GRW 'Iron Mink'

[Richard08]

Back to making stuff, in this case an ABS GWR Iron Mink. Way before my usual time period for models, but I fancied a go. Well, ok, the price was right... The body and stuff was pretty straightforward, but the brake gear was fun. This consisted of a pile of castings with injection tubes (if that's what you call them) still attached. Plus I had no idea how Dean-Churchward (DCI) brake gear works. A trip down the rabbit hole found http://www.gwr.org.uk/nowagonbrakes.html which made all clear. How close I came to chopping the wrong things. One of the corner handbrake brackets was missing/broken off, but happily there are in effect spares on the two other lever-free corners, which have to be cut off anyway (there are other variations of the kit it seems). Just the roof, doors and, I guess, a floor (not supplied) to go. A fun kit, but a lot of effort to get the bits to fit together just-so.

[Bigmet]

Back to making stuff, in this case an ABS GWR Iron Mink. Way before my usual time period for models, but I fancied a go. Well, ok, the price was right... The body and stuff was pretty straightforward, but the brake gear was fun. This consisted of a pile of castings with injection tubes (if that's what you call them) still attached...

The cylindrical connecting parts on the small castings for the brake gear are 'feeds'or 'runners'. They can be useful for pipework and such, especially when the kit is of the quality that the late Adrian Swain achieved. His kits were the 'class act' in whitemetal model railway products, the moulds very good, so practically no flash and the thinnest cross-sections possible, and the alloy he used consistently taking a very crisp impression. (Also you can melt the feeds and any surplus parts, and cast from your own moulds.)

I assembled getting on 200 ABS kits, both for my own modelling, and to make trains for a club layout as part of a team effort. Supplied with 'cleaned up' castings I could 'low melt solder' an open wagon complete with brake gear at a rate of about ten an hour on the club 'production line'. (I had started in ignorance using electrical 60/40 solder so had learned to be very quick to avoid melting the castings: then I was educated in 'low melt' at my first model railway club - much better!)

But I have never built an ABS van kit, as there were good contemporary plastic kits for vans (Ratio, 3H) which avoided the weight inevitable with whitemetal; the weight a positive asset when making low sided and bogie wagons, and coach bogies, very much a 'horses for courses' choice.

[Mountain]

Did the prototype have a floor?

I am wondering as I have an early Peco 0-16.5 coach kit all complete and unmade and that has no floor. Seems like many of the older kits had no floors?

I am going to add a floor when I build it.

[Bigmet]

Did the prototype have a floor?

Yes, naturally enough.

The floor isn't vital for a 4mm model van, and if one was provided in an ABS kit I expect it would have been piece of 20 thou plasticard for the builder to cut to size and install, as this was what Adrian provided for open wagons. Simple fact which he acknowledged was that a whitemetal van was a little on the heavy side for 4mm, whereas goods opens were 'about right' for weight; I didn't put the floors in many of my opens as most were either going to have vacuum formed 'tops of loads' or tarps fitted.

[Mountain]

Did the prototype have a floor?

Yes, naturally enough.

The floor isn't vital for a 4mm model van, and if one was provided in an ABS kit I expect it would have been piece of 20 thou plasticard for the builder to cut to size and install, as this was what Adrian provided for open wagons. Simple fact which he acknowledged was that a whitemetal van was a little on the heavy side for 4mm, whereas goods opens were 'about right' for weight; I didn't put the floors in many of my opens as most were either going to have vacuum formed 'tops of loads' or tarps fitted.

I was joking when I asked the question as of course the prototype has a floor!

[Richard08]

After a long pause for transfers arriving, it is done. I got the transfers from a different place that usual due to their not being BR related. Very nice, but didn't fit the wagon. A tad annoyed at £9.50.... Anyway, made the best of it. A spray of varnish and clean the wheels. I just found the fish plate I spent an hour looking for about a year ago.