Those little Mainline iron ore hoppers.
Anyone modelling in 4mm scale for any length of time has probably come across the Airfix/Mainline/possibly Dapol/ Bachmann 21, 22 or 24 ton Iron ore hoppers. Based on a Charles Roberts version with the standard, at the time, stretched to fit compromises to fit a generic 10ft wagon chassis. They do however make a good little project for ‘tarting up a bit’.
Geoff Kent wrote a great article about just such an exercise in MRJ 182. I have however deviated from his sage advice in a few areas.
The hopper is easy with 3mm cut out center but offset to the side of the bracing to hide the cut. For the chassis I cut it into 3 parts to retain the middle detail. Geoff thinned the base and removed the top of the chassis on his models but I decided to cut the base away around the edge and mount the chassis flush with the top. The chassis being a Parkside 9ft example.
The door closing gear was knocked up from microstrip and a few bits of brass., Shiny bits on the chassis came from Ambis, Mainly Trains and Bill Bedford.
After a light weathering. I still need to add the rain effect yet mind you. The ladders are from Stenson Models.
A couple of AEC products.
A very brief history
AEC (or Associated Equipment Company) was a fairly early producer of vehicles being founded in 1912 and lasting up until 1979. Initially focusing on buses their first prototype commercial vehicle was based on a bus chassis but with the outbreak of the first world war they were ideally placed to produce lorries for the army. After the war lorry production continued right up until the companies last days.
In world war 2 they produced something like 10,000 vehicles for the war effort and readers familiar with Airfix kits have likely come across the Matador model at some point. the company acquired a fair few other companies during its time with Crossley Motors, Park Royal and Thornycroft being just a few of them. They were taken over themselves in 1962 by Leyland Motors.
Leyland fitted their own ‘Ergomatic’ cabs to the AEC line of lorries but they retained the AEC branding. So Ercomatic is a type rather than a model covering Madator, Matador, Mercury etc (the lorry models always began with the letter M).
The Models
So the victims both picked up cheaply from ebay. On the left Atlas editions and on the right from EFE. Both are similar in a way. Both have nicely done cabs with rather rudimentary bodies and slightly odd looking wheels. The proportions of the Stobart example look a little odd as well.
Having looked at pictures of the real things I decided to shorten the chassis and tipper body. The ribs were beefed up a little and a new hood fabricated from plasticard. The hydraulic ram came from my spares box.
The livery was stripped form the cab (as its all metal nail varnish remover is ideal for this and the wheels replaced with some from RTI. Below shows the model after painting and weathering.
The body on the Mammoth was metal and to be honest im not sure what its supposed to represent. I think its some sort of pressed steel effort but I binned it and made up a new body to represent a planked body instead. The strapping is from the mainly trains etch.
I decided to keep the livery on the cab this time and just gently sanded the sign writing off. Wheels again are from RTI. The usual matt varnish and light weathering finish it off.
Last tweak to the presentation.
With Brettell Roads new roof design the last thing to do was remove the original pelmet.
I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that removing it would open up the layout quite as much as it has.
This is the view from my eye height. Obviously this higher angle wasn’t available to me before now.
30th April 2020
I’ve found that my diversions into road vehicles recently span both the New Street and Brettell Road workbenches. So I’ve set up a third workbench section just for vehicles.
A simple little project
RTR wagons
I’ve been looking at a few RTR Wagons recently from Bachmann.
Slope sided mineral. I really like the chassis design on this one as the brake gear is separate and for P4 can be moved out to line up with the wheels with just a little bit of trimming. As well as my usual gouache approach for rust I’ve also tried out some weathering pencils from AK interactive. I won’t go into any detail on those as yet as I’m still getting to grips with them.
Bachmann’s presflo’s are a lovely little model with just a change of wheels, couplings and buffers required. The buffers on these were very odd and I’m not really sure what they were supposed to be so I have used Accurascale ones in their place. I’ve also added more weight as they hardly weighed anything as supplied.
Im not a huge fan of textures in weathering as I believe they often look too heavy in 4mm scale but on these wagons the dry concrete could often look really caked on so i used talc in wet paint as part of the process.
Return to the roof
A while ago I showed a picture of the framework for Brettell Roads new roof. I was going to have this done for Scalefour North but given the Covid-19 crisis the show was canceled and the urgency to get it done went with it. However I have turned my attention back to this with thoughts on the material.
The first material I brought was just too heavy so i didn’t even try to use it. The weight wasn’t something i had really considered. This is the second material, much lighter but it let too much light through. On top of that my efforts were too scruffy and would have bugged me if I left it.
So this is material 3 – Much happier now and with the help of my wife much neater as well. The image shows it before I finished the front off and the supports will obviously need to be darkened.
The above image shows the lighting on the layout pretty much as the eye sees it. Not as dark as before but still obviously night time.
25th of April 2020
Long time followers may remember my project to build a 15xx tank loco. This is as far as I got but this may hopefully change as Warren shepherd who does a kit in 7mm scale is considering a 4mm scale version. http://www.warrenshephard.com/gwr.htm
He needs at least 24 firm sales to make it viable and expressions of interest are being collected on the GWR modellers Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/921387308231483/?ref=share
Project Coronation – Tender part 3
Moving on to the tender body…
Brassmasters supply a basic sub structure with different overlays for the 3 main types of tender found behind a Duchess.
This is the coal shute and front bulkhead assembly.
The 2 sub assemblies test fitted together.
A few more road vehicles – Back to the defender.
Of the 3 cars i did last time the Land Rover defender was the easiest. That’s before I encountered the phenomenon of the Land Rover enthusiast. At least as bad as the VW enthusiasts and enough to give the most ardent P4 modeller a run for their money I was (in a very polite way and from several sources) informed that it was wrong as in a too late version.
Friend and fellow Calcutta Sidings operator Brendan supplied the above image of (one of) his. Turns out the Oxford one is a ford engined one and you can tell by the different bonnet shape (not sure why i didnt notice this). These were introduced in 2007. Also Brendan’s didn’t have a sunroof and the roof ribs were different.
So the bonnet ‘hump’ was ground down and the new raised bits added from 5 thou plasticard. The sunroof was filed and new ribs added from microstrip. The wheels came from a RAC version again from Oxford Diecast.
A few more road vehicles.
Been tweaking a few more road vehicles starting with fitting better wheels (from RTI) to a couple of old cargos. The WH Smiths lorry seems to draw a lot of attention at shows and for many people sets a time and place quite specifically.
Next up another little batch from Oxford diecast waiting form my usual treatment…
… which is to paint the inside of the window apertures and wheel arches black and a quick spray of matt varnish before some gentle weathering. I might see if i can get some more standard looking wheels for the Land Rover.
The Volvo (760) required a bit more effort as out of the box (on the right) it did not capture the look of the real thing very well at all. The solution was to file the windows so that they are much deeper. I enlarged the windows of the Rover 3500 too but not by anything like as much. Wing mirrors are just a bit of microstrip.
Bashing Buildings
When it comes to building I admit I tend to just get on and scratchbuild them. Part of this is due to ignorance of whats actually out there but recently I picked up a couple of Wills kits and have had a go at these instead.
First up is the kit for a lamp store. You actually get 2 in the kit and these are for the slightly different GWR design but can be adapted to something more ‘midland’ pretty easily by shortening the sides to form a 6ft square structure. I cut out the door and remounted it flush as well as replacing the roof with thinner plasticard. On the other end I added a few extra window bars (see below).
The other kit was for the ‘station garage’ which i have chopped about to give a industrial looking wooden building. The roof again is plasticard (the wills stuff is quite thick) and the vents are from unit models.
More vehicles
In the absence of Scalefour North I have finished off a few vehicles that have been lurking near my workbench for a while now.
Starting with a couple for New Street. A Ford Fiesta and Range Rover from Oxford Diecast. These follow my now standard approach of blacking in the window frames and wheel arches before a coat of matt varnish and some subtle weathering. On the fiesta i turned the wheels down a little and binned the little plug in numberplate as it stuck out to far. For the Range Rover its worth chopping off the mounts for the screws that hold it into the box.
Moving on to Brettell Road. On the left a BMC FG lorry. This is a combination of 2 FG lorries from different manufacturers. The body and chassis come from a Chinese company called Best Choose. Initially these look a lot more detailed than the base toys version but there’s something not quite right about the proportion of the cab so I replaced it with a detailed Base toys one instead.Wheels are from RTI and i don’t fancy doing the glazing again any time soon.
The van is a ford 300E from the Classix range.
Finally a Fordson tractor (Oxford Diecast) modified with a front loader from the Dapol JCB kit. Quite a neat little project this one.
18th March 2020
Scalefour North canceled.
Like many (if not all) shows at the moment Scalefour North has been cancelled. Below is the statement from the Scalefour Society.
Scalefour North Cancellation
As many of you will know, the Committee took the position that Scalefour North would go ahead this year unless the event was cancelled by the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School or that Government advice changed from what it was when our decision was made. That situation has now been reached with today’s Government statement by the Prime Minister to avoid all non-essential travel and non-essential contact. Whilst we all enjoy our events, they cannot be regarded as essential in the wider scheme of things, hence our decision to cancel.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to James Dickie and his team, who have put in a lot of hard work to organise this year’s event, unfortunately all now in vain. I would also like to thank those members who have expressed their support for the Committee at this difficult time, it is very much appreciated.
Given the expected peak of Coronavirus, our AGM must be in doubt. We will, of course keep you posted.
John Chambers
Chairman.
So Brettell Roads next outing will be Railex Northeast in July which is currently still going ahead. I will update here if this changes.
Brettell Road 2
As the song goes, regrets, I’ve had a few but unlike the song I am going to mention them. With Brettell road pretty much finished off thoughts have turned to what to do next. Before anyone asks, New Street isn’t calling me back at the moment.
Brettell road was only supposed to be a play thing for home, but much in the way of New Street which started with the idea that you could model the western end station throat in 8ft, Brettell Road went a little bit wrong.
It was designed like an exhibition layout but not as an exhibition layout if that makes sense. In the urge to get something done and 1950’s midland railway practice being alien to me at the time there was one major aspect of the track plan that I have always regretted. You see, for those like me who didn’t know, the Midland had a thing about facing points, especially coming from passenger lines onto goods loops and yards. What they preferred was a single slip and the train would pass the slip. Back up through the slip onto the wrong line before proceeding into the yard. Had I known this at the time (or more accurately been bothered to find out!) I would have done the Brettell Road main line as double track and used this arrangement. For the operational interest as well as its not really something you see done on models.
The other regret is about proportion. You see for an exhibition layout that’s 16ft overall but only 50% or 8ft scenic I feel the proportions are off. If it was 24ft with 16 ft scenic then a viewing ratio of 66% sits much better.
And so, presenting Brettell Road part 2. An extension to the original incorporating a station and yard based very loosely on the real Brettell Lane. Doubling up the track on the existing 2 board is still a none starter but with minor adaptation to the track work at the left hand end of the original I can get the single slip in and get in the operational interest I missed the first time. The yard will rise slightly to be level with the platforms which is something I’ve borrowed from the features of the yard that was at Kings Heath. I plan to do the station in the very last week of service to keep with the run down feel (hey no one really expected this to be pretty did they?)
A quick win, relatively speaking.
With my ongoing Duchess build my thoughts turned to a little quick win project (also with Scalefour North coming up at the end of March). I said relatively speaking in the title because a few years ago I would have likely considered this quick win as a bit of an undertaking but there you go. When we were at the Wakefield show with Moor Street, my attention was drawn to a cheap Lima GWR small prairie tank loco. They were not common at all on the Stourbridge to Wolverhampton line but their larger sisters, the Large prairie were somewhat a mainstay of the line.
I know Hornby are doing a new model but a dirt cheap Airfix example was found (none runner) along with a comet chassis and I set to work.
Stage one – body detailed and the chassis built. I modified the pony trucks a little and sprung them using a method outlined by Dave Holt (see here). The original smokebox door was too small and a few extra details were added to the body. After this picture was taken I also reduced the height of the safety valve bonnet.
A quick blast of grey primer and a liberal(ish) dose of archers rivet transfers and the body was read for the paint shop. A few images of the finished result follow.
Why we still need books.
Although they have apparently been around for a while now I’ve only recently come across the Locomotive Portfolios series of books from Pen and Sword.
Presented in an almost square format and hard backed at 250 or more pages they seem well detailed and have a very large number of pictures (some in colour). From what I’ve seen so far I will be keeping an eye on this series.
While on the subject of books one of this things that had drawn me onto Brettell Road and away from New Street for the last few years is research. Its a side of the hobby that I really enjoy and I feel that New Street was becoming less about learning stuff and more about producing stuff. That’s not to say I knew all there was to know, far from it but I would go as far to say I had a pretty good idea where to find stuff.
With Brettell road it was all familiar but at the same time so different and its this that has drawn me in. Its a railway I knew but clearly didn’t know at all and it definatley ticked my learning stuff box.
One thing that really surprised me is the reliance on books. Its easy, now we are well into the 21st century to think we can get all we need online but the truth is that is far, far from the case. Yes the internet is great but when you are a somewhat detail obsessed railway modeller looking for a specific thing its next to useless. The information just isn’t out there in the digital world and i wonder if it will ever be? We will always need books.
Project Coronation – Tender part 2
The tender chassis is now effectively done – Not a lot else to say really so here’s some pictures.
Right hand side
Rear end
Front, or loco end.
Project Coronation – Tender part 1
I’ve moved away from the loco for a while as the next stage of the build is the cylinders and I don’t have the castings i will need for them just yet. So attention has shifted to the tender.
The first stage is the outside sub frames – a simple box really. The kit allows for springing or internal compensation. I’ve opted for springing.
Underside of the tender showing the sub frame, brake gear and water scoop gear. A little fiddly but its been fun to build so far.
December 15th 2019
We had a good show at Wakefield in November with Moor Street. The layout picked up a prize for the wagon hoist which was great. Next outing for us will be Wakefield again in March for Scalefour North with Brettell Road.
Project Coronation – loco chassis, part 2
So progress continues on my Coronation build.
The front frame is as far as I can go for the moment. (I don’t have the cast bits for the loco yet. If you are wondering about the cylinders they are a separate sub assembly.
No problems with the pony truck so far. The kit provides for both the earlier and later types. This is the later one.
The bogie is compensated. As the bogie is the only part of the loco that traps the wheels in place I have used some old/rejected wagon wheels for the moment. I ideally only want to put wheels onto the axle once if I can.
Without the wheels in the way.
I couldn’t resist a temporary mock up to see get a better feel for the loco. I’ve used a High Level Road runner + gearbox. The main drivers don’t have their springs in place yet so its sitting a little off at the moment.
Project Coronation – loco chassis, part 1
I am currently embarked on building a test build of the forthcoming Brassmasters Coronation or Duchess kit. Way before I got distracted with Brettell Road I always thought that if Brassmasters ever did a Duchess i would have a go at building one as 46235 ‘City of Birmingham’. Well now they are and so I am!
Of course its a personal opinion thing but I never really liked streamlined steam locos. While the Duchesses were a little more thoughtfully designed than the god awful GWR efforts I always thought they looked a bit like an upturned bath tub and have to admit the A4’s did look a fair bit better. However with the streamlining taken off the Duchesses were ‘it’. The steam locomotive version of the Concorde moment. To my eyes, at least, the pinnacle of steam loco perfection.
Anyway enough hero worship and on to the model. Starting with…
The main sub-frames. The loco frames come in 3 sub sections related to the wheels. A driving wheel section, a pony truck section and a bogie section.
The chassis upside down, test fitting the main coupling rods.
The main frame with the brass overlays fitted.
The front or bogie area sub-frame.
More to follow.