What have you done with your Keyser kit

[lofty1966]

The Grano and GWR 20T mineral  wagons axle holes dont match up either.

I find it amusing how amateurish K's casting products are when put up against Adrian (Swains) meticulously cast stuff of the same era.

I have given up with the K's axle boxes and cut them off and replace with ABS castings.

[roythebus1]

K's were renowned for using one side pattern for wagons and putting the 2 in a kit, it saved on pattern making! The might then make a second mould from the first mould casting which therefore had imperfections which multiplied with age of the moulds!

 

I have 3 or 4 Black Fives, one with the sold brass chassis, the others with etched chassis and valve gear. There's bits missing but I may have enough to make 3 out of 4 or whatever! I started them in the late 1960s/early 1970s. 2 of them have Portescap motors.

 

There's  also a Beyer Peacock Met loco with bits missing, a Q1 with a wheel centre missing, and a couple of LMS tank locos, maybe a 2-6-2 and a 2-6-4, but they may be Wills kits.

 

I built one of their BR sand/ballast wagons many years ago and replaced the chassis with one from an Airfix meat van. At least it runs true with pin point wheels.

 

Then in the last couple of years I don an SEC Met Railway brake van, a nice kit, but even with pin point bearings it's very difficult to move! Too heavy.

 

Back in the early 1970s when P4 had just been invented, there was a demo layout at the Central Hall exhibition. Looked nice with an Anbrico GW railcar converted to P4. Pity the wheels didn't line up with the axleboxes!

 

And if anyone's interested, I've recently acquired a K's P2 (?) from a late friend's estate, he started assembly then gave up. Should I built it or sell it on? The tender chassis is plastic with slots for the axles, but they don't line up with the axleboxes!!

 

 

Edited June 3 by roythebus1

[Barclay]

If I have posted this before on this thread I can only apologise. This is a K's coal wagon kit built in the 1970's for the seminal P4 layout Heckmondwike. It is shown in the article 'Wagons for Heckmondwike' that was in 'Model Railways' in around 1978. Compensated of course and a lovely runner. It's rare for me to have something on my layout that I haven't built myself but when I saw it for sale cheaply at an exhibition this was a piece of history I had to have, and it was already converted to EM!

 

[lofty1966]

17 hours ago, Barclay said:

If I have posted this before on this thread I can only apologise. This is a K's coal wagon kit built in the 1970's for the seminal P4 layout Heckmondwike. It is shown in the article 'Wagons for Heckmondwike' that was in 'Model Railways' in around 1978. Compensated of course and a lovely runner. It's rare for me to have something on my layout that I haven't built myself but when I saw it for sale cheaply at an exhibition this was a piece of history I had to have, and it was already converted to EM!

 

I used to drool over that layout when I was a kid!

[CKPR]

A K's plastic generic 7 plank PO wagon bodged into an MR wagon, the supposed diagram of which I've long forgotten, using the running gear from a Slaters MR cattle that I converted to an M&CR vehicle. In my defence, it was built over 35 years ago and I was unsupervised. I got it out to repaint it into LMS livery, starting by simply blocking out the MR lettering as can seen in many 1920s photographs of ex-MR wagons.

Edited June 12 by CKPR

[Graham456]

Was going to say  I only bought another blooming one ! , but actually I didn’t have to pay for it as it came out the scrap damaged box at minehead show where it was chucked in when I bought a wills de’glen and a lner P2 made from plastic with a Hornby tender drive, just like a another P2 I have the loco has a brass chassis and romfords Cock o the north also had the correct valve gear for 2001

 anyway the free Keyser kit is another 44xx ?

why with Rapido bring a far better one out did I get it?  Price had a lot to do with it,the Romford wheels helped and the five pole  motor sealed its fate with me,the big dent in a side tank bursting it from the footplate was a bit a of a downer gotten from it rattling around in the scrapbox,

 

the dent pushed out so I just re glued it Rapido have made not worth getting carried away if I can match the paint I will just touch her up,as you can see in the background I have another 44xx on the go,making my fleet of these now five,half way their

 

Edited June 25 by Graham456

[Graham456]

It’s funny how when you look at a picture I see things my eyes ignore in real life ! How do I noe see how bad that blob of a headlight is in front of the chimney? Cylinders will need repainting,the whistles sorted,and dust removal before I touch the pain5 up, with what I think might be a old humbrol shade of gwr green,defiantly not the green of the other 44xx which I have tried glazing the cab windows with glue and glaze,it’s a big hole to cover,you can see it’s potable as I have done one,it’s milkyness shows it haven’t set yet,I did know I had to blacken the tank tops when I have the tin open

 I wonder if the cylinders will bend up a bit to fill the gap to the footplate ?

 

don’t mention the metro tank in background it’s on a old whitemeatal chassis do I bother or get a new one which really doesn’t fit this old kit so well as I know from experience  but no more about that as it’s not a Keyser kit

 

in my previous post I said only bought another blooming one,,,,,,,that’s Forty blooming Keyser loco kits now and only a condenser tank is still in the shrink wrap and dean goods bought built but unmotored for a tenner to do if I bother,I have thought of getting some outside frames for it because it’s hardly worth building as a dean goods.

Edited June 26 by Graham456
Spellchecker not knowing it’s unmotored from unmetered

[41516]

14 minutes ago, Graham456 said:

but no more about that as it’s not a Keyser kit

 

Why not give the sister thread (SEF/Wills kits) a bump?

 

 

[Jeff Smith]

27 minutes ago, 41516 said:

 

Why not give the sister thread (SEF/Wills kits) a bump?

 

 

A fairly short-lived thread; last addition June 2021 and has unfortunately lost all it's pictures.....

Edited June 25 by Jeff Smith

[Graham456]

14 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

A fairly short-lived thread; last addition June 2021 and has unfortunately lost all it's pictures.....

I wonder if because Keyser kits are more of a challenge due to their quirks shall we say where as the wills kits fitted so weren’t so interesting!, because the bits fitted

I might put the metro in there. But it’s in the que at the. Moment while I think about what to do chassis wise

Edited June 26 by Graham456

[turbos]

This is a K’s W21 LMS/CR 15 ton Brake Van that I inherited from my dad, it runs OK, but it had a very tired LMS livery with hand painted numbers and letters.

It had been glued together but didn’t have any handrails, lamp irons or brake wheels.

I decided not to do a full rebuild as an etched kit is available from Caley Coaches.

First up I unscrewed the buffers, removed the dublo couplings and stripped the paint off.

 

Next I soldered on handrails, door handles, coupling hooks and lamp irons.

 

 

Then I got on with refitting the buffers, painting and decals, adding a Guard and brake wheels on the verandas and some couplings.

 

 

It scrubs up quite nicely with a bit of effort.

 

Brian.

[Steamport Southport]

2 hours ago, Graham456 said:

I wonder if because Keyser kits are more of a challenge due to their quirks shall we say where as the wills kits fitted so weren’t so interesting!, because the bits fitted

I might put the metro in there. But it’s in the que at the. Moment while I think about what to do chassis wise

 

Could also be that K's Kits were a bit more common and readily available than Wills kits. They seem to pop up more on eBay than Wills do.

 

You could pick them up in Beatties and Hattons certainly sold them. You had to go to a specialist model shop for Wills (and others).

 

I definitely bought my first loco kit in Beatties, which was the 14XX. I have no idea why I picked that one seeing as I already had an Airfix one!

 

Probably price. 

 

 

Jason

[Jeff Smith]

2 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

I definitely bought my first loco kit in Beatties, which was the 14XX. I have no idea why I picked that one seeing as I already had an Airfix one!

Yes, my first was the 57xx bought in Beatties Bristol store, bubble pack, in about 1981.  Soldered and actually got it to run.  Since converted to P4 with Percy chassis and DS10, can't remember who's wheels I used.  I remember dropping it in the late 80's or early 90's and being able to order some new cab castings.....Ks must have been still around then!

[Jeff Smith]

2 hours ago, turbos said:

This is a K’s W21 LMS/CR 15 ton Brake Van that I inherited from my dad, it runs OK, but it had a very tired LMS livery with hand painted numbers and letters.

It had been glued together but didn’t have any handrails, lamp irons or brake wheels.

I decided not to do a full rebuild as an etched kit is available from Caley Coaches.

First up I unscrewed the buffers, removed the dublo couplings and stripped the paint off.

 

Next I soldered on handrails, door handles, coupling hooks and lamp irons.

 

 

Then I got on with refitting the buffers, painting and decals, adding a Guard and brake wheels on the verandas and some couplings.

 

 

It scrubs up quite nicely with a bit of effort.

 

Brian.

Should keep the train couplings in tension........

 

I've never thought of soldering brass wire onto white metal - always used superglue....

Edited June 26 by Jeff Smith

[41516]

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Could also be that K's Kits were a bit more common and readily available than Wills kits.

 

A lot of Will's kits were designed to be dropped onto a suitable Triang chassis, so I would suspect more Wills kits became 'runners' far more easily than K's kits shelved when the mechanical bits let them down.

 

20 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

A fairly short-lived thread

 

It's only dead when it's locked and archived - Just need people to remember it's there and post from time to time to give it a kick start.

[Graham456]

1 hour ago, Jeff Smith said:

Yes, my first was the 57xx bought in Beatties Bristol store, bubble pack, in about 1981.  Soldered and actually got it to run.  Since converted to P4 with Percy chassis and DS10, can't remember who's wheels I used.  I remember dropping it in the late 80's or early 90's and being able to order some new cab castings.....Ks must have been still around then!

So why didn’t you buy it from the shop I was working for back then,Bailies Dailies Models, you could park right outside or the bus stop was yards away ! 
 

speed reading your post I thought at first you put a Hornby Percy 0-4-0 chassis under it !

Edited June 26 by Graham456

[Jeff Smith]

25 minutes ago, Graham456 said:

So why didn’t you buy it from the shop I was working for back then,Bailies Dailies Models, you could park right outside or the bus stop was yards away ! 
 

speed reading your post I thought at first you put a Hornby Percy 0-4-0 chassis under it !

I was living in Yate at the time but I bought solder, flux, tools, etc from another model shop, not the one in the city centre pedestrian area though.  It was in the suburbs but name and exact location have gone from memory.....might be the one you mentioned.

[Jeff Smith]

32 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

I was living in Yate at the time but I bought solder, flux, tools, etc from another model shop, not the one in the city centre pedestrian area though.  It was in the suburbs but name and exact location have gone from memory.....might be the one you mentioned.

Having read another thread you mention it became Kemp Models, that does ring a bell!  Was it in Fishponds?

[locomad2]

2 hours ago, 41516 said:

 

A lot of Will's kits were designed to be dropped onto a suitable Triang chassis, so I would suspect more Wills kits became 'runners' far more easily than K's kits shelved when the mechanical bits let them down.

 

 

 

 

 

Dont forget at lot also were made to drop in Hornby Dublo R1 chassis, you could even purchase chassis separately.

 

Quite right too, nearly all my slash Wills kits got built recently in covid lockdowns, K's motors chassis value gear just don't work, one day I will try again but at the monent thinking of using HD value gear to finish a few off its more durable 

 

[Compound2632]

On 09/06/2024 at 12:41, CKPR said:

A K's plastic generic 7 plank PO wagon bodged into an MR wagon, the supposed diagram of which I've long forgotten

 

D673.

[jwealleans]

Now, I didn't know Ks had done a 7 plank mineral until I went looking for some to bulk up the 1950s mineral train I provide for a club layout.   I found a lot of 6 on Ebay.

 

 

3 quid each seemed reasonable so I went for them.  Once delivered they went into the paint stripper and I've started to process them.  

 

 

The first two as they stand: buffers from LMS, brake handles from Wizard Models, replacement bearings but the original wheels and spring/axlebox castings.   The other bits and bobs I just made up from fret and wire.  Were the W irons supplied in the kit?  They're very thin brass, so I may have to revisit them if they're not up to exhibition use. 

 

 

The strapping is very insipid, but if you're going to replace that you might as well scratchbuild or save time and buy a Parkside kit.   On the other hand the end stanchions are very easy to do: the ex-PO has 60x40 Evergreen, filed to slope in at the top as many seemed to.   The ex-company one on the left has the steel end stanchions made from 20x10 and 30x10 Evergreen.   I'll add some representation of the end door latching mechanism on the right hand one, I'd thought of it by the time I worked on the second, left hand, one.  

 

 

Edited August 11 by jwealleans

[41516]

On 11/08/2024 at 21:58, jwealleans said:

Were the W irons supplied in the kit?  They're very thin brass

 

I've not long reorganised/collated my second hand vintage kits into one box for rebuilds and found I've got 5 K's and one Kirk 1923 mineral in the box.

 

From those I have, the W irons and brake gear is either the usual Keyser white metal items, or similar (later?) replacements in plastic.  Brass must have been a replacement by the original builder?

 

Edit - I didn't look if the brass buffers had changed when I went into the loft for photos earlier.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14 by 41516

[Barclay]

On 11/08/2024 at 21:58, jwealleans said:

Now, I didn't know Ks had done a 7 plank mineral until I went looking for some to bulk up the 1950s mineral train I provide for a club layout.   I found a lot of 6 on Ebay.

 

 

3 quid each seemed reasonable so I went for them.  Once delivered they went into the paint stripper and I've started to process them.  

 

 

The first two as they stand: buffers from LMS, brake handles from Wizard Models, replacement bearings but the original wheels and spring/axlebox castings.   The other bits and bobs I just made up from fret and wire.  Were the W irons supplied in the kit?  They're very thin brass, so I may have to revisit them if they're not up to exhibition use. 

 

 

The strapping is very insipid, but if you're going to replace that you might as well scratchbuild or save time and buy a Parkside kit.   On the other hand the end stanchions are very easy to do: the ex-PO has 60x40 Evergreen, filed to slope in at the top as many seemed to.   The ex-company one on the left has the steel end stanchions made from 20x10 and 30x10 Evergreen.   I'll add some representation of the end door latching mechanism on the right hand one, I'd thought of it by the time I worked on the second, left hand, one.  

 

 

I don't think the K's kits would have come with brass W - irons, I don't think they were that sophisticated! Is it possible to tin them with solder? I have found this can stiffen up a thin piece of brass quite nicely.

[jwealleans]

Thanks to you both.   That confirms what I had supposed.

 

I have cleaned the W irons off and soldered the folds (they were simply bent up) which has helped, but fundamentally they're too thin a gauge of brass.   I have the option of MJT or Wizard replacements if they do turn out to be incapable of standing up to show use.   The plan is to complete these two and try them out on WM (we have a weekend booked in September for stock testing) then use whatever lessons are learned on the others.