Prepared by Tommy Day
Originator Lyle Mitchell
Thread and Forum Title SR Bulleid loco to tender canopy
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I notice that on the bulleid steam loco's W/C,BOB,MN etc that there is a canopy between the loco and the tender that bridges the gap to protect the crew from the elements, It looks corrugated rubber possibly material? Does anybody out there know if a company produce this item or what you may use to make one, i wouldn't know where to look. Thanks in advance.
Reply No 1 Reply by G Nicholls Forum post No 46247 Date Jul 29, 2018
I'm pretty sure it was made out of rubber. On my model of 34036 I made a framework out of scrap brass etch which I soldered to the front of the tender. I then epoxied a piece of thin plastikard to the framework and then, once that was firmly in place, I used some fine plastic rodding glued across it in strips to look like the corrugations on the real thing. I can't photograph it at the moment but will be able to in a few days if you want me to. Hope this helps. Jeff
Reply No 2 Reply by T Dumbrell Forum post No 46252 Date Jul 29, 2018
My handiest source of thin black rubber is old cycle inner tubes. But rather than attempt to model the weather shield in use, I cheat and glue a small roll of it just underneath the rear edge of the cab roof, which is where it spent its time during sunny weather. If I wanted to model one in place, I guess I'd look for a black condom as the safest source of thin black rubber. Amuse your local chemist shop assistant. Terry
Reply No 3 Reply by D. Atkinson Forum post No 46263 Date Jul 29, 2018
I have seen one of the cheaper kits of BoB/WC and there was a piece of corrugated brass for the canopy.
Reply No 4 Reply by J. Snowdon Forum post No 46271 Date Jul 30, 2018
The tricky part is that on the full size, this was a piece of, probably, rubberised canvas, similar to that used for gangway bellows, that was permanently attached to both locomotive and tender. The earlier BR Standards, at least, had a simliar arrangement, quite different to the rolled up sheet fitted to other locomotives that could be rigged to the top of the tender in inclement weather. Modelling the loco/tender cover is an altogether different problem, as we need to make the loco and tender easily separable, thus precluding anything glued to the two. The best compromise solution is sprobably to do what Ivatt did on the LMS with the Class 2 & 4 2-6-0s, which was to provide a forward extension to the tender cab that overlapped underneath the rear of the locomotive cab roof.
Reply No 5 Reply by M. Cole Forum post No 46281 Date Jul 30, 2018
For one of the MOK Q1 builds, I used a piece of fine cloth, crumpled up and then soaked with superglue to stiffen it up and left to dry then cut to shape and formed to the roof curve and fixed with epoxy at one end. As the 'American' pick-up arrangement was used it ensured that there was no shorting.
another option, if not using 'American' pick-ups, is to use the foil from around the top of a wine bottle pressed over a suitable ribbed former to represent the folds and again fixed at one end with epoxy.
Reply No 6 Reply by S. Dobson Forum post No 46364 Date Jul 31, 2018
I suspect black nitrile or pvc gloves might work well, (boxes of 100 gloves for a fiver, typically) and last rather longer than the latex from which most condoms are made. If the canopy fits under the roof, like Mike’s Q, it may be attached using very small magnets and a suitable bit of tinplate. I suspect inner tube would be really too thick.
Reply No 7 Reply by Mr. Balchin Forum post No 46398 Date Jul 31, 2018
I'd go with Mikes' suggestion but I'd dope the cloth with several coats of varnish, followed by a wash of thinned paint, all left to dry. A little easier to bend to shape and it won't stick to your fingers. It would also be good to support this on a loop of brass wire soldered to the underside of the cab roof - makes it a little more robust when coupling / uncoupling loco and tender.
Reply No 8 Reply by Lyle Mitchell Forum post No 46729 Date Aug 3, 2018
While down my local model shop i was looking through there range of slaters plasticard and found 4mm corrugated sheet? what do you reckon as another idea?
