4mm An EM Workbench: Mini-Signwriting (rough)

[AJC]

An update on my Italian ferry van from plastic sheet, last seen here. As can be seen below, the bare carcass now has all the various framing, the double skin on the roof and a start made on the door fixtures. Most of this is from Evergreen strip, though in the case of the hinge detail, the 10 thou' thickness has been sanded back a little: it will still be over scale! Next on the agenda are the remaining door details before I think more about the underframe.



The overall impression is pleasing, but the truth of how well I've done will be seen only when it ends up in primer. In the meantime, here's what it's supposed to end up like - in silver!



Italian Vans at Hove Station, 30 June 1966 by Ian Nolan, on Flickr

Adam

 

[AJC]

A couple of updates from the wagon shop. First, the Ferry van has acquired the first of its strapping - T section from 5 thou' and 10 thou' strip with the corners from 5 thou'. Yes, they really did have that half-way up arrangement in the middle.



Something ready for painting - a modified grain hopper: new brake shoes situated close to the wheels being the biggest change and lots of tiny grabs.



Re-lettering and weathering to go.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Not a lot of modelling on the agenda just lately but I have managed to progress a few things, just a little bit. Hence, here we have the three opens which now all have door springs (of different patterns - scrap etch in the case of the GW pair and spares from Rumney Models for the BR one).



The GW opens, being modelled on earlier versions of the GW 5 and half plank, have necessitated more modifications with more to come. The most obvious are the capping clips which I have done in this instance by cutting slots in the top edge with a razor saw and fitting little bits of 20 thou' plastic solvent-welded in. This idea came from Colin Parks and works quite well; it's certainly less fiddly than mucking about with 5 thou'. The protector plate on the door has been moved closer to the centre line to match the door spring (itself moved in order to make way for the vac' cylinder).



The other side of the same wagon - the prototype picture I'm following shows different types of tie-down cleats at different points on the same side - the round ones are from Rumney Models' etch for tarp' rail details - and different capping clips (that type will be better rendered using 5 thou' strip). Almost time for brake levers and then, paint!



That's all for another time. Meanwhile, it's currently dry and Cricket is calling...

Adam

 

[AJC]

Inching forward now, and the GW pair have taken the lead, arriving at the primer stage. I'm quite pleased with the little rope cleats which I've done using little bits of 10 thou' solvent welded in place and, once set, pinched at the ends with pliers.





The BR hybar hasn't got to the same stage just yet, but it's getting there and really, all that's left to do is the tarp' bar which will be a bit of a fiddle involving flattening and drilling 0.7mm brass - the scale of the challenge is here:

Wagon details - PO mineral and other parts



So, all good fun.

Adam

PS - I had my usual cursory flick through Model Rail in Smiths earlier and to my surprise and pleasure I note that in the next edition (225) Yeovil MRG's South Junction will appear in all it's Chris Nevard photographed glory. The preview pic' inside the rear cover shows dad's BRCW type 3 and a collection of our wagons. That same type 3 featured in Railway Modeller about twenty five or so years back with a 'coming soon' tag. We live in hope on that one...

 

[AJC]

Escaping the unexpected heat this afternoon, following the addition of livery colour and a first pass on the underframes, the GW opens have been given identities or, in one case, a couple of identities based on the wagon illustrated in the picture below. This has been extensively replanked including planks from some other vehicle, retaining its original lettering:

4F 44603 taking water nr. Nottingham. Jun'64.



The lettering is a mix of Modelmaster's ex Cambrian sheet and Cambridge Custom Transfers, the arrangement being based on photos.



Finally, with the load for one posed and the first pass weathering painting in the replaced planks. Already two near identical wagons look slightly different.

Adam

 

[AJC]

This particular pair of wagons are now complete and have been snapped in the sunshine. There's a grain and a covhop to finish weathering now but they're a little way off, awaiting paint to dry.





Adam

 

[AJC]

The end of a rather protracted project is always satisfying and so it is with this pair of rod coil conversions. These Coil S have led me a merry dance over the last few years requiring rebuilds, rethinks and several bouts of despair at ever starting the wretched things. The most recent round was brought about by the loads; coils of steel rod are the very devil to model and, having toyed with mucking about with fuse wire, I gave up and bought some very reasonable resin mouldings from DUHA (courtesy of P&H Models - usual disclaimer, but excellent service). These are designed for HO but are about the right size for my purposes.

Here's one as supplied - the colouring is less than convincing as I'm modelling new coils!



An idea of what they should look like can be had from Paul Bartlett's galleries: BR Rod Coil S - open merchandise conversion KSV | E275264 KSV

I've spliced several together and repainted them with Humbrol no. 53 gunmetal followed up with dark and rust coloured washes with a bit of dry brushing to follow. My pair are modelled shortly after conversion in 1970 so are - relatively - clean.







I've only just noted that the screw coupling has gone and tied itself in knots. Oops.

Adam

 

[AJC]

It's a hot day with good light and I'm working from home. So in my screen break, I've done a little weathering on things that are to be presented as 'clean' because recently built or converted. The Coil Rs, following running trials, have gained some rubbing blocks to level the bogies at one end and thus to keep the buffers level too. They seem to have been converted in the very late '60s and the Thomas Hill 0-6-0DH built from c. 1970 and thus exist at the very margin of my modelling period.



The weathering consists simply of washes of matt chocolate, metalcote gunmetal and a touch of matt leather, applied and then mostly cleaned away.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Clearly there's something in the air, because here's another completed wagon, a Parkside BR hybar titivated with Rumney Models tarp rail. These are lovely etchings and work rather like the prototype, even locking in place. They'd be a good thing to scale up to 7mm I think...



Having reworked a couple of these kits into other variants, it was good to build one, more or less, as Parkside intended. Now it's time for paint...

Adam

 

[AJC]

I always enjoy your posts Adam. It's good to see as much detail and research going into a humble wagon as is more often put into the motive power.

Richard

Thanks Richard. Ah, well, as I've written before my perspective is a bit different; wagons are to point of the railway and locomotives came along later. Most modellers have this the wrong way about.

The latest contribution to that maxim is further development on the Italian ferry van, preparatory work for the roof:



The false roof that will sit on top of these ribs will be 40 thou' and, as can be seen, will be well-vented.



Also added are the curious things below the buffers - they're often referred to as lashing points but photos of the wagons show that they were never used for that on train ferries at least. Lots more detail still to add, of course.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Still scratching around post-house move, but I've now found my batch of open highs. These have, in consequence, inched forwards a little. All now have basic brakegear, door securing chains and vacuum pipes (with dummy connectors in two different lengths - the longer ones seem to have been a Western thing).



Note the holes drilled for lamp irons and tarp' bar mechanism. This one will also have spindle buffers when I can find a whole set...



The BR one also uses the brakegear from the kit: the remaining pair use ABS whitemetal versions which will receive separate safety loops. The door spring protector plate has been moved across a smidge because the vac' cylinder forces the door spring across towards the centre line (the BR one is still to be done).



Onwards and upwards.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Just fettling the side panels on the first of the Palbricks. It's going to take a while to finish all four...



And also, courtesy of this picture taken at Hove in 1966 and found on Flickr - https://www.flickr.c...57635467172110/and some extremely useful gen from Jonathan Wealleans, an Italian ferry van, or at least, the birthpangs of one in sheet plastic. Reshaping the Bill Bedford W irons took longer than the plastic work, the joy of working in 60 thou' sheet. Detail overlays to follow.





I think I've also found a source of 1m (scale) diameter wheels in 4mm...

Adam

 

[AJC]

Some time back, I finished a model of a Chas Roberts slope-sided mineral a while ago - 4mm - An EM workbench - Palbrick and Tomatoes | Page 17 | Western Thunder - I was interested to note that the HMRS photo' collections has a large number of Chas Roberts' official photos. There are some variants here which I was totally unaware... Here's what I produced:



Here's a 'normal' one: http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAT607.jpg

Here is what mine would originally have looked like (part of the Chas Roberts hire fleet):

http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAT618.jpg

http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAT635.jpg

Pressed steel side doors, continental-style axleguards, reversed solebars. Quite exotic. More exotic is this:

http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAT615.jpg

I've never seen one with top cupboard doors like that...

Adam

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Lovely work, Adam. As always.

Regarding the Chas. Roberts wagons, Paul Bartlett posted this interesting end door:

HMRS: Information on photograph<br>reference number: AAS518

On the BR_wagon_research Yahoo Group yesterday. A lightweight jobbie according to the other phots:


http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAS516.jpg
http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/images/1200px/AAS519.jpg

Cheers

Jan

 

[AJC]

Hi Mick,

Yes, I gathered that you'd been away (glad to see you back).

The Chas Roberts wagon I built is based on a vehicle pictured in those very Modeller's Backtrack articles. I've posted pictures of the finished vehicle earlier in the thread but I'll post it again at the bottom of this one, though I don't seem to have taken any pictures since I lettered it. Seemingly, Chas Roberts built a batch with the 'continental' axleguards for their own hire fleet and I'd quite like to do one in 7mm - I've got the bits for a couple lurking in the bottom drawer, left over from a club competition - but I hadn't seen the cupboard door version before yesterday. Thinking about it, the idea isn't so odd, there were wooden-built wagons with top cupboard doors like that; some appear in John Hayes's book on 4mm Coal Wagons (Wild Swan) and I guess it's just a variant on the top flaps that all those thousands of BR 1/108s had.

Modelling the '60s, as I do, quite a lot of these variants had gone but the Yeovil club's 7mm layout 'The Summit' is short of wagons so I might try one or two in that scale, lettered for the Chas Roberts fleet. Don't hold your breath on those, however!



Adam

 

[AJC]

Meanwhile, my little Italian ferry van has inched forward a little. The extent is limited: just bracing and internal reinforcement - the vehicle now consists of a 60 thou' carcass with a 40 thou' outer layer. I'd have been better off using 40 thou' for the ends and 60 thou' for the sides since this would have saved a fair bit of plastic for no discernible loss of rigidity, but never mind. Just behind the basic body you can see the false ceiling that will go on top preventing the sides from bowing inwards - the holes are to allow the solvent fumes to evaporate off and there are similar ones in the floor. Having reached this stage, it will be allowed to harden off for a week or two.



So far, so tidy.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Way back when, I made some steps towards a model of one of my favourite prototypes, a Brighton Terrier. Those wagons won't move themselves...

It all looked quite good, but led me a merry dance trying to get it to actually run. So, bullet bitten, I've striped it down and started again using conventional compensation rather than the whizzy fully comp' version I'd intended and some Comet frames. These are dimensionally sound but have some strange features. The brakegear is designed for a much larger engine using the same dimensions so the pull rods and brake shoes are still on the etch and I reused the Branchlines versions which while not perfect are at least of appropriate proportions. I also recycled all the additional detail and added a bit more.



No sandboxes are supplied with either the Comet or Branchlines etches so I sourced some from Perserverance Kits - Perseverance Kits by Puffers Model Railway Products- and a Marsh chimney to go with them (I could have had a chassis too, I suppose). Steam lines for the sandpipes also went on, something that was surprisingly straightforward using the wire that comes wrapped round some bottles of rioja and the next stage is to add the brake pull rods and pick ups but it rolls nicely - though one of the wheels needed pinning to its axle - so that shouldn't prove too traumatic.

So, why have I painted the chassis such a fetching shade of maroon?

Well, this should answer that:



A start has been made on reworking the body to better represent 'Brighton Works' which means lopping off the front splashers, scratchbuilding a new saddle for the smokebox (which will have the extension ring fitted with a new smokebox door), carving off the clack valves and that lovely chimney has to go as well since Brighton Works had a slightly less delicate replacement under Marsh. The full list of body modifications currently runs to a side of A4 but none of them will affect the tank or cab sides so that lovely paintjob will remain.

Yes, the boiler will have to be repainted which isn't a great problem since the Hornby rendition is a good match for the Precision version of Stroudley 'Improved Engine Green'. The valance will also have to get a repaint as well to match the chassis as opposed to the buffer beams. And before you ask, yes, I have the lining in hand in the form of transfers from Eric Gates (who designed them on behalf of the Brighton Circle).

Adam

 

[AJC]

After such a colourful interlude (and it'll be back, I promise), we return to the monochrome world of plastic sheet, leavened to some extent by brass and whitemetal. This, then, is the further adventures in the Italian food industry.



What should be visible, just about, are the scribed centre doors (a real trial) and the small hatches in the top corners which I decided to cut out because I found it easier to form a nice radiused corner (or by means of a drill), cut one than to scribe one tidily. Looking at pictures, I think the hatch doors should be flush so it's a case of cutting the hatch doors from 20 thou'. As you can also see, I've had to make some adjustment to the axleguards since I made them too deep; setting the ride height with reference to the guide line etched in the front face should be reasonably simple I hope. Buffers are by Lanarkshire Model Supplies, couplings by Masokits.



I've just tidied up the epoxy overflow from around the couplings but it does, now, look like a wagon...

Adam

 

[AJC]

World of Terrier, same but different. Brighton Works's striking Stroudley colour scheme takes several steps forward and, in the midst of it all, it runs, which is quite exciting. First, a view of the mechanics:



Just this once I put some thought into this. The chassis a basic compensated job with a beam connecting the front two axles and the axles themselves running in tube sleeves which the beam bears on for lower friction. Drive is on the rear axle with a Mashima 1024 installed via a High Level gearbox. Note that the pick up assembly consists of a pair of pieces of PCB screws to cross members and linked by bus bars onto which the pick ups for the centre wheels are fixed. The kink over the cosmetic ashpan is invisible the right way up. Happily, the pull rods on these are outside the wheels and that makes life easier. As luck would have it, I even wired the thing in the correct orientation at the first time of asking which is truly remarkable...



This way up shows the paintwork: the Precision paint yellow (sorry, Improved Engine Green) had to be let down a smidge with some very light grey to match the colour Hornby painted the body and is the better for it, I feel. We also have claret-coloured frames, and rods, green rims and the axle ends (the Gibson standard 1/8" axle being somewhat oversclae here), picked out in black. The guard irons and sandpipes are painted bright red which is all rather exciting while the continuation on the spokes over the balance weights is a neat touch on the real thing that was a bit of a fiddle to add. It appears much less gaudy than might be expected. The body is coming on a little too, with a couple of wedges added to build up the smokebox saddle. This will be completed using Milliput.



Adam

 

[AJC]

So, the workbench, and everything else, has been relocated and is now sort of up and running again. It's a bit slow, however, because I painstakingly stored everything very carefully - though the bench itself moved in one piece with all its drawers - and I now have to find it again. With that in mind, it made sense to take one project and use that as a search aid and in the process get some modelling done. In this instance, it's giving my plastic Terrier a facelift. So, starting with the bit that Dapol got 'most wrong' (at least for an A1X), the smokebox. A handful of posts ago the bones of the new smokebox saddle were shown in all their gory detail. I didn't take any pictures of the process of building up the saddle in Milliput, partly because my fingers were covered in the stuff but some way down the line, this was the result:



Note the nice even curves and the 'orrid file marks on the buffer beam. No matter, we'll be coming back to that. The white area is 5 thou' plastic sheet which represents the smokebox ring behind the door. And so, a day or two later, spot the difference:



There's a dart (made from a turned base and a couple of handrail knobs for 0.3mm wire - a Terrier is a small machine, the real things are appropriately dainty: one size does not fit all). I'll be using these for the boiler handrails as well once I've bought some more. The buffer beam has been slightly reduced in height and you should be able to see that the hole for the coupling hook is now in the centre of the 'beam as it should be. It also means that the buffers look as though they'll be in the correct spot for this engine without too much modification to what's left. This is where the detail oddities come into play. Terriers had (have!) buffers at two different heights and different brake fittings. This one, weirdly, only had an air pipe on the bunker end in its latter years for example. The straps have yet to go on, but the Marsh chimney (Perseverance - happily available again) has and the loco looks better for it. Side on the effect is clear:



The tank fillers - somewhat underfed - have been sheaved with plastic tube and look better for the weight gain. Work still to do includes making the corners of the valances sharper and fabricating enormous amounts of pipework. The seriously eagle-eyed may notice that some of the filled holes in the boiler have been redrilled, but not all.



Why? Well, I discovered that most of the 'boiler' handrails were - and are - located on the tank tops, as this photo on Flickr shows: 02/11/1963 - twixt Hayling Island & Havant.

Onwards and upwards.

Adam