Finished G1 wagon

 

And there we are - job done. If you didn't wait for paint to dry, the kit could be assembled in about an hour and a half, and even that would be a leasurely pace. 

I really like this kit. The finished model feels great. A little weight might me required, but I'll aim to match the Accucraft wagon when that is to hand. It rolls well and has that mass that only a large scale model can muster. 

So, I'll be shopping for more Northern Finescale kits then? Yes I will, but it's going to be tricky.A couple of messages on the G1 Facebook group explain: 

Heads up for this weekend. Chris Arundell will be at Gauge One North Bakewell with the last Northern Fine Scale wagon and van kits for sale, all at discount price, buy for future needs because this is your final chance. Snooze and you loose!

 *

When he died Roger was had turned 78 and wanted to do some Gauge 1 for himself. We were at the stage where parts were getting low so re-investment of substantial $$$$ for more parts was on the very near horizon.......at prices a couple of hundred percent more than before. We had already made the decision that it was no longer cost effective, so to assemble the final kits, I had 500 rims made and I fired up my own bench-top injection molding machine to make buffer heads on a home made mold. There is nobody capable of using the molds we have (some a two-man job to lift) and shipping them (to the UK?) would be prohibitive, especially as Roger was a demon at swapping over ejector systems and water cooling from mold to mold. No, NFS's time has come and just looking at the recent contraction of G1 commercial manufacturers, just confirms we have done the right thing. It's always best to quit when you are on top.

Now, Northern Finescale were at G1 North, and I did spend a bit of time on their stand, knowing that this was the last chance. The thing is, I couldn't work out how much anything cost. Sides were priced, but did they include the chassis? And wheels? And if they don't, how much were those bits? 

I couldn't ask, because both people on the stand were deep in conversation, and later in the morning, I ran out of car park time, and had to leave before I could answer my questions. I suspect that if I had, I might have bought more kits...

So, I missed out. A few more coins in my pocket and my car park time would have been longer (it didn't do contactless unfortunatly), but that's how the cookie crumbles. I'm sure there will be kits on the second-hand market, so I'll keep my eye out. In the meantime, there are other manufacturers, so I'll have to build my train up from a variety of sources.

Buffers and couplings

 

Both buffers and couplings on this kit will be familiar to anyone who has built an O gauge kit. You can see the buffer components above. The only glue required is to attach the ring to the face of the buffer body. 

I screwed the nut half-way along the thread as doing it all the way up seemed to leave too little buffer shank showing. Maybe I'm wrong there, but it's my model, and I like it this way. 

Couplings are again, the same as a 7mm kit. The hook slides through the buffer beam, a spring is put on the back, and retained with a split pin. The only difference is that the chain is chunkier, and needs lot more bending to open out the links for fitting!

Brake gear

 

I'm loving this kit! The brake gear is a joy. For example, the back of the safety loop is moulded in with the main part containing the shoes. The fronts are stuck on and they loops will automatically be vertical and properly positioned. When can't this be done in O gauge, or even OO? 

Brake shoes are close, but not touching the wheels. Certainly close enough for the gap not to be visible in normal viewing. 

I managed to break one of the brake levels cutting it off the sprue, but a bit of Microstrip glued to the back fixed this, and now painted black, no one can see. 

Two shapes of toothed rack are included, and since this is a freelance wagon, I've used the rounded bottom version as I prefer the look.

Wheels in

 

Another easy job, the W-irons locate into holes in the solebar that match up with a lug on the front. You can't go wrong, and you would have to work pretty hard to fit them wonky. 

Into the bearing hole goes a slippery plastic bearing. Maybe there are brass alternatives, but for the amount of running I anticipate, I can't see this being a problem. Judging by the quality of the kit, the manufacturer knows what he's doing!

Solebars drop in, with some more raised lugs to set the distance apart. Wheels need to be fitted at the same time, i can't see you can spring the sides out to do it afterwards, A bit of juggling, but nothing too difficult, these parts are chunky after all. 

There's a little allowance to slide the solebars side to side to ensure the wheels are perpendicular to the sides. A good wash of Mek fixes everything in place, and I've even been careful enough not to damage the paint for a change.

Body, and a bit of paint

 

Well, this big scale seems simple enough! Building the body is no harder than it is in OO - to be fair, the pieces are just the same, but larger. 

Using Revell Contacta glue, two pairs of corners are assembled, then the four sides come together, and finally the floor is dropped in. The Contact tacks the lot together, with Mek-Pak washed inside the corners to set the joins. 

I took care to ensure the assembly was square - building it on an old bathroom mirror - but this was probably overkill. 

While the sides are prepainted, back ironwork has to be coloured on the ends and solebars. It's not too fiddly, although keeping a brush of thinners handy was a good idea a couple of times. While the paint (Revell 6) was out, I gave the underframe components a coat too. Easier now, that trying to dodge the green solebars with the W-irons are attached.

G1 Anniversary wagon

 

You can't leave a model railway show without at least one bag or box of goodies. That's the law. 

From G1 North, I came away with this Northern Finescale wagon kit. Bought second-hand, hence it being 17 years old, I had checked that all the main bits were in the box, before putting £60 on my credit card.

My long-term needs for G1 stock are half-a-dozen wagons, and a brake van. Plus a loco, which I already have the kit for. I'm not fussed what the wagons are, but pre-grouping will work best with the loco livery I have in mind. One Accucraft RTR model is in the pile, and this is to be the second in the train. Since £60 to £95 seems the going rate for wagons, the process won't be quick, but I'm not in a rush. 

Working in a realatively new scale to me, means I don't have that overview of the market that I enjoy for smaller size trains. Hence my trip to G1 North to look at the trade. 

Anyway, in the box are some nicely painted sides and ends, with transfers already applied to the sides. Everything is plastic, apart from the wheels. Instructions are a single sheet with some photos, but nothing looks too scary. In fact, on first glance, it's a lot like several O gauge kits I've built in the past.