Hello All,
It has been a very long time since my last post - time flies by! Modelling time has been short but things are still moving and I have kept up my inspiration by reading WT, visiting ExpoEM in May and last week a visit to the NRM.
Here is a quick round up of my activity in the last few months.
First, a classic kit that has been in my collection for many years. The dia 1410 van will serve on Marchford Creek as an ageing internal user van for moving stores and equipment around the complex.
While the quality of etching is great, the suspension and brakes are somewhat basic so I chose to use Bill Bedford sprung suspension and some etched brake equipment to update the model.
There are plenty of etches to laminate in building up the framing for the doors and van sides.
The van now awaits a roof, some buffers and paint.
Next under the iron were these Brassmasters coupling rods for an 08 shunter. This is a side project that I was not supposed to start until something was finished but I just fancied a bit more laminating of metal! It is quite fiddly to keep all the components lined up and there is a lot of reaming to get the crankpin holes to size. The result justifies the effort expended.
Next on the agenda, a High level 04 shunter chassis. Ultimately, this will support a body built from the classic Airfix/Dapol kit with added detail. I carried out a similar build some years ago but was not happy with the outcome. The (Branchlines) chassis would not run correctly (my build, not the product!) and the standard of finish on the body was not what I had wanted to achieve. Hopefully, my skills have developed enough to give a better result this time round.
The step units completed. Beautifully designed and etched in common with all the High Level products I have worked on.
Coupling rods complete apart from the knuckle joints. Note the dummy crankpin for the “Illusodrive” system, which simplifies setting up the chassis.
This is my first attempt at a CSB chassis. Using the High Level CSB jig it was surprisingly easy to set up the spring beam. A little planning was required to add cut-outs to the front and rear spacers for the wires to pass through. The image shows the chassis set up with (temporary) Romford wheels from my previous attempt at this build.
During this build, I have used the excellent Poppy’s Loco builder box for the first time. This is a brilliant piece of kit and was very helpful in getting everything lined up correctly.
The bespoke gearbox is an integral part of the etch. I filed the motor plate “ears” down a little to allow the box to drop out of the frames complete so that wheels can be set up away from the chassis. In spite of using narrow hornblocks on the driven axle, it was necessary to thin the gearbox frames slightly to get sufficient clearance.
On a recent trip to Sicily, it was interesting to see the number of rail lines covering the island including both standard and 950mm gauge. These two shots of Taormina-Giardini were grabbed from a moving vehicle. I am told the station was used for some scenes in The Godfather so there is a good excuse to watch it again.