Liver & Fry's workbench

[Liver & Fry]

Made a big push today to get as much done on the M&GN brake van as possible and I feel it's been quite successful despite one small drawback (I'll come back to that).

So, starting with a minor detail, the side lamps from West Hill Wagon Works arrived and these had the handles trimmed off and the casings painted black:




Once the paint has dried I will add the lenses. As a BR prototype, they won't be exact, but they should serve their purpose well enough!

Next up, I added some Powsides M&GN lettering and an identity to the side of the van:



Meet M&GN No.19, built in 1898!

Unfortunately, the van is meant to have "10 TON BRAKE" two planks below the "& G" but the transfer from Powsides is too long to fit between the middle uprights. I have ordered some generic 1mm yellow lettering from Fox Transfers to allow me to represent this.

Finally, I drilled multiple holes and fitted handrails, cut/bent from 0.5mm brass wire, which were then painted white to finish them off:



Once again, a small step or two has completely changed the look of the vehicle and i's getting very close now to being called "done"!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

"And now for something completely different"

Earlier this past week, I went down a rabbit hole ("What? Never!" I can hear @Herb Garden exclaiming from afar).

I'm not a GWR modeller by any stretch. I had a mild affinity to them as a child (because the Little Western was by far the best bit of Sodor...) but I can't say that I've felt any need for a GW liveried wagon in the fleet. Then (and I can't recall why) I started thinking about the elusive GWR red wagon livery.

Now, I love things that are different (tune in next year for the L&Y "rainbow vans" trilogy) and so the idea of a GW wagon that wasn't grey appealed. The fact the red livery was pre-grouping appealed more. The fact Rapido produced a model of a wagon that could (in theory) prototypically carry GWR red was the icing on the cake. I quickly realised the can of worms I had opened, however, learning that no one knows for sure when it came in, when it was superseded, what the shade of red was and which bits were even painted red!

It seemed my options were as follows:

Red body, black solebar, black underframe; evidence coming from a comment here GWR early red wagon livery and a photo that I've not seen myself of a ballast wagon in 1888 that seems to show a clearly darker solebar/underframe.

Red body, red solebar and black underframe; this seems to be the version many chose to model

All over red; the suggestion being that as all over brown preceded and all over grey followed, the red era would conform to the same "all over" approach to application.

In the end I chose the latter, as the logic holds up (to me) and I like the fact it's something different. Plus, as no one can 100% prove me wrong, I can get away with it!

So, this was my donor wagon:



This is one of the later liveried examples but with single side brakes and, from what I could tell, was in the same physical condition as the early era releases by Rapido.

Existing lettering was removed:



And a coat of red was applied. I've used the same Caledonian red oxide as I used for the Highland stock and I'm quite pleased with the shade:



The false/yellow lighting in the room doesn't do it justice in photos, but you get the idea!

I have a sheet of GWR wagon lettering from Fox Transfers on standby and these will be applied in the next day or so. It's a very quick project but it was a new itch I needed to scratch! I reckon it'll add some nice variety to the fleet.

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I said it'd be a quick project!



Really glad I went with the livery variant that I did. I think the red underframe sets it off nicely and I'm certainly pleased with it now the lettering is all on. The chosen running number was that of the donor wagon, just to make life easier! As I said, this one was a curiosity and it'll add some variety to the fleet, so there was certainly no harm doing it!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

The generic yellow transfers from Fox arrived today, meaning I could finish lettering the M&GN brake van.

The 1mm transfers fit perfectly into the space they were intended to fill. I used a capital I and O for the 10 to better match the M&GN number font and I feel this has paid off nicely.

I also fitted the lenses to the lamps and fixed these accordingly, meaning the van is now complete!



As a kit, it's taken a bit of fettling, some scratch aid work and a slice of patience, but, with the right amount of work, I feel it's produced a nice model.

I always suffer recency bias when I finish a project, but I'm really pleased with this one and, currently, it's a favourite!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

It's been a while but I'm back to working on the GER opens (despite the fact Rapido have now announced these very diagrams! Oh well, the more the merrier...).

I risk setting myself up to fail here, but it's my intention to clear the workbench for a fresh start in the new year, by finishing that which I've started and getting these done by New Years Eve.

Having made up the basic bodies previously, the next task has been to start making up the underframes. Tonight's efforts have involved folding the solebar and bufferbeam etches, in a rather makeshift but effective way using a steel rule, a steel set square and a G-clamp from Hobbycraft:



It took some fettling, but all eight solebars and all eight bufferbeams are now ready to go:



There's still a fair way to go, however. Tomorrow the soldering iron comes back out and hopefully Saturday I'll have four rolling wagons!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Tomorrow the soldering iron comes back out and hopefully Saturday I'll have four rolling wagons!

Like clockwork...

Last night I made up the frames for the GE opens and today made up the w-iron units before attaching the lot.

First task (as per @Herb Garden 's instructions) was to attach the base plate for the w-iron unit:



Next came the frames:




And finally the w-irons themselves:



And of course, these had to be tested to make sure they'd sit/run straight and true:



I'm pleased to say they do! The wheels have since come out again to allow me to continue building work. With another stormy day looming tomorrow, I hope to make the most of the time indoors by pushing on with these.

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Time got away from me today and I've not achieved much with the GER opens. However, I have placed an order for some springs and made a decision regarding the identities of certain wagons.

Following Rapido's recent announcement of RTR Dia.17 and Dia.48s (including the rebuilt Dia.17s), it made me question proportionality within my wagon fleet.

The GER built 12,050 Dia.17s and so you can't have too many of them. Excellent, with four available from Rapido and two provided by @Herb Garden , that makes up a healthy number to start off with. Approximately 1300 Dia.48s existed and even fewer Dia.17Rs. Rapido are offering one of each. The idea of having more than one Dia.17R seems disproportionate so what is one to do with a pair of 7 plank bodies? Well, naturally one will be built as a Dia.48. But what of the other?

Well, thankfully the GE was big on standardisation. Taking one of the 7 plank bodies, I filled in the laser cut planking for the top set of doors (on the would-be Dia.48) and then rescored the horizontal plank line, thus removing the upper doors.



This now gives me a basis for building a Dia.31 loco coal wagon, which shared the same chassis and basic proportions as the Dia.48 and had less ironwork, so it's actually an easier wagon to build!

Variety - It's the spice of life!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Again, time wasn't on my side this evening. However, I did manage to fold and fit the corner plates to all four wagons:



Hoping to do the brake gear tomorrow, but we'll see how we go!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

A semi productive night has seen me fit brake shoes to all four wagons.

The first job was to laminate the seperate shoes but then I made a slight modification. The etch provided had the guides as a 2D part of the etch. I've cut these out and fitted some spare guide loops from another fret I had to hand:



Now, admittedly, until the guide loops were secured, removing part of the original etch did considerably reduce its structural integrity. However, I feel the end result was worth it!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

I've spent most of tonight sorting through the etches for the GE opens, getting to grips with what's what and prepping the bits I'm planning to use next by trimming and grouping them together for each wagon.

However, I did manage to put the ironwork on one side of the Dia.48 body and I have to say, it is very pleasing on the eye!



- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

We have a Dia.31!



I did some more filling, inside and out, before doing the ironwork on the body and solebars. It's a much simpler wagon than the Dia.48, but it'll add some nice variety, especially as this can be done in the pre-1902 livery.

I've also continued working on the Dia.48, finishing the rest of the bodyside ironwork and adding the solebar detailing to boot:



I've also started adding springs and GE axlebox covers to the Dia.48, but only on the fixed end as I type this:



Still on course to finish all four by New Year...

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Made some solid progress this evening, physically completing two of the four wagons builds.

End stanchions, buffers, drawhooks, springs, axlebox covers and brake levers were fitted to both the Dia.31 and Dia.48 wagons and these can now go to one side whilst I work on the Dia.17s:



Whilst they are physically different wagons, the practice of building this pair should mean the two Dia.17s go smoothly. I'm hoping to start painting by the weekend!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

And now we have a Dia.17!

Decided to hit these one at a time instead of batch building sections on the two Dia.17s, mostly because I started on one and just kept going...

So with that, here is the first of the pair:



This one took me two nights, so by that logic, I should be ready to start painting by Friday?

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Going to be honest, I didn't expect to do the last one this quickly, but in one night I've managed to do all the detailing work on the final Dia.17. I guess all that practice paid off!




This of course means that, for the most part, all four builds are complete:



I say that because they will all get internal door strapping (tomorrow) and the two Dia.17s need their builders plates, when I've decided which style plate and livery combo I want for each...

Still, pretty damn pleased with the progress I've made this week!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

And they're ready to paint!

The internal strapping and builders plates on the Dia.17s are attached and so after tea I shall crack out the paint!



I've decided to do both Dia.17s in post-1903 livery, as the majority of my GE stock is of that ilk and so they'll fit that ratio better. That said, one will carry the earlier plates and the other the later style, for variety.

I'll likely provide another update later or tomorrow to show paint progress.

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

A first coat of grey has been applied to the main bodies. These will definitely require another coat, but for now they give a good impression of what's to come:



Tomorrow I hope to get a second coat of grey on, as well as the base wood colour inside.

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Second coat of grey and first internal coat of "wood" complete!



Reckon at this rate we might see some lettering by Sunday night... But I do have plans over the weekend, so that may be ambitious. But the painting is certainly coming along nicely!

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Reckon at this rate we might see some lettering by Sunday night... But I do have plans over the weekend, so that may be ambitious.

It was indeed ambitious! I've only managed the black on one wagon today, but hey, some progress is better than none at all!



- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Well, I may not have got the wood work painted, and certainly no lettering applied, but I did manage to find time to paint the ironwork on all four wagons over the course of the weekend:



Tomorrow evening will be tight for time, but I'd love to say I could get the internal wood work painted before Christmas. Even if I don't, I'm still on course to finish these by New Year and start 2025 on a clean slate...

- James

 

[Liver & Fry]

Alas, I did not get time to finish painting the wagons before Christmas, but I did pop the wheels back in now the black has dried.



I'll be back to working on these on 27th. There's time yet! For now, it's time to down tools and enjoy the festivities.

So with that, I'd just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a lovely time, whatever you get up to!

- James