Will's 1990ish Projects

[dj_crisp]

A 50 too far for me is Lion which will hopefully go to a new home. As I have a few spare laserglaze front windows I thought I'd see what they look like;

 

 

 

Not bad at all... maybe I didn't have to change the front after all... 

[jonas]

That's a big improvement. Taking the cab insides out of the 50 isn't easy so I'm not sure I fancy it on mine, but he improvement is clear to see! Intake you've retained the Hornby wipers?

[MarkAllen]

Interesting improvement. Will have to try that for myself. Regarding rehoming, do let me know how much, Lion is very hard to find at the moment. I'm having another 50 binge and have just snapped a few on eBay.

[dj_crisp]

That's a big improvement. Taking the cab insides out of the 50 isn't easy so I'm not sure I fancy it on mine, but he improvement is clear to see! Intake you've retained the Hornby wipers?

 

Hi Steve!

 

I quite like the Hornby wipers and I've haven't found a better etched alternative.

 

I found taking the cabs out is quite straightforward.... have a try cause I have plenty of spare ones if you need them

 

Will

[jonas]

Hmmm, our making it hard to excuse aren't you?! I'll

Have a look at Valiant next time I'm feeling up for getting that motor running again

[dj_crisp]

Work and sunshine has distracted me from messing about with models... but in between I've managed small progress. My craft knife has ventured further into the 166's under-frame so there is more space below deck and a few details where i can see them in photos has been added. I'm trying to get away with a lot of modellers license!

 

 

I'm going to limit myself to a few more bits to add at the corridor otherwise I'll end up re-building the entire under-frame! 

 

 

Perhaps foolishly I've also decided to move the power car to an end unit as i felt the centre car looked more open. I really don't like the motor being so visible so I'm trying to think how best to hide it. Anyway a few extra seats have been approximated using plastikard;

 

 

Next step has been planning how to couple the units together and I've used my 108 as an experiment. The arrangement is using U shaped brass and 10ba nuts n bolts. 

 

 

A simple approach!

 

 

And they're of a length that the unit will go round rather tight curves (the sprung buffers and working corridor connectors help!)

 

 

I'm pleased that there is no slack so I'm going to try this method out on all my DMUs. The 108 however is not in my good books yet. It has a habit of derailing going forwards which has been improved by bending the contacts to provide more spring, the trailer car seems to wobble and I can't get the interior or any of the power car lights to work. I think this may become a larger than expected project!

 

Cheers

Will

 

 

 

[NickL2008]

Hi Will,

 

the 166 is looking good, one this is more opinion, is the more I look at the bogies, the more chunky and toy like they look, hard to remedy unless our own. Perhaps some etched sub frames might help as the very big sub frame provided by Bachmann I think is what also doesn't help. This is pretty much also true of all of their early DMU models as they all share the same design of over engineered bogie subframe, something which once a lot of my workbench is cleared ,will be attempted for my Bachmann 158

 

NL

[dj_crisp]

Hi Nick

 

I totally agree regarding the bogies. I'm also finding the plastic Bachmann uses to be very brittle and have snapped two lugs already.

 

I have some A1 models Sprinter etched bogie frames which I'm going to try out on the trailer car. As soon as I've soldered them up I'll post a picture and see if they're an improvement.

 

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

I had a spare hour this evening and have put together a set of A1 etched sprinter bogie frames. I've trimmed down the frame around the bearings so as less brass is on show.

 

 

Then I got the hacksaw out and chopped a bogie up and drilled slightly off centre holes for the bearings. The A1 frame is ever so slightly longer between axles than Bachmanns but i think I can get away with that.

 

 

It rolls really nicely and I also like the feeling of space so was quite happy.... 

 

 

until while planning on how to mount the bogie to the underframe I realised the set up is far too wide 

 

Damm....!! I've now got to trim the bogie side frames down by several mm each. So a straightforward task now seems a bit challenging!! One for next week.

 

 

 

 

[dj_crisp]

My wife tells me all my trains look the same...

 

 

I'm not sure I understand! 

 

Project 60 has launched! My plans are to re-badge these ending up with a Construction sector, Transrail and Mainline examples. Following a selling spree I've added an olivias metals example to the fleet from that well known auction site. Clearly ex-Canisp and I'm debating whether I should correct the overhead warning flashes which they didn't bother to change.

 

I now understand why Canisp is the best model to re-brand... A nice short nameplate, no oversized railfrieght badges and the logos come off really easily with t-cut. However my unloved body only petrolium bargain bin example was the complete opposite

 

 

 

There is no way I'll be able to match Hornby's interpretation of triple grey so I'm hoping with some strategic positioning of logos and arrows, and a spot of weathering that I'll get away with it.... we shall see. And at least the overhead flashes are correct for my period.

 

As you can probably tell my Bachmann 166 has stalled a little... probably because there are three cars and progress feels slow. Anyhow I've managed to get the centre car on new bogies which are the right width - getting this right was a long job which involved removing alot of plastic on the inside of the plastic bogie frame to the size of the etched frame, but keeping the original depth at the top so the bogie still looks a little chunky. Anyway I thought I'd put it together to see how it all looks.

 

 

 

 

I think it looks ok and it runs great so I'm going to do the same on the trailing car..... but have run out of pinpoint ultrascale axles so this may stall a while

 

And I'm a sucker for new challenges, especially cheap and unloved locos. Currently stripped and beginning to be attacked!

 

 

Early days but plans are for it to have the full shawplan treatment.... but with no change in number

 

Happy Modelling!!

Will

 

 

 

 

[rob D2]

My wife tells me all my trains look the same...

 

_1140747.JPG

 

I'm not sure I understand! 

 

Project 60 has launched! My plans are to re-badge these ending up with a Construction sector, Transrail and Mainline examples. Following a selling spree I've added an olivias metals example to the fleet from that well known auction site. Clearly ex-Canisp and I'm debating whether I should correct the overhead warning flashes which they didn't bother to change.

 

I now understand why Canisp is the best model to re-brand... A nice short nameplate, no oversized railfrieght badges and the logos come off really easily with t-cut. However my unloved body only petrolium bargain bin example was the complete opposite

 

_1140749.JPG

 

_1140750.JPG

 

There is no way I'll be able to match Hornby's interpretation of triple grey so I'm hoping with some strategic positioning of logos and arrows, and a spot of weathering that I'll get away with it.... we shall see. And at least the overhead flashes are correct for my period.

 

As you can probably tell my Bachmann 166 has stalled a little... probably because there are three cars and progress feels slow. Anyhow I've managed to get the centre car on new bogies which are the right width - getting this right was a long job which involved removing alot of plastic on the inside of the plastic bogie frame to the size of the etched frame, but keeping the original depth at the top so the bogie still looks a little chunky. Anyway I thought I'd put it together to see how it all looks.

 

_1140744_2.jpg

 

_1140745.JPG

 

 

I think it looks ok and it runs great so I'm going to do the same on the trailing car..... but have run out of pinpoint ultrascale axles so this may stall a while

 

And I'm a sucker for new challenges, especially cheap and unloved locos. Currently stripped and beginning to be attacked!

 

_1140751.JPG

 

Early days but plans are for it to have the full shawplan treatment.... but with no change in number

 

Happy Modelling!!

Will

 

I did exactly the same problem with canisp and T cut combined

[dj_crisp]

All was going well with my 60s.... until I started trying to apply the numbers! Totally failed to apply straight numerals which look awful... some days I should just stop modelling and do something else. Even the carrier film on the fox transfers has yellowed slightly so I'm pausing and hoping for an alternative. Even lost a railfreight etch so my day was complete. 

 

So have bashed my 56 about instead.

 

Cooler fan walls nearly done, added some roof handrails and fitted some window frames

 

 

The frames are subtly different to Hornby's frames but I think look rather smart. 

 

 

The paintwork needs tiding but I'm quite pleased with the effect so far. 

 

 

Cheers for looking

Will

 

 

 

[rob D2]

You really have to be in the mood for 2mm high numbers !

[Tinsley Snail]

Hi Will,

 

Give precision decals a try regarding loco numbers.

 

He can do you a set of cabside and front numbers with a really fast turn around, and cheap too!

 

(Just a satisfied customer etc....)

 

Marcus

[dj_crisp]

Work has been severely limiting my modelling activities since I last posted...  One day I'll have some winning numbers... 

 

Anyway I've nearly finished converting all my 60s to EM using 14mm branchline wheels which has worked well. I've also nearly finished my Hornby 56.

 

 

I've used Ultrascale 3ft9 diesel disc wheels on 2mm axles with some M2 washers as spaces. Interestingly the gears were very loose and I feared the worse. So using the edge of a flat needle file I've roughed the axle where the gears are located and the gear grips with a little Loctite assistance.

 

 

One last thing to fix is that it ever so slightly rocks on it's centre axle on one bogie... so I'll be getting the files out again soon 

 

Another unloved loco arrives for a fix... I picked up a Vitrains 47 from a well known auction site but I didn't realised it was quite so scratched even though the description was accurate. Damm!

 

 

Before Saint David ended up in the respray bin i gently used T-Cut with a cotton bud on the roof and by like magic they disappeared So I've also had a go on the sides with success... and this technique worked well even on a deep scratch which had even gone through the primer. It's almost like the T-cut had melted the scratches...Result! I'm sure with a spray of satin varnish it'll be very hard to see the damage.

 

 

 

Mind you I'm not keeping the yellow and this will be resprayed after fitting some new window frames... overall pretty pleased when i thought this was a lost cause.

 

 

I've been tidying up my 56 and trial fitted the fans... they'll be straight when fitted properly! Next up will be fitting the grilles and fixing the broken lamp irons.

 

Not quite what it seems;

 

 

I have to admit I was slightly disappointed by the Dapol 73 even though the detail is excellent! I was really looking forward to its release but I really dislike the liveries applied so didn't bother with them. I've always been fond of Lima's interpretation and I have some really nicely detailed bodies that someone else did. I guess the Dapol model is getting old enough for other people to break bodies leaving cheaply available chassis

 

Not a bad fit! The wheels also look fine enough that I may just get away with pulling them out to EM gauge.

 

Happy Modelling!!

Will

 

 

 

 

[dj_crisp]

My days of fiddling around with waterslide transfers for locomotive numbers appears to be over 

 

 

I've previously spent hours making a total mess up with waterslide transfers and to be honest was a bit gutted with the outcome. Thankfully Alex @ DRD transfers has come to my rescue!

 

 

These brilliant transfers are rub down and are dead easy to apply leaving no carrier film. I'll varnish mine to even out the overall finish (where I've removed the old decals with t-cut), but I suspect you don't need to bother. The best bit is that Alex produces a perfect set of transfers for the loco that you want to re-number. It's simply a case of removing all of the old numerals and rubbing these on. Took no time at all. To keep things straight i used a bit of masking table to fix one end so as to not prevent any slippage during rubbing.... which only needed a light pressure to apply.

 

Two locos were done in 5 minutes. Awesome! 

 

Check out https://drdtransfers.com/

 

Cheers Alex if you're reading this!! Another order will shortly be on the way to you soon

 

Will

[lyneux]

My days of fiddling around with waterslide transfers for locomotive numbers appears to be over 

 

_1140774.JPG

 

I've previously spent hours making a total mess up with waterslide transfers and to be honest was a bit gutted with the outcome. Thankfully Alex @ DRD transfers has come to my rescue!

 

_1140775.JPG

 

These brilliant transfers are rub down and are dead easy to apply leaving no carrier film. I'll varnish mine to even out the overall finish (where I've removed the old decals with t-cut), but I suspect you don't need to bother. The best bit is that Alex produces a perfect set of transfers for the loco that you want to re-number. It's simply a case of removing all of the old numerals and rubbing these on. Took no time at all. To keep things straight i used a bit of masking table to fix one end so as to not prevent any slippage during rubbing.... which only needed a light pressure to apply.

 

Two locos were done in 5 minutes. Awesome! 

 

Check out https://drdtransfers.com/

 

Cheers Alex if you're reading this!! Another order will shortly be on the way to you soon

 

Will

 

Transfers look good. What's the lead time?

 

Guy

[dj_crisp]

Hi Guy

 

Not long at all... My were a few weeks and I think Alex does batches so it's worth getting in touch directly,

 

cheers

Will

[Richie Kynaston]

Very impressed with all the detailing work your doing Will - shall now be following

 

Richie

[dj_crisp]

Thanks Richie... I look forward to seeing your efforts with your 56!

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

My bodge it approach to converting a Dapol 73 to EM.

 

 

These have been simply pulled out from the axles... and to prevent them catching the chairs on my bullhead track I've turned them to look more like my other EM wheelsets, narrowing the tread a little too. I've added a few washes to reduce slop but I'm not sure if i really needed to bother.

 

Surprisingly it all works    Obviously time will tell if this turns out to be successful! I might do another mod to allow a bit more bogie (up and down) movement over dodgy track but I'll wait and see how the loco copes with my test track.

[Wayne 37901]

Hi Will,

 

Some nice loco projects on here, it's been quite a while since I did a loco with all the wagon building going on. Have you any interesting wagon projects that you're working on to go with all these locos?

 

Cheers

 

Wayne

 

:Edited to change a typo not spotted earlier.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Wayne 37901

[dj_crisp]

Hi Wayne

 

Not actively at the mo... I've converted some rtr stuff to EM and have prepped some DEMU PTA tipplers and started on some Cawood PFAs. Nothing that interesting to post about!

 

Thanks for asking!

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

It's been a while since I've done any modelling.... lots of poor excuses like work, christmas, new year, holidays, garage being too cold, being too tired and not really feeling like it. So many thanks to a couple of coach workbenches which have inspired me to get going again!

 

Signaller69

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112980-signaller69s-projects-more-coaching-stock/page-11&do=findComment&comment=3000149

 

Phil Mcs

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/104407-phil-mcs-workbench/page-19&do=findComment&comment=3001203

 

 

From this thread I've discovered some really neat stay alive units from layouts4u. I had bought the individual components from China to make my own and have built one... but to be honest it's not the most fun task and took quite a while. These however are great with only 4 wires to solder are much quicker to install! So my RMB became the test coach to see how these fitted.

 

(Apologies for the terrible photos....)

 

 

The units are a little on the large side but can be hidden within the coach and in this case I decided to hide at one end. When fitted there was a little light bleed between the roof and coach body. To solve this I cut two lengths of black plastikard and stuck them to the underside of the coach roof. These drop down about a 1mm more than the coach side when fitted which cures the light bleed issue. I also may explore fitting some extra LEDS so the coach ends (toilet etc are illuminated).

 

 

The LEDs themselves are warm white rolls from China and aren't too bad (the photos exposure is wrong so they look really bright). I've adjusted the on board resistor to it's maximum resistance but may have a go at tinting them but don't yet know of anything suitable to use but probably won't bother. Hopefully the painted interior (along with NSE posters) is a little clearer and worth the effort!

 

 

My coaches will eventually all sit on brassmasters bogies which are great as the coach glides along my uneven test track with no wobble, and I can set all coaches to the same height. For the RMB I've used DCC concepts 14mm wheels and their axle pickups so there is very little drag. It does mean that only 4 wheels are in contact (rather than 8 as planned) so I'll see if this ultimately is enough. To start with it didn't... however a drop of magic WD40 on each axle sorted that issue and I've very pleased with the result.

 

 

Final shot shows the coach coupled to a MK2 which is now in line for lights! 

 

So I'm now onto doing a bit research on underframes.... which seems a bit of a mystery to me and one that I'm sure I'll get a bit wrong as haven't got a clue as to what should be there for coaching stock in the late 80s/early 90s !

 

cheers

Will

Edited January 14, 2018 by dj_crisp

[big jim]

i too was inspired by phils workbench to get some of the stay alives and they are indeed fantastic, ive used the dcc concepts wheel back wiper pickups on my NMT which work fine but with some friction, i have however got a set of the sprung wipers for 'mentor' which is running a decoder and with 4 fitted they are faultless

 

im going to illuminate my mk1 charter rake with the larger 14mm wheels like you have done but just replacing 2 wheels/axles per coach on the grounds of cost, interesting to see your experience with it

 

regards tinting the led's if you have any try sticking some tamia low tack masking tape (or similar) over the led strip, i did it in one of my coaches where the light didnt match the rest (must have been brilliant white leds) and it toned it down beautifully to match the others