Getting On The Weed.....The Hunt for Missing Mojo
- Thread starter marsa69
- Start date
marsa69
Western Thunderer
Hallo peeps,
As a lot of you are aware I have had a longtime plan to model the Fisons weedkilling train that was introduced in 1989, namely this one,
Weedkiller
I've quietly been gathering as much info and as many photos as possible as well as building up all the stock that I will need. The coaches I've had for quite a while then at last years Guildex I acquired a wonderfully weathered Cl20 from Ressaldar. At the same time I also bought a brand new Tower Models Cl20 kit from a Guild member. This week I was finally able to buy the last of the 3 x TTA tanks that I need, all Skytrex models. I know that Skytrex isn't everyone's cup of tea but they fit the bill (albeit with some minor modifications) and means that I don't need to kitbuild them. But saying that I'm undecided now
They look ok together and it would be a shame to alter them when they've been weathered to a good standard. I'll have to think about this one.
Anyway, on with the story. after getting sick of wiring the layout and finally having settled in the new house I cleared a corner of the garage and set up a new and improved workbench area. Now that I've finally started my new job last night saw me get quite bored so I decided to actually make a start on this project.
After a quick think I decided that I'd tackle the tool/stores coach first as this looked like the easiest to do. As can be seen in the following photos,
Tool van 1 and Tool van 2
So I took up my Lima blue/grey CK, and with heavy heart, for I was about to mar livery perfection, I set to with plenty of gusto, a chisel, frikkin sharp knife and a Dremel.
I first removed the bogies then the roof/glazing. I then cleaned away all the protruding bodyside detail i.e. door handles, hinges etc. I then cleaned up the coach ends because as far as I can tell there are no corridor connections. The ends are smooth and flush apart from what appears to be an orange box for through connecting power. The bodysides on the original coach appear to have just been skinned over as you can see where the windows and doors used to be. I cut out the framework for the small window opening apertures and filed any flash away. I then had to calculate where the openings for the roller shutter doors went. Also on one side there appears to be a vent panel where one of the end doors went. Again I had to 'guesstimate' the rough dimensions. I then proceeded to carefully cut out all the apertures for the vent and roller doors. One small problem I found was that Lima for some reason raised the floor above the bogies. When I'd cut apertures out for the doors I found that the 'step' in the bodyside for the doors was too high. The step can be seen in Tool Van 2 photo and is the red bit. Whilst not intending to 'rivet count' as I build this train I do have certain basic tolerances that I'll work to. This isn't one of them. So I set about cutting out a slot in the floor behind each aperture and lowering the step to a much more realistic appearance. This will allow me to get the door frames and roller doors sitting correctly in relation to the bodyside.
So that's where I'm up to at the moment. The next step is to cut some strips of plasticard and glue inside the body on either side of each 'door' before making up the doors out of plasticard 'scored' to represent the individual slats with some fine plastic strip attached to represent the runners that the door slides in. Then I will look to make up the 'vent'. This I will do by making a box to sit in the aperture and fixing in the louvres. Then comes the fun bit, measuring out the dimensions for the new stressed skin coach sides. For this I intend to use an ultra thin sheet of plasticard glued onto the original side. Once the glue has set I will gently rub the sides until the old window and door apertures leave a faint outline in the skin, well, that's the plan anyway
. I'm going to test this theory though on an old piece of scrap coach. Hopefully if all goes well I'll then turn my attention to the underframe and bogies but that's for another day. Hopefully more progress and pics to follow 
Mark
As a lot of you are aware I have had a longtime plan to model the Fisons weedkilling train that was introduced in 1989, namely this one,
Weedkiller
I've quietly been gathering as much info and as many photos as possible as well as building up all the stock that I will need. The coaches I've had for quite a while then at last years Guildex I acquired a wonderfully weathered Cl20 from Ressaldar. At the same time I also bought a brand new Tower Models Cl20 kit from a Guild member. This week I was finally able to buy the last of the 3 x TTA tanks that I need, all Skytrex models. I know that Skytrex isn't everyone's cup of tea but they fit the bill (albeit with some minor modifications) and means that I don't need to kitbuild them. But saying that I'm undecided now
They look ok together and it would be a shame to alter them when they've been weathered to a good standard. I'll have to think about this one.Anyway, on with the story. after getting sick of wiring the layout and finally having settled in the new house I cleared a corner of the garage and set up a new and improved workbench area. Now that I've finally started my new job last night saw me get quite bored so I decided to actually make a start on this project.
After a quick think I decided that I'd tackle the tool/stores coach first as this looked like the easiest to do. As can be seen in the following photos,
Tool van 1 and Tool van 2
So I took up my Lima blue/grey CK, and with heavy heart, for I was about to mar livery perfection, I set to with plenty of gusto, a chisel, frikkin sharp knife and a Dremel.
I first removed the bogies then the roof/glazing. I then cleaned away all the protruding bodyside detail i.e. door handles, hinges etc. I then cleaned up the coach ends because as far as I can tell there are no corridor connections. The ends are smooth and flush apart from what appears to be an orange box for through connecting power. The bodysides on the original coach appear to have just been skinned over as you can see where the windows and doors used to be. I cut out the framework for the small window opening apertures and filed any flash away. I then had to calculate where the openings for the roller shutter doors went. Also on one side there appears to be a vent panel where one of the end doors went. Again I had to 'guesstimate' the rough dimensions. I then proceeded to carefully cut out all the apertures for the vent and roller doors. One small problem I found was that Lima for some reason raised the floor above the bogies. When I'd cut apertures out for the doors I found that the 'step' in the bodyside for the doors was too high. The step can be seen in Tool Van 2 photo and is the red bit. Whilst not intending to 'rivet count' as I build this train I do have certain basic tolerances that I'll work to. This isn't one of them. So I set about cutting out a slot in the floor behind each aperture and lowering the step to a much more realistic appearance. This will allow me to get the door frames and roller doors sitting correctly in relation to the bodyside.
So that's where I'm up to at the moment. The next step is to cut some strips of plasticard and glue inside the body on either side of each 'door' before making up the doors out of plasticard 'scored' to represent the individual slats with some fine plastic strip attached to represent the runners that the door slides in. Then I will look to make up the 'vent'. This I will do by making a box to sit in the aperture and fixing in the louvres. Then comes the fun bit, measuring out the dimensions for the new stressed skin coach sides. For this I intend to use an ultra thin sheet of plasticard glued onto the original side. Once the glue has set I will gently rub the sides until the old window and door apertures leave a faint outline in the skin, well, that's the plan anyway
. I'm going to test this theory though on an old piece of scrap coach. Hopefully if all goes well I'll then turn my attention to the underframe and bogies but that's for another day. Hopefully more progress and pics to follow Mark
lancer1027
Western Thunderer
Nice work Mark.
Im looking forward to your next progress report
.
Rob
Im looking forward to your next progress report
. Rob
40126
Western Thunderer
Nice work Mark.
Im looking forward to your next progress report
Rob
Me too
Looks a very interesting project
Steve
Phill Dyson
Western Thunderer
Have you come across any colour pics of weed killing trains in the early 1970's ?
marsa69
Western Thunderer
Thanks guys. As for the early 70's? Sorry Phill not a thing 
Today saw me make the three roller shutter doors that are needed, then it was time to fumigate the house by stripping the paintwork off using Superdrug acetone free nail varnish remover. I'd hate to come across the stuff with acetone in it as the fumes were that strong I nearly floated into another dimension. And that was with uber-ventilation
Today saw me make the three roller shutter doors that are needed, then it was time to fumigate the house by stripping the paintwork off using Superdrug acetone free nail varnish remover. I'd hate to come across the stuff with acetone in it as the fumes were that strong I nearly floated into another dimension. And that was with uber-ventilation
tomstaf
Western Thunderer
Mark, this is a tasty project. I'm having a go at the small train with just used 99019 (the spraying coach), a TTA and a Rudd. Anyway, I'm assuming that they used the same sized roller shutter doors on all the carriages in the train. The entire width including the frame work measured from 99019 is 128cm scaling down to 29.4mm at 1:43.5. The door part is 27.6 and the frame strips on either side are both 0.9mm.
HTH
Tom
HTH
Tom
lancer1027
Western Thunderer
Up-date pics Mark ???
marsa69
Western Thunderer
Update! (With pics 
Have done the 3 roller shutter doors. The photo's don't really show up the scoring I did to simulate the doors very well but they are evident. I then cut some strips of plasticard to make the door runners and the hand grip edge used for opening/closing the door. Thanks for the info Tom but I'd already done the doors by the time you'd posted. But my offering came out at 28mm wide except the side with the single door which was 27.5mm. I'm quite pleased actually that the discrepancy wasn't bigger. Not bad for a Mk1 eyeball job
I'm now working on the exhaust vent and trying to figure out the easiest way to insert 17 louvres. This should be fun
Have done the 3 roller shutter doors. The photo's don't really show up the scoring I did to simulate the doors very well but they are evident. I then cut some strips of plasticard to make the door runners and the hand grip edge used for opening/closing the door. Thanks for the info Tom but I'd already done the doors by the time you'd posted. But my offering came out at 28mm wide except the side with the single door which was 27.5mm. I'm quite pleased actually that the discrepancy wasn't bigger. Not bad for a Mk1 eyeball job
I'm now working on the exhaust vent and trying to figure out the easiest way to insert 17 louvres. This should be fun
40126
Western Thunderer
40126
Western Thunderer