Buffet Service

The model of Carnforth buffet car 114 I've been building for a customer is ready to be sent off to its new home.

The blue panel behind the windows is just a protective film on the glazing sheets to prevent them getting scratched.

The challenge on this carriage was to make it match its brass-built twins as much as possible, which is no easy task working in styrene.

We'll find out for sure once my customer has painted it.

Floor Show

Over the Easter weekend I got a bit more work done on the contract job for a model of FR buffet car 114.

Having shown you the body shell in a previous post, this time I'm concentrating on the floor / chassis unit which will remain removable after the model is finished.

The seats are resin castings, using moulds I developed last year for the same customer.

In this carriage only have half the space is given over to passengers and I've yet to work out what needs to in the buffet area - I don't have any images to work from.

The underframe has a new innovation for me.

These Carnforth carriages have very distinctive truss rods made out of square tube section.

I've got an idea they might double as the vacuum brake pipes, but I could be wrong in that?

On previous models I've made these by fabricating each one out of styrene strip.

This time I hit on the idea of making a master and casting resin copies of it, with the idea they'd have more strength and durability and I think they've turned out very well.

The carriage will run on my own design of modern FR bogies with fold-up brass frames with resin covers.

Mental Blank

Why does no one ever tell me?

There I've been, merrily posting pictures of progress on the sides of buffet car 144 and it wasn't until I neared the point when I thought it was done that I noticed it..

There was one window too many!

I suspect I misread my homemade drawing and instead of blanking off the space I unthinkingly rounded it off like the rest of the windows.

Never mind, the beauty of modelling with styrene - and why I get on so much better with it than metal - is it was the work of seconds to rip out the strip forming the window frame, clean out the Milliput in the corners, and insert a snugly-fitting square of styrene in its place.

Thin Strip

The one thing the trio of Carnforth INCA carriages have in their favour, from a scratch builder's point of view, is they have very much less beading than almost any other FR vehicles.

Once the biggest headache of making the rounded window frames is overcome, it doesn't take too long to add the rest of the surface to each of the sides.

On this build I'm using strip which is 50% thinner (0.10") than the stuff I would use on my own models to try and get it to match as close as I can to its etched brass running mates.

The last thing left to do on these is to add horizonal bars on on the windows which opened, which were fewer on the buffet car than the two composites.

The Sea Side

Although it's been a big week for us taking the metaphorical covers off two new locomotives for the fleet, I haven't managed to get that much modelling done myself.

I'm in the middle of delivering another epic voluntary project, which is eating up most of my free time, so I was pleased to be able to get an hour in the study making a start on the other side of Carnforth buffet car 114 - the side which faces the sea when it is on The Cob, otherwise known as the 'engine side' in Boston Lodge parlance. 

This foundation stage is always the most important bit to get right.

You need to make sure it matches the other side in terms of length and height, that the window pillars are perpendicular and a mirror image of those on the opposing side of the carriage when it is assembled.

My next task will be to tease the thin strip into position around the inside edges to form those distinctive window frames on the Carnforth stock.

Welsh Highland Heritage

With two weeks to go until Bron Hebog goes on show for the only time in 2019 at the exhibition in Greenock, here's an image to whet the appetite.

The two WHHR Ashbury corridor carriages are finished and ready for service, having been given a coat of varnish and reassembled.

What you see here is the rake used for Russell's historic trips to Beddgelert earlier this year, although ours seems to have ventured further north...

During the exhibition we'll also be using Gelert and the Baldwin on this set which will make a very colourful addition to the layout - especially the Rheidol brake van which we've depicted in the BR blue livery it carried for a short while.

The real one has since been repainted into a rather drab chocolate colour. (correction: maroon)

To which all I can say is: spoilsports!

Underframed

The WHHR Buffet Car is ready to be primed and painted.



Himself has completed the underframe and added details such as the brake pipes.

We added a 10 thou styrene shin to finesse the ride height.

It should be a simple paint job with its plain green livery.

Mr Forgetful

I’ve had the interior for the WHHR buffet car returned as faulty goods.

It appears I made a very basic mistake,  with the result that it doesn’t fit in with the roof soldered in place.

What I forgot to allow for is the brackets at each end which hold the captive nut that fixes the chassis in place.

You see, while I was making it I was only ever fitting it in from above.

A bit of a schoolboy error, really.

It should be easily fixed by chopping it into three parts.

Counter Service

The fitting out of the Buffet Car has come together very pleasingly.

A couple of evening sessions this week have seen me finish the smaller third class compartment and the serving area, along with the dividers.

If we were doing it properly these walls should be clad in tongue and groove panelling - but we’re not, so they aren’t.

I’ll hand it over to Himself for painting now.

It should be quite straightforward, being just a plain green body.

Famous last words, and all that...

The Pink Seats

Thanks to a comprehensive set of research pictures taken by Himself on a visit to the WHHR last week I’ve felt able to make a start on fitting the interior into the Buffet Car.

I’ve begun with the posh benches in the 1st class compartment, which are very similar to those in the Gladstone Car we’ve just finished,  and which will also be painted pink.

I’m not one for ridiculous levels of detail - I won’t be making tiny cups and bottles to stock the shelves in this carriage - but it does seem reasonable to at least fit legs to support the front of the benches, even if they’re not elegantly turned like the real ones.

The three long ones are in place now, but I shall have to fit the compartment division before the individual seats either side of the door are glued in.

Buffet Start

I’ve made a tentative start to the interior for the WHR buffet car.

I say, tentative, but perhaps a better word would be strategic, because I know that Himself has taken a set of research pictures for me during a week volunteering in Wales on the FR, so it would be wise not to rush too far ahead and wait for some better views than the few I’ve found online so far.

The base needs to be made with two layers because of the brackets at either end which attach the floor to the body sides, meaning it is not completely flat inside along the floor.

I’ve also had to make allowances for the nuts and the bolt heads for the bogie pivots.

The blanks for the compartment dividers are cut but I’ll wait for the aforementioned photos before cutting the door windows / hatches in them.

Tea Time

The Worsley body ‘kit’ for the WHHR Ashbury ‘Buffet Car’ has been soldered up and passed over to me to make up an interior.

That’s going to take a little bit of research and puzzling out because I’ve never taken any photographs of it, and from what I’ve been able to deduce it’s quite a complex carriage with its counter, upholstered longitudinal benches and another section of traditional face-to-face seats.

But where, exactly, they all fit in is what I’ll have to work out.