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Rich Papper's Workbench - PHOTOS RESTORED


Rich Papper
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8 hours ago, Geep7 said:

Fantastic job on the 119. I have some class 110's hanging around, and I'm tempted to have a go.

 

What destinations are you planning on doing? Reading and Gatwick Airport or Tonbridge perhaps? I remember seeing Class 119's regularly on both those services until the 165/166's took over.

 

Probably go with Reading and Gatwick, although ironically the first time I remember riding on one was Swindon to Gloucester, a line I now live next to more than 30 years later. It has been time consuming, and one will probably be announced now, but I'm enjoying it.

 

Rich

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4 hours ago, Rich Papper said:

 

Probably go with Reading and Gatwick, although ironically the first time I remember riding on one was Swindon to Gloucester, a line I now live next to more than 30 years later. It has been time consuming, and one will probably be announced now, but I'm enjoying it.

 

Rich

 

I have done Swindon Gloucester on so many occasions.

 

Done it with the following I can remember

101, 117, 118, 119, 120

50

HST

4MT

Castle

 

Quickest run was the Paddington Gloucester when I did delivery driving in the 80s Most memorable was a cross country set with rev counter in red in top. Followed by the Castle & 4MT.

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19 hours ago, MJI said:

 

I have done Swindon Gloucester on so many occasions.

 

Done it with the following I can remember

101, 117, 118, 119, 120

50

HST

4MT

Castle

 

Quickest run was the Paddington Gloucester when I did delivery driving in the 80s Most memorable was a cross country set with rev counter in red in top. Followed by the Castle & 4MT.

 

All of which are significantly more comfortable than the current offering!

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3 hours ago, Rich Papper said:

 

All of which are significantly more comfortable than the current offering!

 

And still my only mainline steam although I was on the footplate chatting when a Castle was moved at Horton Road (95% sure Clun).

 

Front seat of a cross country DMU at speed though, the racing stretch near Swindon, I am sure it was over 70, was GRCW 119 or Swindon 120. Other quick non HST run was with Clun Castle.

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I think that may be the last time I use bent wire pickups, nearly overheated the motor.

 

PB strip next time!

 

Mine partially bodied moved under own power.

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On 05/06/2020 at 22:58, Rich Papper said:

Still here!

Two other random bits on the workbench at the moment, both for the small people.

First is a chassis swap for an old Lima HST. It was really beginning to struggle even with a decent decoder and some extra pickups so I picked up a new Railroad flying banana set and swapped them. Very straightforward switch.

RMWB178.JPG.73077991cc92e10019e33e7e5e591507.JPG

 

Then, slightly more involved, Thing 1 has noticed that Flying Scotsman on Thomas and Friends has two tenders. Fine. How hard can it be with some second hand bits?

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Well, very. But he's happy.

Rich

Was it back in the 1970s when Flying Scotsman visited the USA and Australia it's then keepers converted a second tender to a water tank only for the long haul between the few remaining water towers. The children's TV show Blue Peter had a double tender Flying Scotsman on their TV trainset IIRC. So the Thomas railway series had a double tender Scotsman as well. Was that the TV show or the books I am not familiar with them. Does the second tender still exist, has it been shoved onto a siding behind the National Railway Museum?

 

 

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I thought (from seeing newsreel at the time, when I were still at school) that the second tender was built for the KX EDB non-stop run.  My recollection is that it left The Cross at the same time as the service train (film of both departing simultaneously).  There was a water tender at Tweedmouth (I think) “in case”, but it was not needed.

Paul.

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8 hours ago, MJI said:

I think that may be the last time I use bent wire pickups, nearly overheated the motor.

 

PB strip next time!

 

Mine partially bodied moved under own power.

 

That is one thing to be said for the Lima bogies and newer Hornby motor bogies: they are pretty bomb-proof. They need to be pretty resilient anyway to withstand some intensive exhibition use and my kids shoving them up and down a siding. They need to handle a gradient on the home layout too, but I've found the Hornby bogie can just about drag four coaches up it even with all this extra gubbins on board and wiper pickups.

I've still not managed to get it moving as a three car, but two seem happy.

Rich

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1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

I thought (from seeing newsreel at the time, when I were still at school) that the second tender was built for the KX EDB non-stop run.  My recollection is that it left The Cross at the same time as the service train (film of both departing simultaneously).  There was a water tender at Tweedmouth (I think) “in case”, but it was not needed.

Paul.

 

I'm not sure where it came from, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that it's the one now running around behind A4 60019 Bittern. 

 

I'm just modelling the prototypical Island of Sodor for a quiet life!

Rich

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Hello All

119 has now been matt varnished. Spray can continues to deteriorate despite only being half empty. It gives a great finish, but not sure how much longer I want to use this can - not sure what will happen if it actually breaks open at the bottom. I can't even stand it up, it bulges about 1cm below the bottom rim. Some good news though - like most spray varnish the nozzle gums up almost immediately in normal use. I usually take the nozzle off and leave it in a jar of thinners between uses, but even this wasn't solving it with this stuff. I found on ebay some replacement nozzles (here). Seen in picture. I think the same supplier does wide angle ones too.

RMWB199.JPG.965020c0da06ff4521999eb2a9b8fdcd.JPG

 

Only problem is that now ebay thinks I like graffiti gear, so I'm off to put on a hoodie and lurk in an underpass.

Rich

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18 minutes ago, Rich Papper said:

Hello All

119 has now been matt varnished. Spray can continues to deteriorate despite only being half empty. It gives a great finish, but not sure how much longer I want to use this can - not sure what will happen if it actually breaks open at the bottom. I can't even stand it up, it bulges about 1cm below the bottom rim. Some good news though - like most spray varnish the nozzle gums up almost immediately in normal use. I usually take the nozzle off and leave it in a jar of thinners between uses, but even this wasn't solving it with this stuff. I found on ebay some replacement nozzles (here). Seen in picture. I think the same supplier does wide angle ones too.

RMWB199.JPG.d607c29ef4e30c0135879f7734cc61ee.JPG

 

Only problem is that now ebay thinks I like graffiti gear, so I'm off to put on a hoodie and lurk in an underpass.

Rich

Have you tried using the varnish through the airbrush? I use a colour cup and spray a bout 1/2 a cup full at a time- wrap a cloth round the cup though cos the aerosol blows it everywhere!!

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44 minutes ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Have you tried using the varnish through the airbrush? I use a colour cup and spray a bout 1/2 a cup full at a time- wrap a cloth round the cup though cos the aerosol blows it everywhere!!

 

Wouldn't I still need to shake the can to get the varnish out of it in the first place? I'm very happy with the finish, I'm just concerned the can is going to disintegrate before I've finished it.

Rich

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47 minutes ago, Rich Papper said:

 

Wouldn't I still need to shake the can to get the varnish out of it in the first place? I'm very happy with the finish, I'm just concerned the can is going to disintegrate before I've finished it.

Rich

See what you mean - I was coming at it from the clogged up nozzle angle! Hopefully it doesn’t disintegrate on you so hope you get on ok! Cheers Jerry

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Good Evening All

A little more progress this week with the 119, although with little to show for it so far. Windows. Of course having made the window openings the right size for a 119, I then had to cut and file all of the glazing to fit back in them. Not as difficult as it sounds, but extremely tedious. Then, having done that, they all needed to come out again to have the various glazing bars painted the correct NSE blue. Also tedious, but:
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Fairly happy given my usual ham-fistedness. 5/0 brush and a cotton bud and thinners to hand. Next stage is possible tweaking of how they fit. I learned with the laserglaze that running a black sharpie around the outside of the pane prior to fitting makes a big difference. This is of course much thicker material. In the picture below the window on the left has had the sharpie treatment, the one on the right is as filed. 

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Even the new Bachmann 117 has a little prism effect going on with the glazing, it's inevitable really with the thicknesses of plastic needed, but jury's still out on this. I think it looks better, but you get a slightly odd effect with the open windows where the black is reflected in the underside of the open section.

 

Only other achievement this week was getting Edward working (yep, another Sodor resident). Picked up new on offer about a year ago but has never run properly. Finally got around to taking it apart and stripping out all the random diodes and resistors it didn't need. Hard wired the chip in and it runs perfectly now, so at the very least I've gained an 8 pin socket for the spares box.

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Hopefully get some windows back in the 119 this week. Going to have to make my own for the cab fronts as I remember using the original Bachmann glazing from the 108 cabs on a DC Kits 114.

Stay safe.

Rich

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Hello All

A couple of 119 updates. Work is progressing, but many very slow and tedious tasks. All the glazing is now fitted. This involved taking the original Hornby 110 windows and cutting around 1.2mm off the bottom of each and filing them to shape (about as much fun as it sounds). I decided in the end not to sharpie the outside of the window pane as this seemed to highlight the thickness of the windows and bodyside. I fitted them and then brushed a tiny amount of gloss varnish on the underside and let capillary action do the rest.

I've then done the toilet filler and exhaust pipes. I didn't have any handrail knobs or similar so went with the Bachmann method of hole in the end, hole in the roof and then bend wire to fit between. I'm surprised at how well this has turned out. I've never needed to do it before - I seem to have either modelled vehicles with no toilet, or just gone with the moulded ones, but having had to make the ends from scratch I had nothing to fall back on.  For the exhausts I've used some Peter's Spares Lima DMU replacements (available here). They are cast metal, allowing the little bend specific to the 119s to be made at the top. Photo below awaiting a bit of filing / painting / weathering.

RMWB203.JPG.06334acb2b66f27e7d743248ec066182.JPG

 

The centre trailer is now largely complete and has been trundling around to test it's pickups.

RMWB204.JPG.9a0894da07fca525dc447f08a75cdc92.JPG

 

The driving vehicles will be a little longer as I still have to make windscreens and destination blinds for them. Then some weathering. I might take the Bachmann 121 and 117 into the shed for that too if I'm feeling brave enough. Weirdly, despite the hours spent on this, I'm still more reluctant to weather something I could just replace (albeit for a price!).

 

Stay safe all.

Rich

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Good Evening All.

Apologies for the gap in progress - back to school and all that. The 119 is still ambling along whenever I get a minute, but I'm stuck in all those little jobs - like the above mentioned door handles - that look so small and simple, but take an eternity. Pictures always better than my waffle so:

 

Destination blinds. Covered somewhere earlier in this threat. Same method as used for the 101.

RMWB205.JPG.e712a30edd2ef77e0e6d4e8d23ab7410.JPG

 

Curtains now in first class. These are an etch I found in a box of spares. I have the feeling that they originally came from a Marc Models 5-Bel set that I was hopelessly out of my depth with about 20 years ago. Match the orange and then wash over to represent the tattered grimyness.

RMWB206.jpg.20ca37f6f3d25fd52ab3c014b1e7e30f.jpg

 

No smoking signs are now in. Excellent product from Replica (here). They come reversed, so they're the right way round when stuck inside the glazing.

RMWB207.jpg.f4f081393d048f7e69a5359b3f4befed.jpg

 

Door handles, grab handles and hand rails. Tedious job, but necessary. Look a bit rough in this image as they've just been done. Still need a little filing, a brush off, then painting of some as needed (most handrails will be white), then a very tiny touch up here and there where drilling the holes has flaked a tiny bit of paint away from the edge of the hole. Most noticeable on the blue and grey bands as most of the underlying bodyshells are white.

RMWB208.jpg.6cb9c7b9c82e284bf51e6373cf3384c5.jpg

 

Front ends have now had destination blinds fitted, glazing made (old Ferrero Rocher box - can't remember where I picked that tip up from, probably somewhere on here, thank you to whoever). Have also glazed the light lenses. A bit of a cheat / tip here. When I started adding my own lighting using the Black Cat boards (here), I used to use very short lengths (4mm ish) of fibre optic - but I couldn't really find anything quite the right diameter. Before this I used to use 2mm bi-colour lighthouse LEDs which did fit well into the Lima, Limby and Bachmann cab moulding well. So: buy a bag of cheap white 2mm lighthouse LEDs from eBay, very carefully razor saw the protruding part off and use as a light lense, keep the remaining part of the LED to use for lighting in a building somewhere on layout.

RMWB209.jpg.583d4c7d1b9030af6a09a01444a6df8d.jpg

 

All electrical bits seem to be working OK so far. Independent control of head / tail lights, destination blinds and interior lighting. Chassis have successfully negotiated whole layout as a 3 car set, but am paranoid about putting the bodies on until I've finished all the detail bits on them, just in case I don't vent any glues off well enough and end up fogging the windows.

 

Hopefully more soon. Not sure what's on the workbench pile next. Have been slowly accumulating some Hornby HAAs for a fettling, but Cavalex's latest announcement has thrown me for a loop on that one a bit. Might have to see what theirs look like first.

 

Stay safe folks.

Rich

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Good Evening All

A big step forward on the 119 tonight, although one or two niggly jobs still need addressing - most obvious being the missing wipers. Starting to look a bit more finished though.

 

There were two more jobs I needed to do before it went back together. One was picking out a little detail on the drivers desks - a bit crude and not quite correct for a 119 but better than nothing. The other was securing the interiors with a bit of black tack from Roads and Rails (here). I needed something firm enough to hold them in place, but still removable and not too thick to make the seats look too tall.

RMWB210.jpg.8edbce039e0199d5bc9b47d082f213fa.jpg

 

Then finally bodies on and some test running as a complete unit. DMBC end.

RMWB211.jpg.78a4720b3683649ae9336d752e67b6b9.jpg

 

DMS end. I did have to replace the middle piece of glazing on this cab as I managed to touch it with a cotton bud and thinners while running some black wash down the door edges and it fogged up. As with others I've done, the picture is bigger than the real thing and the crappy camera phone doesn't really do the destination blind justice.

RMWB212.JPG.1ef9d8695bc6cfeb72ba18d1255a8561.JPG

 

Liking the orange curtains in first class.

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And the huge amount of luggage space / ex-buffet area.

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Pickups and lighting working well so far.

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Liking the cab detail - but could add a bit more mess, perhaps a newspaper, given how visible it is.

RMWB218.jpg.7f87f8d70ebeeb3bfb8065b7497aeee4.jpg

 

Final comparison to next most recent:

RMWB215.jpg.7e11132d14837f5f2735130f180ce4e0.jpg

 

Two North Downs services passing - in Bath? Detail is a little crude compared to the Bachmann 117, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. It's had about 20 laps in each direction this evening without anything falling off, so all good so far. I do need to add the wipers, and there is a bit more weathering to go on the corridor ends and exhaust / roof dirt on top. Still ambivalent on the bump-stops. Have done some tests on scrap body bits with bits of wire, but not sure if the risk of making a mess is higher than the effect I might pull off. Easy to add later if I change my mind.

 

Not sure what's next on the pile. Might have to do a bit of scenery now while this rattles around.
Have a good evening weekend folks.

Rich

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  • Tempfix

Good Evening All

 

Mad work and a failed home computer contributed to a little gap, but I have been busy. First up, a Heljan 58 for a renumber and some detailing. Not one of the new EFE releases, I picked it up about two year ago as a bit of a bargain with the intention of modelling 58014 Didcot Power Station. Heljan did actually release this one as part of their first batch of 58s years ago but I couldn't afford it at the time, and for some reason they were released with only half the paintwork complete so wouldn't have had one anyway. The second batch were slightly better, but still with enough decoration issues that one would have still had to paint a brand new loco to get it to look right. Then about three years ago a certain retailer commissioned Heljan to do a third batch, and lo and behold these turned up incorrectly painted as well. I picked mine up from another retailer, who had obviously done a deal with the retailer who commissioned them, and then found how bad they still were and flung them out cheap.

 

Good grief. Sorry, reading that back I nearly put myself to sleep. Starting to see why my wife glazes over when I start talking. Short version: it was cheap.

To business. Body off, cabs out, glazing out (quite easy).

RMWB222.jpg.2072645eb75f33c75bc09ef87f934ea3.jpg

 

Then a new technique chanced upon here (thanks to Downendian). Clockwise from top left:

1. Mask numbers, and give the merest wipe of a cotton bud with Tamiya acrylic thinners.

2. Run over number with sharpie pen - I found a grey on ebay.

3. Gentle back and forth with pen tip, occasionally using same thinner damped cotton bud to wipe ink away.

4. Within about a minute, this.

RMWB223.jpg.63b15c78cf4dd5df2b51b40e1f1cf866.jpg

 

No scratches, no damage to surrounding paint or other printing, just a polished area to apply new transfers. I will probably use a very very fine abrasive stick just to add a little further polish. As can be seen at this angle there is a slight ghost of where the printing was, but this is still by far the best method I've found for doing a Heljan loco. I will add a little gloss varnish and decalfix to sit new numbers as flat as I can when I get to them. Needs the cab doors painted in black and the shield style handrails fitted first.

 

Then etched arrows, badges and nameplates to fit. Before or after overall varnish? Not sure. More reading.

 

Also, doing a trial pair of HAAs.

RMWB224.jpg.a7d496bdd6e4a1216bc359b50b03785b.jpg

 

Got just about enough Hornby ones (got the last few the weekend before the Cavalex announcement!). Have all the bits to detail so will make a go of it. These two are my 'lets see what bits I'm most likely to break off' pre-series pair. One is a standard out of the box new Hornby HAA, the other is a cheap second hand HBA that was fitted with a top-skip and poor quality coal load.

 

Annoyingly my next plan after starting these was to part with a rake of Hornby CDAs to fund the next few, but I've a feeling they aren't worth much now so I might see how much work would be involved in converting them like these.

 

Hopefully more soon.
Rich

 

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  • Tempfix

Good Evening All

The workbench was nearly tidy for a few days earlier this month, but the usual mess has prevailed. I do actually need to get a couple of things finished off as there are tiny detail bits floating around that I know I'm going to lose unless they get stuck on. Hoppers have been put on the side for the moment until we get some slightly better weather as I can't seem to get the silver to spray well. I suspect it's just the cold, but the shed isn't that pleasant at this time of year and I don't want to disturb the mice too much.

 

First up is the Heljan 58. This has now gained numbers, nameplates, etched arrows, etched depot plates and the more solid barrier style handrails inboard of the cab doors. Quite some years since I've stuck a nameplate on and don't think I've ever attempted something as fiddly as the arrows, but went on OK using matt varnish. Awaiting an overall spray of matt varnish now to disguise the shininess around the numbers.

RMWB225.jpg.4befaf1e00dbac31d9ca4594f0464930.jpg

 

On the wiring front is something totally bizarre. Chassis from a very elderly Lima SNCF BB16xxx. Bought out of a second hand box at a show about 20 years ago - £5 I think. My son found it in a spares box and has adopted it. He's been painting the bodyshell in brunswick green Humbrol, so i thought I'd better see if I can get it going. Dismantle, good clean, extra pickups, LaisDCC chip and it does actually work. Seems to be a choice of 100mph or nothing, but seems to suit a 5 year old. Good practice anyway. If he gets fed up with the performance I do have one of those conversion kits to replace the central part of the motor with something more modern. Ebay many years ago - think a chap was taking apart CD drives for the motor. Again, good practice if needed as could give a cheap solution for some other elderly Lima things.

RMWB226.jpg.e88be498196d1e8e6ae36326d19856d2.jpg

 

On the wagon front I built a Parkside 26t wagon which will become a Barbel. Quite an enjoyable kit to build and only took about 40 mins. Needs painting, but no rush as I can't seem to find transfers.

RMWB227.jpg.3f5e4cef5063ef066d2b329913601dba.jpg

 

And then, on a complete whim, a Cambrian Loriot. At least that's what the packet says, so far looks like this:

RMWB228.jpg.952d86269e2488768032b6634117e3ea.jpg

 

Have read the instructions through several times and still none the wiser, but it will be fun figuring it out!

 

Keep on keeping on folks.

Rich

 

 

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Small update. The pile of random parts did eventually turn into a Loriot, which even gained a chain box with hinges. Awaiting painting at the moment. Was totally at sea with this as many bits of the instructions made no sense to me at all, but have really enjoyed building it. Is now in the paint queue along with many other things waiting for the weather to warm up a bit.

RMWB229.jpg.83e9c5a07352eca4921ab5d22f7390cb.jpg

 

Have just received a Sturgeon, kind courtesy of Wayne 37901. Could this be the year of wagons? I have some wheels the right size somewhere...

Rich

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