Pixie

Whilst it's against company policy to talk future plans, I can quietly share we're working on the 'DEMod Yahoo! Group - 20 Years On' commemorative pack to celebrate this scene. A world first in capturing every detail of two decades worth of weathering, decay, battle wounds and odd livery choices... ...and that's just the Accurafolk figures. Pix

Must be for a new range of model meteorites...

I believe it’s their Product Manager’s favourite class, make of that what you will. Pix

They both get an outing from time to time but the former isn’t the most efficient prototype measuring. Pix

How it started… …how it’s going! I feel a mega update may be looming. Hope you’re all well, Pix

D1021 quietly ticks over at the Ropley. Pix

Changes are afoot… As some of you may know and mentioned a few times in this thread; I’ve worked in the fine art supply industry for the last 10 years. I’ve never stated who explicitly, not that it was a great secret, but Daler Rowney has been my professional life since I graduated. It was never the plan to stick around for that long; originally I joined with the intention of staying a few months whilst I worked out what to do with my life. But things worked out and, at 29, I found myself managing the largest fine art colour factory in Europe and small army of staff. It’s been a family throughout that time. Collectively we’ve dealt with everything but murder, made half a billion tubes in that time and filled just over 8 Olympic swimming pools with colour. I enjoy the art industry. It’s fast paced, you meet some colourful people and it’s easy to like the product. And there’s never a dull day in production. But, my time has come to move on and the displays you see here are my gift to the team I leave behind. A small, personal gift that has been on my workbench for the last couple of weeks to say thank you for the warmth, friendship, achievement and memories that we’ve built together. So, what’s next? I’m joining Accurascale as Product Manager. I couldn’t be more excited.

Hi all, Long time sub-forum lurker, first time poster. There's a very interesting clip on Youtube that appears to show 1630 in GFYE but retaining the lower green band on the front end. Link is here, 1630 appears at around 2:50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZ09mgjJOU&t=1s I suspect it's wear on the yellow painted over the lower band, rather than being purposely painted that way, but a new one to me at least. Does anyone have any photos of 1630 that show if it was on both ends or which end had this feature? The video cuts out at just the wrong moment. Cheers, Steve

A long shot, but here goes. Does anyone have a Chinese-tooled Farish 31 body up for grabs? Livery, box, glazing, handrails, damage, weathering is all irrelevant really - I just need the overall shape. BR Lines and Farish can’t assist; does anyone have one lurking in their Gloatbox? I can promise it a good home and death by a thousand cuts; whilst offering a potential seller remuneration by all typical means. Thanks, Steve

I’d love to know more about that! Wasn't the Bristol Blenheim that was converted into car was it?!

Lovely stuff! The Hymek isn’t strictly rule 1; D7043 made it to Parkend and the Marsh Sidings in 1971. It arrived with a couple of brake vans and moved a few bits of DFR stock around in preparation for an open day. I have no proof of it hauled any coal or ballast but I have a photo of it at Parkend and cinefilm of it on the Marsh Sidings. I think D7001 made it down the branch with a ballast train, not not proof sadly. Cheers, Steve

Thanks all for the comments - I’m glad they appear to be of interest. I will post a dedicated thread in time. Hi Tom, I’d never given the first back of Mk.2 FKs much attention; I hadn’t realised the windows were different! I don’t really have a use for them myself, but I’d be tempted to do an etch when I get around to doing the Mk.2Bs and Mk.2Cs. I would be inclined to make the etch the size of the grey panel. Mk.3s are an interesting one; do you base the etch around the Farish or Dapol model? I much prefer the shape of the Farish model but if you go for etched sides (or window strips as I’ve been toying with) you need to find a neat way of going the doors. I’m currently working on a Prototype (in more than one sense of the word - please excuse the iffy roof fit) with a hybrid of the Dapol chassis and sides and a resin roof and ends based around the Farish model. Assuming one of the RTR companies doesn’t release a bells-and-whistles HST, I think this is probably the way I’ll model some production HSTs which will spawn some etched sides. Perhaps we should take this conversation to PM to avoid dragging this further off topic? Cheers, Steve

If it helps with layout planning, I’ve got a range of etched sides that are very nearly ready to offer soon. They’re designed to be used with the TPM ends which should be reappearing in plastic at some point. I’ve done the CIG/BIG/REP/TC and three types of VEP. I should have a product listing up in the next few weeks. Cheers, Steve

I wonder what the designer of the Lone Star A4 would think if they knew their model would one day be hauling something that's 'magically' made in a little box and, potentially, decorated with a by product of the space industry. I was going to say he may think it's all like something from the Jetsons; but it appears the diecast pacific even predates that. Cheers, Steve

I'd be intrigued to see that in action. This is very good: It's far too bright for the traditional roller blind; but would look great on a more modern DMU for the destination blind. If it could somehow be combined with the 'matt paper' look you get on a Kindle, it could have real potential. Cheers, Pix

Hi all, A little progress to report on the HST project mentioned above. Having spent a bit of time carving various Farish and Dapol Mk.3s about, I’m really convinced that the Farish solid-sided Mk.3 is the best in terms of overall shape. The roof curvature and angled ends capture the bulk of the prototype really well and the main failing of the Dapol example. With this in mind; I think the best approach for the Prototype HST will be to utilise the Dapol sides (as they have modelled the original style doors well) but with a resin drop in end (based around a remaster Farish base) and with a resin roof based on the Farish Mk.3 but with the two access panels deleted and the three RoeVac vents added. A few comparison photos before; the Virgin Production Mk.3 is the Prototype... whilst the Prototype livery one is Dapol Production. Overall I think it adds a lot of ‘bulk’ to the Mk.3 and with careful cutting you could probably preserve the Dapol livery. Etches have some back for the rest of the rake. Whilst the BT10 inners and RKB sides have worked out... ...I managed to get all the height wrong on the corridor ends. Eventually these will be filled, filed and use a casting master. D’oh! A couple of other small experiments. For the 123, these are 4thou window frames to drop into a half etched recess in the 12tho sides - this should allow easy and crisp silver frames. Finally, a 111. Just because they’re pig ugly. Cheers, Pix

I’m sure Rolls Royce made some excellent cars, but their DMUs were bloody ugly. Pix

Some good memories there Don; have you got any railway photos from the area? I hadn’t realised you were originally local to these parts. I’ve always thought that the stretch of GWML from the Reading Gas Works to the Vastern Road bridge would be a great model with the Waterloo lines in the foreground too. Yep, guilty as charged and just about the worst combination of an high-riding 1/148 loco and 1/152 smaller-prototype van as Chris pointed out. Normally the difference is not vastly noticeable but it certainly looks a bit odd here; I’ll have to be a bit more careful of this in the future. The Farish Warship does ride about 1.75mm too high, I presume to allow the bigger flanges to fit under the floor of the model. The below example (which is slowly becoming an NBL example) has been dropped by 1.25mm, I didn’t fear to go much lower as it does push the buffers out of alignment. Sat next to a Farish CCT, it looks a lot closer. And a Farish Mk.1 for comparison. Cheers, Pix

Hi Jan, I think that's a good approach - for me, I'm not really much of an operator. I like building things and occasionally shuffling a few wagons around which I can do with JAPlank and Parkend when it gets set up in the living room. I've got mid-term plans a brick-built workshop in the garden so I may end up building a simple loop of track in there to get stuff run properly, an idea would be to have some modules that drop into the loop. Food for thought! I do like the '3D painting' style of layout, it means it can always be set up without dominating a space. Hello Ben, For me, a bit of both. Putting aside all the livery issues, QC issues and general poor build quality I have had with Dapol stuff of that era which could be corrected, I find the Dapol offering very lack luster. For the Mk.3s, I think the rooves and end are too flat, there’s not enough depth on the corridor connections and the windows I think are a little too square in the corners and perhaps a little too high. For the latter two points, some Shawplan style Laser-Glaze may do wonders, but the coaches just lack the bulk of a Mk.3 to my eyes. Bringing in Dapol’s weird livery errors, colour choices, lack of tinted glazing, curvy bogies which could be corrected, but on the kind of fleet I would want it’d be a massive repaint and rebuilding undertaking (especially for liveries like Swallow, Fag Packet, etc). For the Power Cars, I think they’re better than the Mk.3s but still have some oddities which ruin the look for me. If you take this image - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheedypj/28334636486/ and comparing it to this image https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnfrombedford/30990689328/in/photolist-PdxoeN-bneUYs-HaQGWU-n6rXsE-qoeCaG-WKKg3v-QrLEVg-p8YHkm-nLTcJ2-sctoNq-2jxpBbQ-G4htf2-BenNwk-dRfyjS-2jrmFvo-JeF8bN-TfM4vU-oZkrZF-28tD1h1-qb1Hfg-dVjbyH-244YT6d-oz9tw1-WUXnUD-2cB9XjJ-YMhqLD-2h5Vxik-2gyDosw-2jrmFgA-kocExP-k4MCps-rPDtDQ-PnBNQu-2jrpsxG-bX4tNW-2h8FV9v-b3afut-2jrmFo9-nkbvCy-2jnc42t-2jnbVV9-qaNstC-256fXaq-2isVks2-y6MtyR-2isVkwL-2ivkzpL-zaqPue-222TiGh-hPiWXK - the ‘face’ of it looks out. I think the horn grille is too wide, the headlights aren’t quite wide enough and too tall (possibly a little high). I wonder if the front windscreen is a little too low, which results in the weird shaped cantrail stripe which is straight as a die on the Prototype. The whole thing isn’t helped by the livery application which makes it look odd. I appreciate all of this can be deemed as rivet counting, but it’d jar for me. I think what it really boils down to for me, is that the Dapol HST is alright but it’s not what it could be. Imagine an HST to the quality and standard of a Kato Shinkansen N700 Shinkansen or even their 20-something year old Eurostar; where it just looks right straight out of the box. Not to give a disservice to Dapol, I think their 2mm 68 is of a similar level to the two aforementioned models. It’s the signature train of my generation and probably the one before also; I think it deserves a top-tier model. With your Revolution hat on; if you could be tempted, I would be willing to put my name down for 4 Swallow rakes immediately. If you produce FGW Fag-Packet and the original Barbie livery, a lot more. All that said; I think the Dapol Prototype HST power is excellent. For my 1973-testing rake, I’ve been working on a project for the Mk.3s which is using the original window inlay Farish models, a tinted window inlay with a 2thou etched overlay and (when I find the heart to start cutting it up) resin doors mastered from the Dapol Prototype Mk.3 offering. I’m waiting on PPD to deliver the next wave of etches which will give me the masters for the corridor connections, bogie inners, brake discs and a few other bits. For the buffet, I’ve cheated and etched the sides for Mk.1 RKB as M1542. A couple more snaps from the trackside; more oddities rather than ‘porridge’, with a dose of plausible fiction attached in a couple of cases. Above: One of BR’s initiatives in the early-1970s was it’s exhibition train. A motley collection of former LMS vehicles, along with a couple of Mk.1 BSKs, which was painted into it’s striking red and cream livery. The train would be rented out by companies to display everything from printers to musicians. In 1971, the train was hired by Bracknell-based fine art manufacturer Rowney to undertake a national tour celebrating art of all generations and promote their various wares, under the title of RailArt’71. The train was stationed at Salisbury and is seen here headed for Kensington Olympia were the tour commenced, before travelling to Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh over a 4 week period. The train was made of 7 vehicles; one acting as a reception room, three acting as a gallery with Stefan Knapp (a Polish born artist who has recently completed a mural on the Rowney’s newly built Bracknell headquarters), two as a product Showcase and finally one vehicle offering a small sales stand. The tour was a success but not repeated in later years. Above: The last trip for the ‘Boosters’! Having been withdrawn and at held at Brighton for several months, 20001 and 20002 are seen in July 1969 on their way to Chashmore’s in Newport. They would be scrapped by September. Above: Another Southern Region interlooper, this time in the Summer of 1970. Whilst ED's were certainly a rarity on the GWML, your photographer initially believed that it was the fabled all-over blue Mk.1s which were rumored to be operating on the Reading to Redhill line at the time. Development of the film however proved that E6047 was in fact hauling a pair of 4-CEPs, something unseen before. What they were doing here was a long term mystery, but it's now believed they were headed for Swindon for repainting from their initial dreary overall blue into the corporate blue/grey scheme. These repaints would be foretelling of the future, setting the wheels in motion for Swindon to be used for the fleets refurbishment later in the decade. Cheers, Pix

Should a decent 2mm HST and Mk.3 appear (Paging Mr Kato-san) expect to see load of Hydraulics on eBay and the whole lot being moved forward several decades. Pix

Hi all, This year has certainly seen an increase in modelling time – whilst I don’t think my free time has increased much, the lack of being able to do much else has seen an increase in output. Whilst it’s been nice to finally cross things off me ‘To-Etch’, ‘To-Remotor’, ‘To-Repaint’, ‘To-...’ list, I have had an increased feeling of ‘Well, what now?’ as each model is completed. I’ve also done a very good job of starting a whole load of new models, so my net outstanding workload has certainly hasn’t decreased at all. The vast majority of models I’ve been building don’t fit into either Parkend or JAPlank, but are purely things that I’ve enjoyed researching, working out how to build and then putting together. The only real common factor is they’re from the early 1970s, with a distinct Western Region bias. This is mainly as where my interests in the real railways lie; I’m not wholly sure of what the appeal is but I think it’s probably due to my uncle taking a lot of photographs of the railway during this time. I do enjoy putting these models together, but it does usually end up with the aforementioned feeling of ‘That was fun, what now?’ as the model gets put into a stock box. Whilst I do harbour long-term desires of building a large 2mm layout based around somewhere on the GWML, the short-term practicalities of living in a relatively small two bedroom house does scupper these plans. Pragmatically, it’s at least a couple of decades until I’m likely to be in a position to have the space to build the layout-room--Cavalier-Restoration-Centre I dream of, by which time the models I’m building will probably be due for replacement. With all this in mind, I’ve decided to build a few photo-dioramas. Metre-long sections of various bits of GWML that will allow be to get the trains out and take some photographs of them in a correct setting. Based around the IKEA LACK shelves, it will allow neat wall-mounting and easy changeover between JAPlank and whichever one I fancy putting up. The first I plan is a simple rendition of Milley Bridge, on Brunel’s Billiard Table, between Twyford and Maidenhead. A simple piece of 4 track mainline, with an overbridge and passing loop. It’s a spot that harbours a close personal connection for me – Dad took me there in our orange Cavalier in the 1990s to watch Swallow HSTs whizz past before retiring to The Bell at Waltham St Lawrence for pint. A tradition that friends and I maintain to this day, outside of Covid. I’ve spent the Christmas break as a change to mock the model up with a LACK, a few Templot print outs and a lot of foamboard. I think it’ll work in principle; I do need to lift the trackbed up by half-an-inch or so towards the left hand side to get some lower angle photographs. Once built, I’d like to use as a place to take photographs of models to allow me to starting putting some articles together – I’m not sure if these will be for a magazine, blog, here or if they’ll even happen, but it’s an idea I’ve been playing with for some time. There’s two types of article I’d really like to write - firstly I’d like to write a few pieces on the real-railway history of the time, covering topics such Motorail, Red Star Parcels, the Resurrection of Steam with 6000 and the BulmersCider Train, etc and then how to present this in model form. The modelling would be backed up with neat presentation of posters, leaflets, artworks and relics from the time to give an overall feel of the topic, rather than just how to build the model. Secondly, I fancy doing some pieces just called ‘Trainspotting - June 1971’ or something similar. Essentially, a series of photographs of the model from a nominated date that accurately represents what would have been seen had you spent a few hour trainspotting at Milley Bridge one evening. This could extend into the covering the resources that are out there, both official (Working Time Tables, Carriage Working Documents, Crewe’s rolling stock registers, Marshalling of Freight Trains, Signal Box Records) and unofficial (Personal records, sighting, photographs, etc). I guess it’s all trying to create a bit of an illusion of time and place. That’s the plan anyway – I think it’d be something a bit different. Besides, I’ll enjoy creating it even if no one reads it! Anyway, a few photographs of the testing I’ve been doing. I do ask you to use your full imagination to pretend that there’s less-foamboard and a lot more scenic work. I should also add that I’ve made a complete arse of getting the slow and fast lines utterly confused, as well which way London is on a couple of occasions. I blame it on Christmas cheer. Above: One of the three 8-car WR Blue Pullman sets storms through on its way to Swansea on the 1C27 ‘South Wales Pullman’, off Paddington at 09:00 sharp. At this point it’s around 25 minutes into its journey as it approaches Twyford. Above: An unrecorded working, but the ENPARTS vehicle does hint that it’s ultimately headed for Old Oak Common. 1733 did enjoy the limelight as the XP64 liveried loco, until its December 1969 repaint into more standard BR blue. At this time, it was a Birmingham Division loco. Above: Bristol Bath Road’s 5826 trundles towards the capital with a rake of ballast wagons. Above: D861 was the last active Warship to carry maroon with small yellow panels, seen here on a Parcel trains headed west. Carrying the livery until its February 1971 repaint, it also stood out from most of the other NBL Warships in having a Swindon style fan grille, making it a relatively simple modelling project. D833 also shared this feature. Conversely, D832 was a Swindon machine with an NBL roof grille – a feature it retains to this day in preservation. Above: Coup of the day! Despite deep research and trawling of various records; I have never been able to what brought York-based Derby Lightweight car DB975010 to the GWML. From what I understand, it had become the Eastern Regions route learning vehicle in 1967 but it appears to be a very long way from home at this point. Not long after this photograph was taken, it would receive full yellow ends. Above: 822 ‘Hercules’ is spotted on a mixed, fitted freight bound for South Wales... Above: …whilst a few minutes later 1605 is seen with a rake of minerals for Action. This locomotive would be infamous at this spot on 13th November 1973; whilst working the 10:20 Radyr to Acton (similarly formed of mineral traffic) it would derail at this very bridge whilst failing to stop at the signal in the loop. Above: Another rarity. Derby RTC-based D5901 is seen with its Tribology Train, headed for the West Country. Whilst I don’t believe that the Baby Deltic ever made it to Western metals in reality, the Tribology train certainly did work between Newton Abbot and Plymouth in November 1976 with the RTC’s 24 in charge. In non-2mm news, I’ve been working on a reading corner in my office/man room where I write this post from. The seat, table and magazine pocket are all recovered from an FGW Mk.3; the cushion is made from ‘Barbie’ livery FGW moquette. The table needs a bit of work to reinstate the mains plugs and USB sockets, but that can wait for the summer. It’s not quite the full Jason Shron-style Train-in-the-Basement but it’s my little corner of serenity. Hope you’re all well. Season’s Greetings, Steve

Very low tech compared to all this 3D printing; but some old fashioned cut-and-shutting with home brew etches. Seasons Greetings, Pix

Hi Chris, Yeah, it's pretty easy to remove. I tend to lightly sand (using around 800+ grit) then polish the sides using Meguiar's Plast-RX; it bring them up like glass. The first couple of coaches I did use chemical methods (primarily my usual 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol with a 6% water dilution) to remove the livery but it slightly softened them which made polishing harder and also the clear material slightly absorb the colour you were trying to remove. Cheers, Steve

Hi Nick, For my own uses I have mostly standardised on Farish Blue Ribband Mk.1s, primarily as I don’t have to do the thin white lining on blue/grey myself. Therefore the etches are designed to match the new Farish 1:148 coaches to blend in as much as possible. However, to get simple flush glazing and to give the coaches a solid structure, I’ve been using upturned Poole-designed bodies with the roof, ends and chassis from the China-design Mk.1s grafted on. It’s worth noting that the genuine Poole produced Mk.1s have a tendency to bow so the early China produced ones tend to be better donors. If it’s any help to your ‘bogie-quest’, I have done etched inners for the B4s, both with and without the cut out for the close coupling mechanism but I can’t help with the side frames. Cheers, Steve

Thanks Nick. In short, yes. The plan is to offer them in the not-too-distant future on a relatively informal basis; a listing should appear here and perhaps something in the Association newsletter. I do now have stocks of most etches and a few have trickled out to others to test build also so I’m nearly there. Sadly I don’t think Class 14 chassis’ and oddity Mk.1 sides will ever generate enough money to quit the day job but in hope they’ll help out others. Watch this space. Cheers, Steve PS - a little something from the workbench tonight.