[Adrian Swain]

Hi Folks and Rob I think I did say earlier that as far as I am aware ALL 2 shoe unfitted Morton brakes post 1923 have the brakeshoes on the same side as the lever with the reversing clutch on the vee. This means of course that the brake push rods are left over right to give the correct action when viewed side on with the wagon on it's wheels. The only problem with sliding the brakeshoes across on your wagons is that the mouldings are only fully detailed on one face and you will probably finish up with the undetailed face showing if you do this.
....If you use RCH post '23 43two1 Models cast brake pin guides the top is correctly detailed with the stepped in outer arm with bolt and the cast peg designed to fit into a hole at the top of the solebar web to secure. I have bought many built Parkside kits with the pin guide glued on back to front. This means the part of the moulding which is supposed to fit INTO (or ON TO for Wood ) the solebar actually sticks out. I wonder if the instructions are not very explicit in this area. The Parkside moulded pin guides do not have the holes for the pin in the outer face, only etched guides usually have this, although some w/m ones also do. Filing off the top of the lever guide may improve things if you can do so sucessfully but that still leaves you with a problem. The rest for the lever, when not in use for braking, is inboard of the slot it slides down to apply the brakes but it is also positioned so that the lever is generally lower down than you have fitted it, On steel solebar wagons the lower edge of the lever usually rests just above the top of the lower flange of the solebar. Wood underframe wagons tend to have the pin guide slightly closer to the underside of the curb rail and the lever correspondingly somewhat higher because the wood solebars are generally 12" deep against 9" for steel. Part of a wood solebar is behind the curb rail so does not look as deep as it actually is.
.... As always, photos are the best guide and pre 1923 wagons vary far more than RCH post '23 designs.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks Adrian,

My appologies, I remembered that you had indeed already answered the question earlier in the thread. Sadly that realisation came after I had already posted the question and this forum doesn't let you edit the post after a certain time lapse. It obviously didn't sink in either since I have made the same mistake again. Post Telford I will see what can be done to rectify it on these and I do have another LMS van kit to build so I had best get it right on that one.

On the question of 43two1 pin guides will M&M have any with them at Telford or are they just taking full kits on your behalf?

 

[Rob Pulham]

For the last few years I have entered some of my models in the annual modelling competition at Guildex and this year I did the same.

Starting off with the items that didn't get placed.

Scratch built Dowlow Lime Wagon - this was built before I got the Silhouette cutter but I weathered it a couple of weeks ago.

Next I entered my trio of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Tar Distillers wagons. The two red ones being from Slaters kits and the black one built from parts cut on the Silhouette cutter. Again finally weathered in the last couple of weeks

 

[Rob Pulham]

Now for those that collected the runner up trophies.

First is the Dragon Models Lancashire and Yorkshire 30 ton Bogie van

These are followed by my diorama back drop which was made to finish off an earlier diorama which had nothing behind it.

Finally a couple with their respective trophies

 

[Rob Pulham]

QUOTE (Rob Pulham @ 22 Aug 2017, 16:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Post Telford I will see what can be done to rectify it on these and I do have another LMS van kit to build so I had best get it right on that one.

Adrian,

You will be pleased to hear that I managed to rectify the mistake and move the brakes tom the opposite side. One of them moved without issue but one required a new brake cross shaft.

QUOTE (Rob Pulham @ 22 Aug 2017, 16:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>On the question of 43two1 pin guides will M&M have any with them at Telford or are they just taking full kits on your behalf?

Many thanks to Adrian, I collected a few of these from Malcolm Butterworth at Telford and I appreciate the effort to pack them up for me.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Another vehicle has also passed across the workbench recently.

This example is a Corgi, Thornycroft truck in Wakefield Castrol livery (sadly it cost considerably more than my more recent vehicular purchases). When I bought it, it was the usual toy like, very shiny livery so I have given it several squirts of road dirt to quieten it down a bit.

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Rob M&M only had kits or a few pre-orders like yours. Not fit enough to do any casting now but do enjoy posting on MRF. It was such a shame that Corgi Classics started off on the right foot with the Castrol van and all the others but immediately shot themselves in the foot by making the Bedford OB and the following models to 1/50 scale instead of 1/43. The wheels on yours are wrong because the blighters did not make the correct disc type wheels for the first few issues. I cast some proper ones for some of my friends using the old Vic Green model version cast by Keysers. That model is based on the same kit of the GWR parcels van although there are errors and only the McVitie van has accuratish livery.
Although Corgi messed up with the OB their is now a really nice 1/43rd version available in one of the French part-works series and they were only £18 in France. Postage rather spoils that unfortunately. The other UK suitable models in the series were the LT RT and a Harrington coach but the LT RF, Leyland Comet coach and Open top Regent 3 have all been cancelled by the look of it. The series is now well into the 60s with many French prototypes unsurprisingly.
The French go mad on these part works and for the money they are superb value, there are a few UK lorries in the "Camions d'autrefois" series as well, especially if you know that Ebro in Spain assembled rebadged just post-war Ford Thames trucks. Somehow they manage to keep the prices at 19 Euros even for gianormous 1/43 German tanks !!

I like the L&Y van, I have an equivalent for the NER which was part of a very rare series of top quality O gauge RTR wagons made in very tiny numbers sometime probably in the '50s or '60s. I bought mine at Christie's but was outbid by a multi-millionaire on the 3 others in the auction. HOWEVER I own some of the patterns used to make these which came from K's when they shut down. Although they are supposedly made by Beeson, he told me they were not. I suspect they were a commission by some wealthy O gauge modellers like Keen or Norris and were probably made by Pop and Ken Keyser themselves. My van has fully opening everything but is so to scale you would never know. The other models are illustrated in the "Beeson Book" if you have heard of it. I just wish I knew more about the history of these models as they are still "state of the art" today. If anyone knows get in touch !

 

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks for the additional info Adrian, it is appreciated.

I have heard of the French partworks but I haven't pursued vehicles too much, just picking up the odd item when they are available and I have spare funds.

I suspect it won't be of the same quality as that you quote but I have one of the D&S NER Road vans in my to build stash. It looks good kit and it has some superb lost wax diamond framed bogies with it.

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Rob I have another one of these NER vans which came from the Colonel Hoare "Bromford and High Peak Layout" I believe. I have a photo but I would prefer to send it direct so if you would send me your email via a PM I will forward it. It belonged to my late friend Lionel Street. My original road van is actually let down by the bogies as it uses the bogies from the LNER bogie Sulphate wagon which was one of the 3 I missed at Christies. I do have a set of D&S castings but I an not sure if I want to alter it's originality.The others in this series were a WELTROL K 70 ton trolley, 2 versions of NER bogie high capacity hopper coal wagons plus the Sulphate and Road van. I have never seen any for sale apart from the ones in Christies and the ones on Col Hoares layout. All of them are now on "Lonsdale" the magnificent layout belonging to Neil Corner.

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Rob, By pure chance when Malcolm (M&M Models) came round today he noticed some castings on the floor of the stores and they happen to be the Thornycroft wheels that I mentioned. I have quite a bag full so if you wanted to upgrade the Castrol Van they are available. I did not offer earlier as I had no idea where they were. If you had seen my stores you would believe that. Whilst not being absolutely spot-on, at least they look pretty good because they are solid disc wheels without spokes and have wheelnuts. My friend and I both have the GWR Bus, GWR Parcels van and GWR flat lorry which originated from patterns by Vic Green and cast and sold by Keysers and thence to Nu-cast. They were sold then to Chris Crawley models and finally to Pirate models where they still are as far as I know.
It is quite clear that Corgi based their models on these kits although they have never done the little station bus which is perhaps the most attractive of them all.
Vic Green I believe also made the patterns for the 2 Horse GWR high sided cart, and two different flat drays but they were designed for Col. Hoare's layout and when RJH Models was liquidated they came to me and are still available in slightly upgraded form with much more accurate horses which are correctly harnessed for shaft and pole work.

 

[Rob Pulham]

A slight diversion in the form of a complete foreigner to me - a Parkside SR Brake Van.

It's ultimately destined for the small ads but it has made a change which has resparked my interest.

This is as far as I got in a couple of sessions over the weekend.

It's just posed for the photo at the minute

As you can see the brakes are not fixed yet.

I found an interior shot which showed a couple of small seats below the lookouts. There was also a separate box/locker with a lid which I may or may not model. I say that because when the lid is one there isn't much visible inside.... Although once the interior is painted a bit more may be seen.

I have planked over the tops of the verandas which I appreciate isn't visible when looking at it from above but it does enhance it as a model.

Some were made to slightly different diagram in that they had additional windows added adjacent to the doors in each end. many others had them fitted later in their lives. I found a couple of photos where they survived intact without so I decided to leave them as is.

It will be finished to represent a BR liveried example so I won't be fitting the sand boxes although having said that I am very tempted to model this one

https://flic.kr/p/96HAx8
Or this one as being something quite different. I am not sure what the time frame for it being fitted with the cylinders on the end platform though - I want to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

S49000 SR BRAKE VAN by Linda Chen, on Flickr

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Rob. Be careful modelling the SR design vans with Vac cyls on the platforms. They were built for the War Department and all but 2 went straight into preservation without passing GO ( ie BR ownership !) Also watch out for the roof edge on that one as it is a preservation repair and caused Dapol to have to retool the roof of their van as they made it like that. Have a look at RMweb on the Dapol B/van. The Parkside model has a number of minor errors which strangely also appear on the Dapol model !! Have a close look at the drawings by my late friend Ray Chorley in the " Illustrated History SR wagons Vol 4 " Note particularly the reinforcing plates behind the buffers and at the ends of the solebars if you model a BR van and also the position of the 4 large bolts on the outer end of the platforms, they are not in the right place on the kit.
.....The Brakeshoes are rather simplified compared with the prototype and do not even have the split pins locking the washers in place onto the brake yokes (Guess whose kit does !! ) Sadly Ray died before he could correct some of his drawings so do not believe the nut positions against the RH side of the Ducket. Ray just "Flipped the CAD" and forgot to remove the majority, fortunately the kit is OK. Ray worked from the official GAs which I expect were ones he saved from the Eastleigh skip like so much other invaluable data he saved Some thieving B........ stole my display model at a Telford show but I eventually bought a nice one on Ebay and I now await the promised Dapol 2+2 planking variant which means I can sell off the Dapol original which I bought because it was listed wrongly and turned out identical to my own.
...... Like you, when I started building a Parkside kit I reinforced the ends to stabilise the narrow strips above the entrances although mine only go part way across as I was concerned about access for painting the partition. I have a fair collection of SR B/vans including one of the 4 made as an RCH standard using LMS Slaters kit as a basis. There is one on Ebay right now by coincidence and I also have both types of Queen Mary although the ex LBSC van has never had the special bogies fitted as no one makes a suitable kit. How about you making a pattern for Resin ?? My first attempt ended in disaster as the plastic card sides turned up their toes and broke when trying to straighten them. I later discovered that the Oerlikon stock motor coach in the NRM has the same bogies.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks for the useful insight Adrian. I had pretty much come to the same conclusion regarding the vacuum fitted examples so although I would have like to build one for interests sake I will build it as a BR example of a non fitted van.

Regarding having a go at making bogie sides for resin casting I can certainly have a look at it. I rather fancy having a go at getting into casting in resin so it might give me the impetus to have a go.

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Rob Just as well to leave the Vac fitted version alone as I think your photo is actually a preservation rebuild. It does not look like the known photo of one of the two in BR service which, as would be expected of the 1942 build date, has 2+2 planking anyway. I did in the past supply vac cyls to a couple of keen enthusiasts but until the new Dapol version appears all the models to date are even planked as far as I know. I don't think there is even an etched 2+2 planked version in 7mm. I could make quite a nice enthusiasts brakevan special with all the SR vans I have without adding in others. I will try and email the picture of the bogie provided I can find it.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Not much done this weekend but a little progress was made on the brake van

Research done since taking the photos seems to show that there were either two or one lamp irons on the outer veranda sheets not three so one will come off.

 

[Adrian Swain]

Hi Folks I have just bought a Parkside "Mica"with GWR 16" lettering, similar to your build on page 27, and very nicely built and painted and less than kit price but guess what ? Yes the vacuum cylinder is in the wrong place and the two brake levers are glued about half way between the position of the direct and the direction reversing levers. You are certainly not alone Rob, but at least the corrections should be easy and free !! Rather rusty wheels but the rotary brush in the minidrill has cured that so can't complain at the price I paid.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Hi Adrian,

It sounds like a good buy even with the minor corrections. I am glad that I am not alone even though I did mentally kick myself when I made the same mistake again...

 

[Rob Pulham]

Back at the beginning of last year (February) I built a Powsides ex GER 5 plank open. This was an E&T buy at Telford about 3 years ago.

Warren primed and coated it in grey for me and I have finally got around to adding the transfers ready for some weathering. I must have done a bit of weathering/painting of the woodwork but I can't recall when...

The last shot has it's load which is one of the Skytrex castings that I bought and painted two or three years ago.

 

[Rob Pulham]

I managed to move an even longer term inhabitant of the workbench a bit closer to the finish line this weekend.

I first built the basic kit back in May 2015 but I have only just got around to finishing the transfers. At the time Adrian Marks advised me that at grouping these ended their days in departmental service and as such never received LNER livery, hence this one will be finished in a very scabby GER livery.

A superb kit with all the brake gear being lost wax castings rather than etches.

The only changes I made were to add the tie down rings from bent brass dressmaking pins (I annealed them to bend them).

 

[Rob Pulham]

While working on the Kirk twin art set I have been slowly assembling a Parkside NBR Jubilee Mineral wagon. Not the best mouldings that I have seen from the Parkside stable but I think it will be fine once painted and weathered.

I made the loops that allow the end door to open on the original from 0.6mm styrene rod which I wound around a 0.5mm drill bit in a PIN vice, I then poured boiling water over it and then quenched it in cold water which retained the coil. It was then an easy matter to trim and fit the loops. I used a couple of the off cuts to make the rings for the horse hooks. I would have normally used brass wire for these but I didn't have any to hand the correct size so I decide to see what I could do with styrene.

The more observant will note that the brake levers are in different positions in the photos. This is done because I find it a real pain masking them off while painting so I decided to make them move.

To achieve this I drilled the back of the lever and glued in a short section of 1.5mm styrene rod. I drilled through the mounting block under the sole bar and then cut a short length of 1.5mm inside diameter styrene tube to fit over the rod once it passed through the mounting block to create a locking washer which retains the lever but allows movement.

Before it hits the paint shop, I still need to solder the coupling links closed and add the pins and chain to the brake levers.