Entry posted by Mattmaz
1,421 views
Hello to those of you out there who have been interested enough to come and read my ramblings 
I have been on RMWeb for a while now, and always intended on setting up a blog. This is my first venture into it, so here goes ....
My present model railway features a depot/yard, and the use of a Bachmann 08 shunter is an important part for one of the shunting moves that takes place (weekly tanks to fuel point). I have had no end of trouble with unreliable running of my shunter, which I knew would be the case largely thanks to the 0-6-0 wheelbase and the badly positioned electrical pick-ups.. (One wonders whether Bachmann conceived this particular design feature on a Friday afternoon perhaps?... 
).
I have been having a mental battle with myself over the last few months as to the best way of overcoming the issue. I have always been one for accuracy (well, my version of accuracy at any rate), so the solution I found my mind presenting me with was quite upsetting 
. A Match-Wagon, akin to the type that 08's were seen trundling around with to help make track circuitry "back in the day", which could have electrical pick-ups added and be permanently coupled to the 08 at one end. Great idea! Except.... the period I model is pretty much present day.... with hardly any 08s around let alone a prototypical operation involving a match wagon!
However, the other day I read an article in which several models had been produced by the layout's creator that were a "feel" for the real thing, not necessarily an accurate, rivet-counting rendition of the model. I was sold.
I therefore set about creating my match wagon, which was to be a Bachmann CAR (Well, a version of the CAR, which is in my workshop and I can't be doing with trotting down there to find out the right code now!). My intention was to make a fictional wagon. I dug out the ol' transfer box, had a rummage, and found some antique Fox Transfers "HST Barrier Vehicle" transfers.
The first job was fitting some pick-ups, which I did using 0.45mm brass handrail soldered to a small section of copper-clad circuit board which was glued to the underneath of the wagon. The handrail wire was then bent so that they "sprung" against the back of the wheel flanges. A little crude maybe, but effective as it turns out. At the same time, I removed the main body of the wagon from the chassis and added a rather large lump of steel inside the wagon body to improve weight, the theory being this would force the wheels down for better electrical conductivity., whilst conveniently clearing yet more clutter from my workbench in the process 
Next came the creation of the entirely fictional wagon. The model I had was (somewhat ironically) an electrification wagon, with a green base livery with wasp stripes at the ends. Firstly, I blanked out the "Electrification" wording by painting a simple black patch to the sides of the wagons. I then cut some black plasticard, applied the "Barrier Vehicle" transfers less the "HST" initials, and left these to one side to dry properly.
Modern overhead warning flash transfers were then applied in the usual OTT fashion to bring the wagon up to date with HSE legislation 
. The wagon was reassembled, dummy flashing tail lights and fixed headlights were fitted to the lamp brackets, an old Romford Screw-Link coupling was painted red and left strategically on the wagon, and finally the "Barrier Vehicle" Boards were glued to the sides.
I fed the wires from the pick up board on the wagon through the two predrilled holes on the buffer beam that would be coupled to the shunter, then put the wagon to one side.
Fictional wagon created !
The next task was to set about making my BR Blue liveried Bachmann class 08 look a little old and tired. The nearest to any form of prototype for a BR Blue liveried 08 in recent(ish) use was 08706, which I believe was based at Toton. So here came my next compromise; I model the South West, and ordinarily I would only entertain locos/stock which I knew had run atleast at some point in the South West in the given era. This fictional modelling was becoming interesting though, and was certainly giving me some flexibility so I decided this would be my prototype. I was becoming lazy though and to be quite frank I could not be bothered to do a full "as per prototype" representation of 08706. To do so I would have needed to make up another box for the L/H side of the loco, which is located infront of the lower two side grills, and modify the lighting conduit.
I stripped the loco down and dismantled the wheelsets both to allow access for a thorough clean, and for weathering. Clean completed, I painted the underframe, wheelsets etc with a coat of Railmatch "Frame Dirt" from their Acrylic range. Two holes were then drilled in the front bufferbeam of the shunter to accept the wires from the wagon (these were drilled in the position that air pipes would have occupied anyway). The wires were carefully fed through, then soldered onto the pick up wires within the shunter. The shunter was then reassembled.
Attention was then turned to the body. I stripped off the numbers and data panels carefully using cotton wool buds dipped in thinners. The numbers came away quite easily actually on this model, without damaged the paintwork beneath. Numbers/Data panels from the "Modelmasters" range were applied, followed by copious quantities of post-2000 Warning Flashes.
The finish I was after on the model was to make it look like it was dirty, hard worked, with faded pain, etc. I rummaged around my paint draw and found an old, but unopened, tin of Railmatch Enamel "Faded Blue". This was a bonus, as I had already tried my previously successful technique of fading BR Blue with White Weathering powders...and failed...miserably....it looked awful. These were rapidly washed off again needless to say. The first job was to get some grime on the body, so I reached for one of my Vallejo Acrylic washes, and applied this in liberal but workable quantities. Immediately after this was applied, the vast majority of this was removed again with cotton wool buds. This results in the grimy wash being left in all the nooks & crannies with the general surfaces left fairly clean.
Once this was completed, I reached for the "Faded blue". Using cotton wool buds, I applied the "Faded blue" in minute quantities, rubbing it into all raised surfaces that were originally painted blue. The effect this achieves, once dry, is to give the illusion of "bleached by the sun" paintwork.
The loco was then treated to more of the grimy stuff, after the roof had been given a coat of Railmatch "Roof Dirt" Acrylic paint where required. This served to "blend" everything together.
A dummy Buckeye coupling was made up using an old whitemetal one I had kicking around, and this was painted shades of rust and attached to the bufferbeam in the swung back position. The release lever assembly from a Bachmann 66 was added above the coupling, and a coupling & two air pipes completed the bufferbeam. This was then treated to the same grimy wash as previously described.
The shunter was finally looking like a filthy workhorse 
Lamps were fitted to the lamp brackets and a spare one was added to the side of the shunter. I think details like this, when placed strategically really do enhance a model.
Attention then turned back to the wagon, which was now looking rather clean compared to the shunter! Firstly, I wanted to add a shunter (as in person not machine!) to the wagon to cater for reverse running. I found a Dapol track worker with a fairly good pose (i.e. arm waving on). I duly decapitated said worker, and brutally slaughtered a Bachmann modern trackside worker in similar fashion.. and then created my Franken-shunter . The poor fellow was then painted accordingly, and added to the wagon. The wagon then got a treatment of the grimy stuff.
Handrails were painted white on both the wagon and shunter, then weathered using photographs for reference.
This pretty much completed the models, and I set about giving them a test run..... and whoooop whooooooop! I now have a reliably running shunter that can trundle around the depot and yard at ease 
Moral of the story for me? Well, don't get too bound up with the nitty gritty details. I realise this would not do for some, but for me it is an avenue I may explore again in the future. Life's too short, and following a recent health scare I am only too aware of this now, so why sit there putting up with a problem when a solution can be created?
Anyway, enough of my ramblings for one evening 
, have a look at the pics and see what you think?
-
3
3 Comments
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now