Freelance Coach Rake of the RHLR

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Freelance Coach Rake of the RHLR

Post by ace » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:45 pm

Hi Folks,

The significance of this rake is quite important. Its origins go back to 1995 when I had a brand new RH Billy and needed something to pull. The first coach was bought and built by myself as a 13 year old boy, the coach in question? A Brandbright PS16 panelled freelance luggage brake coach. This was the first introduction into building coaches for 16mm, and I really enjoyed it. This was shortly followed by a Brandbright PS21 3 compartment passenger coach in 1996. The rake was crudely decorated by yours truly and still stand in the same décor to this day.

Here they both are in all their glory stood in 2013 for some website photos. Sadly I did not think of taking any during building. :(

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Here is Billy in 2010 warming up ready to haul the two Brandbright coaches inside during the darkness of winter.

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In more recent times, over the last 2 years, the rake has steadily expanded from two coaches to four, by means of help from IP Engineering. Credit where is is due the kits from IP Engineering are good, but not as good as the Brandbright kits of a few years ago. That all said, you get what you pay for.

The first new addition was a total steal on ebay. It is a short, four wheeled, open sided, third class, two compartment coach. If I remember correctly the auction finished at a silly time (something like 2am) so I bagged it for the humble sum of £7 odd. I built it up and found that all the sides and bottom were twisting out of shape, so I clamped it up and glued it all together. Mysteriously it came with some plastic wheels, and the usual quarry axle boxes and brass bushes. The roof is mild steel and made the whole thing ridiculously top heavy. Initially I glued the roof on with cyanoacrylate, but with all the derailments and subsequent 'fallings over' due to the terrible centre of gravity, this was not to last.

In short this coach was bloody awful. It was top heavy, didn't free roll very well and was slowly twisting back to shape so was rocking on the diagonal. Several attempts to correct the rocking were made with shims under the axle-boxes , but it would slowly change. This coach was shelved for some time.

Here is the IP Engineering short coach stood on a rare run with the other earlier Brandbright coaches

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Here is the short IP Engineering coach stood with its brand new sister.

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This follows on nicely to a purchase in spring 2013 of the IP Engineering 3 compartment coach kit. I bought this one direct from IPE, and is one of the last ply made kits that they produced (later swapped to MDF).

Here is the kit on delivery with a new Rapier electric loco.

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Titan bringing in the parts to the works.

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This coach was assembled and was without a roof for some months. The plastic roof that came supplied, I could just not work with. I ruined it trying to make it removable for easy access inside for placing figures and props. It took me some time to actually buy a piece of plywood to make a roof that I could form arches to make this possible.

Here are the formers for the arched ply roof.

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All glued and resting in my new roof jig.

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The finished article.

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And fitted.

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The idea for this rake was to simulate the growth of the line and the requirement for more carriages, therefore it was decided to buy the IP Engineering coaches because they were slightly different in appearance yet retaining the same style or origins.

Looking proud behind Billy

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During the course of the next few posts, I'll update you all with things of how they are now and what the future plans will be. The rake is expanding and has plans to expand further and also have a totally different appearance, loosing the 'cartoon colours' of the early brandbright coaches.

Stay tuned folks!:)
Last edited by ace on Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ace » Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:25 pm

Hi folks,

Following the introduction of my freelance rake, some work has been done on and off for a little while. Initially I wanted things to run smoothly, so the short, open sided, ip engineering coach required some work. I bought some ip engineering steel wheel sets for fitment and decided to fix the axle boxes by use of nuts and bolts.

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Removed the old wheels

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Chiseled out for some compensating of the axle boxes, to allow for the now subsided twist.

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And fitted it all back together.

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I then went about refitting the roof with some brackets I cut from some brass angle and riveted and bolted in place.

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And changed the colour of the roofs.

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The next thing to be done was to lower the centre of gravity by adding some weight in the form of some lead flashing that I had.

Screwed to the bottom.

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Now it rolls level and without wanting to throw itself off the track at every opportunity. A result! :)

(Edited to change image host)
Last edited by ace on Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by kandnwlr » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:19 pm

Next steps please :o

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Post by ace » Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:20 pm

The next simple thing that I did to the rake of four was to change the roof colours. Black was ok, but I think cream suits them better.

Before,

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After,

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Then I saw about installing some lighting in the closed ones. The guards/luggage coach already had a very primitive set up I had made as a 13 year old with some LED's so I decided to finish what I had started and install it properly throughout them all.

My previous attempt with limited materials, worked well enough though! ;)

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It was a basic set up with two led's a battery box and some garden wire. So I used the same power supply, fitted a switch and mounted the LED's in a better place and used some proper wire.

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And on the back of the guards coach I fitted a lamp.

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All linked up

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I then repeated the process with the other two closed coaches.

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Wired slightly differently, just because....

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I have made a 'in the dark' video showing off the lights. More on that to come. :)

(edited to change image host)
Last edited by ace on Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by MDLR » Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:49 pm

That lighting setup took me back to my first lit coaches, done the same way but with the battery box underneath between the axles and the stitch in one corner.......... I used a white star from a sheet of wagon transfers to remind me where the switch was!
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Post by Woodfields Light Railway » Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:08 am

Are these brand bright coaches easyish to build?
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Post by Woodfields Light Railway » Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:09 am

Or should I go down the IP engineering route?
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Post by ace » Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:00 am

Woodfields Light Railway:97802 wrote:Are these brand bright coaches easyish to build?
The brandbright coaches are the last two on the 'before' picture. They are slightly lighter in colour than the newer IP Engineering ones.

In terms of what is easiest to build, I cannot say. My brandbright coaches are of 1995 vintage. The overlays are card and the wood parts were not laser cut. I don't remember them being difficult to build but would be unfair to comment as the new brandbright coaches are totally different. I am planning on getting one of the 'new' brandbright coaches in the not to distant future.
Woodfields Light Railway:97803 wrote:Or should I go down the IP engineering route?
It is up to you, I like the ip engineering kits for value as they come with all the necessary building parts like axle boxes, wheels and buffers, but they do lack the interior detail that the brandbright coaches now have. If money were no object, personally, I'd buy the brandbright coaches.

That is not to say that the ip engineering are any lesser in quality - I like the slightly larger size of the PS22 3 compartment coach.

I bought these ip engineering coaches so that the rake was not all totally the same, but of the same style. I don't like rakes of exactly the same coach, in my opinion they are a little boring, but that's just me. :)
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Post by ace » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:01 pm

I had a little accident the other day whilst bringing back the train for a pass, whilst making the film for the lighting. I guess these things happen! :roll:

:oops:


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(edited to change image host & update youtube embed)
Last edited by ace on Wed Nov 01, 2017 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Keith S » Sat Mar 15, 2014 6:09 pm

The IP coaches are easier to build. The Brandbright ones nowadays are built up from several layers and have detailed interiors that add a lot of steps to the building process, because there dis some painting to do before you assemble the whole thing. One nice thing about them though is that the whole coach cleverly locks together using tabs and slots so it's easy to make sure the whole thing is square.

Ace, how do the IP ones compare size-wise to the Brandbright ones? I might buy an IP one to match the Brandbright one I have.

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Post by ace » Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:10 pm

Keith S:97822 wrote:The IP coaches are easier to build. The Brandbright ones nowadays are built up from several layers and have detailed interiors that add a lot of steps to the building process, because there dis some painting to do before you assemble the whole thing. One nice thing about them though is that the whole coach cleverly locks together using tabs and slots so it's easy to make sure the whole thing is square.

Ace, how do the IP ones compare size-wise to the Brandbright ones? I might buy an IP one to match the Brandbright one I have.
I like the sound of the layering, kinda makes it idiot proof to build (that is what I need!).

Keith what are the current Brandbright kits made from? My old ones are ply and the newest ip engineering is mdf. Personally I like ply, how well do the Brandbright kits go together?

Size wise the IP engineering 3 compartment coach is not far off a spot on match for the Brandbright. It is a few cm shorter, see image. But like I said, the difference is hardly noticeable when they are being pulled along. One just looks a bit different than the other.

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(edited to change image host)
Last edited by ace on Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by williamfj » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:41 pm

Like how you've done the lighting ace, I might have to copy you!

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Post by laalratty » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:45 pm

The IP coaches are a bit taller then the Brandbright coaches, and the difference in width is negligible. To my eyes, they look ok in the same train.
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Post by Keith S » Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:53 pm

OK maybe next time I buy a coach I'll try an IP one just for variety. I have some of their NWNGR coaches already for this train so it's already a bit of a mix-up anyway.

Ace, the Brandbright ones are ply of varying thicknesses. The buffers are steel and the handrails and door handles are cast brass. The kits are in my opinion worth the extra money. The sides are composed of three layers, four if you count the overlay fretting: Decorated interior panels for each compartment, then a "glazing spacer", then the main panel, then the decorative fretting. The individual windows are cut to size already (not a strip but separate window panes) and you don't need glue to install the glazing, it's held in by the different layers. The droplight frames are applied separately and have little straps on the insides. There is even a little picture-frame provided, with a little railway time-table and some steam locomotive pictures to go in the frames, although you could put anything you like in there. The under frame consists of sole bars glued to the underside of the floor like an IP kit, but Brandbright ones come with tabs that lock the sole bars into the frames and onto the buffer-beam, so it's very rigid and impossible to assemble warped. All four wheels touch the ground at once.

The Brandbright kits are "easier" in the sense that they are all locked into a rigid box with clever tabs and slots, so you can be sure of a good fit. They are "harder" in the sense that they have a great many more parts to fit.

They are great kits, but if you want the full effect there is a lot more painting than a simpler one, because you decorate the interior and paint the sides and bottom separately before assembly.

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Post by ace » Sun Mar 16, 2014 11:18 pm

williamfj:97833 wrote:Like how you've done the lighting ace, I might have to copy you!
Thanks William, you carry on. I doubt I am the first and certainly not the last. :)

Thanks for the size and building infor Laalratty & Keith. I am pretty sold on the new Brandbright coach idea now. :)

Right then, here is the video of the night running. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. :)



(edited to correct embed video)
Last edited by ace on Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ace » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:39 pm

The rake is growing...

I ordered a two compartment luggage coach from ip engineering to compliment the rake.

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Here it is going together. Sadly it is a MDF version, but it gives me an idea for changing the colour scheme as the MDF will never have a wood grain effect.


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Sadly the coach sides came in wrong twice, but Ivor from ip engineering sorted it all out in the end.

Here are the overlays in their new colours, it made sense to paint them first.

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All primed up ready for the top coats.

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(edited to change image host)
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Post by Soar Valley Light » Sun Apr 06, 2014 8:01 pm

Hi ACE,

That's coming along a treat. Looks like a really nice job, thanks for sharing the detail photos of your efforts.

I'm no stranger to kit building - well, I've done plenty in the past , about a thousand years ago! That was in much smaller scales though. Now I'm about to embark on modelling again after more years away from the hobby than I care to count and in a a scale I've never worked in before, I find myself slightly nervous about taking the plunge and getting on with it. Postings such as yours are a real inspiration to the likes of me.

Thanks again and keep up the postings.

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Post by ace » Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:11 pm

So now it is time to finish off what we started (sorry I forgot to update this thread). The rake has grown with the purchase of another member, more on that later.

The colour scheme has now been finalised, and on reflection, looks a little better than the teak and maroon, a little more ‘narrow gauge’ I feel.

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And then with the black overlay.

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So now it was time to turn the rest into the same. A little more fiddly with the already fitted overlay details.

A little masking

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Add some more maroon

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And then the black detail

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And multiply by a few times….

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And for now that concludes the painting. I just need to build the last roof for the luggage coach and start the new one. :)

(edited to change image host)
Last edited by ace on Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ace » Mon Jun 02, 2014 11:32 pm

Well here is the next coach to join the rake, a directors saloon.

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Last edited by ace on Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Dr. Bond of the DVLR » Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:26 pm

great looking rake of carriages - will the salloon be the same scheme or contrasting as some others have done?
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