On Video: Not a Rapido S13…
I almost put this model up for sale last week. I have long been frustrated with its performance - for whilst my similar RS23 is a great running example, this one had some strange characteristics...
However, it was actually the announcement of the Rapido RTR model that had me working on this again. I own plenty of ready to run models and enjoy the excitement of a 'new announcement' as much as any of us - but these models with their hard won Chinese finesse are sterile - they are only a base for us to work from, to personalise, to breathe life into their finish...
And so to kits - the cottage industries that create and market these 'gap fillers' offer us an alternative to expensive Korean brass or scratchbuilding... the very act of assembling these things generates character - and 8704 is no different. Wrestling her from raw Kaslo resin and sprinkling with detail parts and my own paint finish results in a completely unique, one off, flawed but flawless model...
But she ran like a dog - grinding noises, speed increases, then decreases as you went through speed steps... it transpired the Bachmann motor was the culprit and swapping it out for a 5 pole can motor of unknown origin has resulted in a transformation in performance... excited, happy and keen to share this rekindled love affair I present twenty minutes of her switching Beaverbrook...
If you're interested in the genesis of this particular love affair, the S13u label will find all posts about this model - and she has also appeared in other videos - perhaps most interestingly a Hilton and Mears 'Just Four'...
I hope you enjoy that interlude, I certainly did, despite the frequent 'cutting' to change camera angles! The things we do for our art, hey. Until next time, more soon...
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This video sent me off on a Canadian YouTube session yesterday James. It ended with some fantastic 1980's footage of a pair of F units on snow plough duty, a GP9 yard switcher even crept in at one stage. The one thing about modelling north American prototypes I always loved is that everything worked! I'm sat looking at my Farish 37142, it's a great model, it's a smooth runner, I've even ridden on the real thing but my frustration is that to make it more realistic I've got to change the clunky couplings to DG and lower the body on the chassis by hacking plastic off the body. The only N gauge north American loco I've ever owned ( GP38-2 CSX, long since sold) ran like a dream from new and was fitted with hands-free couplings that looked and worked like the real thing. I'd love more realistic models but at the moment I'm paralysed by the fear of damaging something that cost me a reasonable amount of money, my wages are very hard-earned and I've ruined any number of pieces of rolling stock in the name of realism. I don't really want to return to north American modelling just to have realistic models that run well and look good which was the choice I had as a teenager. Anyway, rant over. Great modelling as ever James. Beaverbrook is a lovely model. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGlad to oblige…
DeleteBritish N scale - yes until someone sorts the couplings it’s always a poor relation in some ways. But the quality and variety of what we can easily obtain now makes US N look very 80s! Enjoy what you have for now and practice the skills on low risk items…
I didn't mean the frustration to bubble over as much as that James, sorry! It just seems a bit mad that we have well proportioned locos that run nicely but still need surgery to take them to the next level. I was an ace away from wielding a scalpel the other day after watching your YouTube post about how to lower a 37 and then chickened out!
ReplyDeleteLowering the 'current tooling' 37s is a cinch really, what's the worst that can happen? Modifying the lighting boards like this doesn't lower it on its own, its the combination of that, lowering the fuel tank and cutting off some of the ribs on the inside... all low risk - relatively speaking!
Delete