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Andy's Modelling Bench


SWT442
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A bit of progress has been had on the VEP with the application of the unit and coach numbers, along with updated OHLE flashes, the small Class 423 sticker and SWT branding. This unit has become 3811, while the other will be 3415. Be nice if Hornby actually did some more, wouldn't say no to a couple of SWT liveried units to go with them! I really must change those air horns as while I'm at it...

 

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The Class 159 has had a start on the weathering, with a first pass over the underframe. Will be tidied up and added to, before the roof is then done.

 

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A new project arrived in the form of an Anglia Class 170. These were used on a short lived Basingstoke to Ipswich service at the start of 2000's. My excuse is that it's working an extended service! The plan for this will be to chip, add etched brake discs and give it a light weathering.

 

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My Hattons 66587 in its eye catching Pink livery has had a light underframe and roof weathering. The roof has been added to since the pictures were taken as I wasn't overly satisfied with it. Will receive a wire loop coupling in due course. The problem with using the mobile phone camera is that it doesn't quite show the weathering off very well.

 

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And finally, some work was carried out on some kit built Salmon I'd picked up off eBay. They were all P4 gauge, but had the earlier plate bogies. Fine for my late 90's modelling period, but not for the current one. Some replacement ASF bogies and OO gauge wheels were picked up from Cambrian, making for an easy swap! Couplings were sorted by using the ingenious (but not cheap!) Symoba compact cam couplings and pockets. I also found another Salmon kit, so built that while I was at!

 

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And that's it for now. Will hope to carry on with the weathering on the 159 over the next week or so.

 

Andy.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Some progress has been made on a couple of bits in the last few weeks.

 

First up, the Anglia Class 170 has had some attention. It's been chipped up and given a good clean up and run in, while the lighting has been disconnected for the time being. The continental style couplings have been replaced in favour of some Kadees #20, which have been mounted upside down, and give a nice close coupling. Some Stenson Models 10.5mm disc brake insert have been added to the wheel faces while an underframe weathering of the usual thinned Frame Dirt has been applied. The roof and additional underframe weathering will be done when I continue with the Class 159, as I've run out of my preferred roof weathering. A spare pair of Hornby BSI couplings have replaced the odd looking examples that come with the model.

 

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A product I've had for a little while is a couple of sets of Illuminated Models replacement light boards for Bachmanns 'Bug Eye' Class 66. These replace the existing boards and allow the marker lights to be illuminated as they should be. Quite an easy job, though the only part not changed is the resistors on the main circuit board as my soldering tip isn't thin enough! Light intensity isn't too bad without changing them though. A really good item and helps the Bachmann model sit alongside the Hattons example. Only done two models so far, but will definitely pick some more up to upgrade the rest of the fleet.

 

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Only other thing done is adding some wire couplings to the Hattons model of 66587.

 

Andy.

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On 12/09/2020 at 17:20, 313201 said:

Hi SWT442

 

Like what you've done with your models but I especially like the unique coupling of the 170 using kadees upside down.

 

I have to admit, I did not know that was possible.

 

Did you have to glue the buckeye in place to prevent the mechanism opening the coupler head

 

No, nothing has been glued. All I did was snip off the metal arm and then install them upside down in the NEM pocket.

 

I gave the model a run on the layout and had no issues of any uncoupling, either being pushed or pulled through pointwork.

 

Andy.

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  • 1 month later...

Some more progress has bee done on the SWT/NSE Class 159. With the roof having now been weathered, it's about 90% complete. Just needs some detailed weathering on the underframe and a little bit of tweaking to the roof and it'll be done. The body sides have been left as is, as most pictures of these unit around the late 90's showed them as being fairly clean.

 

The staff at Salisbury were certainly on top of unit cleaning during my short stint with SWR, so doubt it was any different 'back in the day'!

 

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Following on from the last update, the rest of my 'Bug Eye' Class 66's have had the upgraded light boards. Makes a big difference! When I picked them up, I noticed the seller had a kit for upgrading the Hornby Class 466 'Networker', so picked one of them up as well. I'd been contemplating just ripping the lights out when I got round to chipping my trio up. It's not a bad kit, but definitely needs improving. Unfortunately the wiring to join the coaches together is too short and I think the lighting circuit boards are bigger than the old ones, so don't seem to sit in a position to give out the proper light intensity. The tail lights don't show at all! Hopefully the seller can offer a solution. The instructions also state to remove the weight to give an area where the main board can sit, though in doing this it then means the unit struggles to move as there's not enough weight in the chassis to get the single driven wheel to properly 'bite' the track!

 

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And that's about it really. The 4-VEP is currently being prepped for a bit of weathering, once that's done the next one can be started on.

 

Andy.

Edited by SWT442
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  • 4 weeks later...

Time for a little update.

 

As is tradition, more projects have been started before others have been finished. Always good to have a few hundred on the go I guess!

 

First up is the start of a rake of GBRf FEA's loaded with some of the lovely Accurascale Gypsum containers. This train being done to represent the Mountfield to Southampton Western Docks flow, as it was from about 2015 until it went over to the JNA wagons a year or so ago. The wagons aren't 100% correct, as the single FEA's as done by Hattons were used, but I've got 4 Dapol twin sets which I picked up dirt cheap a few years ago, so they'll do!

 

The only downside to Accurascales containers is that the logo panel is secured onto the body with 2 pegs, rather than sat on the ribs. No doubt this stops it from falling off easily, but to do the containers as they were in later years means taken them off most of the boxes. This leaves round marks on the body. Easily filled I suppose, but I'm far to impatient and just wanted to get on with the weathering!

 

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That was the first wagon done, and I was quite happy with it. However, I then decided to look up some prototype pictures rather than do "what looked best", and my first attempt was way off!

 

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Ah yes, much better! And definitely a case of less being more and paying attention to the differences between each container. The other wagon will be re-done to match. The plan is to do a pair of wagons at a time, so once this one is complete, I'll then buy another couple of packs of containers and crack on with the next one.

 

And onto the latest work bench project, an Alphaline Class 158. Not something I've ever seen done, even on the older Bachmann models. This one is the latest release, and was a cheap ebay find. Well, £170 seemed pretty reasonable for a new model considering the going rate!

 

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The Alphaline transfers are by Precision, and have been drawn up from scratch as he'd not done them before. They were actually ordered for @SouthernMafia when I had the SWT branding done for the 159 & 4-VEP, but I had some done for myself, just in case! My chosen unit will be 158842 as running between 1998 and mid-2001. The cab front door needs doing as the one piece unit without the window, while the obstacle deflector needs the yellow paint extending onto the sides of it and the beige band on the bottom painting out. I'm not convinced by Bachmanns' shade of 'Fawn' on the body sides...

 

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The Alphaline logos are just a touch too big, as the bottom of them should sit flush with the lower beige band, but I didn't want to risk trimming them and mess them up! The colour density is a little bit too light, ideally a blue patch should have been painted on before putting the transfers on top. Something I'm sure @SouthernMafia will get right on his. As I say, I'm too impatient and tend to get on with things before I lose interest! They look good enough for me at least.

 

Unit and coach numbers will need to be ordered, along with the tiny "Wales & West" branding and bicycle signs for the doors, before it'll be weathered up.

 

Andy.

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Hi Andy

 

Like the gypsums.

I did similar pre Accurascale using the 3D prints from Wild Boar Models.

 

if I had spare cash I would now redo using the Hattons flats, plus I think I glued the boxes on....

 

Nick

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

Right, time for an update. With the layout in 1990's mode, most of the stock worked on has reflected this.

 

First up, the Alphaline 158. The cab corridor connections have been done as the blanked off type, this using a piece of plasticard cut to suit and painted using Humbrol yellow acrylic paint, which was a good match for the factory applied yellow on the cab. The skirts had been done using the same paint, making it correct for a unit of the 2000's. A sound chip that was surplus to @SouthernMafia's requirements was fitted as well. I still need to get the Alphaline logos resized as well as the other decals ordered up. Once done, a weathering can commence.

 

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My Virgin HST is currently passing over the bench. The nameplates and windows decided to make a break for it, so needed putting back in place. The tweaked TTS Valenta sound chip was replaced for a ESU V5 with the stunning Legomanbiffo Valenta sounds. These were matched to an EM2, making it sound phenomenal! Listening to it takes me back to being about 6 years old, hiding behind my Dad on the platform of Southampton Central watching these monsters scream past in a hurry. Anyone got a time machine?!

 

The dummy PC was straight forward fit but the motor PC requires a hacksaw to the chassis to make it slot in.

 

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An arrival at the back end of Summer was 33116, which has seen some bench time. This is the limited edition model by the NRM. I was undecided about how to model it, as it lost its plates by mid-1998. In the end, I did with plates as I like the look of the long plate on the loco.

 

The detailing pack was fitted along with the plates and it was eventually weathered. I didn't record that as I mucked it up but did eventually sort it out and I'm pleased with how it came out. Something wasn't quite right though and eventually realised the plates should be black and not red! It'll be changed in due course, along with some different headcodes. This also gained an ESU V4 decoder reblown with some Legomanbiffo sounds.

 

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Continuing the Southern loco theme, a quad of Class 73's also ended being a little(!) project that got some love. I picked up a pair of Dutch one's last year, essentially at a BOGOF price. Not being convinced with the colours used, they were kindly resprayed by @SouthernMafia who was doing some of his own, with the Dutch duo done as 73110 & 73138. The result was much better than the Dapol effort! What it didn't fix was the God awful running qualities, with them seeing the tried and trusted method of additional pick ups added.

 

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With some new weathering paints to try out, they were used on the pair to give the rather faded and grimy look of these machines as they were at the turn of the 21st Century. An initial application of Humbrol white weathering powder was used to fade the paintwork, before some Lifecolour weathering washes were used. These are definitely my preferred choice for body and roof weathering now, as they're not as aggressive as the enamel paints and thinners I've always used. I'm particularly pleased with how the roofs came out, as pictures show a noticable difference between the cab and body roofs.

 

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They do need a little bit of finishing off and some bits putting back on. Fortunately, DCC Supplies do a good range of spares for these, so all the bits that got lost to the hoover can be sourced!

 

The Shoebox fun continues in Part 2...

 

Andy.

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Part 2...

 

Whilst I was on DCC Supplies site, it was noticed that they were selling bodyshells of the newer releases of 73, including the limited editions. Shells of both 73109 in NSE & 73128 in EWS picked up, these being put onto the chassis' of the GBRf pair I have. The EWS one was a quick and light weathering job, while the T-cut and cocktail sticks came out to change 109 to 129, as per the article in Rail Express Modeller.

 

The transfers and plates came from Fox as per usual. I was pleased with the numbers as they had to be done individually.

 

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I never did take any shots of 73128 being done but they're all posed on Depot here! 73129 needs to be fully weathered and then it's finished. I've since picked up another GBRf body and I'll get the NR body in due course, so then I'll have a quad of GB73's for when I'm in my modern running mode.

 

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Something that was picked up in the Summer for a bargain price was a kit built EPB in Railtrack livery. It used MJT components and ran on a Bachmann MLV chassis, with a bodged up Lima/Bachmann chassis on the dummy coach. Now, the EPB's in departmental service used a pair of motor coaches. Instead of being sensible and doing some work to make the dummy coach underframe have the components of a motor coach, I of course took the silly and more expensive option and sourced another MLV! It was admittidly cheap but still more costly than some Replica bits!

 

This then presented another issue, as the dummy coach had used a Lima MK1 as its base. So it had to be stripped down to its component parts and then rebuilt as a stand alone body that could then be dropped onto the MLV chassis. This turned out to be easier than expected. The MLV chassis had the buffer beams cut away and some bits of plasticard added to it to ensure the body would sit at the correct height.

 

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Some Replica headlights were added as were some Kadee's on the inner end. The buffing plates off the MLV buffer beams were also repurposed and added to the inner ends. Now, the body isn't technically correct, as they should both have a guards area behind the cab but I can live with it. The cab needs a bit of filler to help blend the joint in between the it and the body side. The unit will eventually be repainted and become 930204, as it seemed to be the least buggered about with EPB that Railtrack had. It's good enough for now though!

 

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And onto to two more up to date bits of kit.

 

First up is a TPE Class 68. Now, these have been nowhere near the South Coast but with Accurascale showing off their incredible MK5 sets, I just had to have one! So, I obviously needed a loco to go with it. With Dapol sneaking their TPE 68's in, I picked up 68023 "Achilles" from Rainbow Railways along with the TPE 68 transfer sheet and some nameplates.

 

My preferred loco was 68032 "Destroyer", mainly due to the name! But, with that one proving popular I lost out. So, instead of turning 023 into 032, as I initially planned, it instead became 68030 "Black Douglas". I was worried the printed numbers might be tricky to remove and possibly damage the intricate printing of the livery but they came off with the light scrub of a cocktail stick. Result!

 

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(I know the Vossloh logos are wrong! No one does the Stadler ones yet.)

 

And last but not least, an IFA point carrier was started. These used a 3D printed kit by a seller on ebay, who also does some excellent modern lineside detailing bits. The base model is a Dapol FEA.

 

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And that's it! Probably be nothing for a while now as I'm moving into my first house soon. But that'll mean more space for stuff as workbench MK2 will be 2x Ikea desks instead of a drop down table in a little cupboard. Bring it on!

 

Andy.

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