RMweb Premium Dava Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2015 I built the Ian Kirk LMS brake, still have it I think, there was a BG van as well but the LNER coaches were the best. Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Having had a blether with Ian yesterday I can honestly say he is looking much better now.... Dave Franks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenrithBeacon Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I can't say that I've done a lot of 'Parkside' modelling, but I have been impressed with the kits I have done. Easy to convert to P4/EM too! Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham456 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Having had a blether with Ian yesterday I can honestly say he is looking much better now.... Dave Franks. Your right Ian's post with attached human picture is reassuring normal ! Interesting post from Ian I find the story of manufactures interesting, I just wish part two of Frederick Forsyth history of kit building had been printed, Back to wagon kits I would like to get hold of a few more of Ian's GWR outside framed box wagons they really brake up the boring rake of box vans, but I suppose I ought to ask in the new bring and buy bit Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Alder Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 It might be an appropriate moment here to express a heartfelt thanks to Ian K. for all the work he has done with regard to carriage and wagons, not to forget his loco kit masters, that have,and continue to, provide such a valuable resource to those of us who like making things. The model railway hobby would have been a far poorer place without his wide ranging input, and as a bonus, he is now here, adding interesting and useful contributions from his experiences. Many thanks,Ian, from someone who has been making your kits from almost when you started..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 I've built a good few PD kits over the years and all but two were straightforward. The trick, as with all plastic kits, is to take ones time and let sub-assemblies go off sufficiently before attempting to join them together. My exceptions were early kits where the moulds were past their best and both had been discontinued long before I bought them (at swap-meets) so I knew what I was getting into! One was PC.05, the LNER timber-bodied ventilated van (since produced r-t-r by Bachmann) and the other PC.14 the LNER brake van. Both eventually made up into very nice models but getting them square was quite challenging and not something I'd relish tackling without the amount of experience I'd accumulated by the time I took them on. Many of the older PD kits have been re-tooled (references with A suffixes) but I recently built what I presume to be the oldest that hasn't been re-done, PC.03 (BR 21t riveted mineral wagon) which needed very little cleaning up and went together just fine. Not so detailed as more recent releases but that's something I enjoy doing for myself. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pint of Adnams Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I have just taken delivery of two of the latest 7mm kits, PS109 LNER Horse Box and the newly available PS113 LNER 20T Brake Van Toad E (which is referred to as Toad D on the instruction sheet!). First the pins in the moulds all seem to be recessed to some degree so there are a lot of plastic 'studs' that will have to be removed in order to fit parts together, to remove from visible areas (inside face of the outer ends of the verandas) and because I shall be adding some interior detail. Second the solebar mouldings for the Horse Box were packed so tightly that they are bent/distorted. Third the instructions refer to cutting out glazing to size but no glazing material is supplied, although the boxes state that only paints and adhesives are required to complete. There is also more work to do re fabricating handrails and some other detail parts that Slater's tend to supply as lost wax brass castings or etched brass, although Slater's prices are slightly higher the durability of certain components is greater in metal than ABS. There is an obvious comparison possible between two very similar kits, Slater's LNER Toad D and Parkside's Toad E. I've e-mailed Parkside and am awaiting their response. I've also added to the historical information and clarified an assembly ambiguity re the Brake Van. No complaints at all about the service, but I do wish they would offer an option for screw couplings (or no couplings) rather then supply incorrect 3 links for vacuum fitted vehicles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'm afraid that other than the distorted solebars I do not see any of those issues as being a fault of the kit. They are all down to modeller's choice. If you prefer brass handrails (and yes I do as well) then that is up to the modeller. Glazing is also very much a personal choice with any kit and yes I suppose it would be easy enough to supply with the kit many of us would throw it out in preference for our own choice of material. It is your choice to deviate from the basic kit and add internal detail - that is great, and you can do that but not everyone will take the kit up to the next level. I'm sure the minor typo of 'D' to 'E' correction will be appreciated. A dip in hot water followed by cooling compressed flat should resolve the solebar issue, either that or gluing to the floor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted March 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2015 I look forward to receiving my LNE brake van kit, its part of an order with either a AC railcar or Terrier, whichever is delivered first in UK! Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I heard a whisper some time ago that the 4mm version of the LNER brake was to be retooled and/or updated. Hopefully the arrival of the bigger version will herald that occurrence! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pint of Adnams Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Kenton, You are equally entitled to have your opinion but I will disagree that the distorted solebars are the only problem. The Brake Van moulding 'studs' resulting from the recessed ejector pins are in the way of the joints between the veranda corner posts and the end panels - 4 joints, with 16 protusions in all to remove in order to achieve a fit - the inside face of the solebars exactly in the centre of the location for the axleguards - 4 protrusions - on the underside of the floor where the brake hangar mouldings have to sit - 4 protrusions - the inner face of the headstocks exactly where the angled sections of the framing are supposed to mate - 4 protrusions- and the upper edge of the framing where it mates to the floor - 6 smaller protrusions. You can hardly describe those as modeller's choice! Richard Hollingworth's reply was to the effect that they made production easier!! The solebars from the Horse Box are being replaced as they cannot be rectified by your method - one even has a kink in the angle from folding rather than distortion - and Richard accepts that should not have happened. Apparently the transparent glazing is packed in with the couplings, which is why it was harder to spot. Usually glazing is packed loose with the transfers, inside the folded instructions. However there is not a 'white' piece for the Horse Box lavatory windows. Richard made no comment about substituting screw-link or omitting 3-link couplings on vacuum-fitted items (in 7mm the Horse Box, Fish Vans etc.), but he did intimate that a Toad 'B' (wooden duckets) could be a real possibility but might be done with the wide boarding; the Toad 'E' kit (pressed steel duckets) has the narrow boarding but either narrow or wide boarding could be seen on all three different Toad types. As it is not entirely clear in the instructions: 1. Sanding gear was removed by 1936. If fitted, then it is preferable to fabricate the sanding pipes leading down to the wheels, one to each wheel nearer the end of the vehicle. See Tatlow for photographs; 2. The fixed side lamps should be at the end of the cabin further from the stove or nearer the handbrake wheel and its levers and rods under the floor. These lamps remained until early BR and not all were subsequently removed - BR Diagram 1/500, being the first BR build of the LNER Toad 'D' Van without any modifications shows them; 3. Not all vans had the LNER lamp brackets on the veranda corner pillars but most had the forward projecting lamp brackets on all 4 pillars added by BR. A check of photographs in various sources shows, as expected, that there are plenty of exceptions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Pint of Adnams Thanks for a much more extensive explanation. It is far clearer than the original post that seemed to be from a "get at PD because it is not up my high standards of modelling". These kits are adequate for the vast majority of folk who throw them together and also are an excellent starting point for those who wish to embellish and modify all things to a different (possibly more refined) level. But they remain a mass market item and are priced and sold accordingly. I have built a fair few of these kits and do not recall the moulding pips being so obtrusive that they are unable to be cleaned up with application of a sharp scalpel and a touch of emery. As you describe it the pips are much worse than anything I have seen, but still not beyond the average plastic kit builder to remove. The bent solebar does sound far worse an issue in your second description. Contact with PD (usually a very rapid and amicable process) has it appears resolved the problem with replacement parts, but the experience is not good. It does sound as if it was more than a simple packing issue. I do still think that the issue of couplings and glazing are irrelevant, though obviously not to you, I think this is all to do with the level of personalisation that you are expecting from the kit. Neither would bother me. Instructions: well I have my own views on kit instructions, frequently voiced on RMWeb. Generally instructions are poorly written as they frequently get written, and if really lucky reviewed, by the wrong people. But that is nothing specific to PD and is an industry wide failing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pint of Adnams Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Replacement solebars arrived in today's post, neatly boxed. That's after sales service for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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