7mm On Heather's Workbench - North Eastern interlude

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
A bit of a disrupted day today. First thing, I was out getting the old dinner manglers serviced and MOT'd for another six months. Then I went to see if our usual supermarket had any stock of anything. Happily, they had quite a lot of everything I needed, but there were one or two notable gaps here and there. One wonders how much longer that situation will continue.

Anyway, getting the rest of the retracted buffers and associated saddle stowage fitted has occupied me more than listening to the India vs. England First Test from Trent Bridge.

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The final quad of retracted stocks and heads assembled and cleaned up. This set gave me the most grief, with two heads refusing to sit square to the stock. Brute force and mucho degrees Celsius got them in line eventually.

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Here’s the TK all done. You can just make out the saddles at the ends of the headstock, but you can't see the simulated chain which is also attached.

If the mood suits, I may press on and get the BTK likewise completed.

Nothing has been heard from the wilds of Suffolk. I fear another call will be in order to see if we can reach some accommodation. Such larks.
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
HK....Wednesdays/Thursdays 11.30-4.00( times variable) are the only days you're likely to capture "The Suffolk connection" at his HQ....................regards Brian W
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
HK....Wednesdays/Thursdays 11.30-4.00( times variable) are the only days you're likely to capture "The Suffolk connection" at his HQ....................regards Brian W

Ah, thanks Brian. I have plenty to get on with, and there’s always the hope the errant bits will magically arrive on the wings of a Royal Mail postie between now and next Wednesday, so I’ll not pester. :thumbs:
 
Lighting connectors and gangways

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Today, attention turned to further detailing the body ends.

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First, I dealt with the carriage lighting connectors. The basics were moulded on, but the wire was missing. Some careful drilling, and a short length of thin copper wire and that looks better.

While we are here, note the area for the gangway fittings. Two slots and an 'ole at the top.

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This floppy wotsit, moulded in some very soft rubber material, was provided. There’s a peg at the top, meant to go in the hole, and two raised parts along the sides to fit in the slots. You can sort of see why I decided to go with the Slater's Pullman gangway kits.

They, however, are not without their problems.

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On the left, the etch parts as they come; on the right after I’ve been at 'em.

Sadly, the Slater's parts are not a straight drop-in replacement. First, the bottom of the gangway is moulded into the floor of the coach. That meant the bottom of the etched rear panel has to be chopped out. A short amount also needs trimming from the bottom.

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Once done, the rear plate fits like this. I can still see the slots behind it, and I’m in a couple of minds about what to do about it. I can ignore the slight gap, which probably won’t be visible when it’s all black and grungy, or I can fill or cover the slots. Thinking on that.

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Mods to the front plates is limited to chopping out the folded down floor plate. Oh, and adding a lamp bracket. A cursory check on photos and drawings shows a variety of positions and numbers, but for sanity's sake I added one low down to the left side.

I need to blacken the brass parts, and make up the paper bellows parts, and assemble the gangways. It’s Friday, and I’ve run out of puff. Have a good weekend everyone!

*wave*
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I didn’t get much done yesterday. The brass gangway parts got chemically blackened, and I cut and folded the bellows card.

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We just had a power cut. Happily, apart from the bench lights, I didn’t need electrickery for the next stage. So, on with some glue sniffing.

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And there we are. Three coaches' worth of Pullman gangways.

What's next. I’ll have think about WC header tank fillers.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Don't forget the cover at the top. I use strips of bin liner.

:thumbs:

I shall be adding the top covers once they’re attached to the coaches and everything is painted. Bin liner sounds intriguing. I tend to use masking tape, with its useful self-adhesive property and a bit of texture.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Well, I've given up and ordered a pair of cast 8ft bogie kits from MM1, the ex-JLTRT kits. I don't want to have to get cross with Peter, but I think I'll be writing a strongly-worded letter requesting a refund on the failed order.

More soon, I hope.
 

Wagonman

Western Thunderer
Well, I've given up and ordered a pair of cast 8ft bogie kits from MM1, the ex-JLTRT kits. I don't want to have to get cross with Peter, but I think I'll be writing a strongly-worded letter requesting a refund on the failed order.

More soon, I hope.

I have usually found extracting blood from stones to be easier than getting answers from Mr D...
 
BG bogie substitution

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
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From the Austin Princess (the old coach-built one) to the Austin 1100 (the one in baby poop brown). Here's a bag of whitemetal bits for a pair of 8ft Gresley bogies from MM1, née JLTRT. Laurie Lynch admitted the mould is getting tired, and I will certainly be increasing my lead intake after this lot.

Still nothing heard from Kemilway, though I haven’t chased. First thoughts were to write a letter, requesting a refund on the missing bits. I thought to wait for actual money to appear in my account, then to return the various parts I have. Best Beloved thought it might be wise to simply write off the loss, and keep the brass parts as they may come in handy. You know, I think he might be right. I may well attempt to use the brake parts to upgrade the cast kits.

This is a way off as yet, but not too far. Just some other odds and ends that need sorting out before I get back to this North Eastern odyssey.
 

GrahameH

Western Thunderer
Still nothing heard from Kemilway

Sorry to hear your woes Heather, I'm afraid I had a similar experience a few years ago waiting over 7 months for an order to arrive and despite best efforts to contact ( which I eventually did after many, many months ) I asked for a refund which took over three weeks to arrive. It is unfortunate but I haven't bothered with him since.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I'm afraid I had a similar experience a few years ago

Sheesh. It’s such an awful shame, because the George Pring designed kits are sublime. Mr D even says on the web site he wanted to make George proud by continuing with production. Let down by shoddy customer service.

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Since they don’t put lead in household wiring, paint or petrol any more, this is the only way I get my fix. I should have cut it more like cocaine…

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All the parts have had to be deflashed and generally tidied. By far the worst, though, are the only bits that are supposed to move. On the left, an amorphous block of whitemetal; on the right, how it ends up after being got at with various files.

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I think it is usually ascribed to Michelangelo that he could see the sculpture within the block of marble, and he only needed to remove the unwanted material to reveal it. I sort of know what he meant now, having revealed slots that are supposed to run in the hornguides!

Only seven more to clean up…
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
The point here is though, Heather (I hazard to guess) that Laurie was actually being very kind in sending you the parts as, by his own admission, the moulds are tired. Yes, it's a pain to clean the mouldings up but the surface detail looks good. I can think (am thinking) of a certain manufacturer where all the white metal looks as though the molten metal was dropped on the floor and the bits that looked near enough to the required approximate shape were extracted and put in a bag.

I have to say that I'm very well inclined towards Laurie. He's been amazingly helpful in sourcing bits for my JLTRT Rebuilt Royal Scot (the build of which is currently stalled due to other time pressures), even casting some of the parts I was missing. All power to his elbow - and to yours.

Brian
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
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This is where I got to by close of play yesterday. All the axleboxes are a nice easy fit in the hornguides. If you look closely at the bottom left of the tub o'parts you’ll see a part still flash beriddled. The packing department had accidentally picked a couple of extra parts, and I didn’t bother to clean them up.

I have to say that I'm very well inclined towards Laurie

I agree, Brian. I wasn’t intending to throw shade in Laurie's direction. He was always very helpful, and shared rather more about the business than he really should have, as JLTRT. He was much the same when I spoke to him a couple of weeks back chasing these bogies. He explained the situation, that casting whitemetal isn’t done in the unit for health and safety reasons, and his caster had been hit by Covid and was self-isolating. The fact the moulds are tired was passed on to me as well. Now, I’m not in the business, and I don’t know how many of these bogie kits still sell, but I’d be looking at making new moulds fairly soon. Apart from Kirk plastic kits, I can only think of Kemilway and MM1 kits as anyway half decent Gresley bogies out there. If both the latter become hard to get, where do we go from here?

I digress.

Due to the tired mould syndrome, there’s a fair amount of remedial work to be done to some of the castings. I shall concentrate efforts today in the main bogie frames, and it would be nice to think I’d have both up and rolling by the end of the day. We shall see.
 
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