Rail Express – September 2019

The famous ‘Tubeliner’ trainwasaregular flowofstrip coil from LackenbytoCorby, hauledby pairs of Class 37s, Class 56s and latterlysingle Class 60s. Nos. 37506+37511 head

south at ClayCross with the 6M37 to CorbyonApril17, 1987. Note that the train is made up ofBAAwagons, each loaded withfour strip coils of slightlydifferent sizes.

MODELLING

M10RAILEXPRESSModeller September 2019 Supplement No. 185

S

TRIP steel coilmouldings supplied

with many ready to run models

in both ‘N’ and ‘OO’gaugeare

not alwaysasconvincingaswewould

like,assuming th ey aresupplied at all.

The simple method demonstrated in

this article canbeused to makecoil

load sfor Bachmann and GrahamFarish

BAAwagons, theforthcomingCavalex

Models BBAorany wagonfitted with

crad lesfor stripsteel ,including the

smal lfleet of specialisedtraditionalBR

vacuum brakedwagons.

If steelwagons areyour thing,

converting BachmannandGraham

Farish BDAs tomodelthe former air

braked trestles (BOA) usedto transport

smaller coilsis an interestingproject

Weekend project: Simple strip steel coil

Aspell of lightrelief at theworkbenchwasrequired

after tackling the sprung Class 37.Acoupleofevenings

making up simple strip steel coil in both ‘N’ and ‘OO’

gaugeforvarious projectswasthe perfect antidote!

to consider.Alternatively, it is worth

considering conversions basedon the

Cambrian Kits Bogie BolsterD,B PA

or BD Awagon kitstoachieve similar

results. Whateverstrip coil wagontype

or er ayou model, havingasuitableload

forthem makesall the difference to the

modelsand gi vesaclear purposefor

their existence on thelayout.

Coil-making is simple to dofor‘N’

and ‘OO’gaugesteel wagons. Theycan

be made up and finishedin acouple

of hours–the perfectfollow-up to a

complexproject toavoid burnout.The

excellentfast-dryingacrylicpaints

by Tamiyaand LifeColo ur ar eideal for

painting andweathering, making it

poss ible to finishcoilmodels inashort

time.

Aweekend of modelling could

see asizeable collectionofsteel coil

completed,readyforwagon loads or

use as asceni cfeatureinanindustrial

location orsteelplant.

Sizi ng and loading

Stri psteel coil is aconvenientway

of handling semi-finished steel strip

manufactured invariou sthicknesses,

gradesandwidthsforall manner of

manufacturing from motorvehicles to

whitegoods. Someprocessesrequire

the product to be free ofcorrosion

and transportedin coveredwagons

and containers fitted withwooden or

steel cradles. Occasionally, coilmay be

loaded on openwagons with plastic

or asheet covering forprotection

–achallenging detail to model

convincingly.

Otherwise, coilisu sually left open

to the elements, particularly when

loaded ‘hot’ onwagons equipped with

specialcradles designed to handle

the heat such asthose used on BLA

wagons. Whilst sometype sofcoilis

carried‘eye-to-the-sky’ onBAA andBBA

wagons, theuse ofwood-lined cradles

to protecttheedgesof stri psteel from

damageismorecommon,eversincecoil

has been transportedby rail.

Beforestartingwork, thesizeof

strip steelcoilshould be considered and

photographs of loadedwagons

areveryuseful ingaugingcoildiameters

and widths. The sizeofthe cr adles will

determine themaximum widthofcoil

youcan model.Coilvaries in height too,

even adjacent coils loaded on thesame

wagoncan vary,and that is another

factor to considerwhen determining

the size of your model coil.

Making up stripcoil

Make astart by cuttinglongstrips

of 10-thou whitestyrene cardtothe

desired widthfromanew sheet, using a

cutting matand amodelling knifefitted

with anew blade.Remove the burr from

the cut edge of the strips which do not

have to be preciselymeasured aslong

as th ey arewithin 1mmof each other.

Take eachlength andrun it

betw een asteel ruleand your fingersto

makeitc urlinthe samemanner as gift

wrap ribbon. Once it curlsnicelyaround

your fingers, startto wrap it tightly

aroundametal cylinder –the ‘OO’gauge

examples in thisarticle were made

using the handleofapinvice. Asmaller

spindlewillber equiredformaking ‘N’

gaugecoils such as pieces of brassrod.

Strip coiliso bser vedloaded onBAAand BBA-typewagons fitted with large specialised

cradles which arebuilt to withstand heat when the coilisl oade dhot. Note the heat

damageand rust effects on the cradles. The nearestwagonisf ormer BBA, nowBLA

No. 910477 photographed atLeamin gton Spa in April2001.

Some of the acrylic paintsby LifeColour

and Tamiya used to colour andweather

strip coilmodels in both ‘N’ and ‘OO’ are

shown in this picture, in addition to the

GrahamFarish BAAmodel which has been

treated with severalrust shades and

underframe grime.