oldravendale
Western Thunderer
When I was discussing the use of commercially available coach end brake detail with Heather she suggested that I put together a separate thread about this item together with some photos.
I have used the coach end brake detail from CPL on several occasions in the past and have lost the "tell tales" from each of the vehilces due to their fragility. I have to say that the etchings themselves are first class and show great detail but are simply not robust enough for my usage. I also use lots of the CPL detailing packs with every satisfaction - indeed the screw couplings used at each end of this set are from CPL.
In this case the kits are a Maunsell Corridor Brake and Maunsell Saloon, both from kits by RJH. They were used to create a 2-coach Maunsell push pull set. In general I found these kits to make up quite well, if a bit short on instructions and needing considerable interpretation for the detailing. The drawings I had were really insufficiently detailed and I relied more on photos. Indeed, the drawings showed the coach end brake detail on the saloon at the wrong end so I used photos. Although the coach end brake detail is included in each kit it is considerably overscale and made up from flat etches so did not reproduce the rodding of the prototype. I therefore decided to scratch build my own coach end detail or use commercialy available castings where these would be a suitable alternative. The brake rodding is from brass wire, I think about 0.9mm, and looking at it now is probably somewhat over scale. If I was building again I'd use a thinner gauge wire. The corner "brackets" to get the rodding over the corridor connections are from split pins. (Are these UJs on the prototype - I've no idea?) The red "flags" at the rod ends are scraps of brass soldered to the rodding using a high temp solder. The end brackets are circular plastic sprue, cut in to slices and drilled slightly off centre, then cut in half. These details have proved bomb proof so far (that's temopting providence!)
Other detail: footsteps and corridor connections are from Slater's, as are the door grab handles. The below solebar coach end pipework is all from scratch. The buckeye couplings are from Kadee, extended S scale. Markits provided the buffers for each end of the push pull unit - they are EMU type. The electric terminals are from washers and scraps with the wiring from fuse wire. The loos on these push pull sets were sealed off and the windows were plated over. These were created by using brass shim with the rivet detail from Archer transfers (the first time I have used these and I have to say they have worked exceptionally well). The water tank fillers are from brass wire with the fittings from split pins.
I recognise that this is not the greatest bit of additional scratch building, but at normal viewing distance they look OK to me. I'm not an engineer, having driven a desk all my working life, but I like adding this sort of detail which puts my own seal on a model. Even though not perfect they may act as an inspiration for those more capable than I.
In writing this I acknowledge the help and advice from Steph (some of which was quite polite). However the build is all mine as are any errors or ommisions.
There is a photo of the prototype attached too, for comparison.
Brian
I have used the coach end brake detail from CPL on several occasions in the past and have lost the "tell tales" from each of the vehilces due to their fragility. I have to say that the etchings themselves are first class and show great detail but are simply not robust enough for my usage. I also use lots of the CPL detailing packs with every satisfaction - indeed the screw couplings used at each end of this set are from CPL.
In this case the kits are a Maunsell Corridor Brake and Maunsell Saloon, both from kits by RJH. They were used to create a 2-coach Maunsell push pull set. In general I found these kits to make up quite well, if a bit short on instructions and needing considerable interpretation for the detailing. The drawings I had were really insufficiently detailed and I relied more on photos. Indeed, the drawings showed the coach end brake detail on the saloon at the wrong end so I used photos. Although the coach end brake detail is included in each kit it is considerably overscale and made up from flat etches so did not reproduce the rodding of the prototype. I therefore decided to scratch build my own coach end detail or use commercialy available castings where these would be a suitable alternative. The brake rodding is from brass wire, I think about 0.9mm, and looking at it now is probably somewhat over scale. If I was building again I'd use a thinner gauge wire. The corner "brackets" to get the rodding over the corridor connections are from split pins. (Are these UJs on the prototype - I've no idea?) The red "flags" at the rod ends are scraps of brass soldered to the rodding using a high temp solder. The end brackets are circular plastic sprue, cut in to slices and drilled slightly off centre, then cut in half. These details have proved bomb proof so far (that's temopting providence!)
Other detail: footsteps and corridor connections are from Slater's, as are the door grab handles. The below solebar coach end pipework is all from scratch. The buckeye couplings are from Kadee, extended S scale. Markits provided the buffers for each end of the push pull unit - they are EMU type. The electric terminals are from washers and scraps with the wiring from fuse wire. The loos on these push pull sets were sealed off and the windows were plated over. These were created by using brass shim with the rivet detail from Archer transfers (the first time I have used these and I have to say they have worked exceptionally well). The water tank fillers are from brass wire with the fittings from split pins.
I recognise that this is not the greatest bit of additional scratch building, but at normal viewing distance they look OK to me. I'm not an engineer, having driven a desk all my working life, but I like adding this sort of detail which puts my own seal on a model. Even though not perfect they may act as an inspiration for those more capable than I.
In writing this I acknowledge the help and advice from Steph (some of which was quite polite). However the build is all mine as are any errors or ommisions.
There is a photo of the prototype attached too, for comparison.
Brian
