airnimal

I have managed to blacken and paint the underframe parts. There are transfers for this wagon from Powsides but I am not sure if I should try hand lettering first.

A bit more progress. I have applied the red oxide to the body which shows up all the imperfections. I will blacken all the axle guards and brake gear and paint the interior next.

Doncaster, the stanchions are made from 100 X 156 thou of Evergreen milled plastic and filed down to size. The dumb buffers are just the solebar doubled up with a extra bit in the middle to pad them out to the right size. A little extra work with the ironwork and bolts. Not to much to do now.

I have put some of the nuts and bolts on the side and ends, but there is is still a long way to go.

A small amount of progress on the end door plus a photo of the start of this build I forgot to include in the post the other day.

Not a lot of modelling done over the past couple of weeks due to family being here from different parts of the world. Still managed to start a new wagon rather them finish all the others. This one is a bit different as it is a end door only and the brake lever is at the other end. This a private owner wagon from Tyldesley Coal Company near Wigan. I only have a poor photograph so there will be a bit of guess work on this one. The first photo was taken before I replaced the brake rack with a better one from Ambis.

i was a bit concerned that the sand pipes were a little over scale so I went back to the drawing and checked. Although there are no dimensions on the sand pipes it easy to work of the drawing of a known size and I believe they scale out at 2". That works out at 1.17mm. I made them from 1.36mm wire so I have decided to replace them with the correct wire. Unfortunately I do not have any small spilt pins left so I am going to make my own. I needed to file some .45mm brass wire to half round to make them. So with the help of my home made filing jig a few lengths of wire were produced ready for bending in to spilt pins. I haven't the time today to do the work necessary. Number 2 daughter was flying to Greece this morning and had to be at the airport at 3 for her flight at 5.55. Look in her bedroom at 4.50 and she is still asleep. Panic ! Dad you will have to follow me to the airport in my hire car and pick me up and take me to the departures. Follow me. Bad move. She follows the sat nav. Motorway down to one lane because of road works and 50 limit. Sat nav take her miles out of her way. Drop her of at 5.30. I use to work there and could have saved her 15 minutes if she told me where she was dropping the hire car of at. She phone about a hour ago from Greece. Number 3 daughter is on her way to stay overnight with the grandchildren and is also going to the airport the next day. Number 1 daughter does the same on Monday. No wonder I have grey hair. I may require a beer tonight .

curassier, where to begin. I model a time period between 1870's to 1900 after seeing lots of hand built models at the famous Manchester show in the 1950's when my dad took myself and 2 brothers after buying us a Hornby railway for Christmas. I went back every year by myself when my brothers went and did other things. I was curious to see boxes of photographs of old rolling stock on the various society stands and seeing the models made by people like Ross Pochin and Sid Stubbs. What period of time would you like to make a wagon from ? What scale do you wish to model in ? I am happy to help anybody to gain the skills needed to scratch build. What part of the world do you reside in ? The reason for the last question is because I live in the North West of England and I am doing a couple of demo stands this year at the Poyton and Wigan shows and it would be easy to show you how to do face to face. Failing that the first thing is a good drawing along with a chart of dimensions to convert full size to model size complete with a scale ruler. As I model in 7mm it is easy to go to the chart and look at 11" which is the solebar hight and see that equates to 252.62 thou. So I use Evergreen milled 250 X 100 strip. I can live it is slightly under size. It is better to have these few basic bits along with a good variety of Evergreen sizes that you can laminate together to produce nearly any size required. Plus of course the usual tools and glues.

Not a lot done for a few days. Daughter number 2 arrived from Aus and is here untill Thursday morning when she flies to Greece then daughter number 3 arrives Thursday afternoon with son in law and grandchildren. Daughter number 2 pulled so hard on the shower switch and broke it, so i had to go to my local electrical shop to get a replacement. I also spent a couple of hours repairing a expensive pair of sunglasses for number 2. My children think grandad can fix everthing. Anyway enough of the my moaning and back to the chopper tank. I have put the front sand pipes on the same way as I did the rear ones last week. The split pins are over scale but they make for a very strong fixing on a very vulnerable part of the chassis. I need to make the brake stretchers but I am not sure on how I am going to make them. Because I am using split axles they will need some form of insulation. I could use copper clad and gap them but I am wondering if there is a better way.

Only the brake linkage to add along with the front sand pipes, the tank holdings straps and it is nearly finished. I have made and mounted the shaft from the brake handle today. Looking at the drawing I have just noticed there is a plate behind the front buffer beam. I think it is to strengthen the open buffer beam.

I have not being doing a lot over the past couple of weeks other than enjoying the sunshine. I am so close to completing the chopper tank its all the little things that need finishing like the sand pipes. So I have made a start on the rear pair using 1.35mm nickel wire and a couple of small split pins. I cut a small piece of brass tube to mount it from the frames at the top. I have revisited the W.& J. Turner wagon going over the lettering. It's still not as I would like but I don't think I am going to get any better.

It is so good to see your work. I am very impressed and I am sure I will learn something new from your wagons. I have built a couple of wagon from the G.N.R many years ago in fine scale. I am intrigued the way you have set out the express van, I have never seen it done this way. My worry would be getting the 2 sides identical. I try to mark out one on top of the other, so 2 side and 2 ends. I find that that the sides and ends will be identical even if they are wrong.

John, I am sorry for hijacking your thread. I have only just realised your G.N.S.R van is for your Rosehearty branch line. I presume that it will be painted in B.R grey. I had not made the connection. I looked at building one of these vans with the channel head stock in reverse. I have all the castings but I found out they were built to late for for the period I wish to model. Is there any information if any were built before 1900.

I have just been in my workshop and I noticed next to my lathe a box of bits with a spare turned jig. Would you like it ? I think it was left over when I was making a few of them for friends. The coloured plastic is 20thou but if that is to thick I some times do them with black plastic which can be had in 10 or 15thou. I remember buying 5thou from Slaters years ago but David White tells me they have never sold 5thou. I disagree but we are taking over 40 years ago. I have a tiny square left that I only use when I have to.

Doncaster, that is the start of a mighty fine model, very clean and tidy. I do love pre-grouping wagons. Have you any more we can see. Do you have any problems with wrapping when you put in internal bracing in. Mike

John, that's one of the plus points of the R.M Webb, people with more knowledge of the prototype than myself. I will have to go over all the photographs I have to see where I am up to and check any more mistakes before it goes to paint. There is nothing worse than showing someone your latest model only to be told that you have missed something out or put something on that should not there. I remember my good friend Peter showing someone at a exhibition a large gauge one diesel etch when somebody passing by looked over our shoulder and said "that window is in the wrong place". How we scoffed until we got home and sure enough the gentleman was correct. We did not know this gentleman but that lesson is remembered every time we go to a exhibition.

N.S.R. Engineers department inspectors car.

Ruston, the chassis was all profiled milled along with the smokebox front. Everthing else was done by hand the old fashion way. It does help having a guillotine which makes it easy to cut sheet metal to near enough size for parts like the side tanks and footplates. The part that has been most successful is the bufferbeam which has been made in one piece. I marked out the rivets pattern and the holes for the buffers in the flat before I score the fold lines with with a Olfa cutter. It was then quite easy to fold in to a box section and solder a couple of bits of nickel on the ends. When I bought my milling machine I thought I would be using it all the time and I had the idear when I retired I would make lots of locos to sell and subsidise my modest pension. All that happened was I didn't have time to make other things and I needed the space in the workshop to hopefully build my layout. I gave it away to a good home in exchange for any parts milling when I need them.

hartleymartin, do you mean the little turned piece that goes through the hole in the plastic sheet ? If that is what you mean I turned a small bit of leftover Peek which is a hard plastic that I used when I was working full time before I retired. I just push this bit through the hole and cut around the base to produce a small plastic washer. A quick clean with a small file and cut in half gives you a pair of crown plates. The hole punch is of course a normal paper punch.

A little work done in the cab today. It will need a lot of cleaning up.

John, bolts if they are square on as on early wagons I cut them from Evergreen strip depending on size. Small bolts usually are cut from 10 X 20 thou but bigger bolts like on the end of L.N.W.R wagons are cut from 15 X 30 strip. I pick the bolts up on the end of a scalpel and float them on with a tiny amount of mex. But if they are hex headed bolts I drill holes and use the moulded bolts from MasterClub. To line them up I mark the top and bottom bolts with a pencil and draw a line between the two. I always look down the line at eye level to check that they are going to be straight. I do this from all sides especially turning the wagon upside down. I find the wagon sides have all sorts of reference points like plank lines and where iron works cross that acts like a grid.

That is a very fine wagon. I hope this will be one of many. I have some G.N.S.R castings which I hoped I would build a couple of their wagons but they may be to late for the period I wish to model. Brake levers and brake racks can be had along with crown plates from Ambis. They are available from Hobby Holidays. I make my own crown plates with a simple paper hole punch and a little jig to cut them out. I think the pictures speak for themselves. Just punch a hole and push the tuned jig into the and cut around to make a washer. Clean up and cut in two. Bingo a pair of crown plates. Sorry if the pictures are in the wrong order. Mike

Julian, no this is scratch built. I started it about 20 years ago and then had a big accident on my bike coming home from work. After that I lost interest in model making and sold 90% of what I had and used the money to go cycling in New Zealand. A couple of years after I started again and managed to buy back this chassis along with a Shedmaster kit from the friend who I sold it to. I then built the body from scratch and had intended to build another from the Shedmaster kit but with a full cab. The castings are from both Hobbyhorse and Shedmaster but I don't think I will get around to building a second one. Good luck with yours and post some pictures when you do.

I have put the buffers on with a 2 part epoxy. I think it is now getting close to the finishing line. If I can get it done before it Guildex I will take it and see if Warren Haywood will paint it for me. I don't like building locos and I am going look at my needs and wants for my proposed layout. I have a nickel kit from Laurie Griffin for the same loco along with a set of Alan Harris wheels as well half built dock tank. Will they ever get built ? Also in the cupboard are a set of wheels for a Manning Wardle contractors loco but will I need these as there is R.T.R. one on the horizon. Also in this deep cupboard are 3 Sid Stubbs gearboxes and 2 A.B.C.gearboxes and a host of castings for all sorts of things. It does seem such a shame that these parts have been there for for so many years awaiting me to getting around to building my dream locos. Even this chopper tank has been on going since about 2002 and at one point was sold to a friend of mine who was going to have someone finish it off. It then sat in his house for a few years untouched untill I bought it back and got it in the state it's now in. I even had a pantograph milling machine to speed up loco building but my heart was not in it and I never realised its full potential so I gave it away as I needed the space. How many locos do I need ? I don't even now the answer. How many locos do I want ? It's a funny hobby. Why do we hoard stuff. Tastes change. I have a friend who has so many models of high end O gauge models he doesn't have space to display them and they sit in boxes for years unseen and unused. They are his and he can do whatever he wants with them but it does seem a shame that they never get seen. Rant over.

Change of plans. Woke up feeling off colour so decided 70 miles on the bike might not be a good idea. So I have put the other hand rail on. Every little bit helps.