GRS B set coach mod & Cliff Barker CCT kit

[AllWight]

Hi All

I have been busy of late doing some modifications to a GRS  B set coach by turning it into a push pull coach. Tim Breeze has done one of these in the past so this is a near copy of what he has done. I used the facilities at Moors Valley Railway a the mess was not good for my carpets at home. The soldering was up to the usual Chinese standards so nothing out of the ordinary. I ended up removing the end of the coach in order to make the cuts tot eh end window and to also drill the holes for the extra grab handles. This will end up in BR maroon to pair up with an auto tank.

The CCT kit is from Cliff Barker and is a laser cut MDF kit for the body only. I purchased some of the plastic angle strip from my local model shop only to later find out i needed the same amount again, buggar!!
The kit has gone together really well with no alterations or trimming up. The roof was a very neat assembly and i did run some filler over the roof and then used it lightly on the belt sander at MVR to get a super smooth finish. It will eventually become an IOW wagon. The only issue is i wanted it to be in SR olive however these vans of which there were 7 were delivered in 1950 ready painted in the carmine red so i may end up doing some modellers licence.   

Mark

[AllWight]

a few more pics

[AllWight]

last few

[John Candy]

Nice job Mark.

There is one point to which I would draw your attention in relation to the E147 brake compo to auto trailer conversion. It is not obvious from photos (unless you know what you are looking for) but the roof vents on the GRS model are wrongly positioned.

To keep within load gauge, all vents are off-centre but all except one are on the same side of the centre line. Looking from the brake end, all are to left EXCEPT second from brake end which is to the right. Heaven knows why but all E147s were thus, including the two GWR period trailer conversions.

Regards,
John.

P.S. See http://lakes-pages.com/wpimages/bset1.jpg

[AshleyW]

will that van fit a full size gas canister within?

[AllWight]

Yes but you would need to remove the internal bulkheads for the side strength.

Mark

[Sleeper Agent]

Looking pretty darn good Mark 

The GRS's CCT van has been on my to buy list for a while but i've not seen any of Cliff's rolling stock before, is there a site for his non track range products? If not out of curiosity how much was the body and do you own a GRS version to compare it against?

Sleeper

[AllWight]

hi

The cliff barker van is a basic shell of a kit as supplied so you need to source the angle and any other detail bits. In short anything that is white in the pictures is not supplied in the kit. The body only kit is £55.00 I managed to source the dummy axle boxes and spring sets from GRS for around £20 plus postage. I was fortunate enough that i was given some wheels and axles of the right type by a friend so all that remains is the construction of a chassis with internal bearings, although not correct will allow me to build a 3 point compensation unit.

No I dont own a GRS van as a comparison.

Cliff does about 4-5 vans including the Bogie B sr parcels van, GWR Python and a few others. Best to call or email him and ask him.

Mark

[hornbeam]

I have built the GRS version and it's not a bad kit to make, nice crisp resin castings for the sides and ends.

[John Candy]

I agree with comments on the GRS kit.
It is very many years since I built my example but, from memory, the only major alteration I made was to the castings for the end vent hoods....they extended too far down as supplied.
There was a small chunk missing from one of the vertical side angle irons (must have been broken off when casting was removed from mould) which I patched with thin plastic card.
Only real "grouse" is with the transfers..... the typeface/font of the numbers isn't correct....in particular the figure "2" but can live with that!
One of the best of the GRS rolling stock kits.
John.

[hornbeam]

Must confess one end of the body casting was damaged on mine and I'm sure your aware John the ends are very thin. Only mod I did to mine was to add an internal partition to strengthen it up a bit.

[AllWight]

The gauge 3 MDF cliff barker kit of the southern CCT is coming along nicely now. I have glued down the old pillow case material using some spray on glue and stretching it over the MDF roof frame. I also fitted the four gutter strips and the four roof vents. I shall get the roof sprayed grey and then it's onto the wheel sets and under frame detail.

Mark

[AllWight]

The GRS B set modified coach has also seen a lot of work with it now ready to be handed back to its owner. I used Ford Burgundy red for the top coat courtesy of Halfords car paint range. The lining is three individual lines of yellow/black/yellow. The roof grey and the black ends are painted with some of the wargaming paints which are superb and i can highly recommend these if you have never used them before.

Mark 

[AllWight]

a few more pics