Jons Workbench

[virginhst539]

very nice work! also nice to see D6607 (37403) with out all the rust =)

[Jon020]

Hi Jon.... yes that was the one! Lovely model. Remember watching the bid on e-bay... sad there weren't many bids, but hope you were happy with what it went for.

The new one is looking nice; certainly not my era, but I do like this livery; recall being pleased to find one of these stabled at York a couple of years back when I was staying at the Royal George (is that the one - the one sort of attached to the stn)... and finishing breaky quickly so that I could go and grab some shots in the early sunshine. Very nice.

I think those handbrake chains might need shortening though

Jon

[P.C.M]

Hi Jon,

Your class 37 is looking great,I am going to get around to doing one of mine this year and I am thinking of doing the bogie mod, could you tell what glue you use to stick the bogie sides back on please. I am a bit worried that when I go to clip the bogie back on the glue may not hold.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Pugsley]

I use a combination of superglue and araldite on mine, and it's been successful so far. The superglue holds everything in place while the araldite sets - I wouldn't trust superglue alone, it's too brittle.

[43179]

Evening all

Peter - I use thick superglue , such as zap-a-gap , combined with zip kicker accelerator to set the glue.

As you rightly point out , when clipping the bogie back on , this can break the joints as you are forced to bend the plastic to get the front/rear clips to engage. The best way to avoid this is to remove the bogie gear tower , and file the front and back angled bits of the gear tower moulding , where the bogie sideframe/keeper plate clips on :

This reduces the amount of bending/stress on the parts required to re assemble the bogies - so far I've not had any of my re-glued bogies break. I remove quite fair bit of plastic , so that theres only just enough for the bogie sideframe/keeper plate to 'click' into place. This also makes it easy to remove them again in the future -no need to go prising things apart with a screwdriver. I'd go so far as to say this modification would apply to most other Bachmann diesels as well.

 

 

tfn

 

Jon

Edited April 10, 2012 by 43179

[43179]

Hi again

- A quick shot of 248 tonight -

The noses have been varnished , to help match the factory paint finish on the rest of the body - Hopefully you wouldn't be able to tell its had a partial respray.

I've added the top lamp brackets (vitrains parts) and aerials , they still need trimming down to the correct length , and the air horns. These shouldn't really be painted maroon , but I like them

 

The roof has also been part painted to match the factory color where I added the new roof grille. I also decided at the last minute to replace the moulded grab handles on the engine room roof hatches, just using some fine nickel silver wire - so again this area has been partially resprayed , although again , I hope its not too obvious!

 

 

It's nice to see this nearly finished. I am pleased how the headcode boxes have come out .

tfn

 

Jon

[Jon020]

Evening all

Peter - I use thick superglue , such as zap-a-gap , combined with zip kicker accelerator to set the glue.

As you rightly point out , when clipping the bogie back on , this can break the joints as you are forced to bend the plastic to get the front/rear clips to engage. The best way to avoid this is to remove the bogie gear tower , and file the front and back angled bits of the gear tower moulding , where the bogie sideframe/keeper plate clips on :

This reduces the amount of bending/stress on the parts required to re assemble the bogies - so far I've not had any of my re-glued bogies break. I remove quite fair bit of plastic , so that theres only just enough for the bogie sideframe/keeper plate to 'click' into place. This also makes it easy to remove them again in the future -no need to go prising things apart with a screwdriver. I'd go so far as to say this modification would apply to most other Bachmann diesels as well.

 

 

tfn

 

Jon

That's a good point there Jon... I always had to keep my fingers crossed removing my deltic's ones... this will work for the 55 as well as the 37... not sure about the others, but well worth a look.

The finish has blended in nicely. Is this to retain a pristine finish or will it get some subtle weathering ?

[43179]

.. this will work for the 55 as well as the 37...

 

 

The same would apply to the 47 as well - this also has a very thin bit of plastic that you have to lever to get the bogies apart - infact I snapped mine on my very first attempt I seem to remember, even trying very carefully not to - think the 47 (and the 66) are about the worst for this .

 

I'd like to think the Scottish atmosphere is fairly clean , and so , while I've given the underframe of 37248 a good deal of 'road dirt' etc , I wont do much to the body , and the real thing seemed fairly well kept , oh and the livery has grown on me far too much to go attacking it with the airbrush . I do like locos that have been scrubbed up , but aren't 'ex' works , if you know what I mean - dirty running gear but with the yellow axleboxes cleaned off - that sort of thing - they tend to come across nicely in model form I think. When it comes to weathering I like to go somewhere between 'all' or 'nothing'

 

tfn

 

Jon

[Jon020]

The same would apply to the 47 as well - this also has a very thin bit of plastic that you have to lever to get the bogies apart - infact I snapped mine on my very first attempt I seem to remember, even trying very carefully not to - think the 47 (and the 66) are about the worst for this .

I'd like to think the Scottish atmosphere is fairly clean , and so , while I've given the underframe of 37248 a good deal of 'road dirt' etc , I wont do much to the body , and the real thing seemed fairly well kept , oh and the livery has grown on me far too much to go attacking it with the airbrush . I do like locos that have been scrubbed up , but aren't 'ex' works , if you know what I mean - dirty running gear but with the yellow axleboxes cleaned off - that sort of thing - they tend to come across nicely in model form I think. When it comes to weathering I like to go somewhere between 'all' or 'nothing'

tfn

Jon

 

Thanks for the 47 advice Jon.., I've got to take mine apart very soon and I did wonder. I'll be careful, but prepared for the need for glue.

As for the weathering, I completly understand; hence the way i asked. A little underframe toning (dirt/dust/grime) to remove the shiny black plastic look and a few stains here and there should give that nice "in use" look... but yes a relatively clean body - some light exhaust staining (?) should look very nice.

Jon

[P.C.M]

Hi Pugsley,

Thanks for that, I think it was your thread where I saw the bogie mod first. I think you raised the bogie up about 1mm too?

 

Thanks Jon,

That sounds like the go, I will file off a bit at each end of the bogie tower, I have already damaged one bogie on another class 37 trying to prise it off. I found the class 47s were not as bad but will certainly look doing that on the ones I still need to do.

Your varnish job looks great, and the headcode mod looks well worth the effort. Look forwards to seeing it weathered. to agree with jon020 on that, too much dirt might be a bit much, that loco seems to be fairly well kept

 

Cheers Peter.

[Metr0Land]

That's a lovely paint job on the maroon 37

[Chris56057]

Absolutely superb Jon, great documentation and one I'm sure I will refer back to.

[43179]

Afternoon,

The 37 is finished - ill take some pictures after I've typed this. I'm nearing finishing some Pullman stock too.

First is 'Vera' which was one of the Kitchen trailers in the Brighton belle EMUs and uses one of the new Hornby 'Belle' trailers. The model represents (I hope!) the coach now converted to loco hauled use in the current VSOE set.

 

The 5-BEL trailers didn't have much in the way of underframe equipment and it seems what was there was virtually all removed when Vera was rebuilt. All the new underframe stuff is from Replica, using a mix of their mk1 and PCV underframe sprues , plus some scratch building. I have to make some educated guesses with the (only just visible) air brake equipment.

The bogies use the cosmetic sideframes from the Hornby 4 vep , fitted to an MJT etched bogie frame.

My picture doesn't show very well, but the mountings for the roof boards have been removed , and the roof resprayed - plus all the jumper(?) boxes have been removed from the ends of the model and the ends resprayed. The only detail that remains on the ends of the coach in its current state is the lighting jumpers.

This in progress shot shows the original end details , on the right , and the rebuilt end on the left , and Hornbys terrifying coupling!

 

The original gangways have been removed and replaced with Pullman style gangways , robbed off another Hornby Pullman. The original buffers were also removed on the real thing and replaced with what look like BR style buffers. For the model I grafted on some southern pride bufferbeams , but swapped the buffer heads for some Bachmann ones as they're a slightly better shape.

The finishing modern touches are OHLE flashes , plus ETH fittings and pipework added to the buffer beams.

Unfortunately there' s a huge compromise on this model , the livery as modern VSOE stock is painted in a completely different interpretation of Pullman livery to the original - the lining is much simplified and the shade of umber is much richer and more like a milk chocolate soft of color. But I don't think I could do as good a job

 

more soon..

 

Jon

[43179]

Hello ,

Part two ,

its 'Mona' another Brighton Belle Trailer , again modelled in its current condition , but quite different to 'Vera'

Mona has yet to be restored!

 

ill write more - My chilli is ready! mmmmm

 

jon

[Pete Harvey]

Jon

 

They look very good indeed and I know where you have built them for and they will look very good there when it's finished.

 

Pete

[43179]

Thanks Pete - I wasnt sure how Mona would turn out - incase it just looked poorly done , as opposed to poor condition , if that makes sense??

 

As promised - some shots of the 37 - The lights were all given a little blob of epoxy , to 'glaze' them , and the last bits to go on were the wipers , that are from Shawplan. Folding over the blades of the wipers took a little practice as they're so tiny. I fixed them with a tiny spot satin varnish - nothing special, just humbrol stuff , neat from the tin.

 

Now , whats next? Im itching to get the new Hornby 67 . I would like to do 67004 in tatty EWS livery . Still a few months to wait though till its out

 

 

tfn

 

Jon

[CWJ]

Fantastic pullmans Jon! Re. 'Vera', I've got a similar livery dilemma... keep Hornby's lovely neat lining or hand-paint it in the correct shade? Heavy weathering is easy to do badly, but your 'Mona' is superb. Your photos look like the real thing standing in a big white room

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[37114]

Great work on the 37 and great job on the paintwork, you really can't see the join, your pics of the speedo cables has reminded me I must sort the bogies on mine. Also great tip on the shawplan fan grille with the fine wire, will remember that when I do mine. I know from expereience doing the underframe corner cut outs is a pain but it does make a massive difference imo and well worth the effort.

[P.C.M]

Hi Jon,

The 37 looks superb, love those Pullmans too. I will have to send a link to my mate who is based at Stewarts lane and works for the company that runs the VOSE and the Northern Belle.

 

Cheers Peter.

[the penguin of doom]

Hi Jon.

 

I have just found this thread and instantly read it from start to finish. Some very fine modelling and I especially like the Pullmans. I had a go at some of the 1928 stock a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed working on them.

 

I'll definately be following your thread from now on.

 

Cheers.

 

Sean.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Hello ,

Part two ,

its 'Mona' another Brighton Belle Trailer , again modelled in its current condition , but quite different to 'Vera'

Mona has yet to be restored!

 

ill write more - My chilli is ready! mmmmm

 

jon

 

Ah dude that would look great outside a derelict shed surrounded by long weeds or something.

[cairnsroadworks]

Me again

, , unfortunately I got stuck in and didnt take too many pictures while doing the 37 - but the jobs already done include lowering the loco onto its bogies, and also narrowing the bogies so they don't stick out beyond the lower edge of the body. this is done by cutting the bogie sideframes off with a hacksaw , and then glueing them back on - the thickness of the saw cut brings the bogie sideframes in just the right amount.

 

The small pipes that run to the brake cylinders on the bogies are moulded plastic as supplied on the model and are therefore quite chunky - on the real thing these are very small pipes and describe a distinctive 's' shape as they run into each brake cylinder - so I've had a go at modelling these with some fine wire - and also added the missing cable to the axlebox:

 

looking now at the noses - the real 37248 has its high intensity headlights mounted lower down than most 37s - a feature that wasn't really practical (cost wise) to tool up for the model. Ive removed the existing headlight and added Replica headlights in the correct position. Ive also beefed up bachmanns rather flat headcode box with a thin layer of plasticard and a Shawplan etch to represent the 'shallow' panel welded onto the headcode boxes of this loco. Before fitting the shawplan panel i've soldered two top hat bearings into the holes , and will then add the etches for the marker lights frames over the top. The reason for adding the bearings is they add a bit more relief .

You can also see I've started cutting out the windscreens too - as these will be getting the shawplan laserglaze treatment shortly.

 

The odd mix of buffers is prototypical - and a nice feature of this loco. The buffers are an oval Hornby class 31 buffer and eliptical Hornby class 60 buffers.

Next job now is to get the new windscreens fitted -

 

tfn

 

Jon

 

Jon,

 

Great work on the 37. I wish I could achieve such standards in my timescales and budget constraints! Anyhow was wondering how you have achieved the blue star MW equipment on the bufferbeam? Apols if you mentioned it elsewhere!

 

Cheers,

 

Andi.

[43179]

Hi all - thanks for reading and for your comments -

Hi Andi - the MW bits are a mix - the 'Elephants trunk' on the left of the bufferbeam is a Heljan fitting. The jumper itself uses the original Bachmann fitting for the bit thats on the bufferbeam - the other end thats mounted on the nose is a vitrains part - both these are are carefully drilled out then sprayed orange - then joined together with some rubber cord - I only glue the cord in at one end so you can still split the body and the chassis!

 

 

back with an update very soon (after soup!)

 

tfn

 

Jon

[43179]

Hi Again.

Today I've been looking at my Dapol class 22 an fix the height of the bogies - The real things had a very distinctive stance , which doesn't quite carry over on the Dapol model - Id like to get my 22 looking just right as It does look very nice on my little layout - even though I didn't even have the 22 in mind when building it

 

The issue with the Dapol 22 is the sideframes sit too low down in relation to the wheels -

Here's the model as supplied

On the real locos the tops of the wheels wouldn't be visible above the sideframes , and the bottoms of the sandboxes (is that what they are?) on the bogies , should line up with the hip in the fuel tank. Plus, of course , much more of those lovely spoked wheels would be visible as a result.

 

A couple of minutes later with a razor saw, I cut the sideframes from the gear cover/baseplate at each end of the bogie and simply moved them up just over 1mm. I've added some thin shims of plasticard to make up for thickness of the saw cut - Some pictures will show this better than my explanation , but first here's the effect -

the bogie on the left is orignal , on the right modified - I think it improves the model but the effect will be better when i've added the lower body valances - A worthwhile little job I think! - ill do some more follow up pictures of the bogies when both are done - I may do the second bogie slightly different

 

tfn

 

Jon

Edited May 20, 2012 by 43179

[Charlie]

Good luck with the valances. Whilst I applaud Dapol's ingenuity, they've just been too problematic for me. Like bogie readjustment too