Adam

Top work - it's remarkable how much less garish the loco appears now it has green wheels. It'll look better yet in cleaned not clean guise. Adam

Of course John - and if I had a slew of GW vans to do, I would have done just that (and I recommend anyone else to do so!). Since I don't, and was keen to finish it I resorted to chopping. Job done. Thanks for making the transfers available, however, they are excellent. Adam

And here is the GW fruit van, noted above, though the roof needs another coat of paint and a spot of touching up prior to weathering, it is more or less complete. Lettering a mix of cut about elements from a Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet, Railtec data panels and the fruit branding from the generally woeful HMRS sheet (brandings of this sort are round about all it is good for). Adam

While looking for something else the other day, I came across parts of three Ratio GW opens late of the same estate that yielded the GW fruit van body (more of which anon) in a pretty awful state but which, when disassembled, have yielded sufficient bits to make two good wagons since the body mouldings are quite nice. The mouldings as supplied have axleguards moulded integrally at a 9' wheelbase and by my era of interest, the survivors mostly had 10' wheelbases and vac' brakes, the latter added by BR in the '50s. I don't suppose I shall get around to doing much more with these for the moment, but just to keep things tidy, I got them into something approaching approaching basic rolling wagons. This means, in the one case, a new underframe from spare Parkside bits and a 40 thou' sheet floor with BR 'W irons' (quite a number of these GW wagons gained these) and stretching the 9' wheelbase of the other. The Parkside BD container just happened to be on the bench; I think it has found a home here rather than add to the Great Conflat Securing Chain Backlog. Slightly more of what was done to the stretched chassis can be seen in the picture below. The complete solebar assembly was sawn off the side moulding, dressed square with a big file and then cut into three bits. The bits were reassembled on a strip of 20 thou' plastic sheet in approved Geoff Kent fashion (using the centrelines of the springs to set the wheelbase at the required 40mm (10' in 4mm scale - obviously the width of the saw cuts needs to be accounted for in the spacing) before being assembled to a new floor. The floor is part finctional, consisting of 40 thou' sheet between the solebars and part cosmetic; piece of 20 thou' sheet cut to fit between the wagon sides and ends with a bit of 10 x 30 Evergreen strip to reinforce the solebar/floor edge. The wagon with the new chassis was a lot more straightforward. On this one, the entire 'floor' was sawn away from the sides. and assembled as if it was a normally-designed kit. They can now mature for a bit until I'm ready to do something about 'em. Meanwhile, back to the Lowmac. Adam

See you at Warley, Andrew (Sunday).

Here's more examples of the difficulties of taking pictures of assemblies in white plastic in limited light. That said, you can see the plank lines in these. Otherwise, what's gone on is more gradual layering of detail onto the carcass of the SR lowmac. Since the last update, curb rails, wheel cover plates, angle brackets and the first pass of detail added to the axleboxes. It seems to be coming together quite well. Adam

Mike - presumably you mean that the handrail stanchions, made of angle, at the hopper wheel end are sometimes different ways about? This way: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brdogfish/h3ae4caff#h2b2d08f5 And t'other? http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brdogfish/h3ae4caff#h3ce812f1 If I'm honest, the thought hadn't crossed my mind and I'm not hugely bothered in this instance (EDIT - I have checked now and this one is right - lot 2939, Chas Roberts, 1957) though the Cambrian mouldings are rather generously proportioned so might benefit from replacement. If any of the other bits of angle are differently arranged, then well, they're dratted hard to see... Adam

Show me the money, Andrew. This one is return to Westbury, courtesy of Cambridge Custom Transfers, maybe the next one will be too. Adam

Ha! Just the one - second ever plastic wagon kit too - and recently refitted. You should be able to see the brown grinning through: Adam

In a slightly scattergun move, yet another wagon. This time, a Cambrian Dogfish - because I enjoyed revisiting the first one I did and because it's gone together quickly, this post will go from start to finish (of construction, anyhow) in one post. Most of the hard work - and this is a notoriously tricky kit (a function of the prototype, of course) went on between the solebars. In the picture above, you may see what's actually gone on. As supplied, the structural integrity of the wagon relies on butt joints around the platforms at the ends, to which the hopper is added with quite a lot of clearance at either end - this is because the chassis mouldings are shared with the Catfish which has a longer, shallower hopper. To cope with this, I've added packing at either end - two bits of 40 thou' at the 'long' end with the handwheels for the chutes and a strip of 20 thou' at the other and the whole thing is now quite robust and should remain square. After the first phase of detailling, the overall state of play is shown below: I've replaced quite a bit of the strut detail with Evergreen strip, partly because I can, partly because the framework at the hopper wheel end is a bit undersize. The frame for the hopper wheels was made from flat strip (10 thou' x 30 thou' and 10 x 40 to make 1mm angle; cheaper than brass!). Note also the extensions to the end of headstocks. And here shown with the hopper wheels from Colin Craig etches which really make the model so far as I'm concerned. The lamp iron - a spare from Rumney Models etches - is pinned through the headstock. It may, who knows, be dry enough to paint it later... Adam

Lowmac and load, at cruel enlargement and very much in progress, notably the basis of axleboxes (the BR plate-front pattern that all seem to have ended up with) layered up from 40 thou' with 10 thou' plates to represent the journals. The loads are coming on too. I've finished tidying up the cabs and will move on to doing the same on the bodies. Note the added wing mirrors, securing lugs and grab handles. Adam

Very nice Andrew - the early crest sets the combination off nicely. Look forward to seeing it at the NEC. Adam

Thanks for sharing this picture Brian, very interesting. The context of the bridge shown in the first shot can be seen more clearly in this one: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2541833 Adam

Whatever size that appears on the PC (or ModelMaster, Fox, whatever) sheet! Carmine does need that dirt in the hinges to show any detail whatsoever... That Mark 1 has come out quite nicely, I think. Perhaps I will get as far as curtains, lettering and so on the Hawksworth? Adam

Smart job, if a bit clean as yet. Lettering - is there any reason that it wouldn't have been the usual straw-coloured Gill Sans? Look forward to seeing it at Warley. Adam

Little steps, and my natural modelling habitat; tiny bits of plastic sheet, based on the drawing in SR Wagons vol. 4 and, inevitably, Paul Bartlett's copious collection of wagon photographs: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/srspecial/h393d36bf#h393d36bf Buffers from ABS; axleboxes and springs to follow... Adam

Yes, some Commers certainly were - ECC (well, Heavy Transport Ltd, their haulage subsidiary) had a fleet of 4 wheel tippers and dad remembers them on Tamar Bridge construction traffic when his family moved down to Saltash c. 1960. Once heard, never forgotten, apparently. He's done a very nice model of one from RTI parts based on pictures from an ECC staff magazine but I can't find the pictures I'm sure I had. Whether the Q4 was fitted with a two-stroke I wouldn't know. Thanks for clearing up the location of the Larkin picture - I knew it was somewhere in west Wales... Adam

If the REME museum website is anything to go by, the Q4 actually had a 6 cylinder Commer engine: http://www.rememuseum.org.uk/collections_view.aspx?id=58 The question with something like a Martian (or even a Q4 come to that) is 'Where do you put it?' That said, I know of a huge Russian 8 wheel thing that lives in a shed somewhere near Martock... Adam

The Martian was an extraordinary thing wasn't it? Note how it dwarfs the 5.5" howitzer it's hauling... Logistically, the use of petrol does make sense, but the Martian must have been just about the largest post-war petrol-powered thing on the roads? Brian - I think the normal control Commer was actually a Commer (if you see what I mean?), the Q4 Superpoise - wasn't this another of the Rolls Royce-engined machines Arthur? Here's just such a thing: http://ccmv.aecsouthall.co.uk/p716470258/h1803558a#h1803558a One of Dave Larkin's Bradford Barton books had a useful image of the back end of one on a Lowmac at (I think) Newcastle Emlyn - it's probably been reproduced elsewhere. Adam

With coaches and collieries to one side for the moment, a couple of new projects (and a long-shelfbound one) have come to the fore. A rubber-tyred wagon (well, a pair) for a change. Like Paul Karau (see the latest MRJ) I have a thing about building lorries as well as wagons and have a selection of examples that I want to do and which are gradually progressing. So I'm producing a pair of military ambulances as Lowmac loads intended to compliment one of dad's vehicles, a modified Lowmac EU (the ferry version, from a Dave Larkin picture; it probably wants some replacement buffers actually) with a BW Models Bedford TK (yes, the army did have some 4x2 Bedfords) on it. The examples chosen are from the Road Transport Images range and are some of the most distinctive post-war military lorries (and, by all accounts, some of the most ineffective), the Fordson Thames E3; there were also E2s for binned stores and E4s which were light artillery tractors. These were 4x4s with V8 petrol engines(!) and cabs more usually seen on Rootes group's Commers and Karriers and thus were usually referred to as 'Commer-cabbed Fords'. Slow and thirsty, these were exactly the kind of things I can envisage being transported by rail as required and besides, I like their peculiar nose-heavy looks. The RTI bits - resin cabs and body with whitemetal wheels are not without the odd bubble but the ambulance bodies are really quite nice. The chassis, however, are taken from the newish Airfix Bedford QL twin-pack lengthened by a few mm to represent the 12' 6" wheelbase of the original. The basic assembly is above - you can just about see the rear prop shaft has been lengthened. These Airfix chassis are much cheaper and better-detailed than the RTI equivalents and go together beautifully. Below is the current state of play: I'm doing a bit of work on the cabs at the mo', mostly to enlarge the windows which are a bit too small as supplied. You can see the change if you examine the picture of the parts, above, and the picture below. Rootling through the shelfqueen boxfile, I've discovered a suitably low lowmac (for some Lowmacs are lower than others!) for one of these Fords to ride on. The one is an SECR-designed, SR-built version that BR branded Lowmac SD. It's right up against the 12' 10" the average loading gauge allows, but one the right side of comfort. I built this a couple of years ago and it's still square; I might just get around to finishing it! Adam

Kevin/Kenny/Rivercider, Thank you so much for those pictures, they're excellent and full of model-able detail, particularly the large range of different ground levels which are very appealing. The loaders all appear to be later hydraulic machines rather then the Pelican, which was far less sophisticated and based on the ubiquitous Fordson Major. This is not entirely surprising since your pictures are 14 years later than those I linked to. The bag loading hoppers are a detail I really wanted to be there too. I have quite a hankering for the hydraulic front loaders that Chaseside built (more Fordson tractor parts... https://www.flickr.com/photos/k_garrett/8726702930) but in the spirit of less is more, I reckon that I'll stick to the Pelican for the moment. Thanks again, Adam

Thank you Mark - I hadn't come across this particular error. Bother. The additional information is, unfortunately, of no use at all for this model: the cylinder is very firmly secured and is going nowhere. Next time, however... Adam

A bit more coaching stock action. This SK was picked up second hand the other week. It had been weathered, but in the 'overall filth' school of airbrushing so I cleaned most of it off using a cotton bud or three and T-Cut. This gives the happy benefit of muck where it is supposed to be, clinging around the hinges, commode handles and so on and a nice hard glossy sheen to the paintwork. The underframe weathering is quite nice, so I left that alone but the roof, being typically Bachmann, required its ribs removing and has been repainted (Humbrol matt 'Tank Grey' spray can). The SK has also been treated to a set of sprung corridor connections in the manner described here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37002-adams-em-workbench-a-weighbridge-from-merthyr-vale/?p=2017705 The underframe has also been treated to a modicum of additional detailing. The linkage is from Masokits; the vac' cylinder (for some reason, none of the RTR manufacturers seem to get this right) is from ABS and the rest from scraps of plastic sheet and brass wire, 0.7mm for the cross shaft and 0.45 for the linkage. Adam

Thanks Kevin - this one is rather good: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercider/8394449811/ Any model will be of the 'inspired by' rather than a faithful replica of the site but all grist to the mill is welcome. Adam

No, not the pit head, or the screens, since both are rather space-hungry and a bit of a pig to operate in the way that I'd want to do it. So yes, something smallish with a couple of sidings is the kind of thing I had in mind - the layout of Merthyr Vale colliery was such that I can see the landsale sidings being employed as a headshunt for the colliery stores yard which would add a bit of interest; there's the issue of a scenic break, but collieries can provide all sorts of things that would serve... Adam