Take 2 - A KP mail van - the Hawksmoor version

Well that was a bit of a mistake!. I had thrown a few photos as the start of a post on my recently completed KP Mail Van and inadvertently hit the publish button rather than just saving the draft. My humble apologies to those who opened that version. Now to start again, this time with a bit more content.

Last June, I recently purchased a Hawksmoor KP Mail Van kit and finally got around to assembling it just before Christmas. This is a very basic kit that is a recasting of the original MRC kit, this time in polyurethane. It required the addition bogies, couplers and other detail parts.

I used an article in AMRM August 1997 by Garry Kahler that included a plan and elevations to provide some key dimensions and basic information. The kit was close to the dimensions in the article but to get the couplers at the correct high, I had to use the high set kadee version, plus some shims on the bogies.

The kit went together easily although a fair bit of filing and sanding was necessary to make it fit.  As usual, I used masking tape strips on the roof and added replacement roof vents. Other added detail is shown on these two photos. As usual, soldering the underframe truss was a bit of a challenge.










The only problem that I couldn't overcome was the shape of the end walls and the very visible intersection of the side walls. No amount of filling or filing could hide this. However, I am consoled by the fact that the van will usually be marshalled between other cars and the ends will be obscured. 

With the completion of this kit, that's probably about the last of the mail train consist I have been slowly assembling over past few years. 

It's probably about time that I focused on other facilities for Philip's Creek.

 
 

Using Elasticised Cotton for Fences - Some Lessons Learnt

Around the end of 2013, there was discussion in Ray Pilgrim's Bylong blog concerning the used of elasticised or stretchy thread as a solution for power lines and fencing wire. After Ray's posts had been published, I purchased a roll of this product, but never let it be said that things happen quickly on Philip's Creek. It took me another year before I finally motivated myself to try the thread, not so much for power lines but rather as fencing wire.

In part, my lethargy was due to the frustrations expressed in an earlier post when I attempted to do the same thing with very fine wire. (http://philipscreek.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/a-waste-of-time.html. The elasticised thread was certainly easier to use than wire and as such, didn't trigger quite the same reaction as previously. However, it did reconfirm the lesson that I learnt previously, do the fencing early - the sooner the better after the basic landscaping has been applied and most definitely before power poles have been added. On parts of my layout this was not the case and there has been a power and telegraph pole repair program running in parallel with the fencing. On the newer section of Philip's Creek, there is nothing taller than the fence posts, so the work is a little easier.

By the way, the fence posts are combination of a special order of split timber posts from Kerroby Models mixed with some scratch built posts made by splitting a match in two.

At this time, I have competed some fencing around the local church and school and am now working on the fencing of the rail easement on the new and less cluttered section of the layout.








So what have I learnt from this exercise?

Firstly, this thread snags or catches very easily. The thread is very fine and seems to catch on almost anything from grass to rocks, power poles and certainly edges of buildings. Because it is very fine, it is difficult to see and its elasticity means that sometimes, you are not aware of a snag until the tension becomes so great that the thread pulls out back off the needle. It becomes a matter of judgement as to how much loose thread you want hanging around and getting snagged compared with how many times you want to tie off and start again. The photo opposite shows a point where one length was tied off and another started. Although it is fairly obvious in the close up photo, it is difficult to detect from a reasonable viewing distance. The white thread on the grey post also helps.

Secondly, make sure you have a fair amount of thread on the loose side of the needle eye. I lost count of the number of times that the needle was pulled through a fence post only to find that the end of the thread was left a centimetre or two back.

Super glue is your friend. I found that a touch of super glue on the thread as it looped around a corner fence post or bracing pole was sufficient to hold the thread in place after a short setting period. The photo opposite shows two strands in place, each with a loop around the corner post that has been glued in place.





The thread that I purchased was white. There had been some commentary in the earlier articles suggesting that a black thread was available but was not as good. However, I found that it was not easy to paint and the best solution was to run a black permanent marking pen along each strand of 'wire' once it was in place. This has worked well for most of the fence line but colouring in the vicinity of the fence posts is a bit sparse. More work is needed here.

Unless you have brilliant young eyes, some form of magnification is a must.

Finally, there is the question of how much tension should be applied to each fencing wire. I only applied a relatively light tension, sufficient to given the appearance of a well tensioned fence but, hopefully, not too much that it will lose its elasticity very quickly. I do expect some sagging over time but it should be with realistic limits.

Notwithstanding, the small dent that I have made in this project so far, there is still plenty to do, probably still about 2-3m of fences yet to be strung. No rest for the wicked!