Tricky

They look perfect. 
 

I hope your wife manages to rest her ankle. 

Mike, I can laser cut 4 rings for you, with holes for bolts. I could use 0.6mm laserboard. Let me know if you would like to give it a try. 

44 minutes ago, 41516 said:

 

The 'shorter' domes are only on the larger 1134As as they are substantially larger locos with bigger boilers and tanks.  K's got this wrong in 4mm and provided a short dome for the smaller classes.

 

 Oh! Oh well, I don’t fancy making it three times! Nevermind, but thanks for the info. 

A bit more action on my ‘plastic’ loco. Thanks to @41516 I was able to confirm that the overall sizes I had for the saddle

tank weren’t far off, however the positions of the chimney and dome were off so I decided to make another. This was made as before with about 25 mdf laser cut layers stuck together like a loaf of bread, sanded, covered in paper, and then a couple of coats of shellac sanded smooth. I also re-drew and re-printed the dome as photos seem to indicate a shorter than standard version with the salter posts actually appearing from the base of the dome rather than the boiler as in tank and tender engines. 
I think next I will add the remaining details to the tank and then turn up a boiler. 
I may also have dug out an old motor/gearbox from my spares box so that’s good. This engine (if it works) will have been made on a budget that’s for sure! 
 

Any suggestions on a suitably tiny motor/gearbox combo? 

However the jury is still out on whether plastic locos are a good idea! 

More progress on the saddle tank. I’ve been raiding the spares box again and found buffer planks, coupling hooks, buffers (with large heads!) horn blocks and guides and coupling rods (with a bit of tweaking). The wheels are new! It’s almost a rolling set of frames, just a bit of binding and clearance issues to sort. 
 

9 hours ago, 41516 said:

 

See my username and avatar!   Somewhat of a family favourite ever since my Great-Grandad took Grandad on his first loco footplate aboard 1516 when he was a young boy in the early 1930s.

 

'Big' 1516 in 7mm is currently looking a bit scruffy - she's in the middle of a 'major' - Bought second hand, I'm working my way through issues both with the Underhill/CSP kit and the previous builder's choices so when I start my own, I can correct at source.  Chassis done, boiler/cab part way through and then the major work on to correct both bufferbeams being soldered far too low...

 

 

 

'Small' is the K's kit, with it's own problems, also having work done so i know what needs doing on the others. Will be either 1500 or 1501 about 1921 in the end.

 

 

For Midland days, there are few differences between locos - the main thing not to mix up the smaller 1322/1116As with the much beefier 1134A class, as with your photo of 1142a (and your dome shape suggests the smaller classes).   Really changes are the H-spoke wheels being replaced, full cabs for some and bells for those sent to work at docksides.  It's really when the survivors get towards LMS days that you start to see individual 'fingerprints' - replacement /patched bunkers, short/long buffers, injector pipework differences, smokebox side lubricators and so on.

 

If you'd like any measurements to help (or a scan of the cab etch) I can certainly try to help.

Any measurements and cab etch scan would be very helpful, thank you! 

And here are the results of my 3D printing exercise. The saddle tank is made from about 24 laminations of thin MDF cut to the cross section of the tank, glued up, sanded smooth and covered with thick paper. Minimal cost here!

You can see the light shining through the resin on the partially hollow chimney. I managed to work out how to draw the curve to the bases of the chimney and dome to follow the curve of the tank top but how to draw the flare to follow that curve has stumped me so the slight excess around the bases was sanded away with a tiny sanding drum bit in the Dremel. I also need a tank filler lid which will be similarly printed later today. 
 

Whilst the laser won’t cut metal, I’m wondering if it will score through marker pen on the surface of nickel or brass sheet. If it does, I could draw the profile of the curved cab front/roof and transfer this profile onto the sheet using the laser to guide cutting the shape out. We shall see…

Hi all! 👋🏻

I’ve started an experimental build of one of these (image lifted from Google):

I’ve long held some affection for these diminutive shutters. Whilst I don’t need one for Tewkesbury I figure life is too short to worry about such things! I only have the very small drawing in ‘Midland Locos’ but that’s ok as I only aim to capture the essence of the loco rather than a super accurate model. There appear to be detail differences across photos of them that I have seen anyway. 
The experimental bit is to make the frames from Rowmark. This is a plastic very similar to styrene but it can be laser cut. So here are the frames. I’ve built them as one with the footplate to aid rigidity. There is still some flex but this will hopefully be eradicated somehow as the build progresses. 

One set of horn guides have been superglued in, awaiting rods which will be soldered up next, before the second set can be fitted. I’m also raiding the spares box for buffers, buffer planks, brake blocks, sand boxes etc. Lastly for now, I’m having a go at drawing and 3D printing a chimney and dome. Here goes…! 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Will he ever make up his mind?! 
 

Still not happy with the left hand end. So I was chatting to a well-known friend. He quite rightly suggested that the Quay Branch bridge would make an attractive end piece and scenic break. The only slight difficulty could be that the bridge will be at right angles to the ‘flow’ of the layout but as truth is well and truly stretched to the limit on Tewks anyway, then I think I can pull it off. The bridge will have a piece of track on it disappearing into the nether regions of Healings Mill. The track that at the moment exits stage left will be shortened and end at buffer stops against a brewery building. I think I have a mental image of what will happen; let’s just hope reality follows fairly swiftly as Railex ‘24 will come round soon enough! 
 

Here’s a diorama I recently finished, and is now for sale. It’s affectionately known as ‘Watery Bottom’ and is based on the viaduct of the same name in Lyncombe Vale on the old S&D. However it could be anywhere and in fact the signal is removable so one could swap it for something more appropriate if desired. It measures about 1500mm long and costs £1800. If you’re interested, just drop me a message. 

14 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Sorry, coming a bit late to this but I'm going to nail my colours firmly to the mast and say it's a coal wagon. As a coal wagon, it wouldn't be (fit to be) used for anything else, except perhaps bricks from a colliery with brickworks attached, or pit props back from the port if it was used for shipping. This is the whole basis of the private owner wagon system.

 

Merchandise - grain, flour, &c. - would have been conveyed in railway company wagons.

 

The Gloucester RC&W Co. photo of Healing's wagon No. 5 of January 1900 shows that it was clearly marked: Empty to Netherseal Colliery near Burton-on-Trent. That's a coal mine, not a treacle mine.

Fair point…! 

Thanks for the replies. As you may have guessed, I have a Healings wagon which has been hand lettered and is rather nice. I’d rather not have to cover up the lettering with a sheet so need an unsheeted load or of course empty.

On another random question; I recall seeing on Google a yellow hand cart with Tewkesbury Dairy (?) lettering on it. For the life of me I can no longer find it having searched numerous descriptions. Anyone have any idea of said image? 

Here’s a question - poss a silly one but as I don’t know the answer for sure: does anyone know what would the S Healing & Sons wagons have conveyed? Coal, sacks and a sheet, barrels? Any ideas…?! 

2 minutes ago, Gedward said:

Modelling now complete, just the backscene needs a bit more work.

 

 

I’ve seen this pop up on FB. Absolutely stunning. And not a loco or item of rolling stock in sight!

8 minutes ago, 41516 said:

Light Railway Stores have the Thatcher Plates range listed on a downloadable PDF, including Midland builder, tank capacity and tender plates in 7mm.

They look perfect! 👍🏻

Can I ask if anyone knows where I might find 7mm etched  brass works and tender capacity plates?

Would anyone have access to a GA drawing of the half cab as depicted in the Slaters model? 

The footling continues….a bit of weathering coming along. I’m waiting for some figures to arrive to populate the innards. I also need to glaze before putting the roofs on. Looking forward to pairing with a Manning and watch it trundle up and down…

I’ve been quietly footling away on these two coaches. They will form a purely fictitious workmen’s train trundling off to scene to some imaginary industry. They are Alphagraphix kits with some CPL added details. I hope to weather them in the style of ancient coaches given a last lease of life before finally falling apart. I have a Man I h Wardle under construction and will be based on ‘Bauxite No2’ at the NRM.