4mm An EM Workbench: Mini-Signwriting (rough)
- Thread starter AJC
- Start date
AJC
Western Thunderer
After RailWells a spot of playing trains at the Yeovil Model Railway Group.
Resignalling will likely do away with this smart Midland Railway bracket - the branch is lifted and the right hand doll gone. The traffic seems somewhat south Walian. 6680 in the down yard headshunt:
D9514 on steel empties - it's a long way to Ebbw Vale.
Adam
Resignalling will likely do away with this smart Midland Railway bracket - the branch is lifted and the right hand doll gone. The traffic seems somewhat south Walian. 6680 in the down yard headshunt:
D9514 on steel empties - it's a long way to Ebbw Vale.
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
Not a lot of modelling going on just lately, and the 'something different' has gone precisely nowhere at all. So, more wagons, a chance acquisition from the vast collection of bits and bobs picked up by a recently deceased club member, to whit, three RCH minerals, two 7 planks from Slaters and an 8 plank without end doors from a very early Cambrian kit. As befits wagons acquired from a former union rep, these will be finished as part of my NCB internal user fleet.
Both kits are, in fact, excellent and flawed in different ways: the Cambrian kit includes all the details, inside and out and goes together very well. Age, unfortunately, had not been kind to the plastic and the underframe was far too brittle to use. The Slaters versions didn't have that problem, but lacked any internal detail above floor level. Sorting underframes is much easier...
On the outside - much as Slaters intended, capping irons apart. Not so inside, enough boltheads to make you wonder why you started...
A review of the fleet:
Adam
Both kits are, in fact, excellent and flawed in different ways: the Cambrian kit includes all the details, inside and out and goes together very well. Age, unfortunately, had not been kind to the plastic and the underframe was far too brittle to use. The Slaters versions didn't have that problem, but lacked any internal detail above floor level. Sorting underframes is much easier...
On the outside - much as Slaters intended, capping irons apart. Not so inside, enough boltheads to make you wonder why you started...
A review of the fleet:
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
A little further on, bothe Slater's versions are almost there, just levers (CraigWelsh via Scalefour Society, as are the guides, which are a complete pain - they would have been better and less failure prone in brass) and bottom door catches to go:
The Cambrian wagon, however, is a little further behind for want of brakegear. I'm sure I have some somewhere...
Adam
The Cambrian wagon, however, is a little further behind for want of brakegear. I'm sure I have some somewhere...
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
And part 2a - the miserable weather, editing and the Test Match mean that the Slater's pair, at least, are complete and, subseqently, in primer. Bored yet?
Same but different - capping irons on the vehicle on the right, extant bottom door gear on the left - internal users often lost this since there was seldom much use for the feature, but the brackets for the monkey tail handles were often retained. See these Paul Bartlett pictures by way of examples:
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/cadebycolliery/h129cc526#h129cc526
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/cadebycolliery/h129cc526#h1869f91b
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/wakefieldstjohncolliery/h134d79f9#h134d79f9
Thanks as ever to @hrmspaul for the pictures.
Adam
Same but different - capping irons on the vehicle on the right, extant bottom door gear on the left - internal users often lost this since there was seldom much use for the feature, but the brackets for the monkey tail handles were often retained. See these Paul Bartlett pictures by way of examples:
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/cadebycolliery/h129cc526#h129cc526
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/cadebycolliery/h129cc526#h1869f91b
http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/wakefieldstjohncolliery/h134d79f9#h134d79f9
Thanks as ever to @hrmspaul for the pictures.
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
And here we go - as I recall, Parkside kits in 7mm give you quite a nice moulding for these bits so here is my representation.
If you imagine the scribed line as the rear of the solebar, the three 0.5mm holes are drilled thus. Two triangles of 10 thou' (probably 100% overscale, but there you are) flank the pair of holes as shown.
Next, twist a length of 5A fuse wire or similar around a drill or cocktail stick to form a representation of chain and locate in the rear hole, a length of 0.3mm wire goes in the front to form the handle and both are secured with a drop of cyano'. It takes moments really, but is a total pain to photograph. Hope that helps?
Adam
If you imagine the scribed line as the rear of the solebar, the three 0.5mm holes are drilled thus. Two triangles of 10 thou' (probably 100% overscale, but there you are) flank the pair of holes as shown.
Next, twist a length of 5A fuse wire or similar around a drill or cocktail stick to form a representation of chain and locate in the rear hole, a length of 0.3mm wire goes in the front to form the handle and both are secured with a drop of cyano'. It takes moments really, but is a total pain to photograph. Hope that helps?
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
A little way down the line and all three are wearing their final livery colours - a nice faded red (Humbrol matt wine, #78) which is standard for my internal user fleet though there are a couple of vehicles in black, because, well, I can. They'll be left to harden up for a while until I can face the hand lettering job.
I probably have enough internals now for any layout I am likely to have time/space to make but never say never; I'd really like an archaic, dumb-buffered survivor at some point, but that might be pushing my luck in terms of real worl plausibility!
Decks clear for other things now, the hoods on those Coil Rs for starters.
Adam
I probably have enough internals now for any layout I am likely to have time/space to make but never say never; I'd really like an archaic, dumb-buffered survivor at some point, but that might be pushing my luck in terms of real worl plausibility!
Decks clear for other things now, the hoods on those Coil Rs for starters.
Adam
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Coil Wagons
AJC
Western Thunderer
So, I've finally completed construction of my pair of Coil Rs and - a big moment of truth - applied primer. This has revealed a number of areas where additional work is required. This was expected and as you may be able to tell, is focussed on the vertical corners of the hood. I'm quite pleased with the ends and have now patched in with some filler, a touch of 5 minute epoxy (good for simulating folds, if you're careful) and the whole blended together with PVA. That was all after this pair of rather indifferent images were taken but hopefully they demonstrate the effect.
Time for another coat of primer - and a tidy up and more primer - well, as soon as the rain stops. Again.
Adam
Time for another coat of primer - and a tidy up and more primer - well, as soon as the rain stops. Again.
Adam
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Coil Wagons
AJC
Western Thunderer
And here we go, before the rain started again, one of the pair fully primed with the underframe sprayed black - solebars will be freight brown, hoods dark grey. I'm quite pleased thus far.
The detail shot below shows how neat and tidy the Rumney Models bits look under a coat of paint.
And finally, my Coil C, replete with a coat of paint and its bolster pins. I'm really pleased with how this one came out.
Adam
The detail shot below shows how neat and tidy the Rumney Models bits look under a coat of paint.
And finally, my Coil C, replete with a coat of paint and its bolster pins. I'm really pleased with how this one came out.
Adam
Hornby 21 ton hopper
AJC
Western Thunderer
While I was taking pictures, I dug the Hornby 21 tonner which I'd finished but not recorded.
The interior was especially nice, all those lovely rivets, and I think it's come out well.
The RCH minerals have also come along a bit. Two will be fairly tidy, the third a bit of a heap. Here's the state of play earlier; the internal user crosses were applied using a mapping pen and (permanent) ink. This gave a very neat result.
And here's the tatty one after a second pass of weathering. The first was a coat of overall grime, based on the gunmetal/light grey/matt leather combo that I used on the interior. I think this left the wagon looking a bit flat.
Here it is after varying the density of the red and reinstating it on the corner plates. The same matt wine was used with a smidge of light grey to suggest fading. Note the spring on the left appears to have been squashed - this is a cock up which will become a feature. A chalk mark pointing out the broken spring will be added per this Gordon Edgar shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/5783756730/in/album-72157626724121567/
Next, lettering.
Adam
The interior was especially nice, all those lovely rivets, and I think it's come out well.
The RCH minerals have also come along a bit. Two will be fairly tidy, the third a bit of a heap. Here's the state of play earlier; the internal user crosses were applied using a mapping pen and (permanent) ink. This gave a very neat result.
And here's the tatty one after a second pass of weathering. The first was a coat of overall grime, based on the gunmetal/light grey/matt leather combo that I used on the interior. I think this left the wagon looking a bit flat.
Here it is after varying the density of the red and reinstating it on the corner plates. The same matt wine was used with a smidge of light grey to suggest fading. Note the spring on the left appears to have been squashed - this is a cock up which will become a feature. A chalk mark pointing out the broken spring will be added per this Gordon Edgar shot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/5783756730/in/album-72157626724121567/
Next, lettering.
Adam
Dan Randall
Western Thunderer
Nice weathering Adam. 
Regards
Dan
Regards
Dan
AJC
Western Thunderer
Thanks Dan, and all the people who taken the trouble to look in. Just for comparison, here's the tatty vehicle at stage 1 of weathering - basically an application of grot (gunmetal, light grey, matt leather) applied and wiped off. Quite effective?
And here's the same side after working back in to suggest faded paint (as shown above), with additional rusting on the corner plates and lettering.
The effect of the pigment from the white lettering washing down the wagon side is very common in pictures. I managed it by letting the satin white enamel go touch dry before running a brush dampened with thinners over it. And the other side:
The wagon examiner couldn't find his chalk this morning so the broken spring will have to wait.
Adam
And here's the same side after working back in to suggest faded paint (as shown above), with additional rusting on the corner plates and lettering.
The effect of the pigment from the white lettering washing down the wagon side is very common in pictures. I managed it by letting the satin white enamel go touch dry before running a brush dampened with thinners over it. And the other side:
The wagon examiner couldn't find his chalk this morning so the broken spring will have to wait.
Adam
Overseer
Western Thunderer
Hi Adam
The minerals are looking good but the high sun position has emphasised the lack of depth of the hinges on the Cambrian kit. The corner plates, diagonals and the washer plates either side of the door look good, and about scale thickness but the hinge straps on the side doors should be thicker at the bottom and the hinge more pronounced. The Slaters wagon hinges look better, although the other external ironwork is a bit too heavy. Chris Crofts' articles in MRJ numbers 12, 13 & 14 are still the most useful source of PO wagon detail. You have found the difference between the spring shoes for 12" timber solebars and the taller shoes for 9" steel solebars but as you know almost anything could be possible on NCB internal user wagons.
Sorry, I didn't mean to criticise. They will all look good together in their decrepitude. Your lettering is looking good, what are you using to write with?
The minerals are looking good but the high sun position has emphasised the lack of depth of the hinges on the Cambrian kit. The corner plates, diagonals and the washer plates either side of the door look good, and about scale thickness but the hinge straps on the side doors should be thicker at the bottom and the hinge more pronounced. The Slaters wagon hinges look better, although the other external ironwork is a bit too heavy. Chris Crofts' articles in MRJ numbers 12, 13 & 14 are still the most useful source of PO wagon detail. You have found the difference between the spring shoes for 12" timber solebars and the taller shoes for 9" steel solebars but as you know almost anything could be possible on NCB internal user wagons.
Sorry, I didn't mean to criticise. They will all look good together in their decrepitude. Your lettering is looking good, what are you using to write with?
AJC
Western Thunderer
Hi Fraser, no offence taken; you are quite correct, of course. I will have to attend to the hinges and touch up accordingly since they will come to bother me. I confess that I should have spotted that earlier. One of the difficulties of 4mm wagons - though Chris Crofts certainly had the skill to address this (and had the advantage of starting from scratch) - is in the thickness of materials though this is emphasised by the lighting and the fact that even on my laptop the wagons appear larger than actual size. Those spring castings are a touch generously proportioned as well.
The Coil C a couple of posts up suffers the same problem - those ribs should probably scale at 5 thou' which is obviously impractical, at least in plastic, and the moulded ribs on the Hornby hopper are even more noticeable and both would defy thinning (I toyed with replacement for precisely this reason). That said, in the context of a train, on a layout, all this sort of thing just disappears but not to the extent that you would be able to get away with omitting it.
Adam
The Coil C a couple of posts up suffers the same problem - those ribs should probably scale at 5 thou' which is obviously impractical, at least in plastic, and the moulded ribs on the Hornby hopper are even more noticeable and both would defy thinning (I toyed with replacement for precisely this reason). That said, in the context of a train, on a layout, all this sort of thing just disappears but not to the extent that you would be able to get away with omitting it.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
So I added some nuggets of 20 thou' to represent the hinges and the wagon looks much better for them. Thanks @Overseer for the feedback.
The Slaters' pair have also emerged from weathering and all three are ready for traffic. What next? I'll have a think while you're all up at Telford.
Adam
The Slaters' pair have also emerged from weathering and all three are ready for traffic. What next? I'll have a think while you're all up at Telford.
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
Sorry Fraser, neglected to answer this one - Humbrol satin white applied with a very small sable brush. I'm trying to teach myself hand lettering with the mapping pen and ink but I'm not quite there yet.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
Hopefully a quickie project, from the same estate collection as the RCH minerals, is equipping an old Mainline (or was it Airfix?) fruit van. A lovely looking moulding, it is, in fact, a bit long and a bit wide, but frankly, this bothers me not one jot. The chassis mouldings come from a scrap Ratio van and a spare Parkside floor. Some previous owner had attempted to improve the original chassis with ABS brakegear and buffers and I will reuse both - I've already fitted the brakes. The tiebars are my usual lengths of brass angle.
Just visible to the left is the chassis from one of a batch of Palbricks (4 off). I think this one is the Palbrick A...
Adam
Just visible to the left is the chassis from one of a batch of Palbricks (4 off). I think this one is the Palbrick A...
Adam