sem34090's Workbench, Layout and General Wittering

[RedGemAlchemist]

There are plenty of Met Panniers on eBay if that's what your after @sem34090.
And I feel you on the F7 "Crystal Palace" tank. It's also a loco I've been after for a while.

Edited August 30, 2020 by RedGemAlchemist

[Regularity]

9 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

And I feel you

A bit personal, that, don’t you think?

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 minute ago, Regularity said:

A bit personal, that, don’t you think?

Hey, watch it. I know Sem well but not like that 

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Hey, watch it.

I only saw what you wrote...

 

Anyway, talking of Y65s:

[RedGemAlchemist]

2 minutes ago, Regularity said:

I only saw what you wrote...

 

Anyway, talking of Y65s:

Ooh! Where's that?

Also Sem, here's what appears to be a kitbashed LNER A5, albeit painted as a Midland loco for some reason:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R150-4-6-2-MR-RE-PAINT-151-LOCO-SPARES-OR-REPAIR-DOES-RUN-OK/363088086940?hash=item5489bc879c:g:LYQAAOSwKfVfR7x-

Edited August 30, 2020 by RedGemAlchemist

[Regularity]

That’s mine, that is. S scale.

body mostly Ken Morgan, with a few final details by me. 
Chassis mostly Trevor Nunn, ditto as above.

Painting by Maurice Hopper.

Pre-painting.

(Actually, after the first attempt - by me - went wrong.)

 

With E22 number 151, appropriately enough as they were used on the Stoke Ferry branch together at the very end of the Edwardian era.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Regularity
More photos

[Annie]

29 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Also Sem, here's what appears to be a kitbashed LNER A5, albeit painted as a Midland loco for some reason:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R150-4-6-2-MR-RE-PAINT-151-LOCO-SPARES-OR-REPAIR-DOES-RUN-OK/363088086940?hash=item5489bc879c:g:LYQAAOSwKfVfR7x-

Complete with an applied with a trowel paint job.

[RedGemAlchemist]

7 minutes ago, Annie said:

Complete with an applied with a trowel paint job.

Unfortunately, but that seems to be a common factor in eBay kitbashes. The amount that have appeared on my Wild Kitbash thread which are nicely made but badly painted is probably well over 50%.

[sem34090]

I'm afraid that, to my eye, that doesn't quite look right as an A5 although I think it's a nice freelance 4-6-2T, paint job aside. Like the LT Panniers, it's nice but not quite what I'm after currently.

 

Thanks to James and Richard for the drawing and carriage advice; I'll follow those up soon.

 

Those sublime Y65 models have made me even more determined that I need an F7!

[Regularity]

Don’t forget, Sir Eustace, that the Brill branch of the Met was originally intended to reach both Aylesbury and Oxford.

If strapped for resources, you could always build an extension of the Wootton Tramway to Oxford, as a minor if not light railway.

[Regularity]

9 hours ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Also Sem, here's what appears to be a kitbashed LNER A5, albeit painted as a Midland loco for some reason:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R150-4-6-2-MR-RE-PAINT-151-LOCO-SPARES-OR-REPAIR-DOES-RUN-OK/363088086940?hash=item5489bc879c:g:LYQAAOSwKfVfR7x-

An amazing creation.

A B12 chassis, with the addition of a trailing truck, and what looks like part of a BR class 3 standard tank grafted onto the B12 boiler.

Having seen that, I am not sure if I will sleep well tonight.

[RedGemAlchemist]

47 minutes ago, Regularity said:

An amazing creation.

A B12 chassis, with the addition of a trailing truck, and what looks like part of a BR class 3 standard tank grafted onto the B12 boiler.

Having seen that, I am not sure if I will sleep well tonight.

To be fair that's not too far off one of my own creations, just maybe done with more finesse.

Edited August 30, 2020 by RedGemAlchemist

[Annie]

6 hours ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

To be fair that's not too far off one of my own creations, just maybe done with more finesse.

Finesse is everything when it comes to freelance creations.

[richard i]

18 hours ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Ooh! Where's that?

Also Sem, here's what appears to be a kitbashed LNER A5, albeit painted as a Midland loco for some reason:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R150-4-6-2-MR-RE-PAINT-151-LOCO-SPARES-OR-REPAIR-DOES-RUN-OK/363088086940?hash=item5489bc879c:g:LYQAAOSwKfVfR7x-

It looks more like a Hughes Baltic tank than an A5, but then if you look at something long enough you will notice if the whistle is too tall let alone the impressionist version shown here.

[RedGemAlchemist]

13 hours ago, richard i said:

It looks more like a Hughes Baltic tank than an A5, but then if you look at something long enough you will notice if the whistle is too tall let alone the impressionist version shown here.

Still I've seen way worse.

[micklner]

A5 kit here , light years ahead of lumpy Nucast and too narrow  Craftsman kits.

 

 

https://www.52fmodels.org/gcr-class-9n-lner-br-class-a5-1

 

 

[sem34090]

Unfortunately that is very much outside my price bracket, especially once one adds the wheels and motor.. I've also determined not to buy another etched kit until I've built the couple I've already got, having never built one before.

 

I'm trying to think if any RTR chassis comes close, at least in wheelbase if not in wheel diameter.

[sem34090]

Shock! Horror! Some modelling has been happening! 

I'm not happy with the panelling at the top and some of the rough edges elsewhere. Need a finer paintbrush.

Additionally, some lumps of resin have arrived;

Two Radley Models Q38 DM Bodies to fit chassis I already had. Unfortunately they don't quite fit so Phil is sending me some new floors and I'll use the existing bogies. I need to work out what chassis mods will be required to convert it to CO/CP stock given that CSG is a Metropolitan layout.

 

I'm hoping to have my Dreadnoughts and T Stock back soon as well. I attempted to put these into Teak myself, but didn't make a very good job of it so handed them over to Charlie at CDC Designs for painting (not an available service but a favour from a friend). This was the original finish;

Not terribly good. They look like they're much neater now;

[sem34090]

The past few days have seen a lot of paint spread about the place;

Then a box arrived this morning containing lots of bits of white metal.

They couldn't stay that way; makes the place look even more untidy!

Then, having got the paint out...

[RedGemAlchemist]

On 03/09/2020 at 10:33, sem34090 said:

This was the original finish;

A tip for the future, my good man: a couple thin coats of Vallejo Model Colour "Wood", then a single coat of Dulux Golden Teak woodstain (or any other in a similar colour) in the direction you want the woodgrain to go. Works for me perfectly well.

[sem34090]

I should've taken that advice the first time it was given!

 

Hopefully they'll look good when they come back. I do trust @L49 to do a good job on them for me!!!

[sem34090]

Good God - I really haven't been around here much, have I? The past year has been quite something, and since I last posted here I've built a couple of layouts, including one on a pre-grouping theme, exhibited them, and then had my attentions fully diverted into 12"/' scale 'modelling'.

 

So, where to start... Well since my last post in this thread I've moved to Wales as the result of a failure to get my first choice of university place and can honestly say it's been the best failure ever to happen in my life. I'm now very happily settled up here, have found love, and neither of us wants to move back into England if we can help it. We're both now very happily involved in the Talyllyn Railway and are currently volunteering on at least a monthly basis.

I can honestly say that my favourite place to be is in the Guard's seat on a Talyllyn Train, especially coming back down the Fathew valley in the early evening sun.

 

In the background to all this there has been my primary non-academic focus of the past year - The London Transport Traction Group. Originally mooted as sort-of a joke back in April last year, this has now grown to become a preservation group which very soon will own four ex-London Transport 1938 Tube Stock (Well, BR Class 483) vehicles. It's been quite the journey, with a lot of administrative work and a couple of false hopes for where to base our vehicles, but we finally managed to get them a home at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway in Carmarthenshire. A long way from any of their homes, be that London or their most recent home on the Isle of Wight. Since 483006 (LT 10297/11297) arrived at the end of October we've begun work and it's so satisfying to finally feel like we're doing actual work rather than just sending emails. It's been hard work for me, and entailed a lot of travelling from here back to the South and over to the Isle of Wight, but it's been worth it and I'm bl**dy proud of what we've achieved. Hopefully after our AGM in January I won't be managing the whole thing almost single-handedly!!!

 

Jobs to date have mostly been getting the outside of vehicle 226 (11297) protected and free of graffiti which was applied to it in February and the vehicle is now looking pretty good considering it's just in primer at the moment. This weekend it's being used as the railway's Santa's Grotto for their Christmas event. It's very satisfying to see the unit looking red again, and even more satisfying to discover that the auxiliary batteries still contained charge some 7 months after they'd last been charged, enabling us to put the lights on. Unfortunately a faulty diode meant that the inverter was trying to run off these batteries when it shouldn't, so they drained fairly quickly. They still have charge but we are not going to be cutting them in again until they're charged.

 

These photos show some of the recent progress:

 

So, to modelling matters...

The lockdown at the beginning of this year proved to be rather productive on the modelling front, with layouts in three scales developing between both my partner and I. I've mostly concentrated on 00 and O whilst they've concentrated on N, though the pannier above is mine and the IEG terrier was a joint purchase. The LSWR one was a wonderful Christmas present!! Our 00 efforts have been documented elsewhere on RMweb, but to summarise we built the terminus of a fictional Northumbrian railway - the Endar, Norven & Lindisfarne.

 

The nominal period for this 3ft 6ins x 1ft layout was 1914-1920, though I confess it was never nailed down. Someday it will be finished, but for now it is in storage with my parents.

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by sem34090

[sem34090]

Next is the other 3ft 6ins x 1ft layout, O Gauge, which was originally intended to take on an LSWR/Southern Railway of Northern Ireland theme. The very basic scenery was rushed together in a couple of days for an exhibition, but it did prove fun to operate with the O-16.5 adding interest to operations. I wish the Baldwin was mine, but alas not.

Finally, my other half's first solo foray into modelling - I haven't got any current pictures of this unfortunately. It's a basic N Gauge tailchaser and the final result is quite effective. Pity I don't have any current photos!

Our next efforts will be in 009. They're going to be modelling a section of a fictional narrow gauge line they've devised as part of a universe they created for their novel, with stock and livery ideas being worked on currently. Some Standard Gauge stock is also being devised for this universe - I am particularly keen on the electric locomotives!

 

My own plans are Talyllyn-orientated, with a scheme developing to model a scarcely-planned and never-built extension of the line up to Talyllyn itself. I haven't done much work on this yet as the LT Traction Group has been eating up much of my spare time, but I'm hoping to make inroads into it during the new year.

[Annie]

Lovely to hear from you again Sem, - you certainly have been busy!  Good to read that the LT Traction Group became a reality and that you were able to rescue the ex IoW units.

[Northroader]

Thanks for an update, Sem, odd times I wonder how you’re doing at Aberystwyth, and if there’s any modelling happening. I suppose the Talyllyns gain is the Watercress’ loss. Good to see the old IoW units have been saved, I reckon Stagecoach just ran them into the ground, hope they’re safe from vandals where they now are, will they be used in a similar manner to the Alderney railway ones?