Connoisseur Models NBR 20 Ton Brake Van

Here's one I did earlier





I have another kit in a drawer which I plan to do as a six wheeled version at some point to go with it.
I have build photos if they are of any use?

 

Do you want them on here or a separate thread?

 

Your wish.....






As it comes the van only has a floor in the 'veranda' end with the doors in it. I made a floor for the other section from a piece of .3mm brass sheet.






It just slots in with the aid of a couple of bits of angle.
What isn't so clear on the photos and I don't seem to have taken any of it on it's own, is that the brake standard isn't the one that Jim supplies (I used that elsewhere) The one in this van is a modified Sidelines brass casting - I just made a yoke to fit on the top and take the wheel to fit from the side rather than the top.



I used some scrap etch to back the brakes and make them less prone to being inadvertently bent.



I made the roof removable by soldering a couple of strips of scrap etch suitably curved so that they are a tight fit (this gets even tighter with a coat of paint).






I started to fit the handrails and initially I did them as per the instructions - but as I was working around them using a photo from LNER Wagons Volume 3 as a guide I noted that that hand rails are a little peculiar in that they curve at each side of the door.



I made a little jig from a piece of scrap so that they were all the same size, then flattened the end in a pair of smooth pliers and drilled them for retaining pins.
The horizontal rails then fit to these. I don't seem to have a photo of these in the brass so to speak so you will have to settle for one with a lick of paint on it.

 

Think I just heard the thud of Toto's Jaw hitting the desk and the kit going back into the Drawer marked for later

See that brake gear on the wagon kits wasn't that bad after all

Paul

 

Ooops I am supposed to be encouraging by showing what's possible not sending people scurrying for cover.

I had a put together a more detailed continuation of the build but my recently updated Chrome decided that it didn't like something on the page and forbade me from posting and when I tried to go back it had binned the whole post. I will try again later. GRRRR..

 

No problem Tom,
I hope that they are of some use when you build yours. I did a few other changes too - I replaced the white metal brake standard with a modified Sidelines brass example. The modification consisted of making a yoke to fit on the top that allowed the wheel to sit on the side of the column.



Originally these vans were fitted sand pipes at either end which were still fitted in LNER days so I added them. I also added a couple of sand boxes in the veranda end of the van.

You can relax Tom they were removed later in life








The other thing that I did was make the ducket casting at least have the appearance of being hollow and that you could see through the windows.
I did this by cutting and filing some small pieces of 1mm cobex sheet and inserted them in each end of the ducket so that you can see through them.