Connoisseurs NER/North Sunderland Railway Saloon Second or Third?

Still buzzing from the days building work, late last night I started fiddling about with some excellent gas tanks Dundee Paul 3d printed for me along with some .7mm wire.
The results, completely al fresco as I have no idea of proto typical pipe runs etc, not that it will ever be seen:



Looking back I think I should have positioned the tanks more to one side or other of the centre line but they are done now so hey ho.

Looking back to post #2 by Rob, I started wondering about modelling the Westinghouse brake pipes as well or am I taking on more than I can chew? I don't know.

 

Hi Pete,

I tried neodymium magnets on a covered wagon I built previously and had the devils job positioning and the gluing the end wall magnets, such that I gave up on the job. They languish somewhere with my spares that's why I didn't try use them with this build. The only suggestion I can make is to position and glue the end wall magnets BEFORE the build becomes a box, and please let me know how you get on. The roof magnets should be pretty simple. I'm going for Jim's simple scrap etch clips on the build.

I also fished out and have read all three build logs of the Connoisseur Coaches, that you, Toto and Paul did, just as a what have they spotted that I haven't exercise.

Mossy

 

Rob,

Your last post has the subtly of a sledgehammer, but I'm never one to shirk a challenge.

Photo 1 shows that the brake yokes supplied in the kit are purely cosmetic when compare to the same from the D&S brake yoke etch (DS100 - BG3-7).
I just happened to have one of these in the spares box.

I haven't heard back from Dave Hill about the brake gear castings from his NER saloon, but I also knew there was a Westinghouse brake and reserve air reservoir in my Auto coach kit which I fished out - Photo 2. So assuming I can get replacement castings from Danny Pinnock or Dave Hill, I accept the challenge using these and the D&S brake etch.

I want to make the brake gear dismountable, so the blackened suspension units can be masked up before painting which will add to the complications, but a few singed fingers and a bit of Anglo-Saxon don't cost anything, game on.

Mossy

 

Challenge dealt with except for the clean-up process.

Westinghouse hose pipework in nice bendy copper. The junction with the cast brass hoses will be wrapped in copper tape when it arrives from China.

Pipe work from air tank and hosepipe to Westinghouse brake done in .7mm. All the pipework is done alfresco, as I have never seen an “up skirt” photo or a diagram of the pipe runs under an NER coach. Any way it will only be seen by me, but good that its in place.

Brake yokes dismountable with assorted wire pips to cut off and dress. Has anyone used valve gear rivets to connect up brake yokes rather than clumsy .7mm rod? If so, how did it go?

Further to Pete’s comment about using neodymium magnets to secure the roof, and feeling lucky despite failing once before, I have decided to give it another go.

Mossy

 

Hi Rob,

Yes, it was very satisfying and a nice learning experience so all good.

What really sticks out is the correct build sequence, if I ever build another of Jim’s coaches with a full under fame layout this is the sequence I would use:

Basic body and brake hoses first.
Card floor. Jim suggests adding 4mm strips of card to clear all the construction tabs, then mount the actual floor on them. This effectively raises the card floor clear of the underneath of the body.
Then use the witness etches etc to mark the correct position of the suspension units.
Add all the pipework, Westie brake and reserve air tank etc.
It may well be worth painting the underframe at this point.
Next fit the suspension units, taking advantage of the positioning lines drawn previously.
Finally, the brake yokes etc.

This should work for both the 4 and 6 wheel coaches.

Next is a rematch with magnets and araldite.

Mossy

 

I don't know about the morals of Scottish Victorians but this is a modest young girl from the North East (and she doesn't dress like the ladies on the Newcastle quayside on a Friday and Saturday night), the Waltz yes, a slow Foxtrot acceptable, the Tango and Quickstep risky, but French dances are completely beyond the pale so no Can Can for her. Modesty preserved.

Mossy

 

Well, all the construction work is finished, including neodymium magnets to secure the roof, why I had such a battle with them last time around I simply don’t understand. Securing magnets to the coach ends was a real faff and would be so much simpler “in the flat”. Next the dreaded painting process which I am not looking forward to and then
constructing the interior supplied with the kit.

Jim’s sprung steel buffer/coupling hook arrangement works perfectly so that another lesson learned and salted away.

Interesting Jim’s instructions mention bits of extra casting etc, well these are the leftover from this kit admittedly there are a few bits I replaced:

Top row 1 x Axleguard - spare
2 x Westinghouse Hoses - replaced by cast brass
1 x Emergency Brake Valve Box – spare
2nd row 2 x Lamp Tops - spare
2 x Lamp Hole Covers - spare
4 x Roof Vents - spare
3rd row 2 x Sprung Buffer Assemblies, (buffers, housings, and retaining collars – spare)
5 x Solid Buffers – alternatives to the sprung units
4th row 2 x Short Coupling Centres – alternatives to the longer units
4 x Long Door Hinges
2 x Short Door Hinges
1 x Footboard Bracket – there should be 2, but I lost one
2 x Coupling Hooks – spare?
5th row 10 x Door Handles – 4 required – replaced by brass ones

I think the basic kit is as expected a really solid and well designed kit that's easily put together and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.
The real challenges of this build were all the extras I added but they added to the learning experience and you only learn by pushing yourself.

Mossy

 

For Pete,

I used 2 pairs of 3mm x 20mm neodymium magnets to fix the roof.
The one on the end of the coach is simply superglued in place, last time when I had a disaster I used a gel, this time I used standard runny superglue it was much more effective.
I positioned it by defining the centre line of the coach, then used both magnets separated by a paper wall care carefully positioned them in preplaced super glue, when dry I lifted out the roof magnet.
The roof magnet again find the mid point of the roof, draw lines 10mm either side and sat it in a pool of araldite. A bit bit of juggling as the araldite dried got it in the right position.
I will be using the same system on all my coach and van roofs from now.

Mossy