Will’s workbench - Bachmann Class 37 super detailing

[Southwich]

A quick update on 37114. Fitted the second windscreen this afternoon and I’ve made a start on blending the windscreens into the body. Tamiya filler, followed by some sanding and repeat. The top of the windscreen is nearly there, but the bottom needs more work. Hopefully get the windscreens sorted by the end of the week.

 

 

One question I do have, what is the best match to Bachmanns EWS maroon? Is it the precision EWS maroon? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Jack374]

8 hours ago, Southwich said:

One question I do have, what is the best match to Bachmanns EWS maroon? Is it the precision EWS maroon? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 

Looking mighty fine Will! I can’t vouch for Precision EWS Maroon but can certainly advise against RailMatch's colour - it’s nowhere near Bachmann's IMO. I think Bachmann's rendition is actually a bit too brown, so if needed you could add a drop or two of a brown colour to help it match, but Precision's colour might be bob on.

 

I look forward to seeing the outcome!

 

Jack.

[Southwich]

On 27/07/2020 at 08:12, Jack374 said:

Looking mighty fine Will! I can’t vouch for Precision EWS Maroon but can certainly advise against RailMatch's colour - it’s nowhere near Bachmann's IMO. I think Bachmann's rendition is actually a bit too brown, so if needed you could add a drop or two of a brown colour to help it match, but Precision's colour might be bob on.

 

I look forward to seeing the outcome!

 

Jack.

Thanks for the kind words Jack! I’m thinking of purchasing some precision and going from there. 

 

A few shots of where I’m up to with 37114. I’ve had a few sessions of sanding which I’m pretty happy with now. First coat of etched primer went on today, progress shots below:
 

 

 

 

 

Very pleased with how the windows are looking - much better I think! Both joins need another rub down, fill, sand and prime and then we should be ready for respraying the EWS maroon on the roof and nose ends. Once the roof is complete I need to move the high intensity headlight and spray the head code boxes black before detailing and weathering the model. 
 

More soon hopefully - thanks for looking. 

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Steadfast]

Lovely work on the 37s Will, that EWS door makes the Loadhaul machine. Makes me want to roll my modelling clock back!

For the EWS maroon, have you tried test patches over different colour primers? I admit it's one shade I haven't yet, but it's amazing how different a colour can look over white, grey, black, yellow or red oxide primers. Every maroon I've used to patch paint details has always looked too bright compared to the Bachmann shade, but that was small patches slopped on with a brush, without primer.

I've taken to using plastic tea spoons for colour tests, but a scrap of plasticard would do the job, I tend to spray strips of each primer, then put a strip of masking perpendicular across all the colours. Spray top coat, then remove the strip of tape and it shows you which colour primer is under which part of the sheet.

Hope this helps

 

Jo

[Squirrel Rail]

On 27/07/2020 at 08:12, Jack374 said:

Looking mighty fine Will! I can’t vouch for Precision EWS Maroon but can certainly advise against RailMatch's colour - it’s nowhere near Bachmann's IMO. I think Bachmann's rendition is actually a bit too brown, so if needed you could add a drop or two of a brown colour to help it match, but Precision's colour might be bob on.

 

I look forward to seeing the outcome!

 

Jack.

Just saw Jacks post and the paint is a mare to match - either Precision or Railmatch. I think I used a bit of good old humbrol 113 rust to dull my last EWS job and at least it’s in an area where a bit of weathering is appropriate! Good luck and look forward to seeing it progress. Cheers Jerry 

[Southwich]

20 hours ago, Steadfast said:

Lovely work on the 37s Will, that EWS door makes the Loadhaul machine. Makes me want to roll my modelling clock back!

For the EWS maroon, have you tried test patches over different colour primers? I admit it's one shade I haven't yet, but it's amazing how different a colour can look over white, grey, black, yellow or red oxide primers. Every maroon I've used to patch paint details has always looked too bright compared to the Bachmann shade, but that was small patches slopped on with a brush, without primer.

I've taken to using plastic tea spoons for colour tests, but a scrap of plasticard would do the job, I tend to spray strips of each primer, then put a strip of masking perpendicular across all the colours. Spray top coat, then remove the strip of tape and it shows you which colour primer is under which part of the sheet.

Hope this helps

 

Jo

Thanks for your tips Jo, very helpful! I hadn’t thought of doing that but I certainly will! I think because it’s the roof I should be able to get it similar enough that once weathered you shouldn’t notice! Love the plasticard idea - will give that a go for sure; thanks very much! 
 

16 hours ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Just saw Jacks post and the paint is a mare to match - either Precision or Railmatch. I think I used a bit of good old humbrol 113 rust to dull my last EWS job and at least it’s in an area where a bit of weathering is appropriate! Good luck and look forward to seeing it progress. Cheers Jerry 

 

Thanks for your comment Jerry. My thinking was to dull it down as well. Hopefully once a wash of roof dirt has been applied across the roof and had the weathering applied it shouldn’t be too noticeable as you say! 
 

My other project on the go is converting a Hornby 56003 into 56027, the main issue being the lack of bufferbeam cowling. I’m currently filing down the Shawplan castings ready to be joined to the chassis:

 

 

 

A lot more filing required!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Southwich]

Evening all, 

 

Been continuing on with 37114. The main thing I wasn’t happy with was the roof fan, especially since I knocked it when filing back the windscreens. An order was placed on Saturday and the fans arrived from Brian yesterday. 
 

After another round of filling and sanding I’ve primed the model again this evening. I think she needs one more round of filling and sanding back then we should be ready for some EWS maroon. A few shots below: 

 

 

Really pleased with the difference the new etched windows and the new fan grille has made.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Southwich]

First coat of custom mixed EWS maroon on 37114. Needs a few spots sanding back and filling before one more coat of maroon. 

 

Really pleased with how the windows are looking! 
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Squirrel Rail]

Looking good Will - nice match on the paint too!

[Steadfast]

Hi Will, 37 looks excellent.

What paint match did you settle on the in the end?

 

Jo

[Southwich]

On 30/08/2020 at 07:50, Squirrel Rail said:

Looking good Will - nice match on the paint too!

Thanks Jerry much appreciated! 
 

On 30/08/2020 at 09:52, Steadfast said:

Hi Will, 37 looks excellent.

What paint match did you settle on the in the end?

 

Jo

Thanks Jo - I went for Precision EWS maroon mixed with railmatch frame dirt. I reckon I ended up with about 20% of each and then 60% White Spirit. I sprayed the mix on the grilles till it was about right then masked the whole roof and grilles and sprayed it. 
 

Hope that helps.

 

Will

[Steadfast]

Indeed it does help Will!

I had to patch a wagon the other day, in the end it was (all Raimatch) EWS maroon with a little dab DB red and frame dirt. Looks like we were on the same thought!

 

Jo

[Southwich]

On 02/09/2020 at 16:24, Steadfast said:

Indeed it does help Will!

I had to patch a wagon the other day, in the end it was (all Raimatch) EWS maroon with a little dab DB red and frame dirt. Looks like we were on the same thought!

 

Jo

Great minds think alike haha! If only I’d have had some DB red!

 

Progress has been quite slow of late on 114 and in general due to various work related commitments. Over the last few weeks I’ve been working primarily on the nose ends; cutting off the original centrally mounted headlight when it looked like this:

 

 

...and remounting using a replica railways version like this:
 

 

Much better! And much more like the real thing. The central door strip has been rebuilt with plasticard. I think this needs one more round of filling/sanding then it’ll be ready for bedding in with the rest of the nose end. I also need to spray the handrails and make up some Shawplan lamp brackets.
 

I’ve also sprayed one coat on the headcode boxes which will be covered by some custom transfers I’ve had done. 
 

Another project I’ve been working on of late is a 51L POA blackadder. This is always a wagon I’ve fancied for a while and was lucky enough to be sent one by a mate. Spent an evening adding buffers, and then sorting the usual Bill Bedford Sprung W irons:

 

Before adding wheels and the central door details. Accurascale Instanters and a spare pipe from a PGA finishes off the ends of the wagon nicely:

 

 

This evening I’ve added the end ladders and primed in red oxide to ensure all of the metal parts are nicely covered:

 

 

Just needs one more coat and then will be ready for some black.

 

Hopefully some more 37 related progress over the next few weeks. Hope everyone is keeping well and managing some modelling time!
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Squirrel Rail]

12 minutes ago, Southwich said:

Great minds think alike haha! If only I’d have had some DB red!

 

Progress has been quite slow of late on 114 and in general due to various work related commitments. Over the last few weeks I’ve been working primarily on the nose ends; cutting off the original centrally mounted headlight when it looked like this:

 

 

...and remounting using a replica railways version like this:
 

 

Much better! And much more like the real thing. The central door strip has been rebuilt with plasticard. I think this needs one more round of filling/sanding then it’ll be ready for bedding in with the rest of the nose end. I also need to spray the handrails and make up some Shawplan lamp brackets.
 

I’ve also sprayed one coat on the headcode boxes which will be covered by some custom transfers I’ve had done. 
 

Another project I’ve been working on of late is a 51L POA blackadder. This is always a wagon I’ve fancied for a while and was lucky enough to be sent one by a mate. Spent an evening adding buffers, and then sorting the usual Bill Bedford Sprung W irons:

 

Before adding wheels and the central door details. Accurascale Instanters and a spare pipe from a PGA finishes off the ends of the wagon nicely:

 

 

This evening I’ve added the end ladders and primed in red oxide to ensure all of the metal parts are nicely covered:

 

 

Just needs one more coat and then will be ready for some black.

 

Hopefully some more 37 related progress over the next few weeks. Hope everyone is keeping well and managing some modelling time!
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Hi Will, Nice work on the nose job - fiddly but well worth it! Are the custom transfers the black backgrounds? Cheers Jerry

[Southwich]

8 minutes ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Hi Will, Nice work on the nose job - fiddly but well worth it! Are the custom transfers the black backgrounds? Cheers Jerry

Thanks Jerry. Indeed. I was tempted to leave it but given the month or so it took to do the windscreens I couldn’t leave it. They are indeed, see below:

From John at precision, printed as film-less to ensure they go over the raised headlights. The raised circle has been painted so once I use the transfers hopefully it should bed in really nicely with really sharp edges. Just spraying the boxes I couldn’t quite get a finish I was satisfied with. That’s the thought behind my madness at least...

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Squirrel Rail]

48 minutes ago, Southwich said:

Thanks Jerry. Indeed. I was tempted to leave it but given the month or so it took to do the windscreens I couldn’t leave it. They are indeed, see below:

From John at precision, printed as film-less to ensure they go over the raised headlights. The raised circle has been painted so once I use the transfers hopefully it should bed in really nicely with really sharp edges. Just spraying the boxes I couldn’t quite get a finish I was satisfied with. That’s the thought behind my madness at least...

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Great idea Will, they are a sod to get an acceptable finish on so should be ideal! Cheers Jerry

[Southwich]

A quick update on a few projects. The POA has progressed nicely to a point where it just needs a last few transfers:
 

A big thanks to @Tim Horn for sending me the Appleby transfers he had for these - saved me a lot of pain of masking the stripes. The stripes were difficult to get to adhere to the weld lines on the top of the wagon, however a neat trick from YouTube of using the soldering iron wafted over the area to heat up the transfer worked an absolute treat. 
 

Getting pictures of them in the 2000s is proving difficult, so I’m doing my best to get it as correct as possible. After the final few livery elements are added I’ll get it Matt varnished. Weathering will most likely be next year once the weather improves.

 

For the winter I wanted a detailing project to keep me busy whilst I wait for the PHDesigns bits for 37114. I’ve always liked the DRS WIPAC 37/0s, so 37261 was duly purchased:

 

 

After arriving last night I set to work with the white spirit to remove the majority of the livery elements in favour of the rainbow railways alternatives. This is the current state of play on what will be 37218:

 

 

New buffers from Lanarkshire models and new noses from the guys at Rainbow Railways. Next up are sorting the reinforced Shawplan windscreens and removing the plate on the side of the loco. If anyone has any tips for a good paint match to the Bachmann DRS blue I’d be most grateful! 
 

Thanks for looking! 

 

Will

[lyneux]

Nice clean job on the logo and number removal Will. Did they come off with white spirit and cotton buds? That's amazing!

 

POA is looking nice too. Presume it is getting the weathering treatment at some point?

 

Guy

[Southwich]

28 minutes ago, lyneux said:

Nice clean job on the logo and number removal Will. Did they come off with white spirit and cotton buds? That's amazing!

 

POA is looking nice too. Presume it is getting the weathering treatment at some point?

 

Guy

Thanks Guy. Yeah they came off with a bit of scrubbing with the cotton buds - no paint taken off as well which was a result!  I was hoping to keep the original elements but Sod’s law they weren’t quite in the correct place! Ready for the plate to be taken off and some new transfers. 
 

The POA will be pretty battered given its towards the end of its life, although I don’t think it’ll get weathered this year given the rubbish weather!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Squirrel Rail]

21 hours ago, Southwich said:

A quick update on a few projects. The POA has progressed nicely to a point where it just needs a last few transfers:
 

A big thanks to @Tim Horn for sending me the Appleby transfers he had for these - saved me a lot of pain of masking the stripes. The stripes were difficult to get to adhere to the weld lines on the top of the wagon, however a neat trick from YouTube of using the soldering iron wafted over the area to heat up the transfer worked an absolute treat. 
 

Getting pictures of them in the 2000s is proving difficult, so I’m doing my best to get it as correct as possible. After the final few livery elements are added I’ll get it Matt varnished. Weathering will most likely be next year once the weather improves.

 

For the winter I wanted a detailing project to keep me busy whilst I wait for the PHDesigns bits for 37114. I’ve always liked the DRS WIPAC 37/0s, so 37261 was duly purchased:

 

 

After arriving last night I set to work with the white spirit to remove the majority of the livery elements in favour of the rainbow railways alternatives. This is the current state of play on what will be 37218:

 

 

New buffers from Lanarkshire models and new noses from the guys at Rainbow Railways. Next up are sorting the reinforced Shawplan windscreens and removing the plate on the side of the loco. If anyone has any tips for a good paint match to the Bachmann DRS blue I’d be most grateful! 
 

Thanks for looking! 

 

Will

Hi Will, I’ve tried both Phoenix and Railmatch DRS blue which are both good- however Bachmann seem to change their shade from the 57s to the 37s! I added some very dark grey to tone the blue down which was a trial an error to get a match- sure you’ll crack it! Cheers Jerry

[Steadfast]

There's also a Humbrol shade I've used in the past that's a perfect match for my Bachmann / Farish DRS stuff. I can't remember the number off hand, but it may be called Oxford blue?

Edit - It's definitely Oxford blue 104, see this link!

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109643-direct-rail-services-blue/

Jo

Edited October 28, 2020 by Steadfast

[37114]

Nice job on 37114, the EE windscreen surrounds look great and are a definite improvement. Just one thing in case you hadn't picked it up, 37114 only had one vertical hand rail under the headcode box at no2 end, the drivers side being missing after that corner was swiped while in LLB and the hand rail was never replaced.

[Southwich]

15 hours ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Hi Will, I’ve tried both Phoenix and Railmatch DRS blue which are both good- however Bachmann seem to change their shade from the 57s to the 37s! I added some very dark grey to tone the blue down which was a trial an error to get a match- sure you’ll crack it! Cheers Jerry

Thanks Jerry - I do fear it’s going to be trial and error, who said modelling is supposed to be easy hey! 
 

13 hours ago, Steadfast said:

There's also a Humbrol shade I've used in the past that's a perfect match for my Bachmann / Farish DRS stuff. I can't remember the number off hand, but it may be called Oxford blue?

Edit - It's definitely Oxford blue 104, see this link!

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109643-direct-rail-services-blue/

Jo

 

Thanks Jo - you always seem to come up with great suggestions when I need paint matching haha! I’ll give the thread a read 

 

8 hours ago, 37114 said:

Nice job on 37114, the EE windscreen surrounds look great and are a definite improvement. Just one thing in case you hadn't picked it up, 37114 only had one vertical hand rail under the headcode box at no2 end, the drivers side being missing after that corner was swiped while in LLB and the hand rail was never replaced.

 

Thanks 37114! Agreed they’re worth the nervy moments of attacking £100 locos with a razor saw... Thanks for the tip - I hadn’t noticed! I haven’t got round to doing the additional handrails as it’s something I’d noticed late on. Nice detail that that I’ll replicate! 
 

Thanks all for the continued interest in my projects!

 

Will

[Southwich]

Work on what will be 37218 has continued today on a very productive day. I spent my lunch hour filing back the windscreens and making the cuts ready for the etches. Following a large session on the workbench this evening 218 now has the Shawplan reinforced windscreens glued, filled and sanded back at both ends, which I’m really pleased with. The difference over the base model is really noticeable:

 

I’ve also added the Extreme Etchings roof fan grille, which is a work of art:

 

 

Next up is more filling and sanding till the join isn’t noticeable, as well as mods to the fuel tank and removing the side plate (I’m really not looking forward to doing that!)

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Departmental203]

22 hours ago, Southwich said:

Work on what will be 37218 has continued today on a very productive day. I spent my lunch hour filing back the windscreens and making the cuts ready for the etches. Following a large session on the workbench this evening 218 now has the Shawplan reinforced windscreens glued, filled and sanded back at both ends, which I’m really pleased with. The difference over the base model is really noticeable:

 

I’ve also added the Extreme Etchings roof fan grille, which is a work of art:

 

 

Next up is more filling and sanding till the join isn’t noticeable, as well as mods to the fuel tank and removing the side plate (I’m really not looking forward to doing that!)

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

 

Hi Will, this is looking really good! 37218 is one of my favourites and the wipac 37/0's are not modelled too often, I'm hooked!

 

Are you doing the early DRS livery or the later "compass" livery?

 

Good luck with this one, Jules