Jump to content
 

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


James Makin
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium
On 09/04/2019 at 09:53, Arpleymodeller said:

Any new wagon projects James? Sure you've got another batch waiting to be revealed! 

 

Cheers

 

Lewis 

 

 

Haha I sure do!

 

I’ve spent most of my modelling time lately on something completely different, a commission for a real life train company, which I should be allowed to show some pics of hopefully after this weekend, assuming goes to plan!

 

Aside from that I’ve been squeezing in a couple of VGAs which are halfway through being weathered (the poo brown variety again!) and six years after my last batch, some more TEA wagons which have so far proved a disaster with getting some initial protecting varnish to stay settled on the model throughout my heavy weathering stages, never had this challenge the last time around! 

 

I’ll definitely keep you posted on all this for sure! ;)

 

Cheers,

James

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi James, I been looking back over your thread for a bit of inspiration this eve and I'm not sure if you mentioned it but have you ever tried acrylic paint to do your weathering? 

Steve. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 10/04/2019 at 18:15, James Makin said:

 

Haha I sure do!

 

I’ve spent most of my modelling time lately on something completely different, a commission for a real life train company, which I should be allowed to show some pics of hopefully after this weekend, assuming goes to plan!

 

Aside from that I’ve been squeezing in a couple of VGAs which are halfway through being weathered (the poo brown variety again!) and six years after my last batch, some more TEA wagons which have so far proved a disaster with getting some initial protecting varnish to stay settled on the model throughout my heavy weathering stages, never had this challenge the last time around! 

 

I’ll definitely keep you posted on all this for sure! ;)

 

Cheers,

James

 

Sounds amazing mate following with much interest! 

 

Cheers

Lewis 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
On 10/04/2019 at 21:28, sb67 said:

Hi James, I been looking back over your thread for a bit of inspiration this eve and I'm not sure if you mentioned it but have you ever tried acrylic paint to do your weathering? 

Steve. 

 

Thanks Steve! I've only really used enamel paints for all my stuff, basically from my early days of tackling Airfix kits from about aged 11 upwards I built up my collection, moved into railways and never looked back! 

 

Every now and then I do see some great acrylic-based weathering online that makes me think I should look at some new tricks, but then I look back at the giant stash of enamels I've built up over the years and think "oh I'll just carry on with these" and "maybe next time" :laugh:

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

  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Premium
On 07/05/2019 at 00:47, saxokid said:

Any new updates James...:senile:

 

 

cheers neil.

 

Hi Neil!

 

Ohhhh yes!

 

I've been beavering away on several new diesel locomotives - these are work-in progress so I'm waiting until they're finished before showing, it's more fun that way! These are for the Big Weathering Batch that will take place soon, I hate airbrushing so I'm building up a collection of locos that are pre-weathered and just need the finishing touches of exhaust and track grime to be sprayed before they can be let out of 'the works' for photography on here! There's about 20 locos that I'll be able to unveil in a short space of time, too fun! 

 

Connected to this (and I know that will interest you Neil!) is my Class 37 strategy...I've amassed 18 Bachmann Class 37s gradually over the years since release, but never got round to doing anything with them, until deciding enough was enough and it's time for their moment to shine!

 

These 18 locos were picked up in the days before prices rocketed in the hobby, they're all £50 shop-clearance specials, £40 swapmeet buys or £30 offloads from mates over the years. I'd long thought about selling the lot and making a small fortune, but in the back of my mind I knew it'd be impossible to ever buy a substantial fleet again at the current prices!

 

So it was on to the task of deciding which actual locomotives are to be modelled with what I've got in the collection -

 

IMG_9732.jpg.251d30b8bcbf4838211f791cd9890654.jpg

 

The starting points are the trusty Platform 5 trainspotting books of the years I'm modelling, paired with my own blurry Didcot Parkway photos of the time and more professional Flickr images to fill in the rest...this is one of the most exciting parts of a project and to do it 18 times over in just a few weeks has been a great pleasure.

 

Most of the interesting part has been working out what permutations I can model with what I've got, by tactically swapping split headcode and centre headcode ends around from livery to livery, adding refurbished ends to some and changing roof panels & side grilles, it's a Crystal Maze 'Tractor' challenge!

 

I've already started work on 4 Trainload Mess (special sector for rustbuckets) locos and have many more to come. I won't spoil any surprises giving away the identities of the locos chosen, but it includes a right mix from scummy triple grey, Dutch wrecks to beautiful EWS heavyweights and some glamorous Scottish interlopers, there's something for everyone, and combines the best of what's featured at Didcot in it's most exciting years.

 

Watch this space! :P

 

Cheers,

James

 

  • Like 12
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1999 ? They were all dying out......sad.

ive gone back to 1991 for my next plank , to give me more 47 variety, before they all fell apart.

 

id like to see 37248, 065, 114, 051, 057, 370, 116,  079..... it’s like bingo, I wonder if I got any ...;)

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Ive found these dvd"s to be very useful James for "railfreight and class 37" information,

when making up 37s and mixed railfreight traffic like speedlink...

 

 

cheers neil..

thumbnail_IMG_0111.jpg

  • Like 3
  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
3 hours ago, saxokid said:

Ive found these dvd"s to be very useful James for "railfreight and class 37" information,

when making up 37s and mixed railfreight traffic like speedlink...

 

 

cheers neil..

thumbnail_IMG_0111.jpg

 

Thanks Neil, absolutely! I bought a couple of the original VHS's from the original supplier at the full RRP when I was fairly young (South West & West Mids ones), and then some years later I found the above in a box set of DVDs from a discounter 'The Works' - they wanted only £9.99 for all of them, it was a proper wow moment! The Wales one is lovely with so much Coal action, and the sight of the sector 37s in the Valleys with the ancient '50s vacuum braked coal wagons is brilliant.

 

There's also some very pleasant Irish folk music on the Ireland DVD, so there's truly something for everyone! :laugh:

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, rob D2 said:

^^^^^^^

403 is cheating ! We know you brought 37055 ......

 

get the bouncers !

 

Not at all, I just remember the type of rust buckets that James is going for, happy days indeed!

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Premium

Off on a random tangent, I saw this interesting sleeper variety at Portslade station this evening, pipes going through the middle, hopefully some fun inspiration for someone to tackle on their layouts!

 

Cheers,

James

F92BFCAB-C0D6-4052-A39F-E52012BA8F43.jpeg

  • Like 6
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 22/05/2019 at 21:55, James Makin said:

Off on a random tangent, I saw this interesting sleeper variety at Portslade station this evening, pipes going through the middle, hopefully some fun inspiration for someone to tackle on their layouts!

 

Cheers,

James

 

James,

 

I'm guessing those cables are feeders for the 750vDC third rail. In which case you really don't want a tamper to be, err, 'tangling' with them! Could get very messy (and expensive). Hence the rather clever sleepers with a built in 'groove' for the cable.

 

Several suppliers make 'hollow' sleepers for the same reason.

 

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

  • 1 month later...

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...