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


James Makin
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That’s nice, you are certainly churning them out.

every page is like a time machine for me....I remember being a bit of a Del Boy and buying two Lima versions of this....which were then sold for a bit of a profit 

 

clearly recall getting  them out in the brand new worktop in the first house I brought with the missus. Long time ago.

 

maybe in 2005 all the enthusiasts should have got together and funded an engine swap from a more boring version....can’t see anyhting but razor blades for it now.

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More fantastic work James, those locos look so good. I remember the large logo class 47 you did, have you ever tackled any BR blue or green diesels/electrics? I'm guessing the colours and techniques would be generally the same.

Steve.

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14 hours ago, sb67 said:

More fantastic work James, those locos look so good. I remember the large logo class 47 you did, have you ever tackled any BR blue or green diesels/electrics? I'm guessing the colours and techniques would be generally the same.

Steve.

 

Hi Steve!

 

Thanks very much! :) I don’t think I’ve tackled a BR Blue loco as yet, though I’ve done a couple of green diesels - if you can call them that, Virgin’s 47851 ‘Traction Magazine’ a long while back plus more recently faded celeb 47004 earlier in this thread just a few years back, nothing since though!

 

I’ve always fancied doing some Banger Blue locos as seeing old videos of the 80s and early 90s, they just ooze atmosphere! I have dabbled with the ideas of doing a layout set earlier than my current era but always come back to my late 90s period where all you got were a few imposter repaints like 56006 and none of the real juicy hungover Banger Blues!!

 

Best I can offer would be Railfreight grey leftovers 56019 and 47016 on the eventual ‘to do’ list one day..!

 

Cheers,

James

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Ok, thanks James. I'll look forward to seeing the results of your ''to do list'' being done ;) Whenever I see your work mine increases! I didn't see many trains from then but I like the livery variations of the late 90's. Keep up the good work :)

Steve.

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Everytime I read this thread at the moment... Mind blown! Excellent work James, as ever. 

 

Out of all the models you've made, which one would be your favourite? Any more plans to do some Fragonset? Your 47 is one of my faves. 

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Hi James!

 

Wow! You certainly have been busy, it's been a while since I visited your (and others) threads as I'm not a huge fan of this version of the forum to be honest!

 

When I last checked in you were working on the PCAs. It's nice to finally see you tackle some 37s, even if they're slightly dirtier than I would like, but then I model the late 80s - mid 90s.

 

You put me to shame! I'll have to pull my finger out as I'm also doing some O gauge wagons for a friend as he's not a fan of painting models, he prefers the building.

 

Cheers,

Wayne

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On 06/08/2019 at 22:06, Wayne 37901 said:

Hi James!

 

Wow! You certainly have been busy, it's been a while since I visited your (and others) threads as I'm not a huge fan of this version of the forum to be honest!

 

When I last checked in you were working on the PCAs. It's nice to finally see you tackle some 37s, even if they're slightly dirtier than I would like, but then I model the late 80s - mid 90s.

 

You put me to shame! I'll have to pull my finger out as I'm also doing some O gauge wagons for a friend as he's not a fan of painting models, he prefers the building.

 

Cheers,

Wayne

 

Thanks very much Wayne, hope all's good your end! I've been following your threads on here and Facebook, always good to see your wagons coming along!

 

Definitely, the 37s have been long overdue! I've always liked the prototypes but was worried the Bachmann model would need just too much upgrading to ever get a reasonable-size fleet built up, but with a few Shawplan goodies and some weathering they scrub up just about alright for now! Hopefully maybe the lovely chaps at Accurascale will finally do a definitive model-to-end-all-models though!

 

In the meantime, there are 8 more BR versions in varying states of progress on my workbench right now and another 6 EWS maroon beauties dolled up awaiting new decals from Steve @ Railtec, so 2019 is definitely my year of the Tractor!  :lol:

 

Cheers,

James

 

 

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On 07/08/2019 at 09:09, birch1 said:

Hi James,

 

Would really be interested in finding out more about that Ford Focus model if possible, it looks fantastic.

 

 

 

Hi!

 

Thanks very much! I believe somewhere that I've written about the Ford Focus model in the depths of a very old RMWeb (pre-dating this version!) and Model Rail June 2008 issue, but for the sake of completeness I thought I'd share a few snaps here instead of just a URL!

 

2035496191_ModelRailFordFocus2.JPG.d6f89413083fb6d9f5c5720c68677f7f.JPG

 

As always, it started out with my first love, haha, a 2005 Ford Focus Zetec Climate - known in Ford circles as the Mk2 pre-facelift Focus. 

 

1185906108_0-0focuscopy.JPG.da8fa91b58f4f83bfe0915fa7f6a4f9f.JPG

 

Given that I was into modelling and had loads of models of friends and family member's cars on layouts that I had built before, I had to have a model of the Mk2 for my layout, however nobody produced one that was in a scale suitable for model railways, so having been inspired by Clive Mortimore's techniques on scratchbuilding early diesel locos from plastic sheet, I decided to dive in and have a go!

 

All my cars on the layout were 1:87 scale, so for consistency, I built the Focus to match with this, rather than 1:76.

 

The first part was to cut out plastic sheet to a 2D car shape, and laminate up many layers until a vague box shape appeared, afterwhich numerous amounts of filing and sanding took place. I measured up the real car to get all of the key dimensions and divided them by 87 to get the correct proportions, and the rest was a bit of guesswork!

 

761239190_WorkInProgressFocus4.JPG.253d6aa4061f0772f524cbd2547a175d.JPG

 

This part took literally weeks of work on and off, filing, sanding, building up again with Humbrol model filler, and repeat, until eventually, like an Egyptian Sphinx carving, some Focus-shaped nugget appeared from the mound of plastic!

 

1322307807_WorkInProgressFocus7.JPG.1b68db2862ac338884976c8f25a57b9b.JPG

 

The close up photos look quite crude as well, to be fair, one could spend months on getting this bang on, and I am in awe of the real guys at the car companies who'd make up the old 1:1 clay models of the real cars!

 

Having finally settled on the shape, I then painted it in a version of Ford Aquarius Blue (I've always been one to go for a bright Ford!) and added hand-cut glazing fit to each window, I also kitbashed the interior from a donor HO vehicle, and added wheels that I'd modified to look like the 16" Zetec petal wheels that the prototype had.

 

2111444700_ModelRailFordFocus3.JPG.403f7a9b7498413bb11255f86985aed7.JPG

 

1154412725_ModelRailFordFocus4.JPG.a8367fb89ecb55082f04ecc4edb4996a.JPG

 

739840989_ModelRailFordFocus5.JPG.b6e0b60fbea602063dafe08a25854d17.JPG

 

1956760325_ModelRailFordFocus6.JPG.af6f834ca92573e2b944b33d55cf5861.JPG

 

It was great fun to create and my first proper scratchbuild that wasn't some building or landscape element, and I was chuffed to recreate my first car finally...my only regret is that in the keen-ness to get it finished was that I didn't do any kind of resin casting at all. It was only 2007 and to be another couple of years before I mastered that skill, but I still look back and kick myself for that!!

 

I do love my Fords but sold off the Mk2 Zetec a while later in place of the orange Mk2 Focus ST that may have cropped up on here, before going to the dark side and buying my current 'fleet' of Mk2 Focus RS and Mk3 Focus RS'...bit of a guilty pleasure! I had plans to build models of each of these respectively but alas Loftus Road and other activities have borrowed me away for a while, I do still hope to have a model trainload of Focus' running around on the Bachmann IPA wagons one day, now whether I go for the Mk2 or Mk3 remains to be seen!

 

In the meantime, Minichamps have released a 1:87 version of the Mk2 Focus RS, whilst Welly Models did an (overscale) Focus ST, but despite nagging Oxford Diecast at each show I go to, we have yet to see a proper 1:76 Mk2 Ford Focus - perhaps when one day occurs and these become "classics" we may finally see one, who knows!!

 

Cheers,

James

 

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Wow James, can see a lot of work went in there! And what a result too. My hobby is scratchbuilding modern 1:76 scale model buses for my fictional fleet, Crossways, so I know what you mean when you say it took a while to make! Though I have to say, this looks 10x as complex!

 

It is a shame that modern everyday cars are so hard to come by I agree. Though I guess we have to thank Oxford for giving us a better range than we had a few years ago.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Ryan

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Hi James,

 

More highly inspirational modelling James plus nice to look back with that update on your fave models. Thanks for sharing how you got 60081 looking like that. I got the model when it came out and apart from fitting the names it’s sat in its box too. I only saw pictures of it on MGR’s down south but then came across a few shots of it in that nice dirty condition on the Dalston tanks in Cumbria so it’s certainly one to keep now.

 

Thanks

Mark

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On 14/08/2019 at 08:31, Duple said:

I love your work! The Focus looks great. 

 

If you can master resin moulding the Focus shape, I have 15 x IPA pairs to load with them and would happily contribute! 

 

I was thinking of getting the basic shape 3D printed and using that to resin mould from.

 

Never tried it before but I'm sure it's doable..

 

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks, I agree it would be great to get the Focus going in multiples! 15 pairs of IPAs is a very good number! I've got 13 pairs and I thought that was excessive haha!!

 

I've been down a few dead end roads with this project so far, I started scratch building a 1:76 Focus ST a number of years back but put it to one side when other things came along. I have a collection of the 1:43 Minichamps models of the Mk2 Focus, Focus ST and Focus RS and had a magical thought of scanning these in and shrinking down to 1:76 scale. 

 

I approached both ModelU and Phoenix Precision and both told me it's not something it's possible to do, but a friend with access to University scanners/printers offered to give it a go but in the end just didn't get a chance to do it. I'd then thought of going outside of the hobby, online there are a few specialist firms who appear to offer services to scan and 3D print objects & models, so this would be my next point of call. I'd just been looking to get a few 3D prints done to rework myself & resin cast in bulk for personal use only (due to the copyright issue on the scanned models)...but I hadn't got much further than that! 

 

It'd be good to pick this up again sometime soon, I'm a bit stuck into loco modelling this year so far but it's definitely on the longer term 'to do' list!

 

Cheers,

James

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I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s enjoyed seeing all these recent shots, really liked the 57/0! Makes me regret selling my one, in hindsight I should have kept hold of it.

 

I was talking to Paul at Chester Models only the other week about wanting to get a model of the Ford Fiesta Mk7, but the likes of Oxford don’t seem to be bothered. One of the best selling cars in the UK sand still no model! If one is released in red then I’ll be buying a few for sure.

 

keep up the good work! 

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26 minutes ago, Swifty11 said:

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s enjoyed seeing all these recent shots, really liked the 57/0! Makes me regret selling my one, in hindsight I should have kept hold of it.

 

I was talking to Paul at Chester Models only the other week about wanting to get a model of the Ford Fiesta Mk7, but the likes of Oxford don’t seem to be bothered. One of the best selling cars in the UK sand still no model! If one is released in red then I’ll be buying a few for sure.

 

keep up the good work! 

It may be to do with licensing, and the costs involved in getting the license to reproduce the vehicles in model form.  

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11 hours ago, JiLo said:

It may be to do with licensing, and the costs involved in getting the license to reproduce the vehicles in model form.  

 

Definitely, I think it’s a mix of factors, licensing costs and potential sales figures, and some witchcraft added in!

 

The guys at Oxford told me that they had no interest in producing a Focus at that time because it was ‘too ordinary’, and they tend to produce more standout cars and novelty items e.g. fancy branded vans and Aston’s etc. But then on the other side you see them pumping out regular Qashqais every month and it does feel a little one-sided!

 

There’s also bias in the German HO 1:87 market too, the likes of Herpa, Busch and Wiking patriotically pushing out every new BMW, Mercedes or VAG car but a Ford? Wash your mouth out! :lol: 

 

Fortunately there’s a few Reitze HO cars still out there secondhand, the Escort Mk5, KA Mk1, Transits of the 80s/90s, Mondeo’s Mk1-Mk3 and Focus Mk1, so there are some good things if you’re prepared to go for the smaller scale as I’ve done on my older layouts, only trouble is they do look too small if you’re loading up a wagon with them!!

 

Cheers,

James

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On 18/08/2019 at 12:13, James Makin said:

 

Definitely, I think it’s a mix of factors, licensing costs and potential sales figures, and some witchcraft added in!

 

The guys at Oxford told me that they had no interest in producing a Focus at that time because it was ‘too ordinary’, and they tend to produce more standout cars and novelty items e.g. fancy branded vans and Aston’s etc. But then on the other side you see them pumping out regular Qashqais every month and it does feel a little one-sided!

 

There’s also bias in the German HO 1:87 market too, the likes of Herpa, Busch and Wiking patriotically pushing out every new BMW, Mercedes or VAG car but a Ford? Wash your mouth out! :lol: 

 

Fortunately there’s a few Reitze HO cars still out there secondhand, the Escort Mk5, KA Mk1, Transits of the 80s/90s, Mondeo’s Mk1-Mk3 and Focus Mk1, so there are some good things if you’re prepared to go for the smaller scale as I’ve done on my older layouts, only trouble is they do look too small if you’re loading up a wagon with them!!

 

Cheers,

James

 

To sat a Focus is 'too ordinary' and then produce the Nisan Quashqai (one of the dullest cars!) is quite funny!

I'll have to keep an eye out, you can buy a mk6 fiesta in 1/16 but nothing smaller sadly, or more modern! 

 

Personally, I think the likes of Fiestas/Focus would be a great idea because you see so many of them on the road and you see them on car trains too. 

A friend of mine in the retail world was saying there's a huge demand for 80s cars but Oxford doesn't seem to be meeting it...

Edited by Swifty11
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2 hours ago, Swifty11 said:

 

To sat a Focus is 'too ordinary' and then produce the Nisan Quashqai (one of the dullest cars!) is quite funny!

I'll have to keep an eye out, you can buy a mk6 fiesta in 1/16 but nothing smaller sadly, or more modern! 

 

Personally, I think the likes of Fiestas/Focus would be a great idea because you see so many of them on the road and you see them on car trains too. 

A friend of mine in the retail world was saying there's a huge demand for 80s cars but Oxford doesn't seem to be meeting it...

I had a cashcow for three years and it was really comfy, especially the heated seats that made you think you’d wet yourself,

 

Please enlighten us Mr swifty on what you drive and it’d better be exciting as per 911 upwards.... ;)

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