Jump to content
 

ullypug

RMweb Premium
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,405

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by ullypug

  1. ullypug
    Now that the evenings are getting longer and the weather a little warmer, I actually have a chance to get the airbrush going. I've quite a few jobs in the queue.
    The PDSWJR brake van is ongoing (more details to follow in another blog) but the Collett goods had got to the point where painting could commence.
    The chassis were under coated in etched primer and given a coat of satin black from a rattle can.
    The body was sprayed with railmatch BR (W) green from a pot which is almost as old as the engine itself.
    After a few coats of Johnsons Klear, lining was applied from an equally ancient set of HMRS transfers. I did add the boiler bands but wasn't happy so they've been taken back off.
    Cab side and smoke box plates were from Model Masters. Lastly a good spray of weathering gunk was applied which I may yet take back off, though I always wanted 2277 to be fairly mucky and the boiler bands may just clinch it. I've a Finney 2251 to do at some point. That may be cleaner...
    Still to do are the cab crew and tender buffers. I see I have a lamp iron missing off the front of the loco. Ah well. The engine and tender chassis will also have a weathering spray with a tad more tan for the brake dust. I mustn't forget to reattach the tender brake gear after going to the trouble of making it all.
    Given where I started from, I'm quite pleased that the engine hides its origins quite well in my eyes anyway and that's what matters!

  2. ullypug
    Realised I didn't get round to writing an update last month so but happy to report that the 7th board is progressing nicely.
     
    I mentioned last time that this was going to be mainly scenic work and indeed it has. First though was the ballasting, which uses Atwood Aggregates Dulcote Stone. Then the point rodding using Modelu stools and 16 thou guitar strings.
     
    Then I could start to build up the basic ground form which is made up of layers of extruded 5mm thick polystyrene sheet.
     
    I wanted to have a camping coach on one of the down side mileage sidings but realised that it wasn't long enough, so a little extension was added to cover the buffer stops, one of which was a LMS models kit and the other from Mainly Trains, now Wizard/51L. Coach W9992 was stabled here and I'm pretty sure it was a diagram E73 clerestory, so one is on its way from Worsley Works. It'll make a nice cameo.
     
    I also the 5mm foam to make the platforms now that I've used up all the 15mm blue sheet that I had. Platform surfaces are scribed Palight then coated with Atwood Aggregates quarry dust. This is also used for the road surfaces. 
     
    Final contouring uses a light weight filler called One Strike that I get from Proper Job, my local diy store.
    Thereafter it's painted with cheap emulsion and given its first coat of static grass. I'm now at the stage where I'm adding additional texture, using Postiche and various foam scenic scatters. Much use of hairspray and fixing lacquer has been made. My modelling room now smells like a hairdressers.
     
    I'm going to remove the cast iron railings from board 6 in front of the up side  station approach as I've found a photograph showing it wasn't used here, only the down side. This does make sense given that was the main entrance. It'll be replaced with standard 7 strand GWR stock fencing instead.
     
    I've run out of GWR picket fencing so the down side but this is on order and should turn up this week. I'm presently  painting telegraph pole insulators to add these. There's still plenty to do; more scenics, a couple of sheds, station lighting and detailing work to the station itself. Oh and I haven't even thought about doing the signals yet, but I will.
     
    Posed a pannier on the line to get an idea of the final effect and am quite happy how it's turning out.
     



















  3. ullypug
    Some projects just seem to take on a life of their own. The WC has been ongoing for a long, long time now and seems to have been one of those projects.
    I'd decided that I was going to have to paint the loco. I wasn't expecting to have to do it twice.
    First off was a Humbrol rattle can over Halfords plastic primer. The finish was awful so after much cussing it was stripped right back and second time round Precision BR loco green was airbrushed on.
    Lining was achieved by Fox transfers and cab side numbers are HMRS. Name plates and smokebox plates are Fox.
    There are just a couple of things to complete; screw couplings, crew and some route disks.
    But for now, that'll do. 
    The layout this loco was going to run on was sold some time ago and until I build a replacement this engine is going to go back in its box so I can get on with other stuff.
    A quick piccy in Cheddar good yard will have to suffice.

  4. ullypug
    At the end of the last instalment, I'd managed to get a rolling chassis without too much difficulty.
    The fun started when I tried to use a Markits single slide bar crosshead assembly. It just wouldn't fit. I couldn't adopt the usual dodge of widening the cylinders as their outside face is flush with the loco body. So another plan was hatched using the original Hornby slide bar and crosshead. I had to fit by trial and error, using epoxy to fix the cylinders and the slide bar assembly in place. But after a few false starts all was well.
    I then turned my attention to the body, which was detailed with parts from the Albert Goodall range, now courtesy of RT Models. Various pipes and fittings have been added from a mixture of lost wax cast brass and white metal and representation of other pipework and linkages added from brass wire and scrap etch. There are still a few tweaks to complete some of these.
    The body required a little repair, as removal of the original plastic name crests had resulted in a few holes and minor damage. 
    As I'm modelling Watersmeet fairly late on it its life, the original tender body has been replaced with a cut down version and the cab side details removed. The body will need a respray and later box style lining to the cab side. The Irwell Press book is invaluable here for all the little details.
    Reuniting the body with the chassis, I can see the front end is sitting a little high, but that shouldn't be too difficult to correct.
    I do envy those who have managed to convert the original model to the wider finer gauges. I must have had a duff one (or been unable to do the conversion properly. Who knows...
    But we're on the home stretch now!
     


  5. ullypug

    Cheddar P4 - February 2020 update

    By ullypug,


    building
    Cor, this building lark goes on a bit doesn't it?
    So, to bring things up to speed.
    The roof has had a fair few sheets of double Roman ABS tile sheets added and the glazing added. This was a little tricky as the Rowmark framing wanted to warp all over the place. The glazing is a single layer of 1mm Prespex. Despite being saturated in Spraymount and heavily weighted down, some of the glazing bars wanted to lift up. The solution was to flood each pane with Johnson's Klear and reset. In a couple of places even that didn't work so I resorted to canopy glue. I got there in the end. I've since added a few sections of framing for the very ends and the ridge tiles etc, though I've not taken any photos of that, but it's coming together nicely. The roof itself is now being subject to a bit of fettling, filling and painting.
    This weekend's task was to paint all of the walls and keep painting, drybrushing and more dry brushing until I'd got the colours to match those of the already completed goods shed. It took ages but I'm really pleased with the result. I keep panicking I've overdone the mortar work but from 3ft it's exactly the result I wanted. Must be the EM modeller in me!
    The end shed timber work has had a base coat and will have a lighter top coat and I started on the internal footbridge. These have stone stairs and a timber bridge section. All presently demountable but will be fixed in place permanently when painted. I had to carve out some of the plinths internally as I'd forgotten the steps will be flush to the wall. The rather funky balustrades are cut from Rowmark and have had a base coat to start. I've started to paint the footbridge brackets and have also painted the self adhesive quoins I had cut to tidy up the building corners.
    A bit more filling and fettling but I feel we're on the homeward straight now. A bit of a photo overload, but I can't be ars8d to sort them out!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     








  6. ullypug
    Pleased to report that the brake coach is finished, bar one or two touch ups when the paint has dried.
    I'm quite pleased with the way this has turned out. The texture of the roof is as it comes from Shapeways. Handy for representing painted canvas but not smooth wood. The soot wash has darkened things nicely and all the other ancillary bits and pieces have been added. The coach will be making its debut at Preston in 2 weeks time, so come along and say hello if you're passing.




  7. ullypug
    As the car was in for a service today, I worked at home. This means I didn't have my usual 'joy' of commuting into Bristol. By the look of the state of the M5 again, I'm glad I stayed at home.
    What this really meant was a couple of hours that I would normally have spent gazing at the back of the car in front was put to better use. Much better use.
    I'd finished fretting out the cab sides and had soldered up the basic pieces last night after I updated the blog. Today was all about cutting and soldering the tank and boiler.
    I'm pretty much doing exactly what I did when I built the first Manning Wardle (No 3 Weston), except thankfully No 5 doesn't have any rivets to worry about, being all welded. So really it's all about forming pieces of metal with a scrawker and a piercing saw, then soldering them. This means I can make quite quick progress.
    The tank starts with a number of formers, made by sweating together 4 layers of Nickel Silver, then cutting out the outline and a semi circular inner edge for the boiler. The formers are soldered to two strips of scrap etch which form the tank bottoms, then the tank wrapper is added from 5 thou brass and the whole thing tidied up.
    The boiler is a length of brass tube cut to length, the upper half (under the tank is cut away) and soldered in. The motor should fit inside but if not I can remove some of the inner tank formers now the tank and boiler effectively form a box.
    I've a selection of brass tubes which telescope over each other which will make forming the eventual smoke box fairly straight forward.
    The smoke box door came from the spares box and is cut down from something left over from a Finney T9. The stove pipe chimney will also come from this source I hope.
     
    So, here are a few photos with the assembly roughly held in position with some strategically placed blu tack.
    Don't know how much more I'll get done this week, but we'll see.

  8. ullypug

    Exhibitions 2017

    By ullypug,

    Morning all
    Just a quick note to say Clevedon will be at Expo EM Autumn next weekend 9/10 Sept at Partington
    Thereafter it will be at the WCPR Group show at Portishead on 22 October where it will be paired with Weston WCPR which is coming out of retirement for this one day, one off event.
    Later it will be at Tolworth showtrain in November.
    Good news is that the layout is up and working though I've a few little jobs to sort this week and I have a new wagon for the fleet. Ah, exhibition deadlines. I remember them!
    Come and say hello if you're passing.

  9. ullypug

    China House Quay

    By ullypug,

    Just a note in case you're interested.
    I've started a thread in the Cameo Layout Challenge section of my entry, China House Quay.
    This is set in the Sutton Harbour area of Plymouth.
    More detail here
    China House Quay
     

  10. ullypug

    Welcome

    By ullypug,

    Hello and welcome to a new blog which I've created specifically to document the construction of my new EM layout, Clevedon WC&PR.
    Previously, bits and pieces for this layout have been lurking in my other blog, 'Tales from the Tinking Table' which has now amassed various other projects and layouts.
     
    Previous blog articles on Clevedon WC&PR are linked into the index over the right.
     
    If you're interested in Colonel Stephens' Railways and the Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway in particular, then I can recommend the following web sites
     
    WC&P Railway Group
    Colonel Stephens Society
    Colonel Stephens Museum
  11. ullypug
    And that's that. Happy to say it's finished and ready to go off to the WCPR group.
    It's a funny thing but I really haven't enjoyed building this as much as I do 4mm!
    But what to do next? It should really be my Replica Collett goods as it's the oldest thing in the kit cupboard, but I was given a couple of books for Christmas, one of which has some photos of the PDSWJR. Maybe a slight deviation from Cheddar? Or maybe one of the 'round tuit' projects that's been kicking around the furthest corners of the work bench? Decisions, decisions...

  12. ullypug

    Cheddar update August

    By ullypug,

    I can never quite believe how long it is between blogs. Doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I posted the last one. Mind you I suppose it isn't 5 minutes is it?
    I must say thanks to the gent who sought me out at Wells last weekend and kindly gave me a load of photos of Cheddar goods shed taken in the 1970's. Must have been just after the branch finally closed in 1969, by then nothing more than a long siding operated from Wells. I didn't get your name but the photos have wealth of information, especially as some of them are in colour and have a ranging pole in them, perfect for scaling dimensions.
     
    Anyhow, I'm in track mode at the moment, particularly with the down mileage sidings and cattle dock spur. Sleepers are all ply and I'm using a mixture of C&L chairs and brass rivets. It's funny how you forget how to make things like switch blades, then after the 2nd one you remember what on earth you were supposed to be doing in the first place. I'm starting to get a real sense of scale of the place. I suddenly twigged tonight that the mileage sidings are about the same overall length as the whole of Wheal Elizabeth. Hmm.
    Anyway I've got a bit of time off at the end of the week so the plea is to carry on and get as much done as I can.

    I'm also going to be having a play with some sheets of Palight I've acquired. Palight is foamed uPVC and is quite a bit harder than foam board. It's used by a number of model makers for making buildings since it can be scribed like Das but weighs a lot less. I think scribing is the only way I'm going to achieve the stone work effect I want.
    I'll be really happy if I can get results anywhere near what Iain Robinson's achieved in his blog. Quite inspirational:
    http://iainrobinsonmodels.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Goods%20Shed
  13. ullypug
    Two new engines were released to traffic at last week's Scaleforum show so I took a few pics.
    We had a bit of a blast. I must spend less time preparing it for shows in the future as it ran better than normal. Hey ho...
    30719 and Geof's Sentinel which was sporting some temporary nameplates.
    We're still debating what colour might suit it best. Yellow?
     
    Speaking of which, must go and see how Munchkin is doing.

  14. ullypug

    Boards half done

    By ullypug,

    Like I said in the last post, progress will be slow but steady. 4 board carcasses done. 4 to do.
    Jig is working well. Not very exciting I know!
    Took a load of track photos at Didcot last week and will hopefully start building it in the autumn.
  16. ullypug

    T9.3

    By ullypug,

    Just a quick update on the T9.
    The boiler, smoke box and firebox have all been rolled up as per the instructions. I haven't done this bit before so a lot of care was taken and I took my time. The end results are shown in the photos and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
    The T9 will have to wait for a while before I make any further progress as I really need to concentrate on the new layout Clevedon over the coming months and its first show in January.
  17. ullypug

    T9.2

    By ullypug,

    The results of a couple of weeks off (in between doing proper holidays of course) has seen a bit of progress on the T9.
    I said the splashers were complicated. They're even harder if you try and attach them upside down which I did. So the coupling rod splashers had to be taken off and re-done. The actual wheel splashers went on reasonably ok and the cab just slotted together.
    I had a bit of a problem when it came to trimming back the footplate. It snapped at the join with the valence jig, meaning I've had to solder in a couple of replacement pieces of footplate (both sides went the same way) but that said, I don't think the join is that noticeable.
    Some pipes have been added to the valence sides just below the footplate and parts of the valence jig have already been cut away. The whole things stays in place until the boiler goes on.
    Anyway, all in all a satisfying bit of progress. I've even managed to do this update on the ipad which is progress of a different sort. If a 7 year old can do it then why not me!

  18. ullypug
    Evening all
    No modelling updates for a while, as I've been on me holidays.
    Starting to get things ready for Manchester in just over a month's time, which will see Wheal Elizabeth exhibited in end to end guise for the first time.
    Almost all of the modifications are now complete, just the fiddle yard crate to make up.
    I have been trying out the various passenger stock and took the opportunity of taking a few photos.
    All well, though I'll try and get a little more lead in the O2 to improve traction.
    We also will have a blue/grey Class 108.

    The Class 122 Bubble Car (craftsman conversion on a lima 117 motor trailer) at the new platform

    Bubble car runs past the dry

    Class O2 30200 with P set at the platform

    Class O2 running through
×
×
  • Create New...