Sunday, July 24, 2011

Twenty four seven

photo

Work has been completely crazy recently, with very little time available for modelling, but I have found a little time to start on carriage 24.  This is the replica full height summer carriage (i.e. NWNGR).  It runs as a ‘lock up’ carr at the end of most WHR rakes and so is a vital model.  I had a kitbash version – a plastic Parkside Dundas Vale of Rheidol carriage – but it just didn’t cut the mustard next to the cut down summer carr (23).  I was able to persuade Allen of worsley works to do me the etchings (he couldn’t believe there was another version of the summer carrs that he hadn’t done already). 

Progress so far has seen the footboards folded up and soldered in place, extra vent pieces (very small indeed) superglued above the doors (using my favoured powerbond), and the construction of a set of seats for the carriage from parkside ‘narrow gauge coach seats’.

In a slight departure from normal methods, I have this time soldered bolts to the floor as the bogie pivot and will add the nut underneath (I normally do this the other way around, but on balance this may turn out to be a better way of doing it as the seats can sit over the bolt without the bolt protruding into the carriage necessitating a hole in the floor to be created.  The nuts can be loctited onto the bolt and the excess snipped off.

Now I just need to find time to solder the sides to the ends and the floor to the ends before I need to think about the roof (I already have some curved brass ready), truss rods etc.

24, along with the replacement 2043 and 100, 102 and 14 will be the last batch of carriages through the semi industrial process and I thus hope to have them all running for Sparsholt.

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