North Cranford

[M.I.B]

I have had my eye on a Hornby "ready to plonk" building for a while but the RRP is a little on the high side.   Rails "Pre-Loved" came up with a boxed one last week at a reasonable price....

 R9824 "Station Office" is a little "cutesy", and needs to be turned into a GW office building to be at the rear of the Shed , or to one side.   It was also far too clean for 1940s "West of London".  It is a "pre-coloured" resin structure, and much like the Townstreet buildings, except that it comes fully built.  The bricks and tiles have relief, which makes weathering easier, like the Townstreet stuff.

GWR "Dark Stone Number 3" for me is Humbrol Matt 180, and "Light Stone Number 2" is Revell Matt 89.

 

Walls and roof were lighty daubed with a pallette of dark browns and very dark greys, which then got a scrub/wash over with Precision P982 "Weathering" which is a very thinned down grubby black/bottom of the turps pot sort of solution.  This has the effect of  evening out the neat paint, thinning it down, and getting it into the nooks a crannies.

 

it's still drying so there is a slight sheen to the pictures.   It is even on all walls despite the wall arounfd the front door  looking darker in the photos.

 

Finished off by trimming and filing down the front step, which had a swarf in one corner.  Steps got a darker grey paint, and grubby brown was was lightly run down the two door frames to replicate much from crew uniforms.   Final detail were some bird poos on the roof finials.

 

Sadly it doesn't have a blank wall on any side because this would be ideal to have an outdoor/open air gents attached, and a bike shed at the other end - I'm sure a bike will get leaned up against, when it is plonked by the Shed.

 

I'm doing these little jobs in between decorating jobs.   Good wet Bank Holiday activity.      Also on the table today is a Bachmann coal to get the "empty" treatment, the interior of the Centenary full brake to paint in off white, and the breakdown clerestory to  dirty up some more.

 

On this Coronation weekend, I hope that you are all happy and healthy.

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by M.I.B

[M.I.B]

I picked up on the Centenary full brake again.........After lots of pondering, I decided to do the first side panel by cutting the panel down to a "flat" panel, and then cutting out the body/roof leaving all of the guttering etc in place.  I had considered removing the guttering off the main section and leaving it on the piece to be inserted, but it all got a bit difficult when the carriage end came into the picture, with it's dog-leg back in towards the corridor connector.

 

First I cut the main body roof section with Xuron cutters, then sanded away with domestic emery paper.  This was folded three times to make a rigid sanding board.  I used a small "square" to keep an eye on the edges and corners.  Inner corners were completed using a square section mini file, and the longer lengths of cut were refined using an emery board along the work, not across it, so as to keep edges straight.

This is the raggedy edge which I started with (this is the opposite side to the one I worked on today).

 

I got it down quite close with the 80 grit paper and also chamfered the edges to help with filler blending:

 

This is a view from below, and a comparison of "before and after".  By this stage the fine emery board had been used:

 

 

Once the "hole" was square, the side insert could be trimmed and filed down to fit:

 The "ding" in the door is where removal of the glazing actually ripped the body in.  Filler will sort.....

 

 

Above is actually the piece just laid in place,  I used liquid poly to stick a small square of plasticard over the join behind the chocolate coloured section.  It stops short of the bottom in case it fouls the chassis which sits up inside the sides a little.   Once this was in place I used Uhu spread along the gaps from the inside.

 

The final result (for today) looks like this:

 

 

I will do the other side soon, then trim the glazing sections ready to refit.  This will be tricky as these shatter when cut if snipped, so adjustments will be done with emery.   Once the glazing sections fit again, I will put them aside while the filler work goes on, to include filling of the destination board holes in the roof.  I also need to remove the water tank from the roof.  This is a hangover from the body donor which was a third brake with one "Lav" at one end.     

 

Parcels compartments are now cream painted inside, so the interior is complete.

 

This will be finished in chocolate and cream post '42 livery, hopefully good enough that I won't have to use weathering to hide sins.

 

I have shingles (again) which explains why I'm inside doing modelling and not mowing the lawns, weeding or riding my big noisy motorcycle.  Thankfully you can only get shingles twice, so I won't get it in old age.

 

I hope that you are all happy and healthy. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by M.I.B
Bad Grandma

[Neal Ball]

On 26/04/2023 at 18:43, M.I.B said:

Been away for a few days of work, and no real access to RM Web.    MIB Snr messaged to ask why all of a sudden there were lots of Hornby Saints on a certain auction site.    Turns out that he has been keeping an eye on auction sales of the (longest running /unaltered/ original release) major class of engine in OO modelling.     No idea why.

 

But all of a sudden a rush to sell Saints?     It could only mean two things:   a manufacturer has finally realised the potential of launching the first new Saint in 40 years, or just coincidence.   I have been guilty of offloading upon sight of an announcement..... Manors, Moguls, Prairies, and even a 47XX........all sold off to make space and raise a penny towards the replacements.........

 

Turns out it was a coincidence.

 

I continue, like many others, to live in hope.

 

I also hope that you are all happy and healthy.

A new Saint class loco will be very nice…. 😎

[M.I.B]

I managed some time on the K44 with the emery boards today...and I tried to cut the glazing with a fine toothed hacksaw.    Both worked out well.

 

To prevent an overlap of the glazing and the bracing plasti-card, I cut triangles out of both on the side I did the other day:

 

On today's section I trimmed the glazing before the side panel was added:

 

The step was to allow for a brace piece of plasticard.  |Same technique on this end - plasticard brace on the centre join.  Once it was hard, the side was put exactly into place at the corridor end, taped on the outside with masking tape, and a bead of Uhu run up the gap on the inside.  A coffee stirrer and capillary action got the glue into the gap , without it getting to the outside.

 

The lettering?????  I always annotate each coach body, chassis, brass side, glazing and interior as either the A side or the B side.    Then L for left and R.........   Unfortunately the glazing broke in the wrong place when it was removed, and the break was through the centre of a pane on the B side.   There was plenty of spare left over, so I can make it up out of an offcut.

 

Here's how it looks without the water tank:

 

That's where I stop for now - I will filler this up when I do the others.

 

The single door on either side lines up perfectly with the Guard's compartment.  Just as I had hoped for.

 

J12 next..........I think I will leave the end sections with the difficult dog legs in place on the body.  Then just insert the flat centre section.

 

The wind is howling, trees are bowing, and the logburner is on.   It's May!     But the forecast for the rest of the weekend is "summer".

 

I hope that you are happy and healthy. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by M.I.B
duplicate of photo

[57xx]

All this coach bashing and building I'm seeing, here, on @sjrixon Scott's and @Neal Ball Neal's thread etc I'm thinking I need to be having a go. I quite fancy a full brake, so a K40 using Comet sides is being considered. I had a thought I could use one of the recent  Hornby Colletts as I remembered see some in a bargain bin.

 

As I went to look on Hattons site, it dawned on me they are only 57', not the 60' of the K40. Luckily there was a 2nd hand B set carriage on there I could use as a donor and at £25 a pop I got a couple of the non-corridor bow ended Colletts for use as spares. (who said BR era was more popular, there are loads of the crimson versions going for a song on there) The bogies are good for the money alone and hopefully I can salvage other bits like end handrails and some underframe detailing etc. Shame they didn't have a corridor version going cheap for the gangways too.

[Neal Ball]

6 hours ago, 57xx said:

All this coach bashing and building I'm seeing, here, on @sjrixon Scott's and @Neal Ball Neal's thread etc I'm thinking I need to be having a go. I quite fancy a full brake, so a K40 using Comet sides is being considered. I had a thought I could use one of the recent  Hornby Colletts as I remembered see some in a bargain bin.

 

As I went to look on Hattons site, it dawned on me they are only 57', not the 60' of the K40. Luckily there was a 2nd hand B set carriage on there I could use as a donor and at £25 a pop I got a couple of the non-corridor bow ended Colletts for use as spares. (who said BR era was more popular, there are loads of the crimson versions going for a song on there) The bogies are good for the money alone and hopefully I can salvage other bits like end handrails and some underframe detailing etc. Shame they didn't have a corridor version going cheap for the gangways too.

Good luck. Take your time to get it all together and it will all fall into place.

 

The Comet “guide to….” Is worth downloading and printing out, together with reference photos.

 

Enjoy the build.

[sjrixon]

 

The end of my k40.. They were white metal. 

[M.I.B]

Great to see other NPCCS projects under way.   There are a few choices for gangways.  

 

B Set is definitely  the basis for a K40.    But only a K40.    Most of the other K's go onto 57' bodies.  Go for "brake thirds" in either LMS or Hornby - one less roof tank to shave off.

 

When you buy the sides from Comet / Wizard, they come with a lovely set of drawings.  From there you will see where and how many roof vents and roof-rails to add, and also which base coach is best to use to get the roof detail right in terms of ribs etc.   Mainline 57' are smooth topped, and Hornby 57' have ribs which are correct for some K variants.

 

To Quote Del Boy - "The sky is your lobster" - buffer swaps, white metal gangways, white metal bogies of various types......

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by M.I.B

[M.I.B]

I managed to get out and about on Sunday, and collected some eBay purchases - some Bachmann coal wagons from London owners.  I try and have at least one, if not two editions of London based coal POs.  I realised that by the late 40s they were pooled and ended up everywhere, but Rule 1 applies firmly to having as many London named wagons as possible.

 

I say two ( if I can find/afford) - one loaded and another empty.  The ones collected on Sunday were destined to be "empties".   This is how I now do empties - other methods are available......

 

I use a coffee stirrer, a scruffy large-ish brush, some smashed up steam coal, and two paint colours - Revel Anthracite or Revel Tar, plus Pheonix "Weathering".    This is a very runny dirty black concoction which is perfect for this task.  It is extremely thin, but I will try adding some dirty white spirit and putting it through the airbrush for weathering.

 

With a coffee stirrer wetted in the colour of choice, I daub a thin blobby line in the centre of the wagon floor leaving a gap at each end.  Then using the scruffy brush dipped in "Weathering" I thin down the paint and spread it all over the floor.  Doesn't take much.

 

Then using pure "weathering" I dirty down the inner walls of the wagon.

As soon as I put the brush down, I reach into the tobacco tin of smashed up coal, brush aside the big lumps off the top, and dive down to the bottom for a  pinch of dust.  Sprinkle on the wagon floor, randomly, and put aside for 10 minutes.   Do one wagon at a time.    Then after 10 minutes, shake any excess coal back to the tin.  I didn't have much at all.   The thinned paint sticks the dust to the floor nicely.   

 Leave to dry somewhere airy, and 

 

This had about 10 hours drying and has come out matt, despite this morning's sunshine on it making it look satin-finish.

 

This is faster and less hassle than thinned PVA and Mattcote.

 

I did a dozen last night in less than an hour, including pack up time and unboxing.

 

And then I had another nap..............I'm getting tired of all these naps, but I just feel worn out at the moment.

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by M.I.B
duplicate of photo

[57xx]

1 hour ago, sjrixon said:

 

The end of my k40.. They were white metal. 

 

Ahah thank you, Scot! They look like the Comet ones, I stumbled upon them on the Wizard site last night. The ebay ones I found are scissor connectors so not suitable in the end.

[57xx]

42 minutes ago, M.I.B said:

B Set is definitely  the basis for a K40.    But only a K40.    Most of the other K's go onto 57' bodies.  Go for "brake thirds" in either LMS or Hornby - one less roof tank to shave off.

 

That's good to know, I ordered two Brake 3rds in preference over the non-brakes, mainly for the end hand rails. 

[M.I.B]

While I was rummaging in the stock boxes to find more opens to detail to "empty" I found a few vans in need of some roof grot.    Four cattle trucks, three closed vans and a TOAD.   

 

Quick mask and the roofs were hit with differing amounts of aerosols:   dark grey primer (Euro Car parts)  Matt black (Halfords)   Weathering Dirt (Precision).    I find it harder to mask the arched to to the ends, so I tend to over mask which requires a brush touch up to fill over the tiny patches of white.

The drip rail outsides are always tough to get with aerosols, without lathering too much paint on to the roof itself.   Same for the roof edges on the sides.  Rather than over-paint the roof and have runs, or lose details on vents etc, I concentrate on getting the bulk of the roof good and get the brush out for the remainder.

 

So these areas get brushed with a fine brush at the same time as the ends.   Paint colour - Tar, Anthracite and Matt Black from tins: a blob of each onto the tea tray, and mix as you like......much like low I paint overalls on crew.   No two sections are the same colour.

You  may notice that a couple of vans have a slightly patchy finish - the dark grey primer does this for some reason - it seems to stop over paint in tiny patches.   I think it adds to the  grubbiness.

Another one of those jobs done that always seem to get pushed to one side.

J12 beckons.....

 

Mid May today - nights will start drawing in soon.......I hope that you are happy and healthy.

Edited May 15, 2023 by M.I.B

[St Enodoc]

4 minutes ago, M.I.B said:

 

Merco brick arches!

[M.I.B]

50 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Merco brick arches!

 

I think they are Superquick sheets from the early 70s from M.I.B Snr's collection, glued to a shoebox:

 

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, M.I.B said:

 

I think they are Superquick sheets from the early 70s from M.I.B Snr's collection, glued to a shoebox:

 

Definitely Merco rather than Superquick and more likely from the 50s or 60s. There's a topic on Merco brick paper, from which the arches were derived, here:

 

and an old Hamblings advert here, although there's no picture:

 

https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/94433/page/4

 

I used to have some but they've gone AWOL in the intervening 60 years...

[M.I.B]

They could well be from the 50s - he has been scratch-building since the 50s.   

 

They were kicking around for so long that I used them for a simple photo backdrop.

 

I checked in the tray of "paper scenery" last night and al that is there are lots of brick arches.  No more of these sadly.

 

Thanks for letting me know.

[M.I.B]

80 years ago this evening 133 hand picked and highly trained men flew out of Scampton to the dams of Germany.   

 

With British ingenuity and skill, the team managed to design and build a weapon to overcome the most tricky defences, with accuracy set by two lamps and some lollipop sticks - no super computers or GPS used at all.

 

Only 80 crew survived the night.

[MrWolf]

Brave men indeed. I can tell you what you probably already know, that bravery isn't a matter of not being scared, it's being terrified but slogging on regardless.

 

A famous member of the crew has been in the news lately:

 

https://www.lincolnshireworld.com/news/politics/council/famous-grave-of-guy-gibsons-dog-set-to-be-moved-from-raf-scampton-site-4140243

[M.I.B]

8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

.... bravery isn't a matter of not being scared, it's being terrified but slogging on regardless.

 

A

 

When I was terrified, I just bucked up and got stuck in, because my greater fear was letting someone down.  That's what made me focus.   We all have different coping mechanisms.

 

 

The dog's grave is a difficult one, leave it there and it will get destroyed without anyone to overwatch it.  It's safer with 617, but it belongs where it is.   My personal choice - move it.  And put the dog's name back on the stone - it was not intended to be racist at the time.  Gay meant something else at that time too.

Edited May 17, 2023 by M.I.B

[M.I.B]

Greetings from Eastern Europe.   l and NC are still in existence, however work, and a summer holiday of construction work has taken precedence on modelling.

 

Orders have been placed and deliveries are pending on:

 

LORIOT from Rapido

2 x WELTROLs from Bygone Wagons

Suburban Toplights from Dapol

 

I was unsettled by one of the added brake end sides on the Centenary full brake, so I broke out the added part, did some fettling, and I'm pleased to say that it went back together so well that filler is not required!

 

Modelling time has also been absorbed by interior decorating for reasons of morale and necessity - I can't have a landing carpet for 18 months or so (long story), so a low cost/high time solution was played out.  About 20 hours work on the floor to hide it.....

 

That is the project cabinet, which is jammed full.   A nice and lucky position to be in.  

 

I hope that you are all happy and healthy, on Ungrateful Colonial Cousins Day.  

[M.I.B]

The K22 sides from Worsley have arrived, and join two Third opens (one is a brake).  (one pair of sides is from Bill Bedford, and the other may be from Mozzer Models - will confirm when I do the write up.   These are going on two Replica Railways 57' RTR units. They will be easier than the J12 because they are simple due to the removal of most of the plastic side and bonding the brass side in on top.

 

As mentioned earlier, the J12 is harder because of the recessed end doors on Centenary Stock.

 

I am not avoiding the J12 - it would make sense to keep it at the top of the "to do list" but add the other three "sides onto RTR" into that work package due to the almost identical task and routines of bonding sides on.

 

79 years ago today, a shy truck driver recorded his first retail single at Sun Records' studio. It was a cover version of "That's All Right Mama".  Two guitars, one voice and a slap-bass.   

 

Thankyurrvurrrymush

 

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, M.I.B said:

The K22 sides from Worsley have arrived

I've been putting off building a couple of Mailcoach K22s because I don't fancy painting the clear plastic sides. Do you think the Worsley sides would help me here?

[M.I.B]

On 06/07/2023 at 05:15, St Enodoc said:

I've been putting off building a couple of Mailcoach K22s because I don't fancy painting the clear plastic sides. Do you think the Worsley sides would help me here?

 

If I were in your shoes I would say yes.

 

I have a Mailcoach K22 in dull brown, but it was painted by a previous owner.  They built it well and it runs beautifully.

[The Fatadder]

On 06/07/2023 at 03:15, St Enodoc said:

I've been putting off building a couple of Mailcoach K22s because I don't fancy painting the clear plastic sides. Do you think the Worsley sides would help me here?

if you are happy forming the tumblehome on a brass side, I would say that it would make it much much easier. 

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

if you are happy forming the tumblehome on a brass side, I would say that it would make it much much easier. 

Thanks Rich. Yes, I'm comfortable with that, having used a number of Comet sides in the old days before they came pre-rolled.