West End Workbench

[jwealleans]

Both right; I had a look in the instructions at lunchtime and it suggests making one from plastic or card. Effectively, since the etch is stuck to some card, they do give you the raw materials.

The CCT kits came with roofs, didn't they? Something vac formed and plastic?

[mick b]

I have the NER Bogie CCT and 4 wheel CCT and the LNER X Long CCT without !!!! Got Brass Roofs rolled from Blacksmith Models before they changed hands , no idea if they still do roofs now ?
I phoned Roger Chivers re roofs he told me he had a mould and would make some .I never heard anymore so gave up and used Blacksmith this was about three years ago.

[jwealleans]

I bought a job lot of part finished parcels stock years ago on Ebay, mainly Roger Chivers and included were both NE CCTs. One had no roof but the other came with what looked like a vac formed one which I still haven't stuck on.

I enquired of the new owners of Blacksmith about having roofs rolled but wasn't favoured with a reply. As it happens the one supplied was far better than anything I recall in Danny's kits in the past.

For completeness, I delivered the Triang GW horsebox I refurbished tonight, so here it is along with the other two parked on Corfe:

[IAK]

I have the NER Bogie CCT and 4 wheel CCT and the LNER X Long CCT without !!!! Got Brass Roofs rolled from Blacksmith Models before they changed hands , no idea if they still do roofs now ?
I phoned Roger Chivers re roofs he told me he had a mould and would make some .I never heard anymore so gave up and used Blacksmith this was about three years ago.

Would not the MJT roof do the LNER CCT's nowadays?
Or is it the wrong profile?

[mick b]

I have the NER Bogie CCT and 4 wheel CCT and the LNER X Long CCT without !!!! Got Brass Roofs rolled from Blacksmith Models before they changed hands , no idea if they still do roofs now ?
I phoned Roger Chivers re roofs he told me he had a mould and would make some .I never heard anymore so gave up and used Blacksmith this was about three years ago.

Would not the MJT roof do the LNER CCT's nowadays?
Or is it the wrong profile?

Never tried , I think they are a bit thick for a van roof ?

[jwealleans]

The MJT roofs don't fit - the CCT is too high and domed.

Had another hour or so at this at lunchtime today. I think I'm through most of the fiddly stuff with overlays now.

[jwealleans]

Another couple of hours and we're just about there. This has been when some of the shortcomings of the kit have become apparent. They're mainly around the rocking W iron unit. It is too small for 14mm wheels, so you need to butcher two holes in the top to allow them to engage in the bearings and turn without causing a short. The rocking unit is also a bit bigger than it needs to be and I had to chop two of the V hangers off to allow it to rock. The whitemetal spring units went down the backs of the solebars and left enough room, but the axleboxes are hard up against the springs and will need some metal removing from the top.





It's a reminder of how much more we expect from kits now; the brake levers are very plain (I'll replace them on the next one I do) and there are no diagrams or pictures in the instructions. As a result I'm left with some bits of strapping and the brake gear to attach when a friend comes up with the relevant volume of the HMRS Journal. Comparing the piece of paper you get with the sheet from one of Roger's recent plastic kits, they're a world apart. The castings are noticeably more flashed (? flashy?) than those from the more recent kits as well, showing the age of the moulds I suppose. They clean up well enough. It can dry off for a few days now until I receive the recommended reading.

Does anyone have RM from March 1997 they might be able to lend me? I'm told there was an article by Steve Banks on building this kit. It's also mentioned in an article about stock from Rockingham 1929 in April 2007, which I have.

[mick b]

Doesnt sound very good for todays standards. Sounds like they should have had a update before release.

[jwealleans]

To be fair to Matt he supplied them as soon as I asked about them, so he won't have had time to do anything to it.... I know they're making new masters for some of the castings in some kits and I imagine the instructions will be revisited. As this one will be running round Pilmoor behind perspex screens it won't show up.

[mick b]

wasnt aware of how you got the kit. He might have warned you first !! no roof, poor fit and poor instructions !! dont think i will be buying any at the mo

[Atlantic 3279]

I'll scan and send you the information that I think you are seeking in a few minutes Jonathan.

Having become thoroughly accustomed to the regular need to trim parts to fit, or to obtain clearances, accepting that this is part of actual model making, I find it strange that somebody would simply refuse to buy kits at all unless they are guaranted to fall together completely effortlessly. If all buyers took this approach, the time taken in preparing kit parts to the necessary degree of accuracy would, I suspect, make it almost impossible for some smaller manufacturers to produce kits at acceptable prices. If there were no kits then building everything from scratch would involve a heck of a lot of thinking, planning, cutting, trimming and trying all-over-again when things don't work out. In some cases we should think more in terms of what even a faulty kit achieves for us, and less in terms of what else it ought to achieve.

[mick b]

Graeme
I have been misread again !! or i am crap at making my views clear.
I dont expect kits to fall together etc etc. How ever these kits were given quite a bit of publicity on RM Web a while ago (which you may have not read), they are far from cheap and I think you should be able to expect a bit more for your money than what has been supplied or the kit listing should make it clear what you get for your money. Again personally I would have complained to Chivers re the problems , I know you had fun with Proscale a while ago too re quality issues.
I have built many many kits if they say doesnt contain roof etc etc you are then not disapointed .You also know what you are getting for your hard earned !!

cheers

Mick

[jwealleans]

I will be contacting Matt Chivers to give him my feedback. At the moment I'd be inclined to cut him some slack until he's had the time to work through the range and bring them up to date. We will be ordering some of his LSWR kits for Ormesby when they are released and those are ones I know he's working on. If the instructions and castings are at the standard Roger's plastic kits have set then he'll have done a good job. If he revises the artwork as well then so much the better although I imagine it will need to computerised for that to happen.

[Atlantic 3279]

Hi Mick
If, as you suggest, these kits have been promoted as de-luxe items then I think you have a valid point and in that case I apologise if I implied otherwise. No longer myself being a regular reader of the unwieldy and politically-policed RMweb I'll have to rely on your description. I've only seen the announcements on here and in the press regarding the three-way split of Chivers and the resurrection of some of the older kits - on that basis I assumed that those kits would be showing signs of age.

[mick b]

No problem.
I dont think they were advertised on RM Web as "de luxe" as far as i can remember the description was "vague" at best.
I have just looked at

http://www.five79.co.uk/

and it now states no roofs supplied on some of the kits. This was not the case when first released as far I can recall.

The Fish Van JW has built is £26.00 plus postage perhaps this underlines my concern on reading on what you actually get for the price.
Luckily I had already built the CCT kits I wanted via ebay for a cheaper price . I therfore could not justify building anymore at the new advertised prices. Compared to D&S kits which hopefully will become available again they are far behind in detail and overall quality.

It will be good to see what new kits are released in due course by five79 .

Mick