Signaller69's projects

[Signaller69]

Having fitted the roof vents on the DMCL, the position and layout look correct but I'm not 100% happy, as they stand too proud, so they will probably be popped out and replaced with lower profile versions from my stash. Elsewhere, the moulded toilet filler detail has been removed and replaced with brass wire, the exhausts have been repositioned 5mm lower in new holes and were drilled to accept new outlet pipes from brass rod, and new handrails have been fitted to the cab ends, along with a few etched door hinges where the originals were lost during conversion. The door outlines have been re-scribed as they had lost definition during sanding etc.

A few minor rough areas of bodywork are currently receiving attention; once the roof vents are sorted the bodies will be off to the paint shop.

 

[Nick G]

Nice work Martyn.

[Clive Mortimore]

You can really go off someone....When people see my Derby short underframe heavy weight they will be saying "That signalman 96 bloke he did this and he did that to get a better model than your effort."

 

It is looking very good Martyn.

 

 

[Signaller69]

1 hour ago, Clive Mortimore said:

You can really go off someone.....

 

 

I do hope not! Thanks for your kindness Clive, but it is your and Gibbo's modelling of DMU's that has mainly inspired me to try to do better with my efforts. Although, the 107 has turned into more of a major exercise than was my intention at the start, I have to say ("if I bung those spare Lima 117 cabs on the front I'll have a 107, happy days.....").

 

Look on the bright side, yours will be a nice shade of green while mine will be dull 1970 BR blue like most of my other units!

[Gibbo675]

22 minutes ago, Signaller69 said:

 

........... but it is your and Gibbo's modelling of DMU's that has mainly inspired me to try to do better with my efforts.......................

 

 

Hi Martyn,

 

It might help if I actually got around to finishing a few of my DMU's. They are to be spray painted and its cold and wet outside currently which is why so many of them are nearly started !!!

 

I do hope that the mention of unpainted doesn't cause Clive to "go off me " at all.

 

Gibbo.

[Signaller69]

1 hour ago, Gibbo675 said:

They are to be spray painted and its cold and wet outside currently....

 

Which reminds me, I have had a new airbrush and compressor sitting unused for 2 years now, I really need to get to grips with it when it warms up!

[Signaller69]

Vents sorted and a fresh coat of primer applied this evening.

[Gibbo675]

Hi Martyn,

 

Those vents look a lot better than the previous set.

 

Gibbo.

[John Tomlinson]

This project is now looking very smart indeed.

 

I've found the selection of roof vents to be a nightmare in the past. Whilst you can usually find the correct pattern, the sizing is all over the place. A big impact on final appearance IMHO comes from how inset to the roof they are, so for example your first (and now rejected set) would look quite different if you'd countersunk the holes so that the moulded base had gone into the roof. Earlier in the year I had three goes at detailing an old Bachmann Bulleid coach roof before I settled on the least wrong option - Duh!

 

John.

[Signaller69]

2 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

This project is now looking very smart indeed.

 

I've found the selection of roof vents to be a nightmare in the past. Whilst you can usually find the correct pattern, the sizing is all over the place. A big impact on final appearance IMHO comes from how inset to the roof they are, so for example your first (and now rejected set) would look quite different if you'd countersunk the holes so that the moulded base had gone into the roof. Earlier in the year I had three goes at detailing an old Bachmann Bulleid coach roof before I settled on the least wrong option - Duh!

 

John.

Hi John,

I heartily concur, roof vents are a nightmare. A really good close up photo of the correct type fitted to the 107's has thus far eluded me. They appear to be a dome type with a ridge over the top but I'm by no means certain. I think consistency of drilling would be the key to bedding the first type I tried into the roof; any discrepancy in depth would be quite noticable I think, plus the base would have to be cut off each one as it is a tad wider than the vent. I thought it more trouble than it was worth for this project.

 

Also sometimes the mounting spigots are not cast perfectly central which throws the position out, which can be annoying too.

 

Thanks for your kind comments.

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

Photos of Class 107's when new, as well as after refurbishment in the late 70s, show the engines and exhaust piping to have been painted silver, so having modified the chassis I decided to follow suit, using the Railcar photos linked earlier. 

 

As rebuilt the undergubbins look more 3 dimensional than the standard Hornby chassis from normal viewing angles, and the silver parts help this effect further. The small red painted components are presumably electrical components. 

 

In use the exhausts rusted to an orangey-brown colour, and oil and dirt obscured the silver paint elsewhere so I expect some weathering will be undertaken in due course.

 

The exhaust outlets have been painted too.

 

That may well be as far as I get this side of Christmas......

 

[leopardml2341]

Hi Martyn,

 

Not sure if you've seen these pics:

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/10382

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/1230

 

But, from those I'm pretty sure the vents are 'low torpedo' vents like these:

 

Rgds

 

[leopardml2341]

Separately, and apologies if I missed it earlier, but what exactly did you do to rearrange the undergubbins Martyn?

[Signaller69]

33 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

Hi Martyn,

 

Not sure if you've seen these pics:

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/10382

https://www.railcar.co.uk/images/1230

 

But, from those I'm pretty sure the vents are 'low torpedo' vents like these:

 

Rgds

 

Hi Andy, yes I'd seen the Railcar links thanks, not sure if anyone produces that type of "embedded" vent though? Most of the cast Torpedo vents I've seen are the raised type. But in any case I wanted to use what I had available.

31 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

Separately, and apologies if I missed it earlier, but what exactly did you do to rearrange the undergubbins Martyn?

After looking at the photos on the Railcar site here:

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

I rearranged what Hornby provided by cutting most of the detail away from the box section and reaffixing it using Mek-Pak, with the addition of Replica Railways battery boxes. The engines were fabricated from a few bits of plastruct which were to hand, with brass wire for the exhaust pipes. It's not a perfect representation but I feel it is better than the Hornby arrangement for this application.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

The Class 107 vehicles have now been sprayed. Whilst doing the yellow ends, the opportunity was taken to add Full yellow ends to the Class 105. As can be seen, Lanarkshire Models early DMU buffers have been added to the 107, and the same type will be fitted to the 105 due to several missing buffers. A couple of battery boxes will be needed for the latter too.

Numbering of the Class 107 is next, along with front bufferbeam details etc.

[John Tomlinson]

Looking at your last posts, may I just say how impressed I am that someone has had a useful Christmas!

 

John.

[Signaller69]

34 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

Looking at your last posts, may I just say how impressed I am that someone has had a useful Christmas!

 

John.

Thanks John,

I was lucky to squeeze in a visit to Llandudno Swapmeet yesterday too, while Mrs. Sig visited the sales! She had more success than me though I have to say. Modeling wise, I was getting withdrawal symptoms by the end of Boxing Day, so a couple of spare hours yesterday and this morning didn't go to waste! 

[MJI]

Nice job on the 107

 

My Christmas seems to have been filled with fitting Extreme Etching frames to Airfix aircons, just started number 4.

 

Oh and glazed two i had painted in the summer.

 

Only 6 currently left to do.

[Signaller69]

1 hour ago, MJI said:

Nice job on the 107

 

My Christmas seems to have been filled with fitting Extreme Etching frames to Airfix aircons, just started number 4.

 

Oh and glazed two i had painted in the summer.

 

Only 6 currently left to do.

Thanks Martin, glad you are making progress through your list. 

 

I have the Class 107 window bars to paint blue yet, any form of modifying glazing is not a job I enjoy doing.

[MJI]

1 hour ago, Signaller69 said:

Thanks Martin, glad you are making progress through your list. 

 

I have the Class 107 window bars to paint blue yet, any form of modifying glazing is not a job I enjoy doing.

 

This is the one place I find I can use a ruling pen successfully, Done it with Replica glazing used on modified Triang Mark 1s.

 

I would suggest cheap ruling pen, something along the lines of Ebay £3 to  £5, use the same mix as airbrushing.

[Signaller69]

5 hours ago, MJI said:

 

This is the one place I find I can use a ruling pen successfully, Done it with Replica glazing used on modified Triang Mark 1s.

 

I would suggest cheap ruling pen, something along the lines of Ebay £3 to  £5, use the same mix as airbrushing.

Thanks, I must pick one up.

 

It is sods law that photographs of 107's when running in plain blue livery, universally had body colour window bars and frames, rather than unpainted aluminium bars and/or frames as many other units had, including at least some of the outwardly similar 108s.

 

And of course, my Hornby 110 donor has silver ones......hey ho!

[Signaller69]

Some time back I found a Craftsman Class 104 detailing kit - minus the etched parts - in a £1 box at a show. The domed roof ends will probably be used when I tackle the class 100. The buffers were deformed and consigned to the scrap pile, but as I had already fitted the Lanarkshire buffers, the other bufferbeam details have gone onto the 107, along with etched lamp irons folded up from an old Mainly Trains set and fitted into holes in the Hornby buffer mounts.

A test piece of glazing has been temporarily fitted, having had the bars painted blue. Screw couplings will be added on the cab ends so that units can be coupled as required (eg a 5 car set can run on Crinan).

 

The Tension lock couplings will also be removed between cars and a simple close coupling bar used instead.

 

Exhausts and corridor connections have also been refitted.

[MJI]

Get a cheap ruling pen and do two coats or so, may be worth doing horizontals and verticals as extra passes as well, be prepared to clean off at every stage.

[Signaller69]

8 hours ago, MJI said:

Get a cheap ruling pen and do two coats or so, may be worth doing horizontals and verticals as extra passes as well, be prepared to clean off at every stage.

I have ordered a set of 3 which should arrive this week hopefully, so will give them a go. My father has a very old one somewhere which he refers to as a "bow pen"; I used it years ago to line something or other so will be interesting to compare the cheap ones.

[Tallpaul69]

On ‎29‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 21:33, Signaller69 said:

Some time back I found a Craftsman Class 104 detailing kit - minus the etched parts - in a £1 box at a show. The domed roof ends will probably be used when I tackle the class 100. The buffers were deformed and consigned to the scrap pile, but as I had already fitted the Lanarkshire buffers, the other bufferbeam details have gone onto the 107, along with etched lamp irons folded up from an old Mainly Trains set and fitted into holes in the Hornby buffer mounts.

A test piece of glazing has been temporarily fitted, having had the bars painted blue. Screw couplings will be added on the cab ends so that units can be coupled as required (eg a 5 car set can run on Crinan).

 

The Tension lock couplings will also be removed between cars and a simple close coupling bar used instead.

 

Exhausts and corridor connections have also been refitted.

Hi Martyn,

Apologies if I have missed this information earlier on in your postings, but what do you use for glazing, both side windows and cab ones, and what is the best glazing adhesive?

Many thanks

Happy New Year

Paul