GWR Brake Van Handrails

 Plucked up courage to fit the Brynkits etched handrails. Removal from the etch was achieved using a heavy knife and minimal cleaning up was done. I found it easier to file the pips for locating them flush to the side strapping which will mean a bit of retouching after painting them.
My hands are no longer as steady as they were and my fitting of them I am not entirely happy with. Still they are on now and hopefully wont look as bad once all is painted. Worst thing is to match the original van colour, I have forgotten which shade I used. Will show the finished article once this is done.

Finney & Smith Gwr AA6 Permanent Way Brake Van

 Well, it's complete at last.
All went well until it came to fitting the wheel units. The spring castings are excellent but on hindsight I feel I would have fitted them before the side steps.
Whilst it is easier to line the wheels up with the cutout in the steps, the clearance is very tight and I feel that thinning the spring castings would have also helped.
Still it has been a good kit to make and certainly made me think on more than one occasion.
Has it improved my kit building? My soldering skills have improved especially in the order in which the handrails were fitted. The secret is keeping the brass clean and lots of flux. Thevarnish had to be of the Acrylic type due to the fact that the transfers-elderly Woodhead (Please can we have some more as good), had lost a lot of their 'stick' and had to be helped with varnish to adhere properly. So that was the varnish I had to use in case there was a reaction to the Railmatch I usually use.
Wagon will make it's debut at Andover next weekend-come and say Hello!

The Degree Inn

 The opportunity arises sometimes to take pictures of the layout that otherwise would not be. As 'Hennock' is being prepared for the Andover Show, the layout is devoid of stock. So these photos were taken when that normally would not be seen.
Over the next few days I will post those updates which otherwise will not get seen.
These two show the front of the 'Degree Inn'. A chap and his date have just enjoyed some excellent hospitality within. He, a good pint of 'Nurses Ale' and she a Babysham.
The large shot shows Constable 'Badge' Bailey  chewing the fat with a local.

 

Hennock is at the Andover show this weekend 3/4th September.

Andover Exhibition 3rd/4th September 2011.

Hennock is due to appear at the Andover Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday 3rd/Sunday 4th September 2011.
We hope some of the blog followers will come and say hello.
The line up is varied and would seem that there is something for almost everyone.
Just finishing 'Hennocks' preparation and writing out the 'Want's' list which includes the switches for 'Teignford'.

Finney & Smith GWR/BR AA6 Permanent Way Brake Van.

Measure the width of the hole spacing.

 Sometimes you struggle with something and after what seems forever you come up with a solution.
My Eureka moment came whilst I was trying to form and fit the numerous handrails needed to fit to this van.
After drilling out the handrail holes with a .35mm drill and then opening out slightly with a smoothing broach there is the problem of bending the wire to fit the holes to the correct length. What I came up with is to use a pair of springbow calipers which have been lurking in the tool box for ages.

Find the corresponding size on the jig.

Open the points till they just fit the holes and then find the relevent spacing in Bill Bedfords handrail jig. Why this never dawned on me before is unbelievable-so simple yet the simple things are usually the most obscure.
Then its a matter of pushing into the holes, adding some flux and running the soldering iron around them with a small amount of solder.
The bottom picture, again cruelly enlarged shows that these are possibly the best result I have had with handrails- although to be fair the rest have all been on plastic kits but I suppose the same idea could be applied.
Just the other side to do and the body is just about ready for the roof and wheels to be fitted.

Handrails fitted into place and soldered.

Slaters 7 Plank wagon.

This really cruel picture shows the wagon painted, lettered and varnished. I have got the right hand Mitre a little wrong, you only see these things when it's too late-just couplings to fit and another wagon ready for Teignford.

GWR Toad Handrails.

This etch from Brian Golding of Brynkits is what I have waited for. No more having to try and bend lengths of nickel silver wire and trying to butt join it-I never suceeded!
Just a matter of gently removing the handrails from the main etch, cleaning up and glueing on the raised mounts on the Society kit.
I am hoping these will fit the Road Van being made as the handrail dots are so close together that I have not been able to drill them out satisfactorily-watch this space!
Unfortunately they are too long and the wrong shape so it will have to be done with bent wire and solder.

Container

After stripping and cleaning up, the container was ready for painting.
Grey primed, maroon from a car accessory shop can, roof painted grey and left to dry.
Cambridge Custom Transfers do a superb set of container decals and this is what was used. They come in one piece for the main details with separate British Railways branding and numbering for the ends.
Imagine lettering this lot from several pieces! A coat of acrylic varnish, which dries nice and quickly and there you have a completed container. Just have to decide wether to mount it on one of the mechanical Horse Trailers of make a new Conflat.

Lamps

 All trains need lamps. the selection of 3mm Lamps is not great. The top photo shows a 3SMR cast product which has been painted. The silver lenses are for headcodes and the red for rear warning.
These are to be attached to the stock I have been building recently. The red lense lamps are to go on the Brake Vans, the silver lensed ones to locos.
An alternative is to use ready made 2mm Scale lamps produced by Springside.
These come on a card, stuck on with double sided tape so removing them must be carefully done.
One advantage of the Springside offering is that they are attached to the sprue with  a stalk.This I keep as long as possible and attach to a loco footplate by
drilling a similar sized hole and just superglueing in place. Springside do a fair range of lamps in different company styles and scales. The ones I have used are for GWR and BR types.
The difference in size can be seen, I am undecided which is the best in the way of scale although the 2mm offerings are better detailed. Your thoughts would be appreciated. I must post a comparison when they are fitted to their intended wagons.

Stripper!

How long can you keep Modelstrip?
This pot has been on my shelf for at least three years to my knowledge.
The mess in the plastic bag beside it is a resin container moulding which I was recently given. It was in GWR livery and had to be repainted to suit my timescale, plus I have a sheet of Cambridge Custom Transfers which I will use on this model.
Back to the Modelstrip. I added small amounts of water and coaxed the lumps into useable paste, the hard lumps were removed and when to a useable consistentcy the container was liberally coated. Then it was placed into a plastic bag and sealed.
Over the space of a few hours I kneaded the paste into the nooks and crannies of the moulding to make sure all the paint will be removed. Tomorrow morning will see the container removed and will clean it up with tap water and an old toothbrush. hopefully then it will be ready to prime and paint, if not some more Modelstrip will be applied and the process repeated.
This time the whole moulding has been stripped of paint ready for re-painting.

Tools of the Trade

Teignford is now in the process of being finally wired. The changes are necessary due to the layout being changed from a continuous circuit to a Terminus/Fiddleyard layout.
Electrics are not my strong point- I usually make it up as I go along, working from main feed to each section until something like the operatioan capabilities are achieved.
Amberly products supplied this little gizmo. It saves having to test each part with a voltmeter or loco.
You just pop the contacts on a poitive and negative rail and it lights up depending on the polarity. Simples!

Bournemouth Airshow

I witnessed the Friday and Saturday flying display of the Red Arrows. The 24 minute display was a sight that no other flying team could have produced. It was therefore of great sadness to learn that one of the team, Red 4, had crash landed short of Bournemouth Airport. I was aware that something was amiss when the Coastguard passed me as I made my way home. I then discovered that there had been a tragic accident. I would not be so foolish as to pre-empt any investigation findings but would say that if the reports that Flt Lt Egging died as a result of consideration for his fellow human beings then we must all feel very humble. My thoughts are with his family at this time and hope his passing will not be the source of speculation and rumour so favoured by our nations press.

Finney and Smith China Clay Wagon

 The fifth example of the set I have built will be not prototypical. I have amassed a number of underframes of the wooden variety. I purchased a couple of body only kits from F&S in order to use some of the spares up (and save money!).
The Parkside chassis are of a different design than the Slaters one described recently. The solebar and axleguard are in one piece, just needing the pinpoint bearing and springs to be assembled before the complete solebar is attached to the body. Again it is important that all is kept square. Checking as you assemble each piece before the adhesive, in my case MEK, fully dries.
The lower picture shows one side of the chassis partly built. The right side is completed whilst the left hand has only had the pinpoint bearing inserted.
It can be useful to drill out the hole of the 'V' hanger so cross wire can be inserted if this type of brake system is needed.
All that needs to be done is the other spring needs glueing in place and the side and axles attached to the wagon floor.
The painted body, by the way, has transfers from 3SMR, maybe they are not the correct ones-but if John Sutton does it then it's good enough for me!Plus, half of it will be covered up by a tarpaulin!

Slaters 7plank private owner Coal Wagon

This kit was produced exclusively for the 3mm Society by Slaters. It was one of the earlier Society kits and had an assembly method that is different to those that have been latterly produced by Parkside and Cambrian.
The instructions are comprehensive and an exploded diagram assist assembly.
A side and end are adhered together and fitted to the floor, then the other end and side are squarely attached. I prefer to insert the axle bearings to the axleguard moulding before attaching to the solebars which are attached to the body when completed. The axles are inserted before the second side is glued into place. If you have done it correctly the wagon will sit true on a flat surface.
The brake mouldings fit snugly into the moulded floof, just ensure that the wheels freely rotate.The brake hanger and 'V' moulding are the placed centrally .
The turned brass buffers are the located into their moulded holes, a little broaching to enlarge the hole may be necessary.
Next, the paintshop awaits but as the weather is incompatable with a good finish this will have to wait for another day.
Seen with the newly made wagon is the finished article as seen last time. The Lovering wagon is slightly different to that described in that it has end doors whilst the new one hasn't. It also has finer buffers.
Weight has been located to ensure better running and will be also added to the new model.

Slaters 7plank wagon

Due to the airshow being rained off because of  extremely heavy rain I have decided to finish a few outstanding projects.
The picture shows a wagon I purchased from Secondhand Sales.
It is basically a Slaters 7 plank wagon which has had Powsides transfers added. These one piece transparencies are available from Finney and Smith-see link on left hand side.
Whilst outside of my time period, it is from an area which is part of my railway interest.
More details on this kit next time.

GWR AA6 Brake Van

 Lots of soldering later and I have reached the stage you now see. The fourteen bracing pieces have been attached to the sides and ends.
The running boards have had the fitting pieces attached and bent to shape then having had the mounting holes slightly enlarged, attached into position.
Incidentally, there is a good tip to solder these when sitting on two pieces of wood, then cutting the wire in half leaving equally spaced brackets.
The bottom pic shows the mess I make when soldering this all together-still it is getting better!

Something different

This coming weekend sees the annual Bournemouth Airshow. Luckily I have a beach hut for a few days so the family can view from the comfort of loungers and endless cups of tea!
Some evening flying is also taking place as well as fireworks on Friday.
Therefore posts may be a little light if good weather prevails.
The Vulcan should fly on Saturday and Sunday and for me there is no better aerial sight.
This is a shot from a couple of years ago, last years display was ruined by poor weather-They say come to sunny Bournemouth but they don't tell you when!

Westfest 2011

This 3mm Scale event will take place on the 17th September at Corpus Christi School, Boscombe, Bournemouth-entrance to the church of the same name.
Layouts featured:-
Steelworks-Hugh Martin
St Levan-Nigel Cullimore
Hollow Fosse-John Thomas
Yeoton Wharf-Nick Salzman
Dunkton Coombe-Richard Pope
Lambeth Walk-3mm Trams-Brian Golding
Modelling Demonstrations
The Weatherman-Tom Rayner
Layout Construction-Bob Brown
The 3mm Wheelwright-Peter White
Buildings-Trevor Cooke
3mm Buses-Derek Bartlett
Traders
3SMR
Geoff Gamble Books

3mm Society members only will have access to the Society Shop and a limited S/H Sales stall plus Track Sales.

Light refreshments will be available-plenty of eateries locally.

Many of the demonstrations are relevant to other scales.
Open from 10.30am-5pm
Free car parking
Admission £2.

Finney & Smith AA6 Permanent Way Brake Van

 Next job is to attach the stancions to the ends and sides.
These are tabbed to fit in the slots already etched
The edges of these will be cleaned up once they have all been attached, they are easier to file when attached to soneting solid rather than from the etch before using.
After each session the wagon is given a god scrub with Shiny Sinks. This not only neutralises the flux but gives a good clean surface next time.

Finney & Smith GWR Permanent Way AA6 Brake Van

Right-time to burn the fingers and do some soldering.
First, the ends are attached to the sides. I find an old drawing board clip is ideal to keep the sides in place and use a metal square to keep it all at right angles.
The top detail has been sweated on to the side after the sides and ends have been joined and it is all square.

Nearly finished.

 Three of the four are now just about finished. They need corridor connections and couplings but as I have no C/Cs they will have to wait until my next visit to the Society Shop.
Unfortunately the Evostick has leeched around the window but I am not going to destroy them because of this. If I try to remove the glazing material it will probably deform the coach sides and render them as scrap-I have taken too long making these to risk damaging them.

Compartments for Coaches

 The interiors are made but will need some final finishing. Its very useful to photograph items that have been made, it shows up the imperfections much better than just looking at them. However, the enlargements can be quite cruel and make you realise that your creation is less than perfect.
I have only painted one side of the compartment sides to aid Meking the whole lot together.Otherwise it means scraping off the paint where you want something to stick.

Have to model this!

 Every so often you come across a building that cries out to be modelled.
So it was when at the Wilton Show that this gem was just over the road.
I took several of this and its neighbours as I feel that a row like this will be added to Teignford.

Closed Station

 Little modelling been done due to re-insulating loft so a few photos of the closed station at Haybridge. It would appear from the size of the goods shed door that this line was built during the Broad Gauge era.

 The road bridge from the down side , taken from the goods yard entrance

Mostly the goods shed but no access was possible to see wether the Station Building was still standing

Coach Chassis.

Her we have four coach chassis ready for the interior and final assembly.
Two of each have sprung bogies and two have solid ones, as supplied by 3SMR. The longer, 60ft chassis has 9ft bogies, the rest are 57ft and have 7 ft bogies.
They are made from Worsley Works etchings and the 60 footer has frames from the 3mm Society B Set. The fold down frame is too long for this version, doing so will foul the bogies.
ll that is neede is to fit couplings to these and assemble and they are finished. Time for a new project-Loriat, Permanent Way Brake Van are the next to be completed.

Coach Corridor Panelling

The coach bodies have been glazed and are ready for the interiors to be added.
Shamelessly I have pinched an idea from Nigel, one of our group members. This involves drawing round the compartment side of the coach which gives us the layout of the compartment spacings and a corridor compartment template. It is a matter of painting around the lines and hey presto we have a useable interior.
The floors have been marked and cut out and I have a supply of suitable seating. These need to be cut to length and spaced to form the compartments. A quick paint with acrylics and the interior will be done.