'Invicta' - a quick photo survey

It is always interesting when a 15" gauge locomotive emerges from a prolonged period of hibernation, and whilst not as exciting as some of the potential hidden delights that may exist, the unique Maxitrax 'Invicta' has recently arrived at the Sherwood Forest Railway for testing and a longer-term residency. She has been on display over the Easter weekend and was kindly rolled out of the shed by Bob Colley into better light for photography.

Built in the late 1980s for the original incarnation of the Markeaton Park railway in Derby, I saw her in the shed there in 1996 but for some reason did not take a photograph, despite other pictures being taken. Not long afterwards loco and two coaches moved to one of the Gullivers theme parks where it is not clear how much use was ever made of her over many years. 

Now nearing the end of a full restoration the paintwork is gleaming, so much so you can see my reflection in the shot below! 

The compact nature of the loco is ideally suited to the SFR and the existing rolling stock, suitable air braking equipment is fitted and we should see passenger use in due course when the railway opens it's extension and a two train service is run. I'm informed there have already been test runs along the new length of line out of the way of service trains.

There are still a few finishing touches to make, including cab front and rear windows and surrounds, and a cover for the air intake on the bonnet side. The cab is compact and emphasises how us modellers have issues getting driver figures to fit in O9 locomotive models, the seat is about a foot from the floor so your knees are going to be in the air, a posture rarely offered in model form...

Another important detail for modellers, the suspension and axle boxes. Just in case you are wondering, the wheelbase is 2ft and overall length just over 6ft. You would need a tiny chassis for an O9 model (it definitely won't fit a Kato 11-109!) but it would be a reasonable build on a SPUD or Underground Ernie chassis in 1/24th scale...

Many thanks to Bob and David Colley at the Sherwood Forest Railway - and a plug for the railway's new hot food selection on weekends and Nottinghamshire school holidays.

Colin

Rails on Planet Hex

Back in October I completed my Doctor Who micro-diorama on a hexagonal base measuring 7cm between each set of flat edges in order to fit within my display cabinet. A second base was cut from MDF as a "just in case" and whilst not used at the time it was actively considered for a Christmas scene and a suitable tree was even sourced. 

I had wondered for a while whether such a tiny base could accommodate any meaningful railway scene so in an odd moment or two I created almost the seasonal opposite of what was previously intended!

Construction is very similar to the methods used for the Tardis Scene the track went in first with 5mm foam core board segments either side that were carved to shape and then blended in with modelling clay. Track was weathered and ballasted, before a base surface texture mix was added followed by the same fine sand used on Shifting Sands. This was laid liberally over a layer of PVA, allowing it to overflow into the ballasted areas and then matt medium used to fix the layer for a natural look.

The base will just accommodate a small O9 loco, in this case the recently completed Motor Rail. The grasses are a mixture of Silfor tufts and Peco 10mm grasses, cut from strips as I did not have suitable tufts in stock. A little pruning with nail scissors increased the variety of lengths. All grasses were dry-brushed with a light green/grey acrylic paint which really helps take off any sheen. Finally MIG 'Beach Sand' weathering powder was used over the sand to lighten it and add variety to the colouring.

I'm really pleased with the result, there may be more scenic modelling to come soon...

Colin

 

422 Variations

Work on the 422 Modelmaking wagons continues. Having proved the concept to modify the axleboxes on the spare chassis, I have now modified both of the other chassis castings. In this view one is lined  up with a modified Peco chassis, and the sad remains of it's old body! The Peco chassis has been modified to accept the Mathieson 7mm wheelsets which required removal of all brake gear, and opening out the holes above each wheel to be fully rectangular. 

 

The modified 422 chassis has the axleboxes modified and if you look carefully in the centre of the tubes you can see the dodge I have employed to mimic the end of the axle. This uses a moulding from the Dapol railbus kit, cutting the round mouldings off the parts on the left of the sprue, reducing some in size a little to match the others. By drilling out the back of the tubes I could insert this and give the impression of an axle in the bearing.

 

Once the axleboxes were sorted out I glued the chassis to the bodies using Araldite, clamping where necessary to bring everything together with minimal gaps. I then opted to add some extra details in further individualise the models, adding some basic hinge details to the drop-side wagon and handles either end of the one-plank to allow the body to be removed Heywood-style.

A closer view of the handles, formed from 0.7mm brass wire. With the 0.7mm drill bit out I also drilled the bufferbeams to accommodate Grandt Line 1 1/2" NBW mouldings to break up the plain surface. Not visible are the two holes drilled underneath the chassis on the centreline at each end, 1.5mm apart, ready to secure Greenwich couplers in due course.

Both wagons are now cleaned up and ready to paint. The third chassis with the experimental (and indeed removed) axleboxes is being brought into line detail wise and a body is planned using some recycled material... 

Colin

422 Wagonry in Resin

Having completed the Motor Rail/Simplex and with my mind telling me it was an 18" gauge loco rather than 15" gauge, I felt the need for the some suitable rolling stock for it to work with. Having followed the development of the 422 Modelmaking range of resin cast O9 wagons, Narrow Gauge North provided the first opportunity to see them in the resin, so to speak...  

I chose to sample one of the 1-plank fixed plank and a 2-plank dropside variations along with a few spare bits and pieces. The castings are relatively clean, requiring some fettling of flash around the bottom edge of the bodies and top of the chassis, and a quick sand on flat 400 grit wet and dry paper to level off these surfaces ready for assembly. After cleaning up the castings I posed them for the camera.

The chassis are designed to sit on Peco N gauge 10ft chassis with their buffers removed and weight still attached above, so a suitable example was purloined from the stores. Bearing in mind this is sat on the flanges and not on rails, the axleboxes are quite low to the ground and do seem a little large compared to the wheels (which admittedly you cannot really see!).

I appreciate the need to hide the Peco undergubbins but I decided that this area required a little further consideration. I did purchase a spare chassis and also a version without axleboxes. This has allowed me some room for experimentation, the earliest of which was to see if the axleboxes could be cut off an shortened in height, not a resounding success... On the opposite side of the chassis I squared off the bottom of the axleboxes with the idea a square cover could be added along the lines of the Heywood or Theakston axleboxes. This is the state of play on the right of the photo.

Some further thought produced the option on the left. By carefully drilling with a 3mm drill bit and some gentle opening out with a round file I could insert a length of Evergreen 3.2mm tube. The remains of the cast axlebox from the halfway point of the tube downwards was removed, co-incidentally lining up with the triangular support gusset either side. The hole needs filling with a slightly protruding length of rod to resemble the axle end.

I will probably opt for this option as the end result will not be too dissimilar to the Black Dog Mining style axleboxes on other O9 models. It also has a clear lineage to the originals in terms of shape etc.

Colin

 

Finishing Touches for Number 6

Work progresses on the FK3D Motor Rail 'Simplex', firstly with a little weathering... 

Initially I focussed on the underframe, where I first sprayed with Humbrol matt varnish before starting the weathering itself. To achieve this relatively easily I used post-it notes to mask off the bodywork during the spraying. This gave a much flatter base to work the weathering into, including colour washes, dry-brushing and a few oily/wet patches. On the bodywork some lighter blue was dry-brushed around the body edges to give a lightly-worn effect and weathering applied to the grilles, chimney/exhaust and air tank on the bonnet top. 

Once I was happy with the weathering I glued the driver into place using the pin in his posterior in the hole drilled into the seat support, having to clamp him down whilst the glue dried as otherwise he did not sit into the seat properly. Unfortunately his feet don't quite touch the floor but I'm not sure what I can do about that! The cab roof was then glued in place and again had to be clamped as it had a slight bow to it. 

At this stage I had thought I was finished but having revisited David Malton's drawing in the Railway Modeller I realised that 'Druid' retained the Motor Rail handrail at the bonnet end despite there being nowhere for someone to really stand and hold on for dear life! I therefore fabricated one from 0.9mm brass wire and soldered it together in an improvised jig.

 

After cleaning up the soldered joints the handrail was blackened and then painted to a faded black finish and sealed with matt varnish, before carefully gluing in place into two carefully pre-drilled holes on the front footplate.

Photography of the completed loco on the mini-diorama and 'The Headshunt' shows how well the Kato chassis vanishes into the murk in layout conditions. I believe taking the skirting away from the base of the print has really made a difference in this area. However, the finished loco is currently residing in the display cabinet on a shelf at eye level, where the chassis is all too conspicuous...

Colin

Simplex Number 6

Since I last posted about the FK3D 'Druid' print a couple of weeks ago I've been busy with the paintbrushes and masking tape and the result is an LCLR-style Simplex. One of the downsides of the (almost) all-in-one print is that delicate masking is required between the underframe and the bonnet/cab areas to get a neat result, but well worth the effort. 

The blue is Citadel Lothern blue as used on my 009 LCLR coach and loco, applied in three coats with the paint thinned as required to help alleviate brush marks. The red and black from Vallejo, the latter reduced in blackness with a spot of WW1 beige. The whistle was picked out in Vallejo brass whilst the printed oval plates on the cab sides and rear, which had troubled me at first, were painted black with white boltheads to complement the numbering, taken from a Replica Railways 4mm scale 'Rail Express Systems' rub-down sheet. Number 6 reflects the running number of 'Druid' at the ALR, despite this being a freelance interpretation.

The cab interior was treated with a coat of thinned black-grey and then various items were picked out in different colours. This was actually quite tricky to reach some of the features. The driver figure is the Monty's 'Industrial Driver' figure that I had prepared for the O9 railcar last year but didn't use as he was slightly on the tall side. A length of 1mm brass wire was Araldited in a hole drilled in his posterior and a corresponding hole drilled down the seat support to accept it. Milliput was used to add some "shape" to fill the bucket seat in the cab (Thinking about it, I may have flattened out his original shape for the railbus project...).

The driver has had a touch-in on the original paint job and a waft of Humbrol matt varnish. The loco itself has had a coat of Halfords matt varnish but is actually quite satin. I'm hoping this can be knocked back with some careful weathering and since taking the photos I started this process by masking the bodywork with post-it notes and spraying the Humbrol matt varnish over the underframe, which has the immediate effect of knocking back the shine.

Colin

 

A Simple Simplex

The FK3D 'Druid' print has been selected as my next O9 project and outwardly it really did not need much work as it stood, just the removal of the support struts in the cab openings. However to add a touch of individuality I opted to remove the skirting under the underframe and around the axleboxes by a combination of cutting an drilling. A fine razor saw was used to make 6 cuts on each side, behind each re-railing bar and either side of the axleboxes. I then scored along the top edge with a craft knife and drilled out a series of holes to weaken the skirt. With a pair of pliers I could then cleanly remove the excess and clean up the edges using an emery board files and wet and dry sandpaper. 

Whilst this approach reveals a lot more of the Kato 11-109 chassis I feel it also makes the loco look a lot better when sat on the track, as the rails are visible and it looks less like it is hovering. The fuel tank and ladder on the side of the Kato chassis have been cut away to make it less obvious at a casual glance.

The only other change I have made is to strengthen the top edges of the cab sides with a length of 0.5mm handrail wire formed into a long 'U' section between the ends, just visible here after primer had been applied. The fine cab detail of the print is clearly visible, I have adapted a driver figure but he is being camera-shy at the moment. 

The print has had an initial coat of plastic primer followed by a rub down, a small amount of filling on the cab front to hide a print line and then a second coat of grey primer. It really has been that simple. The intention is to use a Lincolnshire Coast LR style light blue livery, I've always felt that 'Druid' had a lot in common with the LCLR style!

More soon...

Colin