4mm On Heather's workbench - on a Holden to…Yarmouth?

[Heather Kay]

Lumme, doesn’t time go quickly?

No piccies, sorry. Just a progress report.

There hasn’t been much.



Actually, there has been some. Discussions about how to get the coaches painted has led to the notion the paint shop might as well assemble the things rather than try and ship them back down south to me. It’s a right pain living this side of London when most clients are the other side. I’m happy with that solution, as it makes logistics simpler all round (apologies for the buzzwords!).

So, my aim now is to get the models as sub-assemblies progressed as far as possible so they can be nailed together once the bodies are decorated.

Today, then, saw me gluing in the false floors, and opening up the holes for the buffers. I have to say the buffer castings are shocking. I hope I have picked the best ones for the brake ends. The ones in the middle of the consists aren’t seen all that clearly. I hadn’t fitted the buffers before, because being whitemetal with the consistency of chilled butter they are very likely to be knocked and snapped off. I just have to be even more careful now.

I also experimented with interior fittings, which proved successful. Another step along the road.

 

[James Spooner]

Lumme, doesn’t time go quickly?

No piccies, sorry. Just a progress report.

There hasn’t been much.



Actually, there has been some. Discussions about how to get the coaches painted has led to the notion the paint shop might as well assemble the things rather than try and ship them back down south to me. It’s a right pain living this side of London when most clients are the other side. I’m happy with that solution, as it makes logistics simpler all round (apologies for the buzzwords!).

So, my aim now is to get the models as sub-assemblies progressed as far as possible so they can be nailed together once the bodies are decorated.

Today, then, saw me gluing in the false floors, and opening up the holes for the buffers. I have to say the buffer castings are shocking. I hope I have picked the best ones for the brake ends. The ones in the middle of the consists aren’t seen all that clearly. I hadn’t fitted the buffers before, because being whitemetal with the consistency of chilled butter they are very likely to be knocked and snapped off. I just have to be even more careful now.

I also experimented with interior fittings, which proved successful. Another step along the road.

Heather,

Kean Maygib make sprung GER carriage buffers with brass bodies that I use as a replacement for those supplied with the kit, if that is of any help.

Nigel

 

[Heather Kay]

Kean Maygib make sprung GER carriage buffers with brass bodies

That would have been an option. The coaches are destined to be fixed rakes with Dingham couplers at the outer ends, so I’m not sure sprung units would be worth the effort.

The cast things are okay as far as visuals are concerned - with the standard Three Foot Rule.

 

[Heather Kay]

More steps to completion.



Filling out the compartments and seating. Another tedious job (ain’t they all?) but nearly done.



The final interiors are for the composites. The compartment at the cheap end was originally a luggage space, but it was converted to truncated third class seating in the mid-1920s. I’d been puzzling how to deal with things for ages and ages, then I stumbled across a seating plan in the GERS journal. Spare brass compartment sections were adapted to make the rather convoluted corridor extension, and offcuts of the Ratio moulded seating sliced about to fit.

Once I’ve sorted the compartments out, I’ll clean them up and prime them. Basic colours only for these, nothing fancy pants. Then next week can be all about roofs.

 

[Heather Kay]

To cap it all - roofs!

Back in the dim and distant, Past Me thoughtfully deployed her Silhouette cutter to make roof bracing pieces. It had been decided we could use the provided vacuum-formed roofs, but more on that shortly.



The first task was to check the roof mouldings for fit against the bodywork. Then to trim to length and square up the ends. I did this by holding the roof on the body with quite an overhang at one end. I carefully drew a pencil along the outside edge of the top of the coach end to leave a mark under the white plastic roof. A sharp scalpel blade was used to carefully trim almost up to the mark, with finishing by file and sanding stick, checking against an engineer's square. Once happy one end was pretty square, the process was repeated to trim the moulded part to length. I allowed about a 0.75mm overhang each end.



I’ve cut way too many roof braces, but I didn’t know. Blocks of scrap styrene are used as support. At the outer ends, the idea is the roof is a tight fit between the ends, so it’s held by friction. I think they will require a little glue once final assembly is done. Each brace is glued in, pressed down carefully to ensure the roof meets it - each moulding is ever so slightly different. Hopefully, the braces will hold the profile adequately. Past Me didn’t account for the internal parts getting in the way, so a little surgery has been required here and there.



One roof done. Unfortunately, although I have enough mouldings for all 16 coaches, nearly half are gash*. It looks like they’ve been trimmed from the sheet so they’re not deep enough to fit the profile without gaps along the sides. Annoying. I can still finish up the remaining roofs with suitable detailing like rain strips, carriage board clips and ventilators, while we hope replacements will arrive and actually fit.

Ah, ventilators. The Great Eastern Railway is sort of famous for being careful with the pennies. Looking through the photo references, it seemed that many coaches were missing lots of roof vents. Were they removed during their service lives, or were they never installed in the first place. It seemed to me it was different if a coach was built with gas or electric lighting, or was converted later. I needed a pattern.



Eventually, some kind of pattern appeared. Smoking compartments (which also provided an answer to another question) and the lavatory seemed to be favoured with the luxury of a roof vent. The rest of the passengers had to make do with door droplights and louvred vents. Incidentally, I’ve never thought about how roof vents actually worked. Did they draw air into the coach, or encourage air out of it? Anyone know?





*Gash. I believe in the Royal Navy, this term was used for refuse and detritus that would be ejected over the side into the Oggin. In the print world, it referred to material that was essentially rubbish - some typeset galley with an error in it, for example - but kept in case it was useful for patching up other errors on artwork. Every paste-up artist, me included, had a "gash drawer" near their drawing board.

 

[Heather Kay]

Hmm, I think that’s okay. Just another 15 to go (after replacements and extra styrene strip have been arranged, at least).

 

[James Spooner]

View attachment 211018

Hmm, I think that’s okay. Just another 15 to go (after replacements and extra styrene strip have been arranged, at least).

Hi Heather, that is looking very good! One variant I have used is to make the bottom eaves out of one flat piece of plasticard (effectively creating a false ceiling in the coach) and sanding down the formed roof to fit, then gluing the roof to the false ceiling. This has the benefit of giving greater stability and a large gluing area to attach the roof to the body. I know there are pros and cons and some prefer to keep the roof separate from the sides but on these coaches the underframe unscrews from the body, giving access and the end handrails are soldered into the ends of the coach but then go right up and back down through the roof, making it difficult to remove anyway.

Nigel

 

[Heather Kay]

Hello folks!

Not to bore anyone, but life here at Heather Kay Towers has been a bit rocky this past few months. Best Beloved has been quite poorly, and I’ve had to switch to being more or less a full time carer. This, obviously, has meant some big changes round the place, lots of to-ing and fro-ing, sorting adult stuff out, and getting help from social services, and almost resulted in a complete meltdown for me. Things are now evening out again, but the caring takes priority.

So, it’s only been this last couple of days that I’ve felt able to get back to the stalled work. I still can’t face it properly - one look at the partially-completed stuff has been enough to give me conniptions - but I’m attacking things in small chunks.



My client had hoped we might get five coaches completed, or nearly completed, for a small meeting in June. What with one thing and another, this might not happen. I selected five suitable bodies anyway, and have been concentrating on them first. A pair of brake thirds, two all thirds and a composite, enough to make a small train. I’ve just completed the roofs for them, but instead of getting on with further details I’m going to attack more roofs while I’m in the mood.



These four are next. I definitely have enough moulded roofs to do these. That leaves seven bodies that need roofs, but unfortunately, Mr Pinnock is no longer making them. I will have to asses what I have, and see what I can do to repair or adapt them.

The next thing I should tackle is gangway connections, and see about getting the bogies, underframes and interiors primed and basically painted. The bodywork will be off to someone much more competent at reproducing the teak finish than I am.

In other news, as some of you already know, due to the changing circumstances and the onward march of time, I’ve decided to wind down operations. I’ve got this job, plus one more I’d promised, and then I’ll close up the carriage works. I need time to look after the other half, and look after me (and the cat).

 

[Ressaldar]

Hi Heather,

sorry to hear that Best Beloved has been poorly, wish him well and the caring certainly comes first in the priorities list every time.

kind regards

Mike

 

[john lewsey]

All the best Heather, I will give you a call soon xx

 

[oldravendale]

Sorry to hear about that, Heather. Sadly I've rarely found the official channels very good at getting stuff done but they are pretty good at interfering when you start to deal with it yourself. Probably a sweeping generalisation but just my own personal experience. Hope you'll keep in touch on WT though.

Brian

 

[Heather Kay]

Hope you'll keep in touch on WT though.

I'm not going anywhere, Brian. This and other forums help keep me grounded! If I’m lucky, I might even be able to think about completing some outstanding personal projects.

I didn’t hold out much hopes for social services, but I have to say I’ve been surprised. Knowing there is some sort of support structure out there, creaking though it is, has helped enormously.

 

[oldravendale]

I didn’t hold out much hopes for social services, but I have to say I’ve been surprised.

I'm really pleased to hear that, Heather. The success or otherwise of our Social Services offering seems to vary widely depending on which part of the country you live in. I fear my rather jaundiced view can only reflect my personal experiences. But it's good news that you'll keep on posting.

Brian

 

[Lancastrian]

Best wishes to you both Heather.

Social services were surprisingly good when my father was discharged from hospital last year, although he only needed them short term. I hope they are there to ease the load on you in caring for your best beloved.

 

[dibateg]

Sorry to hear your news Heather - best wishes to your other half. Hopefully, some model making and the forum will take your mind off things...

Tony

 

[michael mott]

Sorry to hear about your best beloved health issues, best wishes for better days ahead.
Michael

 

[Heather Kay]

Not much to show for the modelling of late. I've completed detailing all the roofs that were fit to use. Next, I need to work my way through the rubbish roofs to see if it's feasible to patch repair them. If they can't be repaired, we'll need to investigate alternatives.

Life, meanwhile, has seen an improvement. Best Beloved was on all kinds of medication, but after a couple of blood tests the medics have taken him off all but one daily pill. It took a couple of weeks, but he was able to get up and potter about the house - with a walking aid and me hovering Just In Case. We've also been out for a couple of short adventures. For my part, the social services network has been as helpful as they could be. Interestingly, they're most worried about me, for my mental and physical health. I guess as long as I get the support needed, I can look after Best Beloved properly.

So, it's not quite as black as before.

 

[James Spooner]

Not much to show for the modelling of late. I've completed detailing all the roofs that were fit to use. Next, I need to work my way through the rubbish roofs to see if it's feasible to patch repair them. If they can't be repaired, we'll need to investigate alternatives.

Life, meanwhile, has seen an improvement. Best Beloved was on all kinds of medication, but after a couple of blood tests the medics have taken him off all but one daily pill. It took a couple of weeks, but he was able to get up and potter about the house - with a walking aid and me hovering Just In Case. We've also been out for a couple of short adventures. For my part, the social services network has been as helpful as they could be. Interestingly, they're most worried about me, for my mental and physical health. I guess as long as I get the support needed, I can look after Best Beloved properly.

So, it's not quite as black as before.

Very pleased to hear the news about your Best Beloved’s improvement and hope it continues.

On the question of roofs, have you thought of putting a call through to the very helpful Mr Pinnock? It is entirely possible he still has some roofs in stock and can help out.

Nigel

 

[Heather Kay]

It is entirely possible he still has some roofs in stock and can help out.

We already tried. I think we cleared him out and he's not doing them any more.

 

[oldravendale]

That's really good news, Heather, on all fronts. It's particularly gratifying that Social Services have provided the support you need. Maybe they need to provide an object lesson to some of the less enlightened organisations...

Brian