magmouse
Western Thunderer
Graham has some samples, and I can bring some, for anyone interested and who will be at the Albury meet next weekend.
Graham has some samples, and I can bring some, for anyone interested and who will be at the Albury meet next weekend.
Ian@StEnochs
Western Thunderer
Thank you Nick. That is useful information. I have been considering getting a printer but haven’t decided whether resin or filament is best for what I intend printing.
That is good to know as I intend being at Albury next Saturday too.
Ian.
Rob R
Western Thunderer
Richard,
The Tilbury was a Westinghouse line....
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Graham and Nick, do feel free to bring along some sales stock as well if you wish!
For me, these would probably be for a future model not this horsebox. Up until now, I feel I have been building "270 degree" models of wagons. They look ok (-ish) from the sides and from above, but the undersides are heavily compromised. The horsebox has hollow solebars, headstocks barely a scale 20 mm thick, and no floor. If I am going to fit scale brake yokes, I really need to make an effort on these other details as well. So the models become more "complete" as it were, and not simply something to look passable on a layout.
simond
Western Thunderer
Unless you’re building museum exhibits, it’s all theatre. It’s a question of where does the scene stop.
I’m keen to get to a decent level of fidelity from any plausible viewpoint.
I am not bothered about the worm’s eye view, as worms do not live in granite chippings and latex (I hope).
I’m keen to get to a decent level of fidelity from any plausible viewpoint.
I am not bothered about the worm’s eye view, as worms do not live in granite chippings and latex (I hope).
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Well, my own theatre has a rather small stage - so small, only three or four players can perform at the same time. The performance will be so limited, I will probably only write a script if I need a public performance.
So the actors spend most of their time in display cabinets, where their steel parts are protected from the worst of the fumes I create while building their peers, and where I can see them. They get picked up to show to visitors more often than they run in trains at home, though I do put a few out onto Heybridge Basin to admire them from time to time.
I do fancy making more detailed models; and I'll write about them if I feel I am achieving something and others will enjoy them too. I suppose, I like making things. Even brake rigging, to which I now return . . .
RichardG
Western Thunderer
. . . though in retrospect, it is probably best to not use “enjoy” and “brake rigging” in the same paragraph, let alone together in a sentence. It’s all been a bit fiendish really, but it is done.
The second pair of brake yokes is much like the first. The yokes are very sturdy, and they are holding the brake hangers firmly too.
The handbrake levers got off to a bad start when I blew the first hanger apart with the RSU. The half-etched folds are like fuses
So I moved swiftly on to the second side. I soldered the lever to a pin going through the hanger to try to make the assembly as robust as I can. The kit omits the safety loops so I have made these from scraps of fret.
Then I returned to the first side. The trick with painting will be to hide this mess and not to highlight it.
I can only see one side of the model at a time. I have one brake lever posed "off" for running and one "on" for static photos. Best, I have now used up all of the etched parts in the kit. There are some detail castings and the handrails still to fix.
The second pair of brake yokes is much like the first. The yokes are very sturdy, and they are holding the brake hangers firmly too.
The handbrake levers got off to a bad start when I blew the first hanger apart with the RSU. The half-etched folds are like fuses
So I moved swiftly on to the second side. I soldered the lever to a pin going through the hanger to try to make the assembly as robust as I can. The kit omits the safety loops so I have made these from scraps of fret.
Then I returned to the first side. The trick with painting will be to hide this mess and not to highlight it.
I can only see one side of the model at a time. I have one brake lever posed "off" for running and one "on" for static photos. Best, I have now used up all of the etched parts in the kit. There are some detail castings and the handrails still to fix.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
The bottom door levers have been cast in white metal . . . and the instructions give no clues as to how to attach them.
Small castings + large mass of brass + no mechanical retention = melted parts + failure
I settled for drilling through the castings and the body and installing pegs from brass wire.
Then I soldered the castings onto the pegs rather than the body sides; and onto the underneaths of the solebars.
The spikes at the bottoms of the levers seem very fragile.
I wanted to get through the build by the end of the Easter weekend . . . I have nearly made it. What is left to do?
Small castings + large mass of brass + no mechanical retention = melted parts + failure
I settled for drilling through the castings and the body and installing pegs from brass wire.
Then I soldered the castings onto the pegs rather than the body sides; and onto the underneaths of the solebars.
The spikes at the bottoms of the levers seem very fragile.
I wanted to get through the build by the end of the Easter weekend . . . I have nearly made it. What is left to do?
- I don't know where to fit the brake pipes and hoses (left or right of the couplings?); they will get in the way and I might simply leave them off
- Couplings, buffer heads, glazing and the oil lamp will go on after painting
- I have parts to add an interior for the groom's compartment, also after painting
- Door handrails and handles could go on now or after painting, I'm not sure which is best
simond
Western Thunderer
Some years back in a similar exchange of posts, I received some sage advice from the late Chris Klein.
“It’s not a race”, followed up with something like, “you’re supposed to enjoy the journey”.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Simon I'll take the easy post first if I may!
I have just one photograph of this horsebox - the one posted by @Rob R on 6th January. We can see, parts of the image have been cropped away - only one handbrake lever; and no brake pipes, compartment interior or oil lamp. There is a clearer version of the same photograph in the book,
RUSH R W, "Locomotives and Rolling Stock of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway"
1994 Oxford (Oakwood Press X53)
I still cannot see any trace of the sticky-downy spike bit. I don't know what is could possibly represent and, seeing it is so fragile, I've cut it off on both sides. It would not survive on the layout.
My guess is, the designer of the casting included part of the safety loop in the item. Now it is gone from my model. This is another unknown cleared up.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
I do not "finish" my models. They are racked full of compromises and interpretation, and so the best I can hope for is controlled abandonment. For the horsebox, the best way for me to do this is to write out a list of things to do (here), and stick to it.
I am approaching my boredom threshold with this model - it has been on the go for plenty long enough, and the ratio of returns to efforts is diminishing. I want to see it through so I can let myself start something else. Obviously I could put it away in a box and go back to it later, but I am much happier if I have only one model on the go at a time. This is just me.
So there is no race as such, but my determination to identify what is left to do, stay focussed on it and admit to setting myself deadlines probably implies one.
I am actually very pleased with this model and I have enjoyed most of the journey. There are a lot of hand-made parts in here and I think result looks okay. Perhaps, one more post with pictures before setting aside for painting.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
I never met Chris Klein . . . by all accounts, he was one of life's characters. He would have had a hand in the development of Minerva's MW K class, my first 7 mm model. He has quite a lot to answer for!
@Alan you mention Parkside. I just bought this GER brake van, which someone has made on a Parkside underframe. This entire model seems to be from the Impressionist school of railway modelling and probably needs a soft-focus filter to show it at its best! But it does inspire me to want to build something similar using a kit chassis. The Heybridge Railway needs a GER brake van for the through workings from Witham.
@Alan you mention Parkside. I just bought this GER brake van, which someone has made on a Parkside underframe. This entire model seems to be from the Impressionist school of railway modelling and probably needs a soft-focus filter to show it at its best! But it does inspire me to want to build something similar using a kit chassis. The Heybridge Railway needs a GER brake van for the through workings from Witham.
magmouse
Western Thunderer
Neither do I, but I do photograph them in silhouette, which determines the level of detail I want in brake gear - enough to get a sense of the type and density of the ironmongery, without worrying to much about the finer details that I would pay attention to if they were on the side of the wagon, say:
Nick.
simond
Western Thunderer
Which is more or less where I was in my post 1706 above - “any plausible viewpoint”
magmouse
Western Thunderer
Yes - and going a step further, I am interested in how we view as well as what we view. Thinking about Old Master paintings, the main subject is usually painted with careful attention to detail, while less important areas of the picture are sketched in more loosely. I think the same approach can work for model railways.
Nick.
michael mott
Western Thunderer
Hi Richard I would be tempted to cut the brakeshoe and long bar clean off the assemply and move it forward the 1.3mm after drilling a new hole for the crossrod so as to not change all the other links.
Cheers Michael