(WH)WHR Rolling Stock
A little more progress - and a good illustration of the possibilities afforded by laser cutting:
These are the two carriage roofs under construction. I generally put off doing roofs as long as possible, they're such a nuisance to get right, but this has been dead easy - I lack the skill to cut parts this accurately myself, but was able to knock up the necessary drawings to get the laser to do it for me. They'll be able to lift off too, which will be nice...
Cheers,
Andrew.
These are the two carriage roofs under construction. I generally put off doing roofs as long as possible, they're such a nuisance to get right, but this has been dead easy - I lack the skill to cut parts this accurately myself, but was able to knock up the necessary drawings to get the laser to do it for me. They'll be able to lift off too, which will be nice...
Cheers,
Andrew.
I'm not entirely sure yet... I used a local company, Bristol Design Forge, and found that the cheapest way to do it was to hire the machine (under supervision, after a free induction) and to pay for 6 hours - that brings the cost down to £22 per hour. It took two and a half hours to cut the parts for the two carriages I'm working on now, but the cutting was slowed by some flaws in my drawing which meant that some lines cut two or three times. I'll edit those (and some other unnecessary lines) out before my next session, so I'm hoping that will bring the cutting time down. The company I used sell ply at a very good rate too...JMORG:116149 wrote:If you don't mind me asking Andrew, how much does it come to for each carriage?
Sorry, just realised I'm recreating my GCSE maths exam here (extra marks for showing my workings!), so I'll cut to the chase and say I reckon the woodwork for each carriage is costing me about £30. So I guess by the time I've added IP wheels, axleguards and couplings and Swift Sixteen door handles it must be about £50 per carriage. Not especially cheap, but I think the quality is closer to Brandbright than IP - interior detail, nice thin ply etc.
Work's slowed down on the carriages lately - Apart from painting the roof and droplights the next thing is to spray varnish, and I'm waiting for warmer weather for that...
Cheers,
Andrew.
Hello again,
With the weather looking up a little today I risked some spray priming and the two current projects both edged a little close to completion...
Like most of my carriages the NWNGR 4 wheelers have separate droplights, but I decided to paint them rather than varnish as I usually do - here they are awaiting the spray can:
...which reminded me of Cornelia Parker's exploding shed at the Tate - http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/par ... iew-t06949
Progress was also made on the Summer Car. I've been slowly bodging together a complement of passengers for it from the usual assortment of charity shop and Poundland figures. Having chopped, glued and filled 'em I primed them for painting:
The priming's showed up a need for a little more sanding on some, but I think they'll look fine. My wife says the above photo reminds her of those ones of skyscraper construction workers eating lunch on girders high above Manhatten or wherever...
More photos once I've made some more progress...
Cheers,
Andrew.
With the weather looking up a little today I risked some spray priming and the two current projects both edged a little close to completion...
Like most of my carriages the NWNGR 4 wheelers have separate droplights, but I decided to paint them rather than varnish as I usually do - here they are awaiting the spray can:
...which reminded me of Cornelia Parker's exploding shed at the Tate - http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/par ... iew-t06949
Progress was also made on the Summer Car. I've been slowly bodging together a complement of passengers for it from the usual assortment of charity shop and Poundland figures. Having chopped, glued and filled 'em I primed them for painting:
The priming's showed up a need for a little more sanding on some, but I think they'll look fine. My wife says the above photo reminds her of those ones of skyscraper construction workers eating lunch on girders high above Manhatten or wherever...
More photos once I've made some more progress...
Cheers,
Andrew.
Hello again...
This week I've been painting the figures for the WHR Summer Car. I've done loads of these before, but I'm still surprised how long it takes...
Here's a pleasingly surreal view of work in progress. The plate and knife in the foreground are not the remains of my dinner (I'm lazy, but not that lazy!), they've been used for mixing paint...
Last night I got them all glued into place:
Alas, the garden hasn't doubled in size as the background suggests, we've just taken more of the battered old fence down in readiness for putting up a new one in a couple of weeks' time - I must run some trains to make the most of the photographic opportunities...
Anyway, I wondered whether you might like to meet some of the Summer Car's passengers? Or, to put it more accurately, having spent so long creating little people that will barely be visible when the roof goes on, I'm going to share them with you anyway!
These two you'll recognise, and are carved up McDonalds toys:
I don't possess a black suit, but if I did I don't think I'd wear it with brown shoes. Maybe it's a Belgian thing? Like mayo on chips?
This chap used to spend his days running the Death Star for Darth Vader, but has seemingly retired to the Welsh Countryside to see out his days as some sort of farmer:
The change of scene doesn't appear to be suiting him - as a university friend used to say, "he's got a face like a bulldog licking p*ss off a thistle". This eloquent phrase would appear to apply equally well to the bulldog itself...
Perhaps the reason they're looking so narked is that, having boarded the 2:15 from Beddgelert and settled back to enjoy the view, they've found themselves sitting opposite these two:
Whilst they might look innocent enough (the one on the right bears a resemblance to my Grandpa in his church-going tweed jacket), in fact the woman is none other than chief Death Star blower-upper Mon Mothma, and I think her other half has leanings in that direction too. My children can't look at her without quoting her memorable (well, to them) phrase "many Bothans died to bring us this information" - it's unclear whether that information related to weaknesses in the Death Star's defences or simply the fact that the 2:15 is runing 20 minutes late because of sheep on the line at Pont Croesor...
Finally, you might like to meet these two, Hubert Wheeller and Bill Minion:
Their presence on the train means that it must be the 8th August 1935, when the pair of them rode and photographed the line, as recorded in Peter Liddell's excellent book "Wheeller's Day", published by the Welsh Highland Heritage Group.
Here's what Minnion and Wheeller actually looked like, in a photo copied from the book:
You'll see that my figures are hardly an exact likeness, but they pay homage to two friends' adventure all those years ago...
That's all for now. The Summer Car's almost complete, just varnishing, glazing, and the roof to go...
Cheers,
Andrew.
This week I've been painting the figures for the WHR Summer Car. I've done loads of these before, but I'm still surprised how long it takes...
Here's a pleasingly surreal view of work in progress. The plate and knife in the foreground are not the remains of my dinner (I'm lazy, but not that lazy!), they've been used for mixing paint...
Last night I got them all glued into place:
Alas, the garden hasn't doubled in size as the background suggests, we've just taken more of the battered old fence down in readiness for putting up a new one in a couple of weeks' time - I must run some trains to make the most of the photographic opportunities...
Anyway, I wondered whether you might like to meet some of the Summer Car's passengers? Or, to put it more accurately, having spent so long creating little people that will barely be visible when the roof goes on, I'm going to share them with you anyway!
These two you'll recognise, and are carved up McDonalds toys:
I don't possess a black suit, but if I did I don't think I'd wear it with brown shoes. Maybe it's a Belgian thing? Like mayo on chips?
This chap used to spend his days running the Death Star for Darth Vader, but has seemingly retired to the Welsh Countryside to see out his days as some sort of farmer:
The change of scene doesn't appear to be suiting him - as a university friend used to say, "he's got a face like a bulldog licking p*ss off a thistle". This eloquent phrase would appear to apply equally well to the bulldog itself...
Perhaps the reason they're looking so narked is that, having boarded the 2:15 from Beddgelert and settled back to enjoy the view, they've found themselves sitting opposite these two:
Whilst they might look innocent enough (the one on the right bears a resemblance to my Grandpa in his church-going tweed jacket), in fact the woman is none other than chief Death Star blower-upper Mon Mothma, and I think her other half has leanings in that direction too. My children can't look at her without quoting her memorable (well, to them) phrase "many Bothans died to bring us this information" - it's unclear whether that information related to weaknesses in the Death Star's defences or simply the fact that the 2:15 is runing 20 minutes late because of sheep on the line at Pont Croesor...
Finally, you might like to meet these two, Hubert Wheeller and Bill Minion:
Their presence on the train means that it must be the 8th August 1935, when the pair of them rode and photographed the line, as recorded in Peter Liddell's excellent book "Wheeller's Day", published by the Welsh Highland Heritage Group.
Here's what Minnion and Wheeller actually looked like, in a photo copied from the book:
You'll see that my figures are hardly an exact likeness, but they pay homage to two friends' adventure all those years ago...
That's all for now. The Summer Car's almost complete, just varnishing, glazing, and the roof to go...
Cheers,
Andrew.
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Peter Butler
- Driver
- Posts: 5234
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
- Location: West Wales
Lovely... back stories too!
Today I was at a Toy and Train Fair and asked a stall holder for heads. No problem, she said, 'We get all sorts of figures delivered in various forms of destruction and when we see you next (two weeks) we will bring some for you'. So all I need to do is add, or modify, bodies.
The things you do in the name of a hobby!
Today I was at a Toy and Train Fair and asked a stall holder for heads. No problem, she said, 'We get all sorts of figures delivered in various forms of destruction and when we see you next (two weeks) we will bring some for you'. So all I need to do is add, or modify, bodies.
The things you do in the name of a hobby!
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?
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Soar Valley Light
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- Location: North West Leicestershire
Peter/Andrew,
I'm sure Dr Frankenstein would be proud of you both!
Andrew's efforts look very good and stand up well to the close scrutiny of the camera lense. Like Peter, I love the back stories, it's details like this that make a railway for me.
Well done and keep up the good work (and the pictures of it!)
Andrew
I'm sure Dr Frankenstein would be proud of you both!
Andrew's efforts look very good and stand up well to the close scrutiny of the camera lense. Like Peter, I love the back stories, it's details like this that make a railway for me.
Well done and keep up the good work (and the pictures of it!)
Andrew
"Smith! Why do you only come to work four days a week?
"'cause I can't manage on three gaffer!"
"'cause I can't manage on three gaffer!"
Hello!
Glad you like my efforts! I feel I ought to clarify that the back stories you've been enjoying relate to the original figures - I've not been crafting strange science fiction epics linking the goings on a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away with those of inter-war Snowdonia. Although I am reading Kurt Vonnegut at the moment, so maybe it wouldn't be entirely surprising...
Back when I started in 16mm there weren't many commercially available 16mm figures, and Star Wars toys hadn't become crazily collectible, so those were what folk used. I didn't question it and have collected squillions of them and their ilk over the years - but now I find that they're actually probably a little on the large side. They'd mostly be 6 footers, with very broad shoulders, so you'd only fit 3 abreast in a WHR carriage (which is what they reckon on now, but it was 4 originally, with a summer carriage carrying 56) and they'd all bump their heads. Nevermind, better overscale than under I think...
Like you Peter I spend a lot of time trawling for figures - the charity shops have yielded a lot of McDonalds TinTin figures in recent years, and (strange arm positions aside) those are great. I was delighted when, at the recent West Somerset Railway gala, a train rolled into the platform driven by a bearded chap dressed just like my Captain Haddock figure, with a big sweater under his jacket. "Russell" will be gaining a driver very shortly...
And yes, Dr Frankenstein's pretty accurate. There's been an awful lot on cutting, gluing and filling - Bill Minion features Indiana Jones's body with Lando Calrisian's head, with his distinctively prominent ears added in Milliput!
He and Hubert Wheeller are the only ones with a real back story of course, joining Tom Rolt in the buffet car and Gladstone in "his" carriage. I'm running out of "real" WHR characters, but might add Welsh costumed Miriam Jones at one of the stations, and perhaps research some of the train crew a little... There's a nice photo of a little boy with a toy engine waiting for a train at Nantmor, so he and his family might end up riding in a future carriage too...
All the best,
Andrew.
Glad you like my efforts! I feel I ought to clarify that the back stories you've been enjoying relate to the original figures - I've not been crafting strange science fiction epics linking the goings on a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away with those of inter-war Snowdonia. Although I am reading Kurt Vonnegut at the moment, so maybe it wouldn't be entirely surprising...
Back when I started in 16mm there weren't many commercially available 16mm figures, and Star Wars toys hadn't become crazily collectible, so those were what folk used. I didn't question it and have collected squillions of them and their ilk over the years - but now I find that they're actually probably a little on the large side. They'd mostly be 6 footers, with very broad shoulders, so you'd only fit 3 abreast in a WHR carriage (which is what they reckon on now, but it was 4 originally, with a summer carriage carrying 56) and they'd all bump their heads. Nevermind, better overscale than under I think...
Like you Peter I spend a lot of time trawling for figures - the charity shops have yielded a lot of McDonalds TinTin figures in recent years, and (strange arm positions aside) those are great. I was delighted when, at the recent West Somerset Railway gala, a train rolled into the platform driven by a bearded chap dressed just like my Captain Haddock figure, with a big sweater under his jacket. "Russell" will be gaining a driver very shortly...
And yes, Dr Frankenstein's pretty accurate. There's been an awful lot on cutting, gluing and filling - Bill Minion features Indiana Jones's body with Lando Calrisian's head, with his distinctively prominent ears added in Milliput!
He and Hubert Wheeller are the only ones with a real back story of course, joining Tom Rolt in the buffet car and Gladstone in "his" carriage. I'm running out of "real" WHR characters, but might add Welsh costumed Miriam Jones at one of the stations, and perhaps research some of the train crew a little... There's a nice photo of a little boy with a toy engine waiting for a train at Nantmor, so he and his family might end up riding in a future carriage too...
All the best,
Andrew.
Hello again,
With plenty of work to do bringing the railway up to scratch I thought the Permanent Way Department could do with some assistance. I quite like building a quick kit between lengthy scratchbuilds too, so over the last week or two I put this Swift Sixteen kit together:
The old Welsh Highland didn't own anything like this beastie, so it's been allocated to the current line's predecessor the West Kent Light Railway, which lingers on as an excuse for all sorts of frivolity...
It needed a load, and I plan to make several including something that might look good in a works train, but for now it's carrying this dodgy looking cargo:
It's actually a crate of those little canisters of nitrous oxide that teenagers leave all over the street, so I hope that no disastrous derailments befall the train or the entire population of Beddgelert might die laughing...
Cheers,
Andrew.
With plenty of work to do bringing the railway up to scratch I thought the Permanent Way Department could do with some assistance. I quite like building a quick kit between lengthy scratchbuilds too, so over the last week or two I put this Swift Sixteen kit together:
The old Welsh Highland didn't own anything like this beastie, so it's been allocated to the current line's predecessor the West Kent Light Railway, which lingers on as an excuse for all sorts of frivolity...
It needed a load, and I plan to make several including something that might look good in a works train, but for now it's carrying this dodgy looking cargo:
It's actually a crate of those little canisters of nitrous oxide that teenagers leave all over the street, so I hope that no disastrous derailments befall the train or the entire population of Beddgelert might die laughing...
Cheers,
Andrew.
Last edited by Andrew on Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Peter Butler
- Driver
- Posts: 5234
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
- Location: West Wales
Evening all,
Finally, over 18 months after I started it, I reckon I can finally declare my WHR "Summer Car" complete - I managed to grab a quick photo just before the rain started:
It feels like an awfully long time to spend on such a basic vehicle (I should've come up with a Pullman or an observation car in that amount of time!) but it's a reasonably accurate interpretation of the real thing, and it should look nice trundling behind Russell or 590...
The windows (but not the doors) are glazed, by the way, you just can't tell from the picture. When the sun comes out I'll take it for a run - in the meantime I'll crack on with finishing the NWNGR 4 wheelers, which should be finished in the next few days...
Cheers all,
Andrew.
Finally, over 18 months after I started it, I reckon I can finally declare my WHR "Summer Car" complete - I managed to grab a quick photo just before the rain started:
It feels like an awfully long time to spend on such a basic vehicle (I should've come up with a Pullman or an observation car in that amount of time!) but it's a reasonably accurate interpretation of the real thing, and it should look nice trundling behind Russell or 590...
The windows (but not the doors) are glazed, by the way, you just can't tell from the picture. When the sun comes out I'll take it for a run - in the meantime I'll crack on with finishing the NWNGR 4 wheelers, which should be finished in the next few days...
Cheers all,
Andrew.
-
Soar Valley Light
- Driver
- Posts: 1451
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:18 pm
- Location: North West Leicestershire
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Peter Butler
- Driver
- Posts: 5234
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
- Location: West Wales
I'll second what Peter said, specially relating to the wear on the steps. A point not often modeled and yet quite common. I've always liked the look of those cars (unfortunately too small for my loading gauge ) and your model certainly reflects the pictures I've seen of them. Well done Andrew.
Grant.
Grant.
Hi Andrew.
Beautiful coach. You certainly know how to make a new built coach look how it should on a working railway. We both seem to enjoy building NWNG stock but have different ends as my stock looks to be new straight from the workshop whilst yours look 'lived in'.
What do you cover your roofs with. I like my cream roofs but want to cover them with a 16mm to the foot 'canvas', not something that looks 300mm to the foot bed sheet? Or does that look ok?
David
Beautiful coach. You certainly know how to make a new built coach look how it should on a working railway. We both seem to enjoy building NWNG stock but have different ends as my stock looks to be new straight from the workshop whilst yours look 'lived in'.
What do you cover your roofs with. I like my cream roofs but want to cover them with a 16mm to the foot 'canvas', not something that looks 300mm to the foot bed sheet? Or does that look ok?
David
David T.
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Peter Butler
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- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
- Location: West Wales
Hi all,
Glad you like it! Yes, a little wear and tear on the footboards is a favourite trick of mine - there's something about it that feels like it has to have been made by the passage of little feet and makes the thing seem more real as a result.
David, yes, I do like 'em "lived in", although I wasn't planning much in the way of weathering on this one. I get the impression that these carriages were relatively well looked after - they seem to have be repainted fairly regularly, I think they were kept inside the carriage shed out of season, and Colonel Stephens employed carriage cleaners. I possibly got a little carried away, but I'm pleased with the result, it looks "right" sitting out in the garden. I'd go with Peter's advice re roof canvas - I've tried a variety of materials including old sheets, old T shirts and cotton specially purchased for the job, but find that some of them fluff when paint is applied - the problem is I can't remember which ones!
All the best,
Andrew.
Glad you like it! Yes, a little wear and tear on the footboards is a favourite trick of mine - there's something about it that feels like it has to have been made by the passage of little feet and makes the thing seem more real as a result.
David, yes, I do like 'em "lived in", although I wasn't planning much in the way of weathering on this one. I get the impression that these carriages were relatively well looked after - they seem to have be repainted fairly regularly, I think they were kept inside the carriage shed out of season, and Colonel Stephens employed carriage cleaners. I possibly got a little carried away, but I'm pleased with the result, it looks "right" sitting out in the garden. I'd go with Peter's advice re roof canvas - I've tried a variety of materials including old sheets, old T shirts and cotton specially purchased for the job, but find that some of them fluff when paint is applied - the problem is I can't remember which ones!
All the best,
Andrew.
Hello again,
Over the last couple of evenings I managed to finish off the two NWNGR four wheelers that I've been working on for a while - and here they are:
And an interior view - I'll have to add some figures at some point, and some leather straps for the droplights:
They're sitting in the garden as I type because I'd hoped to run a train to test them out later this afternoon. Instead some last minute visitors have decided to join us this evening and stay the night, so I'll be tidying and bed-making instead of playing trains...
Andrew.
Over the last couple of evenings I managed to finish off the two NWNGR four wheelers that I've been working on for a while - and here they are:
And an interior view - I'll have to add some figures at some point, and some leather straps for the droplights:
They're sitting in the garden as I type because I'd hoped to run a train to test them out later this afternoon. Instead some last minute visitors have decided to join us this evening and stay the night, so I'll be tidying and bed-making instead of playing trains...
Andrew.
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tom_tom_go
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