KMCE

Got some painting done on two of the wagons. Interesting that every time you go to paint you discover some last little item that needed to be finished before the painting can start. Two that were ready were the Flat Vehicle wagon and the Convertible. Paint on, coat of gloss varnish to apply the lettering (stencil & hand). I now need to add a final coat of matt varnish & begin the weathering stage; same applies to 423 as well. With the profusion of grey, the goods trains must have looked rather dreary making their way through a damp countryside. I can see why the pre-amalgamation companies wanted a bit of colour on their fleet. More as time permits Ken

Jonathan, Thanks for the input. From my research it appears the DSER used third passenger brakes on all trains up to c. 1900 around which time they did commission / build their own goods brakes to run mainly with the cattle traffic which was then expanded to all goods traffic. I get 10 or 11 dedicated goods brakes, so a model would be good. @Mayner gratefully provided a photo which with a bit of work may help me develop a drawing and hopefully a model. Watch this space........ Ken.

All, By any chance, would anyone have images, sketches, or ideally drawings of a DSER Goods Brake Van? I have GNR, & MGWR, but nothing from the DSER. Many thanks in advance. Ken

Very nice indeed. Well done.

Little Diorama displayed at the Bray Show yesterday. 600mm x 130mm with small backdrop. Still needs a little more detailing on the vegetation etc, but good for display purposes nonetheless. 458 (Still incomplete) ex MGWR Fish van, ex DSER Covered Wagon, ex SLNC Vehicle wagon & ex GSWR covered wagon. Good reception and thanks to all who commented. Ken

Some progress on 495. Chassis insert into the body is sorted which allows fixing of the cab interior in place. This then allowed addition of handrails, cab back and roof. Buffers, hooks, and sandbox operating rods were also added. I will need to add some weight as it is a little low on tractive effort. When pulling the 5 wagon rake, which in fairness is quite heavy, it does struggle on occasion. Some weight between the frames, front and rear should help. It does run well and looks well hauling the rake of wagons. Some more detailing needed before heading to the paintshop as it is looking rather scruffy at this stage. Quick shot of 495 on the siding with 423 on the main track. More as time permits. Ken

Got some work done on the covered wagon. Quite a lot of work went into this one, as all parts needed to be added to the base wagon shown above. Still waiting for a delivery of corrugated iron for the roof to complete, but all other physical work is complete. All uprights and cross members are 1 x 1mm brass. Corner posts are tri folded 0.3mm brass cut & groved on the mill. Hinges and corner straps are 0,5mm brass riveted to suit. It has come together rather well and just needs a roof and a good cleanup for painting. Some shots of the wagon with others which give an indication of how short it is. Wagons behind 495 which also has had some work done today - see Class 495 post in Irish models for more details. More later. Ken

Hello John, Ditto to Brian's comments above. Very nice parcel arrived this morning with the Postman, and also no duties requested. You were very good to roll the boiler, fire box and tender edges, which will greatly speed up work. Looking forward to starting on this one once I get some wheels. Kind Regards Ken

That 101 is looking seriously good. Well done on the lining!

The van in question is a Studio Scale Model (SSM) kit in white metal. It is quite heavy with thick castings; the detail is not a sharp as perhaps it once was (Sorry Des!). They are a really interesting wagon & it would be good to scratch build a version which may be a little closer to scale thickness I'll perhaps tackle that after the wagon I'm currently working on; a DSER 13'-6" covered wagon.. These are small wagons but have really nice detail and should provide a nice model once complete. Very nice small wagon which should look good in a rake with the other wagons. This would bring me to 5 wagons - an Inklenook Sidings shunting puzzle is beckoning!!!! Ken

Some work over the weekend. Progress on the wagons. Finishing off with springs, axle boxes, brakes, and coupling system. I have been holding off on the coupling system, which I really shouldn't have, as some integration into the kits may have eased the installation. Not withstanding that, the installation was quite straightforward with adjustment based on buffer length. The coupling system of choice is the Spratt & Winkle system from Model Signal Engineering as it's unobtrusive but effective and allows remote uncoupling. It involves the fixing of a coupling paddle / hook to the underside of the frames, while adding a simple wire loop / hoop stops the hook from pivoting too high. On the other end of the wagon another hoop provides connection for the hook of the adjoining wagon. Remote uncoupling is by means of three links of soft iron wire connected to the hook (not done yet) which is drawn down by magnets buried under the track. The three links and very slim appearance of the coupling system provide a closer to prototypical look. S&W coupling hook / pivot. Connection between wagons Wagons are virtually complete and can now head for the paint shop. GSWR open wagon (Studo Scale Models) , with SL&NC Vehicle Wagon (Scratchbuilt). MGWR Fishvan (JM Design) and GSWR (?) 7 Plank Wagon (SSM) with Class 423 (Scratchbuilt) in the background. More soon. Ken

Hello Noel, Rivets were punched onto 1mm x 0.5mm strips using a Kettering Rivet Press supplied by Midland Railway Centre. Ken

Some work to date: I rather like the look of the SL&NC Road Vehicle Wagon, and having some 1mm brass sheet, I decided to have a go at creating one. Drawing created of the wagon, which allowed a cut drawing be produced which was then cut out on the CNC. Really tough stuff, and many broken bits, trimming and sanding later we ended up with some reasonable parts. I bougth the 1mm some time ago thinking I would use it for loco frames, but 0.5mm is more than enough and closer in scale so this was surplus - I won't be buying it again as it is difficult to work with, both cutting & soldering. Floor, buffer beams and solebars/frames assembled. Sides are created from individual planks cut out, which is probably over the top, but will provide good detail. These were then assembled with some uprights and strapping added c/w rivet detail for the opening door section. The uprights were then used to fix the sides to the frames. This wagon is a little unusual in that the sides line up with the frames with no overhang. The sides were originally designed to be removed thus they lined up with the frames and slotted into straps on the frame. Other sides and additional strapping was added to complete the wagon body. Compensated W-irons from SSM were then added, including the brake detail and brake levers. Temporary buffers were added for effect and we arrive at this: Wagon with Austin 7 Van purchased at the show last Sunday. Some more strapping needed for the uprights, springs, axleboxes, draw hook and coupling system to be added to finish it off. A good cleanup is also needed ot get rid of excess solder, marks, etc before we get to painting. I also decided to assemble an SSM open wagon kit I have had for some time now. Whitemetal is a very different material to work with, but the kit went together rather well. Again SSM compensated W-irons and brake detail added - this needs to be completed as the lever is not shaped, so will need to come off again and lever guides to be added. Nice wagon and a hefty weight. Final detailing such as drawhook, coupling system, tidying up and into paint. All tolled, we are getting some nice rolling stock together. Numbering gone onto the loco, so final coats of varnish needed plus some weathering to finish off. More as time permits!! Ken

Hello David, Another option you might consider are draughting pens - I picked up two Rotring Isograph pens (0,5mm & 0.2mm) for lining as I have zero experience with bow pens, but quite a bit with pens. Rotring & others provide different colours so it should be possible to make a suitable mix to get the colour you want. The pen has a simple internal cartridge which is easy to fill & clean. I find the pens easy enough to use on a gloss finish, and propose to airbrush a light coat of varnish over the ink to finish it. Oh - they also work very well with lettering stencils, so those hard to get transfers, may be possible with stencilling? Just a thought. Regards, Ken

David, That is an impressive line up of motive power, all the more special as you constructed most of them. Well done Sir, and you're right not to hide them away in boxes - they deserve to be on display until their next outing. Beautiful models - you can be rightly proud of them. Ken

I'll help!!

Edit to above. Ship in the foreground is HMS Warspite, an armoured cruiser which was a port guard ship in Queenstown between 1893 to 1896, and subsequently scrapped in 1905. Hopefully this gives a more accurate date than noted above. (Ok - I'll get my anorak and go!) Ken

Both photos appear to be of Queenstown (Cobh). Date is most likely during or around WW1 given the ships in the first photo appear to be Royal Navy Cruisers or similar. Perhaps liberty men returning to ship on the tender just leaving the quay? For the locos, I think Eoin and John have answered that one. Ken

Hello David, There is some very good information in the "Good Book" Clements & McMahon - chapter 11 on the various types of tenders used across the network. I think you mentioned elsewhere you picked it up recently - it may help? Ken

Fiddly little bugger! Parts from the High Level Pug kit - nice cast brass parts. Needs some tidying up and painting! Ken

After much hoo-hahing with other projects, the poor 495 was shelved for a while. It appeared in the background of some of the photos of other models, but was very much on the back burner. As I got the correct final drive gear from High Level quite some time ago, I decided to have another go at making some progress on this build. The hgh level kit is designed to insert the motor into the boiler and complete the gearbox while the cab was off, however given the 3D print was constructed with a full boiler tube back to the cab and a fixed cab, this was not going to work. Thinking cap on, I decided to redo the frames, include the fire box sides and create an underside for the boiler, which meant I could cut away the boiler on the 3D print, and include slots to allow the top of the gearbox up into the cab area. This means a separate running chassis and drop on body. Brakes on, cylinders, slides and cross head supports installed, gearbox completed and set in place to arrive at this. A front plate, which will both support the front of the boiler base, and tapered to replicate the back of the smoke box was added. Not overly visible due to the angle, but it will be seen later in one of the shots. As mentioned in other posts, the finish of the 3D print was not really good, which was only highlighted by a coat of primer. Much scrubbing with a fibre pen and some 1000 grit paper helped to reduce this roughness which will need another prime to check to see how the flattening is progressing. Plate replicating the back of smokebox is just visible in this photo. Some nicks and dings to be addressed, but overall the finish is better. In the interim, pick-ups were added at low level using a small strip of copper clad and 0.35mm PB wire, motor wired and running gear added. Quartering is proving to be problematic with slightly erratic running not helped by wheels not being completely true on the axles. In fairness the wheels are pretty trashed having being on and off too many times. I will get a set of spoked wheels from Alan Gibson which will more accurately represent the prototype which will help running. In spite of all that the loco runs; with an 80:1 gearbox this loco can operate at very slow speeds. I think a flywheel may help to smooth out the running also. 20190120_190334.mp4 More soon, Ken

Eoin, Did the same thing myself on the 6 wheeler! Ken

Got some work done on the 6 wheeler. Ditto here - roof did not fit so a new was made and rain strips added. Sides were also short when the tumblehome was added so ends needed to be sanded down to settle the body on the frame. The gap between the body and base was then strengthened and filled with a 1mm angle. Cleminson chassis built and underframe completed. Not the best chassis it has to be said, W irons were too far apart, even for 21mm gauge and required some tweaking to get right - it also seems to leave the ride height a bit high, and this is with 12mm wheels instead of the required 14mm wheel. There is no compensation, however the side play in the axles will probably be enough. I will leave it for now, but may look at re-doing the chassis if it gives problems. Even with said comments, it is developing into a nice coach. Brakes and a bit more detailing to the underframe to be completed and then off to the paint shop. Interior to be completed once painting is done. More as time allows! Ken

Thanks John, I'll drop them a line and see what they have. Regards, Ken

Jonathan, While looking for some inspiration for Port Cumtha, I looked for some photos reflecting a town /dock scene from somewhere on the east coast. What was suitable for some guidance was New Ross, as it can be seen from the other side of the river looking onto the quays. River looks like a calm sea if the bridge to the right is ignored. Just a wee measure of artistic licence used, but there are some good backgrounds which would provide useful footage? I may chop and use some of the photos for a backscene, as the background is quite dramatic. Ken