Wright writes.....

[John Isherwood]

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

 

I've seen that done a couple of times but it never seems to work, in my view. The paint hues are seldom completely monochromatic so you get warm greys and creamy whites, and then the effect of whatever ambient light there is spilling onto the layout, all of which just ends up making the model look weird rather than convincingly B&W. Just my view...

 

I have to say that I was dubious at the time - you can't convincingly wind back time in this way.

 

I know that's what we try to do in all backdated modelling, but monochrome modelling somehow does not seem to capture the past - perhaps because we KNOW that the original was coloured, even if many images were monochrome.

 

CJI.

[Bucoops]

This kind of discussion always reminds me of this Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.

 

[Chamby]

On 24/11/2022 at 13:57, Pacific231G said:

Hi Tony

It is a challenge,  harder than representing snow,  but there was a Leeds tram layout* a few years ago that represented a wet day very well with puddles on the ground and judicious use of varnish as well ISTR as very flat lighting, rather muted colours and a slightly mistiness in the background. 

 

It was traditionally very hard to use actual water in TV studios  (too much electricity around) so the set designers concentrated on just making the scene look wet. Add the sound of rain and maybe  water running down a window in the foreground of a shot (far more manageable than trying to get more widespread rain)  . In any case, if you try to film actual rain you don't actually see the falling rain drops but you do see its effect on the ground.  That's also true with all but the heaviest rain if you;re just looking at it. It's raining here now but I only know that because there are rain drops on my window- I can't actually see the falling rain. 

Take a look at this photo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28083135@N06/34700681730

It's very obviously raining quite hard but you're not actually seeing any falling rain. Shiny road and pavement, people with wet umbrellas and macs, misted up windows of the tram, misty in the distance, very flat light, even the way people are walking,  all say what sort of day it is.

 

*I think it may actually have been called "a wet day in Leeds"

 

We're used to seeing falling raindrops in Cornwall - locally its known as liquid sunshine!  Here are some rather atmospheric raindrops captured on film... not in Cornwall, but on the SVR whilst on a driver experience day a few years back.

 

[Tony Wright]

A rather good day today.

 

Graham Nicholas popped by on his (roundabout) journey to Warley; primarily to fix one of the signals.

 

This one............

 

 

The Down slow-to-fast starter, which refused to go 'on'. I don't think the Veissmann motor had totally failed, but Graham replaced it, anyway. Thanks Graham. 

 

It was inevitable that one of the signals would cease to function, after I'd proclaimed that it was time to disguise their bases! 

 

So far, about 100% of these motors have failed, and Graham has diligently replaced each one. Since our 'bartering' work is guaranteed for the rest of our lives, I've had to call in that guarantee quite a lot!. Luckily (without tempting fate), both the locos I built for him for Grantham in exchange have never failed, but time will tell. Since I'm a fair bit older than him, the 'lifetime guarantee' is more in my favour! 

 

He brought along this for photography.............

 

 

A splendid example of the coach-builder's art; a WCJS 12-wheeled All Third. Graham built it on commission (he did tell me what from, but I've forgotten) and Warren Heywood has painted it beautifully. 

 

He also bought a few residual items from the Brian Lee collection. 

 

Thanks Graham.

 

We were joined by Alan Holland (Buhar), all the way from Lockerbie (in his electric car!). He came to pick up what he'd bought from the collection, then promptly bought what was left; that's it - all gone (in under a month, thanks to willing buyers). 

 

Alan drove Little Bytham - very fast! I was most-impressed.

 

Thanks Alan, for buying what you did and your most-generous donation to CRUK. 

 

I hope you get home all right. 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Tony Wright
tautology

[Buhar]

Currently at Tebay waiting for electric banking assistance.

Alan

[Tony Wright]

24 minutes ago, Buhar said:

Currently at Tebay waiting for electric banking assistance.

Alan

Not too far now then Alan,

 

Certainly a long drive, but I'm glad you thought it worth it.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Just a note of possible interest...........

 

Geoff West, the current owner of Hadley Green is offering the layout free to a good home. 

 

Anyone interested, please PM me and I'll inform him.

 

Thanks in anticipation. 

[LNER4479]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

 

A splendid example of the coach-builder's art; a WCJS 12-wheeled All Third. Graham built it on commission (he did tell me what from, but I've forgotten) and Warren Heywood has painted it beautifully. 

 

He also bought a few residual items from the Brian Lee collection. 

 

Thanks Graham.

 

Thanks Tony - great to call in at LB and have a catch up. Much to and fro bartering and trading at 'Honest Tone's' - I also came away poorer but happier, clutching a tiara of Duchesses ... more news of which will appear on my HotN thread.

 

For the record, the coach so beautifully photographed is a WCJS Dia.64 4-compartment Brake Third, built from an old Modellers World kit, with replacement sides from 247 (the kit as supplied makes up as a Dia.62 5-compartment Brake Third). These were the so called 'Edinburgh Brakes' within the famous 2pm 'corridor' service from London Euston, the forerunner of what latterly became the 'Midday Scot'. Also replaced were the bogies in the kit with the virtually identical Comet (Wizard) 12-wheel bogies - coach runs far better as a result.

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

So far, about 100% of these motors have failed

I have one spare which Baz's Couriers can bring back to the UK from the Antipodes next year.

[Pacific231G]

7 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

We're used to seeing falling raindrops in Cornwall - locally its known as liquid sunshine!  Here are some rather atmospheric raindrops captured on film... not in Cornwall, but on the SVR whilst on a driver experience day a few years back.

 

That reminds me of my two years at college in Plymouth when it never seemed to stop raining  (I wasn't there during most of the summer)

 

You can indeed photograph heavy failling raindrops  with a fast shutter speed but it's much harder to film them (Look at a news report where the reporter is standing in the rain and note what you actually see) The main reason is that at 24 or 25 frames per second,  your're using a much slower shutter speed so you just see streaks or mist.  In your photo, taken with a shutter speed of 1/100  second, the rain drops are still only appearing a streaks but in a still photo that does say rain. For moving pictures you really need to see the rain falling   which is harder. There are ways round that such as shooting rain in slow motion, using a rain bar (or just a nozzle on a garden hose) which produces much larger droplets than all but the very heaviest rain, or simply focussing on where the rain hits a surface and splashes or is dripping from various objects. 

For a model railway it's hard because there is movement in it so everything else shouldn't look as if time has stood still (same problem as ripples or waves in water)

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

Thanks Tony - great to call in at LB and have a catch up. Much to and fro bartering and trading at 'Honest Tone's' - I also came away poorer but happier, clutching a tiara of Duchesses ... more news of which will appear on my HotN thread.

 

For the record, the coach so beautifully photographed is a WCJS Dia.64 4-compartment Brake Third, built from an old Modellers World kit, with replacement sides from 247 (the kit as supplied makes up as a Dia.62 5-compartment Brake Third). These were the so called 'Edinburgh Brakes' within the famous 2pm 'corridor' service from London Euston, the forerunner of what latterly became the 'Midday Scot'. Also replaced were the bogies in the kit with the virtually identical Comet (Wizard) 12-wheel bogies - coach runs far better as a result.

Thanks for fixing the signal Graham,

 

And for buying that brace of 'Semis' (which I look forward to seeing running over Shap). One is a 'beaut', the other will soon be after your attention.

 

Thanks, too, for telling us of the identity of that lovely carriage.

 

Have a good time at Warley. I loved the show, but getting there, getting in and (even worse) getting out proved too much.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Chas Levin]

Good morning Tony and everyone, here are the final photos of the London Road Models GNR C2 I've been building:

 

 

 

 

 

It's taken well over a year to do, but that also includes time taken learning how to use a bow pen better than I had before, learning about non-rigid chassis and building a few other smaller projects too.

 

It's an etched brass London Road Models kit, GNR C2 tank (later the LNER / BR C12 4-4-2), with a FlexiChas compensation beam between the front drivers and the bogie, a rear radial truck (also an LRM etch), a High Level Kits Road Runner+ gearbox with a Mashima motor and paints by Phoenix Precision, excepting the black and white lining which was Humbrol, the lining being done with a pen. Transfers are by Fox, figures and lamps by Modelu and the only thing missing is the works plates as I had problems finding a suitably sized pair and have some on order.

 

I hugely enjoyed the build and the painting - this definitely won't be the last GNR livery loco I build!

 

I'd like to thank you Tony and a long list of people who helped along the way with comments, suggestions and ideas, without which this wouldn't have come out as well as it has.

[t-b-g]

10 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

Good morning Tony and everyone, here are the final photos of the London Road Models GNR C2 I've been building:

 

 

 

 

 

It's taken well over a year to do, but that also includes time taken learning how to use a bow pen better than I had before, learning about non-rigid chassis and building a few other smaller projects too.

 

It's an etched brass London Road Models kit, GNR C2 tank (later the LNER / BR C12 4-4-2), with a FlexiChas compensation beam between the front drivers and the bogie, a rear radial truck (also an LRM etch), a High Level Kits Road Runner+ gearbox with a Mashima motor and paints by Phoenix Precision, excepting the black and white lining which was Humbrol, the lining being done with a pen. Transfers are by Fox, figures and lamps by Modelu and the only thing missing is the works plates as I had problems finding a suitably sized pair and have some on order.

 

I hugely enjoyed the build and the painting - this definitely won't be the last GNR livery loco I build!

 

I'd like to thank you Tony and a long list of people who helped along the way with comments, suggestions and ideas, without which this wouldn't have come out as well as it has.

 

What a lovely model of a very elegant loco.

 

My congratulations to you.

[andytrains]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Just a note of possible interest...........

 

Geoff West, the current owner of Hadley Green is offering the layout free to a good home. 

 

Anyone interested, please PM me and I'll inform him.

 

Thanks in anticipation. 

Tony.

I am the Secretary of the East Ham and District MRC, and we were, together with Rob Davey co-owners of it. We would be interested in getting it back to the club.

My email is andyneilblaxell@gmail.com

Andy Neil. 

[Staffordshire]

   Latest addition, a Malcolm Mitchell  Castle kit ....

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, andytrains said:

Tony.

I am the Secretary of the East Ham and District MRC, and we were, together with Rob Davey co-owners of it. We would be interested in getting it back to the club.

My email is andyneilblaxell@gmail.com

Andy Neil. 

Thanks Andy,

 

PM sent.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

7 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

Good morning Tony and everyone, here are the final photos of the London Road Models GNR C2 I've been building:

 

 

 

 

 

It's taken well over a year to do, but that also includes time taken learning how to use a bow pen better than I had before, learning about non-rigid chassis and building a few other smaller projects too.

 

It's an etched brass London Road Models kit, GNR C2 tank (later the LNER / BR C12 4-4-2), with a FlexiChas compensation beam between the front drivers and the bogie, a rear radial truck (also an LRM etch), a High Level Kits Road Runner+ gearbox with a Mashima motor and paints by Phoenix Precision, excepting the black and white lining which was Humbrol, the lining being done with a pen. Transfers are by Fox, figures and lamps by Modelu and the only thing missing is the works plates as I had problems finding a suitably sized pair and have some on order.

 

I hugely enjoyed the build and the painting - this definitely won't be the last GNR livery loco I build!

 

I'd like to thank you Tony and a long list of people who helped along the way with comments, suggestions and ideas, without which this wouldn't have come out as well as it has.

What a lovely job Chas,

 

Thanks for showing us (and thanks to other modellers, too, for showing their work).

 

Your painting is excellent; far better than anything I could achieve with such elaborate lining.

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

5 hours ago, Staffordshire said:

   Latest addition, a Malcolm Mitchell  Castle kit ....

Thanks Staffordshire,

 

You've made a very fine job of building a complex kit.

 

If I might make one observation, please? The bogie wheels (I have a thing about bogie/pony wheels!). They look to be Markits LNER ten-spoked type. GWR bogie wheel spokes were much more 'spindly' in appearance, with a smaller centre boss, as I hope the two following pictures show.........

 

 

I can't recall who brought this Mitchell Castle along to run (beautifully) on Little Bytham.

 

 

Geoff Haynes built/painted this Mitchell Castle in P4.

 

I hope the bogie wheel types are evident.

 

Keep up the excellent modelling.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[rodent279]

Quick question for all you expert whitemetal kit builders, if I may?

 

Do you start with the whitemetal body, or the chassis?

Or does it matter?

 

Cheers N

[LNER4479]

I always start with the chassis, irrespective of whether it's white metal or etched. Basic chassis together, followed by basic body shell, including running plate. You can then check ride height, body to chassis mountings, motor / gearbox clearance, etc ... and make any adjustments necessary before going on to add the detail.

 

[Iain.d]

This week I’ve worked from home so have saved about an hour a day on travelling to and from work. I’ve invested this time wisely and moved on with the build of my Comet Models D1901/1923 Restaurant Third and D1903 Composite Open.

 

I’ve completed the construction of all the major metal parts and now its adding the whitemetal fittings and building the interior. I like to make the roofs removable on my carriage builds and, because of this, the soldered sides and ends while being worked on, can be a bit delicate and flimsy for my heavy-handedness, so I like to solder hefty cross beams between the sides. These are drilled to accept bolts coming down from the roof to secure it in position.  I decided to put an extra cross beam on the RT just to help keep it all square.

 

The main components of the Restaurant Third:

 

 

And of the Composite Open:

 

 

And the parts put together:

 

 

The roof on the RT has quite a complex arrangement of vents, fans and pipework and this has all been drilled pending fitting of the components.  I like to drill most of the holes in the first instance with about a .8mm bit and then follow up with one closer to the size of the component diameters that will pass through/be secured in the holes, effectively drilling each hole twice. I used a pin vice and by the time I had done both carriages I had a blister on my thumb and finger! There has to be an easier way. The end hand hold holes are drilled .5mm and the pipe securing brackets are drilled .7mm.

 

 

Despite my care and attention two holes on the RT were notably out of square and needed re-drilling and the wrong holes filling. The only plan of the Composite roof layout I have is the one that came with the kit.  For some reason the third class luggage area doesn’t have its own vent like the first class one; maybe the LMS didn’t care if the luggage at that end smelled.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[Tony Wright]

11 hours ago, rodent279 said:

Quick question for all you expert whitemetal kit builders, if I may?

 

Do you start with the whitemetal body, or the chassis?

Or does it matter?

 

Cheers N

Good morning,

 

Irrespective of whether a loco kit is made of white metal or brass/nickel silver (or a combination), I always start by erecting the frames; to the extent of getting a basic running chassis before proceeding on with the body. That basic chassis then acts as a sort of 'jig' for getting everything straight and true, it being much easier to alter bodywork to suit rather than modifying a chassis. Being a 'jig' doesn't mean that one allows filing and detritus to contaminate a sweet-running chassis.

 

If a loco has outside valve gear, I leave that to the last.

 

The following shots of a V2 build sequence might be of help.............

 

 

These are a Comet set of frames, made to go under a Nu-Cast V2 I was building. 

 

Having made such a combination before, I modified the frames to some extent before I erected them; certainly not after they were soldered together.

 

 

You can see the need for cutting the tops of the frames at the front, so as to slide underneath the front footplate with ease. The rear end of the footplate and the firebox support have been modified to suit the Comet frames. 

 

 

I didn't use the Comet Cartazzi frames, employing what Nu-Cast supplied instead. The Comet frames at the rear were cut off to suit before they were soldered together. 

 

Care must be taken to ensure that the fixing positions for holding the frames and body together were in exactly the right coordination.  

 

 

Which they were............

 

 

The need for not using the frames always as a jig for assembling the body is illustrated here. With so much flash to remove from these castings, this must be done far away from any mechanism. 

 

 

If it's a tender engine, always build the two together.

 

 

 

And then thoroughly road-test long before all the final details are added.

 

 

As mentioned, leave the valve gear/cylinders/motion to the last.

 

 

Which then completes the job!

 

 

Finally, more (and more) road-testing before it goes anywhere near the paint shop. 

 

I hope these help.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Tony Wright
duplicate picture

[Tony Wright]

With reference to the V2 above, you can see it in action here...............

 

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AiRP3jVN2v0poWDPE6IUsW8TY8ht?e=MOwoxF

 

I rather jumped the gun with this presentation, because it should have gone out first on BRM's digital edition - which it did, a couple of months ago. It was, quite rightly, taken off, but I've been told it's OK to show it on here now. 

 

If you can't sleep, it might help! 

 

Part of the narrative regarding a pair of V2s is slightly muddled (my fault), but with some 'divergent thinking' it should make sense. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Tony Wright
to add something

[rodent279]

16 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning,

 

Irrespective of whether a loco kit is made of white metal or brass/nickel silver (or a combination), I always start by erecting the frames; to the extent of getting a basic running chassis before proceeding on with the body. That basic chassis then acts as a sort of 'jig' for getting everything straight and true, it being much easier to alter bodywork to suit rather than modifying a chassis. Being a 'jig' doesn't mean that one allows filing and detritus to contaminate a sweet-running chassis.

 

If a loco has outside valve gear, I leave that to the last.

 

The following shots of a V2 build sequence might be of help.............

 

 

These are a Comet set of frames, made to go under a Nu-Cast V2 I was building. 

 

Having made such a combination before, I modified the frames to some extent before I erected them; certainly not after they were soldered together.

 

 

You can see the need for cutting the tops of the frames at the front, so as to slide underneath the front footplate with ease. The rear end of the footplate and the firebox support have been modified to suit the Comet frames. 

 

 

I didn't use the Comet Cartazzi frames, employing what Nu-Cast supplied instead. The Comet frames at the rear were cut off to suit before they were soldered together. 

 

Care must be taken to ensure that the fixing positions for holding the frames and body together were in exactly the right coordination.  

 

 

Which they were............

 

 

The need for not using the frames always as a jig for assembling the body is illustrated here. With so much flash to remove from these castings, this must be done far away from any mechanism. 

 

 

If it's a tender engine, always build the two together.

 

 

 

And then thoroughly road-test long before all the final details are added.

 

 

As mentioned, leave the valve gear/cylinders/motion to the last.

 

 

Which then completes the job!

 

 

Finally, more (and more) road-testing before it goes anywhere near the paint shop. 

 

I hope these help.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

That's great, thanks, very helpful. I have a Hughes Horwich Crab to build, an SEF whitemetal kit. I'm going to use a set of Comet frames underneath-what you say about getting the frames assembled & running sweetly before attempting the body makes sense-much easier to adjust the body to fit the frames while it is still in construction, rather than after!

 

Cheers Neil

[micklner]

         Personally I build the chassis , making loose fits of the body to check clearances and alignment and then paint the chassis before adding any wheels etc. If its a decent kit there shouldnt be any major issues with fit of the body. Then add the wheels, gearbox motor  etc to the chassis, and get it running . Then build the body around the complete finished chassis.

       Much easier than trying to paint the chassis afterwards, to do that the whole thing has be stripped down again a real pain if outside valve gear is involved.

      I have seen photos of chassis being  painted by revolving the wheels under power and spraying paint through the spokes. Not a good idea, as the wheels axles etc have to then be cleaned of all the surplus paint!!.