Iain.d

I would think that for many modellers, they are on a journey; I know I am. Below is one of those basic RTR models you mentioned, that I succumbed to take and improve. When I was first given the Triang 3F, I think in the mid 80s, it was probably the best part of 30 years old then and a non-runner. I cleaned it up and got it going, I then replaced the Triang drivers with Romford’s, not too successfully as I had to bodge the pick-ups and I think the wheel flanges fouled the plastic body and my home made coupling rods didn’t quite match the crankpins. I cut away the plastic under the boiler, made the reversing rod from bits of plastic and carved off the handrails and replaced them with wire. It even has crew and lamps! The piston things below the smokebox door are pins, pushed through with a hot soldering iron, as were the cabside handrails! The original ‘too small’ and inappropriate 3500 gallon tender body was binned and replaced by some old plastic food packaging cut to an approximate shape. The coal rails are from a Hornby Compound. The chassis is as, and won’t run on code 75 rail. A bit later on, during my journey of learning and experience, the Triang loco chassis was replaced with a Comet one, a Jinty I think. And it’s compensated, not sure the brand of hornblock guides but they’re plastic, and has a small Mashima can motor. The finish is brushed Humbrol matt black and a brushed varnish. From memory it ran quite well. A while back I was looking through my stock and thought about recycling the wheels to a 4F, the chassis to a Jinty and, probably, binning the rest. But I looked at it and thought, ‘it’s maybe not that bad. What else can I do with it?’ I was able to pick up an unmade George Norton etched brass tender on eBay for about 6GBP (plus about 12GBP postage to Australia!) and I found some Alan Gibson wheels in an old tin. The tender is in the queue to be built, not sure how it will sit with the crude plastic body of the loco, but however it comes out I’m not really fussed as it will continue my journey. Anyone got any other ‘journey’ modelling they want to show? Kind regards, Iain

I would be surprised and disappointed if anyone laughed at the loco. The fact that it is nearly 50 years old, still works and looks the part is probably a reflection of the quality of the build. I wonder how many visitors to Little Bytham watching it trundle by, know and appreciate its origins. This thread consistently returns to the idea of modellers making and doing things for themselves, and to me this is a great example of that. It some ways it might even be a more credible creation than just building a ‘modern’ designed, etched, cast kit that simply falls together that we then get someone else to paint (tongue in cheek of course!) After all, its your own work. Kind regards, Iain

Yes, RC424 is one of Humbrol's acrylic railway colours. My preference is for Railmatch enamels, but I've never seen that in Australia (certainly not Perth) and I don't have a cream. I have about 5 pots of the Humbrol cream (and 6 of their crimson - but that seems even grittier) that I bought from a model shop that closed down about 2 years ago. Neither of them brush very well either. Your tip of mixing a bit of varnish in the cup has made me think maybe I could try the same with an acrylic varnish on a practice piece; thanks. I also have a variety of acrylic thinners so I'll have a play over the weekend.

Yes, that would be difficult. Assuming they're Roxey kits I'm surprised something wasn't included in the kits.

Hello Andrew, These will be done in crimson and cream; I'll use Vallejo Carmine Red and Humbrol Cream (RC424). I find the Humbrol a bit gritty through the airbrush but hope to get a clean line between the two colours for the lining to sit over. I haven't found a suitable cream in Australia. You're right about the glazing on Hornby's, although I don't think the Maunsell's are as bad as the Bulleid's they do. I have cut the glazing for these from glass microscope slips, I think glass does make a difference. The interior panelling is a distinctive feature and the brass etching has the panels marked so it was reasonably easy to paint them. Cheers, Iain

Thank you. The instep was one of the frustrations! They are a whitemetal casting provided with the kit. However in one kit the casting was about 2mm too low so it’s built up to cantrail level with plastic and filler and sanded to shape. The other, while the right size had the feed pips for the casting on the outer face of the ‘joggle’ which made removal a bit more difficult that it needed to be. Its also about 1mm too wide so the coach side aren't quite parallel, but I don't think its noticeable. We shall see when the paint is on! Cheers, Iain

Among other things, I have steadily been building a Roxey Mouldings SR Maunsell Low Window 3 coach set. They are nearing completion, this is them at the final ‘test’ build. I’ve still to do toilet vents and rain strips on the roofs, they’ll be added after the final scrub, and on the under frame I’ve still to fit the brake gear, reservoirs and the second battery box; I think the early low window stock had one each side. All being well over the weekend they will be washed and, if time allows, I’ll get a coat of primer on them. The roofs aren’t perfect, I struggled to get the fit right. There was a fair amount of recutting and inserting thin strips of plastic card, filler, sanding and so on! More to do with my inability to cut things in a straight line (even when using a ruler and scalpel!) than the moulding design. I did a few mods, I put an additional 1/2mm spacer between the bogie and the floor pan and moved the bogies centres out 2mm. My concern was that on OO track the bogies would clatter the underframe trussing and the solebar and it’s easier to change it now than after they are painted. It would take a sharp eyed person to notice and the mods can easily be undone. The kits don’t come with interiors other than the corridor screen and ‘half height’ partitions so I made up some seats from plastic card. Ratio seats couldn’t be used as the edge of the seat can be seen through the windows, Kirk ones would do but I didn’t have enough. I think they look okay, shame you can’t see them very well when they are fitted in the coach. There were some frustrations building them but I’m pretty pleased how they have gone together, they were a bit fiddley but not difficult. I’m contemplating doing another set, I have two Hornby sets, and they are finished beautifully, but I think there’s just something more satisfying about something you did yourself! Cheers, Iain

On the theme of 2-8-0s, these are two of mine. And in my view the most good looking: The DJH Somerset & Dorset 7F was the first loco kit I ever built back in about 1986/7. Dad said it was going to be a disaster! I had no idea about soldering; I tried electrical solder and managed to melt a huge part of the back of the tender. So it got ‘evostiked’, even the valve gear! I had no tools other than a small screwdriver, a pair of pliers and a hammer. The bearings in the frames are friction fit, courtesy of the hammer. In 1991 I reassembled the valve gear with rivets and solder. But it runs…well it did…its been in a box for more than 25 years. But one day it will see the light of day again. The DJH 8F is the third kit I built (the second is a Airfix 4MT on a Comet chassis). By this time I’d managed to get hold of a couple of Iain Rice books – pure gold – and some tools. Its fully soldered has a D13 motor in and again from memory ran really well; it weighs a ton, pulled every wagon I had, pretty much unstoppable. They’re both built very much out of the box and both have their faults. I think they both have the wrong number of spokes in the supplied Romford drivers (but you can't tell when they're going round), the 7F bogie wheel is wrong, the cab numbers are a bit iffy (off centre and wobbly), on the 7F the parts could do with cleaning off the flash. And the weathering on the 8F is a bit ham-fisted, but I don’t really care. They were fun to build, with a bit of an oil they’ll go again. Will I do anything to rectify the issues? If I have time and the inclination, but probably not, they’ll do. Kind regards, Iain

Looks alright to me! Good job. Might have to look at getting the 4mm version. Can you tell me a bit about your background image? It looks reasonably like the North Somerset coalfield. Kind regards, Iain

I think it was the 6.55am down service (6.05am off Bristol). Over the years the up service left Bournemouth at 12.55pm, 1.08pm on Saturdays and 1.10pm on weekdays. There are some useful carriage working notices on Robert Carroll's carriage group. Kind regards, Iain

Hi, some D1905 coaches had water filler pipes coming from the brake end (eg M5684M) also. To attach my filler pipes I get a very thin piece of brass (Bill Bedford wagon brake safety loops), bend it into a ‘u’ shape, place the 'u' over the filler pipe and then squeeze it from below with a pair of pliers - a bit like a split pin. I drill all the required holes for the pipe attachments in the roof and fit the filler pipes, then I use a tiny bit of solder to secure the loop to the pipe. Once happy all the pipes are bent properly (or as best I can) I remove the filler pipes until after painting the coach, then refit them and hand paint them roof colour. The paint secures the pipes in place too. Hope that helps. Iain

It’s jaw dropping stuff!

Hi John, No, I didn’t seal the transfers with varnish before I did the final spray – mind you I’ve never done that before anyway and not had any major concerns, well not like these! For these ones, I sprayed Railmatch enamel paints, let it dry overnight then brushed Vallejo gloss varnish where the transfers were going, applied the transfers, they seemed okay, left the models a few hours and then sprayed them with Mig Ultra Matt Varnish. It was pretty warm in the garage when I sprayed them last weekend – about 27 and a little humid, so I thought that might have been part of the issue. Also, I normally use Humbrol gloss varnish but this time the tin was dry….so I thought that using Vallejo might be part of the issue too. Thanks for your assistance and comments. I’ll look to order a couple of sheets when you’re back up and running. I’m guessing BL157 for the cattle vans and BL97 for the southern vans? Kind regards, Iain

...snipped... Your comments are very kind, thank you. I don’t think there’s anything ‘sketch-book’ about Little Bytham, your images of the last few days are testament that. To me its modelling at the highest level, and something to be emulated. And there’s certainly nothing slipshod about it. My first foray into better detailing of coaches was the purchase, in 1998, of a book by a chap called Tony Wright about ‘Detailing and Improving Ready to Run Coaches’. Eight Lima Mk1s got the treatment and at the time I was very proud of them; today not so! They’re pretty amateurish, but they were a start. I fully get the need to be pragmatic with layouts unless there is lots of support and resources but at the moment I don’t have a layout and it will be a few years yet before something gets built, so I’m able to focus on building stock. I am a one man band, I’ve been lucky to have been able to accumulate modelling ‘stuff’ over the last 25 or so years so I spend my time now putting it together. I’ve done some 60 carriage rebuilds and kits (with about a dozen more to do), about 20 loco kit builds (with about 15 to go) and a few wagons (heaps to go). There’s some RTR that will need improving too. I think Iain Rice talked about a three foot rule, I set myself a two foot rule! Regards, Iain

Here are some examples of what I have managed to achieve over the last couple of weeks. We are not as ‘locked down’ here as the in UK but we’re still encouraged to not go out unless its essential – it has meant more modelling time! Now working from home saves me 2 hours a day commuting. I’ve managed to build four Parkside Dundas wagons which, one day, I hope to place in a replication of the 8.25pm Templecombe-Derby perishable service. Here are a two former Southern region parcels vans, a BY (Kit PC36) and a PMV (Kit PC34); the BY is crimson and roof boarded ‘To Work Between Yeovil And Derby’, I don’t have any photos to confirm if this was true but Mike King’s book on Southern Coaches makes mention of it. The PMV is in late Southern green but with BR markings – again not sure if this quite right but I wanted a variation of stock (and I just realised the number's wrong…) – I’m guessing this could have been the case for some vehicles. The plastic kits have been modified through additions to the underfame detail, handrails and door handles, lamp irons, better roof vents, glazing (cut glass microscope slips), window bars, home made screw couplings, pipework and so on. Alan Gibson buffers on the BY and as they have longer wheelbases they’re both compensated on one axle (MJT). There’s been a couple mentions of cattle vans on this thread a few pages back (and on other threads), these are my versions. Again both Parkside (Kits PC64 and PC67) with added detail. I’ve made end handrails, lamp irons, grab rails, alarm gear, glazing, screw couplings and pipework, all the plastic steps on the underframe have been replaced with brass (the corner ones are Frogmore/Dart) the others soldered up scrap brass. There’s not much in the way of brake levers and that sort of undergubbins yet, I have ordered a Mainly Trains fret from Wizard – no idea when that will get here, mind you stuff posted last week from the UK arrived yesterday! Again they are intended for use in the perishable service, although there’s more chance of Southern cattle vans being in the train rather than GW ones, but they’ll do. The most disappointing part of building these four wagons has been the application of the transfers, I made a right pigs ear of those! I sprayed the vehicles and then brushed gloss varnish where they were going to sit. I trimmed as much of the carrier film away as I could but unfortunately they didn’t take to well and silvered badly, especially the BY and the crimson cattle van, but it wasn’t evident before I sprayed the varnish. Time allowing I’ll strip them off this week and see what I can cobble up from old part HMRS sheets I have; failing that I'll probably order a sheet from CCT when they are back up and running. I also have managed to finish off another carriage rebuild. This is a LMS D1696 brake third, Comet sides on a 1980s Mainline donor, Wizard bogie etch (DCC Concepts wheels) and the original Mainline side frames. Scratch built underframe with Comet bits, new buffers, roof vents, door handles and wire handles, screw couplings, corridor connectors and cut glass glazing. It’ll be on the end of a four carriage set. Cheers, Iain

I think I’m watching one of your items at the moment!!! Iain

A bit late to the party on this ... sorry ... My methods for attaching roofs of coaches are pretty simple. For aluminium roofs, such as Comet, I use the same method as described in Stephen Williams’ The 4mm Coach Part 2 (Page 41). Sorry, I can’t find an example of that at the moment to photograph. For plastic roofs, such as those by Ian Kirk, I’ve usually fixed a piece of brass tube into a small plastic block which in turn is glued to the roof. The hole in the plastic is ‘coned’ and the end of the tube is scored so that when epoxied in the tube it can’t be pulled out by overtightening the nut/bolt that comes through a hole in the floor. For some reason on this one I’ve soldered the bolt shank into the tube rather than a nut onto the end of the tube. Maybe at the time I was having problems stopping the solder going into the threads of the nut and this was a variation of a theme. The coach was a Kirk SR Maunsell corridor third that has been adapted to an early LMS corridor third using MJT bogies, scratch built underframe, new ends and homemade scissor corridor connectors and a modified roof. Built in 1993, its passable in a train and doesn't look 8mm too long. I have more than a dozen Kirks: 10 x SR Maunsell’s, 1 x LNER third and 3 conversions to LMS corridor thirds and only one roof has bowed such that a gap exists between the coach side and the roof. It’ll be replaced with a aluminium one at some point. For modifications to old Airfix coaches where I have replaced the sides with brass overlays, I only use one fixing in the centre of the coach roof (or as near to the centre as possible) utilising a nut soldered to the end of a piece of tube, again fitted to a plastic block glued to the roof. Using only one fixing in the centre means that the roof can’t bow up, I have yet to see one that bends up at the ends. But what I have found is that if you don’t retain some, or all, of the old Airfix sides (which have a lip that fits under the cantrail) the sides can spread if the bolt is screwed too tight. So on coaches where you can’t keep all the uprights between the windows (because they’d be visible) I solder a small loop of bent brass on each side of the coach and just before fitting the roof, I fit a piece brass wire with bends at each end to stop the sides spreading. So far I’ve modified about 30 this way without issue. This coach will sit within a rake of coaches - the stickyup corridor connectors will then be vertical. Apologies for the tattiness of the roof insides and the underside of the Kirk coach – mind you I never envisaged taking photographs of my efforts! Iain

I do this as normal for Vallejo acrylics using their thinner. Never seems to matter which you put in first, the thinner always rises to the top. Needs a really good mix or the first paint to come out of the airbrush is thick. Normally I do enamels in a seperate container, mix and then pour into the cup. Iain

I’ll never buy anything that is sent via the GSP. I have done previously and then found after clicking the ‘commit to buy’ button that price on conclusion of the sale was higher than shown on a previous screen. cheers, Iain

Hi Phil, the brakes are Diagram 2101 and the compo is Diagram 2301. PM also sent. cheers, Iain

Thought I’d share some of my modelling for 2020, by previous year’s standards its got off to a good start! Over the Christmas break I was able to start on a Parkside Dundas SR CCT that I have had for eons. I added a bit of extra detail to the underframe to represent better the components there and used a MJT compensation unit at one end. Painted up I think it looks okay, early BR crimson, home-made screw couplings, additional handrails, steam and brake pipes and some better roof vents round it off. Weathering will wait until I'm a bit more proficient. I’ve also started three SR Maunsell coaches from Roxey Mouldings. I’ve done quite a few Comet and BSL/Phoenix coach kits in the past but are (I think) a slightly higher level – they’ve certainly been a learning curve! The design in some areas is quite ingenious (like how the bogie mountings fold up) and other areas left me wondering….or maybe its just me! The underframes are pretty much done, less the brake rigging and buffers, but I’ll do those towards the end of the build, and the sides have had the tumblehome formed, droplights and vents soldered in, guard's duckets formed and the ends folded up and detail added. Lots of burned fingers…. Next stage will be to form the sides as bodies and build the roofs, but that’ll have to wait as I have a quick trip back to the UK first. In the end they’ll represent SR 3 Coach Set 393 in crimson and cream. Iain

I believe a breakdown train was shedded at Bath in the early 50s, I’m not sure when it was reallocated though. There’s a picture that includes the train (well at least the crane) in Ivo Peters Somerset and Dorset in the Fifties Vol 1 (Picture 1). The crane appears to be a Sheldon Cowan 15T type. The caption mentions that in 1950 a breakdown train was permanently stabled at Bath. Cheers, Iain

I’m guessing you’re referring to the red/maroon/crimson coach that often appears in the background of photos and videos of trains moving around Bath MPD. That coach number was DM198715M – I have a photo with S&D 7F 53808 standing adjacent to it. A bit of research on that number suggests it was a MR BTK coach that was moved into departmental stock at some point. There are a couple of images of it on the RCTS website at Worcester in the 1970s (it certainly seems the same coach). A Google search states that the coach chassis is still around – at the Midland Railway Centre. Apologies if you knew that already. Cheers, Iain

Here are a few of my builds for 2019: A couple of Roxey Mouldings 50ft parcels / luggage vans. I think they're older than me! There was a lot of fettling to these, the roofs and sides were difficult to get right - they're not perfect but they'll do. The under frames are scratch built as are the corridor connectors. I've rebuilt about 9 or 10 old Airfix and Hornby LMS coaches with Comet overlays, scratch built under frames. The corridor connectors stick up but when they are coupled as a rake they provide a good level of pressure / tension between the coaches. A selection include this D1905, D2117 and D1968. Cheers, Iain

Trains4U, Peterborough! Every time I return to the UK.