Signaller69's projects

[Signaller69]

The final body-altering job was to fill in the Class 110 end windows which are not present on the Class 107 DMBS. Plasticard blanks were used for this. Then it was time for a quick blast over with undercoat to highlight areas needing a little further work, as usual there are a couple of blemishes needing a little attention.

 

Overall though I feel the work involved has been justified so far, even if some minor inaccuracies remain.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the chassis has had the dummy bogie modified to collect current from all wheels, by a previous owner.

The wiring could use a little tidying though. Once I have fettled the underframe a little, more weight will be added where practical.

 

It is probably fair to say the Bachmann class 108 would be an easier, better starting point to produce a 107, having the correct body and end profile, nice flush glazing, better chassis etc. However the brake compartment and central saloon window spacing are not correct for the 107 and it too needs end windows filling in; the headcode box isn't the same either (less curved on top than the 108); also the Hornby 110 can typically be picked up for a lot less than a 3-car Bachmann 108 (which is what their special edition pseudo-107 is of course).

 

I doubt I will have much time to do much more until Sunday, due to organising our local Exhibition on Saturday (shameless plug....).

Unfortunately I have too much to do on the day to be able to take my own layout, as most Club members' are tied up with other layout etc, but there are some nice layouts coming to the show! Please say hi if you are able to make it.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

[Gibbo675]

1 hour ago, Signaller69 said:

The final body-altering job was to fill in the Class 110 end windows which are not present on the Class 107 DMBS. Plasticard blanks were used for this. Then it was time for a quick blast over with undercoat to highlight areas needing a little further work, as usual there are a couple of blemishes needing a little attention.

 

Overall though I feel the work involved has been justified so far, even if some minor inaccuracies remain.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the chassis has had the dummy bogie modified to collect current from all wheels, by a previous owner.

The wiring could use a little tidying though. Once I have fettled the underframe a little, more weight will be added where practical.

 

It is probably fair to say the Bachmann class 108 would be an easier, better starting point to produce a 107, having the correct body and end profile, nice flush glazing, better chassis etc. However the brake compartment and central saloon window spacing are not correct for the 107 and it too needs end windows filling in; the headcode box isn't the same either (less curved on top than the 108); also the Hornby 110 can typically be picked up for a lot less than a 3-car Bachmann 108 (which is what their special edition pseudo-107 is of course).

 

I doubt I will have much time to do much more until Sunday, due to organising our local Exhibition on Saturday (shameless plug....).

Unfortunately I have too much to do on the day to be able to take my own layout, as most Club members' are tied up with other layout etc, but there are some nice layouts coming to the show! Please say hi if you are able to make it.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

Hi Martyn,

 

I've had a thought about the end profile of the BRCW against the Derby and, thought after seeing the filled in windows, that a piece of .040" plasticard glued to the angled portions and then filled to a taper once cured might correct the angle somewhat by flattening the end profile. It would also be interesting to do a comparison photograph of the window arrangements of the altered body side against the unaltered body sides.

 

I have measured the spacing of the roof vents on my DC Kits 108 and they are 11 mm apart equal about the centre line of the roof and measuring from the corridor end they are 18, 34, 54, 92, 104, 134, 181 and 204 mm. This is the same for both DMBS and the DTCL of the 108, I don't know how this might work out for the centre car of the 107. Looking at photographs of 107's there is an extra vent placed on the centre line half way between the measurements given except over the guards compartment, again looking at photographs will clarify positions.

 

Something that I did with my BRCW bodied DMU's is to very lightly sand the change of section of the tumblehome of the body side for it removes the sharp peak that the Hornby model has and improves the look considerably.

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/5148

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/8903

 

Gibbo.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Gibbo675
Adding Link

[Signaller69]

36 minutes ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Martyn,

 

I've had a thought about the end profile of the BRCW against the Derby and, thought after seeing the filled in windows, that a piece of .040" plasticard glued to the angled portions and then filled to a taper once cured might correct the angle somewhat by flattening the end profile. It would also be interesting to do a comparison photograph of the window arrangements of the altered body side against the unaltered body sides.

 

I have measured the spacing of the roof vents on my DC Kits 108 and they are 11 mm apart equal about the centre line of the roof and measuring from the corridor end they are 18, 34, 54, 92, 104, 134, 181 and 204 mm. This is the same for both DMBS and the DTCL of the 108, I don't know how this might work out for the centre car of the 107. Looking at photographs of 107's there is an extra vent placed on the centre line half way between the measurements given except over the guards compartment, again looking at photographs will clarify positions.

 

Something that I did with my BRCW bodied DMU's is to very lightly sand the change of section of the tumblehome of the body side for it removes the sharp peak that the Hornby model has and improves the look considerably.

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/5148

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/8903

 

Gibbo.

Thanks for the vent spacings Gibbo, I will refer to photos and see how they compare on the 107.

 

I did contemplate doing something about the inner ends, namely cutting down the bodyside/end junction and bending them out and away from the sides, before adding a fillet of plasticard to fill the gap, or possibly using spare Mk.1 coach ends altered to fit. Both ideas, of course, mean amending the roof too. Your idea of adding a thick piece of plasticard and filing/sanding to shape is a good one as it would sort the roof shape too, and would allow more correct window spacings to boot, although it would be a lot of work to achieve a good, consistent result across 4 ends I suspect.

 

Having already messed around with altering the window positions though, I think I am happy enough to leave the ends as they are to be honest, but I will give it some thought.

 

I am, however, going to try to lose the peak in the tumblehome as you suggest; I had sanded it in all the easy to get at parts, but clearly not enough to make it disappear. Some filing is required I think. I agree this should make quite a visual difference.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

[Gibbo675]

Hi Martyn,

 

I would file the taper to almost the finish profile and then finish by rubbing the surface on a piece of wet or dry mounted on a flat surface. the length of the body shell would allow you to keep the job in plane. You are right about it being a hassle too far though and if it looks right it is right.

 

Gibbo.

[Signaller69]

Our Exhibition yielded some useful bargains for future projects. First up an old Mainline J72 "Joem"; as the wheels were hanging off it clearly had cracked axle syndrome in line with the "non runner" price tag. They have been bodged back together and after a clean and some lubrication, it now runs smoothly with power direct to the motor, but is not great when running on the track. It will get the usual new axle centres and a further testing, but I have a nice running LNER green late Bachmann version of the same class so a chassis swap may occur, along with some livery work to late 1970s condition on the "Joem" body to suit use on Dunnington.

 

The other items are intriguing; a couple of heavy carrier bags of metal detail castings. Hundreds of Axleguards, brake gear, buffers, roof vents etc, of many different types, plus nuts and bolts and some Romford style worm and gear sets, only some of which is visible in the pics. Not sure if they were from a former manufacturer or a modeller clear out, but they look like ABS, Kenline or similar to me, and are clearly old stock, but in the main jolly useable and useful. I need to sort it all into a small drawer unit or three.

[Signaller69]

Insanity is setting in after about 6 hours of sorting castings out, along with much washing of hands....

 

I'm sure the Phosphor-bronze springs are from the Airfix Royal Scot leading bogie, but there are dozens and dozens of them. Very peculiar.

 

Just the buffers and roof vents to sort now, pass the valium please....

[BernardTPM]

A colossal cornucopia of crisp castings.

[leopardml2341]

A pity you can't sieve 'em

[Signaller69]

55 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

A colossal cornucopia of crisp castings.

That's not what I've been calling them today, but yours is the best description I think I'll ever hear Bernard!

27 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

A pity you can't sieve 'em

Absolutely, a sieve with shell vent, torpedo vent and 'others' shapes would have been very useful!

[BernardTPM]

Thanks, though I'm sure Leonard Sachs would have come up with an even better one.

[Signaller69]

3 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Thanks, though I'm sure Leonard Sachs would have come up with an even better one.

I must confess I had to look him up, before realising who he was.....he certainly knew how to use and adapt words with his own twists!

[luckymucklebackit]

Anything that cannot be used would make a cracking scrap pile on a layout!  Seen several photos of the piles of cut metal in the scrapyards of the 1960s and in most cases buffers, springs etc can clearly be seen

 

Jim

[Gibbo675]

Hi Martyn,

 

The question is after sorting through all that lot did you actually find any roof vents suitable for a Derby 107, or do they all look the same now ?

 

Gibbo.

[turbos]

6 hours ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Martyn,

 

The question is after sorting through all that lot did you actually find any roof vents suitable for a Derby 107, or do they all look the same now ?

 

Gibbo.

Or maybe Martyn never wants to see another roof vent again in his life!

 

Brian.

[Clive Mortimore]

16 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

I must confess I had to look him up, before realising who he was.....he certainly knew how to use and adapt words with his own twists!

So you missed out on "The Good Old Days", you were lucky.

[Signaller69]

14 hours ago, luckymucklebackit said:

Anything that cannot be used would make a cracking scrap pile on a layout!  Seen several photos of the piles of cut metal in the scrapyards of the 1960s and in most cases buffers, springs etc can clearly be seen

 

Jim

Hi Jim, there is now a drawer full of cast metal wagon strapping of "L" and "T" section types, which I suspect harks back to making wagon bodies from card or wood. I was thinking exactly that as regards to a scrap pile!

13 hours ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Martyn,

 

The question is after sorting through all that lot did you actually find any roof vents suitable for a Derby 107, or do they all look the same now ?

 

Gibbo.

Whether they are the exact pattern I'm not sure Gibbo, but the LMS style ones look close enough to me. They look better castings than modern ones I've used recently, probably as the moulds were fairly new when they were cast! Quantity wise I think I can sleep easy (see below......)

7 hours ago, turbos said:

Or maybe Martyn never wants to see another roof vent again in his life!

 

Brian.

In a nutshell Brian, correct! I still need to sort them by type, not looking forward to that.....

It's a bit like "guess the number of sweets in the jar"! And no, I'm NOT counting them, thanks!

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

I hacked the 107 underframe around tonight. There are some good close up photos of the real thing here:

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-107/refurbishment 

For simplicity, my interpretation uses, mainly, the cut away parts, rearranged, with added Replica battery boxes, plasticard engines and a brass wire exhaust added either side, held in place with split pins.

[Signaller69]

10 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

So you missed out on "The Good Old Days", you were lucky.

I was 13 when it finished in 1983 so it is likely I saw it at some point before that, but I certainly don't remember it!

[Clive Mortimore]

17 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

I hacked the 107 underframe around tonight. There are some good close up photos of the real thing here:

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-107/refurbishment 

For simplicity, my interpretation uses, mainly, the cut away parts, rearranged, with added Replica battery boxes, plasticard engines and a brass wire exhaust added either side, held in place with split pins.

Hi Martyn

 

I like what you have done with the underframe, I will be copying it for my 100, 104s, and 107.

 

As for the Good Old Days, my dad would always watch it and sing mumble along to the songs, now that is a memory you are lucky not to have.

[Signaller69]

2 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Martyn

 

I like what you have done with the underframe, I will be copying it for my 100, 104s, and 107.

 

As for the Good Old Days, my dad would always watch it and sing mumble along to the songs, now that is a memory you are lucky not to have.

Thanks Clive. Well at least The Good Old Days gives you "fond" memories...... I'm not sure a 1980s programme recreating 1930s dance hall routines would "do it" for me, I have to say!

[Signaller69]

Work is progressing with the 107; I have moved onto the DMCL and TSL. These involve less cutting of the bodies, with only the section between the Passenger doors being modified, to match the DMBS (plus the end windows requiring filling in on the TSL).

 

This time I shaved the roof vents off and sanded them smooth before moving onto the bodyside. I left the toilet filler details in situ to save messing around with bits of wire.

 

In the first photo, one side of the DMCL has had 3 vertical cuts on each bodyside and the parts removed after running a Stanley knife under the rainstrips until they can be snapped out.

 

The second photo shows the same removed parts with the orientation swapped, ready to be fitted on the opposite side of the shell.

 

As a total ~1mm of material was lost during the cutting, plasticard was used to fill the slight gaps as seen in the third photo, of the opposite side. Comparison with the as yet untouched TSL, shows the improved (for a 107) window spacing next to the small saloon window; in truth quite a bit of work for only limited gain in this case.

 

The joins just need a skim with filler now, before the DMCL has the same headcode box/ rainstrip mods and underframe remodelling as the DMBS received.

 

By fortunate coincidence, these vehicles had already been fitted with modern Hornby wheelsets by the previous owner, which, happily, will save a few £ changing them over.

[Gibbo675]

42 minutes ago, Signaller69 said:

Work is progressing with the 107; I have moved onto the DMCL and TSL. These involve less cutting of the bodies, with only the section between the Passenger doors being modified, to match the DMBS (plus the end windows requiring filling in on the TSL).

 

This time I shaved the roof vents off and sanded them smooth before moving onto the bodyside. I left the toilet filler details in situ to save messing around with bits of wire.

 

In the first photo, one side of the DMCL has had 3 vertical cuts on each bodyside and the parts removed after running a Stanley knife under the rainstrips until they can be snapped out.

 

The second photo shows the same removed parts with the orientation swapped, ready to be fitted on the opposite side of the shell.

 

As a total ~1mm of material was lost during the cutting, plasticard was used to fill the slight gaps as seen in the third photo, of the opposite side. Comparison with the as yet untouched TSL, shows the improved (for a 107) window spacing next to the small saloon window; in truth quite a bit of work for only limited gain in this case.

 

The joins just need a skim with filler now, before the DMCL has the same headcode box/ rainstrip mods and underframe remodelling as the DMBS received.

 

By fortunate coincidence, these vehicles had already been fitted with modern Hornby wheelsets by the previous owner, which, happily, will save a few £ changing them over.

Hi Martyn,

 

I can see that there is a lot of work for not much gain but it does make quite a difference. I find such jobs, as fiddly as they are do make all the difference.

 

Gibbo.

[Signaller69]

All three Class 107 bodies have now had the alterations done, and primed ready for further work.

 

As is my wont, I have now decided to amend the toilet filler pipes, as they are quite different to the 110. These will be done when adding the total of 53 roof vents; 18 per car in a 5/8/5 domino pattern, except the DMBS which only had 4 over the brake compartment. At least I don't need to check if I have sufficient vents....

 

The chassis have also had the details altered and a quick blast of black paint; the DMCL having the same treatment as the DMBS shown previously. The centre car had the battery boxes relocated to match photos, and V hangers removed as they are not visible in the photos I have seen, possibly being located differently.

 

The engines and exhausts will be painted silver, as they were on the originals when fresh from works, which will also highlight the modifications. With some weathering applied, of course!

 

As the Hornby square block weights no longer fitted the modified underframes, other than the centre car, my answer lay in a bag of self adhesive 5g car wheel balance weights I had been given; 85g went into the powered car, with 40g in the Dummy.

 

I need to get an order off to Lanarkshire Model Supplies for some correct buffers too.

 

In other developments, Joem (seen a few posts back) has had a chassis swap, the lining done, new buffers and other detail parts fitted etc and just needs a few tweaks before being ready for service.

[Gibbo675]

1 hour ago, Signaller69 said:

All three Class 107 bodies have now had the alterations done, and primed ready for further work.

 

As is my wont, I have now decided to amend the toilet filler pipes, as they are quite different to the 110. These will be done when adding the total of 53 roof vents; 18 per car in a 5/8/5 domino pattern, except the DMBS which only had 4 over the brake compartment. At least I don't need to check if I have sufficient vents....

 

The chassis have also had the details altered and a quick blast of black paint; the DMCL having the same treatment as the DMBS shown previously. The centre car had the battery boxes relocated to match photos, and V hangers removed as they are not visible in the photos I have seen, possibly being located differently.

 

The engines and exhausts will be painted silver, as they were on the originals when fresh from works, which will also highlight the modifications. With some weathering applied, of course!

 

As the Hornby square block weights no longer fitted the modified underframes, other than the centre car, my answer lay in a bag of self adhesive 5g car wheel balance weights I had been given; 85g went into the powered car, with 40g in the Dummy.

 

I need to get an order off to Lanarkshire Model Supplies for some correct buffers too.

 

In other developments, Joem (seen a few posts back) has had a chassis swap, the lining done, new buffers and other detail parts fitted etc and just needs a few tweaks before being ready for service.

Hi Martyn,

 

I was wondering if.....................

 

" I have fitted all the right vents, but not necessarily in the right order ! "

 

 

 

Looking good, also I think you are right to alter the tank fillers for what they are worth.

 

Gibbo.

[Signaller69]

17 minutes ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Martyn,

 

I was wondering if.....................

 

" I have fitted all the right vents, but not necessarily in the right order ! "

 

 

 

Looking good, also I think you are right to alter the tank fillers for what they are worth.

 

Gibbo.

 

Thankyou Mr. Preview!

 

Yes it took a good aerial view to appreciate the 3 rows of vents fitted to the 107s, and the missing odd one over the brake compartment....