009 modeller at sea

[Ross Chapman]

I think that is part of what drew me to 009 - seeing layouts like yours where the stock is all similar but not the same unlike the American HO i was doing where you have long strings of pretty much completely identical vehicles hauled by identical locomotives and it gets very boring quite quickly.

[tedp]

For those not on the NGRM forum, here is what I did last weekend. After last years' episode at sea, it was the first time I retired to the boat for several days. My wife went to a cultural festival on one of the Frisian islands with a few of her friends, as she does every year.

Predictably, the weather turned sour and on Saturday night there was a Force 6-7 whistling in the rig with occasional drizzle adding to the joy, or the lack of it. I took a modelling box with me, and decided to make a start with the Parkside Dundas Glyn Valley style coaches to make a suitable train for Sir Theodore, the Fourdees loco I bought last year. I also took Milners' work on the GVT to get some background info.

The first thing that struck me is that the Dundas coach sides are slightly stretched compared to the drawings in Milners' book. There is little that can be done about that without extensive surgery - the result may look worse than having slightly over-length coaches.

I have three different coach kits - the DM28, DM29 and DM34. These can be made into a large-window saloon, a two compartment coach and an open 'summer coach'. I plan to turn the DM28 into the early clerestory fitted third class saloon of the GVT, which I always found an attractive little vehicle. The coach sides and ends differ in other details as well, in particular the doors have different panelling, and the end panelling is of a different pattern from the GVT stock.

Here are the three kits on the saloon table, last Saturday night.



The first one I tackled was the most difficult - the DM28 needs to have a microstrip partition fitted into each of the large window spaces in the sides. The instructions say to fit the glazing first and glue the partition on to the glazing, but I lack confidence to be able to do so without damaging the plastic glazing. So I decided to fit the vertical partitions into the coach sides.



Eventually I managed to fit the four pieces of microstrip into the window apertures - I cut a tiny notch in the middle of the bottom window frame and used that as a reference to fiddle a tiny piece of microstrip in:



Sunday was overcast but not unpleasant. The wind had dropped, but the little there was, was dead foul for the direction I wanted to go. So I decided to stay where I was and do some modelling for a change. It had been too long - I had too much on my mind lately and in consequence I suffered from modelling block.

The sides of the coaches are too long to represent true GVT stock. They were 11'7" long and the kit sides are 53mm, equalling 13ft. But I'm not griping - they are nicely moulded, and knowing Parkside kits they will go together well.

I had brought some paint - buff is one of the colours mentioned by Milner, although I have a feeling cream is closer. I painted the window frames before attempting to fit the glazing, and found the buff paint has gone muddy. It's just usable to paint the windows before glazing so I won't touch the glazing with the brush. The inside was painted brown, as these coaches were varnished mahogany inside. On board I didn't have a suitable colour of mid-green, so I had to leave that till returning home.



Later that day I fitted glazing - not the styrene included in the kit as that is quite flimsy and damage prone, but something far stronger which I think came to me as packing material with a shirt. I cut it to size to fit into the recesses in the sides, using a tiny drop of cyanoacrylate gel applied with a needle.

I also painted the interior - brown for the sides and ends, grey for the floor. Here is the body during the first stage of assembly.



Note the wheelsets are still being supplied with 7.2mm back to back. These don't run well through the new Peco points. I re-set them to 7.4mm using my own BTB gauge. I support one pin point on a piece of wood, then press down to release the grip of one wheel from the axle. Then I twist and press the wheel in until it fits the BTB gauge.

Next were the seats which in this type of carriage are set longitudinally in the centre of the carriage.



The next stage would be assembling the remaining side, then fitting the solebars, wheels and brake gear. The roof still needed to be modified - a clerestory must be added. More later.

[tedp]

Here the carriage is largely completed, and seen next to Sir Theodore. The interior is been completed and painted - I erroneously fitted the footboards to the seats as I thought they were armrests! So I made up new ones from plastic scrap.







Here is how I attached the N gauge couplers I normally use. Sir Theodore is fitted with them as well - I fitted Fleischmann couplers in the NEM pockets Fourdees designed in.

I think the couplers I used on the coach are of Japanese origin, possibly one version of Kato coupler. They are sprung and fit in a tiny open frame pocket. Ideal to use in a tiny 009 vehicle. I found the coupler is at exactly the right height if it is glued under the buffer beam. So what I did was make a tray at the level of the buffer beam, using a piece of Faller T profile cemented behind the buffer beam. That makes a tiny platform which I can stick the coupler pocket to.



If necessary I can strenghten the attachment by fitting a piece of styrene vertically to the floor, so it engages the rear surface of the coupler pocket.



And here is how it fits:



If I am correct, the GVT didn't use vacuum brakes, so I will leave the whitemetal pipes off - they will come in handy on future CDR stock. Now all that is needed to do is add more weight, make the clerestory, add the oil lamp cover, paint the carriage and find some suitable transfers to add GVT lettering.

That night it started blowing at least 20 knots from the OTHER side - for Monday they were forecasting another 6 (up to 27 knots), but from the northeast, which is roughly the way I wanted to go - I wondered whether I would ever get some sailing done. The boat was rolling in the gusts, so I prepared the carriage sides for the two-compartment coach - I painted the interior brown, the exterior buff around the windows, and fitted 10 tiny window panes into the recesses of the side mouldings till I was cross-eyed.

[tedp]

Next morning the wind showed signs of abating a little and it was good enough to sail. However, although it was about right for the place I wanted to go to, it was going to back to NW and I'd have it right against me again. So I decided to stay where I was and take her out for a spin from the home base, testing out some things non-railway related!

Preparing the sides of the two-compartment coach was a most frustrating process - I cut to size and installed 12 tiny window panes. Took me at least an hour! Here are the mouldings, painted and ready to receive the window panes.



In the morning I continued the work even before breakfast. Here is the first assembly stage, showing the window panes glued into the recesses. As I pre-painted all the parts, I needed to score the paint so the plastic cement would make an impression.



Interior parts installed:



And here is the body assembled and ready to receive the solebars and wheels.



From there it went suprisingly quickly - the advantage of having pre-painted all the parts, and having the experience of assembling the first vehicle.





The open carriage was saved for that night - I first had coffee, then I was off for an afternoon's sailing.

The place I sail in is a big freshwater inland sea. It's shallow and big enough to run a vicious steep and short sea. Monday I was out in a force 5 which, even back at my pontoon, shook the rig. Here is a photo of the boat shouldering a steep wave.



Most of the time I was flat on my ear, holding on with feet and hands even though I had reefed the main and taken a roll in the genoa.

That evening, an hour and a half was what it took to complete the final vehicle of the trio - the open 2-compartment coach. This was suspiciously starting to look like batch production! Since most of the details are familiar now, I only photographed the first and last stage.





The centre post supporting the roof was backed by a tiny strip of styrene under the roof, which makes a more secure attachment.

I noticed the first two coaches tend to wobble slightly - the axles are very slightly out of true which surprises me as the vehicle bodies are absolutely square. In addition, there is the clerestory roof of one, and I have to fit the oil lamp tops to the two closed vehicles. There are numerous small details to be done still. One is the peculiar grab rails the GVT used.

[tedp]

There are some advantages in rain - it makes model work more attractive! On Tuesday morning, as I was waiting for the sky to clear so I could put in a few hours' sailing, I decided to look at the two vehicles that suffered from non-parallel axles. The solution is to take a fine drill in a pin vice, and gently take away a little material from the pin-point hole in the axlebox, so one end of the axle sits a fraction of a mm lower. All four wheels of the offending vehicles now touch the surface.

I found some material to make the clerestory on the first vehicle from. The funny look of the prototype with an oil lamp perched on top of the clerestory always captured my imagination. So I cut five strips of 1mm styrene from a sheet of Evergreen planking, glued them on top of the roof and covered them with a curved strip of 0.5mm styrene. Note the curved end strips, which (after the cement has hardened) have to be shaped to the same profile as the prototype, with curved cut-outs in the ends.



Here is the clerestory coach largely completed. I put another (wider) strip of 0.5mm styrene on top of the first one to shape the clerestory roof.



The compartment coach looks much better with the lamp on top:



Here is the complete rake of coaches:





And the complete GVT train sitting on the saloon table.





By now the sky had cleared, so I went off again!

[tedp]

Shades of green...

Wednesday, having arrived back home, I experimented with green paint on the coaches. Milner says the coaches were painted some sort of mid-green. So I started with a standard Revell colour which proved to be far too light - a sort of fern green which looked very odd. So I drained part of the tin and added very dark green, brown and dark blue to it.

Eventually I arrived at this shade which I find rather pleasing, although I have no way of finding out whether it is correct. It matches the buff window surrounds well enough - I leave you to judge!



I first painted only one side and one end of each coach, and some retouching was still needed. I had to consult prototype photos to find the exact demarcation of the green and the buff, but I'm tied to the panelling on the kit sides.





Next, I decided to do a short painting clinic on the off side of one coach, showing how I paint a panelled carriage side. It takes about 10 minutes, and I even surprised myself seeing how I unconsciousy change the position of the model and support my hand with the other. I hope you won't get bored!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gG61oVecg

I used green Revell oil paint, that had previously been mixed to the correct colour and thinned a little using white spirit.

Note how I use only the tiniest amount of paint on the tip of the brush. I use the raised beading on the side of the model as a brush guide to produce a straight line. Small errors are ignored - these can be touched up later with the buff paint used for the window surrounds.

It is necessary to work quickly and precisely. Never go back to a place painted earlier unless it is very recent - you'll get a blemished surface.

Also note the angle of the brush and the methods I use to improve the angle - support my hand, turn the model where needed, and only occasionally I angle my hand, since that will reduce the control you have over the brush.

And here is the result:



There are still a few patches where the grey plastic shows through, but I think they can be corrected after the present coat has dried completely. Also, I need to touch up a bit around the top of the doors.

[tedp]

As a part of this thread I decided to do a short painting clinic, showing how I paint a panelled carriage side. It takes about 10 minutes, and I even surprised myself seeing how I unconsciousy change the position of the model and support my hand with the other. I hope you won't get bored!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gG61oVecg

I used green Revell oil paint, that had previously been mixed to the correct colour (see previous post) and thinned a little using white spirit.

Note how I use only the tiniest amount of paint on the tip of the brush. I use the raised beading on the side of the model as a brush guide to produce a straight line. Small errors are ignored - these can be touched up later with the buff paint used for the window surrounds.

It is necessary to work quickly and precisely. Never go back to a place painted earlier unless it is very recent - you'll get a blemished surface.

Also note the angle of the brush and the methods I use to improve the angle - support my hand, turn the model where needed, and only occasionally I angle my hand, since that will reduce the control you have over the brush.

And here is the result:



There are still a few patches where the grey plastic shows through, but I think they can be corrected after the present coat has dried completely. Also, I need to touch up a bit around the top of the doors.

Following that I worked on the roofs. I added rain strips and painted them the basic light grey colour. Here is how I made rainstrips - I took a thin strip of styrene, flooded it with cement and bent it in a gentle curve on the roof. They are very overscale, but at least they will show up a bit:



Here is the rake of Glyn Valley stock in Rae bridge station:



I also radiused the edges of the end panels of the clerestory, but that hardly shows up. The row of very tiny window panes in the clerestory have been 'discreetly' forgotten.



Although it is an attractive rake of stock, I'm afraid the over-scale length shows up, if compared to the drawings of the real thing.

I found there was a brake lever at one end of the coaches (drawings in Boyd). The other end will have steps and a handrail up the roof.

More work to be done!

[tedp]

More progress. I think we're almost done with the GVT carriages - I have progressed to the detailing stage.

Looking at drawings I noticed they lacked tensioning bars to the axleguards. So I found some soft copper wire and straightened and bent some lengths to the right shape. Straightening is done by rolling the wire under a file:



After fitting them to the vehicles it looked like this:





I also fitted locating lugs to the underside of the roofs, to keep them in place. I may fit passengers in them, so for the moment the roofs are loose.



Next was brake gear and end steps to the two closed carriages. The prototypes had brake levers to one end, and steps and a handrail to the other.  Here are the brake levers (made of styrene strip) and the steps (built up on a single strip that was later narrowed and cut to pieces).



The most difficult bit was making handrails. I opted for steel wire because that was the thinnest I have in large quantities, although shaping the peculiar curved grips next to the doors was less easy. I made 10 of the d...n things using nothing but a pair of fine pliers. Controlling the shape was rather a challenge. In addition there is the inclined rail next to the steps on one end, and the grip on the roof. Here is the result as fitted to the clerestory. I used the crude method of heating the wire bits with a small soldering iron to push them in.



The next shot shows the brake lever and the grips on the open carriage.



And finally, photos of the entire rake at Rae Bridge.





Just to give an impression of what the tram looks like in service, here is its trial run at Rae Bridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wanSNQ4b7Kc

Note that the chassis details still have to be weathered, and I need some GVT transfers. But I'm not displeased with the result.

[gtmspyder]

Very very nice Ted.

Regards,

BrianT.

[tedp]

Today, since I'm busy with couplings, I had another look at tyhe rake of Colin Ashby coal wagons I made on board the boat a few years ago. About half of them were fitted with rigid couplings such as this:



They usually ran all right, provided you kept them in the rake and flanked by wagons fitted with sprung couplings (as even demonstrated by a run at speed, pushing the entire rake over the layout at the time). However, I always mistrusted them, so I decided to do an experiment. I fitted two of them with a sprung coupling to one end, and fitted dumb buffers, Glyn Valley style, to the other end. Then I fitted two more with dumb buffers each end:





The idea came from this 4-ton GVT granite wagon, however I opted for half-rounded buffers instead of the fancy curves since these would be easier to make (the half-round buffers were used on the early horse tram wagons):



(source site, with apologies for borrowing the image of the 16mm scale model:: http://www.wvlr.co.uk/)

The buffers were made from 17mm pieces of 3x2mm Evergreen strip, cut down in stages and filed more or less smooth:



The rubbing faces were covered in a thin strip of Evergreen to represent a steel rubbing strip. Then I drilled a 1mm hole into each 'buffer', into which I fitted a piece of wire double-bent through the end of a 5-link length of chain, split pin style. A touch with the soldering iron secured this. The other end went into the buffer of the next wagon:



I realise the pattern of chain is quite wrong, and it should be blackened, but it's all I could find at short notice, so it cannot be helped. And it works:



I've now got a single four-wagon rake of chain-coupled wagons, and they run better than they did, especially after I smeared the rubbing faces with a little graphite to get rid of the stickyness of the paint. The wire 'split pins' were secured with a drop of cyano gel at the top, to keep the link action of the chain intact. The wagons 'buffer up' on a downhill run, making the driver haul back on his whistle to signal the guard to apply his brake. Softly, please, or the chain couplings might snap...

Another rake waits to be converted the same way.

[duttonbay]

Very nice Ted. Are you planning to blacken the chain? It stands a bit to my eye.

[tedp]

It is a bit bright, isn't it? Probably chemical blackening is best, or the chain will clog up. What kind of blackening agent would you suggest?

[duttonbay]

I don't have a lot of experience with blackening agents. What material is the chain made from?

[Hugh Norwood]

I have blackend chain with very thin black enamel paint...

[tedp]

It's a cheap jewellery chain, not sure. It looks like silver plated, but I wonder if it is. No brass either. The material is very hard, not yellowish when you cut it.

I wondered about paint, but that will make the links stick together. Just dipped the end of a piece of chain in Carr's flux, see what it does.