Mike Williams "O" gauge kit building service
Mike's Locos - Page 2
Metropolitan - Vickers Bo - Bo electric loco by Ken's Profiles. This kit has been adapted to run on 3 rail coarse scale. To allow for the sharp curves the body sits 3 mm higher than normal. A single link coupling is fitted to one end, the other end being fully detailed. The instructions are brilliant and all the info can be seen in the supplied photos. I made two changes. I fitted the handrails to the body ends and sides before assembling the body and I replaced the white metal outer bogie sides and end with nickel silver ones using the original parts as patterns. There is nothing wrong with the white metal sides but I feel that the nickel silver may stand up better to the continuous handling this particular model will get. The white metal axleboxes and pick up beams are glued to the new sides. This is a very nice kit, well designed and a joy to build. The instructions are so good that you can build this kit without referring to other sources of information. You can't say that about many kits!
This Mercian Models kit of a Cardean 4-6-0 will eventually be in LMS red. The kit is O.K., fitting the boiler to the footplate is the difficult part! Just take your time and check body height to rail head continuously. electrical pick-up is split axle/split frame on the tender only. There's not a lot of room on this loco.
A G5 0-4-4 tank. I've built a few Connoisseur wagon kits and found them fine. This is the first time i've tried my hand at a loco kit of theirs. Good instructions, well designed and a joy to work with. This one is a push pull fitted loco and fitted with a Mashima motor and Premier gears. Wiper pick-ups on the drivers but with split axle/split frames on the bogie giving all wheel pick-up.
This
is the first kit from this manufacturer that I have
tackled. Having been given good reports from other
builders, I was looking forward to it. I was not
disappointed. Excellent instructions, well designed,
everything just fits together - it's as simple as
that. An absolute joy to build. My only
alteration was to replace the loco brake shoes with
plastic ones, to avoid any shorting problems. Well
done modern Outline Kits!
6241, City of Edinburgh. Another one from David Andrew's range. His kits really are a joy to build. The loco was painted by Denis Morley and it is now off to a layout in Scotland.
This is a fine kit of a BR 'Clan' pacific by DJH. They have done a good job and it all fits together beautifully. The loco is fitted with Slaters wheels and a Moxon/ABC gearbox. This is fitted to the rear driving wheels, leaving daylight between the frames and boiler.
This
quite old Shedmaster kit went together okay. Some very
flimsy tender bogie etches needed strengthening, and some
castings from the very helpful Laurie Griffin completed
the loco.
I found this D.J.B. kit quite a difficult build with a lot of "adjust as it goes". The end result though is a good strong build and a good looking. A nice model of one of Mr Maunsell's best.
This kit is from S&M Models. The body and frames go together very well. The bogie has split axles to provide all wheel pick up. Some of the smaller white metal castings were unusable, although I would have replaced them with lost wax anyway. A lovely suburban tank for those long gone Aberdeen local trains.
This was a one off project for a friend. The wagon is a HO German Ferry Wagon by Liliput built to British loading gauge. The wagon is carrying a load of two hay balers. These were built in large numbers by the firm of Jones Balers in Mold, Flintshire. Many of these vehicles were sent out by rail from Mold station, mostly to British destinations but a healthy proportion were exported to the continent by train ferry. Apart from the German wagon shown, Mold also saw wagons from France, Belgium and Italy. So a little bit of forgotten history made up from scrap bits of brass I had hanging around!
This 'Wagon & Carriage' kit was a joy to build with no problems at all. I've used split axles and split frames on the bogie and the front section of the frames. This means that eight out of the ten wheels have electrical pick up. It's now off to work the Kings Lynn to South Lynn (M&GN) push pull train.
When I was 12, I spent a day at Kings Cross to see the Deltics and Brush Type 4's (class 47's). Steam no longer worked south of Peterborough so imagine my surprise and joy when 60061 'Pretty Polly' appeared out of Gasworks Tunnel! It was the only A3 I ever saw in normal traffic and it really made my day. I said then that if I ever built an A3 it would this one, so here it is 50 years later.
A David Andrews kit, so no problems building it. Split axle pick-up on tender only and powered by a Buhler/ABC motor.
Warren Shepherd G W R mogul kit. This kit makes up into a good solid model. The castings are all brass and quite superb. The kit is not for a beginner and you will need a good reference source, recommendations are in the instructions. This model is fitted with Slaters wheels, an A B C mini gearbox with a Moxon motor driving the rear driving wheels. The mini gearbox fits under the cab floor. Watch out for the tight clearances between crosshead and slidebars. I used Markits crank pins for this. I must admit to moving the pony forward by 1mm to save cutting into the cylinders and also cutting off the front frames and soldering them to the body. This gives extra clearance above the pony wheels. Weight will be added after the painter has done his work.
North British Railway Atlantic by ACE Products. I was asked to build 2 of these locos, one as North British circa 1918 and the other as LNER circa 1932. I elected to build them together. The tenders were built first, using split axles, uninsulated wheels and a perspex block isolating the frames. There was no information on the tender parts regarding tool boxes, water gauge, hand brake, etc. this had to be sourced from elsewhere.
The loco frames were made up and the driving wheels added to check for square, so far so good! I then added the trailing wheels. Even with the elongated slot the wheels were 5 mm above the rail head. was this deliberate? A cunning NBR plan to transfer weight to the coupled wheels? No - just another problem to sort out. That is how the build went on, problem after problem. Some easy to solve, others more difficult. The instructions are poor, with wrong information and page 3 doesn't even apply to the NBR Atlantic! I had to replace some of the etches, firebox and smoke box. On the tender axle box castings the spring wasn't in line with the box and had to be cut apart and fitted separately. Parts of the build - the distinctive lubricator and the trailing axle brake gear are not even mentioned in the paperwork. These had to be scratch built.
This kit is very difficult to build, particularly in respect of the amount that has to be scratch built. It is not a good advert for the ACE brand.
Both kits have now been expertly painted by Paul Moore.
This WR class 22 diesel hydraulic kit by Steve Beattie for a first for me from this maker. Usually his kits are resin but this one was etched brass and white metal castings. The underframe tank was resin but I fabricated one from nickel silver sheet. There was a lot of fettling needed to fit the white metal fronts, despite this it was an enjoyable kit to build.
When completed this will be 70046 'Anzac', as you can see it needs a smokebox door and painting. This was the first Seven Models kit i've built. There were good instructions with plenty of drawings and pictures including the etches - well done. The only issue concerned the join between smokebox and boiler. I also replaced the injector white metal fittings with brass ones from Ragstone Models. The buffers were sourced by me from Warren Shephard. This model runs a treat!
This project came about after looking through J. H. Russell's Great Western Coaches. In there were drawings and pictures of Hounds Vans (?!). I was thus inspired to construct a Fox Hunting Train consisting of a 6 wheel coach, a brake van (for the sherry), various horse boxes and the hounds van at the rear. The hounds van is a brake van, oil lit and fitted with extra air vents for the 'doggy odours'
The hounds van in all its glory. This is a modified Scorpio V2 Brake Van.
Early Great Western rolling stock
Another Scorpio coach this time a T20 brake third. These kits come as sides, ends and sole bars. They are great for the scratchbuilder allowing choice in respect of running gear, suspension and interior finishing.
A scratchbuilt Siphon C built using plasticard. The vents were a little bit intricate!
Mike's Models - Page 3
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