Scratchbuilt diesel and electrics, who else makes these?

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi All

 

Am I the only twit who has made his own diesel locomotives?

 

I have started but never finished electric locos but that was because of a change in direction in my modelling.

 

Why?

[37Oban]

Hi All

 

Am I the only twit who has made his own diesel locomotives?

 

I have started but never finished electric locos but that was because of a change in direction in my modelling.

 

20-2.jpg

Why?

Hi,

 

you are not alone, and I don't think I'm a twit, although others may have a different opinion!  If you have the time it's a lot cheaper than buying the latest offering from the manufacturers or waiting for the one you want to appear on the second-hand market.  And then there's the satisfaction of seeing your handiwork running.  After all, it's something a bit more personal than something bought from a mass-market manufacturer.

 

Technically I'm not modelling diesels but 1st generation ac electrics.  The first is the cl 303 emu.  I know there is a body kit available, and I'm following Signaller69's build of one, but I have limited funds, so as I need one, or more likely 7 (don't ask!) scratch-building is the way to go.  Once I get the first one done then I'm going to have a go at a cl 84, using a Lima 33 chassis.  Note to self, must start thread and build layout!

 

So no, not a twit, just a, dare I say it, proper modeller, whatever one of those is!

 

Roja

Edited September 1, 2018 by 37Oban

[Signaller69]

Clive, those EE Type 1's look rather good! In my teens I started a Met-Vic Co-Bo in plasticard which to me, at the time, started to look quite good but I could not get the roof to look right (carved balsa, bad decision,) or to clear the inside of the cab windows. Leaving the roof-less body in a box of other bits led to the fragile windows getting destroyed and in the end it was consigned to the dustbin.

 

Roja: I am looking forward to seeing your scratch build 303 thread when you have time. And in complete agreement about the satisfaction of making something yourself.

 

Martyn.

[Izzy]

I think quite a few people make their own, but perhaps mainly in scales other than 4mm where it is relatively easy to get RTR bodies to bash about. I found this site when trying to work out how to make my 2mm class 15 and looking for ideas. http://cyberskive.com

 

Izzy

[mark axlecounter]

I wish I could build locos to your standard Clive. 

 

always wanted to build Lion but never had the bottle to do one, maybe one day.

 

 

Mark

[Clive Mortimore]

I wish I could build locos to your standard Clive. 

 

always wanted to build Lion but never had the bottle to do one, maybe one day.

 

 

Mark

Hi Mark

 

Two things,

 

One, anyone can build to my standard, I am quite a lazy modeller and many things are not quite square or the right size, things most people would be fretting about. Be ready for mistakes, they can be corrected, replaced or find the bin.

 

Two, the only way you can make something is by having ago, and not fret to much if slightly wrong size or not quite square. 

 

And  third thing is learn from others but also think for yourself, don't follow the crowd. If someone ends up with the same result (or better in most cases) as me and has done it another way........WOW.

[Clive Mortimore]

I think quite a few people make their own, but perhaps mainly in scales other than 4mm where it is relatively easy to get RTR bodies to bash about. I found this site when trying to work out how to make my 2mm class 15 and looking for ideas. http://cyberskive.com

 

Izzy

Hi Izzy

 

I have been very tempted to swap scales so I have to make my own. We are very spoilt in 4mm with the choice of ready to play model locomotives.  

[Izzy]

 

Yes, I think that is the big drawback today for many. That what they might make will be judged against the current crop and found wanting. No such problem when I first started out, anything you made wouldn’t be worse, but could usually be better. As you so rightly say, it’s having the nerve/confidence/not botheredness to attempt making/wrecking something in the first place that is key.

 

Izzy

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi Izzy

 

I started to bash bits of plastic card together because there wasn't a Baby Deltic or  BTH. It was either build your own or, if available, build a kit. There have been some really well made diesel kits, I find kits hard to make.

[Izzy]

 

Hi Clive,

 

Yes, I think that goes for quite a few kits of for all manner of things. My feelings are that in itself this can be a deterrent to making things when it is not realised that it is the kit that is poor rather than any lack skill on the part of the person trying to put it together.

 

Izzy

[Gibbo675]

Hi Clive,

 

I like very much your class 20's there is something about good quality handmade items, whatever they might be, that stands out even when RTR stuff is more accurate, better detailed and more finely finished. In a way it is a bit like the difference between a well painted portrait or a photograph, the appreciation is in the perfection of the imperfection.

 

The nearest I get is bashing other stuff into what I like the look of, I'm part way through an LMS 10000 made from bits of Mainline peak for cabs with class 20 and 40 radiator grills filler and filling. I have yet to start on the bogies which will be attached to a Lima class 40 mechanism.

 

My electric locomotive bashes are based on some Trix class 81 bodies that Dapol sold off years ago with modified bogies.

 

Cranes are a good subject for scratch building although I do splice in bits and bobs here and there. An advantage of a scratch built crane is that they tend to be one offs and don't have to match others of the same type as with locomotives.

 

The only scratch project I have at the moment is a Cartic-4 although the parts are all laser cut and the bogies will be printed and so might not actually fit into the true scratch category and more a home produced kit.

 

Gibbo.

[Gibbo675]

I wish I could build locos to your standard Clive. 

 

always wanted to build Lion but never had the bottle to do one, maybe one day.

 

 

Mark

Hi Mark,

 

There is always Silver Fox's resin kit, here is a built up one on eBay;

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVER-FOX-MODELS-LIMA-OO-GAUGE-WEATHERED-LION-DIESEL-LOCOMOTIVE-10U/132393800755?hash=item1ed3491433:g:bbwAAOSwCcZaBWxq

 

I have got an as yet un-built one for when the time is right to start it.

 

Before I got it I considered bashing a Mainline class 56 body by reducing the cab roofs and using overlays to create the raised section between the cabs and rake angle on the cab front. There is a good drawing in British Rail Main Line Diesel Locomotives by C J Marsden.

 

Gibbo.

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi Clive,

 

I like very much your class 20's there is something about good quality handmade items, whatever they might be, that stands out even when RTR stuff is more accurate, better detailed and more finely finished. In a way it is a bit like the difference between a well painted portrait or a photograph, the appreciation is in the perfection of the imperfection.

 

The nearest I get is bashing other stuff into what I like the look of, I'm part way through an LMS 10000 made from bits of Mainline peak for cabs with class 20 and 40 radiator grills filler and filling. I have yet to start on the bogies which will be attached to a Lima class 40 mechanism.

 

My electric locomotive bashes are based on some Trix class 81 bodies that Dapol sold off years ago with modified bogies.

 

Cranes are a good subject for scratch building although I do splice in bits and bobs here and there. An advantage of a scratch built crane is that they tend to be one offs and don't have to match others of the same type as with locomotives.

 

The only scratch project I have at the moment is a Cartic-4 although the parts are all laser cut and the bogies will be printed and so might not actually fit into the true scratch category and more a home produced kit.

 

Gibbo.

Hi Gibbo

 

In my mind a scratchbuilder is the person who sources the information about the item she/he wants to build. She/he may have to do a drawing but this could be part of collection of information. She/he then gathers the materials needed to make the item, now that can be the metal ore to make the metal or component off the shelf. There is normally some part of the process that involves cutting or shaping of a basic material, the tools used can be those traditional ones as found in the bottom of my tool box or more modern ones which rely on the information which the builder has put on to a computer. The end result is something the builder has made themselves. If in the process they have made something that is not available in the shops, excellent, had fun doing so, excellent, learnt something new, excellent  and wants to build something else, excellent. What route someone takes doesn't matter if she/he can say "I built that".

[Gibbo675]

Hi Gibbo

 

In my mind a scratchbuilder is the person who sources the information about the item she/he wants to build. She/he may have to do a drawing but this could be part of collection of information. She/he then gathers the materials needed to make the item, now that can be the metal ore to make the metal or component off the shelf. There is normally some part of the process that involves cutting or shaping of a basic material, the tools used can be those traditional ones as found in the bottom of my tool box or more modern ones which rely on the information which the builder has put on to a computer. The end result is something the builder has made themselves. If in the process they have made something that is not available in the shops, excellent, had fun doing so, excellent, learnt something new, excellent  and wants to build something else, excellent. What route someone takes doesn't matter if she/he can say "I built that".

Hi Clive,

 

Thanks for the kind answer, Cartic-4 project will appear in due course in this site.

 

We now have a dichotomy, if I build it I'm scratching but if I send you the parts and you build one your a kit builder !

 

Gibbo.

 

PS, It is visible in a recent photo that has been posted on imaginary and Dapol related threads.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Gibbo675

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi Clive,

 

Thanks for the kind answer, Cartic-4 project will appear in due course in this site.

 

We now have a dichotomy, if I build it I'm scratching but if I send you the parts and you build one your a kit builder !

 

Gibbo.

 

PS, It is visible in a recent photo that has been posted on imaginary and Dapol related threads.

Cheers Gibbo

 

Looking forward to seeing it and other peoples work.

 

Yeah you can send me the parts for a cartic, not sure if I need one, but would I be a kit builder?  I suppose so but a kit builder is still in the gang of "I made that myself".

 

Remember those who rely on RTR are still railway modellers if at the end of the day they enjoy their hobby. Building your own stuff is not an elitist thing just an extension of the fun we can have. 

[Satan's Goldfish]

Hi Clive,

 

Thanks for the kind answer, Cartic-4 project will appear in due course in this site.

 

We now have a dichotomy, if I build it I'm scratching but if I send you the parts and you build one your a kit builder !

 

Gibbo.

 

PS, It is visible in a recent photo that has been posted on imaginary and Dapol related threads.

 

... change of name?

[Gibbo675]

... change of name?

Here is the page it is on;

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/14790-imaginary-locomotives/page-140

 

Gibbo.

[Junctionmad]

To my mind , scratch building diesels is far more difficult then steam engines, which have mainly simplex curves and metal work from a largely manual era of machine building.  Diesels etc have many  complex curves, a preponderance of grills and louvres etc . I take my hat off to those that scratch build them 

[Horsetan]

...Why?

Because.

[timbowilts]

Clive, in my situation, as one who is interested in the Western Region (especially in the South Wales Valleys), ALL classes of diesels are available RTR in 4mm, even “Falcon”! What I don’t have, now that I am a pensioner, is the readies to purchase them!

As Falcon is one I would like to have, especially as when shedded at Ebbw Junction, I will just have to “bite the bullet” and put knife to plastcatd.

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

[Clive Mortimore]

Clive, in my situation, as one who is interested in the Western Region (especially in the South Wales Valleys), ALL classes of diesels are available RTR in 4mm, even “Falcon”! What I don’t have, now that I am a pensioner, is the readies to purchase them!

As Falcon is one I would like to have, especially as when shedded at Ebbw Junction, I will just have to “bite the bullet” and put knife to plastcatd.

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

Hi Tim

 

I suffer from the same problem , there is no physical need to scratchbuild a mainline diesel, except 10800, and when it was Hawk. There are a pile of electric locos to do, well class AL2, 3 and 4. Plus the three Hornbys. None suited to South Wales.

 

Just thought of another one a class 74.....or is that now back on the list form DJM? I have given up reading the comings and going with DJM.

 

Other wise it is build it for fun or swap scales. Can you get a 3mm Peak, I have always wanted to make a Peak?

[Satan's Goldfish]

Here is the page it is on;

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/14790-imaginary-locomotives/page-140

 

Gibbo.

Only reason I asked is someone asked me about sides for cartic inners earlier in the year so I had some laser cut and sent out to them, but their account has since been deleted. Getting a bit OT from Clives very impressive diesel collection though!

 

Clive, have you just been having bad luck with Mainline chassis? If I remember rightly the Peak I brought over of unknown condition was Mainline and romped around nicely straight away.

 

[MJI]

I tried

 

05 gave up as badly warped, need to finish my A1 kit sometime.

73 gave up when Lima came out as a LOT of work.

110 from MRC plans, gave up as windows were very poor.

 

Easier / quicker to use etched brass sides and modify RTR

[Pete the Elaner]

 

 

anyone can build to my standard

 

I am not so sure.

 

I find layout wiring fairly easy, but I know many who find it difficult. There is nothing wrong with this. Minds just work differently.

[Clive Mortimore]

I tried

 

05 gave up as badly warped, need to finish my A1 kit sometime.

73 gave up when Lima came out as a LOT of work.

110 from MRC plans, gave up as windows were very poor.

 

Easier / quicker to use etched brass sides and modify RTR

Well done for trying Martin, It doesn't matter which route it takes to get the end result and I have seen some of the stuff you have posted on here and it is good.