Parkside Dundas Festiniog brake van.

Another recently completed model, this is a Parkside Dundas (now just Dundas) kit for a Festiniog railway goods brake van.

A nice little kit, built mostly as intended by the manufactorer, the only deviation from the instructions being the addition of brass pin-point bearings. Which was more trouble than its worth to be honest.

Couplings are Greenwich bodies with RT Models large loops. These loops give a little more sideways play than Greenwich loops, which is a boon on tightly curved track.

Paint is Revel Reddish Brown for the body, Phoenix Precision Dirty Black for the frames and Revel Dark Grey on the roof.

The only build issues (apart from the brass bearings) were the glazing bars, for which is supplied that odd red styrene(?) rod that Slaters make. This has a habit is shrinking slightly in contact with solvent, so glueing the bars in place took several attempts over a few evenings.

A nice little addition to my wagon fleet.

Paul

RT Models Penrhyn rubbish waggons

These two are RT Models whitemetal kits for those most basic of waggons, built for taking slate waste from the workings to be tipped away;

Unlike the other two waste waggons that I've built, these two have outside framed chassis. The waggons are made up from three pieces, a body and two frame sides. One waggon has a steel chassis, the other wood.

I painted the steel bodies using a mix of Games Workshop Rhinox Hide and Humbrol Leather, over an undercoat of Hycote Red Oxide rattlecan primer. To finish I dry-brushed both waggons with a lighter mix of the same colours.  The wooden frames on the left hand waggon were done with a coat of Revel Dark Grey, followed by dry-brushing first with Humbrol 29 then Revel Stone Grey.

Here they are forming a short rake sandwiched between my Maenofferen waggon on the left and a generic rubbish waggon on the right;

Coupling are also from RT Models. Much as I've enjoyed building these I much prefer the look of the other two waggons, its the inside frames that I like better.

Perhaps its time I finished my quarry Hunslet...

Paul.

Mercian Models Festiniog horse dandy - now finished

I decided that it was time to finish this little waggon (see here for the build), so out came the paints. Festiniog waggons were painted brick red with black ironwork in the early days (1895 to 1925), and that's the colour scheme that I'm following.

As per usual I undercoated it with car body primer, Hycote red oxide in this case. For brick red I used Revel Aqua Color 361/37 Reddish Brown, which I rather like.

I probably should have painted the solebars black, but I've used a little licence and only painted the axleboxes and brake lever, simply because I think it looks good that way. Paint is Phoenix Precision Dirty Black acrylic.

I've really enjoyed building this tiny waggon, an unusual addition to my rather eclectic waggon fleet.

References;

The Festiniog Railway vol.2 Locomotives and Rolling Stock - J.I.C. Boyd

An Illustrated History of the Festiniog Railway - Peter Johnson

Paul.

Mercian Models Festiniog horse dandy.

I haven't done any serious soldering fo quite a while now, so to get my hand back in I've dug this little Mercian Models kit out from my stash. Its for a Festiniog Railway horse dandy, a type of waggon used in the Festiniog's early pre-steam days. Empty rakes of slate waggons were hauled from the harbour uphill to the quarries by horse, returning by gravity. Dandy waggons were attached to the train for the horse to ride in on the return journey. Early dandies were entirely wooden, later ones, like the subject of this model, had wood frames and iron bodies. The door for the horse is on the straight end. After the introduction of steam some metal bodied dandies found further use for carrying coal. One now survives at the Welsh Highland Railway.

The kit comprises of a nickel silver etch for the main body, wheels, wheel bearings, etched couplings and a whitemetal horse. Instructions cover two A4 sheets, one sheet of general etched kit building notes and the other specific to the kit. This model is part of Mercian's Knightswork range, so called because each kit can be assembled in a night.

The main body is in one piece, which needs to have rivets punched out, panel lines scribed on (there are half-etched grooves on the inner side of the etch, running a blunt knife along them raises a line on the outside of the body) then carefully folded up. I use a drop hammer type riveter, from Eileen's Emporium, which distorted the body slightly. One end is shaped, for the horse's neck, so a little careful bending is required. Here's the body, with wheels in place;

I didn't bother fitting the wheel bearings, the pin points run in etched holes and its quite free running. Once the body was soldered up the floor could be fitted. But the etched floor was too small so I cut out a new one from brass strip. Once the floor was in place I fitted the two outer axlebox covers, for the first (middle) cover I used 188 degree solder and for the outer 145 degree. Even so care was needed to prevent the first layer from coming unstuck whilst soldering the outer layer in place. After that it was all plain sailing, using a mix of 188 and 145 degree solders to add the couplings (RT Models, I didn't fancy the supplied ones), top strip, and brake and hinge detail;

I'm quite happy with the way its turned out, but some of my soldering leaves a lot to be desired. More practice needed! Paint will be sploshed about in due course. But not until I do a bit more cleaning up, digital cameras are great for spotting little blemishes.

Door end, the two straps are in fact hinges;

From what I gather, looking at photos of the preserved vehicle, the body should be red oxide and the chassis black.

Paul.

RT Models Maenofferen rubbish wagon.

Another slate industry wagon. This one is a rubbish wagon, used for taking slate waste away to be tipped, usually over the side of a level;

A simple kit comprising of just two parts, body and chassis. The only work needed is to drill the axle holes. The body was first painted with Tamiya 'Nato Black' then dry-brushed with a mix of Citadel 'Rhinox Hide' and Humbrol 'Leather', a combination that I like as it gives a nice dark rust colour which is easily varied. The wooden frame is finished with a mix of brown and various greys. Couplings are also from RT. I like the short wheelbase, arranged for easy tipping, a rake of these would I think look good snaking behind a suitable loco. The wheels of course should be double flanged. A drawing of this wagon appears in Gordon & Ann Hatherill's excellent 'Slate Quarry Album'.

Here it is coupled to my RT Models generic rubbish wagon;

Paul.

3 slate slab wagons.

Slab wagons were used for carrying blocks of quarried slate from the working face to the dressing sheds, and were of simple design. They often ran on double flanged wheels, with the wheels loose on their axles which help when running on poorly laid track that might be out of gauge. Slab wagons could be wooden or made from steel section. A photo of a rake of typical wooden wagons can be seen here.

The first two are RT Models kits. These are simple one piece whitemetal castings which just need the axlebox holes drilling out. RT make two types, three bar and four bar;

The third wagon is from Mark's Penistone Railway Works. This one is 3D printed in Frosted Ultra Detail. Axles are held in place with little clips which need glueing in place, I used cyano. My one is an early version, Mark has since re-designed it making the crossbars wider. The print is nice and crisp, and would benefit from a little distressing with a knife as slab wagons led a hard life, something which I didn't do this time;

To hopefully get a weathered wood finish I first sprayed the wagons with Hycote grey auto primer, followed by a brush coat of Revel Aqua Color (sic) 378 'Dark Grey'. Dry brushing followed, first with Humbrol 5029 'Dark Matt Earth' then Revel 75 'Stone Grey'. I used a mix of Citadel 'Rhinox Hide' and Humbrol 62 'Leather' for the iron strapping and wheels. RT Models etched couplings (small loops) are fitted. As the wagons are open framed I blackened the axles with Birchwood Casey 'Super Blue'.

Here they are together;

The printed wagon is a little light, perhaps I should give it a load. Maybe a Ruston Bucyrus bucket? (Langley, from the 'bits box' on their trade stand);

Loaded or not, they'll look great behind my quarry Hunslet.

Iain Robinson has also built one of Mark's wagons, which can be seen here.

Paul.

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 12 - turning a new dome.

Velinheli has a nice brass dome cover. The kit comes with a whitemetal casting, which I have to say is rather an odd shape, more pith helmet than dome. Now, nothing looks more like brass than brass so I made a rough sketch, found an offcut and set to work. I don't have a drawing of V. with dome so to get the dimensions needed I scaled a photo, as described here.
The end of the bar, which will be the base of the dome, needs to be filed to suit the top of the saddletank. I started with a half-round needle file, roughing out the shape whilst comparing it to the casting. Once the shape was reasonably close I 'blued' the filed end with a marker pen, wrapped a piece of fine wet+dry paper around the tank and gently rubbed the blued end along it. Any high spots were highlighted by the emery paper removed the blueing, the high spots then being gently filed and scraped away (with a three-sided scraper) until all high spots were removed and the end sat nicely on the tank top;

Its worth taking time over this part, as any gaps between dome and tank would stand out and look awfull.
Now the bar could be held in the lathe and turned. First of all I turned down the flange dia. (7.7mm), then using a round-nosed tool turned the main body down to 5.9mm dia. A 2mm hole was then drilled to 3.5mm deep;

The workpiece was then removed to the workbench, and the flange sides filed to shape using a round needle file, strips of fine wet+dry paper, and plenty of care;

Again, time and patience is needed for a good result.
After returning the workpiece to the lathe and parting the dome off a short length of 2mm dia. rod could then be soldered into the drilled hole;

This not only allows the dome to be held in the lathe for final finishing but also locates the dome on the tank.
First of all it was faced to length, then a .7mm hole drilled in the end, before filing the top to shape. A short piece of .7mm rod was cyano'd into the end, to represent the top fixing bolt, and rounded off with a file. Rubbing sticks were used for finishing;

Model engineers and Unimat enthusiasts would no doubt be horrified by my use of an ER16 collet in an E16 holder!

Now with the 2mm rod cut down, here it is on the loco;

And next to the supplied casting;

Paul.

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 11 - boiler, cab sidesheets and steps.

Each cab sidesheet is made up from 4 parts, an L shaped backing sheet; half-etched overlays , for the rivet detail; then an L shaped top plate. An alternative one-piece half-etched sidesheet is provided for those locos with rounded cab corners, but no rounded top plate.
Here's the sidesheets, on the right the overlays are soldered in place;

I left the top plate still attached to the etch sheet which made soldering the sidesheets to the top plate easier;

Then I soldered one side onto the footplate along with the handrail (.5mm brass rod). I had the idea that I could solder both sidesheets in place then glue the boiler between them, but as the top of the sidesheets curve inwards to suit the tank profile that didn't work...
So I soldered the boiler in place instead. First of all I tinned the footplate where the boiler would need to be soldered with 188 degree solder. Then I used Carrs 70 degree to tack the rear of the boiler in place from the underside. After checking all was good I used a little chip of solder to make the front joint where the front edge of the smokebox meets the footplate. Then the rear could be finished with a dab more solder. This went exceedingly well, I haven't soldered whitemetal for over 20 years, prefering glue (I don't subscribe to the view that all metal to metal joints have to be soldered), and I've never soldered whitemetal to nickel silver or brass. I used my 25w Antex and Eileen's Strong Flux. Here it is prior to cleaning up;

Note that the smokebox rivets have been filed off, I've done the same to the tank sides. All will be replaced with Archers transfers.
Here's a cruel side view with both cab sheets in place;

Note that the footsteps have also been soldered on. On some quarry Hunslets including Velinheli the backplate of the step has a semi-circular cut out, possibly a local modification to allow access to something or other, easily replicated with a rat-tail needle file. For some reason the etched step has a fold down lip at the bottom not seen on the prototype, I've left it as intended for the moment as it will add strength to an otherwise vulnerable area.

The smoke box door, which needed minimal fettling,  is just epoxied in place after drilling out the centre ready for a dart to be fitted;

Now I can start thinking about detailing.

Paul.

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 10 - turning a new water filler.

A while ago I turned some Austerity sandbox fillers from brass. Although they looked fine they were made from solid bar and I wasn't completely happy with the handles, which on the prototype is a rounded knob. As they sit tucked away under the tanks I'm not too worried about their appearence but I was sure that I could improve things. So I decided to try a different approach and made up a new water filler for my OO9 quarry Hunslet. There's nothing wrong with the cast filler supplied with the kit, I just decided to make something finer. On the prototype the cap is only slightly bigger than the flange and the whole assembly has quite a low profile.

The first job was to shape the knob. I held a short length of .7mm brass rod in a collet and attacked the end wth a triangular needle file to make a rounded shape;

Please note that bare brass is a pig to photograph! Click on the photo for a larger image.

I then filed the end of a length of 4mm dia. brass bar to suit the saddletank, then turned the end down to 3.6mm dia. by .5mm long. A .6mm dia. hole was drilled in the end, which was then gently countersunk, and the filler parted off to .8mm long;

The two parts could then be soldered together after opening the hole out with a broach until the .7mm rod just fitted, the solder sitting in the countersink;

On the left can be seen my first attempt, which I decided was just too fine. The lower flange section was turned down to 3.75mm dia., and I felt that whilst it looked good close up the lip of the cap would disappear under my usual rubbish paintwork. Here's the final cap in place, with the supplied casting sitting in place of the dome;

I know that some would view the above as a complete waste of time, especially as the rounded knob is hardly noticable at 'normal viewing distance' (whatever that is) and that there's a perfectly acceptable casting supplied, but its been another enjoyable exercise which I've learnt from. And that to me is the whole point.

Paul.

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 9 - positioning the boiler fittings.

The boiler/saddletank casting needs to be drilled for the boiler fittings, that is the chimney, water filler, dome and safety valve assembly. Of course the casting is suitable for a variety of different small Hunslets, some of which had domes, and some of which didn't, so casting dimples for the filler and dome would mean that the dimples could be in the wrong place according to the loco modelled. I'm modelling Velinheli, which is fitted with a dome.

To find the correct postion for the filler and dome I had to do a little maths...
I started by finding a good side view, luckily there's an excellent photo in the April 2013 issue of Railway Bylines (volume 18 issue 5).
I took the measurement of the top of the saddletank from the photograph, then divided it by the measurement of the model's saddletank to give me a ratio to divide by (133 / 23.7 = 5.61).
Then I measured the position of the centre of the water filler from the tank front on the photo, and divided that by that ratio (36 / 5.61 = 6.42).

The same was then done to find the dome position from the tank rear (45 / 5.61 = 8.02), and the position of the safety valve, which is slightly offset to the rear.

Now I had the relevant measurements I could drill the casting, easily done with the Unimat set up as a drill press and the casting held in a machine vice;

Well, if you've got the tools use them!

Here's the boiler fittings sitting in place;

 

Note that the dome and safety valves have yet to be properly fettled and seated.

My apologies if my terminology is incorrect, but I'm not a mathematician! Comments welcome.
I'm also aware that I could have just set the dome and filler positions by eye, but this has been a usefull exercise.

Paul.

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 8 - handrails and couplings.

I wanted nice discreet Bemo style couplings for this model, large couplers would look wrong and spoil the lines of the loco. Mark fitted Greenwich etched couplers to his, which suit this size of loco well, but I wanted something even smaller especially as I intend fitting wooden side buffers as well.
I chose RT Models etched couplings, without loops, soldered to the bufferbeams by bending the tail of the coupling through 90 degrees to give a large surface area for the joint;

 Another thing that I wanted was fine handrails and stanchions (knobs), so I'm using Markits 'N' gauge stanchions and .33mm wire. These are straight rather than shaped but I feel that standard 4mm scale stanchions can look overlarge on such a small locomotive.
Before the boiler is fitted to the frames I decided to mark out and drill out the holes. The first job was to measure the height of the stanchions, where they seat on the saddletank, using the drawing from the Cliff Thomas book. Then the measurement could be transferred to the model using a scribing block;

The casting is sat on a parallel block for convenience.
Then the hole positions could be added, a scale 3" from the tank ends, and the holes drilled .4mm. To make sure that all of the stanchions sit at the same angle on the tank edge I sat the casting in a V block and used a pin vice held upright to drill 4 holes at 45 degrees;

Velinheli's handrail continues around the chimney, so a length of .33mm wire was bent to suit, threaded through the stanchions, and the whole assembly taped in place, using plasticard offcuts to space the handrail away from the boiler, like so;

Then I used a tiny amount of solder paint and a light touch with the iron to solder the wire into the stanchions (but not the stanchions into the casting!). After trimming the excess wire away from the firebox end the handrail can be sprung out and put away until after the model is painted.

Here's the boiler sat on the footplate, handrail in place;

Note that the rivet detail has been removed from the boiler sides, the rivet pattern on Velinheli differs from the casting and will be added after priming using Archers transfers.

Obviously I've used a few tools here that won't be in many modellers toolbox, the only reason that I own V blocks, parallels etc. is because I once worked in machine shops. Please remember that this blog is about how I do things, not about how you should work!

Paul

Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 7 - turning a new chimney.

I've turned myself a new chimney for my Brian Madge small quarry Hunslet. There's nothing wrong with the casting supplied with the kit, but as I have a lathe and enjoy making things on it I decided that turning up a chimney would be an enjoyable way to spend a morning. Its also a way of adding a personal touch to the kit, and a turned chimney always looks better than even the finest casting.

The first job, as always, was to prepare a simple 'fag packet' sketch, dimensioned in millimetres, from the drawing in Cliff Thomas' excellent 'Quarry Hunslets of North Wales'.

This time I decided to take a different approach to forming the bottom flange, so I hand filed the end of a length of 5mm dia. bar to suit the smokebox, not too difficult as long as care is taken and the hand remains steady;

Of course this would be harder work if making the chimney for a larger loco, probably requiring fly-cutting.

The actual turning of the chimney was basically the same as for the Waril type, apart from leaving the bottom of the flange solid and the shape of the top cap, which is convex above the lip and concave below. The top of the lip was formed with a file, and the lower part formed using a round-nosed tool (as was the bottom flange). The bottom was also drilled with a 1mm drill so that it could be pinned to the smokebox. Here it is ready for the next operation;

Note the flat sections seen at the top and bottom of the smokebox flange, these needed blending in with a round needle file. So the turning was now removed from the chuck before parting off to make holding the chimney easier when filing.

The filing itself was just more steady work with a fine needle file and wet+dry. I wrapped a piece of masking tape around the parallel section to protect it from stray file marks, and checked the work regularly with a magnifying glass;

Once I was happy with the shape the chimney could be re-chucked in the lathe and parted off. The next job was to drill it out from the top. To do this I held it in a split mandrel (7mm dia. brass, skimmed over the top and drilled to suit the centre section of the chimney, then cut in half down the centre with a razor saw and parted off) and drilled it out to 1.8mm dia., 7mm deep;

And here's the end result, along with the supplied whitemetal casting and the split collet;

And placed on the loco;

Those that know a little of the history of my model will be interested to learn that the damage inflicted upon it (cab backsheet snapped off!) has now been repaired.

Paul.

Llanberis Lake Railway and the National Slate Museum.

Today saw me in North Wales on an unplanned visit to help a friend out. So, after a dog walk in a disused quarry in Cwm Penmachno, and watching my wife swim in Llyn Gwynant followed by an excellent breakfast in Caffi Gwynant, we headed for Llanberis.

The Llanberis Lake Railway is a nice little line that runs along Llyn Padarn (good canoeing venue!) following the trackbed of a disused 4' gauge slate railway. Elider, a smart little Quarry Hunslet, provided the motive power;

The weather veered between being merely overcast to torrential rain, not great for photography, but this shot I rather like;

After my train ride I visited the Slate Museum, which is an excellent place to spend an hour or so (or even longer!). And its free! Again the wet weather and low light made for poor photography (at least in my hands), but here's a few items of stock that I found interesting;

If the above wagon seems familiar, its because I've built the RT Models kit.

 

I should point out that there's far more in the museum than just wagons! The best part of the museum is the working 50' diameter waterwheel. Which I couldn't photograph easily, so you'll just have to go and see it for yourselves!

An enjoyable day out. I'll be back sometime, hopefully in nicer weather.

Paul.