matto21 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I thought I'd start a new thread here rather than using my Talerddig thread seeing as most of my modelling time is taken up with building and painting kitbuilt wagons at the moment. I've wanted to build a Lowmac for ages - not for any particular reason, I just think they look cool! I bought the Dapol kit a while ago but wanted to add a few more details along the way if I could. The Dapol kit isn't too bad as a starting point but there's a few areas of detail that are pretty basic. I filed off the moulded axleboxes and attached some that had been cut from a redundant Parkside kit - they're not correct but they look better to me but I'm not an expert. I did think about using replacement axleboxes from MJT but I don't know if I can be bothered with the hassle to be honest and I'm quite impatient and don't want to wait for them to be delivered as I'd probably lose what little momentum I've built up... I also substituted the brakelever for a Parkside one. Anyone who read my post about this wagon on my other thread will have seen that I destroyed one solebar when drilling holes for bearings. I'm pleased to say that a replacement kit arrived today and I've subsequently made a better job second time round! Looking at photos of real Lowmacs on Paul Bartlett's page highlighted that there are several prominent boltheads on the bufferbeams - I've made a start at representing this. I'm also hoping to replace the triangle structure over the buffers and the triangle webs between solebar and deck, just not sure how to go about this yet... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 Made good progress with the Lowmac yesterday afternoon. Attatching the solebars to the deck was incredibly difficult as the solebars had bowed quite significantly [all attempts to straighten failed] and the deck was twisted. Perseverance, a lot of glue and clothes pegs took care of it eventually! I've made a start on the triangle webs too, cutting them from thin plastic card - tedious! Today should hopefully see the buffers being delivered which means I can make a start on the structure that goes over them. I'll try and take some photos soon. Kits still to build/complete: 2 x Parkside 24.5T coal wagons 1 x Parkside Vanwide 1 x Parkside 12T pipe wagon 1 x Parkside shock van Plenty to do... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 As an update to my last post, triangle webs and over-buffer structures have been added using plastic card and buffers and coupling have been fitted. Done a bit of work on my 24.5T wagons too. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 This van, constructed from a [you've guessed it] Parkside kit has been on my workbench in a semi finished state for about 6 months. I finally finished it and painted/weathered it yesterday. Don't know why it took so long to finish, I just never seemed to get round to it! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Nice wagons Matto, well finished. This thread could cost me money, I now have the itch but no Parkside plastic in stock... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Nice wagons Matto, well finished. This thread could cost me money, I now have the itch but no Parkside plastic in stock... Thanks for the comment Jamie - you know you want to buy some kits... Last night and this evening has seen this Vanwide built and it now awaits painting and weathering... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 The vents on the end of the vanwide seem to have gone awol.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 6, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 6, 2011 This van, constructed from a [you've guessed it] Parkside kit has been on my workbench in a semi finished state for about 6 months. I finally finished it and painted/weathered it yesterday. Don't know why it took so long to finish, I just never seemed to get round to it! Hi, I love the paint finish & weathering - any chance you could do a step by step thread on how you achieved it please? Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 The vents on the end of the vanwide seem to have gone awol.. The vents have been left off for now, they will be attached later...honest! Hi, I love the paint finish & weathering - any chance you could do a step by step thread on how you achieved it please? Brian Hi Brian, thanks for the comment, glad you like the finish on the van. Are there any bits in particular you'd like to see? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBill Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The vents have been left off for now, they will be attached later...honest! Hi Brian, thanks for the comment, glad you like the finish on the van. Are there any bits in particular you'd like to see? All of them please Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8, 2011 All of them please Bill Seconded! Especially the weathering & rust techniques please! Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Made some progress with the Vanwide today. I mixed the paint myself to get the approximate 'faded brown' colour that these vans seem to have in the pictures I've seen. A start has also been made on weathering, hopefully I'll be able to take some photos soon... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Here's a quick photo showing the start that has been made on the weathering, looks a bit untidy at this stage, or maybe that's how it should be...?! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted January 9, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2011 I do like those wagons. I have recently finishd three vans myself, which had been in a box assembled but awaiting painting. Yours do look better than mine though! The 24.5 t wagon looks the business. I am considering some of these myself at a later date, but currently just getting a few 16t. How did you do the 'rusting' on the wagon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 I do like those wagons. I have recently finishd three vans myself, which had been in a box assembled but awaiting painting. Yours do look better than mine though! The 24.5 t wagon looks the business. I am considering some of these myself at a later date, but currently just getting a few 16t. How did you do the 'rusting' on the wagon? Hi Mudmagnet, The 'rusting' was applied quite simply using a cocktail stick and some brown paint. I spent ages trying to think of ways to do this and ended up just 'having a go' with some paint and a cocktail stick. The hardest bit is getting the spots to look random and I ended up adding more and more until I was happy with the result. One of the wagons has a patch of different colour paint which is something I copied from a prototype photo but it's also quite handy for covering up the bits that don't look so good! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted January 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the hint on using a cocktail stick - not thought of that one! I assume that this gives you much better control and not applying too much paint compared to using a small paint brush? The different coloured patch looks perfect - I've seen photos with this as well and thought about doing something similar, just to ring a few changes on a rake of wagons! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Thanks for the hint on using a cocktail stick - not thought of that one! I assume that this gives you much better control and not applying too much paint compared to using a small paint brush? The different coloured patch looks perfect - I've seen photos with this as well and thought about doing something similar, just to ring a few changes on a rake of wagons! I find using the cocktail stick much easier than trying to paint the dots with a brush, however I also use a brush to add further marks etc. I'll hopefully have some more pics of the 24.5T's soon as I have a third, as yet unpainted wagon to complete [plus finishing the two shown above of course! ] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Having been inspired by James' thread about his detailed Class 31 and his current Lima Class 47 project I felt inspired to have a go myself. I really like Class 37's and have both a Bachmann one in Railfreight Red Stripe colours [i can't decide if I like this livery] and an old Lima one in Intercity Swallow colours [i really don't like this livery!]. I've always been a fan of both the Lima Class 37 and 47, they just look 'right' to me [maybe I need an eye test]. I don't want to spend much money or time on this project so it'll probably be quite 'low tech' like all of my models I'm using some Shawplan bits [cab window surrounds and fan and grill parts] and this'll be the first time I've used any etched parts, I'm still trying to work out how to do the roof fan! Once completed I'll be repainting it Rail Blue. So far I've stripped the loco down, attached one window etch and started working on the 'underneath bits' I've also done a bit more work on my Parkside Vanwide Just been on the news that Network Rail are looking to reopen the Amlwch branch as far as Llangefni - a decision will be made by the end of the year! Geat news! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Well I decided to take the plunge with the replacement roof grill. After drilling a series of holes, cutting and filing I had a decent hole in the roof. Had a bit of luck here also, had I been any more enthusiastic when filing, the hole would have been too big for the grill...phew! I used superglue to attach it to the model. Like I said in my previous post, this is the first time I've used a replacement roof grill and what a difference it makes! The Shawplan/Extreme Etchings grill is a work of art! Next up, some lamp irons for the nose... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Just some quick photos of todays progress. Lamp irons fitted and noses painted yellow using Railmatch paint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 My Lima Class 37 has now been painted and a start made on weathering. The Rail Blue has been faded but now doesn't look blue enough to me. I've reused the Lima snowploughs. I still need to cut out some glazing and detail the bufferbeams. Oh and I've found out why I'd stored it in a cupboard - it's a non runner! Doh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Some wagon progress. I've completed my second Parkside 24.5T wagon and also the Vanwide. The other van was built a few years ago for Talerddig and has had some additional weathering and new couplings. The Grampus was purchased and built to this stage over 5 years ago but I never completed it. It's been dusted off and will be completed this weekend [hopefully!] Comments welcome as usual 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Having been inspired by James' thread about his detailed Class 31 and his current Lima Class 47 project I felt inspired to have a go myself. I'm really pleased it's had this effect on you! I don't want to spend much money or time on this project so it'll probably be quite 'low tech' like all of my models That's why I've found my class 47 build satisfying - I think total expediture (sp?) has been about thirty pounds so far. Obviously once it's chipped the cost will nearly double, but I started it after I'd been made redundant so I was very cost conscious! I also think that projects like these can be great learning experiences for people too, if they'd not done much before, which doesn't apply to you obviously Matt! And with a few tweaks the Lima 37 can look good, despite its faults - it does look right as you've done it! Oh and I've found out why I'd stored it in a cupboard - it's a non runner! Doh! If i's still a non runner, give me a shout, I've got loads of Lima spares! All from a time when I intended to use the Lima model for a fleet of class 37s as per 37 219 in my signature - then Bachmann brought out the 37/0... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto21 Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 And with a few tweaks the Lima 37 can look good, despite its faults - it does look right as you've done it! If i's still a non runner, give me a shout, I've got loads of Lima spares! All from a time when I intended to use the Lima model for a fleet of class 37s as per 37 219 in my signature - then Bachmann brought out the 37/0... Hi James, thanks for the comments. Compared to your blue 37, I'm really disappointed with mine - mine looks more like a big blue blob to me! I don't know why it's a non-runner - I know nothing about electronics or the working parts of locos [even simple ones like old Lima models], so I can't tell if it's broken or if it can be repaired. I bought it off ebay quite a while back and it didn't run then so I put it into storage, then forgot it was until I tried to run it folowing my repaint! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Lovely work on the wagons, Matto. I thought for a moment you'd put wire grabs on the Vanwide doors. Your 37 looks rather nice too! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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