All been a bit hectic and I seem to have spent all my modelling time on real work and also Ultima sorting. Finally got a bit of time however so the Gresley now has bogies. Don't yet have the NGS bogies for the Thompson but I do have the TPM goodie bag so I can get cracking on the rest of the Regional Railways rake.
I've also now got a nice set of "Atlantic Coast Express" plates which will go nicely on the SWT 159 in modern image mode. Wondering about destructing a Dapol 153 when the prices c
Paint shop and decal time. Three LSWR wagons left to number, one done.
Meanwhile in the coach shop:
I've decided to the Thompson full brake in slightly faded BR blue, a livery that some of these vehicles lived to carry. I don't imagine much other matchboarded stock made BR Blue and it will make a nice mix in with the parcels rake along with the Siphon, BGs and at some point I probably want to add a Stanier or a Hawksworth just to break it up further. Now waiting its bogies
The Gresley is now closer to done. Still need to make roof cowls (why did I pick the awkward coach). The sides to this are screen printed to a pre 1985 design. Next to it is a faded Regional Railways Mark2 coach complete with peeled numbers and other little details, the latest in vinyl relivery bits from Electra.
Both await interiors and roof paintwork finishing so they should a fairly similar comparison
I think the Gresley stacks up pretty well - and shows just how good a job Cavnd
A quick detour from the Thompson to another bit of Ultima stuff. The sides, roof and ends are not a problem but the original aluminium floor is long deceased. Worse than that the price quotes I've got for a new die to extrude the stuff are not really viable with the Dapol Gresley stock on the market, nor would have space to store the typical "minimum order"
So to see what was needed and as a planning aide I cut a floor out of 1mm plasticard 117mm x 16mm to go with the roof and ends. Then I s
It's slowly taking shape. The underframe is now fitted and the various white metal bits hung off it barring the dynamo. The roof has its vents and I've put the handrails on. That leaves the end gangways and some spots of filling to sort out.
The buffers are fun as they have to be held in a pin vice and filed to give the Gresley style flat top.
The Mark 2 BFK now has an interior - unpainted so far, and the roof mostly done (needs another coat and some weathering/matting). One mystery remains first. Presumably the BFK has a periscope - but where does it go ?
Meanwhile I've also been putting together the test build of the Ultima Thompson matchboard full brake. Usefully the N gauge society has produced the rather less usual 8ft Gresley bogies this needs, as part of the rather excellent Gresley brake kit.
The only trouble
The Electra vinyls arrived for an ex NSE BFK to go with the regional coaches. Easy to put on (took about 5 minutes, and about 15 to ge the original paint off). The vinyls only address part of the coach however. The underframe is of course wrong for an older Mark 2, although replacements are available from Ian Stoate in resin. The roof is more of a challenge and needs to be drilled and fitted with ventilators. Then the wheels, interior and rubbing plates..
There's also a very nice set of fade
Last packet of TPM buffers used up until the new ones arrive along with a pair of Ultima rubbing plates. This means one coach is approaching complete. I'm still not sure whether to redo the water filler pipes with wire because of the difficulty in first removing the plastic ones from the roof and repainting. The TPM buffers mean I can now fit much closer couplings - probably Red Caboose buckeyes.
(There will now be a short embarrassed silence while I go put the rubbing plates back on th
Wadebridge is going to need stock and some of that is Mark 1 regional railways stock for the summer services at least (I've even got an 'Atlantic Coast Express' headboard waiting to get etched to fit on the 31 8)).
The Farish Mark 1 was a superb model for its age, and Bachmann have really brought out the best in it with the newer printing/paintwork, bogie and wheel updates. Unfortunately there are three things that totally suck (plus the couplings): the buffers, the lack of proper rubbing pl
