Bachmann announce all new Class 37

[cairnsroadworks]

2 hours ago, Daddyman said:

This is my 37423. I have no need for a loco in this livery, but reading Nick Meskell's books can be dangerous... Still a few jobs to do - glazing, more air pipes, ETS and MW pipes, metal arrows of indecision, possibly a few other things. 

 

An outdoor shot in rather too bright sun before I noticed it needed the fuel capacity wording. The fuel tank to underframe gap has been corrected by removing the detail between tanks and frame and reseating the former, but it's all lost in shadow here!  

Indoor shots 

This one seems to be afflicted with particularly setback glazing:  

 

The loco has had new ploughs from PH Designs as I've run out of Heljan class 47 ones. I don't like the fitting of the PH ploughs, especially on the centre one, and am not convinced by the shape of the centre one either, so I've left it off. I modified the fitting by inserting a piece of 0.6 wire up the "boxes" at the back of the PH ploughs, and then drilled this into the b.beam: 

 

 

This has been P4'd with Branchlines coach wheels mounted on the original Bachmann axles - we'll see how bad an idea that was. There were clearance problems on the brake pull rods so I replaced them with 0.3 wire, drilling out the shoes to give a firm fixing. Th

 

The next shot shows the cut-out on the corner of the b.beam and replacement ETS fittings with my own resin castings that I made some years ago - original source unknown. On my first new-gen Bachmann 37 I replaced the feeds to the brake cylinders with 0.3 wire, but you're looking at a week in rehab (at least) after that, so nowadays I leave the originals. 

The curve of the Bachmann pipes is wrong - airpipes curve out from the b.beam and then dangle vertically. I kept Bachmann's cocks as they're OK (I know, I know), and drilled them to take 0.5 wire bent to shape and crimped at the end to represent the connections at the other end. 

 

I also replaced the handbrake chains with 40-links-per-inch chain from Branchlines. The roof fan is Shawplan, obviously, and all transfers from Railtec. Oh, and the aerial is a toothbrush bristle - not my idea!  

 

This has had quite a lot of work done on getting the work-worn look to the finish. As I've said earlier in this thread, Bachmann didn't bother to paint the upper grey band behind the sector logo, so when you remove it you're left with a square of the lower bodyside colour intruding into the upper grey band. As the grey looked wrong anyway - or wrong for a weathered loco - I repainted the whole band with LMS grey mixed with white as there's quite a blue tinge to the band in photos of locos in 1993/4. I then gave the whole body a white filter coat, laying it on pretty thick on the roof as on the real thing this area looks far paler than the colour supplied on models. Not sure about the lower bodyside colour, even after the white filter - shouldn't this be the same colour as the grey in blue-and-grey carriages? 

 

I paid a lot of attention to the roof weathering. There is a tome to be written on the subject. Before the rot really sets in, 37s tend to have clean patches on their roofs - between roof fan and roof hatches, between roof hatches and cant rail, and between roof fan and cant rail. At the same time, there will be muck in all the seams and around all the straps, even in those clean areas - this begins to collect after just one journey. Modellers (and "professional" weathering companies) tend to just squirt some muck on the roof vaguely along the centre area, but there are two problems with that: first, it doesn't get the muck into the seams, and second, it ignores the characteristic clean patches on a 37 roof. My process is to coat the roof with a muck mix and then wipe it off, leaving it collected in seams and around strapping. Only then can the airbrush come out, being used to mist exhaust carbons on certain areas - longways from the exhausts, drifting over the hatches and part of the boiler room roof, and in the fan itself. I then use black pastels (the darkest, mattest black I know) to add some darker patches around the exhaust ports proper, and perhaps in the fan grille. The effect can be seen here, with the clean (and faded) patches in evidence: 

My goodness that is off the scale fabulous. Well done. Also glad to hear that you share my niggles about roof weathering. I’m fact weathering in general, and the clean (faded) bodysides instead of the approach that some take where dirt is just clarted all over them. Great inspiration for everyone here. 

[Daddyman]

5 minutes ago, cairnsroadworks said:

My goodness that is off the scale fabulous. Well done. Also glad to hear that you share my niggles about roof weathering. I’m fact weathering in general, and the clean (faded) bodysides instead of the approach that some take where dirt is just clarted all over them. Great inspiration for everyone here. 

I didn't think it was that good, but thank you! 

 

Examples of "clean-and-dirty" roof on 37111: 

Notice how clean the one above is between hatches and fan-grille surround and between hatches and cant rail. Very odd. 

 

My model of 111 (started life as 043, rivets and straps removed on the roof, Shawplan grille added, and full roof repaint), weathering stage one: getting muck into the seams: 

 

 

[dj_crisp]

5 hours ago, Daddyman said:

This is my 37423. I have no need for a loco in this livery, but reading Nick Meskell's books can be dangerous... Still a few jobs to do - glazing, more air pipes, ETS and MW pipes, metal arrows of indecision, possibly a few other things. 

 

An outdoor shot in rather too bright sun before I noticed it needed the fuel capacity wording. The fuel tank to underframe gap has been corrected by removing the detail between tanks and frame and reseating the former, but it's all lost in shadow here!  

Indoor shots 

This one seems to be afflicted with particularly set-back glazing:  

 

The loco has had new ploughs from PH Designs as I've run out of Heljan class 47 ones. I don't like the fitting of the PH ploughs, especially on the centre one, and am not convinced by the shape of the centre one either, so I've left it off. I modified the fitting by inserting a piece of 0.6 wire up the "boxes" at the back of the PH ploughs, and then drilled this into the b.beam: 

 

 

This has been P4'd with Branchlines coach wheels mounted on the original Bachmann axles - we'll see how bad an idea that was. There were clearance problems on the brake pull rods so I replaced them with 0.3 wire, drilling out the shoes to give a firm fixing. Th

 

The next shot shows the cut-out on the corner of the b.beam and replacement ETS fittings with my own resin castings that I made some years ago - original source unknown. On my first new-gen Bachmann 37 I replaced the feeds to the brake cylinders with 0.3 wire, but you're looking at a week in rehab (at least) after that, so nowadays I leave the originals. 

The curve of the Bachmann pipes is wrong - airpipes curve out from the b.beam and then dangle vertically. I kept Bachmann's cocks as they're OK (I know, I know), and drilled them to take 0.5 wire bent to shape and crimped at the end to represent the connections at the other end. 

 

I also replaced the handbrake chains with 40-links-per-inch chain from Branchlines. The roof fan is Shawplan, obviously, and all transfers from Railtec. Oh, and the aerial is a toothbrush bristle - not my idea!  

 

This has had quite a lot of work done on getting the work-worn look to the finish. As I've said earlier in this thread, Bachmann didn't bother to paint the upper grey band behind the sector logo, so when you remove it you're left with a square of the lower bodyside colour intruding into the upper grey band. As the grey looked wrong anyway - or wrong for a weathered loco - I repainted the whole band with LMS grey mixed with white as there's quite a blue tinge to the band in photos of locos in 1993/4. I then gave the whole body a white filter coat, laying it on pretty thick on the roof as on the real thing this area looks far paler than the colour supplied on models. Not sure about the lower bodyside colour, even after the white filter - shouldn't this be the same colour as the grey in blue-and-grey carriages? 

 

I paid a lot of attention to the roof weathering. There is a tome to be written on the subject. Before the rot really sets in, 37s tend to have clean patches on their roofs - between roof fan and roof hatches, between roof hatches and cant rail, and between roof fan and cant rail. At the same time, there will be muck in all the seams and around all the straps, even in those clean areas - this begins to collect after just one journey. Modellers (and "professional" weathering companies) tend to just squirt some muck on the roof vaguely along the centre area, but there are two problems with that: first, it doesn't get the muck into the seams, and second, it ignores the characteristic clean patches on a 37 roof. My process is to coat the roof with a muck mix and then wipe it off, leaving it collected in seams and around strapping. Only then can the airbrush come out, being used to mist exhaust carbons on certain areas - longways from the exhausts, drifting over the hatches and part of the boiler room roof, and in the fan itself. I then use black pastels (the darkest, mattest black I know) to add some darker patches around the exhaust ports proper, and perhaps in the fan grille. The effect can be seen here, with the clean (and faded) patches in evidence: 

 

Stunning! i love the weathering and your refinements.... I must have a bash at mine now... (as soon as I've done my DMUs).

 

As Will says laserglaze will nicely finish it off and just because I've been painting them a spot of dried bufferhead grease :)  I've been looking for some better horns too - Accurascales are really nice but I'm not sure if they're available or if there is an alternative?

 

Thanks for sharing the photos and tips - Will be bookmarking this!

 

 

[97406]

3 hours ago, Daddyman said:

Haha! Thanks Will! 

 

I realise the photos didn't really show the chains. A bit closer here: 

This one shows the method of fixing: at the front, a piece of 0.4 wire through Bachmann's actuating lever and through a link of the chain, with the chain held behind the lever; at the rear, a piece of 0.193 brass wire looped through a link of the chain, and then twizzled into a "tail", which is drilled into the bogie frame just ahead of the step.  The chain is fixed permanently to the lever, but the tail can be pulled out if bogies ever need separating from the u/frame. 

 

 

The steps don't bother me as much as they do you, Will! 

 

Yes, that is jolly good. Well executed, and echoing what others have said re getting Laserglaze to put the cherry on the cake.

[Daddyman]

2 minutes ago, 97406 said:

 

Yes, that is jolly good. Well executed, and echoing what others have said re getting Laserglaze to put the cherry on the cake.

Better call Brian... 

[Daddyman]

I set out to weather 111's roof today, but Humbrol had other ideas - the *@#tting matt black (which I use with Railmatch frame dirt in my muck mix) came out satin, so I had to wipe everything off. Anyway, thought the roof masking might be of interest. This is the preliminary masking, with Tamiya used. The piece of paper is to protect the number and nameplates from being lifted by the masking tape. 

Once the areas to be dirtied are almost dirty enough, I'll remove the tape (1) on the cab roofs, (2) between the fan's square surround and hatches, and (3) on the strip between fan surround and cant rail; the last waft of muck will then cover all areas, including those previously masked, so that some areas will be cleaner, but they won't be clean.  

[meanach]

That’s a lovey weathered roof. Do you do a panel line wash prior to air brushing?

[Daddyman]

12 hours ago, meanach said:

That’s a lovey weathered roof. Do you do a panel line wash prior to air brushing?

Thanks, but this isn't the final thing. This is the coat that's wiped off, so that it collects in the seams. It's just Humbrol matt black and Railmatch frame dirt, my standard muck mix (I just add more brown for underframe areas, more black for roofs). This gets sprayed on and wiped off. The next process is supposed to be misting the same colour in certain areas, but that's what went wrong yesterday. 

 

Nice user name. Had a sit down in the bothy there in 2004 on my way to Kinlochleven after 37406 dropped me in the middle of nowhere...  

 

[cairnsroadworks]

Not up to @Daddyman standards but here is my latest take on 37801. Already did it RF style, thought an EWS one was required. Full repaint of modifications as per the real thing in and around 1994. 
 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by cairnsroadworks

[Southwich]

1 hour ago, cairnsroadworks said:

Not up to @Daddyman standards but here is my latest take on 37801. Already did it RF style, thought an EWS one was required. Full repaint of modifications as per the real thing in and around 1994. 
 

 

 

 

Very nice that Andi! How did you do the headboard clips on the nose?

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[meanach]

Whilst working on some of these I noticed a discrepancy in the nose between 37423 prototype and the Bachmann model. A bit of research shows some of the real 37/4s have this but some do not! Can anyone enlighten me as to what it is ? 

[Daddyman]

12 hours ago, cairnsroadworks said:

Not up to @Daddyman standards 

I don't see why not! I'd be pleased to own it... It's a very convincing rendition of a loco after some wet weather, with the dark, uniform underframe and lower bodyside weathering you get in those conditions. Incredibly neat repaint too. 

[Daddyman]

2 hours ago, meanach said:

Whilst working on some of these I noticed a discrepancy in the nose between 37423 prototype and the Bachmann model. A bit of research shows some of the real 37/4s have this but some do not! Can anyone enlighten me as to what it is ? 

Well spotted! I can't help other than to say that you're right - and 423 was like that on both sides too. A quick search shows no other refurbished 37 without the hatch, though I'm sure there are other exceptions. 

 

EDIT: the Bo'ness restoration gallery (a superb resource when modelling 37s) just calls it an inspection hatch; this is what it's giving access to, but they don't name the piece of equipment: 

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Daddyman

[sulzer71]

On 04/08/2023 at 12:26, Jub45565 said:

I don't suppose anyone has the new and old versions and have compared the bogies please?  At some point in the future mine will be converted to P4.  Speaking to Ian from Penbits at Scalefour Crewe while the Penbits conversion kit is listed as 'not compatible' with the latest 37, this is due to not having been assessed/tested/proved rather than that it definitely won't.

 

The bogie concept looks the same (from photos of the old one), and the way the gear tower locates on top - but with the way the bogie 'sits' better I'm wondering whether the overall height of the tower has changed.

 

Thanks,

There's a series of videos on YouTube of a chap converting his to P4

[Daddyman]

On 04/08/2023 at 12:26, Jub45565 said:

I don't suppose anyone has the new and old versions and have compared the bogies please?  At some point in the future mine will be converted to P4.  Speaking to Ian from Penbits at Scalefour Crewe while the Penbits conversion kit is listed as 'not compatible' with the latest 37, this is due to not having been assessed/tested/proved rather than that it definitely won't.

 

The bogie concept looks the same (from photos of the old one), and the way the gear tower locates on top - but with the way the bogie 'sits' better I'm wondering whether the overall height of the tower has changed.

 

Thanks,

Sorry but I didn't get to the AG meeting to talk to Ian on Tuesday. If it's any help in the meantime, here is a view of the new chassis block which may allow you to compare old and new. 

[Andy7]

So I have completed the rework of 37430 into 37418 in its current condition (with paint chips etc). 
It has come out lovely and I’m really pleased with it. Also it’s going for a run tomorrow on the big layout with Caroline, exciting.

[Jub45565]

Thanks @sulzer71 & @Daddyman.

 

I have seen the YouTube series - and it is useful for anyone dismantling one as it highlights all the potential pitfalls in the process! If I do a straight wheel swap I will follow the rest of it too.  While I understand the current/new bogies will work perfectly well with a straight swap & could well go that route, I'm looking at the springing option as it does result in a loco that glides along better, and improve the pickups as the wheels are definitely all in contact all the time.

 

I do have the new one to hand, but the difficult thing without new and old side by side is the relative geometries - the overall concept of drivetrain and bogie looks to be the same as the previous generation.

[Daddyman]

2 hours ago, Jub45565 said:

Thanks @sulzer71 & @Daddyman.

 

I have seen the YouTube series - and it is useful for anyone dismantling one as it highlights all the potential pitfalls in the process! If I do a straight wheel swap I will follow the rest of it too.  While I understand the current/new bogies will work perfectly well with a straight swap & could well go that route, I'm looking at the springing option as it does result in a loco that glides along better, and improve the pickups as the wheels are definitely all in contact all the time.

 

I do have the new one to hand, but the difficult thing without new and old side by side is the relative geometries - the overall concept of drivetrain and bogie looks to be the same as the previous generation.

I'm with you on the gliding; silent running is another advantage of springing. I suppose Ian's bogie could be packed up with shims if necessary, and even if you had to go the other way and take material off, it wouldn't be impossible... 

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Daddyman

[97406]

On 09/08/2023 at 10:28, Daddyman said:

Well spotted! I can't help other than to say that you're right - and 423 was like that on both sides too. A quick search shows no other refurbished 37 without the hatch, though I'm sure there are other exceptions. 

 

EDIT: the Bo'ness restoration gallery (a superb resource when modelling 37s) just calls it an inspection hatch; this is what it's giving access to, but they don't name the piece of equipment: 

 

 

It looks like a tea dispenser for the crew. There’s even a cup.

[sulzer71]

Has anyone on here got 37305 ? Could you tell me if it comes with the radiator frost grilles in the detail pack? Tia

[romley midland]

11 minutes ago, sulzer71 said:

Has anyone on here got 37305 ? Could you tell me if it comes with the radiator frost grilles in the detail pack? Tia

 

The Bachmann website says that it does: https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/class-37-0-centre-headcode-37305-br-blue/35-303

[sulzer71]

14 minutes ago, romley midland said:

 

The Bachmann website says that it does: https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/class-37-0-centre-headcode-37305-br-blue/35-303

Excellent , thanks , I didn't notice that when I looked!

Edited August 11, 2023 by sulzer71

[Dicky L]

37801 formerly 37430 repainted by Andi Walshaw this time in E W & S livery

Edited August 12, 2023 by Dicky L

[meanach]

On 12/08/2023 at 08:49, Dicky L said:

37801 formerly 37430 repainted by Andi Walshaw this time in E W & S livery

It looks great . I’m intrigued by the nose , was it a complete swap or a lot of chopping filing and filling going on ? 

[Andy7]

8 hours ago, meanach said:

It looks great . I’m intrigued by the nose , was it a complete swap or a lot of chopping filing and filling going on ? 

It does look good but it’s a shame the windscreen wasn’t fitted/refitted properly.