S&D Models de Winton Quarrymen coach kits:
I found three S&D Models de Winton Quarrymen coach kits from many years ago (priced at £8-50!) but I had misplaced some of the frame and axle box parts. A call to S&D resulted in new parts (thanks very much) and I thought I should get building before I lose anything else!
An S&D Penrhyn quarryman coach with floor and seats in wood rather than the plastic sheet supplied in the kit.
An S&D Penrhyn quarryman coach with floor and seats in wood rather than the plastic sheet supplied in the kit.
An S&D Penrhyn quarryman coach with floor and seats in wood rather than the plastic sheet supplied in the kit.
They are not quite finished yet – I still need to paint the brake blocks and do a bit more weathering, etc..
For the last coach I used wood instead of the plastic sheet provided for the floor and seats. I have used the plastic for the other two coaches and I think I will have to re-build them – I like to look of the wood so much better. The wood was treated with Paul Martin’s stain (NG Trains) which I find works very well for me.
As Paul states on his page, he couldn’t import it from Builders in Scale because it is largely a solvent and can’t be airfreighted. This is the same stuff, as BiS told him the recipe and he brewed the UK version. This means that he can’t ship it out of the UK either.
So the third quarryman’s coach had real wood and rather put to shame the two previous ones & I thought “It can’t be difficult to remove the plastic and replace it with wood – can it?” To quote an Italian from a TV sitcom “What’a mistake’a to make’a” with my apologies to anyone from Italy.
A trio of S&D Models Penrhyn quarryman coaches. The one on the left has the original plastic sheet floor and seats. The one on the right has the floor and seats fabricated from wooden strip. The one in the middle started off with plastic sheet but I tried changing it to wood. A conversion that was not as straight-forward as I had thought.
The plastic bits didn’t want to come out!
A trio of S&D Models Penrhyn quarryman coaches. The one on the left has the original plastic sheet floor and seats. The one on the right has the floor and seats fabricated from wooden strip. The one in the middle started off with plastic sheet but I tried changing it to wood. A conversion that was not as straight-forward as I had thought.
But I carried on regardless (as usual) with a bit of brute force and plenty of ignorance and managed to recover the situation.
S&D Penrhyn quarry-man’s coach with wooden floor and seats cut to shape.
S&D Penrhyn quarry-man’s coach with wooden floor cut to shape. The seat sections have been stained using EDM Models Weathered Wood.
S&D Penrhyn quarry-man’s coach with wooden floor and seat sections cut and stained using EDM Models Weathered Wood.
S&D Penrhyn quarry-man’s coach with wooden seats and two Hudson skip chassis conversions to man-riders.
S&D Penrhyn quarry-man’s coach with wooden seats and two Hudson skip chassis conversions to man-riders.
Whilst I think that its hard to beat wood, unfortunately the third quarryman’s coach will be staying in plastic as the other one was such a pain to change! I will have to concentrat on getting a good paint effect for wood and also fill it up with people to hide the seats.
Bachmann Trolley:
The quarry-man’s coaches will be fine for the quarry traffic but I thought I needed something a bit more substantial for the main line working. Inspired by Bachmann trolley coach conversions on the forum, I have converted two coaches although these are still ‘work in progress’.
A Bachmann On30 tram body conversion to a bogie coach.
I spent quite a long time weathering the roof – gave it a quick spray of varnish and all the detail vanished (there must be a Blackadder joke there somewhere)! So I still need to do a bit more to it overall.
This one has Ratio plate framed bogies while the other one sits on 7mm NGA resin bogies. The resin bogies look a bit plain so I may replace them with another set from Ratio.
Bachmann On30 trolley bodies converted to bogie coaches.
Bachmann On30 trolley bodies converted to bogie coaches.
The bogie coaches were part of my trials with couplings and used the standard Kadee No. 5 coupling. These were changed to the Greenwhich couplings but I found that there was far too much swing of the ends for the couplings to work. Part of the problem was due to the balcony steps which restricted bogie swing so the bogies had to be mounted in-board much more than I would have liked. The solution was to use some Sn3 bogies which were much narrower, so could be mounted closer to the balcony ends, and some longer centre point couplings from Tramfabriek. My track plan revisions, which result in far better operation, means that the station is now too short for both coaches so I really only need one which runs with a Chivers guards van.
A lot of the stock for Tony’s Forest was rushed ahead of the first show and wasn’t really finished off properly. I rushed the completion of this Chivers brake van that goes with the bogie coach and I have not been happy with the finish for some time. I have finally got around to it during Covid lockdown-1 in 2020 and started trying to give it a better look. I fiddled with some faded natural wood effects but they looked a bit too contrived. In the end I stippled an overall colour on top to try to simulate a tired paint effect. Some rust washes on the iron work and a light dusting has given me a look that I am far happier with.
I still don’t think I have got it quite right yet but it is good enough for the moment. I know that I will probably spoil it if I do any more at the moment.
For far too long my bogie coach has been empty of passengers but an acquisition of some seated figures from Modelu in their Easter 2023 sale has finally pushed me into action!
Not very good light and I had to use the flash so the photos aren’t great. I had not appreciated how grubby the windows were (including what looks like a fingerprint!) but given the viewing distance for the layout (and the trees) I think I will get away with it.
I also got some standing passengers and photographers which are still being painted so I can add a bit more atmosphere to the layout. All in time for the Bala show too!
Iconic Rail Corris Railway 4-wheel Coaches:
Following the purchase of a couple of the new Iconic Rail 4 wheel Corris Railway coaches in January 2024, I have set about re-gauging them to 014.
The kits comprise injection moulded body parts and 3d printed roof, balcony ends and seat/chassis parts. Wheels have inside bearings formed from a channel in the 3d printed chassis.
There isn’t much material between the seats and the chassis.
So hacking the chassis for 014 leaves holes in the panel below the seats. I will see if these are noticable during the build. If they are I will have to apply a thin layer of plastic sheet to hide the holes.
Slow progress with the Corris 4 wheel coaches but I’m getting there.
Also been thinking about couplings for the 4 wheel coaches which will have to swing from side to side.
There was enough thickness in the chassis/seat 3d print to drill in and fix 12ba nuts. The metal arms will have Greenwhich couplings soldered to them which will extend out from the verandas. Whilst I didn’t need to have the pivot points so far in, I didn’t think there was enough thickness in the verandas to take a fixing nut or bolt.
Seated passengers/workmen arrived from Modelu at the end of February 2024 and have been rather crudely painted.
I think I have taken these coaches about as far as I want and just in time for the show at Yate.
I also got a Corris 4-wheel van from Iconic Rail to go with the coaches. This was built as per the instructions but with replacement wheels regauged to 14mm. The supplied wheels are a one piece plastic moulding set to 16.5mm gauge.
The train performed well at the Yate show and (fortunately) just fitted in the loop!
