SRman

Hi. Yes, footboards are the next step (oh, look! A pun! It wasn't deliberate.)

From what I have found, although information is sketchy, the dark grey is correct for around the turn of the century. I'm still not sure whether it should have the smaller "SE&CR" lettering like the ex-LCDR van in the photos, or the larger lettering in the middle of the sides. I think the lighter grey was later. The preserved 'Dance Hall' van appears to wear that grey, although it incorrectly wore red ends too - there is no evidence the SECR used red ends on their vans.

I am also inclined to think that my end handrail is a little too low. I shortened it after initially deciding it was too tall!

I believe you are correct about the extra support pillar. There may also be a couple of raised planks to add on the lower part of the verandah end, which will also support two lamp irons.

That looks incredible, Nick. I don't think my eyes would hold out in that scale!

Continuing with the brake van: I have added the brake shoes now, using the mouldings from the LNER wagon underframe kits. The shoes are moulded as part of a 'U' shaped piece. I had to thin the shoe mouldings a little with a file, and took crescent shaped chunks out of the base part of the mouldings to clear the wheels. I also had to remove the outer corners of the base moulding for the outer axles, to clear the underframe cross-members, while the centre axle had an off-centre cross-member near it, which necessitated cutting the 'U' shaped mouldings to form two 'L' shaped bits instead, with one 'L' having a much longer base leg than the other.

None of this was difficult, it just took a little time and patience.

The result, to date, then, is this:

Good luck with yours. It's not too difficult, and the end result will be very rewarding.

It looks like Simon has not just started the ball rolling, he's started an avalanche!

Thanks - I wasn't too sure about that, but that's another reason i have to put the numbering off for a bit longer, now!

Thanks, Mikkel.

I wanted something fairly colourful to go with the pre-grouping locos I have, so bought quite a few Private Owner wagons. I had no suitable brake van for the train with the Bachmann SECR C class locos hauling it, though, hence locating the Roxey kit, and building it, with the help of DougN and his resistance soldering unit.

I already had a 1980s Hornby LBSC/SR brake van to go with the Bachmann LBSC E4 and the Dapol and Hornby terriers in Stroudley's improved engine green (I know they were really passenger engines, but ...). I have also been building some LSWR brake vans (also in the blog, somewhere) from Smallbrook Studio - one is complete, two more nearly so.

I then decided that the train should also have some railway owned wagons, starting with some more "local" ones from the SECR, LBSCR and LSWR from Cambrian Kits. These were followed by the GWR ones from Parkside recently described. Once I have the lettering on these and the SECR brake van completed, I'll post a picture or two of the train in my layout topic.

Adding to the last post, I did add 'G W' transfers to the sides of each wagon (pics posted on my main layout thread), but I didn't have the correct large (25") size for two of the wagons (the Mink D seems to have used the smaller 16" lettering that I did have). John (St Enodoc) has come to the rescue with some spare Great Western wagon transfers he didn't need, and very kindly posted them to me.Further, and more correct decoration of the wagons will follow soon.

Many thanks John.

Now just awaiting transfers and maybe a little weathering.

Do Parkside give the correct numbers for using different ends, buffers and vacuum fitted vehicles. I only have two photos in my Great Western wagon book.

I can't vouch for the "correct" numbers, but they do list number series for each of the diagrams involved: V12, V14, and V16. They also mention in the instructions the build date ranges for each type and some of the variations in brakes and door planking.

To be honest, I don't actually have any GW wagon grey. I am hoping that I can use a thin coat of SECR wagon grey, which looks to me to be very similar, with the slight bluish tint to the dark grey.

I did add a little more weight into the corners and edges of the underframe recesses. I'm far more satisfied with it now.

Thanks guys. 

All three are now in the paint "shop". I have sprayed them with grey primer, then a matte black. That may sound a bit mad, since they are all to go into GWR grey (apart from the roofs, which should be white, or at least, dirty white). What I'm hoping to achieve with a little care in painting the final grey is to have the black emphasising some of the planking detail. We shall see soon!

Parkside include alternative ends and buffers to make a later build wagon as a Mink A. It can also be built without vacuum brakes, but according to their historical notes, many were built with vacuum brakes.

The 1907 GWR Mink van has now been completed. The photo was taken before I fitted the couplings (using the same methods as before). One addition to this and the 10T open wagon has been to use some brass wire to replace the very fragile tiebar between the 'W' irons.




The next job will be to paint all three GW wagons in the standard grey (or as close as I can get to it).

I think there was a problem with Photobucket this morning,as these and the ones I posted on another forum had vanished. They seem to be back at the current time.

I normally use sheet lead where it will be hidden (like in vans or coaches, or open wagons with loads), but in this case, there is not a lot of space to mount it, as the underside photo shows. Even so, I can get a bit more in, making sure I don't get any under the wheels. I agree with you re spaces between the balls - maybe it's not the most efficient way to get weight in. Way back in my teens, I used Plasticene a lot as weight, being the only heavy material I had access to. It could be squeezed into every available crevice to maximise the weight.

Here it is again, all but complete now, apart from painting. Parkside include a length of plastic rod to form the tarp bar, but I decided to substitute some brass wire for this, glued into place with a superglue.

Thanks for the compliments, guys. You have both given me a warm glow.

Here's the result of the grey primer finish:

All of these photos were taken with my HTC phone camera, which lacks a little in depth of field but generally gives good results.

Thanks again, Colin. If/when I get around to doing the underframe detail correctly, I'll certainly be consulting you. I don't put too much emphasis on the below-solebar detail as, for the most part, I can't see it from the normal viewpoints on my layout. However, once i get the upper level operational, that may change.

Thanks, Colin.

This won't be in the same league as your beautiful models, but it looks like what it is supposed to represent. the chassis also won't have all the correct bits for a post-1951 EP-fitted type, but I can live with that for now. Maybe in the future I'll delve through the Replica parts bin and add the necessary bits and cut off or move any existing components as necessary.

Hoping you are recovering well now.

Jeff.

Yes, 1500 as the tractor unit had occurred to me, Matthew, although I would still need to revise the window layout. Thanks for the suggestion. I have been looking at Electra Railway Graphics overlays for the refurbished CEPs, and thought maybe I could get a set of NSE vinyls and do a 3 CEP (or was that COP?) as run by Connex before repainting.

Another alternative would be to use the DMBS chassis under a 4 EPB conversion, and use the remaining centre coach with Electra Connex vinyl sides in the middle of the Connex Thumper to make it one of the hybrid three car sets.

My mind is whirling with all the possibilities!

The one I forgot to include in the above post: Hornby 60 077 Canisp in Mainline's adaptation of the Railfreight two-tone greys, with etched name plates fitted.




 

In answer to a query on another forum, but for the record here, here is an underside shot of the Sturgeon A, showing the bogie extensions carrying the NEM pockets and 'fishtail' couplings.

Hi, and sorry, I did mean to mention the transfer manufacturer. They were from Cambridge Custom Transfers (http://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm). I chose the Southern Region variant of the sheet S2B/C, but John Isherwood of CCTrans does offer variations for each region. He is also a member of RMweb and does post fairly regularly. The transfer sets are often aimed squarely at the Cambrian Kits range.

Cheers, and Season's Greetings,

Jeff Lynn.

Update: I have added a little microstrip to the top of the running board extensions and tidied up a few rough edges and joints. I also milled out a little of the insides of the body shell to get it to sit down that last half millimetre. I straightened up the odd slightly crooked handrail and retouched the paintwork. This is the result as it stands now.