Nickel plating

In the notes for kit 3 you suggest nickel plating the smokebox door handles.

I presume a matt nickel finish would be more prototypical?

Andrew Herbert

andrewjherbert wrote:In the notes for kit 3 you suggest nickel plating the smokebox door handles.

I presume a matt nickel finish would be more prototypical?

Andrew Herbert

Hi Andrew,

I have just found your post looking for suggestions on nickle plating, I personally would go for Satin or Matt. I was considering a VHT lacquer as an alternative due to cost.

If I find any more info I will let you know

Regards

Mike

I use the plating kit from Frost Restorations. Works very well and easy to use.

Hi Lynn,

What size kit did you get from Frost's ?

5 ltr bucket kit

Thanks Mike, Lynn.

I looked at the plating option. It seemed expensive for a small item, but I doubt how well a lacquer would last.

So I might go down the same route as Lynn and buy a plating kit.

Currently working on kit 7. An awful lot of rivets to fit, several in quite hard to get to places.

I note Mike is a GWR fan - which engine is the one in your photo? I too am a GWR enthusiast. Many years ago I did a driving course on Defiant at Tyseley. I would love to build a 7.25 gauge King, and have Reeve's drawings and casting for the tender, but its well beyond my abilities...

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I was fortunate to be a volunteer fireman on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway between 1993 and 1999, and a passed signalman at Cheltenham Racecourse, Winchcombe and Toddington signal boxes from 1995 until 2008.

The photo is of City of Truro at Toddington taken when I was on duty in the Signal Box. I Have fired Raveningham and Witherslack Halls, and 1450 together with a 16" hunslet during training. Unfortunately I didn't get to fire City of Truro.

The last 12 years of running my own business meant I couldn't keep up with the commitments to the GWR, and now having to tap my pension early due to covid, I have decided to build a 4" Scale Burrell SCC as a "steam fix" while waiting for the sound and lighting installation industry to recover.

I chose STW because their kits are fully machined, like you I haven't the skill set or equipment to machine castings.

If STW branch out onto rails then I could be tempted my a 7 1/4" narrow gauge hunslet or barclay loco

regards

Mike

MikeBelham wrote:

If STW branch out onto rails then I could be tempted my a 7 1/4" narrow gauge hunslet or barclay loco

regards

Mike

That might be seen as a backward step as in a former life (modelworks) only really did rail, from memory road traction was born with their 4" agri and a 1/5 scale Steam Lorry known as the Pride of Penrhyn which I've never ever seen, so dont know if it ever existed or if anyone ever built one.
Before the 4" agri there was one other the 4" Ruston but that was a smaller engine closer to 3" from memory, it was the 4" Agri that stole the show and went on to what we have today with STW's fantastic range of traction kits.

LiveSteam wrote:
That might be seen as a backward step as in a former life (modelworks) only really did rail, from memory road traction was born with their 4" agri and a 1/5 scale Steam Lorry known as the Pride of Penrhyn which I've never ever seen, so dont know if it ever existed or if anyone ever built one.
Before the 4" agri there was one other the 4" Ruston but that was a smaller engine closer to 3" from memory, it was the 4" Agri that stole the show and went on to what we have today with STW's fantastic range of traction kits.

We will never say never to doing anything for the rails, but the range of railway locos will be drastically smaller because as you say our main range is always going to be the traction engines, and there is not as much profit in railway locos, which as a company we must take into account. I believe there were a few Pride of Penrhyn, but they are rarely seen, and are so small that taking them to rallies and riding around on them would be more difficult (I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them are sitting on peoples mantelpieces).

Many thanks

Will@STW