Vin

I was thinking the signal box would make a nice real ale bar!!!

It might be a political thing as the 'EU' was the bit you could read because of the logo colour? Regards Vin

Thanks for the info. Regards Vin

It's a bit odd that they removed the numbers on the loco? Having said that 50031 also ran on the network without running numbers either. Great photos Jim. That must have been a long day? Regards Vin

Hi all, It will make DCC sound chips interesting? As it will need the electric start up file, a diesel start up file, an electric running file, a diesel running file and then the shutdown files for both. Regards Vin

Hi all, 50031 does look good in Intercity livery. It is the mainline version as carried by parcels locos before the adoption of the parcels red/ grey livery. https://flic.kr/p/FjPp5M Regards Vin

Hi all, Last night I was talking a crew whom were de vinyling the Northern stock and they said, it took longer than 8 hours to do 4 coaches because the original vinyl was cheap and they had been baked onto the bodyside by the sun! Regards Vin

Hi Brian, You might as well fit them, as they are white and are quite a visible feature. Plus now you've started you might as well keep going! The whole set is looking great. Regards Vin

Hi, I think that second photo is or 18845 which was an OM allocated coach which was then transfered north in 1988. It didn't survive into 1989 so must have been in a bad condition. Regards Vin

Hi, The TSOT's during the peak of West of Endland usage and in NSE are as follows; 6500 6501 6502 6503 6513 6517 6521 6522 6527 All of these were in the NWXX pool at the time and had the full NSE livery. There were variations with the shade of blue and positioning of the numbers/ logos. I hope this helps. Regards Vin

Hi all, Another photo once it had been taken to Crewe. https://flic.kr/p/eFnQd1 Regards Vin

Hi, You should be pleased with what you have done. It looks great. The problem with painting is that it can look easy to do but I've been painting locos for over 20 years so have picked up loads of tricks. I've also switched from enamel 10 years ago to acrylics because of the lead in enamels. The switch means drying times are different from one to another but the basics are the same. I have noticed that pigments in enamel blues do seem to have a short shelf life compared to the acrylic ones, I think particles dry within the paint mix and this effects the finish. I really do like painting and weathering modern stock in O gauge as it has a presence the smaller scales doesn't seem to have. The only problem is when there is a fault it is almost going to be twice as glaring. I must get back to completing 37423 & the stack of new nameplates as well. Regards Vin

I think you might have a problem disguising the carrier film even with weathering as it has a hard square edge. You could try microsol which is solvent based and basically melts the transfer to the bodyside. I have no idea where all the blue class 33's are. Out of over a dozen I've had since introduction I've only had one blue one, the rest being green. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, Whilst you had the silver paint out for the window surrounds you should have done all the door handles and buffer shanks. I've also noticed you can still the carrier film on the numbers as it is on a matt base. I also varnish the loco body with matt varnish after applying the decals as it stops them falling off. Looking good and will be even better when running. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, A coat of gloss varnish is needed for the transfers to sit on as a matt finish can effect the clear carrier film and so can be seen. I use these drivers, http://www.peterclarkkits.com/lineside-accessories.html. or some from Tower models. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, That looks good from the photos. At that stage I would now remask the yellow and do a oily black fade on the bottom of the engine room doors and solebar. Then whilst that paint is still wet spray the centre of each panel with a dusting of rail blue. This highlights the faded areas and blends the paint effect. Good work, regards Vin

Hi Jim, Wait until tomorrow night and I'll show a neat trick with these. After building over 20 class 50's with the same brake gear they do go together really easy. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, I use Tamiya 6mm wide tape for the painted edges and decorators M3 tape for masking off larger areas and other places I don't want the paint, such as cab interiors. Regards Vin

Hi, The ESU decoder I'm going to use in my 37423 build. As for the Heljan class 20 it will be a bit of a squeeze as the smoke generator takes a lot of the room up. Personally the 20 only really needs one motor for most layouts. So keeping the nose end motor as it has the fan directly above it and removing the cab end motor but keeping the pickups will be fine. Regards Vin

Railmatch 202 is very thin anyway and I usually give it 3 coats as it builds the colour gradually. Add orange to it will help. Also there is an optical effect against a background of grey which makes yellows look paler than they really are. Once the contasting blue is applied it changes the look of the yellow anyway. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, The Heljan model is great to work on but they did restrict the number of locos you can model without some alteration. This is because of the cab side windows, they put the none tablet catcher smaller size windows which was only used on two batches of disc fitted class 20's. 20002 is fine as it had this feature and the others are 20001 to 20027 and 20035 to 20069. Regards Vin P.s. Before you prime the body shells the window apartures need some filing around the inside edge as the glazing is a tight fit without the addition of extra paint layers.

Hi Jeff, I have noticed that most of the colours come off when in contact with IPA. Fortunately I use it to remove excess paint whilst weathering. The ones with the least resistance are blacks, greys and blues. A bit more vigour is required for browns and reds. I do like the model air range and game air for those non railway colours. Regards Vin

Hi all, It is really bad when you have hunt in Flickr for your own photos because you cannot find the files in the cloud. Here is 33027 that I did last year with blue faded spray, which was done by spraying a coat of BR blue. Then spraying more coats with white added and others with black misted over. The beauty of 7mm scale locos is that if you use an airbrush with different heads/ needles the spray pattern can be controlled with a lot of accuracy. So first I detail grilles, doors and crevices with a fine head and then coat with the medium or large head. The spray patterns are from a pencil line to a rattle can sizes. Then the over coating with the fades are sprayed whilst wet, which blends the pigments together. I was once asked to de-weather a loco which is impossible with this method as it is a part of the paintwork and not a post paint job weathering effect. The roof is also fade weathered with about 5 or 6 shades of grey. This method of painting is more commonly used by military modellers for some reason, I have no idea why? I will have to hunt and resize some more locos and stock. Regards Vin P.S. I know it is not a class 20 but this was the first one I came across.

Hi Terry, If you pm your email I can show you some photos of fade!!! The photos are 20 megapixels each so I cannot post them. Regards Vin

Hi Terry, Removing one motor from each and fitting a decoder will work, as the peak current on a Heljan motor (stall current is less than 1.1A). Are you wanting them detailed and weathered or just a respray? Regards Vin