4mm An EM Workbench: selection box

[AJC]

Something simple and astoundingly good for what's a very old kit or, as you can see, bits of two kits - the red original Airfix, which I have about 1 and a half of, and the grey modern 'Kitmaster'. The red is quite hard and a bit brittle, the grey rather soapy: somewhere between the two would be ideal, but never mind. Comparison with the real thing shows it to be more than sound, and given the age of the moulds even the modern one is refreshingly free of flash. A few minor details - new ladders, notably - and it'll be just fine as is.



Adam

 

[AJC]

After hols in Italy, more on the Prestwin - Airfix got so much of this right that all I'm really doing is finessing:



On top, a smattering of handrails (Airfix moulded 'em as lumps) and some valve wheels will be replaced with etchings.





Missing from the Airfix moulding is an access panel which was present on both sides which I've added in 5 thou' together with vac' pipes and so on. I ought to think about brake levers...

Adam

 

[AJC]

A couple of other projects have inched forward. Courtesy of @allegheny1600, another 24 1/2 ton mineral, mid-upgrade. So far, it's had new buffers, axleboxes and v hangers and couplings - and EM wheels - this will feature detail upgrades and weathering to suit a late build of these curiously basic wagons: the final batches were built only a couple of years before the first few batches of HopABs (one has to wonder why, at that point, they bothered).



The other is a bit more exciting, my warwell bolster has acquired the bones of a full set of supports for its bolsters. The cosmetic bits will be in brass sheet, but will have to wait for the weather to deteriorate...



Adam

 

[AJC]

Two real wagons, built in the same year and so, so different. Well here's the first, ready for paint.



The pesky door springs are pinned through the solebars so should prove durable - unlike the earlier version, I've represented the stiffening/fixings at the top in more brass strip; the rivets will be spotted in with PVA, I think.

The Prestwin, meanwhile, inches on with all those little details that are individually fun to do, but collectively start to drive you slightly crackers.







Up top we have valve wheels, instruction board (the right shape) and stops for the manholes; lower down we've got brake levers, some odds and sods of pipework and the like. I've got to work out what additional brake gear should go in and ladders, and, oh, I don't know what...



Adam

 

[AJC]

I think I've got the Prestwin almost ready for paint. The remaining tricky details were the ladders and a couple of - more or less pointless - brake linkages (see if you can spot 'em). The ladders have been adapted from some of @jjnewitt's fittings for a class A anchor-mounted tank, cut, and straightened:



Good job I retained these and the accompanying jig! Fiddly, but worth it:



My favourite details are the handrails, a tricky job to solder in situ. Here's the other side:



A few minor things to do and then a witness coat of primer - I know there's few sink holes to deal with.

Adam

 

[AJC]

There is that - I applied transfers to it yesterday. Curiously, CCT cater for both diagrams (which nearly caught me out), while Railtec only do the 1/274, based on the number series supplied. This an interesting wagon, but a fairly involved conversion (never say never though). I have both transfer sets because the Railtec sheet has the lettering for the operating instructions which CCT does not. Photo when I get home.

I should, perhaps, not have tempted fate. Here's the picture of the completed Prestwin:



First stage weathering, with a wash of matt chocolate over the solebars and a coat of the same over everything else. Having done that, I looked at the bits I had left and...



Spare 12' wheelbase chassis and:



The makings of the earlier 1/274, Airfix providing the difficult bits. Take 8mm out of the middle of the 12' chassis (these Prestwins had heavy duty axleguards), trim the top flange off the top of the solebar and put a bit of a rebate on the back.



There's the makings of something there, I think at minimal cost, thus far.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Moving forward to the stage where it's much more complete, but a bit of a mess.





The curved ends are 30 thou' formed around a broom handle with a hairdryer and glued in place. One end is very tidy, the other will need a fair bit of filler to sort it out. Yes, there are holes drilled through the floor to vent the solvent! The vee hangers are spare from something or another (possibly an AMBIS iron ore wagon chassis; they're the right type) let into holes drilled into the thickness of the solebar using measurements taken from one of my Rumney Models chassised wagons - a shamefully unfinished Palbrick - which will also furnish info on how to complete the rest of the brakegear. The result won't be quite as good as one of @jjnewitt's creations, but it'll be close enough.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Moving onward with the addition of lots of little etched bits from Rumney Models spares and the general wagon detailing etch. Nothing very specific, just the run of the mill things like lever guides, lamp irons and brake details.





I probably ought to add the silo bottoms before I go any further; they're barely visible, but they'll define where the other bits end up.

The other vehicle on the go is much less complex, thank goodness, a Cambrian BR-built Salmon. Like all long plastic vehicles there has to be some concern over warping and twisting. On the real thing the multitude of truss rods sort that out but expecting moulded styrene to behave like substantial steel section is unduly optimistic and replacing the whole lot in angle would be ruinously expensive. Dad's solution, copied here, is to epoxy a couple of bike spokes down the length of the chassis. They're cheap (more so if taken from a scrap wheel), rigid and add useful weight.



Adam

 

[AJC]

In a post-EXPO EM bout of activity, the Prestwin 1/274 variety, has inched onward a bit. The brakegear is now as complete as I wish to make it which leaves me free to concentrate on the upper works, springs and changeover levers permitting. It looks relatively busy but includes only about half of what *should* be there, but can you tell?







Note the splayed out safety loops which are noticeably triangular on this vehicle (as they were on the real thing).

Adam

 

[AJC]

A couple of updates on vehicles actually under construction (though Cricket and the heat have got in the way of long periods of desk-bound concentration), my warwell-based bolster has finally got its bolsters, seen here waiting for the solvent to go off. The file is not an indicative load!



There's also the Open C which has its own thread here: Ceci n'est pas une pipe - reworking Ratio, with tiny brackets?



Adam

 

[AJC]

There'll be a break in proceedings for a while:



Some obvious things need doing - if there's anyone in the greater Tonbridge area with a decent ladder, you can see that we have some gutters to clear...

Anyhow, a couple of project progress pictures before everything is boxed up. First, something that will probably end up on Podimore (possibly) courtesy of David Parkins' range of etched buildings:



Modelled as public shelter (there were two in Yeovil serving Pen Mill and Town stations once upon a time), I've painted it and added some appropriate signage:



It'll require some weathering, but that can wait. Similarly, here's the Warwell Bogie Bolster B which now awaits the small detailing to complete it. I'm going to load this one, probably with rebar.



Adam

 

[AJC]

After a pause, a return, having found tools, re-established the bench and dug out suitable project to provide a break from stripping paint. This Peckett has been troubling me somewhat as, no matter what I tried, I couldn't make the quartering work. The problem, having worked out that the front pair of wheels worked just fine on their own, was to take down the rear wheels and to learn that one of the bearings was on the huh (as they say in Norfolk). I've replaced it and with the aid of some 'Romford' type wheels via Scalelink...



It works! Well, rolls.



Once a replacement wheelset appears from Gibson, I can set it up with these and fit motor, pick-ups and so on. In the meantime, I can get on with detailing safe in the knowledge that mechanically, it will behave. Phew!

Adam

 

[AJC]

Following from the last post, work has continued on the bodywork. The footplate and cab are matters ongoing, but the tank and boiler is complete and was treated to a coat of primer over the weekend and a dose of Archer's rivets (Peckett being a great adherent of the mechanical fixing almost until the very end). In primer, the characteristic Bristolian outline is apparent and the thing is now in dry store until the rest of the loco' is done. I've also ordered some plates for the beast from Narrow Planet so the end is in sight, I hope.



Yes, I have noticed the fluff; it has been removed...

Adam

 

[AJC]

From the depths of the workbench and with the aid of many tiny bits of tube the rest of the Peckett has emerged. There are still things to do, notably the sandboxes which, while easily the best castings in the kit, were the wrong shape/size...



Quite a lot of the tube generated the steam turret which is not bad and certainly good enough for the gloom of the late-Victorian cab. This same gloom is the reason why I shan't be doing all the accompanying pipework. Louise's hair is a temporary feature, I hope.



And in three-quarters, showing how the various components are hung off one another. You will see that even by my pedestrian standards, the soldering is less than tidy. I'll blacken it when I get home tonight and then think about painting. Green, I think, and lined.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Little steps - I've applied paint. As a small loco, it's easy to brush paint the thing. I'm aiming for a standard later Peckett scheme - in my world, this machine was reboilered by the makers and thus treated to a repaint at the same time: a nice darkish green with black and yellow lining, a bit like this: Peckett 0-6-0 Lord Salisbury NCB Norton Hill colliery Somerset 1964 by John Wiltshire or Fola at West Thurrock: British Industrial Systems - Geoff Plumb



Adam

 

[AJC]

And now the sun's coming up and before I start the day's editorial work, the edges have been touched in:



I can see that there's the odd spot where I need to tidy up/add another coat but that's not too bad at all.

Adam

 

[AJC]

After quite an interlude:



It may appear closer to completion than it is; the rear wheelset is scrap (entirely my fault; I've given one of the wheels an incurable wobble) so a new one is on the way from Gibson. The lining was a bit of a saga: within the panels this is the same Fox yellow/black/yellow (N gauge variety) but applied upside down so as to provide a thicker black line and thinner yellow lining, glued on with Johnson's Klear. The sandboxes are knocked up from plastic sheet and a stub of square section with a bit of sprue for the lids.

Also on the way, I hope, are some name and works plates from Narrow Planet so I'll save a full reveal until these have appeared and with any luck, I'll have persuaded it to run! Until then, here's the cab interior:



Obviously, there's a little more work to do including, er, the tops of the sandboxes which sit at bunker top height and I had completely forgotten about. There's a casting for the backhead somewhere in the box, too.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Basking in the winter sunshine, Peckett, The Marshal is now all but complete (though I'm a little unsure about the smokebox weathering).



The name, by the by - as well a being a decent name for shunting engine - is a reminder of John Marshall, Bristolian and Union man to his toes, who bought the kit and died before he could get around to building it. Thanks John.



Adam

 

[AJC]

While the 'box wants for a spot more weathering and touching up, I've moved on to the next job, another component for the vehicle breakers next to South Junction 'box. Part of it is shown here - my intention is to partially balance the cliches in the scene; the KeilKraft Foden, the rather unlikely bits of signal gantry, that sort of thing. No wagon wheels, thankfully.



Now the Foden is at least plausible and quite charming and the CMP Ford was one quick win so it's time for a second in the form of a Bedford QL from the recent Airfix kit, or bits of it, at least (the chassis from the pair of them are under a pair of Commer-cab Fords which will be wagon loads). So one scrap Airfix Matador that's sat in the bits box for years, and...





Here's the mocked up element of the scene which is more or less what I'm after: a few bits of foliage will finish it up. As a model, the cab and wheels are exquisite, the bodies are a bit clunky in my view but I'm not too concerned about that. Tarp supports next!

Adam

 

[AJC]

Before the Bank Holiday weekend claims me in earnest (conference paper calls...), here are a couple of updates from the paintbox. First, the Bedford QL which, having sprouted a trafficator and sundry minor details - fewer than I might usually bother with, but who can tell? - and a coat of paint, slapped on over white primer.





The 'Mickey Mouse ears' of camouflage were fun to do but could, I suppose, be neater and more precise. After a decade or so in the elements I reckon that the black, sprayed over khaki/green would have worn largely away so I'm relatively unconcerned. Despite this I shall use some of the kit's transfers for unit markings and so on; as modellers living in a world full of text and labels I sometimes wonder why we are so sparing with them, enamel adverts apart, in miniature form. One of the smaller jobs remaining for South Junction is to create and add more signage away from the railway.

The other side of the fence needs its materiel too and here, happily, is Canal Junction cabin, finished with a dose of weathering. I'll be back in Somerset mid-September to install it (and the Bedford).



Adam