Headstock

From what I can tell, the above looks like it could be the standard arrangement. A cunning ploy by Oxford Rail, you have to buy two wagons in order to get one brake handle with clutch and one without for each individual van!

Good evening Tony, More Tony Wrong than Wright on that one.

Evening Martin, I don't no what happened to my last post it just disappeared! Par for the course I suppose. Here we go again. Now it has appeared. Don't mention the War or the Website.

Good evening Martin, No need to change anything. When you said BR clasp brakes up thread, I thought that you would mean this. https://website.rumneymodels.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/12T-BR-Ply-Shocvan-1-1024x640.jpg You could also try the BR built LMS Ply van built with LNER clasp brakes. They were still active in your time.

Afternoon Martin, Nice looking work, I like the buffers, Lanarkshire? Onwards LMS vans..... and forwards.....and backwards too. A couple of questions. I thought you were using the BR clasp brake gear? The Dapol van is on the LMS J hanger chassis with the LMS clasp brake gear. Shouldn't the vac cylinder be visible on the clutch side, to the right of the V hanger? I notice that you have changed the chassis on the Ratio van, I was wondering why, as BR just fitted the cheap as chips Morton vac brake to the existing chassis?

You can also put the Dapol (BR built) body on the LMS clasp brake chassis like the 1949 builds.

Afternoon Martin, The Ratio kit is of an LMS van, not a BR conversion, people will have to do the conversion for themselves, its not too difficult. It is still suitable as it comes for producing an unfitted van in the early BR period. You can also put an LMS eight shoe clasp brake chassis underneath it, to make a fitted van as built. Plenty of the type didn't get the additional strapping. The Dapol body is still a little bit short but acceptable. it doesn't look so good marshaled next to the Ratio van and it can only be one of the limited BR builds, rather than a genuine LMS van.

Good afternoon westernviscount, I don't really have one technique, observation, observation, observation is my mantra and then find or develop a technique that replicates what you are seeing. I will break a model down into sections, so the bare wood areas on the bogie bolster were treated very differently from the sides for example. The wooden decking, required the individual planks to be picked out as the gaps between them was not properly represented in the kit. The weathering was built up in washes, a completely different and messier technique than that used on the sides, this was completed first before the application of the livery or any other paint. Once the full livery was applied and a pin wash added, the weathering just chipped away at it bit by bit, by mixing various weathered wood and faded paint shades in a mostly standard paint to thinners mix. The trusty airbrush was used when required to lend cohesion. Underframes were different again, being built up with various airbrush passes in assorted colours. They are usually last to be completed. I hope that helps.

Good morning SuperD, sorting the chain out took quite a bit of research, partly because nobody in model railway land had any idea what sort of chain was used on the real thing. Suppliers and even the most sophisticated modeling was using what is called cable chain. This is completely the wrong sort, the links being rounded like the knit of a cable jumper. The real links were stretched to give them greater strength, in smaller scales this is called paper clip chain. Fortunately, Naval modelers were far more knowledgeable on such stuff than their railway counterparts. With their assistance and by counting of links on many a photograph and drawings, I was able to work out that 1/350 scale anchor chain was a very good match for the heavy chain used on bogie bolsters. Not all 1/350 anchor chain is equal however, there are good products and not so good products. The pandemic made it impossible to eyeball various chains and supplies started to disappear around the world. I finally settled on Artwox 1/350 scale ship chain, it is the Bees knees for what I wanted. Eventually I tracked the product down to Australia. With the pandemic at last in protracted retreat, it may be now available closer to home, you would have to shop around. The chain is raw brass so it requires blackening, I used Birchwood Casey brass black but I also painted the links. The stanchions are from Wizard models, the working 'D ring' shackles are just folded 4.5 mm brass rod, hooks, eyes and screw shackles are from the Roxey mouldings range. The screw shackles are not super detailed but they really don't need to be, the products that are super detailed are so overscale they look comical.

Good evening superD, Did you have anything specific in mind or sources for everything?

Good evening Graeme, I don't mind waiting, I wouldn't want to be photographing things all the time. I have a nice little area with lovely early morning light, a white background and some track on a plank. If nothing else, it's good for the insurance.

Good afternoon Simon, I'm rather lacking in posh photograph equipment I'm afraid, so I'm reliant on natural daylight to get a decent shot. I've only shot one other image so far, see below. The full train will have to wait until the good weather allows me to assemble it and shoot it out in the garden. Parkside double bolster, kit built as it comes* but with corrected brake pull rods and replacement tie bars. Flexible steel plate was allowed to be loaded onto double bolsters, as long as it touched the deck, it didn't overhang the edges and was secured to the bolsters. * The stanchions, Rings, shackles, hooks, artificial steel products and Aussie chain don't come with the kit.

Model railways have taken a back seat to other interests in recent times, I haven't done any modeling since last summer and a couple of projects that were started two years ago, prior to the pandemic, have remained incomplete. However, things are on the move again and railway modeling has moved up the list, if not quite at the top. My steel train is now completed with more detailed weathering applied and with all loads are now attached. I used the relevant loading instructions book and an original steel products catalogue as a guide. Thank you Australia, for supplying proper paper clip style chain link to the right scale. Couplings have also been fitted, the train is at last a rolling entity. A second project is also well on its way to completion. I built one of two dia. 210 twins, almost two and a half years ago, that twin ran at LSGC final exhibition before lock down. The second twin, required to complete the set, has been a more protracted build. It took a year to get it to undercoat stage, it then stood another year in base coat awaiting teak painting. It is at last going through the paint shop. The teak paint has been applied, currently it is receiving a coat of weathering to match the original first twin.

Good Afternoon Tony, I quite agree, I stick with (no pun intended) the cigarette paper analogy, though I cut adhesive tape to length. I never use brass boiler bands, unless they are embedded. With locomotives that are lined out, I just use transfers or painted strip.

That would be my understanding re the relationship between boiler and cab. The photo that I posted of SNGs extended cab has been removed, here is another version that has no copywrite issues. Incidentally, the cladding band is present just not so visible from this angle due to a trick of the light. SNG has its original L shaped cladding band, Mallard does not.

Good evening Graeme, just to clarify, I've only claimed as originally built. As can be seen by comparing the cab of Mallard and SNG above, my other claim was that preserved engines are unreliable when looking at details of locomotives built over eighty years ago.

Good afternoon Mike, Then there is an issue with the arrangement of the cladding bands on the preserved locomotives*, as the photo of 2512 still doesn't look like any of the preserved examples. The tip of the V in the photographs of Bittern and SNG for example, is further away from the second firebox cladding band than in your image of 2512, my image of 2509 and Bucoups image of 2509 and friend. Unfortunately, the shine of the boiler makes it impossible to see how the cladding band terminates in the photo of 2512 but I bet it is not just cut of short as in the preserved examples. I think Dapol has it right as far as the original intent was concerned. Hornby probably had the same discussion we are having and decided to avoid the issue by leaving off both the V and the cladding band. * There being a quite complex taper on the original L shaped band that was probably dispensed with in less elegant times.

Good afternoon Ade the Pianist 4468, As you say its a model. Take a look at the arrangement on Saver Link as built. A smooth transition into the edge of the V, no gap.

Good evening Tony, it's a very nice looking paint job. It's sort of reassuring that even the best in the business can be bamboozled by Hornby's fiendish trickery.

I think Dapol have it right, despite the mind the gap effect. The cladding band intersects the front of the V.

Afternoon Mick, the whole area is a bit of a fudge with most of the detail missing, i.e. the cladding band, the spectacle plate window frames and a physical V front to the cab. It just looks too smooth, like a melted bit of cheese, when the real thing is made up of separate components bolted together. Would I put up with it, I don't know? I'm always thinking from the point of view of how I would make something, rather than excepting what is done for me.

Good afternoon Ade the Pianist 4468, The whole angle of the V wasn't changed. What was changed was the section of the roof that covered the Safety valves and also the had the tip of the V. It originally came further forwards so that it lined up with the outer edge of the firebox/cab cladding band. That is why there is a gap in the cladding band across the top of the firebox in BR and preserved locomotives. At sometime in the locomotives careers, pre preservation, the V was cut back to the position of the rest of the roof. The angle was the same, just staggered in its original form. This may be the case on your photo, though it is not very visible one way or the other. I would have to borrow one of Mikes images to draw it out if I am not being clear.

Good afternoon Tony, it looks as if the Hornby A4 has had a repaint and lost its painted V front to the cab.

Good morning Ian, your coal wagon has been well worth the effort in my opinion. Such interesting little prototypes can do nothing but lift the general quality of a model railway. If you get the bug and fancy adding some more user-friendly companions to your wagon fleet, you may consider the Cambrian range of plastic kit PO wagons.

Good morning Graeme, I wouldn't totally trust preserved locomotives. For example, the V front would have originally extender further forwards, that is why there is a gap in the firebox cladding band, at some point this was cut back. Many of the preserved A4's have had the height of the roof reduced for the modern loading gauge. The Hornby A4 actually has a U shaped rather than V fronted cab roof, you can see it and feel it with a finger nail. The image below shows the edge of the roof, highlighted by the dotted line. It is the right height but everything to the left of the line is just painted on. The consequences are that if you paint a real A4 plain black, it still has a V fronted cab. If you were to paint the Hornby model plain black, the V would disappear and the the cab would be U fronted. I personally would fit a bit of plasticware over the painted V to the same height as the U fronted cab. The Hornby model is also missing the firebox/cab cladding band, this with the extended V front is part of the character of the original condition A4 in my opinion. Dotted line equals the stepped down true edge of the cab roof. To the right is just paint.