4mm An EM Workbench: Mineral allsorts
- Thread starter AJC
- Start date
AJC
Western Thunderer
There were a few pinholes and they annoyed me, but I erred on a minimal treatment in the end. The condition will be more '80s than late '50s/early '60s, but I don't suppose anyone will really notice. Now, do I have transfers...
Adam
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
I suppose in reality once in service and in daily use it wouldn't have taken long for a mineral or hopper wagon to show signs of heavy usage.
AJC
Western Thunderer
Yes, though bowing and buckling of sheet on hoppers seems to have taken a while; they were necessarily heavily built. Grab loading has markedly different effects on wagons (lots more bashing of the top edges than you get with chutes from crushers, for example), but the bowing of sheeting happened relatively fast in regular service.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
You should - they’re fairly affordable and enjoyable. Any of the 8 shoe AVB designs would be a good option, as they’re the ones that have the greatest visual impact for the effort, I think. They are also the most straightforward, in my view. You can (as I said in MRJ), just use a 0.5mm drill for everything and it will be fine…
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
Three rescued wagons, all ready for the stock box. Nothing very exciting about any of them, though the meat van is a bit out of the ordinary (note that it's in normal traffic, the label is for dog food and has been shoved between the sheeting and the strapping - which you could certainly do, and has creased a bit in the weather...).
The Ratio Mogo is more or less straight and is modelled fairly clean - we sometimes forget this sort of thing and model everything to uniform standards, be that grot or more or less ex-works - there were always contrasts.
And finally, an ex-Stephenson, Clarke RCH PO which looks, well, pretty grotty. Note that the end door stripe is above the strapping, rather than on it, a prototype variant. I’ve added the bottom door lever, as well, but you can barely see it. The original builder did quite a nice job of that.
Adam
The Ratio Mogo is more or less straight and is modelled fairly clean - we sometimes forget this sort of thing and model everything to uniform standards, be that grot or more or less ex-works - there were always contrasts.
And finally, an ex-Stephenson, Clarke RCH PO which looks, well, pretty grotty. Note that the end door stripe is above the strapping, rather than on it, a prototype variant. I’ve added the bottom door lever, as well, but you can barely see it. The original builder did quite a nice job of that.
Adam
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David Geen NER G2 van
AJC
Western Thunderer
So, what have I bought? It is EM, whitemetal, assembled with, I'm fairly certain, superglue, and yes, one end has come off, hence the incredibly low price. For some reason, it's also lined with plastic sheet. Obviously, this is another destined for the '30s freight train.
So what is it? I *think* that it's a NER G2 (assuming that any were vacuum-fitted) and, given the all whitemetal construction, is probably by someone like David Geen (not 51L, unless it was dropped from the range for some reason), rather than D&S and I don't think Adrian Swain did one - the pattern making doesn't look like his work, though it's pretty good. I see that @Rob Pulham has made an unfitted version in 7mm: NER Vans to the fore. | Railway Models and Art Blog and that something that looks like our van survived as an internal user into the '80s: 041266 - departmentals.com
Questions: Is that correct? If so, does anyone have the relevant volume of Tatlow and can tell me more about the real thing (numbers, build dates, etc.? Would it have had the roof opening by the mid 1930s and what colour would a fitted pre-grouping vehicle be? Bauxite I suppose?
Any answers?
Adam
PS - there is an ABS vacuum cylinder though. It's mounted upside down...
So what is it? I *think* that it's a NER G2 (assuming that any were vacuum-fitted) and, given the all whitemetal construction, is probably by someone like David Geen (not 51L, unless it was dropped from the range for some reason), rather than D&S and I don't think Adrian Swain did one - the pattern making doesn't look like his work, though it's pretty good. I see that @Rob Pulham has made an unfitted version in 7mm: NER Vans to the fore. | Railway Models and Art Blog and that something that looks like our van survived as an internal user into the '80s: 041266 - departmentals.com
Questions: Is that correct? If so, does anyone have the relevant volume of Tatlow and can tell me more about the real thing (numbers, build dates, etc.? Would it have had the roof opening by the mid 1930s and what colour would a fitted pre-grouping vehicle be? Bauxite I suppose?
Any answers?
Adam
PS - there is an ABS vacuum cylinder though. It's mounted upside down...
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AJC
Western Thunderer
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
Rob beat me to it. I have the Tatlow volume so if there is anything that I can add that Rob hasn't covered let me know.
I have a Meteor brass kit for one of these to build at some point too.
I have a Meteor brass kit for one of these to build at some point too.
AJC
Western Thunderer
Two more rescued wagons complete (though the RCH 7 plank needs coal). The Ratio van needed nothing more than new brakegear and a replacement roof, as the moulded one was always too small. Being full of plasticine it didn't require weighting and I've finished it as one of the early batches of dia. 1897. One of the curiosities of that diagram is that the first couple of lots were finished in grey, while the remainder, as this one, came out in brown (Precision Paints - I think this is closer to correct than the Railmatch version) with the lettering as shown being outshopped late in 1936. The Cory vehicle has been seen before and is now tidied up and weathered.
Also bound for the stockbox is a Delay Repay special (South Eastern pay for some of these indulgences via a special fund...), in the form of this Evans & Bevan GRC&W 7 plank. No special reason for this, other than POWSIDES do the lettered Slater's kit and I like the livery.
Adam
Also bound for the stockbox is a Delay Repay special (South Eastern pay for some of these indulgences via a special fund...), in the form of this Evans & Bevan GRC&W 7 plank. No special reason for this, other than POWSIDES do the lettered Slater's kit and I like the livery.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
Two departmentals with GW ancestry, now finally finished. the Herring has appeared recently and is the Rumney Models kit - must get a shot with it next to the earlier GWR P7 I've done since that reflects the prototype images I used:
The Grampus has been waiting on finishing for a while, while I sorted out the cast plates these had. Yes, you can get etched ones, but they're not to scale and don't fit.
The offset 'Broad Clyst' lettering is based on what the SR did, at least for Redbridge as this image (at Minffordd, Ffestiniog Railway of all places - presumably delivering spent BR ballast for reuse - @James Spooner might like this) demonstrates:
Adam
The Grampus has been waiting on finishing for a while, while I sorted out the cast plates these had. Yes, you can get etched ones, but they're not to scale and don't fit.
The offset 'Broad Clyst' lettering is based on what the SR did, at least for Redbridge as this image (at Minffordd, Ffestiniog Railway of all places - presumably delivering spent BR ballast for reuse - @James Spooner might like this) demonstrates:
Adam
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
Nice work Adam! Love the way they look properly workstained
AJC
Western Thunderer
Thank you - that was the intention! There's no such thing as a clean P Way vehicle, after all.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
Hi Graham - the etched plates weren't via Justin (who'd make them right), but 247 Developments - the 'Grampus' plate didn't fit between the strapping... I haven't got the regional allocation plate quite right, so I may revisit that.
Adam
James Spooner
Western Thunderer
Thanks Adam! One of the last uses in the UK of different gauge transhipment I suspect. The FR interchange sidings at Minffordd were used both ways originally (narrow to standard gauge as well as vice versa) but latterly were used for spent ballast and coal. When the FR converted to oil (fully oil by 1973) the sidings became disused and were lifted. Much of the infrastructure is still in place, just not much standard gauge track - and nothing linked to the Cambrian Coast line.
Nigel
David Geen NER G2 van
AJC
Western Thunderer
A few posts ago, a rather sorry specimen was presented: 4mm - An EM Workbench: Two Departmentals. Having looked still more sorry, and then found itself a collection of bits at the bottom of a jam jar in cellulose thinners, things are looking up:
The black paint on the underframe proved rather stubborn, and I'm not so worried about that: I've only taken it off as a conscious effort when it would interfere with solder. Since it is now all soldered together, I have more things to do. The headstocks need to be thickened up a bit, I haven't found an image of one of these with J hanger springs so I have replaced those with plain ones - for which I do have an image - and once that's done, I can get it on its wheels.
Adam
The black paint on the underframe proved rather stubborn, and I'm not so worried about that: I've only taken it off as a conscious effort when it would interfere with solder. Since it is now all soldered together, I have more things to do. The headstocks need to be thickened up a bit, I haven't found an image of one of these with J hanger springs so I have replaced those with plain ones - for which I do have an image - and once that's done, I can get it on its wheels.
Adam