Back Burners

I bet we've all got them, haven't we? Those modelling projects sitting in a box which you say you will get around to one day.

This pair are one of mine.

If you don't immediately recognise them from their ghostly resin appearance, they are 3D prints from Robex of bodies for the Manning Wardle tank loco Jubilee 1897.

And if you know something about the history of that locomotive you may wonder what my interest in them would be.

There is is tangential connection to the FR in that it started out working at the Cilgwyn quarry alongside Lilla, and made a fleeting trip along the Welsh Highland as part of a transfer move to the Penrhyn quarry.

But the reason I have them is nothing to do with rolling stock for Dduallt, Bron Hebog or Minffordd.

A couple of years ago when I was developing my home dual gauge test track - which turned into a full-blown layout - I was looking for a couple of small tank locomotives which would look at home on the small narrow gauge loop which is done up like a very small scale tourist railway.

I was very impressed with the smooth performance of the Minitrains outside framed F&C chassis which powers our Lilla (also a Robex print) but I found the slight more chunky look of the Manning Wardle loco more attractive.

I've always intended to get these bodies mounted on a pair of spare F&C chassis we have in stock, but it's one of those things that I've not got round to.

Or more accurately, Himself has always had to much to be getting on with that it seemed unreasonable for me to add to the backlog by asking if it'd mind taking a look at them for me.

As well as the chassis I ordered in the other parts we'd need, such as the etch for the motion and slide bars.

I'd even had a couple of name plates produced because I intended to finish them in freelance liveries and name them after my children. (Very soppy for a serious prototype modeller, I know.)

I wonder, however, whether this might be a good moment to suggest the idea to Himself, because we get seriously drawn into the Dinas project.

And I also suspect he might be quite glad of another excuse not to have to try to sort out the knotty problem of how to attach valve gear to the NG15 chassis which is sitting on the workbench taunting him...

Lilla

With the name and works plates from Narrow Planet fitted our Robex Lilla is ready at last.

We'll just leave these here.

Lovely Lined Lilla

So, after many hours of very delicate work, here she is - a lined out Lilla.

All she needs now is for the name and works plates to be fitted, which are currently on order from Narrow Planet.

As I'd hoped the lining really does help to draw the eye away from the inevitable imperfections of the 3D printed surface in places, although I have to say that the Robex body is one of the most impressive I have yet seen which is why we decided to take the plunge.

It is a shame that the motor and fly wheel is such a bloody great intrusion in the cab, but we shall do our best to disguise it with a portly locomotive crew.

To return to a theme in the post on the latest ready to run announcement a few days ago, we should be grateful to Minitrains for coming up with a simple, and very well running outside frame chassis which can be exploited by kit and CAD designers alike.

I can't wait to see her running on the layouts in due course.

Review Of The Year - Part 4

For the last post of 2017 I'll bring our modelling review of the year up to date.

October

Himself was steadily getting on with the top coats on the Superbarn 118 between other jobs.

He had many tasks on the go including fixing the last two bungalows in place and beginning the task of landscaping around them.

It was such a relief to have finally got all the houses built - a project which had taken many years to bring to fruition.

We also got round to purchasing a chassis to put our 3D printed Lilla body on.

At this stage it still needed some material cleared away from beneath the saddle tank which explains why it is sitting at a very racy angle.

November

There was still the need to paint the bungalows before they could be fixed in place on the layout.

The last of them was the most challenging of the lot because one wall has stone cladding which was very well represented by Himself.

The only shame was that this effect is mostly hidden from the viewing public at exhibitions because this is the side which faces the operators.

There was more work on Lilla.

The Minitrains chassis was improved with some new slidebars from RT Models and Himself also carefully filed down the fly cranks to remove the very large balance weights.

While he was doing all that I was busy earning a little money fulfilling a promise to build some of my resin SAR wagon kits for a customer.

December

As we moved into the final month of the year Himself set to with the task of painting Lilla which we're going to finish in its Penrhyn Quarry Railway lined black livery.

Currently he is engaged in the very careful and patient task of lining it out.

The project on my workbench at the moment is to bring our WHR carriage fleet up to date with the latest of the saloons 2047 which I am building from scratch in styrene.

So all that remains is for us to wish you all the best for 2018 and thank you for visiting the blog or keeping up with what we're up to by following us on Facebook or Twitter,

We'll be taking both Bron Hebog and Dduallt out on the rode during the year ahead and we look forward to seeing you there - full details are on the Exhibition Diary page.

I See A Red Engine And I Want To Paint It Black?

With apologies to Sir Mick and Keith, but it appears I have a decision to make with regards to our Lilla.

Himself has been adding a few brass embellishments to the 3D printed Robex body, such as the handrails and whatever it is on top of the dome.

(UPDATE: since this was posted a reader has got in touch to tell me it is a regulator lubrication valve. Every day's a school day.)

I get the impression he finds working with this inherently brittle material rather stressful compared to brass or white metal.

(His last email to me began with the words 'before I wreck it completely....')

Those of you who are familiar with the Minitrains chassis which is used on this kit will notice what a good job he's done reshaping the fly cranks so they no longer have the big counter weight on them.

He has also made use of a handy etched fret from RT Models to replace the slidebars and the original, and rather chunky, couplings have been changed as well for brass ones.

So now he's asking me about my preferences for painting it?

It seems to me we have three choices,

For a while on the FR it ran it plain black livery.

(I'm sure he'd be delighted if we plumped for that.)

Then for a long while it was in lined out Penrhyn Quarry Railway livery, and last winter it emerged from Boston Lodge in the rather natty Cilgwyn green.

What do you all reckon?