The Fatadder

Should have added that you can get to parts 1 and 2 which felt with modifying the chassis and increasing the frame width by clicking on 5512 on the index to the right of the blog

I covered the existing branding with microsol transfer solution, left it to soak for a couple of minutes then tubed off with a cotton bud Took longer than usual as a result of the number of colours in the lettering and did leave a glossy outline in the paint but a coat of satin farnish after applying transfers will hide this (in your case it will be less of an issue as you are using a bigger transfer) Method works on everything by Bachman or Hornby

Only a little more progress today (and unfortunately its too dark to take photos tonight but I will try and get some done tomorrow) First up the pony truck mounts, This morning before I headed to a revision course I glued the two Bachmann mounts into position on the chassis. Once I got back this evening I then fitted on the two Bachmann pony trucks, which after testing have held up nicely. The only problem is that I really dont want to use the Bachmann part (given it is far too narrow). Unfortunately Comet's component is not available separately from their chassis, and the same is true for the alternative etched options. This leaves two options, hacking apart the Bachmann plastic and making it wider, or alternatively using a similar available Comet part (LS2) that would need shortening and other modifications. Still need to work out how to reattach the sand boxes, just trying to work out their exact position. Then its back to waiting for crank pins............

A slight issue, 247 do not list numbers for 5512. Anyone else for etched number plates?

Good idea on the screw link Break gear wise I am in decided, I'm thinking about reusing the plastic breaks with wire linkages I haven't actually checked if the linkage is too narrow. I have now removed the Bachman break shoes as they were too wide, the springs are now mounted on the keeper plate. Having assembled it with a test axle all works so the next step is waiting on the crank pins from Gibson

Ive added some photos in my next instalment. If you have any questions fire away. The one area remaining that really needs work is going to be the pony trucks, really must get on and email Comet re their availability!

Another day and a bit more progress, The new frames have now been tidied up to match the metal frame, then checked to ensure that the body fits on correctly. In doing so I have noticed another issue with the body retaining screws being directly behind the buffer beam (and as such will probably have to be removed to fit screw links...) I have now almost finished the underside modifications, the Bachmann keeper plate has had the break gear / springs chopped off and sanded back to get a flush back and a 1mm overall width. A plasticard keeper plate has been fabricated (2 parts of 40thou, the lower part with larger holes to match the raised boss on the casting). The Bachmann gear cover was chopped off the original keeper plate and glued in place on the new plate (with a new plasticard side to replace the side that was originally covered by the spring details. This is now drying before I will glue the thinned down spring detail to the sides of the keeper plate. Once everything is glued on, it screws to the model using the original Bachmann screws. At some point I will be gluing pickups onto the top of the new keeper plate. If I was doing this again I would probably make the top layer of the plate out of pcb to make wiring pickups easier One area that has been an issue is the mounts for the pony trucks, the glue isnt getting a good bond between the greasy hard plastic and the metal chassis block. I think drilling through the whole chassis block and bolting might be a good solution, though I think it best to wait and see if I manage to source a new pony truck first... Photos: The starting point, Bachmann chassis with P4 trailing/leading wheels and one driving axle fitted Slimmed down springs/break gear Body fitted to widened chassis The underside showing the incomplete keeper plate, the step between the keeper plate and the outer frame is where the springs will be glued. The finished keeper plate sans springs/breaks The new frames from below.

While I try and get my head around how to set up the compensation in my etched kit for 4573, I have got on with a little bit of work on my other 45xx, which will be finished as 5512 in post war GWR livery. Why 5512? It was chosen due to the number of photos in the 1947/48 period that are published in the Cheddar books, including two photos showing it with LMS coaches (a rake that will be modelled at some point). As for the model, The starting point is a Bachmann angled tank model in Great Western livery, so far I have removed the Great Western branding from one side which will be replaced with the G W R letters. While I was at it I also removed the slightly oversized number plate ready for a replacement etch. At the moment I am planning to keep the other side with the full Great Western branding, given that all stock will only face the public on one side, and that there are minimal differences in the track pre and post war, I am thinking that I will keep one side of each loco suitable for running in the 30s. The majority of the work required focuses on the chassis. I have a full set of Gibson wheels on 3mm axles awaiting crankpins (which annoyingly also need to be drilled out), Must get on and order a set of 3mm pins for my GW models wheel press as well... The chassis frames are way too narrow, working from the dimensions of my Churchward kit I calculated the correct width of the frames. 2mm Plasticard has been cut to fit and glued on as an overlay in two sections. The first goes from the bunker end to the cylinders, with a rectangular cut out to match the lug for the sandbox. For the front section I filed the metal frame back to the correct angle allowing the same 2mm plasticard to be stuck on that was used for the main frame resulting in a correct angled front Once the glue is dry, I will be filing back the remaining plasticard to get a perfect match with the frames. The lower keeper plate is the next task that will be tackled in a revision break sometime this week. The screw mounts for the front and rear pony trucks have been carefully removed from the keeper plate, these will be either glued or bolted into position. The remaining keeper plate will be cut in two, with a plasticard spacer added (probably on the inside either side of the driven axle). This will space the breakgear and springs out to the correct position. Other work, The con rods need to be fitted with gibson washers to reduce the size of the holes to match the new crank pins I would also ideally like to get rid of the Bachmann pony trucks, fingers crossed the Comet part will be available individually from their chassis kit. Once I get on and order the remaining Gibson bits, it shouldnt take much longer until I get it running. Will try and add a couple of photos of the work tomorrow...

I've added further bracing to the top now, once it is painted the plan is to add an interim and full floor (3 parts glued in place to get over the bogie spacer then a sub floor holfing it in place (this will make more sense once made...) There are also brass bars keeping the sides and roof straight The under frame will be built post painting and glued to the false floor Hopefully next week will see a start on the other half

Having made good progress on my planed revision for the day, I have spent a little time this afternoon working on the B set I modified the locations for the bogie mounts, increasing the width of the brackets with scrap evergreen strip. This gave a much bigger base to glue to aiding keeping them straight. A length of brass was evo sticked to the sides to ensure they stay straight. The roof is a very poor fit (in that it just does not fit!) So far I have thinned the ends of the roof and adjusted the curve on the top of the ends to get them to fit, but the rain strips still sit about half a mm from the sides (so no joint to glue to. Currently my thinking is to glue some square strip to the inside edge of the rainstrip to fill the gap between it and the side. There is a slight curve inwards at the top of the side, this will be sorted by fitting the partition walls now rather than waiting till after painting. The roof was modified to remove the Ks ribs which had been formed badly (and at any rate compared to prototype photos looked rather under sized), These were then replaced with strip, and the roof vents were drilled. I suspect the MJT part will be much finer than the old Ks ones, so these will be acquired later... Next the E140 diagram, Having finally decided that the fictional raised door handles must go this is my first attempt. Drilled a single hole in the centre of the handle, then reamed out to size. A combination of careful work with a file and scalpel opened up the round hole to be square (the corners are slightly rounded, but in the end an almost square hole was eaiser than being 100% faithful to the prototypes design. Once open to size a piece of plasticard offcut was glued to the back, before fitting a square of evergreen strip pre drilled for the handle into the hole. This will need a small amount of filler to fill the gaps. the raised surround on the grab handle was then carefully cut off with a flat blade Im quite pleased with the result, not too much work and a big improvement on the original, just a lot more to go! I think I will only be doing one side per coach!

Will let you know, cant wait for next months exams to be over so I can have a proper go and getting these built. As it looks like I am about to sort out the other half of my E116 set, I'm looking forward to starting building once they are over. Brass angle sounds a good option, will need to do some costing though I think as IIRC brass angle can be pretty costly. An alternative would be drawing up an etch using tab and slot along the lines of the trussing on Colin Craig's freightliner flats. Must say I am a little dissapointed to hear that Comet's kits don't do the job properly, though thats one more improvement for me to make! One thing I do think is that all the coaches are going to have to have an accurate L patten truss!

Thanks again for sending me them Plan to get on with tidying up the rest of the windows tomorrow, and also hunt for where I've put my brass strip. Will also need to crack out the filler to sort out a couple of finish issues. Having done a test fit tonight, the biggest issue is going to be fitting the roof (which just doesn't want to fit the ends properly).

Thanks Chris, as ever any assistance would be gratefully received. I hadnt realised that about the Comet trusses, does make me very tempted to scratch build some instead (although saying that, with 2 comet sets to adjust along with at least a pair of airfix models with square trusses, I think I need to come up with a standardised solution...

This project is taking a little longer than I had expected, prior to starting this I hadn't really heard of K's and other than a note on Tim Venton's website saying that it needed a lot of work to "bring up to standard" I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. The parts have needed a lot of preparation, however being plastic that has been nice easy work to remove all the flash. While I was at it I have also removed all of the grab rails and door handles, part to aid painting and part to ensure consistency with the Comet E129 and E147 that are still to come. A couple of windows were particually badly affected with flash (in that they were solid!), in these cases rather than spend time opening them out I have modelled the window open. My logic is that given I am modelling the layout in summer, and my research has shown that the summer of '47 was hot (according to this website the summer of 47 was the 6th warmest on record!) My logic is that there would be a number of windows already open as you approach a station with people getting ready to get off, in summer I would assume even more would be open because of the heat (though would people keep them shut to avoid the smoke?) I think possibly I may need to revisit the sides and open up a couple more. In the photo below the bottom side and ends are prepared, while the top side I have yet to start on the windows (but the rest is ready for fitting.) The next step is going to be fitting a length of brass strip to each side to keep it straight (along with another strip onto the roof.) I will probably also fit the partitions at the same time to ensure there is no gap between the partition wall and the sides. Once thats finished I need to start thinking about underframes, but before I start buying bits from Comet to work out how I will assemble it, I need to work out the key dimensions. The other key bit of work is going to be the glazing, for this I think the only serious option is going to be drawing up the windows and having them laser cut. cutting that number by hand would drive me mad, and its way too thick on the sides to go for the intended method of sticking clear plastic behind the sides! Other random workbench Photos A GW van kit Part converted Bachmann 55xx, at which point I realised I had forgotten the crank pins (and need a 3mm attachment for my wheel press) Once CIMA exams are out the way next month I will get on and order the bits (along with a set of wheels for my High Level Collett Goods). Sadly once thats done, thats the modelling fund spent until I can sell some more stock... This getting married lark is rather expensive! (and I thought buying the ring would be the end of it.....)

Another thought on a potential way to strengthen sides, build a batch of identical compartment dividers and glue both sides to them, the result along with the reinforced roof should keep everything square I'm slowly getting there cleaning up the sides, but revision for next months cima exams is getting in the way of work. Going to keep cleaning parts each day this week before work, will try and get photos up as well. Really am going to have to get on and buy a coach book I think, lack of photos is getting to be a real issue now If anyone has a surplus kit they are willing to part with please get in touch

having spent the last week I'll in bed, ive taken the opportunity to do 5 minutes modelling before my course this morning (will also. E finally able to make a dash to the post office at lunch!) Thanks to the genorisity Of Ian Smith I now have the first half of my E116 B set On first glance it looks like a lot of work to do At the moment my plan is: Prep all components Remove moulded grab handles and end detail Remove raised lines for doors and scribe replacements - this is because there are tool marks and flash that are covering a couple of doors, the removal of which risks damaging the raised lines. Also a scribed line will more closely match the other coaches in my fleet. Reinforce sides and roof with brass strip to straighten Somehow fit a new chassis, hopefully comet will do something the right length, this solves the problem of how to fit a floor / seats and replaces the white metal low relief parts Potentially draw up flush glazing to laser cut, not sure the frames have the consistency for it, else alternative flush glazing Finally it will need some Bristol division 4 transfers drawing up for the ends At least I think that is all....... Just need to get another coach to go with it now....

The crank pins are going to have to wait until I can afford the wheels for the collett goods, as im not paying two lots of postage. I have now cracked on with finishing off the Fruit D, got the new wheels into the Horse box (although I now need to buy new break gear for it) Next to hit the workbench is probably going to be the second B Set I suspect, or maybe a start on the Collett. Still debating whether or not I can justify buying an Avonside jig, or if I will take the much cheaper alternative. I suspect it will be the latter given I have a wedding to save for...

Cheers Dave will drop you an email later Will also drop mrd an email on the inner b set buffets, hopefully a bit more interest may help sway the decision to enter production

Now realised I forgot to buy crank pins so the 45xx is on hold as well Would make sense for a conversion pack to contain everything you need........

Scaleforum has yielded another batch of new projects, though my other half taking our puppy on an emergency trip to the Vets while I was at the show limited the budget somewhat (and hence I havent quite been able to make a couple of purchases.) The B Set project has gained a set of ABS battery boxes, but still requires new Vac gear and some of the Model Railway Developments square GWR buffers once they get some stock in. Picked up a pair of GWR Collets (Bachmann break and Mainline) from Mr Easter, both of which will be getting improved underframe details and flush glazing (once parts become available!) One needs to be re lined and will be partially resprayed, while the Bachmann break needs the roof respraying to look closer to the Mainline one (much too glossy). Its a bit odd that the paint on the older release looks a lot better than the more recent one!A co A couple of mainline locos which will be getting High Level chassis, Lots of detailing is going to be needed (in particular I need to source a casting for the back of the boiler thats visible from the cab in both locos. Not sure where to go for that...) The Collett will be the first build, chosen because that was the only one High Level had in stock. But I still need to buy a set of Gibsons and some form of jig before I can build. That said in the mean time I am planing to build some of the sub assemblies that are separate (make con rods, break gear etc) Wheels and Jig will follow next month after pay day! An open frame siphon, need to get some MJT 9ft American bogies for it and finish off the detail work for seperate pipes etc (and again give the break gear a working over. MJT were out of stock. Bachmann 45xx with angled tanks, along with a drop in pack of Gibsons. Should be enough to get a loco working once I get a decoder in there, (fingers crossed its not a loco that requires a small one!) Finally, a set of sprung W irons for my fruit d, and correct patten wheels for my horse box. Thankfully that does leave a couple of tasks (fruit d, horse box and 45xx) that can be worked on now) Just need some free time to do it in!

Much as I would like to go and measure the prototype, given it is now a privet house I'd feel a bit awarkward sneeking into their garden with a tape measure! The station building its self is an industrial building now so If i need measurements I am less concerned. I've redrawn the windows now to be taller and to have a narrower spacing between between them. Now I think they are probably too tall requiring another iteration. I really need to get to grips with GIMP I think, and edit that photo to be end on. That may help with a more accurate size for the windows. I have also re drawn the doors on the yard side to increace their width. I will be returning to Bristol tomorrow evening, so can finish scanning the photos form the book into GIMP. That will let me finish off that side of the drawing. I will stock up on meterials at scaleforum, hopefully allowing a first attempt at building next month. (I suspect that as with most of my projects I will end up building a second attempt before the layout is remotely finished!)