West End Workbench

[great northern]

4 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

I'm no lawyer, but an objective test which could be repeated at will by anyone else can't be hearsay, surely?

I used to be a lawyer, and as this is reproduction of an object, not of what someone allegedly said, it is not hearsay. Now we come to the reason for my contribution. My fee is 50 guineas please, and I accept online payments these days.

[jwealleans]

34 minutes ago, great northern said:

My fee is 50 guineas please, and I accept online payments these days.

 

It's just as well you do, Gilbert, since I'm allocating those costs to he who made the suggestion in the first place.   What's the Guinea to AUD rate presently?

[57xx]

8 hours ago, gr.king said:

Are free, online, generic colourisers so thoroughly well developed that they will "know" that they are looking at a railway scene or item, know the period / area / company (and therefore know some of the certain or likely colours) and can they work out for themselves whether the image is a product of panchromatic or orthochromatic emulsion?

I'd take a very great deal of convincing.

Short answer: No.

[Jesse Sim]

12 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

I'm no lawyer, but an objective test which could be repeated at will by anyone else can't be hearsay, surely?

 

11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I'm not sure hearsay was quite the word they were looking for, Heresy, maybe? There have been a number of interesting threads on distinguishing red wagons and grey wagons in monochrome photos; a recent one is here:

 

 

There's also a good discussion here, which I think refers back to previous debates:

 

 

7 hours ago, great northern said:

I used to be a lawyer, and as this is reproduction of an object, not of what someone allegedly said, it is not hearsay. Now we come to the reason for my contribution. My fee is 50 guineas please, and I accept online payments these days.

 

Objection, Hearsay. 

[WFPettigrew]

3 hours ago, 57xx said:

Short answer: No.

History rewritten.  Essery and co all got it wrong. It was the wagons that were painted Crimson Lake... Doh... 

[jwealleans]

Well, we're getting further and further from my comfort zone as this progresses..... do all these sites work the same way or on the basis of the same assumptions?   I did, quite deliberately use several different ones when I was looking at this picture. 

 

Anyone have anything additional to throw into the mix?

[MrWolf]

Not from here, I'm quite happy to be a luddite in these matters of AI, so won't be trying to douse the flames with a gallon of petrol.

[jwealleans]

Moving away from the intricacies of interpreting elderly monochrome, I've had a request from the Far Colonies to show how I make and apply my own transfers.   Now, I've been doing this for quite some time and it's a very easy process which I'd encourage anyone to have a go at.  You don't need any special equipment unless you're printing white (which is possible at home but frankly it's easier just to get a professional to do it).  I use John Peck at Precision Decals for that, but there are plenty of other equally good suppliers.

 

What I shan't cover here is generating the artwork; there are plenty of free packages and advice out there but I'll be happy to talk to anyone about that if they call at my stand this weekend.

I've taken pictures of two separate sets of transfers in the last few days, but the process is identical for both.

 

Firstly, the printer.  i have a bog standard inkjet, a HP Deskjet 3000.   You don't need anything special to do this.

 

The paper.   I'm still using some clear paper I bought from Crafty Computer Paper about 10 years ago.  They are no longer trading.   I then needed some white paper, so I went online and found this:

 

 

There are plenty of different suppliers to choose from.   You just need to be sure that it's for your type of printer, inkjet or laser.

 

There's nothing special about printing either.  I usually print a test sheet on plain paper as a check, but if you've done your own artwork then you'll have done that anyway to check for sizing and appearance.   Print using the 'Photo paper best quality' or equivalent setting.    Once the sheet has printed leave it to dry thoroughly (I leave it overnight as a rule).

 

 

You then need to varnish it.  This is what stops the ink spreading everywhere when you wet the paper.   This varnish was recommended with the Crafty Computer Paper when I first bought that - check what your paper recommends and go with that.   Frankly, I don't know enough about this whole process to know what varnish you should or shouldn't use so I stick with manufacturer's recommendation.

 

 

Here are my varnished decals in the spray booth.   I leave these overnight again to dry thoroughly.   One point here; you can't print on the paper when it's been varnished, so I cut off the printed area before spraying and preserve the rest of the sheet for future use.

 

 

You apply the transfers just like any other waterslide ones.  A tiny amount of washing up liquid in the water (some manufacturers say lukewarm water, I'm not sure it makes a great deal of difference).   Dip the transfer and then let it soak on a mat - they can float off the paper if you leave them in the water and they they're a swine to get out without wrapping themeselves up terminally.  I use cocktail sticks and a paintbrush to position them and a cotton bud to soak up excess water.   These transfers are on a transparent backing - they were produced by Sascha Freudenberg to go with his printed containers.

 

 

Position your transfer, slide out the backing paper and carefully blot out the excess water with a cotton bud to make it adhere to the model.  One thing to remember here is that the paper you're using is a bit thicker than what the professionals use and therefore can take a bit more work to make it follow the contours of a model.   Sascha's artwork is drawn so you can apply the whole side of a container in one piece.   I found that I ended up with air bubbles and raised areas when I did that, so I've applied these in sections with better results.

 

 

Once the decal has started to dry you can use a softener to make it adhere better to the surface of the model.   This only works with waterslide transfers.    There are a number of products out there; this is the one I use and I haven't tried any others, but I haven't heard of any to avoid.   Secure it with thin coats of your preferred varnish.

 

That's all there is to it.   Once you can do this, like soldering, a whole range of new possibilities opens up.  All the following use my own transfers, made and applied at home:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one to show the limitations of the process; I did the artwork for these containers, but couldn't get the intensity of ink required for the final print, so I had to go to John Peck to produce them.

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by jwealleans

[Nick Lawson]

18 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

I'll be happy to talk to anyone about that if they call at my stand this weekend.

You're on! See you tomorrow.

[jwealleans]

Well, Warley has been and gone again.  I have to say that I did enjoy this year; thank you to everyone who came and chatted, very nice to put a few faces to names - Nick above, Chas Levin and others as well as see some regulars .   Something of a surprise to see Bill Bedford there, but no less a pleasure for the unexpected context.  I also had a long chat with Mr Cambrian kits, which was interesting.

 

I did manage to achieve some modelling in between visits - I know it's not the main reason for being there, but it's nice to come away with something made.

 

 

A pair of Flat-T bodies.   The bogies were a gift from Jesse Sim and are 3D printed by Al at NIU models.   He doesn't seem to list them but I'm sure an enquiry would procure some.   These were a joint LMS/LNER project as part of war preparations in the late 1930s, so they appear in both Tatlow and Essery.   Buffers are from LMS.    This was very straightforward to make and I had both of these done by the end of Saturday.   I always start two of anything I'm scratchbuilding in case I foul one up, it means you don't have to start again from the beginning.  If you complete both, it's a bonus.

 

 

Sunday's project was this 3D printed Warwell B (or Flatroll ELL if you prefer).  An unusual wagon and a bit of a last minute choice to do.  They were built for a very large Sherman tank variant and had to have out of gauge side pieces bolted on to carry them.   After the war they went into traffic with the side pieces removed, hence all the bolt holes.   This is a very poor 3D print, to be fair from about 10 years ago by a chap called Wild Boar Fell who was very active on here at one time but seems to have dropped out of sight since.   It's taken a lot of preparation to get to the state you see.   I have found some good drawings, though, so I'm optimistic that with a fair bit of added detail it'll end up a half decent wagon.  It'll be out of the ordinary in any case.  I do need to find some better bogie axleboxes, if anyone has any ideas?

Edited November 28, 2023 by jwealleans

[Jesse Sim]

5 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

 

 

A pair of Flat-T bodies.   The bogies were a gift from Jesse Sim and are 3D printed by Al at NIU models.   He doesn't seem to list them but I'm sure an enquiry would procure some.   These were a joint LMS/LNER project as part of war preparations in the late 1930s, so they appear in both Tatlow and Essery.   Buffers are from LMS.    This was very straightforward to make and I had both of these done by the end of Saturday.   I always start two of anything I'm scratchbuilding in case I foul one up, it means you don't have to start again from the beginning.  If you complete both, it's a bonus.

 

 

 

I have a spare set of bogies if you’d like them. I got two sets for exactly the reason you mentioned. Would you like them? 

[jwealleans]

I was going to donate my spare body to the future proprietor of the extra set you sent me in the summer, but if you haven't found a use for them by the time you're next over, bring them along.  It doesn't take long to knock up a wagon to sit on top of them.  Do you know what else they might have been used for?

[jwealleans]

After pontificating on how do make your own transfers and how easy it is, I had something of a disaster today with the first ones on white paper I tried.   They had been varnished with the Keen lacquer shown upthread which hadn't sealed them at all, so on exposure to water the red ink gleefully fled the paper and spread itself over everything.   A second batch was printed and sealed with Halfords lacquer and they have been absolutely fine.   I wonder if the Keen stuff is reaching the end of its useful life?

 

That minor matter aside, I'm really chuffed that almost 10 years after I started it, I have fitted the very distinctive roofboards to the Leeds Quint.

 

 

 

My grateful thanks to Phil Mullins who made and supplied the artwork.   The roofs can now be painted a suitable shade of black and the thing is finally done.

 

Other than that I've been chaining things up.   I had a delivery from Ambis Engineering last week and found out a number of single bolsters which hadn't been festooned with chains.  Even an empty wagon can take some detailing.   These have been built a while and I struggled to remember exactly what some of them are:

 

 

Early LNER design, scratchbuilt.  I only repaired and patch painted these.  They'll need a bit of weight adding but they're a nice job by someone.

 

 

These are by ABS; I have a feeling they're Midland.   They used to come as a pair in the pack as I recall.

 

 

The left hand one is also whitemetal and has the look of an ABS moulding to me; is it LMS?   It's a touch longer than the ones above.   The LNER one is brass and I thought scratchbuilt at first, but it's too neat and regular.   There are no identifying  marks on it but I think it's the Dave Bradwell kit.

 

 

This little bit of whimsy is finished as well.

 

 

The flat wagons are both awaiting parts; I decided the bogies on the Warwell were too awful and have sourced some replacements which I may have before Christmas.   The Flat T needs some of the characteristic lashing rings which I thought I had another pack of; they're on Wizard Models etch ABW (Wagon Stanchions & Shackles).

[Jesse Sim]

2 hours ago, jwealleans said:

After pontificating on how do make your own transfers and how easy it is, I had something of a disaster today with the first ones on white paper I tried.   They had been varnished with the Keen lacquer shown upthread which hadn't sealed them at all, so on exposure to water the red ink gleefully fled the paper and spread itself over everything.   A second batch was printed and sealed with Halfords lacquer and they have been absolutely fine.   I wonder if the Keen stuff is reaching the end of its useful life?

 

That minor matter aside, I'm really chuffed that almost 10 years after I started it, I have fitted the very distinctive roofboards to the Leeds Quint.

 

 

 

My grateful thanks to Phil Mullins who made and supplied the artwork.   The roofs can now be painted a suitable shade of black and the thing is finally done.

 

Other than that I've been chaining things up.   I had a delivery from Ambis Engineering last week and found out a number of single bolsters which hadn't been festooned with chains.  Even an empty wagon can take some detailing.   These have been built a while and I struggled to remember exactly what some of them are:

 

 

Early LNER design, scratchbuilt.  I only repaired and patch painted these.  They'll need a bit of weight adding but they're a nice job by someone.

 

 

These are by ABS; I have a feeling they're Midland.   They used to come as a pair in the pack as I recall.

 

 

The left hand one is also whitemetal and has the look of an ABS moulding to me; is it LMS?   It's a touch longer than the ones above.   The LNER one is brass and I thought scratchbuilt at first, but it's too neat and regular.   There are no identifying  marks on it but I think it's the Dave Bradwell kit.

 

 

This little bit of whimsy is finished as well.

 

 

The flat wagons are both awaiting parts; I decided the bogies on the Warwell were too awful and have sourced some replacements which I may have before Christmas.   The Flat T needs some of the characteristic lashing rings which I thought I had another pack of; they're on Wizard Models etch ABW (Wagon Stanchions & Shackles).

Yep, it’s offical, I regret sending those bogies to you, your wagons nicer than mine 🤣

[jwealleans]

6 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

your wagons nicer than mine

 

Neither of us has seen what the Jobmeister will do with his yet.   He'll probably end up with working label clips.

[jwealleans]

Chaining up all those bolsters last weekend motivated me to go through the various boxes of half built and acquired wagons in the corner of the workshop and drag out a few more.   I'm going to end up with a fairly substantial train by the look.   I had to identify a few and then work out how to replace the missing parts of which there were a number.   I've pottered on this week putting them back together and the end is starting to be in sight.

 

 

The back pair are LMS/LNER Twincase wagons from ABS.   This was a wartime conversion of underused mineral wagons.   Front left is a GW Mite, also ABS, I reckon and front right is tentatively identified as an LMS single, quite likely also Adrian's work.  L&YR.

 

 

This is the twin bolster from the Ratio Pway set, which makes it LNWR.   I had to replace an entire headstock and buffers on this, so having no LNWR buffers to hand or readily available ( does anyone do them at the moment?) I used RCH standard ones.   The brake levers were also almost all terminally damaged so I've used NB ones unless and until I find some better looking replacements.  The inter wagon coupling isn't my favourite, but it's very solidly assembled and works well.   I may replace it if I decide it irritates me too much.

 

 

One other thing I have started is this Cambrian C107 D178 5 plank open which I bought at Warley.    I've had one in the Thurston/Wickham Market stock for a few years but it's disappeared.    I imagine someone else has packed it away inadvertently and it wil reappear, but in the meantime another one can't do any harm.   This kit has the one piece underframe so it was a very quick job to assemble.  It's hardening off as I write.  As a bonus you end up with quite a few spare bits off the sprues as you can see.

 

 

Some of the models from last year's Warley display are being finished off.   These were part of a sequence showing an Airfix 16 tonner being revived.   This is all Geoff Kent, I can take no credit for any of it, but these have had detailing as per his book and new (LMS) buffers.   You can see on the left hand one where the hinges have been recreated.  The right one is yet to be done.   One thing I don't correct if present is the reversed brake push rods.  It's too destructive getting them off to turn round if they've been glued anything like effectively.   I need some more coal wagons for the Wickham Market train (some of them have moved to Shap) so these are a quick and easy route there.   I might look at some of the more exotic variants next year.

 Modeller's Backtrack did an excellent summary of the different diagrams which is still as authoritative a source as any.

 

 

Also for Wickham Market, this Airfix cattle van.   This came to me in a very sad state, but I reckon salvageable.   This is also being detailed according to the Word of Geoff.  I need some additional adaptor vehicles for the BB couplings I use on the corridor stock on WM and this will be one of them, assuming I can get it both heavy and free running enough.   For the moment the extra bits are hardening off before they're trimmed and shaped.   

 

 

From the same job lot as the Mex, an Airfix LMS van.   The underframe went straight in the bin and I've started a Parkside PA16 kit to replace it.   The body is not LMS, but is right for BR diagram 1/204 with some very minor alterations.   You can work this back to LMS condition (Andrew Hartshorne very kindly explained how to me at Warley) but it's more work than I really want to devote to it.   This should be another straightforward job, especially as the floor can be filed back to an interference fit inside the body, so it should just all glue together.

 

 

Finally the remaining shackles for the Flat T came from Andrew at Wizard Models, so they've all been fitted.   As this wagon has steel solebars and buffer beams it's exssentially going to be black all over, so I thought I'd get a picture in primer before all that detail disappears.

Edited December 10, 2023 by jwealleans

[Compound2632]

15 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

 

 front right is tentatively identified as an LMS single, quite likely also Adrian's work.

 

 

That has rather an L&Y look, from the unusual vee-hanger. Do you have Noel Coates' L&Y Wagons books?

[jwealleans]

13 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

That has rather an L&Y look, from the unusual vee-hanger. Do you have Noel Coates' L&Y Wagons books?

 

You're right as usual, Stephen - it was identified underneath.   Just as well as I have some of the Noel Coates books but not the one I'd have needed.   Does that make it a David Geen kit?

[Chas Levin]

On 10/12/2023 at 20:34, jwealleans said:

 

 

One other thing I have started is this Cambrian C107 D178 5 plank open which I bought at Warley.    I've had one in the Thurston/Wickham Market stock for a few years but it's disappeared.    I imagine someone else has packed it away inadvertently and it wil reappear, but in the meantime another one can't do any harm.   This kit has the one piece underframe so it was a very quick job to assemble.  It's hardening off as I write.  As a bonus you end up with quite a few spare bits off the sprues as you can see.

 

I did a double-take wqith this photo Jonathan - I initially thought it was meant to be a scale load of some sort of scrap, then I realised it was spare sprue etc! Nice lot of freightage all together though.

[jwealleans]

A very Happy Christmas and all you'd wish for yourselves for the New Year to everyone who visits my thread.  

 

Edit - and a festive wagon to go with it.

 

Edited December 24, 2023 by jwealleans

[jazz]

Christmas greetings to you. And a very prosperous new year too.

[jwealleans]

Well, back in the country, back in the jug agane....   Not really been idle - far from it - but nothing major, just lots of finishing off jobs.   Thought I'd run round the bench last night and have a look at what's going on.

 

Regular readers will know that I do the maintenance for the railways at Ormesby Hall.   All the locos have been serviced and returned ready for opening next month, but there are some repairs which are ongoing.      For the benefit of those new to the thread, the principal layout is LSWR around 1922 and was built by Ron Rising, who was a builder for Pendon for many of the early years.

 

 

The return crank had come adrift on the S15.   This has been to me a couple of times already with this problem; soldering the back of the rivet to stop it popping out hasn't been a durable fix, so I removed it altogether and put a nut and bolt through it, soldering over the nut to conceal the thread and prevent it undoing itself.   There was sufficient clearance to do this without having to thin down the bolt head.   We'll see how long this lasts.

 

 

Now this is very much not my comfort zone (although after 18 years you'd think I might have picked something up) - is this a G6?    Whatever it is, it had stopped working.

 

 

After taking the lid off, the motor was completely unresponsive.   I'm presuming a winding had failed.  After 50 or so years and far more use than most locos get in a lifetime it's to be expected.  Peter's Spares offer an X04 replacement and one of our group works there now, so a quick exchange of emails and one was procured.

 

 

Fitting wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd hoped; that's not a vanilla X04 in the previous picture and the mounting holes weren't in the right place.   You can't slide the mounting on Peter's replacement over the worm and my puller wouldn't shift it, so I had to cut it off and then use the rear mount to make a replacement.  It's all running now, though, ideally for another few decades.

 

 

I see rolling stock as well.   The stepboards on this ambulance car had come adrift at both sides and needed soldering back on.    Can anyone tell me what colour the solebar is painted?  It could do with some touching in.    Ron has also put thin wood on top of the stepboards (you can see where it's delaminated).   Is that his enhancement or does the kit suggest/include that?

 

 

David Geen donated some kits way back in the day.  Peter Simmerson built these and I painted and weathered them.   The one on the left had lost an axleguard - very easy to solder back in place, lucky that someone had kept it.   The one on the right has had the V hanger and brake lever broken off at this side.  Those have not been kept so I'll have to find replacements.

 

 

I think this brake van is scratchbuilt.   One cosmetic axleguard had fallen off (glue failed) and the lower stepboard is missing from this side.   Easy enough to make a new one.

 

On to my own stuff.   We had Christmas in France with family and I am able to take a soldering iron and have some modelling time while we're there.    I packed up a few brass kits, almost all of which were LMS vehicles as it happened and managed to work my way fairly well through them.  They're all now at the final detailing and painting stage.  In no special order other than that in which i assembled them:

 

 

D & S NSR horsebox.   This was a gift from Jesse Sim when he stayed with us last year.

 

 

Caley Coaches CC17 D87A CCT.   I acquired this via Red Leader.   It was a lot more complex to put together than it's fairly simple appearance might suggest.   Particularly the lovely cast spring and J hanger assembly was at least 2mm too high to fit into the gap between solebar and axlebox and had to be chopped up.

 

 

LNWR D96 trolley wagon.    Red Leader gave me this with the observation that there were over a thousand rivets to punch out.  I didn't count, but it felt like more.    This was not the best designed kit, to be honest; it's almost all multiple half etched layers which build up and by the time you've punched in all the rivets (and the etch was over 30 years old and not flat when I got it) the amount of distortion you have to fight against made it really hard work.   The instructions were a bit cryptic as well, but I think this is what it's supposed to look like.   It could have done with a rigid basic structure for overlays to be attached to, that would have made a much easier build.

 

 

I have ended up with a gap in the floor, so it'll need a load, but now it's together I'm not displeased.   The instructions were anonymous, so i don't hoenstly know whose kit it is.   There was a signature on the etches which i think read 'Williams'?

 

 

Here, on the other hand, is a brand new etched kit, to the left, a Midland D333 implement wagon.   This is by a chap called Dave Basford, k22009 on here.   Really easy to put together, crisp accurate nickel-silver etches, only took me a morning to get the whole thing built.   Really impressed.   The other wagon is a Cambrian D178 open to replace the one whcih has gone walkabout from the Wickham Market stock.   These were built by the Southern for the LNER and only the ironwork was painted, apparently. 

 

 

R & E Models GC D17 unfitted van to the left; this will be finished as one of the 95 which went to the LMS when the CLC stock was divvied up in 1930, hence the extra door bracing.    By the same hand as designed the Caley Coaches CCT and very much in the same style.   It's interesting to see how different designers tackle the same structures.    The right hand vehicle is a Three Peaks Models L & Y D1 open.   This only just qualifies as a kit as there were only two pieces.   It was recommended elsewhere and as I'm always interested to look at new products and manufacturers (and I have a number of LMS containers in need of wagons), i gave it a go.   The finish is very good, the resin is slightly flexible, which is a bonus and it took longer to open the package than to assemble it.   If this gets people into the way of building their own wagons then I'm all in favour.   As a starting point, you'd really have to try hard to go wrong.

 

 

We're into things I started before the holiday now; to the left an Airfix 'LMS' van, being remade to a BR D1/204 with a Parkside replacement underframe.   On the right a Ratio LMS van from a job lot I acquired; new buffers and roof vents and not much else beyond a repaint required here.

 

 

I needed to make some more mineral wagons as I'm supplying them to two 1950s layouts now.   At the same time Warley taking a hiatus means I don't need my wagon building display models for a while, so I'm completing some of them.   I had a series of Airfix D1/108s showing a step by step  restoration, so these two are now well on the way to completion and two more will follow.  This is not my idea, it's done to the Geoff Kent method in The 4mm wagon Vol. 1 which I can't recommend highly enough to anyone who doesn't have it already.

 

 

Also after Geoff Kent, Airfix BR cattle wagon.   This will be an adaptor wagon for my BB carriage couplings, so there's a dirty great chunk of lead in there to keep it on the straight and narrow.

 

 

And finally....  this is the Flat T I made at Warley this year.   Although strictly following the LNER painting guidelines meant it should be all black, it looked terrible.   I've engaged Rule 1 and a certain amount of prototypical licence and painted the solebars and buffer beams grey and it looks much better.   I think I'll keep it like this.   The load is by Maketis and I took advantage of our Christmas break to order this and have it sent to me there.  It could almost have been made for it.

 

 

Edited January 27 by jwealleans

[65179]

Is the GC van ex-CLC Jonathan?

 

How Cheshire Lines stock taken on by the LNER and LMS was renumbered is not something I've seen covered.

 

What colours did you use for the new and newish wood effect on the D178 open? It's very effective.

 

Simon

[Jol Wilkinson]

The LNWR D96 40-ton bogie wagon was designed by Bob Williams for his father's EM gauge model of Aylesbury. He also sold them for some time before they passed into the hands of LRM. The website states "This kit is a development of etches produced for Geoff Williams Aylesbury layout" but doesn't state what changes have been made.

 

I have one of the original kits in its flat pack brown envelope but still haven't got around to building it.

 

[46444]

Lovely work as ever Jonathan.

 

Thanks for the links as well.

 

The L&Y wagon kit looks very good. I will certainly be ordering one of these. A  good price as well. 

 

Also the Maketis website looks like a useful website.

 

Thanks once again. 

 

Mark 

Edited January 27 by 46444