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Embankment Road TMD


JonKing
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Hi Jon.

 

I scratch built some ground position signals. After a bit of experimenting I found stuffing bluetak around/ behind the LEDs eliminated the light bled.

 

A few pictures of the build here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76254-laoson-valley-1990s-to-modern-day-tmd-oil-terminal-p-way-yard/?p=1614657

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Sam, the bluetak idea has helped reduce some of the light bleed - with a bit more fettling I should be able to eliminate it entirely. It seems that the problem with the Eckon ground signals is that there is excessive bleed from the LEDs around the base of the fibre optics forming the signal aspects. I would be interested to hear if anyone has managed to get one of these working without having to modify as I am assuming that I have build them incorrectly but cant really see how!.

 

Photo below shows progress made from the last update:

 

post-24470-0-02347200-1500239919.jpg

 

The track has been weathered, first by spraying with Tamiya nato brown and then misting on matt black, as I am using standard Peco points the theory is that the darker colours will detract from their deficiencies and also be more representative of depot track which tends to be oily black, each individual sleeper has then been brush painted with a wash of sleeper grime. The weathering may look rather heavy in the picture but when ballasted with a contrasting grey ballast should look pretty good (well that's the plan anyway!).

 

A hardstanding has been installed around the depot formed from 0.75mm plasticard on a 1mm plasticard base (the 0.75mm plasticard creates a lip above the sleepers allowing it to be tight against the outside edge of the rail without fouling wheelsets), hardstanding in the 6ft is formed from 1.5mm plasticard. It took me about five attempts to cut the plasticard to shape and get a good fit, once complete this was then sprayed with Halfords light grey primer followed by misting of a beige coloured spray paint, edges were then sprayed with a weathered black colour using an airbrush.

 

I have also done the hard standing under the admin block but I'm not happy with this so its going to be redone, whilst working on this area I have also been considering how to create a view block at the end of the admin block where the end of one of the "false" sidings can be seen. As the layout is fairly small I am deliberately not going to over clutter as I want to create the illusion of space but wanted some form of view block here, so far I have three options a) - shipping container in use as a store, b) 2 grounded VEA vans or c) a parking area. Options a) & b) are shown in the photos below, I would welcome peoples comments on what they think works best (these are mock ups only - I will repaint the container if used, the plasticard base is not finished etc):

 

post-24470-0-78601900-1500240996.jpg

 

post-24470-0-26312800-1500241005.jpg

 

Point motors and some parts to get my powercab working are at the post office - so hopefully I will be able to run trains by the end of the week.

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I have also done the hard standing under the admin block but I'm not happy with this so its going to be redone, whilst working on this area I have also been considering how to create a view block at the end of the admin block where the end of one of the "false" sidings can be seen. As the layout is fairly small I am deliberately not going to over clutter as I want to create the illusion of space but wanted some form of view block here, so far I have three options a) - shipping container in use as a store, b) 2 grounded VEA vans or c) a parking area. Options a) & b) are shown in the photos below, I would welcome peoples comments on what they think works best (these are mock ups only - I will repaint the container if used, the plasticard base is not finished etc):

 

attachicon.gifVans.JPG

 

attachicon.gifContainer.JPG

 

Point motors and some parts to get my powercab working are at the post office - so hopefully I will be able to run trains by the end of the week.

 

 

 

I would go with a container, old vans in my opinion ended up being homes for chickens in farmers fields, containers seamed to be more in keeping with depots in later years

post-9437-0-57369000-1500709989_thumb.jpg

post-9437-0-52660000-1500709985_thumb.jpg

Regrds

Simon

 

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Thanks everyone for your feedback, especially Simon - those container pictures were very useful (especially the Freightliner box with the side removed). I think I have landed on using the container instead of grounded VEA vans, I did want to go for a grounded Railfreight VEA but it didn't look right and for some reason visually jarred with the privatisation era locos. My inspiration was "grounded van city" at Laira TMD where a number of grounded VDAs(?) were used as store vehicles, see the image below from Bing Maps where around 12 grounded vans are visible:

 

post-24470-0-80730100-1501104640.jpg

 

The layout is now fully wired and up and running, as a result of this progress has been fairly slow as I have been "playing trains!", this has delighted my 18 month old son who accompanies running sessions with shouts of "Choo, Choo", random clapping, laughing and concerned shouts of "oh no" or "gone" when a loco enters the shed. 

 

Some work has progressed on the hard standings, the skip area in front of the depot stores is now concrete slabs (painted with layers of beige, grey and brown and then weathered) and has some road markings in front of the stores area door. The yellow crash barrier (yet to be weathered) at the rear of the skip area is made from code 75 bullhead rail soldered together (the use of bullhead railway on the real railway to make this type of barrier is very common). A few photos below with 47287 and a heavily modified Bachmann SSA on shed (the SSA has a new body built to represent the re-bodied SSAs):

 

post-24470-0-57895000-1501105238.jpg

 

post-24470-0-47213100-1501105252.jpg

 

One major change has been to move one of the back roads from behind the admin block to infront of the admin block. I have done this as when playing trains it became apparent that with locos on shed the layout looked very constrained due to the close proximity of the admin block to the layout front, by moving this one road to the front of the admin block (three remain to the rear) the layout has opened out and feels less constrained:

 

post-24470-0-97884300-1501105375.jpg

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nice work on SSA, I could do with some of those I think

 

Thanks Rob,

 

Its a 3d printed body on a Bachmann SSA chassis. I drew the body in CAD based on drawings in the railway wagon plans book, I did scale up the drawings slightly as the original width was a bit too small. It still looks slightly under size compared to the standard Bachmann SSA but looks acceptable.

 

post-24470-0-18952100-1502963756_thumb.jpg

 

As with all my wagons its hand painted (cant be bothered to airbrush wagons for some reason!), the body has been distressed by pressing it with a screwdriver (one of the advantages of the flexible 3d printed plastic). If you want some I can upload it to shapeways and send you a link, TBH (as with all 3d printing) they are expensive for what they are.

 

Jon

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Any new bits done to your TMD Jon..

 

Progress has been a bit slow however all the track is now ballasted with excellent ballast form greenscenes, generally the 6 foot (bits between tracks) have been covered with very fine dk grey and ash ballast whereas the tracks have mixtures of dark grey and light grey ballast. I have then weathered the track with soot colored weathering powder and gloss varnish to give an oily sheen in places - not the traditional way of weathering track but it looks OK to me (please note as described previously the track was also painted before hand).

 

post-24470-0-84686300-1502964051_thumb.jpg

 

Next steps will be to add some weed growth, a back scene and lighting to the buildings at which point I will get the "proper" camera out and start taking some photos with that as opposed to my iPhone.

 

Jon

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Thanks Rob,

 

Its a 3d printed body on a Bachmann SSA chassis. I drew the body in CAD based on drawings in the railway wagon plans book, I did scale up the drawings slightly as the original width was a bit too small. It still looks slightly under size compared to the standard Bachmann SSA but looks acceptable.

 

attachicon.gifIMG_3101.JPG

 

As with all my wagons its hand painted (cant be bothered to airbrush wagons for some reason!), the body has been distressed by pressing it with a screwdriver (one of the advantages of the flexible 3d printed plastic). If you want some I can upload it to shapeways and send you a link, TBH (as with all 3d printing) they are expensive for what they are.

 

Jon

 

Thanks Jon, I would be interested in the future but I'm trying to limit the started projects at present as I'm short of time ....pretty ,I just like everyone

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Its been some time since I last posted when I was pondering over the idea of creating a layout based on the sidings at Plymouth Friary, unfortunately I have come to the realisation that I don't have a) the space to create the layout I wanted and b) the time (especially as child no.2 will be arriving in October!).

 

A more realistic proposition is to model a portion of a fictional TMD set during 1998 / 1999 in the Devon area. The late 90s is an era I remember fondly as living next to the Exeter to Plymouth mainline I would regularly go and watch trains with my Dad after school and see a number of freight, parcels trains and loco hauled passenger trains. Freight trains at the time would usually produce class 37s (either in pairs or single) with the odd 60 thrown in for good measure, parcels trains would be allocated to the ubiquitous RES class 47/7s with Virgin 47/8s on cross country services and the occasional Great Western 47/8 on Paddington services. Trips to Plymouth (usually to watch Plymouth Argyle) would always be via Tavistock Junction yard which at the time was still bustling and would usually have at least a couple of locos stabled between turns, we would also call in at Plymouth North Road where a handful of RES 47/7s were usually stabled between turns in addition to the regular Class 08 station pilot. To be honest I am surprised that more people don't model this era as GM 66s had not yet taken over, Railfreight was buoyant and growing rapidly - its sobering to think that in 2017 there is only one scheduled freight service south of Exeter other than the weekly china clay to Stoke. Even the china clay traffic in Cornwall is a shadow of what it once was.

 

This photo of Newport stabling point taken by my Dad in the summer of 1998 really epitomises the era and is the look / feel of what I am trying to achieve:

 

attachicon.gif37717 & 37702 Newport Stabling Point.jpg

 

Given I only have a space of 7ft x 18in available I have decided that I can only model a portion of a TMD and achieve some degree of realism. I therefore wanted to include tracks going off scene to imply that there is more space and some non working sidings (as a partial scenic backdrop and also to display wagons which I also enjoy modelling), the non-working sidings also convey a sense of purpose for the TMD as I didn't want it to appear in isolation (there are not many TMDs which are remote from the mainline or adjacent freight yards). I also wanted to avoid access to the hidden sidings from being under a bridge etc and wanted to create a natural scenic break by using the depot building. Track is not laid yet however the photo below shows the general layout overview and proposed track layout in red (with some stock to give a sense of scale). Features marked with letters are as follows:

 

A - This siding will go around the rear of the Depot Building to the hidden sidings, the Depot building acts as a scenic break.

B & C - Depot siding 1 & 2, Road 1 is a through road whilst Road 2 is dead end.

D - A siding going off scene to the "rest of the world" but can also be used to stable locos.

E - Headshunt

F  -Scenic sidings creating a partial scenic break, a "purpose" and will also double as a programming track.

 

attachicon.gifoveview.jpg

 

Some people may recognise the name "Embankment Road" as a road near Plymouth Friary, this is broadly where I am assuming the Depot is located. A complete work of fiction because there would never be another TMD so close to Laira TMD! (although there were two depots in the steam days).

 

Track will be Peco Code 75, I had considered hand building the track however don't feel I have the time or the skill. Some careful weathering and detailing should improve the Peco points however they wont look as good as hand built track.

 

Eagle eyed people will also note that I have approached this in my usual a*se about face way and built some of the buildings already. The Depot building is loosely based on Blyth Cambois Depot which is about as far away from Plymouth as possible but I liked it due to its compact size and unusual shape, the shell is formed from 2mm MDF laminated with plasticard, painted and weathered a detailed interior will be added as construction progresses.

 

attachicon.gifTMD.jpg

 

The admin block is loosely based on a building at Tavistock Junction yard, again I liked the unusual shape and utilitarian look. The frame is 2mm MDF again (cut to my design by York Model Making) laminated with embossed plasticard and then painted. I still have some details to add to this one:

 

attachicon.gifadmin block.jpg

 

Just to show how this is coming together 37717, 37695 and 37705 sit outside the TMD.

 

attachicon.gif37717.jpg

 

Hopefully people have found this thread interesting, as usual all feedback, advise, constructive criticism, discussion etc is welcome!. I will aim to post regular updates as this progresses.

 

Jon

 

Buildings are excellent.

 

Multiple likes and a good trackplan with scenic exits to "the rest of the world" :)

 

Ian

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Evening all, some progress has been made recently - ballasting and track weathering is now complete and some weed growth & clutter has been added to some areas making the layout suitably unkempt. The dodgy iPhone photo below gives a good indication of progress (it must be a quiet day as the only rolling stock in sight is a line of EWS scrap wagons waiting for the daily trip to Cattewater). Lights have also been added to the buildings (no pictures of those yet):

 

post-24470-0-47837600-1503700683_thumb.jpeg

 

One minor disappointment this week is a Bachmann bodyshell for Mainline 37242 purchased off ebay, no complaints about the seller or transaction however when it arrived I was disappointed that Bachmann have got this one completely wrong - the bodyshell has the steam heat boiler filler panel and steps (which is incorrect for 37242 in Mainline livery) and features the trench below the cant rail grilles intended to replicate the removable grilles installed on the first 10 37s (and therefore completely incorrect for the majority of locos, particularly 37242 and anything without a split box). I was hoping not to have to do a full conversion and respray job but just can't find an appropriate prototype unless anyone else has any ideas?.

 

 

 

 

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Looking forward to another fab update soon.. :paint:

 

Thanks, a bit of progress has been made to the layout however I have been mostly focussing on rolling stock and making some timber cladding / access panels for the bottom of the layout to stop little hands & cats getting at the wiring (yes I learned the hard way!). I have also been fiddling about with my camera trying to take some "good" photos of the layout, not up to the quality of other RMWeb photos yet and still no backscene however the photos are below:

 

Amey tamper "Lynx" stands outside of the admin block with sister tamper "Puma" standing behind (must be engineering works this weekend). These are clockwork ideas tampers which I originally built and posted on RMWeb some time ago (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/93329-clockwork-ideas-08-16-c80-rt-tamper-kit/ ), I was however never happy with the shade of yellow I used so have recently re-sprayed both and added DCC chips. The transfers (logos, bodyside stripes etc are custom made by Precision Labels):

 

post-24470-0-08351700-1504304069.jpg

 

Whilst the layout is step in late 90s / early 00s I also have a modern collection which occasionally gets run, here 60054 (a re-spray of a Hornby 60) sits outside the Depot waiting its next turn:

 

post-24470-0-73322800-1504304141.jpg

 

Fastline unbranded 56301 (again a Hornby re-spray) waits outside of the admin block prior to working the Cattewater scrap for DCR:

 

post-24470-0-58392700-1504304216.jpg

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Never really noticed any of that....I renumebred mine to 37274 and removed the Bachmann weathering one side

 

You are right, in the scheme of things they are very minor - if I could find some split box noses it would become 37065 however there are none around at the moment, I have considered resin casting some but not sure how they would turn out.

 

The Bachmann weathering definitely needs removing like you have, factory weathering can be a bit hit or miss at times.

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  • 1 month later...

Not much progress on the layout recently which is predominantly finished bar a backscene and possible extension board to form a fiddle yard / improve operation (more on this at a later date).

 

In between "playing trains" I have however resprayed a TTG Hornby 31 into engineers dutch liveried 31203 as it was in the late 90s (some may remember this loco working a train of vacuum braked engineers stock along the B&H in 1999 as part of EWS's driver training at the time to keep some drivers competent on vacuum braked stock). I have taken photos at each stage of the respray as I thought some people may find the techniques I use interesting, at this stage I should say that I don't consider there to be a right or wrong way to do anything as its the end result that counts - therefore some of my methods may seem a bit slapdash to people!.

 

post-24470-0-14485100-1507065404.jpeg

 

First the base loco (a construction liveried Hornby 31 with the headlight in the correct position for 31203) was stripped of all glazing & handrails, the main livery elements (numbers, sub-sector decals etc) were then removed with fine grade wet and dry. As this was going to be a respray I wasn't worried about damaging the underlying paint with the wet and dry - a word or warning however, don't be tempted to use coarse grade sandpaper as this will cause damage that will show through on the finished model. Any livery elements which are not present on the final loco should also be removed otherwise they will show through, fundamentally take time to prepare the loco properly at this stage as bad preparation will lead to disappointing results.

 

post-24470-0-75865400-1507065918.jpeg

 

I dislike airbrushing - the less I do the better, in order to reduce the amount of airbrushing I considered which parts of the Hornby livery could be re-used on the finished model. A quick check of photographs showed that the yellow ends, black around the cab windows, black cab doors, bodyside grilles and exec dark grey roof matched dutch livery, I carefully masked off these areas to retain the factory finish (its worth noting that its almost impossible for an amateur like me to achieve a finish as good as a factory finish, therefore the more original livery that can be used the better!).

 

Its vital to check all masking carefully as the finished model will only be as good as the masking (a pet hate of mine is wonky lines and rough edges on resprays!). You will note from the photo above that I have removed the cab doors and bodyside grilles as its easier to pop these out and put to one side than mask around them. The model is then sprayed with Halfords white primer, this is where preparation is important - whilst Halfords primer is the best you can get (in my opinion) it will lift tampo printed decals on the model creating a bubbled / rough finish (if you are painting a model that has been painted previously it will also react very badly with enamel paints!!).

 

post-24470-0-33057900-1507066342.jpeg

 

Once primed the loco is given one last inspection to ensure there are no blemishes, if there are these are rectified. The yellow stripe was then sprayed with warning panel yellow. The yellow stripe on the prototype was very faded in 1999, some may be tempted to replicate this using faded warning panel yellow. I considered this but didn't in the end as I feel the faded shades available do not provide enough colour variation when sprayed as a single block of colour. Once the yellow stripe was grey I masked off ready for application of the grey body colour, you will note that previously I didn't rub down the flint grey upper bodyside stripe from the original livery. This was intentional as its in the same place as the yellow stripe and can be used as a guide for masking, I also used a ruler to measure various set points on the model to ensure the resulting line was straight (I really don't like wonky lines).

 

post-24470-0-40316100-1507066951.jpeg

 

The railfreight grey bodysides were then sprayed.

 

post-24470-0-15951500-1507067065.jpeg

 

At this stage its looking very "ex works" and nothing like the battered, tatty, end of life machines I remember. Next step was to fade the paintwork taking care not to create a uniform faded finish, I do this by brush painting on thinned light grey (not white) paint and immediately rubbing the paint off, this is done over a period of time building up layers using several coats to give a patchy faded look.

 

post-24470-0-44779500-1507067144.jpeg

 

Lets be fair, as shown above the loco looks awful and not very realistic at all - but stay with me!. Next step is to get varying shades of thinned dark grey paint (not black) and brush paint these on around panel lines and down the body sides, as before this paint is almost immediately rubbed off using a vertical motion. This leaves a prototypical streaky finish where exhaust dirt has run off the roof and from grilles down the bodyside, the paint also collects in panel lines as per the prototype. Looking at photos the lower panel on the class 31s seemed to be particularly oil stained and filthy (presumably as the panel joint in this area allowed oil from the engine room to leak out), I therefore made sure the streaking effects were heavy in this area. Once happy I used soot coloured weathering powders brushed on the roof panel lines and around the exhausts to recreate the roof dirt finish. Only once all of this was done did I get the airbrush out and apply a quick dusting of frame dirt to the lower bodysides to blend everything together (it does annoy me when I see a certain well known retailer selling "professionally weathered" locos at premium prices when all they have done is give them a quick blast with the airbrush).

 

post-24470-0-91507700-1507067555.jpeg

 

The real 31203 had the cab sides repainted at some point in the late 90s with a lighter shade of grey (presumably as they were beginning to corrode where the depot plaque and double arrows had been removed), I replicated this by hand brushing a lighter shade of grey in these areas making sure I left a gap for the numbers (as on the prototype the numbers were still on the original grey paint, the repainted area extending to the bottom of the numbers). The model was then gloss varnished ready for transfers, this part is important as if you don't apply transfers to a gloss surface you get a strange halo effect around the transfers and also in some cases a speckled effect where air bubbles are trapped under the transfer. Transfers were then applied and a coat of matt varnish applied to protect the weathering powders, without the varnish they would wear off over time through handling creating a reverse weathering effect where the model becomes cleaner the more it is handled.

 

post-24470-0-59244900-1507068464.jpeg

 

Buffer beam details are added and the underframe is then weathered with frame dirt, gloss black to represent buffer head grease and silver buffer shanks.

 

post-24470-0-76796200-1507068564.jpeg

 

Above photo shows the completed loco posing on Embankment Road TMD with a battered Dogfish behind, hopefully this little essay has been useful / informative to people considering doing respraying themselves. Some people may have noticed the two railfreight grey 31s in an earlier picture, whilst being slightly earlier than my chosen period these represent Bescot "Weekend Only" 31s 31128 and 31317 as they were in 1995 when they were in the Bescot weekend only engineers pool - basically a pair of complete wrecks! (I have however just noticed that 31128 needs a headlight adding).

 

post-24470-0-00359900-1507069126.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 9 months later...

Hi

 

Very useful & informative step by step account of your weathering technique.......

 

Food for thought & the key is as you say....

 

It's not how you do it but does the end result look right...

In your case ...Yes...

 

Thanks for sharing...

 

Cheers Bill

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  • 5 months later...

First update for a long time!...

 

As posted elsewhere on rmweb ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/136463-bury-interchange-in-4mm/ ) I had started building a layout of Bury Interchange with the intention of dismantling Embankment Road so that the new layout could be installed along the same wall in my office. Bury Interchange had progressed to a point where the control panel was built, the station "throat" trackwork was constructed (albeit not very well!) and the first class 504 unit was complete. I started thinking about building the new baseboards and dismantling Embankment Road when it dawned on me - I was actually quite happy with Embankment Road, it had taken me some time to build and with two young sons and a full time job I really don't have the time (or motivation) to start building another layout. 

 

So Embankment Road survives to live another day subject to a few changes. The first change I have made is to add a new turnout giving access from the siding around the back of the shed to the siding in front of the admin block, originally this siding was cosmetic only however adding this turnout improves the layouts operational potential. The track now also extends beyond the back of the shed giving a bigger fiddle yard. Photo below shows the new turnout to the admin block siding:-

 

post-24470-0-61821700-1547848265.jpg

 

As a result of the new track / turnout the layout has been rewired and the unreliable (cheap!) DPDT toggle switches controlling the turnouts replaced with SPDT rotary switches acting as On/Off switches to DPDT relays which drive the turnouts. All this is mounted in a new control panel.

 

When considering replacing Embankment Road with Bury Interchange I was very mindful of threads I have read on this forum (and elsewhere) comparing the popularity of TMD layouts to the past popularity of GWR BLTs, this comparison would them sometimes be backed up with some negative views around all TMD layouts being un-prototypical, poorly modelled and an excuse to show off the builders collection of out the box locomotives. (I hasten to add that generally the negative comments don't appear on this forum).

 

It is very hard to argue with the first point as it is beyond doubt that TMD layouts are very popular and are the "new" GWR BLT. To my mind the preponderance of TMD layouts is purely down to the realities of modern life. Modern houses are not large and therefore limited space is available for layouts, consider that if modelled prototypically even a small station such as Bury Interchange would be approximately 8ft long (excluding fiddle yard), its not therefore surprising that people model smaller TMD layouts which will fit is smaller spaces and still enable locomotives to be shuffled up and down. If, like me, you also have a young family and full time job then TMD layouts are even more attractive as they take less time to make operational and are well suited to quick 20 minute operating sessions once the kids have gone to bed. 

 

Yes, some TMD layouts can be un-prototypical however I hope Embankment Road has some semblance of the prototype given that I have modelled only the rear area of the TMD and added features such as cosmetic sidings and sidings going "off scene" to give a sense of purpose for the TMD and an indication that it sits within the context of a larger marshalling yard. The layout is also rooted in the late 90s when smaller TMDs / LIPs still existed (a challenge for the modern modeller as nowadays locos are maintained and serviced by a man in a van typically at open air sidings, only returning to the larger Depots such as Toton when they require maintenance). A quick trawl of rmweb will show a number of other TMD layouts which are well modelled with a good prototypical grounding and well modelled stock - certainly not just layouts to display out of the box locos.

 

Im not really sure what I am trying to achieve with the above commentary other than to explain my rationale for building (and keeping!) a TMD layout.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well a new loco has arrived on shed - Heljan 58045 in battered mainline grey livery. I have a bit of a soft spot for class 58s as they suddenly started turning up on the Fawley to Tavistock Junction tank train in 1997/1998. During this time me and my Dad used to often walk to an overbridge over the railway line on Rattery bank in the evenings, for some reason I wasn't with my Dad when the first 58 worked the train and I didn't believe him when he told me!.

58045.JPG.11c3138f8080059dc72ff1548de54d0f.JPG

 

This model has had a bit of a hard life. I first obtained it around 2016 in RF coal livery and started the process of turning it into a mainline grey 58 by removing the sector logos, partially repainting where they had been removed, painting the black doors (inexplicably missed by Heljan etc). New mainline logos were applied and then I turned to the weathering. The weathering was, to be honest, a complete disaster! - for some reason I used black for the staining around the bodyside doors which looked awful (when weathering I never use pure black or white as both colours don't "scale" well). I then tried to hide this with a heavy dusting of frame dirt at which point I stood back, realised it was a total mess and hid it in my spares box!.

 

Fast forward 3 years and I had lost the glazing and door guard rails but decided it was salvageable. Door guards were bought from A1 models (not 100% prototypically correct but the best I could get) and spare glazing from Howes.  The body was then coated in modelstrip (the white paste), whilst modelstrip isn't actually any good at stripping factory finishes it is very good in removing enamel and acrylic paints. After leaving in modelstrip for a few days the body was cleaned and all of my previous bodging had removed leaving the factory painted bodyshell. The body was then patch repainted (re-doing the blemishes mentioned earlier where the RF logos had been removed). Weathering was a variety of greys watered down and run into the panel lines then rubbed off, followed by dry brushing RF red on the solebar (where the old RF red shows through on the prototype), hand weathering the underframe with various shades of acrylics and tieing it all together with a fine spray of brake dust.

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