The LNER Encyclopedia

Awhile ago I mentioned my next project, well time has arrived to make a start

At warley last year I got the resin kit from Dean Sidings and a few bits from 247

I am going to build a Gresley W1 in rebuilt form, with a little modellers license

I already had a chassis I brought of ebay and a tender from another project

I intend to build her in early '48 condition with a non corridor tender as she was allocated one when her corridor one was attached to Union of South Africa (and still is) although for most of the time of this pairing she was in the works. This is where the license comes in, at this time she was given her BR number I shall keep her as 10000 but have British Railways on the tender, my logic is that the works where rather slow at changing it. Needless to say at this point she was still Garter Blue and didn't get the Brunswick Green until the 50's

Now for the kit, body is okay, no visable pits or bubbles, but will see once I undercoat it in grey primer. Looking at the banding they will have to go, way to thick, will either thin or totally remove and replace with micro strip (see pic below) the usual flashing needs removing, and a good wash to make sure all chemicals from the casting process are gone

The handrail knobs and wire included in the kit are suppressingly good, much better than what was in the B17/5 I did a couple of years ago, so will be keeping them, the whistle and buffers on the other hand are not, so suitable replacement ones from 247 will be used

The instructions say to use a chassis from the Hornby railroad range but as it's the same block as the one from the main range I will be having loco drive with finer side rods n valve gear (even tho most of it will be hidden behind valances)

The rear cartazzi/truck from the kit will be binned, a donor from the spares box replacing it, with the bottom of the fire box & axle box details cut from the kit one and attached to the main body, thus hiding the swinging pony truck (no first rad curves on my layout)

Am going to try the Humbrel Garter Blue paint in a hope it will match the Hornby tender so I can avoid re-painting it, if not I have a pot of precision paints & railmatch too

Items still left to buy are the parabolic curve and tender decals from Fox Transfers, and sort out how to glaze the cab, any ideas?

so here is the kit of parts ready to go and the offensive boiler bands





so wish me luck, I plan to try complete in 4-5 weeks

I also have a surprise at the end, another bit of license based on fact......

photos of progress will follow


--------------------

Brian

W1 never had valances they were removed during war as were the ones on the A4's.

I suggest tape for the bands much easier than microstrip. The Resin tender looks awful I would also add a new anti vac pipe for the side. The top cover on the boiler should be flush to top of the boiler cladding. I coud add a lot more points too
There are pictures of my Finecast version also post war version on my LNER Models thread from a couple of years ago.

The nose and cab look like they've been partly moulded from the old 90's hornby A4 ( the one with the dodgy nose )

If so I'd recommend re sculpting the nose sides and replacing the chimney with a new hornby version to give it a more accurate profile and I'd completely rebuild the foward cab too. Good luck

I was most impressed with Atlantic 3279's A4/W1 conversion but realise that not everyone would be confident to take that approach. I'm not sure that the Finecast kit is available anymore either so the Dean Sidings version must be worth a go!

Reading Mick b's post it is clear that the body needs a fair bit of preparation!

Pity you can't just buy the body without the tender!

Anyway, good luck with the build - I will look forward to reading news of your progress.

PS: I don't know whether you have seen my "valence removal" job on a Railroad A4? I was wondering whether the Dean Sidings body would stand the same treatment? What do you think?

2002EarlMarischal wrote:I was most impressed with Atlantic 3279's A4/W1 conversion but realise that not everyone would be confident to take that approach. I'm not sure that the Finecast kit is available anymore either so the Dean Sidings version must be worth a go!

Reading Mick b's post it is clear that the body needs a fair bit of preparation!

Pity you can't just buy the body without the tender!

Anyway, good luck with the build - I will look forward to reading news of your progress.

PS: I don't know whether you have seen my "valence removal" job on a Railroad A4? I was wondering whether the Dean Sidings body would stand the same treatment? What do you think?

Ay up!

The Finecast W1 is still available in both rebuilt and unrebuilt forms and has the best chassis I've ever built by far. It's the only one where the chassis wheelbase matched the rods perfectly.

If it wasn't for the fact that the W1's wheelbase is too long for my turntable, I'd seriously consider that finecast W1 (original, not rebuilt) .

Thanks for posting a reasonably clear pic of the casting, myself and a man of the cloth have been toying with the idea of an N15 from the same manufacturer. Initially i was put off by Mossies experiences with a build from them but now im a lot happier seeing the finish on this one. i will be watching this thread with interest.

blackout60800 wrote:If it wasn't for the fact that the W1's wheelbase is too long for my turntable, I'd seriously consider that finecast W1 (original, not rebuilt) .

Ay up!

On Engine Shed Road, we managed to get the W1 onto a standard Peco turntable with a few mm to spare. Se ain't that much longer than a Streak! Or an A3 for that matter. Shorter than a Duchess!

Go on, Blackout, have a go! You know you want to.....

I'm setting my sights a bit lower for my first brass and whitemetal build BB. With my final three replacement A4's on the books this year ( 60007, 60017, 60019 all hornby), I might try my hand at the new P2 next year

By the way, the turntable is in and working perfectly. I am hoping to finish painting it tomorrow ( white well with green trim, brown deck with green trim ) and will have some piccies posted on my workbench thread soon

Ay up!

There are two P2 kits on the market. Both are pigs to build.

The old Ks model is not difficult to find. The chassis needs a lot of work both to make it run in the first place. Then you need to make it go round corners.

The Pro-Scale model needs a lot of skilled metal shaping to get the casing right. I've also heard that the chassis "isn't the easiest."

The Finecast W1's chassis has been designed by somebody who knows what they're about and the etches are nice and accurate. I use a Hobby Holidays jig for chassis assembly but didn't need it for this one. Also the body castings are accurate and can be assembled using 'poxy resin and were designed with this in mind. How do I know? I built one. There's a piccie on here somewhere - I'll see if I can find it, once the icicles have melted in the nerdbox room.....

I was thinking about this one BB: http://www.pdkmodels.co.uk/

Mercator II, the couplings in the packet look a bit fragile

Blink Bonny wrote:Ay up!

There are two P2 kits on the market. Both are pigs to build.

The old Ks model is not difficult to find. The chassis needs a lot of work both to make it run in the first place. Then you need to make it go round corners.

The Pro-Scale model needs a lot of skilled metal shaping to get the casing right. I've also heard that the chassis "isn't the easiest."

The Finecast W1's chassis has been designed by somebody who knows what they're about and the etches are nice and accurate. I use a Hobby Holidays jig for chassis assembly but didn't need it for this one. Also the body castings are accurate and can be assembled using 'poxy resin and were designed with this in mind. How do I know? I built one. There's a piccie on here somewhere - I'll see if I can find it, once the icicles have melted in the nerdbox room.....

Main chassis is ok . How did you get the rear truck to go around curves? On mine I gave up and removed the flanges aka Hornby design for the A3/4

Blink Bonny wrote: Ay up!

There are two P2 kits on the market. Both are pigs to build.

*snip*

The Pro-Scale model needs a lot of skilled metal shaping to get the casing right. I've also heard that the chassis "isn't the easiest."

*snip*

Er, no, not really - the boiler and firebox etc are pre-rolled. There's no metal shaping needed - just the usual care any brass kit takes. The chassis is made from very thick brass, so needs a good amount of heat to join, but again, is fit for purpose.

The real issue (I found) is just that it's a VERY long wheelbase, and eight couple wheels plus a cartazzi with limited swing is going to need a large radius to get around.

Ay up, Jukebox!

It er..... didn't go round corners. Not very well. Still, the engine turned out to be destined for a display cabinet so no worries there then!

As for the coupled wheelbase, the only solution would be to narrow the frames.

Must build one o' these for meself....

Blink Bonny wrote:Ay up, Jukebox!

It er..... didn't go round corners. Not very well. Still, the engine turned out to be destined for a display cabinet so no worries there then!

As for the coupled wheelbase, the only solution would be to narrow the frames.

Must build one o' these for meself....

Even the narrow frames won't help, BB - the fixed chassis under the cab still would swing out past the limit of travel of any wheelset running where the cartazzi sits.

YouTube of Proscale P2 rolling road test