Growing0

And here it is in all it’s glory, one BR Bolster C ready for painting and decorating.

While back in the workshop,

has been dragged out for some more work.

After adding the remaining bits for the handbrakes, it’s on to the buffers. The kit is supplied with the type that rely on spring wire through the draw hook to work. In the past I’ve always discarded these in favour of Slater’s or similar, but this time I have no choice.

It took three hours to get them assembled and moving freely. Then I fitted them. Maybe it was the heat from soldering them on, but having attached the spring wire within a few test presses three of them seized up. Two jammed so tight that I had to take them off the model and “hammer” them to fully extended. What a waste of time and effort, as I now have fixed buffers (well, three of them anyway) – to say I’m a bit peed off is an understatement! Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford some replacements.

Time to get the guitar out and headline at Glastonbury again………….

I have to say I’m thoroughly enjoying building this kit….

Having soldered the body together, it was time to do the trusses underneath. Making up the queen posts required the rail-in-bender again, here’s a piccy….

….. a second bit of rail at the bottom of the bender keeps the jaws parallel – well, almost. The thickness of the brass means that the top faces fall away a bit, in fact just enough to make the fold 90′ and a bit, so when it relaxes it is actually at 90′.

After a lot of preparation, the first truss is on, and it all fits.

And finally, all the trusses on and a start made on the handbrakes.

Bath time soon…..

Having worked out how to fold the sides, I reduced the need for three hands to two by tacking the rail the side body ’sides’ for folding. The solebars presented a different problem, in that the first bend is easy but the second kept slipping out of the bending bars. In the end I manage to get the fold “just started” and then peened it to 90′ with a hammer – gently, gently….. and it works just fine. The ends of the “body” and the buffer beams looked like they’d need similar treatment as it is possible to get the second fold (i.e the top or bottom) to 30′ or so without resorting to the rail. Rather than setting it up in the folder, I selected a stirrer of exactly the right depth and peened the second fold onto it. Dammed useful things, stirrers!

While giving MMP 10 out of 10 for their instructions, I have to give Jim at Connesuer Models a 12 for his – not only does it appear that he made notes for them as he was building a kit, he also adds loads of hits and tips for each process. Superb.

Enough waffle… here’s the major body components just before bath time.

I love the lashing rings. They probably won’t impress my friends, as Jim suggests rather tounge in cheek, but ‘Er Indoors is impressed (though she’s beginning to realise that if I can do this stuff, I should be able to Mend Things, which is worrying).

One of the little tasks I’ve been dreading about starting this kit was bending the long sides of the wagon body into a “U” shape. I’ve managed on 4 wheel wagons ok with a steel rule and pressing on the bench, but I could see a slip causing a disaster with a bogie wagon. To this end I bought the longest bending bars I could find, but there was still the issue of how to bend the second fold, as after the first one it would not fit in the bars without squashing the first fold.

I decided I needed to find a square bar, small enough to fit into the “U”, but with nice sharp edges to get a good fold. I looked in my tool box – nothing. I looked through the kitchen drawers – nope. I took apart an old printer – the slidy bits are all round. Then I realised the answer was staring me in the face – litterally. Flat bottom rail!

And it works…

That is going to save so much grief! I hope it doesn’t come under the heading of “Yeah, but we all knew that….”

With the LMS Beer Van completed, I’ve now finished an LMS 20T Brake Van…

and had a go at painting the barrow crossing – not too convincing I fear – it needs to be more planky I think.

Also done is the LNER 7 Plank End-Door coal wagon….

I hit a slight snag with this one. There’s supposed to be a diagonal white stripe leading up to the door end (yes, I know, granny and eggs etc) but the “stripe” transfer looked awful as it would not go neatly over the various strappings and looked really naff. Trouble is I’d already applied the other lettering so painting one using masking is likely to pull the “N” and “E” off. Plus actually getting the stripe to pass clear of the letters is not easy. Unless I can find evidence to suggest the stripe was not always applied, I think a re-spray into BR Unfitted Grey is on the cards before it joins the other two on eBay.

Once done, and while waiting to see of they sell, I can finally get on with my Conniseur Bolster B – it will be nice to get back to brass!

Oh, and finally…….. after seeing the Welsh Wizzards immaculate work bench, I thought I offer comfort to the those of us who operate in a more chaotic environment….

If it looks like a dining room table with a bit of MDF on top, that’s because it is! IT gets tidied once a year, for Christmas dinner!

Here’s an LMS beer van, one of three wagons I have on the go at the moment. Not really my thing, though of course I love it now it’s done, but it’s from the stock I bought a while back when planning to set up a model shop….. With the current financial situation I figured I might as well build some of the kits and see what I can get for them on eBay.

I’ve replaced the rather over-large handbrake guides with some home made brass ones – getting the floor to fit nicely was a bugger – it was 2mm too wide. Some brass handbrake levers would have been nice. All in all, it went quite well I think.

And here’s my attempt at a barrow crossing. This is made from stirrers from my unofficial sponsor. Amazingly, a depth of three siting on a sleeper of Peco flat bottom track is exactly the right hight for the “planks” to be at rail height, and with a little selection one on edge (with the “planks” on top) is the right height from baseboard to rail level. That’s not the sort of luck I get (note to self : buy lottery ticket, might be on a roll?). Got a bit of painting to do on this, which could be fun with my total lack of artistic ability – not that I usually let that stop me….

Needs a bit more ballast in front of the crossing I think. Luckily, with my wallpaper paste method (don’t mention it on RMWeb unless you’re very thick skinned – I did, and survived, just) all I need to do is tip a bit more on, position it, and damp with water. This method has many advantages, such as being able to cut the ballast away where the crossing side timbers go with a knife, and if the track needs to be re-used you just damp it again, lift it and wash off any awkward bits. Not great for outdoor use though

Here’s my first go at ballasting in 7mm. I used the same method I employed 30 years ago in 00 and N. The colour is a bit brighter than in real life (me and cameras have an on-going feud!) – but even so the rust on the rails (Railmatch Dark Rust) needs to be a bit browner I feel. And, as soon as I took the photo, I relalised I’d forgotten to give the sleepers a light dusting of Sleeper Grime – damn! Still, its new track, ‘aint it Guv

I think a go with the airbrush with sleeper grime next…. and a barrow crossing made from stirrers from my unofficial sponsor, a well known fast food chain (the coffee’s nice, you don’t have to eat anything). As the sum total of Soddingham-Under-Piddle to date I think operating may be a tad limited though.

Cheers
Richard

I’m using Railmatch as an example here, but only because theirs is the only paint I’ve used since the year dot when it was all Humbrol and Airfix!

I’ve just emerged from the cellar having sprayed a couple of wagons with my Badger air brush. With the “Express Parcels” van, this is only the second time I’ve used an airbrush (for the 08 I used an aerosol).

A couple of thoughts struck me during setting up to paint, something I find an awful lot of faffing about for 2 minutes actual painting.

First, what a shame the Railmatch jars don’t fit the Badger “pick up” lid, that would save having mix the thinners in another pot, and avoid having to use so much paint so that there is sufficient to reach the pick-up pipe.

The second is what a shame the Railmatch aerosols cant be plugged straight into the air brush (not that all colours are available in cans). This would make life a lot easier, just plug and spray. At the moment I’m using an old car tyre as I can’t afford a compressor, but wouldn’t it be nice if one didn’t need either!

Are these sensible ideas, or have I lost the plot – I thought putting a request for comment here before suggesting it to Railmatch and Pheonix (and JLTRT?) just in case I’ve missed something.

Does anyone have a diagram (or link, good photo etc) of the brake arrangement on an RCH 1923 7 plank coal wagon (LMS 1930’s flavour if that makes any odds) I could have a gander at? I’m building a 7mm Parkside kit (one of their early efforts I suspect – not too much detail in the instructions!) and can’t quite decide where everything goes at the bottom of the ‘V’ hangar. I’ve googled without much luck (even on Paul Bartlett’s site which is usually a saviour).

Cheers
Richard