RThompson

And now for something different and in another country! A dundas models kit of Ffestiniog railway Van 2/Coach 10 which has been sat around built, but unpainted for well over a decade. Was built to run with a backwoods minatures double fairlie kit which in itself is half built. So after lots of research, this is my interpretation of the yellow livery it carried at one point in the colourful era before Colonel Stephens arrived. The yellow is BR cream as I found various proper yellows didn't look right and the brown, southern goods brown, both brushed by hand.

The finished North London tank and weathered going off the only colour photo I found of the loco, not like its clean sister used on a railtour. Also the opportunity came to apply transfers to the Dapol pug which I compensated the original chassis and replaced the original dumb buffers with larger ones as per the real loco as they did vary. Also the smokebox door was reshaped as it wasnt quite right in profile just like with the North london tank. Unusually this gives me 2x Devons road locomotives for someone who usually models the southern but then I do a mix of bits anyway!

So for something completely different. In 4mm scale, 00 gauge I built a Mallard Models kit of a North London railway 0-6-0T. This has fitted a high level gearbox and coreless motor. The standard romford wheels that came with the kit dictated which of the final 2 that operated from Devons road in London I could model. Plenty of scratch built and alterted parts from the kit. I do need to scratch build a set of brakes for it though at some point.

As I do work in the film industry, a lot of the time but not always, I find stuff is very last minute and improvised on the day within a limited time frame and could spend a hour doing the same scene over and over again just for a minute. Of course setting up in itself takes hours as well as dressing up and breaks. A lot of the time when a vehicle is requested from me, they just want something generic and have their own vision how things should be even though it's not right for that vehicle despite all the information provided and they want to put their own mark it.

Hello Steve, The water was 2 part clear resin with a bit of blue and brown dye added. After it had fully cured, I then added the ripples by brushing gloss Modpodge and blowing on top to form the ripples through a straw.

My 009 gauge test diorama from last year.

Looks very good. I've got one to build myself and replace the handrails as I'm missing a GWR toad but trying to find a decent photo of one in the London area.

I built one many years ago for a friend certainly nothing I can think was wrong with it.

Having actually operated a p4 model of one of these scratch built by bill at the former Norwood model railway club, to see a live steam version is truly amazing.

Which in turn would also affect the alignment of the wheels, bearings and outside bogie frames as they all relate, connect with each other. If you move the side of the bogie, everything else would move with it and still not fix any affected support arms. Those affected like mine was, the bogies themselves are true and square away from the body weight, just not their support arms which are moulded as part of each side and not a separate one piece item.

It won't be because of the sides not being screwed properly. I've replied a few bits back as to the reason from my investigation.

The one I shown a few posts above with the resprayed roof did have bogie problems also. I did a full strip down and report of the bogies and after careful checking, its the bogie support arms that is the issue like they are sloping from one side to the other and not perfectly horizontal, the bogies and frames themselves are perfectly fine. My remedy was to superglue to the underside of the cast body block (20 or 30 thou?) Plastikard to the opposite affected corners to force the bogies to sit level at both ends thus making all the wheels touch the glass. I did note in one model shop there was 4 different locos on display in a glass cabinet, only 1 out of the 4 had a issue, the other 3 had all the wheels touching the glass as they should. So what has happened to some for this to occur, I don't know.

I used Halfords Aluminium, sprayed all over. Had to remove a few details and careful masking with tamiya masking tape. I would not recommend removing the pantograph but just tape over, as it was a pain to reinstall. tbh that area would get the most weathering as like the real thing, would be quite difficult to clean.

Thought I'd share my booster 20002 but with a difference as I have resprayed the roof prefering it all silver. Painting of the wheel faces and weathering of certain areas will be done next as well as fitting crew/motorman.

I can relate to this, aged 38 now. I was very lucky to grow up with a few decent model shops local to me in South London, only Janes Trains exists now but did stock 2nd hand plastic wagon kits as well as occasionally metal locomotive kits. BEC models used to stock all sorts from Ratio to Dapol for plastic wagon kits (as well as the Dapol locomotive kits) and as a 8 year old, learnt at my own accord to build them, plastic wagon kits are certainly cheaper purchase cost than rtr now. But I do wish I knew what BSL coach kits was back then and bought them! I think the emphasis to begineers of any age, is to give a try and learn from your mistakes when they are made (I melted part of a ratio gounded coach roof and kept adding glue to it to try to build it it, not realising at the time the glue works by melting the plastic! Oh and about model filler which only came into use quite some years after) If it goes wrong, yes it may be something like £10 potentially gone but in the grand scheme of things, is not the end of the world and try again, and save those wheels and bearings for use later on for something else. When I go to various areas for work, I do take some plastic wagon kits to build to keep me occupied either when sat on the bus on stanby or in the hotel if working away for a period. I do try to find and visit various model shops where ever I go now, however it is very surprising that very few stock any 4mm scale let alone any other scale plastic wagon kits, plenty of building and accessory kits though. I have learnt to ask as sometimes they can be hidden as I've found out in a few shops and a consequence got a fair bit of trade from me for those kits just sitting about! But overall, model shops are more likely to gain custom from me with kits than rtr, both for my Satisfaction but also partially a cost factor also.

Hello Jeff, Just as a update to your enquiry, I managed to dig out a few of my books and found a photo of LT brake van 559 having spoked wheels, unfortunately the photo wasn't dated so couldn't say when.

My 4mm scale, 009 gauge Ffestiniog railway No:11 Baldwin now painted and weathered, seen hauling a appropriate rake of wagons.

Hello Jeff, without checking my book for earlier periods, the London Transport Hurst Nelson brake vans certainly all had disc wheels in the 1950's until withdrawal.

Hello Daskel, you want the smokebox and firebox almost hard against the saddletank at both ends. The kit is designed for both 00 and EM/P4 gauge so some variances in the splashers do occur. The chassis here is the 2nd version as the inside valve gear was originally not of tab and slot design and only cosmetic as it is hard to see inside once all built but gives the illusion of something there rather than being a empty space. This and the Old Class I which share the same drawings most of the way as per the prototypes was my first loco kits some 13 years ago I think.

Having been working out of Huddersfield station recently, it is a very impressive station building and helped by having no clutter in front of it, so getting a full view when you pull up in a rail replacement bus.

Lincoln Green is the official LT term. However a lot of the preserved Green line buses are different shades anyway. Good thing my Greenline RMC is red 😀

So the lake now has ripples in it, I haven't added to the grass or sorted the edges of the lake yet. The ripples was created by brushing gloss mod podge over the cured resin, then blew the ripples in using a straw and left to dry. However I think I applied it too thick as some of the ripples have dried coudy but again, this is a test piece and getting the results I'm trying to achieve and perfecting it.

Hello Tony, As I know you like to see people kit building, this was my latest build, not that I've done much with a soldering iron this year tbh, mostly building plastic wagon and coach kits on my buses whilst sat on rail replacement standby duties. It is a 4mm scale, 009 gauge Meridian models/SRB kit of the Ffestiniog railway Baldwin Gas mechanical No:11 before rebuilding into its current form. All soldering done from inside where possible so almost no cleaning up was required. I have altered the kit and compensated the front axle to help with electrical contact as well as further detailing. Total build time was about 15 hours. I do have a backwoods miniatures kit to build of the K1 Garratt at some point.

It's been 3 years since I last updated this. I have been doing model making since then but admittedly not a lot, mostly plastic wagon kits when working away, usually sat on one of my buses when on standby at a railway station. This week with a itch to build a layout in 009 gauge, I wanted to crack on with something simple that would be perfect for it. When it was announced Small Run Batch / Meridian Models announced they would be producing a batch of kits of the 4mm scale, 009 gauge Baldwin 50hp Gas Mechanical, I wanted one as it's a prototype that has grown on me over the years. So this is my latest build (not that I've had time to weald a soldering iron this year) of Ffestiniog railway No:11 before the revitilised railway altered it to its current condition. This is the result of about 15 hours work. I actually built this without any instructions and modified it to have rocking beam compensation on the front axle. Runs beautifully and was a joy to build. Only problem I found was the cast cab roof which was very detailed did not fit on as per the prototype so made my own brass sheet which will have lead added underneath and pressed the rivets out.

Now comes to filling the lake. As mentioned at the beginning, this is a test piece and confirmed my theory I should have filled the lake first then grass after which I will explain later. So I bought some 2 part epoxy clear resin and compatible blue and brown dyes. One part was poured into a large clear plastic cup with a drop of brown and a drop of blue added and mixed together. This was left to settle for a while to allow any air to raise to the surface which I found leaving the one part resin in some hot water in a bowl helped this. Then the 2nd part part was weighed and poured in and mixed. Again I left this for a few minutes in the hot water to help expel the air bubbles but also make it more viscous. This was now poured into the lake bed and after a few minutes, blew over the lake to help pop and tiny air bubbles that was still present and floating to the surface. Unfortunately my worst fear did occur and the already laid grass was helping to draw the resin into it and will need redoing. So personally, water first, grass later. When set after a few days, the water was checked and was exactly effect I wanted. A lovely reflection, however this is the Blaenau Ffestiniog region and usually windy (as well as the wettest region of Wales) so need to add ripples which I will come to the next part as it was only done yesterday and will do some more bits later.