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

[Rhysb]

Amazing James. A great project. Can’t wait to see the 47’s and mk2’s

 

Just when I think I’m getting better at this weathering lark you go and set the bar even higher! Great job.

 

Rhys

[Rich Papper]

Amazing work James, well done. I have a Lima rake in a box somewhere. I remember waiting forever to get the last TS to make up the set, being so pleased to have the latest scheme. Then headed down to Temple Meads to go back to uni only for the first of the fag-packet ones to roll in in front of me!

Rich

[rob D2]

Fantastic !

loved that livery - deffo in the top three with original BR and swallow .

[Wayne 37901]

Nice job James. The 'Merlin' scheme is my favourite of the more modern HST liveries, probably because it reminds me of the Intercity swallow scheme... But then, I'm on old fashioned git! 

 

Cheers,

Wayne

[1722]

The Great Western livery is a thing of beauty. So well done too.

[QuoitsPlayer]

Looks great James, I always loved the Merlin livery despite never seeing it in the flesh living up here in what was GNER land at the time.

Quick question: will you be doing a Merlin set with the italic INTERCITY and Great Western branding on the Mk3s ? 

[James Makin]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys!

 

On 26/03/2021 at 16:09, The Fatadder said:

Looks fantastic James, the weathering really adds to it.   Great trick on the transfers that I will make a note of, I have a lot of Fox merlin transfers some of which have also yellowed.
 

I still massively regret not buying another pair of lowercase to respray back when the prices were more reasonable. 
 

for the moment I am making do with a detailed Lima body on a new Hornby chassis.

 

Cheers Rich, I know just what you mean! The price of the power car sets has rocketed, I used to have luck in finding them for £100 a pair in that sweet spot in the early 2010s a couple of years after first release with unwanted stock still floating around before the rises came in. I recently paid silly money for some Virgin power cars, having regretted painting my last ones into the FGW fag packet - never imagined they'd become tricky to get hold of! 

 

On 26/03/2021 at 16:18, Rhysb said:

Amazing James. A great project. Can’t wait to see the 47’s and mk2’s

 

Just when I think I’m getting better at this weathering lark you go and set the bar even higher! Great job.

 

Rhys

 

Ha thanks very much Rhys, I really like your weathered stuff! I was thinking of Virgin HST interlopers specifically but bringing the loco hauled services into the mix too and it does get crazy, the fiddle yard will be bulging! I've got 4 Cross Country Mk2 sets assembled so far, taking advantage of raiding the recent batch of Hornby Virgin & Intercity Mk2Fs at the reasonable price point while they were still in the shops at sub-£30 prices from Collett's Models.

 

I've detailed the first train of Mk2Es already a few pages back and the 47/8 fleet is already done (plus a suitable amount of grotty freight rescue locos done for when the real things failed!) - crazy to think how many loco hauled services you'd see on an average day and that they were taken for granted at the time!

 

On 26/03/2021 at 20:17, Rich Papper said:

Amazing work James, well done. I have a Lima rake in a box somewhere. I remember waiting forever to get the last TS to make up the set, being so pleased to have the latest scheme. Then headed down to Temple Meads to go back to uni only for the first of the fag-packet ones to roll in in front of me!

Rich

 

I can totally feel your pain Rich!  I used to try keeping my models up to date around that time and with so much change it was always a losing battle! It was always a conundrum with Great Western as I loved all the liveries, and no sooner did you start to really enjoy seeing matching sets did they change again! I had one of the original Hornby Merlin HST releases and tried repainting it into the new 'Barbie colours in 2001, but not having any transfers, nor being that competent at airbrushing, it looked a bit of a mess! These power cars here are definitely an exercise in getting back something from the youth! 

 

10 hours ago, QuoitsPlayer said:

Looks great James, I always loved the Merlin livery despite never seeing it in the flesh living up here in what was GNER land at the time.

Quick question: will you be doing a Merlin set with the italic INTERCITY and Great Western branding on the Mk3s ? 

 

The GNER livery is equally classy to be fair! It took a while to grow on me but it'll definitely always be considered of the most premium-feeling early-privatisation corporate images there! 

 

For this first Merlin set, it's going to be mostly the dual-Great Western branded coaches as by 1998/99 it seemed a lot of the sets had that branding almost exclusively, but with the odd coach here and there with the original Intercity Merlin branding showing! The Lima TGS I've got in Merlin has the original Intercity branding so I'll likely keep this, while the rest are the Hornby release with the double Great Western logos.

 

Future sets I might have more of a play around though, I've got plenty of decals ready so it'd just be a case of going through pictures and records to work out which specific coach number held the Intercity Merlin brandings the longest and modelling some of those!

 

Cheers,

James

 

[The Fatadder]

3 minutes ago, James Makin said:

Cheers Rich, I know just what you mean! The price of the power car sets has rocketed, I used to have luck in finding them for £100 a pair in that sweet spot in the early 2010s a couple of years after first release with unwanted stock still floating around before the rises came in. I recently paid silly money for some Virgin power cars, having regretted painting my last ones into the FGW fag packet - never imagined they'd become tricky to get hold of! 

The prices have certainly helped keep

me focused on what I need rather than what I would like.  2010/11 was about the time that I was really getting into my steam modelling and as a result I missed out on the last hurrah of bargains.  (Though I massively regret not buying a very cheap set of power cars in the Hawkins Bizarre fire sale a few Christmases back.). In an ideal world I would be adding a GNER set as well, given if you model Devon or Cornwall you could get away with hired in GNER / Midland Mainline as well as GWT, Intercity and Virgin (plus Virgin XC).  All the HST liveries in one place!)

I remember seeing the original Virgin XC branded power cars on my last childhood visit to the railway centre in the 90s (must have been fitted pretty much ex works).  But I assume stuff on the triangle wouldn’t appear on the layout?

 

I’m interested in how you plan to run Didcot,  as unless the fiddleyard is ridiculously big I’m assuming a lot of these formations won’t fit.  Do you gradually change the stock through the day?

For Bodmin (should I ever find the space to build it), my intention is 5 storage roads in each direction, to hold a GWT HST, a Virgin service (HST in one direction, loco in the other), 2 for freight, 1 for the TPO /RES.  With one freight road also holding the local passenger.    The worrying thing is I have pretty much built all of that stock, although a lot still needs weathering) 

 

 

 

 

 

[James Makin]

41 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

The prices have certainly helped keep

me focused on what I need rather than what I would like.  2010/11 was about the time that I was really getting into my steam modelling and as a result I missed out on the last hurrah of bargains.  (Though I massively regret not buying a very cheap set of power cars in the Hawkins Bizarre fire sale a few Christmases back.). In an ideal world I would be adding a GNER set as well, given if you model Devon or Cornwall you could get away with hired in GNER / Midland Mainline as well as GWT, Intercity and Virgin (plus Virgin XC).  All the HST liveries in one place!)

I remember seeing the original Virgin XC branded power cars on my last childhood visit to the railway centre in the 90s (must have been fitted pretty much ex works).  But I assume stuff on the triangle wouldn’t appear on the layout?

 

I’m interested in how you plan to run Didcot,  as unless the fiddleyard is ridiculously big I’m assuming a lot of these formations won’t fit.  Do you gradually change the stock through the day?

For Bodmin (should I ever find the space to build it), my intention is 5 storage roads in each direction, to hold a GWT HST, a Virgin service (HST in one direction, loco in the other), 2 for freight, 1 for the TPO /RES.  With one freight road also holding the local passenger.    The worrying thing is I have pretty much built all of that stock, although a lot still needs weathering) 

 

 

Yeah, around that time there were so many bargains to be had, and you could come home from a show with several new locos in the bag and life was good! There used to be a trader called Martells of Sutton who quickly became our best friends, we'd be out on the exhibition circuit with Worthing MRC's Loftus Road and during the course of an average weekend the Martells guys would be there like market traders trying to get us buying stuff, "ask for best prices" and lots of haggling on new RTR - it was incredible! So many of my current locos being worked on came from this great emporium at silly cheap prices 

 

I've seen some of the great shots of the Midland Mainline and GNER sets going over some of the picturesque places like Cockwood Harbour and thinking that'd make for an awesome model! I'd love to do a Cornish exhibition layout one day, I started and stalled on one inspired by Golant, but it's a great part of the country to model for sure.  

 

For Didcot, it's going to be a pretty big layout, a touch longer than Loftus Road but a fairly similar footprint. The aim is half a 'cut' triangle, the straight station in the foreground and part of the Oxford curve in the background that heads off behind the backscene to rejoin the fiddle yard, with a teaser of Didcot Yard on the left hand side as you look at it, curving back into the fiddle yard while the Swindon lines head off at the front of the layout and later curve round, it's taken a huge amount of planning to get to that stage! I need to put in my order for the next round of Tim Horn laser cut boards to get that part off the ground.

 

The fiddle yard is designed to have 18 roads in a 3 foot depth so identical to Loftus Road's, but will start on the curves so giving capacity of 2 full HSTs per fiddle yard road on many lanes, the shorter ones will host mixes of the numerous Thames Turbos, light engines and shorter MOD freights etc alongside the longer ones, such as the Freightliners, oil trains, steel and the automotive traffic. Ironically the power station coal traffic was coming from Avonmouth Docks by then so while there'd be opportunities for the arrival onto the scene & loco run round at the Swindon end of the layout, the coal stuff won't be a huge part of the traffic through the layout as it happens!

 

Cheers,

James  

 

[43179]

On 26/03/2021 at 15:57, James Makin said:

Here's what I've been tinkering with lately!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

Those Power cars are fab James.   Its about time that livery made it onto the new power car tooling!

I remember at the time when the real things started to re-repainted into 'Merlin' ,  the thought of an HST  not being in Swallow livery didn't sit well with me - couldn't get my head around it  -  but actually,  now , its pure class and aged really well. I love how the  application of the green on the power cars mirrors Intercity livery , around the bodyside grilles and van area  - the stripe extending the light clusters being a nice touch too  -  I'd like to think that someone obviously had great respect for the architecture of the power cars when they came up with it.  

Far from being the beginning of the end , Merlin became Fag Packet , then 'Barbie' etc etc , all really nice and interesting in their own way.  I'd love to see someone tackle the prototype 'Neon' set done for the new FGW franchise.  

 

Jon  

 

 

[njee20]

Stunning! A superb rendition of probably my favourite post privatisation livery. 

[Jim Martin]

Hi James

 

Congratulations on your article on the OTAs in the "Modelling BR Wagonload Formations" book. I think the insides of the ends are particularly nice, but it's all really beautifully well done weathering.

 

Jim

[James Makin]

On 12/04/2021 at 12:16, Jim Martin said:

Hi James

 

Congratulations on your article on the OTAs in the "Modelling BR Wagonload Formations" book. I think the insides of the ends are particularly nice, but it's all really beautifully well done weathering.

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim! I didn’t get around to doing any cheeky plug at the time but it was great fun to put the feature together!

 

Cheers,

James
 

[saxokid]

More top stuff James

[MRC_Jacob]

On 26/03/2021 at 15:57, James Makin said:

Here's what I've been tinkering with lately!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

With the Didcot layout project slowly rumbling on, and old freight locos popping off the workbench here and there, of course it was only a matter of time before the big meat started to arrive - and the real reason for what captured my imagination as a kid - squadron services of HSTs with Valentas screaming, pounding through at full 125mph line speed!

 

Joining the fleet today are Great Western Trains' 43027 Glorious Devon and 43041 City of Discovery in the short-lived but ultra smart 'Merlin' livery. 

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The starting point was the new-gen Hornby model, and really quite a few years back I picked up an HST set from a fellow RMWeb member, it'd been customised to represent the Intercity Executive livery, but for sale on this very forum at a keen price, back in the day. After being pugged away for many years, during the first lockdown last year I plucked it from the collection and set about the long-awaited makeover...

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

A lot of caked-on yellow paint was removed and underneath revealing the original Intercity Swallow livery, ready for some customising to represent my chosen power cars. 

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The rear Guard's window and obsolete rear driving window were filled in and smoothed on one power car, and fortunately some cunning selection of the power car identities meant no changes were required to the roof grille arrangements this time, unlike the 'Fag Packet' power cars in the last batch which necessitated a time-consuming rebuild.

 

It's interesting how similar the rubbed-down Intercity livery looks compared to the final Great Western Trains livery, there's no dramatic makeover moment unlike with a normal repaint!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Luscious layers of rich Great Western green and ivory were applied, the masking around the headlights for the green 'bar' proving particularly intricate. Doing this kind of thing always seems to highlight what I've long suspected is some accuracy issues in the size/positioning of the Hornby lightbar but it's tricky to pinpoint the exact issue - had the same when masking up around for the FGW Fag Packet cars in 2015!

 

After some glossing with Railmatch gloss varnish, decals were applied from Fox Transfers...

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 

 

Although ordered from Fox last Summer, upon arrival, their stock was clearly aged and had yellowed extremely! The resolution for this was a tip I'd seen online from mates was to simply leave the yellowed decal sheets in direct sunlight, and over a couple of sunrises the UV light removes the yellowing, clever stuff!

 

Nameplates were applied, using those from the Fox range and a layer of varnish applied on top, before being left a while to allow the surface to harden before the weathering stages began.

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Armed with London Grammar's stunning new tracks, weathering commenced, a two stage wash of Humbrol's 251 and 32, basically dark brown and dark grey, just to highlight dirt in the recesses and some of the oily dirt visible. Some of the brown was also let run up the lower sides - with the Great Western ivory being so light in colour, it showed up the dirt easily despite regular trips through the carriage washers. 

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

To finish the weathering, some highlighting was done around the front ends, on the two prototypes chosen, both exhibited paint chipping and dirt gathering on the noses and lower fairings, so this was recreated exactly to match early-mid 1999 condition for these vehicles. 

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

43027 Glorious Devon had long been a favourite due to it's dreamy and quite aspirational name - when you'd be standing on a grey windy platform at Didcot, seeing a power car pull up with that name takes the mind to holidays somewhere much hotter, sunnier with some nice cream teas!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Next up was 43041 City of Discovery. Unlike 43027, this wasn't always a 'local' power car, being recently moved across from Virgin West Coast in early 1999 and a new recipient of the Great Western Trains livery. The City of Discovery name reference is actually related to far away Dundee!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

It's been great fun to model these two power cars, and they've had interesting careers screaming through the countryside. Despite enormous change to the HST fleet in recent times, both power cars are happily survivors as of 2021, seeing out their days as part of the refurbished GWR 'Castle' fleet - back in the day us modellers would've dreamed at the prospect of small modellable 4-coach HST sets instead of 8-coach monsters!

 

Next up, the models will receive some traffic weathering as part of the bigger batch of diesels being weathered later in the year, I'll mainly be adding some roof dirt, chassis dirt and oily exhaust deposits via airbrush in the coming months to finish off. 

 

For this next HST I'm going to use Kadee couplings to replace the tension locks and further refine the elastic pipe coupling concept since my last 'Fag Packet' HST too. It's rather fiddly to connect all the pipes together while out 'in the field' exhibiting so I'm looking at something that's super quick to assemble but still looks decent - a tall order!

 

Great Western HST Power Cars by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Next up in due course is the more fiddly task of getting the matching 8-coach set all finished, detailed internally with a 'rush hour' filling of passengers and all externally branded & weathered up to match. There will be plenty more HSTs in the coming years between the wagon, loco and layout projects as I've estimated I'd be looking for around 7-8 different Great Western HSTs to run a reasonably believable service on the different lines of my Didcot layout, and that's before getting to any Virgin Cross Country interlopers...busy times ahead!

 

Cheers,

James

 

amazing work James! Looking really nice. This livery is slightly too early for me, I'm going from around Fag Packet to 2015 but it must be said it's a smart livery and looks great in 00 gauge!

J

[James Makin]

On 19/07/2021 at 11:34, MRC_Jacob said:

amazing work James! Looking really nice. This livery is slightly too early for me, I'm going from around Fag Packet to 2015 but it must be said it's a smart livery and looks great in 00 gauge!

J

 

Thanks very much Jacob! 

I'm 50/50 between Merlin and the Fag Packet on my favourite livery, it changes on a daily basis  

 

I think the speed of the introduction of the Fag Packet always impressed me the most, from seeing early pics in Model Rail magazine (I still remember the issue, July 1999!) to a Didcot trip a short while later and realising that in the small bit of time that First had stickered up vast amounts of stock, it was everywhere!

 

One of my favourite platform fantasies as a youngster would have been to hook a thumbnail under one edge of the new coach vinyls, stand still and gradually unpeel the whole thing as the train departed the station  

 

Cheers,

James

[rob D2]

1 hour ago, James Makin said:

 

Thanks very much Jacob! 

I'm 50/50 between Merlin and the Fag Packet on my favourite livery, it changes on a daily basis  

 

I think the speed of the introduction of the Fag Packet always impressed me the most, from seeing early pics in Model Rail magazine (I still remember the issue, July 1999!) to a Didcot trip a short while later and realising that in the small bit of time that First had stickered up vast amounts of stock, it was everywhere!

 

One of my favourite platform fantasies as a youngster would have been to hook a thumbnail under one edge of the new coach vinyls, stand still and gradually unpeel the whole thing as the train departed the station  

 

Cheers,

James

 Merlin was better I reckon , but blue grey original was even better ( do your time youngsters !)

I remember someone describing FGW ...” it’s not first, it’s not great , but it’s geographically accurate !”

[EWS60065]

Hi James, I'm wondering how exactly you reprofile your MTA wagon springs as mentioned a long while ago here? Tried using a knife and needle files but neither to much avail. 

Thanks

[Railfreight1998]

Not sure if you've seen this James, but there's some great footage of Didcot for the first 10 minutes or so of this video.

 

 

[James Makin]

On 19/10/2021 at 12:59, Railfreight1998 said:

Not sure if you've seen this James, but there's some great footage of Didcot for the first 10 minutes or so of this video.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for sharing, I can't wait to give it a watch! I do periodically scan the internet for more Didcot/GWML-related content in the late 90s but had not yet seen this one, it looks right up my street! Similarly if there's anything else out there anyone's found then it is always good to see.

 

It's been a little quiet on the thread as I've been ruining a few locos lately, and saving up the pics until the projects are all finished. I'm awaiting the next consignment of Tim Horn baseboards to arrive and then the layout can move a little further on...fun times ahead!

 

Cheers,

James

[James Makin]

On 28/09/2021 at 17:52, EWS60065 said:

Hi James, I'm wondering how exactly you reprofile your MTA wagon springs as mentioned a long while ago here? Tried using a knife and needle files but neither to much avail. 

Thanks

 

Thanks for this, just seen your post so a little late coming back! It's sometimes a fiddle (and sometimes dangerous!) but I used my trusty curve-bladed scalpel to cut off the lower sections of the leaf springs, a sideways cutting motion into the W-iron to slice off the parts of the unwanted spring moulding, and then just scratching the remainder smooth with the blade tip, the hardest part is keeping the part of the spring you do want to stay intact, and not slipping/slicing into your fingers while gripping the model - I've always been a bit of a bodger but I dare say that others will have a way of doing this professionally and safely..!

 

Cheers,

James

[James Makin]

Time for some heavy metal!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

It's been super quiet on the thread lately, but anything but quiet on the modelling workbench! I like to wait and share my updates only once a project has finished, and am excited to say that through this year I have been beavering away and am about to unleash forty (yes 40) brand new diesel locomotives!

 

It was one of those projects that grew and grew...as long-time readers may remember, back in 2018 I made a pledge to start emptying the vault of untouched locos and stock, and actually do something with them instead of them sitting in their boxes gathering dust! Following on from last year's loco batch, I kept finding more squirrelled away and chancing upon bargains picked up from mates, and so the mentality of this batch was very much "oh one more won't hurt"...hence why we are in December and I'm only just unveiling what I started in last January!

 

Since the last updates I also treated myself to a new 'proper camera' and picked up a nifty Amazon Lightbox, so the days of my blurry old iPhone pictures taken in dubious light, are hopefully behind us!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

So, where do we start? Well, this little dirty stop-out seemed a good place!

 

As a kid, I was fascinated by 56019, holding on to its old BR Railfreight Red Stripe, well into the days of EWS and all things red, shiny and new. In reality, the livery wasn't actually that old at the time, by todays standards (how many red 'Sheds' are still out there in 2021 for example?) but at the time it seemed a right old dinosaur to my young eyes. 

 

Then, when it was famously used on Virgin Cross Country services in Summer 1998, that cemented it in 'must model one day' territory ever since!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The starting point was Hornby's 56, with a Romanian example picked up from a mate for a good price, many years ago. It was soon gutted and Shawplan roof grilles added, and homemade card offcuts blanking off the lifting lugs on the side. 

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The model was rubbed down and given some shiny coats of yellow, grey and red, before adding some of the superb Railtec decals to finish off, with Lorde's latest album being recommended listening for Railfreight-related locomotive decalling projects.

 

After the bodies are Railmatch matt varnished to protect the transfers, they are left for a month for the varnish to harden, after which the weathering fun could begin! Both 56019 and classmate 56061 were tackled at the same time.

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Similar to my previous loco projects, coats of paint were painted on and rubbed off, leaving residual paint in grilles and tainting the original colours where needed. Both locos had a slight fade to their original colours, so shades of light grey were first painted on and rubbed off, later to be followed by various browns and dark greys for dirt deposits to be added. Vertically streaking enamel thinners on a soft cotton bud was the main order of the day. 

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

After the streaking and wipe-off phase was complete, little details could then be picked out with a super fine 00000 brush, highlighting individual rust spots and damages in the liveries. A final coat of varnish is then applied over the top of this weathering to flatten the layers and give a more consistent matt coat. During the time, windows are all masked off with Humbrol Maskol fluid. 

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Bufferbeam details are a mixture of what was included in the original Hornby detail packs, some Shawplan 'Grid' parts and other bits just scratchbuilt from fine brass wire, having bought many locos second hand, the detailing packs are often the first thing to have gone walkies!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

One of my favourite features of 56019 was the roof weathering, all copied from pics of the loco from Summer 1998. At one end, the old Rail Blue can clearly be seen on one cab roof, flaking through the upper coat of Railfreight Grey, itself now long faded to a lighter shade! 

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Triple Grey 56061 was picked as companion for '019 due to it's gorgeous livery! I can never quite decide which is my favourite BR Trainload sector, but Metals is often up there as flavour of the month..!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

One of a small handful of Trainload Metals survivors into 1998, 56061 was picked as it was one from my trainspotting notes and simply matched the bodyshell detailing of the donor model to hand! It had some interesting marks and fade weathering on one side too.

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

The donor model was in a similar livery, but in the end it was completely repainted in triple grey, as Hornby's take on the colours didn't really match real life! Their rail grey was far too yellow, and the flint grey far too dark! Decals again were sourced from Railtec to complete, and especially the numbers which are much easier to lay and manoeuvre on the paintwork than ones from their rivals.

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

At this point, it must be crossing you mind, 'why bother with these Hornby wrecks and not wait for Cavalex?!' - the answer is that I was already well into finishing these by the time Cavalex announced their stunning new model! On the plus side, I have yet to spend more than £50 on my knock-off Hornby '56's so it seemed like a good cheapy project to push on with, but things move so fast in D&E modelling these days.

 

To top it all, they even did a 'direct hit' on 56019, so it'll be gracing everyone's layouts soon, I expect to see one at the top of a Virgin Cross Country set at every show I go to please!

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Brian's Shawplan Extreme Etchings parts came out nicely on the roofs, the amount of time during the build that I have almost put my finger right through those fine etched mesh though, unbelievable! The roof weathering included airbrushing with layers of roof dirt, dirty black and then finishing with neat black mixed with dark blue, for an oily sheen.

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

It's been so much fun modelling this pair, and always good to work on some heavy freight beasts!

 

The real locos are long gone now sadly, while 56019 had a swansong in the late 90s, it was soon sidelined and scrapped, and 56061 went the same way, lingering on in storage until final cutting took place in 2006. 

 

56019 and 56061 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

There's plenty more coming where these were now, so keep an eye out for the next wave of updates!

 

Cheers,

James

   

[The Fatadder]

Very nice job on 019, 

I’m very tempted to do one of the 56s that ended up on Virgin XC with the Cavelex one (though I’m more tempted towards the Loadhaul example than 019 at the moment.  (Though with 56049 I already have one more class 56 than I really need in Cornwall…)

 

looking forward to the next batch…

[Wayne 37901]

Hi James.,

 

Did I read that right, 40 locos done since January? You've been busy, I need to pull my finger out. These have turned out nice James. I know what you mean about Hornby's take on railfreight triple grey, I plan to re-visit my model of 56073 at some point. It was done as a ' quick n dirty' from a coal sector machine, but when I compare it to my other sector locos I'm not happy with it.

 

Cheers.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Wayne 37901

[Andy7]

Excellent work James and 56’s to boot. I still think the Hornby model is very good and comes out real well when detailed and weathered.

Looking forward to more.

Andy