brian777999

This is the very reason I decided not to model any Australian railways. There are not enough steam locomotive kits and certainly no steam locomotives RTR. A few years ago there were quite a few on the market but most seem to have disappeared so I have gone with British OO gauge instead.

1st photo : I looked on that site and did not find any Pythons ! Thank you for posting.

2nd photo : What an amazing paint/weathering job. I thought it was the real thing until I saw the caption and the words "Parkside Dundas".

I have the Parkside Dundas OO gauge kit of a GWR Python but I cannot find a photograph anywhere on the internet. I would have thought there would be something somewhere. I want to double check the livery/lettering.

The book, "A History of GWR Goods Wagons" does not cover Pythons but this is the only GWR book I have at the moment.

These were built in 1914 so they would have had "GW" and the number on the end as well as the side. I am not quite sure of the correct location. Would the "GW" on the end be in line with the "GW" on the sides ? Where would the end numbers be ?

I cut off the W irons and re-glued them to the sole bars. I might actually have saved this kit from the bin ! I used the truck tuner to ream out the bearings. I had to shave off quite a bit but at least it runs. It is certainly not the best wagon I have built but I think I will go ahead and paint it up and see how it finally looks.

I am going to have to buy another one of these wagons just to see if I can build it properley without any drama. The trick to this one is to make sure that you have the width of the floor correct because you cannot change the space between the solebars once you have glued the sides to the floor. Careful filing and dry runs with bluetac are required before assembly.

"I sympathise with our Southerm Hemisphere colleagues, but surely you accept when choosing to model UK subjects that obtaining the necessary products will not be simple?"

Well, this posting of mine has taken a strange turn !

John : I agree with everything you have said but actually I do not have much trouble obtaining most of what I need to model UK railways. Usually I call and quote my Mastercard number and the goods are here about 12 days later. I use SKYPE and it costs me about 5 pence per minute to call on the phone. There are only a few items which have proven difficult to purchase such as GWR wagon buffers, the swan neck lever for DC brakes and fine chain as used in the Cambrian GWR crane kit.

This is somewhat frustrating but certainly not the end of the world.

I have only had my computer for two years so I can understand why some people are a bit reluctant to get into it as it can be a steep learning curve at first. I am sure if he tried it that he would find it would actually make things a bit easier for him.

Receiving payments using Paypal would be much quicker and simpler than mucking about with cheques and bank drafts. Email is also much quicker than snail mail.

However, if he chooses not to "do" computers then I do respect that.

NOTE : when sending money in the mail always enlcose it between some stiff card. I have never lost anything this way.

No, I do not have any contacts in the UK. I was thinking of sending them a 10 pound note in the mail if I just wanted a few small items.

I am surprised that ABS Models do not use PAYPAL themselves. Even if they added a 10% surcharge for payment by this method it would still be preferable to paying by cheque, bank drafts etc.

I was speaking to ABS Models the other night. They do NOT take credit card orders. It has to be a cheque or bank draft and because I live in Australia it is not cost effective for me to do that. The bank would charge me 20 pounds for a bank draft.

Okay, so no coal in these wagons. But I still need quite a few open wagons. I never thought they would give me so much trouble !

I have tried to cut and remove the W irons but it has not worked. The wagon has a definite lean to it. Oh well, this one will have to be binned. Other people have built this wagon with no problems so I might give it another go and order another one. I wanted to build a rake of GWR coal wagons but the Coopercraft do not supply the swan neck lever in their kits so I was hoping this Ratio kit would suffice. I never expected this weird arrangement of the solebar being attached to the sides.

I will use the advice given here and have another go. I think it is a matter of adapting the way I usually build wagons. Normally, I attach the solebars at the same time as fitting the wheels. This way I can make adjustments to the spacing so that the wheels sit just right.

Yes, brake shoes on one side only...the same side as the Morton brake lever. They only give you one set of brake shoes so you cannot make the mistake of fitting brake shoes to both sides.

So the original kit came with plastic wheels and long pin points...that explains a lot.

Yes, bearings were supplied with the kit and I fitted them as I have done with all the other wagons. Only this wagon has ever given me any problems.

I have now cut away the W irons with a scalpel. I will try to fit them so that the wheels are lined up correctly but I do not think this will work. I expect that the W irons will break when I try to re-fit the wheels. I have noticed that the Ratio plastic is quite brittle ; it does not have as much "give" as other plastic kits.

Yes, cutting and filing the body was the wrong thing to do. It seemed like a good idea at the time !

The brake van I have just built has the solebars moulded to the side of the floor. The floor is divided into two pieces and must be joined together. Another strange concept but at least it seemed to work.

I have built about 40 X 4mm wagons over the last 18 months, including Parkside Dundas, Coopercraft, Cambrian , Chivers and Slaters. Most of them have the same method of construction : The body is put together first and then the solebars are attached. I usually fit the wheels at the same time as attaching the solebars so as to ensure correct spacing between the axle boxes.

But this week I have built some Ratio GWR kits, the brake van and the 5 plank wagon. These wagons are moulded quite differently in that the solebar is attached to the side of the wagon in one piece. This did not seem to be a problem with the brake van but with the 5 plank wagon it has been a disaster. The distance between the solebars/axle boxes was too wide to hold the wheels properley ( Alan Gibson spoked wheels are supplied) so I had to file the sides of the floor to bring things closer together. This made the ends of the wagon too wide so they had to be heavily filed down as well. I thought I eventually had the whole thing together but now I see that the axles are not at 90 degrees to the sides even though the ends were square with the sides ! All this because the solebars are not a separate moulding so you cannot control the exact position and make minute adjustments.

Has anybody put together any of the other Ratio GWR wagons ? I was thinking of getting the Mogo van, the 12 ton box van and the Iron Mink but not if they have the solebars attached to the sides in one piece as per their 5 plank wagon. Why would they even make it like this ?

https://vault1.secured-url.com/model/acatalog/Wagonsratiooogauge.html

I have never failed to complete a kit but I think this one might have me beat. It looked so simple too !