Brian Kirby

Little Glossy has gained some front end details, the single top lamp puts the model firmly into the first batch of twenty, the second batch of twenty lacked this feature, having two sidelights instead. What you see is actually the second attempt, for the first go I fitted top lamps like on an earlier Derby Class 116, but they just looked rather under-nourished. The top lamps and shrouds on these Class 100s, were getting on for twice the size. The 2-digit headcode looks straightforward enough, but the dimensions are critical, human eyes are good at spotting things out of true or proportion, i'm fairly happy with the results, but there's still room for a bit of fine-tuning. The roof shell vents are now fitted, using Comet BR/LMS type. It's time for door furniture and roof tank pipes next, can't decide whether to paint this blue or green, a second unit based on the second batch might be the answer? BK

To the true Inner North Londoner, the M25 is not the natural boundary, anywhere outside the North Circular is uncharted territory. Alexandra Park is not the easiest place to get to, particularly by train from the more distant north (involving a trip into and out of Central London), it's stuck on top of a great big hill, with only one through bus route, and the shuttle thingy on the east side. But the palace is an iconic structure, and the views are spectacular, they should never have closed it's railway station. We'd all love extended opening hours, I remember the Manchester show's Friday evening opening, but I think the 5pm saturday closing has a lot to do with AP staff and security shift hours, so as to avoid paying expensive overtime. Don't forget, a big chunk of your admission fee goes on security at this high-profile venue. Talking of security, if the threat of attacks continues, I wouldn't be surprised if in future, we had to walk through airport style metal detectors, as used at many offices now. The other factor regarding hours, is the double-whammy of the clocks changing on Saturday night, which tends to make the Sunday opening feel even shorter at 4-30pm. I enjoyed my visit, yet I still missed some of it, isn't that the sign of a good show? BK

As promised, here are a few piccies of my test fitting of Replica windows. I took Glossy and my Southend electric to Ally Pally yesterday, to show interested parties, including Godders and Gareth of Replica, to explain why i'd bought so many windows from them! The chaps on the Ingatestone layout, very kindly allowed me to pose my 1500v DC EMU on their layout, as their Britannia passed by on a train. Did anybody spot my preserved 35 year-old orange plastic bag yesterday? Acquired from my old places of work, showing King's Cross one side, Eames of Reading on the other, it normally lives in a cupboard, but gets the occasional run out to exhibitions. BK

Being a native North Londoner, I look forward to the Ally Pally show. I normally walk, takes about an hour from Holloway, with the two climbs of Hornsey Rise (straight over the disused platforms at Crouch End) and the north face of the Eiger from racecourse to palace (good test for a heart attack, if you make it to the top, then you've survived for another year). This saturday morning was a bit cold and damp, so I resorted to buses, Clever-cloggs here thought he'd change to the W3 in Crouch End Broadway, then discovered that it takes a different route. So it ended up a three-bus-job, but still only £1.50 with the one-hour hopper fare, that's cheaper than walking. I have no problem with a short queue for a bag search, after all the threat is still officially "Severe", it was also good that the inspection was on the outside doors, rather than within the foyer/Palm Court, remember the Manchester atroscity was within the venue concourse. Some good layouts this year, although it was difficult to ask questions on Fortress Mostyn, with it's high backscene (which I reckon should be castellated!), until you could collar someone to come around the front. For a simple, but very impressive double-track layout, there was some fierce concentration in their operations bunker, and for exhibition display the well-detailed trains were very frequent, even ignoring block section rules at times! Kensington (Addison Road) and Leighton Buzzard were a joy to see, well worth the entrance fee alone. It was hard work gleaning information from the MRC demonstration bench as usual, I got the impression half of them would rather the public weren't there, although the Belgian chap showing the silhouette cutter was much better, despite our Cockney v French language barrier. One of the joys of shows, is bumping (literally)into old friends and meeting new ones, a good natter was had by all. BK

The gangway connectors are the traditional ready-made paper type, although they wouldn't be too difficult to make yourself. This DMU will be built to run on a 30in. minimum radius, so if necessary, the buffer shanks can be shortened, buffer heads will be solid. Some of the glazing is already installed on one side, as a test. All will be revealed tomorrow. BK

I have fitted Bachmann couplings to the Hornby DMU bogies, so as to couple the cars closely together, and to other units. The chunky coupling brackets have been cut back, just keeping a one-eighth inch deep ledge, to bolt the new couplings on to. Buffer heads still need to be sourced, exhaust pipes are now fitted to the DMBS, and roof vent (shell type) holes have been drilled ready. BK

Hi Everyone, I've used two spare DC Kits roofs, cut to fit between the donor domes, with new angled guttering for the cab fronts. Turning to the chassis, i've used two Hornby Class 110 trailer underframes, the motor chassis has the wrong engines. Most fittings are roughly in the correct position for the Gloucester Class 100 driving trailer, for the DMBS some things have to be chopped off and re-positioned. New donor engines were fitted, using reclaimed Lima mouldings, left-over from when I made the hydraulic Class 125s. The deeper solebars with bottom flanges were distinctive features on these units, to reflect this I scraped the existing solebars, and added strips of 10 thou plasticard to represent the lower flange. The unit is currently unpowered, but a Hornby Ringfield will be an easy clip-fit, to which I will add extra pick-ups to both bogies, with Bachmann axles throughout.(It's temporarily sitting on Bachmann 3-hole wagon wheels, whilst I search for my stash of plain wheels!) BK

Hi Scott, The parts are just tacked into position so far, to check the overall look, but there's no interior reinforcement yet. BK

Here are the ends for the Driving Brake, quite a complicated shape, a peaked top, tapered sides, a cut-away bottom, and three-angled front, plus there's also a tricky step-down at the top corners. Then I decided on a couple of alterations, the rear guard's van windows were reduced in size (not sure when), due to the proximity of the exhaust pipe shrouds. I also increased the depth of the cab windows slightly, although the real ones weren't quite as deep as the side windows. Now we can go three-dimensional, this is the Driving Trailer, the domes are DC Kits donors from my scrapbox, the step-down jiggle will be built into the domes. BK

Nice effort Clive, but forgive me for saying, your sets of four windows are too far apart (my window pillars still need a bit more thinning down), and there's not enough meat on the Hornby bodyside to create the very curved roll-under tumblehome. The cab shape is wrong too,since BRCW cabs are more sharply angled back in plan, the Class 100 have flatter angles like a later Derby cab. Other distinguishing features are the tricky-shaped front guttering, the boxed-in buffers, and the very deep solebars. JSW also got the height of his Class 114 conversion windows wrong, but that's enough bitching for one day! BK

These two-car units were built by Gloucester RCW in two batches in 1957. Most went to Scottish Region, although eleven pairs of the first batch went to LMR. There were slightly different front end details between the two builds, at the end of the 60s many ScR sets were transferred to East Anglia, to replace ER 79xxx Derby and Met-Cam units, the Gloucesters being later known as Class 100. Here are the sides with the windows now cut out, although there's still a bit of fine tuning to do. BK

Hi Scott, as you will know, the Gloucester unit has a particularly deep tumblehome, plus some of the side windows are very closely spaced, leaving very thin uprights between, which might be delicate? I don't suppose it matters that much, a case of 'swings and roundabouts'? Sounds like you cut your windows out with a scalpel blade on a cutting mat? I prefer to drill a hole, then cut around with a piercing saw, and finish off with files, so the work is mostly hand-held. 'Each to his/her own?' BK

Hi DoubledeckInterurban, the height of the sides depends on the prototype you choose, and the amount of tumblehome they have, in 4mm/ft they're all roughly plus or minus an inch. What dimension does your drawing give? As Royal Oak says, I will scratchbuild the ends. BK

Hi Everyone, Here's a new project, starting with plasticard sides, shaped and marked out. The next stage is to cut out the windows. Cheers, Brian.

There's only one slight problem with that, the Bachmann hooks don't appear to be brass. I've always assumed they were an aluminium alloy, that would probably make them easier to stamp out in production, without the black paint they are shiny silver in appearance. Any metallurgists in the house? BK

Sounds great, but are you sure the solder fuses to the Bachmann alloy hooks, maybe it just forms a tight ring of solder around it? Soldering steel staples to steel hooks, is straightforward with acid flux, but with steel hooks there's always the danger of them becoming magnetized, and being attracted to the other hook. Whatever happens, if it works, that's perfect, i'll give it a bash myself. BK

Hi Len and everyone, I've only ever used regular general purpose DIY superglue, my favourite is from Screwfix in little 20g plastic bottles. I've never bothered with any of the thicker gel type ones, I just prefer the thin stuff that flows well, in any case an old used bottle tends to thicken up anyway, if you want it jelly-like? The more you squirt on, the longer it takes to go off, especially if the material isn't absorbant (e.g. metal or plastic). It's best used in a warm environment, and you can speed things up by dabbing the joint with kitchen roll tissue, which will soak up any excess glue. When dry, another technique is to add a second, or even a third layer of superglue, to strengthen the joint, but one squirt is normally sufficient for coupling staples. The reshaped staple needs to be gently crimped around the coupling dropper, before gluing. Soldering is not practical, cos the Bachmann dropper is non-ferrous alloy (non-magnetic), maybe one day someone will try resistance or spot welding?! I wouldn't advocate using any epoxy resin, it's nasty stuff and quite messy, and would need a decent size blob to make the joint. Be very careful to avoid touching the resin part before mixing, if it touches your skin it could give you a saw rash, which could take weeks to go away. The hardener probably contains an accelerant and other nasty chemicals. I never use epoxy these days, impact glues are safer for big jobs, superglue is good for plenty of other work. I hope you all enjoy your no-hands shunting by magic. Cheers, Brian Kirby. (Note to self: I must replace the images on the original RMweb coupling thread, they've all disappeared since Botophucket free hosting went mammary glands up)

And here are the previously mentioned drawn on black "carriage board clips", which I forgot to add before doing the piccies. In my humble experience, these are tricky to apply in metal or plastic, before painting, plus they get in the way when lining out, and are prone to chipping, the paint wearing off, or falling off completely. Instead I just apply a quick flick of black ink, some may think it awful, but it works for me, to complete the look. I could possibly have fitted orange curtains to the first-class on the right, but without proof of a colour photo, I decided light grey was a far safer choice. For a coach repainted in 1966-67, and withdrawn in 1968, would they really bother to change the curtains? Incidentally, the yellow cantrail stripe is another of my favoured methods, it's sliced up electrical tape. You could use transfer strips,but some are a bit translucent, and it's otherwise difficult to alter the width. This cruel three times size close-up seems to reveal some refracted light, on the left side of the second window, and a rather ragged curtain to the right, I will deal with this. BK

All four coaches are now lettered, numbered and varnished, plus the plug-in windows have been re-fitted. These windows still had cream paint on their window vanes, removing the cream is high risk, not wishing to damage or stain the glazing. So I left the cream in situ, and for the maroon BSK covered it with black indian ink, which is water-based, so any mistake can be wiped off, when dry I over-painted the black with water-based Vallejo maroon paint. For the blue-grey coaches, I just applied light grey indian ink over the existing cream, half of the vanes are extremely narrow, so over-spill is unavoidable, this was left to dry, then scaped off with thin soft plastic with smooth edges. I deliberately varied the finish on either side of two vehicles, giving one side satin, the other a weathered matt, to reflect the condition these coaches would be found in, and for a bit of variety. A lot of these vehicles had been converted to dual-heat in the late 50s, for 25kv A.C. working, this involved cutting and replacing the bottom edge of the body panels on the compartment side. This left the scar of a horizontal seam, which shows up in photographs, scoring this with a blade is again risky on an already painted model, instead I drew on black lines. All four vehicles are also now fitted with an impression of Pullman gangway adaptors, with the raised top rim, and three securing clips, as advised by Chris K-T. Just realized, i've forgotten to draw on the carriage board clips (three each side), again with black ink, this method doesn't chip or fall off and is quick to apply, these will be added before bedtime. BK

Many thanks for that Chris, I wasn't 100% sure about things, info was just gleaned from looking at photos, and photos don't speak, even though "they are worth a thousand words". So BS clips must have been handed, with one per gangway, with one from each coach providing the connection? Looks like my first two handles are good for the adaptor clips, I shall add a third clip above tomorrow. Cheers, Brian.

I've never modelled the Pullman gangway adaptors before, and I reckon all the blue-grey Portholes would have had them added, so I gave them a bash. Keeping things simple, it's basically an enlarged top flange to the British Standard gangway, and clips either side of it, roughly halfway down, sometimes the heights of the clips are staggered, sometimes they are level. You can buy an etch for the clips, but i'm just adding angled pieces of wire to represent the locking handles, for the top flange i'm employing a re-shaped office staple, fixed to the top with rapid-drying skin adhesive. The completed gangways are painted black, with a cream inner door. Note the removed upper steps and warning sticker/plate, for running under 25kv sections. BK

I think you're right Clive, saw a photo of one so fitted, the other day. Years ago, i'm sure I read somewhere that the LMR were short of brake vehicles in the mid-60s, and with Porthole brakes not yet 20 years old, they survived for a few more years, till around 1968/9. Maybe the final cull coincided with BR converting many Mk1 rakes to single brake in the middle, rather than one each end (To hell with safety?) A lot of Mk1 brakes also got the chop as a result of this practice. Another moan I have about painting blue-grey livery, is once having sorted the desired shade of Rail Blue, unlike the simple straight masking for crimson and cream, or chocolate and cream, the masking for the grey has to be like a box, with curved corners! The rule is usually to start with the lighter colour, but I find it impossible to properly support any masking over the windows, it's too near the windows, so there's not enough horizontal purchase. So I break the rule, and always do blue first, then grey, then you can correct any rough edges, when drawing the white lining on. It still takes longer than the older liveries! (gnashes teeth) BK

My thread title says LMS Porthole Stock, whereas most of these vehicles were actually built by BR for service on the by then London Midland Region. The Porthole stock wasn't a self-contained set of stock, but a continuation of the already built post-war stock with extra doors, so the post-war stock should be regarded as a family of types, indeed production numbers overlap across builds. The blue-grey Portholes would never be seen as a complete rake themselves, but an odd coach would appear in a mixed livery Mk1 or LMS Stanier style set, usually a BSK at one or both ends. They could turn up anywhere on LMR, or even further afield, but most were to be found in the North-West, especially Lancashire. BK

Thanks Mike, they'll look sharper when titivated and varnished, but we're nearly there. Incidentally, you can also apply the maroon ends to Porthole CK and SK, but probably not the Porthole BFK, FK or FO, these last three types were gone by the end of 1965, usurped by the all-conquering Mk1s and new Mk2 types. This means those three types had gone before the general adoption of blue-grey, however an earlier diagram of SO managed to slip through the net. Blue-grey livery is a big part of my modelling sphere, but I find it can be one of the most difficult to apply, and get to look right. The RTR firms seem to have similar problems with the livery, invariably the blue is too dark and intense, although Bachmann's latest blue seems more appropriate, conversely some rail blue model paint is rather bright. BK

Hi Everyone, Here are a few works-in-progress jobs, i've been meaning to repaint some Bachmann Portholes for quite sometime now, it was time to make a start. First up is a repaint from crimson-cream BTK (as behind) to late maroon BSK. Now of course Bachmann will be shortly releasing their maroon versions with regular black ends, my version is post-1964 with maroon ends, which became quite common, lasting till the late 1960s and withdrawal. You could buy one of the forthcoming Bachmann and just repaint the ends red, but you'll have a job making the shades of maroon match. Next comes a BTK to BSK repaint in blue-grey livery, I believe recently described by Larry (Coachmann) as "Ice-Cream Van livery"! Around twenty of these vehicles were repainted thus with blue ends, including variations like window frames, door vents and livery application, there was even at least one of the previous "pre-Porthole" type painted in this livery. Here's a Porthole Composite in blue, which as far as I know, was unique. A Porthole TK repainted to SK in blue-grey, there were at least two of these, but they were rare birds. The maroon BSK chassis remains all-black, but the blue-grey versions now have blue solebars and brown bogies, wheels and underframe below the solebar. Some repaints may not have had the blue solebar, retaining black chassis, again more variation. All my bodies need a little bit of correction, followed by numbering, varnishing, and finally replacement of the moulded windows. Cheers, Brian.