IRISH GENERATOR VAN
 |
| Photo by Ed Fahey. |
Today, the postman has just delivered DC Kits' new resin-bodied kit of an Irish Railways (CIE) 'Dutch' generator van. I shall be assembling and painting this for a review in Model Rail in the next month or two. Made up of a one-piece bodyshell, brass floor and whitemetal bogies, the kit provides everything save wheels, bearings and couplings; all of which - as well as a tin of Phoenix Precsion CIE orange paint - can be obtained from DC Kits.
First impressions tell me that it looks pretty good. But then, I would say that as I made up the brass master from etches supplied by DC Kits' Charlie Petty. It's funny seeing the resin mouldings after spending quite a while getting the brass bits to go together.
Here's some detail images of the components as they came straight from the box...
The unusual body shape has been captured well and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished in the distinctive orange/black livery of CIE.
Below are some snaps of the brass master being assembled. The roof proved the most difficult part, being formed by rolling with various sizes of brass and copper piping, plus the shaft of a screwdriver for the extreme edges. Forming compound curves like this is not easy and requires care and patience. A little experience helps as well.
Hi George,
ReplyDeleteI was delighted to find this kit of a 'Dutch' generator van on sale at the North Down model Show, Bangor, Co Down last weekend and quickly got to work on it. As kit building it was fairly straight forward and I have completed it except for glazing and fixing couplings.
I have 2 issues with the kit. The first on is a minor one, I removed the resin grill panels to replace them with brass ones but in two area I found resin strips designed for supporting the under floor crosses the grill area making the conversion not possible. The second one was the advice on fitting couplings, “We suggest soldering a coupling bar made from a paperclip onto the brass floor, bending to the correct height to match your other rolling stock”. I’m not sure if this would work, especially on tight curves, all other kits have their couplings attached to their bogies, i.e. MIR bogie wagons have included their coupling connection as part of their bogie manufacture.
I would welcome your suggestion on coupling mounting brackets for this kit.
Kirley0
Hell Kieran,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments and I'm glad that you're happy with the kit. The inner ribs are, indeed, intended for locating the floor at the right height, as well as adding a little extra strength to the sides. I'm sorry that they're in the way if replacing the grilles. I hadn't envisaged that when I stuck the ribs onto the master!
As for the coupling mounts, you're quite right about it being a safer bet to add them to the bogies rather than the floor (I didn't write the instructions!). I've nearly finished assembling my kit and it will feature in Model Rail soon. I'll be sure to show how I added the couplings to it. I'll also post some photos of it on this blog ASAP.
All the best,
George
The photos was taken by me - Ed Fahey, not Charlie, check the exif data!
ReplyDeleteHello Ed,
ReplyDeleteSorry about the mix up with the credit.
I'll edit the post accordingly...
All the best,
George