Thursday 6 September 2012

Cab details and a crew

Part finished cab interior detail
 The cab of a NW Coal Tank is a crowded and busy place. I decided to model the cab detail from the drawing of the cab fittings c.1891 in Peter Skellon's recent book on the Coal Tanks published by the Bahamas Society. This is prior to the fitting of carriage warming equipment which further complicated the interior pipework. Most of the castings I've used in the cab are from LGM, these are invaluable though some need a little modification. I tried to find some suitable commercially available 4ft toolboxes for the engine, without success. So I decided to fabricate a master pattern then make a mould and cast myself a pair in white metal. The pattern sits, as yet unfinished, on the bunker; below is some of the coal, embeded in a Milliput former, which will eventually spill out onto the floor of the cab.



The crew are almost complete.  




The crew are designed to make the best use of a very cramped space, I've based the fireman's pose on  several photos of Coal Tanks with the driver or fireman straddling the cover over the pipework that connects the side tanks to the bunker. The driver in contrast is busy looking through the spectacle plate window and adjusting his cap; his left leg rests on  the top of one of the wooden boxes, provided for the crew to stand on, that flanked the backhead.

The "Crew for an LNWR Coal Tank" will soon be available in my "Heroes of the Footplate" range of 1:43 scale figures.

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