Finally gettiing out of my system.

Hi Terry.  There was an episode with me and Fleabay, and to this day I have many brakevans, four of which are the Queen mother type , Admittedly each with a different livery. Best wishes Kevin

Terry

The superb detail belies the small size of this van.  It screams out for one of the Modelu guards looking at his watch or just leaning on the end panel.

Barry

Hello Barry.  I have actually got a couple of Monty's Models guards in a leaning pose, one of whom is probably destined for this model.

Hello Kevin.  I think you mean 'Queen Mary'.  I bought one of these from 'the bay' in SR livery.  I'm surprised that Bachmann are getting away with still selling them for the current ridiculous price.  Basically an old model and quite crude compared to today's models.  No glazing, moulded handrails and old style wide couplings.  However, it has a certain charm. I am currently upgrading my model with glazing, corrected paint livery to the cabin partitions and verandah roof, and smaller couplings.  I have decided to live with the moulded handrails as it would be a pain trying to remove them all without damaging the sides of the vehicle.  It is much too large for any train on Farleigh but it might make an occasional guest appearance when the usual branch brake van is in for repair and they are scratching around for a temporary replacement.

Terry

Hi Terry.   Thank you for your reply, another typo, yes definitely “ Queen Mary “ a distant relative . And I don’t know how many modellers have been caught up with Fleabay, but I did. That was a long time ago now, being just back after 40 odd years.  Best wishes Kevin

Hi Barry Jumping in with your reply to Terry, regarding the Modelu guard figures, have you got and painted your own?When I emailed them, I enquired about the price range and was advised that depended on the scale, as my purchases of seated passengers has made me stop to ask “Why” , take passengers on the train into the depot or sidings, or am I being too much of a pendant ?   Best wishes Kevin

Hi Terry. Yet another reply. I have been looking at the Queen Mary Brakevans again, there is something that I have never seen before, they may be cheap and cheerful, but, the tension lock couplers have a small spring on the underside to keep the hook down. Have you seen that.  Best wishes Kevin 

Hello Kevin.  Yes I noticed the small spring.  Quite unusual for a tension lock coupling.  However, I shall be removing the rather large couplings and will replace them with Bachmann smaller type.



Terry

Hi Terry. I phoned Kernow , and they informed me that they had written to everyone on the wish list in 2019 and anyone that didn’t reply was taken off the list. I told them about my hospital stay, and I didn’t get the letter.  But they had a new load, and I had plenty of choice, I went for the  IOW version . And I had credit, did I want to use it, yes please , which made the price £25.17. All I require now is suitable rolling stock. Best wishes Kevin

Result!

Terry

Hi Terry.  Please excuse me, but, I was thinking about wagons and the ones available to form a train on LSWR. The only wagons I know of are kit built, and “me and kits don’t get on “ from start to not quite built before being put away in a box. Please advise.  Best wishes Kevin

Hi Terry.  Blooming Marvellous, again, I reckon that every other modeller would know exactly the material used in the construction of the goods shed, but not me. Would you please advise me. Best wishes Kevin

It occurs to me that there is no universal specification for the tension lock coupling.  Every manufacturer does their own thing and some of the 'big boys' even have couplings of differing heights among their product ranges.  Ridiculous!  In an effort to achieve some semblance of standardisation, I have produced a 'coupling height gauge'.  This consists of a number of pieces of Evergreen strip cemented together to a height of 8.7mm. This is the distance from the top of the rail to the top of the bar of the coupling.  Whilst I don't intend to alter every RTR item of rolling stock, it might prove useful for ensuring a standard height for the kits I am currently building and for any modified RTR rolling stock such as the Queen Mary brake van, of which more shortly.

Here is the gauge in operation…

Kadee use a similar height gauge Terry although for Kadee couplings, unlike TLs it's absolutely essential that the height is as near perfect as one can sensibly be.

I suspect, when they designed their couplings, they didn't consider my track laying which can occasionally, be ever so slightly less than level which rather negates the necessity of having accurate coupling heights………………… :oops: :shock: :It's a no no

I'm sure that your tracklaying isn't that bad Peter.  However, you are quite right about the tension lock coupling.  You can get away with variable heights, to a degree.

Terry

Thanks Terry, simple but effective, added one to my 'to do' list  :thumbs
Cheers

Matt

Thanks Matt.

New arrival at Farleigh. Bought this week from the model shop at Seaside, Eastbourne.  The weathering on this Dapol model is a bit too red for my liking.  After taking the photo I gave it a blast of Humbrol Dark Brown 29 to tone it down a bit.  This colour is sold as acrylic paint in a spray can, which I find useful for wafting over the rolling stock to give them a weathered look.

 
This is the Bachmann model, so ancient it is believed to have been found in the tomb of Tutankhamun!  I bought this Southern Railway liveried example from ebay for around £20. The model, as bought, was quite basic with wide tension-lock couplings, no glazing and the verandahs painted totally in dark brown, which is incorrect for this vehicle.  The verandah floors were just the black painted top surface of the metal weight with no attempt at floorboards.
 
The first job was to dismantle the model.  Quite easy as the body clips onto the chassis and the bogies and weight are attached with screws.  The top half of the partition ends of the guard's accommodation should be painted Venetian Red.  I used Precision Paints product for this and also overpainted the Bachmann red on the verandah ends and headstocks to match the colour throughout.  The ceilings of the verandahs were painted white.  I glazed all windows, including the duckets, with clear plastic retrieved from discarded packaging.  I'm doing my bit to save the planet!  I scribed and painted some 20 thou styrene sheet and superglued two pieces to the top of the metal weight to represent the planked flooring in the open verandahs. The footboards were painted to match the verandah flooring and superglued to the bogies.  The stovepipe chimney was given a lick of black paint and the lower part of the model was sprayed with Humbrol acrylic Dark Brown 29.  Some weathering powders were brushed onto the roof and end platforms to finish.  I decided not to replace the moulded handrails as they don't look too bad and I didn't fancy the idea of trying to carve off all of the handrails whilst trying not to remove all of the moulded bolt heads.
 
The original large couplings were part of the bogie moulding.  I cut them off and hacked about two Parkside Dundas NEM coupling mounting blocks (now sold by Peco).  These were superglued in place just inside the bogie ends and Bachmann couplings fitted using my home-made height gauge as mentioned previously.

Overall, I am pleased with the improvement to the original model.

  
 

They look good Terry, particularly the giant brake van.  Thank heavens that, as nothing on the LNER ever broke, they didn't need such huge brake vans ………… :roll:

What did hit me about the photos was how obtrusive those TL couplings look - almost enough to turn anyone to Kadees…… :cool:  

I'm sorry because I'm sure the camera angle has a lot to do with that - what lens are you using and how close to the vans were you ?  Both shots have a pronounced perspective …..

Apart from that both wagons look the part - well weathered and will fit in well on the layout.  :thumbs

Thanks Peter.  The photos are taken with my ancient mobile phone.  I tend to get quite close, say about ten inches, for the end shots of the rolling stock.  The tension lock couplings don't look so large when viewed normally.  I will eventually convert all couplings to the Kirby Coupling for automatic uncoupling.  This photo was posted very early on in this thread but I repeat it here to illustrate the coupling in action.

Rule 1 Rules OK?



These beauties arrived this morning, courtesy of Tim at Arcadia Models, Oldham.

Well I think they look absolutely lovely Terry, so you enjoy them.


 Bill  :thumbs