Buffer dilema

 

As supplied, the kit comes with a split pin, a bit of wire and a plastic hook. This will produce a realistic Ffestiniog coupling, but one that will be incompatible with everything except Cooper Craft wagon kits. Even then, the things will be a fiddle to use, which is why I prefer a bit of chunky chain. 

Digging in my spares box, I find some rather nice whitemetal buffers. There is a bolt thread on the back, so with a bit of bodgery, there is a strengthener that runs along the reline of the wagon to cut away, this fits into the bufferbeam, nice and strong. Especially with loads of superglue.  

All fitted well, but I didn't like the result. Too large, and more importantly, too complicated. This is a very simple wagon. It wouldn't be fitted with anything so fancy. 

Removing them was a bit of a mission. That superglue had done its job, and eventually, I had to cut down the back of the buffer casting, through the bolt, with a piercing saw. Two blades later, it was done, but hardly a relaxing job. 

The replacement is a block of hardwood (we always keep stocks handy for this sort of job), roughly shaped, and superglued in place. Since I don't trust the glue, despite the effort it took to remove the old buffers, a couple of pieces of brass wire fit through the block, and into the bufferbeam, where they are bent over. 

A hook, made from bent paperclip, is fitted in the top so I can use my chunky chain for coupling. This setup looks, to me, far more in keeping with the wagon. Which means I can move on to paint. 
 

Upper body building

 

The slate wagon body is simple, and ingenious. First, the sides are dropped into holes in the floor. These needed to be drilled out, although I just waggled a tapered reamer in to make them larger. Lashings of MEK softened the plastic so they would push in. 

Then, three slats are inserted into the ends. For the middle two, you ease the upper and lower side slats, and then the new one is grabbed by bumps on the end. Again, the holes in the end slats needed to be opened up - a 3mm bit sorted this out. One in place, loads more MEK to bond everything together.  

All that is left to do, is fit the couplings. Some very accurate ones are supplied, but they won't couple with anything else I own, so time to come up with a plan. 
 

Slotting the wheels in

I like being able to slot parts of a kit together without glue. In this case, the glass-filled nylon solebars and axleboxes can be slid into the floor with a little bit of a wiggle. Handy, as there has been a change to slate wagon kit since it was introduced. 

Original kits were designed to take finescale wheelsets. Now, a set of 16mm Association standard wheels are included, and these are slightly different. 

No problem, the modeller just needs to remove some plastic from the inner solebar. The photo in the instructions isn't that clear, and neither is the view above, but hopefully, this will help. 

I started with a coarse half-round file, and then carved away with a sharp knife. The plastic cuts easily, and I quickly removed the material. Probably too much if I'm honest, but we don't want to risk the wheels rubbing on anything. 

Once done, the solebars and wheels go back in. A quick check to ensure the chassis sits flat on a mirror, and then lashings of Plastic Weld, hold it all in place.  

Binnie slate wagon

 

Here it is. The kit that launched the Binnie empire. Moulded in ABS, and glass-filled nylon, a kit for the Ffestiniog 2-ton slate wagon. 

Reintroducing this kit has involved 40-year-old moulds and many burnt fingers from the manufacturer. As a piece of history, I felt that with my Garden Rail Editor jacket on, I ought to buy one and have a go. Despite being a limited-production kit, my parcel arrived in under a week, so I'm putting the canal boat aside for a couple of days to put the thing together. 

The instructions say "Trimming of flash will be required before assembly" - a legacy of those old moulds. My photo shows the worst bit, the one that would show up on camera best, and indeed, the first job is to clean things up. I don't think this is any worse than kits in the old days. Modern plastic manufacture means we rarely see excess material, but once upon a time, modellers just took it in their stride. 

A sharp scalpel blade and an abrasive stick took care of the worst of it, so I could move on to assembly. 

Meet Wilfred

 

 

I love "Art in the Park". The beautiful, if somewhat yellow, Jephson Gardens, are filled with stalls. Each of those stalls is manned by an artist selling their wares. All the hand-made creativity you could want, in a small(ish, it's getting bigger) space in Leamington Spa. 

Now, I know it's possible to spend a lot of money here. There is everything from ridiculously cheap cards (I stock up for Christmas) to serious paintings and sculpture costing well into four figures. I'm not in that market, but I do have a modest budget I'm willing to spend each year, as regular readers will know. 

There is also weird food on offer. My rule is that I should try something new each time, and this year I scoffed street food glazed duck. From a stand with a particularly muscular lucky cat. 

OK, dessert was (again) the toastie version of millionaire's shortbread from Jabberwocky, but it's sooooo nice. 

The weather was on the side of the organisers. Dry, sunny, but not quite as hot as it has been recently. The crowds were out in force, I just hope the artists did well. Standing there all day with everyone judging your efforts isn't going to be easy. You have to keep smiling, even when they are just tyre-kicking. 

Anyway, I blew a small part of my budget on a little creature that leapt out at me from the Clay Pidgin stand. My usual method of doing this event is to go around twice. Anything that has stuck in my head by the second visit, is a contender for my cash. Not this time though, Christina Callaghan was setting up and I dived in. No idea why, I just liked it. 

Wilfred, as a friend has named him, is a porcelain figure with several different glazes. The comb and lips are smooth, the rest textured. I think there is a hint of SuperLambanana about him. Apart from that, I really don't know why I like this little figure, but I do, and that's all art needs. Maybe it's a little bit mad, but then so am I.