Passenger Tank HR46 Complete

HR 46 Passenger Tank

Number 46 was built 2/1906 and entered service on the Highland Railway in unlined Drummond II green livery which it retained until taken into LMS service when the engine was painted red and numbered 15054. The model is built without the aid of a kit though it relies heavily on commercially available castings, mostly from Laurie Griffin Miniatures.

Cab doors open and close, a sneck locates over the stanchion to lock them in place. 

The bogie splashers are attached to the engine main frames which causes a clearance problem with the rear wheels on curves. I made the splashers as near scale as possible and after much fiddling and filing, a film of Araldite on the inside and some restriction of the throw of the bogie, the engine corners well now, though I don't think it will negotiate very tight curves.




Cab Interior with crew from Invertrain Models.

Most of the castings on display in the cab are from LGM, they are invaluable as making absolutely everything yourself is a very long way round. However nearly all the castings have been modified in some way or other to suit this particular engine.

The crew are from Invertrain's "Heroes of the Footplate" range and are chosen for their poses, which suit the small working space, they contrast with each other and don't crowd the cab. The driver's hands are over the cab beading and hold him steady when the engine is in motion. The fireman's feet are soldered to a small metal base, painted to match the wooden floor; double sided Sellotape holds him in place. Both figures can be removed from the cab without damaging any paintwork.


Transfers from Fox; number plates from Guilplates.

My next locomotive building project deviates for a change from the HR into the LNWR. Work is underway though not far advanced yet.
It's "Merrie Carlisle" a Precedent class engine which in LMS days ran in their very attractive red livery.
So watch this space...

HR56 The Dornoch Tank...Painted

HR56 Drummond II livery 1902-1912

I considered how I was going to overcome the problem of the name "Dornoch" on the tank sides before I even started this project and discovered that the series of names for Highland Railway engines produced by Guilplates included "Gordon Castle", which contains all the letters I needed except the final "H". The missing letter was located on Guilplates' transfer sheet for HR locomotives, which included the wording "Highland Railway" in several different sizes, one of which provided a suitable "H".

The gold lettering of the Highland is shaded in two tones of green and outlined with both black and white, so is not easy to reproduce in miniature. Guilplates design of these letters is somewhat wayward when examined closely, however it is the only option in this case and I think the result is reasonably convincing.

The HR lettering produced by Fox Transfers is not compatible with that of Guilplates, though the Fox transfers are crisply printed they omit the darker green shading which is printed black.





HR56

Cab interior with real coal spilling from the coal hole.

Phoenix Precision paints' P727 Dark Green (1885-1912) was used to represent the Drummond II livery. Floorboards are made from wood strip from a model ship kit. The buff colour of the upper cab sides is Revell matt 82, a useful brown, mixed with white.

The "Archer Surface Details" rivets on the boiler fairing in front of the cab are in evidence in this photo and are I think most effective.

The front spectacle plate can be removed which much simplified painting. The backhead fittings have been left as buffed brass which contrasts with the black backhead plate. 

More resin transfer rivets can just be made out above the rear windows. Builder's plate from Guilplates though barely legible.

Loco lamps from Laurie Griffin, rather undersize, drilled and fitted with a brilliant.

The red loco lamps along with the brightwork and transfers alleviate the austerity of the Drummond II livery.