Kingsbridge - workbench

[jhb171achill]

I have to say, the modern NIR railcars are very comfortable indeed, and certainly rival in terms of comfort the AEC cars, which I would say are the most comfortable railcars ever to run in Ireland. And the NIR ones are WAAY quieter - AECs were noisy when accelerating....

[Noel]

Getting around to 42ft containers now. Just a very gentle bit of weathering, just enough to take the pristine look off them. These are growing on me, but I did wash my hands after handling something so modern, and I am booked for confession with Fr Black O'Tan next week. Fearful of what my penance might be, it could be something awful like four trips on a 22k    , or if deemed a mortal painting error perhaps 3 trips on a luas.          Seriously though the bodies of the 42ft container flats are really superb. 

[Noel]

Catching up on some outstanding tasks. Buffer grease day. Got 10 locos done with various types of buffer grease.

 

Some fuel tanks also got diesel spill treatment

I even sullied my hands by touching one of those horribly modern 201 thingies. Hope I don't catch anything nasty from it 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Noel

[popeye]

It's starting to look like Inchicore. 

[Noel]

31 minutes ago, popeye said:

It's starting to look like Inchicore. 

Ah, but there are no rusting 201s in decay wasting away. If ever I pick up some of the old Lima 201s for €30 I could make them into an inchicore diorama.

I might try and take a snap at the Kingsbridge shed some time. Would love to do a tour of inchicore someday if they still do them.

[popeye]

27 minutes ago, Noel said:

Would love to do a tour of inchicore someday if they still do them.

Wouldn't we all. May be someone could organize this in the future. 

[Midland Man]

13 minutes ago, popeye said:

Wouldn't we all. May be someone could organize this in the future. 

The IRRS were going to do a tour of Portlaoise depot in May but because of cv19 it has been cancelled.

[Noel]

1 hour ago, popeye said:

Wouldn't we all. May be someone could organize this in the future. 

I was on a tour of Ardnacrusha hydro dam electric complex 8 years ago and it was awesome, I'm sure a tour of inchicore with its industrial pedigree and history would be similarly impressive. Perhaps it could be organised someday by the three big clubs together or separately.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Noel
lexdysia

[Noel]

A visual recap of recent Dapol kit bashing to CIE wagons

Primed using Halfords plastic grey primer, then started airbrush their wagon colours

Airbrushed grey and brown van colours

Did some 5 plank open wagons while I was at it for flying snail era

Roofs next, NEM pockets tweaked ready for kadee no 18 couplings. Small bit of fettling to ensure weights fitted back inside.

Varnished and then decals applied. A few fails here that had to be redone as I took a short cut that I shouldn't with spot painting gloss varnish

The first step in weathering. Powders in solution (50% water/50% Humbrol decalfix), brush on, wipe off.

Chassis had already been sprayed with gunk. A tiniest bit of frame dirt over spray on wagons.

Finish up with a bit of touching up rust spots

 

Finally acrylic matt varnish and finished

The cost of each wagon ended up being about €10 including couplings transfers and paint.

I'm bored now, what's happening next?  Ah some more cement pallet wagons perhaps, DCC conversions, and some resin stuff.

[Noel]

Started a provincial wagons double beet wagon kit. Five more to complete after this test build.

Prepared the parts, removed flashing, a little cutting and filling and hey presto a kit is ready to assemble.

This is a fairly straightforward build once you figure out what goes where and drill a small number of holes. Wheels fit really well and test run she was smooth and free. Nice bit of weight in the body due to the embedded lead in the resin chassis floor.

Add some brake gubbins below the sole bar and off to the priming booth

Halfords plastic grey rattle can primer used. Gave good coverage and I opted for grey rather than the traditional red for reasons that will become apparent at the end. I made a boo-boo at the weekend and fitted the internal cross braces too high, next morning when I saw, didn't like the position I'd put them, so out they came and refitted at a better height inside the wagon. These nicely push the upper body sides slightly apart to parallel and square.

Decoration and weathering started this evening. Hopefully will finish her tomorrow or Wednesday. Before the postman arrives with 5 more.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Noel

[popeye]

That looks great. Lots of dirt and nicely weathered. 

[Midland Man]

Amazing stuff there

cart wait to sea more!

[Galteemore]

Very nice Noel. Brings out the detail.

[Noel]

Thanks guys. This was a first for me (ie double beet assembly and decorating same). Now to figure out suitable seed for a load. I'm glad I primed it grey rather than red oxide.

[leslie10646]

Super, Noel

Not only a master class in building it, but you've got what Michael called the "dustbin zinc colouring" to prefection!

I'm afraid you didn't need to rush - the Post from Frimley to The Republic seems to be taking two weeks plus.

Did you ever build the Bulleid open kit I sent ages ago? I'd like to see the outcome of that after your treatment.

Keep it up. Great stuff.

[Noel]

3 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Super, Noel

Not only a master class in building it, but you've got what Michael called the "dustbin zinc colouring" to prefection!

I'm afraid you didn't need to rush - the Post from Frimley to The Republic seems to be taking two weeks plus.

Did you ever build the Bulleid open kit I sent ages ago? I'd like to see the outcome of that after your treatment.

Keep it up. Great stuff.

Cheers Leslie, Glad you like it. I'm hoping to start it tomorrow. No hurry with the post, I won't be going anywhere soon.  A most enjoyable kit thanks.

[Noel]

11 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Super, Noel

Not only a master class in building it, but you've got what Michael called the "dustbin zinc colouring" to prefection!

Keep it up. Great stuff.

You're very kind. Looking forward to working on the other 5 in due course.

[Noel]

Almost finished. Waiting for some green fungus to grow on it.  

[Midland Man]

Amazing model @Noel

Keep it up.

[Noel]

For reference purposes these double beet wagon kits are supplied by http://www.provincialwagons.com/cie-wagons/

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

Fantastic work there Noel.

[Noel]

Just starting another Provincal Wagons kit. This time a single beet wagon. Preliminaries include removing flashing from resin parts, fettling under wagon floor so that chassis block fits nicely, drilling and screw fitting NEM coupling pockets to under chassis block, and a little filing and sanding. Might make a few modifications as I have some dart castings heavy buffers in the toolbox for the later CIE iterations of these wagons. Enjoying this. Tomorrow the break gear has to be fabricated and fitted. Happy days during CV19 confinement.

All the parts prepared

A little fettling needed to get the under chassis to fit snuggly into the base of the wagon floor. NEM coupling pockets mounted and adjusted to avoid the classic dapol coupling droop (ie by filling the screw stock a little shorter so the coupling is tight). Kadee's work better this way on 2 axle wagons.

This is another test run for future builds of these wagons.

[popeye]

Great minds think alike, i discovered that idea for droopy couplings a couple of days ago, works well. 

[leslie10646]

On 4/22/2020 at 12:38 PM, Noel said:

Almost finished. Waiting for some green fungus to grow on it.  

Super, Noel

Not only a master class in building it, but you've got what Michael called the "dustbin zinc colouring" to prefection!

Very well done.

Leslie

[Robert Shrives]

On 4/21/2020 at 8:59 PM, Noel said:

Thanks guys. This was a first for me (ie double beet assembly and decorating same). Now to figure out suitable seed for a load. I'm glad I primed it grey rather than red oxide.

Given the odd report of seeds getting damp with interesting results is it worth doing a load on a piece of plastic sitting on the braces and then moulding some in resin ?  Or perhaps for variation  is it possible to make a mould that is several wagons in size and cutting shapes to suit and give variation?   

A great build report and yes the lead in resin works well.  I have numbered mine but left in red primer but having seen this It makes me wonder if going over in grey and starting again would be better , I plan to run mine empty so making a removable load might be a way  to finish.  Thanks for sharing.

[Noel]

48 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Given the odd report of seeds getting damp with interesting results is it worth doing a load on a piece of plastic sitting on the braces and then moulding some in resin ?  Or perhaps for variation  is it possible to make a mould that is several wagons in size and cutting shapes to suit and give variation?   

A great build report and yes the lead in resin works well.  I have numbered mine but left in red primer but having seen this It makes me wonder if going over in grey and starting again would be better , I plan to run mine empty so making a removable load might be a way  to finish.  Thanks for sharing.

Cheers Robert. I could 100% dry out the proposed seeds slowly over the kitchen stove for a couple of weeks, and then perhaps varnish them to seal them and let them dry out on some grease proof paper before making load inserts. What seeds have other folk successfully used on their beet wagons?

[Noel]

8 hours ago, popeye said:

Great minds think alike, i discovered that idea for droopy couplings a couple of days ago, works well. 

Yes and I have quite a few 2 axle wagons using Dapol RTR donor chassis. They all had droopy NEM pockets. Stiffning them up was necessary for kadee's by filing the screen lug shorter. The dapol NEM pocket doesn't need to be able to pivot for use with Kadee's successfully. I even considered supergluing the dapol NEM coupling mounts to the chassis rather than using a screw. Eliminates two more holes to be drilled.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Noel

[Noel]

On 4/24/2020 at 2:19 AM, popeye said:

Great minds think alike, i discovered that idea for droopy couplings a couple of days ago, works well. 

Hi Popeye. I just superglued the NEM pockets to the mount on the underside of the chassis because the protruding retaining screw fouled the wheel axle causing 'stiffness' and resistance. But it seems to have worked out ok. Hopefully I have the NEM pockets oriented dead centre and perpendicular to buffer beam so the kadee's will couple and uncouple ok over magnets.

Coupling screw was just rubbing wheel axle so used glue instead to retain the Dapol NEM pocket. Solves the dapol droop as well.

 

Chassis is running freely now without any friction. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Noel

[popeye]

Sometimes i would use superglue. i think some couplings sit out a bit far and i like to keep them a bit shorter.

[Noel]

6 hours ago, popeye said:

Sometimes i would use superglue. i think some couplings sit out a bit far and i like to keep them a bit shorter.

Agree, No 18's seem to fit nicely with the NEM pocket not protruding under the buffer beam. I dislike Kadee no 5s for that very reason, the gear box sticks out too far under any wagons buffer beam. Other draft gear box kadees can be completely hidden under a wagon floor.

 

Drilling buffer stocks ready to take buffer heads. This is quite fiddly and needs a 0.8mm drill bit done by hand. Was tempted to fit IRM sprung buffer accessories but saving them for next batch of double beet wagons.

 

[Noel]

No wonder I don't get on with brass. Spent a few hours fiddling with tiny bits of wire and cutting staples for the brake gear and the door catchers (ie brake gear protection bars for when doors swing down open). Tiny fiddly parts my fingers are bigger than when I was 10yo and my eyes are not those of a 10yo anymore either.  Frustrating yet enjoyable at the same time. 

Not entirely happy but its the best I can manage with these clumsy fingers

Then had to shape four sets of door swing limiters (ie door stops to protect brake gear from damage on prototype). This bit took forever because the pairs of stables kept separating. Mind you my kadee pliers came in handy here to shape the curved bit.

At long last done. Waiting for super glue to cure than will finish it off with the buffers and painting tomorrow. I don't ever want to see a stable again. In future I'll might try and cut strips of aluminium to form these.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Noel
typo

[popeye]

Looks good.  i wouldn't bother with staples, a thin piece of brass would do. 

[Noel]

Some more progress this evening. Finally finished the fiddly brake gubbins stuff under the sole bar and buffers added. I decided to build the kit as intended by its designer rather than make any additions such as heavy buffers coupling hooks, etc. It is surprising how it all comes together in the end.

Brake gear stuff. NEM coupling pockets don't protrude past the buffer beam.

All the gobbledy gook gubbins underneath

First coat of primer on. Some nice details on this wagon kit like the CIE plate and the consignment paperwork clip plate.

Wheels got some frame dirt added to hide the shine. The gubbins underneath looks at home after bring primed.

There is quite a lot of work on this iconic wagon kit, mainly below the sole bar. Station platforms tend to hide that from my memory. Now ready for tidy up and painting. A most enjoyable little kit. Next time I'll take Popeye's advise and avoid the staples. Happy days.  

 

[popeye]

Excellent job Noel.

a coat of primer make all the difference.

You might be able to buy bigger staples so you won't have to stick two together.

[Noel]

Finished for now. I missed a few spots on the chassis which will have to be revisited. A most enjoyable resin kit build once I figured out the brake gear. Wasn't sure which colour finish to go for, the all grey chassis, or the chassis that had once been bauxite red. Have to paint the buffers properly.

 

Now joining its recent companion a kit bashed Dapol donor

The bulleid corrugated open wagon was the most widely used wagon on Ireland railways for many decades and by far the greatest number of rolling stock on the railways here in Ireland. It was originally used as a general purpose open goods wagon carrying all manner of agricultural and construction merchandise as well and general purpose merchandise. Along with the GSR/CIE vans these at one time made up almost the entire stock of goods/freight wagons. In their latter days they were almost exclusively used to transport beet.

 

Thank you Leslie, I finally got around to building this kit. Almost two years after I first bought it.