Comparing Bricks…hold the mortar

A couple of posts ago I compared two VR B-class models from different manufacturers and their differences. Will this post will be doing the same thing with another pair of models of a different locomotive.

The G-class Co-Co diesel locomotive was first introduced in 1984, a year after the Victorian Railways changed to V/line. The first order for G-class was for 5 locomotives, which ended up being fulfilled by using locomotives originally allocated to be built for Australian National as the BL-class. These 5 locomotives, G511-G515, paved the way for further builds. The balance of G-class, G516-G543, was built in two batches. They were used on heavy freight workings and the occasional passenger service, in particular the Sydney-Melbourne express on standard gauge after the demise of the Southern Aurora and Spirit of Progress in 1986. A number of the G-class are still around today working with private operators.

In model form the G-class has been produced by a few different companies over the years. Broad Gauge Models commissioned Samhongsa to produce the first such model in 1986. Dual Gauge Products also produced body kits for the second and third batch Gs. In this post I’m covering the two RTR plastic models produced thus far to date.

The model in the V/line orange and grey livery was produced by Powerline as early as 1989. It represents G521 which is from the second batch of Gs. The model in the ‘what if’ blue and gold livery was produced by Austrains in 2014 and represents a first series G and the long standing joke in the model fraternity that the first G was ‘accidentally’ painted in blue and gold after construction finished at the Clyde Rosewater plant in South Australia. Thus it also carries the now infamous number G220 that has been portrayed on repaints of Powerline G-class by a couple of modellers over the years.

The differences in these models (putting aside liveries and which batch they represent) is many, just like it was with the two B-class models. The Powerline model uses the ring-field motor like the Lima B-class and this motor was offered in the most recent re-release of this same model in the early 2000s. Powerline in both instances offered the model with a single powered bogie or both bogies powered (dual motor). One change in the 2000 re-release was to provide a circuit board for the electrics. However it did not incorporate a DCC plug. The model pictured pre-dates the re-release so it has simple wiring. The Austrains model features all the things you expect of a model produced in recent years including a 5-pole skew-wound motor with flywheels driving the wheels through driveshafts and gear towers as well as a modern circuitboard with a 8-pin DCC plug and the lights provided by LEDs.

Anyway I’ve waffled on again too much, here are some pictures of the pair together:   

                         

I will be doing another comparison of another ‘then and now’ model in a future post.

Another long winded job completed

This is a project that has taken a while to get around to finishing. Happily I can now say that it is finished.

These two Steam Era Models Z vans have been in the works for at least a year. They are a bit different from the previous one I built for myself as they represent the ZD type which had buffers and dual couplings. This required the use of longer shank couplers on the models so they can still be coupled to other buffered stock without buffer-lock becoming a problem. Finding suitable decals to code them as ZDs was also a small problem but after raiding the decal box I found something suitable (even if slightly too big).

Because this blog was in hiatus when I started building them, here is a couple of photos prior to painting:

And here they are painted, decalled and with the couplers fitted:

For those with a sharp eye you will note that one van (470ZD) has the standard flip-top axleboxes while 19ZD features split-pan axleboxes (which is why the bottom running boards are a bit higher). They are now ready for the patient client who can run them with the 4 W cars I did for them earlier as a complete set.

The next likely job will be finishing the 3 M cattle wagons which will clear my backlog of jobs a little bit.

What a load of Phosphate...again

Well things happened a lot quicker than I expected and the model is now ready for the road:

One thing I will have to remember for the next kit I build from Railmotor Models is that the decals are a bit of a pain. The large VR logos started coming apart when I tried sliding them off the backing paper. The smaller decals I didn't have a problem with.

The next planned job is to finish some Z vans for a client.

What a load of Phosphate!

Between 1974-78 the Victorian Railways introduced a series of hopper wagons of the same basic construction but featured different discharge doors and 5 featured closed roofs. The JPF wagon was a class of 10 built to carry phosphate (hence the ‘P’ in the code). The other types were JAF (Soda Ash), JBF (Briquettes), JCX (Cement), JDX (Dolomite) JSF (Sand), and JQF (Quarry). They received 4-letter coding in 1979.

This kit is from the Railmotor Models range. It was a prize won at the Morwell Exhibition back in June (and I’ll take this opportunity to thank the person who passed the kit on to me as they did not want it). This kit was going to sit in the stockpile of other kits awaiting assembly but having completed the HZB wagon (as seen a couple of posts back) I decided to bring it forward in the que as I had most of the bits I needed on hand already. About the only extra items I needed was a pair of Steam Era Models XSC Silver Spring bogies. Assembly has taken about a week, usually done at night when there is stuff all on the TV worth watching. It was just going to be the basic wagon with shunter’s steps and a handrail fitted at each end. But when I researched the prototype and found a couple of good pictures plus a diagram on Mark Bau’s Victorian Railways website, I decided it was worth adding a bit more detail. So it has the handrails at the top of the ladder, some piping that appears on the handbrake side along the discharge chutes as well as the rods for the door slides, extra steps on the sides and ends and the linkage for the grade control. Kadee #158 couplers are fitted as well:

The model will have the usual test run at the local model railway club, then prepared for painting which might take a week or two depending on weather and time available.

Two B...or not Two B

Well I'm not quite ready to post a picture or two of the next build project. But I thought I would cover something else in the motive power department:

 This Lima B-class came into my workshop to have a pilot re-attached plus a bit of a service. At some stage it has been converted from the old 'dunny seat' couplers to Kadees while using the original Lima pilot. The Lima B-class was first introduced onto the market in the early 1990s following the success of the Lima S-class (not the NSW 44-class repaint version by the way). Until this model came along it was common for modellers to buy two S-class and use the Bulldog cab off one to stick on the other end (after chopping the...errr...'B' end off first). So what became of the leftover bits? Well some made a...errr... 'B' unit by sticking the remaining rear end chopped off onto the other body. Unfortunately I don't have a photo to show this but it was a good way to use the leftover parts.

So in this post I thought I would do a quick comparison of the Lima B-class against the newer Auscision model which came out in 2009:

Now there is no question that the Auscision model is more detailed and has a superior mechanism to the ringfield motor used on the Lima model. It also caters for the DCC market by having a 8-pin plug to fit a plug-and-play decoder (though this may change to the 21-pin arrangement going by what Auscision have done with the recent re-run of the A-class). Anyway enough of the sales pitch, here is some pretty pictures of the pair together:

As happy as I am with my Auscision model (except for the grills coming off as it is from the very first batch made) I would make room for the Lima one in my fleet to show off where the hobby was 25 years ago compared to the offering today. Another comparison could be made with the brass B-class models produced by Alco Models in the 1980s and the one produced by Precision Scale Models in 1992. One day maybe.....

Brake block wagon, ready for the road

Just on a month since I purchased this kit, it has been painted and decaled, ready for traffic:

The railways had a bogie wagon that was modified for the same purpose and maybe it will be a project for the future. It differed from the 4-wheel version in that it had a raised section in the middle and the floor sloped towards the ends and was coded VZBF in V/line service. In typical Victorian Railways fashion and like the HZB it was modified from an existing wagon the railways no longer needed in regular traffic:

Photo from Norm Bray's Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60901191@N08/

The next project has already been started and a blog post on that is coming sometime later in the week.

Taking a brake….and blocking up

In my previous blog post I showed some of my kit purchases from the Stawell exhibition and noted that at least one of these kits was likely to get done quicker on the basis that I already had parts to complete it. Funny thing is I opted to go with the smaller wagon of the two which required the purchase of a Steam Era Models GY underframe. The kit I’m referring to is shown below:

The HZB wagon was used by the Victorian Railways to transport brake blocks from Newport Workshops (where they were cast) to the country depots to fit to wagons and carriages locally (as oppose to sending said wagon or carriage to Newport to be fitted). They also carried scrap as required. The HZB wagons were converted from GY/HY wagons and at least 3 of the 21 wagons have survived into preservation including HZB292 at Daylesford.

The kit is from Lyndon Trains and only requires a Steam Era Models GY underframe kit (plus the etched handbrake gear) and couplers. Lyndon supplies shunter’s steps, tie-down loops and wire to make handrails. It took me a couple of nights to get the model to this stage, ready for painting:

When finished I will have another item of interest to run in my fleet.

The haul from Stawell

While getting over the weekend activities at the Stawell Exhibition helping operate 'Town & Country', I thought I would put up a picture of my purchases which included a number of wagon kits:

As you can see, Lyndons Trains did ok as I ended up getting a early build NN/VZMA ballast wagon, HZB departmental wagon and some KCC cement containers. The Section 8 water tank and the model truck were prizes at the dinner held for exhibitors and will more than likely find a home on my future planned layout. Of the wagons I have bits already on hand to do the ballast wagon but this might have to wait in line for other projects to clear the workbench. But if the weather isn't much chop for painting it might happen sooner.

Save the coal

Unfortunately in early April the Bendigo Model Railroaders (BMR) lost it's long-time President Barry Pianta after a couple of years suffering health issues. Barry was a founding member of the club back in 1975:

Barry left a number of items to the club, including many of his projects that never got finished (some were not even started as far as kits go). Members were able to have anything they might have a use for. One of these items is this E wagon, made up from two old Lima GY wagons cut and spliced together with suitable underframe detail added:

Deciding that another such open wagon could be accommodated in my running fleet I have taken this project on. First job was to fit some couplers and some suitable bogies for a more modern application. Both were not a problem as I already had a spare set of couplers and as for the bogies:

So what is the plan? Well this model will be finished as Steamrail's coal wagon VOAF9. It will be painted wagon red and stenciled for this traffic (when I source decals for this). I will also load the wagon up with coal bags just like the prototype has been since the early 1990s.

What is in that box today?

Modellers can all relate to this story. When you start out things are simple; You buy an engine, some wagons and some track and off you go (the engine and wagons are usually Ready-To-Run items at this stage). As time goes on you either cannot buy the items you want in RTR form or they need changing to those you do. Even with all the plastic items coming on the market in recent years there are still a few gaps, plus I think personally if you plan on building a layout you need something to help develop skills on.

Enter the world of kit building or kit-bashing (or RTR-bashing which doesn't have the same ring to it and usually applies to bashing the company who made it for the faults that snuck through from the factory but we digress). Kit building is a great way to develop skills that come in handy for building layouts as you will more than likely needs to make buildings from kits given the greater range. When you start out in this field you tend to build a kit, paint it then throw away the leftover pieces like the sprues and decals. As time goes on this changes a bit (saying that I have too many leftover sprues so I now chuck them in the recycling bin). The reason that changes is because you never know when a piece of plastic of a certain size might be needed and you have it all on hand. Same goes with the leftover brass etchings, regardless if they still have usable parts left on them such as handrails.

The purpose of this blog post is to show the value of building items yourself. And to show this is not just hot air, this is my box of leftover items:

I have everything from full decals sheets to bits of detailing items. The plastic sprue leftovers stay in another box. In the bottom of the box shown above I also keep copies of kit instructions as these come in handy sometimes (more-so on items where the kit manufacturer has long gone out of business and you cannot get these instructions anymore).

So that ends this rather unorthodox blog post. Maybe there will be future posts like this dealing with subjects like painting, decal application, my workbench (which is a mess) and other things of a like nature.

Moooving on

The building bug has bit hard after not doing it for so long. Maybe it was because of the dribble on TV as well but either way it means I can get going on a few more client projects. While there is still a pair of Z vans to finish, I decided with one job for myself almost done I could get the easier of the 2 other wagon types that I’m doing for the client done. 3 Steam Era Models M wagons are being constructed and the best way to knock over jobs like this is to assemble them like a production line. So that is what I’ve done:

These wagons are quite a nice model to assemble. In fact I’d go as far as to say that if someone is starting out in the hobby and wants an easy kit to learn the skills on assembly this would probably be it. That title once went to SEM’s GY kit but since the kit was updated 7 years ago with a bunch of fiddly etched parts to fit the M wagon now takes the mantle (it still has fiddly etched parts but less of them than the GY). Anyway these wagons should be finished in relatively short time as they just need couplings and a lick of paint.

I'm backkkk!!!

Hi all. Sorry for the lack of posts over the last 2 years. Things have been busy away from model railways. I have re-started building items again so I hope to kick things off again this month. I have at least 4 projects on the go so stay tuned for an update with pictures on that soon.