A Southern Workbench in the frozen North. Current projects; 00 Gauge LB&SCR Balloon Coach, N Gauge Stroudley 4 Wheelers

[SR Rich]

The progress on the Balloon Trailer has been slowed by a delivery by Santa, in the form of a rake of four wheel Stroudley coaches and a couple of box vans, in N gauge.

 

Here is a couple of pictures after soldering them up, fitting partitions and seats.

 

LB&SCR Stroudley coaches.

 

 

 

LB&SCR poultry and 8t van

 

 

 

More updates on these in due course.

 

Richard

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[Norwenglish]

Santa? I know I've got a belly and a beard, but I'm definitely not dressed in red and cheerful all the time!

[SR Rich]

A quick update on the N gauge Stoudley coaches.

 

The pictures below show the coaches and roofs painted and gloss varnished ready for transfers, more varnish the glazing.

 

The different colour seats show which compartments are first or third class.

 

 

 

 

 

The mahogany colour is a mix of Valejo mahogany brown and flat red, the red ends are a mix of Citadel Colours Mephiston red and wild rider red ( this is more of an orange). The roofs are Valejo off white these will then be varnished, maybe matt.

 

Richard

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Hello All

 

The N gauge project is now finished.

 

Transfers were applied, more coats of varnish to seal in the transfers, glazing, bodies super glued on to the chassis and roofs glued on with PVA ( it's easier to take the roof of if needed, instead of using super glue).

 

All the coach and van bodies are produced by Etched Pixels and run on Peco RTR chassis , I think I forgot to mention this earlier.

 

The first couple of pictures are a Stroudley 8t goods van and the other is an LB&SCR poultry van.

 

 

 

 

 

The next pictures are the four Stroudly coaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you click on the pictures, they become a bit larger and show more detail.

 

Ok, that's it for now.

 

Back to working on the LB&SCR Balloon trailer with more updates as work progresses.

 

Richard

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[THS92-GWR-NO]

Nice work you've done  

[SR Rich]

Here is an update on the LB&SCR balloon trailer.

 

After the last post I took the carriage apart for painting, bogies ,underframe, body and roof.

All parts were undercoated black and then painted using acrylic paint.

 

This is where I am now, the underframe and bogies are simply painted black and the running boards in a dark brown, which is hard to see in the photo.

The body was first painted with two coats of Marsh umber , followed with a gloss varnish, then the panels painted with three coats of off-white ,again followed with a coat of gloss varnish.

The roof was spray undercoated with an off white spray, then I think it had at least 6 coats of the same off white paint used on the body panels and will the have a satin varnish finish.

 

 

The inside of the coach has also been painted.

 

The internal walls and side are painted mahogany with a wood grain paint on top to give a better wood effect, apart from the driver/guards compartment.

The floor in the public are I am guessing from the photos I have seen ( there is not many) could have been linoleum, as it looks very smooth and light in colour with discolouration in the walking area and in between the seats, so I have gone with a light grey and I will use a wash in the walking areas to give a used/worn look.

The driving/guards end has a wooden floor so that was painted brown with the wood grain paint on top to give the effect of the wood floor. The walls have been painted a pale sand colour, this I am not sure about, I have just gone with a similar colour to the one used in Loco cabs ( maybe a bit light but I like it ).

 

 

The roof I have magnetized, so that in future if anything becomes loose I don't need to potentially damage the coach when taking the roof off and I am also going to have the coach lit using a led lighting strip.

 

I have also finished painting the seats, luggage racks and brake handle with column, the luggage racks have been re-designed from the previous ones, so they are a bit more like the originals.

 

This is just a few of the seats and a luggage rack, I think I have painted 36 seats and 20 luggage racks.

 

 

Ok, that's it for now, I am currently working on the driving controls and other parts for the driving/guards compartment, then the glazing, fitting out the interior, transfers and anything else I have forgotten or not thought about yet.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

A small update for today, here are some pictures of the detailing parts in the driving compartment.

 

The first picture is the driving controls, made from various sizes of wire, tube and a small piece of plasticard. With a ruler to show the size of it.

 

 

This next picture shows the controls and drivers seat ( simply made from plasticard) painted before installation.

 

 

The next couple of pictures show the controls, drivers seat and handbrake handle installed.

The two lumps at the top of the picture are magnets in the 3d printed holders that hold the roof in place (the magnets are 2mm across).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe I am going into too much inside detail but with inside lighting it could be seen.

I don't like these close up pictures they show too many things I need to adjust or re-paint.

 

Richard

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[THS92-GWR-NO]

You sure got an eye for details - inspiring

[SR Rich]

Following on from the previous update, a lot has happened.

 

The transfers were applied and the whole coach had a coat of satin varnish, both to seal the transfers and it is the finish I want for the body of the coach.

Next was the glazing, the areas with seats I used a single piece to cover both the drop-lights and main windows, the bottom of the glazing has been painted so its not easy to see the unsightly cut edge, all the cab and door windows were glazed individually. Unfortunately there are no pictures, I forgot!

 

I have decided to put in a fair bit of detail inside.

 

Most of the figures are white metal form dart Castings and a few loco crew for certain engines from Modelu made from resin.

I painted passengers and crew, I usually paint these in batches rather than for each project, so I have figures painted ready for future projects. I usually use a black undercoat for loco crew and a cream for passengers, all the paints I use are acrylics mostly from Vallejo and Games Workshop.

I always try to put my figures on wire, it makes them easier to handle when wet and less likely to rub the paint off when handled.

 

 

Now we are back to the coach, this picture shows the beginning of my 3d printed seats being fitted.

The figures are mounted on the seat before gluing the seats in place, I drill the seats so I can put the wire the figures are on through the seat, so they are less likely to fall off in the future.

 

 

The driver is put in the same way as the seated figures with the wire from his leg going through the floor, bent over and glued on the underside of the coach body.

 

 

Next is the seating complete and the guard fitted the same way as the driver.

 

 

The next few pictures show my 3d printed luggage racks and pictures on the compartment partitions, I tried to find coach posters from this period with little success, so I printed the posters that are shown in the original picture I have on gloss photo paper.

The transfers can also be seen in some of these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe this is going a bit too far but I have also made the loops that standing passengers could hold on to when traveling.

 

 

This shows where the lighting strip sits on top of the partitions, the lighting strip is from Train-Tech, it has been shortened a little and the led's are spaced perfectly with two in each compartment and one in the drivers cab.

 

 

So as you can see the coach is basically finished, I will post up pictures of the coach on the layout soon.

 

Richard

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Here is the finished Balloon trailer on the layout with the correct Loco.

 

 

 

I have used nem magnetic couplings, I think it looks better than the tension locks, I do not need to uncouple this train for shunting or running round and its easier to uncouple when needed.

 

 

 

A couple of pictures showing both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

The next couple shows the effectiveness of the lighting unit.

 

 

 

 

 

The coach weighed 220 grams, which is about 80 to 100 grams heavier than a rtr coach, I am not really worried about the weight, as it will be used alone behind or in front of a ''Terrier'' and will probably run better.

Most of the weight comes from white metal mansell wheel inserts and the white metal figures in the coach.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

Edited April 7, 2022 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Hi

 

If anyone browsing this thread is interested in seeing any of the pictures that were with the above posts please leave a message, from what I understand all the pictures from the previous year won't be coming back.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

I have just put all the photographs back into their respective posts.

 

Just because I can, here's more pictures of the finished Balloon push/pull trailer.

 

 

 

A nice county scene from the early 1900's.

Balloon Trailer motor train waiting in the siding for it's next job, while the C2X makes it's way up the hill with a short goods ( the only item not kit built is the terrier).

 

 

LB&SCR C2X coming through with a short goods train, while the Balloon motor train is being prepared for the day.

 

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

I have just finished off a couple of projects in two guages.

 

The first one is a project started a good couple of years ago and is the first etched brass kit I attempted.

This is a OO gauge Queen Mary brake van produced by Jidenco Models.

All the brass parts are soldered and the white metal parts are glued. The roof is painted with Vallejo off white, the brown is Humbrol Rail Colour RC 415 ( I think there is paint on the label), the red is a 50/50 mix of Citadel/Games Workshop Mephiston Red and Wild Rider Red, I find it goes on better because there is more pigment in theses paints and do not have to put on many layers of paint.

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the QM brake van.

 

 

 

The other project is a simple repaint and transfers, on an old Grahan Farish rtr N gauge horse box, probably not prototypical (using rule 1here) and I think it looks nice.

I used Vallejo Basalt Grey and HMRS transfers.

 

Here is the horse box.

 

 

Happy Easter

 

Richard

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by SR Rich

[N15class]

Both models look very nice. Not that it matters much but the red on the guards partition should only go down to the top of the cut out. The lower portion should be brown.

[SR Rich]

11 hours ago, N15class said:

Both models look very nice. Not that it matters much but the red on the guards partition should only go down to the top of the cut out. The lower portion should be brown.

Hello Peter

 

Thank you for pointing that out, I will sort it out when I get the paint brushes out again.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Hello

 

I got the paint brushes out the other day and remembered I had a little job to do on my Queen Mary brake van, paint the lower part of the wall inside the verandah brown rather than red.

 

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

I have been designing some wagons for 3D printing, the first try has been LBSCR covered vans to diagram 1433.

 

I have been able to make 2 versions, the covered goods van and a poultry van.

 

Picture below shows both body styles, poultry van on the right with the louvers, both O gauge.

 

 

This is the kit of parts I have produced for the poultry van (O gauge).

The buffers have been designed to use metal sprung buffers and a nice simple brake system.

 

 

This is the kit of parts for the covered goods van (O gauge).

 

 

Next is a the smaller version for OO scale

 

With the OO wagons, I have produced the buffers a single piece and all the pieces obviously needs a bit of cleaning up before building.

 

 

The poultry van with w irons/axle boxes fitted along with the NEM pockets fitted for testing on the layout.

 

 

I have designed three types of w iron/axle boxes.

 

Top left is my interpretation of a post 1905 set up, I need to alter the angle of the piece on the bed before printing, so that the letters come out sharper.

The two on the right are a pre 1905 set up, the top one just roughly painted to show off the lettering.

The one on the bottom left is just a plain version of the one above.

 

 

You may see some small differences in the vans in the pictures, this is because I have been improving, changing and altering some details between each printing.

 

Ok, the next job is to make up the OO gauge wagons and get painting, the O gauge models will be built after undercoating because the w iron assembly is not flexible enough to install the wheels if they are glued in without the axles and I do not want paint on the wheels.

 

A usual any questions or comment welcome.

 

Richard

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

Just a quick update on the 3D printed wagons.

 

I managed to get three of the OO gauge wagons finished before the exhibition last weekend, so here are a few pictures.

They all ran well over the whole weekend ,which I am very happy about.

 

 

Unfortunately I did not get any of the poultry vans finished but I am working on those at the moment.

 

 

For those that are interested the brake van is a 20t Billington six wheel kit, produced by S E Finecast.

 

 

That's it for now, I will put up some more pictures of the rest of the goods wagons in O and OO gauges when I have finished them.

 

Richard

[Mikkel]

LBSCR delight!

 

The lettering on the 4mm axleboxes had me checking the scale, impressive.

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

I have now finally finished more of the LBSCR covered goods wagons.

 

This first picture shows the added parts quite clearly, as they are not painted, buffers, lamp brackets, two types of brake gear, coupling hook and nem pockets. These are the OO wagons.

I am getting used to the printed so the print quality of the wagons can be variable, I don't like to waste anything, so I will use the not quite perfect wagons on my layout (they don't look any different from 6 foot away).

I have painted two for my SR collection and I think I have enough for my LBSC collection as you will see later.

 

 

These are the O gauge wagons one is a poultry version (on the left with louvers in the doors) and a standard wagon (on the right).

As you can see there are two types of brake gear and axle boxes to represent wagons from different periods during LBSCR days.

The works plates ( white oval under the doors), the poultry van has the number printed in by the 3d printer, the other has transfers in the works plate

 

 

I the though why not try N gauge, with these I just printed out just the van body and put them on Peco 10' rtr chassis ( I know cheating but less stress and frustration from messing around with such small parts).

 

 

Then I went a step further Z gauge body. Madness!

 

 

Here's the final picture for now, my rake of covered goods vans with a C2X and Billington brake van.

 

 

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

[THS92-GWR-NO]

Hey Richard! 

Really looks awesome! 

 

How was the show in Bergen? 

[SR Rich]

On 21/10/2022 at 20:46, THS92-GWR-NO said:

Hey Richard! 

Really looks awesome! 

 

How was the show in Bergen? 

Hello Thomas

 

Thanks for your nice comment.

 

The Bergen exhibition went well, a few new layouts there, which is always good. we had a very enjoyable weekend, who does not like playing trains for a whole weekend ? The only problem we had was a controller failure which was quickly rectified.

 

Here are a few general pictures of the layout at the exhibition, I will post up a few more on the layout thread ( link below).

 

Richard

 

 

 

 

[SR Rich]

Hello All

 

Time flies, I have just seen when I last posted.

 

We have not been idle, here is an update for the O gauge.

 

These are some of the kits we have either built or finished off. They are either Slaters or Parkside Dundas kits.

 

 

 

Here is a couple more pictures of the wagons finished

 

The cows have been repainted to a breed more common in the 1900's, although it's hard to see.

 

 

We are concentrating on two time periods, I am focusing on LBSCR and together we are doing early British Railways. Stuart has finished some other wagon kits, but I do not have photos for those.

 

To come, we are in the final stages of painting and finishing off a Fairburn tank engine, I have more LBSCR 3d printed wagons to build and paint ( a clue to one of the wagons in the next post ) and we have more BR locomotives to finish off.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

I have just finished a couple of N gauge Billington brake vans, one is the 4 wheel 10/12t type and the other is the 6 wheel 20t type, the body was designed and 3d resin printed by me.

 

The chassis are both modified to make them the right size and get the wheel, springs & axle boxes in about the right place ( the photos I have show the spring hanger brackets very near the buffer beam).

I started with cutting off the short pieces of buffer beam with the buffers on, cut out the coupling housings and moved those back so that they were as close as possible to the axle, when these were glued in place I cut off any of the sole bars/ chassis that protruded past the coupling housings, then glued the buffer beam with the buffers back in place and cut away any of the brake gear that was not needed. On the 6 wheel type I drilled holes in the chassis so the wheels would turn without fouling, took the W iron, spring & axle box assembly from another kit and glued those in making sure the new axle was parallel and not higher than the originals. 

 

 

The lower running boards have been fixed into slots I cut in the axle boxes using a fine saw, this has made them quite sturdy and hopefully not easily broken, the top ones are just glue on.

 

 

Here are some pictures of the finished brake vans with bodies and couplings fitted.

From the books I have looked at, it said the brake vans have red ends but it does not say if the wall with the door in the veranda has any red paint like the SR brake vans.

 

 

Both of these have been glazed and painted inside, although I don't think anyone will notice.

 

 

 

Just a picture showing where the brake van belongs ( I don't run my engines on this fluffy cloth, it's just for photos).

 

 

That's all for N gauge for now, until I do some more 3d printing.

 

 

The next projects will be OO gauge, the kits in the picture below and a re-paint of a new Hornby terrier to go with the balloon trailer, these will all be in Marsh umber livery.

 

 

So there is a little to keep me busy.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Hello All

 

Another few months seem to have rolled by.

 

I have just finished the Smallbrook Stroudley coaches in LBSCR umber & white livery.

 

 

Another project has been some N gauge wagons, I again cheated here and bought Peco chassis to go under resin printed bodies, there are type A & D open wagons, Dia 8 standard and poultry covered goods vans and an LBSCR well wagon. I am waiting for more transfers to arrive so I can finish the rest. I am also printing these in OO and O gauges in future.

 

 

A project I am working on at the moment is designing and resin printing LBSCR balloon coaches in thee gauges, the one below is O gauge. This is the first print of this coach, so I have some things to change and some improvements to make, it is printed in two parts because of the size of my resin printer (it took 27 hours to print). The interior has been designed but not printed yet and the roof I have not given much thought to yet, maybe formed plastic or wood strips over a former.

I think I will have to find some brass bogies for this coach because the resin ones are bending slowly with the weight of the body. Does anyone know where I can find the correct bogies?

 

 

The D1 is still in the box but I want to get it finished for an exhibition at the end of September.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard