Another wee project moving closer to the finish line. Revell's kit of the Lockheed F104-G Starfighter. It's been a long time since I tried an aircraft kit. This one was a bit different to the (mainly Airfix) ones I remember, the fuselage is in 4 bits not 2, and getting them to join neatly wasn't easy. Would like to blame Revell, but its probably me...
This will be painted up as an F104-G of the Italian Aeronautica Militare. Italy was an enthusiastic user of the F104, only retiring th
So hello to you folks at RM Web. After lurking and reading others contributions, decided to add something myself.
Currently working on ideas for a small layout, probably a branch terminus, on the South Australian/Victorian border. Time period is a bit hazy, anywhere in the last 30 years. Inspiration from YouTube and Flickr.
First item of stock is a detailing and tidy-up of an old Life-Like GM F-series into a homage to the Commonwealth Railways/Australian National GM class. Yes I know i
So having completed the first Hornby TTA wagon, I've moved on to my next project (victim?) Hopefully still just about recognisable as the Triang Hornby R751 class 37. I'm trying to complete the modification/detailing I started a few years back (1997 if I'm honest, it's been a busy 20 years or so).
The plan is to update 37130 to it's final form as 37681. I'm still debating liveries.
Various alterations to the body shell so far (some better than others). Not one for the r
A bit off topic for RM Web, and about 12 months late for the Apollo 11 anniversary, here is my first attempt at the Airfix astronaut figure set....
These are made of slightly squishy vinyl rather than hard plastic. This can be hard to paint (ask my 12 year old self), but it turns out a quick coat of watered-down PVA glue works as a primer (leftovers from IKEA). Paint used is a mix of humbrol and revell enamel, with some cheap watercolour paint from The Works for weathering.
To cheer myself up following imposition of a local lockdown I've decided to do teaser photo for my next project.
I'm not going to say what it is intended to be, guess away. What it actually ends up as may be a different story. Possibly pushed to the back of the "work in progress" shelf.
Comments and suggestions welcome as always.
Ken
So after a bit of a gap, some progress to report. My ho scale Australian project is currently on hold as I grapple with the bits I'm not so good at (scenics, buildings).
Meantime I have been clearing out some of the old Hornby/Lima which has been cluttering up my folks loft for the last 20 years or so, and seeing what (if anything) i can do with it.
First up is one of the omnipresent Hornby TTA wagons. This was the red Texaco version, but is now in BP colours, inspired by the Lairg ta
So, moving onto some buildings for the planned layout. My initial idea was for a signal box. However an extensive rake through Google suggested that signal boxes weren't that common a feature of stations in small rural South Australian communities. So plan B... The very informative "When there were stations" website (sorry not sure how to post hyperlinks) turned up some excellent photos of the former Station at Moockra. This features a small building of a design which was apparently once common
A bit of progress altering the nose of the V200 shell to look a bit more like a Cc65000. Not that much of the original plastic left, but starting to look a bit more like the prototype (I hope...). A fair bit of filler required to try and replicate the compound curves of the original.
Thanks for looking. Ken
So the f104G is finally finished. Not the easiest kit, or maybe I'm just a bit rusty with aircraft. Anyhow it's off to brighten up my home office; I've been working from home since March (as I'm sure lots of other RM webber's will have been).
Italian airforce markings were really difficult to source, but eventually got a set designed for the earlier f86 from FantasyPrintShop.co.uk . Not the cheapest, but excellent product and service.
I now have the final f104S-asa on my to do list f
So a wee update on the F104. Paint and transfers now mostly done. This took a lot longer than expected, but hopefully looks a bit better than the Airfix kits I used to knock together in a couple of hours.
Italian airforce markings have proved difficult to get hold of, the first set from ebay were old stock which fell apart when I tried to apply them. The second set have got lost in the post apparently...
Thanks for all the feedback on my previous post, I was surprised by the level of
So another bit of progress with the boxfile layout. Scalescenes low relief warehouse chopped to suit 1:87 (ish). Still needs some signs and a coat of matt varnish to finish, but quite happy with the result.
The car poking out of the roller door is a 1950's Opel as modeled by Wiking in the 1980's. A bit short on details but ok for background.
The Scania T142 is an 80's matchbox toy, which is marked as 1:90 scale, and looks pretty good for HO. Some nice crisp detail on the cab.
It
So a bit of tinkering with the mehano Sncf 70000 this week. The model is a bit of an oddball, just like the real thing. The side profiles are pretty accurate, but the ends are wrong. And it's red instead of blue.
So far, I've made a start on fixing the cab ends, cutting them off and refitting them, so the lights are at the right level (the bottom of the lights should line up with the bottom of the cab doors). New buffer beams are required, plus grab-rails and brake hoses.
A couple of
So time to reveal my mystery project. It's going to the SNCF CC65000.
The inspiration for this came from an excellent video on YouTube showing 65005 in its second career with Agrivap in the Auvergne. There are also some excellent photos on Flickr.
Hornby made a model of the CC65000 in their ACHO range, and there have been some more modern replicas, but the cost of these is a long way beyond my budget (although I can't deny the quality).
I was going to try scr
The grand plan for my boxfile layout includes a road overbridge to hide the join between the two boxes. And of course railway modeling 101 dictates that if we have a road bridge there should be a bus driving over it....
I have a few 1:76 buses from EFE, but very little in HO, apart from an old Wiking mercedes 0305. This has now been cut down from a "bendi" into a regular two-axle bus.
A Saviem or Renault PR100 would have been a lot more typical french, but it's that money thing again,
So my latest project is completed, or nearly. A repaint and minor detailing of the old Hornby class 37, which had been stored away and largely forgotten for 20-odd years.
Briefly I have...
- Fitted new air horns
- Fitted fixed-beam and high intensity headlights
- Fitted some jumper cables (possibly not all of them)
- Fitted new cab steps in the correct location (removing the class 47 steps wasn't easy)
- Altered the nose grilles
- Removed the buffer be
So after a lot of procrastination (oh yes...), here's a first look at my upcoming boxfile layout.
The setting is deliberately vague (or just inaccurate), somewhere in NE France between the late 1970's and mid 1990's. When finished there will be two boxfiles joined end-to-end, with a road overbridge to cover the join. There will be a sector plate or fiddle yard at one end (accessed through a tunnel portal), representing the rest of the SNCF system. In the photos 70001 is arriving ligh
So how to covert a DB V200 shell to something a bit more like the CC65000?
So far I've altered the cab-side windows at both ends, including the plated-over windows above the cab doors to represent a loco towards the end of their life with SNCF.
I've also cut the V200 nose off at one end, and made a start on re-shaping the windscreens. The CC65000 has windscreens that are straight at the bottom, while the V200 screens have a curved bottom edge.
Fingers crossed it all goes togethe
So 70001 is progressing. Cutting and shutting the cab ends wasn't too bad. Started on the paint, which is proving a bit challenging, but should hopefully tidy up ok (for my fairly low standards..). Picking a shade of blue has been difficult. There aren't all that many colour photos of 70001 and 70002, and they vary wildly in terms of colour.
There isn't all that much on these locos on the web, and a lot needs to be translated from french. They seem to have been a fairly advanced design, wh
Happy new year to all on RM web.
Another quick update on the loco. Amended lower body sides now added, and I've made a start on sanding and filling the first lower-end.
Still a long way to go, but it's good to have something to help fill the long winter nights.
Stay safe folks.
So on we go with the CC65000 conversion. The "new" nose is now largely completed at one end of the V200 shell. A lot of filling and sanding required, but I think it's starting to take shape. Nothing to do with the bottle of Balvennie I opened yesterday.....
Can anyone suggest a supplier of HO loco parts like buffer heads and air horns? I've scoured ebay but haven't found much that might suit?
Thanks
Ken
So here we have the airfix moon buggy, or more correctly the lunar rover. I have added seat backs, antenna's, and the cargo rack/bulkhead behind the seats. I still need to add the satellite dish on the main antenna, and the distinctive orange mudguards.
The two astronauts in the background are taking rock and dust samples, that's some kind of probe, not a rifle. These guys are roughly half way through painting, I think the space suits look better with a matt finish.
I al
So having more or less finished CC70001, I realised it's in need of some wagons to shunt in it's upcoming boxfile layout home. A locotracteur would be a much better choice for a boxfile, but hey....
Being short of cash for modelling projects, I borrowed an idea from another RM webber (sorry I have forgotten your username) and bought one of those cheap plastic trainsets from Ebay. £9 got me three roughly ho-scale wagons and a battery-powered loco (not sure what I'll do with it yet).
Hello,
It's been a wee while, but time for a quick update on what I've been doing.
Having finished (for now) 70001, I figured I needed some ho (ish) stock for it to pull/shunt. Not having anything specific in mind, and given the increasing prices of decent secondhand stock on Ebay, I borrowed an idea from another RM-webber, and bought a (very) cheap plastic train set, which includes 3 x approx ho scale bogie wagons. One of these, bizarrely stickered-up as a fuel tanker is now a
Hello again.
The CC65000 is coming along slowly, the body is perhaps 60% complete, and I've started on the bogies. These are recycled from a Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol kit. I'm going to try and assemble my own drive mechanism... I may regret this. I had wondered about using bogies from the original Lima deltic, as these are HO (or not far off), but given the prices these go for on ebay, a lot of other people must have the same idea.
2020 has left me with an interest in french trains, and
Ok, so limited progress of late, other demands and priorities. However I've made a start on the small Station building, creating a basic card "box" that all the detail can be hung on. I've tried replicating the clapboard/weatherboard finish of the original using thinner card, and although it's a slow process, I'm impressed with the results! Hopefully this will continue.....
Ebay has provided some excellent Ho scale corrugated sheet from Auhagen for the roof, of which more later.
