Will’s workbench - Bachmann Class 37 super detailing

[Southwich]

Managed to finish the main work on 37114 today, which is now ready for finishing and painting. Given this needs a full respray from the Bachmann 37043 large logo donors, I wanted to push myself to try and get as close to the ultimate 37 in 4mm as I could, I don’t think there’s much extra I can do! A full list of the mods/work I’ve done are as follows:

 

Bodyshell:

Shawplan roof grille fitted. I’ve soldered this together which gives a really nice low profile finish vs the original.

 

Shawplan reinforced central window frame. This seems to be a mod to certain EWS 37s, which 114 was one of.

 

Shawplan etched nose grilles. The holes were drilled out, moulding removed and the etch added over the top. 

 

Replacement handrails from .33mm and .2mm all round on the nose.

 

Replica railways high intensity headlight added, car headlight removed and filled with plasticard and super glue. 

 

Rivet strips on the roof removed. This will be tidied up with filler during priming. 

Pete Harvey etched lamp brackets added using wire, and secured with super glue. 

Additional roof pods added. Again these will be tidied up when I prime the loco. 

 

Underframe:

Rewheeled to P4 using Exactoscale 14mm wheels.

Etched Penbits brake gear around the wider wheelsets - much easier over thinning the plastic brake gear and looks much finer

 

Pete Harvey etched ploughs - the only option here. The old ones go straight in the bin, with the new ones making a nice representation of the real ones with their nice thin profile.

 

Fuel tank mods - no steps on the second tank so this has been removed with a blade and will be cleaned up after a layer of primer

 

Pete Harvey steps - these have been corrected and secured with hot glue to the side frames. A lot of work but well worth it over the normal steps IMO.

 

Dingham couplings with a cosmetic screw coupling has been added to the bufferbeam. Nice and discreet for automatic uncoupling! 

 

 

 

 

Time to start on the next EWS split box tractor to get them ready for batch painting…

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Edited January 29, 2023 by Southwich

[dj_crisp]

Looks fantastic Will!

I'm still amazed you can build the PH steps which are a step too far for me. Boom

[Southwich]

 

 

Latest Bachmann 37 has been LaserGlazed this morning following the arrival from Brian on Saturday. Very pleased with the result - few more to get cracking with!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[97406]

39 minutes ago, Southwich said:

 

 

Latest Bachmann 37 has been LaserGlazed this morning following the arrival from Brian on Saturday. Very pleased with the result - few more to get cracking with!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

That's a massive improvement!

[Southwich]

1 minute ago, 97406 said:

That's a massive improvement!

Indeed - and just goes to show how good they’ve got the front of the loco. I do feel the central pane needs to be slightly bigger on Brian’s pack though.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Southwich]

Bit more tractor progress using the new Bachmann model before I head down under for work (don’t worry the tractors will be following me out to continue on with them!). 
 

New glazing for 37422/37401 has continued to lift the fact of the model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very pleased with the glazing now - really captures the characteristic windows of these locos now! 
 

Continuing on the 37/4 theme I’ve been working on 37425 which is one of my favourite mid 2000s EWS machine. Using 37430 as the donor, this has been debranded, and I’ve stripped the noses. The rationale behind this being that it’ll be easier to repaint when I’ve added the etched lamp bracket each end (2nd man side seems to be missing lamp brackets each end!). I’ve also glued and filled the nose join, reglazed using LaserGlaze and added a Shawplan roof fan grille. Snowploughs have been prepared but just missed adding before it had to be packed away:

 

 

 

 

 

Split boxes - I’ve continued on detailing my fleet of EWS split boxes of 37042/37109/37057:

 

 

 

37042 - Nose glued & filled, Scottish headlamp filled, boiler port filled, Shawplan roof grille added. Horn grilles have been removed ready for etched ones. 

37109 - Nose glued & filled, Scottish headlamp filled, boiler port filled, Shawplan roof grille added. Horn grilles have been removed ready for etched ones, I’ve also started removing the rivet strapping from the roof. 

37057 - Buffers changed, nose glued & filled, Scottish headlamp filled, boiler port filled, Shawplan roof grille added. Horn grilles have been removed ready for etched ones. 

Next steps are to finish the body work with high intensity headlamps, lamp brackets and other small details then onto the underframes.

 

I’ve also packed some units to keep me busy in Straya so looking forward to posting some progress when I manage!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[97406]

Precision Paints Signal Yellow looks a near perfect match for the yellow on the Large Logo 37. I cocked up a lamp bracket on mine and needed to patch paint around its replacement. 

[dj_crisp]

A taste of things to come;

 

 

Good luck with the move!

 

Tractors look great - I especially like these two,

 

cheers

Will

 

[Southwich]

A bit of modelling completed down under last 24 hours following the arrival of a load of detailing parts. This was originally a Kernow 37207, which has had the following:
- Cantrail stripe/livery elements removed
- Shawplan’s new LaserGlaze
- Shawplan roof fan grille/western region lamp brackets 
- replica high intensity headlight 
- Lanarkshire white metal buffers
- Ph Designs lamp brackets 
- Bogie swap with a split box model for the fabricated bogies vs the original cast ones the model came with

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[33063]

On 28/12/2020 at 15:28, Southwich said:

Hi Richie,

 

Thanks for the kind words! Funnily enough I was reading one of your conversion threads the other night and was going to comment but didn’t get round to it. Of course, please see shopping list below:

 

Shawplan:

- Etched windows without horns and backing plate (I think this is the biggest improvement that can be made to a Bachmann 37. The VITrains ones are much better all round IMO once laserglazed)

- Laserglaze for the 37

- Brake levers 

- Windscreen wipers 

- Roof fan/grille

 

Shawpeways:

- Brake cylinders are from the link below. They’re not perfect but I think they look nicer than the originals. I bought two packs so then I had some spares as you have to cut down the arm for the 37.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/JL53VSBUF/ho-sw1500-flexicoil-brake-cylinders-x8?optionId=61568664&li=marketplace

 

PHDesigns:

- 37/0 detailing set including the etched steps

- Etched snowploughs 

- 3D printed multiple working socket (think this may have been via Shapeways though!)

 

Lanarkshire models:

- Cast OLEO buffers for the 37. Much nicer than the original. Link here: http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_136.htm

 

PenBits:

- Sprung bogies 

 

BlackBeetle:

- 14mm EM coach wheels (via @dj_crisp!)

 

Dingham couplings will be fitted along with various Bachmann/Vitrains detailing parts for the ends.

 

I think that is all - Hopefully the shopping list helps! Let me know if you need anything else and I can drop you a PM  

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Hi Will - what size (product number) cast Oleo buffers do you use from the Lanarkshire range? Great modelling. Thanks.

Edited September 25, 2023 by 33063
Typo

[Southwich]

5 hours ago, 33063 said:

Hi Will - what size (product number) cast Oleo buffers do you use from the Lanarkshire range? Great modelling. Thanks.

Hi @33063 - the product is LB12 Loco Buffer 4pk - Item No LB12

 

Hope that helps!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[33063]

Helps greatly. I'm working on a ViTrains class 37 and want to replace the ones on there. Thanks.

 

On 28/12/2020 at 15:28, Southwich said:

 

 

[Southwich]

Long time no update - a selection of photos of projects I’ve been working on last few weeks weeks - with thanks to @P.C.M for his help and use of facilities. All described below:

 

- 37308: Kernow LTD edition William Cookworthy. Buffers swapped, headboard clips removed, Shawplan fan grille added, Shawplan WR lamp brackets added, replica HI headlight added, Pete Harvey lamp bracket added (only one each end per the prototype, end details added, wire handrails replaced, Pete Harvey steps added (albeit corrected), chains replaced with finer versions and Penbits brake gear added. Initial roof fading completed and chassis work started with a coat of nato black.

 

 

 

 

- 37605/607: Accurascale 37s - main work includes gluing and filling the roof, Shawplan reinforced window surrounds, Shawplan horn grilles and Shawplan fan grille. The 37/0 sandpipes have been removed to be correct to the prototype, locos have been rewheeled to P4, had an initial fading on the bufferbeams and a coat of Tamiya nato black on the underframe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Cavalex 56007/56072: triple grey base models have had the livery elements removed, roof painted to bed in the black new Loadhaul roof panels ready for weathering, ends detailed and underframes weathered. 56007 has had an etched reinforced window added at the number one end, scavenger ports added on the roof, and  class 92 buffers added at the number two end. Inside of the radiator grilles and cab interiors have also been weathered.

 

 

 

Hopefully some more progress and better photos over the next month!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[97406]

Looking good, Will. Well done if you've managed to get the Shawplan screens to sit in the Accurascale apertures at both ends which looks to be the case. On the 37 I backdated, one end went in like a dream, but the other end just wouldn't play ball, so I opted for the back plates instead. Nice to see a plain blue 37 with plated over headcodes and cutaway bufferbeams too. A rarity in the recent RTR 37s, but it can be modelled from one of the celebrity blue releases.

[NickL2008]

Nice work on the 37s Will, how did you get on with the Bachmann sanding pipes? sadly broken two of mine so now ive had to replace with fuse wire mounted on a block heavily filed down to reduce its vsability, some of the retooled parts are fragile!

 

NL

[cctransuk]

24 minutes ago, NickL2008 said:

Nice work on the 37s Will, how did you get on with the Bachmann sanding pipes? sadly broken two of mine so now ive had to replace with fuse wire mounted on a block heavily filed down to reduce its vsability, some of the retooled parts are fragile!

 

NL

 

Fuse wire is far too soft - use nickel-silver wire.

 

CJI.

[Southwich]

17 hours ago, NickL2008 said:

Nice work on the 37s Will, how did you get on with the Bachmann sanding pipes? sadly broken two of mine so now ive had to replace with fuse wire mounted on a block heavily filed down to reduce its vsability, some of the retooled parts are fragile!

 

NL

Hi Nick - I went well till I snapped them during spraying so likewise will be replacing them, most likely with thicker wire as per @Daddyman’s thread he’s done. That’s on the more difficult list to complete in a few tasks time after I’ve ticked more items off on the list!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will