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A Class 56 Diversion

The Dapol class 56 (as I'm sure you know) has incorrect cantrail grilles at number 2 end if your models are pre mid 1990s. I found some replacement catrail grilles on the Shapeways 3d print site, only to discover they had been designed by Cavan Millward as seen on his Burton on Trent thread. I ordered 10 sets for a complete retro fit to my fleet of class 56 locomotives on Shirebrook. 4 rectangular holes have to be cut for the replacement grilles. The pictures below show the process. The holes were cut in pairs, first the larger holes one on each side. Holes were drilled and then joined with a scalpel then opened out and gently parred away to size. Since the grille frame between the two new grilles is so thin I deliberately replaced only one grille at a time per side, to avoid the accidental slip of the scalpel and the removal of said frame, after the first pair of grilles had been super glued into position, the process was repeated for the second pair and the job was complete. Except that I had another 9 locos to do! I will paint up when all 10 are done. Oh incidentally if you are doing this refit be sure to keep the replacement grilles the right way up, the way they are on the sprue.

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Hi Duncan I wondered who had purchased them. To be honest I really thought that there would have been much more uptake on these. They make a hell of a difference. I have them on both of my 56's.

 

I noticed that you drilled out your grilles, it is actually possible (and I found easier) to carfully push a very sharpe scalpel through the grill and just work to the edge of the hole until its back to the frame. The plastic is wafer thin in that location and the knife goes through like butter.

 

Heres a couple of pics of mine in place. I did a better job on the sector one.

 

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Yours are looking great.

Edited by RBE
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Fantastic work Duncan. I have also started to retro fit my own fleet of 56's.

 

I really need to order some more!! Really does make a huge difference.

 

Cheers

Anthony

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Hi Anthony,

With so many locos to do I did start to wish that the two sets of grilles had been printed together with the central frame printed as an integral part of the print so I would only need to cut 1 large hole per loco side... (how about it Cav?) although I suspect that it would not increase the uptake in replacement grilles :)

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I can do that certainly but I was going for a seamless look to the grilles. With all the will in the world you will always see a joint at the top amd bottom of the central bar if it were part of the grill rather than the body.

 

I can do you some that way if you like though.

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I can do that certainly but I was going for a seamless look to the grilles. With all the will in the world you will always see a joint at the top amd bottom of the central bar if it were part of the grill rather than the body.

 

I can do you some that way if you like though.

Thinking on Cav I believe that your way is best, I really don't want to fill the gaps on the frame! I was just becoming jaded on the 30 something hole! Only two locos left to do now!

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Hi,

So all 10 of my Dapol class 56's are now fitted with the correct cantrail grilles. I have started to paint them in. I have attached a couple of photos of current progress. there remains still an amount of fading, weathering and varnishing to finish.

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Awesome work Duncan. I must really crack on with my fleet! 

 

Cheers

Anthony 

Happy New Year Anthony.

It was worth the effort. As I said above still some blending in to do with the painting but there's no rush. Letting each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next. A slight fade is next on the list, so for the BR blue examples it will be a thinned very light provincial blue spay for example, before a final dirt coat then some matt varnish.

Cheers

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Hi So to close my class 56 diversion I thought I would upload some photos of the finished class 56 locos back on shed at Shirebrook. I hope you agree the effort was worth it. Will you do yours now?

Shows how good it is: my first reaction to photo 3 was that it was real, not model.

Paul.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Everyone,

*Advance Notice* Come and see Shirebrook at the Leeds Model Railway Show on October 26 and 27 2019. We will be delighted to see you and answer any questions concerning the construction of the model. We will have questions for you if you are from, worked at, or are an authority on the real location. See you there!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I thought you might like to see what's drying on my paint stand. I'm trying to empty my box of unpainted wagons, unmade kits and repaints, so here we have salmons  Dapol 20 ton minerals and a Dapol class 56 I am repainting into large logo livery,

Cheers

Duncan

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On 06/01/2019 at 12:57, Duncan. said:

Hi So to close my class 56 diversion I thought I would upload some photos of the finished class 56 locos back on shed at Shirebrook. I hope you agree the effort was worth it. Will you do yours now?

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Hi Everyone,

following on from this post I thought you might like to follow the process of a repaint right through to completion. You will see from the converted class 56's above that one was unpainted. This started off as 56056 from Dapol a standard loco. I stripped it down and removed the detail parts such as the handrails and jumper boxes. In the photos below I have attempted to show the sequence of applying one colour to the model in this case it is Precision Rail grey for the roof and radiator grille area.

The first photograph shows the model readied for masking up. It has previously been sprayed lightly with satin white as an undercoat and key, allowed to dry for 48 hours and then sprayed dense white on the cab areas (where the yellow will go). This is done as yellow is not opaque and if sprayed on any colour other than white the yellow colour will be modified to orange or green for example. No masking was required in these processes.

After allowing the yellow to dry for another 48 hours we are ready to mask up, the next photo shows a close up of number 2 end before masking. The masking tape is Lithographic tape made by sellotape I use this because it is medium tack and is flexible to stretch over raised detail and can take a bend also. The following photos show the gradual application of the masking tape untill all the yellow that has to remain is covered.

When bothends are completed the body can be sprayed rail grey, ensuring a full even coverage is achied on the roof and grilles, it really doesn't matter about overspray  on thebody sides as Rail Blue will be sprayed over this and blue is very opaque.

The next photo shows the body straight from the spray booth with the masking still in place. This is removed straight away before the paint dries as shown in the final two photographs, the body is now set aside for 48 hours to dry.

My next post will follow on at the weekend when I will be masking up for the Rail Blue. Please post any questions you have in the meantime and i will try to answer, see you at the weekend.

Cheers

Duncan

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Hi Duncan, nice work on your 56's, the grill mod makes all the difference for the era your modelling. Although I did not need the grill mod, I have made some finer jumper cables, mix of brass wire and plastic rod as thought the Dapol ones are too bulky.

 

Cheers 

 

Simon

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Thanks Simon,

I am sure you are right, that's another modification I will have to make, I have been considering it. I might add that I think the jumper boxes are also over large, am I opening a can of worms!

Cheers

Duncan

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Hi Everyone,

So 48 hours have passed since I sprayed the roof of my class 56 locomotive, this evening I have masked up the loco in preparation for spraying the blue. The set of photos below show the loco ready for application of the masking, partly masked and then fully masked. The fourth photo show the inside of one of the cabs, this area was also masked as were the inside of the radiator framing. Now we are ready yo spray. The next photo shows the sprayed and still masked loco. While the next photo shows why masking the inside of the cabs was necessary, blue overspray on the masking. The next shot shows the loco with all the masking removed and the final shot demonstrates that even with all that masking a little still got through to the roof. This was easily removed with some thinners as the grey was fully dry (48 hours), and the masking was removed before the blue dried.

I'll post a picture of the fully completed loco on the layout in a couple of weeks. I hope you have enjoyed this explanation of the basic painting process.

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2 hours ago, Duncan. said:

Hi Everyone,

So 48 hours have passed since I sprayed the roof of my class 56 locomotive, this evening I have masked up the loco in preparation for spraying the blue. The set of photos below show the loco ready for application of the masking, partly masked and then fully masked. The fourth photo show the inside of one of the cabs, this area was also masked as were the inside of the radiator framing. Now we are ready yo spray. The next photo shows the sprayed and still masked loco. While the next photo shows why masking the inside of the cabs was necessary, blue overspray on the masking. The next shot shows the loco with all the masking removed and the final shot demonstrates that even with all that masking a little still got through to the roof. This was easily removed with some thinners as the grey was fully dry (48 hours), and the masking was removed before the blue dried.

I'll post a picture of the fully completed loco on the layout in a couple of weeks. I hope you have enjoyed this explanation of the basic painting process.

 

Duncan,

Very interesting - do you remove the masking tape while the paint is wet or tacky, or wait until its totally dried?

 

Rich

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