Kingsbridge - workbench

[Railer]

On 4/6/2018 at 12:31 PM, Noel said:

 

Photo below (C) Paul Haywood's flickr

Just looking at the above in detail, never knew they were fitted with air brakes, or just a through air pipe. Interesting all the same. Wonder what year that mod was installed as there was nothing airbraked till the bogie bulk cements followed by the Mk3s and the Shale wagons.

[Noel]

Lights added. Its 3:12am and the mail train has stopped for 10 minutes at a cold and wintery Portarlington. This is a battery module, but I think I might change it for DCC pickups on the bogies.  The warm yellow LED light flickers gently mimicking the glo from a stove or lantern.

2 hours ago, Railer said:

Just looking at the above in detail, never knew they were fitted with air brakes, or just a through air pipe. Interesting all the same. Wonder what year that mod was installed as there was nothing airbraked till the bogie bulk cements followed by the Mk3s and the Shale wagons.

I don't know the year that pipe was added at the sole bar.  I considered adding it, but decoded against for visual appeal with the older coaches.

[Railer]

There one each side Noel, the hose with the red connection on the left and the yellow on the right. You can see the red valve lever at the top right corner of the left buffer and the yellow level at the bottom right corner of the gangway.

[mfjoc]

Air brake pipes were added in the mid eighties to allow them to work with the 60' air braked bogie flat wagons.

It meant that the sundries and night mail trains could be combined

[Noel]

I also have vague memories of seeing a bogie TPO paired with a mk1 GSV at the head of a mk2 train operating out of Galway which had its own EGV.  Think a photo of same was posted on the forum in the past. 

[mfjoc]

Just check with the IIRS journal. The modifications were carried out in 1986. Pipes were added to TPOs 2972-2981 and 8 GSVs

The vacuum braked stock had to be marshalled next to the loco. Mails were carried in 20' containers on the bogie wagons not sundries.

They were used on both the Cork and the Galway mails.

[Noel]

After the summer pause, finally finished the TPO kit.  Enjoyed working on this kit. The only additions I made were a pair Keen Systems LMS sprung gangways, filled in the apparatus panels as I was doing the later CIE variant, stuck bars behind the window glazing, added Kadee couplings to the Bachmann commonwealth bogies, and lighting. 

 

Kit before

I'm bored now, what's happening next . . .  

Edited October 5, 2018 by Noel

[Noel]

Finally got back to B121 project. Jeepers there is an awful lot of wire grab rails on these locos. Nearly done, just glazing, vacuum pipes and some supplementary weathering powders left.

Bending all those wire grab rails with a basic needle nose pliers was fun.

On delivery 121s did not have full length walkway rails, just shunters stands and grab rails on the body shell. The full length walkway rails were added some time during the Black'n'Tan livery era. I've gone for the earlier incarnation below with a little poetic license.

Before painting the grab rails. Fiddle faddle my eyes and fingers are tired. The cab front steps were frustratingly mind bending to form.  

Nearly done.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Noel

[RobertRoche]

Looks good Noel, do you have a Bill Bedford handrail bending jig? Handy for these jobs.

[Noel]

6 hours ago, RobertRoche said:

Looks good Noel, do you have a Bill Bedford handrail bending jig? Handy for these jobs.

Cheers. No, fingers, tweezers and a needle nose pliers. Must investigate one of those after all the fiddle, faddle finger fustrratiion.

[David Holman]

Handrails, along with brake gear, have long been pet hates. A necessary evil, unfortunately, but overall worth the effort. Doesn't mean I have to like doing them though!

 They set off the 121 very nicely.

[Irishrailwayman]

9 hours ago, Noel said:

Finally got back to B121 project. Jeepers there is an awful lot of wire grab rails on these locos. Nearly done, just glazing, vacuum pipes and some supplementary weathering powders left.

Bending all those wire grab rails with a basic needle nose pliers was fun.

On delivery 121s did not have full length walkway rails, just shunters stands and grab rails on the body shell. The full length walkway rails were added some time during the Black'n'Tan livery era. I've gone for the earlier incarnation below with a little poetic license.

Before painting the grab rails. Fiddle faddle my eyes and fingers are tired. The cab front steps were frustratingly mind bending to form.  

Nearly done.

Lovely job on a unique livery.

[Georgeconna]

Thats nice Noel, I imagine those kinda 3D things will come out fully coloured to at some stage!!

 

[PJR]

10 hours ago, Noel said:

Cheers. No, fingers, tweezers and a needle nose pliers. Must investigate one of those after all the fiddle, faddle finger fustrratiion.

This might come in handy Noel.

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/stainless-steel-scale-ruler-and-handrail-jig/

[Noel]

B121 is now virtually complete. Glazing, Railings and buffer beam now done. She is a smooth runner being on a 3rd generation Athearn SW1500 chassis which is centre AWD and AWP. Just got the driver and cab interior left to do and then add a sound speaker. Thrilled to have a 121 to run on the layout on its own and in consist with B141.

B121 ready for service

The new fuel tank and bogies sides help hide the original Athearn chassis

Left drivers window open as it was a hot day.

 

Before - The donor chassis was an Athearn SW1500 3rd generation 

In the beginning - Shapeways 121 3D body shell before adjustment

Edited November 2, 2018 by Noel

[Robert Shrives]

Lovely piece of work and the chassis is icing on cake..  Now if I work on my resin model as well do you think the model gods will smile on us again with the MM121 ? 

thanks for showing the finished works!

Robert   

[Glover]

That's a very nice "Yank", Noel. 

I have two white metal ones ; can't even remember if they were MIR or Q kits. 

Those handrails are a distinctive feature of those engines and not easy to get right.

Pur her up on the front of your mail train!

Cheers,

Glover

[jhb171achill]

Excellent job! 

[Irishrailwayman]

11 hours ago, Robert Shrives said:

Lovely piece of work and the chassis is icing on cake..  Now if I work on my resin model as well do you think the model gods will smile on us again with the MM121 ? 

thanks for showing the finished works!

Robert   

Word has it that MM121 will be out at Easter 2018!

 

[Noel]

44 minutes ago, Irishrailwayman said:

Word has it that MM121 will be out at Easter 2018!

I really hope so, but I’ll only believe it when I’ve actually got one paired up as a double header with B121 above, bonnet to bonnet hauling a rake of CIE era B&T coaches or IRM bubbles through Gort station layout reenacting scenes from ‘Rails through the West’.  

Edited November 3, 2018 by Noel
scenes not sciences :) Lexdysia strikes

[Noel]

I thought B121 was finished but noticed earlier I'd forgotten the windscreen wipers, tablet catchers and horns.  Doh!

Every time you look at something like this you see more things you want to tweak but there is a time to call a halt, just be content and enjoy the end result.   

I hope this is finally finished at last.  Time to play methinks. 

Edited November 3, 2018 by Noel

[PJR]

Really looks great a stunning model, well done.

[JasonB]

The finishing touches with the handrails etc have made all the difference Noel. Very impressive looking model, great job 

[Noel]

Happy Christmas to all on here.  Montage below of a selection of 2018 projects on Kingsbridge. May 2019 be a memorable and notable year for all enthusiasts. Lots of exciting model railway things supposed to happen next year   It doesn't get better than this. No buses for ages and all of a sudden IRM, AS, MM and OO Works all come along at the same time. If I dreamt this in a sort of Christmas Carol dream back in 1974 I'd have thought scrooge was being mean playing unbelievable mind games, yet here we are, only an RTR B113 is the missing link. We are awash with Irish modelling goodies. For me hopefully 2019 will be the year of Gort and the year the towns' traffic lights will be upgraded from Black&White to three aspect colour with flashing amber.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Noel
lexdysia again

[Noel]

Just about to start some MIR Curtain Pallet cement wagon kits. Tidy resin bodies. These look at home when marshalled in a rake with some IRM Cement bubbles.

[Noel]

Some progress today on the MIR Irish Cement curtain pallet wagons. Fettled body and chassis parts for snug fit. These are nice kits and require minimal tidying up (ie removal of flash, etc). White metal break bits added, then primed with Halford's ready for next phase. I hope to eventually build a rake of these with some fine results already posted on this forum. The only additions I intend to add are stuff like kadee couplings, vacuum pipes, additional weight, tail lamps, etc. I hope to build a complete rake of these over time. 

It is good to see MIR back with their products available via eBay seller 'sylvimcnall-0'. Ian tells me he has more products available than those listed on eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sylvimcnall-0/m.html?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEFSXS%3AMESOI&_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2654

White metal break gear stuff added saves fabricating parts from plastic card. Holes drilled out for axle bearings.

Undercoat primer is the usual Halfords plastic grey primer aerosol can. I keep a can in hot press so it is never cold when being applied. This inexpensive fan assisted spray booth came from BartSharp last year, had duct out velux window so avoided noxious and smelly odours in house.

Primed with Halfords plastic grey primer (love this user friendly stuff)  ready for next steps.

Now to mix various shades of blue paint (ie one shade for body and another for the curtain sides)

Edited January 21, 2019 by Noel

[popeye]

They look great, can't wait to see these finished. 

[Noel]

Got the first undercoat of blue on yesterday before I had to pause to deep clean a badly clogged airbrush. Will mix some more paint later and get the final coat on.

[Noel]

Slow progress on the curtains, got chassis assembled, basic painting done, decals on, varnished, now just the weathering, vacuum pipes and some paint detailing. I used gloss varnish on the sides of the wagons followed by satin to try and make the tarpaulin sides look plastic and shiny.

x

 

A few bits of paint detailing remains, vac pipes, etc and finally some light weathering.

[popeye]

Very nice, they do need to be a bit dusty and it will lighten the blue a little.

May be it's the lighting but the blue looks slightly dark. 

[Robert Shrives]

Lovely work, Blue I guess on first days in traffic before sun fade and grime took over .It looks like Regional Railways blue ?

Robert    

[Noel]

Lots more to be completed on the work bench. Its handy having a few projects on the go at the same time so I can stagger waiting for paint or varnishes to dry will swapping between tasks.

Cement Pallet wagons to be finished, timer wagon due some detailing, and 42ft 3D FUD need some paint detailing. Then there is DCC to be fitted to three steam locos (2xWoolwich and 1xJ15). And some unbuilt resin kits to progress. All in good time when the pace suits my energy and interest.

[Noel]

Adding a little buffer beam details (ie coupling hook and vacuum pipes) before final painting tweaks and weathering.

I've alternated between drooping pipes and standing pipes at each end of each wagon.

[Noel]

A little more progress, slight weathering applied to the cement pallet curtain wagons. Lesson learned, weathering powders, dry or in wash solution do NOT take to gloss varnish surfaces (ie curtain sides in my case). A mix of weathering powders and airbrush, hand painting for other details such as buffers, coupling hooks, curtain tension straps, etc. All that's left to do is the aluminium straps need greying, and add the vacuum pipes and sole bar transfers (ie chassis numbers).

[popeye]

Very nice, it looks more realistic with a bit of dirt.