Modern Traction Kits

[Phil Parker]

I understood that the first batch of kits were usually pretty good as the maker wanted one for himself. Subsequent batches were less OK. I've a Cravens parcels DMU that clips together.

 

On 26/04/2021 at 20:27, russell price said:

Did you ever sell the 140? I’d be interested in it.

 

Try here: https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/nononsensekits/mtk/nnk-mtk-detail-parts/4-40431 - I think they do the complete kit as well.

[Richard_A]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

 

They do come up on eBay quite often, I have both a warship and Western in my kit pile, both bring back memories of visiting Paddington as a youngster. I hope to enjoy building them sometime, awful kits but have a unique charm. 

I had a d600 kit but sold it, wish I hadn't now, if you fancy selling yours..... 

[russell price]

2 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

I understood that the first batch of kits were usually pretty good as the maker wanted one for himself. Subsequent batches were less OK. I've a Cravens parcels DMU that clips together.

 

 

Try here: https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/nononsensekits/mtk/nnk-mtk-detail-parts/4-40431 - I think they do the complete kit as well.

Will do. Remember as a treat for a birthday in 1982 deciding to take a trip on the Central Wales to Swansea , expecting the usual class 120 to turn up, however 140 001 rolls up. Quite an experience! Maybe tempted to model it.

[russell price]

On 26/04/2021 at 20:33, roythebus1 said:

The 140 is still with me.

 

Can you pm some pictures of where it is at?? 

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, rka said:

I had a d600 kit but sold it, wish I hadn't now, if you fancy selling yours..... 

 

Sorry, the locos them selves have some sort of mystic charm, as for the kits they are awful, but again very addictive 

 

The original cab fronts had been badly cast (both missing the window frames, two spare ones were in the kit

[Richard_A]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

Sorry, the locos them selves have some sort of mystic charm, as for the kits they are awful, but again very addictive 

 

The original cab fronts had been badly cast (both missing the window frames, two spare ones were in the kit

I have just taken delivery of a brass cast class 73 kit by mtk it is pretty good tbf, I also have a white metal one which again is pretty good much better than the a1 models class 73/0 kit anyway. 

[andyman7]

This was listed on ebay as 'Mainline' but a perusal of the photos suggested the fine detail of an MTK cast lump on a Mainline chassis. I'm not quite sure where the tendency for vintage builds of these models to get coated in thick gloss comes from and this one does not disappoint in that regard....
Anyhow it will get a new identity, small yellow warning panels and I will tone down the finish. I'll probably go for the mid/late 1960s simplified green rather than add the grey stripe but fear not, it will retain all its MTK charm 

[CKPR]

23 hours ago, andyman7 said:

I'm not quite sure where the tendency for vintage builds of these models to get coated in thick gloss comes from

The old Humbrol 'Authenticolours' railway range I suspect, as their paints from the 1960s through to the early 1980s always tended to very glossy.

Edited April 30, 2021 by CKPR

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 hours ago, CKPR said:

The old Humbrol 'Authenticolours' railway range I suspect as their paints from the 1960s through to the early 1980s always tended to very glossy.

 

,and there wasn't a lot else back in the day.

 

Mike.

[CKPR]

In the 1970s UK market outside of London, pretty much only Airfix and Gloy with American exotica such as  Floquil, Polly S and Revell only being available in the capital.  I remember Airfix paint as being much easier to use than  Humbrol and actually drying matt but the colours available were biased towards aircraft and AFVs and the range wasn't as wide as Humbrol.

[andyman7]

4 hours ago, CKPR said:

In the 1970s UK market outside of London, pretty much only Airfix and Gloy with American exotica such as  Floquil, Polly S and Revell only being available in the capital.  I remember Airfix paint as being much easier to use than  Humbrol and actually drying matt but the colours available were biased towards aircraft and AFVs and the range wasn't as wide as Humbrol.

I have heard that the Airfix paints were actually manufactured by Gloy. I have a box of vintage paints and adhesives and it includes Humbrol Flattening Agent, which needed to be mixed in the appropriate ratio in order to dull the gloss finish of the standard paint range. Most of my built MTK acquisitions have clearly (and understandably) been gamely put together by someone 'giving them a go' rather than at the sort of professional semi-scratchbuilding level needed for, say, an exhibition standard model. 

However, the GWR railcar with which I introduced this thread back on page 1 is an exception in terms of painting, having been decorated to a delightful standard. It does run like a bag of spanners though, showing how skill specialisms vary  

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, andyman7 said:

I have heard that the Airfix paints were actually manufactured by Gloy. I have a box of vintage paints and adhesives and it includes Humbrol Flattening Agent, which needed to be mixed in the appropriate ratio in order to dull the gloss finish of the standard paint range. Most of my built MTK acquisitions have clearly (and understandably) been gamely put together by someone 'giving them a go' rather than at the sort of professional semi-scratchbuilding level needed for, say, an exhibition standard model. 

However, the GWR railcar with which I introduced this thread back on page 1 is an exception in terms of painting, having been decorated to a delightful standard. It does run like a bag of spanners though, showing how skill specialisms vary  

 

Surely a decent modern (kit) motor bogie will resolve the issues

[andyman7]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

 

Surely a decent modern (kit) motor bogie will resolve the issues

It would, but it is fitted with a genuine MTK motor bogie, so the fact that it moves at all is a miracle I don't intend to interfere with.

[MarkC]

54 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

It would, but it is fitted with a genuine MTK motor bogie, so the fact that it moves at all is a miracle I don't intend to interfere with.

Chapeau, sir. Chapeau 

[74009]

 

Hi all,

 

I did say some time ago that I'd post some pictures of my MTK efforts from over the years.  This is a Class 506 Glossop/Hadfield unit that I built in the region of 20 years ago.  It's quite basic - I used MTK parts throughout, even the bogies, plus a Lima motor bogie from a class 73 (or maybe one of those HO 33s).

 

Recently I dug it out and replaced the motor with a CD/DVD motor costing about £1.60.  The improvement in performance is staggering - even though it still uses the original Lima gear chain it can reliably crawl along at an almost imperceptible speed.

 

I'll try to dig out some more MTK constructions soon!

 

Stuart

Edited May 16, 2021 by 74009
spelling

[David_Belcher]

On 29/04/2021 at 21:21, andyman7 said:

This was listed on ebay as 'Mainline' but a perusal of the photos suggested the fine detail of an MTK cast lump on a Mainline chassis. I'm not quite sure where the tendency for vintage builds of these models to get coated in thick gloss comes from and this one does not disappoint in that regard....
Anyhow it will get a new identity, small yellow warning panels and I will tone down the finish. I'll probably go for the mid/late 1960s simplified green rather than add the grey stripe but fear not, it will retain all its MTK charm 

MTK on a Palitoy chassis is an interesting combination...I used to own one built out of a Mainline body/underframe on Jouef 40 bogies (with buffers from the Dapol breakdown crane kit) to get round the original 45's buffer beam faux pas.

 

David

[74009]

Hi all,

 

Another MTK creation from about 20 years ago - this is one of the original Swindon-built Inter City 6 car DMUs.

[David_Belcher]

On 30/04/2021 at 12:46, andyman7 said:

I have heard that the Airfix paints were actually manufactured by Gloy. I have a box of vintage paints and adhesives and it includes Humbrol Flattening Agent, which needed to be mixed in the appropriate ratio in order to dull the gloss finish of the standard paint range. Most of my built MTK acquisitions have clearly (and understandably) been gamely put together by someone 'giving them a go' rather than at the sort of professional semi-scratchbuilding level needed for, say, an exhibition standard model. 

However, the GWR railcar with which I introduced this thread back on page 1 is an exception in terms of painting, having been decorated to a delightful standard. It does run like a bag of spanners though, showing how skill specialisms vary  

I had a few tins of the Gloy "authentic railway colours" series some years back - the tins were certainly suspiciously similar to Airfix ones!

 

David

[5050]

6 hours ago, David_Belcher said:

I had a few tins of the Gloy "authentic railway colours" series some years back - the tins were certainly suspiciously similar to Airfix ones!

 

David

My Airfix ones are in glass bottles.  For some reason a couple are still unopened (I think!) and must be well over 60 years old.

 

EDIT - just realised that they're unopened 'cos they're funny colours - like LNER Blue and LMS Red..........................................

Edited May 24, 2021 by 5050

[David_Belcher]

On 23/05/2021 at 22:01, 74009 said:

Hi all,

 

Another MTK creation from about 20 years ago - this is one of the original Swindon-built Inter City 6 car DMUs.

Superb!!

[andyman7]

More MTK delights. I've been after a 47 for a while, and suddenly three have turned up, along with another Peak. I freely admit to paying over the odds for these (bear in mind the GWR Railcard that I started this thread with came to me for £17....) and in the end bought all three from different vendors for the luxury of sorting them all out in the comfort of home. 

 

One 47 kit is a complete, unbuilt example which I haven't pictured here, and may well be retained 'as-is' to give the rest of the collection I am building context to illustrate what one started with. The 47 is clearly an early kit because it included motor bogies, the first time I have seen these early mechanisms which the instructions say are sourced from K's.

 

The Peak and a built 47 came from Rails' secondhand store. The 47 was listed as a slow runner whilst the Peak was spares/repair. I made a 'best offer' on the two but at a smidgen north of £80 I have no doubt that many would consider I have lost my marbles. However, the 47 is a very nice build, needs a little tidying but if you had that on your layout in the 70s it would look streets ahead of an out-of-the-box Hornby offering. It runs on a pair of trusty Triang X337 motor bogies with the correct pattern MTK sideframes added. Using Triang mechs does seem to have been the go-to solution to a working MTK model back in the day. The Peak has been pretty well built too, but - joy-of-joy - motorisation has been attempted using the MTK supplied motor bogies that were included in the early kits. It's all a bit of disaster area down there but I shall have fun trying to sort it out.

 

The third 47 is somewhere in between, built but unfinished, with the MTK/K's motor bogies partly assembled. I may have to put the body in hot water to disassemble it as the gluing is a bit wonky. This one had actually been part of a lot in an auction I was bidding on but I was outbid, and it turned up on ebay a week or two later. £50 is frankly a lottery win for the vendor as objectively it's a pile of crap, but it's my pile of crap now and as I know what the auction lot went for I know that they won't really have made any money (I dropped out of the bidding for a reason....)
 

The instructions for the motor bogie include advise to run in for SIX HOURS once completed. I imagine that if I can get the thing to run for 6 hours I will be due some sort of award.

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by andyman7
Spelling

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 hours ago, andyman7 said:

The instructions for the motor bogie include advise to run in for SIX HOURS once completed. I imagine that if I can get the thing to run for 6 hours I will be due some sort of award.

 

 

I reckon you're right, the one I built, even allowing for my questionable skills back in the day, with it's combination of sintered plastic, brass and whitemetal I doubt would have made 6 minutes, let alone hours. There was no way I could get it to run without the equivalence of the earths gravitational pull in friction.

 

Mike.

[andyman7]

The green Peak mounted on a Mainline chassis has finally been sorted. As delivered it was in a rather glossy green that had no yellow panel and wasn't quite fully lined green. As I already have a blue 'Lytham St Annes' another identity was sought which could match correct use of the mid-60s 'Economy Green' and D62 was chosen as I was able to locate a good picture of the loco ex-works in that livery. Etched plates were obtained which revealed that the gap between the main and small vents on the MTK model was underscale, so the small one was relocated. The green was patch painted, yellow panels added and a stain varnish applied plus a little weathering powder to the roof. Top image is as received and lower one is as it is now (from the other side)

[hayfield]

I was sorely tempted to bid for a MTK Teddy bear the other day, long before it went for more than I was intending to bid, I decided not to bid. However yesterday I won an Alexandra Models version, part built (may be missing the odd item) for less than the value of the Romford wheels it has with it. The main parts with the exception of one crank are there, a few minor details (which the MTK version would not have) might be missing.

 

The worst case scenario is I have another spare set of Romford wheels, plus an incomplete kit 

[andyman7]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

I was sorely tempted to bid for a MTK Teddy bear the other day, long before it went for more than I was intending to bid, I decided not to bid. However yesterday I won an Alexandra Models version, part built (may be missing the odd item) for less than the value of the Romford wheels it has with it. The main parts with the exception of one crank are there, a few minor details (which the MTK version would not have) might be missing.

 

The worst case scenario is I have another spare set of Romford wheels, plus an incomplete kit 

I saw that one, a good buy from what I could tell!