Indispensable "Aid to Wagon Building" now available.

W-iron etch with brake gear

Pete's newly designed W-Iron etch is specifically designed for Highland Railway rolling stock and is suitable for all 7mm scale stock with both 3' 1" and the larger 3' 7" wheels.  It is etched in 0.4 brass and provides compensated w-irons for one vehicle. 
 

The "rocking-axle" and compensation unit.

The fold-over axle box keeper plate should first be bent back on itself dry, without solder. The etched dimples are not intended for rivets to be pressed out, they are designed to be drilled 0.5mm when the plate is in position and a brass 0.8mm head rivet inserted and soldered in place. You can see how neat these look in the picture above. When using the larger 3' 7" wheels some material needs to be removed from the rocking-axle tray to allow the wheels clearance. You need to enlarge the slot in the tray behind the wheels to 8 x 16 mm with a piercing saw.

The rocking-axle tray in place with 3' 1" wheels

W-iron in place with 3' 1" wheels, brake shoe and lever from the etch, note the use of brass rivets on both keeper plate and brake shoe. Springs and axle boxes are castings available form myself.

The W-iron etch completes a recently constructed 8 ton double-deck sheep wagon, built from my own resin cast "aid to wagon building". 

The W-Iron etch is available price £10.50 + postage at cost £1.70 1st class or 0.87 2nd class.

Order 3 and it's post free.

To order e-mail Pete on armstrongps1@gmx.com

Scrap Tank, complete, painted and ready for action.

7mm scale Scrap Tank HR 23 in Drummond II livery.

No.23 has been built without the aid of a kit and with the help of only a few castings sourced from manufacturers lists. The chimney, which is not available commercially, is the sole 3D printed component, it's made from a robust material and once I'd managed to seat it properly, I thought it looked very well. I inadvertently filed the rivets off the flare while working on it and replaced them before painting with resin transfer rivets, which are about the right size. The model was painted with Phoenix P727 Highland Rly. Dark Green (1885-1912) which is no longer available, it was my last tin. Only the superstructure was airbrushed, the rest of the engine was hand painted with Humbrol matt paints. The frames were painted dark green to which I added a touch of talc and a little matt black to add depth to the detail under the footplate; all the hand painted areas were later brushed with a stiff bristled brush to enliven them. Brightwork was masked before painting began with Tamiya masking tape, helped along by W & N Masking Fluid. Transfers on the buffer beam and rear of the bunker are  Methfix ones by Guilplates, these have no carrying film and are my preference, however they are no longer produced and my supply is running low, so I had to resort to water-slide ones from Fox Transfers for the H . R on the side tanks. 

  

The lamp in front of the chimney is a casting by LGM with a lense made from epoxy glue. Photographic evidence suggests that lamps were rather haphazardly positioned rather than conforming to the rules, which required two lamps on the roof for a shunter or yard engine.

Rear view shows firebox tools on the roof on the fireman's side of the cab and real coal in the 1 3/4 Ton bunker. The rear buffer beam carries neither insignia nor a vacuum pipe, as these yard engines were not equipped with that braking system. The rear windows are protected by vertical bars which were soldered to the brass window surrounds. Coupling hooks are cut from chunky nickel silver sheet and sprung behind the buffer beam, links are formed from n/s wire on a jig.   

Large balance weights were cut from 0.4 n/s sheet and impressed with rivets.

The tools, tool box and the driver and fireman are my own sculpture, cast in white metal in my workshop, they are designed to enliven the confined space of the cab without crowding it.

I constructed the reverser from chunky nickel silver sheet and detailed the basic shape with bits and pieces before painting it. The floor is real wood strip, back-head castings are from LGM and 62C with modifications, the oil cans are my own castings.