1722 Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Total agreement with everyone above. Excellent work. Those 37s in particular... Wow! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Fantastic. they’ll look great with some cooling towers behind ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted July 13, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 13, 2019 Wow thanks so much for all the likes and comments, that is really nice! I'm really looking forward to getting those 37s at the head of some grimy MOD or ballast train workings! Just need a load of faded VAA vans or some battered Barbels and we are away! On 11/07/2019 at 18:25, sb67 said: Not much I can say, they look absolutely amazing James! Do you use plain old matt white to fade, sloshed on then wiped away? Then presumably the next step covers any white that might be lodged in the crevices? Steve. Thanks Steve, I do use matt white for fading, either that or a light grey depending on how much fade you're looking for! The initial finish after the paint-on/wipe-off is extremely ghosty and more suited to something that's spent it's entire career shunting in a china clay works but once the next coatings of browns go on after this then those white crevices are covered and normality ensues! Cheers, James 2 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted July 13, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 13, 2019 (edited) Time for some lovely filthy old celebrities! Not Ulrika Jonsson or Carol Vorderman this time, but a pair of blue diesels..! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 Merddin Emrys and 60006 Scunthorpe Ironmaster are the latest to join the fleet, both being based on standard RTR models but with a little twist! The gorgeous British Steel Blue duo of 60006 and 60033 have always been favourites and remind me of my early days in the hobby, having gone to a real model shop and bagged a 60006 when Lima produced theirs, which coincided with the time I picked up my first Lima catalogue and realised that there was an amazing 'modern image' world out there alongside the toyshop items just found in the Hornby catalogues! As time went on, I was fascinated by weathering and dirtying my blue '60' to match a pic I'd seen in an issue of RAIL magazine around 1999. I was very new to airbrushing in 2000 when I plucked up the courage, and my old £9.99 Badger splatter gun kind of ruined it, but it was important practice that led on to better things eventually! So when I found a cheap, used, new-generation Hornby 60033 from Trains4U a couple of years back, I had to have it! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The starting point was to strip off the old numbers, using enamel thinners... 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr ...which as you can see, worked an absolute treat! The loco was then renumbered and new nameplates added to recreate 60006, complete with all of the cab details and fun from the previous Class 60s in the updates above, plus some funky bodyside weathering! I actually dug out that old RAIL Magazine I used as a kid (together with my 14-yr-old-self's painty fingerprints!) and tried again adding some streaking, and of course a good coating of traffic grime! And here we go...! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr I couldn't resist posting up a pic of my old 60006 for comparison, I was only 14 when I ruined this so please go easy!! 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr I guess if there is anything I've learnt in the last 19 years it's that a little restraint is sometimes a good thing! Next up was the other blue partner in crime; 47145 Merddin Emrys. I didn't actually see this loco until relatively late in it's career, stabled at Derby with 45112 in 2004, while at that time, the 'Duff' was deep in Fragonset ownership with dragon logos on the side! But my mate Mark (owner of 60090 above!) gave me a great deal on his old Bachmann Rails of Sheffield Ltd Edition version, which coincided with me finding some nice snaps of it on MOD traffic at Didcot in 1998, having been recently treated to 'Crewe-cut' cab modifications, losing a few of the fancy plaques and picking up a bit of dirt since its days as a Tinsley celebrity! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Naturally, Dua Lipa is the ideal soundtrack for creating any ex-Tinsley '47s', and I set to work cutting off the bottom of the cabs and swapping the original chassis for a cutaway bufferbeam version. Other small details had to be changed to update it from the Bachmann version - the black doors had become blue, there was more yellow around the top door window, the orange 'elephant trunk' multiple working sockets were added to the headcode panel ends, as well as the ornate plaques surrounding the nameplate & Tinsley plaque making way for plain blue and rusty boltholes! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Another subtle modification was the change of the running number decals, by 1998 it was applied in a small style, matching that of Res locomotives, and the BR arrows had changed to mini RfD Channel Tunnel roundel stickers. It was one of those models that became a 'Where's Wally?' job spotting the small detail changes that certainly aren't obvious at first glance - I planned this as just a quick weathering job at the outset! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr On one side the removal of the Tinsley depot plaques has left a nice silhouette of damaged paint on the end, while the ornate plaques that were once above and below the Merddin Emrys plate have long since gone. 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Stainless steel door kickplates were picked out in silver, together with the odd yellow axlebox (but not all of them!) - definitely keeps you on your toes! And the smart white-wall wheels from the 1994 Tinsley Open Day are nothing but a memory! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 sits nicely at home next to 37518 on Wells Green TMD 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr It was great fun bringing these two models to life, and a good dollop of nostalgia too! I bet you must be wondering what's coming next..? Cheers, James Edited July 13, 2019 by James Makin 23 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 8 hours ago, James Makin said: Time for some lovely filthy old celebrities! Not Ulrika Jonsson or Carol Vorderman this time, but a pair of blue diesels..! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 Merddin Emrys and 60006 Scunthorpe Ironmaster are the latest to join the fleet, both being based on standard RTR models but with a little twist! The gorgeous British Steel Blue duo of 60006 and 60033 have always been favourites and remind me of my early days in the hobby, having gone to a real model shop and bagged a 60006 when Lima produced theirs, which coincided with the time I picked up my first Lima catalogue and realised that there was an amazing 'modern image' world out there alongside the toyshop items just found in the Hornby catalogues! As time went on, I was fascinated by weathering and dirtying my blue '60' to match a pic I'd seen in an issue of RAIL magazine around 1999. I was very new to airbrushing in 2000 when I plucked up the courage, and my old £9.99 Badger splatter gun kind of ruined it, but it was important practice that led on to better things eventually! So when I found a cheap, used, new-generation Hornby 60033 from Trains4U a couple of years back, I had to have it! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The starting point was to strip off the old numbers, using enamel thinners... 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr ...which as you can see, worked an absolute treat! The loco was then renumbered and new nameplates added to recreate 60006, complete with all of the cab details and fun from the previous Class 60s in the updates above, plus some funky bodyside weathering! I actually dug out that old RAIL Magazine I used as a kid (together with my 14-yr-old-self's painty fingerprints!) and tried again adding some streaking, and of course a good coating of traffic grime! And here we go...! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr I couldn't resist posting up a pic of my old 60006 for comparison, I was only 14 when I ruined this so please go easy!! 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr I guess if there is anything I've learnt in the last 19 years it's that a little restraint is sometimes a good thing! Next up was the other blue partner in crime; 47145 Merddin Emrys. I didn't actually see this loco until relatively late in it's career, stabled at Derby with 45112 in 2004, while at that time, the 'Duff' was deep in Fragonset ownership with dragon logos on the side! But my mate Mark (owner of 60090 above!) gave me a great deal on his old Bachmann Rails of Sheffield Ltd Edition version, which coincided with me finding some nice snaps of it on MOD traffic at Didcot in 1998, having been recently treated to 'Crewe-cut' cab modifications, losing a few of the fancy plaques and picking up a bit of dirt since its days as a Tinsley celebrity! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Naturally, Dua Lipa is the ideal soundtrack for creating any ex-Tinsley '47s', and I set to work cutting off the bottom of the cabs and swapping the original chassis for a cutaway bufferbeam version. Other small details had to be changed to update it from the Bachmann version - the black doors had become blue, there was more yellow around the top door window, the orange 'elephant trunk' multiple working sockets were added to the headcode panel ends, as well as the ornate plaques surrounding the nameplate & Tinsley plaque making way for plain blue and rusty boltholes! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Another subtle modification was the change of the running number decals, by 1998 it was applied in a small style, matching that of Res locomotives, and the BR arrows had changed to mini RfD Channel Tunnel roundel stickers. It was one of those models that became a 'Where's Wally?' job spotting the small detail changes that certainly aren't obvious at first glance - I planned this as just a quick weathering job at the outset! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr On one side the removal of the Tinsley depot plaques has left a nice silhouette of damaged paint on the end, while the ornate plaques that were once above and below the Merddin Emrys plate have long since gone. 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Stainless steel door kickplates were picked out in silver, together with the odd yellow axlebox (but not all of them!) - definitely keeps you on your toes! And the smart white-wall wheels from the 1994 Tinsley Open Day are nothing but a memory! 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 sits nicely at home next to 37518 on Wells Green TMD 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47145 and 60006 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr It was great fun bringing these two models to life, and a good dollop of nostalgia too! I bet you must be wondering what's coming next..? Cheers, James Funny enough James I have techno music on when weathering up locos, great work above my frend... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Techno Neil ? You’d have to have Eiffel65 for 98 then !da da da da da bee great work as ever James. It’s all a bit too much for me , filthy celebs ( locos) and carol Vorderman all in the same sentence. Im going for a lie down in a dark room. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37403 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Fantastic stuff James, the last batch of 37s are particularly nice. Keep up the good work. Can we expect more tractor action in your next post? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted July 20, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2019 Next up is a cheeky pair of '67's! 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr These locos are very much cutting edge and coming in right near the end of my modelling period, you can keep your '68's; this is as new as it gets! 67002 and 67008 have joined the fleet, both of course being based upon the newer Hornby model, subjected to a spot of renumbering and light service weathering. The EWS 67s had a troubled start, with pioneer 67003 being delivered from Valencia but subsequently found to be overweight and requiring modifications before they could start, I remember it being many months after reading in RAIL about the first one being delivered before ever getting to see any on the network with my own eyes! 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Both are from the original Hornby 67001 release, the lower one having already seen several years' service on Loftus Road pulling former Res Railnet postal vans and PCVs in its original guise until the long-overdue renumbering finally occurred. Choosing the numbers was easy, 67008 was a Didcot spotting regular, meanwhile 67002 established itself as my absolute favourite from early doors...I'm sure many here will recall the infamous Lawrence Hill crash in 2000; the spectacular sight of a gorgeous brand new loco perched precariously atop a broken HAA coal wagon having smashed into the rear of an Avonmouth coal train, and been carried along before piling into a road overbridge! Similar to my model of 67017 Arrow a few years ago on this thread, the Hornby printed lettering and numbers were tricky to remove using thinners and other solutions, so I repainted the EWS Gold stripe, and gave the loco a good gloss varnish covering ready for the transfer application stage. 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr With help from a bit of HAIM, the Modelmaster decals were individually cut and applied to the heavily ribbed bodysides, and plenty of Microscale Microsol & Microset were used to soften the decals to sit properly in the ribs. In the photo you can see the difference between the completed 67008's decals sitting in the ribs compared to 67002's decals that have just been placed over the model. While applying the softening solutions the decals will often crinkle, but the key is not to panic too much as they normally uncrinkle once the solution dries! 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr A coating of Railmatch Matt Varnish was applied after, and then the traffic weathering applied over the top, including attention to the silencer to get a slightly textured rough finish prior to the weathering taking place. The airdams and pipes were added, with a wire loop fitted at one end to allow it to continue hauling the Railnet trains on Loftus Road. 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr You can see here just how heavily ribbed the sides of the Hornby model is! It is amazing also how good the Microscale products are at getting the decals to sit right in those deep grooves. 67002 and 67008 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr A good quick project to get these looking how they should, and ready for action representing the newest beasts out there in the red empire! Cheers, James 17 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted July 20, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) I'm too young to remember the 1980s British Rail era of proper loco haulage before 'Sprinterisation' but for me as a late '90s spotter, the nearest thing you could get to that were the superb ILRA pool of Virgin Cross Country Class 47s on the loco-hauled services that connected all corners of the UK prior to Virgin's widely-criticised Operation Princess fleet & timetable overhaul of 2001-2002. A day's spotting at a key location like Reading, Crewe or Birmingham New Street could yield a parade of tens of these incredible life-extended Brush beasts in a short time - those were the days! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Long-term readers will remember I recreated a batch of these Bachmann 47s in the bright Virgin red & grey colours back in 2017, now here comes 47840 NORTH STAR to redress the balance in its iconic Intercity livery. The starting point was the Bachmann 'Fire Fly' release of a few years ago, several of which I pugged away when Rails of Sheffield were flogging off at £49.99 each on eBay, one of the last few genuine brand new bargains that I can recall! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Firstly, the body was removed and preparations made for renumbering, being a straightforward job I elected to leave in the glazing and simply apply Humbrol Maskol over the top, this lazy bodge ensures that you never get the sometimes-challenging issue of the glazing not re-fitting so well once the extra layers of varnish have been applied as part of the modelling process! As with the other locos, the body was gloss varnished to give a good background for the Fox waterside transfers, with Shawplan nameplates applied using varnish as an adhesive, and a final layer of Railmatch Matt Varnish to seal it all in, before leaving the body for a month or so to harden prior to weathering. I set to work adding a wash over the body, to highlight dirt in some key places that are not reached by the regular carriage washing machines, as well as enabling a couple of fresh dirty oil-soaked rain streaks down the side to really take the edge off that once-smart Intercity livery that had fallen from favour and was fast being eradicated from the system. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The dark grey was wiped off using cotton buds soaked in enamel thinners, working reasonably quickly to ensure the matt varnish layer beneath didn't lift, the month-long hardening period certainly helped though! After this, the loco was given a final coat of varnish to seal everything in, reassembled and airbrush weathered with the big batch of locos. Cab detailing was added, including a driver and a copy of The Sun on the driver's desk! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The prototype NORTH STAR was one of the former Western Region 'namers' and chosen as it was a regular 'everyday' loco carrying Intercity livery quite late (to 2000) and not achieving default 'celebrity' status like 47826 Springburn which kept Intercity until the end of VXC operations. By 1999-2000, 47840's livery was largely intact but had a few battle scars, rust pockets and some white and yellow undercoat spots showing through in places - it was definitely deserving of it's new Virgin red colour scheme applied by 2001! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr One of the fun parts was carefully pouring over dozens of Flickr photos taken during 1999 to monitor exactly where the tiny peeling paint spots were on the bodyside, and faithfully replicating them using a 00000 brush. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Although primarily intended for Loftus Road and my new Didcot layout; the Virgin workhorse can be seen first in action on Wells Green TMD, pulling in for fuelling and servicing - 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The loco had an interesting life after this, firstly receiving Virgin red livery, then being selected by to wear British Rail blue as part of the 2002 Virgin farewell celebrations where many of the surviving locos received heritage repaints. By a miracle, 47840 survived the devastation of the 'Bodysnatcher' massacre where most Virgin ILRA-pool class members were rebuilt as the soulless, anonymous Class 57/3 'Thunderbird' locomotives. Happily for 47840, it soldiered on intact and soon entered preservation where it was returned to original guise as D1661 on the West Somerset Railway. 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr For the photos, I couldn't resist getting out some of my other ILRA pool fleet members; 47702 County of Suffolk stables alongside 47840 NORTH STAR. The irony being 47702 is actually an EWS-owned locomotive on hire to Virgin, and painted in their livery, whereas 47840 is a Virgin loco clinging onto Intercity! 47840 by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Another great fun nostalgia project, and perfect to sit at the head of my Virgin Cross Country Mk2 coach rake on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road, there's still a few well-loved ILRA Brush colleagues that I'm looking to model still, so it is always going to be tricky to decide which loco gets to haul the set at exhibitions! Cheers, James Edited July 20, 2019 by James Makin 22 1 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shed Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Quality job on the 47 best livery they carried 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted July 22, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2019 It's time for some absolute Class 37 Royalty here! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are Scottish stalwarts 37409 Loch Awe and 37410 Aluminium 100 both in colourful Transrail livery. The ETH-fitted 37/4s almost seem like celebrities themselves, the amount of time they hog full page spreads in railway magazines and the sheer volume of models that have been produced over the years. It's almost like that freight 37s don't exist! Dating right back to when I first started in the hobby I was grabbed by some of the beautiful pictures of these two machines working in the Scottish Highlands and was determined to model these one day...albeit some 20 years on! They've travelled far and wide across Scotland on SRPS railtours and, certainly individually, 37410 has been recorded as having made the long trip down to Didcot in my era, so that was enough for me to reach for the paints and scalpels to recreate a handsome Scottish duo! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The starting point was a couple of secondhand Bachmann 37/4s - picked up for about £50 each just a couple of years back - it's amazing what you can find on club secondhand stalls if you swoop in! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Much like many other Bachmann locos, the Railfreight sector printing came off with a mix of thinners and scraping with a curve-bladed scalpel, to take the bodies back to plain triple grey, before being varnished. IMG_0237409 and 37410 by James Makin54 by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Nameplates were added, these being sourced from Fox and applied using Railmatch varnish - the reason being that it gives plenty of time to line them up, nothing worse than a wonky nameplate! Any overspill is then disguised when the final layer of varnish is applied. 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Now having been varnished, the loco bodies were left to one side, before the attack began! As part of the Transrail livery, I gather many locomotives actually received full repaints of their old BR triple-grey paintwork, which could explain why the liveries of the Scottish pair are so much more intact than the previous Railfreight sector set of Class 37s I tackled, despite both sets of locos modelled in late 90s condition. So when it came to the weathering, I'm recreating a body in reasonable condition but with dirt stains and the odd bit of cosmetic rust, nothing too entrenched unlike the others before! Humbrol 32 dark grey was applied liberally over the entire model and then rubbed off vertically to represent where rainfall has dragged dirty particles down the side of the loco and dried on. 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's always a scary moment doing this as your lovely pristine model has gone forever and you are at the mercy of the thinners and some cotton buds to get it looking normal again! The worst nightmare would be for all your varnish, decals and paint to lift! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Fortunately it was going well and above you can see the difference, the left side has been worked on and the right hand side simply wiped with kitchen towel to get the worst off, cotton buds soaked in thinners to different degrees will help leave the vertical streaking on the body just where you want it. Then after that, it was a case of adding more rusty marks, reassembling, adding traffic grime and away we go! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I especially like the tiny variety in the two locos, there's a larger '409' on the front of one yellow end, whilst 37410 sports a BR Scottish Region blue 'hotdog' sign stuck to its No.2 end headcode panel at one point. I wonder who's it was? It's certainly famous, having featured in thousands of photographs over the years it was on there! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I've long wanted to model 37410 and part of the reason was the Motherwell depot plaques - just love that anvil! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Another thing I liked doing with the weathering was something brilliant I'd noticed in the shot, a dirty watery oily leak had come down from one of the grilles, run down the side but where it reached the texture of the nameplate, it diverted the flow to the side and down the right hand side of the nameplate, got to be modelled..! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr For the second loco, I'll admit I was torn between a few different Transrail candidates. 37406 The Saltire Society was a very strong contender, as was the more anonymous 37424. However, 37409 Loch Awe won through as I've always loved short powerful name, the short length of the nameplate and unusual plate positioning - splitting the two shades of grey, rather than being lower down like on most Railfreight sector locos. It helped also that the '409 used to regularly feature in copies of RAIL Magazine at the head of Intercity-liveried sleeper trains in beautiful landscape, what more could anyone want?! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Something interesting about my model of the loco is that it's actually mounted on a dummy chassis. Given that many of these locos were seen in pairs on railtours, I modelled '409 & '410 with this in mind, and so instead of having to worry about DCC-consisting, the ideal of using some of my spare chassis up, everything fitted into place. I had some spare original-style Bachmann 37 chassis parts from when I used to remotor Lima Class 60s back in the day, so the remaining bits were put together to make this rolling chassis - 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr All I needed was a new metal chassis block from Bachmann, which they kindly supplied for £14 from their spares department, and that was it! The bogie towers from the old Bachmann 37 had the gears removed so it all freewheels, and the extra weight removed from the fuel tank to keep it as light as possible. So it can now either double head or 'top & tail' a railtour set with minimal fuss, and I've got a fully working brand new Bachmann 37 chassis to use under another body when I manage to track one down from East Kent Models at a show sometime - love it when there's a rare moment that a project works out!! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's a hook and bar coupling that connects the two, the protruding hook is on '409, with '410 having a double bar wire loop that traps this in so it can fully shunt in double headed mode without any buffer locking or damage to the bufferbeam pipework. 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Of course Scottish locos are a little bit easier to justify on my Crewe-based Wells Green TMD than the 150-odd miles further south in deepest Oxfordshire! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I'm really satisfied with finally knuckling down and getting on modelling these, like many of the other 37s they are locos that I'd planned to model for many years now and had just been putting off! The Bachmann '37' has numerous shortcomings that are often very tricky to correct, the windscreens, bogies and the ride height being just a few if going further with the project, but hopefully a little weathering here and there helps make these a decent stopgap until something eventually comes along from the new generation of manufacturers! 37409 and 37410 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Coming soon, there is some slightly more modern traction, but hopefully no less interesting than these Scottish beasties! Cheers, James 21 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Adrian Stevenson Posted July 22, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 22, 2019 Superb! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JiLo Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Bloody lovely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Super job as ever ! Well impressed to see loch awe . This took me to fort William in 1998, so became my fav jockanese 37. I’ve posted these before but...here it is. I contemplated doing a layout based on the area, but with just 37s , 2 freights and one loco hauled a day it had limited operational interest. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Fantastic work James! You really should bring out a book, I love the way you show the method using photo's and your attention to detail is stunning. I love the ''hot dog'' label and the stain diverted by the nameplate. Have you ever tried using acrylic paints for weathering and what do you use for your overall traffic grime mix? Apologies if the questions have been asked before. Steve. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted July 24, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2019 Love the pics of ‘409 Rob! On 23/07/2019 at 06:01, sb67 said: Fantastic work James! You really should bring out a book, I love the way you show the method using photo's and your attention to detail is stunning. I love the ''hot dog'' label and the stain diverted by the nameplate. Have you ever tried using acrylic paints for weathering and what do you use for your overall traffic grime mix? Apologies if the questions have been asked before. Steve. Haha thanks Steve! I’ve got some reason never got into acrylics yet, mainly as I’ve always had a big collection of Humbrols since I was a kid doing my first messy Airfix Spitfire kits and just kept adding to it ever since! I keep meaning to have a go with some of these other products you see guys using online, these Mig things and special powders etcs but just never got round to it yet haha! Seems easier to stick with what you know but guess always good to experiment!! For the traffic grime mix I’m mainly using Phoenix weathering shades or whatever similar I’ve got in the collection, I’ll typically start with a light rusty brown on the chassis and base, then go darker with their Phoenix “track dirt” “sleeper grime” and so on, then on the roof I’ll start with “roof dirt” shade followed by “dirty black” and then for the actual immediate exhaust port area I’ll make my own mix of very dark grey with a dab of dark blue for that final oily exhaust effect! Hope that helps! James 1 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Cheers James, some of the products are very appealing but if you're getting the effects you get using plain enamels there's no need to change. I'd like to move away from enamel paints, I've dabbled a bit but for things like washes I've yet to find good alternatives. I want to try using your methods and colours but try it with purely Humbrol acrylics, might have to work on smaller areas though as the drying time is quicker. Steve. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Acrylics are great for detail work and for resprays, but just don’t have the control you get from enamels or oils, and can stain when using techniques like James’ I’ve found - you just can’t wipe them off the same way! James, those 37s are wonderful. Always something inspiring in your thread - thanks! 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted July 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2019 I don't know what it is about the Class 67 but I still rather like them. I think a model of 67003 in ex works EWS might just slip into my autumn plans, all be it a model using a Lima shell as a basis along with my custom etches. Winter 1999 isn't too far out of my time frame... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy water Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 On 22/07/2019 at 22:03, rob D2 said: Super job as ever ! Well impressed to see loch awe . This took me to fort William in 1998, so became my fav jockanese 37. I’ve posted these before but...here it is. I contemplated doing a layout based on the area, but with just 37s , 2 freights and one loco hauled a day it had limited operational interest. This is what I call a proper enthusiast picture! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted July 28, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 28, 2019 (edited) Next up in the big dirty diesel buffet is 60081 Isambard Kingdom Brunel... 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's probably a bit of a cliché now, every layout's got one, but one more isn't going to hurt! As a youngster reading RAIL Magazine I was captivated by the unveiling of 60081, I wasn't able to get to the EWS Old Oak Common open weekend in August 2000 in person, but devoured every bit of the bumper edition of the magazine covering the back story of transforming the Transrail 60081 Bleaklow Hill into its new celebrity green identity, and the trials and tribulations of matching the correct GWR paints, linings and the logistics of getting it painted without breaking cover! That must be nigh on impossible today with everyone having a smartphone at a moment's reach! Fox Transfers quickly released a decal pack for the loco and I set to work repainting a Lima '60' - all went well except the lining transfers which seemed ridiculously tricky for my 14-yr old clumsy fingers! I eventually gave up and still have a pathetic wonky attempt laying around somewhere! But when Rail Express magazine chose 60081 for a Hornby Ltd Edition then I snapped it up...and promptly ended up keeping it boxed and unused for well over a decade! 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr With one of my main 2019 resolutions being to blitz through the 'quick win' projects and push these stored toys into service, the box was opened for about only the second time since getting the loco, and together with a bit of London Grammar, it was time to get to work! Shawplan produced the etched nameplates for the REX Ltd Edition but there were no plaques or golden EWS 'beasties' included, so I ordered the Fox Transfers 60081 nameplate pack to get these, although, lucky I had the Shawplan version of the main nameplate - note the difference in shape of the long Fox plate vs the prototype...buyer beware! 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr With plates stuck down, the model was varnished and left, before receiving a simple wash over with dark grey. There's some great photos on Flickr showing the loco's 'in-service' condition in late 2000-2001, this being a bit of a difference compared to it's Old Oak Common debut earlier in the Summer! 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr A driver was added at the leading end, with a cheeky newspaper on the dashboard and window blinds modelled from offcuts of grey card. 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The exhaust silencer was treated to my usual mix of rusty browns and talcum powder to add a tiny bit of texture, before being subjected to the overall exhaust weathering. 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr And with that, it was ready for service! A really nice simple quick win project, it's fun to pick up a dusty box and give it a blitz rather than flogging it on eBay or leaving it to rot for another decade! The real thing of course is awaiting a similar turn of fortune, having infamously wrecked itself, putting a 'leg out of bed' sometime around 2005, resulting with a dent in the side and the engine room door being blown out! Last I checked, the loco was still fading away at the head of the Toton Class 60 "scrapline" - it'd be very interesting to see if it will ever run again. 60081 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Cheers, James Edited July 28, 2019 by James Makin 31 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Departmental203 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Excellent work as usual James... Jules 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 More great work narrowly missed out on one of these last week david 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty11 Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Fantastic work James as always! Interestingly enough, the real '081 is now up for sale. Sadly it's tipped by quite a few to be one of the first to meet its maker, having already been stripped by EWS/DB and the local chavs. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted July 29, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2019 28 minutes ago, Swifty11 said: Fantastic work James as always! Interestingly enough, the real '081 is now up for sale. Sadly it's tipped by quite a few to be one of the first to meet its maker, having already been stripped by EWS/DB and the local chavs. Oh if only I had the money and space...new 70ft metal layout room in the back garden..! 3 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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