philiprporter

I've decided that the time has come to say farewell to Standedge Tunnel and I would like to offer it for sale. I hope its OK to post this here - but I'm looking for about £500 and the only 'condition' of sale is that, should the layout be exhibited in the future or appear in magazines, credit is given to myself as the original builder. It would also be courteous to confirm with David Heys that he is still happy for his images to appear on the front facia. I will try and upload some images of the layout 'set up' in the next few days, but the best source of images remains Model Rail July 2019 which shows everything except for the black curtain around the base of the layout. Layout would need to be collected from Bedfordshire. If you are interested or have any questions, please PM me Thanks, Phil. Also please note the following: Layout has full lighting rig/pelmet and black curtain to hide the legs front and sides. I will supply spare trees, scatter etc. to allow any touching in or development of the scenic areas. Legs are attached with coach bolts (supplied). Boards are joined with coach bolts and have alignment dowels fitted. The layout boards are built partly from foamboard and partly from styrofoam. Wire handrails from the bridge over the canal will need re-fitting and are supplied separately. The electrics will need completing - track feeds are present, but I never got round to wiring up to a control panel. Electrical connections between boards are all wired in and connection is made with multi-pin connectors. Only the scenic point has a point motor installed. Fiddle yard points do not have motors installed. New mounts for supporting the backscene will need to be built - I rigged up temporary Velcro equipped mounts from foamboard, but these had to be removed to allow the layout to be transported in my car when I moved house. The Dapol working signal will need replacing - this got damaged during the aforementioned house move.

I hope this isn't too far off topic, but I've just received the BR blue split head code class 40 with sound fitted - the leaflet says the decoder is an ESU 21MTC Loksound V5 - am I safe to assume this isn't a Loksound 'Select' decoder? I would like to re-blow the chip and fit a better speaker, but I understand that re-blowing isn't possible for the Select decoders? If anyone can confirm either way I'd be really grateful. Many thanks, Phil.

Painted EP sample of the O gauge class 56 has been posted on the Heljan Facebook page.

Could I ask what speakers you used with this sound installation? That Zimo set up does look very neat and useful with the chip just unplugging if needed. Cheers, Phil.

If its any help, the rivets are very subtle and well-executed on my O gauge Peak - they don't look anything like as pronounced as they appear on the top few photos on the Tower Models site (I guess this may be down to contrast/lighting etc.) and I suspect the same will be the case for the OO gauge version. Likewise always loved the Peaks - happy memories of trans-Pennine journeys behind them back in the day!

Likewise 47406 I'm looking forward to this - I have an O gauge Heljan Peak and its a belter - stunning paint job by Lee on the OO gauge pre-production sample too.

I see that Heljan have just announced on their Facebook page a re-run of their original split headcode box class 37 in O gauge. Is this regarded as a decent model as it's an old release and Im struggling to find reviews? Best wishes, Phil

Hi Dave absolutely love this photo (as well as all the others! but the sunlight really does it for me) - I hope you won't mind me asking as I suspect it may have been asked before, but how do you replicate the buffer head grease on your locos? It's a really subtle effect to get right which I can't get right no matter what I try, but it always looks bang on in all your shots! All the best, Phil.

Mark is this the one you were thinking of? It looks cracking although a lot less glass than Hitchin - not for sale yet, but does have a lower 'front door' by the looks of it - my concern with the Heljan one is that the front door is rather high - presumably in case people want to use it as a shed with OHLE?: https://railwaylaserlines.co.uk/product/rll704ss-two-road-servicing-refuelling-shed-in-o-gauge/

Thanks very much indeed Mark - sorry I hadn't seen the Tower Models site - doh! I will have a scan of the laser kits and see what I can find - thanks for the heads up! Best wishes, Phil.

If anyone has this kit would it be possible to let me know the vertical distance from the ground to the top of the main door opening (I.e. the door that locos go in and out of)? I'm possibly looking at using it as a basis for Hitchin shed which has a 'front door' 131mm tall in O gauge. Thanks, Phil

Thats great guys - thanks very much indeed. So will take the plunge and varnish the whole loco after putting on the decals and pray the airbrush behaves!

Thanks guys very helpful. So do you varnish the whole loco with a top coat or just a brief waft with the airbrush over the area that's had the transfers applied? I'm just worried that a brief waft of varnish will show up, unless the airbrushed varnish is an exact match to the factory finish which seems unlikely? Not an issue if you then go on to weather the loco. Thanks, Phil.

I've tried to search for an answer to this but can't find anything so I'm hoping this isn't a repeat question, but with Heljan O gauge diesels mostly coming un-numbered how do people apply number transfers? I know the usual process is to spray gloss varnish to hide the carrier film, apply transfers and then coat with another layer of varnish to seal in the transfers, but I'm wondering if the gloss coat is needed given the factory smooth paint finish and I'm also slightly nervous about spraying a sealing coat of varnish all over a £500 model and so I'm wondering if there is any other method people are using? Thanks, Phil

Really hope this gets the green light. Swallow and Exec expressions of interest duly registered - if I had more money it would be all options!

I was thinking that last night! As a small lad they were the bees knees as far as I was concerned - along with the Jouef class 40 - the 40 even had lights which for a 1970s school boy was serious technology!

Thanks so much guys - all very helpful information. I've had a closer look at what I have - its a triple pack (R4676) and it looks like the TSO is Hornby which helpfully has the buffers that can be pushed out, but the TGS and TRSB look to be Lima in origin - buffers moulded in place and the glazing and a few other areas look less refined. Am I right in thinking that there has never been a OO gauge blue-grey MK3 released that comes without buffers?

I hope this hasn't been discussed before (I've searched & can't see anything) but I've bought some Hornby MK3s in blue grey livery with the Inter City 125 branding on the sides, but they have buffers fitted & of course the HST MK3s didn't have buffers. My question is, is it simply a case of cutting the buffers off and 'making good' or is there more complex surgery needed to the bufferbeam area make them look like HST MK3s? Also, given that these HST MK3s are currently not produced in blue-grey by Hornby, if I were to buy, for example, an Oxford rail blue-grey buffered MK3, could I simply chop the buffers off and re-decal with the IC125 branding and re-number to make an HST MK3, or am I being naively optimistic?!

Thanks very much indeed Mac this is really useful info (along with your previous post) - I will do some digging to see if I can find any images for the period in question and will update here when the rebuild of that part of the layout starts - the layout is in the garage at present after a house move but I'm hoping in the next few months I can dust it down and crack on!

Hi Mac1960 thanks so much for your messages and kind words! This is actually good news, as I was never happy with the canal boat emerging from the tunnel (it was the first scenic work I did when building the layout) so if I can legitimately close off the tunnel and remove the boats then that's a job that will make me feel a whole lot better about the front of the layout! Because the resin for the water is poured into a self contained sealed 'unit' this is less drastic than it may seem. If you have any photos of the gates that closed the tunnel off and any images of that area in the BR blue era I would be very grateful as it would be good to get it as close to period correct as possible and thanks so much for that really useful info. Great news about the Blue Pullman too! Its such a cracking model that I cant bear to part with it and now I can run it knowing that its not just modeller's licence at work - provided I run it in the right direction! One day I may move to the Slaithwaite/Marsden area - that's a bit of a long held dream for me, but alas not one that is going to come true any time soon, so I'm envious that you live in such a beautiful location!

Gimmicky madness but I love it!

My apologies - I thought you were starting out - sorry.

I'm not an expert (far more experienced people on here, some of whom respray for a living) but I spray at about 12psi with a 0.4 Harder and Steenbeck Evolution and I have never measured amount/ratio of thinners to paint, but follow the advice in George Dent's book - if it drips off the stirrer without 'encouragement' (as opposed to cascading off because its too thin) then that's about right. The usual advice is the consistency of milk, but I go a bit thinner than that (plus it depends what sort of milk you drink and are comparing your thinned paint to!). Also critical to do many light coats and to not spray from too far away - which was my biggest mistake when starting out and gives rise to a rough finish because the paint dries before it hits the model. The other bit of advice I had to learn the hard way is to never, ever rush anything when airbrushing. Hope that helps.

I've stripped several Heljan O gauge models with IPA - 99.9% but diluted to about 90% - not accurately diluted though, just a splosh of water. Not had any problems. Usually leave it to soak for 24 hours and then attack with a toothbrush - just don't forget how flammable this stuff is though!! I spray using Railmatch enamels - good match for Heljan colours, but mainly because decanting from their glass bottles is less messy than decanting from tinlets!

Can't see the O gauge Deltic listed which I need spares for - hopefully this may appear at some stage? I'm after cant rail grilles and centre/top front end headcode bracket if anyone knows anywhere else that may have these? Unlikely I guess, but given that the Deltic has been re-released I'm moderately hopeful!