Like the figures, John. 60's you say ? Well don't forget the stockings and suspenders !
Allan

OK Allan, but what about the women?

John

I also got a packet of underframe details from JLTRT today as well.  Now I can get back to underframe assembly:



From top left we have vacuum cylinders, alarm gear castings, corridor support brackets, turnbuckles.  Below these are brackets for dynamo support.  Below those are the brake rod and levers.  Bottom middle is the queen post and finally, bottom left are the luggage door handles.

John

Battle dress and miner's boots.

Mental image alert!

[user=1427]allan downes[/user] wrote:

Battle dress and miner's boots.

Is that over the stockings and suspenders,
or instead of?

:hmm

Kinky!   :Red Card

Hi John,

I was going to suggest fishnet stockings for the luggage racks, but maybe not…

Have a look at tulle fabric. Nice diamond mesh (JLTRT), various colors, cheap ($3-$6 for 3" x 40 yards), looks like rope at O scale. I've used this in the past for fishing nets, mail coach catch nets, fencing, reinforced windows. The one illustrated (Falk) comes in a gazillion colors, this one's brown. You can also get metallic tulle in various colors including black. Avoid the glittery stuff with rhinestones.Try Amazon.com or Amazon.ca. Michaels has it as well. Tack in place with CA.



Nigel

Also good for chain mesh fences . . .

Some great suggestions guys thanks.  As I say, having contacted CPL, I will wait to see what I get there.

John

Another major task complete today, the assembly of the third pair of bogies (phew! glad that's done):



These are for the BG and this time are 8' WB Fox bogies.  In this unpainted state you can see better what I did to them.  The parts pack includes sides and bolster.  Everything else I added.  The brake shoes and yokes are from Parkside.  Safety loops are 0,032" PB wire as is the top diamond shaped pull rod.  PB is actually a good material for this because it's quite ductile and easy to shape.  Brass is somewhat harder.

Painting next.

John

So, I've painted the bogies so I can tick that job off.  There's a danger, in a seemingly unending project like these coaches, of losing ones momentum and enthusiasm.  So, I decided to start my Slaters SR GUV.

I've made pretty good progress:



First the sides had holes drilled.  These were half moulded on the back so easy to get right.  Similarly the ends had holes drill for handrails and lamp brackets.

I'm doing the GUV version of this van.  The first difference is reinforcing patches on the corners.  These are provided as accurate etched brass.  They are a fiddle to fit since crossbrace detail has to be ever so carefully removed to get them to fit.  Then, holes were drilled through etched holes in the patches.  Plastic rod was inserted and glued.  When hard these are cut off and sanded to reinstate rivets.

Vents are glued to the ends.

The floor was checked to make sure it is accurate (it is) and the subfloor bracing added.  This was finished with plastic strip to complete the brace U section.

Solebars were added as well.  The vacuum cylinder should be in the position shown.  PLVs had it in a different place.

Other things of note:

Very nice working screw coupling from Slaters.  A PITA to assemble but well worth it.

Sprung buffers assembled.  The housings are cast brass and take some fettling to get the buffers to move freely.

I opted for sprung axleguards.  These are assembled and one pair has been installed.

Wheels have been painted with a grungy brown colour of my making.

I tend to blacken all the metal parts as a first step.  This gives them a nice patina and also a good key for paint.  Another reason for doing this is to avoid having to paint moving parts.

John

Blimey, John. Were you a brain surgeon in a past life !

Allan.

You wouldn't want me operating on your brain Allan, I'd spent half the time trying to find the bits I dropped on the operating room floor.:cool wink

Reading through a thread on RMWeb about a PLV build, I realized that the kit doesn't have window bars.  These are not an option and it befuddles me that a kit maker could leave these out.

However, pedantry to the rescue and I made a set:



I drew out the pattern then scrabbled about in my brass scrap box until I found some strip of about the right size.

I laid out the horizontals over the pattern and taped those down.  I then soldered the verticals.  They all seem to fit.  Yes, it took a while and I had to adjust a couple.

Also added the vents and chalk plates.

John

Hi John,
Looking good so far. I have been asked to look at converting one of these to the Night Ferry verion that had a look out on the roof and a slightly lower roof line. I got a couple of drawings to compare them but I made a hash of scaling printing them off so I need to do it again.

Nothing like setting yourself a challenge.  Sounds intereresting Rob.

John

State of play from today's effort:



The underframe detail takes a lot of work.  You can see I added vacuum and steam pipes although I expect I got the crossover location wrong.  I have no info on that, so an educated guess.

The yokes were a fiddle since the outer ones are a tad tight and I had to file a notch in the back of one to keep the brakes clear of the wheels.

Everything is more or less straightforward.

Still have the manual brake levers to fit and trussing.

John

You couldn't pay me enough to attempt that…