Jules' workbench - 2-axle ballast wagon upgrades

[Departmental203]

My first butchering project (as my Hornby Class 156 project has turned out to be)... hasn't been disasterous...yet!!

 

I bit the bullet and decided to chop the block Hornby classes as an underframe on the 156, using my new multi (rotary) tool, the results haven't been too bad, but I'll have to repeat it for the other chassis and screw-ups are a thing!

 

Here are the remmenants of the underframe and the white section is 40-thou plasticard glued and I'll cut and epoxy some of the existing steel weight plates under the plasticard section to add mass and more rigidity.

 

 

The detailing I've kept for re-use on the model. I felt it would be a waste of time and resources to completely scratchbuild all of the underframe boxes (and I cannot access the Hurst detailing kit) also the surface detail on the exisiting Hornby mouldings are actually quite good, I'm just making it more 3D!

 

 

The excellent labelled photos here show the positions of the gubbins underneath a typical Class 156 (not all of the details are exact for all Class 156's) so refrences to 156500 were nessesary in order to get an idea of positioning and sizes, thus it turned out a few mouldings are undersized and may be replaced bu scratchbuilt parts

 

On the body, I've completed the painting of the front window frames, which actually makes quite a difference from the original black ones and to me, make it more like a Saltire Class 156

 

Finally, I had to paint the footsteps yellow, it wasn't all silver!

 

 

More updates soon

 

Jules

 

[ess1uk]

Nice job

[Departmental203]

Another week, another update to the ongoing Class 156 project.

 

Mainly concentrated on chopping up the blocky underframe to something more representetive of the class (and will look more in place with my Bachmann Class 170!)

 

I recovered a lot of the Hornby surface detail, I just needed to make it look more 3D. (The black plastic is Hornby's)

 

 

The empty "boxes" are intended to be filled with liquid lead (or lead shot) as I figured this would be the only way of potentially acheiving the same weight before the conversion. I do have Deluxe Materials Liquid Gravity but I feel it's not dense enough compared to liquid lead (I think Liquid Gravity is made of iron pellets)

 

 

I filled the bogie suspension resiviors with Liquid Gravity, but the eagle eyed may notice that they are positioned too close to the fuel tank and the Westcode brake unit and are placed at an angle, this is because to clear the bogies.

 

 

I copied the method that Realtrack used for the aftercooler pipes (centre of photo) by using a solid piece of plastic and adding little shavings of plastic to give the impression of the pipes going around.

 

The complex part now is the Cummins engine (giving me headaches already!) and any drawings or the like will be greatly appreciated.

 

I will be at Model Rail Scotland with the Scottish Modellers on Saturday, with the Class 156 and some other projects.

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

Apoligies for the lack of posts, I've been really busy and my modelling time has taken a hit recently.

 

Well what about the 156? I've turned my attention to the trailer car as I need some liquid lead (I do not have much space underneath for weight so I need something very dense I figued Liquid Gravity would't work) so the motor car will be worked on, but the trailer is the main focus at the moment. Until I get liquid lead, that is.

 

The butchery continues...

 

 

I also set out on improving the bogies of the unit by carving out the moulded footsteps and sanding the surface detail flat and scratchbuilding new speedometer (I think) equipment. I also found washing the bogies with EMA Plastic Weld quite effective as it kills the shine and smooths the surface.

 

 

Speedo (presumably) equiptment from 10 thou plasticard and 0.6 mm brass wire.

 

 

The motor bogie frame suffered a fracture right at the securing clip, so out came the epoxy and it sealed the fracture. I'm not sure if it'll last though, so I pared the securing clip itself slightly with a scalpel so it's not as tricky to remove in the future

 

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

Never thought it would take me so long to post, other things such as tying up loose ends of school coursework got into the way.

 

With the lockdown in full swing, I turned to the Class 156 has been progressing nicely.

 

 

I realised that on the Realtrack Class 156, there was a small air tank between the suspension units and the fuel tank, it was made from 5mm plastic rod with plasticard glued on the open ends and sanded to make a dished end, the suspension units were made in the same way, but the dish was on one end only!

 

 

 

The boxes in the 2 pictures above were made in the same way  as the motorised unit, with a mixture of 40 thou plastic and the Hornby mouldings.

 

 

The horn boxes and the autocoupler junction box behind it were made by laminating plasticard together and sanding smooth.

 

I was pretty chuffed at my (simplified!) take on the Cummins Engine, which was simpler than it looked: more lamanations of plasticard, with various bits of plastic rod and strip for the surface details, and the flywheel at the end was made by screwing a lamanation of 2 40 thou plasticard onto the end of my rotary tool and spinning it like a lathe, worked a treat!

 

 

 

An invaluable aid for me was an old Railway Modeller article (November 1994) on detailing a Lima Class 156, the author went well more 'whole hog' than me! Worth a read if you're thinking of hacking up an old Lima 156, if interested, please DM me.

 

More updates soon

 

Jules

[Guest Half-full]

4 minutes ago, Departmental203 said:

Never thought it would take me so long to post, other things such as tying up loose ends of school coursework got into the way.

 

With the lockdown in full swing, I turned to the Class 156 has been progressing nicely.

 

 

I realised that on the Realtrack Class 156, there was a small air tank between the suspension units and the fuel tank, it was made from 5mm plastic rod with plasticard glued on the open ends and sanded to make a dished end, the suspension units were made in the same way, but the dish was on one end only!

 

 

 

The boxes in the 2 pictures above were made in the same way  as the motorised unit, with a mixture of 40 thou plastic and the Hornby mouldings.

 

 

The horn boxes and the autocoupler junction box behind it were made by laminating plasticard together and sanding smooth.

 

I was pretty chuffed at my (simplified!) take on the Cummins Engine, which was simpler than it looked: more lamanations of plasticard, with various bits of plastic rod and strip for the surface details, and the flywheel at the end was made by screwing a lamanation of 2 40 thou plasticard onto the end of my rotary tool and spinning it like a lathe, worked a treat!

 

 

 

An invaluable aid for me was an old Railway Modeller article (November 1994) on detailing a Lima Class 156, the author went well more 'whole hog' than me! Worth a read if you're thinking of hacking up an old Lima 156, if interested, please DM me.

 

More updates soon

 

Jules

Fantastic modelling Jules, keep it up

 

DM on its way...

[Jack374]

Great stuff Jules, your plasticard work is superb. I’ve got an old Hornby 156 which I don’t really want to get rid of so may well take a leaf from your book and scratchbuild the underframe bits. Prototype photos are always best though...I might have some 156 underframe shots if you need any so I’ll have a look tomorrow and message you.

 

Keep up the good work and stay safe inside!

 

Jack.

[Departmental203]

23 hours ago, Jack374 said:

Great stuff Jules, your plasticard work is superb. I’ve got an old Hornby 156 which I don’t really want to get rid of so may well take a leaf from your book and scratchbuild the underframe bits. Prototype photos are always best though...I might have some 156 underframe shots if you need any so I’ll have a look tomorrow and message you.

 

Keep up the good work and stay safe inside!

 

Jack.

 

Thanks for the kind words Jack.

I can DM you the article if you want.

I hope your modelling is also going well!

Thanks, Jules

[BenHenry]

On 26/03/2020 at 21:26, Departmental203 said:

Never thought it would take me so long to post, other things such as tying up loose ends of school coursework got into the way.

 

With the lockdown in full swing, I turned to the Class 156 has been progressing nicely.

 

 

I realised that on the Realtrack Class 156, there was a small air tank between the suspension units and the fuel tank, it was made from 5mm plastic rod with plasticard glued on the open ends and sanded to make a dished end, the suspension units were made in the same way, but the dish was on one end only!

 

 

 

The boxes in the 2 pictures above were made in the same way  as the motorised unit, with a mixture of 40 thou plastic and the Hornby mouldings.

 

 

The horn boxes and the autocoupler junction box behind it were made by laminating plasticard together and sanding smooth.

 

I was pretty chuffed at my (simplified!) take on the Cummins Engine, which was simpler than it looked: more lamanations of plasticard, with various bits of plastic rod and strip for the surface details, and the flywheel at the end was made by screwing a lamanation of 2 40 thou plasticard onto the end of my rotary tool and spinning it like a lathe, worked a treat!

 

 

 

An invaluable aid for me was an old Railway Modeller article (November 1994) on detailing a Lima Class 156, the author went well more 'whole hog' than me! Worth a read if you're thinking of hacking up an old Lima 156, if interested, please DM me.

 

More updates soon

 

Jules

You’re scratch building in plastic, is excellent. Nice One!

 

Cheers!

[Departmental203]

Apologies for the recent lack of updates, but I assure you, my workbench is pretty busy!

 

As I start wrapping up the underframe project of the Class 156 (and waiting for some paint and more EMA Plastic Weld), I have tackled some of my projects that were 90% complete, but I was too lazy to do the other 10%!(My OCA mentioned below, is a prime example!!!)

 

Firstup, the 156:

 

2nd coat of black paint on the motor car underframe. The trailer underframe has recived its first coat.

 

I tried my hand with some very nice Shawplan etches of NRN ariels intended for the 20/3. I cut it down using scissors and folded it (with great difficulty!!!) using pliers, a knife and a steel rule as I have no Hold n' Fold!

 

 

The roof recived some Halfords White Primer and is now getting some brush coats of Railmatch Br Railfreight Grey, which is the closest thing I have to the grey roof on most Scotrail Class 156's.

 

 

 

I also modified one roof where the long vertical ariel, parallel to the roof ribs was removed and the ribs reinstated using an Olfa cutter.

 

Now, some of the underframe components are getting the brush treatment-finally!

 

 

Secondly, my OCA 112199 (Full EWS liverly) has all of its decals on and I have focused attention on the planked floor, by painting various shades of brown, cream and grey. I intented to tie this all togehter using a Humbrol brown wash

 

Stay safe and happy modelling!

 

Jules

Edited April 14, 2020 by Departmental203

[Jack374]

That 156 looks great Jules, nice one. It’ll be nice to see it all together at the end!

[Departmental203]

Here comes another (huge) update -  may will have to do in 2 sections due to the large number of photos involved!!

 

Firstup, the 156, most of the underframe components are in place

 

 

Sorry, it's a terrible pic but you can see the engine (green), alternator and exhaust silencer as well as the gearbox.

 

Also, I chopped up the bogies and it dramatically improves the appearance, I snipped off the thin web sections at the front and rear of the bogies - even for the motor bogie as it still has 4 clips to the bogie (2nd pic)

 

Added some separate footsteps from Evergreen 30 thou by 40 thou strip after carving off the moulded originals. Beware, the plastic can be brittle!

 

Turning to the bodyshells, the only alterations were to the front end, I drilled some 2mm holes so I can glue some 2mm LED's so I can get some daylight headlights with some intergrated marker/tail lights (avalible from Direct Train Spares of Lancashire), the door colour was changed from the factory silver to Humbrol's 166 Grey, as I feel it's a good match to the grey found on the real Class 156's.

 

 

The gangway cover I did several years ago - it makes a huge imrovment to the front end!

 

Part 2 will encompass some of my wagon jobs I've been undertaken recently, that will come soon.#

 

Happy modelling!

 

Jules

 

 

 

[Jack374]

More great work Jules, this will looks fantastic! Just a small note which I’m sure you’re aware of, but make sure you paint the LEDs black (apart from the end you want to see light from!) before installing, to avoid light bleed resulting in red headlights or both headlights 'lit' once installed, with the LEDs being so close to each other.

 

Thanks,

Jack.

[saxokid]

Like jack said great work here Jules

 

 

cheers neil..

[Departmental203]

Thanks, Jack and Neil for the kind words! As promisded, I'm going to post Part 2 of my update, which sees me indulge in my more familar territory!

 

I decided to revisit my Cambrian OBA, my first ever wagon kit I had built and painted back in 2015. Generally, I was unhappy about how I painted this wagon (paint layers too thick, plank colours not intergrated, inacurrate colours). So I decided to strip all of my poor paintwork and start from groud zero.

 

I painted the ends and solebars Railmatch Railfreight Grey, which may be accurate when this wagon was brand new, but certainly not for its faded mid-2000's appearance!

 

The paint stripper (Deluxe's Strip Magic) also weakened the glue, so I could break the ends off to make painting easier, which is displayed in the above pic. I used a mix of Humbrol enamels, 71, 110,147 and Tamiya's excellent XF-55, followed by Humbrol's Sand wash to tie the colours together.

 

Also, the original Cambrian W iron assemblies were proving unreliable (that was my fault) so, when I damaged one of my Bill Bedford Springing W irons intended for my OAA (filed off the outer wire carriers - doh!) So I qiuckly soldered another and cut off the outer wire carriers (and another for my OAA, which I made sprung) and glued them on the original Cambrian assemblies to provide compensation. Shown below

 

 

I salvaged my homemade tension coupling mounts and used 40thou plasticard and 60thou by 60thou plastic strip to make a new tension lock mount (the original mount was a piece of 40thou plasticard which projected from the original Cambrian assembly), my new arrangment is shown below.

 

 

The "NEM" pocket was a piece of K&S square brass tube that can almolst hold a tension lock in position, a good sqeeze with pliers ensures it won't come out. Certainly much cheaper than buying loads of NEM pockets for my fleet of kitbuilt wagons!

 

The view under the floor below basically retaining the Cambrian swivelling/compensated W iron setup, but with brass W irons

 

 

Finally, I had a bugging problem with a tin of Revell No 8 Black, even after several days of waiting for it to dry when apllied, it would come off with some white spirit on a cotton bud (I assume it's because I used DIY white spirit to thin it!!!) Now, its sitting open so I can evaporate off as much of the offending white spirit as possible. Is this a remedy, or is this paint a write-off? Any advice/tips will be appreciated (my tip is DO NOT use white spirit to thin hobby enamels!!) I'm thinking of using HMG thinners to thin all of my enamels once the model shops are open.

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Jules

[Guest Half-full]

28 minutes ago, Departmental203 said:

Thanks, Jack and Neil for the kind words! As promisded, I'm going to post Part 2 of my update, which sees me indulge in my more familar territory!

 

I decided to revisit my Cambrian OBA, my first ever wagon kit I had built and painted back in 2015. Generally, I was unhappy about how I painted this wagon (paint layers too thick, plank colours not intergrated, inacurrate colours). So I decided to strip all of my poor paintwork and start from groud zero.

 

I painted the ends and solebars Railmatch Railfreight Grey, which may be accurate when this wagon was brand new, but certainly not for its faded mid-2000's appearance!

 

The paint stripper (Deluxe's Strip Magic) also weakened the glue, so I could break the ends off to make painting easier, which is displayed in the above pic. I used a mix of Humbrol enamels, 71, 110,147 and Tamiya's excellent XF-55, followed by Humbrol's Sand wash to tie the colours together.

 

Also, the original Cambrian W iron assemblies were proving unreliable (that was my fault) so, when I damaged one of my Bill Bedford Springing W irons intended for my OAA (filed off the outer wire carriers - doh!) So I qiuckly soldered another and cut off the outer wire carriers (and another for my OAA, which I made sprung) and glued them on the original Cambrian assemblies to provide compensation. Shown below

 

 

I salvaged my homemade tension coupling mounts and used 40thou plasticard and 60thou by 60thou plastic strip to make a new tension lock mount (the original mount was a piece of 40thou plasticard which projected from the original Cambrian assembly), my new arrangment is shown below.

 

 

The "NEM" pocket was a piece of K&S square brass tube that can almolst hold a tension lock in position, a good sqeeze with pliers ensures it won't come out. Certainly much cheaper than buying loads of NEM pockets for my fleet of kitbuilt wagons!

 

The view under the floor below basically retaining the Cambrian swivelling/compensated W iron setup, but with brass W irons

 

 

Finally, I had a bugging problem with a tin of Revell No 8 Black, even after several days of waiting for it to dry when apllied, it would come off with some white spirit on a cotton bud (I assume it's because I used DIY white spirit to thin it!!!) Now, its sitting open so I can evaporate off as much of the offending white spirit as possible. Is this a remedy, or is this paint a write-off? Any advice/tips will be appreciated (my tip is DO NOT use white spirit to thin hobby enamels!!) I'm thinking of using HMG thinners to thin all of my enamels once the model shops are open.

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Jules

I've used white spirit for as long as I can remember to thin enamels, did you thoroughly mix it in?

[Jack374]

36 minutes ago, Departmental203 said:

Finally, I had a bugging problem with a tin of Revell No 8 Black...I'm thinking of using HMG thinners to thin all of my enamels once the model shops are open.

 

 

The wagon looks great Jules, the Cambrian range is a very cost-effective way to build up a rake of wagons considering the price of OCAs from Bachmann, for example. I like all the modelling for the W irons and coupling...my kind of modelling! 

 

Regarding the paint tinlet, I can’t help specifically other than to vouch for the HMG thinners. I know they’re really not cheap but I’ve never had an issue with them to date, and they work with all paints I’ve tried (Humbrol/Railmatch/Precision/Tamiya) with the first 3 having been airbrushed without issue too. I’ve never used Revell paints...my 'go to' black is Humbrol 33 matt black, although where I can I now use Halfords gloss black in a rattle can as it’s so much easier. I don’t tend to thin paints in their original jars either, as they tend to separate so I usually just cope with the viscosity for brushing, maybe adding a drop of thinners if the paint really is like treacle, or mix a separate pot to desired viscosity - mostly for airbrushing.

 

Keep up the great work!

Jack.

[Departmental203]

23 hours ago, Half-full said:

I've used white spirit for as long as I can remember to thin enamels, did you thoroughly mix it in?

 

Half-Full, unfortunately, I have and even shook it vigourously for 2 minutes but the results were the same. I guess it's because each can of paint is different once opened!

23 hours ago, Jack374 said:

The wagon looks great Jules, the Cambrian range is a very cost-effective way to build up a rake of wagons considering the price of OCAs from Bachmann, for example. I like all the modelling for the W irons and coupling...my kind of modelling! 

 

Regarding the paint tinlet, I can’t help specifically other than to vouch for the HMG thinners. I know they’re really not cheap but I’ve never had an issue with them to date, and they work with all paints I’ve tried (Humbrol/Railmatch/Precision/Tamiya) with the first 3 having been airbrushed without issue too. I’ve never used Revell paints...my 'go to' black is Humbrol 33 matt black, although where I can I now use Halfords gloss black in a rattle can as it’s so much easier. I don’t tend to thin paints in their original jars either, as they tend to separate so I usually just cope with the viscosity for brushing, maybe adding a drop of thinners if the paint really is like treacle, or mix a separate pot to desired viscosity - mostly for airbrushing.

 

Keep up the great work!

Jack.

 

Thanks again, Jack! Over the years, I haven't had much luck with enamel black paint in general as my last tin of Humbrol 33 turned lumpy if I recall!. I will definetly try out HMG thinners, they actually work out cheaper (by volume) compared to Humbrol's (this is from my local model shop)

 

Cheers as always

 

Jules

Edited May 7, 2020 by Departmental203

[Departmental203]

On 06/05/2020 at 21:27, Eddie R v2.0 said:

Don’t know how I missed this thread till now- excellent work Jules. I’ve got a Lima 156 that’s been stripped ready for much the same treatment! I bought a Hornby chassis and motor/wheels for the motor coach plus some 153 underframes to strip for “bits”.  It’s probably next on the list of things to do so will maybe get more done tomorrow after work. The problem I have now though is I’m running out of space to keep all the units- still got a 4 car 158 to do as well. 
 

Cheers

 

 

Sorry Eddie, I missed your post. If you want, I can DM you an old Railway Modeller article about rebuilding a Lima 156's underframe. But be aware that 153's and 156's have differrent undeframe components. Anyway, thanks for the kind words

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

Over a month has passed since my last post! Apoliges, my modelling mojo has suffered quite a bit recently, as I'm more focused in seeing the real railway!

 

I've still kept two wagon projects going, my OBA 110516 and an unmentioned Hornby YGH DB982582, the latter's in for some weathering.

 

Well, first is the OBA. Both sides and interior complete ready for varnish

 

 

The maroon colour is mainly Railmatch Freight Bauxite faded with a light wash of Humbrol 147 and I've included a splash of Railmatch EWS maroon for the fresher planks

 

Ok, now to the YGH. I used some Humbrol Acrylic 33 (after my Revell No 8 Black woes!!!) thinned with alcohol to create a wash, darkening the sides and ends as per the real thing. My advice, when weathering Loadhaul Sealions/Seacows, is to use an airbrush if you have one, it's quite tricky to be subtle with a brush and alcohol!

 

 

For a brush, my first attempt is not too shabby IMO, with the orange really knocked back

 

Underframe and bogies: I used a mixture of Revell 84 and Humbrol 29 to get the "muddy" track colour found on the underpinnings. I'm hoping to apply some of it on the body too once I seal the black with varnish

 

 

The chutes were first given a coat of Humbrol 62, then a thin wash of Revell 84 and finally, I made a wash by mixing Humbrol 147 and Humbrol 34, thinning it then applying it to the chutes to produce a dusty streaking effect common on ballast wagons.

 

 

Stay safe and happy modelling (or trainspotting!)

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

OBA update: all of the decals have been stuck on the model and I'm quite pleased by the result! This also presented an oppurtunity to try out my late birthday gift: A Canon IXUS 185 digital camera, for £100 it's very good but it may struggle in the dark. Anyhow, some pics:

 

 

Notice the two variations in the data panels, the short handbrake side (above) has the full set of info: TOPS code, tare, weight and running number whereas the long handbrake side (below) just has the TOPS code and running number. I need to paint on the 'T' after the '31' and add the 'TARE' markings before the 14-500 and 'kg' after it. I use a very fine Daler Rowley brush for this.

 

 

As we emerge from lockdown (north and south of the border), I hope we can still find some modelling time!

 

Happy modelling!

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

3 months since the last updade, wow, time surley flies by! Now I have regained my modelling mojo, I bring you now, an update to the Class 156.

 

All of the underframe components and detailing is in place, apart from the yellow snowploghs. I'm thinking some spare Hornby 153 ploughs, but I'll have to devise a way to fit them! Anyway, the hunt continues!

 

Here are the photos, I'm particulary pleased how my scratchbuilt BSI couplings turned out!

 

 

Next, attention will turn to the roof and bodysell, the main jobs are cosmetic: repairing damaged paintwork and trying to get rid of the tiny bits of dust that have found its way on my painted roof!!

 

Stay safe and happy modelling

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

Jeez, over 2 months since I last posted! How time flies!

 

As the darker nights continue to approach, I continued with the 156, mainly focusing on the interior. (This represents 156500 when SPT refreshed it)

 

 

I used Halfords grey primer from a nice new 500 ml can, I say the primer sprays and covers excellently! Some of the interior will be left in the grey primer, especially as I don't want to highlight how blocky the tables and seats are and the floor colour is a similar dark grey.

 

For colours, the seats were painted in a mixture of Humbrol acrylic LNER Apple Green, French blue and Matt white, the table tops was some Tamiya sea blue let down with some matt white and the partitions and seat backs were originally painted in a similar mix to the seat tops, with a lot more white and a bit more blue. That wasn't sucsessful, so I recoated with some Humbrol Gloss Sea Blue, although not perfect, I felt was a better match!

 

 

 

The driver's seat annoys me, it really needs to be placed in a more forward position to line up with the cab window, hope to (eventually) get round that!

 

 

Both interiors had their cavities filled with Deluxe Materials Liquid Gravity glued with their Rocket Card glue, just to add some extra weight.

 

 

The bodyshells also saw the addition of the rectangular door open lights, made using some 10 thou plasticard painted grey (as I feel that the orange "illuminated" lights are too cliched!) glued with Loctite.

 

The second part of the update will come soon, involves some more work with the OAA, but I'll not leave you guessing for too long!

 

Cheers, Jules

[Departmental203]

As promised, I have worked on the OAA 100023 for 2 weeks now and I have managed to craft up an underframe, mostly made from spare Parkside and Cambrian wagon kit parts either from spare kits or donated to me by a good friend, and thank you, you know who you are!

 

Work started with the v hangers and central rod connecting them, the former were slightly modified Parkside Grampus ones, the rod was some 0.8mm steel wire. Then the brake levers were made by splicing some spare Parkside mouldings and gluing them together to make the distinctive brake levers found on OAA's (and SAA's [Steel AB's])

 

 

Used some 10 thou plasticard to strengthen the weak bonds where the cuts were made (if you look hard, you can see them!)

 

The underframe equiptment was made from Cambrian spares, 0.6mm copper wire, 1.6mm brass wire, plasticard and plastic strip, the thin brake linkages were made by splicing thin rectangle section found on Parkside sprues for the 12 ton "Blue Spot" fish van underframe. I didn't know why they're there but it was very useful and came in handy! (The brake linkages are prominent in the 4th photo down from this text)

 

 

I managed to get the Bill Bedford W irons by Tuesday, I glued them on top of a stack of plasticard with a total thickness of 80thou to get the buffer height correct. Then I realised that the springs were way too high in relation to the W iron when glued directly to the solebars. With very little supporting them, I cut them off and glued them to the Bill Bedford W Iron. Shouldn't have any stray leaf springs on this one anymore!

 

 

The final jobs include adding extra weight, couplings, coupling hooks, lamp irons and weathering. Given it's been 1 and a half years to get this far, even these final jobs may take a wee while so apologies!

 

As we really head into winter, I have some projects in mind....watch this space!!

 

Happy modelling and stay safe

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

To all my readers, hope you had a good Christmas and New Year in spite of the current circumstances!

 

The current winter lockdown (or holiday if you like) has presented me some time to devote to a few projects, including a very dormant project and one fresh from the brain!

 

Ok, the former project was a ZCA (ex SPA type) crafted from the trusty Cambrian kit and modified with new sides from 40 thou plasticard (I subsequently found out that 40 thou was too thick, 20 thou would have been better) some Evergreen 40x30 thou strip and 40 thou L angle section. It was over a year since I left it, so you know how dormant it was!

 

Now, between then and now, I have added the lower angled "skirt" portions running above the solebar between each rib using the aforementioned 40 thou L section and some slithers of 10 thou plasticard about 1mm wide and applied a liberal amount of filler. Buffers (the supplied ones) were added too and it awaits some primer. I inted this one to become DC460249.

 

 

 

I present to you a photo of my latest project and there's no prizes for guessing what that will be!

 

 

It will be another 11 ribber and will be built up in the same manner as my red MHA 394829 in the background, with styrene ribs and top strip. Livery will be EWS maroon and I'm currently undecided on a running number but 394601 is a contender due to a handwritten TOPS panel on one side although this may change if I see a nice one around!

 

Lastly, my 156 project slowly continues with the interior mostly complete paint wise, it just needs some more blue paint. I do feel that just adding a cab bulkhead in the trailer vehicle of a Lima/Hornby class 156 makes quite a big difference and is well worth adding in my view.

 

The seats and floor were Revell dark grey enamel and the cream bulkhead was a mixture of Humbrol Coaching Stock Cream with some white acrylic. I don't quite know the exact colour present on 156500 but seeing photos of other 156 cabs, I hope I'm not too wrong!

 

Anyway, good luck to all of your various projects as we head into a uncertain winter period....

 

Jules

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Departmental203