Bachmann Mk2’s, it made sense!

It made sence to follow on from the Bachmann Mk1’s with a look at their mk2’s. Arguably a better product with much nicer looking windows but not without some errors and room for improvement.

The most well know applied to the first batch and the blue and grey versions and was simply down to an error in the livery.  The grey band is too narrow, it should go down as far as the door bump stops but is half a mil too high.  Bit of a catch 22 problem this one.  Better painters than I wont have a problem as it’s an easy fix but that pain in the backside white line is a bit worrying for us lesser mortals.  Will the benefit of fixing the half mill height difference be undone by a dodgy white line?  To be honest im not sure what to do and as I don’t have that many (enough for a Norwich rake) im drawn towards leaving it be so that the rake is consistent.

Another error concerns some of the first class coaches. The bars on the toilet windows being far too low down.  Best to try to avoid those ones really although I do believe that this and the livery errors have been corrected on the current models.

Lastly is an error I havent seen mentioned before and I only came across recently.  During a discussion on New Railway Modellers someone mentioned that they can’t run these coaches because their layout has third rail and the battery boxes hit it. Looking again at the models they do seem to hang quite low down so a bit of digging ensued.

As can be seen, on a real coach the battery boxes line up with the bogies…

… on the model they don’t and they are out by quite a long way. Luckily they are separate moulding and can be gently levered off.  I cut the front mounting brackets off level with the top and carefully sanded the tops down so the the angle matches the Bachmann floor. Below is a before and after picture to give you an idea of how much sanding is needed.

Theres one box the other side that needs doing too. This one has its mounting lugs in the middle and I simply cut them off and again sanded the top to make sure the angle was right.

The modified coach.  Other mods are Replica bogies and my steps.

Improving the Bachmann mk1’s. Part 2

Regular Mk1 coaches ran on 6 different bogie types. BR 1, BR 2, Commonwealth, Gresley, B4 and B5. Of those the BR2, Gresley and B5’s tended to be restricted to catering vehicles although TPO’s also ran on B5’s and most types could be found on Commonwealth. Bachmann supply their Mk1’s on BR1, Commonwealth and B4.

Of those the BR1 and Commonwealth are OK but the B4 is a bit disappointing. Replica also do a B4 which is better as it features brakes in line with the wheels and a flat top. The Bachmann one has an odd ring which I think is to hold the coupling in place but it’s quite noticeable from the side. The one thing a B4 or B5 does is look somewhat detached from the vehicle – the Bachmann one doesn’t capture this to my mind.

Bachmann B4 bogie on the left, Replica on the right. To make a replica bogie fit you just saw off the mounting clip and drill a 2mm hole where it was. The Replica bogie also accepts P4 wheels better although if you are using the original coupling you might have to stick with the Bachmann bogie.

A real B4 bogie – note the dynamo mounted directly to it, some Mk1s were arranged like this, some weren’t. I do a little etch for the bogie mounted footsteps which most mk1’s (and all mk2’s carry)

Turning to the bodies there are a few things on the models that were as built condition. Namely the end steps and roof handrails. The steps are cut off (you don’t need to be too neat – BR weren’t!) and the roof handrail removed. the end handrail was shortened and mounted into a new hole. The roof ribs are a modelling myth. They are not ribs at all but welds. It’s best to sand them down by dismantling the coach first. The sides are clipped to the roof and by pulling them gently outwards they should unclip. While you have the coach apart it pays to pop some people in the seats (not in a BG, obviously) and glue the weight in place. It’s a royal pain to get the coach back together if the weight is loose. Bufferbeam steps are my own etch and its worth replacing the buffers too – MJT for retracted and Fourmost Models for extended. The ETH bits are just microstrip.

Improving the Bachmann Mk1s – Part 1, Brakes

We are no doubt spoilt by the Bachmann Mk1 as they enable a good looking train to be modelled pretty much out of the box.  However they are not perfect and there’s quite a bit we can do to make them better.  I’m going to start by looking at brakes.  Theres some good books on the subject of Mk1 coaches and the HMRS book by Keith Parkin is considered the first place to look.  However in my copy (the first edition) there’s little info on air and dual brakes although there are later supplements that may cover this. Theres also a new book just come out that covers Mk1 and 2 coaches, I don’t have a copy yet but a review can be read here – MaxStaffordsKennel

Vacuum Brakes

Lets start with vacuum brakes as that is what your mk1 will have (even the NEA does!).  Basically all that’s missing is the dynamo belt (ok not part of the brakes but as it’s in the general area I’ll include it), dynamo safety chain and push rod linkage from the body to the bogie. Theres 2 types of the latter depending on the bogie fitted so we will look at the BR1 bogie first.  Masokits do a handy little etch of linkages and the Dynamo belt that can be used here.

Here you can see the dynamo belt and chain (40 links per inch from A1 models) along with the linkage to the bogie.  On a BR 1 bogie the linkage feeds under the bogie while on a B4, B5 or Commonwealth bogie the linkage feeds above the bogie.  The cross rod has been replaced so that its wider and the linkages made up from the Masokits etch.

Here we see the vacuum brake arrangement for a Commonwealth bogie – you can see how the arrangement is the other way up. This version is far less obvious when the coach is the right way up.

Dual Brakes

As the name suggests, dual brakes are both vacuum and air , the following prototype pictures show the important bits

Dual brake arrangement – the Vacuum cylinder is upper left and the air brake cylinder is center and to the right. Both Cylinders link to the same cross rod.

The air brake cylinder

The Air tank and air distrubutor. This arrangement appears at one end of the coach only.

The model version – The air brake cylinder is from S kits and th vacuum cylinder from a spare Bachmann coach (this is a DC kits underframe)

Please excuse that the body isnt fitted properly yet – The air tank end. The tank itself is from Genesis kits and the distributor from S kits. A few bits of wire make it look like they should do something!

Air Brakes

An air braked mk1 essentially has the vacuum cylinder replaced with an air cylinder like so,

The vee hanger is in the wrong place as supplied and needed moving back towards the center of the coach (this only applies to an air braked Mk1 ) Spare vee hangers are on the masokits etch.

The NEA the right way up!

Finally an odd ball.

These comments are not based on any engineering knowledge of how railway vehicle braking systems work but mearly based on replicating what I see.  However I came across an NBA at Bescot (94528) that had a different air brake arrangement

Its Air braked but more in like with a dual brake conversion – perhaps it was and the vacuum gear has since been removed?

Edit

Thanks  to some helpful feedback from Keith Norgrove the arrangement of the Vacuum cylinder as supplied is correct for some BR1 fitted mk1s only.  BR1 bogies come with both over bogie and under bogie push rods and as supplied the coaches are correct for the under bogie ones.  For the others, Commonwealth and B4 or B5 you need to use the over bogie push rods and swap the vacuum cylinders arround so that they are outside (ie towards the vehicle end) of the Vee Hangers.

Further thoughts on mk2s

I have always thought that the back of a train is just as important as the front.  It’s usually the last memory you have as it trundles off to where-ever its going.  With regard to improving the Airfix Mk2’s this is a bit of a problem as the gangways are kind of odd,  Too long and lacking the windows.

Cutting a couple of mil’ off the length makes all the difference while adding the windows and the dividing bar are simple ways to improve the look of the gangway. You can also see from the above image the filing mentioned in the previous post to improve the look of the tumble home.  I don’t know if the picture below conveys the difference all that well but its quite noticeable in real life.

Above, a simple before and after comparison. With a bit of work there’s no reason at all to abandon the good old Airfix Mk2s!

Mk2e’s

Ok, I know that Bachmann have announced mk2e’s and f’s and I have every reason to believe they will probably be really nice models and sell by the bucket load.  However given the amount of coaches I will need and that I have been stockpiling airfix/dapol Mk2d’s for a good few years now there’s no reason to abandon those just yet.

The above came to me ready started and I have just added some etched bits, window frames from Shawplan and bogie/end steps from my own etches.  Im thinking I will probably just cut a hole for the repositioned toilet window when I do my own from the start.  The air conditioners were cut off and remounted 2mm lower.  This will be one of the earlier Mk2e’s with the deeper door windows as per the Mk2d’s.  One of the modifications Brian at Shawplan recommends is to file the bottom of the tumblehome to make it rounder.  When the coach is finished i’ll take a before and after picture to compare.

Steven Mcnaught wrote a great article on modelling Mk2 coaches in the November issue of Rail Express.

Mk3 RFM done (well nearly)

The RFM has been through the paint shop and glazing added from a brown plastic folder (from an office supplier).  I’ll add another picture to the coaches section when it’s received some light weathering.   Up next will be either a mk1 or a m project, I havent decided yet!

More Mk3 variety

Ok I admit, doing the Mk3 TRSB earlier was just a bit addictive.  I do need to do another 2  but I have been looking at the loco hauled options too, namely these…

Mk3 RFM (restaurant first modular).  2 were converted in 1984 from spare HST TRUKs with more following on later (and after the period the layout is set) converted from more TRUK’s or loco hauled FO’s.  This means the fleet is a bit of a hotch potch of detail differences.   The most noticeable being that later vehicles have 7 full size windows on the corridor side rather than 4.  The underframes are a myriad of differences as are the roofs with different vents and positions for the air con access hatch at the restaurant end.  Even the first 2 ride on different bogies from each other, 10200 having the Girling wheel slip gear and  10201 being fitted with BR equipment.

The model

As with the earlier TRUK the body was filled or holes cut in it as required and fitted with new window frames from Extreme Etches.  The underframe had the incorrect modules cut out and some where moved arround while others made from scratch. The pic below shows which bits were cut out

Buffers are from MJT.  The old roof vents were filed away (the real coach has scars shere the old vents were so that saves having to try to preserve the ribs) and the bogies modified as per my earlier posting. Below is the structurally complete coach ready for the paint shop.  Theres a pic of 10201 in the HST Silver Jubilee book (page 55) showing it in the original Intercity livery, I guess 10200 was outshopped in the same colours but i believe the rest of the RFM’s entered service in swallow livery.

This was supposed to be easy!

I became aware of a problem before glazing my TRSB that would add a fair bit more work to the project and that was…… the colours!  On the left is the JLTRT rail grey that I used (which I think is about right) but the other 2 are Lima’s interpretation on the same colour.  Its not a trick of the photograph. Lima’s greys dont match each other let alone the JLTRT grey.  Sadly I plan for 2 rakes of HST stock in blue and grey and since I spray colours outside and its a bit cold this project will have to wait until next year.  Oh well, one down 13 to go!

Mk 3 Coach Bogies, some thoughts

Aside from some odd ball test bogies the Mk3 coaches ride arround on BT10 bogies of which there are 2 obvious types.

On  the left a BT10 bogie fitted with Girling wheel slip detection as fitted to the prototpe HST vehicles and loco hauled Mk3a coaches.  On the right the BR wheel slip version as fitted to most production HSTs and loco hauled Mk3b coaches. Both pictures show the right hand end bogie which is where the distinctive orange boxes are.

Top left. The Joeuf bogie representing the Girling version.  Joeuf have moulded the wheelslip gear on both sides so it need to be carved off the left hand end bogie side (as you look at the coach.)

Top right. The Southern Pride cast version of the same bogie.

Bottom left.  Southern Prides version of the BR version BT10 bogie.

Bottom right. The lima BT10 comes without any wheel slip gear at all.  as can be seen from this picture I have fitted larger axleboxes and make a representation of the BR equipment from wire and microstrip.

Ongoing Mk3 project

Hi All

My mark 3 coach project contines with the grey area repainted on the TRSB and thoughts turning to glasing.On the Intercity coach I reused the original glasing (except for the toilet windows) but treated it to a coat of Tamiya smoke.  On the TRSB I cut new windows from a brown plastic wallet I found in a stationers. (you would be surprised how hard it is to find tinted plastics – if anyone knows of a supplier please let me know).  This was secured in place with Klear (a floor polish)

Cheers

Jim