Make do and Mend - Keeping going

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drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by drmditch »

Dave wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 9:16 am Very nice looking model, I like the finish, it's hard to replicate convincingly.
Thank you. I'm still not entirely convinced about the base colour, but I am reasonably happy with the attempts at layers of rust and dirt.
When I get round to building the second one of the pair, I might assume it's been freshly repainted.

Did the LNER continue to use Oxford Blue up till 1940 or so?
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Chas Levin
NBR D34 4-4-0 'Glen'
Posts: 269
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:54 am
Location: London

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by Chas Levin »

Love that bridge - superb, and very inspiring :D (as is the snowplough too!)
Chas
Hatfield Shed
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 1661
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:34 pm

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by Hatfield Shed »

drmditch wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 5:04 pm ...Did the LNER continue to use Oxford Blue up till 1940 or so?
I wasn't there (!) but the impression I have formed from the limited colour photographic evidence is that existing stocks of supplies at outbreak of war were sensibly used until finished.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by drmditch »

My railway is making progress, but I've been a bit distracted of late preparing for ....this.....

If you do visit Locomotion when I'm doing these (on the 26th July and 1st and 8th August) do make yourself known!
(Preferably politely!)

I'm a bit fed up with railway wiring, so need to work on something more interesting now!

More posts in due course!
MikeTrice
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 676
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:45 pm

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by MikeTrice »

It would be good if you could get some nice detailed photos. I saw FS at the NRM earlier in the year (after meeting you at Shildon) and it was not very accessible.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by drmditch »

MikeTrice wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 5:40 pm It would be good if you could get some nice detailed photos. I saw FS at the NRM earlier in the year (after meeting you at Shildon) and it was not very accessible.
I will try. There will be some days when the locomotive will be standing on the apron, rather than alongside the platform or running (short) trains.
Was there any particular feature you wanted to see?
MikeTrice
LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 'Antelope'
Posts: 676
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:45 pm

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by MikeTrice »

Not particularly. It is one of those situations when you never know if a photograph is going to prove useful or not. A bit like I did for Green Arrow.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Running Late for Winter

Post by drmditch »

I will try to take a selection!
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - And a New Horsebox

Post by drmditch »

I don't normally post my ordinary kit builds here, not trusting my normal standard of model-making. However, I needed a break from construction and wiring and planning diode matrices, so I raided my kit box for something interesting and made this:-
Post_03.JPG
The Parkside kit for the LNER Dia.D5 Horsebox has been around for a while, and Mick B has shown his ...here... and Jwealleans (second ?) build ...here...

I found it went together quite well, as with most Parkside kits in my experience, however I did make the following alterations:-
- packing the solebars out from the cross-members by about .75mm on each side. This makes the wheels run much easier and avoids the classic
problem of the w-irons leaning inwards as the solvent dries.
- replacing the lower footsteps with a brass and copper construction. The plastic supplied seemed a bit 'femmer'.
- making up underframe details to what is now my usual specification. This is not as good as Mick B's, but it looks adequate from the side. (I try to
avoid looking at my wagons upside down!) I always like to make the cross-shaft fairly thick (I think they were about 2.5" diameter) For this I use
insulation stripped from layout wire. I also like to add safety loops and remove the plastic flat moulded items.
- the brake blocks on this kit are supplied as separate and rather fiddly mouldings. These are difficult to fit in a good position, and on 6 out of the 8 I
have got too large a gap between them and the wheels. More thought would have suggested some kind of sub-assembly to make fitting easier. I did
consider using some of the Mainly Trains LNER etches I have in stock, but I am saving those for a future project!
Post_02.JPG
I also modified the body moulding slightly:-
- carving away the moulded handrails and door handles and replacing them in brass.
- modifying the lamp irons
- fitting seat and door detail in the grooms compartment. (which is hardly visible when the roof is on!)
Post_2A.JPG
The glazing is tricky, as Mr Wealleans also comments on. It needs to be done after painting and it would it have been easier if I'd added the compartment partitions afterwards. I should have replaced the material in the kit, which seems to damage quite easily, with the normal acrylic that I use. (It might be just that I've had the kit for ages). For the lavatory window I abraded the inner surface of the window with a glass-fibre brush and fine glass-paper. Before fitting the roof I added white electrical tape to the inside of the compartment. This avoided the problems of paint leaking through!

I used Mr Tatlow's NPCS book as a reference, but that does not help with the lettering. I didn't like the instructions in the kit and couldn't find any other photographs in LNER condition. I appealed for help on Mick B's thread and JASd17 was able to help ... here... . On the following page he was also able to supply a picture.

This was also useful for showing an additional brake control (?) pipe on the compartment end. I managed to fit a representation of this without damaging the almost finished model.
Post_08.JPG
There has been discussion in the past about the colour of LNER Brown paint ...here...

Unfortunately some of my favourite artists acrylic pots have dried out and the different brand I used doesn't have quite the same effect. Once the lettering I am ordering from Precision Labels (Mr Peck is being most helpful.) I may try some method of varnishing - very carefully!
I have still to fit the lower door springs. The plastic ones would be a bit weak and I will make a metal replacement.

This forum and it's members are a splendid resource. Thank you everybody!
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - And a New Horsebox

Post by drmditch »

Sorry for a further post on an 'ordinary' kit build.

Here is the finished vehicle, showing the products of Precision Labels, and a coat of silk finish acrylic varnish.
Post_10.JPG
Last edited by drmditch on Tue Nov 12, 2019 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
exile
LNER N2 0-6-2T
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:58 pm
Location: France

Re: Make do and Mend - And a New Horsebox

Post by exile »

Why apologise? Very nice looking model.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - And a New Horsebox

Post by drmditch »

exile wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:42 pm Why apologise? Very nice looking model.
Thank you - but it wasn't a very good picture.
I've replaced it (12/11/19) with a marginally better one.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Three CCTs all in a Row

Post by drmditch »

Haven't been any posts on this forum for a while, I've been tangled up in a control wiring problem (with which several members of RMWeb have been able to advise me ....here.... That problem has not turned out to be what I thought it was, but one is never to old to learn.)

To maintain sanity amidst coils of wire, my 'parallel project' has been to upgrade some of my earlier kit construction. I do like long vehicles (be they freight or NPCS) and many years ago built two of the Parkside kit for the LNER long CCT to Dia.6 Nearly 12 years ago, I built two of these, but was later inspired by an example from the estimable Mr Wealleans to upgrade one of them. The upgrade of the second has been pending for a while. When starting that I realised that at some time I had bought an example of the nicely liveried Hornby model of the same vehicle. So, below is an example of upgrading (although possibly some people will not see it as that) of one Hornby and two Parkside models of the same design of vehicle.
Post_06a.JPG
The surgery to the Hornby model (with one exception) is that same as that to the kits. it includes:-
1. Removing the plastic handrails and sliding door handles and replacing them with .5mm wire
2. Replacing the roof ventilators with cast examples
3. The RTR model does have the centre-line raised circular projections (lamp-tops?), which have to be made added to the kits.
Post_01.JPG
I am concerned however that the Hornby method of arranging the wheel bearings, presumably to allow adequate sideplay on 'trainset-curves', means that the axle revolves on a flat surface of plastic.
Post_02.jpg
Does anyone have any experience of:-
1. What lubricant one use that will not soften and/or embrittle the plastic?
2. What amount/duration of wear results from this arrangement?

Since I do not know whether it would be sensible to replace this arrangement, although the clever little moulding for the brake shoes allows drilling and mounting of the cross-shafts between brake hangers which I have done, I have not yet fitted the brake gear safety-loops. (For the keen eyed these are just discernible on the other models.
Post_03.jpg
The lettering on the Parkside models is a mixture of HMRS and the transfers produced by the helpful Mr Peck of Precision labels. (I am still learning how to use these effectively - and one side of one vehicle is in consequence incomplete.

I also had a problem on these vehicles with my customary weathering techniques:-
Last edited by drmditch on Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
drmditch

Re: Make do and Mend - Three CCTs all in a Row

Post by drmditch »

I use acrylics for painting and weathering (usually over a Halfords spray paint base.
Unfortunately the passage of time, and perhaps my inadequate care in storage, has resulted in some of my favourite paints having run-out or dried out.
It may also be that I weathered these CCTs on too hot a day, or was not in the correct attitude and/or mood for weathering.

The results, although perhaps not entirely unsatisfactory for a railway set (for the most part) in 1947, are rather heavy and I could have done better.

However, it is interesting to compare the results between these vehicles of different progeny!
Post_05a.JPG
I will try to take some better photographs and replace some of those above.
(By the way, the end-doors are the proper body colour, it's just the lighting arrangements provided by the mid-day sun which casts them into shadow!

My conclusions:-

The Hornby model is really good for (some) of the underframe details, footsteps and printing. I am unsure (see above) about the wheel bearings.
The Parkside kit can be constructed into a satisfactory model. If I were to built another one, which is not in my immediate plans, I would replace the footsteps and brackets provided with soldered metal replacements, and use some etched components to help with upgrading the brake gear.

I suspect that if the Hornby model could be purchased at a lower price than I paid (which was now several years ago) it could end up being lower cost than the kit depending on how much one wants to add to the latter.

And......

Don't rush the weathering!
Hatfield Shed
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
Posts: 1661
Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:34 pm

Re: Make do and Mend - Three CCTs all in a Row

Post by Hatfield Shed »

I have been using GT85 PTFE spray, (Bike lube, plastics compatible) on Bachmann and Hornby plastic moulded underframes since about 2002, with no ill effects to date. Miniscule application is all that is required. I expect everything to roll away from rest on a true 1 in 100, and this cures even the most stubborn resisters, Hornby tenders with the same style in 'bearings', (but only once the pick up wiper 'brakes' are ripped out).

I am informed that there is a yet slippier silicone plastics compatible lube compound now available for drones and the like, but since my second can of GT85 is still at least half full (that's miniscule applications for you), it will be about ten years before I purchase that for trial...
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