Pragmatic Pre-Grouping - Mikkel's Workbench

[Regularity]

I am sure there were both good and bad sides to it. But it is very hard to compare life standards of todays material age, to a hundred years ago. People lived for tens of thousands of years with out money.

Also without modern healthcare...

[Donw]

To take one example speaking to people would had worked on farms, they had found pleasure in working together with others. There may have been hard work but it was rewarding today farm workers tend to be on their own dependant on machinery and depression and loneliness are problems.

 

Different lives different problems

 

Don

[Edwardian]

Superb work on the figures and accessories over the last few pages.

 

Pendon could not surpass such results.

 

Very much enjoyed catching up.

[Mikkel]

Thanks James, very kind of you. Pendon standards is a whole other league of course - but the figure mods at are a satisfying and quick way of making the layout a bit "personal" (literally) 

 

Work has been holding me up, but some more figures have been done and painted. Will post some photos soon.

[JimC]

Unfortunately, the living wasn’t that brilliant.

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to look in the barn after the harvest and know that not everyone was going to make it through the winter.

[Regularity]

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to look in the barn after the harvest and know that not everyone was going to make it through the winter.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Regularity

[JimC]

"And the King only p*****s away the money on Flemish mercenaries 'cos he's trying to conquer France again, and at least the lord spends his money in town. My cousin who's apprenticed to the silversmith says he's making a mint out of what Lord Arnold spends on gifts for that new trophy wife..."

"And that wife is quite a looker, isn't she Matty. Reckon she was giving you the eye last Sunday in church..."

Edited May 13, 2018 by JimC

[Mikkel]

Will post some photos soon.

 

 

The modified figures have now been painted. I've put some photos of them in the blog.

 

 

 

Meanwhile these regular, umodified Andrew Stadden figures have turned up at Farthing. Looks like the Slipper Boy gang will be facing some competition 

 

[Coal Tank]

Hi Mikkel the barrow and gent look really good the boxes look great too . The new figures look really detailed ( but I'd definitely keep a hand on my wallet if they were in the vicinity of the station )

 

John

[N15class]

The crowd in the bottom photo had me checking my wallet was still in my pocket.

 

your modified figures are cleverly  thought out.

[ChrisN]

No, no, no.  You just need to make sure they are in gainful employ.  One of them is the dead spit of my coal merchant, cannot think why.

 

I shall head over to your blog as your figures are always a treat.  I sometimes think the only reason I have a model railway is so Ican have figures.

[Mikkel]

Hi Mikkel the barrow and gent look really good the boxes look great too . The new figures look really detailed ( but I'd definitely keep a hand on my wallet if they were in the vicinity of the station )

 

John

 

Haha, yes, the primer really brings out the character in Andrew's figures. When Alan from Modelu releases his Edwardian figures we will be spoilt for choice!

 

 

The crowd in the bottom photo had me checking my wallet was still in my pocket.

 

your modified figures are cleverly  thought out.

 

Thanks Pete, this crowd will be staffing the warehouses at Farthing Old Yard - not sure that's wise! 

 

 

No, no, no.  You just need to make sure they are in gainful employ.  One of them is the dead spit of my coal merchant, cannot think why.

 

I shall head over to your blog as your figures are always a treat.  I sometimes think the only reason I have a model railway is so Ican have figures.

 

Hi Chris, maybe it's the younger brother of your coal merchant?

 

I suppose all this business with figures is still a bit of an aqcuired taste, but there does seem to be increased interest in them in the hobby. Maybe the close-ups that are now possible with digital cameras has played a role, as the shortcoming of "stick people" suddenly becomes apparent.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Mikkel

[Compound2632]

Also without modern healthcare...

 

... but really quite advanced plastic (etc.) surgery.

[Mikkel]

Weather's been too good for modelling recently (May was the sunniest month ever recorded in Denmark!), but I've now started work on some horse-drawn wagons for the Old Yard at Farthing.
 
First up was this old Pendon kit from the 1970s. There is no indication of a prototype in the instructions, but it is a fairly close match to a drawing of a GWR 7 Ton trolley in GWR Horsepower. 
 



The kit went together well enough. I fashioned a simple pin that allows the front axle to pivot.




I also added a rear flap, with the typical triangular shape.





Here it is ready for painting, with a Dart castings horse in evidence. Chains etc will follow later.



 
 
Here's another GWR wagon underway, a short one horse trolley. I have previously scratchbuilt a similar wagon, but that was rather time consuming - so I thought I'd do a similar one by modifying a Dart Castings flat dray kit (ref L45). I found a drawing in GWR Horsepower which is a reasonable fit, give or take a mm in the length and width.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
That's how far I got today. Still need to add cross-bracing on the tarp supports, a front board and side bolections.

[N15class]

Cracking work as per usual Mikkel. I like the way you seem to get the details spot on.

[Compound2632]

This is putting me in mind of this scene.

[bgman]

Another little MM ( Mikkel Masterclass ) and all for £ 1.50 ! An absolute bargain too, very nice work.

 

I also popped over to look at the other one you've highlighted and thats a cracking model too !

 

G

[Mikkel]

Cracking work as per usual Mikkel. I like the way you seem to get the details spot on.

 

Thanks Pete. The dimensions of these particular horsedrawn wagons are not exactly as per the drawings, but reasonably close. There was a surprising number of variations of the GWR one horse trolley. They all look the same at first, but a close look at the drawings show detail differences. 

 

 

This is putting me in mind of this scene.

 

Very nice. I like the front board, nice and stylish as ever on the Midland. Here are a couple of my favourite horse-drawn scenes from GWR Hockley:

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd2625.htm

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd748.htm

 

 

Another little MM ( Mikkel Masterclass ) and all for £ 1.50 ! An absolute bargain too, very nice work.

 

I also popped over to look at the other one you've highlighted and thats a cracking model too !

 

G

 

Many thanks Grahame. The Pendon trolley kit is rather nice, but seems to be as rare as lefthanded Peruvian hens' teeth. I saw one on ebay just the other day, but forgot to bid...

Edited June 4, 2018 by Mikkel

[Mikkel]

Status after this morning's modelling session. The bolections (if that's the word) were drawn up and cut on the Silhouette. This was right on the limit of what my Silhouette could manage, especially as I need some new blades soon.

 

 

 

 

Here are the bolections fitted in place along the side. The cross-bars on the tarpaulin supports were also added. The latter are a little on the heavy side, but will be mostly covered with the tarp, so no worries.

 

 

The front board (I have seen them referred to as weather boards) differs from my previous build and is of the simple triangular design. The different front sections of GWR horsedrawn trolleys is a bit of a minefield - more on that later.

 

 

Ready for primer. Next job is a cart or two for the private traders at Farthing.


 

[bgman]

Cracking stuff matey, keep it up.

 

I might just have to do something similar in the future for my proposed layout, but, with it being in 7mm it'll have to be close to the mark.

 

Just out of interest, where is the diagram / picture ( 4th one ) of the waggon from please ?

 

I have a book, no not in that cupboard, of waggons from various parts of the country and their constituent parts. Since you started this I became quite intrigued as to the various names of the waggon parts.....can I find the book ?  

 

Hey ho !

 

G

[Edwardian]

Super work on the drays, and I stand by what I said earlier concerning the figures; I might have seen figures as good at Pendon, but not certainly no better.

[Mikkel]

Cracking stuff matey, keep it up.

 

I might just have to do something similar in the future for my proposed layout, but, with it being in 7mm it'll have to be close to the mark.

 

Just out of interest, where is the diagram / picture ( 4th one ) of the waggon from please ?

 

I have a book, no not in that cupboard, of waggons from various parts of the country and their constituent parts. Since you started this I became quite intrigued as to the various names of the waggon parts.....can I find the book ?  

 

Hey ho !

 

G

 

 I would love to see you do one of these in 7mm Grahame, it would be quite something. Let me know if I can help with material.

 

More genereally speaking, there are two specific books on GWR vehicles that I know of:

 

"Great Western Horse Power" by Janet Russell. This deals with all things related to horses and the GWR.  It is a delightful book, but also a bit of a muddle: It is not particularly systematic, includes ad hoc photos and drawings from other companies, does not mention the source of much information, and the captions are to be treated with a good deal of care. However it is richly illustrated and a great read, with many photos and drawings of horsedrawn vehicles and their details. There are 2 drawings of the canvas covered one-horse trolley type that I have done above (including the drawing in the photo).

 

"Great Western Road Vehicles" by Phillip Kelley. This covers the history of the company's road vehicles. It is richly illustrated and appears well researched, if a little clinical. The main focus is on motor vehicles, and it has only a single chapter on horse-drawn vehicles. Ironically, though, it has a decent collection of 25 drawings of horse-drawn vehicles in the annex, reproduced to 7mm or 10mm scale. This includes 4 drawings of the canvas covered one-horse trolley type.

 

 

Super work on the drays, and I stand by what I said earlier concerning the figures; I might have seen figures as good at Pendon, but not certainly no better.

Thanks very much James, you make me blush. I insist though that if the Pendon modellers had the time and put their minds to it, my figures would look like something out of Toys R Us by comparison.

 

BTW, your use of the term "drays" reminds me how confusing the terminology of horse-drawn vehicles seems to be. I also consider them drays, but the GWR drawings insist on calling these light types "trolleys" in most drawings. Heavier types are called "lorries". I wonder what exactly determined the dividing line between them.

 

Edited to correct misunderstanding, typos, and other things related to getting wrong leg of out of bed!

Edited June 5, 2018 by Mikkel

[Mikkel]

Another horse-drawn wagon on the work bench. This will be a private trader example loaded with fruit, inspired by these lovely photos:  https://www.gettyimages.ca/photos/cider-gwr?phrase=cider%20gwr&sort=mostpopular#license
 
I decided to use another Dart Castings kit. Apart from the usual little mod to allow the front axle to pivot, I built it more or less as provided:

 


 


 

 

 

Only then did I properly discover the wonderful world of British agricultural wagons, and that many counties had their own design. The Dart castings kit supposedly represents a Monmouthshire type, whereas Farthing is located in Wiltshire. Not ideal, but one excuse could be that some private traders had their wagons built further afield. For exampe, the Gloucester Wagon Co. built agricultural wagons to order, and one photo shows a design of theirs built for a flour company, which is reasonably similar to the Dart kit.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Mikkel

[Compound2632]

Very nice. In the background there, I see you're continuing to experiment with the Great Western's little-known c. 1906 locomotive white livery too...

[bgman]

Very nice Mikkel, I likes Cider Waggons !

 

Once again I look forward to seeing this one progress.

 

G