Keeping My Promises

Another thing I've been asked to write about is how I do raised, rounded window frames on my scratchbuilt carriages. So here's a pictorial guide.

The object of the exercise is to fix a thin strip, slightly thicker than the material the main bodyside is made from, around the inside edge of the windows.

In this example the carriage side is made from 0.20" styrene so I've used 0.10" x 0.30" strip for the rims.

First you want to get the strip to curl. I do this by pulling it between my thumb and forefinger, scraping the thumb nail against the underside of the strip.




Cut a section of your now curly strip and place inside the window aperture..



Hold it against one edge of the window frame (fine surgical tweezers are good for this) and apply solvent along the join, leaving it free at each corner.

Repeat this along another two sides...



When you get the bottom overlap the two ends of the strip and cut them so they will meet exactly. If you get a nice accurate cut you won't be able to spot the join on the finished model.



It is a tricky business, and when you first try it you might be wishing you had three hands, but the end result is worth the effort.

The final stage of the process is to use model filler to plug the gaps in each corner. (In this case I use that wonderful mid-Welsh product, Milliput) This is a side for FR carriage 116 I'm making.



Here's another example, on a bodyside for 'Carnforth' buffet carr 114.

Lusty Linda

We do our best here at Bron Hebog to make models ape reality. So just as the FR's Linda is being prepared for the paintshop so is ours.



This is Linda II. Like Blanche II it is a Backwoods Miniatures kit, although this time we're not having to borrow bits of a Dundas kit for the tender!

Unlike Blanche, Linda doesn't have a tender cab (usually) so you get to see all the control gubbins. And what a lot there is to see! Pete has really excelled himself with this kit.

MOTW - Caernarfon Castle

I’m returning to the locomotive fleet this week and the WHR’s main passenger diesel ‘Caernarfon Castle’.



This is one of a pair imported from South Arfrica in the 1990’s and has retained its original, very continental-style GRP bodywork. (The second machine, which had been given a modified cab during its life in Africa, was selected for a radical rebuild to fit the FR loading gauge and became ‘Vale of Ffestiniog’)

Our model’s built from a Worsley Works ‘scratch aid’ kit. Allen’s etches provide for the bulk of the bodywork leaving you to complete the finer detailing.

It’s powered by a chassis from a Farish Class 90 chassis.

One of the main challenges with modelling the WHR & FR ‘Funkey’ locomotives is the bogies which are very tall, with the side frames extending well above the top of the wheels. This is a problem in 009 when you’re using a N gauge chassis which are mostly built around a big metal block housing the motor and drive to the bogies.

Simply fixing false Funkey side frames onto the N gauge bogies won’t work because they will foul on the metal chassis block and won’t swivel!

Our solution has been to divide the bogie frame in half, so the top is fixed to the metal chassis block and the bottom section, with the axleboxes and springs etc, is bonded to the N gauge bogie and only this lower part swivels.

Other extra details added to the basic body kit include the handrails at each end of the loco and the large headlight jewels.

The Inside Story

With the saga of the louvres finished with I've been able to knock up and interior for the Service Carr.

There's plenty of scope for super-detail freaks to go over the top here, modelling every last coffee cup and scone in miniature, but you'll be relieved, no doubt, to know I've managed to resist that temptation.

In fact, it's a very basic representation indeed, because I've not even bothered to sub-divide the generator compartment from the toilet cubicle.



That said, however, there's still plenty of fun to have had with all the shelves and cupboards in the catering end of the carriage.

Still to be added in this view is the fridge and the grill.



Here's how it looks inserted into the bodyshell.



I've added some basic underframe detail too. These WHR carriages are nice and boxy down there, but there's a big space right in front of the vacuum brake gear, so I can't get away without doing that, unfortunately.

MOTW - Water Tower

It's not an item of rolling stock this week but a structure. The water tower at Beddgelert.

No, not the manky concrete relic. A proper one!



The tower sits at the north (Caernarfon) end of the station and feeds the water crane at the end of the platform.

This model was made by Himself from brass, with various sizes of tube, wire and angle soldered together to form the base and the tank constructed out of etched brass 'Braithwaite' panels.



I particularly like the X shape bracing struts and small details like the feed pipe.

The tower lifts off the layout when it's packed away, and the legs locate into the concrete bases on the embankment.

This shot of the Funkey diesel 'Caernarfon Castle' gives a nice impression of the bulk of the structure.

Thin Red Lines

Himself has been getting cross-eyed these last few days applying the lining to Blanche II.



This time he's using waterslide transfers from Fox.

She's posed here with her MkII dome but the dome-meister is preparing to turn a third one after we have measured the real thing this time to be sure.

Corridor Connections

A while ago I promised to post a demo of how I make my carriage corridor connections. Sorry it's taken me so long to get round to writing it but here it is.

So, the ingredients...

1 piece of strip 40" x 100"
2 pieces of 15" x 100"
1 piece of 15" x 40"



Join the piece of 15 x 40 upright onto one of the 15 x 100 pieces. I press them up against my set square to get a nice flush joint.



Then I fix the piece of 40 x 100 on the other side, keeping the overlap as small as possible..



Turn it over now and use the remaining piece of 15 x 100 to bridge the gap...



The last job is to file off the square edges to make the box shape we have look something more like the folded over piece of rubber on the real thing.

I find a miniature hand vice just the job for this bit, and I use wet and dry paper to do the filing...



Repeat for the other side and a shorter one for across the top, and that's how I make my corridor connections.