Skinnylinny

Agreed - I'd suggest the boiler being separate from the two bogies (and the bogies being able to swivel relative to the boiler), otherwise you'll have a very long rigid wheelbase which won't handle curves or uneven track at all. On most single bolster wagons (I'm not familiar with this particular one) the bolsters themselves are free to rotate with the load as the train traverses curved track. Finally, using brass chain would be a lot less fragile than a 3D printed one!

Finally some modelling of my own, rather than on company time! ...and it's a private owner wagon. The Pickering wagon from the post on the 10th inst. has now been painted green, and has has the ironwork on one side and both ends picked out. I'll do the ironwork on the other side when the near side in the photo below has fully cured for a few days, to avoid wearing off the paint on the bolt ends. The green colour has been chosen to match one of the forthcoming Rapido private owner wagons, belonging to Albert Usher & Co. of London. I found through the HMRS website that the same company owned a Pickering 5-plank open with side cupboard and end doors, although that one strictly had a steel underframe. That being said, the wagon will be close enough for me, and allows me to have a cupboard-door open in Surrey fairly legitimately. I also picked up, at the London Festival of Railway Modelling, a kit for a GER open wagon (which appears to be one of the ones modified from a 5-plank open) by Stelfox - a company of which I had not hitherto heard, for £6. Not a bad price, thought I, especially when I opened the package and found it contained *two* wagon kits! One has since been sold on to a club member who has a budding interest in the GE. I need to do a little more research into the livery it would have worn in ca. 1900-1910, as I'm not convinced I have the right shade of grey. I also need to smear a little filler in to hide the gaps in the corner plates where the parts were joined. At the same trader's stall, I also acquired some POWSides dry-rub GE transfers. I've not had great luck with these in the past, but somehow GE wagon lettering seems to be missing from both the HMRS and Fox Transfers range. Any suggestions for other transfer sources gratefully received!

Indeed, Mr Simon Skinner!

I did try to include the end knees, but unfortunately, the internal planking on the wagons is represented by a stepped vertical surface (to allow the body to be removed from the mould) and we've had to carry that on to the end door (although this is a separate part, and thus can have relief on both inside and outside, we found that it looked very strange having grooves on the door, and stepping on the sides!). This means that the door is over scale thickness at the bottom, and overlaps with where the end knees should be. I wasn't able to find a compromise (moving the end knee inwards was very obvious, as it no longer meets the hinge bar, and trying to "lean" it to match the end door angle looked even worse. There are similar compromises on the fixed ends, although they're hopefully less obvious due to the lack of hinge bar. Unfortunately, every plastic ready-to-run model has its compromises, and I came to the conclusion in this case that omission was better than having something visually obviously wrong! [Edit: Oops, meant to post this from my @RapidoLinny account, sorry all!]

...Batman...

Well, I suppose now the news is public, you can all see what I've been working on behind the scenes at the office. I surely can't be the only person who was frustrated at seeing 1923-spec. wagons with oil axleboxes purporting to represent wagons that were much older, with very different designs. Now, I'm not going to claim that these are perfect down to the last rivet for every wagon, far from it. They've been an interesting exercise in "how close can we get". There will always be small differences in things like washer plates, door hinges and latches between individual wagons. As Compound commented on the Rapido thread, private owner wagons are an absolute minefield! Hopefully, if these sell as well as they seem to be being received, I'll be allowed to look into more variations... Maybe even some of those Gloucester wagons as well! 😛

Not much to add this week. A bit more work was done on the HOn30 4-4-0 "Eureka", with the cowcatcher pilot being completely redrawn and several bits made chunkier for printing. I also have some tentative plans for a drive mechanism, although it'll be a motor in the tender driving a worm gearbox in the loco through a flexible shaft. Not what I had hoped for, but it will allow me to fill the firebox with weight, which will hopefully help with adhesion, and still keep the cab relatively clear. Then I need to get on with finishing up thy tender, firebox details, and motor mount, and it will be ready to make the final version! On a different note, I'm now on the first off several trains today to The Murky South, as I'll be at the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace this coming weekend. Do pop to the Rapido stand and say hi if you're coming!

Sounds like some petitions to the Caledonian Railway Association may be in order!

Ah. Hmm, I'm not aware of any kits that would suit that I'm afraid - I wonder if some custom-etched washer plates might be the way to go?

What are you after?

16.5' over headstocks, 8' wide, and 4' internal height.

Well, something good came out of Glasgow - I picked up a pair of Traders Wagon kits (what we call Private Owner wagons north of the border) from the Caledonian Railway Association stand, part of their "True Line Models" range. They're models of an R. Y. Pickering design from around the turn of the century, and they feature that classic mark of Scottish wagons: side cupboard doors. Construction was simple enough, using a one-piece resin bodyshell, if rather fiddly with certain of the etches (especially the brake lever guide!). The only trouble I had was that the kit doesn't include etched W irons, wheels or bearings, and the only W irons I had were fractionally too wide to fit between the cast solebars when folded up. I ended up cutting the W irons out individually and gluing them to the insides of the solebars. Definitely a cheat, but it worked and thanks to slow-setting superglue gel, I was able to get a wagon that sits square on all four wheels. The axleboxes are not quite sitting flush on the W irons, being held off by the waisted pinpoint bearings, but they're only tacked on so when I next have a chance to get at the Dremel and give them a gentle tickle. However, it's looking quite good, and quite different from everything else I have. While this style of wagons were mainly owned by Scottish traders, there were some merchants as far south as London who used them, so I'm still trying to pick out an identity.

If bogies turn out to be necessary for the 8-wheeler, can I suggest keeping the W irons fixed, and making inside-framed bogies (such as you might find at the front end of a locomotive)? That way you could have the necessary movement but wouldn't have to have visible bogies, and the rigid outside frame detail would hide the trick!

Not much personal modelling this month I'm afraid - various things have kept me busy! Some logs have been procured for the HO "stake car" by the simple expedient of stepping out of my front door, choosing some likely-looking fallen branches from the trees that line my road, and sawing them to length. Simple enough, but quite effective! The first test-print of the (now) HOn30 American 4-4-0 showed up from Oak Hill works. This was very much an experimental print, as the model had been downscaled from an 0 scale design. As such, it's now had various parts made more chunky, but I still wanted to check clearances and such. I've thrown some paint on it too, to give an impression, and also tried out the 3D-printed wheel centres to go with the tyres and axles. Still some distance to go yet, but well on the way! Finally, I'll be at Model Rail Scotland tomorrow (Friday) and Sunday, often to be found operating Puddle Bridge, the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC's 7mm layout. If you find yourself in Glasgow, then firstly, I'm sorry, and secondly, do feel free to come and say hello! As ever, I'm the one with the long purple hair...

Hi Bill, While researching for these models, we found that many of these wagons didn't have those rivets on the axlebox guides when they were built. This is borne out by the GA drawing from which we worked, too. Unfortunately, it would have been prohibitively expensive to tool two different underframes, so we made the decision that it would be easier for a modeller to add the rivets should they want them (Archer's rivet transfers, for example - other brands are available!) than to make a neat job of removing them. Thanks, Linny

So, I know I'm part of the design team for these models, but I have to say, I'm impressed! We like to see just how much detail we can cram onto our models, and one of the UK design team decided to give the mouldmakers and injection moulders in China a bit of a challenge. He added the ' 4" OK ' lettering to the axlebox covers, expecting that we might get a raised area in roughly the right shape, which would give the right impression. My own models arrived today, and not only have the team in China managed to get the relief detail on the axleboxes, they've managed to legibly emboss the lettering on each one! Apologies for the quality of the photo, getting my camera to focus on something that small was rather a challenge. It's a privilege to work with a manufacturing team who can turn our designs into such lovely models, and push the limits of what we thought was mouldable! For comparison, a photograph from the Bluebell Railway Carriage and Wagon Works: https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/cw_news/gwr87782_restoration.html

Oh dear, now we're getting In Too Deep. You can make all these references in Your Own Special Way, but you'll leave the non-believers in a Land of Confusion. Anyway, That's All from me. I've got to go, my Supper's Ready. (I'm 31, and apologise!)

I think I may have some spares of those trackside point levers, if you're concerned about getting hold of them - they arrived in a box of assorted bits and pieces. Happy to donate!

Goodness. A fortnight already? Not much modelling has been done in the meantime, at least not personal modelling. I floated the idea of a modular American H0n30 (that's 009 to you and me!) layout to a few friends, which seems to have gone down quite well. I then spotted a listing on eBay for some standard gauge H0 "Old Time" freight cars, which were mainly lettered for the Central Pacific Railroad (which matches the Central Pacific locomotive I bought as a souvenir when in the US years ago.) Well, they were a very good price, and so they arrived. At first they were a bit... toylike in appearance, with not much variation in colouring; for example, the flatcar had grey sides and grey planking over the top, while the gondola (an open) had an entirely red main body (including the floor planks) with a black self-coloured section on top. Some tan, light grey and beige paints have picked out the floor planks on the flatcar, making things look much better already. The shiny black "wood" on the gondola had some nicely-moulded wood grain, so dry-brushing to represent worn, painted wood was the order of the day here. I still have some transfers to add, such as running numbers, tare weights etc. Finescale they may not be, but they'll serve my purposes! The X2F couplings will be going soon, to be replaced with Kadees. I also repainted a boxcar, which came in a ghastly children's-poster-paint green colour with a bright yellow door, to something a bit less vibrant. Lettering transfers were used to name the owner as "Gary's Beans" - an in-joke among the group of friends interested in H0n30, where "beams" was misheard as "beans", leading someone to wonder why on Earth a sawmill was producing baked beans! Moving back across the Atlantic, I've received a parcel of more Hattons Genesis carriages (this time in Plum and Spilt Milk), which will also be repainted into GSR blue and white. However, while I had hoped to do some painting of them this week, I ended up getting sucked into some virtual "painting" for work. As some of you may have seen in the Rapido newsletter, I had the silly idea of colouring in some of the renders for our products, including the Wisbech and Upwell loco and carriage pack, and my personal favourite, the LB&SCR E1 in Stroudley's Improved Engine Green. Now, the livery artwork for that one hasn't actually been done yet, so the livery is a bit of a placeholder, made up in Fusion 360, but it gives a good idea of what to expect, even if there's no number plate and the panel corners aren't quite perfect yet. I'm rather proud of it, and may have convinced myself I need an IEG one to go with my goods green and lined black ones... Finally, tomorrow I'll be travelling a bit to go exploring. The Kilmarnock model railway club are having their exhibition in Irvine, and I thought as I was (vaguely) in the area I might pop along to see. If any of you happen to be about (unlikely, I'd have thought, but still!) do come and say hello!

Another happy customer here - their models are an excellent base for adding texture and details to. Several of the low-relief buildings along my backscene make use of these kits, an example of which is "Burtons the Cobblers" - just a standard Fair Price Models kit, painted, and with brick plasticard added. The window display is one of the old Dornaplas shop interiors. Please forgive the slightly lumpy paintwork!

These are all very good suggestions, although I fear mostly beyond my kit-building skills (a very different activity from CADing and printing!) I suspect that what will end up being done is that the loco-tender drawbar will be arranged such that the weight of the tender bears down on it, pushing down on the rear drivers. As it stands, there's already a little vertical slop in the front set of tender wheels, so these can be left "floating". Rather a bodge, but I'd rather bodge it and end up with something that runs, than spend forever trying to attach a compensation system to a tender (which, incidentally, has no floor!) and not end up with anything moving. The Falcon seems to be a project which is being built at the partner's house, to give me something to work on when away from my main workbench. However, being back at home, I managed to make it down to the club with some GSR stock, in order to let it stretch its legs for the first time in a while. Havelock Vetinari on a Linton Town-Waterloo fast service, and Sir Samuel Vimes on an empty coaching stock move. I really do need to get back on with the 0-4-4t for slower passenger services. I'm still undecided on whether I want to keep red ends on the brake vehicles, so there's a bit of a mix in the shorter stock.

Speaking of NER 4-4-0s, I spotted something interesting on The Model Centre's website under "Pre-owned" (whatever happened to "second-hand"?)... https://www.themodelcentre.com/492nerpre For £70, I would have thought someone will get rather a bargain. Then again, I'm unfamiliar with this brand of kits, so maybe those in the know are avoiding intentionally!

If Ken only wants the smokebox door, could I please request the other parts, also to Scotland?

Hmmm, possibly. The tender is a 5-sided box (no floor) and is completely empty. Trying to mount a motor might be interesting though, as there's no available surface to which to actually attach the motor. The other issue would be arranging the drive shaft. I imagine it would have to run under the footplate (with an open cab it would just be too visible otherwise) and the height of the driving wheels (all 6'6" of them!) means the driving axle is at an awkward height for slinging a gearbox either above or underneath.

Well, the Falcon is... sort of underway? This is my first attempt at a K's kit, and it's... let's just say a challenge! I splashed some paint on a few parts before assembly to see whether I was happy with the paint - an old tin of Phoenix Precision P400 LSWR Beattie Loco Brown (no longer available). It's certainly a fairly purple red, much more than I was expecting, and what you see is two thin coats, brushed on, plus a lot of filler. All of the wheels have been replaced for various reasons. I wasn't planning to use the K's driving wheels with their D-shaped axles... which was made an even easier choice as all three loco axles were missing from my kit for some reason! As for the tender wheels, I made a silly mistake in assuming the wheels would fit onto the supplied pinpoint axles. Alas, the second wheel I attempted to fit onto an axle disintegrated into a pile of tiny, sharp pieces of black plastic and a steel tyre. An order was thus placed with Scale Link. I discovered when the Scale Link package arrived that (of course!) K's didn't use 26mm pinpoint axles for the tender. Theirs were about 1.5mm longer. However, for some reason, the bearing holes in the tender frames were straight-edged (despite the pinpoint axles!), meaning that top-hat pinpoint bearings dropped straight in, and took up the missing length in the axle. I have not yet looked into motorising the loco, but as things stand, it's very front-heavy meaning there's very little weight where it's needed (over the driving wheels). The lack of a cab means there's not much more chance to add this weight, so my current thoughts are leaning towards having the (quite hefty) tender putting weight on the drawbar, to press the rear of the loco down. That being said, the chassis that comes with the kit is rather basic, so I may look into 3D printing my own, with pockets in various places to take metal pieces for weight. Oh, and those tender handrail knobs are coming out and being replaced straight!