Nile

While finishing construction of the model (fitting the fiddly bits) I made one small mod. I thought the foot boards were a bit low, below the axleboxes, so I cut a bit off the tops of the supports so that they could be mounted a bit higher. The top one has been modified. With construction complete I sprayed the whole thing with primer. Now I just have to work out what colour to paint it. 'Mid-grey' with red ends is a little vague as far as instructions go. Time for more research.

To add to what Ben wrote, the o/s diameter of the boiler is 19.5mm. The motor itself is about 13.5mm wide across its flats. The rear motor housing is 14.5mm wide, just forward of the rear axle. The top of the motor is 38mm above rail level, capacitors soldered onto its top may increase this slightly.

I have a C class in bits at the mo' and will be taking pics. Let me know if there is anything in particular that you want to know.

That sounds plausible. I was given some kits, including K's. So I looked in the box where i put them and found a K's header card. On it is written - SR (Ex SECR) TARPAULIN WAGON. So that's probably the answer.

Thanks for all your kind words and likes, they are much appreciated. Having found a few photos that indicate that it should be there, I'm going to add lining to the rear panel. In the meantime I've got another project that should be a bit simpler and quicker. I'm going to repaint and letter these wagons. They are white metal kits I built many years ago. the three plank is from SE Finecast, the other is unknown (to me). Thanks for watching, stay tuned.

With work getting in the way progress has been slow, but I think I'm there now. To fill the gap between the frames I made a representation of the valve gear from some strips of plastic, painted red. It can just about be seen in the assembled model. I've also added lamp irons, made from more plastic strip, and front splashers below the buffer beam made from plastic card. The finished (for now) model on the track. The black painted wheel rims improve its looks, I hope. T'other side. From behind. That's crushed real coal on the tender top. I don't know if the rear panel should be lined, I can add it later if I find evidence that it should be.

Thanks David. I used Phoenix Precision P382 LNWR freight wagon grey. The instructions call for 'invisible' grey, I don't know if there is any difference, or if anyone is going to notice if there is.

Thanks for explaining about the brakes, I think I can see how they work now. Some (slow) progress. The LNWR van is now finished, apart from weathering. The NLR van has also moved on, the body has been glued together and to the chassis. The difference between them is obvious now. My cunning plan with the axleboxes seems to have worked. The springs now fit without modification. The rocking axle is on the right, hence the small gap below the spring.

The Humbrol Acrylic sprays should be ok, available as matt,satin and gloss. They should be available in all good hobby shops.

Meanwhile there has been progress on the loco body. After paint and transfers the detail parts had to go back on, but not necessarily in their original positions. The handrails moved to the opposite sides of the boiler, this involved drilling and filing some holes. The plumbing near the smokebox also swapped sides. This needed to be cut up and stuck back together to fit it's new location. The reversing lever came from the Hornby Midland compound. The smokebox door with silver straps. I haven't decided what shed code to use yet, or if any. In the cab I painted the reverser and moved it across. I made and painted a new regulator, I don't think it's worth trying to remove the old one. This is all the bits put together. Still a few things to do, but it's nearly there.

I said the chassis was the same on both brake vans, in fact both etches have LNWR brake van etched into them and they look the same. But the NLR version has a wheelbase 6 inches shorter. This appears to be the only difference between the two etches, and explains the problem with the footboards on the LNWR van (they are correct for the NLR van). The slots for the brake hangers are based around the LNWR wheelbase on both chassis, another error that has crept in. None of these problems prevent the kit being built, they just make things interesting. The brake gear on the NLR van is completely different to the LNWR van, and a lot more complicated. Lots of little bits and pieces have to be soldered together. This is the result. I've removed a bit off the tops of the axleboxes to allow more room for the springs. I need a rest after all that soldering!

Work continues on the brake van - painting and transfers. While paint was drying I started the NLR brake. This has the same chassis but with different brake gear. Some of the slots for the brake hangers are too close to the wheels. I had to remove the tabs so they could be soldered in the correct position.

Things have been slowly progressing, with paint and transfers. First the undercoat. Then the topcoat of crimson lake and black. And the HMRS transfers, plus some hand lining around the chassis (with GWR cream).

Hi Dave, the motor-gearbox combination came like that, bought second-hand. I swapped the gearbox with one I'd bought without a motor. Here's a photo of the original gearbox. The important dimensions are- motor shaft diameter - 1.5mm mounting holes centre spacing - 10.25mm (or 4/10 inch) hole in the middle of the mounting block - 5mm diameter.

After spraying with primer it was all looking a bit grey. And now for something I did earlier (I mislaid the photos). I modified the inner chassis, to give it a see through look, by cutting out the vertical parts between the wheels. With the outer chassis on. An improvement over this.

The 'nubs' on the ends of the springs are the shoes that connect them to the solebar. I filed them down slightly as part of the spring modification process. And now for some news. Good news - another kit arrived today, a NLR brake van from London Road Models. Bad news - after studying its instructions I now realise I've made a cock-up with the LNWR brake van. I've used the wrong end piece on the verandah, making it open when it should have a closed end. My model appears to have a NLR body on a LNWR chassis. The instructions could have been clearer on this. Decent reference photos are rare, most are side on shots which doesn't help in this case. Good news - disaster averted. I managed to remove the wrong part with the aid of glue remover. This also loosened the buffers. After cleaning things up I fitted the correct part plus buffers. Looks a bit different now, doesn't it. It's back to painting again now.

A quick flick through a book reveals that tender atlantic locos normally drove the rear driver. Have you got a connecting rod long enough to do that?

After much fiddling about the build is complete, apart from the roof. A few problems were encountered. The space between the axle box and solebar isn't big enough for the spring as supplied, it has to be bent straighter to fit. Maybe filing the axle box top would help here. The gaps in the footboards don't quite line up with the axle boxes. Some filing is needed, resulting in the gaps being larger than they should be. Otherwise it went together ok. Paint next.

You'll probably find the green putty better to work with. I had the same problem with the white one, but it's handy when building planes with white undersides.

More work on the tender. The coal rails need to be soldered to the sides. As they are quite thin this is a tricky job. I improvised a jig to hold things in place for the operation. After that I glued the sides and rear onto the body with superglue gel. The gaps in the corners where covered with tape. Other details were added from odds and ends, and more plastic card. Painting next.

The cranks are less than a mm thick. They could be filed/cut/carved away without too much difficulty.

I've done a bit more.The brake wheel was soldered to some brass rod, that was soldered to the partition. The door handle and its surround was glued on, as I thought it would be too fiddly to solder. The partition and chassis have been glued into the body using superglue. The kit doesn't come with any floor surface, so I made these. Some Slaters planking for the veranda and some card for inside. The big wooden brake shoes, made of white metal, where painted black and glued to the chassis floor. The axleboxes have been glued onto the W irons and painted black. As it is it's mostly held together with glue.

I found one in Asda today. I already have a perfectly good model of CoT, so this one is now in bits. What this topic needs is more pictures, particularly of CoT. Here goes. Detail in the tender front and cab. The front buffers are separate parts. Separate details in the cab include the fireman's seat folded up and the fall plate, in a vertical position (it doesn't fold down). Underside of loco and tender. Top of tender. The tender in bits. The bogie in bits. This is what's left. That's quite a lot of bits for such a cheap model, about the same as the plastic kit.

It belongs to a 2-4-0 that I haven't built yet. I've also got another 2-4-0 kit and a 4-4-0 kit (both Ratio), they will eventually be built as Midland engines.

The etched tender sides are quite thin and will need to be soldered or glued to a strong body. I've made a box from 40th plastic card on a base of 20th plastic. The side will be glued to this. The coal hole is at the front. A trial fit of parts on the chassis. I cut off the outer parts of the chassis (that was the floor of the old tender). After making sure it was straight and level I glued it to the new floor. I used some white styrene strip to create some brake hangers and suspension parts. The frames are a few mm too short. I've used some black plastic card to fill the gap and create the steps at the front.