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wiggoforgold

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  1. wiggoforgold

    Happy Accidents

    By wiggoforgold,

    Sometimes, the construction of models doesn’t go quite as planned. In a recent experience, at every stage in the construction of a model building for Diddington, something felt “not right”. I tweaked it to try and improve things, hoping it would be all right in the end, but as construction progressed things clearly weren’t to be, and I scrapped it. I’m currently thinking about starting it again.
    Sometimes however, the accident can be turned to advantage, and as a result I discovered some techniques that I can hopefully use again in the future. I’d like to share a couple of my favourites.
    I made a “Terrier” for Diddington, by modifying the old Hornby model. I was inspired by some pictures of the abandoned Terriers on the Edge Hill railway, and I thought an apple green industrial loco with red wheels would make a change from my usual BR black. When I came to paint the model, the body was sprayed with grey aerosol primer. Once this dried, the body colour was sprayed with a Humbrol Acrylic LNER green. This is where things didn’t go quite as intended. Because I hadn’t used the Humbrol acrylic before, and because I was concerned about it drying too quickly and clogging the airbrush, I over thinned it. This meant that when it was sprayed on the coverage was poor. To avoid too much of a pain build up, and runs, I stopped. When the over thinned coat dried, I was left with a faded top coat with the undercoat showing through, which gave a fine impression of faded, weathered paint. Exactly what I wanted, though not what I expected. I left well alone, and carried on with the weathering.

     
    Recently I made a 350hp diesel shunter (08 to the younger generation), from an old Bachmann model. The finished article was to be heavily weathered, so to get the effect of grime in the gaps between the panels, I started by spraying the entire body with a mix of Humbrol Gunmetal, Matt Black and Dark Earth. Once dry, this was oversprayed with Railmatch BR Green and transfers applied. At this stage the model looked rather nice, and I was almost tempted to leave well alone and proceed no further, but I did, and this was when things started to go slightly wrong.
    To seal in the transfers I sprayed it with matt varnish from a spray can. I used a spray can of Vallejo matt varnish which I had to hand, but which in retrospect was a bit old. When it dried, it had a white powdery crust in places, which spoilt the overall finish. The effect was reduced by working over the model with a stiff brush, so I proceeded to the next stage of the weathering. This was to coat the body with a heavily thinned mix of Tamiya NATO black, Dark Gray and Matt Earth, much of which was immediately wiped off from the centre of the bodyside panels. When dry, this again reduced the white bloom, but not quite enough, and it was still in the centre of the panels where I didn’t want it. I put a bit of T-cut on a cotton bud, and used this to restore some shine to the centre of the panels, and remove some of the thinned Tamiya mix and the faulty matt varnish. The result was body panels that looked like they had been cleaned in the middle, with a grimy faded appearance to the edge of the panel which I wouldn’t have achieved if the varnishing hadn’t gone wrong in the first place.

     
    Overall, I’m very pleased with the way both these models have turned out, and present them as examples of how setbacks can sometimes be turned to advantage, and how they may provide an opportunity to discover new techniques.

  2. wiggoforgold
    Looking back through my blog entries I realise there’s quite a lot involving wagons. I like wagons. In recent years there have been quite a few nice rtr wagons. I’ve had a few , and no doubt will get some more. However, converting or improving an older model, or building a kit allows me to put something of myself into a wagon model. Plastic kits are inexpensive, and a number of my models use older models, many of which can be obtained second hand for a modest price. They don’t even have to be complete. The sheeted GW open in the previous blog entry has a damaged side, which is invisible under the tarpaulin. Part of the fun of making models like this is by taking something in a fictional livery, for example the old Airfix “Golden Syrup” van, and making it into something more realistic.
     
     
    Lowmacs
    I’ve got a couple of lowmacs. The first, carrying a JCB, is made from the Dapol kit, purchased in the days when the Lowmac and JCB were packaged together. I think the Dapol kit represents a Great Eastern prototype. The only departures from the kit were the substitution of Slaters’ metal buffer heads for the moulded buffer heads in the kit, and an element of 3 point compensation has been introduced by opening out the axle boxes at one end, and mounting the wheel set so that the axle bears on a wire pivot above the centre of the axle.

    The second lowmac is from the Airfix/Hornby rtr model. New wheels and buffers were fitted, and the original moulded clasp brakes cut off. My model awaits the fitting of replacements. The load bed was rebuilt with a piece of plastic, scribed to look like planking, and a piece of lead stuck underneath to add ballast. It’s loaded with an Oxford Diecast tractor. I added some plastic strips to the floor to represent baulks used in packing, and I intend to make securing chains from fine chain fitted to securing rings in the load bed.

     
    Containers
    There’s a variety of containers available, and the following are pictures of a few. Some of mine aren’t in use as wagon loads, but have found new employment.
    BR Type A
    This is a Cambrian kit. It’s not loaded on a wagon, but is in use as a store in the coal yard.

    BR Type B
    This is a Parkside kit. It’s loaded on an exLMS 3 plank wagon, made from a Bachmann body on a Parkside LMS fitted chassis.

    GW Furniture Container
    This is an Airfix rtr model. The wagon is a detailed Airfix conflat A, which was later produced by Bachmann.

    Insulated Container
    I don’t use one of these, but I’ve included a picture to show what is available.

    Cement Container
    This was made by Triang, about 45 years ago. It was a nice little model for its time, although the moulded raised lettering is a bit dated. They came in sets of 3, loaded on a representation of a Conflat L, which was too short and too high. Here’s a challenge for the rtr manufactures – how about an up to date Conflat L, which could be finished as a shunting runner to go with the Bachmann 03?

     
    Right – its back to fitting couplings. I hope I’ve given some ideas for a bit of variety in wagon loads.
  3. wiggoforgold
    There’s a lot of variety of potential loads for open wagons, so here are some examples:
    Sheeted open – this uses a Smiths printed tarpaulin. A base is made inside the wagon the shape of the load, or the tarpaulin bar if fitted. The tarpaulin is folded over that. The tarpaulin itself can be pre-treated by screwing it into a ball to crease it up. The ball is unfolded and the sheet dry brushed. Securing ropes are lengths of thread fixed to the back of the tarpaulin with pva or UHU. They can be retained in place by small squares of tissue, stuck over the thread.

    The wagon started life as an Airfix 5 plank open, fitted with new buffers, wheels, and the brake gear changed to the Dean/Churchward type.
    Cable drums - the cable drums are from the wagon load set which has been produced by various manufacturers over the years. I think it’s currently done by Knightwing – it was by Heljan when I brought mine some years ago. I was going to make six drums, but laziness took over and I only made three. The drums are assembled from the kit, and then strips of plastic (020 X 040 Plastruct were glue around the edges of the drum to make the timber covering fitted to full drums. The drums were then painted as weathered wood – a coat of grey primer followed by a light coat of Tamiya buff, which was dry brushed with various Tamiya greys and earth colours. The metal plates at the centre of the drums were picked out in a rust colour. The drums sit on a separate base, painted to look like a wagon floor, with addition strips stuck across to represent timber balks used to stop the load moving. The load ought to be roped in, but I want it to be removable so the ropes have been omitted for the time being.


    The wagon is an Ian Kirk LNER steel open, converted to the original version with wooden doors.
    Bricks - this load is made from styrene strips, stuck on a styrene base. The strips are then cut with a fine razor saw at 3mm intervals to give the impression of individual bricks. The completed load is painted in various shades of brick red, and dry brushed. Bricks in transit were packed in straw, and some strands of appropriately coloured static grass could be added to simulate this.
    The wagon is another Airfix 5 plank open, this time finished as a fitted version, and retaining the original buffers. New tie bars were fitted from brass strip, and a cast vacuum cylinder fitted.

    Timber - a load of sawn timber was built up from various lengths and thicknesses of plastic strip, and painted to look like bare wood. The ends of the strips were painted a red colour to represent markings on the new timber. The load was placed in an open wagon, with a folded tarpaulin covering the part of the load contained inside the wagon, leaving part of the load projecting over one end. The wagon used for this was a 3H LNER open.

     
    In the third part I will deal with conflats and containers.
  4. wiggoforgold
    Some of the traffic at Diddington is generated by an agricultural light railway, which leaves Diddington and proceeds to a terminus out on the fen. On the model to date there has been provision for the arriving light railway train, and I made a hole in the backscene for the line to leave Diddington station.
    I've now started work on the extension proper, with the construction of a joining section which will link Diddington to the terminus.
     
    I gave some thought to the construction of the board. I wanted to keep the weight down as much as possible, and I wanted the finished article to be easily transportable, which limited the size. To make things interesting, I had a minimum size constraint as well, as the board needs to take into account existing furniture in the room, so it had to be long enough to clear that.
     
    I wanted to use an "L" girder construction, as I think that gives the best strength/weight combination. My initial thought was to use ply, but this would mean accurately cutting the pieces from a single sheet,, and transporting the sheet by car, which was too small to take a sheet of ply. (I also wanted to get it done quite quickly, which didn't leave time to arrange the loan of a van, or to find someone willing and able to cut up the ply with the accuracy I required. So, I went to B&Q (no connection) and purchased some suitable lengths of strip wood to make up the "L" girders.
     
    Work commenced by drawing a plan of the board full size in chalk on the garage floor.

     
    The strip wood was then cut to length for the "L" girders. The side pieces were 70 x 10mm section, and the tops were 20 x 10mm. The two were glued and pinned together to form an "L". Ends and cross braces were from more 70 x 10 section, with gluing blocks in the corners from some 12mm square section I had to hand (size is not crucial). During assembly the pieces were held in me workmate, and repeated reference was made to the chalked plan on the floor, and a set square to make sure everything was in the right place and square.
     
    Once the basic assembly was completed, holes were drilled in the side frames to reduce the weight of the structure, and give somewhere for the wiring (which will be very basic) to run. It looked like this.

     
    At one end of the river the line will cross a fen drain by means of a concrete girder bridge, based on one on the Wissington railway. Provision has been made in the baseboard construction for the river and bridge. The base of the river is a piece of ply, glued to the layout frames. The bridge abutments are from some 40 x 20 mm softwood, cut to the width of the tack base (50mm at this point). The rest of the track base is from more ply, on risers which lift the track 40mm above the main frame. I used the ply to keep the weight down. As it will only carry a single track with light trains on it I have not used any additional support., If there were more tracks, or the trains were heavier, I would consider adding some additional longitudinal support to the ply, or using a slightly thicker section.

     
    Next, laying the track...............
  5. wiggoforgold
    Scenic work at Diddington progresses, with the addition of a small coal merchants premises in the goods yard.
    I spent some time thinking about the buildings, and finally decided on a small coal office, with a disused container as a store, and a set of coal cells.
     
    The office building was made from the Wills kit. After assembly, the brickwork was painted with red-brown Tamiya acrylic, and some individual bricks were picked out with different shades of Tamiya acrylic. Once dry, the brick areas were given a wash of very runny Artex( I think any plaster would do, I happen to have a bag or Artex to hand) The mixture was quickly wiped off with a damp cotton bud, leaving the mixture in the courses which when dry represented the cement pointing. This was then given a wash of dilute black Indian ink. The use of Indian ink in this way was a technique I discovered on this forum and have found very useful. Finally the building was dry brushed with Tamiya matt medium green and dark earth.

     
     
    The "A" type container is from a Cambrian kit, assembled straight out of the packet, and sprayed Railmatch LNER oxide (I'm out of BR Bauxite) with a Tamiya Dark Grey roof. Transfers are from an old Woodhead sheet . Weathering was more dilute indian ink, and dry brushed dark earth.

     
     
    The coal cells are from a mixture of Wills and homemade parts. The cells were assembled on a piece of styrene sheet. They were sprayed with Tamiya NATO black, and dry brushed with various shades of black, dark grey, medium green and dark earth. At this stage the assembly was blended into the layout using a plaster/pva mix.. The coal cells were partly filled with plaster, which was painted flat black, and covered with real coal.

     
     
    The office and container were fitted to a card base which was blended in to the layout. It was painted dark earth, and the road areas were treated with fine ash sprinkled on to dilute pva to match the rest of the yard. Grass areas were covered with a mixture of hanging basket liner and static grass. A weighbridge was set into the road. There's a moulded one in the Wills kit, but I had an old etched one that a friend gave to me when they were clearing out their loft for a move of house. (He also gave me a Lima siphon G, but that's another story)
     
    Bushes ware added , made from theatrical hair, sprayed with hairspray and sprinkled with Carr's foliage, before being fixed in place from pva. Tools, coal sacks, scales and weights are from Coopercraft and Ratio, superglued in place.

     
     
    There's a few details still to add. I want to have a couple of coalmen, and a coal merchant's lorry. Having built the model, I am slightly wondering how the site would operate. The backs of the coal cells are slightly high for a wagon door to be opened to discharge directly into the cells. Would the wagon be discharged adjacent to the cells, and the cells used just for sorting and storage? Also, should I have allowed more clearance between the backs of the cells and the track? I measured the clearance using the steps on a BR 20t brake van, and wonder if I should have allowed a little more?
     
    The next episode will look at developments by the river.
  6. wiggoforgold
    I've wanted to make an RB19 for years. A long time ago I purchased a cast kit for one, which sat in its box on a shelf while I periodically took it out and studied the parts and instructions. Eventually Ledo announced a die cast one, which took my interest, and I ended up buying one.
    Having received my new purchase, I studied it with a view to detailing it a little. The basic size and shape were fine, but I felt that the detail of the model could be enhanced by additional painting, and a more detailed interior could be made using the parts from the cast kit i had. I made some notes of the proposed changes before starting work
    The main changes were as follows:
    Replacement of the interior with the cast interior from the kit
    Removing the cab door cast as part of the body, and fitting a new one in the open position
    Replacing the bucket on the Ledo model with the one from the kit.
    Repainting and weathering the completed model.

    I took pictures of the work as it progressed.
    First, a picture of the unmodified model:

    I dismantled the model, and sorted out the cast detailing parts


    I then removed the unwanted parts of the cab. I discarded the existing plastic interior, and removed the bucket. The new interior was made up on a base of 20thou plastic, which locates between the ribs cast on the floor. After priming, it was sprayed with Tamiya light grey. The radiator and silencer were picked out in NATO black and Red-Brown respectively, and the whole was weathered with washed of Burnt Umber oil paint diluted with white spirit, followed when dry with a wash of black Indian ink diluted with water. Finally the assemble was dry brushed with light grey, dark earth and a black/silver mix.
     
    The crawler chassis was first sprayed NATO black. The areas between the spokes and above the side frames, which would have been hollow, were painted flat black. The rollers were picked out with a NATO black/flat earth mix. The tracks were painted flat earth. The sideframes were then drybrushed with light grey and the whole was given a wash of dilute Indian ink, followed by the application of Tamiya weathering powders, pricipally mud. The gaps between the track links were marked with a soft lead pencil (6B) to suggest bare metal on worn track plates.
     
    The new bucket was fitted using the parts from the cast kit, and the jib and bucket were sprayed NATO black, having first masked off the "Ruston-Bucyrus" logos on the jib.
     
    The cab interior was sprayed light grey, and the exterior (apart from the 19RB lettering which was masked off, was sprayed Tamiya Deep Green XF26. The roof was sprayed with Tamiya flat white, let down with a small amount of light grey. The body was then weathered with dilute Indian Ink, before the model was reassembled. Further weathering was applied to the entire model - a wash of Games Workshop "Devlan Mud", followed by more Tamiya weathering powder.
     
    Lastly, the model was re-rigged. This was not easy, as the cables (made from cotton) had to be threaded round the winding drums which were inside the body. A piece of stiff wire was used to push round the winding drum. This was then attached to the cotton used to represent the cables, and pulled out round the winding drum, with the cotton attached. It took about an hour before I succeeded.
     
    Here is the result of the work:

    And finally a close up of the open drivers door, giving a view of the machinery inside.

  7. wiggoforgold
    Here are some pictures of Buckden Station near Brampton, Cambridgeshire in 1978. At the time the station was in use as a private house. The signal box, still in its Eastern Region colours, appeared to have been used as a greenhouse.
     
    1. The signal box
    First a general view from the back.

     
    A view of the access steps. The box was platform mounted

     
    The water tank at the back was a nice feature

     
    2. The weighbridge
    A couple of pictures of the weighbridge office


  8. wiggoforgold

    Railbus Trials

    By wiggoforgold,

    Back in 1963, Diddington featured heavily in that report, and not in a good way. Despite this, Eastern Region carried on looking at ways they might improve the services at Diddington. Viewers of my gallery may have noticed the attempt to use a redundant Wisbech and Upwell diesel tram on the agricultural tramway back in 1967, but before that they tried using an AC cars railbus on the passenger services. I've found some pictures of this event, which are attached.
     
    The truth is, I found an old railbus model when I was having a tidy up, and 46444 was visiting, so he took some pictures. The railbus is a Dapol model, assembled pretty much straight from the packet, on a Branchlines chassis, with a Branchlines interior.
     
    Its not my first attempt at the railbus kit. The first was back in about 1965. I went in to Huntingdon to buy an Airfix Beaufighter. The shop didn't have one, so I got a rail bus instead. That cost 17.5p (they called it 3/6d back then), and I've made a few kits since.

     

     

  9. wiggoforgold
    I'm doing this as part of my Diddington blog, though it might be the precursor of a new blog in the future, or even a layout thread.
     
    I've aleays like the idea of insdusrial railways. They've got a lot going for them as they are ideal for small space modelling however, I've always been distracted by some of the larger stuff.
     
    There's an industrial/light railway spur at Diddington, and I've had a number of ideas for developiing it over the years. Sor far it's got as far as a few items of rolling stock and an engine, and a hole in the backscene. The idea was that beyond DIddington there was an agricultural tramway running into the fens. Inspiration came from the Wissington line in Norfolk, and the Ironstone lines of the East Midlands. An early idea was called East Midlands Sand and Gravel.
     
    Her's a picture of the train for the agricultural tramway running on Diddington.

    The terrier is a Hornby one, detailed.. I was inspired by the Edge Hill terrier in Tim Shackleton's "Plastic Bodied Locos", but I've kept the Hornby chassis. I felt that one oof the shortcomings of the Hornby model was the bulk of the chassis compared with the prototype, and spent some time removing superfluous bits from it to make it look a bit less substantial. Finishing was a happy accident. I sprayed the body with grey primer, and then sprayed the livery with Humbrol acrylic railway colour (LNER green). The mix was a bit thin, with the result that the undercoat showed through, giving a faded effect which I kept..
     
    Just before Christmas, 46444 came round, and brought his J94 and Sentinel, which can be seen on his Juniper Hill layout thread. Here's a couple of pictures of their visit to Diddington. I paticularly like the oily paintwork effect on the J94, whch I understand is the result of overspaying Tamiya matt green with Johnsons Klear.


     
    Which brings us to the reason for all this. Eyesight problems suggest that 4mm modelling may bi a bit too much of a strain, so I've been investigating 7mm, and the Wissington railway has reared its head again. There's some nice video of it on Youtube, in a film called "Industral Steam", and the engine "Wissington" is preserved on the North Norfolk Railway I think. Anyway, its a Hudswell Clark, which looks rater like the Ixion one, so here's my interpretation.

    Weathering is a wash of Indian ink, followed by weathering powders. I'm going to add abit of rust using the Modelmates product, and simulate worn off pant on the handrails and steps by rubbing with a soft pencil. Looking at the photographs I think a bit more dirt is needed on the footplate and round the buffer beams. The distribution of dirt follows the pictures of the real Wissington engine. So now I'm off to make a bit more track (perhaps a turnout!) and a couple more wagons. Also, I keep looking at the Dapol thread to see when their Terrier is coming out....
  10. wiggoforgold

    New wagons

    By wiggoforgold,

    I've been building a few wagons over the past few months, and I thought I would share some of my efforts.
     
    First up is a Prestwin Twin Silo wagon from the Airfix/Dapol kit. It's assembled pretty much out of the packet. A bit of weight (to bring the total weight up to 50g) was put inside before the silos were finally assembled. Some of the components, such as the ladders, were thinnned down a bit, and the moulded grab rails on the platform round the silos were replaced with new grab handles made from brass wire. The buffers will also be replaced, with sprung Oleo buffers from MJT. The wheels were replaced with Bachmann items, running in the existing moulded pin point bearings. The chassis assemble square, and isn't compensated, although I would usually do so on wagons with more than a 10' wheelbase.

    Next is a pair of BR shock absorbing vans. The left hand, plywood van, is from a Red Panda kit, assembled out of the packet with Bachmann wheels. The right t hand, planked van is from an old Bachmann model, fitted on a modified Ratio 10' WB chassis. The original Bachmann lvery was kept, the van body being weathered with a wash of Games Workshop Devlan Mud, followed by dry brushing with earth and rust colours.

    Finally, a Vanwide. The original model was scratchbuilt from Plasticard many years ago following an article in the Railway Modeller (Feb 1968, I think) and rather shows its age. It was intended as a restoration of an old project, rather than a superdetailed replica.

    With the exception of the planked shockvan, all the vans were sprayed with Precision LNER red oxide (I'd run out of BR bauxite) with weathering comprising a wash of burnt umber oil paint, followed by dry brushing with shades of earth and rust. Except on the Prestwin, transfers are by Fox. The Prestwin uses the original transfers from the kit, whiich have an all too aparent carrier film. I plan to do another one, which will use Fox transfers.
     
    Next entry will be something a bit different, some Industrial engines.
  11. wiggoforgold

    Brake Vans

    By wiggoforgold,

    I havent done a blog entry for a while. I suffered a detatched retina in my left eye a couple of yearsago. I recoved from that, was about to post a blog entry, and I suffered a detatched retina in the right eye, so everything has been on hold until I could see the keyboard.
    I have managed to do a bit of modelling though, although I've got a number of unfinished projects where I can't yet see clealrly enough to do fine work, such as the EE type 3 which has been awaiting bogie brake cylinders for the last two years - the parts are in my "to do" box but I can't see to fit them! This situation has hardened my resolove to do a few experiments in "O" gauge.
    Anyway, I've made some brake vans. The van in the picture is a standard BR 20t van, built from the Dapol kit. I like the Dapol kit. Despite being about fifty years old, it looks corrects, and fits together perfectly. There's a couple of errors, the best known being the roof, which is a mirror Image of what it should be. Its a bit chunky anyway, and I replaced mine with a new roof of 20thou plastic card, formed to shape round a jam jar dunked in boiling water. I fitted new vents from MJT, and the chimney is from a bit of brass tube.
    The other error is the duckets, which I believe are not quite the right height (I'm not sure if its too low or too high) A lot of the models I've seen don't bother to change this. I didn't either.
    Running gear has been upgraded. I find that even in OO, long wheelbase wagons benefit from compensation, so mine has MJT W irons. I sanded off the kit W irons, keeping the springs and J hangers, but cutting off the axleboxes (these can be kept if desired) Replacement axleboxes from MJT were fitted. Wheels are Bachmann.
    The buffers were replaced with MJT sprung Oleo buffers. The rest of the mdel uses the kit parts
    The body was sprayed with Precision LNER wagon oxide (I didn't have any BR bauxite) and the underframe was painted with Tamiya NATO black. Fox transfers were applied. Weathering was a wash of heavily diluted artists oil colour (burnt umber) followed by drybrushing various shades of earth and grey.
    I then relaised I had forgotten to fit the grab rails to the outer ends of the veranda, which still await fitting
    The van lurking in the background is an Ex LNER "Toad B" whch has scratchbuilt sides with Airfix/Dapol duckets on a Parkside underframe.
  12. wiggoforgold
    Billy Connelly once sang a song, called, I think, "3 Wee Women". It was about 3 ladies in Glasgow who were waiting for a bus. Eventually "along came seven buses, every one a 42". Diddington blog entries are a bit like this. Nothing happens for ages, then two come along at once.
    I was playing with the camera last niight, so I took a couple of pictures of the goods yard. There's no trains in the pictures, but I thought the buildings and scenery might be of interest.
    First up are the goods sheds. When I first built Diddington, it had a larger goods shed, built from the Prototype models kit of Little Bytham shed. I decided it was a bit overpowering, so I substituted some smaller sheds. The wooden shed is from the Wills kit, and the concrete one is the Ratio Provender store.

    Next is the Cattle dock. This is from a Ratio kit. Its actually a GW prototype, but when painted and set into the layout, it reminds me of the pens at St Ives (Hunts) in the 1960's. I changed the stone walls in the kit for brick ones when I built it. Once built, the cattle dock was fixed to a card base, and the landform built up round it. The end loading ramp next to it was built on the same base, with brick walls from the Exactoscale sheets. The ground covering is fine ash sprinkled from a sieve onto an undercoat of Tamiya acrylic paint(a mixture of dark earth and grey) and more pva, applied when the paint was dry. Vegetation is puffed grass and hanging basket liner, applied as described in previous blog entries. The cobbled surface of the cattle dock itself was painted with a thin pva/water mix, which was dabbed off with a paper towel, and puffed grass applied, to give the look of a cattle dock that was no longer in use.

    The building in the background is a chapel, based on one at Brigstock near Kettering. Its made from Wills brick sheets, with a roof from Wills corragated Iron sheet. The brick walls were painted with Tamiya acrylic, and the pointing was a thin wash of Artex applied over the brickwork and wiped off when nearly dry, leaving a residue in the courses between the bricks. A side benefit of this technique is that it cuts down the depth of the heavily scribed courses in the Wills sheets.
    Thats all for now. More scenic work is in progress on another part of the layout, detail;s of which will follow in a few weeks.
  13. wiggoforgold

    The Farm

    By wiggoforgold,

    As the railway line enters Diddington station, it passes behind a cluster of farm buildings. I put a photograph of the barns in my gallery a little while ago, and was asked if I had some more pictures. I took a few, and have added a few notes about the models themselves.
    The buidings are situated at the front of the layout to act as a view block, and to balance the river scene, with the boathouse at the other end. Here's an aerial view od the group:

    The buildings are made from card. The weatherboarded building was designed with a hole in the bottom. It was originally built for an earlier layout which folded in two by means of hinges fitted on blocks at the front and back of the layout. The back hinge was covered by part of the scenery, and the barn fitted over the front hinge when the layout was set up. The scene was built on its own base, a piece of MDF with a hole cut in it to fit over the hinge. In order that the hinge could not be seen through the arn windows, there is a full height false wall inside the building, about 1cm back from the windows.
     
    The design of the barns comes from a sketch by George Illife Strokes, of a group of buildings at Marlow. He made a model of the buildings himself, which appear in some of his photographs. The small cart shed at the right hand end is from a plan by John Ahern in "Miniature Landscape Construction"

    The large chimney stack was made round a sub frame of plastic card. Panels of exposed brickwork were added from scraps of Wills sheet, and the surrounding areas built up to the same level with pieces of plain plastic card. These areas were then coated with a mix of Artex and PVA white glue, diluted with water. This was applied with a brush, and when it was dry, lightly sanded to smooth it off. The plastic areas were painted with Humbrol acrylics, and the card and plaster parts painted with artists watercolours. The chimney pots were made from lengths of brass tube, with rims from copper wire. The pots were the coated with gesso and painted with Humbrol acrylics.
    The pantiles on the barns are from paper strips, A false roof is made from card, and this is marked with vertical lines at about 4mm intervals. Lengths of plastic rod are stuck to these lines. The tiles themselves are made from strips of paper, fixed in place with Bostick impact adhesive and pressed down round the lengths of plastic rod to represent the joints between the tiles. Once dry, the roof is painted with artists water colours. I ran out of patience when I got to the cart shed, and the roof on this buiding is made from Wills sheet, which lends extra rigidity to the structure, which has a frame of balsa wood, with weatherboarding from thin card.

  14. wiggoforgold

    The Loco Yard

    By wiggoforgold,

    At the entrance to Diddington station is a small loco yard. It has a small shed, and in steam days had coal, water an ashpit and turning facilities. The original idea was to model the depot as it would have appeared in the 1950's, with the loco shed in use and a small turntable to turn the steam engines. I brought the period modelled forward to the 1960,s, by which time the loco depot had been downgraded to a daytime stabling point. The shed is used as a store, and the turntable bridge has been removed, leaving only the pit, which is gradually submerging into the undergrowth.
    The track plan and scenic idea for the depot were based on Huntindon East. The shed is a Prototype Models kit of the shed at Stamford. The original idea for Diddington had more of a Great Northern influence. Over time the area modelled has been moved more firmly to the East into Great Eastern Territory. The loco shed is a hangover from the original idea.
    Last autumn I finally decided to work up the scenery in the area. I took some photographs of progress as I wnt along.
    This is the undeveloped site:

    The first stage was to complete the Turntable pit. A circular hole the diameter of the pit was cut in 2 pieces of 9mm ply. The bottom of the pit was made from a piece of thinner ply, and the whole was screwed and glued together. The detailing of the pit was done away from the layout. The sides and bottom of the pit were lined with thin card. The edging at the top of the sides was more card, and the duckboards outside this were made from pieces of Wills plastic sheet, with additional grips from bits of plastic strip.
    The walls of the pit were covered with Exactoscale brick sheet. The bottom of the pit was painted dark earth, and fine ash sprinkled over to give texture. Additional bits of flock and ground foam were added to represent the beginnings of a build up of undergrowth.
    This is the completed pit:

    The pit was then installed on the layout. The landform was buit up with strips of card as described in an earlier blog entry. The pit was blended in with a plaster/pva mix whiich was then painted with burnt umber acrylic paint.

    Grass and undergrowth from a number of sources was added. Longer, rougher grass is from hanging basket liner. Shorter grass is from flock, applied with a puffer bottle. (Since I started, Black Rat came round with his Grassmaster, and I suspect the days of the puffer bottle may be numbered.) Bushes are foliage reclaimed from scrapped trees. Typically, the basic shape is teased out from theatrical hair to make the branches. The branches are sprayed with cheap (non-scented, strong hold) hairspray. Meanwhile some foam leaves are put in a polythene bag. The branches, once sprayed, are dropped in the bag with the leaves and the bag is shaken, which coats the sticky braches with the "leaves". The completed bush is then ready to place on the layout.
    The area now looks like this.

     
    I still need to build a buffer stop and disused coal stage, and to complete the ertaining wall at the back of the yard, and hopefully these developments will be in the next instalment.
  15. wiggoforgold

    Unfitted Wagons

    By wiggoforgold,

    46444 has been building some wagon kits. He brought some round last night, so we posed them in Diddington yard for photographs. I'll leave him to comment on how he made them.


     
    Hes also made a horse box. Not an unfitted wagon, but a nice model. Here it is in a passenger train in Diddington station.

  16. wiggoforgold

    A 9f at Diddington

    By wiggoforgold,

    One of the feauture of the railways in the Fenland were the numerous timber bridges, built by the Great Eastern Railway. In reality they were fairly rickety affairs, often with severe weight restrictions, and caused the Railway Inspectorate to despair.
    We modellers run things over them that would probably have resulted in their immediate collapse in real life. Here is a case in point. 46444 brought his Bachmann 9f round last night, so we took a few pictures of it on the bridge at Diddington. Here they are.



     
    92106 was a Kettering based 9f. it appears to have got lost and ended up at Diddington.
  17. wiggoforgold
    Work has progressed on the scenery behind Diddington Station. Here is an update on developments.
     
    Once the plaster earth mix had dried, the completed structure was blended in to the backscene with a mix of artex and PVA. Once this has dried, the completed structure was given several coats of burnt umber acrylic paint, and the back board was touched up with matt white emulsion.
    The scenery looked like this at this stage.

    Next job was to finish the ballasting of the Bay and private siding. The ballast was a mixture of Woodland Scenics fine granite ballast, fine ash, and chinchilla grit (which is a fine dust obtainable from pet shops, which chinchillas use to give themselves dust baths). The ballast was applied dry, and teased into place with a fine paint brush. I put some masking tape down alongside the track to give an edge to the ballast. I also masked off the moving parts of the turnout.. The ballast was fixed with a mixture of Johnson's Klear, Isopropyl Alcohol (obtained from the Chemist) and a drop of washing up liquid to break the surface tension. This was dripped on to the ballast from a syringe. I find this much harder to do than describe. Some people seem to do this effortlessly, with wonderful, neat results. I always struggle. I thought about applying the Klear with an airbrush, which I have read about people doing, but I felt if I did that, I would simple blow the carefully arranged ballast away.
     
    Once dry, excess ballast was cleaned off the edges of the rails and sleepers with a sraperboard tool. The track was then sprayed with modelmates mud brown weathering dye. In some places a pass with a black dye was made as well, to simulate oil between the rails.
     
    After this, a start was made on adding grass and undergrowth. Round the track this was done using a "puffed grass" technique. A small area around the rails was painted with white glue (pva), let down with a little water. Flock fibres were then puffed in place, This can be done using a static grass applicator, but I used a small soft plastic bottle with several holes of about 3mm dia drilled in the top. The bottle was hallf filled with flock, and squeezed rapidly to puff the fibres on to the glue. This action causes the fibres to stand up when they land in the glue. Once the glue is dry it looks like grass. (Until the glue dries it looks like a white sticky mess of the "what have I done?" variety, so don't panic.
    On the scenery behind the track, some grass was added using the puffed grass method. Rougher grass was added using hanging basket liner. Clumps of hanging basked line were plated face down in a white glue/water mix, and the glue was allowed to dry thoroughly - at least over night. Once dry the backing og the hanging basket liner, and about half the liner itself, was ripped off. The remaining fibres we trimmed with scissors to give the appearance of rough grass. The hanging basket liner I use is a natural green, which doesn't need painting. In due course I might give mine a light dusting of dark earth from the airbrush to blend the various sections together, but I'm not convinced it needs it.
     
    A hedge was added at the back using theatrical hair, coated with hairspray, and shaken in a plastic bag containg a mixture of Carrs leaves. The leaves stick to the hairspray, and the resultant strips of hedgerow were stuck to the scenery with more pva. The backdrop itself is plain white. The layout is set in East Anglia which is very flat, and much of the surrounding land would be below the level of the railway. The plain backdrop gives the layout an open feel which helps give the atmosphere of the area being modelled.
     
    Here are a couple of pictures of the platform end. The first shows the track after ballasting, and the second, taken from almost the same place, shows the scenery treated in the manner described above.


  18. wiggoforgold

    A scenic break

    By wiggoforgold,

    There's been a bit of a hiatus in work on the layout. At the end of last year, I suffered a detached retina. It's all been put back together now, but immediately after the event I couldn't see to do anything and then until my eyes stabilized there was a mismatch between the two which meant I couldn't do close work (this was brought home to me when I found I couldn't judge the distance to put the brush in the paint jar) So.. I started a lot of projects which still await the finishing touches, such as the bogie detailing on the EE type 3 (though this hasn't been helped by 46444 who accidently took the etch for the bogie steps home with him).
    Anyway, at the back of Diddington station there's a gap where the scenery is unfinished. Filling the gap has been on my "to do" list for some time. It looked like this:

    I've got a mental picture of what I want it to look like when it's finished. Work started by cutting a base the shape of the hole from a piece of a cardboard box. A vertical profile piece was fixed to the back using a hot glue gun, and formers giving the shape of the landform were fixed to this every 30mm or so.
    The finished formers looked like this:

    Srips of card about 5mm wide were glued to this to form a lattice, again using the hot glue gun. The card strips were cut from a cardboard "fridge pack" for coca cola, but any medium card, such as strips from a cereal packet would do. I did the longitudinals first, then added the short strips from front to back.
    This is the finished lattice:

    I then made a plaster covering for the lattice. I used squares of stiffish fabric about the size of a postage stamp, dipped in a mix of artex and pva and laid on the lattice. The fabric should be reasonably stiff - I used some dress stiffening material (I think it's called Buckram) because I had it to hand. I have also done it using squares of paper towel, dipped in a pva/water mix. The aim is to produce a hard, light shell. Once dry, I trimmed the fabric back where it hung over the lattice, and reinforced the ends with a coating of plastic wood, sanded down when dry. The piece now looked like this:

    I had intended to build the whole piece and complete the scenery with it repmoved from the baseboard, but at this stage I decided it was better to fit it in place, whch would better allow me to blend it in to the baseboard and backscene. The section was glued in place with hot glue, and the gaps filled with an earth mix of artex, chinchilla dust, pva and brown acrylic paint (actually I mixed yellow red and blue as I was out of brown). The earth mix was painted all over the section, so it now looks like this:

    Its now being left to dry for a few days before I complete the scenic covering, which will be mainly rough grass and bushes. I'll do another entry when the finishing stages are done.
  19. wiggoforgold
    Inspired by Mark's (46444) blog re his wagons from old Airfix bodies, here are my takes on the same subjects.
     
    First up the D1927 ex LMS 3 plank. The body started life as a Bachmann one. I made mine up in early BR livery. It is a fitted version. I was inspired by a 3mm model in MRJ some years ago. It was made while on holiday in France and I've never got round to fitting buffers! The chassis is Parkside, as is the container load. Livery is unpainted wood, with body Ironwork painted BR bauxite. The paints used were Humbrol acrylics, but I'm not sure of the mixes now.

     
    Next are two ex GW 5 plank wagons, using the Airfix body. The fitted one started out as an LMS one, and now has a Ratio 10'WB fitted chassis. It has a load of bricks, made from strip styrene. The unfitted one started out as an ICI one, and has individual axleguards (ERG I think) and ABS Dean-Churchward brake gear. The tarpaulin is from Smiths, and can be used (though not in this case) to disguise damage to the body sides themselves. Inspiration was from a 7mm model by Martyn Welch, again in MRJ.

     
    Finally, an LMS van. This one wasn't actually the Golden Syrup liveried one, but the body mouldings are the same, and I've got a Golden Syrup one awaiting the same treatment. It's the Airfix body, on a Ratio chassis. Roof vents were relaced by MJT castings.

     
    That's all for now. I'm off to cycle round SE Cornwall before it rains again.
     
    Alex
  20. wiggoforgold

    8 Coupled

    By wiggoforgold,

    I've been playing around with 2-8-0's. I took some pictures of the events.
    First up is an 8f, from Kettering shed. It's a modified Hornby, but 46444 built it, so you'll have to ask him for details. Its got DCC sound, which I rather like, and I've been experimenting with adding sound to Diddington, but retaining the option of DC control for the locos which aren't sound fitted, and never will be due to cost.

     
    Next is a WD 2-8-0. This should be from March shed, but I'm not sure if the number's right. Its a straight Bachmann model, weathered. The only detailing is the addition of a 247 developments fire iron rack on the tender, steps on the tender bufferbeam, and the addition of the bar linking the reversing gear at footplate level.

    Cheers for now
    Alex
  21. wiggoforgold
    Work on D5579 has continued. I've been looking forward to painting this one as the colour scheme is a bit different. I considered a number of different ways of finishing it, but in the end I adopted the following method:
    The body was painted in Railmatch Goden Ochre, and Fox transfers were applied. The body was then lightly sprayed with Tamiya clear varnish let down with thinners. The thinned varnish dried almoost matt, which is what I wanted, although it is actually sold as gloss.
    One dry, the body received a wash of Citadel "Devlan Earth". I kept a bowl of water by me while this was applied, and a supply of cotton buds, to wash off some of the paint as it was applied. This was only partially sucessful, as the paint dried faster than I was anticipating, and once dry water won't shift it. It dries nicely matt though. I thought about trying Tamiya thinners, but didn't, as I was nervous about damaging the original finish.
    The excesses of Devlan Earth were removed by gently rubbing over the body with T-cut on a cotton bud, which gave the effect of worn paint showing through the dirt.
    When I was satisfied, thye engine and boiler exhausts were picked out with Tamiya flat black, and the roof was sprayed with various mixes of Tamiya flat black and NATO black.
    The finished effect looked like this:

     
    I then drybrushed silver on the steps below the cab doors, on the nose and for the boiler access. Rust was lightly drybrushed on the bottoms of the cab doors, as in photos the panit here appears to be worn away with rust showing through. Oil seepage from the engine room floor was brush painted with a mixture of IJN brown and Semi gloss black, blended in by drybrushing at the edges with flat earth and NATO black.
    Once this was dry, the bottom edge of the body was lightly sprayed with flat earth to represent a mixture of road dirt and brake dust.
    The end result looked like this:


     
    Just in case anyone thinks its a bit grubby for an experimental livery, here's a link to a picture of the real thing in 1965 - I think you'll agree I've been quite restrained.
    http://grahame910.fotopic.net/p62294319.html
    There's still work to do - the bogies and wheels need paniting, couplings and bufferbeam detail are to be fitted, and glazing is required, as well as paniting of the cab interiors and installation of crew.
     
    Cheers for now
    Alex
  22. wiggoforgold

    A sneak peak

    By wiggoforgold,

    I thought I'd model something a bit different( for me) this Christmas. Years ago I brought a Bachmann class 46 when it was first upgraded. The intention was to use the bogies and motor in a class 40 but that never happened. The Bachmann class 46 languished on a shelf until earlier this year when I decided to resurrect it. I bought a Craftsman conversion kit to convert it to a class 44, and some Fox etched nameplates.
    I followed the Craftsman instructions for the conversion. When it came to the ends I found that the etched nose doors as supplied didn't look right if they were fitted flat as per the instructions. I therefore slightly curved the very top of them before fitting,which greatly improves the appearance. I also substituted some spare headcode discs from a Bachmann class 24 for the etched ones in the kit as the Bachmann ones were easier to fit.

    The model was finished apart from glazing and small details such as nose handrails and windscreen wipers.
    The body was airbrushed Railmatch BR green. The grey roof and yellow ends are Tamiya Acrylics. When dry the green areas were polished with T-cut, and Fox transfers applied.
    The model was then weathered, first with a very dilute mixture of Tamiya flat earth NATO black and IJN deck brown. ( I Think flat earth and NATO black are my favouriteTamiya colours- I certainly go through a lot of them) Rather than use Tamiya thinners, I make my own from Isopropyl Alcohol (ask a friendly chemist) diluted 50/50 with distilled water. The grey/earth mixture was applied to areas about the size of a postage stamp at a time, and immediately wiped off with a cotton bud. One of the reasons for a heavily thinned mix is it retards the drying time so that the wiping off will be properly effective. Some may feel safer using a similar mix of enamels, which will have a longer drying time than acrylics.
    Once the thinned mix was dry the body had a toned down matt finish. I applied more T-cut to the green areas to remove more of the mix.
    Once satisfied I dry brshed flat earth along the bottom of the body sides. Pictures show some staining below the small grille on the body side, and this was represented by dry brushed Tamiya dark grey XF 24. Silver was lightly drybrushed on the roof access steps and below the cab doors.
    I have noticed that the tops of the noses on green diesels escaped the attentions of the cleaners even when an attempt was made to clean the rest of the loco so weathering was applied to these areas using Carrs and Tamiya powders.
    The roof had awash of a heavily thinned mix of Tamiya dark grey and flat earth. This was wiped off as on the body sides. Once this was dry the roof area was sprayed lightly with Tamiya flat black XF1, with a heavier coating round the exhausts.
    Once all this was done the nameplates were fitted.
    The model still needs glazing,and some small details such as windscreen wipers and nose handrails, but I am currently recovering from a detatched retina, and at the moment my distance perception is insufficient for the accurate cutting and drilling involved.



  23. wiggoforgold
    I've always liked the Brush type 2 (class 31). They were the first main line diesels I remember, and I've always had a model of one, be it Triang, Triang TT, Triang-Hornby, Airfix or the current Hornby model. I'm pleased with the current Hornby model, particularly the running, and I like the revolving fan feature. However,to my eyes there is something not quite right about the end view. I think the problem is that the centre window is slightly deep, and the geometry of the outer windows has been distorted to match these, but this is just my opinion.
    I wanted to make a model of a production series Brush type 2(class31/1) as running in the 1960's, with headcode boxes, train heating boiler and associated steps, and a radiator grille in the central bodyside door. I decided to model D5579 as running in 1965. This locomotive was painted in an experimental golden ochre livery. I have seen pictures of the loco at both March and Cambridge, so I surmise it ran on the March-Cambridge line via St Ives, which is the area I model. The pictures I am using are here:
    http://grahame910.fo.../p62294319.html
    http://grahame910.fo.../p62294344.html
    The current Hornby model is based on the pilot scheme version which does not have these features, and I was unable to find an earlier model, and the current Hornby model would require a considerable amount of work to produce the features I required. I held fire on the project, until I read a thread on RM Web by James entitled "Brush Type2 rebirth", which described how to produce a Brush type 2 by putting a Lima body (which has better ends than the Hornby one) on Horby bogies. I liked the idea, and looked for a second hand Lima model to modify,but before I could find one wasofferd a brand new unpainted Airfix body, so my model has become an Airfix/Hornby hybrid.
     
    The Airfix body is pretty good. The cab ends appear correct, and the body has all the features I require. I read Monty Wells' article on improving the Airfix Brush type 2 in MRJ No 14 and decided the following modifications were required:
    1.The bodyside valance between the bogies is too short (The original Triang model is like this as well; The Lima model and the current Hornby model are OK in this respect.
    2. Replace the moulded fan grille by an etched grille from Shawplan.
    3. Replace the moulded grabrails on the roof with wire.
    4. Make provision to fix the Airfix body to the Hornby chassis.
     
    I have used a complete Hornby chassis for my model. This was modified by removing the end sections. The cab interior backs remain fixed to the chassis,but the floor/seat units from the Hornby model were refitted into the body.
     
    I stripped down the Airfix body,removing the moulded handrails and the moulded roof fan grille. I cut off the incorrect short valances level with the bottom edge of the sides. I then made new valances of the correct length from20 thou plasticard, and solvent welded these to the bottom edges of the sides. I scribed a vertical line in the middle of the new valances to represent the panel join, and added beading from 10 thou plasticard to match the vertical beading on the bodysides. The modified body looked like this:

    Here is a close up of the the new valance:

    Afrter undercoating the new valance looked like this:

    I waspleased that the join is invisible. The new valance is only fixed to the bodyby its top edge. There would be room for some discreet reinforcement behind, but I have not needed to do this.
     
    In the MRJ article,Monty Wells modified the headcode boxes by removing the moulded headcodepanels and making up new panels and fitting them into the headcode boxes after painting. I have done the same,but in retrospect I think his modification was to take advantage of replacement headcode letters available to him at the time, and I would simply put transfers on the existing headcode panels if Imodify another Airfix body. Here are mynewpanels:

     
    I made replacement roof grabrails from fine brass wire. The mofied body was then ready for painting. I sprayed it overall with Halfords grey primer. When this was dry I correct a couple of blemishes, and then sprayed the body with Tamiya flat earth XF52 as an undercoat. The roof was sprayed with Tamiya light sea grey XF25, and the buffer beams with Tamiya flat red XF7. The interior was sprayed Tamiya buff XF57.
    At this stage the body looked like this:

    The roof and bufferbeams were then masked off and the body sprayed with Railmatch Golden Ochre. This is the current point of progress. When this is dry I will complete the detail painting and transfers, and take some more pictures of progress.
  24. wiggoforgold
    I've been doing some more work on D6723 and have got the painting and weathering to a point where I thought a further update was appropriate.
     
    I painted the ends first with Railmatch yellow, and when this was dry masked it off and sprayed the body with Railmatch BR green, followed by grey for the roof. The areas for the markings were painted with Klear,and Fox transfers applied. The body was then sprayed with a couple of coats of Humbrol varnish, the second with a drop of Humbrol dark grey in itto start the toningdown of the body. I would have used satin varnish,but I didn't have any to hand, so I used gloss.
    I gave this a couple of days to dry hard. To tell if the paint is dry, sniff the model. If you can still smell paint, the paint beneath the surface has not completely dried. When it has dried through, the paint smell will have gone.
    When the model is dry weathering can commence. Get a good picture, preferably colour, of the locomotive you are modelling (or if that is not possible, something similar in the same area) . I found a suitable picture on Brush Veteran's site. This site has hundreds of useful pictures,and I have spent hours studying them. Comparison of various photographs of the item being modelled indicates typical weathering patterns, for example the build up of grime below the valance and the layersof dirt on the top surfaces of the noses on the class 37, or the characteristic coolant spillages on the class 24, or the oil leaks from the engine bay floor on the class 31.
    http://grahame910.fotopic.net/p62337762.html
     
    The green areas were then polished with T cut and weathering commenced with various toning down washes. D6793 had a wash of Games Workshop "Devlan mud", most of which is immediately wiped of with a cotton bud. When this was dry,parts of the roof and lower bdyreceived further washes of well thinned Tamiya NATO black and dark earth. Again, alotofthis was wipedoffwith a cotton bud before it had time to dry. The object of the exercise is to leave a residue of dirt in the various bodyside crannies, and around the edges of raised items such as grille surrounds and window frames. The roof was brushed with Carrs black weathering powder. Referring to the photographs, various areas were then picked out with Tamiya Acrylics, mainly matt black, NATO black, dark earth and IJN medium deck brown. Semi matt black was used for oil spills.
     
    The roof was then sprayed with various shades of black, and a mix of dark earth and grey was sprayed on the body sides.
     
    The results so far look like this:



     
    Looking at the photographs reminded me I havent fitted the grilles over the horns in the nose. I've used A1 railmatch etchings and they are painted ready. Buffer beam detail needs to be added, as well as cab interiors and a crew. I also want to add some mere detail to the bogies. I'm waiting for some new brake cylinders,and these will be fitted together with the handbrake operating chains. Finally I've just found a source for some etched bogiesteps,and I'm going to try a set of these.
  25. wiggoforgold
    I started making models of the green diesel era about 12 months ago. Having done classes 24, 31 and 15 my friend Mark kept telling me I needed a class 37. Initially I resisted, on the grounds that a 37 was a bit big for the current layout. Then two things happened; I found a picture of a class 37 from the appropriate area and time which I really liked and I decided to build a layout based on a through station for which the class 37 would be entirely appropriate. Finally, James started a thread on this forum entitled "Brush type 2 rebirth" in which he puts a Hornby mech in a Lima body, and in that thread he made some comments about his class 37 which got me thinking. (It also gave me some ideas for another class 31, but that's a different story).
    I had a Lima class 37/4 body, and I aquired a Bachmann class 37 chassis sans body, and decided to merge the two. My model was to be D6723 in GSYP as running in March 1967.
    The basic Lima body is dimensionally correct, but mine was finished as a 37/4, and I found a considerable number of detail differences between a 37/4 and an original EE type 3 with split headcodes, so the inapropriate detailing was removed and the body redetailed.
    For me, the main weaknesses in the Lima body are:
    -The tumblehome, which isn't pronounced enough
    -The cab front windows
    -The ride height, which is too high.
     
    Putting the Lima body on the Bachmann chassis allowed me to correct the ride height and tumblehome. I discarded the entire Lima mechanism, including the moulded floor, except the bufferbeams, which were cut off the floor an reattached to the body, New bulkheads were fitted at the backs of the cabs, which allow the body to sit at the correct height on the Bachmann chassis. The chassis was modified by removing the extensions at each end, and removing the circuit board on top of the chassis and rewiring it conventionally (I don't use DCC).
     
    I reworked the tumblehome on the Lima body by scoring along the insides of the body at the point where the tumblehome starts to curve in, and gently bending the bottom of the sides to make a more pronounced tumblehome. (I got this idea from James) I made up a card former with the correct angle to check the bend, Once I was satisfied with the revised tumblehome, I reinforced the bend by running solvent down the score line inside the body, and reinforcing it with strips of 40thou plastic card. The Bachmann chassis is narrower than the old Lima one, so the modified body fits to the chassis without further change to the chassis. This does however reveal that the Bachmann bogies are too wide across the sideframes, so I need to narrow these.
     
    I reworked the cab front windows by cutting out the moulded frames, using the resultant aperture as a template to make up new glazing, and fitted new A1 etched windscreens. The new glazing has been put aside until after painting.
     
    The redetailed body has been sprayed in grey primer, and put aside to allow the paint to harden and to give me time to study it to see if it requires any further detailing, or if any work already done requires further attention.
     
    Finally, a couple of pictures of work so far:


     
    The next stages are the narrowing of the bogies, rebuilding the fuel tanks, and painting the model.
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