Loconuts

Time for pub, it is Sunday Lunch.

I don't know when 'Fair Rosamund' gained a belpaire firebox, but she appears to have run with a belpaire box before she gained an enclosed cab and extended Collett-style bunker.

All the pictures I have show FR with a belpaire firebox post WW1. There is a superb photo of her on Oxford shed in the early 1920's complete with half cab and coal scuttle bunker in the GWR Loco shed, London Division book by Wild Swan. She still had a polished brass dome and safety valve bonnet plus a copper cap chimney.

When I worked for MOD there was an old chap who used to clean our offices by the name of Ted Jacobs and it was his job to clean FR when he started work on the GWR as a cleaner.

Another excuse to visit the ale house, honest guv it is only medicinal.

Chaz

Did Sue get you the team of six mules to haul the cart? Making the wheels go round should be very easy as the wheels had a conical shaped hub on the outside, if you make some and glue/solder them to the axle leaving the wheels free to rotate.

Visitors have gone leaving a day and a half of Depot building time before we trek of to Essex for a few days.

John 

I chose the same Tamiya paints for my Ophir Depot as they were a close match to the RGS and D&RGW building colours in the later period.

Your Depot is coming on well, wish I could get some more modeling time in but I have been tied up with Christmas chores, rather have Christmas on my own with no visitors, "Bah Humbug"

John 

Constructive Criticism is considered a negative attitude by todays PC crowd, best to keep your thoughts to yourself if you are "old school". 

Really I'm quite dissapointed that this is in your loft so unlike Dock Green we wont get to see this in the flesh. The modelling is incredible.

 

Leigh

Having seen Chaz's work in the flesh today I can say it is better than the photos and all I can say is that I am sorry it will not be appearing at a show near anyone. The only criticism is that the loft hatch is a bit tight. I think I need to diet.

But you're still here .

Aren't you his alter ego ?

Not the last time I looked at my shirt label, he buys ready to run which is not for my thing.

They are redundant now since a certain person was banned.

Was not trying poop on your parade, just trying to throw some facts into the going 'O' Scale British SG.

One thing I did not mention which many of my life long 'O' Scale friends have is retirement. Many have sold up and gone 4mm scale due to down sizing their houses and the pensions they receive. Read Gerry Beales article on his decision to go back to 4mm scale which appeared in the MRJ a couple or three years back. His reasons are exactly the same as those I mention.

You state you have ordered a 57xx, what is your next RTR GWR loco going to be. A Heljan 61xx? That is the next 'O' scale 7mm model coming out and that is a lot of loco for a tank loco.

It is basic common sense, work out the logistics before you leap. Time to stop hijacking someone else's topic.  

I can quite understand that. I once thought I wouldn't have much British O scale; American models were far cheaper, even imported.

Now the situation has changed; British O is booming & prices falling - US 2-rail O scale is stagnant at best, dying at worst, with the overwhelming demand for 3-rail killing decent 2-rail development, & the £-vs-$ exchange rate & stupidly sky-high shipping rates raising prices & discouraging importing.

I will stick with the US stuff I've got, but have/want more UK O than I anticipated!!

Be careful, British 'O' scale will not remain cheap with a container load costing double it did last year. Compared to US models what has been produced for the British market has been a drop in the ocean and the question is can it be sustained. One manufacturer is going to suffer due to the duplication of a 57xx a model that there has been a very good kit for. Not very clever.

Of course the recent announcement of forth coming 'O' scale models has got a frenzy of modelers building 'O' scale models of the ECML to run their full scale length trains of Teaks with one or other Pacific. One big problem, hands up who have a very large room to build such a layout, we are talking about 50 foot by 15 foot at the minimum. I modeled 'O' scale for 30 years and ended up with a space of 33 Foot by 9 Foot which was only big enough for GWR branch terminus with fiddle yard. If I wanted bigger I had to venture into the garden and that costs a lot of money and a lot maintenance.

Also at the moment only a few RTR models in 'O' scale have been announced but are not as yet available plus there is not enough stock available limiting what you can build. The only people who can build something at the moment are the diesel fanatics with offerings from Heljan and Dapol but that does not float everyone's boat.

If you dive into 'O' scale be warned it is still very much a builders scale bordering in the model engineering and if you are not prepared to build then have plenty of wonger at your disposal.

A couple of ready to run locos does not make an 'O' scale layout

Did not have you down as a toy boy

Chaz

The Generator should just pull off, no need to cut it off. It does need a bit of wangling to get it off. Mount it just in front of the cab and do not forget to modify the steam supply pipe. The exhaust pipe should then be a straight pipe with a slight kink towards the cab and not the thing that Bachmann supply.  

It does look better with the head light bracket mounted on top of the boiler, headlights and brackets (C-16) are available from PSC which Paul supplies. Also do not forget the marker lights, again PSC castings.

Further improvement is replace the chimney with a C-16 one, again PSC castings.

John

There was some Loo paper that used have the same effect.

Well you can't get cheaper than free and the result is very worthwhile.

 

No modeling today as I went to Reading to the O Gauge trade show. Bought some stuff, glue and paint and a nice kit from Paul Martin (EDM). Had a useful chat with him about the Bachmann 2-8-0 - which may bear immediate fruit - WTS.

 

Chaz

Chaz, I have two Baccy 2-8-0's which I want to get rid of. One is brand new and both have Digitrax sound decoders in. As usual they are both nice runners. E-mail me if you are interested.

I did Bearwood this morning and then some more work on the Depot, a productive day.

John

Cheaper than a gym.

John

That sounds like self inflicted hard work.

Checked out the foot print for the Ophir depot building on Verwood Creek and it fits a treat, no track modifications needed to give clearance.

Still got to find how to hide the brick buttress that sticks out into the Depot, might look at doing a low relief warehouse with a feeder track.

John

Are they letting to onto the reserve with this Bird Flu about? I think there are restrictions at Arn.

Looking good Chaz, like your method of doing the scenery profile, me thinks I will try that method myself on Verwood Creek when the weather gets a bit warmer.

Can I make one comment though and that is your tie bar on your switches, I think based on track diagrams I have should not be as long as the two ties either side for the switch stand. The connection between the tie bar and switch stand is usually a metal rod. But however you might have evidence otherwise as my evidence is based on information of the D&RGW RR and I have not got the time to go off looking at other railroads. Got a Depot building to get on with and not a lot of time to get it done.

John     

Nice collection of coffee cups I see. Growing the ground cover in them?

Not sure about that but the amount of people I used to see on one moped in Taiwan and Thailand would have out done the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display team and they even had their shopping on board with them. 

Seeing some of the things our friends transport out in the Far East on their motor bikes and scooters a layout would be no problem.

Let us not forget, there are a good number of issues with the lined Dean Goods.  There is a lot more than the firebox to trouble the scrupulous.

 

Some of these issues may well stem from the failure to tool for this batch and condition of loco, and, therefore, perhaps do not effect the post WW2 models.  While I welcome the interest in producing an earlier condition loco, that is not what Oxford has done in this case.

 

There are a number of actual or potential issues, focussed on the pre-WW1 lined depiction of No. 2309.  As has been noted, the inclusion of the top feed means that the model must depict 2309 from 1913, and I would guess that the model is based upon a photograph of 2309 at Birmingham in April 1914 (below).

 

Contributors to this topic have, between them, spotted the following issues:

 

- The side step, between the front 2 splashers should be curved, not straight-sided for 2309.  So, this involves modifying or replacing the step and re-lining to match.

 

- The dome of 2309 at the period depicted appears to be painted, as per the then regulations, not polished brass.

 

- The chimney should be parallel and slightly taller rather than using the later cast iron taper type.  Whereas, the chimney on the model appears to be a later cast iron chimney with capuchon but painted to represent a copper top. The chimney top, but not the capuchon, should be copper (not brass). In summary, the chimney is the wrong shape and too short. New chimney or shank.

 

- The whistles are currently mounted the wrong way round!  Easy fix, but is just one of those nagging instances of a lack of attention, or care, in getting thing right on this "Deans Goods"

 

- The prototype lacks the visible plating to the firebox base in the form shown on the model.  The lower wash-out plugs are poor and the spacing is wrong.  Not an easy fix and would compromise the paint finish.

 

- The smokebox door should be the early type with the raised ring around the edge whilst the model seems to have the later one but it's a bit difficult to tell from the angle of the photo.  Potentially need to replace.

 

- There are a quantity of rivets on the smokebox of the model not present on 2309. Would need to be very carefully carved off. So it looks like the smoke box will need a repaint.

 

- The distance between the top of the cabside cut-out and the roof appears too shallow, and does not seem to represent the increased gap resulting from the slight raising of the roof to accommodate the belpaire firebox. Not an easy fix and would compromise the paint finish.

 

- It is hard to judge from the photographs  if the curve of the cabside cut-out is correct. Not an easy fix and would compromise the paint finish.

 

I raised all these matters with Oxford.  Unlike my earlier email pointing out the firebox issue, I have, on this occasion not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement. It is no doubt too late in the day to make changes.

 

From what I have seen, I fear that Oxford's definition of an accurate model is unlikely to agree with mine.  Yes, the smart lining and shiny dome will make it attractive cabinet fodder for the collector, but this is in no way an accurate model of 2309 in the condition represented.  You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.

 

Some won't mind the inaccuracies.  We all have different tolerances and different things bug us.  I hope that at least modellers will have an informed choice concerning this particular model, given the knowledge and time several topic members have contributed in order to assess this announced release. 

 

Some matters are easily cured and some may not be such huge concerns when we see the model in the flesh (or, they could be worse!), but clearly work needs to be done to render this an accurate model of its purported subject and I remain of the view that a better starting point for a pre-WW1 belpaire Dean Goods is the Mainline body on a Comet chassis.  Yes, there would need to be changes to the Mainline body, too, but I would rather do that to a second-hand body shell that captures the lines of the class well, than to a high-spec new model that purports, but fails to, represent the class member concerned. The fact that a 40-year old moulding appears to trump a new release suggests that Oxford is not yet on track.

 

In case anyone is still wondering, I won't be buying one!

I totally agree with this post as from someone who modelled the GWR for 30 years.

Unfortunately Oxford Rail does not appear to listen to the critics and is totally out of touch with the true modeler and more in keeping with the glass case fodder.

They need to do the same as Dapol and get someone on board who knows the subject. (Look at their recent 08)

Will the Dean Goods sell, yes on price alone but if they had made a correct model their market share would be bigger. Oxford Rail is going to get a reputation for incorrect models as all their output so far has had inaccuracies and this is not good as the manufacturers are dealing with a dwindling market place which is going to get more competitive.  

Looks like you brought the pub home with you last night !!!!!!!!

I like the hole for the key in the chassis.