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pete_mcfarlane

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  1. pete_mcfarlane
    The EPB has now had a coat of Railmatch etch primer over the brass bits, and a couple of coats of Halfords white aerosol primer.

    It's now been rubbed down to remove the usual blobs of glue etc that models seem to accumulate, and is awaiting another coat of primer.
  2. pete_mcfarlane
    DC Kits Class 71
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:42 am
     
    Finished my Class 71 this evening. I bought it at the Derby show in April 2006, so this must be one of my quickest builds ever Apologies for the slightly ropey pictures but I'm still working out how to take photos of models with my ancient digital camera.
     
    It's a DC kits resin body and whitemetal bogies. This is a really good kit - quite basic in places but generally accurate with plenty of scope for adding detail.
     


     
    I replaced the underframe gear as I wasn't too happy with the brass etching supplied. I also detailed the bogies to add as much of the piping as possible along with the steps and fitted cab interiors.
     
    The bogies themseleves are cast metail with a small DS10 type motor:
     

     
    I know DC kits have moved away from this design, but the quality of the sideframe castings is first class and a lot better than the resin ones that come with the class 74. The bogies ran fairly well from the start and only needed a bit of tweaking to get smooth performance. It also has the correct spoken wheels.
     
    I've only got a short bit of test track, but it doesn't seem that powerful. Mine is only going to move a few parcels vans, but a full length Golden Arrow is probably out.
     
    I've tried to represent the slightly tatty and faded look that these locos had in their later years. I suspect that not having much work, they didn't accumulate much mileage and so weren't overhauled and painted that often. The grilles were very fine mouldings so I painted them first with a thin coat of Dark grey, and then masked them off with Humbrol Maskol. This preserved the sharpness, as they didn't get clogged up with the body colour.
     
    The body colours were mixed with a fair ammount of white to make them look faded, and the blue was selectively rubbed with car body rubbing compund an a cotton wool stick to give the streaky look. The inspiration for this is a photo of a completely knackered looking Class 74 in "Southern EMUs in colour".
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Phil on Sun Nov 18, 2007 3:27 am
     
    Fantastic job Pete, well done.
     
    I can just imagine that on the Eastbourne papers with a few SR CCTs and a BR GUV. Nice !!
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Adam on Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:15 am
     
    An impressive job that.
     
    The bogies are definitely my favourite element - Are they the correct wheelbase on the 71? Those supplied with the 74 exasperated me to the extent that I cut the spring/bearing mouldings of them and scratchbuilt the rest, likewise with the rest of the underframe. The improvement is really obvious, as it is with this model.
     
    I like the fact that you've taken the time to put in the traction motor cables on the sideframes which are so distinctive on the real thing (and the 73 an 74 too for that matter). These are a bit of a fiddle to do but worth every minute I think.
     
    Is that 2x DS10s or just the one?!!
     
    Adam
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by lapford34102 on Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:16 pm
     
    Hi,
     
    That is very nice
     
    Edit - did you use the kit glazing or do your own - I've a 74 to finish.......
     
    Cheers
    Stu
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:01 pm
     
    Thanks for the nice comments.
     


    Adam wrote:
    The bogies are definitely may favourite element - Are they the correct wheelbase on the 71? Those supplied with the 74 exasperated me to the extent that I cut the spring/bearing mouldings of them and scratchbuilt the rest, likewise with the rest of the underframe.
    The 71 has the correct wheelbase, as presumably it's a bespoke motor bogie for this kit. Unlike the 74 which has a Black Beetle 2mm too short (I dont think they do them long enough).
     
    I got halfway through scratchbuilding some new bogie sideframes for my 74 along the lines you've outlined, but then I got sidetracked by something else... The bogies are by far the weakest part of the 74 kit
     


    Adam wrote:
    Is that 2x DS10s or just the one?!!
    Only 1. There is (or was - I've not seen these kits on their stand for a while) an option to buy a second motor and gears.
     


    lapford34102 wrote:
    Edit - did you use the kit glazing or do your own -
    Both
    I didn't like the vacuum formed glazing provided that much as it suffered from the usual curved effect around the corners that you get with this type of glazing. I glazed the side windows with clear plastic cut to shape and held in place with Crystal Clear floor polish. I chickened out of doing the front windows as they are an awful shape, and the front glazing supplied wasn't that bad.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 10800 on Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:06 pm
     
    Very nice Pete - what's the pantograph like? Did it come with the kit or did you source it separately? (Any photos with the pan up?).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Adam on Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:13 pm
     
    Thanks for the answers - Mine has the bogies from a Bachmann Warship and a big Mashima can motor, so that isn't an issue.
     
    You might find this thread useful:
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?
     
    Adamp=16777&highlight=#16777
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:33 pm
     


    10800 wrote:
    Very nice Pete - what's the pantograph like? Did it come with the kit or did you source it separately? (Any photos with the pan up?).
    It's a sommerfeldt pantograph, which is not 100% accurate as it has a single contract strip rather than 2 like the prototype, and different cross bracing. None of this really shows when its down (the alternative would be to run the loco without a pantograph as sometimes happened).
     
    I suspect that nobody does a correct one. It came with the kit. In fact the kit comes with everything you need to build a basic OO gauge model except glue, paint and solder.
     
    Mine is stuck down so no photos of mine with it up I'm afraid
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 10800 on Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:39 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    It's a sommerfeldt pantograph, which is not 100% accurate as it has a single contract strip rather than 2 like the prototype, and different cross bracing. None of this really shows when its down (the alternative would be to run the loco without a pantograph as sometimes happened).
     
    I suspect that nobody does a correct one.
    I think you're right Pete, which is a shame (unless Judith Edge or No Nonsense are up for it). Camberhurst (see link below) will need a couple of these (and a couple of Boosters) and it would be nice to consider a DCC-controlled motorised pan for entering and exiting the goods yard.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Supaned on Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:13 pm
     
    Pete ,
     
    Thanks for posting the pics - fantastic finish on the HA, I really like the knackered appearance , if my DC 74 comes up half as good I'll be happy.
    I especially like the additional bogie detailing.
     
    Rod:
     
    First time I've read of your layout idea , but I really like the thought of 70s and 71s - not something you see too often (Hull MRS excepted!).
    The DCC pantograph idea is great , there should be ample room in the bodyshells to fit this.
    __________________________________________
  3. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm still plodding away with the roof. This is the current state of play:

    The ventillators are some very nice NNK castings. The periscopes are from Branchlines, and the electrical cabling is a mixture of plastic rod and wire (mainly steel guitar wire, with some brass for the short cross cables) on Southern Pride turned supports.
     
    There's still quite a lot to do on the roof, but having drawings and some decent photos helps quite a lot compared to the EPB.
  4. pete_mcfarlane
    A package from NNK arrived yesterday, so the EPB has it's replacement window frame and is now finally heading to the paint shop
     
    The NNK trailing bogies having now been fitted with their etched step boards, and assembled. I've also added detail to the ends out of wire and various bits of plastic strip. As with the EPB ends there was a bit of guess work, and various drawings and photos don't seem to match up (possibly variations between different batches of units). I don't think this will matter when the unit is coupled up, so long as it looks right.
     
    It's now also got some nice footboards from NNK - these even come with a jig for drilling the fixing holes which helped a lot.

  5. pete_mcfarlane

    LNER wagons

    By pete_mcfarlane,

    Slow progress over Christmas, due to other distractions (food, beer etc) but I've managed to get some LER wagons completed. I bought some old 3H LNER 6 plank wagon kits off Ebay as these seem to be well regarded. In the end they turned out to be pigs to build - the quality of the detail is first rate, but assembling them was a nightmare as the corner joins didn't mate properly and endless filing and filling was needed!
     
    The one on the right was built as per the kit as a Darlington built example. The one on the left is the Doncaster example with a difference shape of end L stanchion. This was achieved by glueing several layers of 10 thou plasticard over the existing moulded stanchion, trimming the excess off when dry and then filing the new angle.

    A third kit had it's underframe replaced with one from a Parkside lowfit, to give a 10' wheelbase fitted example. I've now discovered that ABS do a kit for these, so I don't feel quite as smug as I originally did :icon_rolleyes:
    The cattle wagon is a Parkside kit (for the fitted version) modified in to a 9' wheelbase version, using MJT and ABS components. Sadly I couldn't think of a way of making it go banana shaped like the real thing did due to their weak underframes.

  6. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. It's a conversion of a Coopercraft kit to the fitted version, except that the one modelld seems to have lost it's vacuum fittings but kept the Bauxite livery. Based on a photo in "Pre-nationalisation freight stock on BR

    The wagon sheet cover's up a bit more of the new ironwork than I'd have liked. Never mind.
  7. pete_mcfarlane
    The shock open progresses slowly. I cut down the ends, leaving some of the buffer beam behind to represent the floor.

    The body was then assembled around a floor made of planked plastic sheet, as the drawing in BR wagons (and photos of the full length non-shock version of the prototype) show a wooden floor.
    Finally, 40 plasticard was added underneath to represent the (quite thick) outside of the floor on these wagons. This was done in 3 sections to avoid having to cut out bits to clear the metal strapping.


    It is now setting with some plastic spacers to keep the body from bowing inwards. The only real difficulty I found with this work was getting the 3 sections of each side to bond firmly back together, as they are very thin. I think I'll leave it for a few days to fully set, to avoid any warping in the future.
     
    The LNER lowfit is now painted, and loaded with an LMS DX container that featured in it's unpainted form way back on the old site. LMS wagons suggests that these painted "slate grey" - the lettering is from various sources, but I did leave some of the smaller instructions off. My eyes went a bit wonky after doing the full LMS name using indvidual letters......

    The two cattle wagons are done as well. Hopefully this picture shows the differences quite well - the one with modified strapping is on the left. I'm quite happy with these, even if Bachmann now do a RTR version. I must do a 12T van one day, and maybe a ferry van with an underslung "urine tank"
  8. pete_mcfarlane
    Not much has happened on the wagon front recently as I've busy battling an Ian Kirk 2-Bil kit. I have managed to finish this Parkside LNER lowfit. The only major change I made was to use AS buffers. The replacement axlebox cover is due to these being seperate moulding and likely to fall off if you don't use enough glue
     
    This BR pipe wagon is another parkside kit. It took ages to pluck up the enthusiasm to do the 8 door springs. Bending up little bits of metal strip is not my idea of fun. Otherwise a nice simple kit. The replacement buffers are from 51L
     
    And now for a couple of works in progress. I've been meaning for ages to have a go at converting the Parkside LNER pattern steel open in to a BR
    diagram 1/031 shock wagon. The body of these is the usual 1' shorter, with a study of photos and the drawing in BR wagons showing that I had to remove 6" (2mm in 4mm scale) from either side of the door.
     
    The sides were cut in to sections with a razor saw and mitre box.

    And then glued back together. The other side has yet to be done. I've also removed the wooden chalk board from the side as the shock wagons (or at least the one I'm modelling) didn't have these.

     
    The second wagon is a Bachmann LNER Toad brake van. Or at least claimed to be on the box.

    Basically its a BR van with shorter footboards and no end weights, having many detail feature wrong for the LNER van. Wrong axleboxes, wrong (double) brakeshoes, wrong handrails, underframe trussing, windows in the end doors, wrong lamp irons, and no fixed side lamps spring to mind. I'm slowly correcting these. I didn't anticipate this much work when I bought it.
  9. pete_mcfarlane
    I've left the roof for now and have done some work on the underframe. The truss rods are from NNK and are much better than the kit's crude plastic mouldings or trying to make these out of L section brass. They are preformed and solder up in a couple of minutes.
     
    They are designed as a complete unit (presumably to fit the chassis of their own EMU kits), but as this made tem too wide for my chassis I removed the central section before glueing them in place.
     

     
    The underframe castings I'm using are Branchlines, or at least came in their packet. They are a bit crude - far cruder than other Branchlines castings I've seen, so I'm wondering if they are actually Phoenix. As you can see from the photo below, they need a fair bit of cleaning up as the moulds were pretty worn and the two halves out of alignment.
     

     
    One oddity is that the castings include some V hangers. The preserved unit at Shildon has these, but they aren't shown on any of the drawings I've got and I've not spotted any in photos of the units in service. I'm wondering if the preserved unit has been modified at some point whilst it was still operational - more research is needed in to the underframe gear.
  10. pete_mcfarlane
    I've not done much modelling over the summer, mainly due to being busy at work. But recently I'd finished off a few projects, and attacked my pile of unbuilt kits
     
    This plywood shockvan is a Red Panda kit bought off eBay, although they now seem to be back in to production again. It's been painted but unlettered for a while, so a burst of activity saw it finished.

    The later shock wagon square markings were done using the white lines that come on the HMRS wagon transfer sheet. These were used to form squares which were in-filled with white paint. The stripes on the end were hand painted - the ends are so filthy they hardly show.
     
    Another long term workbench resident was this Slater's MR van - a pretty standard build of the kit, with ABS buffers and brake gear. It had a spot of extra rivet detail added from plasticard scraps.

     
    Two more lurkers are the Parkside GWR open (left), and a David Geen LSWR meat van (right).The Parkside open was built straight from the kit as a fitted diagram O15 with sheet bar. The Achilles heel of this kit is the sheet rail - it relies on a flimsy plastic moulding at each end, and I've broken both ends during painting. It's currently being stuck together with superglue and will have a tarpaulin fitted to give it extra strength.
     
    The Geen LSWR van has featured in this blog before (a long time ago). It's a nice whitemetal kit, but I struggled with the brake gear - I found the etched components too flimsy to I substituted MJT brake shooes and parts from a Mainly Trains etch. After several years of being banished to a box it's progressing slowly again, but still isn't finished.
     
    The middle vehicle is a Chiver's SR meat van. This was bought off eBay a couple of years ago and built over a week and a half - I found it very straightforward to build although the ends were a bit flimsy and easy to bend if you are cackhanded like me....
     
    I did replace the etched brake gear with some more robust looking ABS parts. Both meat vans will be finished in SR livery.
     
    Another EBay purchase is this D&S Chatham third. It cost me £30 about a year ago, which goes to show that these kits don't always go for stupid money. A very simple build, like most of the the D&S kits I've built.

    Built as per the kit instructions, with some extra detail to represent an electrically lit example (as best as I could, given a lack of decent photos). It's based on a loose Third that lurked as a strengthening vehicle on the Hythe branch in the early 1930s, and judging by the R W Kidner photo of it at Sandgate ,was probably best avoided if it turned up in your train.
     
    If I can track down another of these vehicles, they'll go quite nicely with a Branchlines brake and a suitable ex-SER loco. There's a lovely photo of a SER B class, two Chatham 6 wheel coaches and a SER brake at Dungeness in the 1920s I'd like to replicate in model form one day....
  11. pete_mcfarlane
    The T1 can move under it's own power. After the problems with the chassis on the J, it was something of a relief that it needed very little adjustment to run smoothly. Just some tweaking of the bogie pivots and some slight enlarging of the cutouts for the bogie wheels. The pickups are a bit non-standard due to the odd design of the chassis - a piece of PCB was bolted to the top of full length frame spacer between the frames. The do work.
     

    The main castings have now been added. I'm battling the base of the dome with filler to get it reasonably smooth. It wasn't the best casting ever.
     

    The inside of the cab, showing how far back the flywheel projects. I think the backhead will need to be slightly further back than it should be to hide this.
     
    And lastly, a quick update on the E2. It now has the correct smokebox saddle/cylinder covers, and I'm working on the tank top beading. The cab openings have been enlarged, and the tops of the tank and bunker adjusted to match the real thing. Why Hornby got these wrong I don't know - they are nothing to do with the dimensional compromises needed to fit their standard chassis.

  12. pete_mcfarlane
    The 04 now has a full set of handrails and some Markits sprung oval buffers.I think the buffer heads project too far forward, so some packing is needed at their rear to reduce this.

    The Southern 03s have larger airtanks in front of the cab, compared to the ones on the Bachmann model. The replacements on my 03 were made from Evergreen plastic tube with the domed ends filed and sanded to shape from 40 thou sheet. They are glued to the cab front (as were the original ones) - the model splits in to a separate cab, footplate and bonnet which will make attaching the connecting pipework interesting.
  13. pete_mcfarlane
    It didn't take long to reduce either loco to its constituent parts.

    The 04 was a lot simpler to take to bits, as you'd expect given how much older it is The 03 was a bit of a struggle and I damaged some of the piping from the air cylinders (attached to the cab) to the footplate (a separate casting). Not a big deal as I'm replacing these bits.
     
    This is the result of the demolition work on the 04. Moulded handrails removed, air tanks sawed off with a razor saw, and the crude attempt at the mesh screen behind the cab footsteps removed The footsteps themselves are over scale, but I decided to keep them. Scale ones would be too flimsy.
    And this is the result of a few hours work.

    New handrails fitted, and the two extra rear marker lights added from scraps of plastic. The biggest challenge with the bonnet handrails is rimming them flush, so that the mechanism will fit.
     
    So far all I've done on the 03 is fill the gaps where the coupler pokes through the buffer beam. Bachmann provide blanking plates that fit in to the NEM coupler pockets, but these can't be fitted in place permanently. I've used plasticard instead.

  14. pete_mcfarlane
    In 1986 I was take to the NRM for the first time as a birthday treat, and I bought this book in the shop.

    Brian Haresnape's BR fleet survey volume 7. For somebody who occasionally glimpsed an 08, this book was full of odd little diesel shunters crying out to be modelled. Obviosuly I didn't have the money or skills to do it back then (the less said about an attempt at a cardboard LMS jackshaft shunter, the better), so only now am I finally getting round to doing it.
     
    Two obvious candidates for a SR layout set in 1970 (which is what I'm planning on building one day) are the 03 and 04 classes. Both of these have been produced by Bachmann.

    The 03 is newer and far more detailed. The 04 is older, and has a split chassis which apparently are considered to be the work of Satan in DCC circles. I'm sticking with old fashioned DC (I have enough fun with computers at work), so this makes no difference to me. It's also a lot cruder - the windows, for example, are not flush.
     
    The work seems to consist of:
     
    2398 (03 class)
    - A new and larger air tank. The model is already air braked, but the tank is too small for the SR examples.
    - Filling the gap in the buffer beam where the tension lock coupler goes.
    - Some replacement handrails.
    - High level jumpers and extra SR marker lights.
     
    D2294 (04 class)
    - New handrails.
    - New air tanks.
     
    - Filling the gap in the buffer beam where the tension lock coupler goes.
    - Full replacement handrails.
    - Extra marker lights.
    - Oval buffers
    - New protective mesh screen around the jackshaft.
    - better windows, and some wipers.
     
    None of this is a large amount of work, so hopefully this project won't take as long as the Warship.
  15. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm not a very "clean" modeller. Some people seem to be able to models that look immaculate even when unpainted. Mine, on the other hand, are covered in blobs of superglue and badly sanded down filler.

    I've sprayed the J with a light coat of Tamiya grey, which has exposed all of these rough bits. I'm leaving it to harden overnight, and then I'll make a start on rubbing it down and getting rid of the mess.
    I'd normally use red oxide on a loco, but the grey is intended to make it easier to position the grey rivet transfers when I come to do them.
  16. pete_mcfarlane
    I started this model last November, and just over 3 months later it's ready for painting, and I missed a month of so of modelling time due to Christmas/New Year/Skiing/amateur Pantomime (stage crew before you ask, not playing the Dame). Given that the I3 is still not finished, after 9 years, I'm impressed by my rate of progress on the J.
     

     
    Tonight saw it being given a good scrub, and brass parts painted with etch primer.
     

     
    Next steps are to undercoat and the rub down until I've got a decent base coat. I'm planning on using Archer rivet transfers to represent the smokebox rivets. The kit doesn't include these as the locos were built using flush rivets.
  17. pete_mcfarlane
    Progress over the last month or so has been slow. I'm not at the stage of adding detail to both locomotives, and there's an awful lot of it.

    The J comes with some very nice castings - even the clack valves with their piping were usable. The I3 on the other hand is needing a lot of minor detail scratchbuilding. Luckily I have photos of all sides of 32029 courtesy of the Bluebell Museum's photo service.
     
    The I3 is a mass of pipes, being air and vacuum braked, and has a Westinghouse compressor (still to be fitted - I've bought the rather nice Alan Gibson cast brass one rather than use the slightly undersized looking whitemetal one). The J is less complex, but has the added complexity of the steam reverser and it's piping. It's going to be a while longer before they are finished.
  18. pete_mcfarlane
    My model of the Thanet Third in set 331 has been on hold for a week or so whilst some photos arrived from the Bluebell Museum's John J Smith photo collection. This is located here http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/ and has a useful selection of BR(S) photos.
     
    Most of the photos of this set concentrate on the SECR rake comospite, as it's the rarer vehicle of the pair. However the Bluebell have one photo showing both vehicles, which shows the Third well enough to build an accurate model. Unlike most Thanet coaches I've seen photos of it has a footboard inboard of the bogies, so this has been added.

    I still need to detail the ends and build an interior. This should happen over the next couple of weeks, time permitting.
  19. pete_mcfarlane
    The wonderfully retro Chiver's instructions (possibly done on a Amstrad PCW?) say 'to allow a finescale model to be made, the mainframes have been etched with limited clearance'. I removed these half etched sections with a file - which proves once and for all that I'm not a finescale modeller.
    In fact I had to remove a little bit more (and elongate the bogie pivot hole) to get the chassis through a B6 point. The extra clearance was needed to clear the flanges of the Gibson wheels - these are to OO finescale standards, and although a little oversized are nowhere near the great pizza cutters that were on offer from Jackson/Romford etc back in the 1980s when this kit came out. I suspect you have serious problems if you used coarse scale wheels on this kit.

    And some more work on the body - the boiler is still only resting in place, but has gained some fittings. The done required a little bit of fettling to get it to fit, which is possibly the only real difficulty I've had with the body castings for far.

    Slightly blurry at the front end, but you should be able to spot the Keen-Maygib SECR pattern buffers which I've substituted for the cast ones supplied. Very nice cast ones, but I wanted sprung buffers.
     
    Apart from the problems with the chassis, this is turning in to a far more straightforward build than I expected.
  20. pete_mcfarlane

    J and I3 progress

    By pete_mcfarlane,

    Two updates in two days gives the impression that I'm making steady progress, rather than the odd few hours here and there!
     
    This is the current state of the J class body - the boiler and cab roof are just resting in place for now.
    Apart from some flash on one of the cabside, and a wonky cab roof ventilator the parts assembled with the minimum of fettling.
     
    The bogies has also been tackled. It has an etched centre and cast sideframes, not a combination I'd seen before. I'm going to have to open out the half etched bogie cutouts in the sideframes to get enough clearance for the bogie to swing (and I tested it on a B6 turnout, which is hardly setrack). Still, it's good to see that not all loco kits from this era were designed with massive compromises to go round 18" curves by default.

    I forgot to mention in yesterday's update that I'd managed to use the original Chivers connecting rods, and didn't have to replace them with Gibson rods.
     
    Lastly, here's the chassis from my Finecast I3. This was featured on the old RMWeb - the link is here when it's up and working: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9669&hilit=finecast+brighton&start=25
     
    The kit has been lurking in it's box since then, but I'm determined to now finish it off (it's been on the go for years, and has the Sharman wheels to prove it). It was a bit of a pig, as it sat way too high on it's chassis (how many people actually run kit built locomotives round trainset curves?). After removing lots of metal from the body and chassis it sits almost at the right height.
     
    This led to a problem - I'd seriously weakened the chassis by removing part of the sideframes, and it had started to distort (dropping it didn't help either). So it had a strip down and and extra spacer soldered in at the front to strengthen it. It's back together again with now most of the detail complete - despite the slightly tatty appearance it runs very well.

  21. pete_mcfarlane
    After a bit of a hiatus caused by the need to finish my entry for the 2011 challenge, one half of set 331 is now finished.

    The vacuum formed roof proved tricky to get to fit - it does now fit despite appearances in the pictures.
     
    The roof ventilators are a strange mix on this particular coach - one large torpedo vent, and some odd looking oval ventilators (no doubt somebody's patent carriage ventilator that the SECR decided to try out). These were made from some ABS torpedo vents with the torpedo parts filed off. Luckily the Phil Coutanche book on SECR carriages has a good photo of one of the other batches of corridor brake composites that shows these clearly enough to figure out what they look like.
     
    Apart from the roof this kit almost flew together and I'm very pleased with it. More Roxey coaches should follow it in the future.
     
    The other half of set 332 is a Thanet Third from Worsley Works. The etches are shown here:
     

    Work started by adjusting the profile of the ends. As supplied they seem to have the same curved profile as the later Maunsell Restruction 4 stock, whereas the real coaches had almost vertical sides with a very small tumblehome at the bottom. This only took a minute or two with the file
  22. pete_mcfarlane
    Not much progress recently, with work, holiday and most of my spare time spent on my challenge entry. I have made a start on weathering the Warship.
     

     
    This is the result of several thin coats of varnish with a hint of dirty brown/grey added. I've also copied some of the oil/diesel on the underframe panels from a photo of the real 816, along with the dirty patch at the very top of the yellow end which all Warships seemed to get.
  23. pete_mcfarlane
    6 hours in to the build of this Roxey SECR brake composite and I've got a basic bodyshell.

     
    No massive problems - the biggest issue was soldering the droplights in straight. The only deviation I've made from the kit so far is to file out the window frame on the centre birdcage window. These had been changed from opening to fixed windows by the 1940s.
  24. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm not a fast worker by any means, but I managed to assemble another coach for my GWR through train in 2 weeks and a day. Well almost - after the C.54 I realised what a brain numbing task drilling out the holes for the hinges was, so this was done a few at a time over the 2-3 weeks before I actually started building the kit. Other than that this Comet E148 brake composite flew together. There's a rather nice preserved example on the SVR, which I've ridden in.
     
    This time I used the whole etched underframe, except for the buffer beams which were slightly too narrow and were replaced with brass strip. Other deviations from the kit include Slater's sprung buffers (missing their heads in the photos), 247 Developments battery boxes and some extra end detailing from strip and wire. I also decided that making my own corridor partition from plasticard was quicker than modifying the etched one provided to get the odd compartment spacings needed. It has a detailed fixed gangway at the brake end, and will have a working paper one at the other.
     
    Photos taken before giving the model a good scrub, and the sharp eyed will spot that I put the body on the chassis the wrong way round for the photos.

     
    My next coach project is back in Southern territory - a Roxey SECR corridor rake composite. Some of these ended their days in two coach sets with Maunsell 'Thanet' thirds. I've had this kit and the Worsley etchings for the third in my to do pile for about 5 years.
     
    The Roxey kit looks very nice - this is the main etching.

     
    I only had time to solder vents and droplights in place today. Next task is to roll the tumblehome in the sides.
  25. pete_mcfarlane
    This is the current state of play with 816. I've kept the Bachmann body colour (it's actually moulded plastic rather than painted) and some of the lettering, but have repainted the noses and touched up parts of the blue. The grilles have also had a coat of dirty grey. This still quite a lot of touching up to do.

     
    The biggest transformation has come from painting the moulded headcode boxes surrounds black - the boxes now look the correct size.
     
     
     
     
     
     
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