airnimal

A small amount of progress with the basic frame made. I have made it so the tank clips over a couple of lengths of Evergreen strip. I don't think there will be a lot more done for a awhile because there is mutterings of helping out at our daughter's school again with decorating been mentioned again.

The first end has gone on with a small amount of cutting back the sides by a few thou. I am pleased with this end now , just got to do the other end as good and the rest of the wagon should be a doddle.

Dave, you asked about what drills I use. Just standard drills from the likes of Squires or Eilleen's. Someone did recommend a source a few pages back but with my memory is so bad I cannot remember now. Anyway I have tacked the other side on before I run the solder down the full length. Of course the solder fills the holes upon some of the holes which means drilling them out again but solder is a lot easier to drill than nickel. I have propped the end on see how far out it will be because the side have stretched a few thou which will need dressing back without making a mess of the holes on the ends.

The men in white coats are at the door carrying with them a coat with very long sleeves in my size ! Agreed it is a bit mad but we all do daft things now and again it just that I do daft things all the time. If I had embossed the rivets perfectly then I would have just soldered the tank together as normal and wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of using Masterclub rivets. But a few wayward rivets and a poor join left me with little choice but to go down this route. Dave, the holes are drilled with a hand held Mincraft drill. I have broken 3 drills so far but my stock of small drills are getting very blunt. I have also had to order more rivets from Historex. When I get the other side on I will have to see how well the ends are going to fit because the side plates have stretched by a small amount. This may make the fitting interesting and bad language may be forthcoming and it could all end in tears.

With the decorating quietly been forgotten ( well by me anyway ) I have earned a few brownie points for helping out with odd jobs at my youngest daughters school where she is a teacher. I earned some more this morning as well with a few jobs around the house. So while I'm in the good books for now, I went and soldered one side to the top plate for this latest tank wagon. I had riveted the side plates and decided they looked good enough to use. Unfortunately the riveting had stretched the plates so they overlap the ends by a few thou at both ends. I tried some of the Masterclub rivets in and they look fine to me. But the join of the plates is not going to be easy to disguise. I have come to the conclusion that I will unsoldered the plates and drill out all the embossed rivets and clean everything up before soldering back together again and using the Masterclub rivets for the whole tank.

There some photographs of this facility in Eddie Johnson's book on Manchester to Crewe part two. There are a couple of pages of text but without a track plan. This is a fantastic book on this line but might be an expensive way for the small amount on this subject. Perhaps you could order it from your local library. Sorry didn't notice your location. Might struggle with the local Library .

After a very enjoyable day taking 2 of our grandsons to Eureka in Halifax ( museum of childhood ) I thought I would have a beer. My wife said it was about time I drank that special bottle of ale I bought 2 years ago for the return of our middle daughter and her partner from Australia. The beer is Hardywood Cuvee Gold from Richmond VA, U.S.A . Because of the virus we are still waiting for them to come home. Her words were if you don't drink it soon it won't be any good. It doesn't say if it is bottle conditioned or not but I took her advice and removed the cork. The label describes the beer as " an elegant blend of wine country with the gentle and balanced characteristics of a traditional Belgian style Golden Ale " The beer has been aged in freshly emptied Sauvignon Blanc wine barrels. All I can say it is a delicious sweet oak flavoured beer. At 9% it certainly is a beer to savour. I am not a connoisseur to know how good or how bad a beer is but it certainly tastes good to me. It is a very pleasant way to end a very enjoyable day.

Well after getting off to a good start everything went down hill rather rapidly. A couple of misplaced rivets were never going to be easy to disguise on a wagon so plain. So I decided to file the ones off that I had already done and drill out to take Masterclub rivets. This is going to be a long job. I tried some .6mm rivets but they looked a bit weedy. So I have used a larger diameter drill and will use .7mm ones instead. I knew this wasn't going to be easy because I tried several times to scratch build this wagon. I gave up after messing up the rivets on multiple sides. I don't think there is any thing worse than a model with badly applied rivets. Graham, the numberplates are for Diagrams 1, 2, 14, 32, There could be some more but I am afraid I don't keep good records being a bodger and with such a poor memory doesn't help things.

Despite saying I am not going to start anything new until after the dec............... My good lady has gone to lunch with the girls leaving me with strict instructions not to start anything household without her permission. Well would I ever ? It would be rude to disagree so I had a look at the etchings that came this morning to see how easy or hard it would be to do the riveting. Before I started to emboss the rivets , I pre rolled the curved top plate to the shape of the ends. I cautiously tried a scrap piece of nickel of nearly the same thickness to gauge the depth of the rivets mindful of the the piece I was using hadn't got the half etch dimples. The test piece went well so with heart in my mouth I set off on the tank top. There was a little hiccup near the start where I didn't quite support the sheet enough which has made a little ripple but I think it will it will be fine with a bit of attention. There is just the matter of the several hundred more to do now with the same level of success. Easier said than done.

With nothing to report from my own bench I can now show what came in the post this morning. With thanks to Graham Beare and his son Peter and Chris Brown I have got enough parts for many more projects. The quality is excellent and I hope I can do them justice. Will I be able to punch all those rivets out without making any mistakes ? The other alternative is to drill out all the holes and fit Masterclub rivets ? Which ever way I go this one will be for a clear head and no interruptions. The plates for the tank wagon are a particularly fine example of artwork and etching. I haven't started the dreaded dec........... life has got in the way of everything just lately but mainly grandchildren and other family matters. I am just grateful I have such a lovely family.

Joy of Joy's I have been given the day off from dec.......... Do some modelling today said the boss because she's off shopping. I may be some time... Do I wait until she is out of hearing range before jumping up and down. Anyway I taped the plastic washer to a curved brass tube and placed it in boiling water to pre curved it before spaying it with body colour. The top of the safety valve was sprayed with clear lacquer and then they were screwed together. Now I will fit the fine scale wheels for my friend's wagon.

Until the Lady decides what colour she wants the rooms painting, it would be be rude not to utilize the time to tinker in the workshop. Taking the plastic saftey valve off leaves a large hole in the top of the firebox. Unfortunately the new brass casting doesn't cover completely over this hole. So I cut a piece of 10 thou black plasticard out to cover over the space. This I then screwed to the saftey valve with a 12 BA but and bolt. Later when the good Lady has arisen from her slumber and had breakfast, I will paint this round part with the green body colour.

Some people don't miss a thing. Funny you should say that because that's what I had to do. I picked up the parts and left and went for a coffee just down the road. I sat with my drink and had a look at my parts only to find David had given me a set of S7 3' 6" wagon wheels. I had ordered 10 sets of S7 wheels and one set of F/S wheels. One set is for a friend who has not yet seen the light.

I am pleased with my parts from Slaters today as well as the natter with David White. I decided that I wouldn't start any bid modelling jobs but a little play wouldn't do any harm. So I cleaned up the safety valve and polished the top before dunking the lower section in Birchwood chemical black. A quick rub with a cotton bud and it looks brilliant.

While my better half decides what colour she want the rooms painting and which one first, I managed to slip out for the day to source new parts for forthcoming projects. I had run out of wagon and coach wheels so I had a run out to Slaters at Darley Dale to pick up supplies. I spent a very agreeable hour sitting out side the works talking railways with David White and a couple of his staff. So I have stocked up on wheels and axles plus I came away with a brass casting for a Manning Wardle fluted safety valve to go on my little industrial tank. David said he has hardly sold any of these which surprised me because of how popular these little locos are. Anyway I got out of painting today which was a bonus.

Going back to the buffers I cleaned up some of the castings and drilled a washers that slips of the base of the bodies to act as a drilling jig. It was easier then to get them with the holes in the right place before putting the Masterclub bolts in. These will go in stock for some more NSR wagons with the 3 bolt pattern.

I thought I had finished but when I glued the pipes on the ends and the brass tube joining them together but I found the tube to be vulnerable to handling. So I glued some 60 thou black plasticard underneath to form a channel to protect the tube. It's not noticeable from normal viewing angles so I can live with it. I have fitted the screw couplings as well. I am not sure if they are of the right type but they are all I have.

Looking at the photograph in the NSR wagon book of this cattle wagon taken at Market Drayton shows it heavily lime washed around the bars but not much on the solebars. So I have done the same on my model which won't be to everyone's taste but the photographs don't usually lie. So that is about that for this model, still the screw couplings to do but I don't think I will do a lot more to it. I will start tomorrow on the mammoth task of deco................... anything to keep the peace. I knew I wouldn't win.

I have decided to make replacement buffer bodies even if I don't use them. I have a bag of solid white metal buffers that I have cut the heads off and drilled to accept steel heads. I have drilled them in the lathe so they will run true. I have cut the blobs of metal that were meant to represent bolts and will replace them with Masterclub bolts. I could have turned brass bodies but being lazy I will use these bits rather than throwing them away.

I have decided to paint the pipe with black from a rattle can. I won't glue it yet just in case I have repaint it later. I came to fit the buffer heads only to find the cast buffer bodies had been drilled off centre. I bought them at an exhibition years ago already drilled and wasn't expecting them to be drilled by hand. I wished I had checked them before I glued them to the body. I may still replace them because they are not good quality with poor bolts lacking any definition. The only thing I could do was turn a small brass sleeve and to counteract the offset and glue them in. They are not perfect but they are better than they were because one was pointing up and one was pointing down. I have still to make up the screw couplings and then weather everything.

The NSR wagon book states that these wagon had " through train pipes ". I don't have a very technical mind set to understand much regarding brakes. I am just a simple model maker and not much else. I much prefer a simple wooden brake block acting on one wheel. I don't do modern ! I have drilled both ends for these white metal pipes and cut a length of brass tube to connect them together. Before I glue them and paint them can anyone say if this is right or not.

Glad to be of help with the ink, one of the reasons we are all on here. I have found my white metal vacuum pipes which I will probably use because they are so well cast. I don't think I could make them myself from brass that good. I have glued on the axleboxes and springs and painted the roof. If I keep going at this rate I could finish everything this weekend. I am pleased at the fit of the roof. Now I will spray on some matt varnish and fit the buffer heads and couplings. Does anybody know if vacuum pipes were painted a different colour than the body colour ? I seem to remember that the ones on the LNWR were painted red.

Kit PW, this is the ink I am using for the hand lettering. I don't know if it is ink or paint but if flow's well and it water soluble. Is ink water soluble? I have done the other side now so I can get on with the axleboxes and springs.

I have now painted in the knot and the scrip lettering with ink and applied the tare weight from tranfers. I used a fine nib to go over my pencil lines. It's not perfect but under a coat of grime it might not look to bad. I can see the finishing line but there is still some way to go. But my other half has dropped a bombshell on me ! She wants the entire house decorating baring the living room which was only done 2 years ago. 3 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and the stairs. Why when there is hardly anything wrong with the rooms as they are ? My argument is that we should spent what money we have going on holidays ( remember them ) and not the house. I have said when we are in our rocking chairs in a old people's home we won't look back with fond memories of carpets and curtains but will remember travelling in a old American car in Cuba with cocktails on the beach and other great times. I don't think I am going to win this one.

I have put the outline in with a white pencil used for writing on glass. All I have to do now is draw it in with ink. Easier said than done.