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Adam

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  1. Adam

    Two BR(S) Ballasts

    By Adam,

    A pair of vehicles from the backlog. A Cambrian SECR 2 plank ballast open and an ex-traffic LMS Medfit (Ratio) in use with the engineers per now no longer available Paul Bartlett picture. All the lettering is by hand using Humbrol enamel and a 000 size brush. This is definitely the hard way, but provided a good match for the lettering in the photo.
     

     

     
    The majority of weathering is with fairly thin washes of Humbrol 62, 64, 100, matt white and metalcote gunmetal for some of the oily bits with much of the mixing being done on the model with the paint wet. the later washes worked back into this and were spread out with a soft, dry (i.e. no paint) brush. The effect was built up a little bit at a time with another couple of wagons in the same batch for efficient use of paint.
     
    The Bluebell Railway, incidentally, are building a re-production of the SECR type, rebuilt from an ex-SECR 7 plank. This has now [01/2012] been more or less completed:
     
    http://www.flickr.co...tream/lightbox/
     
    This pair will break up the various Chivers kits in the rake very nicely and will be running - rather incongrously, it's a BR(M) layout - on YMRG's 'South Junction' at the Fleet Air Arm Museum show in June.
     
    Adam
  2. Adam
    Cold weekend days in January have their uses. Last Saturday, for example gave me enough time to sort the numbering and glazing out on my DC kits/Bachmann Warship based 74. It still isn't finished, of course. There are little things to do like windscreen wipers, headcode blinds, cab handrails, touching up and weathering left to do, but the impression of what the finished machine will look like is there I think.
     

     
    Most of the windows are simple rectangles with droplights for the cab and cab doors: easy enough. The front 'screens are slightly more tricky - the four required needed six attempts - but this isn't too difficult, it just needs care. This is a faff, but well worth it as I hope you can see in the accompanying picture.
     
    1. Cut a strip of clear plastic a smidge wider than the widest point of the aperture. In this case, the windows were fairly consistent is shape and size (pattern making by Mike Edge - I suspect some etching might have been involved somewhere along the line), so one long strip was sufficient.
     
    2. Mitre one of the corners very slightly with a NEW scalpel blade and round off with a file to match the 'square corner of the 'screen. This enables you to locate at least part of the window in the aperture for step 3.
     
    3. While carefully holding the model in one hand and locating the glazing with the thumb of the same hand (you should be able to understand why there are no pictures of this bit!), mark out lines coinciding with the taper of the screens. You don't need to be too precise.
     
    4. Put the model down and on a clean workbench - scrap A4 is good for this - and cut the marked lines, again, using a new blade, with a straight edge.
     

     
    5. Offer the resulting peculiar shape to the aperture and repeat step 3. If you've removed too much glazing and there are voids, start again. Make more precise cutting marks and trim.
     
    6. Mitre and round the top of the straight side to fit, and file the curved part, very gently, checking all the time, to check the fit. Be prepared to get it wrong and have to start over: do not settle for second-best and, when frustration sets in (note that 'when'), put the model down and do something else.
     

     
    Finally, thanks to the Swaynton team (Brightspark of this parish included) for allowing me the indulgence, in the last half-hour of the Southampton show, to give it an airing. Just out and back, but still, it runs and has done so in public. On Swaynton, an ED of any stripe is an anachronism (by 8 or 9 years), though it is the right part of the world - the New Forest - but it's a delightful layout featuring some excellent modelling, especially the signalling and buildings. If you want to know more, there was a nice piece about it in MRJ 190 and a webpage here. The photo' below is not of great quality but I like it.
     

     
    Adam
  3. Adam
    Yes, this is the third blog in a couple of days. Don't expect it to become a habit! Some of you may remember this from RMweb mark 3, but since that's offline at the moment, I've popped up some constructional pictures on this thread (for those that like that kind of thing). Here's a sample:
     

     
    It has to be said that not a lot has happened since that point. Until now, that is. The model has been painted and is in its proper livery, but is awaiting lettering and, in particular, glazing. Why now? Well, a chance meeting over Christmas means that it may make its exhibition debut and well, it would be good if it were complete, if not actually finished.
     

     
    The most pressing problem is the mechanism. This, for those who were wondering, is based on parts of a Bachmann Warship (for anyone contemplating doing something similar, I'd recommend using a Heljan Hymek - it's much nearer the correct length). There's nothing terribly radical about this as a quick glance at Jim Smith Wright's New Street thread will show, the difference here being that this one is based around the etched floorpan supplied with the DC kit body. What follows is a lesson learned the hard way that RTR chassis conversions need a bit more thought than perhaps I gave it initially.
     

     
    The issue was that the existing Bachmann motor and flywheels were too long for the bijou space available and were thus replaced with a Mashima 1824 and a pair of chunky (18mm diameter, 13mm thick) flywheels from Branchlines. Now, in all honesty, this wasn't a success. The 1824 is a fine motor but like most of the large Mashimas, rather slow revving. The resulting performance can be described as pedestrian, verging on sluggish, which is not what we really want. Real 74s were, apparently, flyers (if not especially reliable) so something had to be done. That something is a replacement motor - the old one won't go to waste, we have a use for it - a Mashima 1624 which has 7,000 extra RPM (18,000 relative to 11,000) and another pair of large flywheels. There is a slight trade-off in power, but I don't foresee that being a problem. Here's hoping it works...
     
    Adam
  4. Adam
    Something from while the forum was off-air (which is why you get two blogs in a day). Next off the rank is this Hop 21VB/vac’ fitted 21 tonner/HTV (if you insist). So many descriptions for what is a relatively simple vehicle. Another variation for Sharpwit, if he’s watching.
     
    This is based on the excellent Parkside kit for the unfitted version, which is much the same, albeit with different end struts and a vac’ cylinder bolted on. It’s easier to go this way than to add more ribs to the Parkside rebodied HTV. The vac’ cylinder was reclaimed from an abandoned Airfix/Dapol Presflo, and the shrouded roller bearings were spares from one of the Chivers 21 tonner kits. The brackets and sundry other details were made from scraps of plastic. Prototype details were – inevitably – taken from Paul Bartlett’s photo collection. This one will be lettered for ‘House Coal Concentration’, assuming the ancient Woodhead transfers work.* The remaining livery elements will come from John Isherwood’s excellent Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet. A version of the scheme (this is ‘Freight Brown’ rather than Bauxite and with the later boxed numbers), can be seen in this shot from 1967:
     
    http://paulbartlett....339a0#h3ec339a0
     
    For anyone else who fancies a go, the photos I used for the brake detail were these:
     
    http://paulbartlett....339a0#h2ae8bc47
     
    http://paulbartlett....339a0#h29e264e0
     
    These shots of the model show the linkages:
     

     

     
    Note that the actuating linkage/rod passes in front of the wheel with more than sufficient clearance. Normally, these go down the centreline of the vehicle but can’t on this because of the hopper being in the way. The steps on the ends and the hopper discharge levers come from the Dave Bradwell hopper underframe etch secured with a staple of wire which was melted in and reinforced with epoxy. The next jobs are the end struts and handrails. These look like a veritable cat’s cradle and are slightly different to the last 21ton hopper I did (covered in full on the old forum), despite the ends being similar. The triangular bracket nearest the vacuum cylinder is mounted on the support strut rather than on the hopper plating (this is true of both ends) so as not to interfere with the cylinder. You can see this clearly on the prototype shots. The two photos below illustrate the arrangement on a rebody on an LNER chassis. The technique should be similar:
     

     

     
    Adam
     
    * I notice that John does do the House Coal Concentration and the Charringtons branding (on separate sheets) http://www.cctrans.f...uk/products.htm
  5. Adam
    For the full gory details of how we got this far (click here and read on - assuming of course that the old forum will let you). In the meantime, a few edited highlights (if that's the right word).
     
    This is my second austerity, the first was fairly common finescale stuff, a Dapol RTR body on a Perseverence chassis. I'm quite pleased with the end result which looks like this:
     

     
    Of course, having built one, you need another and it should be easier because the reference material is in hand:
     
    I have most of the bits and all the reference material one could wish for:
     

     
    Since the Perseverence chassis has gone the way of the Dodo however, and there isn't an alternative available from the trade, I could either, as some do, complain about it and not get anything done, or, do it myself. Having acquired a Dapol iteration of the old Kitmaster kit, an excellent Don Townsley drawing and having lots of scrap brass, the basis was easy enough. This is where we left off:
     

     
    Adam
  6. Adam
    It's a long road, coming towards an end. That end, of course, being a completed, working, and now painted, locomotive. After the application of a coat of LMS Crimson Lake:
     

     
    Following detail painting and reassembly, it looks more like this and it's still not quite finished:
     

     

     
    By way of a summary, more details can be found in the UK Standard Gauge Industrial part of the forum, or in this earlier blog.The deviations from the kit as designed were:
    New bunker back (the original was undersize)
    New smokebox and tank wrappers (smokebox too short in every direction, tank builder error)
    Piston rods reduced to 'scale' diameter and cylinders sleeved to suit
    Boiler assembly completely remodelled to get a decent sized motor/flywheel/gearbox combination in - a Mashima 1016 driving Romford 40:1 might have been ok in 1992, but...
    Numerous minor details which were either not supplied in the kit (couplings, draincocks, reversing lever, etc.) or which I felt could be improved upon (e.g. boiler backhead)

    As with all kit built locos, a few additional parts were bought in:
    Wheels and crankpins - Alan Gibson
    Motor/Flywheel - Branchlines
    Gearbox and bearings/hornguides - High Level (nothing wrong with the supplied versions but the High Level ones were more compact - the Impetus versions are now under a Standard 4)

    Cosmetic bits:
    Worksplates - Golden Arrow
    Nameplates and coupling hooks - AMBIS (the hooks were in stock, top, shackle type links were spares from Masokits screw couplings)
    Backhead castings - Backwoods Miniatures

    All in all it's not been a bad experience as a build. Rather protracted, of course (I started back in 2007, though much of the work was done in the last twelve months), but that was not the fault of the kit.
     
    Adam
  7. Adam
    Plastic wagons can be remarkably durable beasts and only rarely can one be said to be beyond repair. My first attempt at one, an original Parkside Grampus, was not an ideal choice, in part because of the nature of the prototype with its intricate baskets to hold the removable end planks when not required on the wagon and the design of the ends in three, prototypical bits located on poorly mould pins and holes. This may be why the body still isn't entirely square. Not entirely Parkside's fault, it was rather challenging 14 and more years ago and the chaps in Kirkcaldy have, in fairness, been back and produced a rather better kit for the Grampus. I've built one of those as well.
     
    When originally built, in OO, with brass Romford wheels and with only minor extra detailing; replacement buffers (Kenline I think), three-link couplings and an attempt to represent all those door springs I was relatively pleased with it. I've had another couple of goes at it since, replacing the tiebar between the W irons with scrap etch when the plastic ones went 'ping' and replacing the buffers with better (ABS) castings. A bit later, I had another go at the weathering, changed the wheels for 8-spoked, EM examples (some prototypes really did have 10 spoke wheels), replaced the long-link brake gear with some leftover parts suitably shortened from a more modern Parkside Tube and tweaked the axleboxes to better resemble some real ones. At the same time, I loaded the thing with ballast.
     
    Moving on several years, I like to think that my standards have risen further. Having assembled quite a rake of flat-bottomed engineers types, thanks to Roger Chivers and Parkside, with a handful of Medfits thrown into the mix, this poor old Grampus was starting to stand out and the time has come for its third, and hopefully last, rebuild. This is very much a scrapbox sort of operation using odds and ends from other projects so hasn’t actually cost any money, merely a little bit of time. It never occurred to me to take a 'before' shot so this will have to do:
     

     
    Having popped the wheels out, the whole wagon was popped in jam jar of water and the ballast soaked, cajoled and, eventually, dug out with a screwdriver, taking the plasticard load base – and one of the sides – with it. This made adding a planked floor (hand-scribed 20 thou’ plastic – very hairshirt finescale...) rather easier so no harm done, the side was tacked back on straight afterwards.
     
    The brake levers and vees went as well and replacements came from a combination of bits from Dave Bradwell and Masokits who do a nice GW pattern ratchet lever guide. Must do the safety loops too. I realised at the same time that I'd placed the centremost door springs in the wrong place. Two I managed to save, the other two pinged off, I know not where. Someone, somewhere, must have done an etched underfloor basket for these but I've never seen one. Does anybody know better? The door securing chains are stripped from multi-strand wire twisted round a 1mm drill. these were ten secured with a drop of cyano' and a small 'wedge' of 10 thou' to hold the in place. The wedges were trimmed off a scalpel later. here's the 'after' shot:
     

     
    With the aid of Paul Bartlett's photo's, I've finally got the ends more or less correct. How much easier would it have been to have replaced these bits in the first place? Important lesson: replacing duff components is almost invariably quicker and less stressful than modifying them!
     
     
    The last little job was to replace the kick-steps on the left-hand corners. The modern Parkside kit has some neat mouldings in tough plastic. Mine were fettled up from some bits of scrap etch and 0.75mm brass angle, carefully fretted with a piercing saw.
     

     
    If faced with something similar, my advice is to talk to the chaps at Kirkcaldy about spares; the current version has some nice moulded ones. It's now ready for a touch up and a return to traffic. Was it worth it?
     
    Adam
  8. Adam

    An Impetus Bagnall

    By Adam,

    And so, some months after this (though it was primed shortly afterwards and a different chimney fitted):
     

     
    and this:
     

     
    Christmas has brought about this. The full gory details (and some gratuitous Ebay related musings) can be found here and in this earlier blog entry here. All in one piece (albeit briefly), it's been taken apart for final painting which will have to wait until I've bought some suitable paint. Reassembly following painting is one of those stages of model making which is fraught with apprehension. Will those assemblies, which went together so snugly in bare metal still do so with a coat of paint? Normally, this would wait until the topcoat was on, but we needed to check running clearances with the fully completed chassis. More suspense: will the wheels still turn? Does the flywheel get caught in the boiler? Will the newly installed pick-ups get tangled up in the brakegear and short? Have I put the motor leads on the right way round?
     

     
    Here's the fully primed chassis for comparison:
     

     
    The one bit which is nearly there is the backhead scratchbuilt from plastic and some castings from Backwoods Miniatures (a set of rejects from their exhibition stand). It's been painted since, but those pictures weren't up to publication. More as and when...
     

     
    Update 3 April 2012:
     

     
     
    Adam
  9. Adam

    The grime of old industry.

    By Adam,

    It is always nice to actually finish something or, in this case, a couple of things which complement one another. In this instance, a long-term project and a quickie. The long-time workbench resident is this little Fowler diesel from the - long unavailable (move along, move along) - Impetus kit which, despite some idiosyncrasies of design which don't really wash these days - whitemetal flycranks anyone? - makes into a nice machine. The full-ish details of its progression to finished model can be found here in the UK Standard Gauge Industrial zone for those of you who, like me, sometimes manage to miss things. I hope you like it.
     

     

     
    Weathering, in case you are interested, was mostly achieved with washes of enamels. A mix of mid grey and matt white with lots of thinners brushed on and wiped away, with more thinners to remove the inevitable tide lines. What I was aiming for, and think I've managed, is to replicate the slightly blotchy fading typical of industrial locomotives stored outside in all weathers. This was followed up with some washes of metalcote gunmetal with varying quantities of matt 82 and matt 100 depending on whether I was after rust, or oil, or diesel spills. No airbrush involved, except for the basic colours.
     
    This loco' is part of my very long-term and spectacularly ill-defined ideas about actually building some sort of industrial railway in EM. Mostly, these ideas serve as a tenuous excuse to build some of the rather nice kits for venerable wagons available from the trade. The most recent of these is this ex-GWR china clay open, referred to in an earlier blog. Many of these were sold off to the NCB when they were replaced with fitted vehicles by BR in the early '50s owing to their relative modernity, steel frames and recently fitted 2 shoe, either side, brakes (they were built with a Dean Churchward pattern). This is also probably why there are - relatively - so many preserved at Didcot, the Foxfield Railway, KWVR and on the Severn Valley who, as it happens, have recently re-fitted their example with the Dean Churchward gear. The finished rendition looks like this:
     

     
    And finally, the first of my internal users, a Cambrian Gloucester 5 plank exhibiting a bit of patch-painting, re-planking and peeling paint. That it retains any of its original livery at all is deeply implausible (not least because North Devon Clay only ever hired its wagons...) but I like it that way.
     

     
    Adam
  10. Adam

    More Wagons, batch-built

    By Adam,

    The joy of cobbling together 'traditional' wagons is that there are so many similar processes which, once you've worked out how to do them come quite quickly. As I've noted before, having mundane bits in stock means that you can progress quickly while the mood takes you. Making one set of couplings, for example, can be a hassle. Making 6 sets at one go only really takes half as long again as making 2 pairs, so why not make an evening of it? So, along with the Coil carriers mentioned earlier, I've been playing with another three or four at the same time. It only really gets dull when you're doing multiples of the same wagon so having done 30 or so empty minerals, I'm taking a break for a short while. This post is by way of a parade of work in progress.
     
    First up, this LMS-designed, BR-built fruit van (Parkside PC42): I've done one of these before and clearly forgot about it so this is a duplicate. There was another batch with LNER brakegear as well so that's a possibility for a later date. Not that this is a bad thing, especially if you own plastic moulding equipment in Kirkcaldy. If you look carefully, you may observe modelling in progress.
     

     

     
    Another Kirkcaldy product is this Grampus, from the mark 1 Parkside kit (not an ideal choice: the three part ends were a complete swine and those baskets under the floor still can't be had in brass) and this was, in fact, my first ever plastic kit. If it were human, it would just have collected its GCSE results. These pictures record progress through its third - yes, you read that right, third - rebuild. It started out in OO, was re-gauged with spoked wheels to EM and has since had some 3-hole discs, a second set of replacement buffers and new brakegear. This time round, it's getting a new set of brake levers (Dave Bradwell with Masokits GW pattern ratchet lever guides) a new set of couplings and some of the detail I unaccountably missed the last two times. You can spot these very easily, they're unpainted...
     

     

     
    From a different generation entirely, this GWR china clay wagon (PC82 - as built and how they looked when the NCB had finished with them) but still benefiting from some additional detailing including some better looking axleboxes and springs. Goes together square on the first time of asking though. The body of the Grampus still isn't.
     

     
    And finally, more mucking about with bits of plastic and brass, an SR-designed shock high. There's modelling in progress here too. All that strapping, corner plates next. For the real thing, as ever, Paul Bartlett comes up with the pic's.
     

     

     
    Adam
  11. Adam
    These wagons, designated Coil S, were converted from pre-nationalisation and early BR built wooden-bodied Highs some time in the very late '60s or early '70s - I'm not sure precisely when - and are the kind of prototype I like: relatively obscure, but interesting conversions of 'ordinary' wagons that might be seen in pairs or threes without shouting 'oddity', or, moreover, stand much of a chance of turning up in kit form.
     
    They also lend themselves to batch production, though the 'batch', in this instance includes another three 'traditional wagons' of different types (a shock open, a fruit van and a china clay wagon, more of which anon), of different types because it's simply more time efficient to do them in that way. Intial assembly, brakegear, solebar detailing, capping irons, etc. are more easily done on four wagons at one go as individually and take only a little more time: rather than wait for the solvent to go off, you can do the same job to another two wagons and have more to show per modelling session.
     
    A couple of Parkside underframes, ABS buffers and brakegear with Masokits levers and vees make for a reasonably conventional starting point, but they present some interesting challenges to model as the pictures on Paul Bartlett's site* should demonstrate. The nature of these conversions means that there are a host of small detail differences which makes them fun to do, whilst retaining the advantages of batch production. The first is based on an LNER open:
     

     
    The second is based on this ex-SR example: http://paulbartlett....c3d7d#h337c3d7d
     

     
     
    The side raves will be knocked up from brass (the real things were steel section) which will go some way towards reinforcing the ends as will a load: a few metres of soft iron wire should do it...
     
    Adam
     
    *without which this sort of thing would not be possible. Thanks again Paul.
  12. Adam

    Back to the Big Bagnall

    By Adam,

    After something of a hiatus, I've returned to the Bagnall which has now reached the rolling chassis stage. Having replaced the slidebars with a set which actually reach the motion brackets and adapted the motion brackets so that there is actually something for the slide bars to attach to. The slidebars are made from some of the fret which held the frames, some nice, chunky - but probably still underscale - nickel silver. I think the modifications to the original kit design are now complete!
     
    To anyone else out there with one of these kits, I'll describe (briefly) the motion bracket mod's, since they are not all that clear in the pictures. The bracket is tabbed into the chassis and has the usual 'C' shaped cut-out to allow the connecting rod to reach the wheels. Unless you are modelling in P4, a small amount of the bracket which protrudes from the frames will need to be removed to provide clearance for the flanges of the front pair of drivers. The depth of the 'C' will also need to be reduced in size to provide support for the slidebars. I used a small piece of scrap etch, filed to size after the slidebars were fitted.
     

     

     
    That done, a couple of coats of paint followed and the usual round of fiddling and adjustment ensued to make sure that the thing actually runs. I have never understood the logic behind making everything run well and then taking it all apart to paint and having to re-make half the adjustments. Barring one stiff hornguide which needed easing, for reasons which are not entirely clear: it was fine a couple of months ago, this was not, in fact, too painful though a notch had to be filed in the motion bracket all the way to the rear of the slidebar.
     
    I had ascertained early on that the coupling rod bosses needed a certain amount of thinning and the second layer of boss - the rods are laminated from two layers of nickel-silver - behind the crossheads was removed altogether (a common ploy). There is sufficient clearance (in EM), however, that the actual crankpin only needs to be filed flush with the nut while the nut itself can retain it's full thickness. I should have worked out that drastic thinning of the 'big end' of the connecting rods was also needed, but one learns through experience!
     
    The next job is to apply some blackening solution to that gearbox...
     
    Adam
     
    Source: Preston Docks Bagnalls
  13. Adam
    A long time ago (over a year in fact) I reported progress on a - mostly - scratchbuilt Shochood B which stalled pending thonghts on how to tackle the hood. In the end, I took a look at what the military modellers do - since tarpaulins turn up on softskins all the time - and used Miliput for the ends and tissue over a former for the remainder. The tarp's on these vehicles were tailored to fit neatly over the top and were always with the wagon which carried branding to that effect so using tissue for the whole thing, while possible, is somethign I could make work. Still not 100% happy with it but here it is, painted and partly lettered. I'll have to see what dad's old Woodhead sheets have on them to finish the job: the HMRS sheets I have being utterly useless in this regard being without even a suitable selection of tare weights.
     

     

     
    Another ongoing project is this Bachmann monobloc tanker liveried for ESSO and rented from BRT. As you can see, there's been a fair amount of work put into the underframe detail based on this photo from Paul Bartlett from the same batch built by Pickering of Wishaw. The Bachmann brake levers are fairly awful and were replaced with bits adapted from a Dave Bradwell etch intended for plate wagons with other brake detail from scrap etch, nickel wire and ABS brakeshoes.
     

     

     
    All this is now hidden under a coat of Humbrol matt Chocolate as a basis for weathering. The tank needs dressing with S Kits ladders and catwalks (hopefully to be had at Expo EM at the weekend) and maybe, just maybe, I can get it finished, or at least heading in that direction, by the end of the month...
     

     
    Adam
     
     
    Source: News from the Wagon Works
  14. Adam

    From: Llewellyn yr Injin

    By Adam,

    Or, in English, 'Llewellyn the Engine' (with apologies to the late Oliver Postgate). It is now some time later and finally, it is finished, as much as anything ever is. If only the weather had been a little better then these photos might have come sooner, and been more respectable. Still, I'm quite pleased with it and I hope it's been worth the wait. The real thing looked like this: http://www.flickr.co...57626051884553/ and more shots can be had here, courtesy of George Woods.
     

     

     

     
    Happy new year.
     
    Adam
     
    Source: Llewellyn yr Injin
  15. Adam
    The [almost] completion of a project which I started on the old forum and which has been continued over here, but now has a coat of paint. Obviously, it's a bit clean at the moment and the (prototypical) livery is somewhat garish but some work-in-progress shots are probably overdue.
     

     

     
    The weathering has commenced but will stop short of the condition the prototype ended up in:
     
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/52467480@N08/6454506387/in/set-72157628278328931/lightbox/
     
    You'd never know it was green under that would you?
     
    Adam
     
    Source: Take one Kitmaster Austerity...
  16. Adam

    Shochood Update

    By Adam,

    Leaping ahead with the Shochood, all the detailing, both of the body and chassis is now complete, though as the first photo shows, I've kept the detail to where you can see it. Planning ahead is important here, as is keeping the reference books open on the right page. My copy of Bartlett et al now seems to fall open at about thihis point! The perils of not paying attention will create more work later. This is why the second MDV I built has a replacement plastic end; I assembled the body the wrong way round and only noticed when I'd completed it. Oops.
     

     
    The sheet rails which the hood will go over have been modelled as a seperate, though permanently fixed sub asselby. This effectively makes the wagon body a box with a fancy lid on top. The relative position of the rails is retained by a triangle of 40 thou' which should help keep everything solid. Note that the sheet rails are handed (and of 0.9mm wire - the real things seem quite chunky). Here are (some of) the bits:
     

     
    And here is the completed assembly. The rails rest in slots and are supported with more plastic from below. They were first tacked in position with cyano' and then properly anchored with epoxy.
     

     
    Now to work out what material to use for the hood...
     
    Adam
     
    Edit - Third picture added.
  17. Adam
    A few recently completed wagons. Two of the 21 ton VBs are now done in contrasting styles, one fairly tidy and the other contrastingly scruffy. I've been experimenting with tinted varnishes (Humbrol Mattcote with Humbrol matt 100 or leather (62) blended with Metalcote Gunmetal and a touch of matt white in this case), applied with a brush rather than an airbrush since I don't have one to hand. This is built up in thin, transluscent layers with varying amouts of tin to get the colour balance I was after - dark first into the nooks and crannies, then a rustier layer and then a greyer layer, all left overnight between coats - Acrylics woould be much quicker! Maybe next time.
     
    Anyway, this is the 1/119:
     

     
    This is the 1/120. It's strange to think that the last of these - an essentially Edwardian design concept - were being turned out at the same time as the first of the HOP AB MGR hoppers:
     

     

     
    These big coal wagons tended to weather to a dark grey with a hint of brown as an even coating, leavened with rust and brakedust, but with the markings - notably the end door stripe - peeking through. While the cleanish one is an effect I know I can achieve by other means, and I'm perfectly content with it I'm particularly pleased with the scruffier effort, what does everyone else think?
     
    Adam
  18. Adam
    Now comes the really fiddly/interesting bit. The working parts of these ladles are very simple. The chain used to tip the ladle runs through three pulleys. One at each end of the wagon and another mounted on one side of the ladle itself
    The pulleys themselves are rather nice turnings mounted on castings which need a little bit of preperation (and some care as holes need drilling - a bit of 80 thou' plastic between worked for me. The pulley attached to the ladle was fixed to a swinging link, here fixed to the label using a 16BA bolt with the head removed and nuts fixed on each end. The prototype ladles were in two halves, bolted together, to enable stubborn loads to be removed without unnecessary damage.
     

     
    The other pulleys were fixed to the carriage with the chains passing through holes in the buffer beams with loops on the end attaching to one of the pair of hooks fitted there for that purpose (there will be a plate over the top here, but this will be fixed later).
     

     

     
    Note the heavyweight construction of the (dumb) buffers and gussets.
     
    Adam
  19. Adam
    And now back to wagons. I've managed to acquire a couple of these whitemetal kits for slag ladles, used to dipose of the by-products of the blast furnace. Rather specific as rolling stock goes, and surprisingly small, but dad and I have a couple of suitable locos, and they're a little bit different (to say the least!). For those interested, there are a few shots of the process here, together with the drawing and photo's of the wagon that the kit (from Clarke Kits - it is no longer available), is based upon.
     
    Inevitably, it's a little more involved than something like the ABS LNER six-plank featured elsewhere in the blog, but it's the kind of thing that really lends itself to a whitemetal kit. Happily, everything but the couplings were in the packet.
     
    Starting with the two major sub-assemblies, the carriage and the ladle. The instructions suggest 40 though plastic for the baseplate which, since it isn't necessarily structural, is fair enough. I happen to have a sheet of 40 thou' brass to hand so used a bit of that instead. This has the benefit that you can solder it of course.
     

     
    The 'floor' is shown here soldered to one of the sides:
     

     
    The pivots for the ladle keep the top square aided by some 1.5mm rod to ensure that the bearings are parallel (there are some brass top-hat bearings in there somewhere - compensation? Er...), and a short time later, it looks a bit like this:
     

     
    Note that the ladle is only fitted temporarily. To give you an idea, although the vehicle has the same wheelbase as a 16 ton mineral (9'), it's a good bit shorter, and only slightly taller, so it's pretty tiny.
     
    Adam
  20. Adam

    Whitemetal LNER Open

    By Adam,

    The latest 'work-in-progress', well, more completion of outstanding works really is this LNER open. A fairly standard LNER vehicle, derived, I think from a GNR design with a wooden underframe and AVB. In this case - since dad built one years ago - I adapted it with steel channel ends following a David Larkin photo. I'm not sure whether I'll follow the photo and finish it in engineer's olive green or as a traffic vehicle in bauxite. All irrelevant until it gets a bit warmer in any case...
     

     
    For those interested, this shows the AVB as modelled, mostly as ABS intended, but with all the linkages and so on added in wire. Although the wheels are trapped in I don't see that as too much of a problem since whitemetal hasn't got a lot of flex in any case! For plastic kits you might want to model these safety loops prototypically, but this is a real fiddle, for no real benefit in terms of appearance.
     

     
    Note the 5 thou' plastic capping irons and their associated clips, a more or less universal feature on wooden bodies by BR days.
     
    Adam
  21. Adam

    Southall's Finest

    By Adam,

    In other news, another long standing project nears completion. Those of you who remember issues 40 and 41 of MRJ (Hursley and Winchester Chesil), might not recall the real inspiration to my ten year old self, Geoff Kent's two-parter on scratchbuilding commercial vehicles.
     
    This AEC mk V 8 wheeler based around a Road Transport Images cab and wheels (scratchbuilt chassis and flatbed) will be finished in the bright red of BRS and lettered for its Cardiff depot, reflecting the large number of such vehicles employed on steel haulage. Not sure about the tint on the photo, might have to re-take that...
     

     

     
    For now, it joins the paint queue awaiting slightly warmer weather.
     
    Adam
  22. Adam

    The Big ED: part 2

    By Adam,

    A small update. Last night I managed to fret out a new motor bracket from nickel silver sheet. This will be screwed onto the chassis frame once I've arranged some means of dampening any vibration, almost certainly the judicious application of silicon sealant under the bracket...
     

     

     
    While I had the parts to hand, I removed the flywheels from the big 1824 in preparation for fitting them to the new motor. These have been 'modified' (or butchered) to leave sufficient space to get the universal joint on the end of the motor shaft. It would have been much neater on the lathe but some gouging with a 1/8" drill in the Dremel did the job, eventually.
     
    Compare and contrast:
     

     
     
    Adam
     
     
    Source: Adam's Workbench: The Return of the Greater Electro-Diesel
  23. Adam
    When this machine has featured in an earlier thread Mike Edge kindly pointed out some details I should have spotted earlier which needed correction, notably the safety vales and the chimney. He was also kind enough to supply replacements from his own kit, at a very reasonable price, and, following a second strip down, here is the state of the engine halfway through the paintshop. Note the improvement made by the new chimney.
     

     
    A full list of the work undertaken appears below:
    Strip [phase 1] - Chassis put to one side, worksplates, driver and backhead removed and the body left in a jam jar of cellulose thinners overnight.
    Strip [Phase 2] - Having scrubbed all the paint away, remove sandpipes from underside of footplate (a silly place to put them and the were rather overscale) and then tackle all the other parts identified for replacement: dome/safety valves, chimney, smokebox dart (nice, but overscale), tank handrails (very soft brass and prone to bending, knobs also a bit chunky), remove filler cap, remove saddletank.
    Footplate mounted linkages (reverser, sanding gear) were replaced and this time, properly located into holes drilled in cab front and footplate. Experience shows that these things will, otherwise, go ping.
    Saddle tank - once stripped down and emptied of the PVA/Liquid Lead mix - a known expansion risk - it was aggressively cleaned up with emery cloth, wet and dry paper and even a large file to smooth the curves. Then cleaned-up, blackened and given a couple of coats of Halford's filler primer. This was left to dry for a few days, sanded and polished back and the tank filled with lead sheet and shot secured with epoxy this time and the holes for the handrails re-drilled. Only then did the new dome and filler cap go on. New handrails were only fitted after the first coat of primer went on. It still isn't perfectly smooth, but it's a lot better than what was there. The whole thing was then glued - more epoxy - back on to the boiler tube.
    New clips have been made for the cab roof and some more work has been done inside the cab (planked floor fitted). The sandpipes have been relocated to the chassis and have been chemically blackened rather than painted.

    There's more to do - the whistle needs to go back on, not to mention more paint and weathering, but I've also taken the opportunity to revise the livery and to name the loco', mostly to show that work has been done. The lettering, applied using a very small brush, isn't yet finished - there will be a little more and I'm thinking about adding a drop shadow - and most of the white is there as an undercoat for red.
     
     
    Adam
     
     
    Source: Refurbishing an Impetus Hunslet 15" 0-6-0ST
  24. Adam
    For those of you that don't follow the UK Standard Gauge Industrial Railways sub-forum I thought that posting some details from this week's kit-build might be of wider interest. The subject is RT Models's new kit for the standard gauge Hudson spoil tipper whose purpose, like its narrow gauge cousins, was to take spoil - usual colliery over-burden or other waste - from point A to the tip, or elsewhere for disposal and/or reuse. Some collieries used them in some numbers, Betteshanger in Kent for example, ran rakes of the things. Just like the narrow gauge versions, various other manufacturers built something similar and more details of both this, and the construction (trouble-free) can be found in the original thread.
     

     

     
    A shot to give an idea of the size of the completed vehicle. It is really very small: appreciably shorter than a Bachmann sixteen-tonner, the kind of wagon most modellers think of as petite. The wheels are only in place temporarily: dad is very kindly turning the ends off a set of pinpoint axles for me. The alternative - a 'Cosmonaut's Pencil' solution this - is to simply take the ends off with a cutting disk/piercing saw/large file according to preference. The bends and dents in the bodywork are wholly deliberate: these wagons were worked hard and patched up up until they fell apart. A 'tidy' version would be brand new and if modelled like that would look wrong, at least to my eye.
     

     
    Lastly, an end view, note the blu-tack holding the tipper body level! A smear of epoxy will do the job for final assembly I think since the two bits are probably best weathered before that stage. In the meantime, all the bits are in a coat of red oxide primer waiting on the axles to turn up.
     
    I suppose I should add a 'review type' sign off. All in all this is a fine kit which goes together nicely, and can be done in the course of a long evening if you wish. There is a scope for a little more detail should the mood take you and any number of prototype variations which, if you can find good, clear pictures, to introduce variations. The ultimate question with kits such as this is 'Would I build another?'. It should be clear from the above that the answer is yes.
     
    Adam
     
     
    Source: Hudson Tipper in EM
  25. Adam
    The traditional wagon tarpaulin is one of those irritations of the modeller's life, but there are some good techniques that can reproduce these and the real thing is, after all, simply a large piece of rectangular treated canvas. Rather more complicated - and very common on wagons built or converted for the carriage of steel coil from the mid-'60s onwards - are the tailored sheets, not to be removed from the wagon and effectively considered part of the vehicle, which hug the shape of the three sheet rails. These have visible seams on the ends which show clearly in pictures and are really very difficult, in 4mm scale at least, to execute using the 'usual' techniques. I tried several some time ago when building my Shochood and hit upon something which seems to work. Perhaps someone else out there might be interested hence these 'in progress' shots. I make no claims to originality by the way, this is simply a variant on things military modellers have been doing for years!
     

     
    The prototype, incidentally, is a 1964 conversion of a BR-built Pig Iron wagon, the Coil H. This was a very comprehensive rebuild which owed only a very little - mostly the floor - to the original design. There were only ten of them and I'm only aware of two published pictures and a weight diagram. The basic technique though should be more widely applicable even if it is a hassle.
     
    The reason that I built the basic shell of the wagon with a peaked roof should be obvious - it acts as a former for the sheet to make the complete wagon durable and saves having to make the sheet rails fully detailed or properly functional - the wagon should never have moved without the sheet on so this detail is always hidden. Since I only have two pictures of Coil H, neither of which clearly show the ends (the sheets are in the way), I have little idea what these bits looked like anyway. My guess is probably something like this on the end of a Coil E (note that this wagon has lost its sheet rails):
     
    http://paulbartlett....d78fd#h2f1b8757
     
    So after the sheet rails themselves went on, formers from tinned copper wire were added over the top. the semicircular ones represent the seam on the sheet - shown here on a Coil A:
     
    http://paulbartlett....aacce#h106159cf
     
    The 'wiggly' bits of tinned wire represent the bottom of the sheet itself as a guide for what follows, a hint of which can be seen in the first picture.
     

     
    The 'sheet' itself is added from Miliput (yes, this does look rough, but I just wanted the general outline at this stage, the second pass will smooth everything out and add more detail). The central section will be added using tissue in the familiar way.
     
    Adam
     
     
     
    Source: Adam's Workbench: a mid-'60s conversion - the Coil H
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