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Its all gone a bit Eastern Region

Over the last week or so Ive embarked on another test build for Brassmasters. This time a J17 kit thats been designed by David Barham. Its not really any use for Brettell Road but it would fit North Elmham (which I have been know to help out with).

The basic chassis build with a High level Loadhauler gearbox.  The loco and tender use CSBs throughout. The kit will be supplied with both printed and etched brake shoes.

The tender subframe – Again with options on the brake shoes.

Chassis and footplate.

Tender with its outer frame.

The cab

Pretty much everything above the footplate and forward of the cab is catered for by a 3D print.  Here I’ve made a start on the basic detailing

The tender body, like the loco, is a 3D print.

The detailed up chassis

The finished loco – More pictures below.  This has been a pleasure to put together.

 


Clay and sheets

One working that passed through the real Brettell Lane and kind of fascinated me was the St Blazey to Etruria china clay working. This service ran for years and was somewhat erratic in the paths it took. Usually going via Worcester, Stourbrige then Dudley before heading off to Bescot. Or it could go right at Stourbridge via Old Hill and (I think) Soho Junction. These routes avoided the Lickey but I’ve seen pictures of it going that way too in later years. When I was at University in Stoke it would often turn up at lunch time behind a pair of class 37s although it did switch to a class 60 in the time I was there.
So to have a clay train on Brettell road makes sense as a through service. I like the classic diagram 1/051 clay opens with their sort of cute, baby open wagon look about them. A little bit of rewriting of history is needed though as they tended to stay in Cornwall and not venture out to the Midlands. Brettell Road is set before the introduction of the clayliner service so my justification is that BR was trialing things out to see how they would work and thats good enough for me.

Ratio make a nice little kit for these and I was fortunate to find someone selling a box of 7 on Ebay for what basically worked out as a fiver each. The bodies go together well with a little bit of modification to make the ends fit. The kit features a somewhat crude attempt at a roller bearing and the brake levers are quite poor. It also includes cast buffers that aren’t all that great. So the bearings were replaced with MJT ones although my research showed oil axleboxes to be more common anyway. Brake levers are from the Mainly Trains etch, door bangers from Rumney models and buffers from Lanarkshire models. I did one as a test then built the other 6 as a batch.

Before I move onto the sheets a bit about the weathering.  I followed my usual approach of a wash of dark grime followed by a spray of AK interactive dark mud. This was then all sealed with Klear before AK interactive white ink was used (in various levels of dilution) to give an overall effect of clay staining. You don’t want a fully weathered wagon at this stage, try to think of it as you are aiming for about half the effect you ultimately want.

Previously when I have done wagon sheets I make the sheet up with the ropes attached to it and then attach it to the wagon. This is a bit of a faff and sometimes the glue holding the rope to the sheet can give an odd effect so I approached this a bit differently.  Roping of wagon sheets is a whole topic on its own and I will leave that too someone who has properly studied the subject but I just looked at pictures and coped what I saw. So the first stage is to attach the ropes (cotton) to the wagon – Tying it on at the visible ends and gluing to the wagon top with Loctite

This was then tided up by first sealing the knots with Zap Pink superglue.  Theres no huge reason to trim the ropes inside the wagon but it pays to just keep things neat so they don’t get in the way later.

As mentioned before the sheet is made from black latex gloves (actually nitrile) and mine are a brand called Supertouch.  They are a bit awkward to cut as the material tends to snag on the scalpel blade even if the blade is brand new.  A method I found to work best is to stretch the glove over a bit of cardboard, make a template and to cut it using the handle end of the blade not the pointy end, pushing the scalpel away from you to cut. I don’t know why this makes a difference but it does!   As i’ve mentioned in the past the material is black on the outside and a dark grey on the inside.  I use the black side as its depicting wet conditions but the grey is good for a nice sunny day layout.

The sheet is then positioned in place, not forgetting to add weight inside the wagon and bulking it up with a bit of tissue first before gluing to the wagon tops in 6 places, about where the ropes are. Use Loctite and start in the middle (it sets very quickly) and remember to pull it taught as you glue the outer sides.  This is one of those things were you probably need a bit of variation but you don’t want to force it. I find if I try to be as neat as I can, I’m not all that neat really and I get the variation by default.

Next stage is to glue the sides of the sheet to the ropes, again with loctite and again puling the sheet taught.  I found holding it in place for 10 seconds was all you need. It pays to glue the sheet the side of the wagon at the ends at this stage

On to the ends. Another drop of super glue on the top and the sheet can be glued in place. The corners can be folded and secured in place and the last set of ropes glued into the sheet itself.

The last ropes tied into place and tidied up.

The final weathering, back to the white ink (sprayed this time) with some additional grease stains on the underframe.

To break up the rake a bit I added a few 10ft wheelbase opens too.  These are actually way more typical of the actual wagons used in the clayliners.  The ex LMS Diagram 2150 I’ve featured before a few posts ago.


Likewise the ex LNE diagram 210 (although not this specific model)


A new wagon type for me is the ex LNE diagram 185. This was constructed from the body of the Cambrian kit C81 for the LNER 12ton 6 plank Open Wagon, With a Parkside 10ft underframe. Theres a few tweaks needed to the body as can be seen and theres an additional top support across the top of the door which is worth adding assuming you aren’t going to cover it over with a sheet that is!

Just need an enterprising transfer manufacturer to produce some sheet markings now.


More shockingly mundane stuff

As a follow on to the last post – more every-day wagons have rolled off the workbench.  This time it’s a quartet of shock wagons.


Starting with the basics – Diagram 1/040 shock open from the Parkside kit.  Built pretty much as supplied with the addition of a Rumney Models tarpaulin bar and a sheet from my now standard black latex glove.


Next ex LMS diagram 1983 from the same kit as above with the additional top lip on the ends and buffers from Lanarkshire models.  You cant see it in the pic but I replaced the floor with scribed lead sheet.


A smidge more involved is this Diagram 1/038 shock open from the parkside kit for the standard (not shock) wagon.  I shortened the sides by cutting sections out next to the middle section and mounted them on a new floor as the prototype wagons had a visible lip around the bottom.


Finally a diagram 1/219 shock palvan.  A bit more involved again as I could use spare ends and a roof from Parkside standard 12t vans but the sides needed to be made from scratch.  The chassis is the Red Panda kit.


Just some mundane stuff.

Just one of those every day, run of the mill style posts this time but with a few little tweaks to appease the wagon buffs.

Starting with the Parkside kit for the LNER 21t riveted coal hopper.  Built pretty much as instructed but I did change the side stanchion plates for 10 thou plasticard as the ones in the kit were a bit chunky.

The spare brakes that came with the above kit were used to correct the brakes on my prototype 24.5t hopper I’ve  featured before.

The humble D2150 13t open from the Parkside kit. The only real visual difference between these and the BR build is the small lip on the ends. A bit of 10×20 thou mictrostrip sorted that.

Ex LNER Diagram 210 adapted from the parkside kit for the Dia 1/120 wagon. The side stanchion were slightly reshaped as were the buffer beams while the chassis was replaced with spares from my scrap box.

Another bog standard affair, the D2039 ex LMS 12t van. This one was built from the Ratio kit with the addiction of the Rumney Models LMS van detailing etch (B105). It features the 3 part end for a super subtle bit of variety.

Finally something a little more involved. Before and after of the sides for a D2103 12t van using the parkside fruit van as a start point. The ends were scratchbuilt.


Back to business as usual

So back to business as usual then.

This is an ex LMS 12 ton traction truck which has recently been released by 247 Developments. The kit is a 3d print which is supplied as a body with solebars, W irons, brake gear and white metal buffers. The body was a little bit distorted (kinda like a spoon shape) but popping it in very hot water and weighting it while it cooled seemed to take most of the distortion out. The back of the frames needed thinning for p4 wheels to fit (I believe the kit has been changed to rectify this now).  I replaced the sides with microstrip as they were a little uneven and added the safety loops and tie down shackles that were missing from the print. The supplied buffers were a little odd so these are Accurascale ones.   Just need to do a load for it now.

On Brettell Road I have mostly used cast white metal vacuum pipes.  Generally these have been fine but I have had some of the bufferbeam mounted ones break as they are slightly vulnerable. David Roome has now produced some 3d printed ones that are rubbery and a lot less susceptible to knocks.  Im not replacing them on all of my wagons just as and when a white metal one gets broken.

Links

247 Developments

David Roome Facebook

David Roome website


Test prints

Progress on the Princess Coronation build continues with some test 3d prints for some of the details. These are only testing out ideas at this stage.

Above we see the bogie bearing pads and bracket, cylinder fronts, Ejector and brakes.

I admit that i had quite a wow! moment when I first saw the ejector.  We are exploring the idea of 3d prints for the brake shoes as it allows you to position them closer to the wheels without risking a short. Where the front one squeezes in between the front driving wheel and the rear bogie wheel seems particularly advantageous.

Pony truck axlebox and springs along with some of the under cab pipework.  One of the small AWS cylinders can be seen on the footplate

More AWS bits – this time on the firemans side.  The roof is still a loose fit at this stage.

State of play so far.


Heavyweights done

Just a super short post this time. The wagons featured last time are done and can be released into the wild.

Is it just me or do metal kits always just seem a bit ‘meh’ once they are painted?


A couple of WIP heavyweights and breaking the golden rule.

When my friend Tom kindly gave me the Ks kit for the Coral glass wagon (featured earlier) he also gave me another Ks kit for the 24.5t coal hopper.  Further investigation  showed that this was a kit that was based on the prototype B333000 which was not really like the production ones in that the ends were different.  I suppose back in the day this was your only option however now you can buy 24.5t hoppers ready to run this strange little oddity might have a little value as something different from what everyone else is doing.

B333000 was one of 2 prototypes and was built at Shildon. The other B333001 was built at Ashford and it seems to heave been this latter example that influenced the production run. I believe B333000 was later used for experimentation of the automated doors used for MGR trains but photos of it are rare as hens teeth.  Simon Bendall kindly supplied the only picture I had to work from.

So, breaking a golden rule I have had to make educated guesses about some of the details of this wagon. The underframe in Simons picture is very dark and looked to have been modified in some way. It was claimed the Shildon design was basically a taller 21 ton hopper and the lack of outer discharge doors kind of backs that up. So getting hold of a parkside 21t kit to use as a guide I set to work.

The hopper had some chunky mouldings on the inside of the corners that gave quite a positive location.  But as I wanted it to be empty they had to go.  I replaced the W Irons with Bill Bedford sprung ones (from my nearly depleted stocks) and Wizard model axle boxes.  These were soldered in place as supplied and when I was happy everything was square the centre of the w irons was cut away to give an open floor. The end platforms were replaced with a bit of brass as the moulded ones sat on top of the solebars and were too thick.  The kit had no hopper doors so these were made from plasticard using a parkside 21t hopper kit as a guide.

The finished wagon (well almost finished – I haven’t added the door mechanism handles yet) is a bit of a heavyweight in that its 78 grammes.  About 50% more than my usual target of 50g.

The parkside kit built up.  This is the opposite of the Ks kit as while i added some lead overlays to the inside lower hopper its a tad light at only 38g.

Moving away from hoppers I’ve also finished of the construction phase of this…

A David Geen milk tank which I was told by the man himself when I brought it was the last one!  This uses a Rumney models chassis and has, to be honest, been a bit of  slow burner.  Its one of those kits that I just seemed to struggle to get any enthusiasm for but I’m pleased with it now it’s done. I thought the hopper was heavy but this weighs in at 88 grammes!

 

 


Duchess update – Starting to look like a loco now.

Footplate with mounting bolts and Splashers in place and tided up ready for separating from the jig.

But before I can do that need to fit the cab, firebox, boiler and smoke box so that theres something to give it a degree of rigidity.  This is the basic cab assembly.

And inside mounted to the footplate.  The seats are posable!

The cab roof.  This builds up on its own mini jig too.

Underside from the front end.

The main super structure comes in 3 parts cast in resin.  The firebox and boiler. The smokebox saddle and the smoke box.  There are 3 types. A round single chimney.  The flattened top double chimney from the ex streamlined locos and a round double chimney as seen here.

The body removed from the jig, tidied up and fitted to the chassis.

Finally – I couldn’t resist!


Steel and Glass

Let’s talk about glass. Something Stourbridge is particularly renowned for.  It is believed that there has been glass production in the area for hundreds of years with a factory opening at the lower end of what is now Brettell Lane in the 1640s and production continuing in the area ever since.

You’re going to need your imagination for this bit! Regular readers will know that Brettell Road is not an accurate model of the real Brettell lane but is inspired by it and the local area.  The above picture taken in August 2014 (that long already?) shows what was left of the goods yard at Moor Lane.  Brettell Lane is behind us. The line to Pensnett branched off on the left and the yard is petty much straight ahead of us. You can see the flood lights against the skyline. This was the view from the left hand end of the original version of Brettell Road and is now the view from the middle looking to the right. On the model the line is not an S curve but a continuous left hand bend.  Also the main line descends from this point on the layout while the real line rises as it goes away from us.

On the right, long gone now, there used to be a siding which served the Brierley Hill glassworks.  The buildings are still there and can just be seen behind the trees in the distance where the mainline disappears.

Another view from 2014 that shows the building being converted into apartments.  If you stand looking at the right hand end of the layout you would effectively be standing in this building.  The line runs behind it and you can just make out the ironwork of Moor Lane Bridge on the right of the picture above the yellow van.  This building is represented on the layout as part of the backscene.

Brierley Hill glass was more of the decorative, cut glass and crystal type than the industrial large sheets and I have a few shockvans as a nod to glass traffic but of course they could be carrying anything so only I know that. However thanks to a gift from my friend Tom i now have something a little more obvious…

I present you the ancient K’s kit for the GWR Coral glass wagon. These were built in 1908, to 2 diagrams, by Swindon to carry large plate glass in crates.  BR briefly continued with these building 6 more examples before switching to the LMS design but even then only building 42 wagons (also at Swindon).

I decided to build one of the BR types with the main differences being (as far as i can tell) the shape of the ends of the frames, the GWR ones being more curvy, and the brake levers.  The model had been started by Tom’s dad but was dunked in some cellulose thinners which dissolved the glue (but not the paint strangely) before it was reassembled using low melt solder. The kit had some nice brass buffers which were replaced with Lanarkshire models which better match the BR examples. The upper frames were cast in whitemetal and there were only 2 of them so they were replaced with brass section. A part of the original casting was soldered to the end of the underframe and reshaped to better match the BR design.  I used the slotted bearing and central pivot method of compensation as previously used on my lowmac. In service on the layout.  As mentioned its not really the sort of glass that Brierley Hill was known for but it is a nod to the industry.  Apparently some of the real wagons were transferred to the steel industry anyway so perhaps its on trial in the area for that reason instead?

Thanks go to Tom and his dad.


A couple of classics

This time we have a couple of classics from the Cambrian range

The good old catfish.  Built with the use of Stenson models hand wheels and replacement handrails.  One thing with these, as supplied, is that the wheels seem a long way away from the w W-irons, even in P4 so I cut the moulded rings off the back and moved the solebars closer together.  A lot of people say these are a bit tricky but the only real difference to any other kit is you just need to take a lot longer and really let things set.  They aren’t really a bung it together in an afternoon style job.  I found another 2 kits in my stash which i will build up for New Street and might do a bit of a step by step on how to do them.

Next up the mermaid.  I have built this as an early one which were the same as the original GWR builds.  The main difference is push rod brakes instead of clasp, no vacuum brakes and earlier buffers. The rail clamps were replaced with Roxey mouldings shackles.

Below – It seems Brettell Road has had something of a GWR take over today!


An unremarkable little tank engine – Part 1

One of my slow burning projects has been a humble little 57xx tank.  A combination of the old (But essentially quite good) Mainline body and a High Level Kits chassis but with a bit of twist.

Iain Rice wrote about these back in MRJ 61 and 62 using a similar route, in his case using a Perseverance chassis as that was what was available around the time, and I would urge readers to refer to this as a start point.

The High Level chassis

Like all of Chris’ chassis this was a joy to build (this is my 4th of his chassis kits now, who would have thought it?) I opted to use Brassmasters bearings which may have messed the alignment up a little as I found I needed to mount the break gear 1 mm lower than as supplied.  Strangely though the buffer height seems fine. I differed a little bit from the instructions by making all of the brake gear removable.  The rear rods that go behind the wheels seems to trap the rear axle in place as supplied.

Eagle eyed viewers might spot something little odd and yes, you’ve guessed it – I’ve gone off piste again.

A couple of prototype pics from the Severn Valley.  Personally i though the inside motion was pretty obvious looking at the real thing and while there is a representation of it in the High Level Kit I wanted it to move.

So this is a mish mash of bits – Brassmasters 4f bits at the axle end and Finney GW bits at the front.  The GWR version of inside motion seems much simpler that the midland one and the hardest part of this task wasn’t putting it all together but getting it in place.  Being a small loco theres not a huge amount of wiggle room.

The body is essentially good, you could say extremely good for its time.  The obvious stand out bit of weirdness was the top of the dome but nothing a spot of filing can’t sort out. It did come with a separate main handrail and some wire ones around the bunker but they were all a bit heavy so i replaced those along with those handrails that were moulded on. I reduced the size of the front wheel splasher by cutting it off and gluing it back on, The width of the cut being all you really need.  I didn’t feel the need to fiddle with the centre and rear ones.  While on my 94xx I replaced all the pipework under the tanks in front of the cab with this model I thought it was good enough as is, although I have cut away the ‘holes’ as per Iain’s article.   Theres a bit more detailing to add to the footplate yet and the lower pipework will need to be replaced.


Another wagon diverson

Breaking away from the current building works for a moment a little wagon based diversion. As per normal mundane stuff with a few little bits of tweaking that most people will likely never notice.

Conflat A from the Parkside kit. As per the last time I built some of these I beefed up the links a bit as I thought they were far too subtle.  I fancied an empty one for a change and also added a missing (yeah sounds a bit weird that doesn’t it?) axlebox cover.

Next up an LMS diagram 1838 container flat.  Built from the parkside fitted LMS chassis kit with extra bits and bobs.

Finally an eastern region plate. When i did my fish van a few posts ago someone on the clearing house facebook group (highly recommended if you are on facebook and like wagon building) pondered if the chassis could be used to do an eastern region plate.  Personally i thought it easier to go with the supplied chassis and replace the brake gear. Another Parkside kit.


Low cost modelling

I was pleased to find that given the recent high temperatures and the layout living in a shed, that there appears to be no ill effects and all the rails are still straight and pointing in the right direction.  I hope everyone reading this can say similar.

The above is a major blast from the past.  Years ago when the West Midlands Area Group of the Scalefour Society was active, its organiser, Les, one week supplied us all with a parkside fish van kit. I think (memory is fuzzy if I’m honest) the idea was some sort of little competition to see what we would do with it. I don’t recall that anyone did but since then its sat in my kit stash contemplating its place in the world.  As you can see it’s finally been built.  I must admit the very long wheelbase produces a pretty ugly proportioned vehicle but its ready for service on Brettell Road.  A note of thanks to Andy Hanson for kindly supplying the transfers.

Above is a V33 van again from my spares box.  It uses Ratio sides and a Cambrian 9ft wheelbase underframe. I don’t know how I ended up with the sides and while all the bits had, obviously, been paid for at some point I’m calling this one a freebie!

Added a couple of pre-Worboys road signs from Shirescenes.  These are inspired by a picture of a Barclay tank crossing Level Street that I found.  I made the furthest one about 80% the size of the nearer one to force the perspective a little.

Finally a couple of milk churns from Modelu.  To get the galvanised effect I painted them silver.  Then a very light dusting of Halfords grey primer (holding the churn at arms length from the spray can) followed by matt varnish.  I think it worked but if anyone will ever notice, who knows?


LMS long tube

Just missing out on my last post is this model

An LMS  diagram 1945 Long tube.  It uses a Parkside BR tube kit which has been shortened to 30ft 6in over the body (122mm) and 17ft 6in wheelbase (70mm).  The corrugated metal ends have been replaced with planked ones from plasticard.

A bit of a family tree starting at the top with an old Ian Kirk kit for the diagram 1675 wagon.  The wheelbase for the top 2 are the same.

Just a couple of pics for the hell of it!


A Parkside quartet.

The Airfix meat van I did a short while ago has peaked my interest just a smidge. There is a little bit of local interest for this (or a well sketchy excuse for me to go waffling on for a minute or two!).

Meat products moved by rail were probably most famous for the Palethorpes vans that operated out of the Dudley area but Brierley Hill was also famous for another processed meat producer, Marsh and Baxter.  Founder, Alfred Marsh brought a pork butchers shop (with slaughter house) from E.J. Smart on Brierley Hill High Street in 1867 and initially started out curing ham and manufacturing sausages.  By 1912 he brought the A.R Baxter factory in Dale End, Birmingham.  Alfred Marsh died in 1918 and the business passed to his son Alfred Edward Marsh. After WW1 the company continued absorbing smaller firms and was eventually granted a Royal Warrant for its York Hams, which they supplied to Harrods.

In 1927 They began using their own siding at Brierley Hill Station and at their peak employed some 1500 workers and slaughtering approximately 2000 pigs per day. It was quite famous locally for an advert featuring a pig pulling a trailer loaded with sausages and the strap line ‘Drawing his on conclusion’.   In 1954 a modern office building was built on Church Street, Brierley Hill which being slighter higher than the Round Oak steel works did tend to dominate the town somewhat.  They also took a keen interest in investing in and promoting local sports and social interests and had both a cricket and football teams (both mens and womens).

In 1962 the company was brought out by Falstock Marketing Corporation although the Marsh and Baxter name was retained. It would survive another 16 years until December 1978 when the company was closed.

Anyway enough of the history Lesson.  2 Parkside Meat van kits were sourced and the one above built as per the instructions.  The white livery being a little different to the sea of grey and Bauxite.
This one is a Diagram 1/250 example using Airfix ends kindly supplied by my friend Ian.  Knowing what I know now it would have been better to use a parkside standard 12t van as the meat van has different doors.  Luckily I still had some suitable doors in my spares box.  The ens needed chamfering to 45 degrees to match the ends and the floor needed shortening a little as the Airfix ends are thicker. I also used some spare underframe mouldings to get the BR welded plate fronted axle boxes.
On the subject of vans I quite like these ex GWR mink Gs.  Another Parkside kit with Bill Bedford springing and some other etched bits and bobs to refine the underframe a little.
Moving on to Parkside’s latest effort. The BR 13t hopper. You can feel the Peco in this one!  The underframe has similar feel (both in the way it’s done and the plastic its done in) to the old wonderful wagons tank kits. I needed to get the scalpel out to get it to fit together the way it was intended but once done it does result in a pretty solid chassis.  I don’t know what happened with the supplied axleboxes but they seemed unfinished to me, almost as if there should have been an overlay as per the palvan kit.  As there wasn’t I cut them off completely and replaced them with Wizard Models castings.
The body isn’t the best fit to the chassis either and the ends needed trimming to fit. Peco supply wire and a bit of plastic rod for the handrails and underframe but its all a bit overscale so I used 0.6mm brass wire on the underframe and 0.3mm nickel silver for the handrails.  Speaking of which theres no way you are going to get the required long handrail into the plastic brackets on the end uprights without breaking them so its easier to snip them open and pop the wire in that way than to try. Knowing what to look out for it does build into a nice looking wagon and its pretty quick to bung one together.  The model features some nice moulding on both sides of the hopper doors but with no where to really put any decent amount of weight I suspect many (like i will) will run them loaded.
The inevitable comparison with my previous model from the Dave Bradwell kit. Draw your own conclusions.


Another classic

The good old Airfix cattle van.  When I was a kid my dad built one of these so I decided Brettell lane should probably have one too. I deleted the opening doors (it was easier to replace the top ones completely than modify what was in the kit) and detailed the underframe with Mainly Trains, Bill Bedford and Rumney models parts.

As with all Airfix kits of the time the roof was pretty clunky so that was replaced with a new one from 30thou plasticard and microstrip.

Ive no idea when this kit was first sold but even with modern eyes this looks like it was bit of a bargain!

Moving on to a more recent kit.  The Chivers model for an LMS long low thats been in my stash for a few years now.

Also from Chivers, and also from my stash, I’ve finished off another LMS twin bolster.   Chivers kits seem to have quite chunky underframe mouldings and while this isn’t noticeable on most of their kits I’ve built it was kind of more obvious on the first twin bolster I built (on the left).  Potentially the use of sprung suspension adding to the problem I felt the underframe looked too wide and the w irons were too far from the wheels, giving a kind of 00 look to the wagon.  On the new one (and the long low pictured above) I thinned the w irons to about half thickness and I’m happier now. It might very well that its only something I notice though!

A ‘historic’ photo of the Barclay tank shuffling a steel train.


A couple of stragglers

Pictured above is a Cooper Craft kit for a GWR diagram 02 open wagon. I found that if you use the bearing holes supplied in the kit the wagon sits too high so the holes were enlarged vertically a bit at a time, checking the wagon on a bit of glass to ensure all 4 wheels stayed square. The rail is a modified Rumney models kit and the brake gear from MRD.

The infamous Airfix meat van. Quite why Airfix picked this and not a standard 12 ton van is anyones guess.   I replaced the gimmicky opening doors and the underframe with Parkside bits from my spares box.  The transfers were cobbled together from what I had and those that were white were painted with revel clear yellow (730). Buffers on this and the GWR open were from Accurascale. Basically cheap and cheerful!

A private railway favourite and an exhibition last hour staple, the good old brake van special!  I think i might have overdone it a bit!

 


A couple of brake vans

I may have mentioned before a plan to have a mixed engineers train for New Street. This will be the closest I will get to what could be vaguely referred to as a traditional goods train.  For this I’ve completed a couple of the good old Airfix brake van kits.

Pictured above on test on Brettel Road, the bauxite one features roller bearings left over from a Chivers kit and Oleo buffers from Accurascale. The dutch one also has Accurascale buffers (spindle this time) and plated ends. Both feature a new, thinner roof.  Ive retained the original chassis with internal rocking compensation at one end and added the underframe trussing Airfix missed off. Theres an etched underframe option for those who are interested and I can direct you to this thread if thats something you fancy having a look at.

While time travelling engineers trains were ‘invading’ Brettell Road this 31 appeared!


Bit of pick ‘n’ mix

Bit of a pick ‘n’ mix post this one.

Lady Margaret now has her identity thanks to some custom nameplates from Narrow Planet

Finding your own compromise

When it comes to plastic kit building it helps if you think of a line.  At one end of the line you have the kit  as supplied, built as per the instructions with no attention or research what so ever on the prototype itself. At the other end you have the kit, researched, wrong parts replaced or corrected and superior parts substituted, as much extra detail as you can manage. Rumney chassis kind of thing. Inevitably we all need to find our place somewhere along the line that we feel comfortable.

This place can be influenced by several factors.

Cost – adding a lot of extra parts can mount up to quite an expensive model.

Expediency – high end models take a lot longer to build. Do we have the time

Reliability – no point adding every little detail if in use you’re going to knock it all off again.

Usage – if you wagon is part of a train of 30 that are only ever going to trundle past at a scale 40mph are you going to have the opportunity to notice the extra work?

Consistency – no point mixing highly detailed and basic kit builds together really.

Volume – how many models are we going to need?

Heres my pretty much standard position along that line.  The base model is a parkside kit. As mentioned elsewhere I’m not particularly worried about compensation or springing on a 10ft wheelbase wagon but i do use it for vehicles longer than 12ft wb.

A – brass tie bars. I use 0.8mm L section.  the real things aren’t L section but i use this for strength and you cant tell unless you turn the model upside down. In plastic kits the tie bars are a real weakness ad they are either bendy, get broken or to avoid those 2 things, massively thick.

B – break hangers from Bill Bedford – It doesnt take much to add a little finesse to the brake gear and trick the mind into thinking its all a bit more refined that it actually is.

C – metal buffers, or in this case metal buffer heads. Unless your kit comes with metal buffers already lets be honest here, the plastic ones are going to be awful. These are MJT buffer heads.

D – couplings. A whole discussion on compromises in itself. In my case I use Smiths which i know are overscale but they are (quite) easy to use in operation.

E – brake pipe from Lanarkshire models.

Glue

Ive recently been trying this stuff. Ultra Glue from MIG for etched and clear parts. Its water based so can be thinned if required and so far it seems to do the job at least as well as superglue.  Its especially good for fitting name plates as while it has good grab it takes a few hours to fully harden and being water base any that creeps out can be lifted off with a wet paintbrush.

Reading

It’s been an awful long time since Martin Welch treated us to his ‘bible’ the art of weathering. And while still essential reading things have moved on a bit, especially so in the last few years or so. Some of the paints Martin used are no longer available (Humbrol tarmac for example) but theres a whole market now of weathering paints and materials.  This (rather large at over 500 pages) book is an excellent window outside of our sometimes a little comfortable railway world.

Having had a little trundle to Stourbridge shed and back for some Diesel, Class 11 shunter 12049 waits for the nod back into the yard at Brettell Road.

Narrow planet

Brass for tie bars and Bill Bedford hangers

MJT

Lanarkshire Models


A short post in brass

Been fiddling with bits of brass again. I wouldn’t normally bother taking a picture of something as simple as a point lever but I found that the ones I built before were a little vulnerable and easily bent.  I haven’t changed the ones i use (Shirescenes) but what I have done is doubled up the levers themselves and they now seem a lot more robust.

I’ve built platform trollies before to but this time I have changed the supplier.  I think my previous ones were Scalelink but this one is from London Road Models and is much more detailed. It even had a representation of the brake linkages.  Regular readers will no doubt know by now I’m a sucker for this sort of thing!  The trolly is shown perched on a two pence piece for scale.

Moving on to something a little more obvious.  This is the Churchward models (now sold by Phoenix models) footbridge kit shown in temporary position.  As my track spacing is quite wide here I did need to extend the main arch by one panel and, luckily as the etches for the arch are the same, I could use the spare bits that weren’t needed on the facing side. The sides were cut and shut with  the new panels grafted in meaning the only bit I needed to fabricate from scratch was the main span floor.  An enjoyable kit to build this one.

Shirescenes

London Road Models

Churchward Models


A few in progress lorry kits

With my first demo in a few years (my first exhibition in any form in a few years actually) coming up in a few weeks*, I thought it an idea to do a couple of in progress lorries as a change to all the finished stuff I usually drag along to this sort of thing.

Both are Langley kits and were chosen for absolutely no other reason than they popped up cheaply on ebay!  OK they were a little interesting anyway and i thought the dumpy little Dodge 5 ton tipper truck was kinda cute.  The Milk tanker is a Leyland Beaver and both hail from the end of the 40s so they would likely be pretty tired by the time they reach Brettell Road. The make do and mend attitude of the Black Country would mean they might soldier on for that long but the impending Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations of 1960 must mean their days are likely numbered!

*See the news page


Duchess update June 2021

After a longer gap than  would have liked attention had returned to my Duchess build.Starting with the lower firebox and damper operating rod.

Next up the brakes. As can be seen clearance is kind of on the minimal side.  Theres no springs fitted yet either so the chassis will sit a little higher than is seen here.

The motion brackets. Again theres not a lot of clearance between the bracket and the leading driving wheel.

The chassis so far.

Moving on the next stage is the footplate Seen here in its assembly jig.


Good old fashioned kit bashing (with a spot of RTR bashing too)

OK this one isn’t a particularly difficult exercise.  The Oxford tank wagon re-liveried to Shell/BP livery.  On my first Oxford tank I mentioned that the printing came off really easily with white spirit but not this one.  This needed IPA and a fair bit of elbow grease!   I added a discharge pipe and the logos came from Fox (they are a smidge to big for this little tank to be honest).  I noticed, too late, that Oxford have modelled both of the vertical end ribs facing the same way on these tanks.

Next up, a bit more fitting in with the post title. A diagram 2070 12 ton goods van.  When I built my diagram 2108 van from  parkside kit I used the ends from a ratio 12 ton van as the Parkside ones are the wrong shape. The rest of the ratio kit sat in it’s box until I recently decided to do something with it.  These vans, although looking very LMS were actually built (for the LMS) by the Southern in 1942.  I files off the metal framing a the ends and re-scribed the planks. The ends were just scratchbuilt from plasticard using the vent left over from the afore mentioned Parkside kit. The finished van.  Bufffers are from Accurascale and the old label from Holler.

Next, an Airfix LMS brake van chopped up to be rearranged into a Diagram 1890 version or ‘reverse Stanier’ as they are sometime called. As can be seen theres not much too this one and it makes quite a good project for those new to chopping stuff up.  These models can be found really cheaply so theres not a lot to loose.  The ends have been scribed as the upper ‘window’ section squared off with plasticard as filler.  A bit of microstrip for the vertical frame and the upper beading on the sides was sanded back. The finished Van.  Don’t forget to redo the steps on the solebars!

This is a cheeky little one. Basically the Parkside kit for the diagram 1657 20 ton brake van but with the wheelbase extended from 12 to 14 feet to produce a diagram 1940 version. One of those ones that i’ll be surprised if anyone notices!

The same cant be said for this though, I think people might notice!  Same start point of the parkside kit but rebuilt to a diagram 1799 40 ton bogie brake van.  The LMS built 3 of these specifically for the Copley Hill to Armley line and thats where they stayed.  I just liked it for its wierdness really!