brianmcs

Hello Guys ,

I am ready to start working on the chassis of this model .

Am wondering about the underneath of the tank section .

Is the tan k just a long cylinder or is it v shaped down to the middle.

In the photos you can see the cement discharge pipe coming out at a point which might be the bottom of the "V" .

Chances are , nobody has a photo of this , but you never know.

HI Guys ,

the day job has slowed progress on this , but I got the mould made .

This is the first "pull" from it .

It is in a polyurethane resin .

The white one is the master .

I need to work on eliminating the air bubbles in the resin .

The four together are Bachmann twin packs which were produced for marks models,the one on its own is a railtrack re spray with SSM decals.

very nice work Jason , any chance of a photo of the resprayed one ?

I have a few railtrack ones I want to respray.

Is one generator wagon plus 3 others the correct configuration ?

Thanks guys , I get the picture !!

I was asking because I was wondering how much detail I could include in the mould .

Will post further updates when I have any .

Was just wondering , does any one have a good photo of the hatches on top ?

could they be the same as the hatches on the bubbles ?

Hi Folks ,

not sure what happened to the previous post .

Eventually made it back to the workbench and made some progress, Brian.

Hi Folks ,

eventually made it back to the workbench and made some progress , photos attached , Brian

Sorry, but that is complete garbage. The stationmaster is not responsible for the sidings, you need a PTS cert to access the track, which entails a 1 day training course and unless you work for IE or are an authorised contractor you will not get a cert to get near the trackside legally. The days of slapping on a high vis to go trackside to take photos are gone. The Heritage officer has nothing to do with it.

Thanks guys, I don't fancy all that just to get some photos , though presumably , the heritage officer could take them .

Glenderg's photos (and hopefully railer's) have answered most of my questions .

Two details I do not have are the hatch lids and also the underneath of the tank .

thanks guys , elf and safety will soon shut down most human activity .

Is there any public place from which photos could be taken ?

Hi folks ,

does anybody know if the bogie cement wagons are still at Limerick .

how difficult would it be to get close up photos of them ?

Hi Guys ,

thanks for all the encouraging comments , especially Scahalane whose own excellent build of these was part of the inspiration for me to have a go.

The ends were made by casting some machinable wax into a mould and machining them to size on a small lathe .

I am working from the drawing on the forum and the photos on the net. These are very good but not great for the smaller detail such as the hatch lids , so if anyone can offer more detailed pics I would be very grateful .

Hi folks ,

allways wanted to be a scratch builder so I made a start on a bogie cement wagon .

will post updates as I make further progress.

had a look through this because I was looking for photos of bogie cement wagons (there are a few) .

what a super collection !!

well done Ernie.

A brass kit of an A Class? Would someone explain how you'd form the eliptical curve to the front, the compound curve to tie in with the eliptical roof, and the filler portion just where the cab light pods are?

 

its impossible lads.

those type of parts would usually be made by pressing brass over a former.

etched brass can recreate detail as good if not better than injection moulding.

No need whatsoever to apologize Noel. There are many different facets to the hobby and whether one individual is into highly detailed and accurate models and another just wants to play trains we all have a voice. I believe the 121 will be a fabulous model and I am really looking forward to it.

 

Rich,

A very sensible approach.

I am only speculating , but when I say Kit I mean something of the same standard as the MM locos.

I have a MM141 and 071 ( dare I mention also the Lima 201 ?) If they had been sold as a kit of parts ( with the body prefinished ) I would still have bought them and would have enjoyed assembling them .

This is all a bit moot as {very fortunately ) MM are going ahead with the 121 , but it might be a good approach for future models.

A Marklin locomotive of similar size to say a 121 or an A will be about €100 more expensive to buy (RRPs). Their production runs would be much larger and they would have the possibility of making many more locomotives over the lifetime of the tooling as the market and demand would be a lot larger.

 

Rivarossi is now owned by Hornby and their models are made in China.

 

Bachmann, Hornby, Athearn, Atlas, Murphy Models, Proto 2000, Walthers, Broadway Limited, MTH, Dapol, Heljan all have one thing in common. Their models are made in China. I think they all know where the best place to make models are when it comes to price point and skills.

 

If we were to make our wagons here in Ireland you can lob at least €100 onto the price. I'm sure the same can be said for Hornby etc. Then we'd have to find someone capable of making them!

 

If you want to go along with your commendable patriotic choice there are plenty of MIR kits of 141s, 071s, 201s and soon 121s kicking about at swapmeets which you can buy as they were made here over the Murphy Models alternative made in China.

When I mentioned kits I was thinking of the high quality brass ones produced by SSM which I think most would agree are worth having .

Having high quality RTR models and high quality kits available is the best of both worlds .

Would a high quality brass kit of an A class be an attractive proposition ?

China (for the moment) is still the most economical place for manufacture. The 121 will be the 4th time that Paddy Murphy will take on such a serious investment. The guy is a hero for risking that much cash over the years with not a massive amount of return. Irish models are niche, small run stuff as there are less people interested than say American or British outline. This is why the prices of the locos when they come on market are slightly higher.

 

We'd all love an A Class of course, but it comes at a serious price.

I think we all understand how small the market for Irish models is and the challenges and risks that poses for people like Murphy models.

Most of the people on this forum are more concerned with quality than price I suspect.

The fact that the Germans ( and others ) have retained some production in Europe makes me sceptical about the assumption that China is the most economical place to manufacture.

It is interesting that collectors of marques like Rivarossi like to see " made in Italy " stamped on the models .

Perhaps for some people , the place where something is made is important.

Faced with a choice between a RTR made in china and a kit made in Ireland I would buy the kit.

Tooling can cost from €70,000 - €85000

And that is money up front before a single loco hits the assembly line

Painting, numbering, Motors, wheels bogies glazing accessory packs, packing etc are all extra

Shipping from China and VAT to be paid before they hit the shelves

Not for the faint hearted

indeed !!

can see why people like Marklin have relocated some production back to Europe.

Sadly Noel there are two options; A bit of modelling work and a re-chassis of an existing A model currently available to bring it up to scratch, or donating around €200k to Mr. Murphy or similar and wait 2-3 years at least with the hope you'd make your money back. Anyway, this thread is about the 121's so let's keep it on topic. Thanks.

200k?

would it really cost that much ?

monitor settings , camera settings , variations in light , printing problems, human eyesight .

Would not the scanner help to reduce the subjectivity and variations caused by the above ? Especially since Glenderg can take it back to source ,ie. , the sample of the original paint he has.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21041[/ATTACH]

 

Sorry about the quality, but on the left is a MM IR 183 with the factory weathering taken off with some wire wool. On the right is MM IE 184. Straddling in the middle is a sample of a MKIII paint from the North Wall. It comprises a some bauxite, grey primer, a white surface coat, super train, three more white coats and finally the top coat you see here.

 

While the IR is closest to the real thing, its a bit dark, and needs to be lighter and with a bit more yellow to match. HTH R.

That is a great illustration of the variations which exist .

I wonder if the sample piece of the MK3 was scanned by a paint company's scanner would it it produce a definitive number/code for future reference ?

+1. It's the real deal, and being enamel has a very deep texture

For the A class I agree , but the instructions with the SSM egv overlay recommend RAL 2011.

thanks guys ,

the current issue of the IRRS journal has a photo of an A class hauling mk2s on the rear cover .

The loco and coaches are clearly different shades of orange /tan/brown.

It seems the phoenix paint is the best option for the A class.

Presumably mk3s would need a different shade .

It is pretty much impossible to match colours exactly, just google RAL 2011 and look at images.

If the MM locos set the standard , does that include the shade of orange on them ?