Will's 1990ish Projects

[dj_crisp]

Progress has been a little slow due to work and the nice weather!

 

I've managed to build some very nice Shawplan 50 fans, sprayed them with primer and then yellow finishing off with painted red tips. I think that's what they were like on the prototype and they'll need a little toning down when fitted.

 

 

And thoughts have moved the bodyside grilles as I don't like originals. I've had a go at building a set of PH designs grilles... think they look ok but the thought of doing seven more currently doesn't appeal.

 

 

The alternative is to buy some Lima bodies and cut the grilles out to look something like this;

 

 

I'm not sure which i prefer to be honest! Any views?

 

During this build I've been lucky enough to obtain a few 50s modified by a well known poster on here

http://www.jnmodelmaking.com/ The last image is one of his builds where I'm just changing the roof grille and fan to the larger latest Shawplan version. So far it's looking good

 

Happy Modelling!
Will

[NickL2008]

The Lima grills are better as you can set them further in or back, whereas the PH ones are recessed. I think the Lima grills suit better as there's no assembly to do, and theyre easier(?) to fit as well, Ive just done the same mod to my 50036 using a Lima shell

 

NL

[dj_crisp]

I think you're right... and I'm sure the lima shells will be a bit easier. I've just got to bring myself round to the idea of hacking a shell or two up.

 

Cheers

Will

[NickL2008]

I think you're right... and I'm sure the lima shells will be a bit easier. I've just got to bring myself round to the idea of hacking a shell or two up.

 

Cheers

Will

 

You could always cast the Lima grills, that way then it'll save having to find more Lima shells, been tempted to myself, just not got the funds to do it at the moment

 

NL

[dj_crisp]

You could always cast the Lima grills, that way then it'll save having to find more Lima shells, been tempted to myself, just not got the funds to do it at the moment

 

NL

 

I've never done casting before... I'll have a look into how to do it,

thanks

Will

[dj_crisp]

Well I went against my principals of not hacking up a perfectly good body and I now have some Lima grilles to play with;

 

 

These are temporarily attached as I haven't decided whether to mount them directly to the back of the Hornby body... or take it further and shape them to the opening to mount more flush to the side.

 

 

Hmmmm not sure.... if anyone has any thoughts that'll be a great help!

 

As the weather looks a little rough this weekend I'm hoping to progress some of the more dull jobs like lighting and fitting kadees to chassis.... with a bit of detailing this and that. I doubt I'll be able to get my airbrush out.

 

And to avoid doing work etc. I've decided to join and post a few pictures of projects on flickr... please have a look

 

My Rogue Gallery

https://flic.kr/s/aHskEWQiNX

 

 

Happy modelling !

Will

 

[blueeighties]

Hi Will. Some very nice work going on here :-)

[lyneux]

Shape them to the opening and then resin cast them so we can all have a set!

 

Great work Will.

 

Guy

[NickL2008]

With the Lima grills I used, I simply shaped them to the openings in the Hornby bodyshell, and had them slightly inset as the should be, probably worth casting them as in the long run it'll save having to find more Lima body's

 

NL

[dj_crisp]

Ghost 50 !!

 

 

Hopefully one day this one will appear as Defiant. I've gone with shaping the side grilles to the opening and fitting them a little set back.... about half the depth of the body. They're stuck on thin plastikard and I'm quite pleased with how they look. I shall do my others the same way.

 

 

I intended spraying it all white as I was doing a spot of tidying to roof but my can of primer ran out.... so I'll just spray over what I've done. Defiance now has a yellow front and hopefully we have some nice and warm weekends to allow me to get most of the different coats on.

 

cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

I've been busy with my 50 project doing alot of small tidying up here which is progress but nothing earth shattering!! 

 

Thunderer now has grills from a donor lima 50 and I've also touched up the blue underneath the grilles where i messed up with a drill

The colour match is ok but not that great - I'm sure with a bit of gentle weathering and a coat of varnich I'll get away with it.

 

 

I've also painted the cantrail lining, glued the doors in place, fitted handrails above the windscreens and painted white handrails.

 

Defiance has had it's first paint - Normally I'd do this band last but as i had the airbrush out for the 33 for this colour so I quickly sprayed it. It had one coat of yellow but I hadn't done a great job of smoothing the nose so this has been rectified and re-primered.

 

 

it's having a trial chassis fit which might be a bit low so made need a washer to fix this.

 

 

They're hard to see being white on white but I've been debating on fitting lifting rings to the fleet and so experimented here. They're PH designs and I think the models looks better with them fitted than not, so plan on doing the rest.... It's a pity they're not available separately as i need a few more

 

I've always had a soft spot for second gen DMUs and acquired a cheap second hand one which had some major front end damage. A bit of filler, filing, primer and painted and the front looks ok. 

 

 

Bachmann's yellow is a little orange compared to railmatch so I gently feathered it in with the rest which caused a bit of overspray over the numbers. I removed this with thinners but the one fell off... damm!! Clearly it feels left out and wants to be the newest member of the 50 feet 

 

Happy modelling!!

Will

[dj_crisp]

It's been a while since i last posted but I've been able to progress my 50 project in between things.

 

As the weather was rather pleasant i managed to get my airbrush out and weather and varnish a few projects... sadly (as I always spray out doors) i think that's probably the last time this year

 

I've pretty much got three of my 50s ready for glazing as in recent weeks I've been busy fitting the fiddly bits. Front details have been added and painted, along with transfers from Replica Railways and Railtech. The side bodies have all had PH designs lifting rings added as well as Shawplan Brake levers which I'm pleased with. The Roofs have been weathered to varying degrees and Shawplan Grilles and fans fitted. A few touch ups here and there are needed but I'm now onto glazing and then re-fitting the windscreen wipers.

 

Photos are a little naff as they're shot inside but I plan to photograph these outside when they're finished!!

 

St Vincent

 

 

St Vin is weathered more than I normally do as the roofs on 50s tended to go black quite quickly. I started off with some railmatch roof dirt followed by weathered black around the exhausts. Some seemed to go a little rusty here so i also added a bit of frame dirt to the black to try and make it look a little rusty. A similar mix has been used on the translucent roof panel. I wanted the sides to look clean so I've just dirtied the grills and gently sprayed frame dirt along the bottom. The Nameplate is Shawplan and hopefully when I next see Brian he'll have a crest ready

 

 

Roof and front were then sprayed with matt varnish and the body sides received satin. I'll sort out the alignment of the side grilles soon. Doh!

 

Thunderer

Weathering is much lighter than St Vin as I wanted Thunderer to look like it might be on a rail tour. Again the roof and front were sprayed with matt varnish and the body sides received satin.

 

 

 

I found the blue really hard to match... but i think I've got away with. I had planned on this one being near mint but a strange factory finish and an accident with a mini drill put paid to that! I've photographed the side where this all happened and I think I've got away with it.

 

Sir Ed

I've gone for an in traffic look... and Sir Ed managed to get quite dirty from photos I've seen. The roof has been treated the same way as the St Vin and I'm quite pleased with it - it looks better in natural day light as it looks a little washed out in these photos! Again paint matching was hard.... ended up using a Hornby Acrylic GWR green which is as close as i can get.... and the first time I've used Acrylics.... and I'm sticking with enamels.

 

 

A bit of an experiment with the finish... I made a right mess up of one side so cleaned off some spillage with T-Cut which has left a nice glossy side so I'm probably going to do the same to the other rather than varnishing. 

 

 

Just waiting for some nice plates from Brian to finish this off....

 

So next up is glazing and lights. I'm planning on keeping Hornby's rear tail light circuits but modifying it so only one lights up. The marker and head lights will be replaced so i can operate them seperately.

 

Happy Modelling

Will

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dj_crisp]

Just thought I'd post a few in progress photos of St Vincent since I've re-united the body with the chassis.

 

 

Apologies for the naff photos... its very grey and gloomy today!

 

It took a while and alot of patience but I've finally been able to glaze the front windows.... in comparison glazing the rest of St Vincent was easy being laserglaze.

 

 

I've modified the chasis a bit in order to fit kadees in such a way they don't foul the bufferbeam details. I also spent an age getting the lighting to how I want it. Headlights and Marker lights have been replace with warm white LEDs, and I've kept the original circuits for the tail lights. Only one tail light is illuminated and I'm quite happy with the overall effect

 

 

 

Lots more to do... the chassis needs gently weathering and I've got stop PH steps to solder up and fit.... but it now feels St Vincent is getting closer to where I want to be.

 

Happy Modelling

 

Will

 

 

 

[dj_crisp]

Happy New Year everyone and Happy Modelling for 2017!

 

New years resolution for me... finish the 50s!

 

Cheers

Will

[jrg1]

I like your idea of coach current collection-brilliantly simple!

[dj_crisp]

I've posted for a while as my modelling has been slow n steady.... and as I'm batch building my 50s there isn't much new to show! Apart from minor tinkerings with a 47 I'm managing not to get distracted

 

I've been playing with lighting... and trying to get something that looks a bit more like the prototype. On my test track is Sir Ed;

 

 

 

 

 

 

My photography skills aren't up to be able to capturing the brightness as this is a long exposure in quite a dark room. But hopefully gives a fair impression. The front LEDs have all been replaced with warm white versions and I've kept Hornbys light guides. I've installed a new circuit with resistors but also have used the decoder to reduce brightness.... although the photos look bright!! 

 

 

For the tail lights I've simply kept Hornbys originals... but chopped down the light guide, blocking one off with plumbers sticky sealant, so only one is illuminated.

 

I'm much happier with the overall effect now and pleased that I have independent control of each light as they operate on individual function outputs of the decoder.

 

Happy modelling and roll on summer!

 

Will

[dj_crisp]

Amazingly the sun came out for 10 mins!! A few work in progress snaps as I put the 50s back together...

 

 

Sir Ed

 

 

Thunderer

 

 

St Vincent

 

 

 

Lots still to do including weather of underframes!

 

Cheers

Will

 

 

[SWT442]

Those 50's look awesome Will!

 

I admire your attention to detail with them, which has certainly paid off. The weathering of the roofs is great as well!

 

Andy.

[dj_crisp]

Thanks Andy

 

Next up to try my sanity is soldering steps.

 

Cheers

Will

[richard60098]

Great work as always Will, your doing something i try to avoid especially on these! The grills usually fall apart on removing the body and 99% of the time the bodies just then go in my spares draw

[jonas]

Will, your 50s are looking the business! I have one in its way to me and I'm interested to know more about your lighting mods. Did you manage to separate the head and tail light functions and how do you go about it?

[dj_crisp]

Thanks for your kind comments!

 

My lighting mods are a bit of a bodge it/ hacking it approach!! I hope below helps and I'm sure there are better ways of doing it!

 

Headlight/Marker Lights: I've used the original light guides and wired in 1k resistors to functions 3 & 4 of the decoder. The top marker light is a 3mm warm white LED, and the headlight is a 1.8mm warm white LED. If you're keen and have more function outputs then you could have separate circuits for these.  The top marker light is fixed into place with a bit of plasticard with two holes drilled for the LED legs... before fitting to the body I also glued in some tin foil on the light gulde to prevent light bleed (basically the same approach as Hornby has done but i ruined mine by removing the light guide. For the headlight I carefully removed Hornby's LED and drilled two holes in the circuit board to accept the legs of the replacement LED. I was really careful to make sure the holes were drilled so the LED legs are isolated and that i didn't break the light guide. I took a few photos for my own notes which aren't great but might help..Any light bleed is stopped by using small amounts of Homeseal bath sealant stretched into place.

 

 

 

Tail Lights: I left the original circuit alone but have remapped the function outputs to my preferred function number and so these operate independently. Interestingly a couple of locos will only illuminate one end at a time but others allow me to illuminate both. I guess the circuits must be different on different locos. The red light guide in the cab was snipped so only one taillight will be illuminated and then glued in place. I then used a bit of Homeseal bath sealant to prevent any light bleed in between the snipped gaps.

 

Cabs: Hornbys marker light and plastic support at the back of cab is simply removed... a bit of Homeseal secures everything in place. Reuniting the chassis and the body has been a right pain... as the body has a tendency to ride a little high. Two mods need doing. One is to open the rear cab fixed to the chasis to allow the wires from the marker light to pass though. The other is that i find the cab doesn't fit over Hornby's front circuit board, so I've hacked away at the base of the cabs to allow more space. Before you put it all back together check that the cab will fit flat to the chassis over the circuit board. It's a tight fit and each loco provided resistance! I think I also had problems as I've been doing a batch of seven and have mixed up circuit boards... keeper plates etc. The metal keeper plates are definitely different between locos, and I've had two with mazak rot which was so bad they crumbled apart. I was lucky in that i have a few spares but all are now gone so hopefully the rest survive. Thankfully the chassis block currently seems ok.

 

Wires are painted grey and pushed to the side so you can't see them through the door windows.

 

I hope this helps.... to be honest it sounds more effort than it really is. The hardest part is reuniting the body - i think made harder as there is one locating groove around the side grille area.

 

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

Great work as always Will, your doing something i try to avoid especially on these! The grills usually fall apart on removing the body and 99% of the time the bodies just then go in my spares draw

 

 

Thanks - I know what you mean about the grilles! I found them incredibly tricky to remove without majorly damaging them. The moulded grilles from Lima 50s are so much easier

 

I've made a promise to myself not to do another 50 ever again.... although I have Defiance to finish off and that will be my last one. Saying that this is the only project that I've started and not been distracted with others and have really enjoyed it. Just got those steps to do.... and a few speedos to make.... and probably something else to fit that I've missed etc.

 

cheers

Will

[jonas]

Will, thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed reply! I've also heard there are different PCBs on different releases, mine with be an 024 so the latest version... whatever that means. I'm not sure until I look under the hood how far I'm willing to go. I'd really like independent tail lights as nothing screams model like seeing them lit when pulling a train The single tail light is not something I'd thought about before your thread but looking at photos it looks a must and is too simple not to. On the real thing is here any rhyme or reason which tail light illuminates do you know?

[dj_crisp]

Funny should ask that.....

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109841-diesel-loco-tail-lights/

 

I now spend most of my time looking at tail lights in photos to see how many are illuminated. LOL. Although I also have a feeling that two maybe lit in preservation, (but i could be easily wrong). As you're doing Vanguard then I would definitely snip one side.

 

Totally agree on independent lights... and I wish manufacturers would sort that out as it's sure;y straight forward to do right. Would save me tons of time!