Liver & Fry's workbench

[Liver & Fry]

But, knowing how these things go, I'll probably find something else to do!

And thus it'll be no surprise to anyone that I found something else to do...



Recently acquired from a well known auction site is this Model Wagon Co. Highland Railway cattle wagon. This is a Drummond design introduced in 1899. The kit looks fairly straight forward but I'm going to take my time on this one, doing this amongst other (non-modelling) jobs.

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

So, as is pretty standard for how these things go, I've decided to build something completely different to that which I previously alluded. Mostly because the mystery items haven't arrived yet and the L&Y vans are a bit more involved, and right now I want something... Simple? Untaxing is probably the right word...

So here we have a pair of Highland Railway Loco Coal wagons:



These are Sutherland Models kits featuring plastic bodies and white metal underframes. I'll clean up the parts for the bodies and build these before working out what's what in the underframe department.

I figured it's easier to batch build both kits at once as they're identical. I still maintain these shouldn't take too long, even with two to go at!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

So, whilst I wait for some springs to arrive in the post, I figured I'd share the other Highland wagons that arrived recently:



A pair of Jones Dia.17 sheep vans! These iconic double-decked wagons are available from 'Scottish Wagon Works' and are a very fine quality of kit. They are 3D printed, but with my examples, there was little to no flash and all the pieces fit together nicely in a demo-run build. The quality of print on the side bars is particularly notable.



Provided in the bags of bits are W-Irons, springs, axlebox covers, buffer casings and builder/number plates:



I will use brass W-Irons, but the other detailing parts are a welcome addition!

I've ordered some larger 14mm coach wheels (8 open spoke) in anticipation, along with some more W-Iron etches. I also now wonder if I need to revisit my Jones 8T goods van as that may also require larger wheels (something I overlooked before now!).

I half wonder if I'll shelf the coal wagons for now and start on these instead as I'm feeling rather impatient and these look lovely!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

So, let's try this again shall we?

In light of realising I needed larger wheels on the Jones 8T van, I decided to revisit the brake gear. There's items available on the market for the later style 'long lever acting on a single shoe' set up but I have yet to find anything that represents the earlier Jones style of brake rigging.

In my previous attempt I had spliced together a Highland shoe and a North British push rod - The reason being I had erroneously used a photo of a model for a reference and this model had a guide just behind the shoe, which I took to be integral and so tried to represent. The finished item was, as you'll see, a bit big and so the brake lever was then too short. It didn't look right, but I left it until I could figure out a better solution.

Having looked at drawings of this van and the Jones sheep vans, I realised my mistake and so decided to attempt another cut and shut job using the same donor parts:



On the left are the parts used, in the middle is the "original" part removed from the van and on the right is a cut down (and more accurate) version of the part and this is what I shall now be using both on this van and the sheep vans.




I feel it looks far better with this tweak and, with the larger wheels also fitted, I'm much happier with the look of the model now. Hopefully someone else will agree with me!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

"Yesterday I successfully managed to glue my fingers together" - is not what I am here to report!

No, yesterday whilst killing time before a night shift I decided to do what I could on the loco coal wagons whilst still waiting for the spring to arrive.

I started with the buffers and drawhooks before tackling the brake gear. The shoes provided were not up to scratch so I did another bodge (I mean, I skillfully used what was available) to create a part that actually aligned with where it was meant to.

I also fathomed out how to incorporate the dual sided release mechanism, albeit with a replacement cross shaft as the whitemetal component was both bent beyond comprehension and, strangely, too long for the width of the wagon.



The axleboxes remain unfitted whilst I await the springs, however, they have been prepared accordingly:



I do believe they were due to arrive by courier today so maybe I'll have an update later involving a physically complete pair of wagons?

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I had a pleasant surprise this week!

I have long believed that a Jones era brake van was not currently available in 4mm. However, I recently stumbled across 'Walsworth Models', who mostly seem to deal in 7mm, but, something caught my eye - "4mm scale HR 6 wheel Dia 25 Goods Brake van kit available now"

An email enquiry later and I was asked to provide delivery details. I sent these on Tuesday morning and the kit arrived in the post yesterday! Outstandingly efficient service (no, I'm not affiliated, but I will give praise where it's due!).

What you get is a rather heavy box of bits and a thick instruction booklet:



I call that a win!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I've learnt that I can indeed hold a paint brush. I don't *quite* have the freedom of movement I'd like, but I have enough to give something a go.
So what have I chosen? Well the threadmark no doubt betrays me, but I shall elaborate!

I have three kits for some M&GN 3 plank opens (I know, finally something closer to my stated modelling aims!). These were sourced from 'Pre-Grouping Railways' and are, I believe, the easiest wagon build I have in the queue currently, hence why I decided their time had come!

Any additional information on the prototype would be welcomed. I have a copy of a drawing of M&GN No.287 and the accompanying information suggests these were a GNR design, however, I could not find any matching vehicle in Tatlow's LNER wagons series, in either the GNR or M&GN sections. Nos. 283/5/6 are however listed as "lowside open wagons" that passed into departmental use as ballast wagons in later days.

The kits consist of a 3D printed body, springs, buffers and a selection of brass etchings for W-irons and brake gear. These are all nicely turned out and are of a good quality. For the most part the body matches the drawing well, although the outer strapping on the sides of the wagons is a bit too close to the corner plates.

Here are said wagon (bodies):


 
These required a minimal amount of clean up before I gave them a coat of brown oxide, as seen below:



For now, this is as far as I've got, but given I feared I'd be out of modelling for the summer, I'm pleased to achieved this much! I'm not going to push myself. These will be worked on as and when but at least I'll have something to update you with!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Apologies for any offence cause, but for me personally, I hate leaving a project unfinished. Generally when I start something, I like to get it done before I move on. However, because I'm still unsure about the wisdom of soldering with a wrist in cast, I've put the M&GN wagons on hold and my need to keep busy has pushed me in another direction.

@Herb Garden has previously dabbled with (what I hope he won't mind me calling) an experimental form of kit design, whereby a wagon should be made from the corresponding materials of a prototype; wood bodies being made of wood and metalwork being made of metal. Me and him are originally cut from the same GER cloth and so when he decided to use this method to design a kit/parts for some GER open wagons, how could I say no? Especially when it's a concept I fully endorse!

What I ended up with was some laser cut wood and a sheet of brass etch. My focus currently is on the wooden body so, here's what I had to work with:



These parts will specifically make a Dia.17 open, of which 12,050 were built between 1886 and 1903 - Basically, if you model the GE, you need this wagon!

I also have some 7 plank sides which will allow construction of either a Dia.48 or a Dia.17R should I desire.

I started by fixing the ends to the floor using PVA:



You may note I've slide a section of plasticard under the floor. This is to bring the floor to the correct height in relation to the half-plank at the bottom of the bodyside.

Next I affixed the sides:



And once dry, I then cut a section of plasticard to the correct size and fitted it under the wooden floor:



This has two benefits; the first is that the bottom of the wagon needs to be a flush surface to allow continuation of the kit built (raising the floor was me being unnecessarily pedantic) and the second is that this way provides additional floor strength.

So currently I now have a structurally rigid body for my wagon:



The nature of laser cut wood at this thickness means that only one side can be given planking, so my next move will be to add my own, in a similar manner to how I did the floor planking on the GE lowmac back at the start of my workbench thread. Yes, that steps away from "wood made from wood" but the final product will still, I'm sure, be something of great interest!

I'd just like to thank George for letting me have a go with these - I wouldn't have (and didnt) tackle these previously but now I feel like I can and I'm quite excited for the challenge of a different medium to work with.

As with the M&GN wagons, this may be a stop-start project depending on how I feel when I get to the metalwork section, but at least I've started it and done something!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Remember how I recently said "I hate leaving a project unfinished"? Well, how's this for a throwback:



Having been fortunate enough to receive a set of GC transfers, I've finally been able to work toward completing this wagon, which has been on hold since the beginning of March.

It's amazing how something as simple as a pair of letters can change the look of a wagon...

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Having finished the GCR wagon, I took a small step away from modelling this last week, finding my motivation had dipped slightly. That said, the production line for the GER opens has slowly soldiered on, with a second five plank and a seven plank body being put together:



These will, in turn, gain internal plank detailing too.

I've also been planning another wagon build, but as I say, motivation has dipped this last week so it'll happen when it does!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I'd argue most of us are guilty of going down a rabbit hole once in a while. Well, here is the tale of my latest such adventure!

When I was working on the M&GN opens, I found myself looking through photos of the M&GN system for reference, as once does, and I came across a photo taken at Attlebridge showing a mix of wagons in the yard, including one of each of the ubiquitous MR 5 plank and GN 4 plank, some private owner wagons and a 6 plank wagon from the LDEC. The latter caught my eye, because I remembered that in one of the 'Stations and Structures' books, there is a photo at Wisbech docks in which the caption specifically highlights the presence of such a wagon.

I saw this as a sign, so I began looking into LDEC wagons (a challenge in itself!). It turns out the LDEC hired a fleet of 6 plank end door wagons for coal traffic in 1900, but had them painted in their own colours. Below is a cropped example from a photo showing the entire fleet lined up upon delivery:



So, how could I model this? Well, a quick Internet search gave me Slaters kit 4036 - A Gloucester 6 plank with end doors. This wasn't an exact match, but I figured it was a good starting point.

In the kit you get the following:



And instantly decisions were made:

- The solebars would need replacing (the ones in the kit are flat as if to represent a wooden frame and the prototype has a steel frame). This would also allow me to add detailing as I pleased.

- New brake gear would need to be sourced as the prototype looks more akin to a Midland Railway style than that in the kit

- The strapping would need altering/adding on the wagon sides

- The trussing under the floor would need removing to allow me to fit MJT W-Irons

So with that, brake levers and shoes were sourced and the floor was modified accordingly. Then I turned my attention to the wagon sides...

... And made a bit of a hash of it!

Inspired by the ongoing (never ending) plank work on the GE opens, I then figured "why not make my own sides?". So I cut some plasticard and planked it up accordingly (3mm top plank and the rest 2mm)



I then ordered an etch of wagon strapping, corner plates etc that I'll use to make the sides up to how I want them to be.

With that, I began putting the main body together, as if I were building the kit as intended (so sides first, then the floor):



Then I used some 4mm deep channel section for the solebars and planked the inside:




Which brings me up to where I find myself currently! At the same sticking point as the other on hold projects... (hopefully the cast comes off next Friday and I can get on with all the metalwork for, well, everything!)

Still, I'm quite pleased with this so far! It's more akin to a scratch build given I've discarded half the kit, but I feel it'll be worth it in the end!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Just a quick update for today:

The two GE opens I've been slowly planking have now been brought to the same point as the original was:



I have one more body left to put together - Another 7 plank which is likely to become a Dia.17R for the sake of adding variety. However, after that I need to stop as I'll have nine unfinished wagons on the go!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

In my last post I erroneously said I'd have nine unfinished wagons on the go - Turns out I'd forgotten how to count as three M&GN, four GER and an LDEC makes eight open wagons... So I figured I should probably rectify that!

Whilst diving into the world of GNR 6 wheelers and deciding whether to give Diagram3D a try, I noticed they also produce wagon kits. One that caught my eye (as I'd previously been eyeing up the Mousa kit before it disappeared) was a kit for a GNR outside framed covered van. The GNR has over 1500 of these on their books and many found their way on and off the M&GN, amongst other routes.

So as well as ordering a Dia.245 coach kit, I also ordered one of these, which arrived this morning:





Included is an "etch" of wooden body parts along with some 3D printed components and what appears to be replacement card roof sections?

The 3D printed parts aren't the best quality, having a fibrous/"hairy" finish to them whilst lacking in detail (I'm not au fait with the different methods being 3D printing but I've not experienced this previously) and as such I'm planning to source detailing parts from elsewhere.

The focus of today therefore was on the body, which went together like a dream!

All the parts were easily removed from the etch and required minimal clean up.

I started by attaching the ends to the floors and ceiling sections:



Followed by the sides:



The outside framework:



And finally, the end stanchions and roof membranes:



Sufficient time was given between each stage to let the wood glue dry and in the instance of the outside frames I laid the body on it's side and weighed it down to keep everything together over lunch.

The result is quite pleasing!



In some ways (me being awkward?) this is as far as the kit takes you, as I plan to fashion my own solebars using spare wood from the etch frames and then the underframe will consist of MJT w-irons plus break gear etc.

That said, for what is a fairly inexpensive kit, you get a sturdy and well detailed van body out of it, that also makes for a genuinely therapeutic and pleasant modelling experience (it sounds cliché but it was a nice relaxing way to spend a few hours) and so if anyone is in the market for a GNR van, I can highly recommend it!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

This will seem somewhat random given it'll be a little while before I build any M&GN (ex-GNR) coaches, however, when I ordered the Dia.245 kit from Diagram3D, I also ordered two carriages worth of seating from Isinglass Models.



These are 3D printed bench seats suitable for Howlden stock. They actually come as a double unit (with a plasticard partition) but as the Diagram3D kit has wood partitions as part of the kit, I cut these in half to make individual compartment seating.

Diagram3D advises that "GNR third class coaches had green rep upholstery". The preserved examples I've found on the internet appear to be have red, however, that may well be a preservation thing and who am I to argue with the instructions given?

Handily, I have a friend who completed a college certificate in chair upholstery, so I asked her what an appropriate shade of green for the late Victorian era might be and this is what we came up with:



I have no idea if this is "correct" but I quite like them!

The coaches will follow eventually...

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Having made up some w-irons, I've started on my wagon completion tour by working on finishing the last thing I started.



Some springs, GNR axleboxes, buffers and drawhooks have all brought the wagon to life. I just need to figure out how to do the earlier style of GNR brake gear and then I can begin painting.

I've also filled the inside of the body with liquid gravity:



- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I feel like I'm on a roll now - Well, this wagon certainly is!



(I'll show myself out!)

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Been twiddling my thumbs whilst waiting for some brake components to arrive. I'd expected them to arrive today but luck was not on my side so instead I turned my attention to the roof.

Previously I stated that the roof piece didn't have the correct profile from the ends, but to perhaps be more accurate, there was a notable air gap between the end of the van and the curve of the roof.

Further inspection showed that this was actually down to the van itself rather than the roof:



As can be seen, the ends sit lower than the roof trusses.

OK then, I thought, maybe I will give it a go. But what of the roof itself?



Well, as you can see, the print would require a clean up to remove the print lines which were deeply ingrained in some parts. I used an emery board for this, and a little patience, before giving it a coat of paint:



Whilst that was drying, I turned my attention back to the ends of the van. If I could just plug the gap with something, maybe that would work? Well, thankfully I have lots of polystyrene strip from my various planking adventures, so I cut a short piece and a longer piece and placed them over the ends:



Et violà! One test fit later:



It's not perfect, but it'll be fine once painted and it's far better than seeing daylight through the end!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

It wasn't just parts for the GNR van that arrived today either...



These will feature a hybrid of MR style brake levers and NER shoes for a 8'6" wheelbase (the wheelbase is meant to be 9' but I found corresponding parts to be too tight a fit) - The NER parts I ordered, however, match prototype photos quite well!

This is as far as I'm going with this one tonight, but it's getting late and I feel I've done enough for one day!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Not had much time this weekend as was at a wedding, however, this afternoon the GNR van has received its first coat of brown:



I say first because the outside frame sections seem to just absorb the paint and so will need going over again to give a consistent colour.

This one is quite straight forward in it's livery application so I don't see this taking too long to finish (coursework commitments aside).

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Something was bugging me about the M&GN wagons - Namely the two revenue examples. Most reference photos are post 1919, when bodyside wagon numbering was pretty much abandoned (the only reference to a number being the plate on the solebar), but of of course, these are meant to be Edwardian era wagons. The lack of a number (or anything other than M&GN) made them look unfinished when sat next to, say, the GN opens with their tonnage and tare etc.

The main problem I have is not knowing what numbers are appropriate, as I have no clear reference photos. In the end, i referred to the original drawing I'd looked at, which was numbered 287. As a result, this happened this evening:



The other wagon is going to be numbered 711, based on the Ken Werrett drawing on which these kits appear to be based on. Again, whether the number is correct is unknown, but as these are my only references, who am I to argue?

I shall not be numbering the ballast wagon, in keeping with what I understand to be correct practice for such relegated wagons.

- James