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pete_mcfarlane

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  1. pete_mcfarlane

    LNER wqgons

    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.

  2. pete_mcfarlane
    D816 is one of the examples that retained or were refitted with multiple working jumpers. These have been made from a scrap of plastic and some thin wire.

     
    I've also added the odd footstep under one of the buffers. This came from the etch in the Craftsman detailing kit for the Lima Warships (which claims to cover D813-870 - but actually only covers the class 42 unless you ignore all of the class 43's detail differences ).
     
    It needed some modifications to fit, and one of these etches had to be reversed as Craftsman etched them as mirror images rather than identical. The rest of the buffer beam detailing will be a mix of Bachmann and Craftsman pipes. The oles are there, and they'll be added after painting.
     
    I've also filled the rather large gaps around the bodyside windows. Since I'd managed to damage one of them, it was filed back to the frame and will be modelled as open. This was a bit of a pain to do, so I'll only be having one open window.

     
    The main outstanding piece of work is the speedo. There's a reason why that's been left to last, and it's not because I'm looking forward to doing it
  3. pete_mcfarlane
    After some thought, and a few minutes with a file I've carefully reshaped the "brow" over the windows.

     
    I think it now looks a lot more like a Warship, although the front is now looking a bit sorry for itself with various splodges of copydex and filler. This is the current state of play after a couple of hours work tonight.

     

    New handrails (the ones under the window now have the central pillar), replacement lamp irons (Shawplan) and beefed up headboard clips (plastic strip). I also removed Bachmann/Mainline's attempt at the ventilator above the right hand light. It's the wrong shape. My chosen prototype seems to have lost it anyway and just has a dirty blanking plate in it's place
  4. pete_mcfarlane
    This is almost the current state of affairs (it's now had a scrub and is drying off as we speak!)

    I've now got my head around the design of the etches. They are too wide because it's intended to use a Comet roof - I had to reprofile the ends to take the shortened Southern Pride Bulleid roof. This is much closer to the real thing.
     
    The main problem from narrowing the body was that the chassis no longer fitted. As per Comet kits the chassis etch had an upward projecting strip to align the body sides and add strength. You can see it in this picture.

    Removing this allows the body to sit on the chassis. This makes the chassis quite flimsy, so I had to add some cross members to the underside to keep it all parallel. It is now all straight - the curvature in this photo is down to my camera....

     
    Bogies are spare Hornby ones from a cheap Maunsell First that is providing bits for this and other projects.
    Next step is to add detailing.
  6. pete_mcfarlane
    A trio of finished wagons, starting with the BR steel shock open, painted in typical early 1970s rust and grot. These wagons seem to have got in to a right state in their final years of revenue earning traffic. I'm quite pleased with how this conversion turned out - the dodgy join between the floor and the sides is prototypical and not my modelling. The joys of modelling poor workmanship!

    Parkside fruit van and Dapol/Parkside LMS designed van. The "ventilated" lettering on the fruit van was assembled from individual lettering off the HMRS sheet.


     
     
  7. pete_mcfarlane

    Maunsells

    By pete_mcfarlane,

    I'm sure we've all got models lurking half finished in boxes, and it's always good to get them finished. Both of these Maunsell coaches were started in 2000 and are now finished.
     
    The Roxey Nondescript brake was in my blog unpainted a year ago. It got half painted, then stripped down and repainted as I wasn't happy with the finish.

     
    The First has been lurking in a painted but unglazed state for years, as it was a very early effort where I didn't pay much attention to how to fit the glazing. It ended up having each window glazed separately - not fun! It's a detailed Kirk kit with Bill Bedford sides. In 2000 this was the only way to make a decent model of one of these coaches - since then a kit and RTR versions have appeared :icon_frustrated:
     
    I also managed to finish the 3H/Parkside hybrid LNER open, and the Airfix Meat van (an ex-meat van actually, as it represent as vehicle in Bauxite no longer used for meat traffic).

  8. pete_mcfarlane
    Now ready for painting in rusty bauxite. The original Parkside chassis was reused with modified axleboxes. Various details were added from scraps of plastic (the buffer beams are Evergreen channel), shock spring covers were spares from another Parkside kit and some MJT shock buffers finish it all off.
     
    For some reason none of these wagons seem to have lamp irons, despite being fitted. Presumably there must have been a reason for this - other shock wagons have them.
  9. pete_mcfarlane
    My shoebox of stuff to be painted seemed to be half full of painted but not lettered containers. A quick search of the internet showed that Cambridge Custom Transfers and Fox did suitable transfer sheets, which has let me finish them off.

    The scratchbuilt LMS FM container was finished off using a mix of Modelmaster and CCT transfers, all intended for other diagrams of FM container.

    The Cambrian type A containers, finished using CCT transfers (early livery) and Fox (late livery). There's a degree of guesswork in some of these, as published photo coverage of containers is a bit patchy.
     
    I've also finished the Parkside pipe wagon - in c1970 condition painted freight brown. A nice kit to build.

  10. 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.

  11. pete_mcfarlane
    4mm rolling stock, mainly Southern...
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:05 pm
     
    I was made redundant from my job last month (as my employers thought it was a good idea to replace me with 3 unskilled Indian graduates on ??5 a day, but that's a different story). The good news is that this gives me a lot more modelling time (in between job hunting of course), and so I'm trying to clear the backlog of half built kits that I've somehow managed to build up over the years. I'm also starting a few new ones as well.
     

     
    This is a Slaters Midland van. I started this about 6 years ago, but it was sitting around 90% complete as i was never happy with the break gear. This (and the buffers) have now been replaced with some ABS castings and it's now ready for the paint shop. Brake gear aside its a reasonable kit.
     

     
    A scratchbuilt SER van, based on plans in Vol 3 of Southern wagons. Again started years ago, and left half finished as D&S announced a kit. I've no idea if this ever came about before they dropped their 4mm range, but I never saw one for sale. It's now been dug out again and work has restarted. MJT running gear.
     

     
    David Geen LSWR van. The body castings were up this usal standard and it took about 10 minutes to get this far. The body has been glued together with superglue and left to set (I'll reinforce it with epoxy in the morning so it doesn't fall to bits...)
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:19 pm
     
    A few updates.
     
    The Geen LSWR van now has axleboxes on one side, and is setting overnight.
     

     
    These aren't ones supplied with the kit, as I prefer the ABS examples as the castings are a bit cleaner. Not the best photo, but you should be able to see the difference. Geen on left and ABS on the right.
     

     
    Next is a Chivers SR 20t mineral wagon. Built straight from from the kit and it took about an hour to get this far.
     

     
    One of the best plastic wagon kits I've built. The only change I've made is to use ABS buffers, as the none of the photos I've seen of these wagons show the RCH type buffers provided in the kit. That said, cast buffers are a definite plus and beat the wonky plastic ones you get in most plastic wagon kits.
     
    Lastly, an ABS LSWR gunpowder van. This has gone together OK, although the quality of the castings isn't as good as the Geen kit.
     

     
    One thing I don't like about this kit is the use of one piece sides, with the solebars and axleboxes integral with the sides. On past ABS kits I've struggled to get these lined up accurately with the result that the wagon doesn't sit level on the track. So on this one I've only fitted one axle. The other will be in an MJT inside bearing compensation unit, which should avoid any problems.
     
    Also in the early stages (no photos yet) are a SR Gunpowder van (converted from a Ration Iron Mink as per the prototype) and a Geen LSWR refrigerator van. The SECR van has had a few more rivets added as well, but this is mind numbingly tedious and will take a while.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:30 pm
     
    The Chivers Southern open is now waiting to be painted.
     

     
    The only trouble I had with this kit was getting the lift link brake gear to fit, although this may have been due to my replacing the plastic v hangers with etched ones. It needed a bit of platic stip padding between the lever and the small V hanger. I've also added detail to the door springs, as this is very obvious in photos.
    Now finished are a couple of BR 16 ton minerals that had been kicking around half done for years...
     

     
    Th eone on the left is a weathered Bachman with 3 link couplers. The one on the right is a Parkside kit, with ABS break gear, door springs from metal strip and real coal. The coal was added before the last coat of Matt varnish to tone it down, and avoid the horrible shiny look that you get from using crushed coal to represent the full size stuff. It's actually hard to spot the difference between the two, but the kit build has chunkier brake gear.
     
    Now waiting on parcels from ABS, MJT and Mainly Trains before I can complete a whole load more wagons...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:29 pm
     
    Some more progress. The slaters Midland van is now done.
     

     
    The MoT mineral next to it is a Parkside BR riveted mineral, with the undergear replaced with MJT W-irons/axleboxes and ABS brake gear. Finished in the red oxide livery used during WW2 and the years afterwards. The transfered were cobbled together from the HMRS LMS and LNER wagon sheets.
     

     
    This is a BR fish wagon, from the Parkside kit and detailed as per the instructions in Volume of "the 4mm wagon". The only deviation from these instructions was to replace the brake handles with cast ABS ones (because they were fragile and I broke them...). Ready for painting once I've sorted out the grab handle that's at the wrong height.
     

     
    Finally, a photo of the previously mentioned SR gunpowder van, converted (as per the prototype) from a GWR iron mink. This has MJT running gear, and I'm in the process of modifying the doors.
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by lbsc123 on Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:40 am
     
    looking good,
     
    have ypu had any more progress on te david geen kit?
     
    would you recomend it?
     
    cheers,
     
    will.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:31 pm
     


    lbsc123 wrote:
    have ypu had any more progress on te david geen kit?
     
    would you recomend it?
     
    cheers,
     
    will.
    It got this far before I realised I had no moreMJT compensation units, so had to wait for them to arrive.
     
    I then realised I had no more split spoke wagon wheels, and then discovered that mainly Trains were on holiday.
     
    Hopefully they should arive in the next day or so
     

     
    I would recommend this or any other David Geen wagon kit. The body castings are fantastic. I did replace the axleboxes, but that's mainly because the ABS ones are better, rather than ther being anything massively wrong with the Geen ones.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by lbsc123 on Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:35 am
     
    cheers for that.
     
    i might palce an order with david geen for some of his kits then.
     
    cheers
     
    will
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Anglian on Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:45 am
     
    Some lovely work there. Hope the job situation eases for you. I had similar situation about 18 months ago and got masses of modelling done. Situation is better now for work (for the time being at least) but I enjoy my model making even more as I'm not swamped by lots of half done things. Much nicer to buy something new, finish it and move on than forever be chasing ones tail.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:09 pm
     
    I've been doing a bit of short term contract work over the last month of so, so progress has been a bit slow. The LSWR van still isn't finished.....
     

    A Ratio GWR MOGO. This has had much of it's chassis replaced, using MJT irons and springs and the spare axleboxes from the Fish van kit.
     

    A Parkside meat van, with ABS buffers and brake gear. The new Parkside BR van kits are fantastic and go together really well.
     

    This started out as another Parkside kit, this time for an LNER van. The ends were remodelled to remove the vents, using Evergreen half round plastic strip (which is great for end corrugations - much better than the thread and shellac method I saw in an old RM ) Usual ABS bits, all of which have since been straightened..
     
    And now for a few old models. Not having a layout at the moment, everything is packed away in stock boxes and I'm in the process of digging them out to check what I've got so I don't end up with two wagons with the same number... Some of my older models suffered from a less than matt finish, so are being resprayed with the latest and much better Humbrol matt varnish (which actually is matt)
     

    Parkside BR minerals. The further is the less common riveted version.
     

    A Parkside BY van, with lotts of extra detail. A couple of weeks after finishing this I went to the Rutland Railway museum, whoo have one of these in a siding you can access, thus allowing me to spot all of the mistakes I'd made on the underframe
     

    Another Parkside mineral, and a Cambrian LMS steel van . Like most of their earlier kits, the underfrasme isn't brilliant and was replaced with a combination of MJT w irons, ABS bufferss and barkes and Evergreen channel for the solebar.
     

    A Bachmann SR bogie rake van with detailing and new bogies from Comet, which look better than the plastic original. It now weights a ton and rides perfectly. The open is a D&S LSWR 8 plank and has a tarpaulin from tinfoil.
     

    A Hornby LMS full brake modified to 1970s condition and resprayed blue.
     

    A D&S LSWR horsebox - a lovely kit. Shame you can't get these kits any more
     

    A detailed and repainted Lima CCT. This has a fantastic body, but the chassis was poor. This has had new wheels and some extra detail, but retains the slightly ropey W irons. It looks OK for now and will do until a decent model emerges
    Edited for dodgy spelling
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:44 pm
     
    A bit more progress.
    A Parkside BR van, and a Ratio LMS van. These were at opposite ens of the difficulty spectrum for plastic kits. The Parkside one was dead easy, like all of their recent kits although i did use ABS brake gear as the stuff with the kit looked a bit spindly.
    The Ratio one was hard - this was my second go at one as I messed up the first by getting the sides attached too low to the ends (which you shouldn't be able to do with a well designed kit). It's had a new chassis from the usual MJT/ABS parts and soldebars from Evergreen channel section
     

     
    A Bachmann GWR Fruit van on a Parkside chassis with ABS brake gear. I started this ages ago before I discovered that the body is 2mm too wide, and didn't fancy narrowing it.
     

     
    The much modified Iron Mink GPV is now finished and ready for painting. Luckily Fox do transfers for the complex livery these carried!
     

     
    Lastly a couple of shock opens from Parkside kits, one with a hood and one without. These required quite a lot of work, and the Shochood had it's underframe replaced with an LMS pattern one from the ever useful PA16 underframe pack (with modified axleboxes). Another one that had been hanging around half complete for about 5 years.
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Young Fido on Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:26 am
     
    Nice work Pete, Have you noticed on the Slaters kits for Midland wagons with 9ft wb how the solebars and headstocks dont line up vertically . I've taken to shortening the floor to get the things to sit right.
     
    I do like your brakework - Inspirational .
     
    Richard
     
    p.s. Do you find that your plastic wagons need ballast and if so, how much?
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Cheesemonger on Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:53 pm
     
    Just stumbled on this - great stuff. Exactly what I was looking for as I ponder the purchase of new buffer, etc for the Parkside kits I've just built.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:20 pm
     


    Young Fido wrote:
    Nice work Pete, Have you noticed on the Slaters kits for Midland wagons with 9ft wb how the solebars and headstocks dont line up vertically . I've taken to shortening the floor to get the things to sit right.
    I did after building the Midland van .


    Young Fido wrote:
    p.s. Do you find that your plastic wagons need ballast and if so, how much?
    It depends on how much metal I've added - the various buffers, brake gear and W irons add quite a bit of weight. If the wagon is still too light I add some liquid lead (fine lead shot) to increase the weight until the vehicle runs freely. This is a bit trial and error and I dont ballast up to a specific weight.


    Cheesemonger wrote:
    Just stumbled on this - great stuff. Exactly what I was looking for as I ponder the purchase of new buffer, etc for the Parkside kits I've just built.
    You may struggle to get some of the ABS bits I used as they don't seem to be available by mail order any more which is a real shame MJT and Wizard do alternatives in most cases.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:29 pm
     


    ... Parkside ... LNER van. The ends were remodelled to remove the vents, using Evergreen half round plastic strip (which is great for end corrugations - much better than the thread and shellac method I saw in an old RM ) ...
    Tsh, you racy young whippersnapper I like that Pete, an original slant on the kit
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by MartinWales on Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:38 pm
     


    Cheesemonger wrote:
    Just stumbled on this - great stuff.
    Same here.
     
    Some very nice models there, keep up the good work, and hope the job situation has improved!
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by rugd1022 on Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:04 pm
     
    Also only just fond this wonderful thread, well done Pete, some lovely modelling going on here . . . . was wondering about three of the vehicles in particular :
     
    the Bachmann SR bogie brake van - are the Bachmann bogies 'wrong' or are they just not detailed enough?
     
    the Hornby ex-LMS Full Brake - nice repaint job, good to see one in blue, it looks like you've removed some of the ribbing on the bodysides as per the real thing - did you have any trouble doing this at all? 9I've got one to do on the workbench )
     
    and finally...
     
    the Lima CCT - looks very good in lined maroon - the last time I tried to flush glaze one of these I managed to split the roof / glazing moulding in two when I prised it out of the body - how did you do yours?
     
    Cheers, keep the pics coming
     
    Nidge
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:39 pm
     


    rugd1022 wrote:
    Also only just fond this wonderful thread, well done Pete, some lovely modelling going on here . . . . was wondering about three of the vehicles in particular :
     
    the Bachmann SR bogie brake van - are the Bachmann bogies 'wrong' or are they just not detailed enough?
    There's nothing actually wrong with the Bachman bogies, but the Comet ones are more detailed and easier to add footsteps to. You could also add proper brake gear, although I didn't.
     


    rugd1022 wrote:
    the Hornby ex-LMS Full Brake - nice repaint job, good to see one in blue, it looks like you've removed some of the ribbing on the bodysides as per the real thing - did you have any trouble doing this at all? I've got one to do on the workbench )
    I scraped it off *carefully* with a new scalpel blade and rubbed the remains with fine wet and dry paper. Take it carefully otherwise you'll gouge chunks out of the bodyside, the trick is to make several passes rather than trying to take it all off in on go.


    rugd1022 wrote:
    the Lima CCT - looks very good in lined maroon - the last time I tried to flush glaze one of these I managed to split the roof / glazing moulding in two when I prised it out of the body - how did you do yours?
    I think (it was a couple of years ago) I stuck knife blades between the bodyside and the glazing and eased it out gently. I think the trick is not to use too much force since the Lima glazing is very brittle (as you've found out the hard way).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by rugd1022 on Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:13 pm
     
    Thanks Pete, much obliged
     
    I've noticed with the blue liveried ex-LMS vans that the amount of ribbing removed isn't always the same on each vehicle, a sure case of needing a photo as a guide.
     
    Cheers, Nidge
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Jan 11, 2009 11:25 pm
     
    Thanks for all the positive comments! This evening I''ve added couplings and finished off a few wagons and vans.
     
    The Parkside LNER van and BR fish van.
     

     
    A couple of Cambrian minerals converted to represent MoT 16t wagons ordered during WW2.
    The one on the left is an LMS mineral converted to BR diagram 1/102 and modelled in rusty later 1960s condition. I experimented with salt weathering on this one (as per this article http://www.rmweb.co....thering#p322306) and I'm quite pleased with the results.
    The one of the right started out as an LNER mineral and has bbeen converted to a diagram 1/103 wagon in original condition. The end door was replaced with one from a Parkside riveted mineral (these come with a choice of doors so there are spares left over). Based on a not too clear picture in volume one of the 4mm wagon sso there's a degree of guesswork in this one.
    Both have the usual MJT/ABS underframes with evergreen solebars (and loads of rivets cut from 5 thou sheet ).
     

     
    The David Geen LSWR van and Chivers SR mineral shown earlier in the post, now finished at last!
     

     
    Finally a Chivers Pigeon van in BR condition - built pretty much straight from the kit. There's little I can add to what's been said already about this kit, and iit went together really easily.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:57 pm
     
    A few more today. The Parkside meat van and Ration MOGO are done. Somehow I messed up the varnishing of the MOGO, which is hard as I used a Humbrol rattle can, and it left some white stains on the lower part of the body that look just like some skilfully executed weathering
     

     
    The has been languishing in the box of stuff to be finished for about 3 months before I bought a pack of Smiths tarpaulins to finish it. It's an ABS LMS open. I built this many years ago but was never happy with it's running. As I've noted before it's hard to get the so0lebars top line up, so it's been rebuilt to use an MJT inside bearing rocking unit on one axle. As far as i can tell (as I've not got a full layout to testt it on at present) it now runs a lot better.
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by The Fatadder on Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:23 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    A Bachmann SR bogie rake van with detailing and new bogies from Comet, which look better than the plastic original. It now weights a ton and rides perfectly.
    Do you have a reference for those bogies? I have a similar SR bogie break (all be it in a much more recent livery) which has broken bogies, and really need to get on and buy some new sideframes for it..
    If they are better looking than the original, thats even better still!
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Adam on Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:46 pm
     
    Pete
     
    Glad to see that thread was useful (I'd forgotten about that one!), nice patterning on the mineral. A good selection of prototypes there too. Good stuff.
     
    Adam
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:04 pm
     


    The Fatadder wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    A Bachmann SR bogie rake van with detailing and new bogies from Comet, which look better than the plastic original. It now weights a ton and rides perfectly.

    Do you have a reference for those bogies? I have a similar SR bogie break (all be it in a much more recent livery) which has broken bogies, and really need to get on and buy some new sideframes for it..
    If they are better looking than the original, thats even better still! You can (or could) get the Bachmann bogies as spares.
    The Comet ones are reference BS1 http://www.cometmode...category.php/BR,%20Pullman%20and%20SR%20Coach%20Kits%20and%20Sides. I like them because the have the heaviness and ease of assembly of whitemetal sideframes, plus a fold up brass frame to ensure accuracy (which I've always had problems with on 100% whitemetal bogies).
    Other sources of SR steam bogies that I know of are ratio (plastic), Roxey (brass) and Phoenix (whitemetal). And possibly also NNK but I've not tried them.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by The Fatadder on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:10 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The Fatadder wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    A Bachmann SR bogie rake van with detailing and new bogies from Comet, which look better than the plastic original. It now weights a ton and rides perfectly.

    Do you have a reference for those bogies? I have a similar SR bogie break (all be it in a much more recent livery) which has broken bogies, and really need to get on and buy some new sideframes for it..
    If they are better looking than the original, thats even better still!
    You can (or could) get the Bachmann bogies as spares.
    The Comet ones are reference BS1 http://www.cometmode...category.php/BR,%20Pullman%20and%20SR%20Coach%20Kits%20and%20Sides. I like them because the have the heaviness and ease of assembly of whitemetal sideframes, plus a fold up brass frame to ensure accuracy (which I've always had problems with on 100% whitemetal bogies).
    Other sources of SR steam bogies that I know of are ratio (plastic), Roxey (brass) and Phoenix (whitemetal). And possibly also NNK but I've not tried them. Thanks for that, will try and get hold of some post exams and try and get the model finished. Not keen on the Bachmann bogie, clearance between bogie frames is much too tight preventing fitting P4 wheels.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 10800 on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:47 pm
     
    Actually this reference: http://www.cometmode...o.uk/modules/vi ... Components
     
    They are just standard SR 8ft steam bogies, so you could also use Bedford spring units with cosmetic sideframes as for Maunsell coaches.
    __________________________________________
    4mm rolling stock, mainly Southern...
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Barry Ten on Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:05 pm
     
    Some really nice stuff here... I'm particularly taken with the LNER van and the Blue Spot (one of my favorite Parkside kits, actually).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Adam on Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:27 pm
     


    10800 wrote:
    Actually this reference: http://www.cometmode...o.uk/modules/vi ... Components
     
    They are just standard SR 8ft steam bogies, so you could also use Bedford spring units with cosmetic sideframes as for Maunsell coaches.
    The best sideframes I've seen are those from No Nonsense Kits, the etched inners could be better (if you're after springs and so on), but there's enough 'spring' to make them work in EM.
     
    Adam
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:30 am
     
    A couple of works in progress - detailing jobs on Hornby brake vans.
     
    An LMS van (the ex-Airfix type) has had it's chassis stripped down, cut in two and widened by 2mm. As supplied it seems to be too narrow and the triangular support brackets are too far from the edge of the body for my liking. I wouldn't have bothered with this, only I wanted to replace the W-irons and springs, and there wasn't enough room in the original chassis.
     

     
    The chassis is made out of solvent resistant plastic, so the spacer is stuck in with araldite. As has been commented before on the forum, this is a pretty good model and the body won't need that much detailing.
     

     
    Secondly, one of the LBSC vans has been stripped down. This is a strange model. The body is generally good, but is missing 2mm or so off the bottom edge when compared with photos and drawings so the steel sheeting doesn't go low enough (it's too low for an original one without the sheeting as well.
     

     
    The chassis is poor and will probably have to be replaced, due to the crudeness of the footsteps and axleboxes that look nothing like the real thing (luckily the Cheona book on brakevans has a close up). There's also some strangeness with the panelling on the ends not lining up with that on the body, and then there's the holes for the fixing lugs. All of this can be fixed with some work, and the model has some nice features such as flush glazed ends and is generally to scale.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by number6 on Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:03 am
     
    You do all the things I hope to get around to one day - including that Hornby LBSC van. Look forward to finding out what you have to do to it. Really like the subtle changes and alterations you make.
    Raphael
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:30 pm
     


    number6 wrote:
    You do all the things I hope to get around to one day - including that Hornby LBSC van.
    Funnily enough the Brighton van has been in my "to do one day" pile for about 7 years
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by santene on Thu Jan 22, 2009 12:05 am
     
    Wow! I dont know what project is your best!
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:21 am
     
    Finished some more stuff tonight.
     
    The ABS Gunpowder van:
     

     
    Ratio LMS van:
     

     
    Ratio banana van. The transfers that came with the kit were hopeless - the yellow was out of register with eveything else. This has Fox transfers instead.
     

     
    Finally, a Parkside BR open that was in my to do box for years, painted but unlettered. I finally tracked down a source of the boxes that surround the lettering (Fox although the ones around the XP marking are made up from an HMRS lining sheet)
     

     
    It's good to get stuff like this finally done!
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:04 am
     
    Some progress with the brake vans. The LBSC one is currently in this state:
     

     
    Something went a bit wrong at Margate when they designed this one. The body height is about .5mm out for the van as built comapred to the drawing in Southern wagons (OK in most people's book), but for some reason they've modelled it in the later condition with the bottom part of the sides steel sheeted. These extended below the solebars for several inches so the model sides ended up too shallow for the van in this condition. Some of the detail is the correct distance from the bottom, even though the sides are too short, leading to compression of things further up the body (like the doors) and compromises to the handrail position
     
    I reckon somebody got a bit confused, especially as all of these vans appear to have been scrapped so there's no prototype tp measure up.
     
    Anyway, I've extended the sides to include the steel side sheets and added the missing .5 mm (might as well while I'm at it). The headstocks have been added from 4mm Evergreen channel and I've filled the holes for the bodyside lugs (the paint is to make sure these are now nice and smooth).
     
    The LMS van now sits on a set of MJT w-irons, and has had it's handrails and other moulded on detail removed.
     

     
    Doing this involved cutting away even more of the chassis, so there's not much left now.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:15 am
     
    This is an LMS Plywood sided van, converted from a Parkside fruit van kit. In Vol 2 of the 4mm wagon Geoff Kent comments that the end is the wrong shape and reprofiled it. I cheated by swapping the ends with some spare ones from the BR standard van kits.
    It's also got LNER pattern axleboxes, but retains the original Parkside springs and hangers
     

     
    This is an ABS Southern banana van - built as per the kit except that I cut off the cast axleguards and boxes and used MJT brass ones, due to my inability to get these kits completely square. This caused some fun with the brake shoes, which are cast in pairs and needed to be cut apart to fit around the MJT compensation units! The wonky edge to the roof is an optical illusion!
     

     
    Both will be finished in Bauxite.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:51 am
     
    As I've already mentioned, the planking on the end of the LBSC van doesn't line up with the sides. I've filled it with .5mm Evergreen rod, which wil be sanded down to leave a smooth (hopefully) end.
     

     
    I've not quite got to the point where I wish I'd made the whole thing out of Evergreen, but it won't be long.
     
    The scratchbuilt SECR van is finally done. I started this in 2000 when Vol 3 of Southern wagons caame out, so it's not been quick! The buffers were a major headache as I couln't find any suitable 3 rib ones. In the end I've haacked about some 51L NER ones which are now close but not quite right.
     

     
    Also scratchbuilt, but hopefully due for completion in less than 9 years, is this LBSC car truck, made from Evergreen strip and sheet. Their strip is very useful, it's cut accurately and available in endless sizes. The axleguards are ABS.
     

     
    Also finished tonight were a Coopercraft GWR open and a David Geen LMS cattle truck.
     

     

     
    The open is as per the kit except for the door springs and some MJT buffers. The cattle wagon suffered from a poor chassis, so this was replaced with MJT components. The brake gear was a problem as I couln't find any 11' wheelbase push rod brake shoes so I lengthened a set of spare Parkside 10' ones. The levers are from a Mainly trains etch and it's ended up a bit more detailed than usual.
     
    The next David Geen kit I'm working on is this LSWR frozen food van.
     

    This is one of his more recent kits, and has a decent set of axleguards and etched brake gear. This is as far as I've got due to not having any 14mm Mansell wheels and Mainly Trains not havoing any either....
     
    Lastly, a bit of an experiment. I wanted to try scanning in a drawing and printing on sticky paper, to avoid marking out (which I hate and always seem to cock up). It's a GWR designed (but BR built) plywood van. As a further experiment I've left the paper labels on the body to avoid having to mark out the positions of the framing.
     

     
    Time will tell if this works out. It has a Parkside underframe to save yet more time.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by craigwelsh on Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:15 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    This is an LMS Plywood sided van, converted from a Parkside fruit van kit. In Vol 2 of the 4mm wagon Geoff Kent comments that the end is the wrong shape and reprofiled it. I cheated by swapping the ends with some spare ones from the BR standard van kits.
    Unless the BR end shape was very much off BR I don't understand how this would fix it? The LMS profile is high and flat whereas BR used the GWR profile from the later 17'6" vans.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:41 am
     


    craigwelsh wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    This is an LMS Plywood sided van, converted from a Parkside fruit van kit. In Vol 2 of the 4mm wagon Geoff Kent comments that the end is the wrong shape and reprofiled it. I cheated by swapping the ends with some spare ones from the BR standard van kits.

    Unless the BR end shape was very much off BR I don't understand how this would fix it? The LMS profile is high and flat whereas BR used the GWR profile from the later 17'6" vans. Judging by photos these plywood vans had a more curved roof than the traditional flat LMS van. There's a photo of one next to a planked van in 4mm wagons vol 2, and the roof profiles are noticably different. Using the BR ends also avoided having to carve off the moulded on chalk boards as my prototype didn't have them - not easy without messing up the corrugated ends.
    The GWR profile is lot more curved than the one BR used and the GWR vans have shallower sides (as I discovered when I tried to use a spare set of Parkside doors on the scratchbuilt GWR van).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:46 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    [craigwelsh wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    This is an LMS Plywood sided van, converted from a Parkside fruit van kit. In Vol 2 of the 4mm wagon Geoff Kent comments that the end is the wrong shape and reprofiled it. I cheated by swapping the ends with some spare ones from the BR standard van kits.

    Unless the BR end shape was very much off BR I don't understand how this would fix it? The LMS profile is high and flat whereas BR used the GWR profile from the later 17'6" vans.
    Judging by photos these plywood vans had a more curved roof than the traditional flat LMS van. There's a photo of one next to a planked van in 4mm wagons vol 2, and the roof profiles are noticably different. Pete, I'm with Craig on this. It's not something I've ever noticed; and assuming you mean Geoff Kent's book, I cant readily find the pic you mean. I cant see why they would be different, given that plywood body sheeting came about as an almost interchangeable alternative to planking on many van designs - and a different roof profile would also have meant changing the pressings for the corrugated ends
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by jwealleans on Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:41 am
     
    Enjoying this thread, Pete - nice stock and I love it when the wagon enthusiasts start debating points of detail - the rest of us learn so much.
     
    Like your idea for using drawings on the model. There was a thread on here some time ago from a chap who printed the drawing directly onto the plastikard and used that to cut out to. Of course, now I want it I can't find it but it did strike me as a good idea.
     
    Not in a laser printer, though.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:21 am
     
    I've dug a copy of LMS wagons vol 1 out of Nottingham library (which has a good selection of books on wagons ) and that doesn't help, showing diferent roof profiles for the supposedly identical D2106 and D2097. The D2097 drawing matches the Parkside BR end I've used, and neither matches the end that came with the kit. There are also differences between the drawings that aren't obvious from photos of vans from the two batches. I'm a bit confused.....
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:10 pm
     
    Mmm, drawings...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:38 pm
     
    Having gone over the plywood van and compared it against the drawings and photos, I think the cause of all the prroblems is that there's about 1mm missing from the tops of the sides. This, and the too wide roof, mean that you loose the key feature of these vans - wide strip at the top of the sides with no roof overhang.
     
    I've now fished the van out of the dust proof shoe box and will have a go at fixing these problems. Luckily it's was only in primer.
     


    jwealleans wrote:
    There was a thread on here some time ago from a chap who printed the drawing directly onto the plastikard and used that to cut out to. Of course, now I want it I can't find it but it did strike me as a good idea.
     
    Not in a laser printer, though.
    Interesting idea - is this the one you were talking about? http://www.rmweb.co....rint+plasticard - It would be a goodd way to mark out coach panelling.
     
    You could use a laser, but only once
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:39 pm
     


    Pennine MC wrote:
    Mmm, drawings...
    Two drawings of identical vans in the same book and they are different. I think you might be right....
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:47 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    Having gone over the plywood van and compared it against the drawings and photos, I think the cause of all the prroblems is that there's about 1mm missing from the tops of the sides. This, and the too wide roof, mean that you loose the key feature of these vans - wide strip at the top of the sides with no roof overhang.
     
    Yep, that's it. It's easy for me to sound clever here Pete, but when I did mine, I started with the correct roof and worked backwards, so that was self-evident. Sorry I cant link straight to the post but it's about half way down:
     
    http://www.rmweb.co....&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
     
    But at least you get yours finished
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:02 am
     


    Pennine MC wrote:
    http://www.rmweb.co....&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
    Thanks for that - your's looks a lot better with the sides extended upwards.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by craigwelsh on Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:25 pm
     
    Thanks to Pennine for commenting on my point, when you came back I wasn't quite sure so went off for some more research..
     
    Assuming the meat van used the standard BR shape then this would seem to be a good reference photo for height http://gallery6801.f.../p24903737.html
     
    Parkside don't seem to have the anglework for the door runners anywhere near this but from guestimating I can see how Pennine has got a much closer look with the extra height. Now to go check if I stuck the roof down on mine... .
     
    I think I may attempt to increase the height of mine so the height above the runner matches the height of the horizontal section at the top of the door. I've used the Parkside ends so i'll have to stick with them on this one and use a Ratio kit in future.
     
    Its come full circle for me and the further comments remind me where i've gone wrong too! Hope we haven't sent your thread off too far Pete.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:43 pm
     
    Not much progress to show from the last few weeks, although I managed to finish these two cambrian Southern opens tonight. To tell the truth they'd been nesrly finished for a while, I just had to summon up the enthusiasm to do the door springs. It's my least favourite railway modelling job. Those people who hate ballasting have obviously never tried bending up a set of matching door springs from brass strip
     

     

     
    Both of these are modelled on accountancy rebuilds of LSWR wagons, and have ABS axleguards. The 5 plank uses them as is, but as an experiment the 8 plank had the axlebox and spring carefully removed and attached to MJT axleguard units. Hopefully this should look better than the cast W-irons on the ABS casting.
    The 5 plank doesn't photograph well as it's moulded in a dark colured plastic. It's the first time I've built this kit and I've kept it as a D.1380 LSWR rebuild, but it looks like there are all sorts of later RCH underframed Southern wagons that could be converted from it.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:44 pm
     
    Some more stuff finished tonight.
     

    The Iron Mink conversion is finished mainly using a Fox pack intended for the GWR version of these vans, plus HMRS numbers. It's painted black as per Southern Wagons volume 4, but I've since read in Russell's "Freight loads and wagons on the GWR" that the GWR ones (which are almost identical) were dark grey, so I'm a bit confused although happy with the result. Full marks to Fox for doing a livery pack for these fairly obscure and short lived conversions.
     
    The Midland and GWR 5 planks (Slaters and Cooper Craft respectively) have been finished. I'm not 100% happy with the (lack of) interior detail, so I'm going to load them with some timber to hide this.
     

     
    At the opposite end of my timescale is the Parkside 12T van, now finished in grotty early 1970s condition (although it doesn't seem to have aquired any boxed lettering). Done using a photo from Paul Bartlett's ever usefull site.
     

     
    Lastly is a Bachmann AF container, weathered and with some internal strengthening to stop it bowing inwards.
     

    I really need some more containers, but models of anything other than type BD seem to be thin on the ground.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:56 am
     
    The scratchbuilt plywood van is ready for painting.
     

    It was a lot more straightforward than I expected, thanks to using the stuck on drawings. Most of the hard work was in doing the various bits of angle iron bracing, which is made from various widths of Evergreen strip. I'm now going to prime it and then attach the bolt head detail using Archer transfers (another experiment).
    The SECR van is now painted and done. I'm pretty pleased with this, since it had been hanging around incomplete for years. My ancient digital camera didn't like the brown body though and this is the best of a bad lot of pictures
     

    This one was a late survivor and was still around in early BR days.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:41 am
     
    Just finished the Geen LMS cattle wagon and the Mainline/Bachman Fruit van conversion.
     

     

    The sharp eyed will spot that the fruit van is no longe in use for fruit traffic and is now just a normal Vanfit. I'm rather pleased with both of these, even if the van is too wide. The cattle wagon looks suitably decrepit looking!
    __________________________________________
    4mm rolling stock, mainly Southern...
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:04 pm
     
    The two shock opens are now painted and complete. The squares on the one with a hood were a bit of a challenge - I tried spraying transfer sheet white and cutting it using a scalpel, but this wasn't entire successful so a lot of touching up was needed. The hood is tinfoil painted grey.
     

    The two Cambrian opens are now painted as well.
     

     

     
    The Brighton cartruck is ready for painting.
     

    The brake gear is a mix of lengthened Parkside brake shoes (as I couldn't find any the right length/pattern) and levers from a Mainly trains etch. It also has some strange 4 hole disk wheels, these were done by drilling holes in plastic centred Gibson disk wheels. This wagon is a bit freakish all round - it has a 10'5" wheelbase for starters.
     
    Finally these two LMS D.1986 flat wagons were sratchbuilt from plasticard. I need one as a runner for the train of opens loaded with timber, so built two at the same time. Batch building seems to be the way forward as it didn't take much longer than doing one.
     

     
    The one on the left is unfitted as built and has Parkside solebars and MJT axleboxes and W irons. The one on the right is in 1960s condition, and has been fitted and had replacement buffers, axleboxes (of 2 types) and LNER pattern W irons. It uses a Parkside LNER chassis with one set of axleboxes carefully removed and replaced with some plate fronted ones cut from another of their chassis moulding. The rather nice Oleo buffers are from 51L
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:44 pm
     
    The latest two wagons to come off my workbench are Chivers LMS long lows, which must be one of the easiest kits to build ever. Everyting fits first time, and apart from some tweaking of the brake levers (which were a bit chunky and two dimesional for my liking) they flew together.
     

     

    The biggest challenge was finding photos of the real thing- this diagram seems to have been a bit camera shy. LMS wagons vol 1 has one photo, and Working wagons vol 1 has another. Both had replacement axleboxes, so one has MJT LNER ones and the other has scratchbuilt plate fronted ones.
     
    The Parkside LMS plywood van makes it's second appearance, after a lot of modification.
     

    After a lot of faffing around trying to modify the ends, I gave up and went for Pennine's approach of using Ratio ends instead. The sides have been built up to match and the roof replaced with a new narrower one. It's now looking a bit more like the real thing, although the strip at the top of the sides is now a bit too deep - most likely because it starts too low down on the Parkside side. Oh well....
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by MartinWales on Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:55 pm
     
    Nice work Pete! I also find the Chivers kits are very user friendly after building four Lampreys-two for myself and two for Mike at N.E.Models in Darlington, and having recently completed the Pigeon Van from the same manufacturer I'm impressed with their ease of construction
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:47 pm
     


    MartinWales wrote:
    Nice work Pete! I also find the Chivers kits are very user friendly after building four Lampreys-two for myself and two for Mike at N.E.Models in Darlington, and having recently completed the Pigeon Van from the same manufacturer I'm impressed with their ease of construction
    I always surprised by how little of the Chivers kits I throw away, which must be a good sign!
     
    The ABS banana van is now done, the transfers are Fox and are expensive but very good.
     

    All in all a good kit.
     
    The GWR plywood van is had had it's bolt heads added using Archer rivet transfers. I sprayed it white first to seal the paper overlays and show up any imperfections. It took a couple of hours work to get all of the rivet transfers on and they are only a representation of the original bolt pattern. But I'm not a rivet counter....
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by midknightbass on Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:27 pm
     
    Just come across your postings, our tastes are somewhat similar, mine is 1930s Southern. You have solved one problem for me, the LMS livery for the Slaters Midland van, thanks. What paint do you use for your Southern goods stock, I have had trouble with paint giving a very purple shade when dry. Keep up the good work, great to see someone else building the same kits as oneself.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:35 pm
     


    midknightbass wrote:
    Just come across your postings, our tastes are somewhat similar, mine is 1930s Southern. You have solved one problem for me, the LMS livery for the Slaters Midland van, thanks. What paint do you use for your Southern goods stock, I have had trouble with paint giving a very purple shade when dry. Keep up the good work, great to see someone else building the same kits as oneself.
    I used a Precision spray can on the Southern stock, having had loads of problems with brush painting SR goods brown (some of which was down to not mixing the paint properly!). The cans are quite expensive but cheaper than having to endlessly strip and repaint models to get a decent finish. Almost all the Southern stock is lettered using HMRS pressfix transfers.
    __________________________________________
  12. pete_mcfarlane

    LNER wqgons

    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.

  13. pete_mcfarlane
    This evening I fitted couplings to the Dapol ex-Wrenn, ex-Hornby-Dublo banana van. Looks good for a 50 year old toy!

    Also finished tonight is another of the Parkside BD containers, in Crimson with lettering from an ancient Modelmasters sheet.

    This is the latest state of play with the Shock open. It's now on it's wheels, using the solebars supplied with the kit. These were glued to the underside of the plasticard floor and carefully lined up (since there are no moulded lugs to position them against). The shock springs are the very basic ones that Parkside provide with their kits (including lots of non-shock wagons, so I had some spare). Now ready for buffer beams.
    The chassis of the LNER brake van has been detailed. It has had:

    LNER axleboxes - MJT. they don't do these as seperate castings, so the combined axlebox/spring castings had their springs cut off.
    Axleguards modified to RCH type, by carefully opening out with a scalpel.
    New 2 rib buffers - modified MJT
    Single shoe brakes - again MJT
    The trussing removed, as this is wrong for the early LNER vans
    Various spurious holes filled.

    A lot more work than I initially thought!

  14. pete_mcfarlane
    Finished a few more vans tonight - the two Parkside LNER plywood vans from the new version of their kit, the hybrid Ratio body/Parkside roof SR van and my second go at the LMS type Plywood van using Parkside sides and Ratio ends. I'm especially happy with the SR van as the replacement roof makes it look like the real thing, something the original kit doesn't really do. The new LNER van kit looks pretty good as well - full marks to Parkside.
  15. pete_mcfarlane
    After a bit more work this weekend, the roof detail is now revised to match the photos of 2101. I've still got to do the junction boxes at inner ends - the Branchlines castings seem a bit small so I'll be making my own out of plastic strip.
     
    An order is going in the post to the SRG for some of the earlier pattern buffers.
  16. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm planning on doing this unit in BR Green circa 1960.
     
    I'm still plodding along with the roof. I spent a long time this afternoon trying to work out how the cables connect to the junction boxes at the end of the roof - some of them turn through 90 degrees and run down the coach end, whereas others go in to the junction boxes. After some head scratching I now think that there are at least two different roof layouts on the "production" 2-Bil units.
     
    2010-2116 seem to be close to all 3 published drawings I have (MRC/Branchlines/King). These have offset torpedo vents.
    2117-2152 have an alternative arrangement with the torpedo vents down the centre line.
     
    I was planning to model one of the later units, as these have the self contained buffers. So I'm now going to do 2101 as there a couple of shots of it's roof in Alan Williams' "Southern Electric Album". So I'm off to find some suitable spindle buffers.
     
    I should have done my research more thoroughly before starting. I also placed too much faith in the Branchlines detailing instructions, which have you build a unit with features from different batches.
  17. pete_mcfarlane
    EMU workbench
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by number6 on Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:13 pm
     
    Enjoying your rapid progress as usual Pete! As Dave says the bowing of the BIL is the biggest pain - make sure you make the floor rigid or it will go banana shaped before you can say "roof conduit".
     
    Is the unpowered pick-up bogie basically the same design as the powered but just without motors? I used a spare pair of white metal power bogie sides and forgot about it. Now I'm beginning to wonder again!
     
    R
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by dasatcopthorne on Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:24 pm
     
    Re the leading trailer bogie.
     
    No, it's different. It's of a lighter construction but heavier than a normal trailer but still 8' 9" wheelbase.
     
    Dave
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:34 am
     


    dasatcopthorne wrote:
    I was prepared to live with the lopsided roof (dome end) but when I fitted two sides to the floor and they bowed in at the top, I'd had enough.
    I'd not looked at the roof yet, but I see what you mean about the dome. I'll have a go at reprofiling
     
    As for the bowing, the sides are really thin to give a continuous rebate for the glazing which doesn't help to make them rigid. The edges of the moulded floor aren't at 90 degrees, which doesn't help either.
     
    I'm still pondering whether to build down from the roof (with a separate floor) or up from the solebar (with a detachable roof). The latter will give the top of the sides more strength.
     


    number6 wrote:
    Is the unpowered pick-up bogie basically the same design as the powered but just without motors? I used a spare pair of white metal power bogie sides and forgot about it. Now I'm beginning to wonder again!


    dasatcopthorne wrote:
    Re the leading trailer bogie.
     
    No, it's different. It's of a lighter construction but heavier than a normal trailer but still 8' 9" wheelbase.
     
    Dave
    This is one of the reasons I stalled on building the kit for so long - finding a suitable replacement trailer collector bogie to match the other replacement bogies. I couldn't face having 3 nice whitemetal/brass bogies and a horrible plastic one. Many years ago somebody explained to me about about the different methods of injection moulding plastic - I seem to remember there's a cheap lower pressure process that gives less detail with softer plastic. Presumably this is what is used on these kits as they are very soft and lacking in sharp detail, especially compared to the DC kits ones.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:36 pm
     
    I've finished detailing the ends - mainly using the Branchlines castings, with some bits of fuse wire and plastic.
     

     
    I reckon some of the castings are a little of the big side - the jumper cable on the left hand side is too long for starters so there's no room for the lamp iron on that side. The overall effect is OK though.
     
    The buffers are ABS. I bought some Branchlines ones, but the heads didn't seem quite the right shape - more like those on the earlier spindle buffers which were oval rather than an elipse. Using these buffers means I'm doing one of the last batch (2017-52) which were the only 2-Bils to have them.
     
    Windscreen wipers deliberately left off until after painting and glazing.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by dasatcopthorne on Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:49 am
     
    Looking good.
     
    Dave
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by dasatcopthorne on Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:46 pm
     
    Pete.
     
    Here's a few pics of my effort at an ex-Tyneside Epb.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:51 pm
     
    Not much progress today on the Bil.
     

     
    These are the short sections of sides around the cab door, which are moulded separately. For some reason (strength probably) the driver's door goes down the bottom of the side, rather than stopping short so that the door cab be opened inwards. A few minutes with a sharp scalpel and needle files fixed this.
     
    Dave: Thanks for uploading the Tyneside photos - it looks fantastic.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by dasatcopthorne on Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:07 pm
     
    Fantastic? Mmmmm
     
    But thanks for that.
     
    This is one of my older units, probably build in the mid 80's
     
    It has the rubbing plate from the bottom of the Hornby gangway connector, and oval buffers just pushed into the original Hornby buffer shanks. The reason being is that the end has been re-shaped from the Hornby Mk1 coach that the unit is based on. You probably recognise the Hornby roof as well.
     
    Some pics of converted coach ends appeared in the following post viewtopic.php?f=5&t=39513
     
    Dave.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:44 pm
     
    Tonight I got a boring job out of the way - drilling the holes for the door handles.
     

     
    This I did by making a jig out of scrap tinplate to drill the holes.
     

     
    I've also attached the ends to the floor, having first cut out the space for the motor bogie from one of them. The floors needed a bit of work with a file to straighten out their edges so the sides will be at the correct angle. I've decided to build from the floor up with a separate roof.
     

     
    Starting to look like an EMU.
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by number6 on Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:25 pm
     
    Pete - how do you do those cable clips either side of the headcode box? I think the jumble of stuff on the front is looking really good.
    R
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:33 pm
     


    number6 wrote:
    Pete - how do you do those cable clips either side of the headcode box? I think the jumble of stuff on the front is looking really good.
    R
    Sticky tape! Tamyia paper based masking tape cut in to thin strips - it seems fairly secure for now (a wash of solvent helped) and a few coats of paint will secure it for good.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:31 pm
     
    The body is now assembled. Firstly I added some reinforcing strips inside the door sections, so that the sides would line up properly.
     

     
    Then I attached the sides.
     

     
    24 hours later when everything was set hard, I added the ends.
     

     
    I'd have like to have a removeable interior, but this doesn't seem to be possible due to the need to fit loads of bracing to the body to stop it going wonky. The Interior mouldings that come with the kit are generic ones that bear no relation to the real Bil interior and so were modified.
     
    Before:
     

     
    After:
     

     
    The composite interior had one third class compartment removed and another cut down to form the coupe. The spare compartment was then added to the third class moulding to give the extra compartment needed for the driving trailer. Bits of plasticard have been added to the ends for the toilet section, and then they were both reduced in hight to give roof for the cross bracing. The plastic used for these mouldings was horrible and brittle and the odd bit shattered on me, so they are now a bit rough in places but hopefully this wont be obvious when they are in place.
     
    Speaking of horrible, I've started on the roof. 5 thou plastic has been added to reprofile the flattened bit of the dome to try and get it symetrical.
     

     
    I think the most difficult bit is going to be battering the roof in to shape, so that it fits properly on the body,
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 5Bel on Sat Aug 01, 2009 9:17 am
     
    Hi Pete,
    The Bil looks great. It's good to see someone else doing one. Mine took me about five years to finish!! I have built two now and they both had the bow mentioned. I used cross bracing at the top of the bodysides to cure mine on the second one. One tip I could give is to sand down the rainstrip on the roof. This gives a much more prototypical profile. DC Kits are going to re-release this kit this year so I can see myself going through the process all over again. Keep up the good work.
     
    Cheers Ian
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:04 pm
     


    5Bel wrote:
    Hi Pete,
    The Bil looks great. It's good to see someone else doing one. Mine took me about five years to finish!! I have built two now and they both had the bow mentioned. I used cross bracing at the top of the bodysides to cure mine on the second one. One tip I could give is to sand down the rainstrip on the roof. This gives a much more prototypical profile. DC Kits are going to re-release this kit this year so I can see myself going through the process all over again. Keep up the good work.
     
    Cheers Ian
    I'm trying to avoid spending years on mine! Given how many of these kits get sold it's odd how few you see made up - perhaps people give up on them because of the various problems.
     
    I've tackled the bowing with lots of cross braces.
     

     
    It's now setting. Next step is to fit the remaining partitions. I'm making my own partitions out of plasticard, as the ones supplied with the kit are about 1mm narrower than the seats
     
    I think I'm going to remove all of the roof detailing and replace with Evergreen strip.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by ferries2008 on Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:07 am
     
    Morning, Thanks for the shared info and photo's Pete, Tracking your posts.....dt...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:59 pm
     
    Progress has been a bit slow, due to the roof needing lots of work.
     
    I've added the remaining compartment partitions.
     

     
    Now for the roof. I removed the moulded on detail including the very thick rainstrips. These make the roof about 3mm too wide Untouched roof above, modified one below.
     

     
    I then filed the ends and underside of the roof to make them fit properly. This took a while, but eventually I got there. As you can see, the roof is a couple of milimetres longer than the side. Some trimming is needed. The thickness at the ends also needs reducing a bit more.
     

     
    This is the current state of play with the front. The strip around the front is being increased in thickness with plastic strip. As supplied it is too narrow on one side, and the front end is asymmetrical. Still working on this. The roof has had a coat of white primer to show up any imperfections.
     

     
    Lastly, I've assembled the brass inners for the NNK trailing bogies. After the problems with the slop on the collector bogie wheels, I packed the bearings out with brass washers (from an MJT inside bearing etch). This cured the problem.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:29 pm
     
    As per my last post, the roof took ages. It needed a lot of sanding and filing to get it to fit and to make it symetrical. Both are now done, and the driving trailer is mounted on it's bogies.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:34 pm
     
    The motor coach is now on it's bogies as well. The mounting cradle for the black beetle is just a piece of plastic sheet, packed out from the floor by a couple of strips. I discovered the hard way that the fuse boxes cast on to the Branchlines side frames are over scale and project above the top of the side frames. I had to cut them off to get the coach to sit at the correct height - I'll replace them with NNK ones later on.
     

     
    To make marking out the roof easier I've scanned in the Branchlines drawings, played around with the size to make them fit roof (including widening them to take the curve in to account) and printed them out of self adhesive paper. Next step is to drill out the holes and fit the various cable runs and fittings.
     

     
    __________________________________________
  18. pete_mcfarlane
    EMU workbench
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:25 pm
     


    edmac wrote:
    Looks great Pete , hows the EPB coming along ?
     
    Ed
    No progress on the EPB I'm afraid. Far too many projects on the go at once
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by ferries2008 on Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:22 am
     
    Morning, So what are your other projects,are they all 3rd.rail?
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:20 am
     


    ferries2008 wrote:
    Morning, So what are your other projects,are they all 3rd.rail?
    Wagons mainly at the moment - I'm trying to clear down my backlog of unbuilt/half-built kits: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30428&start=25. I've got a bad habit of starting stuff and not finishing it for ages
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Ian Fisher on Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:03 pm
     
    That is some nice work there well finnished too.
     
    Have you thought about sending an image to Charlie?
     
    Ian
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by ferries2008 on Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:48 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    edmac wrote:
    Any updates Pete ?

    Nearly done - just a few more windos to go an some final detailing:DCP_3922.JPG http://www.therailwaycentre.com/EMU%20p ... 9_railblue
     
    Morning, Pete, This is only photo i;managed to find mlv. in overall blue.......maybe for your epb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:46 pm
     
    I managed to find this one after I'd painted mine blue/grey! http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevs_trains/1793866880/ One day I'll do another in blue.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Tue May 05, 2009 4:39 am
     
    Have you finished the EPB yet Pete ?
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue May 05, 2009 12:30 pm
     


    edmac wrote:
    Have you finished the EPB yet Pete ?
    'fraid not. It is slowly working it's way up to the top of the pile of half finished models. I will get it done before Bachman bring their one out in 2015.....
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by ferries2008 on Fri May 08, 2009 4:47 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    edmac wrote:
    Have you finished the EPB yet Pete ?

    'fraid not. It is slowly working it's way up to the top of the pile of half finished models. I will get it done before Bachman bring their one out in 2015..... Hello,Sorry Pete....you got the date wrong...its 2115.....regards...dt...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:17 pm
     
    The MLV is now finished - not the best set of pictures as I'm still getting the hang of my new digital camera.
     

     

     
    Hopefully I should have an update on the EPB in a week of so. In the meantime, here's some detail photos of a real one that I took at the East Kent last year.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by divibandit on Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:53 pm
     
    ferries2008 wrote:
    Morning, So what are your other projects,are they all 3rd.rail?




    Wagons mainly at the moment - I'm trying to clear down my backlog of unbuilt/half-built kits: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30428&start=25. I've got a bad habit of starting stuff and not finishing it for ages


    Yes I know that feeling! I have an MLV half-built as well, not to mention a 205 DEMU. Started to convert the over-length Lima BG into a GLV using the Mikes Models EMU ends, way before DC came on the scene.
    Steve


    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by ferries2008 on Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:09 pm
     
  19. pete_mcfarlane
    EMU workbench
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:49 pm
     
    A couple of DC Kits EMUs on my work bench.
     
    The MLV was bought at Wakefield a couple of weeks ago. Basic construction is now complete (in 2 weeks, which must be a record for me).
     

     
    Now awaiting underframe and end details. I'm planning on using the Southern Pride underframe mouldings in place of the etches that comes with the kit. I've always thought that the quality of the cast and etched details that come with these kits is a lot lower than the excellent plastic body mouldings.
     
    Power is from a Black Beetle with a dummy beetle added at the non-power bogie end. This involved hacking an extra hole in the floor. I also ended up hacking out the moulded well in the floor at the power bogie end, as this was too shallow and made the unit ride too high. Even now I'm not convinced about the ride height. It could also do with a good scrub to get rid of all the dust from sanding. Most of the moulded on jumper detail is removed and will be replaced with Heljan mouldings.
     

     
    To be finished in 1970 condition, ideally as the blue liveried one, or possibly green with small yellow panels if I can find a suitable photo. Otherwise it will be bog standard blue and grey.
     
    Next up is a 2-EPB. I bought this when the kits first came about about 7 years ago, and it's been slowly progressing.
     


     
    There's nothing actually wrong with the kit itself. The main issue is that the 2-EPB units had 1951 type control gear, and I'm struggling to reproduce this. The etched underframe detial that came with the kit isn't brilliant and the Southern Pride mouldings are for 1957/1963 type control gear, which has some major differences.
     

     
    Some of the underframe gear is adapted from SP mouldings, and other bits are scratchbuilt. I'm not happy with the quality or positioning of some of the bits (especially the scratch built resistance banks after looking at the photos) so more work is needed.
     
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky
     

    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:05 am
     
    being a bit harsh on yourself there, they look great
     
    Mike
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Miss Prism on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:36 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky
    Use guitar string, Pete. It won't solder readily, but it will lay straight.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by rich_eason on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:11 pm
     
    The other method I've used with sucess is to use very fine Evergreen rod. Easy to stick where you need too and if you wish to thread it through small upstands a slight dab with mek will be enough to hold it in place.
     
    For straight runs where you are not bothered with visible air beneath the pipe work then tack the starting end with Mek and using a steel rule as a guide continue to stick the rod down making sure that the steel rule does not come into contact with the Mek.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:14 pm
     
    Thanks for the suggestions about the roof cables - will give them a try.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:48 pm
     
    No progress on the EPB, but the MLV is getting there.
     



     
    End and body detail now mostly complete. I've used very of the DC Kits parts for the underframe - most of it is from the Southern Pride underframe set, with a bit of scratchbuilding. From photos the underframe equipment on these units seems to be a bit of a minefield as it changed over time. At no point did it include giant self tapping screws though - I forgot to screw them back in before taking the photos.
     
    End pipes are Heljan ones which are designed for a 33/1 so need a bit of tweaking.
     
    I've come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with the ride height, but that the bogie sideframes were too close together. This is because I glued them straight on to the stretchers on the side of the Black Beetle units (which are set to HO spacing?). Padding them out with bits of 40 thou plasticard seems to improve the appearance no end, as there's no big gap between the body and the bogies.
     
    I've also discovered that these units had at least 3 different arrangements of the battery box covers. The kit represents the most recent (as preserved) so I've bodified them with plastic strip to represent the in c1970 condition.
     
    The main remaining task is to detail the bogies.
     
    The only thing I'm not happy with are the buffers, which are Comet extended Mk1 buffers (as this MLV will be used to pull parcels stick). The moulds look very worn and I was lucky to get 4 usuable ones out of a pack of 12 which is unusal for Comet as most of their castings seem pretty good. They were the only extended Mk1 buffers I could find though.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Dagworth on Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:28 am
     


    Miss Prism wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky

    Use guitar string, Pete. It won't solder readily, but it will lay straight. I've never had any trouble soldering guitar string. Solder paste makes it even easier though. I use guitar string for all my OHLE.
     
    Andi
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:09 pm
     


    Dagworth wrote:
    I've never had any trouble soldering guitar string. Solder paste makes it even easier though. I use guitar string for all my OHLE.
    Not being musical and knowing anything about guitar strings, what type of string do you use and what diameters do they come in?
     
    Pete
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by keefer on Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:34 pm
     
    the 'plain' electric guitar strings are usually steel and are usually referred to in 'thou' sizes - can be bought individually in sizes from .008" up to (i think) .020" or .022"
     
    strings any thicker than this tend have a winding wrap over a steel 'plain' core - these are 'wound' strings and tend to be from about .018" upwards (these are the type which look like they could be use for vac. brake pipes!) - these tend to have a steel core wire, with steel, stainless steel or nickel wrap
     
    just go into a music shop and ask for electric guitar strings - when asked for the size just say 'a twelve' for a .012" or whatever - but for .018" or more, make sure you ask for a 'plain' as these come in 'wound' as well
     
    hth
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Alex on Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:38 pm
     
    Perhaps Bass guitar strings would make good vacuum pipes...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:05 am
     
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops - just needs a few slightly wonky details adjusting. Being able to view digital photos of models is a big help, as it lets you spot things you'd otherwise miss. Like the wonky lamp iron
     

     

     

     
    The slightly iffy Comet buffers have been replaced with some much better ones from ABS. The various etched window frames are from NNK, as are the cast fuseboxes above the shoe beams. Big one of these to NNK for the quality of their parts -the window frames in particular are first rate, easy to cut away from the fret and needed no cleaning up.
     
    Details like Buckeye couplers, handrails and vacuum pipes to be added after painting. I've had no luck in tracking down photos of the blue one, so it will be blue and grey.
     
    One tip to anybody building a DC kits EMU - you can improve the front end appearance by filing down the edge of the roof to make it less thick and closer to scale. I used a half round file, and the filled any gap between the roof and the body with filler.
     
    Another thing I've noticed about the DCK front end is that all three window rainstrips are at the same height, when on a real EPB based unit the middle one is slightly lower, which is quite noticeable. This was corrected after I added the etched window frames by adding new rainstrips above the outer windows.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Phil on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:43 am
     
    That MLV is looking really good.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by mines a pint on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:48 am
     


    Alex wrote:
    Perhaps Bass guitar strings would make good vacuum pipes...
    read an article where these were indeed used but it must have been over 10 yrs ago, assumed things might of moved on since then.
    I'm with Mike on his first comment, even with the wonky roof pipes I'd be incredibly pleased with the results so far.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:56 am
     
    looking great now, well worth the extra effort
     
    go on paint it green you know you want too
     
    btw, whats with the small insulated piece of track on your workbench?
     
    Mike
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:25 pm
     


    michael delamar wrote:
    btw, whats with the small insulated piece of track on your workbench?
    It's for testing kit built loco chassis. The idea is that if they can run over the short bit of dead track without stalling, then all of their pickups are working OK and they can cope with any dirt, dead spots etc that they'll encounter.
     
    Not really needed for testing EMU motor coaches though.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:44 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops - just needs a few slightly wonky details adjusting. Being able to view digital photos of models is a big help, as it lets you spot things you'd otherwise miss. Like the wonky lamp iron
     
    MLV 1.jpgMLV 2.JPGMLV 3.jpg
     
    The slightly iffy Comet buffers have been replaced with some much better ones from ABS. The various etched window frames are from NNK, as are the cast fuseboxes above the shoe beams. Big one of these to NNK for the quality of their parts -the window frames in particular are first rate, easy to cut away from the fret and needed no cleaning up.
     
    Details like Buckeye couplers, handrails and vacuum pipes to be added after painting. I've had no luck in tracking down photos of the blue one, so it will be blue and grey.
     
    One tip to anybody building a DC kits EMU - you can improve the front end appearance by filing down the edge of the roof to make it less thick and closer to scale. I used a half round file, and the filled any gap between the roof and the body with filler.
     
    Another thing I've noticed about the DCK front end is that all three window rainstrips are at the same height, when on a real EPB based unit the middle one is slightly lower, which is quite noticeable. This was corrected after I added the etched window frames by adding new rainstrips above the outer windows.
    Have you finished your MLV yet ?
     
    Ed
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:49 pm
     


    edmac wrote:
    Have you finished your MLV yet ?
     
    Ed
    Nearly - I wasn't happy with the glazing, so now I'm flush glazing it the hard way using plastic sheet cut to shape. This is a bit boring and takes ages, as my patience is only up to a couple of windows at a time
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:21 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops -
    Hi Pete,
     
    Just seen your thread. The EPB looks really good, (as does the MLV ) but I have a question. I notice that you have drilled out the holes for the door handles and handrails, as well as fitted the roof cabling. Do you intend to paint the model with these details in place? or would you fit them later... Same goes for the door hinges.
     
    Please show us the result when it comes out from the shop.
     
    Cheers,
    Chris.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:37 pm
     


    Gallows Close wrote:
    Just seen your thread. The EPB looks really good, (as does the MLV ) but I have a question. I notice that you have drilled out the holes for the door handles and handrails, as well as fitted the roof cabling. Do you intend to paint the model with these details in place? or would you fit them later... Same goes for the door hinges.
    Depends - the stuff that is the same colour as the underlying body (roof cables, end handrails etc) will be glued in place and painted in situ. Stuff like door handles that are a different colour will be stuck on after painting but before the final coat of varnish. It also helps that the EPB will be plain blue - the MLV is blue/grey and needs most of the side detail left off to allow for masking.
     
    Hope this makes sense.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:00 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
     
    Depends - the stuff that is the same colour as the underlying body (roof cables, end handrails etc) will be glued in place and painted in situ. Stuff like door handles that are a different colour will be stuck on after painting but before the final coat of varnish. It also helps that the EPB will be plain blue - the MLV is blue/grey and needs most of the side detail left off to allow for masking.
     
    Hope this makes sense.
    Yup, Sure does. The only thing that would worry me would be painting the roof cables - especially by air brush. Do you have a method to stop the paint 'gathering' on the cables? Also, whilst I agree on leaving off the door knobs and grab handles, but have you ever had any trouble re-locating the holes?
     
    Thanks for your reply, it is of much interest as I will be painting something similar in a few weeks,
     
    Chris.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:35 am
     


    Gallows Close wrote:
    Yup, Sure does. The only thing that would worry me would be painting the roof cables - especially by air brush. Do you have a method to stop the paint 'gathering' on the cables? Also, whilst I agree on leaving off the door knobs and grab handles, but have you ever had any trouble re-locating the holes?
     
    Thanks for your reply, it is of much interest as I will be painting something similar in a few weeks,
     
    Chris.
    I don't use an airbrush, so have never had this problem. You do have to be sparing with the paint when brush painting detail like this though.
     
    I've never had much trouble finding the holes. Most of them end up partially clogged with paint, but can be found and cleaned out with a pin (or the .5mm drill used to drill them originally).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 5Bel on Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:23 am
     
    Hi Pete,
    Excellent work, good to see another 3rd rail modeller. You say that you are flush glazing with clear plastic cut to shape. Have you tried Replica flush glazing, all you do is cut the bar out of the windows and the new glazing just slots in. It's even easier now that he does a pack for his own MLV. If you want to see some results look at my 4mm workbench thread. It really does make a difference. Replica also do suburban flush glazing which will fit the 2EPB and they do interiors which can be made to fit easily.
     
    Keep up the good work,
     
    Cheers Ian.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:20 pm
     
    Any updates Pete ?
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:05 am
     


    edmac wrote:
    Any updates Pete ?
    Nearly done - just a few more windwos to go and some final detailing:
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:40 am
     
    Looks great Pete , hows the EPB coming along ?
     
    Ed
    __________________________________________
  20. pete_mcfarlane
    ??? posted on Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:26 am
     
    A few more wagons finished tonight. I've also been playing with my camea to try and get better results. These were all taken on long exposures, with the lights turned off and a handheld torch as the main light source.
     
    The LMS lows are all done - Chivers kits for the long lows and scratchbuilt 10' wheelbase ones.
     

     

     

     

     
    The one in LMS bauxite is intended as a runner for a rake of wagons carrying timber. I've made a start on loading these, using thin wood strip from Sainsbury's camembert boxes (idea pinched from one of Geoff Kent's books). I know these should be roped down, but I can't see a way of doing this and still have the load removable. This work is going slowly as I don't want to get fat from eating loads of cheese
     

     
    The scratchbuilt BR built GWR plywood van is now complete and has turned out pretty well.
     

    There are one or two places where the sticky labels have come away slightly from the plasticard body, but these aren't obvious in photos. I'm wondering if printing on to thin paper and then attaching this to the plastic by flooding it with solvent would be a cheaper and more durable way of getting the printed drawings to the plastic. More experimentation is needed.
     
    The bolt heads on this and the two LMS lows are Archer transfers. These have turned out well and are a lot easier than using little bits of 5 thou plastic!
     
    Lastly, a Bachmann mineral repainted in to early 1970s grot to match a Paul Bartlett photo. It has been partially replated, and the new bits painted freight brown and the rest left in rusty grey. I used the salt weathering technique for the rusty bits, which were then masked off and the rest of the body painted brown.
     

     
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    Comment posted by timlewis on Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:04 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    A few more wagons finished tonight. I've also been playing with my camea to try and get better results. These were all taken on long exposures, with the lights turned off and a handheld torch as the main light source.
    Very nice selection of wagons: you certainly get through making them at a rate of knots! You must have quite a train (or trains) by now.
    Experiments with the camera seem to have paid off too: later pictures are noticeably better than earlier ones.
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    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:25 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    Lastly, a Bachmann mineral repainted in to early 1970s grot to match a Paul Bartlett photo. It has been partially replated, and the new bits painted freight brown and the rest left in rusty grey.
    Pete, if it's this shot, then I think the new platework is actually reddish rust; I'm not saying replated wagons were never patched with Freight Brown but I dont think it would have been common. Dont want to sound like I'm picking fault here tho, I love this thread
     
    BTW I've seen much mention of these Archer rivet transfers - where would I get some from?
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    ??? posted on Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:00 am
     


    Pennine MC wrote:
    Pete, if it's this shot, then I think the new platework is actually reddish rust; I'm not saying replated wagons were never patched with Freight Brown but I dont think it would have been common. Dont want to sound like I'm picking fault here tho, I love this thread
     
    BTW I've seen much mention of these Archer rivet transfers - where would I get some from?
    That's the one I used - it hadn't occurred to me that early 1970s workmanship was so dodgy that they left steel mineral wagons unpainted. Good thing they don't carry anything corrosive...
     
    I got the transfers direct from Archer http://www.archertransfers.com/catSurfaceDetails.html. Paid with Paypal and they took about 5 days to come from the States. I think the postage was about $2
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    Comment posted by Fat Controller on Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:33 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    Pennine MC wrote:
    Pete, if it's this shot, then I think the new platework is actually reddish rust; I'm not saying replated wagons were never patched with Freight Brown but I dont think it would have been common. Dont want to sound like I'm picking fault here tho, I love this thread
     
    BTW I've seen much mention of these Archer rivet transfers - where would I get some from?

    That's the one I used - it hadn't occurred to me that early 1970s workmanship was so dodgy that they left steel mineral wagons unpainted. Good thing they don't carry anything corrosive...
     
    I got the transfers direct from Archer http://www.archertransfers.com/catSurfaceDetails.html. Paid with Paypal and they took about 5 days to come from the States. I think the postage was about $2 This replacement of lower sides and end doors was the norm for unfitted mineral wagons of the period- it was done as quickly and cheaply as possible, usually at small wagon-repair facilities, as the wagons were going to be scrapped within the next few years anyway. Sometimes the vehicles were properly primed and painted, more often they weren't, but the paint BR used for wagons at the period was often pretty useless anyway. The coal, most notably stuff like anthracite duff, was fairly corrosive, especially where it stuck at the bottoms of the sides- towards the end of this period, Coedbach was using straw to line the bottom of the sides and doors to try and avoid most of the load being lost.
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    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Sat May 09, 2009 6:19 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
     
    I got the transfers direct from Archer http://www.archertransfers.com/catSurfaceDetails.html. Paid with Paypal and they took about 5 days to come from the States. I think the postage was about $2
    Thanks Pete, I've only just remembered I asked you that
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    ??? posted on Sun May 31, 2009 5:50 pm
     
    A while back I mentioned that I was short of containers. I've since started to build some to make up for this.
     
    I had problems with this Parkside FM container as I couldn't find a decent close up photo to copy, so a bit of guesswork was needed.
     

     
    The lettering is from a Modelmaster sheet, although strangely all of the made up numbers seemed (if I've read Don Rowland's book correctly) to be for the plywood version rather than matchboarded as per the kit.
     

     
    These are Parkside (the longer type BD) and Cambrian (type A) and were built straight from the kits, although the Cambrian ones needed quite a bit of filing of the corners to get them to go together properly. Now waiting painting.
     
    I've also restarted work on a couple of Maunsell coaches that have been sitting around for years waiting to be finished. The first is one of the later open thirds with sliding vents. It started out as a Phoenix kit which was pretty horrible. I replaced the roof with a Kirk one to lose the strange pressed rainstring, reprofiled the ends (which seemed to be a GWR type that sloped in towards the top) and built a new underframe. The windows were carefully filed to reduce the thickness of the ventilator frames. Underframe details and bogies are Comet (these later Maunsell ones had the same battery boxes/dynamos as Bulleid coaches) and door details are NNK.
     

     
    It looks OK but I'm not 100% happy with it. I'm not sure if there's an easier way to build one of these. It will go in the centre of a rake, which is why the paper gangways extend out so far in this picture.
     
    A lot easier was this Roxey Nondescript brake, although it too has had a lot of work on the underframe, and some Comet bogies. I thought the original Roxey underframe detail looked a bit weedy, and replacing it ensured that all of my coaches had a consistent look.
     
    Hard work, but when I started on these we didn't have a decent RTR Maunsell coach to pinch the underframe from. Now being painted. And partially stripped down and repainted after I gave it a coat of SR freight brown by mistake instead of green (the joys of red/green colour blindness )
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:30 pm
     
    Sorry about the slightly iffy quality of some of the following photos. My trusty 7 year old Kodak camera packed up, and I'm still getting the hang of the replacement. My old one was a lot easier to use - such is progress in the never ending quest to make technology more difficult to use than it actually needs to be.
     
    Speaking of old, I bought this Dapol 5 plank open with my pocket money at the Grantham rail show in 1988 (when it used to be at the Town hall). It's been dug out, fitted with a new MJT/ABS/Evergreen channel chassis and some body detailing, and is now a Southern built LNER 5 plank wagon.
     

     
    I bought some Parkside parcels vans as part of one of their cheap show deals about 5 years back, and now I've nearly finished one! An LMS CCT, which I've compensated with MJT inside bearings. The chassis detail on the kit was a bit sketchy, so I've replaced the brake shoes with MJT ones, linkages from bits of wire and the J hangers with some nice castings from Comet which are a bit more heavy duty. Buffers are Gibson sprung, which will be fitted with MJT heads to represent the strange squared off oval buffers the real thing had. I forget who came up with this idea, but I read it on the forum I've since fixed the wonky cross bar between the brake shoes
     

     
    The next two are both from Cambrian and belong to the LMS. The D1667 open was a doddle, and has the usual underframe refinements.
     

     
    The D1664 was a lot more "fun". The ends were about 1mm too short, and had to be extended downwards so that the bottom of the buffer beam lined up with the bottom of the solebar. The lower end detail had to be replaced to hide the extension. I also added triangular corner plates at the lower corners (these seem to have been added fairly soon after building), the brackets between the solebar and the sides and made the end strapping deeper by adding plastic strip (it looked too shallow compared to photos). The roof was a bit thick, so I made a new one from tinplate covered in some self adhesive fabric from Crafty Computer paper http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=9&CatID=10 which when painted gives a slightly rough canvas finish.
     

     
    Despite (or perhaps because of) all this extra work, I did quite enjoy building this kit.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:18 pm
     
    And some more! This LNER Extra Long CCT is from the same batch of Parkside kits I bought ages ago. Pretty much as per the basic kit except for MJT inside bering compensation and their sprung buffers (with the heads filed down to get the cut off type used by these vehicles). I also glazed it before the final coat of matt varnish, to try and get the effect of filthy windows.
     

     
    The LBSC car truck is finished as well - in early BR condition and loaded with a Classix Austin. The car had it's windows masked off with maskol and a couple of coats of matt varnish to stop it looking shiny and toy like. It should really be roped down but I wanted it to be removable. Or was too lazy depending on your point of view.....
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:28 pm
     
    I've been clearing out some of the long term lurkers on my work bench.
     
    This is an LMS DX type open container. It's based on the Parkside kit, which is sold as an LNER design but it's actually an RCH standard type. It need two main modifications:
    - Replace the securing rings on the side with fuse wire rings.
    - Replace the fragile plastic hoops with some more robust metal ones. This was a real pain, and the new ones are slightly wonky even after some tweaking. They are a lot more robust though, which is good.
     

     
    The next container is a scratchbuilt LMS FM insulated one - based on a plan in LMS wagons volume 2, and a photo in Vol 3 of the 4mm wagon. There's a little bit of guesswork in places (the drawing is a bit vague and the one in the photo was loaded in to a 3 plank wagon so the lower parts is obscured) but I'm happy with the result. The projections on the roof are for the lifting shackles, which will be fitted after painting.
     

     
    Lastly an LSWR stone block wagon. Converted from a Cambrian 1 plank PO wagon as per a suggestion on their web site. It has deeper solebars (plastic strip) and new running gear. I cut the ABS axleboxes and springs from their W iron casting and mounted them on MJT etched W irons - this looks a lot better, and I think I'll do this on all LSWR wagons in future.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:23 pm
     
    Finally finished the LMS Plywood van It took ages to paint as the matt humbrol varnish I used kept drying with whitee patches. Now I know why this normallly happens (moisture in the atmosphere or insufficient mixing of the matting agent) but other stuff spayed at the same time (and often in the same pass of the can) was OK. It's done now anyway and I'm pleased with how much better it now looks compared to the standard Parkside kit.
    It's a bit rough in places because of all the hacking about, but passes the two foot test. There's another one of these in the pipeline which shoulldd be a bit more refined.
     

     
    The two cambrian LMS wagons are now painted as well.
     

     

     
    I'm quite pleased with the way these have turned out.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by lbsc123 on Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:21 pm
     
    Looks good Pete!
     
    Love the look of the cartruck it looks far better than many kits I've built.
     
    Do you by any chance have a layout to run all this lovely stock on?
     
    Cheers,
     
    Will
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:36 pm
     


    lbsc123 wrote:
    Do you by any chance have a layout to run all this lovely stock on?
    Not yet I'm currently living in a rented flat with no space for a layout, so I'm concentrating on building stock. The plan is to build a layout based on a freelance location somewhere on the Kent/Sussex border where the LBSC and SER meet. Period will be from mid-1930s to 1970, which lets me use a wide range of stock on the same layout (as large parts of the Southern seemed to avoid any infrastructure changes during this time - even keeping their Southern railway signs).
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Jul 09, 2009 8:19 pm
     
    I've finished painting the Southern built LNER 5 plank wagon, in 1940s unpainted condition. I'm quite pleased with this, especially as it started out as a fairly crude Dapol model
     

     
    The first of the containers is now done - a Parkside BD in 1960s tatty bauxite.
     

     
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:14 am
     
    Somehow I forgot to take a picture of this GWR Felix Pole 20T coal wagon before painting it.
     

     
    It started off as a Colin Ashby kit - bought just before he retired and the kits went in to limbo. The body was very good - nice thin sides are quite unusual on plastic kits of steel mineral wagons. The chassis was poor due to knackered tooling, so I replaced the solebars with plastic section and used MJT axleboxes/W-irons. There then followed much fun making all of the brackets that attach the body to the chassis I used the salt weathering method again, but very lightly to give the impression of lots of little patches of rust.
     
    This Southern Maunsell corridor first is one of the first Hornby models, repainted in to post-war Malachite green and with a bit of detailing. Well, mostly "undetailing" as I removed the alarm gear from one end (it had it at both), the extra set of door hinges on one of the doors (?!?!?) and the horrible metal steps from the corners of the chassis. The latter were massively over scale and badly assembled. These were frankly bizarre - they are presumably overscale for strength but could easily have been left off. Scale replacements would have been too fragile and the coach looks OK without them.
     

     

     

     
    The BR totems on the windows were scratched off with a fingernail and replaced with HMRS transfers. I couldn't remove the Hornby door handles in a way that they ccould be re-attached after painting, so I ended up replacing them with etched Roxey ones. And I added the cream patches on the corridor partition using bits of sticky label painted the right colour.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:05 pm
     
    I'm now clearing all the half built wagons from my workbench with a vengance!
     
    An Airfix lowmac I had as a kid. The moulding for attaching a lorry were carefully removed and filled and scale wheels fitted. It's had a few extra details on the ends, but I chickened out of replacing the over thick axleguards.
     

     
    This Coopercraft GWR 7 plank wagon has been modified to match one pictured in "Pre-nationalisation fright wagons on BR" which has different ironwork around the doors and steel channel replacing the lower planks on the ends. The latter modification isn't a good idea on Coopercraft wagons, as the floor is about 3mm too high so the inside looks a bit odd. A canvas sheet will hide this.
     

     
    Another Banana van, this time a Dapol body on a Red Panda body. I was impressed with the quality of the body - it's a 50 year old Hornby-Dublo tooling and it put some of the iffy models coming out of China these days to shame. The chassis had to go as it was totally wrong, and as for the livery....
     
    Some minor modifications to the ends, and I've added the chalk boards to the sides. The Red Panda brake shoes looked a bit weedy and were replaced with 51L cast ones. These may be a bit on the chunky side, but look OK. They were moulded in pairs lengthwise accross the wagon so you can use them with rocking W Irons (nice idea) and needed cutting down for OO (a minutes work)
     

     
    A real dogs dinner - Ratio body mouldings, with a spare Parkside CCT roof (much more accurate than the ratio roof) and a parkside chassis. It represents one of these vans towards the end of their lives after it had aquired vacuum brakes.
     

     
    Another Parkside LMS Plywood van rebuilt with a set of Ratio ends.
     

     
    A couple of Airfix BR cattle wagons, picked up new and untouched a few years ago before the Bachmann ones were announced. They were fantastically well moulded and yet managed to be nightmares to build.
     
    Even fitting modern scale wheels was a pain, but I managed it in the end so they run a bit better than the one I built when I was 10, which had the 2 part plastic wheels
     
    They needed a lot of work around the doors to replace the toy like opening ones. The one on the right has had it's diagonal strapping replaced to represent the alternate pattern used on some of the 8 ton vans. The one on the right has new axleboxes cut from a spare Parkside chassis.
     

     
    Lastly, these two Parkside LNER vans were much easier and needed virtually nothing doing except for a few detail changes to match the examples I chose to model. Fantastic kits!
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Pennine MC on Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:09 pm
     
    Intersting selection as ever, Pete. I also came to the conclusion that a Parkside roof was the way to go with the Ratio SR van; I found it doesnt fit perfectly but the gaps are so small as not to notice - and yet the improvement in shape is so significant. I'm very much with you on the 'nana van also - for my money, it's easily the best of the old HD SD series
    __________________________________________
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