Are aftermarket components any better then what can be achieved by fettling off the shelf products? I'm not convinced. The air horns on my Bachmann 37 are a good example.
Plenty of firms (A1 and Markits spring to mind) offer turned brass air horns for the model. I think people think that it must be better, otherwise why would someone have produced it? Yes they may be more robust, and I've definitely seen them added to a model to good effect. However, I'm cheap!
The Bachmann moulding ac
This week I've found myself 'playing' on Paxton Road quite a lot with my sound fitted green 37...
So this evening I did some work on the layout too and started on the security fencing around the warehouse, using the Knightwing plastic stuff. It's quite a close fit in the front siding but I think it looks good - and the cinders ballast needs some weathering and overgrowth adding but I will do that before the fence is fixed in place!
I love my new airbrush too...
This is the £99 dea
It feels good to have made some solid progress in the last fortnight, Paxton Road is at last coming into the final phase...
The MOD warehouse on the back of the layout needed to be completed before I could finish the ballasting or scenery on the front of the layout. However since building the plasticard shell in the very early days of the layout I've struggled for inspiration... these new photos are 2 years on from when it all started:
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68
Christmas and New Year were great fun, but combining the family commitments and putting together an issue of my mountainbike e-zine I had very little time for modelling. The first two weeks of January have seen a reversal with a snow bound last week and issue deadline out of the way.
So what did I get for Christmas and what have I been working on recently?
I treated myself to the Bachmann sound equipped class 37 (in Railfreight grey) and a Dynamis controller. This has proved great fun (a
Welcome (back) to part 4 of my Class 66 project...
The last entry was about 9 months ago (http://www.rmweb.co....he-under-belly/) and in that time a whole lot of life has happened, and a fun, energising and exciting new project, scale and prototype has inspired me (http://ejklr.blogspot.com).
But for some reason I found myself picking up the dusty Class 66 this evening and getting further than just a casual inspection of the work completed so far...
Actually if I'm honest I suspect I
Welcome to part 3 (it's been a long time coming) of my re-working of a Bachmann 'Shed'!
Work has been non-existent in the past few weeks, however before modeller's block became a problem I had made some good progress with the fuel tank area that it is worth sharing to show progress so far and the standard I'm aiming for in this area.
I made extensive use of the 'Cannon and Co' EMD fuel tank detailing pack - along with various sizes of brass wire (including 0.25, 0.31, 0.9mm).
Re
I was pretty excited to get parcels from the US (Cannon and Co direct) and Eileen's Emporium so I've got everything to start the project now Here's a quick shot of the raw materials...
In no particular order...
Bachmann EWS Class 66/0
0.31mm brass rod
0.45mm brass rod
0.7mm brass rod
0.9mm brass rod
28swg copper wire (coil)
1.5mm x 0.5mm brass section
Cannon and Co EMD Fuel tank detailing kit
Cannon and Co EMD Chain tensioner
New tools...
Soldering iron tip
Tip tinner
S
My G-scale journey continues and I'm beginning to really really enjoy working in this scale. It feels much more liberating and the bulk and familiarity of the materials you can use is really refreshing. So the EJ&KLR (read my blog - much more regular updates than on here) needs a shed.
This project is very emotional because although these plans were discussed with my father, I never had a chance to show him the plans before he passed away on the 10th, earlier this month. Buildings and s
Well it seems to have been an age but progress on Paxton Road has been made, despite the distractions of a new project!
The warehouse that was constructed right back in the dawn of the project before even the boards were built has been brought inside for 'finishing off'. The layered plasticard construction has caused a little warping in places that I've tried to put back with some thick bracing and superglue. The roof is going to need totally replacing.
I've started to detail it a littl
Well it's addictive isn't it...
Whilst my daughter was drawing lovely pictures of her bike and our house I was drawing another sketch of what my industrial diorama mini layout looks like in my head. You can see the shed has morphed from purely based on the one at Ellesmere Port to a cross between that and the one at Mode Wheel, the hub of the MSC Railway's Trafford Park and docks complex.
The tankers are TTAs and represent the traffic from Eastham refinery - the track they're on in my head
Well, despite 'Wasp' not being finished yet (it needs priming and painting before I can fit an interior) I've started my second 009 project...
My other modelling at the moment is in G-gauge, as some of you know, and in particular Austrian prototypes. Whilst searching around for a second 009 project I stumbled across the Worsley Works kit for the IOMR Schoema diesel.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/IMR-Loco-17.jpg?uselang=en-gb
A funny and odd looking prototype, bu
I've finally 'taken the plunge' in 009 after many years in 4mm (both OO and a toe dipping in P4) and more recently a G scale (Austrian narrow gauge) project in the garden. The draw of British narrow gauge, in particular the L&B, the L&M and the W&L - big(ish) locos and English (or Welsh!) countryside, rolling hills, trees and not a bit of slate in sight... I have to admit I've been slowly drawn back into smaller scale modelling and have been browsing this site for many months...
My Mainline freight liveried tractor is finished for the third time and I'm absolutely thrilled!
I've really raised my game on this one and she's a worn worn super detailed stunner with faded paint and much finer detail then I've managed before. This evening saw the finishing touches and a dusting of grime over the weather finish applied by hand to the underframe and lower body. This has pulled the previous powder/paint/dry brush/wash finishes together an absolute treat.
She started out
I've had two of the Bachmann PNA wagons (a 5 and a 7 rib) for nearly 18 months and they've never before appeared on my workbench!
These are good quality, value for money models of a nice mundane prototype. Perfect for Paxton Road - which is endeavouring to permeate averageness and mundane in it's environs, scenery and rolling stock (if not in quality of finish and modelling!). The Bachmann model uses their TTA underframe, as did a batch of the prototype wagons. Unfortunately it does not accu
I've been messing around with my new photo plank, testing out scenic techniques for my P4 layout, Meadow Lane.
I'm pretty happy with the undergrowth now, and it's just the track that needs a little weathering, and the edges of the board painting white.
I have built up the grass using a layering technique I read about in Model Rail Journal a while ago... basically down goes Woodland Scenics 'Scenic cement' on to which Woodland Scenics fine turn is sprinkled until saturated - I used '
Paxton Yard? You've never heard of it?
My OO gauge photo plank was getting on a bit and I wanted to try out some ballast, scenic and weathering techniques on some track work so came up with the idea of laying a couple of tracks to give a different sort of photo plank. I was inspired a few months ago by both Exactoscale's Fast-track and the P4 Diesel Depot, Weston Road, that used coaches as a scenic back drop.
I'm pretty pleased - obviously this is still a work in progress! It's built on 2
The Hornby Pacer is an aging model with an appalling mechanism. However despite it's age and mechanical inadequacies I think it really captures the look of the prototype really really well, and am interested to see how it will respond to some gentle improvements.
Rose Hill is a slow burn project - and I've settled on no specific stock purchases (although if successful I may splash out on a 101 and 150!!) and so my original Pacer was dug out from Mum and Dad's a few weeks ago for evaluation
Well it's been a few weeks now since I first posted my intentions to modify a Hornby Pacer up to more modern standards and after a stint on my rake of PNAs and some structures for Paxton Road a parcel arrived from Mainly Trains...
Handrail wire and short handrail knobs! Just what I had been waiting for - and an excuse to get the Pacer back out.
I've removed all the plastic handrails and replaced with wire on one unit so far, it really does lift the model. I've also tidied up the doors with
It's about Paxton Road's 3 year anniversary and we're making progress - to the point where I'm comfortable taking photos like these on the 'new' other half, despite it not being finished yet...
I was out in the garden with the layout taking some photos - more of which another time - but these two of 09007 seemed easily croppable so with minor tinkering here they are...
What you should be able to see is that behind the Mainline shunter ballasting is finished and greenery is springing up aro
Well I don't seem to have posted on here for a very long time indeed and several large scale projects have come and gone in the last 10 months. On top of those (all detailed on my G-scale blog: http://ejklr.blogspot.co.uk) I have also been working on a variety of 009 kits (most featured on my 4mm scale blog: http://paxton-road.blogspot.co.uk)...
However for those of you regular readers of my infrequent blog who have not seen what I've been up to, and inspired a touch by Jon's magnus opus entry
Where to go after building a pair of Worsley Works scratch aid kits?
I was looking for a natural progression, but also a nice kit of an attractive prototype...
I wanted to find something that used a proprietary N gauge chassis but perhaps needed valve gear...
I stumbled upon the Neil Sayer La Meuse quite by accident. It ticked all the boxes, exquisite design, clean etches, based on the GF 08 chassis, quite complicated valve gear, and available direct from Neil with a chassis as well.
S
This G-scale stuff is quite addictive and I'm finding that you can get as good a finish as 4mm...
Part of me wonders whether to 'thin' and 'focus' the 4mm stuff sooner rather than later?
Anyhow, this blog is about recent progress on the G-scale project, the EJ&KLR. I've 90% completed the brake van and started on the shunter. First up let's talk about the LGB post van that's been modified into this brake van. I've refurbished the lighting circuits, modified the body by removing the ho
I really ought to start a seperate blog for this project, but for fear of duplication I'll stick to this one for now.
So the large scale bug has well and truly bitten - so much so that I'm sat here contemplating selling some of my OO stock to make it pay it's way - however, in the short term at least I'm all spent up having no more disposable/savings before my birthday in August. So what's been happening in the last few weeks?
It all started with the repainting of my LGB 2-axle coaches int
Not another one I hear you shout! Paxton Road is 2 years in the making and still only 60% finished - and Rose Hill is barely 3 months in, what is he thinking?!!
As readers of RMWeb will be aware this week I've been musing over building a 230hp Sentinel shunter - a chain driven one based on the Manchester Ship Canal examples - using a Judith Edge kit. This would ideally be P4, DCC and possibly even sound fitted. It would definitely feature working headlights, cab light and flashing beacon on the
I got an hour clear to spend on Viking today...
I only had a few parts left to fit in brass, namely the hooks on the buffer beans and the foot steps. These went on without too much drama, using low melt solder and holding the parts with tweezers or pliers whilst the solder took a second to cool.
The steps at the front are formed from two pieces, but went together with ease. There are no locating half etches on the underframe for either the front or back but they went on ok, but I did
