One for the Gorilla – tracklaying progress
Matters have been progressing with the layout on and off through the summer and a lot more of the track has now been laid. We have both the main line and the full run around loop complete, along with most of the bay and its run around loop too.
The line diverging in the foreground is going into the shed area, those visible below the bridge go to the bay (left) and yard (right). A signalling trackplan can be found here.
I quite like the sinuousness of the line, which can be seen here/ I have done this in order to give interest to the layoput but it is pretty typical (indeed characteristic) of the lines to the west coast as they wind through the mountainside. I do have in mind some hills to justify this in the finished item.
Already there is a sense of magnitude to the station forming, the platform face (which is not all in view in either of these views, comes in at about 7 feet – enough for an eight coach train of pre-grouping coaching stock. Really, its length is defined by the length of the bay – this will become clearer when the train shed appears because the bay has to start clear of this..
I have also placed into its approximate position the road overbridge that separates the shed from the main station area. The construction of this can be seen in postings here and here. The intention of hte bridge is to act as a scene blocker and thus to compel the watcher to view the layout from more than one location to appreciate it.
The Cruellest Cut – Carrying on with Hornby’s Gresley Buffet
The first task in dealing with ready to run vehicles is to work out how to get into them – not always as easy as it sounds! In this case, this is achieved by slipping finger nails between the sides and the underframe solebars; this releases four catches and the top pops off. The interior then slips out without bother but the glazing is a little more tricky as it is secured with some very gooey glue. Whilst this releases the perspex relatively easily, it was difficult to then remove the remaining glue – I found it best to do this by rolling it with a thumb and accumulating the residue on a scrap of paper but it was a pain getting it all off.
Prior to attacking the model with knife and blade, a sensible precaution is to protected all of the areas that are not to be cut with masking tape, which you will see I have done. This was effective but I did find that I dislodged a filler pipe when I removed it, so perhaps a slip of paper over these would be prudent next time.
Then it was time to get cutting; I varied between using a razor saw and a scalpel to cut a grove by using parallel cuts but in both cases it is important to cut to the waste side of the finished line. I found that it was best to work to an existing bead line, even though when working to the saloon end of the coach the bead was the side of door jamb (this is where I found the knife best and I made sure this was one of the first cuts to be made) so that there was no stress on the thin piece of material. By the time the cutting had been finished the holes were quite big!
Nearly all the cutting done now; but the last panel to the right did also get cut away
It pays to dress the sides of the opening with care so that they are straight and square as this makes the fitting of the infill pieces much easier. These should be cut fractionally over large and then sanded back by small degrees checking regularly to determine if it fits and taking care to ensure that the square/straight edges are maintained. Once it fits, I let it into the hole and secured with butonone and then left it to cure for a couple of hours so that I did not disturb it when I subsequently fitted the beading. This was formed with 0.2 * 0.2mm microstrip and these needed to be set out with considerable care – aided by the use of venier calipers – to get them regularly spaced and vertical. Even the most minor of inconsistencies detract from the affect.
Replacement panels now in place, including a partial infill of the window by the door
Next up was the removal of the various roof vents and cowls as these too changed. I suspect that these were no consistent across differing vehicles and it is quite difficult to determine what goes where but I was assisted by some photographs from here. Utilising some of the vents salvaged from the Hornby model and also from Comet Models, the latter generally with their shields filed away as the roof views I have have straight flanges as shields – which I formed with brass strip as I though plasticard would be knocked off.
Roof vents in place, based on a photograph of the roof of 9132 at SRPS in the 1970s. I also noted that the alarm gear on the roof was at the other end of the vehicle in comparison to the Hornby model, so this is going to need to be cut away and recreated at the opposite end.
Dinner Time – A Gresley Buffet for Portchullin
Whilst my memories of the former HR’s line from the 1970s and early 80’s only ever had BR mk1s as coaching stock, there were occasional strays coming onto the line in the form of Thompson/Stanier full brakes and Gresley buffet cars. As I understand it, a pair of the latter were indeed the regulars on Glasgow to Inverness trains. So, wishing to enliven my passenger trains up a little on Portchullin, I thought that it was time that the punters had a buffet car to buy that notorious rock hard pork pie in!
Hornby introduced a range of Gresley stock some ten years or so ago and they represented a significant step forward in terms of quality of coaching stock generally and particularly in comparison with their predecessors. If I recall correctly there were some problems with the direction of the graining that Hornby quite quickly sorted out and the teak coaches look the part – especially as to do them oneself is a very challenging exercise. The only vehicle that they offer in blue/grey is the buffet and this is what it looks like.
As with nearly all r-t-r models now a days, the finish is exemplary and at first glance it definitely looks the part, capturing the curves at the roof very well and it will stand out nicely in comparison with the remainder of the coaches on Portchullin. It is true that the panelling cover beads are a bit thick, which is not visible on the teak finished coaches due to the graining but is rather more visible on the grey here but as I am going to weather down this vehicle to a fairly battered condition, I am hoping this will fade to a lessor impact. Some commentators criticise the tumblehome being too slight and the bogies being subtly incorrect but I am struggling to see either defect so will ignore these points.
What I will not be ignoring, however, is the most significant problem with the model. These vehicles only made it into the 1970s because they underwent a fairly significant rebuild in the 1950s. Hornby have simply painted their LNER era model in blue/grey whereas the rebuild affected their appearance on one side quite significantly. Here is a comparison and you can see that three windows have disappeared altogether, the panelling arrangement on the near end is different and the roof vents were adjusted to accommodate the revised internal arrangement.
I have seen moans on the forums about this error and even moans from people at the people who are moaning. I make no criticism of Hornby at all; it is obvious that the revised tooling that would have been necessary to correct this would have made the model uneconomic. Therefore, we have to either accept it is as it is or pick up our tools to correct it. I make model railways to do simply that, make them and I derive the greater proportion of my satisfaction from building or modifying things – thus I simply see this as part of the pleasure!
So my next project will be a bit of plastic surgery on an old lady, to get her looking proper! I do not propose to do a full respray so it is not that difficult to do; so to both the moaners and the moaners at the moaners, I would simply encourage you to pick up your knives to follow suit!
Thank you to Hornby for providing the base model and also for the use of the colour photos. The prototype photograph is courtesy of Paul Barlett.
Highland Holiday? …………… aka a Blantant Plug…………..
One of the reasons I have not been doing quite as much modelling as I, or the gorilla, fancy lately is that I have been doing a spot of house restoration and redecoration. Worse than that, said house is some 650 miles from me so getting to it is not without its adventure………….
Unfortunately, this decision was partially provoked by a pair of bereavements which has kicked my wife and myself to do something that we had talked about in the past but then chickened out of. We have acquired a cottage for holiday letting, in this case located in Jemimaville in the Black Isle – which for those of you that don’t know is Inverness and then up a bit and right a bit.
Having spent a few weeks of our time now overcoming some of the issues we inherited and smartening it up; it is now available for letting. If anybody is fancying a Highland Holiday, here are its details and it remains largely available through the summer months of this year as it literally has only been listed in the last few days. If anybody was tempted, please contact me via here though – we can let to friends/family for certain amounts each year and can offer a significant discount (in part because the agents fees do make you wince!).
Don’t worry, there is a railway angle to the cottage. The former branch line to Cromarty runs through the bottom of the garden. In case any of you consult your old railway maps and conclude there never was a railway to Cromarty, well you are not quite right…………there was, but it was never finished so did not open but the first 6 miles or so were completed, including through Jemimaville. Here is a picture to prove it:
End if plug; normal service will be resumed soon – a Gresley dining car…………or maybe some trackwork for the Gorilla.
Transfer Update
Back in November 2013, I hinted that I was trying to crack transfers for the Highland’s locos in LMS days; something that is not realistically available via other sources and there does not seem to be much prospect of anyone else doing them.
Anyway, hopefully, I have cracked all I need to with regard to these and the final artwork is complete. This is what it looks like – hopefully it has covered all the locos you might fancy!
Also on the sheet are one or two other things; but I am less certain that these will work so I’ll keep these as a secret until I find out.
The intention is that these will be available in 4mm & 7mm scales; pricing to be confirmed but I am afraid they will be fairly expensive as the production run is not big and you 7mm chaps in particular eat the page with the size of the prints!
Once they come in, I decide whether they are viable.
Day Return to Castle Rackrent
You will recall that approximately a year ago, I posted about my last visit to Castle Rackrent and I mentioned that the layout was about to undergo a significant reconfiguration. A month ago I had a chance to revisit Richard Chown and see how it is getting on.
Here are some photographs from my visit (but only a few as I had difficulties with low light levels):
Castle Rackrent Station
Storms above Castle Rackrent
St Juliet Town
As you can see, a number of stations are undergoing a rebuild.
A lot of work remains, as large sections of the line remain simply track on bare track on boards and some fettling of the track will also be necessary but already there is a lot done. Hopefully I will be able to visit again when things are a little more developed.
Also on view was Fangfoss which was in an even darker room, so no photos at all of the actual layout, but a few of the locos were elsewhere and here is a taster.
You will be able to see Fangfoss for yourself (and it is worth I can assure you) at this year’s Scaleforum which will be held in Aylesbury on 19/20 September – details here .
See you there if you go!
Scrap Tank Test Build 8 – Casting Masters
The update on the Scrap Tank test build shows it looking like this:
The eagle eyed, and indeed the slightly less than eagle eyed, amongst you will notice that this is not a whole lot different to the last update, just a few fittings have been installed – basically the ones I could glean off other things; the safety valves/bonnet and smoke box from Lochgorm Models and the clack valves from Alan Gibson (but much cut down as they are really much too big). I have not been able to fit any other castings because they don’t exist, so I have had to do some more work on these.
So it is back to the CAD machine to draw up a series of 3D masters; in the top view some piston rods/part of the cross head, rear sand boxes, clack valves (now the right size which is much much smaller) and some lubricator valves. The bottom view has some tank filler lids, front sandboxes and piston ends.
These have been printed for me by Alan Butler of Modulu who is a new entrant in the field of 3D printing and has a system/machine that can do really small parts very well indeed; definitely better than Shapeways. Alan is a railway modeller here and blogs here – well worth a look I suggest and if you are thinking of having some things printed then I would get in touch with him.
I did not get Alan to print the dome and the chimney, partly because I had my doubts that the print would do the fine lip of the metal where it meets the boiler but mostly because I just could not work out how to draw the damn thing! Instead, therefore I commission Jeremy Suter to make these for me:
……..and very fine the look too!
So, these are the masters all sorted and they will shortly be sent of for casting. I will be using lost wax again, as I much prefer this to white metal; although I do accept that the better white metal casters do do a grand job.
Tracklaying Commences
Definite progress was made with Glenmutchkin over the last 10 days, in that the first portions of trackwork have been laid. At last, it is an embryonic layout!
This was started at the two platform faces as in practise this is one of the major setting out points. This is because it is about the only straight bit of track on the layout and also because the platform needs to sit on top of the most substantial baseboard joint on the boards – where the front and back boards abut. The platform will be a separate element of construction and will bolt over the joint, hence hiding it from view.
The scrap tak is seen here sitting in the branch bay. The branch bay platform face is to its full length, the main line platform face still needs to continue for 500mm – into the trainshed which presently can only be imagined!
Now that the first few bits of track have been laid, a sense of scale starts to become apparent. Not for me the “model to the railway boundary only” approach – I am very definitely attempting to portray the railway in its setting.
The other major setting out point for the layout is the link into the engine shed; which is a single slip from the main line and a cross-over from the main run-around loop. The baseboard joint is mid-way through the crossover, so deines this end of the layout.
Boards Back Home
Just prior to Portchullin’s last two exhibitions, Tim of S&T Joinery brought around the last couple of boards so that all of the scenic boards are now back at home. Obviously, this meant that we had to do a test erection!
And very pleased I am too, especially with how flat they are. A rear contrast to the rolling hills affect that I managed on Portchullin. I am obviously hoping that this is going to result in much better and more reliable running.
The design of the leg and the supporting beams can now be seen more clearly. it does take a bit of time to get these level (caused I believe by the absence of levelness in S&T’s workshops! However, once the beams were level, it was a matter of moments to place the boards on them and connect them up. So I think we will do some setting out at the weekend.
In some respects the photos don’t quite do justice to these boards and also how large they are collectively. The width in the top view is 1200mm and overall the length of the boards together is 5250mm. As will become apparent in future posts, I am going for the “railway in the landscape” feel and I don’t want it to fee cramped either.
And if anybody wants an electric loft ladder, this is where you go http://www.st-joinery.co.uk/
Scrap Tank Test Build – Part 7; Boiler Assembly and Finishing the Cab
Next up is the finishing of the detailing of the cab. Common with many tank engines there were grilles over the rear windows. For these, I toyed with the idea of doing these as a single etch, a bit like the Mainly Trains one (and possibly others) but elected instead that the slight roundness of the bars needed to be captured, so this meant that brass rods were going to be required. If I had either etched small holes or soldered these on top of the cab etch, I felt that getting consistency of spacing was unlikely and that this would detract from the finished effect. Thus, it was time for a little jig.
This jig is simply a sheet of brass with holes for the wire at the appropriate spacings along with half etched lines arranged such that when the jig is folded over, the wire is trapped between them. This is what it looks like with the wire in and the jig folded over (along with a dab of solder to hold it all still):
You will note that in the picture above, I have trimmed the wire rods to a gentle curve to reflect the curve of the spectacle plate and in the picture below, this has been soldered on the ring around the window. The jig is then snipped off and the rods can be cut away. I found that by using a scalpel, it was possible to cut a nick in the rods and then the wire could be carefully lifts so that it snapped at the point of the nick. It was necessary to ensure that the rods were soldered well to the sides as if this joint failed it was then pretty difficult to get them soldered back down neatly; I will include a space jig in the production etch of the kit to give the user a second chance!
There is also a beading around the cab side openings, a common feature on pre-grouping locomotives. This was relatively simple to fit, although I did make it a tad too fat deliberately to assist in the process – it can then be filled back to a thinner dimension and in the process any slight irregularities taken away in the filing. In this example the stanchions are probably a bit far away from the cab sheets, so there will be a slight adjustment on the final version.
Also worthy of note is the cabside number plate, which I am dead chuffed with. This is a cruel enlargement as the whole plate is only 6mm across and to clearly be able to read the text which is only 0.7mm high is pretty good I reckon!
After finishing the cab detailing, it was time to add the boiler onto the tanks/running plate and she is beginning to look like the real thing, although perhaps looking a little naked due to the missing dome and chimney at present!
I have fitted a safety valve bonnet and safety valves from those intended for the Strath/Loch and available from Lochgorm Models. I also formed the front splashers, which I had tried to make easier by the use of some tabs and formers. These did assist in the assembly but I then found that they fouled with the wheels, as I had made the splashers true to scale and the tolerances did not allow for the tabs. I will have another think here and might come up with a jig, as splashers are sometimes a bit painful to fit.
And this is what she presently looks like; definitely beginning to look like the real thing (a reminder of which is below). For those of you that are coming to Scalefour North I will bring her along for you to have a look at. As we are now about up to date with her construction (you didn’t think I can build that quickly did you?!?!) and because I am away the whole of this weekend at Scalefour North, there will be a hiatus a bit before the next posting.
highland miscellany 