JackB95's Modern Image Workbench

[Robert Shrives]

All looking very good and a break from the day job! 

Riolett  spray paints in MK do a good sized one part paint with selectable base and gloss from RAL and rail coluor palette .  https://www.riolettcustomaerosols.co.uk/ 

might help with paints for projects. 

W .

[Mackenzie546]

What paint did you use for the 57? i bought some rainbow railways FGW blue and magenta the other day, which looks far more prototypical, but doesnt match the Hornby colour at all from what i can tell from photos.

[JackB95]

On 25/02/2021 at 18:23, Robert Shrives said:

All looking very good and a break from the day job! 

Riolett  spray paints in MK do a good sized one part paint with selectable base and gloss from RAL and rail coluor palette .  https://www.riolettcustomaerosols.co.uk/ 

might help with paints for projects. 

W .

 

Thank you very much! Oooh that's good to know - appreciate it.

 

On 26/02/2021 at 08:05, Mackenzie546 said:

What paint did you use for the 57? i bought some rainbow railways FGW blue and magenta the other day, which looks far more prototypical, but doesnt match the Hornby colour at all from what i can tell from photos.

 

Very sorry I missed this post! It was Halfords Vauxhall Atlantis Blue. Unfortunately, a colour that's now been discontinued by the manufacturer. 

Atlantis blue was suggested on here by someone a while back and seemed a very good match for the real deal. Whilst the Hornby efforts don't fully blend in, it seemed a very good colour.

 

Thankfully my FGW projects are all done and I've got a small amount left in a rattle can.

[JackB95]

Thanks to delays with Royal Mail, my package from Illuminated Models turned up yesterday despite ordering it 6 weeks ago. No fault of Alex who shipped the package within a few days of me ordering it.

 

The kit included a Bachmann 66/7 light upgrade to provide the correct marker lights that were originally omitted off the model. I also took the opportunity to experiment with some washers. Not sure about you guys, but I've had some bad luck with 66s falling off given the slimmest chance due to the bogie being limited to how it can move. My mate Eamonn suggested using some washers on the bogies to raise them slightly. The proof is in the pudding...

 

 

 

 

The eagle-eyed of those may've noticed that the shed has also received a sound chip. Thanks to Dicky at Chesborough North for sorting that out for me.

[JackB95]

Slowly progressing through the list of stock that needs servicing. I've also made more progress with a few projects that have been on the workbench for what feels like years.

 

The transfers for the Grand Central HST, WSMR Mk3 buffets, and DRS/RR 37425 projects will arrive at some point this week all being well. Will be able to crack on with them and get the models completed and sent off to Eamonn who'll be able to finally enjoy some different colours on his layout.

 

Nearly chipped all my stock too. A few 21 pins are left to source for my 68s and the odd 150.

 

Slowly but surely, getting there...

[JackB95]

Evening all.

 

It appears that Royal Mail have lost my packet from Railtec with my transfers in. Thankfully Steve's on the case so they should be with me soon all being well.

I've managed to crack on with a couple of little projects that I've had on the workbench other than the commissions.

 

The WSMR Mk3 DVT and ATW 57/3 have received their Illuminated Models lighting kits

 

 

 

Makes such a difference having the correct marker lights on the models, as has been previously demonstrated by my 66 upgrades recently.

 

I also got round to ordering some 3D printed obstacle deflectors off 'Midland Valenta' on Facebook. He's made some body-mounted deflectors for Hornby's 153, and it certainly makes the world-a-difference when the model goes onto curves and they don't fly out and look awful.

 

 

Simply painted whatever colour I wanted on the front (black/grey/yellow in most cases), masked if required, then once dried, fitted with some Glue n Glaze. They're well designed and fit perfectly under the chassis. Bravo. A very quick and cheap yet effective upgrade.

 

 

My FGW 57/6 was also receiving its lighting upgrades, but I ended up accidentally damaging the PCB to, what I believe, beyond repair. Buggeration.

 

And finally, I managed to pick up a pair of Hornby 43 MTU TTS chips at the KWVR shop in Haworth for £59. Together with a speaker upgrade (although I'll do another upgrade to the Roads and Rails megabass eventually), my XC HST is back up and running after the power car decided to cook its chip.

 

Cheers

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[JackB95]

Had a rather productive couple of days of late.

 

The transfers from Railtec arrived at the start of the week. The GC HST was first to get worked on, with logos and numbers being applied between coats of varnish as recommended. Whilst the coats were drying, 37425-to-be had its original numbers and plates removed, and received a similar treatment to the HST, including the amazing 3D waterslide nameplates!

 

 

The power cars' yellow and orange stripes and parts were off a vinyl sheet I purchased on eBay. As an easy option, they certainly look the part and fit the HST almost perfectly! It's by far not a 'factory finish', but it's bloody good.

 

 

Another project that's been waiting patiently for transfers has been the 3 lots of WSMR mk3 buffet vehicles for myself, Eamonn (whose HST and 37 I've also done for him) and Caz (who did my TfW 153 and 67).

The first side has been stickered up, with the other side being done later tonight before coats of varnish go on. Tomorrow after work I'll be attempting to reassemble them with glazing - should be fun.

 

 

Very much looking forward to seeing the back of these projects, and having a relatively empty workbench 

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[JackB95]

Very little has happened on my workbench of late, but I thought I'd prove a small update regardless.

 

37425 and 67023 were finished off and sent to my mate's where they belong - another happy customer! The GC Mk3s are still waiting for transfers, so they're gathering dust on the shelves until the artwork is done.

 

I recently snapped up a bargain on a Facebook group the other week in the form of two Bachmann FNA flask wagons. One was a duplicate to the one I've had for 10 years now (yes, they're that old already!), and the other was missing handrails at each end. Thankfully Bachmann packaged spares with each model, and whilst my new arrives were unboxed, @CazRail came to the rescue and sent over some of his so I could fix mine up:

 

The flask train consist (Bachmann new 20/3, Bachmann repaint 20/3, and three FNAs) are all fitted with the Roco-style close couplings given that they run really well with them. Rather nice having a decent length bomb run around the layout. The duplicate has since been renumbered using Railtec's transfers to 550054.

 

A while ago, 66709 was withdrawn to the workbench as it was having electrical issues. Got round to taking the shell off to find two of the body screws had gone through wires! One of the marker lights, and one for a bogie pick up! Both wires were fixed and blacktac added to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's now been reunited with my MJA rake and can be seen on my layout thread running around once more.

 

That's it for now! Thanks all.

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[ess1uk]

I like your GC HST

[MRC_Jacob]

Top notch stuff. Following your progress!

[JackB95]

20 hours ago, MRC_Jacob said:

Top notch stuff. Following your progress!

 

Cheers Jacob! Slow and steady...

[virginhst539]

GC resprey is a cracker, how easy did you find them to strip back for the resprey?

[JackB95]

On 12/11/2021 at 22:53, virginhst539 said:

GC resprey is a cracker, how easy did you find them to strip back for the resprey?

 

Apologies, didn't see this comment come in! I found the ex-Virgin mk3s a pain in the arse if I'm honest. Not sure how they printed the white lines on, but they seemed to be made of concrete. Quite a bit of sanding was required despite being dipped in paint stripper for a while. I'd certainly choose a better simpler livery to strip next time. The powercars themselves were nice and easy. I used the original GC livery models, and all I did was used some T-cut on the original logos/numbers/yellow warning panel to allow the new stickers to go on nicely.

 

Bit of an update from yesterday's arrival in the post. Bachmann have recently (and about time too) launched an official spares website. It will eventually have all available spares listed to easily purchase online, and I discovered a few bits that I forgot/didn't know existed!

 

The first thing that caught my eye was the old-style 3-piece class 37 plough set which I, and others, thought had been discontinued since the introduction of the all-in-one piece. Thankfully, it wasn't too good to be true, and 4 pairs of plough sets arrived. They've now allowed my 37s to have ploughs at each end where necessary, even with a coupling in place! Small things eh. 425 099 and 421 respectively...

 

 

I also noticed a nice selection of loco bodies, one of which has been purchased to replace the now-redundant 20312 that I first converted way back in my early modelling days. Thankfully the chassis for that loco was in pristine condition, even with a 21-pin plug, so I can now introduce a 'new' loco to the fleet...

 

 

A mate of mine owns a matching 20132 which will be on a long-term loan agreement to allow the two to run as a pair. Delicious. My example, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, has since been fitted with discs which were originally for the class 44/45/46 locos on the Bachmann spares site. Bit of superglue worked a treat.

 

Cheers

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[JackB95]

Within two weeks of my mate's 20132 arriving on long-term loan, Rails of Sheffield throw an advent sale which included the all-new tooling 20227 in Rf red stripe for £130. I couldn't say no could I? It'd be rude...

 

So as a part-Chrimbo present from some of my family, and after a bit of tinkering this evening with Steve Bell's excellent transfers and some other bits and bobs, I now present

 

Delicious. As they'll operate in pairs like my DRS examples, 20118 (the older model) will have its insides removed to allow the two to work perfectly in a pair.

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[JackB95]

Finally pulled a finger out recently, and after clearing a big layer of dust, I've managed to put something like this together

 

 

 

Steve Bell's excellent transfers were made up just before Christmas and have been put on this week. The pictures above show the models with their transfers and orange stripe vinyls on, prior to final varnishing. The positioning of the logos a bit higher than the real thing, and as a result, doesn't quite work with the orange stripes as the text is below the bottom of the orange. The vinyls are pre-cut to just go straight on the models, but didn't have the new logos' width in mind so a bit of cutting down was required. My biggest priority was making sure the orange stripes are level across the whole fleet! They look alright, but we'll see what happens when they're all put back together.

 

Three of the mk3s have had one side's worth of large windows fitted using Shawplan's laserglaze. Unfortunately, I need more, and he's not replying to my emails. The ongoing saga of getting in touch with Brian unfortunately!

 

 

I'll reassemble the coaches over the weekend and get the set running around my layout, albeit with most of the glazing still missing. Be good to see!

 

And for those who aren't fully caught up with this thread, it's not my model so shan't be staying for long. I have other things that need spraying, mainly lasercut wood!

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95
More pictures!

[CazRail]

The HST looks great!

[JackB95]

Last week I finally got round to sorting out the remaining fake ballast loads for the IOA/MJA wagons. Thankfully, after a while stuck in the postal system, they arrived and look smashing. The MJA twins have 5g weights mounted above the bogies in the wagon itself to help with running. As a result, the loads need a little adjustment (polystyrene with ballast top layer) but that'll be a quick job maybe this afternoon or whatever.

 

 

I've managed to finally get the IOAs run fine without any derailment at a normal speed. One particular wagon kept giving me issues despite it being identical to the others, so must be some minor measurement or something somewhere. The MJAs ran without an issue after their modifications, so will be sent around the layout later after the ballast load mods.

 

An order for more Hunt Couplings has been put in this lunchtime too. The rakes will all have their original Hunt couplings at the ends replaced for the Elite bipolar magnets to allow for a more flexible operation. Gives me more spares should any mid-rake couplings get damaged for whatever reason. Revolution's IWA wagons will, once they arrive, get Elite ultra-close couplings fitted throughout, and eventually be sent off for weathering (something I've never actually had commissioned before). Given the Holyhead RTZ wagons were always 50 shades of brown, it would look wrong to run them sparky clean.

Edited May 22, 2022 by JackB95

[JackB95]

Been a while since I did some actual modelling with my rolling stock, so decided to change that.

A very quick job, and one that I've been meaning to do for weeks, was to renumber my Bachmann EWS 90 from 030 with its huge nameplate to 039. For those not in the know, or missed my layout thread post, 039 was the one that accidentally got taken from Crewe to Llandudno Junction on a Virgin service. How that happens I don't know, but hey! It happened...

 

 

Thankfully the original numbers and plates came off really easily. I did wonder if I'd end up accidentally going through the gold stripe, but a bit of Tamiya tape and patience did the job. Looks the business!

 

Nipped upstairs to very quickly send the loco round on some newly-aligned track, but couldn't stay up there longer than a few minutes. I'm not built for hot weather.

 

[JackB95]

And now, for something much smaller!

 

This is what came in the post this morning...

 

And this is what several hours of masking and painting has resulted in...

 

 

My first rolling stock kit, and I think it's gone quite well! Not finished yet. Still requires logos, nameplates (enroute), couplings, and weathering to dull down the shine. But I think it's worked out quite well!

[CazRail]

Tidy job on the paintwork, looks really good! 

[saxokid]

On 22/07/2022 at 18:59, JackB95 said:

And now, for something much smaller!

 

This is what came in the post this morning...

 

And this is what several hours of masking and painting has resulted in...

 

 

My first rolling stock kit, and I think it's gone quite well! Not finished yet. Still requires logos, nameplates (enroute), couplings, and weathering to dull down the shine. But I think it's worked out quite well!

Just had good catch up here jackB95😀

[JackB95]

Christ, has it seriously been 7 months since my last update? Oops! 

 

Well here's a small update. The second ATW 143 that's been stored since acquiring it (unfinished project bought from Dicky of Chesborough North) has finally made it onto the workbench given the surprise announcement and subsequent release of this livery from EFE/Bachmann.

 

The model was needing transfers and assembly to finish, but I didn't fancy using Precision's products given their fragility. However, someone on the ATW TfW modelling group on Facebook mentioned that 143602 ran around with just numbers for half the year! So, that's that then... 

 

 

 

That was easy! Just cantrail stripes and small details like buttons and warning stickers to officially complete. I've done the black windscreen surrounding myself which is why it looks wet and rough. 

 

Onwards and upwards 

 

 

[Swifty11]

Great progress, love the GC tram

[JackB95]

Whilst I still need to put cantrail stripes and small details on, and paint the seats to get rid of that awful red colour, here's what I've come up with!

 

 

 

 

Run the model for the first time since buying it, which was over 4 years ago... oops! It was originally sold to me with a sound chip, but I swapped the chassis round with 143609 which was at least in a 'ready to run' state. I've put a Trainomatic chip in 602 (and to my surprise, found a Hattons chip already in! That'll be pinched for guest stock that has no chips...) and it's great to see it whizzing around. Need a proper layout session given I've been too bogged down with house renovations and other shat.  But at least it's now actually doing something! And I think it looks ace.

[JackB95]

Well, this wasn't an expected project... 

 

 

The recent sale of some rolling stock (the FGW sleeper and my N gauge Eurostar, both of which rarely saw use) has spurred me on to do something a bit different. 

 

I've owned a Hornby Virgin Pendolino since late 2007 - it was my first model as I started the hobby. Certainly for the past 8 or so years, it's been in storage and collecting dust. A bit silly, given I'm modelling the North Wales Coast which featured these. 

 

So far, I've dusted off the original 4 car model, and re-glued a number of loose windows back in. This time, with proper glazing glue rather than generic super glue that teenager Jack was quite fond of. I've come across a few glue marks here and there, but it's not too serious thankfully. 

 

I've purchased a dummy driving car chassis to swap out the motored one given it'll be dragged by a 57. It'll need some coupling mods too, so I'll have to work out a plan for that. Some kinematic coupling pieces have been ordered too that'll hopefully work. Two out of the five extra coaches needed have been sourced, with the other three work in progress. 

 

It'll be nice to have a long train on the layout. And after the success of playing with my mate's pendo drag last year, I'll hopefully have one of my own soon!