Pugsley Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I need to knock up some wagons for it to haul now I suppose...You'd better pull your finger out, you've only got 4 days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Luckily the layout is so small I couldn't fit many wagons on! Though I could always fill the layout with a Colas hauled permanent way train and have no movement all day! Eventually I'd like to scratch build a tamper for it to tow about jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 If anyone's reading this one before coming to the members day, both locos featured on the thread will be with me today at the members day in Taunton along with a few unseen projects currently in progress jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Yup, it's yellow. And looks like Quadrophenia on rails! I'm doing it in slightly later condition with the round spot lamps, but this is how 31285 should end up. So, a bit of background. The class 31 is one of the last models to be tooled by Graham Farish in Poole before they were bought out by Bachmann. Dimensionally it's pretty good and unlike a lot of the Poole era stuff, has pretty good detail all round and is a fair likeness to the real thing. The roof fan and bogies in particular are nicely done. I think the worst bits for me are the plug in front end, including the recess around the side windows, the bufferbeam that's a halfway house between cowled and cut away and the solid engine room windows. The bufferbeams were easy to shift, side cutters and a file saw to that. Side windows went with a drill and some judicious filing. The front end was glued on, then the gap between this and the main body moulding filled. The glazing is a nightmare to remove from the model and is rather thick in places, as such, some windows won't be going back in, instead being done with Crystal Klear. Enough wittering about the lump of plastic, what have I actually done so far? Basic work done to bring it up to modern standards: - Fill the cab front join - Wire handrails - Drill out the bodyside windows - Add air pipes, blue star etc to buffer beams - Scribe on panel joins - Add etched surround to the fire pulls (BHE - yet to be fitted) - one fire pull is at the wrong end as modelled by Farish, this is easily filled - Etched lamp irons (BHE) - Add rainstrip around cabs (0.3mm Plastruct strip) Extra work to make a 'refurb' 31: - New bufferbeams (TPM class 47 cutaway ones used backwards) - NRN aerials on the cab roofs (BH Enterprises) - High intensity headlight (Ratio) - Remove the boiler details, fill the hole remaining - Plated headcode panel (BHE etch filed down) Network Rail additions: - Brackets for UV lights, associated cabling (no. 2 end) - Evergreen/Plastruct section - Jumper boxes for test train conenctions (no. 1 end) - Evergreen/Plastruct section - GSM-R aerial (no. 1 end roof) - UV lights (yet to be added, I'll probably use white metal carriage roof vents with the dome filed flat for the round spot lamps) I think that's everything! So, this is how it stands at present It has since has several coats of primer in between a few rounds of fill and sand. It's closer to going yellow than I thought! The loco will run with the two mk1s that Farish released in NR yellow (which will be heavily detailed on the roof, ends and below solebar), the optical car, a mk2 runner and a mk2 DBSO, sorry RTOV, to make up the Structure Gauging train. jo Edited June 9, 2014 by ewsjo 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) Looking rather good Jo. Im planning a similar thing with a br blue refurbed 31 for MD. What youve done there looks very good and I will be shamelessly following your path I reckon. Im also planning to get one of the new tooled ones when it comes out too so will be interesting to see the comparison. Will you be cutting grooves for the door handrails? Edited June 10, 2014 by RBE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Robert Shrives Posted June 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2014 Hi Jo have you looked at the Archer rivet transfers - DCC supplies had loads at DEMU looked really good. This looks very good anyway - I was going to graft a TPM cab on to a farish shell might just get on with it soon! Robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Martin Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hi Jo Have you used the BHE snow ploughs at all? The TPM ones don't seem to be available at the moment, so I was looking at the BHE as an alternative (lthough their website isn't terribly clear about which item would suit a 47) Also, have you tried any screw coupling etches other than TPM? I can't find these anywhere, so I was considering either N Brass or Smith's Components (from Scale Link). Looking forward to seeing the 31 develop. I've always thought it was one of the best of the Poole efforts. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hi guys, thanks for all the comments, I'm glad to have provided a little inspiration! Cav, no I don't think that I'll add the recesses for the handrails. It's an opportunity to completely mess things up and I think if done poorly would look worse than not at all. Once a dark wash is run around the hand rails they should look ok I think. The new 31 in the Farish cabinet at the AGM did look very tasty, but I think a detailed up old model should be able to compete. Robert I hadn't thought of those. I'll have a look and see how small they go. It's one of those things as well that I think I'd be more likely to remove in a rubbing down during the paint process, knowing how ham fisted I am. I plan to run dark washes down the body joins, so this will make them stand out better, just wondering if the bolt heads would over power the illusion? Jim, the BHE ploughs I have are part BHE118. From what I remember the choice is between these or the shallow ones fitted to 33s so they don't foul the 3rd rail. They don't come with instructions, but are simple enough to fold up if you look at a photo of the real think. They aren't quite as fine as Bernard's, but do the job just fine. I thought i had some of the N Brass screw links, but it would appear not. I've seen them on his stand though and from memory they were fine. Sadly it's one of the few items that don't have an illustration on his site. The Smiths ones I didn't even know existed, so I might have to explore these. jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 A quick update. Yes it's still grey. Flip side is I think all the bits are now added and it's ready for the top coats when I get the time. Buffer beam detail is mainly wire, though the Blue Star socket is evergreen rod heated over the soldering iron to a 90 degree bend. The fire pulls on the bodysides and the camera window on the front end are from BHE etches. The handrails were "fun" to bend up too! I decided not to go down the road of the Archer's rivet transfers, something I may regret once it's finished, but they seemed rather expensive to experiment with and I'm convinced I'd destroy some of them in the painting process. The endless sanding and filling has been quite tedious with this one so it's nice to finally see the former boiler exhaust looking smooth, well, more accurately, to not see the boiler exhaust! It was definitely worth the extra time to make sure it is flush. I'm not 100% of where the yellow panel ends on the front of 31285, I think it runs below the winsdcreens and follows the 'bump' for the connecting doors. On '233 it seems to cover the whole front like BR blue 31s, but '105 has it as I think it is on '285. 31105 and 31233 are easier to tell because they're so heavily faded. 31285 is in comparitively good nick, paint wise! jo 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Looking good. I am very keen on having a go now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Cheers Cav, I've been looking at pictures of 31106 and thinking a skinhead would be a nice addition to the fleet... jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Looks great Jo! How will you be glazing it? Will you use the original glazing or something else? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 I'm not sure what to use to glaze it yet. I may try and refit the original stuff, but it is a very tight fit, so I may not for fear of damaging the model. It's not so much the glazing in the aperture, more the fact it's moulded as one piece so perhaps I can trim it down. Failing that, it'll be Crystal Clear, a thick PVA type liquid for glazing jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Can you not hand cut some styrene sheet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Cheers Cav, I've been looking at pictures of 31106 and thinking a skinhead would be a nice addition to the fleet... jo Yeah skinheads look good. I want one with a headcode box though. Mine will just be a bog standard banger blue affair that I can stick on all manner of duties! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Morning Cav, I'm not generally a fan of BR blue, but 31106 does look good with a rake of yellow coaches behind it! As for the glazing, I hadn't even considered hand cutting glazing. It's something I'll bare in mind, though my cutting isn't that accurate! Filler and weathering are my two best friends in this respect! jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Well tbh in 1988 I dont have many livery options. Blue or RF grey really. The layout already has loads or RF liveried stuff so Blue it is. My fondest memories of 31s were in dirty blue on parcels diagrams so Im happy to do it blue. Im not a big fan of the current scene as Im sure you know. Hand cutting glazing is easier than youd think and the 31 has kind window shapes. 37s etc are a pig. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Ha! RF grey would win it every time from me. Too much Railfreight livery? Noooo paint it all in red stripe! I have to admit, despite all my protesting "it's a dull livery" etc in the past, I can see where you're coming from http://hondawanderer.com/31132_Compton_Beauchamp_1979.htm Rather nice, I must admit jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaulCheffus Posted July 8, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hi When I did mine I managed to get the original glazing back in. Cheers Paul 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Cheers Paul, proves it can be done! It certainly gives some food for thought. I like the waist strip you've added, very neatly done. For anyone reading who's not familiar with the roof of a 31, here's 105 last week. Apart from the different mounting of the NRN aerials due to the fact it's a skinhead, the roof is identical to what I've done on 31285 jo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 A quick shot of the 31 in yellow. Imperfections have been rubbed back (thankfully nothing major enough to go through to primer) so next step is to do the yellow warning panels. I'm not sure when I'll get chance to do that, but the grey will need overpainting too. I should've done it after the yellow really, as masking around the spot lamp brackets on the roof was a right pain! My plan is to brush on a coat of grey over the already sprayed on grey. Then it should just be detail painting to go jo 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 A bit of progress on the 31. The bulk of the painting is done. I tried adding all the bufferbeam pipe work before painting as a trial. Not sure I'm a fan of this method, far too fiddly trying to pick it all out while it's already attached. The shiny patches are where I've applied some Klear ready for decalling. This ones been sat on the bench for ages. I think the red and grey were sprayed over a year ago. I haven't used the transfer nameplates included as I plan to use Shawplan etched ones, once I've nagged Brian enough to produce them! Something I've tried on this one is taking a file to the ploughs, to create a slot for the coupler to poke through. You also need to remove some material from the corners of the NEM pocket on the bogie to stop it fouling the back of the plough. Obviously, you need to unclip the coupling to fit or remove the body. Seems to work quite well, and definitely worth considering if you're modelling a yellow painted plough 60. There's still a few odd jobs to do, including touching up the bogie pipe work before varnishing and weathering jo 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Harvey Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Have you finished 508 then Jo? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Ha - no not yet Pete. Welcome to the logic of how I work! I should do some more to it soon, I'm trying to clear the bench before starting more new stuff. But my attention span isn't great and there's always something new to tempt me! jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) Looking rather good those. I always found the use of two yellows that are so close on Network rail stock odd. Surely the network yellow itself would provide visibility enough! I noticed that you have cut out the engine room windows on the 31. I was going to do the same also however With a black chassis block behind and not being able to see anything in there on the real 31 I wonder if a simple coating of very dark grey with the aperture painted in with gloss varnish would simulate the glass enough? I think it would. Edited November 5, 2014 by RBE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now