SRman Posted January 6, 2020 Author Share Posted January 6, 2020 Just about finishing the Ruston saga, I have painted it Network South East dark blue, added a wash of black, then given it a coat of satin varnish. The cab roof was painted light grey then given a black wash (which fortunately dried with a matt finish), and added a driver (one of Hatton's 3D printed figures intended for the Hornby Peckett and Hatton's own Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST steam locos). As can be seen, the blue ends up very close to the shade used on Hornby's 0-6-0ST Peckett, which is what I was aiming for. The final touch was to add the Number 19 etched plates from Narrow Planet. She could still do with a spot more weathering, but there's no hurry for this. P_20200106_161134_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200106_161209_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr p.s. As can be seen, I got the driver to shift that Leyland Atlantean that was spoiling the background in the previous shots! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted January 6, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 6, 2020 8 minutes ago, SRman said: Just about finishing the Ruston saga, I have painted it Network South East dark blue, added a wash of black, then given it a coat of satin varnish. The cab roof was painted light grey then given a black wash (which fortunately dried with a matt finish), and added a driver (one of Hatton's 3D printed figures intended for the Hornby Peckett and Hatton's own Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST steam locos). As can be seen, the blue ends up very close to the shade used on Hornby's 0-6-0ST Peckett, which is what I was aiming for. The final touch was to add the Number 19 etched plates from Narrow Planet. She could still do with a spot more weathering, but there's no hurry for this. P_20200106_161134_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200106_161209_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr p.s. As can be seen, I got the driver to shift that Leyland Atlantean that was spoiling the background in the previous shots! No name for the Ruston? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 6, 2020 Author Share Posted January 6, 2020 1 hour ago, St Enodoc said: No name for the Ruston? Not yet. I have run out of nameplates at present, but have more on order from Narrow Planet, keeping with my theme of girls' names beginning with 'A'. I need a short name for this locomotive, so possibly it could end up as Alba, or it could do a name swap with Janus diesel electric No. 17, Amy. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 I have been continuing work on the farm scene, which will sit in the back corner of my layout. The curved concrete retaining wall at the front will adjoin the railway. There are some more details and patches to go: I had to pull the fence out again (which seems a retrograde step, but in the longer term it will all come together) to fill the gaps behind the wall, which will then be painted when dry, and more vegetation added, including some rougher shrubs, weeds, ferns and vines. I haven't decided what fence style (or hedge) to use for the separation of the field at far right from the railway. P_20200107_145513_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200107_145529_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200107_145538_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200107_145542_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200107_145551_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200107_151225_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 Farm scene progress: things are happening more slowly as I get into the detail work. The gaps under the pig sty walls have been covered with a little thicker glue and scatter material. P_20200113_181938_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr I have added some rough turf along the embankment and at the end of the Long Field. A couple of Noch turnips have been planted in the farmer's vegetable garden, and ferns along the fence line on the embankment, as well as a couple of "escaped" turnips. Some ferns have also gone into the rough at the end of the Long Field. I have a couple more packs of the laser-cut ferns, so will add a few more to the scene later. There are nine ferns per pack. P_20200113_181953_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200113_181948_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Long Field cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 A recent European loco purchased was this Swedish SJ RC3 Bo-Bo electric locomotive. I got it at a very reasonable price, otherwise I would not have countenanced buying it because is is a Lima model, with the construction common to the majority their British diesel models, i.e. it has a pancake motor on one bogie with diagonally split pickup and the horrible brass wheels. However, for all of that, it is probably the best running Lima model I have ever come across, with excellent low speed control on both DC and (subsequently) DCC. It was worth purchasing and converting to DCC. I was even luckier in that the motor brushes are already completely isolated from the power bogie frame, so hard-wiring a decoder was simplicity itself. I connected the red wire of the chosen decoder, a Zimo MX600 with its 8-pin plug cut off, to the electrical pickups on the power bogie, adding a red heat-shrink sleeve to the bare wire coming up from the pickups. The black wire was attached directly to the unpowered bogie's brass clip. The orange and grey wires were soldered to each brush clip, and the loco was tested on the programming track. It worked perfectly, and very, very smoothly first go. It even went in the right direction for what I wanted to be forwards. The model comes with directional lighting using diodes and bulbs. The lighting wires and diodes were removed from the dummy bogie's clip at the same time as I was soldering the black wire to it, and the light's return wire removed from the motor bogie pickup wire where it was attached. After testing the motor wiring, I could now wire the blue wire to both bulbs and the white wire to what would be the leading bulb (I like the unpowered end to be the "front"), and the yellow wire to the trailing bulb. Once again, I tested this on the programming track, and all worked perfectly when Function 0 was selected. The loco was programmed to its running number, 1058, and sent around the main lines with a suitable train, where it is seen here. All in all, I am pleased with it for what was a very low budget acquisition. I will in the future do something about the light bleed where the body halves join, and give it some rudimentary cab interiors, which will also prevent the headlights illuminating the (empty) cabs as they do at present. The coaches are from Roco and NMJ (a Norwegian firm I hadn't heard of before), and are of a very high quality. P_20200126_113209_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 The farm scene has been positioned in its back corner of Newton Broadway. While there are still a few minor tweaks I can do to improve it, quite a bit of the detail is hidden from normal view anyway ... but I know it's there. P_20200129_090238_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200129_094719_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200129_090226_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) Just testing to see if I can use Google photos to share and display here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VvajYY1SRPD8BvKe8 Edit: well. I finally got the link to work, but will have to see if I can work out how to get it to display as well. If I can do this, it means I won't have to remove photos from Flickr when I hit the 1000 image limit. [url=https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z15nqho8g1e3rPjz9/P_20200122_163743_vHDR_On.jpg[/img] Edited January 30, 2020 by SRman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) As many of you know, I am also into model buses; here is the latest one off the workbench, with a couple of minor finishing touches still to come. It is a Little Bus Company resin kit of a 1936 London Transport country area forward-entrance STL (AEC Regent type). The strange doorless entrance took up two seating bays and was supposed to be draught-free ... it wasn't! The early greens varied somewhat and didn't weather well in service, but LT eventually settled on the more familiar Lincoln green for its country buses. I have tried to capture the look of the early lighter green livery as best I can with very little accurate information available. Note that this bus has been 'borrowed' for use on Green Line route Y1. These buses were intended for such use but deemed unsuitable, but were used when certain Green Line routes were reinstated during the War. Buses were known to be substituted for coaches on Green Line services many times to cover for failures or shortages. Green country buses were preferred, but red buses did appear on occasions. P_20200201_230619_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200201_230641_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr What's missing? I have not yet added registration number plates or fleet numbers, and the half-drop opening windows (three per side upper, two per side lower deck) will be represented with microstrip on the appropriate windows. Edited February 1, 2020 by SRman 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) I have replaced the somewhat European-looking fencing around the lower verandah of the Tudor hotel with some stone and wrought iron style walling, which I think makes it look slightly more British. I intend to replace the diagonal tiles on the roof eventually too. P_20200213_221059_vHDR_Cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200213_221151_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr And this is what it looked like before: Corner Shop Improvements - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited February 14, 2020 by SRman Corrected a typo 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Steps added at each end. None of this work has been painted yet, but it is taking shape. I also need to replace the pavement on the bank corner, after cutting away some of the polystyrene to match the slope past the hotel. I need to add a little infill at the sides of the steps at the right-hand end. Must come up with a name for the hotel too. P_20200214_123056_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200214_123106_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200214_123046_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited February 14, 2020 by SRman Fixed dyslexic typing. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) First go with a backscene. I tried a technique that seals the board as well as the paper, but it didn't entirely work, so there are a few ripples in the paper that I will try to deal with later. The whole lot needs to go a bit lower, but the overall effect is not bad. It certainly gives more depth to that end of the layout. P_20200215_141711_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200215_141723_vHDR_cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited February 15, 2020 by SRman 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 Having worked out what was needed, I have lowered the backscene by 4cm. The bubbles in the paper still annoy me, but the effect is much better than before. P_20200215_161857_vHDR_cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200215_161830_vHDR_cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) Another Bratchell kit lobbed in yesterday in the post. This is another class 319 4-car EMU, this time in a livery I have been waiting to pounce on as soon as it was produced, that of Thameslink (the previous one is in Network South East livery). Such is the construction of the Bratchell kits that one can get something incomplete but runnable in a short amount of time. The body shells and windows go together very easily with minimal filing, while the unpowered bogies take a little longer. I already had the Replica Railways motorised chassis waiting in the wings, and previous exerience with Bratchells class 455 and 319 units meant I knew what to do to get a quick force fit in the Motor Pantograph coach. This involves cutting off the running boards along the sides of the chassis, and then filing/sanding the sides down slightly until the whole chassis just fits between the sides of the body shell. So, here is unit 319 388 posed after a short test run on Newton Broadway. It is still minus all the underframe equipment, and the motor bogie sideframes need to be shortened by 1mm each side to match the Replica wheelbase. I modified and shortened the coupling extension arms and fitted much finer Bachmann couplings to close up the inter-coach gaps. This was successful but needs just a couple of minor adjustments to even up the gaps, after which I will have to apply the same mods to the other four Bratchell units I have built. P_20200219_182129_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200219_182207_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited February 19, 2020 by SRman Fixed typos. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 A while ago I bought a Bachmann Ivatt 10000 (ex-LMS) diesel locomotive in green, lined orange and black. This was the only livery easily available (and not at ridiculous asking prices), but I really wanted it in the earlier black and silver livery as running on the Southern Region, and to go with my existing weathered 10001 in that livery. 10001 had to have the extra lamp irons and (dummy) marker lights added, whereas the green 10000 already had those, seeing as it kept them after the Southern stint (10001, as bought, was modelled as she was prior to going to the SR). I bit the bullet and started repainting 10000 into black and silver a few days ago, and have just about completed the transformation now. I have added the BR crests, based on a photo taken at Bournemouth on the Internet. Once that has properly set, I will varnish the locomotive to protect the transfers and the silver paint, which can be a little less hard-wearing than some of the other colours. I also need to replace the missing horn at one end. I'll probably give it a very light weathering after all that. Both of these locos have been fitted with Soundtraxx Econami BR Diesel sound decoders, using class 37 sounds but with different horns selected, but they need better speakers fitted to complete that side of things. The photos show 10000 as bought, then after the transformation to an earlier time, together with 10001. P_20181226_132459_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200227_232650_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200227_232708_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tomlinson Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 (edited) That looks a great paint job Jeff, and the two go well together. Interesting touch with the different size crests. I've always liked these in the scheme you painted over, when on the WCML c.1957 - and no use for the SR at all - and would love Bachmann to do 10001 to match 10000. Not sure they ever will, but live in hope, as I fear the potential for cock-up changing the raised numbers is quite high if I try myself! John. Edited February 27, 2020 by John Tomlinson 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Thanks for the compliments, John. The paint job is all brush painted, except for the middle stripe and the raised numbers, where paint pens have come in very useful. Fortunately for me, both of those features are raised mouldings, so easier to pick out, with only a few slip-ups to retouch later. The photo shows a small slip on the stripe that I missed on my visual inspection at the front where I need just a touch of black to straighten it. I agree with you that simply renumbering with those raised numbers would be a nightmare. I think you would have to shave the lot off and add new raised (etched?) numbers, with the altered spacing to suit. Not a job I would contemplate. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
7APT7 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Hi SRman Very interesting layout, I like the building work you have done. I like that Blue and Orange Line 4-Car Set... unit 319 388, is that an Australia loco or older UK stock...? It look smart... Regards Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, 7APT7 said: Hi SRman Very interesting layout, I like the building work you have done. I like that Blue and Orange Line 4-Car Set... unit 319 388, is that an Australia loco or older UK stock...? It look smart... Regards Jamie Hi Jamie, The class 319 is a British unit. They started off in Network South East livery and were used on cross-Thames duties from places like Bedord and Luton to the north of London, to Sevenoaks and Brighton in the south (there were other destinations too). They are dual voltage units, switching from 25kV AC overhead pickup in the north to 750 V DC third rail in the south. In very recent times they have been displaced from Thameslink services and are in the north of England, with some being converted to dual mode units with diesel electric mode as well as straight electric working. Here's a photo of the earlier one I built in the earlier NSE livery as a class 319/1. These were refurbished later to become class 319/3 as in the Thameslink model. P_20190105_192234_vHDR_On (1) by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) For Jamie (7APT7) in particular, but anyone else who may be interested, there is a YouTube video of the voltage changeover occurring at Farringdon and City Thameslink stations. It includes classes 319, 377 and 700. It amazes me how quickly the pantographs drop on the newer units - no finesse, just a solid clunk as they drop like stones! On my models, I have used pantographs taken from two Bachmann class 350/1 units that I converted to class 450 units, which don't have pantos, only the recess where one could be fitted. As my class 319s are only expected to work on (imaginary) third rail, the pantographs are fixed down semi-permanently. The video is not mine, but here is the link: https://youtu.be/Icn7fujDDV4 Edited February 28, 2020 by SRman Fixed typo and added more information. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
7APT7 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 11 hours ago, SRman said: It amazes me how quickly the pantographs drop on the newer units - no finesse, just a solid clunk as they drop like stones! Hi SRman Thank you for that my friend, I guess they drop under gravity and if they weigh a ton... then, yes they will drop like a lead balloon. Interesting Link on YouTube, that was a great find, to show. Regards Jamie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 I got the hair dryer out today, and set the last of the Electra Railway Graphics SouthWest Trains vinyl overlays on the remaining coach of my Bratchell Models class 455/9 unit. For the first time ever, I can see all four coaches together in the same livery. This and the Thameslink class 319/3 still have no underframe equipment fitted, but both are fully runnable on the layout. I will have to apply the closer coupling arrangements to this unit, having worked it all out on the two class 319 units already. P_20200229_125116_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
7APT7 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Hi SRman Very colourful livery, I like the SWT livery... Looks really smart... 18 hours ago, SRman said: Trains vinyl overlays on the remaining coach of my Bratchell Models class 455/9 unit. How do you find the putting the vinyl overlays on a coach, are they straight forward or can they be a bit of a pain to get right or in the correct place...? Nice Work though... Regards Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) 35 minutes ago, 7APT7 said: Hi SRman Very colourful livery, I like the SWT livery... Looks really smart... How do you find the putting the vinyl overlays on a coach, are they straight forward or can they be a bit of a pain to get right or in the correct place...? Nice Work though... Regards Jamie Yes!!!! The vinyls can be a bit of a pain to put on because they are not always quite perfectly aligned with the windows and doors. This particular set for SWT was a bespoke job Adam did for me (still at his standard price, thankfully), but the vinyl can stretch slightly even during the printing process, and depending on the ambient temperature. There are bits that need me to touch them up with paint, but that is still a much easier job than sourcing all the lettering and numbering and adding separate lines for the livery elements. I have tended to manually paint the Stagecoach swirls around the fronts of units like this one and the class 450 units I did. The 455 fronts as seen in the photo are only on their first coats of painting, and I will be matching the blue a bit better for the final coats. For the sides of the 455, I actually split the overlays into three, to get better alignments with the windows, then trimmed the bits over and under the doorways. For the end wrap-arounds, I cut slits diagonally to allow for the multiple angles where cant rail meets coach end and side taper. Otherwise, the technique Adam recommends is to use a hair dryer to get the vinyl to soften and settle properly over details and changes of angle. The 2nd gen EMUs like the 455 have relatively smooth sides and it is mainly the raised window frames and changes of angle at the ends, plus the lifting points over the bogies that need working out, but when I used the class 153 overlays on the Hornby units, it took hours to get the vinyl to settle over all those raised rivets. I will also be drilling out the lights on the 455 and adding 'light tower' LEDs. Those will eventually be wired up to decoders and electrical pickups, but even when not connected, will look better than painted lights. P_20190108_221208_vHDR_On cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Edited March 1, 2020 by SRman Fixing typos. 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share Posted March 3, 2020 Last week I received some new models of SBB trains I had acquired second-hand from Ellis Clark Trains. Two of the three locomotives were either DCC-ready (Roco Ae 6/6 Co-Co) or already equipped with a DCC decoder (Lima Re 6/6 Tri-Bo). The third was an older Roco model, also an Ae 6/6 but was not DCC ready. I contemplated the circuit board for some time before working out how to convert the latter to DCC. This involved cutting a few tracks to separate the light circuits, and bypassing the track feeds altogether to go straight into the decoder (red and black wires), with the brush wires (orange and grey) also going directly to the brushes. I removed various redundant components, like the capacitor between the brushes, two chokes leading to the brushes, and the two diodes feeding the light bulbs. The light bulbs were replaced with cool white LEDs (I should have used warm white, but they are easily swapped later). I also soldered the changeover contact solid so it could not be accidentally switched to overhead pickup from the pantographs. I soldered the LEDs and resistors to the remaining appropriate pcb tracks, with the continuous one being connected to the blue positive wire, with the new resistors in circuit to the positive legs (shortened) on the LEDs, and the remaining negative legs (also shortened) soldered separately to the yellow and white wires. I used a 9-pin JST harness so I could try it all out with a cheap Gaugemaster decoder, before swapping it for something better. Unfortunately, I found the Gaugemaster OPTI to be on the large side for the available space and I cannot quite clip the body back on properly, yet. The main thing is, it proved my wiring and modifications were good, and it all worked as it should. More by luck than anything else, I got the lights working the correct way for the direction of travel (that would have been easy to correct if necessary, either with some CV tweaks to reverse them, or simply swapping the white and yellow wires). I may have to desolder the JST harness and solder a much smaller (and better quality) decoder in, but having worked it all out properly to start with, that should be a relatively quick and easy job. The first photo shows the chassis with all the mods and rather messy wiring. The decoder is tucked on its side down the side of one bogie (restricting the swing, but allowing me to get the body on sufficiently to take the remaining photos. This is Ae 6/6 Co-Co locomotive 11494, Schlieren, now available for service. Bear in mind that the body is not quite fully seated, so there is some light bleed at the side from the LED. Anyway, that has been my evening's work with the soldering iron, knife, and drill. P_20200303_234049_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200303_233952_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200303_233940_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr The remaining locos were Roco Ae 6/6 11454 Yverdon, and Lima Re 6/6 Bo+Bo+Bo 11637, which has a central can motor and flywheels driving the 8 wheels of the outer bogies, with the centre unpowered bogie floating. The older Roco loco and the Lima one were both less than £60 each. I also bought a set of five SBB coaches as a set for less than £85, so overall I think I got a good bargain, and great service from Ellis Clark Trains (no connection). 11454 had an 8-pin decoder socket, while 11637 had a JST harness hard-wired in, with an ancient Lenz 1025E decoder (still a bonus - currently swapped to a Gaugemaster OPTI one, but that too will be swapped for a DCC Concepts S4SAX decoder, still using the JST connector). P_20200226_150300_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200226_150247_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200226_150224_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr P_20200226_150214_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4EPBsmallavatar.thumb.jpg.340dedce76355ae3f1b7af830db7062f.jpg){kind=avatar}
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now