Black Notley - BR Eastern

[pwr]

Here is the final part

 

 

 

Paul R

[GWR57xx]

Nice to see Warships in that part of the country 🙂

Good long run you’ve got there.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, very enjoyable watching all the trains go by. I liked the oil tanker train.

 

Cheers, Ade.

[pwr]

15 hours ago, GWR57xx said:

Nice to see Warships in that part of the country 🙂

Good long run you’ve got there.

 

I have a soft spot for Hydraulics even though my main interest is in ex GE ones!!!!

 

The excuse is they come in on the banana trains from Avonmouth and get borrowed!

 

Paul

[pwr]

1 hour ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

Hi Paul, very enjoyable watching all the trains go by. I liked the oil tanker train.

 

Cheers, Ade.

 

Yes I am quite pleased with it. I would like some more but I am constrained by the length of each fiddle yard so thats as many as I can get!   I have plans to install another board at the Witham end  (where the crossing is) nd a possible 2 ft on each fiddle yard.  That would take the length to 44ft but I can't get that up in the garden We are trying to move so I am hopeful of having more space!

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Currently converting these.

 

 

to this

 

 

The TK needs to be converted to RHD and the cab fixed to the chassis. The cab actually droops slightly but you can't see that in the photo. I carved too much of the frame away so need to back fill with plastikard and then glue the cab base the the frame before converting to RHD.

 

Paul R

[pwr]

Latest arrival at Black Notley - the EFE version of the LLC Class 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At some point soon iill sit it side by side against an LLC model and see how close to he original it comes.

 

That said the first thing to note is that the packaging is totally different. The model sits in a polystyrene tray inside a flimsy box with cellophane cover and not ideal for mailing. However Tower Models packed the box in a good quantity of foam and it arrived undamaged.

 

 

Not had it on the rolling road yet either. Updates to follow.

 

Paul R

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by pwr

[pwr]

Sorry about the duplicated photo - it won't edit out

 

Paul R

[brossard]

Nice to see the Cl15 has been reborn.  Mine is the original.  My only beef is that every time I handle it bits fall off.  I've been trying to save them in a plastic bag.  One day I'll stick them back on.  If you take the body off, be very careful not to over stress the wires inside, they are only just long enough.  I had a speaker wire break and it was not easy to fix.

 

John

[pwr]

1 hour ago, brossard said:

Nice to see the Cl15 has been reborn.  Mine is the original.  My only beef is that every time I handle it bits fall off.  I've been trying to save them in a plastic bag.  One day I'll stick them back on.  If you take the body off, be very careful not to over stress the wires inside, they are only just long enough.  I had a speaker wire break and it was not easy to fix.

 

John

 

As I don't do DCC I have  only ever had one apart which was to refix a loose window but I certainly concur on the wiring. 

 

Here are some photos of the original and EFE

 

 

 

 

 

 

The immediate difference is the colour with the EFE version noticeably lighter. I see no real issue with that as colours faded and once I get round to weathering it won't be an issue. 

 

There are other detail differences noticeable handrails and roofs/footplate but I think these may be prototypical. I'll need to get the book out to see.

 

Please ignore the MK1 cat.

 

Paul R

Edited October 11, 2023 by pwr

[brossard]

Ah well, any discrepancies can usually be corrected.  The model was well researched I think so I doubt there are are many errors.

 

Mine on a train at a show last year:

 

 

It is quite grubby.  I find DCC to be a wonderful thing but not everyone is so enamored.  There are three of us in the group and one does GWR/WR hence the interlopers.

 

John

[pwr]

3 hours ago, brossard said:

Ah well, any discrepancies can usually be corrected.  The model was well researched I think so I doubt there are are many errors.

 

Mine on a train at a show last year:

 

 

It is quite grubby.  I find DCC to be a wonderful thing but not everyone is so enamored.  There are three of us in the group and one does GWR/WR hence the interlopers.

 

John

 

Nice

 

Paul R

[EasternO]

I have heard there are imminent legal proceedings regarding the Class 15 model. I occasionally email the bloke who started the Little Loco Company as I bought a few things from him a few years ago. There are definite detail differences between the models and I wonder if there are differences inside too?

[pwr]

12 hours ago, EasternO said:

I have heard there are imminent legal proceedings regarding the Class 15 model. I occasionally email the bloke who started the Little Loco Company as I bought a few things from him a few years ago. There are definite detail differences between the models and I wonder if there are differences inside too?

 

Thats interesting.

 

The most notable difference I have found as you will have seen from the photos is the all green roof on the EFE model. According to Anthony Sayers book the painting instructions were that the roof should be green as should the engine hatches. Reference to the photos in his book where it's evident suggests they were all finished with grey roofs. 

 

As you say there may well be differences inside but at the moment I have no intention of taking it apart.

 

EFE have done this before with certain Heljan and DJM models.

 

If LLC don't own the moulds then I can only think the action is over intellectual property.

Be interesting to see how this pans out.

 

Paul R 

 

 

[EasternO]

I'm no expert on this particular class but it looks to me that the original version matches photos better than the remake. You've got a nice little layout there. I was hoping to build something in my loft last year but I've moved into a flat. I do have 3 metres going spare though!

 

I emailed Steve last week as I bought a some parts of a very small Ruston diesel and couldn't work out how to put one of them together so I hoped he had an instruction manual. He told me that he does legally own the tool sets and the reproduction rights so it will indeed be interesting what's going to happen from any potential legal wrangles.

 

I shall continue to watch your thread. It's been fun for the few months I've been following.

 

Cheers, John

[37114]

On 03/10/2023 at 10:17, pwr said:

Currently converting these.

 

 

to this

 

 

The TK needs to be converted to RHD and the cab fixed to the chassis. The cab actually droops slightly but you can't see that in the photo. I carved too much of the frame away so need to back fill with plastikard and then glue the cab base the the frame before converting to RHD.

 

Paul R

Nice project. Not sure if you are planning to keep the original cab colour but the yellow star is easily removed with IPA on a cotton bud, the pic below is the original red cab;

 

 

 

[Hal Nail]

8 minutes ago, 37114 said:

Nice project. Not sure if you are planning to keep the original cab colour but the yellow star is easily removed with IPA on a cotton bud, the pic below is the original red cab;

 

 

 

I need to remove an early crest from an expensive loco which I'm wary of so will practice with the star on my Bedford. Do you just rub away, or let the IPA soak in for some time first?

[37114]

1 minute ago, Hal Nail said:

I need to remove an early crest from an expensive loco which I'm wary of so will practice with the star on my Bedford. Do you just rub away, or let the IPA soak in for some time first?

I soak the cotton bud in IPA then rub away. It takes a while for anything to happen but after a couple of minutes it started to come off and then got progressively quicker/easier.

[Hal Nail]

2 minutes ago, 37114 said:

I soak the cotton bud in IPA then rub away. It takes a while for anything to happen but after a couple of minutes it started to come off and then got progressively quicker/easier.

Thanks.

I've never managed to find any Bedford decals which limits potential repaints. I'll keep the red as looks good especially with black trim but I've also got a blue one I wouldnt mind repainting.

[pwr]

Here we go on the conversion of the windscreen wipers from RHD to LHD. This is a cruel enlargement of the rotor blades which need tripping further nearer to scale. I won't be able to get them to be exactly like the originals but hey ho once they are coloured black they should be OK.

 

 

The cab conversion has been glued in with driver which as you can see is in a bit of a stunted pose caused by the need to cut off the arms and fit them to the other shoulders!

There has been some comment on another forum about the height which the drivers sat and this seems to indicate I have got this right.

 

Once the wipers are done I'll glue in the cab floor before gluing it to the chassis.

 

Paul R

[jcarta]

4 hours ago, pwr said:

Here we go on the conversion of the windscreen wipers from RHD to LHD. This is a cruel enlargement of the rotor blades which need tripping further nearer to scale. I won't be able to get them to be exactly like the originals but hey ho once they are coloured black they should be OK.

 

 

The cab conversion has been glued in with driver which as you can see is in a bit of a stunted pose caused by the need to cut off the arms and fit them to the other shoulders!

There has been some comment on another forum about the height which the drivers sat and this seems to indicate I have got this right.

 

Once the wipers are done I'll glue in the cab floor before gluing it to the chassis.

 

Paul R

 

Paul

 

I think you have done a great job..... My old man use to drive a Bedford TK then he changed it to a Bedford KM after a few years..... Brings back memories.

[pwr]

OK so the TK is not finished apart from getting the original decals off the doors. Now thinking about weathering as its too bright and clean.

 

 

 

 

 

Very pleased with how this has come out as it's much more prototypical than the French Circus truck albeit technically slightly out of period for Black Notley. The layout is supposed to represent 1958 and the TK was not launched until 1960 but as I am planing to be able to recreate three different era's I can simply swap it out for a different one when operating!

 

Now to finish off the 6 wagons I started earlier in the year 

 

Paul R

[37114]

1 hour ago, pwr said:

OK so the TK is not finished apart from getting the original decals off the doors. Now thinking about weathering as its too bright and clean.

 

 

 

 

 

Very pleased with how this has come out as it's much more prototypical than the French Circus truck albeit technically slightly out of period for Black Notley. The layout is supposed to represent 1958 and the TK was not launched until 1960 but as I am planing to be able to recreate three different era's I can simply swap it out for a different one when operating!

 

Now to finish off the 6 wagons I started earlier in the year 

 

Paul R

Looks good Paul, nice to see what you have done here.

[Hal Nail]

On the recurring subject of 7mm vehicles, I noticed this morning they have tweaked the Thames Trader tooling to do a Leyland Comet. Bit pricey from abroad but they tend to filter through over here eventually.

 

 

[pwr]

On 27/11/2023 at 12:58, Hal Nail said:

On the recurring subject of 7mm vehicles, I noticed this morning they have tweaked the Thames Trader tooling to do a Leyland Comet. Bit pricey from abroad but they tend to filter through over here eventually.

 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Paul