JonKing Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 My plans to build a model of Plymouth Friary have taken a back seat due to a recent house move and the ensuing chaos of unpacking, decorating etc. However, whilst en route to a work meeting in London I noticed 56301 stabled in the sidings at Euston in work stained unbranded Fastline livery which kindled my interest in modelling this loco using a Hornby model of 56037 in trainload grey livery as a base. A quick google search for photos of 56301 showed that a conversion of 56037 into 56301 was possible as the main elements (i.e the Romanian recessed light clusters and square headlights) were present, however some major surgery was also required: 1. Cutaway buffer beams - The existing buffer beam cowls needed removing to create a cutaway buffer beam. This was probably the worst bit of the entire build as getting this wrong (i.e removing too much) would require major surgery to put right!. I marked up the cut away areas with masking tape and slowly filed away the cowls up to the tape line, finishing with finer grade files where necessary. With careful filing I managed to retain the lamp brackets and cab front step. With removal of the cowls this creates a gap between the buffer beam and base of the cab, this was filled with milliput and smoothed ready for painting. 2. Revised cooler group and rain strip - Shawplan revised cooler group grills were fitted at no. 2 end. New rain strips above these were made with plasticard strip, filed down to give a better scale appearance. 3. Horn Grille - At some point 56301 has lost its original horn grilles, these were gently filed down on the model and shawplan revised horn grilles were fitted with small sections of plasticard strip used to represent the surrounds. 4. Respray - the respray was fairly straightforward, the existing triple grey livery being hand sanded down with fine wet and dry, primed and then painted with correct shades of paint from phoenix. Unlike other projects I painted the entire loco a base coat of the lighter (lower body side) grey first, having to then apply a base coat of white to the yellow ends before spraying the yellow. Photo of the finished loco below, any comments / suggestions welcome. Next project is 37516 in unbranded loadhaul, picture of the current state is below. Revised nose end grilles have been fitted, sandite filler points and extra strengthening ribs to the cant rail grilles to represent the RSH types. More on this one as it progresses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Andy7 Posted July 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 5, 2015 Looking great. I think the DCR operated locos are great to model as they are painted in various schemes and are very much unique locos. You've done a great job. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Looks very nice. I've never taken many loco photos but have caught 56045 / 56301 in 3 incarnations in http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/class56including a detail set as Fastline a couple of years ago. I hope of interest Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted July 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 5, 2015 I did 56301 back when i worked for fastline, i overcut the cut aways though very slightly, i filled the void you mention with a small strip of brass of a fret i had lieing around I cheated with the revised cantrail grilles, i used the shawplan bits but rather than cut the body i seem to remember i filed the existing grilles flat and just used the top panel of the shawplan etch glued to the body, you couldnt tell once painted 56301 lost its original horn grille during its rebuild, fastline wanted it to match 302 and 303, the reason for the cut away bufferbeams was due to the fact the bottom of the cabs were begining to rust heavily so were cut away completely! Unfortunately ive only got a couple of poor pics of it finished!! And with my class 66 respray I saw the real 56301 sat on leicester depot on friday but UKR dont like you taking pics within the fence so i respected that and didnt get any close up She used to be a bit of a beast did 301, the best of the bunch!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonKing Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 Big Jim, your method of filling the void looks like a lot less hassle than mine! I agree re the revised cooler group grills, I cut out the grills on mine and fitted the revised grills in the recesses however taking the fold down bits off the etch and gluing over the existing grills is just as effective for a fraction of the effort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickL2008 Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 The revised cant rail grills arnt hard to fix, once you know how, its a shame Hornbys main headlights are a bit of the small side, but theyre easily fixed, biggest pain ive found when doing my grids so far, was the very fine mess included with shawplans replacement Horn covers! NL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium richierich Posted July 20, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2015 Some great modelling of the Fastline 56s there. A possible closer base model is R2963, 56040, which represents a early BREL Doncaster build 56, but with the Loadhaul Cantrail grille modifications. But that said it doesn't have the square high intensity headlight of R2646 56049. Hornby did a great job of tooling several body variations, which is great for us modellers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonKing Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 37516 is now pretty much finished. Whilst initially appearing to be a fairly straight forward livery to spray there are a number of angles to firstly mask and also get parallel, the oversize cant rail stripe also requires masking with thin tape rather than a lining pen. I didn't realise how many subtle variations there are between locos in loadhaul livery, particularly the direction and angle of the nose end orange areas (some going in the same direction, some opposite and some missing altogether!) and also the cab bonnet black which should extend further over the orange stripes on 516 and will require some modification to my paint job. The extra ribs to the cant rail grilles are also not as tidy as I would like however black hides a multitude of sins! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Nice job ! I remember seeing this on occasion on the Northolt Calvert binliner. It was even easy to spot from the air as that paint job is so distinctive. What was the base Model for this one ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonKing Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Thanks for your feedback. The base model is the Bachman RF grey 37/5 which needed some modification to the nose grilles and cant rail grilles to represent 37516. The Bachman triple grey 37/5 does have the correct pattern nose grilles however I decided to use replacement shawplan grilles instead rather than buying another body. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 That looks very smart!! wil follow this now... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonKing Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 That looks very smart!! wil follow this now... Thanks for the feedback! As this topic was really for 56301, I have started a new (more general) topic here - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101694-jonkings-workbench-modifying-and-detailing-4mm-diesels/?p=1971855 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Thanks mate,ile take look now... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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