RMweb Premium ullypug Posted March 9, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Adam said: Between dad and I we have (well, will have) five LMS vans. That's probably sufficient. If we're short of anything it's probably GW vans (but I can live with this), though a BR unfitted would be nice and I have the makings of one of those and, and... Adam Not sure it's possible to be short of GWR vans or to even live with that knowledge... 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 34 minutes ago, ullypug said: Not sure it's possible to be short of GWR vans or to even live with that knowledge... Nah, two's plenty. Adam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ullypug Posted March 9, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 9, 2019 3 hours ago, Adam said: Nah, two's plenty. Adam Two per train presumably...? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 9 hours ago, ullypug said: Not sure it's possible to be short of GWR vans or to even live with that knowledge... Na it's dead easy. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 14, 2019 Author Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) Nearly ready for paint: Lamps, strapping details, vac' pipes (through pipes only) and roof - rainstrips, chimney for stove, location strips underneath. There won't be a fully-worked interior but since I've modelled the door open at one end, I'll have to add something even though you won't really be able to see. That can go in after painting, however. Adam Edited March 14, 2019 by Adam 7 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Adam Posted March 23, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 23, 2019 (edited) A quickie. A quickie. Back in February, we went up to Durham visiting my sister and her tribe and, naturally, we went to Beamish. This item took my fancy: It's a modernised farm tip cart. The shafts for the horse have been sawn off and a drawhook for tractor haulage added - classic mid-century farming bodging. Most obviously, however, the cartwheels have been replaced with something off a pre-war car with pneumatic tyres. A week later, I happened to be at the Tonbridge show and saw that Dart Castings have a kit for something similar (but a little bigger) so here's my rendition of a variation on the same theme: The wheels are off a die-cast Ford van which is a bit more modern than the wheels used on the real thing, but not so much as to be wholly implausible, I think. Adam Edited August 16, 2019 by Adam 12 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted March 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2019 My Granddad's cart was like that. It started out with cart wheels and shafts in, probably 1948, built by his cousin, but fairly soon got a drawbar and pneumatic tyres when he bought a tractor early 50s. 2nd September 1980. (I'm second from the left) Massey Ferguson Combine and Fordson Dexta (still going!) My Uncle on the Combine and my Granddad behind the tractor. 13 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 Thanks so much for those pictures, Paul! Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 My friends in Beaujolais still use a Fordson like the one in the photo. Their reserve one is a grey Fergy (built under licence by Hotchkiss). They have some trailers like the one in the model and photo- one has a back axle with wire-spoked wheels, originally from an early Jaguar; their father used to manage the vineyards of the Lyonaisse 'concessionaire', whose workshop built the trailer. Apparently, Antonin, the father, drove all the way to Lyon and back on his tractor to pick the trailer up; it took most of the day, especially when you factor in lunch etc. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Adam Posted March 26, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 26, 2019 And here we are, worn and used but not decrepit. Adam 18 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Very nice Adam, what paints did you use to get the effects? It looks fantastic. Steve. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, sb67 said: Very nice Adam, what paints did you use to get the effects? It looks fantastic. Steve. Thanks Steve. Humbrol enamels! The light blue was applied neat over grey primer before a faded version of the same blue was applied over the top. Everything else was applied as heavily thinned washes in greyish browns and mostly wiped off. The red was applied using a very fine brush to represent flaked and worn paint. The final touch saw the metal parts picked out in a mix of gunmetal and a bright orange before being mostly removed with a clean, thinners-moistened brush (remember, vertical strokes). Adam Edited March 26, 2019 by Adam Adding thank you! 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Major Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Adam, A superb rendition of the wagon. Your choice of wheels is totally plausible because farmers and growers used whatever came to hand. So everything they made was unique. For example (at risk of overloading your thread) here is a photo of a trailer based on the entire back axle of a Vauxhall car that my Father made in the 1950s. I am unsure whether it was from the car on the horizon which itself was "decommissioned". The location is deepest darkest south Worcestershire. Ian. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) On 26/03/2019 at 21:43, Ian Major said: Adam, A superb rendition of the wagon. Your choice of wheels is totally plausible because farmers and growers used whatever came to hand. So everything they made was unique. For example (at risk of overloading your thread) here is a photo of a trailer based on the entire back axle of a Vauxhall car that my Father made in the 1950s. I am unsure whether it was from the car on the horizon which itself was "decommissioned". The location is deepest darkest south Worcestershire. Ian. That's fabulous - and not at all unusual, of course. I've seen quite a few trailers much like that over the years (and photographed one or two, not that I can find what I've done with the pictures...) What's the beast in front? Adam Edited December 22, 2019 by Adam 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Major Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) Adam, it is a 6HP tractor made by the "Trusty Tractor" company of America. I believe many were shipped to this country during WW2 to help with the food production. It had a 6HP JAP 4 stroke engine. On the right of the engine (just out of sight) was a centrifugal clutch. From this a chain drove a splined shaft which had two sets of dog gears that allowed the drive to be engaged/disengaged individually to the main wheels. Behind the central box was a swinging beam with a male connection on the end on which a single furrow plough or a tool bar could be attached. The tool bar is fitted in the photo which has one of its depth wheels in view. The trailer is attached via the tool bar. I first drove it when I was 9 years old. HSE would not approve now! The trees in the background were Wakefield's Nursery, beyond that was Tolkien's Nursery. I believe a relative of his wrote some books. Ian. Edited March 26, 2019 by Ian Major 3 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Major Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) Adam, There is one thing that was common to all of these trailers/wagons, they had bald tyres because they were already past their best. So your wagon tyres are spot on! Ian. Edited March 27, 2019 by Ian Major To correct my orful spelin. I had tyres that were brave rather than bereft of tread. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 12 hours ago, Ian Major said: Adam, it is a 6HP tractor made by the "Trusty Tractor" company of America. I believe many were shipped to this country during WW2 to help with the food production. It had a 6HP JAP 4 stroke engine. On the right of the engine (just out of sight) was a centrifugal clutch. From this a chain drove a splined shaft which had two sets of dog gears that allowed the drive to be engaged/disengaged individually to the main wheels. Behind the central box was a swinging beam with a male connection on the end on which a single furrow plough or a tool bar could be attached. The tool bar is fitted in the photo which has one of its depth wheels in view. The trailer is attached via the tool bar. I first drove it when I was 9 years old. HSE would not approve now! The trees in the background were Wakefield's Nursery, beyond that was Tolkien's Nursery. I believe a relative of his wrote some books. Ian. Variations on these machines are still to be seen in use in France and Italy, and probably elsewhere. I've seen some that have seats, similar to a bike saddle, so they can be driven in (relative) comfort. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) Both sides of the latest wagon, a Parkside Tube, modelled as one of the first 450 of BR's diagram 1/448 with RCH long link brakes, so about as simple as a big wagon can be. Because it's such a good kit the only additions were minor - new brake levers, those tricky little cruciform tie-down cleats (short lengths of 0.3mm wire with oblong washers of 10 thou' superglued in place) and new buffers and most of them are now invisible... Adam Edited March 29, 2019 by Adam 13 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Adam Posted March 31, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) A bit of tidying up and consigning vehicles to the box file now that they're complete means some ex-works shots are in order. First, the Sentinel I've had complete for a while. This is from the RT Models kit and has its own thread over in the UK Standard Gauge Industrial section. No prizes for spotting that it's based on one of the Roads Reconstruction (1934) fleet that worked near Frome. Featured earlier in the thread (and you'll have to scroll back a lot of pages) is this LMS brake, the old Airfix body on a Bill Bedford chassis. I think I may have started it when I lived in Norwich so calling it finished now means that it's been over a decade in gestation. The unfitted LMS brake next to it has been around for years and was simply out for comparative purposes. The final vehicle, the GW van, is a bit more recent and is finished with a couple of Hollar traders' labels: Ratio uppers, free with the Railway Modeller, Parkside underpinnings. This one took less than a month! Adam Edited June 25, 2019 by Adam 17 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Adam Posted April 22, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 22, 2019 (edited) Another project, long in the gestation, in as much as I've had the subject in stock for a while but quick in the eventual execution. This is a Bachmann 7 plank which I picked up for next to not a lot and had planned to turn into another internal user, until I turned to the letters page of MRJ 250 which included notes on Lowestoft goods yard from the '50s. Therein were notes and a sketch showing the latter days of one of Staveley's numerous fleet of PO opens. A bit of investigation found that POWsides do suitable (well, almost) transfers, here we go: The sky blue drop shadow may or may not be right, but it isn't what the notes said and so, out with the tiny paintbrush: The other side follows the notes and sketch so the top two planks were painted as though replaced and a metal repair plate added in 5 thou'. Next stage - P-prefixed lettering (from Cambridge Custom Transfers, the number is not that of the specific wagon, but is suitable) and the BR accoutrements of white stripes pointing to the doors. I can see that some of the red has worn off. Now this is all well and good, but a bit clean and less than careworn. So the next stage (following Martyn Welch) was to add a fading wash over the top (a mix of Humbrol matt leather, 62 and matt black, 33) and then pick out the iron work in a rusty mix (Humbrol 100 and metalcote gunmetal). This was allowed to dry for a day or three before the next stage. Were this a proper step-by-step, a paintbrush would appear in the following pictures. The photos would be better, too. Here, I've faded the white by overpainting the lettering with very dark grey following a very good colour picture of a Denaby PO in internal use somewhere in the Kent coalfield. The last stage will be to add a bit more weathering to the chassis and, finally, a load. Adam Edited April 22, 2019 by Adam 13 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 And now for something more sophisticated. Dave Bradwell is best known for his hi-fi 4mm loco kits but also does a small range of wagons and wagon chassis. I've built several, all for coal hoppers but what I really wanted to have a go at, long before Bachmann and Hornby got in on the act with their plastic renditions was the chassis for the BR standard 20 ton brake van. The rarest of these standard vehicles was the unfitted version and this chassis will sit under an old Airfix/Dapol body (with a new roof). The chassis is fiddly, but cleverly and thoughtfully designed and goes together very well indeed. The footboards are made up from a laminate - two layers being stronger than one - with a half-etched layer, including the bracket detail and a full-thickness layer with the toe boards folding up at the back. As we can see the design doesn't have these folded back on itself which might make things a little easier but this doesn't matter all that much as working slowly from one end to the other carefully the two can be soldered together without a banana-shaped result. All this means that the brackets folds are reinforced with solder. Dave's got the half-etched lines spot on for bendability and durability. A bit later - and using the clever jig supplied - the top footboards are added. The brackets are soldered through holes in the solebar and because, this once, I read the instructions and didn't use too much solder, this worked first time without having to re-drill or open out holes. These are really quite robust though not much more so that the comparatively unsophisticated D&S version of the very similar chassis found under LNER ballast brakes I built some years ago. Here's the body offered up to check positions/clearances. The axleboxes and springs are from Rumney Models and the buffers from Lanarkshire Model Supplies. The style of these items shows that this will be one of the early unfitted versions with the multi-part handrails like this one: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbrakevan506/h88825DFD Dave Bradwell's etches provide for new cabin partitions to replace the rather chunky Airfix ones. To fit them you have to file a rebate in the sides which meant levering them off the long assembled carcasss (pretty easy as the original join was less than substantial). This is messy, but far from problematic. Dave reckons that the sides are a mite low in height, probably to accommodate the armour-plate roof so I've added some 15 thou' strip along the eaves and a chunk of 60 thou' to space the sides firmly apart. More later, but right now the sun is shining... Adam 9 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack Benson Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 Adam, This is one of the few threads (plus Mikkel of Farthing) that I have bookmarked and really look forward for reading over and again. It spurred me to have another 'go' at wagon building, despite the arrival of the trembles and failing eyesight, the fact that I chose a Cambrian kit was a momentary aberration. Thanks once more. Jack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2996 Victor Posted August 15, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 15, 2019 Hi Adam, I've just finished reading this thread over several lunchtimes, and I can only echo what others have said in that your models are absolutely incredible! So inspiring! I'm not ashamed to admit to bookmarking a number of the posts that have interested me the most. Please do keep posting your work and updating the thread, I'm sure there are many other forum members who would also like to see more! Incidentally, did you finish the Ratio Open C and Parkside Tube? Best regards, Mark 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 3 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: Hi Adam, I've just finished reading this thread over several lunchtimes, and I can only echo what others have said in that your models are absolutely incredible! So inspiring! I'm not ashamed to admit to bookmarking a number of the posts that have interested me the most. Please do keep posting your work and updating the thread, I'm sure there are many other forum members who would also like to see more! Incidentally, did you finish the Ratio Open C and Parkside Tube? Best regards, Mark Hi Mark, Thank you - I'd seen the alerts! I've finished both, but haven't got around to putting them in front of the camera; I'm toying with loads for them but what with one thing and another, they're sitting in boxes. I am doing up a house at present, and it's the cricket season so I'm pretty busy. When I get a minute... Adam 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share Posted August 18, 2019 An interlude. Last weekend, I went to RailWells (fine show, lovely city, go next year) and got talking to @lapford34102 which resulted in a brief guest operating spot on his Sheepcroft layout and also thoughts about the Heljan class 14. Now I bought one of these when they first appeared and converted it to EM by the simple expedient of pulling the wheels out and adding some spacers behind them (a bit of Milliput in the resulting holes finished that part of the job - simple). So for Stu's benefit here's a quick run down of the other cosmetic improvements: 1. The thickness of the buffer beam seems to have been double counted and thus they're about 1mm too proud. These pop off fairly easily and trimming a bufferbeam's width of material away is not too difficult using a new scalpel blade. The beams were remounted and the buffers replaced (I used GW models non-rotating sprung ovals but you might consider Lanarkshire Model's LB124 http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_124.htm or Hornby class 50 spares). 2. Decommission the lighting with scissors. It's too bright, the wrong colour and getting the wiring loom in and out is a pain. 3. Replace the handrail round the bonnet. This is a bit fiddly but essential as the plastic version supplied is very fragile and looks a bit naff. I've used 1mm nickel silver strip to which I soldered 'L's of nickel silver wire and fixed these into the existing mounting holes. 4. This is the one I haven't done (yet). Replace the coupling rods. The Heljan ones are a bit feeble and Brassmasters do a set. I must fire up the soldering iron and sort this out. Still, as it stands it's good solid model that runs well. Hope that helps, Stu! Adam 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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