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Modern Traction Kits


andyman7
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  • 4 weeks later...

I have just picked up this MTK Class 25/3. It's fitted with two Triang motor bogies, although one is devoid of armature. All I've done is add pickups to the unpowered bogie and insulate the bogies from the body as it was shorting out. It weights a ton and the lights dim when it moves off....these days this loco is junk to most people but I love it, back in the 70s when I saw 25s every day on the WCML I know my eyes would have been on stalks to see an actual model  like this when every other layout had nothing but kettles.

 

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Edited by andyman7
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I've got a MTK Class 25/3 detailing kit somewhere. Made to fit on the old Hornby model, the etchings and whitemetal bits seem fine, and the cab ends are some kind of plastic like ABS. Very good for it's day.

 

I definitely agree with the general comment though. I had a N gauge Langley Class 24 and Class 25 in the early 1980s and thought they were the bees knees. No other way of getting them at the time.

 

 

 

Jason

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, the 25/3 is a cracking little model and ideal to cut your teeth on when you can find one., I will try and dig out mine and post  some pics

 

The attach photos are of a 25/1 I picked up off eBay last year for the cost of a lower end Lima loco, it is powered with two triang units and had been assembled really well, and was just lacking glazing which I have completed with mixture of sef and Perspex sheet filed down which takes a little while and patience and is worth the effort, the head code is from the excellent railtec pack, i renumbered to capture a loco in green with tops numbers.I also added some small pads inside to absorb the sound resonance.

As with many second hand items, it was a little hesitant in running, but. a good clean of the wheels etc. and an oil it runs surperbly.
 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've had the opportunity to do some work on my MTK/Triang Class 25/3. The main steps were to dull the finish down and correct the rather peculiar shade of yellow used on the ends. I've also done some light weathering on the roof. It has come up rather well!

 

 

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For some reason I can't get the word 'marzipan' out of my head for the 'M' of MTK, and I say this as a man who was frustrated by one of their marzipan Westerns in 1977 :rolleyes:

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7 hours ago, 'CHARD said:

For some reason I can't get the word 'marzipan' out of my head for the 'M' of MTK, and I say this as a man who was frustrated by one of their marzipan Westerns in 1977 :rolleyes:

Reminds me of the story about 2 guys, who spray painted their cars and the job came out terrible.

 

One says the other, 'Perhaps we ought to have washed the mud off first'?

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10 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Reminds me of the story about 2 guys, who spray painted their cars and the job came out terrible.

 

One says the other, 'Perhaps we ought to have washed the mud off first'?

 

Reminds me of the off-roaders on the Fast Show for some reason, with their hapless steed, 'The Beast' !!!

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Did anyone bother to save an MTK 1938 tube stock etch? I had loads at one time but dumped them as they were unbuildable. They also never had a straight line anywhere on the etch.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was amazed to see kit MU83 Ultrasonic Track tester go for £80 inc postage on eBay, anemic castings and all.
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143580170820

 

Proof that people are desperate to occupy themselves in the current situation. 
 

The listing does include a picture of what might be termed the instructions which might be of use to someone.

 

//Simon 

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6 minutes ago, Il Grifone said:

 

I built the MTK GRCW two car unit when these kits were still widely available; the quality was not bad at all, and I ended up with a very nice model.

 

To anyone who has done a couple of cut-and-shuts, etc., I would say Go Ahead. Fitted with a High Level motor bogie, it would make a smooth-running, unusual model.

 

John Isherwood.

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Those DMU castings don't look too bad; the underframe detail especially.  One day I'll get started on the Cl.310/312 sides and ends I have to blend with some Mk2 coaches.  The underframe parts for that are missing, so quite a challenge.  Hence why it's about #94 on my list of projects to complete.

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I still have an unbuilt  MTK Park Royal and a Swindon 120 3 car on the shelf. I keep kidding myself, I will build them one day.  I even have a Lima power car to use a a drive from Beatties priced £4.00.

 

To be fair, I have built a Derby 2 car and a BRCW 3 car and they look fine for a 40 year old design.

 

Mike Wiltshire

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I've got a Cravens single unit parcels car, motorised with a Lima motor bogie. I used to have a ravens 2-car but that got binned a few years ago when the Bachy one came out.

 

I think I've got a the MTK Leyland Railbus (class 140?) unmade with etched brass sides. Anyone interested? I'm having a clear-out to to imminent change in domestic circumstances.

Edited by roythebus
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The class 140 was a BR built prototype, which used cabs more akin to a class 455 emu, or the class 210 DEMU prototype.  It was more rigidly attached to the chassis and by all accounts rode worse than the Leyland Railbus.

 

I used to (may still) have a brass cast kit for the class 141 two car railbus.  As I recall the brass sides seemed to be reasonable.

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On 22/04/2020 at 11:28, Stentor said:

I was amazed to see kit MU83 Ultrasonic Track tester go for £80 inc postage on eBay, anemic castings and all.
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143580170820

 

Proof that people are desperate to occupy themselves in the current situation. 
 

The listing does include a picture of what might be termed the instructions which might be of use to someone.

 

//Simon 

 

Guilty m’lud.

 

Should be resurfacing on RMWeb in a few week’s time.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

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MTK “kits” can be made into reasonable models with some planning and a lot of cutting and filling (and swearing).  I have recently completed the following - although I cheated a bit by modifying the MTK bodies to fit Bachmann and Hornby chassis.

 

BF861FCF-07F5-4FDF-AB3B-C642935B1310.jpeg.9797809336d138500005e60e93e4d431.jpeg
 

9E975BC4-561E-4B6D-B7F4-C28B1A128FA9.jpeg.4fe21e84a322e58c7c2e9c51731e62a9.jpeg

 

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Cheers

 

Darius

Edited by Darius43
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On 24/04/2020 at 14:23, Darius43 said:

 

Guilty m’lud.

 

Should be resurfacing on RMWeb in a few week’s time.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

 

Darius, you are very very good at turning these into great models but I think you've got your work cut out with this one.

 

I guess you'll be junking the mouldings for the underslung track recording sled and scratch building it.

 

I look forward to seeing what you can do, good luck my friend.

 

//Simon

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On 24/04/2020 at 14:01, crackedmember said:

The class 140 was a BR built prototype, which used cabs more akin to a class 455 emu, or the class 210 DEMU prototype.  It was more rigidly attached to the chassis and by all accounts rode worse than the Leyland Railbus.

 

I used to (may still) have a brass cast kit for the class 141 two car railbus.  As I recall the brass sides seemed to be reasonable.

 

I was looking for something else and this turned up.  I think I actually bought this new. 

I would probably complete it in the not quite blue/grey,  Leyland actually used the closest match they

had, which was Accrington Coporation Bus Blue,

 

A few photos of the kit. 

IMG_5140.JPG.f1577221881d55be90569c354066a5cd.JPGIMG_5143.JPG.d1bf68282ff141184204d718cb7768a4.JPGIMG_5141.JPG.6d0661f89afb90bbf8f7a5a5c5ee2121.JPG

IMG_5142.JPG

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1 hour ago, crackedmember said:

 

I was looking for something else and this turned up.  I think I actually bought this new. 

I would probably complete it in the not quite blue/grey,  Leyland actually used the closest match they

had, which was Accrington Corporation Bus Blue,

 

Was it 141 001 that was in this livery but never actually entered service?  A model of one of these, especially in the WYPTE green/white livery, would be a real eye-catcher.  

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4 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Was it 141 001 that was in this livery but never actually entered service?  A model of one of these, especially in the WYPTE green/white livery, would be a real eye-catcher.  

IIRC that was 141 002 and it was actually in the then new Network Rail livery.  Some of these railbuses were not funded by WYPTE and were intended for other services hence the Blue/Grey.  I believe these were the last new units to enter service in this livery.

 

Clive

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I actually don't mind MTK kits at all, and with a bit of time and patience some of them can be made into very presentable models, as Darius has shown above.

 

The quality varied widely but the range was huge and at the time there was no alternative other than scratch building for many of the items that were on offer, and Colin did us all a great service in making them all available.  Personally I always tried to avoid the 'all cast' kits, although I did successfully build a 71 and a 74 - these were ok because being such a smooth, rounded design the cleaning up was reasonably straightforward.

 

The standard aluminium shells with cast ends I always found ok.  The castings were variable but it was usually a case of some patience and persistence to sort out the ones at the lower end of the scale.

 

I must have about 50 MTK kits around the house collected over nearly the same number of years - many of them are built and some are coming along at the moment.  The only one that I ever admitted defeat on and consigned to the bin was an etched brass kit for Sarah Siddons.  There was some dimensional anomaly with this and when put together it stood higher than a Mk 1 coach by a good centimetre, even with all the clearances trimmed to the bone.  Around the same time Harrow Models brought out their exquisite cast kit which went together like a dream, and the MTK one was history.

 

I'm about to embark on a do-or-die quest to build my MTK 4-DD double decker unit.  I think I might start a construction thread about it.  It's etched in very thick, heavy brass - the etching is good but the body-shape forming is horrendous and very difficult to correct.  I've been thinking about it for 20 years but I'm going to push on and do it - hope I can because it would be a great model to have.

 

( edit : thread started  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/154362-building-an-mtk-4-dd-double-decker/ )

 

 

When I can I'll dig out some of my other MTK efforts and put up some pictures - may be a while though, still recovering from moving house and lots of them are boxed up in the loft.

 

Stuart

Edited by 74009
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12 minutes ago, 74009 said:

When I can I'll dig out some of my other MTK efforts and put up some pictures - may be a while though, still recovering from moving house and lots of them are boxed up in the loft.

 

Stuart

Stuart - please do show off your efforts on here and I look forward to seeing a 4DD.  Not sure I have ever seen a completed model of one before.  It may encourage me to move my MTK Cl.24 up the round tuit backlog.

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