Colin parks

Hi SS, Re. 'rivets', the photos posted on this topic showing both 2090 and anther unit in b&w suggest that the fixings on the vertical 'L' angle on the inner end corners were hardly visible. I intend to smooth those down on the model, so there is just a hint of them left. The horizontal seams on the sides in line with the bottom of the windows are in fact ridges with 'rivets' above them. I shall let well alone there. All the best, Colin

Hi Ian, Thanks for your comments. The toilet window was not too to change as I have just recently had plenty of practice making such things on the 4 COR. Forget altering the Hornby cabs. The roof is out by the same degree. All the best, Colin

Just about all done with the bodies now: The door bangs have been replaced with 0.5mm rod. The cab gutter down-pipes are something of a compromise as it has now become clear that the cab front profile does not allow the pipes to run down behind the vertical edge of the headstock. (In reality, the 2 BILs' cabs curved in approx. 3" short of the headstock's leading edge. The middle of the cab overhangs the headstock by about half what it should do. So, in total, the front is 50% flatter than it ought to be. It is beyond me to change that!) It had always been the intention to have a two-part pipe, but it is regrettable that the plastic rod which forms the lower curve of the pipe is on the front face of the headstock - grr! Attention will now turn to the chassis. I am not going to waste much more of my summertime on this, so work will be confined to the shoe beams, pick-up bogie and the over-width fuse holders. Colin

The toilet window frame is now complete and with the bonnets above it too. All the door handles are now gone and the holes drilled for etched replacements. The door bangs are going to be changed for 0.5mm plastic rod as the 0.4mm stuff looks too thin. This just leaves the making of the power line junction box lids over the cabs to make, fashioning some new drain pipes for the cab front corners and removal of the printed-on lettering before painting. Colin

DMBS toilet window fun. The new verticals of the opening are carefully (that is carefully with a 'capital 'C') cut using the tee-shaped ruler to guide the knife. Consequent to the moving of the window to the right is that the glazing has to have a strip removed on its right-hand side. The clip which is integral to the glazing is now also out of line with its slot on the interior into which it must fit. It will be moved back to the left. The window glazing is tried for a fit after the opening has been made. The surface has been not smoothed down at this point. With the smoothing done, the prepared frame can be fixed with solvent. Final shaping and smoothing must now wait until the solvent has fully vented off. The ventilator bonnets will go on after the thickness of the window frame has been reduced to match the Hornby tooling of its neighbouring windows. It just occurred to me while reviewing this photo that there are no emergency brake 'tell-tales' on the bodies. I do like to paint these features with a dab of red (as they should be). It will be an easy job to add some small pieces of plastic strip to represent these. Back to that darkened room... Colin

Thanks Tigermoth. Only twenty-one of each handle still to do! At least the door bangs are in place. All the best, Colin

Just for Tigermoth: It wasn't too hard to get the handles off: cutting upwards, the commode handle was removed in slices. The door handle was sliced away cutting horizontally towards the door edge. Not much point in wondering if it looks better - they will all have to be done now. A few 'rivets' were lost whilst cutting the commode handle off, but these are in the area below the new handle. The new etched door handle is a Southern Pride example. I might try a Roxey one later on to see if it looks any different. Off to a darkened room now.... Colin

Hi Mike, I had left the paint on never knowing it would get like this! The 'rivets' are quite visible - even with the paint on and after dulling them down with fine wet & dry 400 grade sand paper. The packet of spare commode handles I was looking for contains 35 of them, so no excuses can be made about a lack of parts! All the best, Colin

Hi Tigermoth, I shall be using the trusty old Swann-Morton craft knife. Might even use a new blade! All the best, Colin

OK, OK! I'll have a go at the commode handles. I have these rather nice, if a little wide, ones from Roxey. (This photo also incidentally highlights how not to space roof vents - even if respected draughtsmen draw them that way.) They are left over from the 4 COR. Twenty-two are needed, so it all depends if there are that many left. Hmm. They do have the characteristic bulge in the handle which, er, having looked closely, the model does not. (Why does that not surprise me any more?!) It'll all be your fault if it goes wrong! Just look at those rows of 'rivets' - they are so close to the parts to be removed. If the commode handles go, then the door handles ought to as well. What about the door furniture on the luggage compartment/guards' doors? Where will it all end? Colin

The toilet window filling is underway and is a process definitely not for the faint-hearted. The 40 thou. plastic sheet insert is 2mm wide - over width to allow for the radius on the corners to be formed. The joint is strengthened with superglue and will be left until tomorrow before the butchery begins in earnest. A new frame and pair of ventilator bonnets have been made from 10 thou. sheet. These parts are to be thinned by sanding once in place on the coach side. New door bangs being drilled with a small jig made of clear PETG sheet. The passenger doors will have two bangs which are correctly positioned for the later 2 BILs. The possibility of removing the commode handles to replace them with etched ones seems a lost cause - there are just too many of those dratted 'rivets' which would be damaged if I tried. (Sorry Tigermoth!) Colin

Ha - I'm back! Only got slightly wet on the camping trip. Matters arising: Alastair, I have resolved to change that errant window. It seems easiest to smooth everything off, fill to the left and open out the right. Tigermoth, yes the commode handles are moulded-on and I do have plenty of etched ones left from building the 4 COR. It does look like a job too much though, as those handles have such fine detail around them. Perhaps it is laziness or complacency, but the handles don't disturb me that much! (But then again...) Clive, a pity yes and far more work than changing the roof conduit and adding a pick-up bogie. The drawings Hornby used were/are correct (at least as far as major issues go) - search me what went wrong after that. Apart from that bogie, I really started off just intending to make improvements to what was already there. It was only when work commenced that more and more discrepancies came to light. You are right in saying there is plenty of information available on the 2 BILs - and a real one for reference too. All the best, Colin

Hi Mike, Yes, I had thought the task would have been over by August! We are off camping for a few days, so no more will be done until next week. I do think the 'first class compartment' toilet window will have to be altered when I get back. It is at least the correct height, so it is just a case of filling in to the left, opening out to the right, smoothing it all down and re-instating the window frame and ventilator bonnets. The over-width solebar-hung fuse holders are also likely to be for the chop, but the chassis will be a stroll in the park compared to the bodies' alterations. All the best, Colin

Still trying not to think about that toilet window, I consoled myself by press-fitting the horns. They are a fraction too high, so they will be removed and the brackets reduced. Curiously, the moulded brackets on the cab roofs slope down. This accounts for the droopy look of the factory-fitted horns. I had been thinking of changing the operating handles on the MU sockets, but that now seems the least of the possible tasks. The time would be better spent elsewhere...... Colin

Hi Ian, Yes, the roof work has helped with the general look of things, despite the torpedo vents being a tad under-width. I have left the wire free to move in the junction boxes as far as was possible. I am hoping the whole lots stays straight! The misplaced toilet window on the DMBS is rather irritating, it being right next to the correctly placed one on the DTC. I keep wondering if it would be possible to move it to the right place. After all, many modellers on this forum have successfully demonstrated the art of window filling! All the best, Colin

Yes, Hornby have modelled the unique 2 BILO unit here, which had a communal lavatory in this 'open' first class compartment. The this end of the unit was designated the 'number two' , with the adjacent DTC being, of course, 'number one' end. I'm not sure how the seats were arranged, perhaps some stools were provided (OK, no more puns). I believe this experimental approach, the parting shot of the Maunsell/Lynes partnership, was an attempt to stamp out the unpleasant practice of passengers pulling the chain while the train was in the station: the anti-social traveller couldn't get away with that foul deed with fellow passengers observing their every motion. Bulleid of course, did not adopt this feature when he took over fully as CME of the Southern later in 1938. The rest is history. So what do you want to do Clive: sit facing the toilet in first class, or look up the periscope with the guard on your lap at the other end of the motor coach? All the best, Colin

Making water tank filler pipes is not my favourite job, but it had to be done. First, the holes had to be plugged in the inner ends where the original knobs were fitted. The filler pipes made and fitted. The angles of the bends are correct (as far as can be seen from studying photos) for the later 2 BILs. I'm sure Ceptic will appreciate the mushroom vent over the toilet cubicle. The filler cap for the water tank is more or less a replica of what was cut off the roof. It did turn out that both filler caps were in the right position on the roof. There is a lot of detail on the roof, but that is how it was. I am taking a 'head-in the-sand' approach to that toilet window for now.... Colin

Hi Bazza, I shall be keeping an eye on the wire to see if it behaves. The temperature range here is more even than your train shed and I am hoping that as the weather has been so warm, there will be more likelihood of contraction than expansion. I realise now that conduit junction boxes are what I should call these particular components. The misnomer 'lamp tops' just got stuck in my mind! All the best, Colin

Hi Andy, The lighting conduit spurs are super-glued into the lamp tops ( which Southern Pride describe as conduit junction boxes). This holds them well enough as the hard-drawn wire is quite resilient. I had considered tiny soldered joints, but there would have been little more strength in such a joint - plus: hot soldering iron + Plastic body = Risk of melting more than just the solder! For the first time on an EMU I have made/butchered, all the conduit is brass wire. It remains to be seen if there need to be expansion gaps to avoid kinking during temperature changes. The lighting conduit is fairly secure, but the power lines and train control lines rely on superglue alone to attach the to the minute plastic strips and rod supports. All the best, Colin

DMBS roof conduit work in the wee small hours. This motor coach has quite a lot of roof spaghetti, as can be seen here: After the realisation of the toilet window fiasco, it became clear that the water tank filler caps differ in their positions on each coach roof. This one has been filled, but then again, it could be that the other one is wrong - will have to think about this. But anyway, the lighting conduit is now meandering across to the inner end as they did on all 'production' 2 BIL DMBS coaches (the original course of the moulded conduit spur can be seen running to the corridor lamp). The first ten pre-production BILs had a slightly different arrangement, but quite similar. Perhaps this view shows best how close the conduit runs to the roof vent points. It should also be said that this particular run was made up in four pieces as it would have been nigh on impossible to bend and fit one piece of wire. The lamps over the luggage compartment have now been placed in parallel and centred between the roof vents. The white rectangular pieces of plastic mark the original positions of the periscopes. It can be seen that the rear one would have fouled the conduit had it not been removed. Many thanks to Dave and Ceptic for their help with photos of 2 BIL roofs etc., for this part of the work could not have been done without them. Colin

Hi Lee, Some epic work in a very short space of time! You might have changed my opinion on replacement etched grills for RTR 4mm scale diesel/electric model locos: those on the class 56 are very neatly done indeed. All the best, Colin

It was all going so well until starting work on the DMBS lamp tops: that's strange I thought, the marking out must be wrong because the lamp is in a different position in relation to the to the toilet window. Now, what could be wrong? I lined up the two bodies, had a look, referred to the plans (all of them!) and.... Conclusion: the window on the DTC is out of position by 1.5mm, in effect shortening the innermost first class compartment. Both toilet windows should be the same distance from the inner end. I can't think of a way of solving this without major surgery, filling and a risk of damage to the surface detail of the DTC's side in the process. This is not meant to be a 'bashing thread', but to be honest, I am a bit annoyed. Colin

- and it's proving very 'ard I can tell you! Colin

Work in progress on the DTC roof. The conduit was all made from 0.31mm brass wire apart from the power line which is made from 0.4mm brass wire. Note the upper run of lamp tops are sunk further into the roof than those of the corridor and the compartment side nearest the camera. This hasn't been too easy to do, but it is this aspect of the model which prompted the upgrade in the first place. Colin

Well the DTC has its lighting conduit temporarily pressed into place to test the fit around the vents (on the further run in this picture) and also determine to height of the supports under the conduit. I have opted for 0.31mm hard-drawn brass wire for Eileen's for the lighting conduit. This is an easy fit in the lamp top holes and should prevent any distortion of the wire in high temperatures! The train control conduit will be made of 0.4mm hard-drawn brass wire and the power line one from 0.5mm plastic rod. The view from the other side. The conduit is desperately close to the points of those vents, but then, that is how it was. Colin