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Jo's N gauge loco works


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No problem Jo. Pencil lines are a common way of portraying panel lines in aviation and military modelling. I also use it for sci fi stuff too. It doesnt seem to be used that often in railway modelling oddly enough. I don't know why though as its a great way of adding lines that arent too harsh looking but very accurate. Once varnished in to take off the shiney graphite finish they look a treat.

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Just a couple of pencil pics for interest. Heres my hst respray, prior to final weather, with front panellling and screw details in pencil and another of my pca with pencil tank welds.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Very nice Jo. What did you use for the cab glazing in the end? I may have missed it. I've still yet to bit the bullet and cut mine out. Hand cutting glazing is not my first love tbh.

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Cheers Cav, I used the Perspex in this end and for the engine room. The other end retains Farish glazing, as it will be tucked in against a carriage all the time and I was losing the will slightly!

On future projects if I use the Perspex I may run it through my silhouette cutter

 

jo

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I intend to use very thin clear styrene sheet on mine. If I had a sihouette cutter I would have been on that from the get go. I have considered one of those myself for glazing and actually paint masks using tamiya masking tape sheet!

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I would say great minds think alike, but that would be rather overselling myself!  :jester:

I did buy some of that Tamiya masking paper with the same idea in mind. The first couple of bits of the Silhouette came out nicely so I'll experiment at some point.

 

jo

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Jo,

 

I only just discovered this thread - reminded me that I'd bought a Bach\Far old style 31 with the intention of doing a similar detailing job to give a late 80's/early 90's condition refurbished Railfreight grey 31. Which BHE parts did you use? Their list is rather cryptic, and there are several items that might be the right "domino" headcode plate etc. The fire access hatches seem self explanatory, and I'm sure one of their other diesel buffer beams would do while TPM is out of action. I did already get one of their 31 roof fan grilles, but it looks like you decided to keep the original? 

 

How did you do the bodyside panel lines? I was thinking along the lines of using masking tape to attach plastic strips to the sides to use as straight edges to run an olfa P-cutter along. Tempted to try the handrail recesses in the way RBE described on the Millers' Dale thread. 

 

Did you consider adding working lights? I'm torn between modelling a loco with or without the high intensity headlight - the other lights seem so dim as to hardly be worth bothering, but I wonder if its practical to squeeze an SMD LED behind a little bit of fibre-optic through the headlight?

 

Justin

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Hi Justin,

Railfreight grey on a 31 sounds ace! Off the top of my head, I think the only BHE bits were the NRN radio aerials on the cab roofs and the fire pull surrounds. To be honest, knocking the bufferbeam up from plastic sheet is probably just as easy as what I did fettling the TPM class 47 bufferbeams. I have a feeling the dominoes I used are from the TPM 47 set, glued on then any overlap filed off. Now, I'd be tempted to use the railtec transfers, as they do a set that are grey and include the black rubber gromit.

Roof fan grill remains the Farish moulding, it's quite nice on this model and other than the recent Shawplan stuff, I feel nothing comes close to a well moulded fan grill. Every other roof fan mesh etch just looks so chunky and not particularly realistic to my eyes. The Farish 20 is a prime example of this, as are most after market grills.

The panel joins were nothing more complex than holding a steel ruler to the body side and lightly making multiple passes with a knife. I did all the verticals first I think, then joined them up with the horizontals.

Yeah Cav did a neat job with his handrails, definitely worth a go I think.

As for working lights, I'm not fussed. Most models with them are overly bright and the wrong colour. Done well though (Dapol Western for example) they are nice. I think the majority of RTR lighting could be toned down with some cream or brown paint on the lens which would also fix the colour issue. Something similar might work on the 31, give that headlight a nice warm glow. There's certainly plenty of room in the cabs to add LEDs, circuits etc.

Whether you light it or not, 31s always look nicer with a centrally mounted headlight to me, they always look a bit blank without one

Hope that helps a bit

 

jo

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The old farish 31 is a cracker IMO. It takes a bit of work but if you want an ETH fitted one is probably a much easier and cheaper conversion than a new one. TBH I reckon once done certainly challenges the new one in any case. I don't have any decent pics to hand but I havent used any aftermarket part except better brass buffers and IMO looks great. I reused the buffer beam but redid the sides to get rid of the cowling look. The biggest game changer for me is adding nose handrails and the washer ears. The rest is gravy!

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I am also planning to light the headcodes. My chosen 31 didnt have a headlight at the time so didnt fit one. I agree they do look good with them though.

Edited by RBE
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Definitely! Nearly snookered myself in a real life shunt the other day until someone else said why not just do it like that?

I think sometimes we spend so long looking at the detail we miss the bigger picture,and that's as true in modelling as it is life

 

jo

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I suppose the 31 is advanced enough now that I can introduce a new project to these pages. A jump from type 2 to type 5 power!

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Take one Farish 66 and create a small list of things to turn it into a 59:

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I recently bought a Silhouette Portrait cutter and use the sideframes for the class 59 as a trial piece. I cut three layers and laminated them to give the required relief. The artwork was created by tracing a photo taken side on of a class 59 bogie,scaled to match the Farish loco.

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Sand boxes came from the BHE white metal class 59 bogies, dampers, axle boxes and steps from the donor class 66. Two of the steps had to be soldered up from wire and I'm really happy how these came up. Thanks due to Rods_of_revolution for the kick up the backside that the steps were worth persevering with. The reason for needing the steps is that on a 66 the steps at one end are wider and so are unsuitable for use on the 59.

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The sideframes were then removed from the Farish bogies, with the some 3.2mm Evergreen I beam superglued to the bogie inner. The new sideframes are then attached to this. The superglued joints are just tacked for now, epoxy will be used to provide a stronger joint once I'm happy to progress.

These photos show a stripped down bogie, the class 59 bogie and an untouched class 66 bogie for comparison

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This is a project I'm not planning on rushing and really want to go to town to produce a 'flagship' model for my fleet

 

jo

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That looks very good. The silhouette cutters seem to me to be a great investment. The things you can make with them appear without bounds. I may have to seriously thonk about investing in one. As always, watching with interest.

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Thanks for the comments and likes guys. I'm amazed at how much just changing the bogies has altered the character already!

Yeah 66s are very much meh! They do what's asked of them and are pretty reliable but that's what you expect from such a progressive design that can trace its roots back to the 1930s! For me, it's the common sight of them and the bargain basement construction that make them less interesting than a 59. It's hard to believe the first 59s are nearly 30 years old. They just keep on going day in, day out, shifting 4500t trailing loads of Mendip stone to London, rarely skipping a beat. Drivers prefer them to 66s and the care taken to build them is clear to see when compared to the later GMs.

The best thing I've found with the Silhouette is the accuracy across multiple parts. There's no way I could've done the 12 parts that make up the four side frames with anything like the accuracy it cut them. I've just trialled it on Tamiya masking sheets, so far looks good, but I'll wait for the test paint jobs before I pass judgement!

In future I plan to knock out various wagons as flat pack kits for self assembly from it

 

jo

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Very nice work Jo, although I am a little disappointed that you have gone down one from 60 to 59! :nono:

Only joking!

I agree with Cav, I always think of the Silver Yeoman ones. Saw a DB Red one yesterday. I don't mind the 59s, at least they are a bit beefier than Sheds!

 

Can you cut thin plastic/styrene with the Silhouette cutters? You have certainly done a cracking job on the bogie frames.

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