Dad-1 - Workbench - West Bay Wagon Works

[Lysander]

Those 40 tonners were monsters, in white metal they must be quite heavy. It'll be interesting to compare
with your plastic version.Geoff T.

This was, I think, the last kit produced by K's before they left the model railway market Geoff, and relatively few were produced. The body is plastic, with wire truss rods and white-metal bogies and couplings. So, not too heavy. I'll use the bogies if the castings are up to it and ditch the couplings completely.

Really nice tanks there by the way. Amazing, considering their origins. Incidentally, I read today that carrier film can be hidden substantially, if not completely [if they are good transfers], by laying the waterslide transfer over a film of wet Klear. Have to be quick though, as Klear dries very quickly. Might be worth practising on scrap plastic card to see if it works? I guess that a black background will always be a challenge though.

Tony

[Dad-1]

Ahh Tony, It shows my limited knowledge 'K's to me means white metal !!

The decal film should be seriously reduced, even these 40 year old Airfix leathery ones,
having been placed onto a high gloss finish and be over-painted with a clear varnish. I
would only attempt to lay very small decals on wet Klear, as you say it dries too fast for
getting placed before you'd have it stuck down.

Dave - I have an idea for you. You say you have kits "In stock". Here is a plan :-

Make a very small yard/roundy using those super tight curves each end, with a set track point on a
short straight to allow a short siding.
This to be a "Test Track", giving you a reason not to pull apart because it doesn't quite do what you
want as a layout. Keep it because it's a test track for kit built wagons and always there to 'use'.
Something like 'Tea Yard' you should be able to hang on a wall anything up to 5 feet long, so when not
in use it's safely tucked away in the garage.
To use your scenic craft have on slight risers of say 20 - 25 mm to allow ditch/stream to run under tracks.
By running ribs under the raised track you stiffen by having made a box monocoque that reduces the
size, weight of any under board stiffeners - remember that as a test track it MUST have well laid flat track.

Then once up and running make a kit or three and gradually start developing some scenic elements, but
as this is not the reason to have the layout, it's a 'Test Track', you'll not be tempted to pull apart ??

A mini St Oval ? and once into kit making it is likely to become addictive and help save the mini layout !!

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Putting some action onto the workbench thread !!

The recent oil tank builds and the 'Catfish' engineers wagon being reversed around St Oval my
much used test track. Several other part completed builds also on view, I really should finish
more of them before starting another project.

https://youtu.be/76ucXGISHas

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

While I'm churning out run of the mill wagons Matto22 is turning out masterpieces.

Back to volume over substance.
In the general questions thread there is a query regarding adding weight to wagons.
I'd prefer NOT to, but you need to be practical and it's worth adding just a small amount
of ballast to lighter wagons, or longer wheelbase types

First class flat track work, a square and flat wagon chassis should run acceptably with even the lightest wagons
managing to push, or pull 15 - 20 without any derailing. It's one of my standard tests, often well before the wagon
is really ready. Here today I've been pulling and pushing a very light chassis from a Cambrian 'Catfish'.

This is the 14th Wagon in this train.



It was also pushing 13 wagons, 5 of them Dapol 35 ton GLW oil tanks, some with more weight than i needed.



I tend to use Hornby wheel sets more often than not to take advantage of their deeper and better profile flanges.
Dapol have a funny profile and somewhat smaller flanges and on poor track will often cause problems. I also use
Alan Gibson wheels as supplied with, in particular Parkside kits. Small, but sharp flanges are fine, but these wheels
DO cause problems with Kadees where they are more magnetic than your Dapol/Hornby/Bachmann equivalents.

The other 'Killer' for kit built wagons is badly aligned couplings. They need to be parallel to the direction of travel
and on the centre line of a wagons rolling attitude. Also as near to EXACTLY the same height as all you other stock,
any that sag, a notorious Dapol RTR fault, need re-positioning.

It is fun honestly !!!!

Geoff T.

[Mountain]

You have a nice layout.

[Bufferstop]

That's just the one in his garage! He has another in the loft and one that's so big he has to hire a hall to put it all together!

[Dad-1]

Yes Bufferstop,

Too many - now if I'd concentrated on one, or two, I might have more "completed" layouts.
Only HS2 and Thomas can be considered as completed, well whatever almost finished means.

The awful remains from an over active butterfly mind !!
My life is full of "That's an interesting idea, I think I'll try it"

Geoff .

[Bufferstop]

Much the same as mine works, but not on the layout scale. At the moment I have part finished or "in development" motor bogies, various small locos which although running need various improvements (rebuilds) before I'll call them finished, a set of drawings,and trial 3D prints of small components for a Wisbech and Upwell bogie coach, a set of drawings of 1970's underground D stock to use as the basis of drawings for a class 230. It's taking longer to convert the drawings than it's taken Viva Rail to convert the old bodies into DMUs. It would be much easier if I could do one thing at a time.

[Dad-1]

Grounded with a stinking cold - No club night for me tonight !!

As I went down with this cold over the week end I spent a short while running my recently built Cambrian Kits
and became aware that the Dapol brake van with it's TrainTech movement activated lamp was still FAR
from finished. Well I found the start on page 61 of this thread in August 2018 ....... some delay !!

Currently bending wire grab rails to try to update this old Dapol kit. I've already fitted glazing into all
the windows



Those moulded on grab rails do date it, looks much better with wire replacements.



Geoff T

[Dad-1]

My decals arrived for the Catfish ...... a crammed sheet of engineers wagons, but with only
one set of early markings. I either do the second one with the later 'Boxed' details, or buy
another decal sheet !!

Here we have a pristine hopper, still not attached to the chassis because I need to weather first,
as once in the chassis it'll become very difficult to access the hopper sides.



I can't find the side step boards for the Dapol brake van ???????? More hold-up !!

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

As I was unable (so far) to find the Brake Van's repaired stepboards another complete kit was ordered,
not exactly a fortune only £5.50 and I suppose if/when the missing packet is located I can make another !

This is not comparable quality to say a current Bachmann version it certainly makes life easier to include
a movement activated tail lamp. You simply build it in as you go along.
What I have done on this, my second Dapol brake, is remove the moulded on grab rails and replaced with
some made from 0.5 mm brass wire. It's a job that needs accuracy and care, but looks so much better.
It's also been fully glazed and now decalled as B951551 from the first vacuum braked BR std van production
from 1952.





Back in 2015 I made my first one, also incorporating a TrainTech lamp, but only added grab rails along the
end platforms.
To get to the battery for replacement the roof has to stay a press-fit, something to take care with when
photographing !!



More decals on the way for the 'Catfish', due this week. It looks like a mammoth weathering session needed
very soon.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Catfish decals arrived.
Depending if you want more than one engineers wagon I'd suggest for the Cambrian kits Catfish you
go for the small ModelMaster decal MMC11W rather than the all encompassing general sheet 4867.

Here you see one with heavier print from the general sheet, the other smaller dainty and more accurate
one from the small sheet.



Now to weather.

Geoff T.

[glencairn]

Lovely looking models (as usual).

Glencairn

[Dad-1]

Thanks for the kind comment glencairn,

I've been even more disorganized than usual over the last few months. Doing a little bit of this
and then drifting back to things I've left behind. I really MUST get a grip !!

I was out at the Weymouth exhibition over the last weekend and resisted buying anything !!
I was however supervising two of my layouts over the 2 days. We had Thomas and HS2, both
designed for visitors to drive, one for the younger children and shunting for us 'older kids'.

I came back to earth and have been pushing on with the Cambrian 'Mermaid' kit. NOT an easy kit.
There are many little niggles, probably my main gripe is the quality of the instructions and the build
sequence. There were a few pieces broken in the bag, that is probably storage through it's life, but
one piece was so delicate it broke as I was painting it !!

My old version of the kit was from when they included plastic wheel sets !



Probably not clear enough, but the brakes are spaced for P4 and I had to add small pieces of plastic rod to extend away from the solebars
and get in line with the tyres.



The activating lever was in the wrong place to line up with the vacuum cylinder and the cross shaft was too long. At the same time another
cross shaft was too short and I replaced with a cut down pin.



With no positive fitting locations for the roller guides all you had was the required gap between !!



Rather than fix onto the chassis I chose to fix the outer roller guide piece onto the rollers themselves that are afixed to the main body.



The roller beam HAS to sit on the rollers, no way would you match up if you fixed to the chassis



The plastic looks scarred, but given a coat of paint it'll look better.



Now painted with a first black finish (First operational colours) it actually look O.K.



I have glossed over several building glitches, this is no beginners kit ! However it has a presence and with it's chains attached (another
trying process) it looks the part.



Now it'll need weathering ......

Geoff T.

[Mountain]

Excellent. I like your wagons.