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


James Makin
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Good job on the wagons. I too have five oba wagons still in boxes that i purchased a long time ago and until now i have never really had use for them but after seeing how you converted yours into an old worn rusty look im going to attempt to get the same look on my ones.

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

Terry

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Excellent, looking forward to seeing what you do with them.

I'm glad you have some nostalgia for that period - I do a bit, but slowly transforming into an old fart firmly believe everything post 1995 was rubbish.... !

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I've been a little busy again...but sorry to bore you with more of the same though!

 

28702809122_2ab80e96f3_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

I couldn't resist doing another couple of OBA's! 

 

Joining the fleet this week is OBA 110301 in a maroon, yellow & spot-repaired black livery, and OBA 110073 in grey, bare wood and EWS maroon livery. 

 

28776453456_4eb60c839b_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

First up is 110301, browsing Flickr this caught my attention due to the distinctive paint job - a careworn wooden body given spot repairs to the hinge/locking parts of the doors, recently finished in smart black, set against the wooden sides, some sporting a faux EWS maroon shade, whilst others were literally bare wood.

 

But where to start?

 

I stripped some more of the Bachmann EWS OBA wagons down and gradually built up the shades on each wagon, carefully following the prototype pictures.

 

28776456856_b825c2f126_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Above you can see the factory EWS livery gradually losing the battle to the browns and greys. Being plastic, the surfaces are very flat, but I've had some success recreating the wood grain by painting a wagon plank, then later dragging a clean paintbrush horizontally across it whilst tacky to leave fine grain marks.

Girls Aloud's 2005 Chemistry album was useful for this stage (their best album, just so you know).

 

28523697910_acb869efd2_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

For weathering the underframe, I normally use the same batch of colours above, these are dolloped separately onto a foil tray, and stippled onto the underframe using a larger paintbrush. This tends to mix together, and you can bias the shade around key areas with Humbrol 62 and 186 around the brakes, while No's 32 tends to be the dominant shade elsewhere. Any excess is dabbed with a magic cotton bud.

 

A bit more drybrushing and paint-on-wipe-off later, and the model was ready for transfers and varnishing:

 

28702817622_7fe7483647_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

The ends were once Warning Panel Yellow, long since faded and with a heavy rust breaking through the surface -

 

28808110875_19298c9da8_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Data panels were made up on the PC using CorelDraw and a Gunplay Stencil font - had to download this specially for the project but I've finally cracked these stencil TOPS panels!

 

The lower solebar data panel (actually superfluous given the above!) was made up to reflect the handpainted signwriting style, found on many other similar wagons too.

 

28702820802_cf3846983b_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Next up is OBA 110073, which is another right mess to be honest!

 

28776462816_f3a1a7e5ef_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

110073 appears to be painted originally in a Dutch-grey type livery, but has all of the side panels replaced at some stage, with only the grey ends and solebar still visible. The sides are a mixture of a flaking deep red, newer unpainted planks and some brand new EWS maroon planks installed much more recently.

 

28808114695_087decf8c3_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Sadly (for the wagon) it has been subjected to numerous graffiti attacks during its career, and interestingly at different timescales, the oldest being a large set of heavily faded black scrawlings, some of which have gone when planks have been replaced. Newer is the light blue 'tagging', while the newest is the large 'artwork' on the right hand end. Interestingly there are also a couple of 'E' chalkings, presumably 'official' and relating to whether the wagon was empty, as a guess. 

 

Rude not to model it all of course!

 

28702784422_97a2e9d4e5_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

As before, the informal TOPS panel stencilling was completed in CorelDraw and the older black graffiti drybrushed onto the visible planks. 00000 paintbrushes made light work of the graffiti tagging, but I've found gloss paint is more free-flowing and produces better results that using matt colours.

 

28523702460_0cf600ec6f_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

28702831242_209279c2d5_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Just need to get these loaded up now!

 

28808121975_c98e097f52_b.jpgOBA wagons by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

So there we go, seven down, nine more to go!

 

I do apologise for the ongoing OBA fetish, they are just so much fun to tackle - only a few minor mods and ready for the dirty paintshop! They can be done across the period of about 10 days in many small modelling sessions, and I've already started on the next pair - I promise some vivid shades of red to come! :)

Edited by James Makin
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:O  :O  :O  :O  :O  :O  :O

 

Niiiiice! 

I have to agree with you on the girls aloud choice, by any chance have you heard Lana Del Rey young and beautiful the cedric gervais remix? Its epic

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:O  :O  :O  :O  :O  :O  :O

 

Niiiiice! 

I have to agree with you on the girls aloud choice, by any chance have you heard Lana Del Rey young and beautiful the cedric gervais remix? Its epic

 

Thanks for the OBA pic! It looks equally juicy, there's so many good ones out there to model.

 

Cheers also for the tip off on Young and Beautiful - hadn't heard that particular remix! Trading LDR tips - the RAC Remix of 'Blue Jeans' is pretty smoking!

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Thanks for the OBA pic! It looks equally juicy, there's so many good ones out there to model.

 

Cheers also for the tip off on Young and Beautiful - hadn't heard that particular remix! Trading LDR tips - the RAC Remix of 'Blue Jeans' is pretty smoking!

Thankfully I was talking to the tour guide and after a long chat he gave me the wagons tops list as I'd purchased the loco list. However you need a degree in code breaking to understand the majority of it!

This OBA is a freightliner example and one of only 7 freightliner has on its books (it has 3 OCA wagons as well)

 

They have the following OBAs

110157

110363

110384

110414

110455

110650

110726

And they have the following OCA wagons

112155

112176

112197

 

The example I got a snap of is OBA 110414 I think?

 

*NOTE: I am NOT a wagon spotter!!! Never have been and never will be*

Edited by Swifty11
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Totally amazing work James.

 

It's almost like those OBAs are O gauge.....

 

You have inspired me, I'd like to "try" replicated (or is it stealing ?) your work with these.

 

Nick

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Fantastic work James. I have a question, how do you fade the colours, you mentioned using white and grey, do you paint it on and wipe off or airbrush a light coat? appologies if you've answered it in the thread but i couldn't see it.

Steve

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Fantastic work James. I have a question, how do you fade the colours, you mentioned using white and grey, do you paint it on and wipe off or airbrush a light coat? appologies if you've answered it in the thread but i couldn't see it.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I've always found fading tricky, so I try painting the wagons in a near-enough shade as possible first, then its a case of painting on and wiping off whites and greys to get them looking just as the pictures do! It's all brushpainted as well, I've seen many use airbrushes for these coatings but deep down I'm quite lazy and truthfully can never be bothered to go through the faffing around of cleaning an airbrush just for a wagon!! lol.gif

 

*NOTE: I am NOT a wagon spotter!!! Never have been and never will be*

 

Haha trust me that will come with time or boredom, when all your favourite locos have been withdrawn, or butchered into Class 57s! P.gif

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Superb work on the OBAs James,

I notice disc brake insert as well, just been doing a few of mine. Inspirational stuff keep the wagons comming. Still love those TEAs though.

 

Cheers Peter.

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Hi James,

 

They're looking very tasty. I particularly like the stencil data panels you've made up. So much so I've even downloaded it in readiness for a few 7mm projects I've got on the go.

 

Cheers

 

Tom

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Sometimes, someone, does something that is very inspiring. I think this is one of those instances, those wagons look absolutely spot on. I assume your going to be sticking an equally run down grid or tractor on the front?

As a slight aside, what locos are you planning on doing for this layout?

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Sometimes, someone, does something that is very inspiring. I think this is one of those instances, those wagons look absolutely spot on. I assume your going to be sticking an equally run down grid or tractor on the front?

As a slight aside, what locos are you planning on doing for this layout?

 

There's definitely going to be some equally run down traction up front, that I can confirm!!

 

My careworn BR green 47004 is the 'booked traction' for this on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road layout but there are a fair few other locos that can deputise from the old Wells Green fleet!

 

I've got a long-term personal layout project to model something very memorable from my youth and most of my rolling stock links to this, so there will be many more vulnerable 37s,47s, 56s, 58s, 59s and 60s over the course of time - basically anything that used to ply the Oxfordshire part of the GWML in the late 90s/early 00s that made its way into my spotting notes! :)

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Haha trust me that will come with time or boredom, when all your favourite locos have been withdrawn, or butchered into Class 57s! P.gif

Ey ey ey!

Now you have said that I've changed my profile picture P.gif

57312 'Peter Henderson'

 

Seeing wagons just seems a colossal pain in the arse! It would be like filming every class 66!!

Getting some rare wagons (e.g freightliners OCA/OBA fleet) would be nice and it's only 10 wagons... .... So he says....

 

Also on my playlist (as we are swapping music)

Showtech and Justin Prime ft Matthew Koma 'Cannonball (earthquake) (KRYDER remix)

Tove Lo 'stay high'

And my favourite is Nicky Romero and NERVO 'Like Home'

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Ey ey ey!

Now you have said that I've changed my profile picture

57312 'Peter Henderson'

Haha! Freightliner 47330 in old money! :) Not as bad as poor 47844 and 47849 though, half butchered but bodies too bent to finish converting to a 57!!

 

Good shout on Tove Lo, fellow Swede and similarly-named Tove Styrke is also worth a look!

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I'm still busy beavering away on the latest batch of OBA's for the ballast train, but in the meantime I thought I'd share a few new pics of some old wagons I'd completed many years ago, which will form part of the same train on Loftus Road.

 

Back in the heady days of 2005 I'd decided to have a bash at the-then-brand new Bachmann POA wagons, chop some holes and turn them into MKA 'Limpet' ballast wagons -

 

28192898583_5846bb4609_b.jpgMKA wagon by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

MKA 390256 was at the time in revenue earning service with EWS, and still wearing its original Foster Yeoman aggregates colours, before a meeting with one of the engineering department's gas torches!

 

The 'Limpets' are a hugely interesting set of wagons, I understand this started life as a TTA tank wagon before box body conversion to a POA aggregate wagon, which were later reallocated to departmental usage under late BR days with the Intercity sector, and had holes cut in the side to prevent overloading with the heavier spoil load.

 

28523708370_9481efb82b_b.jpgMKA wagon by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

I recall sharing some tiny photographs on the DEMU Forum back in 2005 and this model made it into Rail Express April 2006 along with my layout feature, but has pretty much been cocooned in a stock box since then! I can't wait to get it finally earning it's keep on Loftus Road

 

28190691804_40b4741846_b.jpgMKA wagon by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

At about the same time, I was inspired to re-create the notable bulges you see in these wagons, from years of aggregate use and large open sheet metal panels leading to much bending action.

 

This wagon was very much trial and error; I'd seen the 1998 Model Rail guide on bending some 'Windcutter' mineral wagons - and the concept of exposing your wagons to a mini blow torch! Why ever not!

 

So I had a go, I didn't have a gas soldering iron of course, so improvised with a normal one and some tin foil on the inside of the wagon, can just about pass it off as a 'success' haha! Saying that, I did totally ruin a brand new £10 Bachmann MTA wagon at the time, swings and roundabouts...

 

I also attempted a second wagon, this time an ARC survivor:

 

28808128145_83b3e5fc3f_b.jpgMKA wagon by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

MKA 390270 was another spotted at Didcot in the early 2000s, wearing a heavily ruined version of the ARC mustard colour scheme with a yellow 'Dutch' stripe added following its conversion to the 'Limpet'.

 

As well as cutting the holes in the sides of the wagons, I also had a stab at the chassis...

 

28523711860_ae376c5a2f_b.jpgMKA wagon by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Many, many years before I'd scratchbuilt some EWS MTA wagons from old Hornby TTA tankers and had spent an unhealthy amount of time studying the underframe so when I tackled these similar MKA's I just couldn't leave the chassis with the minimal factory detailing! I don't think I'd bother nowadays (old age lazyness setting in) but this is what you could add...

 

Moving on, you might remember I ruined a brand new Bachmann MTA wagon by putting a soldering iron right through the side, so I decided to bin the body and scratchbuild a new one, but this time for the other MTA variant with the even rib spacing, for the earlier builds of MTA 'Doorand' from the late BR days:

 

28192900813_2697ac63c2_b.jpgMTA 395008 by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

MTA 395008 is modelled from a photo and features a plasticard body, and an equally nerdy array of underframe equipment...!

 

In line with all of my TTA/MKA/MTA wagons, these feature the spring conversions, you can replace the original Bachmann springs with aftermarket whitemetal versions, but I have always been cheap and just chopped mine with a scalpel and re-profiled to the desired shape! The wagon was then carefully bent with the soldering iron, and painted in the Dutch livery.

 

28808132645_e03c62529f_b.jpgMTA 395008 by James Makin by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Please forgive some of the slightly crude weathering techniques, I was a tender 19 at the time and while some of it has been good practice, some bits I'd definitely do differently the second time around!

 

I'm hoping to change the couplings but otherwise the wagons should be good to join the lengthening ballast train on Loftus Road. Swear I've got some MHA 'Coalfish' laying around somewhere too..!

 

 

 

Edited by James Makin
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