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GWR non-corridor brake composite

Started by John Candy, Apr 28 2016 07:46

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John Candy

GWR non-corridor brake composite

My pair of unpainted GRS coaches have sat in their boxes for a few years now, waiting for space on the workbench (and a bit of enthusiasm, bearing in mind all the "problems" reported with bits falling off, a result of poor Chinese soldering).

Although widely referred to as "B sets" by enthusiasts, this was a designation applied in the WTT of just a couple of GW traffic districts to paired sets of brake compos, with other GW districts apparently using "B set" to describe totally different types of sets not composed of this type of carriage!
The same "B set" designation apparently was applied in previous eras to four, six and 8-wheeled stock of various types and varying numbers of carriages within those sets.
If you want to know more join the GWR email list!

The GRS model is of dia. E147 ; there were several diagrams of similar carriage built in the 1930s, varying in width, some with bow ends and semi-permanently coupled, some with different distribution/numbers of compartment.
The GRS model is very nice and (almost...see further down) entirely accurate .... pity about the Chinese soldering!

What spurred me to start work on these .... I acquired a pair of very nicely painted carriages of this type and decided it was time to get "stuck in" .... not that I don't have plenty else to do at present!
The pair I purchased ready-painted had one glaring error ...... it had been finished with TWO first class compartments; the one adjacent to the guard's compartment should be third class (the single first class compartment is in the centre of the coach.... presumably on the age-old assumption that the safest place in a collision is the centre). This was rectified by removal of the "First" transfers (cotton bud, enamel thinners and gentle scraping with a thumb nail)followed by a repaint of the seating from blue to maroon.

Nice touches (added by the professional painter) are the roof ribs (I guess from "Fablon strips) and the rectification of the only error I could see on the model, the re-positioning of the door handle holes (they are too far from the edge of the door as supplied).
I decided to incorporate these changes in my unpainted set.

First though, attention to the weak points : Both sets had the soldering "beefed up" on the bogie pivots/bushes and the headstocks....the bits most commonly reported as failing. Other parts were given forceful "tugs" but seemed secure enough.
Incidentally, the E147 lots were not all "paired" into sets : Some from the later lots were finished as "loose" coaches (I don't know, but must assume, the shorter buffers at the "inner" ends of the sets were replaced by standard length type) and two were turned into "auto trailers" by cutting additional windows into the driving end.

I started work only yesterday afternoon, so have not yet got far but the superfluous First class compartments have been altered to Thirds on the painted pair and the soldering has been completed on all four coaches.
Next job is to re-drill the door handle holes on the unpainted set.

John.

P.S.  Photo shows brush I concocted to re-paint compartment seats (which could not be removed!
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Three hours (and a couple of sore fingers) later and I have drilled fresh holes for the door handles (32 of them, 16 per coach).

Photo shows just how far "off the mark" the original holes are.

Next task to fill the redundant holes : On the professionally finished set, those holes appear to have been filled with Milliput or similar but I shall fill with solder.

John
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Roof (shell) vent positioning?

Have been checking photos of these coaches and there is a glaring error with the placing of the shell vents on the model (I wonder how I didn't spot it sooner).

The vents are all offset from the centre line (presumably to keep within load gauge) but, on the model, alternate vents are on opposite sides of centreline. Photos of prototypes show all but one vent being on the same side (exception is middle vent of the three over the guard's/ luggage area).

Looking from the outer (guard's) ends of the set, 8 of the 9 vents are to the left of the centre line, with just the second one from end being to right of centre. That means 6 vents are on the wrong side and need moving.

The unpainted set are being modified now but the painted set will have to wait until later for modification since a roof re-paint will be required.

A b****y nuisance but not that difficult to rectify.

John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

That's better!

Took around 30 minutes (although I still have the empty holes to fill with thin brass sheet soldered inside and then the holes built up and filed to match roof profile).
It won't now shout "wrong" at me every time I look at it!

John
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

John Candy

Both sets have now had their vents moved to correct positions and the correct number of roof ribs have also been re-positioned on the painted set and added to the unpainted set (thin plastic strip attached with thick cyano).

The roof of the pre-painted set has been respayed in white with black end ribs (as were all  GWR carriages out-shopped pre-war).

A curiosity of this set (I am told GRS were responsible for the painting) was a mixture of transfer sizes!
Some of the "Guard", "Luggage" and "First" lettering was much smaller (perhaps G1 or G0 scale) than the remainder...what made matters worse was that on the same side of the coaches the sizes were mixed!
Also one of the "GWR" brandings plus twin shields was in the wrong "panel" on one side of one coach and the  vertical spacing of the shields varied.

The offending transfers have been removed and replaced!



My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.