A pair of Felthams

[Paul821]

My entry will be:

 

 

and for references, other than the internet

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello and welcome, I was hoping for a good variety of transportation. I am definitely not disappointed. 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

3 hours ago, Paul821 said:

and for references, other than the internet

 

 

 

Bit jealous!   

 

Edit:   I've found a copy of the one on the left on evilbay.   

[Col.]

One of the main advantages of an all-encompassing Group Build subject such as this is the variety of subjects it encourages. Nice choices Paul

[Paul821]

Sprue shot

 

 

Some of the parts are for the Leeds version of the tram and will not be used. The 2nd kit is identical apart from the body sides which have the central doors.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

All of my sprues (apart from the bogies) are white, which makes it a total nightmare to photograph them!  

 

Are your bogies sprues moulded in a different plastic to the rest?  Mine are in a softer - almost vinyly - plastic.

[Paul821]

13 hours ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

re your bogies sprues moulded in a different plastic to the rest?

Took a look today and although the plastic is has more of a shine on it than the other sprues, if certainly doesn't seem softer. 

 

 

[CliffB]

Great choices Paul 👍

 

I'm sorry, but every time I see the title of your thread it takes me back to when I left school (half a century ago). 

My best mate had moved away to start work in 'Feltham' and we found the name hilarious (it was the time of Benny Hill etc.), particularly as it was next door to 'Staines'.  The fact that you're building a 'pair' is just perfect too!

 

Cheers

[PeterB]

I remember seeing Leeds trams not many years before they were withdrawn - no idea what type they were but I think they were a darkish red/maroon all over - may be wrong at it is over 60 years ago! Certainly darker than the London Transport red.

 

Pete

[Paul821]

23 hours ago, PeterB said:

I remember seeing Leeds trams not many years before they were withdrawn - no idea what type they were but I think they were a darkish red/maroon all over - may be wrong at it is over 60 years ago! Certainly darker than the London Transport red.

 

Pete

You may have seen Felthams as LT sold a number to Leeds. Apparently Leeds adopted this darker red as it was hard to overpaint the LT red with the old Blue Cream livery used up to the arrival of the Felthams in LT colours.

 

As to my build - well warner weather and lighter evening mean that I could get round to spraying undercoat on outdoors.

 

 

One question do I model the ceilings or leave them as is?

 

 

At the moment the indents for the chairs is obvious but it will not be once the kit is built - that's one i'll sleep on and leave to tomorrow.

 

Many years ago I purchased this

 

 

Not used to date but I do have a use for it in this build - to be revealed latter unless someone guesses how it will be used.

[Farmer matt]

I am going to guess wartime window protective mesh, as I cannot think where else it can go. Might be a tad overscale though. 

Personally, I would blank the floors/ceilings, as they will need to be painted and although ninety-nine percent of the time the seat undersides will not show, I think you would be annoyed when they do.

Great to see these being built, I never bought them back in the day, but I might try and pick them up now. We just used to rob out Tower kits for the decals.

 

Matt

[Paul821]

A little progress over the weekend, as I have mentioned in other threads we have garden of 3/4 acres so at this time of the year it takes some work. However with it raining about 15:00 and the longer evening I did get some work done of the Felthams and also a new build for this GB.

 

 

I found a pot of very old Humbrol Pullman cream and to my surprise it went on well, tow coats at the moment will need at least one more. Also made a start on the floors and seats. The reason for painting the cream first is to avoid the tricky masking that would be needed if the painting was done after the build. Now all I have to do is mask the entire cream area and the windows as one. 

[Paul821]

4 minutes ago, Farmer matt said:

I am going to guess wartime window protective mesh,

And the prize (if there was one) goes to @Farmer matt, as this will become part of my WW2 never ending diorama. As to the scale I did a trial and the look the part. Obviously once the windows are meshed the ceiling will be even less visible.

[Paul821]

Decided that for the lower ceiling I would glue some white paper to the bottom of the upper floor - seems simply but effective.

 

 

Although the builds themselves are stand alone, the trams will require to be part of my second world war diorama and thus will need a street scene. One issue is that I cannot use normal OO gauge track as trams require check rails and also a central conduit for electrical connectivity. Following photo not mine:

 

 

Usefully the rims on the wheels of the kit as very fine and thus fit onto N gauge rails, so my idea is to use N gauge track applied to the base.

 

 

The N gauge is to the left and for comparision the standard OO track is to the right.

[Col.]

Those simple fixes are always the best. Nicely done Paul. Hopefully your plan for the rails works as well.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Does anyone make a street pattern of pavers or cobbles out of cardboard or plastic ? If so Id cut it into various width strips. Then line both sides of the metal rail. You could make a gap in the middle of the tracks that way ? 

[Farmer matt]

Anorak time.

Car 331, the centre exit one, could not (by virtue of that exit) be fitted with a plough carrier, and thus could not be worked over LCC conduit track ( like that shown in the Kingsway subway photo above).

Of the production Felthams, only the MET (north London) ones had plough carriers fitted when new as they needed to work over LCC track, whereas the LUT examples (sw London) did not.

In LT days, the LUT cars were retrofitted and transferred away.

It is only conduit track that has the 'third rail' appearance.

I had always assumed that in model terms these would fit on OO gauge track, albeit needing the track needing to be 'submerged' in some way.

 

Amazingly, a short section of the conduit track at the Holborn entrance to the subway survives.

 

 

 

 

Matt

 

Edited April 4 by Farmer matt
Photo

[Paul821]

58 minutes ago, Farmer matt said:

Anorak time.

Car 331, the centre exit one, could not (by virtue of that exit) be fitted with a plough carrier, and thus could not be worked over LCC conduit track ( like that shown in the Kingsway subway photo above).

Of the production Felthams, only the MET (north London) ones had plough carriers fitted when new as they needed to work over LCC track, whereas the LUT examples (sw London) did not.

In LT days, the LUT cars were retrofitted and transferred away.

It is only conduit track that has the 'third rail' appearance.

I had always assumed that in model terms these would fit on OO gauge track, albeit needing the track needing to be 'submerged' in some way.

 

Matt

 

Always happy to receive comment. , I was aware that 331 probably never went anywhere near central London in its short life in the capital. It seems have worked solely in North West London but I was unaware if the issues about the plough.  For my usage the main issue is that it was sold to Sunderland before the second world war so is out of period for me anyway. I only ended up buying these are they were so cheap. I was originally going to purchase one Feltham and a Ckass E1 tram  but I found that the box for the E1 only contained 2 sprues so I returned it and got 311 instaed.

 

19 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Does anyone make a street pattern of pavers or cobbles out of cardboard or plastic ? If so Id cut it into various width strips. Then line both sides of the metal rail. You could make a gap in the middle of the tracks that way ? 

Very much my approach, I will be using various prints from Scalescenes for this purpose.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

On 31/03/2024 at 20:13, Paul821 said:

The reason for painting the cream first is to avoid the tricky masking that would be needed if the painting was done after the build. Now all I have to do is mask the entire cream area and the windows as one. 

 

Quietly steals that technique and hopes no one will notice... 

[bzn20]

Amazing . I lived in Feltham until I was 10 . Never heard of these Trams . The Union Construction Company tram factory must been in the  industrial Estate / complex  next  Hanworth Air Park also housed Aston Martin, Lagonda and General Aircraft builders of Monospar, Hotspur and Hamilcar Gliders , Hawker Fury amongst a long list   and the prototype Universal ( forerunner to Blackburn Beverley ) Built it in 1950 and then  stripped down for trucking to Blackburns at Brough some redesign and developed in to the Beverley . All the industrial area got flattened in the 80s/90s  and a Cinema/ Ben and Jerry's /KFC / Carpark  type place now . Thanks for this build I've learned  something new ,always a good thing . Looks very good so far . BTW it's pronounced Feltam , outsiders always say the TH sound .

 

 

Edited April 4 by bzn20

[Paul821]

36 minutes ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

 

Quietly steals that technique and hopes no one will notice... 

I didn't say it would work, wait until I succeed/fail before deciding.

[Farmer matt]

@bzn20, the UCC works was in Victoria Road, which seems to tally with your description.

 

Matt

[Paul821]

While nit watching paint dry, track laying has started.

 

 

Although not too clear in the photo, the first rail was glued alongside a piece of 1mm card which will both hold the rail in place and provide the kerb. The position of the other rails have been drawn on.

 

 

Present position is that the first running rail and check rail are in place alongside the first conduit. The next stage will be to fit the first set of cobbles in place and if that is successful lay the 2nd running/check rails and test run a tram bogie on them.

[bzn20]

10 hours ago, Farmer matt said:

@bzn20, the UCC works was in Victoria Road, which seems to tally with your description.

 

Matt

Thanks very much Farmer matt . Blimey , not been down that road ( a lot narrower btw) since about 1964 . I notice Mono Lane still exists in name  ( From General Aircraft Monospar )  Me and Dad used ride bikes round there , buildings were still there about 1960 ( about 6 years old ) and he'd be giving me an aviation and car history lesson Hanworth Air Park / Aston Martin etc. ,I was soaking it up like a sponge and some of it stayed with me .  ! 

[Paul821]

Not too much to show for a weekends wrk

 

 

Although it looks a little like a tram, nothing is actually glued it's all held together by the rubber band. As there are no locating pins or marks the lower floor can be located via the cut outs on the floor with match the doors. The only way I could find of getting the upper floor in the correct position is as shown above, so my be move will be to glue the floors but use the ends as formers.

 

As the the track, construction proceeds at a slow pace as I have to be 100% sure the glue holding the rails (UHU) is gully set before trying the next one. This I can only add I rail a day and there are six rails per track. The second track will be fasters as I will have the correct measurements for the inserts and these will act as formers, so rather than nine sections there will be only three,