BETTER BOGIES

I do my best to respond to customer feedback.

of the modellers who bought the first batch of DZ wagon kits commented that it would be nice if the etched brass bogies were a little more three dimensional.

It's a very good observation so with the intention of improving the kit and giving extra value for money I have designed some small stick-on castings representing the suspension in the centre of the bogie frame and the chunky axle boxes on these SAR bar frame bogies.

The spring casting is glued onto the centre of the bogie frame and the axle boxes simply slip over the axle bushes.

These castings will come as standard with all the DZ wagon kits produced from now on and I will be doing something similar to add onto the alternative bogie design for the forthcoming NGY ballast wagon and B wagon kits.

DZ WAGON KIT RELEASED

I am delighted to be able to announce the official launch of our first OO9 kit for the ex-SAR DZ wagons, a number of which can be found running on the Welsh Highland Railway.

As you can see below what you get in the kit is resin castings for the sides, ends, chassis and some very thin castings for the distinctive bulges on the inner faces of the doors.

You also get an etched brass fret with fold-up bogie frames, basic brake gear components and the SAR hexagonal handbrake wheels.

To complete the kit you need to obtain wheels, pinpoint bearings and couplings all of which can be found on the excellent Parkside Dundas website, as well as 10BA nuts/bolts to secure the bogies.

The kit is being sold for £20 and is being produced in limited run batches. The first batch of 30 is almost sold out.

Email us at bostonlargsworks@btinternet.com to enquire about availability or to reserve your kits in the next production run.

These kits are also going to be available from the Ffestiniog Railway's own shop.

DZ WAGONS IN PRODUCTION

We are now casting the 'production version' of the 009 DZ wagon kit, which will retail for £20.

A number of these ex-SAR wagons are in departmental use on the Welsh Highland Railway.

The wagons in the picture above are for clients who have opted to pay at little extra to have us make up their kits for them.

Bogies and other brass detailing parts including brake hand wheels and brake rigging are being etched for us by Narrow Planet.

Availability of the complete kit will be determined by the number of these etches which are produced and we are approaching the point where we will have to confirm the size of the first run.

If you are interested in purchasing one of the first batch of kits please contact us at bostonlargsworks@btinternet.com to avoid disappointment.

*NEW* DZ WAGON KIT

Regular readers of the Bron Hebog blog will know that I have been experimenting with resin casting to make myself a fleet of ex-SAR DZ wagons, of which there are a number on the WHR.

I've had a number of enquiries from other modellers interested in these but as resin casting is a new technique to me I wanted to wait to see how the first one would turn out, and how reliably I would produce reasonable quality castings, before committing myself to producing some for sale.

This picture shows the first wagon I assembled from the castings.

In this picture below are the main components of the 'kit' which can be supplied which is composed of triple-door wagon sides, ends and a one piece floor casting with vacuum cylinder and reservoir.

There are also some small cast components (not shown) which can be assembled with 0.5mm brass wire to represent the brake gear.

Here you can see a picture of one my wagons which has also been fitted with SAR-style hand brake wheels which I had left over from a previous wagon project.

If there is sufficient interest I will look into the possibility of getting some more of these etched to supply with the castings.

I do not intend to supply bogies or wheels with the kit, but once again, if there is demand, I could investigate getting some etches designed and produced with both the hand wheels and basic bogie frames.

Because of this I would not be able to confirm a price for a castings & etches combo but I am currently in a position to supply the resin castings for a wagon body for £20.

DISCLAIMER: Resin casting by its nature is an inherently less reliable method of manufacture than injection moulding or etching metal and it is impossible to guarantee that parts supplied will not contain some blemishes produced as a result of air bubbles in the resin.  However I will pledge not to sell a customer any part that I would not be prepared to use on one of my own models.  Can I say fairer than that?