RMweb Premium James Makin Posted October 28, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2020 1 hour ago, 97403_Ixion said: 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. Thanks so much, that’s very kind! Got to love Didcot and good to hear you’re a local! I’m from the sunny south coast but having family there inevitably meant numerous visits and from the late ‘90s onwards, the prospect of being allowed to stray off unaccompanied and walk down from the Ladygrove estate to the station for a quick hour or two’s spotting was the highlight of any visit! There’s so many good 37s that visited Didcot! As you mentioned, 37674 ‘St Blaise Church’ is definitely one for the hitlist, I’m tending to model the late 90s and the loco came to Didcot a few times then so it’d fit in nicely with its tatty plates! 37692 would be awesome to model with its unique dark grey livery but sadly a little too ‘late’ for my modelling period so would be one that got away though! There’s a few more 37s I kept seeing which have got to be modelled some day, dreary plain triple-grey 37676 kept turning up, as did the repeatedly re-named ‘school’ 37717, revised-EWS heavyweight 37712 and 37503 in original EW&S colours with gorgeous snowploughs! Alongside that was many tatty 47s and oodles of fairly anonymous Class 60s, most often I’d turn up on a grey drizzly Sunday afternoon to be greeted with a wall of grey, unnamed, unbranded 60s! The best part for me was always the HSTs, just hearing those Valentas screaming flat out through the station at 125 was the reason it left such a mark on my young self and why I kept begging parents and relatives for just another hour more down the station..! I’m hoping I can do it justice, I’ll likely setup another thread once layout progress has got that far, but you can see the stock taking shape through these pages until then! Cheers, James 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempfix Rich Papper Posted October 29, 2020 Tempfix Share Posted October 29, 2020 Hi James, Looking good as usual James, I'm lining up a 58 for my next project - appropriately enough 58014 Didcot Power Station. I spent most of my time at Didcot a few years before you, but regularly travelled through during your period. One of my favorites to look for was this chap: (from Flickr - not my picture) I often saw this around 1998/99. Sometimes at Didcot, and at least once at Swindon (must have been a night time journey!). At some later point somebody scrawled 'Didcot Taxis' and a phone number high up on the bonnet. I'll try to do it justice one day! Rich 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted October 30, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 30, 2020 On 29/10/2020 at 15:04, Rich Papper said: Hi James, Looking good as usual James, I'm lining up a 58 for my next project - appropriately enough 58014 Didcot Power Station. I spent most of my time at Didcot a few years before you, but regularly travelled through during your period. One of my favorites to look for was this chap: (from Flickr - not my picture) I often saw this around 1998/99. Sometimes at Didcot, and at least once at Swindon (must have been a night time journey!). At some later point somebody scrawled 'Didcot Taxis' and a phone number high up on the bonnet. I'll try to do it justice one day! Rich Thanks Rich, I‘m looking forward to seeing your 58 come together, ‘014 was definitely the star of the fleet haha! I do love the 08 there, that is a great shout to do so thanks for that! The Didcot Taxis piece is class I saw another faded blue 08 at one stage too, 08904 I think, which would be good to do, can’t beat a bit of Banger Blue! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted November 1, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted November 1, 2020 Hi guys, After tackling all the above locos, this year through the (first) lockdown and the Summer, I thought I'd have a bash at personalising my OTA timber wagon fleet, and now here we are! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As most wagons are fairly similar in condition, instead of spending years going through and giving wagon-by-wagon updates, instead is an overall summary and a 21-wagon timber bonanza! Similar to the first two tackled in the original update, all of these are from the Hornby stable, and then painted and weathered to represent various different ones seen across photos on Flickr. The starting point was usually to dismantle the wagon, the wheels are fitted with Colin Craig brake discs and weathered, while attention turns to weathering the deck, the ends and the side stanchions. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Various Humbrol paint shades are used for the weathering, Humbrols 62, 186, 113, 133, 258 and 32 all come in handy, along with other shades of browns and greys as required. Recommended listening for all OTA weathering projects is the solo album from ex-Girls Aloud redhead Nicola Roberts (the best one really). Now when it comes to OTAs, most normal people like to use it as a great reason to have fun chopping up tiny logs and running loaded trains, but when I did see OTAs occasionally at Didcot Yard and varying other places, more often than not they were empty, so it seemed fun to model them without loads, weather all the wagon interior and recreate the load strapping from bits of cut up masking tape. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's many different colours used on the prototype, I simple painted some Tamiya tape on both sides and then when dry, slit with a craft knife to about a 1mm width (match to photos) and then glued on to the deck of the finished wagons, twisting here and there to get the often-curled appearance of the fabric straps. All my Hornby OTAs were either the EWS or teal green releases, but the real things wear a coat of many colours, so here's a few of the versions I tackled: OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Up first is the irresistible blue of the former Thames Board OTAs, my take on the faded livery being some of the old Railmatch 'British Steel Blue' from the Class 60s. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Some of the stanchions were modelled as missing and generally weathered to a battered appearance, drybrushing browns from light to dark around the raised edges until satisfied. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The underframes were weathered by mottling on a mix of greys and blacks and browns, with finishing touches like the yellow axlebox covers to complete. While going through pics, I spotted some OTAs with low flat ends, so did a bodged cut job on my Hornby model, to replicate these faded Railfreight red versions: OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's extra stanchions & supports on each side too, added from various bits of styrene strip and angled plastics. The planked decks were just painted in an array of browns and greys, weathered with drybrushed greys, before the load strapping is secured on top. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Next up of course is the lovely EWS versions! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr While most are very similar, I spotted variations in wagons with some having faded or repainted stanchions, while there's plenty of opportunities to have fun battering the parts clobbered by numerous logs! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The decks on the refurbished EWS versions are metal plated, and so weathered slightly differently from the wooden plank versions. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Layers of light and dark browns and greys are mottled on, and effort gone in some cases to replicate the weathered on the flooring where the load has been sitting, or where rainwater gathers in dents on the floor, all subtle variations that can be seen in real life. Humbrol gunmetal grey is drybrushed across the floor to highlight the checkerplate texture. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The inner ends also seem to get a good battering as well by all the logs! Some of the ends are either painted in body colour, or a light grey or browns, photos show a wide variety of styles. Then, a range of browns and greys are stippled on with a large brush until the desired effect appears. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Finally, I had to model some of the attractive teal coloured ones too! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The original Hornby colour is retained but changes once weathered, flattened and muted under shades of browns and rust patches. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Again, significant weathering was done to the stanchions and deck planks to get the full effect of lots of log bashing! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been great fun putting these all together during the extra modelling time this Spring & Summer, and blasting through a 21 wagon-rake in just a few months is a new speed record for me so far! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As we now enter another lockdown it'll be interesting to see what gets blitzed next, I've got a stack of Parkside 'Barbel' wagon kits looking right at me..! Cheers, James 20 25 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 The ones with the 'square' ends were the first conversions, using OCAs as a basis. Weren't there also some dark green ones, sponsored by the Forestry Commission? Nice job on the weathering; I did a few double-takes, as I thought they were real wagons, not models. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
South-East Rail Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Excellent work as always, James! Ed 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Phil Mc Posted November 1, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 1, 2020 Liking the look of these James. All the same, but different. Which is just how a 'uniform' rake of wagons should be ! Cheers, Phil. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BigDee Posted November 1, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 1, 2020 Stunning 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Departmental203 Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 4 hours ago, James Makin said: Hi guys, After tackling all the above locos, this year through the (first) lockdown and the Summer, I thought I'd have a bash at personalising my OTA timber wagon fleet, and now here we are! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As most wagons are fairly similar in condition, instead of spending years going through and giving wagon-by-wagon updates, instead is an overall summary and a 21-wagon timber bonanza! Similar to the first two tackled in the original update, all of these are from the Hornby stable, and then painted and weathered to represent various different ones seen across photos on Flickr. The starting point was usually to dismantle the wagon, the wheels are fitted with Colin Craig brake discs and weathered, while attention turns to weathering the deck, the ends and the side stanchions. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Various Humbrol paint shades are used for the weathering, Humbrols 62, 186, 113, 133, 258 and 32 all come in handy, along with other shades of browns and greys as required. Recommended listening for all OTA weathering projects is the solo album from ex-Girls Aloud redhead Nicola Roberts (the best one really). Now when it comes to OTAs, most normal people like to use it as a great reason to have fun chopping up tiny logs and running loaded trains, but when I did see OTAs occasionally at Didcot Yard and varying other places, more often than not they were empty, so it seemed fun to model them without loads, weather all the wagon interior and recreate the load strapping from bits of cut up masking tape. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's many different colours used on the prototype, I simple painted some Tamiya tape on both sides and then when dry, slit with a craft knife to about a 1mm width (match to photos) and then glued on to the deck of the finished wagons, twisting here and there to get the often-curled appearance of the fabric straps. All my Hornby OTAs were either the EWS or teal green releases, but the real things wear a coat of many colours, so here's a few of the versions I tackled: OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Up first is the irresistible blue of the former Thames Board OTAs, my take on the faded livery being some of the old Railmatch 'British Steel Blue' from the Class 60s. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Some of the stanchions were modelled as missing and generally weathered to a battered appearance, drybrushing browns from light to dark around the raised edges until satisfied. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The underframes were weathered by mottling on a mix of greys and blacks and browns, with finishing touches like the yellow axlebox covers to complete. While going through pics, I spotted some OTAs with low flat ends, so did a bodged cut job on my Hornby model, to replicate these faded Railfreight red versions: OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's extra stanchions & supports on each side too, added from various bits of styrene strip and angled plastics. The planked decks were just painted in an array of browns and greys, weathered with drybrushed greys, before the load strapping is secured on top. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Next up of course is the lovely EWS versions! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr While most are very similar, I spotted variations in wagons with some having faded or repainted stanchions, while there's plenty of opportunities to have fun battering the parts clobbered by numerous logs! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The decks on the refurbished EWS versions are metal plated, and so weathered slightly differently from the wooden plank versions. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Layers of light and dark browns and greys are mottled on, and effort gone in some cases to replicate the weathered on the flooring where the load has been sitting, or where rainwater gathers in dents on the floor, all subtle variations that can be seen in real life. Humbrol gunmetal grey is drybrushed across the floor to highlight the checkerplate texture. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The inner ends also seem to get a good battering as well by all the logs! Some of the ends are either painted in body colour, or a light grey or browns, photos show a wide variety of styles. Then, a range of browns and greys are stippled on with a large brush until the desired effect appears. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Finally, I had to model some of the attractive teal coloured ones too! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The original Hornby colour is retained but changes once weathered, flattened and muted under shades of browns and rust patches. OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Again, significant weathering was done to the stanchions and deck planks to get the full effect of lots of log bashing! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been great fun putting these all together during the extra modelling time this Spring & Summer, and blasting through a 21 wagon-rake in just a few months is a new speed record for me so far! OTA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As we now enter another lockdown it'll be interesting to see what gets blitzed next, I've got a stack of Parkside 'Barbel' wagon kits looking right at me..! Cheers, James Wow, James this weathering is amazing attention to detail! I especially like the chipped paint on the inner ends, you'd be streched to see if it's a model or the real thing! Keep it up! Jules 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 More top work James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasatcopthorne Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hello James. Could I take you back, please, to your recent two Class 58s. For the underframe weathering, have a mixed a colour yourself or found a suitable single Humbrol one to obtain the finish please? Cheers Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted November 16, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 16, 2020 1 hour ago, dasatcopthorne said: Hello James. Could I take you back, please, to your recent two Class 58s. For the underframe weathering, have a mixed a colour yourself or found a suitable single Humbrol one to obtain the finish please? Cheers Dave Hi Dave! I’ve used a variety of shades to build up the finished effect, firstly the whole chassis was painted Humbrol 32 dark grey (as backup to avoid exposing black plastic in case any top coat weathering gets knocked off in handling/exhibition ‘shunting’!) and then I’ll run airbrush coats over of Phoenix’s weathering shades, their ‘brake dust’, ‘track dirt’ and ‘dirty black’ shades to finish. Hope this helps! I’ve got some more 58s sitting in boxes so I’ll have to tackle these soon and will get some more pics as they progress! Cheers, James 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel Rail Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 On 17/09/2020 at 22:33, Squirrel Rail said: 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 My 58 envy has subsided- not blue but 033 with the high body stripe- look forward to your next one! 7 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted November 19, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 19, 2020 9 hours ago, Squirrel Rail said: My 58 envy has subsided- not blue but 033 with the high body stripe- look forward to your next one! Looking mighty fine there! It’s nice to see the original-style font is right there too, I noticed Olivias have been pumping out batches with some very questionable fonts in recent years! ‘033 is a good one, on my distant modelling radar as I remember seeing pics of it with the bodyside doors mixed up, so the lettering on the side read “&WES” Cheers, James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrel Rail Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 6 minutes ago, James Makin said: Looking mighty fine there! It’s nice to see the original-style font is right there too, I noticed Olivias have been pumping out batches with some very questionable fonts in recent years! ‘033 is a good one, on my distant modelling radar as I remember seeing pics of it with the bodyside doors mixed up, so the lettering on the side read “&WES” Cheers, James Hi James, I had Steve at Railtec do me the numbers as I had to move the gold band up for 033 and you're spot on about the fonts...hmmm I love the idea of &WES but this was a bit earlier in its life before half the paint fell off and it auditioned for countdown! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted November 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted November 20, 2020 Aside from wagon projects, the lockdown has given some extra time to tackle other long-outstanding projects, including these two Duffs! 47712 and 47785 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Long-term readers may remember these, they aren't new-to-fleet, I repainted both of these back in 2013 from the Bachmann model, and they've been working away earning their keep on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road for the past seven years. However, I've been meaning to put in better coupling hoops for some time and had been putting off for so long, so lockdown proved the ideal time to just get on with it! 47712 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr In line with all my locos, I put in wire hoops from 0.6mm wire, but the trouble with the original hoops is that they were a bit too narrow so caused challenges derailing longer wagons and coaches navigating the curves in the Loftus Road fiddle yard. So, out with the old and in with the new! 47712 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Nowadays I have found a hoop that is as wide as the buffers, is ideal for the curves and stock, so this will now run happily ever after..! I also took the opportunity to strip down the loco, give it a good clean and reassemble. 47712 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Although only a quick maintenance job, I thought I'd give the locos a 'modern' photoshoot, my old pics back in 2013 had terrible backgrounds and had also been deleted by Flickr over the years as they imposed the 1,000 pic hosting limit to force you to upgrade (or be a cheapskate and do like what I have done and create multiple accounts..!) - any excuse to feature a splash of glorious Fragonset black again too! 47785 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47785 Fiona Castle was the second of the locos given a quick spruce up, again just a new coupling hoop and strip down & clean to remove 7 years of exhibition grime. 47785 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The EWS livery does sit very well on a '47'! I would like to do more - either a repaint like this one or some customisation of the more recent Bachmann Collectors Club version, though it's not as cheap as this bargain - it must've cost me all of about £60 second-hand back in the good days! 47785 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I always liked 47785 as I'd had the original Lima release of the late '90s and wanted a modern version, plus the combination of full bufferbeam cowling was unusual on a 47/7, so it's a nice contrast to the other former Res fleet members. 47712 and 47785 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been a nice quick fun project to get these going again and they'll be back out on Loftus Road as soon as the shows pick up, hopefully next year, but who knows! Cheers, James 23 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted November 21, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2020 I do like your model of 712, possibly the only other "current generation" model of a Fraggonset 47 I have seen other than my own ViTrains based model of 709. Though it certainly looks a lot better with a dirty roof! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted December 13, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) During 'Lockdown 2' there was the ideal opportunity to tuck in to another few projects, the Parkside ZKV 'Barbel' kits have now all been built and painted up, and while waiting for the varnish to harden before weathering can begin, this gave time to snack on a few quickie Bachmann van projects! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The odd trio consists of VAA 200142, anonymous red VDA 200850 and jazzy ex S&T VXA 210209 in faded red and yellow livery. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The starting point was the Bachmann model, part of the stock I've had sitting around for some time - I'm a sucker for buying cheap used wagons at any show I visit, and these have been collected over the years for bargain prices. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Each wagon was stripped of lettering and the new colours applied, Humbrol enamels from the collection and matched to the prototype wherever possible, using pictures from Flickr to check accuracy. Decals were cobbled together from ancient Fox Transfers sheets, all hand lettered with individual letters and digits - I wish I had the forethought to do the modern trend of planning ahead and getting custom TOPS panels made via Railtec, these are painfully old school..! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Once each wagon had the livery completed, it was on to the weathering stage... VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Accompanied by some now-classic first album Gaga, weathering was built up with paint-on/wipe-off techniques of varying browns, working from light to dark, leaving dirt built up in the recesses. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Cotton buds soaked in enamel thinners then removed the majority of the grime, leaving a good base for further weathered detail, applied with 00000 brushes, picking out areas including rust spots, oil patches and general markings on the sides. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr First up is VDA 200850, a fairly plain red van that has the correct chassis suspension setup for the Bachmann model, the wagon is nothing special but the mundane needs to be modelled! The underframe of each wagon was painted using a mottled mix of Humbrols, dark grey No. 32, matt black No.33, grey No.1 and matt leather No.62. The colours were put on and mottled together on the wagon until an overall brown/grey appearance, using prototype pics as guidance. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One of the interesting ones was VAA 200142, in use on MOD traffic, the wagon had faded yellow ends and a distressed green exterior with oil deposits and scars of explosives warning marks on the sides. Each wheel has had Colin Craig brake discs added, nowadays sold by Stenson Models. These are attached with PVA glue to the wheel, once dry I run a coat of dark grey over and wipe off, which tones down the stainless steel face just a tiny touch ready for use - the rest of the shiny Bachmann wheels are also painted to avoid any original shiny metal showing where it shouldn't! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The most fun one was of course VXA 210209, in faded red and yellow livery, with patchwork repaints and partially hidden graffiti! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The VXA is slightly different to the standard VDA van, having electrical plug equipment on the van ends and solebar, along with a notable footstep on the side. The steps were sourced from leftover Bachmann POA wagons that I've been previously converting into MKA 'Limpet' and freeing up a supply of ladders! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Graffiti and markings were applied by hand using a new 00000 brush, following the prototype pics on Flickr at each stage. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The roof weathering was fun, the VDA and VXA having fairly unremarkable weathered grey rooves, but the VAA being particularly battered, big patches of top surface missing and the roof framework visible through what presumably is roofing felt or similar, now long gone! Many shades of grey were mottled on with drybrushes to build up the effect. VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been good fun to model these, fairly quick to do aside from the individual transfer letting which was a bit of a nightmare! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I was first hooked on the concept of modelling vans like these from a pic seen in RAIL Magazine just over 20 years ago now - a double-page spread of EWS' 47785 Fiona Castle on a driver training run, I believe over the Settle & Carlisle route with a hotchpotch of vans assembled in all different colours - what a great train it looked! Back then the only option was customising the Hornby VDA with the A1 Models etched sides, so we are rather spoilt now with a range of different vans just ready to go with minimal modifications needed! VAA, VDA, VXA vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Christmas time is just around the corner now, offering some good glimpses of modelling time inbetween Toblerones and there's plenty of projects vying for time! Cheers, James Edited December 14, 2020 by James Makin . 35 26 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Super work there ! The brown one - there seemed to be about 5 of these running around with the transrail advertising one for use on LT stock transfers. I could never quite work out what shade of brown it was but it looked newly painted in the period . nice work on the manky roof, I’ve shied away from mine as I had no idea how to do it - that may help . 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted December 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 14, 2020 20 hours ago, rob D2 said: Super work there ! The brown one - there seemed to be about 5 of these running around with the transrail advertising one for use on LT stock transfers. I could never quite work out what shade of brown it was but it looked newly painted in the period . nice work on the manky roof, I’ve shied away from mine as I had no idea how to do it - that may help . Thanks very much Rob! I do love that Transrail VDA - and theres quite a few pics of it in Didcot Yard online so its very tempting to have, I just worry what with it being a Bachmann Collectors Club model it’d look like a cliche turning up, but definitely prototypical! For the manky roof, I know what you mean, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to do it justice but I’m reasonably happy in the end - it started by painting the dark roof cross ‘frame’ bits and then dabbing on greys with a drybrush working from light to dark, plus a few cheeky earthy colours too, then a drybrush at the very end with dark grey on a large brush just to tone down the final effect. The other two wagons were just a couple of grey shades and some talcum powder to get a teeny bit of texture in there too! Cheers, James 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Phil Mc Posted December 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 14, 2020 They look superb James !! Seems churlish to ask, but did the VXA's have an exhaust on the roof from conversion, or was it fitted afterwards ? Cheers, Phil. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted December 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 14, 2020 3 hours ago, Phil Mc said: They look superb James !! Seems churlish to ask, but did the VXA's have an exhaust on the roof from conversion, or was it fitted afterwards ? Cheers, Phil. Thanks Phil! That’s a good shout, in the pics I’ve been using there’s a stubby little exhaust towards one end just off to the side, I was waiting to find better pics on the exact positioning and then forgot all about it! If anyone does have any good rooftop pics then always gratefully appreciated! Cheers, James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 More great weathering James, the roof's are great. I always think they are difficult to get right but quite important as that's how most of the models are viewed. Have you weathered any seam age stock at all? I'd love to see your take on some box vans or steel open wagons. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne 37901 Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Nice little collection of vans James. Even though they're too grotty for my time period I like the techniques you've used to produce those. I'll look forward to seeing how you do the Barbels, I have about six to do soon. Cheers 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Phil Mc Posted December 15, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 15, 2020 You only have to ask !! The one you've done ( and one for inspiration!!) Cheers, Phil. 4 1 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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