Phil Mc

And nobody wants that !! 😵 Cheers, Phil.

I really wanted a Railfreight livery one, and it's that very picture at Plymouth that convinced me it was ok !! Cheers, Phil.

Another wagon to go in a Speedlink rake..... Not sure if Railfreight livery ones got to Cornwall too often, but in my world they did !! Sonic Models VIX.... Grey wash splodged all over.... It was left to dry(ish), then removed with White Spirit.... The roof then got a thin, airbrushed covering of Roof Grey.... Chassis gets a light spray of Frame Dirt.... Before the whole thing gets a coating of Matt Varnish.... I'm not a fan of magazine articles, etc, that promote 'short-cuts' or 'fast' ways of undertaking modelling tasks, I'd rather do things the best I can rather than the quickest I can.... But all in all, I'm quite pleased with the results, and there was only 90 minutes between taking the first pic and the last here, which being a Yorkshireman, involved having a pot of Tea halfway through....☕😃 Cheers, Phil.

70002 seen at Sheffield on 19.5.23 Then again a little while later, passing through the construction site at Dore & Totley, where another platform and running line is being added. Cheers, Phil.

Would have been nice if the blanking pieces for the coupling slot in the bufferbeam had been factory painted, instead of leaving it to the buyer to colour match to the model. Would also have been nice if there was some mention in the instructions as to where the little angled plates in the parts bag actually go.... I know it's not hard to work out from prototype pics, but still....... Anyway, mine's now ready for service.... Cheers, Phil.

The little Yellow shunter has been completed..... Couple of crew members in the cab. Angled plates added above the buffers. The coupling blanking piece was colour matched to the bodywork Grey wash all over, which was partially removed with White Spirit, helps take any sheen off the paintwork, as the pics I was working from show the Yellow to be dull and lifeless. Footmarks added to steps and bottom of cab doors. Sealed with a coat of Matt varnish, which further dulls the bodywork. Since taking the pics, I've pulled the running plate up to the bonnet, which completely removed the gap.... Cheers, Phil.

Something Yellow on the workbench...... Which seems to have fallen to pieces.....😄 After cleaning a huge amount of oil off the chassis and bodywork, I started to remove the lip around the chassis that prevents the bonnet from seating properly..... Painted a couple of figures to go in the cab. Currently colour matching the Yellow, to paint the coupling blanking piece..... Cheers, Phil.

Is it not that there are ‘multiple’ vehicles semi-permanently coupled together, running under the same ‘unit’ number ? I was very young at the time, but I thought that’s what caused the ambiguity early on with HST’s being ‘loco’s + coaches’ or ‘DMU’s’ ? cheers, Phil.

That sounds harsh..... It may well be true, but harsh nonetheless.... Cheers, Phil. BTW 97301 is on the move, I passed it on the M1, just North of Nottingham, this afternoon......😂

Latest to cross the workbench is a Blue/Grey 117.... Not many WIP pics ( I forgot to take many !! ) Internally, its had the floor painted, passengers and crew added ( including a Ginger, sorry, Strawberry Blonde, haired driver, in homage to a certain ex-Cross Country employee I know !! 😉 ) Destination blinds have been changed to more appropriate destinations. Externally, it got a coating of grey wash..... Which was then removed using a sponge, to leave traces where I wanted them.... Followed by airbrush weathering to complete..... Cheers, Phil.

And who’s ever seen a model with the top handrail that straight…..😆 cheers, Phil.

I’ve also got one that ran pretty well straight out of the box, and is even better after a couple of hours trundling in each direction…… The bonnet doesn’t fit particularly well, but I’ll sort that out….🙄 It’s running on DC power, so it’s anyone’s guess whether the cab light will be on or off every time power is applied….😆 Even with the faults, it’s somehow a charming little thing….a bit like the runt of a litter !! cheers, Phil.

I managed to accidentally remove a kickplate with a fingernail…..😆 A tiny dab of PVA had it stuck back in place in no time…. cheers, Phil.

I know it's a few years ago, but the last time I saw the Anglia 'short-set' shunt out of the platform at Norwich into the adjacent sidings, the 37's had head & tail lights illuminated. Just before the move, I was talking to the driver on the platform, and asked him if it was deliberate. He said not only was it deliberate, it was expected of them. Cheers, Phil.

The DCC ready one came with the switches set up for an ESU sound version, so I'd guess they all do. Dead easy to pop the roof section off to have a look, I used a cocktail stick in the exhaust port as a lever ( not as painful as it sounds !! 😅 ). Make sure you get the roof section refitted the right way around, it will go on the opposite way, but it looks all shades of wrong !! 😆 Cheers, Phil.

What's in the box, what's in the box...... That's in the box..... And what a beauty..... Cheers, Phil.

There's no need for such rudeness.......😲 Cheers, Phil.

I thought about that, but decided against it ! It's not just the TCC that needs a couple of windows filling, a few toilet windows need to be removed too, if I was going for total authenticity... and that means matching the grey as well as the black.....😆 Cheers, Phil.

331108 makes a stop at Frizinghall, shortly before arriving at its destination of Bradford Forster Square. Seen from the staggered platform at the other side of the road bridge. Cheers, Phil.

To finish off the coaches, the interiors were painted appropriate colours, and passengers added. As can just be seen, I cut a slot between the table and chairs at each end of the seating, in line with the hole for the bogie pivot, so the seating could be slid back in to place, around the lighting wires. The tops of the vestibules were also trimmed, to miss the LED's. Before re-fitting the interiors, the rake was coupled together, with just the TGS on a short piece of powered track. The coach at the other end of the rake had its body left off, just to double-check it lit up !! I did the same with the TGS as I did with the VTEC rake. The anti-flicker unit was glued in the guards compartment in a position so that the screwhead that varies the brightness of the lights ( on the end of the blue box ) is facing the end of the coach. A hole was drilled through the end of the body, in line with the screwhead, so a screwdriver can be used to adjust the brightness as necessary. The hole is then hidden behind the removable coach end panel, when it's clipped in place. Rebuilt coaches..... After taking these pics, I decided to take them all apart again, to paint the clothing, faces, and hair, of all the people, which weirdly, I found quite therapeutic !! 😆 The wires on top of the bogies, the solder tabs, and the glue, were all painted matt Black. The coaches, and power cars, were then weathered, and put into service. I know that a few windows should be blanked off for complete authenticity, but I'll have to summon up the courage to tackle that, without fear of ruining the paintwork !! Power cars... Since completion, the rake has happily run at least another couple of hours, in pulling, and pushing directions, without any issues..... 😄😄 Cheers, Phil.

I've been gradually altering my mk3 rakes to Hunt magnetic couplings, which so far I've been happy with ! A long while ago, I fitted lights to my VTEC rake, using pick-ups in the TGS, and plugs/sockets to transfer the power between coaches. This rake is still fitted with tension lock couplings. This works ok, but is a bit fiddly to connect together, and I've had a couple of instances of the wires breaking at the plugs, due to flexing of the wire as the coaches travel around corners. So I thought I'd try to figure out a better solution, combining the magnetic couplings with the electrical connections between coaches.... The slam-door crosscountry rake was chosen as the guinea pig, as these are still in as-bought condition. A suitably coloured roll of 12 Volt LED's was purchased, and I already had an anti-flicker unit and connectors in stock. The anti-flicker unit was installed in the guards area of the TGS, with wires running down to pickups fitted to the axles. The other wires run up to the LED roll fitted in the roof. This is the FO, but it's the same idea !! The fun part was fitting the connectors to the magnetic couplings.... Firstly, the tops of the couplings were filed level, and then fitted to the bogies as per the instructions. The connectors were then put together, and placed on top of the couplings, making sure I was using adjacent bogies from the coaches along the rake. i.e. making sure the 'female' part of the connector on one coach, was glued in place with the 'male' part of the connector on the adjacent coach, so they matched each other when the bogies went back under the correct coaches. ( I didn't quite push the 2 halves of the connectors fully together, to make sure they didn't hold the magnets apart.) The connectors were then lightly glued in place. When the glue had set, the bogies were separated, and more glue added to hold the connectors firmly in position. Wires were then run from the connectors, up through the bogie pivot, and soldered at each end. I used red and black wires, just to make sure the wires went to the correct polarity on the LED strip. Pics hopefully explain what I mean..... The coaches connect and separate just as easily as they do with just the magnetic couplings fitted. They've had a couple of hours non-stop running, with no issues so far.... Cheers, Phil.

50008, on today's Derby - Whitby tour. Seen at Elsecar, between Sheffield and Barnsley. Cheers, Phil.

Picked this up at the recent Doncaster exhibition...... It'll end up pushing 975025 when it arrives.... Painted the roof panels and inside the horns, and weathered it, just needs nameplates adding..... Cheers, Phil.

Looking at the pre-production sample of the nameplate in a previous post, got me thinking... Could the outside of the etch ( not the plate itself, but the bit it's cut out from ) be shaped in such a way that if placed on the bodyside, it lines up with bodyside features, creating a positioning guide for the plate ? It was the sample etch having a cut-out corner shape at the top left, that could be made to line up with the bodyside window in the pic above it, and maybe the right-hand end could be made to line up with the edge of the large grill ? I appreciate that each etch would have to be made specifically for each side ( and marked up, to confirm which is which ), and you certainly wouldn't get as many plates on a sheet of etches, but it was just an idea, that could possibly give more consistent results than paper cut--outs ? Hope that all makes sense !! 😅 Cheers, Phil.

' THE 1' & ' THE 2' are the numberplates on the mayoral cars in Barnsley ( ' HE ' being the plate code for the local area. ) They're quite possibly the 2 items of greatest asset value on the council register !! Cheers, Phil. ( Barnsley born and bred !! 😏 )