East Barnet Joint Stock - a workbench

[Chas Levin]

On 16/05/2020 at 20:17, Edwardian said:

Now that GN wagon is a nice piece, really well executed and it deserves something era-appropriate built for it - treat it to something nice!  Just sayin'

 

Hm: I know you're right really (with nods to Compound 2632 and JonathanW of course). I'll try and find something better and when I do, I'll post some pictures .

I should mention that the next D&S kit in the pile is a GNR OCT, for which I have the Oxford Diecast 4 1/2 Litre Bentley (if it'll fit without looking too large). I'm hoping that combo will look a little more appropriate - from reading so far, the OCT ran between 1904 and 1945, and the Bentley was in production from 1921 to 1929, so I should be safe, even in GNR livery .

Edited May 29, 2020 by Chas Levin

[jwealleans]

You can use Microsol to soften the waterslide transfer and make it sit into the grooves.  

 

I thought you might like these, after you showed your ballast brake - I was lucky enough to visit Bert Collins' Hitchin a couple of years ago and this is his pway train, mainly if not all scratchbuilt.   The faded paint effect he's achieved here is fantastic.  The canvas covers over the axleboxes on the ballast wagons are a nice touch too.

 

 

[Chas Levin]

Thanks for posting those pictures Jonathan - that is indeed a lovely p-way train; I also like the advertising signage. Seeing faded or distressed vehicle paintwork like that does make me wonder whether I should re-consider... Here are pictures of a Parkside Dundas Loco Coal wagon which I unintentionally slightly weathered, by virtue of the aerosol varnish 'blooming' somewhat:

 

 

 

 

 

The canvas axle-box covers are another thing that will be added to my ballast wagons - I did know about them as they're mentioned in the Ratio kit instructions and on some photos in Peter Tatlow's books. At the time, I couldn't decide what material would best resemble canvas so put off adding the covers: classic mistake, as once a kit is mainly finished I tend to move on to the next one. However, between the chains, the canvas covers and the bolster load, I think the ballast train is due for a proper visit to the Depot.

 

I do generally use Humbrol Decalfix for softening transfers - I'm not sure now (two or three years on) whether I neglected to use it on the PD fish van's numbers, or whether I simply failed to soften them enough. Not a major issue though - it looks fine when it's among others in a fish train, and my thoughts turn to Sea Bass and Sea Bream....

 

And is that a Coopercraft AEC Monarch lorry in Hitchin? Very nice! I recently built a Coopercraft AEC tanker version to sit alongside a  civilian conversion of the Airfix Austin K6 crash tender: the two lorries (one coming, one going) help disguise the entrance to a deadend tunnel 

[jwealleans]

I think the lorry is an Oxford one; I did one the same for Thurston when we were still exhibiting that.

 

 

I used to work for Ridgeons, which was why I went for that model, although at the time the layout was set it should have been painted navy blue.

 

Bit of an aside, but they were a very local firm of builder's merchants - Cambridge, March, Attleborough, Saffron Walden (and I think there's one in Bury now).  When I was at the Glasgow show earlier this year there was a Scottish quayside layout with one of their lorries unloading.   I shudder to think what the carriage would have been on that delivery.

 

[Darryl Tooley]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

I think the lorry is an Oxford one

Looks more like the EFE one to me.

 

D

[jwealleans]

Quite possible, I don't have it to hand to check.

 

On the other hand a quick Google confirms that that is what it is.

[Chas Levin]

6 hours ago, jwealleans said:

I think the lorry is an Oxford one; I did one the same for Thurston when we were still exhibiting that.

 

 

I used to work for Ridgeons, which was why I went for that model, although at the time the layout was set it should have been painted navy blue.

 

Bit of an aside, but they were a very local firm of builder's merchants - Cambridge, March, Attleborough, Saffron Walden (and I think there's one in Bury now).  When I was at the Glasgow show earlier this year there was a Scottish quayside layout with one of their lorries unloading.   I shudder to think what the carriage would have been on that delivery.

 

 

Haha - the Glasgow Ridgeons lorry sounds like the sort of thing I would do myself (i.e. not always the most prototypical )

[Chas Levin]

Here's another D&S kit, an NER 12T covered wagon - I thought it would be nice to have one with a roof loading hatch, which I made from a piece of cut up old tea-towel. The paint this time was Humbrol, an attempt at NER freight grey. The transfers are HMRS but I somehow managed to mess up the lining up of the N and E: I used the NER style lettering as I was going for NER livery and having noted that they were placed quite a bit higher on the van body than the NE of LNER livery, I carefully lined them up to be higher... only to find afterwards that I had somehow still placed them rather closer to LNER height! I didn't have the heart to try removing them as the last time I tried that, it left 'ghost' lettering! The poorly wiped away chalk on the blackboard panel looks better in real life than in large photos...

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly, here's a pic of the LNER Pipe Wagon that appeared further up the thread, with some added wood battening to restrain the pipes from back and forward movement 

 

[Headstock]

1 hour ago, Chas Levin said:

 

And lastly, here's a pic of the LNER Pipe Wagon that appeared further up the thread, with some added wood battening to restrain the pipes from back and forward movement 

 

 

Good evening Chas Levin,

 

the bracing looks a lot better. The observer can immediately see the point of a high sided goods wagon and how it works. You will not be surprised to hear that I still don't like the chains, there would be no logical reason to stack pipes like that, apart from to show off some nice chains. A bit like putting your socks on over your shoes because they look nice.

[Chas Levin]

8 minutes ago, Headstock said:

 

... A bit like putting your socks on over your shoes because they look nice...

 

Oh dear - are you not meant to do that? No wonder people have been looking at me oddly lately 

[Chas Levin]

Here is my latest build, and my first loco: it's the DJH whitemetal kit of an ex-GCR LNER J9/10. I know I'm not the first to discover that building a loco is a whole different ball-game from rolling stock... but the thrill of seeing something you've built move under it's own 'steam' is just fantastic! .

It's built as per the instructions and uses a DJH AM9 gearbox with Mashima motor, with phosphor-bronze wire pickups to all six loco wheels. I drove the middle axle: I know plenty of people drive the rear axle on 0-6-0s without issue but it seemed more intuitive to me that the forces on the outer axles should be balanced equally - especially as my layout has tight curves - and the very smooth and quiet running seems to bear this out, albeit at the sacrifice of some daylight under the boiler. Likewise the wheels: Romfords, to allow for my coarse track.

Paint is Halfords Matt Black, transfers HMRS and the excellent looking crew and lamp are Modelu. Coal is the real thing, irons from the spares box, turned brass vac pipe (for strength on a vulnerable part) from Markits, screw-link coupling from Romford and brass loco plates from Modelmaster Jackson Evans.

The blackening of wheels and conn rods was a bit of an experiment, equal parts Humbrol Matt Black, Gunmetal and thinners - I think perhaps another application might be worthwhile but it's getting there...

My layout is too small for long trains, but it pulls four brass kit-built coaches round some very tight curves on a very low controller setting and seems perfectly happy, as am I .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chas Levin]

Here's an update on the ballast wagons shown further up the thread - now with axle-box covers. Thanks to Jonathan for posting the Hitchin pictures and pointing out this feature, which I'd forgotten about.

In case anyone's wondering, canvas or sacking covers were fitted over the axle boxes of ballast wagons to prevent dust from the ballast getting into the axle bearings during the frequent unloading of ballast along the line using the dropsides...

 

 

 

[Chas Levin]

Following on from Sunday's post, here's the double bolster set from the ballast train, now with the awful looking silver chains that came with the kit removed and Cambrian pre-blackened chains added, securing some rather rusty rails. The chains are glued to the rails after passing through the securing hoops, so the chains are actually securing them, leaving the bolster supports free to pivot when going round curves. The rails are ordinary Hornby nickel-silver, purposely patchily sprayed first with Halfords red primer and then with matt black, so that flecks of the metal still show through... Not perhaps the most authentic looking rolling stock but I think they're quite pleasing. These wagons and the ballast ones run very nicely, because I added brass bearings to what would otherwise have been axles running in plastic in the original Ratio design...

 

 

 

[Chas Levin]

Here's something rather different to my usual fare, part of a sideline project that's been on the back burner for ages. Having spent much of my childhood and early teenage years building Airfix WWII kits, I thought it might be fun to build two or three again, just to remind my self of what they're like. Hard to justify as part of a 1920s/30s LNER layout, but as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I also sometimes have 1950s BR running days and Continental European ones too, so an occasional WWII morning didn't seem to much of a stretch. I initially bought a Hattons Warwell (which is very nice) but then found the Genesis kits of Warflats and their accompanying Ramp wagons, ideal carriers for an Airfix tank or two . (I've since also discovered the Matador Models Warflats, yet to be ordered.

Having got used to brass and whitemetal, the Airfix kit seemed so much simpler: virtually all the detail is part of the main mouldings, so the total number of parts is very small compared to even the smallest etched wagon kit.

Without wishing to criticise, I have to say that not all the casts (in "high grade pewter" according to the instructions) were very crisp, accurate or even symmetrical, the end pieces and bogies in particular. But, this was only meant to be a quick build for fun, so I pressed on and everything went together easily (pewter solders with 70 degree as easily as whitemetal it seems). Transfers were another difficult area and in the end I extemporised using what I had to hand; I know these vehicles didn't have 'WARFLAT' on them, but so many other LNER freight vehicles had the wagon type marked that I couldn't resist making up the word from 'CONFLAT' and parts of other words on the HMRS LNER wagon sheet . The decking was fun: before making brass kits of teak coaches I'd have had no idea how to go about simulating wood on metal, whereas now I find it enormous fun, done here using a mix of Precision teaks with Ronseal Walnut varnish, a very thinned Humbrol black wash and Precision Matt Varnish on the top, while the nice military looking dark green is Humbrol 75.

The Churchill is being modelled with the side air intakes removed - I read that this was done as otherwise they'd have been outside the loading gauge - and looking at contemporary photos there appears to be some sort of panel or ledge covering the upper area of where they would sit, which is what the white parts are an attempt to replicate.

Here's progress so far - a Genesis FVF WW2 Warflat and MODA Ramp Wagon, plus a shot of the Churchill tank that will go on the Warflat when finished - photos of the completed ensemble to follow...

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Chas Levin

[micklner]

Wood should be shades of Grey , no idea why so many people use Teak and Mahogany colours for wagons,  r.t.r. do it as well !!

[jwealleans]

Are Genesis still making kits?  I haven't seen one for years.  I built their palbrick and LNER Steel High.  The kindest thing you could say that they were components to aid scratchbuilders.   Most of the range was much too modern for me.

[Chas Levin]

1 hour ago, micklner said:

Wood should be shades of Grey , no idea why so many people use Teak and Mahogany colours for wagons,  r.t.r. do it as well !!

 

I agree it's not actually very prototypical and after a bunch of military vehicles had been across I'm sure you're right that it should be grey or even black. I love the look of wood though, and the challenge and satisfaction of trying to replicate it in paint means I will always have a go if I can . 

 

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

Are Genesis still making kits?  I haven't seen one for years.  I built their palbrick and LNER Steel High.  The kindest thing you could say that they were components to aid scratchbuilders.   Most of the range was much too modern for me.

 

I'm not sure but I think so: I bought the Warflat several years ago in what I'd say was not new condition and can't now remember where, but the Ramp Wagon came from a model shop (H A Models I think) only last year and when I ordered it from their website with some other bits they said it was out of stock but they would be receiving new stock soon and after a few weeks it arrived and definitely looked in very new condition.

I don't think I'd quite go to the extent of the 'aid to scratch builders' category for these two kits (though it's a phrase which always makes me smile as it's so blunt, isn't it?) but I'd certainly have had my work cut out to turn these into really detailed vehicles... If I get hold of a Matador Warflat kit we can compare them!

[Chas Levin]

While waiting for the varnish to dry on the Churchill Tank before mounting it on the Warflat, I've made a start on the next build, a D&S kit of a GNR Open Carriage Truck - here's what comes in the kit:

Basic chassis and W-irons assembled, and a quick test fit:

 

I decided to model the early Type A single brake lever version, which necessitated a pause for research and questions and my thanks go out to JASd17 and Jonathan Wealleans on the LNER Forum for their help with photos and explanations. On previous builds, I've gone with rather incomplete brake rigging - provided it looks reasonable from normal viewing angles - in the interests of simplicity, speed and the ability to remove wheel sets later if needed. This time though, I thought I'd do a more complete job.

 

John (JASd17)'s build is the later Type B two lever version which seems to be more often seen generally, and that's the version shown in diagram form in this kit's instructions. However, Peter Tatlow's Southern Region LNER Wagons book has photos of GN 18 ft vented clerestory vans for various perishable goods (and an excellent diagram by Mr Tatlow), which use a similar single lever arrangement. That reminded me that I have a couple of D&S kits of these vans in my stash and I found that the instructions for them include a diagram of the single brake lever arrangement, so between that and the excellent photos kindly provided by John, progress (with apologies for the rather blobby soldering in places - some careful cleaning up will follow!):

 

The sides are whitemetal, so I tinned the top edges of the deck with 145 degree at this point:

 

I'll be diverging from the instructions' order of assembly slightly, in order to complete as much soldering as possible before inserting the wheels, and in order to complete all soldering before doing any gluing - I know that isn't always strictly necessary, but I always worry about possible weakening of glued bonds through heat.

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Chas Levin

[Chas Levin]

The Genesis Warflat now has its load, an Airfix Churchill tank. A nice trip down memory lane: I built an astonishing number of Airfix kits in my youth (as did many on this forum I expect), so a military transport train will be a nice way to incorporate a few into my railway activities...

Edited May 5, 2022 by Chas Levin

[Chas Levin]

Further progress on the OCT: deck united with chassis, sides and racks added, plus buffers, vac and Westinghouse cylinders:

 

 

 

This was an opportunity to improve my soldering skills in one particular way: I'd only ever tried soldering whitemetal to brass once before and always been a bit nervous of it, using araldite for whitemetal items such as buffers, cylinders and other underframe gubbins. But the cast sides of this wagon cried out for soldering... It was actually pretty fiddly, because of the necessity of keeping the sides precisely aligned with the edges of the deck in both horizontal directions, whilst exerting sufficient pressure to maintain close contact and keeping the sides absolutely perpendicular to the deck. Also, having assembled the deck to the chassis before adding the sides (to avoid the heat needed for fixing the deck affecting the deck-to-sides bonds) the combined deck plus chassis acted as a considerable heatsink. But it worked very well in the end, forming a good bond and almost entirely out of sight, so that there still appears to be a small gap between the sides and the deck along the outer edge, which of course there should be as these are hinged sides that could be let down on the prototype. Very nice, delicate cast sides by the way: this kit was from a recent D&S reissue and although I assume the moulds are quite old, there's no loss of definition.

 

Emboldened by this success, I decided to try soldering the brass racks to the sides and the whitemetal buffers, vac and Westinghouse cylinders to the brass chassis too. While they do show my habitual fault of using too much solder (from a nervous wish to be assured of a strong bond) at least it's all underneath and out of everyday sight. And it's so much easier and quicker than messing about with araldite! I always use the Standard 24 hour type, so buffers at both ends plus cylinders underneath means an extra three days... whereas we're now good to go with wheels and the rest of the brake linkage. 

Whether I'll have a go at soldering the cast axle boxes and shackles is a decision for later I think: the shackles I can see as possible, but with the axle boxes, there isn't a great deal of area to play with, or anywhere much to hide excess solder...

Edited May 5, 2022 by Chas Levin

[jwealleans]

For the axle boxes, Chas, put plenty of flux onto the W irons round the bearing, then with the box in place, hold a loaded iron down one side of the flange so you're touching both box and axleguard with it.  The solder should wick underneath the axlebox as the flux evaporates and appear at the other side.  

[Bucoops]

3 hours ago, jwealleans said:

For the axle boxes, Chas, put plenty of flux onto the W irons round the bearing, then with the box in place, hold a loaded iron down one side of the flange so you're touching both box and axleguard with it.  The solder should wick underneath the axlebox as the flux evaporates and appear at the other side.  

 

Interesting suggestion as I'd seen eleswhere (Wright Writes? Somewhere else?) that loading the iron when soldering whitemetal wasn't the way to do it. I tried that, failed abysmally. Eventually did exactly as above and it worked straight away.

[jwealleans]

I've read that instruction as well.   I'm largely self-taught when it comes to soldering and I've always done it as above.  If I had more hands, maybe the approved 'cut a small piece of solder and place it where you want to join' method might work better for me.

[Bucoops]

48 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

I've read that instruction as well.   I'm largely self-taught when it comes to soldering and I've always done it as above.  If I had more hands, maybe the approved 'cut a small piece of solder and place it where you want to join' method might work better for me.

 

Me too - although my Dad (ex-Marconi employee) first taught me the basics of electronics soldering. I then expanded to attempting to solder brass to brass and so on. Yeah I tried cut a piece off and place a few times, got nowhere!

[Chas Levin]

Thanks gents . 

 

5 hours ago, jwealleans said:

For the axle boxes, Chas, put plenty of flux onto the W irons round the bearing, then with the box in place, hold a loaded iron down one side of the flange so you're touching both box and axleguard with it.  The solder should wick underneath the axlebox as the flux evaporates and appear at the other side.  

 

I shall try this: it would be nice to know I've araldited my last axlebox! They have a tendency to move ever so slightly and gradually while the epoxy sets, necessitating frequent visits and adjustment... .

 

I learnt soldering for electronics purposes, where loading the iron is rarely done and heating the workpiece until the solder strand melts onto it is more the norm, plus of course the solder contains it's own flux, so model soldering involved some adjustments. I do love soldering though: it always seems a bit magical to me, and although I've read up on the science, I still can't fully get my head around how it actually works! But the speed, strength, accuracy and ability to adjust are so satisfying .

 

Just dealing at the moment with the last of the brake rigging, axle boxes to follow that...