Popeye's Workbench

[jhb171achill]

Popeye, believe it or not you've done exactly the job I was thinking about! (Great minds think alike?)..

Now, I am doing it for certain, and hoping it turns out half as good as yours! This era is currently very neglected despite being arguably the mos interesting and varied in Irish railway history.

If you take the bow-ended style, used commonly in Britain but ONLY by the WLWR here, and look at Ratio kits, if you take their brake third, keep the curved end, and splice on two compartments from a full passenger coach, you've a very nice WLWR brake third which lasted until - I think - about 1955. 

Somebody here joined two Hornby "Thomas" coaches a while back to make a vaguely GSWR vehicle. It looked amazing - I was thinking of that too.

I have a list somewhere of potentially Irish conversions of British wooden bodies stock - must look it up. But congratulations on that one - it looks amazing!

Final thought - given the window profile and panelling, with a slightly higher arc roof, you'd get a very good DSER coach. There were few, however, in traffic after 1950.

Edited January 5, 2018 by jhb171achill

[David Holman]

Looks pretty darned good to me. I have limited prototype knowledge of these coaches, but they certainly look the part. Ratio kits must hold the record for being converted into something else and it just goes to show what can be achieved, with a bit of care and skill.

 Lovely job 

[jhb171achill]

It's probably worth posting a pile of details relating to the history and development of, at the very least, the sort of wooden stock built between 1880 and 1925, and still seen in traffic well into the 1960s, and some cases '70s.

I don't think I've too much to do today, so I'll put something together later if it's likely to be of interest.

The last six wheeled vehicles in use were last used in 1963, though not technically withdrawn until a year later. The last gas lit and / or non-corridor stock in use was withdrawn in 1974; coincidentally by both NIR and CIE in the same year - therefore, most if the VERY last old wooden beasts managed to overlap "Supertrains" by two years.

CIEs last were old GSWR veterans, some of former suburban origin, some main line. NIR's last were of GNR and NCC origin - mostly the latter.

NIR held onto a couple of elderly vehicles even longer, as they had no logo-hauled stock to speak of other than the Enterprise.

GNR brake third 114, now a rotting mush at Whitehead, was the last GNR coach in their iconic brown livery. It was never repainted green when it entered CIE ownership, being repainted directly into black'n'tan in 1967. Ex NCC third 526 and ex GNR K15 727 were the very last wooden carriages of any sort in passenger traffic - both surviving, miraculously, as railcar intermediates into the EIGHTIES!  526, in maroon and light grey, ended its days as an MED intermediate. What a contrast with the noisy, fume-filled tin cans either side of it, with deep wooden-framed red upholstery and a very comfortable ride! I last travelled in it, I think, in 1981.

727 ended its days in the modern maroon and blue as an intermediate in a 70 class set. It was taken to Whitehead for preservation, but along with sister GNR coach 595 (a brake standard withdrawn by NIR in 1974) a combination of north Antrim weather (the RPSI had NO carriage shed at all then!), poor quality wood (built in war years) and lack of cover, both rotted and fell to bits before the Society could do anything with them.

[JasonB]

On 05/01/2018 at 10:25 PM, popeye said:

RATIO 48FT COACH.

This coach was built to be a GSWR look a like.

The ends were rounded at the bottom so this was cut off and a new piece added in.

 

Lovely work as always Popeye.

[popeye]

Studio scale models 42 FT Flat wagon.

I had a go at building the 42 FT brass flat wagon and i soldered it to give it more strength.

There were a few modification made but just small things. I put in plastic blocks for the bogie screws to

go into so no nut would be needed. It is pained in a new condition but it will be lightly weathered.

So here are a few pictures to look at.

 

 

[Noel]

Thats an absolutely superb job @popeye. Sharp, square and no warping. Love the finishing touches. 42ft not really my era but looking at that I might even be converted (oops did I say that out loud).

Did you enjoy working with brass as a medium?

[JasonB]

That is Damn fine work. Best example I've seen of that model to date.

[David Holman]

Not my scene, but always good to see quality like this. Very classy.

[Georgeconna]

That's a bit special Mr Sailor Man, Nice Subtle Weathering on the Container too. not too much. Spot on.

[skinner75]

Lovely job on both the wagon & the container! 

[dave182]

Ah here! The benchmark of modelling on this site just keeps getting higher and higher! That's a fantastic piece of work. 

[Weshty]

You've really done it justice with the paint job.  Between the white cover for the coupling hook, blue springs and green holder, it really adds to it.

 

[Noel]

@popeye was looking at the photos of your sublime 42ft again today. Mind blowing precision craftsmanship.  It seems the best 42ft by a country mile and the first 42ft brass I've seen that is straight as a laser beam.

[popeye]

Thanks lads for all your nice comments.

Noel the brass is ok to work with if you have a good hot poker.

[popeye]

J15 101 oo works upgrade.

I have made a few modifications to the oo works J15 model.

Weathered with black paint dry brushed on about 3 times.

I added a new coal load and water filler lid.

Some other bits were drilling the chimney hole down a bit lower, new front hook screw link from Hornby and a front brake pipe.

I made a little clip to connect the power from loco to tender which pulls off and this is better when trying to separate the two.

The main work was done in the driving area to add more detail with copper wire and brass wheels from Wizard Models.

bachmann loco crew repainted and arms moved down.

The first picture shows the cab side not weathered to show the difference to the rest of the loco.

 

 

 

[PJR]

Really looks the part, Just as I remember them, an led in the firebox and some smoke and you would think it was the real thing. Fabulous  well done

[David Holman]

A lily well and truly gilded.

[Noel]

The end result is fabulous. Great improvements. I love the atmospheric yet subtle weathering effects. Enjoy. 

[murrayec]

Lovely looking loco popeye.

Eoin

 

[WaYSidE]

Hi Popeye,  I just read all 7 pages of your workbench posts so far. all your models are works of art, and you photos are great quality, your eye for detail is spot on.

Do you or anyone give modelling classes?  I for one would love to learn 1/100 of your skills.

[popeye]

Thanks guys for all your kind words.

Now we need some rolling stock for it.

[popeye]

GNRI SIGNALS

Here are some pictures of GNRI Signals that i made last year for the New Irish Lines mag.

I would like to thank AJ O'Rourke for his help with prototype pictures.

 

 

[KMCE]

Very nice indeed.  Well done. 

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by KMCE

[Mayner]

Seriously nice. Popeye!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Noel]

Stunning result. Very sharp crisp looking signals. Love the details. 

[David Holman]

Little gems, all of them.

[Patrick Davey]

Thrilled to have one of these masterpieces in my possession! 

[WaYSidE]

my eyes just popped

[JasonB]

Precision at its best. Top notch modelling as always Popeye  

[popeye]

GSR 6 WHEEL COACH. 

Here are some pictures from my GSR 6 wheel coach build.

It is from Worsley Works.

 

 

This is what you get.

The floor is thick brass which made soldering the side on very hard and needed a lot of heat.

W irons where too wide so broke them off and moved in to the right width.

Roof was the wrong size so i had to make my own from plastic.

I made the middle wheels slide from side to side and it works well on first radius curves.

The springs were made myself, first a master then a mould made and i can cast more with resin.

The seats and roof made as one and fits in well thank God.

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by popeye
had to.

[Noel]

Stunning work and result especial from Worsley works semi-kit where you have to sort out, source or make all the other bits need to finish it.

[popeye]

GSR 6 wheel coach Part 2.

Painted with spray can first but too bright, so then used Humbrol crimson gloss 20.

Also a bit light so add black until i was happy with it.

GSR crests from SSM.

 

 

[jhb171achill]

Absolutely brilliant job!!

Wish senior could have seen this - he got samples of the paint in the carriage shop in Inchicore for his coarse-scale 0 gauge models (long since disposed of, unfortunately...)

[PJR]

Looks fabulous, well done its a great looking model and very well built.

[Tullygrainey]

3 hours ago, popeye said:

 

 

The seats and roof made as one and fits in well thank God.

 

That's a wonderful piece of work. And a really innovative way of tackling the job(s). Must have needed a fair bit of fettling to get it to fit! 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Tullygrainey