brian daniels Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 I, like thousands of others, didn't take a second look at these when they were in service but I too think they are a classic design. Helps that they have such a unique sound to them I think. This will look nice in banger blue. Oh for 1978 again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Excellent modelling. What day will it/you be at Telford? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) I will be there all weekend Jeff, doing a demo next to Fred Lewis and his "Bespoke" steam loco models (well that's what's in the program) Just made up a luggage rack for the first class compartments that have an extra rack for the Times and brollies! And by the look of it now I have enlarged it I need to straighten out that bottom left support which is a shame as my fingertips have only just cooled down! Edited August 6, 2013 by brian daniels 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium boxbrownie Posted August 6, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 6, 2013 Some would say I have too much time on my hands Dave that's why I add a little extra here and there. And thankfully we have people like Pete Harvey to make these etches for us! Can't help thinking that those armrests don't looks very good on the etched seat ends. Seems to me that they should be broken off and soldered back on horizontally? Don't mind doing the odd one but 40 something of them Or do I just fold them out at 90 degrees? IMG_2609a.jpg Yes, they need to be folded as you say......looking at the etch I wonder if you could manage to fold them 90 degrees and then "back on themselves" to bring them almost in the centre of the upright? Difficult to explain, and probably more difficult to do in practice! Failing that just 90 degrees into the gangway area........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibateg Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Great stuff Brian - I have a complete 1st class carraige seat - with luggage racks and lights, mirror waiting to be set up in my railway room.. So will you be adding the lights to the racks? !! Regards Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John lewsey Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Hi John and welcome to forum. The PRMRP kits are not that difficult to build, most of us diesel modellers cut our teeth on these in the RJH days. The body only has a side/roof, cab fronts, front windows, window ledge and a whitemetal cab roof, 9 parts and the body is as good as done. The trick is getting it all the right shape! Spend time teasing the parts into the best shape you can get will be worth the effort. The bogies are basic but sturdy and drive very reliably. You can go overboard if you want to with all the pipework on the bogie sides, like I did, or leave them as is and just get a model up and running. My first diesel was a RJH 47 that I just built as it came just to get to know about soldering and whether I could do it. Since then there was no turning back. Thank you Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John lewsey Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Hi should have said I have ordered one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Hi should have said I have ordered one Hi John - you've definitely come to the right man in Brian. I've seen countless Parkins/RJH/PRMRP diesels that have been made up exactly as they come out of the box, and most of them don't look totally convincing to me. But Brian has a real eye for the shape, mass, detail and overall look'n'feel of diesel locos (OK, and units, wagons and coaches too) and he seems to be able to get the best out of pretty much any kit. I've never forgotten the first time I saw one of his locos for real - it was a Parkins/RJH 47 (possibly the one he's mentioned earlier in the thread), pulling a rake of Parkins Speedlink wagons around the Oxford O Gauge group's William Street layout in Headington church hall in the mid-80s. It absolutely blew me away and showed me just how good these kits can be in the hands of someone who really knows the real thing, and who can convert that knowledge into miniature form. His advice above is spot on - you need to get to know the shape of the prototype, and then refuse to accept that the shape of the moulded components and brass shell that you see when you first open the box is necessarily correct. If you're prepared to re-form/file/fill and generally tweak the shape, as Brian says, then these kits can be very impressive. Good luck with the build - please share it with us. I love the old 56s and had the deep joy on Monday of being awoken from the complexities of the annual salary review in the office by a strangely familiar screaming roar five floors below me - it was 56312 accelerating through Reading station on full bore. What a beast of a machine! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John lewsey Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Superb John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
djparkins Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Hi John - you've definitely come to the right man in Brian. I've seen countless Parkins/RJH/PRMRP diesels that have been made up exactly as they come out of the box, and most of them don't look totally convincing to me. But Brian has a real eye for the shape, mass, detail and overall look'n'feel of diesel locos (OK, and units, wagons and coaches too) and he seems to be able to get the best out of pretty much any kit. I've never forgotten the first time I saw one of his locos for real - it was a Parkins/RJH 47 (possibly the one he's mentioned earlier in the thread), pulling a rake of Parkins Speedlink wagons around the Oxford O Gauge group's William Street layout in Headington church hall in the mid-80s. It absolutely blew me away and showed me just how good these kits can be in the hands of someone who really knows the real thing, and who can convert that knowledge into miniature form. His advice above is spot on - you need to get to know the shape of the prototype, and then refuse to accept that the shape of the moulded components and brass shell that you see when you first open the box is necessarily correct. If you're prepared to re-form/file/fill and generally tweak the shape, as Brian says, then these kits can be very impressive. Good luck with the build - please share it with us. I love the old 56s and had the deep joy on Monday of being awoken from the complexities of the annual salary review in the office by a strangely familiar screaming roar five floors below me - it was 56312 accelerating through Reading station on full bore. What a beast of a machine! David The range was Post-War Prototypes. Agreed - but remember too that before RJH ruined the range by using 2nd & 3rd generation patterns for castings [a story in itself that is not my place to tell!], causing untold shrinkage & distortion problems [due to the riduculous clamp pressures they were using] + inflating the prices 2.5 fold on average - they were excellent value. £45 for a PWP Class 56 without motor bogies and £25.50 for an SPA Steel Wagon [which rose to around £70 under RJH for what was by then an inferior kit with regard to the castings]. Under PWP they were cheap, you made of them what you would and were an excellent basis for adding detail. We don't seem to like that kind of kit much nowadays [and they are not the kits I would wish to manufacture now] but many of the 96 kits in the PWP range like the Class 37, 40, 47, 55, Mk.1 coaches and several of the wagon types sold in multiple hundreds. Regards, David Parkins Modern Motive Power 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Had a day running the Thumper at a friends layout with Howes sound guru Bryan to tweak the sound a little. We also lowered the front light voltage a bit as the red was far to bright. By the way the light is a bi-coloured red /warm white from DCC Supplies and shines through my paper headcode very well I thought. Just need some pick-ups and a chip in the driving trailer to do the same at that end. The ESU interior lights are nice. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ressaldar Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 very nice Brian, as a matter of interest, what is the revised CV value that you have put on the Red/White LEDs. cheers Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Afraid I don't know Mike as Bryan changed everything via his programming site on his laptop. Must pay more attention next time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Fully agree about the ESU interior lights, very nice. I have fitted them to my EasyBuild 108 DMU and are very effective. I also fitted the ESU stay alive capacitor to them to reduce flicker, very effective as well. Tweaking CV's on the Loksound decoder gives some dimming for the interior lights but also there is a little pot so you can adjust the brilliance without without having to put the set on the Lokprogrammer. I did try the DCC Concept Flicker Free lights but ESU's are far superior. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 I am happy with the interior lights as they are, just about right for BR 10watt bulbs! But maybe you can help me TTG! I broke the light bar into two (as per the instructions) as it's too long for just the passenger saloon. The end bit I put in the brake van and run 2 wires from the outer solder pads from one half to the other but the end bit I broke off does not seem to want to light. Am I missing something? Help, Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 You need to carry over the inner two tracks as well as they are the actual feeds for the LEDS. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 I did wonder, that was going to be next try with it shortly, thanks for clarifying that for me though, much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
two tone green Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 If I remember rightly the inner tracks are marked + & - at the break points so easy to spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Did another video yesterday to show the lights. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Also took some video of the Heljan Western. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Who's sound chip is in the Western? And how do you rate the loco against the JLRT one? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Williams Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Jeff the clue is i nthe opening credits and the video title -its a Howes ESU sound chip! Guaranteed to be the Loksound XL V4 and it sounds great - well done the two Brians. Look forward to seeing it at Telford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 Bit of a "Doh" moment there Jeff Cliff is correct it is a XL V4 with a nice large 70mm long rectangular speaker in the tank pointing at the track. I will sit on the fence as to which is better Jeff, Heljan or JLTRT as they are both nice models. I am thinking at Telford if I should take my JLTRT 33, Heljan 33, JLTRT 40, Heljan 40 etc and then you can make your own minds up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dan Randall Posted August 9, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 9, 2013 Nice work on the Thumper Brian. Looking forward to seeing it with a lick of paint. Regards Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Hi Brian, Great videos as usual. How does the headcode on the Western come out? Is an interference fit like the class 31 or do you have to remove the body like the class 47? Regards Vin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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