Chuffnell Regis

[Nick C]

59 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

It will of course be: A. A period correct bus. B. Not parked in the middle of a bridge.

Therefore exempt from spontaneous blitzkrieg.

I don't have a problem with buses or other road transport as such.

But unlike the trains, those models are static. Buses are fine parked up at a bus stop, or stuck at a level crossing or junction, same thing with cars, and thoughtfully placed they add atmosphere and set the era as much as anything else.

For them to be in a position where they ought to be moving, it's a giveaway that they cannot.

What about buses that are parked on a bridge while acting as a decoy for an anti-aircraft battery?

[Graham T]

It's actually one of these, and will eventually find a home parked in front of the station, I think.

 

[Graham T]

I just slapped some paint on the Collett Goods.  It looks a bit grubby, and needs touching up here and there, but looks better than before I think.  Can still see the ghost of GWR on the tender, so I need to sort that out.  Would the whistles have been painted, along with the safety valve cover?

 

[MrWolf]

50 minutes ago, Nick C said:

What about buses that are parked on a bridge while acting as a decoy for an anti-aircraft battery?

 

Dive bombers are notoriously difficult to hit with AA fire, presenting a very narrow target head on, you just have to get as much lead in the air as you can. They're slow though, much better to get behind them with fighter cover.

[MrWolf]

40 minutes ago, Graham T said:

I just slapped some paint on the Collett Goods.  It looks a bit grubby, and needs touching up here and there, but looks better than before I think.  Can still see the ghost of GWR on the tender, so I need to sort that out.  Would the whistles have been painted, along with the safety valve cover?

 

 

Looking good! I don't think that whistles were painted. 

Anyone know better?

[MrWolf]

45 minutes ago, Graham T said:

It's actually one of these, and will eventually find a home parked in front of the station, I think.

 

 

That is the same bus kit that I have lurking in the box of doom. I am pretty certain that you can still buy them new.

[Mike_Walker]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

It's actually one of these, and will eventually find a home parked in front of the station, I think.

 

Might be a little early for your period.  That's one from the late twenties and GWR transferred it's road transport interests to local bus companies in 1929 so you wouldn't have seen buses in GWR livery in the thirties.

[Andy Keane]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

 

Looking good! I don't think that whistles were painted. 

Anyone know better?

I don't think I have ever seen them painted - would be a jolly odd thing to paint I think. I always touch mine over with gold acrylic which does a good job of being brass if they are moulded plastic.

[Andy Keane]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

I just slapped some paint on the Collett Goods.  It looks a bit grubby, and needs touching up here and there, but looks better than before I think.  Can still see the ghost of GWR on the tender, so I need to sort that out.  Would the whistles have been painted, along with the safety valve cover?

 

I think if you add lettering over the top plus a little track dirt that will hide the shadowing pretty well.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Mike_Walker said:

Might be a little early for your period.  That's one from the late twenties and GWR transferred it's road transport interests to local bus companies in 1929 so you wouldn't have seen buses in GWR livery in the thirties.

 

Thsnks, that's interesting interesting to know. In my case I might have to ask @russell priceabout Clun Valley motor services liveries.

[MrWolf]

25 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

I don't think I have ever seen them painted - would be a jolly odd thing to paint I think. I always touch mine over with gold acrylic which does a good job of being brass if they are moulded plastic.

 

Getting the paint to stay on brass that gets a regular blast from high pressure steam would have been virtually impossible 100 years ago I suspect and they would soon have looked scruffy. The same applies to the safety valves inside the top of the cover.

[Sasquatch]

If you look at period pictures of 1930s steam locomotives, you'll nearly always see the brass and copper parts have been recently polished. That would include the pipes that run out from either side of the pipe cover which runs down from the safety valve cover.

That's another item of interest here. Later batches of Collett goods built during the war would have had steel covers as an austerity measure. These would have been painted green were as the earlier batches had the typical GWR brass versions. Don't quote me on this, I'm no expert but one thing is for sure. The steam loco was king during the 30s and armies of men (and during the war women!) were employed to keep everything in tip top condition!

 

2242 built in 1944 is seen here during the sixties, all the brass is still being polished It has what appears to be a green safety valve cover.

 

Hope this has been of some help.

 

Regards Shaun   

[Graham T]

1 hour ago, Sasquatch said:

If you look at period pictures of 1930s steam locomotives, you'll nearly always see the brass and copper parts have been recently polished. That would include the pipes that run out from either side of the pipe cover which runs down from the safety valve cover.

That's another item of interest here. Later batches of Collett goods built during the war would have had steel covers as an austerity measure. These would have been painted green were as the earlier batches had the typical GWR brass versions. Don't quote me on this, I'm no expert but one thing is for sure. The steam loco was king during the 30s and armies of men (and during the war women!) were employed to keep everything in tip top condition!

 

2242 built in 1944 is seen here during the sixties, all the brass is still being polished It has what appears to be a green safety valve cover.

 

Hope this has been of some help.

 

Regards Shaun   

 

Thanks Shaun, that is indeed helpful.  And reminds me that I also need to add some steam pipes...  Paints ranged on the workbench ready for tomorrow!

[Graham T]

3 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Might be a little early for your period.  That's one from the late twenties and GWR transferred it's road transport interests to local bus companies in 1929 so you wouldn't have seen buses in GWR livery in the thirties.

 

Thanks for letting me know Mike.  I might have to invoke Rule 1 again (getting worried that I might wear it out!)

[Graham T]

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Getting the paint to stay on brass that gets a regular blast from high pressure steam would have been virtually impossible 100 years ago I suspect and they would soon have looked scruffy. The same applies to the safety valves inside the top of the cover.

 

Thanks Rob, good point, well made!

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks for letting me know Mike.  I might have to invoke Rule 1 again (getting worried that I might wear it out!)

 

Nothing wrong with rule 1. It's a GWR branch terminus, something of a rarity since about 1985, time for a renaissance, we're allowed, no, expected to have a few anomalies and clichés!

[Graham T]

I've certainly got the anomalies weighed off 🙂

 

So - why do we like messing about with tiny little pieces of metal like this?

 

[Graham T]

Because we can turn them into this, I suppose:

 

 

Smokebox dart courtesy of Alan Gibson.  Loco has since been dusted down a bit!  the moulding seam on the front of the chimney is really prominent in this photo, but to the naked eye it's almost invisible, so I think I will leave it alone.  My thinking is that filing it away will mean painting after, and the chances of matching the weathered colour of the chimney and smokebox are next to nil, so I'd probably just end up drawing more attention to it.  That's my excuse for not bothering anyway 🥸

 

A tip for adding the darts, which I expect everyone else here thought of straight away, but just in case there's someone else on this forum who's as dumb as I am...

 

First time I added one of these to a loco I assembled the three parts before fixing it to the smokebox door.  Don't do it that way!  It made threading needles look like a cinch.  Fix the spindle to the loco first, then add the handles after.  Having a chunky loco to hang onto while you tweezer on the handles is considerably easier than trying to hold the spindle in fat fingers and add the handles to that!

[Graham T]

And then a quick spot of tinkering after lunch.  Edges of wheels blackened with a permanent marker, and the whistles, safety valve pipes, and smokebox dart all painted.  Now I must get back to work though...

 

[Neal Ball]

18 hours ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks for letting me know Mike.  I might have to invoke Rule 1 again (getting worried that I might wear it out!)

Don’t worry Graham, I also have a rule 1 bus…. Which reminds me that it needs finishing off!

[MrWolf]

Loco is looking much more realistic and the old model holds up well with a little effort don't you think?

 

As for smokebox darts, you have my sympathies!

Ping tray anyone?

 

 

 

[Graham T]

That's looking rather good Mr W.  Impressed with the job you've made of the handrail around the smokebox - I bet bending that into shape got the Profanium warmed up!

[MrWolf]

Thanks, I found it was easiest to behd the main curve first and work outwards. Number 23 is up and running but still needs finishing below the footplate.

[Graham T]

Let's see some pics then!  We need evidence 🙂

[MrWolf]

Transfers needed too. When I can find them!