Jump to content
 

James Makin's Workbench - 1990s dirty diesels & grotty wagons


James Makin
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

A stack of containers and a pile of ballast where 33s, 37s , 47x and 50s once sat..... oh what the railways have become  :(

 

There are many people who would be upset with you James for putting 50s in the same company as Westerns and Deltics? I’m not one of them. I’m glad you had the chance. Cool aren’t they ;)

 

(old codger mode on) Back in my day they were sat in that yard on mk2 NSE stock waiting to run ECS to Waterloo. They were the days :) (old codger mode off)
 

Griff

.

 

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Glad you had a nice day out .

 

 

50s - yes , used to love them on GWML, broke up motony of HSTs and class 117 DMUs.

 

Distinctive noise , fantastic new livery ( LL) and great names . In all honesty they were a basket case for reliability though and despite the refurbishment they lasted only another decade .

 

strangely when I got back into railways , the Hornby 50 just didn’t seem to do it and I only ever brought one . I think we are crying out for a new 4mm version 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Really nice that .

I don’t think I ever saw any of the sector logos unfortunately , EWS was already painting what it thought had a future and everything else was scrapped by the time I got interested again 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Premium

Thanks so much for the nice comments guys!

 

Those RF diamonds were fun to tackle! It was one of those moments where I had a look at the faded ones that Fox Transfers do and looking back at 47314, realising they just weren't going to cut it! :lol:

 

There were quite a few absolute heaps of 47s still running about in 1998 in similar condition so I am tempted to tackle a few more of those in time, give something else to go on those MOD services!

 

Cheers,

James

 

  • Like 4
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
22 hours ago, geoff west said:

Maybe a bit early for your period, but 47 361 Wilton Endeavour was a regular through Didcot in 96 / 97

A Tinsley engine at the time  It was in a very sorry looking state in its very faded RFD livery. It would make a fun model to try and replicate.

 

Geoff.


Thanks Geoff, great shout! 

 

I only saw 47361 in its later Freightliner grey guise but have always admired its previous tatty RFD colours in pictures, especially the part on one side where there’s a ghosting of some BR arrows and it’s large bodyside numbers from the blue days poking through the grey, that would be a blast to model! Definitely a fun one for the ‘to do’ list one day!!

 

Cheers,

James

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

As a quick cheeky plug I’ve put together another feature for Railways Illustrated - this time on some of my ever-growing Virgin CrossCountry Class 47 fleet!

 

1F98C062-A125-4427-AB76-4485A20ECFE9.jpeg.39e1e08ca2b8bc653dbd0569d236feb9.jpeg

It’s in the latest October 2020 issue available online or “from all good newsagents” as the saying goes :lol:

I could literally bang on for hours about the glory days of the VXC 47s so it’s fun to do it in a glossy magazine..! 

 

Cheers,

James

  • Like 17
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On ‎19‎/‎08‎/‎2020 at 22:02, James Makin said:

Back to the toy trains!

 

50245661726_ff446af607_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Joining the fleet this week is heavyweight Trainload Coal stalwart 37894.

 

50245640371_571b773f0b_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

As touched on during previous projects, I adore the former Trainload colours of BR with their gorgeous sector flashes intact, but modelling the late 1990s means that I often have to make do with the mouldy leftover crumbs on the table, with the very best ones being either withdrawn, chopped or splashed into new colour schemes!

 

37894 was one of an elite band of '37's that wore Trainload Coal livery until the bitter end, and so had long attracted my attention for tackling at some stage - and now was the time. 

 

50245020543_33ffe01752_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The starting point was a 37796 Trainload Coal body purchased from Bachmann spares department to go on a cheap chassis I'd picked up from East Kent Models at a show last year - making for a nice bargain-basement project!

 

50245862537_90f82a6bfd_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Many detail changes needed to be made to the body to convert it from the split-headcode to the centre-box '37894, including new ends plugged in (sold by Rainbow Railways), roof horns added, styrene cantrail grille divider bars and the roof detailing being changed to suit the arrangement on the prototype loco. Shawplan's Extreme Etching roof grille was the final touch.

 

50245654436_ed3e552998_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Accompanied by some Lana, weathering started in earnest, the loco being in fairly clean condition, but with build up of dirt and rusty deposits in the grille areas. Brown paints and washes were applied to the body and wiped off in a vertical motion to leave dirt accumulated in the recesses on the body. 

 

50245009823_82561605ef_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Shades applied included washes of Humbrol's 186, 113 and 251 built up from light to dark.

 

50245006018_c0da843ac6_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37894's livery was also featured a number of paint chips, damages and rust spots, these were added on each side and yellow ends matched to prototype pics from 1998, using fine 00000 paintbrushes, essential tools in the modelling arsenal!

 

50245850847_8bfd5df052_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

One of the fun parts of the project was recreating the rusty scars left behind after the corporate BR arrows were removed from the cabsides, my method of recreating this being simply to use a leftover etched BR arrow and apply a bit of paint to the back of it, and press in place - essentially a metallic form of primary school potato printing!

 

50245849657_4cbb102f28_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The traffic weathering was applied with an airbrush, my usual mix of Phoenix shades from track dirt, frame dirt and then on the roof, various shades of 'roof dirt' and 'dirty black' before the finishing touch being a custom darker grey mixed with dark blue for the oily deposits in the exhaust grime.

 

Grilles were drybrushed with Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal (27004) and then rubbed to highlight the grille detail. Each nose end grille was rusted to match the prototype pics and it's interesting to see how these weather on the different 37s!

 

50245849102_2d4bbb9b53_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The real 37894 led an interesting life, being a longtime Welsh loco since the mid '80s, working out of Cardiff Canton for Trainload Coal and Petroleum sectors before being assigned to Transrail where thankfully it did not gain the infamous 'Big T' stickers! Under EWS ownership, the loco had a couple of French holidays in 1999 and 2004, before final repatriation and being left to rot, sadly meeting it's maker in 2008 by European Metal Recyling of Kingsbury. 

 

50245639516_4c0a2f4ec3_k.jpg37894 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

I'm so glad to have a Coal 37 in the fleet, it's been a long time coming! Although being a relative rarity in my chosen late 90s era, the famous black diamonds will be a very welcome change from the forlorn plain triple grey and shiny EWS locos!

 

Cheers,

James

Lovely work on these coal 37s James

,ive been doing few of these too on the workbench..

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Nice work James !

I too always found the 58's strangely appealing, probably because me and my Dad used to go to Doncaster every Wednesday night, so we saw most, if not all, of them before they even ventured out onto the network. :lol:

I can't really justify a model for the era & area I concentrate on, which explains why I've only got one........:P

 

Cheers,

Phil.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, James Makin said:

Here is the last model of the batch!

 

50352709293_2833ef61f2_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

I've always had a soft spot for the Class 58s and this one is very special indeed! Joining the fleet is of course, 58014 Didcot Power Station.

 

50353408886_af32325379_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Some years ago Hattons were doing a clearance sale on the Heljan Class 58 - £50 a pop and I bought a pair, the first one below in grey eventually being turned out as 58017 Eastleigh Depot, with the blue one being pugged away until now. 

 

50352696233_b6cef4ea48_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Looking very garish in it's bright blue factory colours, it was crying out to be properly weathered down!

 

To start with, some changes were made to reflect 58014, the Heljan orange warning line being moved further down onto the bodyside doors, renumbering with Fox Transfers, before being named using Brian's superb Shawplan Extreme Etchings nameplates.

 

50352689948_45da999142_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

After the usual coating of Humbrol matt varnish and being left to harden, the model was attacked with a variety of dark browns and greys. Weathering was greatly assisted by some early '80s Italian disco, perfect vintage for Class 58 projects!

 

50352678468_b09c34caa5_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Once the colours were wiped down with cotton buds soaked in enamel thinners, the bright Mainline blue colours were sufficiently muted and darker areas could be built up in the many panel gaps on the loco, and the frequent build up of oily dirt around the base of the doors too!

 

50353530782_576e71aca1_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The Heljan model was missing the visible 'crosses' on the main side grilles so these were added using neat paint, being masked off and applied to fill in some of the grille gaps.

 

50353528667_a8dd61bf57_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

One of the fun novelties with the Heljan 58s is the bufferbeam details are already applied, not a lot of work to do! My usual little metal hoop was added at one end so it can eventually be hauling trains - normally EWS 'Enterprise' or aggregate type jobs by my modelling period rather than classic MGR coal trains!

 

It almost goes without saying but the Didcot Power Station plates are the whole reason for modelling the loco..!

 

50353366021_3b306bc056_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Back in the early 1990s when travelling to visit the family in Didcot, in the back of the car on the A34, there would always be a very strong competition with my sisters to be the first one to see the tips of the infamous chimneys and much like a game of bingo, at the very top of the voice, the winner would have to shout 'Didcot Power Station'!!

 

50353522542_50dfe2430e_k.jpg58014 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The real loco would soldier on until withdrawal in November 2000, and eventual scrapping in 2010, being amongst the first batch to be chopped up at European Metal Recycling of Kingsbury. 

 

This project brings the latest batch of locos to a conclusion, with the workbench attention having now shifted back to some exciting work on wagons over the summertime, of which updates will come in due course!

 

Cheers,

James

Hi James, great work, I’ve done loads of these but only the one in mainline- 050 - want to do another now!you’ve done a cracking job on it, cheers Jerry

  • Like 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hi James,

 

I saw the magazine article, then realised your interest in Didcot Parkway - my local!

 

Your weathering is really impressive and I spent some time looking over your choice of models and whether I had seen them there myself.  The realistic nature of your weathering brought back many memories though especially one specific memory of 37684 'St Blaise Church...' stabled next to the station with really tatty nameplate and heavily worn paintwork as well as rust.  Perhaps a contender, though I am not sure of the year?

 

Perhaps the only loco named after the yard as far as I know - 37692 'Didcot Yard' in flint grey with coal sector branding and a painted on unofficial nameplate... now there would be one to see!  I believe it was around in 2004 but not sure when I first saw it at Didcot.

 

Keep up the great work - I'm hoping to try to learn to do such things myself, so it's good to see what can be done with lots of experience.

 

Cheers,

Ixion.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...