4mm An EM Workbench: whitemetal double act

A Big Scammell (United Dairies)

AJC

Western Thunderer
Presuming the earlier-mentioned “20 plates” referred to a speed limit, the axle end speed swooshes in the advert must be a little... optimistic?

anyway, you’ve now got a number plate!

Atb
Simon

I do love the advertising retoucher's optimism! Actually, plates weren't a problem as there are dozens of these United Dairies Scammells preserved and most have kept their original registrations, but thanks to Tony I've now got a clear idea of what the back end should look like. No excuses, now!

Adam
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Fantastic work.

Thank you - I could complain that the manufacturer hadn't got it right in the first place, but I'm just pleased that they've done the hard bit and I've been able to make a model of a wagon type I've always liked (and which looks so unusual). I must make a load for it.

Adam
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
With the limited amounts of modelling time afforded by the resident small person, I'm trying to devote it to finishing things. Including this Austin FFK laast seen here: 4mm - An EM Workbench - Austin-tatious

FFK_007.jpg

I've reworked the flatbed with chains to represent a lorry in the churn collection business for Podimore's offstage dairy. The livery is imagined, but representative (though like M & A Shaw, Bateman of Pitney refers to someone I know rather than a genuine south Somerset haulier). This will need an awful lot of churns (about 70, which explains why you don't see these modelled too often - that's a lot of Dart Castings...).

Adam
 
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A Big Scammell (United Dairies)

AJC

Western Thunderer
Not the best but maybe better than nothing?

View attachment 123620

The lighting is nothing if not discrete!

View attachment 123621

With thanks to Tony, I've made some amendments and the trailer is now ready for primer and top coat. I'm running out of reasons not to tackle the mudguards on the tractor unit. It's not the mudguards themselves as much as attaching them to the chassis...

Scammell_Milk_010.jpg

Adam
 
A Big Scammell (United Dairies)

AJC

Western Thunderer
While I have conspicuously failed to get much modelling done of late, I have managed to paint the tanker half of the Scammell and it now looks like this:

Scammell_Milk_011.jpg

Scammell_Milk_012.jpg

The orange is a 50:50 mix of Humbrol 82 and 100 and the sheen courtesy of Klear, knocked back a bit with Halfords matt lacquer over white undercoat (the orange covers badly). I just need to get the tractor completed now...

Adam
 
A Big Scammell (United Dairies)

AJC

Western Thunderer
In between decorating to boy's bedroom (and plotting the accompanying transit of the modelling bench downstairs!), work continues on the Scammell MU tractor and, barring adding the offside stirrup step, it's ready for paint. The lightweight mudguards favoured by United Dairies were a puzzle and caused a few headaches. Firstly, there's the question of how to make the things - I've used two layers of 20 thou' curved and laminated together with the edges suitably thinned but fixing them put the project on ice for a couple of weeks. There's a reasonably obvious bracket at the front with I managed to fashion from a bit of scrap etch bent (the corner of the fret from some AMBIS coupling hooks) with the tail bent in an 'L' and let into a slot in the chassis. The end over the wheel was bent over just above the front wheel. The combination of that and bracing against the fuel tank on the driver's side was secure enough but on the offside I had to cheat. Here I superglued a bit of 20 thou' onto the tyre and epoxied and finally pinned the mudguard in place. The spacer should be lost in the gloom, I hope!

Scammell_Milk_013.jpg

Other details such as the foglights, side lamps and indicators were knocked up from scraps of plastic. I must remember to use white primer on the cab...

Scammell_Milk_014.jpg

Adam
 
Late-surviving LMS livery

AJC

Western Thunderer
In between finishing projects, and looking for photographic references, I've found what may be another one for a later date:

c.1957 - Harborne, Birmingham.

No, not the 2F, though I quite like them, but the LMS five plank, M4---33 (probably M401333), vacuum-fitted and displaying its as-built grey livery at least 30 years since it was released to traffic. A quite amazing survival, much like the tiny 2F... I guess that the BR numbering is on a bauxite patch and that would make an attractive model.

Adam
 

Allen M

Western Thunderer
Hi Adam
Reminded by your LMS wagon.
I started Kidderminster Collage, then on Hoo Road (site now covered by Collage Road) in September 1956. There was a pannier tank regularly shunting the yard. This had 'Great Western' clearly down the side tanks. The livery by then was predominately matt 'dark grey'. Sorry I don't know the number or actual class or how long it lasted as I moved to a different area of the collage by the following Spring.
Regards
Allen Morgan
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Hi Adam
Reminded by your LMS wagon.
I started Kidderminster Collage, then on Hoo Road (site now covered by Collage Road) in September 1956. There was a pannier tank regularly shunting the yard. This had 'Great Western' clearly down the side tanks. The livery by then was predominately matt 'dark grey'. Sorry I don't know the number or actual class or how long it lasted as I moved to a different area of the collage by the following Spring.
Regards
Allen Morgan

Thanks - I've not heard of a pannier with 'Great Western' in full on the tanks, but I do have a lovely colour shot of 8750 class 9635 (built 1946) with 'GWR' on the tanks in one of my books. I think that was at Liskeard, though it was an Exeter engine at the time. It later went to Taunton, prior to being shopped at Swindon in '63 whereupon it emerged looking much less interesting: 1963 - 57XX Overhaul... Looking at Ian Harrison's excellent recent book on the Chard branch, last night, it seems that Taunton had another pannier with 'GWR' on the tanks at the same time! I think it was 8783 - but that had been shedded at Swindon which might be a factor - 57xx 0-6-0PT | 8783 1950s Swindon station. Since I'm modelling somewhere that could have seen a Taunton pannier, had the branchline existed, one of these is on the list for my putative 'second 57xx', but that's also a fair way in the future.

There's a well-known example of a 3,500 gallon tender that lasted to the end with 'GWR' on it (hung on the back of a Manor, latterly, I think - @oldravendale might have seen that one) and a 74xx that worked in N. Wales and I'm sure there were others. These survivors are quite intriguing - I'm not aware that the Southern had any locos in pre-Nationalisation livery after 1960; the Terrier, 'Brighton Works' doesn't count (even though I've modelled it!).

Adam

EDIT - the 74xx was 7428, seen here at Aberystwyth: 74xx 0-6-0PT | 7428 1960s Aberystwyth

FURTHER EDIT - the Manor with 'GWR' on the tender was 'Frilsham Manor': 7816 'Frilsham Manor'. Swindon. 20 September 1964
 
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Late-surviving LMS livery

Overseer

Western Thunderer
In between finishing projects, and looking for photographic references, I've found what may be another one for a later date:

c.1957 - Harborne, Birmingham.

No, not the 2F, though I quite like them, but the LMS five plank, M4---33 (probably M401333), vacuum-fitted and displaying its as-built grey livery at least 30 years since it was released to traffic. A quite amazing survival, much like the tiny 2F... I guess that the BR numbering is on a bauxite patch and that would make an attractive model.

Adam
That is interesting, as is the Harborne branch which could be a nice prototype to model with a bit of compression in O. Have you seen the colourised version of the same photo on Warwickshire Railways website? It doesn't have a bauxite patch but then who knows whether it was black or bauxite. The Diagram 1892 wagons were built between 1934 and 1939 in vacuum and hand braked versions so not quite 30 years old in 1957. 22 or 23 years is still a long time for the paint to last in reasonable condition in service. Btw John Turner notes the number as M401033 on Flickr. Maybe the surprising thing is that more wagons didn't survive with the large letter liveries - if built in 1934/5 they would have been due for overhaul and painting during the war so wouldn't have been repainted when overhauled. Maybe the vacuum braked wagons were treated better than unbraked wagons. Many non-ex PO wagons seem to have been repainted in the early 1950s so lost the earlier liveries.
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the mention, Adam, but nothing in my collection with GWR or "Great Western". Certainly they were recorded from time to time.

It's also notable, as you've said, that the Southern locos seem to have had their original lettering covered up pretty quickly, and I never saw a BR(M) or BR(E) loco with original lettering either. I've a few shots of GW and Southern locos/tenders in Barry scrapyard where the original lettering is leaching through the BR paintwork, though.

Brian
 
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Late-surviving LMS livery

AJC

Western Thunderer
That is interesting, as is the Harborne branch which could be a nice prototype to model with a bit of compression in O. Have you seen the colourised version of the same photo on Warwickshire Railways website? It doesn't have a bauxite patch but then who knows whether it was black or bauxite. The Diagram 1892 wagons were built between 1934 and 1939 in vacuum and hand braked versions so not quite 30 years old in 1957. 22 or 23 years is still a long time for the paint to last in reasonable condition in service. Btw John Turner notes the number as M401033 on Flickr. Maybe the surprising thing is that more wagons didn't survive with the large letter liveries - if built in 1934/5 they would have been due for overhaul and painting during the war so wouldn't have been repainted when overhauled. Maybe the vacuum braked wagons were treated better than unbraked wagons. Many non-ex PO wagons seem to have been repainted in the early 1950s so lost the earlier liveries.

You're quite right - a mental bock after a day trying to wrangle work and a baby. Justin Newitt does an etched conversion kit for the dia. 1892 which provides build details as part of the instructions: http://website.rumneymodels.co.uk/w...53A-Rumney-Models-LMS-Open-Wagon-Body-Kit.pdf

There weren't many fitted examples (2,000 of 16,500) - and this one was as the J hangers demonstrate - and the number range seems to indicate that these were from 1934 (per this Paul Bartlett image: LMS & MR open merchandise - 5 & 1 plank OWV ZGO ZGV | DM401398 [2]), so c.23 years old. There's evidence of a new plank on the inside of the visible end, but really it's in remarkable condition.

Adam
 
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