Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Discussion of Rolling Stock related topics should go here
User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by BertieB » Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:03 pm

1. Purchase cheapo (£17.95) Newqida copy of LGB, German narrow gauge, tank wagon
2. Disassemble
3. Secure the 12 small screws in labelled, sealed envelope and place on mantelpiece (or similar, highly visible, memorable location)
4. Apply Wilco (or Poundland) spray paint to all parts. Leave overnight
5. Retrieve envelope and put most of it back together again, leaving out readily identifiable but structurally unnecessary components (and sawing off obviously inappropriate detail, if not too difficult). Do not fit wheels
6. Apply inkjet-printed, waterslide decals. Leave to dry
7. Touch up decal edges as necessary. Wait 24 hours
8. Apply spraycan matt varnish overall
9. Fit wheels
10. That’s it

[steps 2 - 10 optional] It’s not even ‘semi-scale’. But as it trundles past with other, similarly dodgy rolling stock, or when viewed from the other side of the garden, I don’t think you really notice. I’ve trained myself not to.

2_2490_A.jpg
2_2490_A.jpg (184.11 KiB) Viewed 8082 times
Buffers lead to derailments and are probably best avoided
Buffers lead to derailments and are probably best avoided
2_2489_A.jpg (195.83 KiB) Viewed 8082 times

User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:27 pm

Works for me although I would weather it!

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by ge_rik » Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:36 pm

Works for me too! :thumbup:
Just so happens I have an untouched NQ tanker sitting on the shelf ..... another Round Tuit project..... :?

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

invicta280
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 664
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:24 pm
Location: kent england

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by invicta280 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:49 pm

Another masterstroke from Bertie B !

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by philipy » Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:54 am

Very nice. As a total non-expert in Esso tankers, I can't see anything wrong with it at all!
Philip

User avatar
Peter Butler
Driver
Driver
Posts: 5219
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
Location: West Wales

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Mar 27, 2020 10:24 am

Looks great to me too, and because of its heritage I imagine it is a faultless runner.
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by BertieB » Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:29 am

Thank you all.

Well, it’s a German narrow gauge wagon (with a couple of bits chopped off) turned out, you know, in a reasonable approximation of a 1950s British Railways livery. You could do more but, hmmm... diminishing returns and all that. And I am a bit lazy. But it does the job - so on to the next one!

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Andrew » Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:28 am

BertieB wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:29 am on to the next one!
Excellent - keep 'em coming! That's a beautiful finish you've achieved - which I reckon goes a very long way to detract from any non-authentic features? Kind of like a slick magician using misdirection... That's intended as a complement, hope it comes across that way!

Cheers,

Andrew

User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by BertieB » Sat Mar 28, 2020 11:47 am

Andrew wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:28 am “...like a slick magician using misdirection...”
Ow! Frighteningly perceptive. Not sure about ‘slick’ but I did think of it in almost exactly those terms: that the overall black finish with immediately recognisable, powerful graphics, would hide and divert attention from the detail of what was underneath - it would just become ‘that Esso wagon’.

But most importantly, it was quick and cheap. You should be working in criminal profiling!

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by RobRossington » Mon Mar 30, 2020 7:18 pm

Excellent! :thumbright:

User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: more low cost wagons

Post by BertieB » Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:36 pm

My other couple of elderly tank wagons were looking a bit worse for wear, so they’ve had a similar, quick makeover, too.

And, (prompted by Andrew’s Chocolate Factory prototypes from late 2018) the ancient, LGB Toytrain starter set, flat wagon chassis are now sporting new foamboard and plasticard van bodies. Not quite sure what a Banana van is doing on a Dorset branchline. Presumably, they’re being imported from the Channel Islands, or possibly the Isle of Wight.

The one on the right is missing detail not because I cleverly adapted it but because I lost the bits
The one on the right is missing detail not because I cleverly adapted it but because I lost the bits
tankwagons_3A.jpg (209.92 KiB) Viewed 7733 times
And i still haven't tidied up the garden
And i still haven't tidied up the garden
bananawagons_4A.jpg (170.37 KiB) Viewed 7733 times

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Andrew » Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:57 pm

Looking good!

The vans are very nice indeed... I never did finish the chocolate factory (it was just taking up too much time and space), and the van remains unfinished too - I might have to crack on with it now! Quite how a standard gauge design to a made up scale will fit into my 16mm narrow gauge world remains to be seen, but I might as well finish the thing!

Anyway, how many wagons do you have now? I look forward to film of a lengthy goods train...

Cheers,

Andrew.

User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: more low cost wagons

Post by BertieB » Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:47 pm

Andrew wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:57 pm "...how many wagons do you have now? I look forward to a film of a lengthy goods train..."
Not very many really. But enough to sit comfortably behind the bigger locomotives, I hope. Ten wagons looks like a lot, at least in my garden.

There are a couple in the early stages of build / rebuilding – but frankly, I'm running out of space to keep all this stuff. Some of it is going to have to go (as other members of the household have been heard to suggest).

Thanks.

This is only nine wagons but doesn't seem ridiculously short, I reckon
This is only nine wagons but doesn't seem ridiculously short, I reckon
2MT_2514A.jpg (193.69 KiB) Viewed 7707 times

User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by tom_tom_go » Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:21 pm

That looks the part to me.

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by philipy » Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:23 pm

Yep, I agree with Tom, very tasty.
Philip

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Andrew » Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:08 pm

That looks just right!

My family drop similar hints, but I just get better at hiding things... My line can only manage 6 average length wagons, but the more I have the more variety I can have...

Keep squirreling 'em away Bertie!

Andrew.

User avatar
LNR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1533
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:26 am
Location: Australia

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by LNR » Thu Apr 09, 2020 12:23 am

Those van bodies have come out very well.
Grant.

User avatar
Sylvian Tennant
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:48 pm
Location: Teesside

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Sylvian Tennant » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:12 pm

Lovely work, would you able able to do me and favour and give me the lenght, width and height of your tanker. I just want to compare to the rest of my stock before i look to buy some.

User avatar
BertieB
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:13 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by BertieB » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:59 pm

Sylvian Tennant wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:12 pm “...length, width and height of your tanker? I just want to compare to the rest of my stock before i look to buy some.
My pleasure.

Newquida tank wagon sizes (in millimetres). A bit plus-or-minus, as I’ve just held a ruler up to it.

Length 258 (ex buffers, couplings)
Width 113-ish (across access ladders)
Height 148 (from rail to top of tank filler. I removed the ‘continental fencing’ up top)

Buffer beam width 92
Tank diameter 82
Tank length 225 (excluding that thing sticking out of one end)

Buffer and coupling height as LGB, etc.

Hope this is helpful.
Last edited by BertieB on Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Sylvian Tennant
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:48 pm
Location: Teesside

Re: Semi-scale BR: low cost tank wagon

Post by Sylvian Tennant » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:57 pm

More than helpful, thank you my friend. Please keep this up, i love what you've done.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests