4mm An EM Workbench: whitemetal double act

BR unfitted brake

AJC

Western Thunderer
Back to brake and a brief consideration of the footboards. These are made up from a laminate - two layers being stronger that one - with a half-etched layer, including the bracket detail and a full-thickness layer with the toe boards folding up at the back. As we can see the design doesn't have these folded back on itself which might make things a little easier but this doesn't matter all that much as working slowly from one end to the other carefully the two can be soldered together without a banana-shaped result. All this means that the brackets folds are reinforced with solder. Dave's got the half-etched lines spot on for bendability and durability.

Bradwell_005.jpg

A bit later - and using the clever jig supplied - the top footboards are added. The brackets are soldered through holes in the solebar and because, this once, I read the instructions and didn't use too much solder, this worked first time without having to re-drill or open out holes. These are really quite robust though not much more so that the comparatively unsophisticated D&S version of the very similar chassis found under LNER ballast brakes I built some years ago.

Bradwell_004.jpg

And here we are. The body has had very little attention thus far as I've just taken the handrails off. The axleboxes and springs are from Rumney Models and the buffers from Lanarkshire Model Supplies. The style of these items shows that this will be one of the early unfitted versions with the multi-part handrails like this one: BR Brake van diag 1/506 CAO, CAP, ZSQ, ZTO, ZTP, ZTR, ZTV | B950884 20T Brake van unfitted LONDON MIDLAND Photograph date 9-10-50 Tare 19-8 Diag 1-506 Lot 2137 Darlington 1950 © Paul Bartlett Collection w

Adam
 

matto21

Western Thunderer
Looking impressive already.

Replacing the handrails on the Airfix/Dapol body makes a huge difference. Not doing this on mine is my big regret but I chickened out!
 
  • Like
Reactions: AJC
BR unfitted brake

AJC

Western Thunderer
Moving on a little to the body more or less adequate. Dave Bradwell's etches provide for new cabin partitions to replace the rather chunky Airfix ones. To fit them you have to file a rebate in the sides which meant levering them off the long assembled carcasss (pretty easy as the original join was less than substantial). This is messy, but far from problematic. Dave reckons that the sides are a mite low in height, probably to accommodate the armour-plate roof so I've added some 15 thou' strip along the eaves and a chunk of 60 thou' to space the sides firmly apart.

Bradwell_007.jpg

In these pictures you can see that I've temporarily placed one of the partitions roughly in position. I'll add strips of plastic to locate them properly before go much further. Note that the ends are made of two layers, spaced with scrap etch. The gap will allow glazing to be dropped in after painting which is rather nifty. Bachmann and Hornby both use a clear plastic moulding for this part which is probably the best production compromise, if a fiddle to repaint...

Bradwell_006.jpg

Note too that I've removed the horizontal glazing bars from the partitions (the earliest BR vans and their LNE precursors lacked them).

Adam
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
That looks very nice. What will you be doing for lamp brackets?

Not sure. Brass strip, probably. The L shaped ones on the veranda will be from Masokits (a clever doubled up etch which pins to the plastic moulding).

Adam
 
100 HP Sentinel

AJC

Western Thunderer
While I've been down in Somerset for Railwells and a week off, I remembered to bring my Sentinel down for a test on South Junction, Yeovil Model Railway Group's EM layout (about 30' long). This has allowed haulage trials and at their conclusion it managed 22 wagons over the flying junction/reverse curve combination in the fiddle yard which is the basis of our informal maximum load test. It's slow, controllable and now probably needs a wheel clean...

Sentinel_053.jpg

Sentinel_054.jpg

Sentinel_055.jpg

Adam
 
Last edited:

AJC

Western Thunderer
it looks the part, Adam. A lovely bit of weathering, too.

Cheers

Jan

Thanks - while this one works, my other Sentinel steamer disgraced itself with filth-related pick-up failure (now resolved) and rootling through the industrial box revealed two more wheel cleaning clients, one an outright failure, and a burst bunker from the dreaded PVA; I fear the latter will need stripping and a repaint...

Adam
 

Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
Nice work on the Sentinel Adam. :thumbs:

Green is my favourite colour and that's a lovely shade - what did you plump for in the end please?


Regards

Dan
 

AJC

Western Thunderer
Nice work on the Sentinel Adam. :thumbs:

Green is my favourite colour and that's a lovely shade - what did you plump for in the end please?


Regards

Dan

Thanks, Dan. It’s Humbrol matt grass green - I can’t remember what number that is but it’s a decent match for the real thing. The answer is probably on the loco thread (link when I can find it!).

Adam
 
Patching Hunslet

AJC

Western Thunderer
I mentioned above that a quick audit of the box of mixed industrials revealed a couple of mechanical duds and a burst bunker caused by the combination of lead shot and PVA. My fault, of course since I reweighted this model (it was made by Bob Alderman from the Impetus kit and acquired from him when he gave up EM to fully commit to O), alongside replacing the gearbox with something more sophisticated than the Romford cog it was built with. It's had a couple of passes of cosmetic work since, most recently a new chimney and dome/safety valve courtesy of Mike Edge and two repaints. So what's at stake?

Hunslet_003.jpg

All three soldered joints had failed as was revealed by a bit of drilling and soaking:

Hunslet_002.jpg

Removal turned out to be relatively painless and so I've soldered the rear plate back on and - since it's plain black - a patch repaint is worth trying at least, hence:

Hunslet_001.jpg

Time to harden off and retouch with a brush. Maybe some lining as well?

Adam
 
Patching Hunslet

AJC

Western Thunderer
All done:

Hunslet_004.jpg

I decided against lining and settled for repainting the valance black, so that'll do. While the sun was out, I also introduced the Sentinels to one another. It's interesting to see how the family resemblance only extends so far; shapes and lines are similar, but angles and proportions are quite divergent, but they are the same height (the bigger one is quite a lot faster, too!).

Pair.jpg

Adam
 
Last edited:
Top