Southern Railway Modelling - Miscellaneous Project work

[Jack P]

On 11/06/2023 at 01:26, Nick C said:

I've just found a couple of rather nice colour photos of Hardham junction in "Sussex Steam" by Michael Welch. Both mid 60s, but I doubt it'd have changed much...

 

PM sent!

[Jack P]

A quick update with two interlopers from a friend in the UK.

I was asked to add the detail packs, renumber/name and weather a Star and King.

 

Here are some photos of them in the winter sunshine. 

 

4026 'Japanese Monarch'

 

 

 

 

 

 

6013 'King  Henry VIII'

 

 

 

 

 

I've not been idle. Am currently trying to adapt two of the British finescale turnouts to form the crossing at Hardham. Worst case, if that fails, I'll use the rail provided and try to build them myself. Nothing ventured and all that.

More updates anon.

[Bulwell Hall]

Beautiful work Jack.  I especially like what you have done with 4026. I always thought that the Hornby Star had potential in spite of its shortcomings and you have proved the point - I'm very tempted to get on with mine now and get it converted to EM.  The King is very nice also - and has really brought out how good the  model is - but I just so much prefer a Star to a King!

 

Gerry

[1466]

2 hours ago, Bulwell Hall said:

Beautiful work Jack.  I especially like what you have done with 4026. I always thought that the Hornby Star had potential in spite of its shortcomings and you have proved the point - I'm very tempted to get on with mine now and get it converted to EM.  The King is very nice also - and has really brought out how good the  model is - but I just so much prefer a Star to a King!

 

Gerry

I hope you will share your Star conversion to EM with us . Those large drivers in close proximity may be a challenge. Would you kindly report on the Accurascale Manor to EM , too . TIA .

Ken 

[Jack P]

A few more shots in the sun:

 

 

 

 

 

Have felt a bit dejected with the hobby recently. My choice to convert to EM has been a challenge to say the least - unpowered rolling stock presents no issue, but i've had very little luck with the RTR motive power. The two D classes have been really difficult. Not to mention my H's (which i've decided will need new chassis built). If i'd stuck with OO I would have none of these issues and could no doubt focus my time and effort on other ventures.

 

I do not regret my choice - far from it. I think it's prompted me to delve further into the 'finescale' aspect of the hobby, and has introduced me to track building, compensated chassis, etc.

It's just been a few weeks months where nothing feels like it works, or is going right.

 

Anyway, whinge over - back to the grindstone.

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by Jack P

[Rugd1022]

On 16/06/2023 at 02:31, Jack P said:

A quick update with two interlopers from a friend in the UK.

I was asked to add the detail packs, renumber/name and weather a Star and King.

 

Here are some photos of them in the winter sunshine. 

 

4026 'Japanese Monarch'

 

 

 

 

 

 

6013 'King  Henry VIII'

 

 

 

 

 

I've not been idle. Am currently trying to adapt two of the British finescale turnouts to form the crossing at Hardham. Worst case, if that fails, I'll use the rail provided and try to build them myself. Nothing ventured and all that.

More updates anon.

 

Beautifully finished models there Jack, a genuine 'wow' from me - it's quite rare to see any GW era stuff even slightyl weathered, never mind done properly as you you've done. Even a brief trawl of the numerous GW steam books out there will show some absolutely filthy GW locos, both pre and post war, not to mention dark grey carriage roofs and ingrained dirt in the once immaculate chocolate and cream paint work. Superb, inspiring stuff.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Rugd1022

[DLT]

6 hours ago, Jack P said:

Have felt a bit dejected with the hobby recently. My choice to convert to EM has been a challenge to say the least - unpowered rolling stock presents no issue, but i've had very little luck with the RTR motive power. The two D classes have been really difficult. Not to mention my H's (which i've decided will need new chassis built). If i'd stuck with OO I would have none of these issues and could no doubt focus my time and effort on other ventures.

 

I do not regret my choice - far from it. I think it's prompted me to delve further into the 'finescale' aspect of the hobby, and has introduced me to track building, compensated chassis, etc.

It's just been a few weeks months where nothing feels like it works, or is going right.

Sorry to hear that Jack, but if you had stuck with 00 the dissatisfaction would probably always be there.

Have you converted the Nelson yet?  Wizard Models do a chassis kit (formerly Comet I think) specifically for the purpose of an EM/P4 conversion.

 

Your locos are looking superb.

 

Cheers, Dave.

[1466]

2 hours ago, DLT said:

Sorry to hear that Jack, but if you had stuck with 00 the dissatisfaction would probably always be there.

Have you converted the Nelson yet?  Wizard Models do a chassis kit (formerly Comet I think) specifically for the purpose of an EM/P4 conversion.

 

Your locos are looking superb.

 

Cheers, Dave.

Courage , mon ami , mate . 
I’ve been similarly cast down but when a conversion , scratch build goes well , it’s worthwhile .

In my case , years of waiting for trains has given me a mental picture of what 4 feet  , 8 and a half inches looks like and I can’t reconcile it with 00 .

Jack,  you have such talents and skills that you will prevail .

All the best

Ken 

Edited July 3, 2023 by 1466
Omitted you have

[Steve Smith]

For my Bachmann N Class, my initial approach was to re-wheel to EM Gauge, but that wasn't entirely satisfactory, and I eventually fitted an SEF etched chassis with twin beam compensation reusing the Bachmann valve gear.  I'm planning a U Class conversion using a Bachy N Class body and will use the same approach for that chassis.  I'm also planning to fit the Hornby valve gear to an SEF chassis to convert a Hornby Schools to EM.  Fitting the Bachy (or Hornby) valve gear to the Comet chassis for the LN could be the way to go for you too.   

[Rugd1022]

I've just finished going through the whole thread Jack and have to say what a very enjoyable trawl it was, your work is definitely up there with the best, the quality and realism of finish is fantastic (not to mention consistent) and you seem to be able to get things done at a cracking rate, it often takes me a fortnight just to open a box and decide where to start, never mind actually do some modelling and achieve decent results!

 

I've picked out some of your items which have really hit the right spot and I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of putting some of them through the 'black and white nostalgia machine', to me it really highlights how realistic your well thought out and executed work makes them look. Rather than try and multi quote the relevant posts I'll put everything together here and work through them.

 

The Star and King are beautiful models... they remind me of the excellent work of photographer Kenneth Leech...

 

 

 

Your treatment of the Gresley Full Brake is sublime, is it the Hornby one or kit built...? It doesn't look anything like a r-t-r item and has the look of the real thing, sitting down on its bogies...

 

 

 

The D16 looks every inch a proper loco...

 

 

The Hornby M7s are really nicely done, I wish they did this in 7mm r-t-r, in fact the work you've done on them makes them look like high quality 7mm kit or scratch built versions...

 

 

 

 

 

Likewise the Schools, one of my favourite Southern machines, always wanted to do 'Rugby' as I live less than two miles from its namesake and my Mum was one of the headmaster's secretaries back in the late '70s...

 

 

 

The SECR D Class really looks the part...

 

 

As do the 700 and C Class 0-6-0s...

 

 

 

The Q1 looks a brute, just like the real thing...

 

 

Even in plain all over black the S15 looks like a high quality model...

 

 

Lastly, your 'Spam Can' is a fantastic, inspiring model...

 

 

 

 

 

None of the above look like r-t-r models - this is the kind of work we can all aspire to 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack P]

Thanks for your comments chaps. Just a little down, not out!

 

On 04/07/2023 at 04:49, DLT said:

if you had stuck with 00 the dissatisfaction would probably always be there.

 

I think this is exactly it - the journey into EM is a challenge, but the end result is one that I honestly believe will be worth it. 

More to come soon I hope!

 

[Jack P]

Good lord, has it really been 10 months since I last posted here?

 

I've made a bit of progress. But for some reason, I still really can't get along with Gibson wheels. Maybe the ones i've got in stock are from a bad lot (I've had most of them for 3+ years).

 

The D/D1 saga was drawn out for that very reason, I just could not get them running true. I'm confident that it's down to me and something I've done wrong, and possibly even the mix of a RTR chassis with Gibson wheels? Whatever it is it’s frustrating, and somewhat expensive.

 

On the D I reverted to using the Dapol wheels, on longer 2mm axles, with the bearings and gear re-used. Success! A bit of filing needed to the underside of the footplate for the connecting rods to spin freely.

 

 

Gibson tender wheels worked a treat. some gentle bending of the pickups meant extra juice from the tender. She now runs really smoothly.

 

Sadly on the D1 the Gibson wheels did not want to play ball, and the Dapol wheels were just too wide overall to fit within the splashers (which I have taken material out of, to the point where I'm worried about breaking through). This felt like a stumbling block I couldn't get past.
 

this was until I realised that my lathe would be a good instrument to use to turn down the width of the Dapol wheels. I took some measurements, and then held a file against the wheel rim until they were all about the same width.

 

The end result?

 

Magic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't just the wheels that got it here, but getting it running smoothly gave me a big burst of inspiration to get the model finished. I chose a number, made sure all the details matched (mainly the safety valve, buffers and smokebox rivets), finished painting, numbering and weathering and here we go.  

 

I've got two more D1's and the two D's to finish, which i'm hoping to sort of 'batch'. Ther two D's will be first, as they're both running and really just need painting and lettering. 

 

I also converted the EFE Booster, which was (in comparison) a doddle! A really lovely bit of kit - an EMGS maunal sheet should be out soon for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It still needs a proper weathering, I've given the sides a pin wash to highlight the details, and have done some work on the panto:

 

 

 

I've made a start on converting my H1 also. This one is really straightforward, with the most difficult part being the tender wheels. No filing, shaving or otherwise altering the body to fit around the wheels and rods. Pictured here with Gibsons, these also produced a very obvious rocking motion. So it was back to the tried and tested method of extended axles using the factory wheels. I bored out the gear wheel to 1/8th and used a gibson 2mm - 1/8th shim to mount it on the axle. All was well, until it wasn't. I also had to bush the chassis bearings to 2mm (after reaming them to 1/8th to fit the gibson axle), but I think this has just introduced too many elements for things to go wrong.

 

What's the solution? Well, the EMGS sell extended axles (Bachmann use a 3mm main width, down to 2mm shouldered at the wheel hub), so i've ordered a few of those to see where we get to - if they work, the next job for the lathe will be to turn some myself, as that should be a quick win for the H1 and the H2's.

 

 

Here she is, already looking a bit more delicate with the gibson carrying wheels.

 

In other news, I've made progress with my new photo board, this should give you an approximate idea of what it's going to look like:

 

 

 

I'm going through the motions of cutting and gluing the XPS foam, and am waiting for a clear run of nice weather to tackle the sculpt-a-mold to give the hill that flowing look, and fill in the gaps. 

 

 Looking at some protoype photos reveals that it wasn't uncommon for there to just be a tunnel mouth in the hillside, without wing walls, so the wing walls I built were put aside. The track will be wired up, just to DC, so I connect power and shuttle things back and forth. It's primary aim is for photos of locos and stock. The other two boards that were going to be for the Hardham project have been saved, and I am still tossing up what to do with them. A shed scene really calls to me.. 

 

 

In real life news, I've gotten sort of involved with Mainline Steam (preservation society). 

 

I helped clean and polish up KA 942 before it was towed into Wellington for a rail 150 celebration.

 

 

But (slightly more excitingly), I've befriended one of the chaps that works there, and goes up to the owners house every other weekend to play with his 7 1/4 live steam railway. I've got some footage i'll put together at some stage, but at the moment we are working on the scaled down version of J 1211 'GLORIA' - Ian (the owner) owns both the 7 1/4 and 1:1 versions. Hopefully i'll get to work on the real one soon too.

 

We're currently giving her a bit of a tweak. Throttle needs adjusting, superheaters are leaking, main steam pipe needs to be rebuilt, steam reverser needed rebuilding (I've done that already though), front end has come off, cab fittings have been removed and cleaned. a bit of paint touch ups and putting her back together and we can have a play. It shouldnt't be too long before we get there - a couple of weeks maybe? The railway is on a hill overlooking an inlet, so it'll be a real treat driving her in the cold winter air, as the sun sets in the distance.

 

]

 

 

 

To end this update, here she is, sitting on the rasied section used for blowdowns and raking out the fire and the ashpan, looking resplendent in the afternoon sun (minus streamlining)

 

 

That's all for now. More soon! (I hope)

Edited May 9 by Jack P

[TrevorP1]

Inspiring stuff on here Jack. Please don’t leave it another 10 months!

[John Tomlinson]

On 16/06/2023 at 02:31, Jack P said:

A quick update with two interlopers from a friend in the UK.

I was asked to add the detail packs, renumber/name and weather a Star and King.

 

Here are some photos of them in the winter sunshine. 

 

4026 'Japanese Monarch'

 

 

 

 

 

 

6013 'King  Henry VIII'

 

 

 

 

 

I've not been idle. Am currently trying to adapt two of the British finescale turnouts to form the crossing at Hardham. Worst case, if that fails, I'll use the rail provided and try to build them myself. Nothing ventured and all that.

More updates anon.

 

If I may, I'd like to pick your brains on these two.

 

I assume they are the Hornby models, and wonder if you did a complete re-paint and re-line, or if you've managed by weathering in some way to counter Hornby's fictional green? If the latter perhaps you could say how this was achieved. 

 

The final result is excellent, and bears no relation at all to the starting point.

 

Many thanks,

 

John.

[Jack P]

On 08/05/2024 at 22:22, TrevorP1 said:

Inspiring stuff on here Jack. Please don’t leave it another 10 months!

 

I will do my best! A shockingly long amount of time indeed.

 

On 08/05/2024 at 23:22, John Tomlinson said:

 

If I may, I'd like to pick your brains on these two.

 

I assume they are the Hornby models, and wonder if you did a complete re-paint and re-line, or if you've managed by weathering in some way to counter Hornby's fictional green? If the latter perhaps you could say how this was achieved. 

 

The final result is excellent, and bears no relation at all to the starting point.

 

Many thanks,

 

John.

 

 

Hey John, Thanks for the kind words. 

 

Honestly, this isn't the first time I'd heard mention of the "Horrible Hornby Green". The long and short of it is that i've done nothing to the base paintwork and lining, and it's really just the use of Mr Color Super Clear III as a super glossy lacquer topcoat/varnish, to be used before weathering, that has deepened the colour. I usually spray anywhere from 2-4 coats depending on the model. 

 

I've got one of the newer castles to do at some point, (for the same person, not me), and that green is very different again! So i'll post some photos here once that's update, as it promises to be another weird addition to the world of GWR greens out there!!

 

[gz3xzf]

Hi Jack

Hope you are well?

Is the Ka a runner, where is she kept?
I came to NZ in 1991 I'm sure I saw Ka 942 at Glenbrook, is that possible?

 

 

Edited May 9 by gz3xzf

[Jack P]

2 hours ago, gz3xzf said:

Hi Jack

Hope you are well?

Is the Ka a runner, where is she kept?
I came to NZ in 1991 I'm sure I saw Ka 942 at Glenbrook, is that possible?

 

Bryan!

 

Ticking along nicely, I've certainly not been idle, just haven't remembered to come and update.

KA 942 isn't a runner at the moment, but MLS is hoping to have her running in a few months (nothing major, just needs some bits doing and a re-cert). She's currently located in Plimmerton (about 20mins out of the city centre) at the MLS workshop there. If anyone ever finds themselves in Wellington and would like to have a look, let me know. They've got a number of engines down there and are very receptive to visitors. It's a fantastic time, climbing on the engines and seeing them up close and personal.

 

You likely would've seen her at Glenbrook, Currently that's where J1211 is. MLS had a workshop up in Auckland, but there is often some leasing/loaning around of locos between preservation railways. A quote from the MLS webpage states: "942 was initially placed in the Auckland yard, but was moved to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway for overhaul in late 1989."

 

https://www.mainlinesteam.co.nz/ka942

 

 

[Jack P]

Another update:

 

There's a bit to post from the last 10 months, so lets start with some stuff that i've done for other people:

 

Sonic Models A5, repainted and renumbered into plain black. Weathered also

 

 

 

 

Hornby LNER W1. I did some modifications to the trailing truck, in order to have the wheels sit on the track, and then weathered it.

 

 

 

A very glossy little Hornbny Peckett. She had all of the light grey bits painted black, glossed and then weathered - but I can't seem to find any photos of the weathering!

 

 

I also made some big strides on the other side of the workshop. The flooring and carpet is down, and the ply sheeting is up. It'll need to come off again for me to pack the insulation in, address some issues on the exterior wall, and to run cable for the remaining power points. 

 

I still have lighting to do. But we're on the home stretch!

 

 

More 7 1/4 stuff. The first night we went up, nothing was in steam, but we did get to drive the diesel around. The sunset was stunning that night.

 

 

Just over a week later, we were back, this time to drive K-36 482.

I'm not super familiar with American engines, but it sounded nice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also been working on a bit of kit-built GWR stock. The plan is to have a rake of GWR coaches in EM that can masquerade as some form of through train, from somewhere to somewhere else. This got a bit out of hand and somehow i've ended up with a few Corridor Colletts and 5 Hawksworth coaches.. Oops!

 

First up was a slaters Celerestory coach.

 

 

I enjoyed building the undeframe detail.

 

 

Sprung bogie. This thing is small.

 

 

I've also been working on the Shirescenes kit for the Siphon C. It's meant to fit the ratio Chassis for one of the brake coaches, but the chassis leaves a lot to be desired. I've got replacements W irons and springs, so i'll see where I get to with that. At this rate it probably would've been better to start from scratch! Is there another Siphon C kit out there? 

 

 

There is also the aforemnetioned Tunnel mouth and Wing walls. The wing walls were made out of Wills sheet, and the tunnel mouth is Bachmann scenecraft. I've painted them to match. This image really highlights the issue of the brick sizing being different. I'd tossed up the idea of making the tunnel mouth of of the wills sheets also, but decided to be lazy and just ditch the wing walls. I'm not too upset about this as the capping stones aren't right and there aren't any end abutments. A good learn though!

 

 

I'm lucky that Uncle Frank (Chuffer Davies of this parish) has come to the rescue of the Z. 

The chassis was re-built in EM, and I opted to use CSB. I hadn't realised quite how much of an issue this would pose with getting the motor and gearbox to sit and run nicely. 

Frank offered to take a look (as I was close to having the chassis running). He's since done a lot of work, and finished off the chassis for the most part. This is certainly something i'm really excited to have back on deck. The added pedigree from Frank will make this the star of my collection. 

 

 

Finally, there's another kit build i've been working on, it's not on it's proper chassis, but can anyone guess what this is?

 

 

More anon!

Edited May 10 by Jack P

[1466]

2 hours ago, Jack P said:

Another update:

 

There's a bit to post from the last 10 months, so lets start with some stuff that i've done for other people:

 

Sonic Models A5, repainted and renumbered into plain black. Weathered also

 

 

 

 

Hornby LNER W1. I did some modifications to the trailing truck, in order to have the wheels sit on the track, and then weathered it.

 

 

 

A very glossy little Hornbny Peckett. She had all of the light grey bits painted black, glossed and then weathered - but I can't seem to find any photos of the weathering!

 

 

I also made some big strides on the other side of the workshop. The flooring and carpet is down, and the ply sheeting is up. It'll need to come off again for me to pack the insulation in, address some issues on the exterior wall, and to run cable for the remaining power points. 

 

I still have lighting to do. But we're on the home stretch!

 

 

More 7 1/4 stuff. The first night we went up, nothing was in steam, but we did get to drive the diesel around. The sunset was stunning that night.

 

 

Just over a week later, we were back, this time to drive K-36 482.

I'm not super familiar with American engines, but it sounded nice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also been working on a bit of kit-built GWR stock. The plan is to have a rake of GWR coaches in EM that can masquerade as some form of through train, from somewhere to somewhere else. This got a bit out of hand and somehow i've ended up with a few Corridor Colletts and 5 Hawksworth coaches.. Oops!

 

First up was a slaters Celerestory coach.

 

 

I enjoyed building the undeframe detail.

 

 

Sprung bogie. This thing is small.

 

 

I've also been working on the Shirescenes kit for the Siphon C. It's meant to fit the ratio Chassis for one of the brake coaches, but the chassis leaves a lot to be desired. I've got replacements W irons and springs, so i'll see where I get to with that. At this rate it probably would've been better to start from scratch! Is there another Siphon C kit out there? 

 

 

There is also the aforemnetioned Tunnel mouth and Wing walls. The wing walls were made out of Wills sheet, and the tunnel mouth is Bachmann scenecraft. I've painted them to match. This image really highlights the issue of the brick sizing being different. I'd tossed up the idea of making the tunnel mouth of of the wills sheets also, but decided to be lazy and just ditch the wing walls. I'm not too upset about this as the capping stones aren't right and there aren't any end abutments. A good learn though!

 

 

I'm lucky that Uncle Frank (Chuffer Davies of this parish) has come to the rescue of the Z. 

The chassis was re-built in EM, and I opted to use CSB. I hadn't realised quite how much of an issue this would pose with getting the motor and gearbox to sit and run nicely. 

Frank offered to take a look (as I was close to having the chassis running). He's since done a lot of work, and finished off the chassis for the most part. This is certainly something i'm really excited to have back on deck. The added pedigree from Frank will make this the star of my collection. 

 

 

Finally, there's another kit build i've been working on, it's not on it's proper chassis, but can anyone guess what this is?

 

 

More anon!

 

[1466]

Just now, 1466 said:

 

Beautiful work , Jack and you are so prolific.. 

[John Tomlinson]

15 hours ago, Jack P said:

 

I will do my best! A shockingly long amount of time indeed.

 

 

 

Hey John, Thanks for the kind words. 

 

Honestly, this isn't the first time I'd heard mention of the "Horrible Hornby Green". The long and short of it is that i've done nothing to the base paintwork and lining, and it's really just the use of Mr Color Super Clear III as a super glossy lacquer topcoat/varnish, to be used before weathering, that has deepened the colour. I usually spray anywhere from 2-4 coats depending on the model. 

 

I've got one of the newer castles to do at some point, (for the same person, not me), and that green is very different again! So i'll post some photos here once that's update, as it promises to be another weird addition to the world of GWR greens out there!!

 

 

Many thanks for this.

 

I'd hoped your answer would be along these lines, as it would be a real pain to redo all the lining.

 

I'll give it a whirl!

 

John.

[57xx]

12 hours ago, Jack P said:

I've also been working on the Shirescenes kit for the Siphon C. It's meant to fit the ratio Chassis for one of the brake coaches, but the chassis leaves a lot to be desired. I've got replacements W irons and springs, so i'll see where I get to with that. At this rate it probably would've been better to start from scratch! Is there another Siphon C kit out there? 

 

 

No, there's not at the moment. I went down the Mainly Trains 4 wheel coach chassis route as I could see the Ratio chassis would take too much work. As it turned out, I still had a shed load of work to do on the MT one, but being brass, I think it was easier than hacking around a plastic chassis. Depending on which version of the kit you have, you may find various bits of detail missing. I emailed MJT several times about the parts discrepancy but never got an answer.

[DLT]

12 hours ago, Jack P said:

Finally, there's another kit build i've been working on, it's not on it's proper chassis, but can anyone guess what this is?

Is it an E5X?

Lovely stuff Jack, PLEASE don't leave it so long again!

What are the issues you've been having with the Gibson wheels?  I've come across the occasional eccentric one, but on the whole I really like them.  

All the best,

Dave.

[Jack P]

On 10/05/2024 at 19:43, 1466 said:

Beautiful work , Jack and you are so prolific.. 

 

Thank you kindly! I'm not sure about prolific, just doing my thing :)

 

On 11/05/2024 at 00:02, John Tomlinson said:

Many thanks for this.

I'd hoped your answer would be along these lines, as it would be a real pain to redo all the lining.

I'll give it a whirl!

John.

 

You're most welcome John. My only callout would be that it likes to be really, REALLY thin, like 80/20 Thinner/clear. It also helps to use Mr color levelling thinner, and once you've given it a chance to start drying, you can hit it with a coat of neat thinners to even everything out. The trick is then to stop any dust/other crap getting on the clearcoat as it dries, I like to put mine under an upturned plastic container. Keen to see how you get on!

 

On 11/05/2024 at 04:38, 57xx said:

No, there's not at the moment. I went down the Mainly Trains 4 wheel coach chassis route as I could see the Ratio chassis would take too much work. As it turned out, I still had a shed load of work to do on the MT one, but being brass, I think it was easier than hacking around a plastic chassis. Depending on which version of the kit you have, you may find various bits of detail missing. I emailed MJT several times about the parts discrepancy but never got an answer.

 

Interesting, thank you! Do you have any photos? Is the mainly trains chassis availble from Wizard now?

 

On 11/05/2024 at 04:58, DLT said:

Is it an E5X?

Lovely stuff Jack, PLEASE don't leave it so long again!

What are the issues you've been having with the Gibson wheels?  I've come across the occasional eccentric one, but on the whole I really like them.  

All the best,

Dave.

 

I am driven to poost more often, thanks to stakeholders like you Dave! :) 

Very good guess, It's an E5, I've got another one to do, which i'd considered doing as an E5x - there's a lot of replacement work needed if I go that way.

 

For some reason I'm really not having the best luck in getting them onto their axles straight and true, and as a result there is bobbing and swaying. Sometimes I seem to get it bang on, but I can't figure out what i'm doing right in those instances, or wrong in the other instances! It's definitley a me problem though, because so many others have had good results consistently. 

 

I'll keep experimenting. 

 

Any tips?

[Jack P]

Another quick update of the photo/scenery plank.

 

The track plan is simple, but includes a crossover. To my mind, it's more interesting than plain track. There will also be a slight curve in the line.

 

 

It's my first time using XPS foam and Sculpt-a-mold. It's taken about a week to dry. 

 

 

It still looks a bit lumpy and bumpy, but i'm hoping once the base layers of brown paint are down, and the grass/foilage starts to go down it will look a lot more natural. I've not based this on anywhere. At a stretch, inspired by strawberry hill tunnel, but not really. I hope i've done an alright job of capturing the rolling landscape and the randomness of the formations of the ground. I'll finish sanding the endges and trackbed over the weekend, The plan is to paint the surround black, or brown... not sure yet!

 

I had some Adjustable trestle stands arrive, after having them on order for the last 2 years!

 

 

They're already hugely beneficial. I've got them set at a comfortable height for working on the diorama, and, if it was bigger, it would be a perfect operating height for me. I really like when layouts are close to eye level. But being 6'2", it's a tall order most of the time.

 

That's all for now. EM H1 is nearly back together. More updates soon!