Judith Edge Ruston 48DS - part 2.

I've fitted the derail beams (easier than it looks), side window surrounds (filigree thin but again easier than I thought), steps and resin filler caps. I didn't use the supplied sandboxes as they were too wide and would interfere with the tails of the sprung buffers so I knocked up some from plastic. The loco now weighs 55 grams, I might try and fit a few more grams of lead in yet. Still to fit are the brakes, but I'll do that while I'm giving the body a coat of primer.

A final look at the loco in bare brass before it visits the paint shop;

Once this one is sent off to its owner I can concentrate on getting mine running.

Paul.

Dapol Austerity - part 1 introduction and references.

This is a very long term project, in fact I think that I started it at least 15 years ago... I tend to spend a few days working on it, get frustrated by the amount of work needed then put it away again for a few more months.

The Dapol (now Hornby) model isn't bad considering its age, but there's definate room for improvement as we shall see. Mine started life as the War Department liveried 'Warrington', the intention is to finish it as a typical hard worked poorly maintained workhorse.

I've converted it to EM using a Gibson conversion set, and having the correct pattern wheels alone make a big difference to the look of the loco. Coupling rods are from RT Models and compliment the wheels nicely.
Dome and water filler are also from RT Models, replacing the rather undersized moulded dome and extremely undersized filler cap. My model came with the fibreglass conical chimney fitted to locos fitted with an underfeed stoker, again RT Models supplied a cast replacement for the more usual type.
The moulded panel lines on the tank have been removed as I can't see any evidence of them in photos of the prototype.
The Dapol bufferbeams have seperate plastic overlays which have the wrong bolt pattern, so I fitted RT Models etched overlays, which also have the advantage of being significantly thinner thereby reducing the still overscale thickness of the bufferbeams. Before epoxying them in place I soldered Gibson buffers and Slaters coupling hooks in place. The bufferheads will be blackened and fitted after painting as per my usual practice.

The injector pipework below the bufferbeam has a rectangular strengthener moulded behind it, easily removed with a few minutes work with drills and files;

Note the rear of the chassis, as I don't use tension lock couplings I've attempted to reprofile the chassis block with a big file. Balance weights are included with the RT Models Chassis Detailing etch.

I've given the front of the chassis similar treatment;

 

At some stage I'll cut away the brakes from the keeper plate, again replacements are included in the RT Models chassis detailing pack.

Thats how far I've got with this project at the moment, there's a lot more to be done yet before I can even think about paint.

Some usefull reference material.

Magazines;
Modelling Railways Illustrated Vol.1 No.2 November-December 1993. An excellent profile article including superb scale drawings.
Locomotives Illustrated 61 - The Hunslet 'Austerity' 0-6-0STs.
Model Rail 179 March 2013. George Dent on detailing the Hornby model using RT Models parts.
Railway Modeller January 1986 - Ian Beattie drawing.

Industrial Railway Society publications;
Austerity Saddle Tank Locomotives, Industrial Railway Record 203
Continent Coalfield and Conservation - The biographical history of the British Army Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tank.

Books;
Hunslet Austerity Locomotives Spare Parts List. A reprint of an official Hunslet publication by Camden Miniature Steam Services.
British Austerity Saddle Tanks by Gordon Edgar, Amberley, ISBN 978-1-4456-3342--8

Almost every 'Industrial Steam' type book contains photos of Austerities as well, and Railway Bylines often feature them as well.

Paul.

Snowplough!

Photographed today in Buxton, 37516 and 47760 on snowplough duties.

A better view of the 37 (didn't get a good shot of the 47);

The ploughs;

 

Clearing the snow off;

 

There's several feet of snow stuck onto the ploughs!

Paul.

RT Models Hudson Tipper - part 7.

These two wagons have now had the last few parts attached and are ready for the paint shop.

Above the brake centre pivot can be seen the lever which unlocks the body and allows it to tip, and on the solebar just left of the centre rib can be seen the catch which can be used to hold the body in the tipped position (click on the pic. for a bigger image);

 

Spares are included for a lot of the smaller parts, including the catches.

I used the buffers supplied with the kit, these were fitted next, then the hollow buffer beams and central rib were filled with Fluid Lead, sealed in place with Milliput (thanks to Adam for the Milliput tip) which took the weight from 20 to 23 grams. To bring the weight up a little more I glued a thin strip of lead into the bottom of the tipper body, then blended it in with more Milliput, after painting it shouldn't be too obvious (I got carried away and painted one body early on);

This brought the total weight up to 26 grams. I could make up removable loads if they prove to be too light. I've noticed from photographs that wagons in coliery use were often piled very high with spoil.

Final shot before painting;

I'll blacken them with Birchwood Casey Super Blue, to prevent silvering, before priming.

The list of references on part 1 of this build has recently been updated for those interested.

Paul.

Industrial Railway Locomotive Sheds by Adrian Booth

Any book written by Adrian Booth is always worth a look, and this one is no exception. It contains 146 black and white photographs of industrial railway loco sheds, both standard and narrow gauge.
As you can imagine there's a huge variety of sheds featured, from the clean, efficient multiple road sheds of the larger systems to far more basic facilities. That lovers of industrial grime will find much of interest goes without saying, but there are some sheds featured that appear to by in quite rural settings. There's also quite a variety in design as well, from austere corrugated iron to some rather ornate brick structures.
Recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the industrial railway scene.

Industrial Railway Locomotive Sheds, Adrian Booth, Industrial Railway Society ISBN 978 1 901556 81 0

Paul.

A1 Models Freelance OO9 Diesel

A1 Models make a range of etched brass body only kits for narrow gauge locos, designed to be fitted to RTR mechanisms. Some are based on real locos, but this one I think is freelance.
Its designed to fit the Bachmann N gauge Plymouth 6 wheel switcher chassis, however I felt that it would look far nicer on a Farish 04 chassis. The kit is for the bonnet and cab only so I fabricated a footplate from brass;

Scratchbuilt footplate.

Cab soldered in place;

Cab.

Followed by the bonnet;

Cab and bonnet in place.

An exhaust was added from 1mm brass tube, buffers are from RT Models and the roof beacon from a model lorry supplier;

Detailed up.

A coat of etch primer was applied followed by white acrylic primer;

In primer.

And how it stands at the moment;

Almost there.

Window frames are picked out in Tamiya Flat Aluminium. It still needs glazing and weathering, but that can wait for another day.

Paul.

RT Models Hudson Tipper - part 6.

Both wagons now have their brakes fitted.

The first job was to fold up the two cross beams, different length beams are provided for either OO or EM/P4. The instructions tell you to assemble these together with the shoes then solder the completed assembly to the chassis, I chose to solder them directly to the underside of the sole bars, lines are half-etched on the bottom of the solebars to aid placement. It took a few attempts to get them central and square, I tacked one side and kept adjusting until I was happy. Perhaps if I build some more of these I'll make up a little jig.
Once I was happy with the beams the shoe assemblies, which simply fold up into a two piece lamination, could be sprung into place and soldered up (click on the photo for a bigger image);

 

The next job was to form a bend in either end of the brakehangers. I used a 2.2mm drill to form the bend, after practicing on the unwanted OO hanger first (again alternative parts are provided for different gauges). .45mm brass wire is provided with the kit for the brake cross shaft, I replaced this with .6mm wire from Eileen's Emporium as I felt that the cross shaft needed more 'bulk'. As the cross shaft fits through both the shoe assemblies and the hanger I used it to check the fit and then hold the hanger in place whilst soldering the hanger to the chassis. In the pic. below the cross shaft has been left overlength, to be trimmed later, and the hanger for the second wagon can be seen in the foreground;

The holes etched into the hanger allow the enclosed box which results from the hanger being fitted to be filled with liquid lead.

The brake levers were soldered in place next after forming to shape, note that these attach on a tag above the pivot unlike conventional wagon brakes. There's nothing in the instructions about forming the levers, they just show the lever being straight, so I worked from photographs. After fitting the levers I folded up the lever guides and soldered them under the bufferbeams;

Note the stepped hanger behind the guide (admittedly quite difficult to see in the above photo), I assume that this was for chaining the wagon to the track when tipping, can anyone confirm this?

There's still a few more parts to be added, but they're coming along nicely and I'm really enjoying the build;

 

Again all soldering done with a 25w Antex and 188 degree solder.

Paul.

Painting and Finishing Techniques by Gary Edmundson

Reading the Airfix bookazine has inspired me to read more about how the military/aircraft modellers paint and finish their models. Osprey's range of books has some interesting titles on the subject, so after a browse on Amazon I ordered this one;

 

As the cover suggests it covers AFVs and aircraft, using examples in the 1/35 and 1/48 scales. Pre-shading, masking, drybrushing etc. are well covered, as you'd expect, but so is the use of oil paints, something which railway modellers like myself wouldn't think of useing. One technique which stands out is applying a metalic finish by drybrushing using enamel silver mixed with raw umber oil paint. There's also some excellent methods on woodgrain finishes. I'm not sure how much of the information given I'll actually make use of but its always interesting to read how other modellers in different disciplines work.

Interestingly, in the introduction the writer tells us that plastic modellers originally looked to railway modellers for ideas on finishing models, now it seems that an increasing number of railway modellers are looking to the plastic modelling crowd for new techniques.

Painting and Finishing Techniques, Gary Edmundson, Osprey Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1-84603-263-9

Paul.

Judith Edge Ruston 48DS - part 1.

I've been building a pair of these, one for myself and one for a friend, for quite a while now. I've put my own to one side for the time being and I'm currently concentrating on my friends as he's been waiting for far too long for it!

Anyway, here's a couple of shots of his as it stands at the moment, firstly the chassis;

 

And the chassis, body and frames bolted together for testing;

The loco comes with a High Level Kits mechanism included with drive to both axles, gearing is an impressively low 108:1 meaning that the loco crawls along quite nicely, and it can be built compensated.

There's still lots more work to do, such as adding weight to the body, fitting the resin sandboxes and other details and soldering the derail beams in place onto the bufferplanks.

Paul.

RT Models Hudson Tipper - part 5.

I've been busy fitting the end details on these two wagons.

First the angled strengthening brackets were fitted, there are four of these per end;

 

I held the chassis lightly in the rubber jaws of my vice when soldering. There are tabs on the brackets which locate into slots on the end plates, however care is still needed to make sure everything sits square. This is where soldering comes into its own as the bracket can be tacked, checked, repositioned, checked, and so on until you're satisfied that everything is nice and square. The bracket on the left above is fully folded to shape, on the right hand bracket I've left the longest (angled) fold flat to make it easier to hold the bracket in tweezers. Only after I was finally satisfied with the position did I fold the angle over. I took several days over fitting the brackets rather than rush.

The next job was to fit the centre locating pins and the end stops;

 

All pretty easy really. To fit the end stops I tinned the top of the end plates, held the stops in place with tweezers, then applied heat from underneath, effectively sweating the joint.

All soldering again done with a 25W Antex and 188 degree solder. I thought that I might have to step-solder at some stage but so far that hasn't been necessary.

Still more work to do but I'm getting there;

 

Paul.