D869

I just found a better way to include the piccies in the posting, so hopefully now you can see them at a more reasonable size.

Missy - thanks - all ideas are useful. This is the first time anyone in the group has tried static grass, so we really don't know what works and what doesn't.

I wonder if your approach would translate to an airbrush - perhaps attacking from a higher angle with darker colours firstly and then a lower angle with the lighter ones later on.

@Steve - thanks - I'm a big fan of the D800s although I have no actual recollection of them before withdrawal. I just love their whole concept - 80 tons of loco to drag itself up the Devon banks instead of a lumping great 120 ton diesel electric of the same horsepower.... monocoque construction, anglicised germanic styling. On the other hand they are very challenging to get to 'look' right as a model. Personally I think that both Minitrix and Bachfar have tried and failed (I have both). I can forgive Trix more given that their effort was decades ago and because the crispness of their mouldings has only been matched by Bachfar quite recently.

@Pete - will give your suggestion a try on the next patch of grass but need to shop around to get hold of the raw materials first - an excuse to go shopping at the Warley show methinks.

Any suggestions regarding the best brands and colours? So far Noch 'Sommerwiesen-Gras' has been the least bad but it's still bad. A lot of stuff has stayed on the shop shelves because it is just way too dark or garish in colour.

Thanks...

The Voyager (Dapol) is in the works, but to be honest my experience with trying to convert various Dapol offerings has rather put me off their stuff.

Got the chance to poke around the old Hayle wharves yesterday. A fascinating place when you know its history. The rest of the family probably wondered what on earth I was doing wandering round such a wasteland in the rain. Actually they are used to it and sat patiently in the car. Not all that relevant for St Ruth, but if I build those wagons for the Octel plant then I might one day want to build something to show where they were going.

I also bought a book with a photo of the coal wharves at Hayle in GWR days. There are coal wagons on the wharf and a coaster alongside. It's not clear whether the wagons were delivering coal for the power station or being loaded from the coaster, so that one is still a bit of a mystery to me.

I second the vote for Tigers... although it may hurt the wallet - a certain small supplier in Camborne does them in 4mm for the princely sum of 28 quid a time.

Makes the 2mm Association Presflo kit seem like a bargain.

Looking good.

I'm just packing the tape measure ready for a trip to the Duchy, so hopefully a detour to Wheal Martyn or Bodmin will yield some measurements of those SC buffers.

Actually I dont recall doing anything to the body other than minor fettling. I think I had to file a bit off the end of the chassis to make it fit between the Parkwood buffer beams (or maybe that was a completely different wagon - not sure). My chassis certainly doesnt have any kind of buffer beam remaining.

I had another look at your pics and think I can see the difference - you've attached your ends outside the sides. Mine are inside the sides, so the buffer beams end level with the side planking.

I took the calipers to mine - 15.4mm wide inside the body vs the prototype's 7ft 7 1/4 inches, which isnt far wrong. Outside the body is 18mm vs the prototype 8ft 7, which is a bit further out, probably because of the thickness of the sides (which don't appear to be the same as each other). Length-wise it's the same story - spot on for 2mm scale inside the body but 0.8mm too long over headstocks.

Looking at a prototype photo, the ends of the buffer beam could probably use some attention with the file so that they resemble a steel channel instead of a lump of wood. I've also soldered a couple of door bangers to the chassis from N/S strip... which just leaves those pesky buffers...

Sorry - I couldn't find the post from Kris - could you let me know the precise URL please?

Thanks - a bit tricky to see in the photo but I think this one has the SC buffers. Still a long way from me though, so may mean a wait till late August before I can take a tape measure to one of these :-(

Nice model. I have a bunch of these in my gloat box and one partially finished one...

The place where I ground to a halt was buffers. Most of the prototype photos seem to show china clay wagons sporting self contained buffers... which don't look much like any other kind of buffer.

So far I haven't found a source for suitable buffers so am contemplating getting some turned... quite a lot of them actually because most of the cost is in the setup.

I expect that these may appeal to other folks because the GWR used similar buffers on many wagon types. I also noticed that the buffers on Grampus wagons are quite similar. I talked to Mr Stubbs at the Expo and he didn't rule out taking some into the shop.

The first step is to do a decent drawing, so I'm wondering where to find a real clay hood so that I can take a tape measure to the buffers. I remember a couple at Wheal Martyn museum but it'll be a while before I can get there... plus I can't actually remember what buffers they had.