Al's Modern Workbench

[James Makin]

Looking really good Al! 

 

I think the main thing is finding a method you're comfortable with and then running with it and seeing how you go, and it certainly looks like its working!

 

Cheers,

James

[ess1uk]

Some great work here 

[Afroal05]

I wanted this update to be the completion of the wagon weathering but I still have a few little tweaks and finishing touches to add to them. I'd like to try and get some photos of the rake outside in the afternoon sun but maybe that is asking too much!

 

In the meantime I bring you another little project that is gracing the workbench... 73141 'Charlotte'. This was a really impromptu purchase and project entirely triggered by browsing the classifieds in a magazine. I usually scroll on by and with good reason! One of the adverts was a picture or the newly arrived Hornby Railroad Plus class 73 in GBRf livery as 73965. I found this most perplexing as there are some quite obvious appearance differences between the 73/1s & 2s and the 73/9s and as GBRf have quite a few of the former quite why they chose to number it as a /9 baffles me!

This did however sow a seed... I like the Railroad models as they are a [relatively] cheap way of detailing and practicing model skills and creating something a little different whilst also offering a new motor. One bad day at work later and I had ordered a model and after an evening perusing photos of the prototypes 73141 'Charlotte' was chosen as the new identity. Transfers were sourced from Railtec, I chose the '141 pack, some headcode box numbers and some replacement GBRf branding as I was going to try and rebrand her to a state as most recent as I could.

 

Foolishly I didn't get any before photos and just cracked on with removing the old numbers using a cotton bud dipped in thinners and some gentle work with a cocktail stick. I tried to go sparingly as I was trying to reduce the area I got a shiny sheen on. Initially I stopped after removing 965 to see if I could cheat and line up the old and the new. Short answer, no. 

Here Hornby's colour choices came to the fore again. It has been covered quite a lot about the shade of GBRf blue on Hornby models (I also have 59003 so was aware of this) and the yellow/orange is no different. I was not going to be able to cheat here so removed the whole number.

 

 

Next the new numbers and names were added. One of the names didn't take particularly well (something happened in the application process but I cannot not remember what so I was sceptical from the start that it would stick) and has since pinged off. Fortunately with three in the pack I will apply it at the end once I have finished faffing around with lights (which is the order I should have done things in anyway).

 

Apart from renumbering and naming '141 I also wanted to update the GBRf markings to present day. Looking at various examples of 73 there are currently several different types! This branding is on the cabside and beneath the windscreen and replaces the old Europorte style branding. An extra OHLE warning flash was added on both sides as the base model only had the ones by the cab doors and the lower bodyside. The Hornby model of '965 has the plates by the cab door that highlight the /9s have been rengined, sadly these too had to go.

 

 

The next idea was to add lighting. I had researched this when deciding whether to do the model in the first place but hadn't given it any thought before doing the transfers and losing one of the nameplates!

A 1.6mm hole was drilled through the headlight, I may yet open this up a little more but I suspect 2mm is probably too much and I don't have a drill bit in between these sizes.

The inside of the cab has been painted black to reduce light bleed. Initially I did a small patch and the light bleed was quite bad. The bottom of the front windscreen was clipped short as for some reason it protruded down towards where the headlight hole is.

 

 

I found that lighting for 73s has the potential to be fairly easy or fairly complicated! Daylight running is a single headlight beneath the windscreen and is a warm white. For night running the headcode box is also illuminated. For tail lights as far as I can tell there aren't any. The headcode box is wound round to show two red squares which are then illuminated. Due to the construction of the headcode box with the windscreen plastic on the inside I didn't fancy trying to create a working version of this. I also didn't fancy trying to manufacture a red version for one end to be the rear. Daylight running it is! 

The next challenge is how you actually light the beast. I have .75mm fibre optic or 2mm fibre optic. Coupled to that the LEDs are 2mm and I do not have anything that neatly fits into my 1.6mm hole! Furthermore the cab construction gets in the way when trying to assemble/disassemble or trial fit lights.

 

 

The cab moulding is fixed into the chassis (and does release really easily) but this does stop the idea of attaching the light to the body. The other idea was to stick the light to the underside of the cab moulding, a rough test fit does seem to suggest that this is the right height but lining up a .75mm piece of fibre optic is quite a challenge as you can't really wiggle it around. My current thinking is to file down a 2mm piece of of optic to fit into the hole and create a sealed area around the LED to try and reduce the light bleed.

 

One little touch that I did add whilst doing the transfers was a headcode box. The body moulding had a recess for one and I thought it was absolutely crying out to be displaying something. Quite often the box seems to show two white squares but there were some photos of other number combinations showing...

 

 

It's not perfect but it looks better at a normal viewing distance! Not sure what to have at the other end I asked Nicola for suggestions. We now have different numbers at both ends (90 at the other end). OHLE warning flashes and new GBRf branding was added here too.

 

So another part completed project. To finish this I need to sort the lighting challenge, apply the nameplate that is missing and get Nicola involved with some painting. The cabling on each cab front needs red and yellow picking out on the relevant cables (showing my technical knowledge there), the lamp irons picking out and the buffer arms doing too.

I'd like to have a go at weathering this too. It needs a toning down from its vibrant and off colour blue. The roofs on some of these seem to have a very particular shade of orange-y brown to them and the body side grills need a smokier colour. Finally adding a driver and I had considered a tail lamp in one cab window or on a lamp iron. 

 

On the subject or orange-y brown... a teaser about the wagon weathering. I asked Nicola if she could try and replicate any graffiti. Sadly we decided it didn't look enough like the real thing but she did add some chalk writing to another wagon...

 

 

Yes, someone wrote 'Fat Egg' on an MTA. The mind boggles.

 

Al

[Afroal05]

Apologies All for the near 12 months without an update. Unfortunately this isn't going to be any different so if you're looking for pictures and modelling updates this isn't going to be it.

 

The last year has (and continues to be) a little chaotic. It wasn't that long after my last update that fatigue cracks were found on the IET fleet and my work world was turned absolutely upside down as we tried to run a train service with an ever dwindling fleet of trains. At first it was so farcical it was almost amusing (almost, but not) as at the low point we were left with one IET in service. It is an absurd situation as a controller when you can literally watch everything your entire working fleet is doing; speed, pantograph status, estimated passenger loadings etc, you could just sit and watch the incredibly detailed Hitachi system on a single train and that was it.

From there things got much harder as the fleet came back with concessions and subsuquently with temporary welding to keep things going until a proper long term repair solution can be carried out - I believe we are still looking for what that solution is, such is the complexity of the problem! I was frequently writing and rewriting new train plans with hours notice as we were suddenly promised 6 units, then 18, 24 and so on. As they were coming back I was often asked to write a plan for us to implement the following day whilst train planning could work up a proper plan with several days notice.

 

As the problem of reduced availability of units began to subside in came driver shortages. Now well known by most who either use the train or follow the industry. For the best part of two years no one was training new drivers due to the requirements to have two in the cab and the risk of spreading covid. But of course the conveyor belt doesn't stop when it comes to drivers retiring or moving away and we have fallen into a position where we can't really fulfill the timetable we are supposed to be providing. There is some industry politics at play but for various reasons the current method of working whereby we frantically try and cover all of the uncovered trains in the 24hrs before the day and stitch up the service together like an ill fitting patchwork is preferred to a formal timetable reduction. Allegedly we cancel less services this way but you could have fooled me! It was not uncommon for me to be entering close to 300 trains (both passenger and empty stock) into the Control wide spreadsheet each evening which had no crew assigned to them, this was as recently as last month. A lot of those would somehow get covered, but not without great stress and anxiety to all involved. I know controllers are meant to be good at spinning plates but this has felt like spinning the whole croquery cupboad.

Unfortunately this is still the status quo although it has recently been approved to reduce the timetable ever so slightly.

 

So as you may be able to glean, there hasn't really been any time to do any modelling. I honestly feel like I have been burning the candle at both ends for nigh on 12 months now and it does take its toll! At home (in the small amount of time I have been here) my layout was broken up and the modelling desk moved upstairs into the railway room. All that means is that the desk is still under a pile of stuff and not fit for working on. I have started a new layout - but haven't created a thread as I don't think it is that interesting and probably won't be that good either - and that has taken up what little time I have had in the last few months. I have got it to a place where I can run a train round two loops now and I'm enjoying watching trains pootle round. No IETs though, they can stay in their boxes...

 

To compound everything I managed to pick up covid in work just after Christmas (it can only have been work as I literally haven't been anywhere else) so I now have a week off. Fortunately I am triple jabbed and I have had little more than a light cough and a 5 day headache so I have spent 5 days isolating in the railway room!

 

I will hopefully get back to some more workbench modelling in the near future. Maybe.

 

Here's an IET racing through Dawlish on 14th November. Bloody things.