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wiggoforgold

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  1. wiggoforgold
    I've wanted to make an RB19 for years. A long time ago I purchased a cast kit for one, which sat in its box on a shelf while I periodically took it out and studied the parts and instructions. Eventually Ledo announced a die cast one, which took my interest, and I ended up buying one.
    Having received my new purchase, I studied it with a view to detailing it a little. The basic size and shape were fine, but I felt that the detail of the model could be enhanced by additional painting, and a more detailed interior could be made using the parts from the cast kit i had. I made some notes of the proposed changes before starting work
    The main changes were as follows:
    Replacement of the interior with the cast interior from the kit
    Removing the cab door cast as part of the body, and fitting a new one in the open position
    Replacing the bucket on the Ledo model with the one from the kit.
    Repainting and weathering the completed model.

    I took pictures of the work as it progressed.
    First, a picture of the unmodified model:

    I dismantled the model, and sorted out the cast detailing parts


    I then removed the unwanted parts of the cab. I discarded the existing plastic interior, and removed the bucket. The new interior was made up on a base of 20thou plastic, which locates between the ribs cast on the floor. After priming, it was sprayed with Tamiya light grey. The radiator and silencer were picked out in NATO black and Red-Brown respectively, and the whole was weathered with washed of Burnt Umber oil paint diluted with white spirit, followed when dry with a wash of black Indian ink diluted with water. Finally the assemble was dry brushed with light grey, dark earth and a black/silver mix.
     
    The crawler chassis was first sprayed NATO black. The areas between the spokes and above the side frames, which would have been hollow, were painted flat black. The rollers were picked out with a NATO black/flat earth mix. The tracks were painted flat earth. The sideframes were then drybrushed with light grey and the whole was given a wash of dilute Indian ink, followed by the application of Tamiya weathering powders, pricipally mud. The gaps between the track links were marked with a soft lead pencil (6B) to suggest bare metal on worn track plates.
     
    The new bucket was fitted using the parts from the cast kit, and the jib and bucket were sprayed NATO black, having first masked off the "Ruston-Bucyrus" logos on the jib.
     
    The cab interior was sprayed light grey, and the exterior (apart from the 19RB lettering which was masked off, was sprayed Tamiya Deep Green XF26. The roof was sprayed with Tamiya flat white, let down with a small amount of light grey. The body was then weathered with dilute Indian Ink, before the model was reassembled. Further weathering was applied to the entire model - a wash of Games Workshop "Devlan Mud", followed by more Tamiya weathering powder.
     
    Lastly, the model was re-rigged. This was not easy, as the cables (made from cotton) had to be threaded round the winding drums which were inside the body. A piece of stiff wire was used to push round the winding drum. This was then attached to the cotton used to represent the cables, and pulled out round the winding drum, with the cotton attached. It took about an hour before I succeeded.
     
    Here is the result of the work:

    And finally a close up of the open drivers door, giving a view of the machinery inside.

  2. wiggoforgold
    Inspired by Mark's (46444) blog re his wagons from old Airfix bodies, here are my takes on the same subjects.
     
    First up the D1927 ex LMS 3 plank. The body started life as a Bachmann one. I made mine up in early BR livery. It is a fitted version. I was inspired by a 3mm model in MRJ some years ago. It was made while on holiday in France and I've never got round to fitting buffers! The chassis is Parkside, as is the container load. Livery is unpainted wood, with body Ironwork painted BR bauxite. The paints used were Humbrol acrylics, but I'm not sure of the mixes now.

     
    Next are two ex GW 5 plank wagons, using the Airfix body. The fitted one started out as an LMS one, and now has a Ratio 10'WB fitted chassis. It has a load of bricks, made from strip styrene. The unfitted one started out as an ICI one, and has individual axleguards (ERG I think) and ABS Dean-Churchward brake gear. The tarpaulin is from Smiths, and can be used (though not in this case) to disguise damage to the body sides themselves. Inspiration was from a 7mm model by Martyn Welch, again in MRJ.

     
    Finally, an LMS van. This one wasn't actually the Golden Syrup liveried one, but the body mouldings are the same, and I've got a Golden Syrup one awaiting the same treatment. It's the Airfix body, on a Ratio chassis. Roof vents were relaced by MJT castings.

     
    That's all for now. I'm off to cycle round SE Cornwall before it rains again.
     
    Alex
  3. wiggoforgold
    Scenic work at Diddington progresses, with the addition of a small coal merchants premises in the goods yard.
    I spent some time thinking about the buildings, and finally decided on a small coal office, with a disused container as a store, and a set of coal cells.
     
    The office building was made from the Wills kit. After assembly, the brickwork was painted with red-brown Tamiya acrylic, and some individual bricks were picked out with different shades of Tamiya acrylic. Once dry, the brick areas were given a wash of very runny Artex( I think any plaster would do, I happen to have a bag or Artex to hand) The mixture was quickly wiped off with a damp cotton bud, leaving the mixture in the courses which when dry represented the cement pointing. This was then given a wash of dilute black Indian ink. The use of Indian ink in this way was a technique I discovered on this forum and have found very useful. Finally the building was dry brushed with Tamiya matt medium green and dark earth.

     
     
    The "A" type container is from a Cambrian kit, assembled straight out of the packet, and sprayed Railmatch LNER oxide (I'm out of BR Bauxite) with a Tamiya Dark Grey roof. Transfers are from an old Woodhead sheet . Weathering was more dilute indian ink, and dry brushed dark earth.

     
     
    The coal cells are from a mixture of Wills and homemade parts. The cells were assembled on a piece of styrene sheet. They were sprayed with Tamiya NATO black, and dry brushed with various shades of black, dark grey, medium green and dark earth. At this stage the assembly was blended into the layout using a plaster/pva mix.. The coal cells were partly filled with plaster, which was painted flat black, and covered with real coal.

     
     
    The office and container were fitted to a card base which was blended in to the layout. It was painted dark earth, and the road areas were treated with fine ash sprinkled on to dilute pva to match the rest of the yard. Grass areas were covered with a mixture of hanging basket liner and static grass. A weighbridge was set into the road. There's a moulded one in the Wills kit, but I had an old etched one that a friend gave to me when they were clearing out their loft for a move of house. (He also gave me a Lima siphon G, but that's another story)
     
    Bushes ware added , made from theatrical hair, sprayed with hairspray and sprinkled with Carr's foliage, before being fixed in place from pva. Tools, coal sacks, scales and weights are from Coopercraft and Ratio, superglued in place.

     
     
    There's a few details still to add. I want to have a couple of coalmen, and a coal merchant's lorry. Having built the model, I am slightly wondering how the site would operate. The backs of the coal cells are slightly high for a wagon door to be opened to discharge directly into the cells. Would the wagon be discharged adjacent to the cells, and the cells used just for sorting and storage? Also, should I have allowed more clearance between the backs of the cells and the track? I measured the clearance using the steps on a BR 20t brake van, and wonder if I should have allowed a little more?
     
    The next episode will look at developments by the river.
  4. wiggoforgold
    Some of the traffic at Diddington is generated by an agricultural light railway, which leaves Diddington and proceeds to a terminus out on the fen. On the model to date there has been provision for the arriving light railway train, and I made a hole in the backscene for the line to leave Diddington station.
    I've now started work on the extension proper, with the construction of a joining section which will link Diddington to the terminus.
     
    I gave some thought to the construction of the board. I wanted to keep the weight down as much as possible, and I wanted the finished article to be easily transportable, which limited the size. To make things interesting, I had a minimum size constraint as well, as the board needs to take into account existing furniture in the room, so it had to be long enough to clear that.
     
    I wanted to use an "L" girder construction, as I think that gives the best strength/weight combination. My initial thought was to use ply, but this would mean accurately cutting the pieces from a single sheet,, and transporting the sheet by car, which was too small to take a sheet of ply. (I also wanted to get it done quite quickly, which didn't leave time to arrange the loan of a van, or to find someone willing and able to cut up the ply with the accuracy I required. So, I went to B&Q (no connection) and purchased some suitable lengths of strip wood to make up the "L" girders.
     
    Work commenced by drawing a plan of the board full size in chalk on the garage floor.

     
    The strip wood was then cut to length for the "L" girders. The side pieces were 70 x 10mm section, and the tops were 20 x 10mm. The two were glued and pinned together to form an "L". Ends and cross braces were from more 70 x 10 section, with gluing blocks in the corners from some 12mm square section I had to hand (size is not crucial). During assembly the pieces were held in me workmate, and repeated reference was made to the chalked plan on the floor, and a set square to make sure everything was in the right place and square.
     
    Once the basic assembly was completed, holes were drilled in the side frames to reduce the weight of the structure, and give somewhere for the wiring (which will be very basic) to run. It looked like this.

     
    At one end of the river the line will cross a fen drain by means of a concrete girder bridge, based on one on the Wissington railway. Provision has been made in the baseboard construction for the river and bridge. The base of the river is a piece of ply, glued to the layout frames. The bridge abutments are from some 40 x 20 mm softwood, cut to the width of the tack base (50mm at this point). The rest of the track base is from more ply, on risers which lift the track 40mm above the main frame. I used the ply to keep the weight down. As it will only carry a single track with light trains on it I have not used any additional support., If there were more tracks, or the trains were heavier, I would consider adding some additional longitudinal support to the ply, or using a slightly thicker section.

     
    Next, laying the track...............
  5. wiggoforgold

    The Farm

    By wiggoforgold,

    As the railway line enters Diddington station, it passes behind a cluster of farm buildings. I put a photograph of the barns in my gallery a little while ago, and was asked if I had some more pictures. I took a few, and have added a few notes about the models themselves.
    The buidings are situated at the front of the layout to act as a view block, and to balance the river scene, with the boathouse at the other end. Here's an aerial view od the group:

    The buildings are made from card. The weatherboarded building was designed with a hole in the bottom. It was originally built for an earlier layout which folded in two by means of hinges fitted on blocks at the front and back of the layout. The back hinge was covered by part of the scenery, and the barn fitted over the front hinge when the layout was set up. The scene was built on its own base, a piece of MDF with a hole cut in it to fit over the hinge. In order that the hinge could not be seen through the arn windows, there is a full height false wall inside the building, about 1cm back from the windows.
     
    The design of the barns comes from a sketch by George Illife Strokes, of a group of buildings at Marlow. He made a model of the buildings himself, which appear in some of his photographs. The small cart shed at the right hand end is from a plan by John Ahern in "Miniature Landscape Construction"

    The large chimney stack was made round a sub frame of plastic card. Panels of exposed brickwork were added from scraps of Wills sheet, and the surrounding areas built up to the same level with pieces of plain plastic card. These areas were then coated with a mix of Artex and PVA white glue, diluted with water. This was applied with a brush, and when it was dry, lightly sanded to smooth it off. The plastic areas were painted with Humbrol acrylics, and the card and plaster parts painted with artists watercolours. The chimney pots were made from lengths of brass tube, with rims from copper wire. The pots were the coated with gesso and painted with Humbrol acrylics.
    The pantiles on the barns are from paper strips, A false roof is made from card, and this is marked with vertical lines at about 4mm intervals. Lengths of plastic rod are stuck to these lines. The tiles themselves are made from strips of paper, fixed in place with Bostick impact adhesive and pressed down round the lengths of plastic rod to represent the joints between the tiles. Once dry, the roof is painted with artists water colours. I ran out of patience when I got to the cart shed, and the roof on this buiding is made from Wills sheet, which lends extra rigidity to the structure, which has a frame of balsa wood, with weatherboarding from thin card.

  6. wiggoforgold

    The Loco Yard

    By wiggoforgold,

    At the entrance to Diddington station is a small loco yard. It has a small shed, and in steam days had coal, water an ashpit and turning facilities. The original idea was to model the depot as it would have appeared in the 1950's, with the loco shed in use and a small turntable to turn the steam engines. I brought the period modelled forward to the 1960,s, by which time the loco depot had been downgraded to a daytime stabling point. The shed is used as a store, and the turntable bridge has been removed, leaving only the pit, which is gradually submerging into the undergrowth.
    The track plan and scenic idea for the depot were based on Huntindon East. The shed is a Prototype Models kit of the shed at Stamford. The original idea for Diddington had more of a Great Northern influence. Over time the area modelled has been moved more firmly to the East into Great Eastern Territory. The loco shed is a hangover from the original idea.
    Last autumn I finally decided to work up the scenery in the area. I took some photographs of progress as I wnt along.
    This is the undeveloped site:

    The first stage was to complete the Turntable pit. A circular hole the diameter of the pit was cut in 2 pieces of 9mm ply. The bottom of the pit was made from a piece of thinner ply, and the whole was screwed and glued together. The detailing of the pit was done away from the layout. The sides and bottom of the pit were lined with thin card. The edging at the top of the sides was more card, and the duckboards outside this were made from pieces of Wills plastic sheet, with additional grips from bits of plastic strip.
    The walls of the pit were covered with Exactoscale brick sheet. The bottom of the pit was painted dark earth, and fine ash sprinkled over to give texture. Additional bits of flock and ground foam were added to represent the beginnings of a build up of undergrowth.
    This is the completed pit:

    The pit was then installed on the layout. The landform was buit up with strips of card as described in an earlier blog entry. The pit was blended in with a plaster/pva mix whiich was then painted with burnt umber acrylic paint.

    Grass and undergrowth from a number of sources was added. Longer, rougher grass is from hanging basket liner. Shorter grass is from flock, applied with a puffer bottle. (Since I started, Black Rat came round with his Grassmaster, and I suspect the days of the puffer bottle may be numbered.) Bushes are foliage reclaimed from scrapped trees. Typically, the basic shape is teased out from theatrical hair to make the branches. The branches are sprayed with cheap (non-scented, strong hold) hairspray. Meanwhile some foam leaves are put in a polythene bag. The branches, once sprayed, are dropped in the bag with the leaves and the bag is shaken, which coats the sticky braches with the "leaves". The completed bush is then ready to place on the layout.
    The area now looks like this.

     
    I still need to build a buffer stop and disused coal stage, and to complete the ertaining wall at the back of the yard, and hopefully these developments will be in the next instalment.
  7. wiggoforgold

    Unfitted Wagons

    By wiggoforgold,

    46444 has been building some wagon kits. He brought some round last night, so we posed them in Diddington yard for photographs. I'll leave him to comment on how he made them.


     
    Hes also made a horse box. Not an unfitted wagon, but a nice model. Here it is in a passenger train in Diddington station.

  8. wiggoforgold
    46444's Ivatts have been visiting Diddington recently,so here are some photographs I took. I wasn't happy enough with them to put them in my gallery, which is why they are here,as I thought the event was worth recording

    46444 is a Bachmann Ivatt fitted with sound

    46495 is a detailed Bachmann Ivatt by 46444. More details can be found in his blog. I built 46496 from the Comet kit before the Bachmann model was available.

    In 1959 46495 0n a typicalKettering-Cambridge passenger rake approaches Diddington box. Locomotive is Bachmann,coaches are Hornby. More about the coaches in an earlier blog entry by me.
  9. wiggoforgold
    I’ve been checking over Diddington’s wagon fleet, which has led me to consider the wagon loads. There’s been quite a lot published about wagon loads, and I have got a lot of inspiration from Iain Rice’s wagon books, and the series of articles on weathered wagons by Martyn Welch in MRJ a few years ago. Later in this blog I’ll give some examples of loaded wagons, some of which are copies of Martyn Welch’s ideas, the difference being that his were in 7mm scale, and mine are for 4mm scale.
    Mineral wagon loads
    These are the typical wagon loads. They can be coal or another mineral, or for those of us modelling the East Anglian scene, sugar beet, loaded into mineral wagons. Either the latter day 16t steel kind, or the earlier RCH wooden types. I make mineral loads on a plastic base, cut to fit inside the wagon. A couple of longitudinal supports are fitted underneath, with the ends cut at an angle. which allows the load to be tipped up and removed like this:

    The shape of the load is built up with a plaster mix, and when dry this is painted the base colour of the load. This is then painted with pva, and the chosen load sprinkled over and allowed to dry. The completed load looks like this:

    Here are a couple of loaded mineral wagons. The one on the left is loaded with loose coal in the manner described above. The wagon on the right has a load of bagged coal, made from Ratio coal sacks, cut in half and glued on a plastic base.

  10. wiggoforgold
    There’s a lot of variety of potential loads for open wagons, so here are some examples:
    Sheeted open – this uses a Smiths printed tarpaulin. A base is made inside the wagon the shape of the load, or the tarpaulin bar if fitted. The tarpaulin is folded over that. The tarpaulin itself can be pre-treated by screwing it into a ball to crease it up. The ball is unfolded and the sheet dry brushed. Securing ropes are lengths of thread fixed to the back of the tarpaulin with pva or UHU. They can be retained in place by small squares of tissue, stuck over the thread.

    The wagon started life as an Airfix 5 plank open, fitted with new buffers, wheels, and the brake gear changed to the Dean/Churchward type.
    Cable drums - the cable drums are from the wagon load set which has been produced by various manufacturers over the years. I think it’s currently done by Knightwing – it was by Heljan when I brought mine some years ago. I was going to make six drums, but laziness took over and I only made three. The drums are assembled from the kit, and then strips of plastic (020 X 040 Plastruct were glue around the edges of the drum to make the timber covering fitted to full drums. The drums were then painted as weathered wood – a coat of grey primer followed by a light coat of Tamiya buff, which was dry brushed with various Tamiya greys and earth colours. The metal plates at the centre of the drums were picked out in a rust colour. The drums sit on a separate base, painted to look like a wagon floor, with addition strips stuck across to represent timber balks used to stop the load moving. The load ought to be roped in, but I want it to be removable so the ropes have been omitted for the time being.


    The wagon is an Ian Kirk LNER steel open, converted to the original version with wooden doors.
    Bricks - this load is made from styrene strips, stuck on a styrene base. The strips are then cut with a fine razor saw at 3mm intervals to give the impression of individual bricks. The completed load is painted in various shades of brick red, and dry brushed. Bricks in transit were packed in straw, and some strands of appropriately coloured static grass could be added to simulate this.
    The wagon is another Airfix 5 plank open, this time finished as a fitted version, and retaining the original buffers. New tie bars were fitted from brass strip, and a cast vacuum cylinder fitted.

    Timber - a load of sawn timber was built up from various lengths and thicknesses of plastic strip, and painted to look like bare wood. The ends of the strips were painted a red colour to represent markings on the new timber. The load was placed in an open wagon, with a folded tarpaulin covering the part of the load contained inside the wagon, leaving part of the load projecting over one end. The wagon used for this was a 3H LNER open.

     
    In the third part I will deal with conflats and containers.
  11. wiggoforgold
    Looking back through my blog entries I realise there’s quite a lot involving wagons. I like wagons. In recent years there have been quite a few nice rtr wagons. I’ve had a few , and no doubt will get some more. However, converting or improving an older model, or building a kit allows me to put something of myself into a wagon model. Plastic kits are inexpensive, and a number of my models use older models, many of which can be obtained second hand for a modest price. They don’t even have to be complete. The sheeted GW open in the previous blog entry has a damaged side, which is invisible under the tarpaulin. Part of the fun of making models like this is by taking something in a fictional livery, for example the old Airfix “Golden Syrup” van, and making it into something more realistic.
     
     
    Lowmacs
    I’ve got a couple of lowmacs. The first, carrying a JCB, is made from the Dapol kit, purchased in the days when the Lowmac and JCB were packaged together. I think the Dapol kit represents a Great Eastern prototype. The only departures from the kit were the substitution of Slaters’ metal buffer heads for the moulded buffer heads in the kit, and an element of 3 point compensation has been introduced by opening out the axle boxes at one end, and mounting the wheel set so that the axle bears on a wire pivot above the centre of the axle.

    The second lowmac is from the Airfix/Hornby rtr model. New wheels and buffers were fitted, and the original moulded clasp brakes cut off. My model awaits the fitting of replacements. The load bed was rebuilt with a piece of plastic, scribed to look like planking, and a piece of lead stuck underneath to add ballast. It’s loaded with an Oxford Diecast tractor. I added some plastic strips to the floor to represent baulks used in packing, and I intend to make securing chains from fine chain fitted to securing rings in the load bed.

     
    Containers
    There’s a variety of containers available, and the following are pictures of a few. Some of mine aren’t in use as wagon loads, but have found new employment.
    BR Type A
    This is a Cambrian kit. It’s not loaded on a wagon, but is in use as a store in the coal yard.

    BR Type B
    This is a Parkside kit. It’s loaded on an exLMS 3 plank wagon, made from a Bachmann body on a Parkside LMS fitted chassis.

    GW Furniture Container
    This is an Airfix rtr model. The wagon is a detailed Airfix conflat A, which was later produced by Bachmann.

    Insulated Container
    I don’t use one of these, but I’ve included a picture to show what is available.

    Cement Container
    This was made by Triang, about 45 years ago. It was a nice little model for its time, although the moulded raised lettering is a bit dated. They came in sets of 3, loaded on a representation of a Conflat L, which was too short and too high. Here’s a challenge for the rtr manufactures – how about an up to date Conflat L, which could be finished as a shunting runner to go with the Bachmann 03?

     
    Right – its back to fitting couplings. I hope I’ve given some ideas for a bit of variety in wagon loads.
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