richard i

As said in blackadder “ like finding a cat who speaks Norwegian. Even rarer “ I settled for availability and like me. She puts up with trains and scares herself on what she has picked up just being around me. She prefers trains with comfy seats, if she can have a sleep, if there is nice food and especially if there is nice booze, preferably bubbly. richard

The first of the thirds done. Pretty happy on location of vents and gas lamps on this one. the buffet carriage. Now on this one I had my initial thoughts and Nigel Yule drawing, ( thanks TBG) and they did not match, so I went back to the photos, both outside and inside the carriage. So far I have decided I was wrong about the buffet end and Nigel is right. So I made it like this which matches the Yule drawing. however I have left it open as to whether it had a gas lamp over the end of the corridor like the brake carriages did or not like the full corridor stock. My eyes seem to see one in the photo of it ex works. Most lamps are the other side so you only see the top, but this one is shown more completely. Also the vents(?) about the middle which look like two circular disks one above the other. They seem over the kitchen so would that have a beefed up ventilation system. Most later kitchen stock seems to have some sort of more substantial vents. Or are they all part of the building behind? any thoughts welcome. many thanks richard

The ugly duckling it is the full first. For some reason if I make a mistake on the set, it is this one which I make it on. Hopefully green putty will hide a lot of the sins on the finished model. it also explains why I am not a professional builder as I lack the consistency needed to build for a living. That and many other reasons: build too slowly, not good enough standard, not known enough to have a client base....etc. richard

You are going to get updates as each roof is done. My intention is to do one a day as tier 4 has put us stuck at home. this is the third brake. still needs the gas pipe run and water filler hopefully more to come tomorrow. Richard

First roof (almost) done gas pipe and water filler to fit. just 6 more to go and then we can think about painting them. richard

Thank you this is useful. I am now going to look for it in pictures, it may be lower to allow the cross piece to be accesses under the corridor connectors. I have seven to build so that can be delayed without holding up the build whilst I look for details of it. I have to say the ends have always appeared clutter free to me up to now. I must look harder. richard

Jim as always a fount of knowledge. I have found this picture which seems to support your supposition about the GCR. Do you have any pictures/ dimensions of a control box on the end? Was it visible or underneath? many thanks richard

Question time. gas pipes. I can see the run on the roof and it logically goes between the two runs of gas lamps. question: I am assuming it runs down the end, but only one end? Which one? The passenger end? Therefore assume that the gas pipe stops at the last lamp or not? I ask as there are very few images showing the roofs of carriages in the gas lit era, and few of them are clear enough to make out what is going on with a pipe. here is as far as I have got with the layout of the pipe. thanks for this, I did look and liked your approach, but will modify it to try and solder the metal from the inside as I prefer that for metalwork as it is more secure. There is also more room in 4mm to get an iron and fingers into the carriage body. Richard

To the roof. First one marked up and drilled. the question is whether to fit the roof furniture and then solder the roof on to the body. White metal before brass, or to solder the roof on and then fit the vents etc. I am thinking fit roof first and then struggle to fit the vents from the inside as then they will not be damaged on the clean up of the roof join. Unless someone says this a fatal mistake based on their experience. richard

Great plan, I would have assumed the colliers platform would be on the branch and not the main, especially as there is no way past it whilst it picks up the passengers. Would just before the conveyor work? richard

That has come out very well there. richard

So little to see, but I think it means the body is finished. Photo is so I can also check if the window bar is level. Soldering before finishing seems more secure to me, though others seem to fit them afterwards. this one is different to the rest as it came as a body partly finished by John quick to help get me started with the gcr. A most kind and generous man. richard

I know! I could not believe my speculative bid even had a chance. I told my wife who was impressed with how big a deal it was, but still sees it as 30pds spent. It works the other way around for clothes shopping. richard

Work has just finished so I can look at / have time for modeling again. I have soldered the thin flat strips of the roof on to the sides. It really Is not photogenic so no pictures as proof. I will now solder in the grab rails behind the large windows. No howls of pain from the back row over what a poor decision that is please. however eBay moment of the year for me. These were advertised as incomplete kits, so I bid on them to get the castings to help with my John fozzard suburbans. Thirty smackers they cost me. On receiving them I checked what I have got. It turns out that I have 2 complete kits and a part started kit which is missing sides which I can replicate in plasticard or use as spares. Given what these normally fetch, I am taking this as a win. Richard

Is that the wall by the overflow car park just before the NRM?

It is not as bad as you might imagine. At least from what I could tell from getting in the cab of one at Strasbourg PA. Richard

Following Mr King’s advice I made grab handles out of bent wire. they look decent. Thanks for the advice. I did have to bend them in a vice as they did not want to bend in the slots in the jig. I must be missing something . No matter, they came out well even with my ham fistedness. richard

I do. I will buy pregrouping books if they are on the GCR or are related to stock which ran on the GCR/ other lines which GCR stock ran on. I know that does not narrow it down much as Robinson Atlantic’s made it to Devon. London to Manchester, Grimsby to Wales. Then Gresley made more to go on the NER and in Scotland post grouping. Result: large bookcases and a concerned wife who asks how many walls in the house will be covered by them. Richard

They may be more effort, but I do like a well composed panning shot of the real thing or models, as here. yours have come out very well. richard

Good advice, sounds like a plan. richard

Great model Tony, I too have a bedders print to turn into that carriage, (in its prime), it is in the to do pile. 12 carriages this year built or almost built. There are about another 24 I want to build including parcel stock etc. so at this rate another 2 or 3 years. That is if I do not build any locos or wagons. Valour is not going to build herself. i always enjoy seeing your models, thank you. richard

This is a great idea. It only works if I have drilled the holes all the same distance apart. I hope to, but there is always a cat’s whiskers difference between them. I was also trying to keep them flat rather than round as I feel that will be easier to clean the paint off once at that stage. kind words, but really only me bumbling along trying to get the carriages I want for the era I want. It would have been so much easier if I had picked the 1950s. Please do not feel that you are dragging the thread off. Anything, GCR or how to build/ paint/ weather models is all useful here. I have enjoyed seeing your silhouette builds progress on your thread. If I could cad draw it might be something for me. Then it might be chicken and egg. If I had a silhouette cutter it would spur me to learn to draw more in cad. richard

Here we go, daft idea number 403. i do not have enough grab handles with bends in them for all the carriages from the fret. so what about using the left over etch which followed the shape. It is 0.7 mm rather than 0.5mm of the original. Will they work or look too chunky? I feel an experiment coming along. If it works it might be a solution for the three carriages which need them. in other news I have fitted the end ladders to the brake first. richard

Or is this better? Best I can do I am afraid. richard

Does this help? richard