1722 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Looks great James. However, I'm looking forward to seeing those locos you mentioned (and give a tantalising glimpse of on the top pic). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDG Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Great work again James. MORE please..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Seagull Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Thanks for this James, wonderful job. You'll need to tutor me, as there are another 27 to weather! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Superb stuff James! Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Very nice ! Can’t wait for the locos ! Incidentally, somewhere else on your thread you were listening to “ the knife - silent shout “. Great tune that if you like electronic . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 6, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 6, 2019 Very nice ! Can’t wait for the locos ! Incidentally, somewhere else on your thread you were listening to “ the knife - silent shout “. Great tune that if you like electronic . Thanks Rob, yeah, I love The Knife! Also you may have heard but the lead singer's solo stuff recorded under the 'Fever Ray' name has some pretty decent electronic tunes within! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 More impressive modelling I see James cheers neil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted February 10, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) Hi all, Alongside all of the locos, I've recently tucked in a cheeky little VGA van project! VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Given the high price of all RTR stuff these days, I can't resist a secondhand bargain, and picked up this VGA for the princely sum of £5 from ABC Models in Eastleigh - always good to pop in between trainspotting sessions at the busy station nearby! This one had been pre-abused - someone had fitted (and removed) a flashing tail-light kit, leaving big unsightly holes in the end and a big piece of missing underframe, and covered in some very slapdash brown weathering, but what do you expect for a fiver?! It all makes for a very satisfying restoration project! VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr Here's the wagon in raw condition, and with the tail-light holes filled in with some Humbrol plastic filler, and chassis plated over with plasticard. I decided to keep the brown finish and model one of the all-out grime-covered versions - basically entirely brown but with a lot of MOD explosives Hazchem scars to relieve the dull finish! VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr This one is based on VGA No.210531, a brown VGA that has some interesting markings but is otherwise a fairly normal representative member of the fleet. The model was stripped back to plastic and repainted with faded yellow ends, brown base coat on the sides and then treated to some of my roof weathering involving more talcum powder again! With some sublime dreampop from artist Georgia, I set about layering up the browns, from light to dark, painting and wiping off, leaving at least 24hrs between coats, working from Humbrol 62, to 186, to 113 and then finally Humbrol 32 dark grey. Next, the Hazchem scars and other side markings were added with fine 00000 paint brushes and a wide variety of paint shades to match the prototype photographs being worked from. VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The ends were weathered with several shades of brown paint painted on and wiped away with cotton buds, and the rusty damages painted on using Humbrols No.62/186/113/133/251 (applied in that order!). VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr The underframe was weathered again with a variety of browns and greys, whilst the wheels were treated to etched brake discs from the Colin Craig range, and the entire wheels and discs weathered before re-installation back under the VGA. All that remained was a protective coating of Railmatch Matt Varnish to seal in the weathering and keep it good for many years usage on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road! VGA wagon by James Makin by James Makin, on Flickr All in all, a lovely quick and satisfying restoration project to bring back to life a damaged wagon that nobody really wanted! Cheers, James Edited February 10, 2019 by James Makin Because YOLO 17 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted February 10, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 10, 2019 Very nice. At some point I need to get on and do mine, hopefully this will be the kick up the backside to get on with it 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 More great stuff James, well done. Steve. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Excellent work on the VGA James! Really captured the battered appearance some of these wagons. Have you ever thought about modelling some of the VAA/VBA wagons that were used on MOD work in the early 2000s? I've been working on a couple for an enterprise train and they make interesting variations from the bigger VGAs! Anyways always interesting to see what you've been working on! Cheers Lewis 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 14, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 14, 2019 12 hours ago, Arpleymodeller said: Excellent work on the VGA James! Really captured the battered appearance some of these wagons. Have you ever thought about modelling some of the VAA/VBA wagons that were used on MOD work in the early 2000s? I've been working on a couple for an enterprise train and they make interesting variations from the bigger VGAs! Anyways always interesting to see what you've been working on! Cheers Lewis Thanks Lewis! Absolutely, they are awesome wagons and definitely are part of the plan! I have gathered a case of about 22 over the years of the varying Bachmann VAA/VBA/VDAs but yet to find the time to tackle any! I’ve got a folder full of hundreds of pics saved from Flickr and other websites, jammed full of faded rotters in every colour from Railfreight pink to Mainline blue that are crying out to be modelled one day! The biggest challenge is that I’ve collected lots of shiny plasticky RTR wagons over the years at bargain prices and trying to work out what would come next in the queue to be ‘ruined’! From memory there’s the old vans above to do, a long rake of Seacows, some new Turbots, some red Bachmann IPA car carriers, an empty 36 HAA rake, a 30+ MEA rake, a HEA rake, another 30-odd MHA/MFA/MTAs, a set of Grampus, Rudd’s & Clams, a second TEA rake, 35-odd old Lima PGAs for ‘Gunnell’ conversions, the Ford ‘blue train’ I started on before and finally a big pile of old 16t mineral tippler wagon kits for Barbels, I’m really not sure where the time is going to come from, and that’s before any dodgy locos, multicolour Great Western HSTs, coaching stock and Thames Turbos to be done! Early retirement seems the most practical solution here..! Cheers, James 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Bloody hell James you really have built up some gigantic stash of wagons no wonder they are so much second hand you own them all! Well your be interested in my latest wagons got a trio of 1 X VAA and 2x VBAs that are nearly finished! Totally battered faded pink railfreight your love them! Can't believe how much RTR models have gone up in price feels like not long ago they were under a tenner for almost any wagon now it's nothing under £20 for a 4 wheeler and £40-50 for any bogie wagon! Glad I was able to accumulate 25 HAAs,11 HTAs, 15 HEAs and a dozen MHA,MFA and MTA before the madness in prices set in! Your so lucky getting that VGA for a fiver literally a steal! Always following with interest mate keep up the good work! Cheers Lewis 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37403 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Impressive stuff James, that is a lot of stock! How many locos do you have? Any progress on the next batch of locos you have been working on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 That’s a lot of stock. Id love to see 30 MEAS behind anything really.....I should think weathering those would see you needing some head therapy ... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 14, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 14, 2019 20 hours ago, Arpleymodeller said: Bloody hell James you really have built up some gigantic stash of wagons no wonder they are so much second hand you own them all! Well your be interested in my latest wagons got a trio of 1 X VAA and 2x VBAs that are nearly finished! Totally battered faded pink railfreight your love them! Can't believe how much RTR models have gone up in price feels like not long ago they were under a tenner for almost any wagon now it's nothing under £20 for a 4 wheeler and £40-50 for any bogie wagon! Glad I was able to accumulate 25 HAAs,11 HTAs, 15 HEAs and a dozen MHA,MFA and MTA before the madness in prices set in! Your so lucky getting that VGA for a fiver literally a steal! Always following with interest mate keep up the good work! Cheers Lewis Thanks Lewis, I can’t wait to see your vans coming on, they do sound right up my street, love all your wagons so far! Thats a pretty decent selection of wagons you’ve built up so far...I do miss the days of cheap stock so badly! I bought most of my stock during the golden period of approx 2004-2012 when high spec current-gen stock started appearing on the market but at reasonable prices, and traders at shows like Martells used to give us stock at an absolute steal! I’d come home from a show with dozens of wagons and new Bachmann locos for like £60, those truly were the days! Nowadays I tend to get most of my stuff secondhand, often from my Loftus Road mates at the Club, it’s quite common that some shiny wagons will run on the layout for a few years, to be then sold to me and to reappear on the layout looking disgusting and filthy! 10 hours ago, 37403 said: Impressive stuff James, that is a lot of stock! How many locos do you have? Any progress on the next batch of locos you have been working on? Thanks very much, it’s embarassing to admit but I don’t actually know how many locos I’ve got! I’d say maybe 150 but I’m a little worried it’s rather more to be honest..! As always, the stuff that’s been detailed, weathered and run on a layout is only a small proportion compared to the general collection filed away for years in cupboards that we all buy for that layout ‘one day’ The new loco weathering batch is are getting there, slowly! It’s my fault as I keep tackling more...for another separate project I’m airbrush spraying warning panel yellow (a rare occurrence!) so it gave me the tempting excuse to add a double flush-front-converted RES 47 to get detailed up for the big weathering batch while I’m painting the yellow! 6 hours ago, rob D2 said: That’s a lot of stock. Id love to see 30 MEAS behind anything really.....I should think weathering those would see you needing some head therapy ... Cheers Rob, the MEAs will eventually be filled with aggregate and are booked to run behind some classic Class 58s! A lot of the cheap MEAs I bought have the horrible old style chassis needing brake lever & buffer upgrades too, I’d better get the therapy booked now I think! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Thanks alot mate glad you like my wagon work got alot of inspiration from seeing your work to be honest. Oh I do too I remember getting MFA and MTA wagons for £6 each! Now they are more like £19 each! Also got a MOA one of the bogie EWS ballast wagons from Hattons for £14 in 2015....same wagons sell for £38 now! In addition to the fleet I mentioned before also got half a dozen VAA/VBA/VGA, a trio of old MEAs, pair of TTAs, 3 BDAs, 3 SPAs and currently working on a OAA! What will you be using for the brake lever upgrade on your MEAs? Id love to improve mine but they seem too much of an integral part of the chassis moulding to simply cut away Cheers Lewis 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Arpleymodeller said: Thanks alot mate glad you like my wagon work got alot of inspiration from seeing your work to be honest. Oh I do too I remember getting MFA and MTA wagons for £6 each! Now they are more like £19 each! Also got a MOA one of the bogie EWS ballast wagons from Hattons for £14 in 2015....same wagons sell for £38 now! In addition to the fleet I mentioned before also got half a dozen VAA/VBA/VGA, a trio of old MEAs, pair of TTAs, 3 BDAs, 3 SPAs and currently working on a OAA! What will you be using for the brake lever upgrade on your MEAs? Id love to improve mine but they seem too much of an integral part of the chassis moulding to simply cut away Cheers Lewis That’s ok though, as all our salaries have doubled in that period.......anyone ??! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37403 Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 19 hours ago, James Makin said: Thanks Lewis, I can’t wait to see your vans coming on, they do sound right up my street, love all your wagons so far! Thats a pretty decent selection of wagons you’ve built up so far...I do miss the days of cheap stock so badly! I bought most of my stock during the golden period of approx 2004-2012 when high spec current-gen stock started appearing on the market but at reasonable prices, and traders at shows like Martells used to give us stock at an absolute steal! I’d come home from a show with dozens of wagons and new Bachmann locos for like £60, those truly were the days! Nowadays I tend to get most of my stuff secondhand, often from my Loftus Road mates at the Club, it’s quite common that some shiny wagons will run on the layout for a few years, to be then sold to me and to reappear on the layout looking disgusting and filthy! Thanks very much, it’s embarassing to admit but I don’t actually know how many locos I’ve got! I’d say maybe 150 but I’m a little worried it’s rather more to be honest..! As always, the stuff that’s been detailed, weathered and run on a layout is only a small proportion compared to the general collection filed away for years in cupboards that we all buy for that layout ‘one day’ The new loco weathering batch is are getting there, slowly! It’s my fault as I keep tackling more...for another separate project I’m airbrush spraying warning panel yellow (a rare occurrence!) so it gave me the tempting excuse to add a double flush-front-converted RES 47 to get detailed up for the big weathering batch while I’m painting the yellow! Cheers Rob, the MEAs will eventually be filled with aggregate and are booked to run behind some classic Class 58s! A lot of the cheap MEAs I bought have the horrible old style chassis needing brake lever & buffer upgrades too, I’d better get the therapy booked now I think! That's incredible amount of locos you have. Look forward to seeing your latest developments 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 15, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 14/02/2019 at 22:45, Arpleymodeller said: Thanks alot mate glad you like my wagon work got alot of inspiration from seeing your work to be honest. Oh I do too I remember getting MFA and MTA wagons for £6 each! Now they are more like £19 each! Also got a MOA one of the bogie EWS ballast wagons from Hattons for £14 in 2015....same wagons sell for £38 now! In addition to the fleet I mentioned before also got half a dozen VAA/VBA/VGA, a trio of old MEAs, pair of TTAs, 3 BDAs, 3 SPAs and currently working on a OAA! What will you be using for the brake lever upgrade on your MEAs? Id love to improve mine but they seem too much of an integral part of the chassis moulding to simply cut away Cheers Lewis Haha yes, I still feel a bit mugged inside if I’m paying more than £5 for a little 4-wheel ballast open wagon, you never quite forget the prices of how things used to be! It just means nowadays for your £5 you’re getting a tatty cast-off instead of a nice boxed new wagon! The OAAs will be fun, I’ve been watching yours come on, I’ve got some Hornby bodies filed away somewhere, I’d planned on a lazy conversion using a Bachmann (VAA I think, it’s one of the trio!) wagon chassis as they look similar design, with the Hornby body bodged on top! For the MEAs, I’m still yet to give it a go but I reckon the brake levers can be ground off with a minidrill sander and then replaced with etched brass ones - if this doesn’t work out, my backup plan is to grind down the depth of the Bachmann plastic original - but it’s all theory at the moment, I’m tempted to dig some out soon though having talked about it! Cheers, James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Good luck. I flogged all my older MEAs, and have the newer ones only now. such a useful wagon for EWS years - spoil, aggregate, coal and all over the country . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted February 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 16, 2019 Interested to see how you get on, I shifted most of my wagons with moulded on break leavers a long time ago, but still have plenty of clay hoods and some milk tanks which need modifying 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 16, 2019 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 16, 2019 On another note, I received this email from Rails of Sheffield today...which wagon looks more value-for-money for your £50?! It’d certainly liven up my MOD trains..! 3 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_crisp Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Looking at cost per axle I think the Oxford rail one might just win it 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Any new wagon projects James? Sure you've got another batch waiting to be revealed! Cheers Lewis 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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