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

[AJC]

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!



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...



Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Nice to see the tyre bulges.

 

[AJC]

Nice to see the tyre bulges.

Well, flats. Achieved with a girt file. I haven't worked out way to make whitemetal bulge! I've forgotten the mudflaps. Where's the brass shim?

Adam

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I do the same except after creating the 'flat' I round the corners at the bottom of the tyre to remove the 'right angle' which gives the impression of the bulge.

 

[AJC]

Near complete (apart from 'plates which will have to wait until I get near a laser printer; experiments with the domestic inkjet weren't up to it).





I think the finished article is quite impressive - it's about the size of a pannier tank - and suitably colourful.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Not a lot of modelling over the Christmas period, though Brighton Works has been successfully commissioned (though the Peckett requires a bit of remedial work to make it run as well as I think it should).

Anyhow, another year, another Sentinel. You may recall my - rather involved - conversion of a pre-war 200HP loco built for the S&DJR into a post-war machine (here's the finished result if your memory need jogging: 4mm - The Sentinel (and derivatives) in EM - overdue update). This one is the smaller brother, a post-war 100HP loco from RT Models (with drive unit from High Level) and has, so far, been a complete delight to build with every part fitting exactly as it should and, because it's etched in Nickel Silver, nice to solder, too. There's an account of an build if this same kit on the other channel: 100 hp Sentinel from RT Models Kit - UK Standard Gauge Industrial Modelling

I'll be basing it on one of the Roads Reconstruction (1934) fleet used in the precursor to the massive Whatley Quarry. There are plenty of pictures of these about so here's my personal favourite collection, from 1967: Vallis Vale Somerset



The chassis unit is mostly invisible and folded up without fuss. The gearbox and swinging gear train was a mite fiddly, but results in a smooth and very slow-running loco (but the real thing is only capable of 13 mph). Despite this, the flywheel does have some effect and once fully weighted, I'm hopeful that the thing will be relatively powerful - unweighted trials had it pushing 8 wagons perfectly happily.

Thus far the only alteration I've made has been a cosmetic one. Sentinel made their loco steps from Durbar plating so I've added an overlay to represent this (the etch came from Intercity Models, I think Shawplan may do something similar). These Mendip locos only had steps at the rear...



So here's the body assembly thus far:



And finally, for now, body popped on chassis to check clearances. What this demonstrates is that there's plenty of room for adhesive weight when the time comes. The coupling hooks are from AMBIS - I think they are slightly overscale for usability, but the tininess of the loco accentuates this a bit (nothing wrong with the hooks supplied on the etch, by the way, it's just that I had these made up and ready to go!).



Adam

 

[AJC]

A bit more work and a couple of minor issues I was able to solder in all the panels from behind which makes for a nice neat job. The holes etched for the catches and handrails are a bit large for what, on the real thing, are quite dainty fittings (I'll be using parts intended for N gauge and 0.3mm wire rather than 0.45 as I did for the 200HP version).



Perhaps more of a concern is the cab cut-out which I think is a smidge shallow. Compare it to this side on shot: Abandoned Sentinel at Vallis Vale - I'll need to roll up a roof - two are supplied - to check...



Adam

 

[AJC]

I'm not at the point where I'm running out of bits on the fret but, before I embark on detailing - loads of handrails, castings, buffers and so on - I'll need to sort the cab roof which turns out is probably a bit wide and needs trimming back before detailing and fixing from above by means of a long screw into the top of the boiler, I think. That will also hold the thing flat, with any luck!



In between the soldering stuff, I picked up the most recent copy of one of the popular modelling mags only really because the editorial team have had themselves scanned and rendered in plastic. A fiver for some decent figures and a paintbrush (just as the flux brush is on its last bristles) seems a reasonable deal to me, and the magazine will make good dividers for the stock box; there's not a whole lot of content, though your mileage may vary.*

Anyhow, to the figures. There's an immediate problem:



For those of you rusty in 4mm scale arithmetic, 27mm scales out at a Joel Garner-esque, door frame and ceiling troubling, 6' 9". Now with the best will in the world, Andy York and chums are somewhat diminutive in comparison to Big Bird and needed cutting down to size. The surgery was swift, somewhat brutal and non-reversible and a couple of mil' were removed from the gentlemens' legs. The legs were drilled, 0.5mm wire let into the bottoms and their feet pinned back on. This has done nothing for their BMI, sadly, but with a modicum of restyling of clothing and adjustment of waistlines they still look more or less right and scale up to somewhere in the region of 6' apiece which is a bit more like it, if still a bit tall for some contexts. They're all too tall for the Sentinel, for example!



Next up, painting 'em.

Adam

* Some reasonable layouts, a very brief guide to applying lining, even with a bow pen(!) and Tony Wright knocking up yet another LNER machine but nothing that makes it worth retaining for future reference, unfortunately.

 

[AJC]

That is looking rather nice - the louvred panels are particularly effective.

I agree, the artwork is really good - and the larger pattern of louvres is also on the artwork; quite a contrast to the relatively recent 7mm version I saw on here. So good is the artwork, in fact, the build has been pain free, except in a couple of places where Robert tried to get a bit clever (we'll come to that shortly). I've just spent the last 40 minutes or so installing the rest of the handrails. Readers, I had enough handrail knobs. Hurrah!

Adam

 

[AJC]

Don't get me started. I would love a good quality post war 100hp Sentinel in 7mm scale but we don't do wish lists on WT so I have to bite my tongue when you post photos like this. Do you think it is good enough to be scaled up to 7mm? I'd be quite happy with just a set of etchings - the castings I can make myself? I can but ask!

I think so, yes. I have a couple of minor quibbles about the cab roof (I'll document these when the sun comes up and I can attempt a picture), but the precision of fit is otherwise very good so it shouldn't be too problematic to shoot up a scale. I don't know whether Robert has thought about this but it'd certainly be worth asking - I think he's done the standard gauge Hudson tippers in the larger scale (I can't be certain as he's taking a couple of months off from RT Models while he drives rail replacement bus services - using his monstrous ex-Hong Kong 100-seater Leyland double decker [seen here under previous ownership] - at present so his website is offline).

Obviously you'd have to rig up a Delrin chain drive in the larger scale, but that's not a hardship and is more prototypical than the geartrain used here! I'd quite like one in the larger scale myself...

Adam

 

[AJC]

Back to the Sentinel, and above the footplate, it's more or less complete, I've even added the first casting! Where the kit is lacking, slightly, is in the treatment of the sandboxes (though both types are supplied) and their operating linkages which are a bit more complicated than a length of 0.45mm wire could legitimately be said to represent:



So I've had to drill a few holes and the results will require a few deep breaths and plenty of peering at photos like these from Tennant's Foundry at Whiflet:

RANALD

DENIS

Adam

 

[AJC]

And so soon afterwards, part 5. As well as the linkages, which I made up a bit like the real thing, from individual lengths of wire flattened at the ends, though I used pliers rather than forging, and soldered to spigots, also in 0.45 mm brass wire. At the back end, the pipework behind the cab step is concocted from more soft brass wire and a casting left over from the CSP Models-based 200HP machine which must be intended to represent the same thing (a valve of some sort) since it looks spot on.



That leaves only the lamp irons and a brake standard before I can fit the castings and line the inside with lead...

Adam

 

[AJC]

And so we're closing in on the finish; I think I've finally managed to get all the soldering complete (I'm going to glue the castings on, I'm afraid). Lots of fiddly details at this stage - lamp irons, adapted from the very ingenious (and exceptionally useful) Masokits etch. I say adapted because the real thing had something rather unusual on the back:

S0924 Roads Reconstruction S9374/47 4WTG No.1 @ Vallis Vale Quarry, Frome

I think these may have been an in service modification; the Roads Reconstruction locos always seem to have had lamp irons hung at the bottom of the cab - these 'double' irons presumably allowed this while giving the opportunities to hang lamps outside them.



The idea behind the Masokits etches are that by doubling up two thin layers the result is stronger than a single thickness item. It's a fiddle, but it works. What I could - and arguably should - have done was to get some shim and fold it back on self in cunning ways to achieve this result. As it was, I've used two lamp irons to create each of these, holding my breath to get there. The results are strong, reasonably subtle and add to the character of the model - they look big because the loco itself is tiny.

The same phenomenon is evident with the whistle:



This is big. It's big on the real thing, seemingly out of proportion to the loco, but real Sentinels are small, relatively quiet and sometimes worked in noisy, built up environments so I guess it's a safety measure. [EDIT - on reflection, I think it's actually TOO big, and the wrong way round for the loco I'm modelling. Mark 2 is now in place!].

Whittingham Hospital Railway by robmcrorie, on Flickr

This has been knocked up from tube and a bit of 0.45mm wire with the ends rounded off in the mini drill serving as a lathe. From above this looks massive, from in front it looks about right, I think:



Adam

 

[AJC]

Ready for the paint shop (or it will be once I have found an appropriate shade of green):







The lorry type head lamp was a feature of number 3 in the Hapsford/Vallis Vale fleet and so I've added it here. The pointwork will be part of its eventual home but don't hold your breath...

Adam

 

[AJC]

You all know the old saw, 'Measure twice, cut once'? It also applies to handrails. All those very fine and neatly applied handrails on the Sentinel's bonnet (and the set on the cabside, come to that), don't appear on my prototype.

Twit that I am I spotted this as I picked them out in black. Bother said I, and went to work to stew on it. My conclusion, reached somewhere around Sevenoaks as the sun set, was that I had some cellulose thinners at home and it's been deployed along with a certain amount of muttering and the offending bits of wire have been removed and the holes made good. I'll have another go at priming it in the morning, suitably chastened. I'll get things right first go some day, but not today. Ho hum.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Right. That's better. Shorn of handrails and consequently more sleek of line, it's been reprimed and we're on coat one of green. I don't have an airbrush so I use lots of thin coats of colour to build up the density. It will look less sickly, quite soon, promise.



Adam

 

[AJC]

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

 

[Overseer]

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.

 

[AJC]

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

 

[Osgood]

.... Have you seen the colourised version of the same photo on Warwickshire Railways website? ....

Harborne Station: xxx.