Rhysb Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Incredible work James! 523 is epic! Rhys 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 7 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 7 On 04/02/2024 at 16:50, rob D2 said: Nice work James. ive been re reading the Rail archive from 96-2000. Some great inspiration there to reignite my interest. So many unusual workings using unusual power Lovely Rob, it is a great pastime reading the old mags back! I’ve still got some dog-eared RAILs of the time that I’d taken away on spotting visits, sometimes crumpled while hastily getting the camera and binoculars out of the bag when a surprise headlight would pop into view further down the line..! Rail Express is also right up there in entertainment, all those golden issues from back in the day with Murray/Phil/Gareth & Simon are very much treasured! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 29/01/2024 at 23:09, James Makin said: Time to conquer Ben Lui..! 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Gently picking off the '60's one by one, it was only a matter of time before a former Trainload Metals machine would get added to the fleet, and here we can now welcome 60031 Ben Lui, modelled in early 1998 condition. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I've a soft spot for all the Trainload sectors, and though my favourite one still alternates on a regular basis, it's hard not to like the bold yellow and blue chevrons that still look so fresh, even some 37 years since first being unveiled. Where to start? Much as I'd love a nice Cavalex '60' when it drops, for now we'll make do with a bargain used Hornby one, and picked up for £70, couldn't say fairer than that! 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The donor model was once a Mainline Grey 'Canisp' example, with the old branding removed back to the base colours and gloss varnished, ready for the new decals to be applied. Railtec's excellent Trainload decals were added, alongside numbers and electrification flashes where needed. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr At this stage of the project, a couple of the unique details could be added - the bodyside doors on one side was a slightly lighter grey than the rest of the loco, and interestingly, a little bit of the blue triangle was missing from the sector logo, so this was carefully cut away before the model was finally sealed with a coat of Railmatch matt varnish. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bodyshell was then left for around a month for the varnish layer to harden, after which the invasive paint-on & wipe-off layers of weathering could commence - the dangers of not waiting could be that the varnish layer is accidentally stripped off when enamel thinners is used for the washes, so it's worth waiting! I know many modellers have moved over to acrylics these days but I'm a bit basic and just stick to my old fashioned techniques, I may do some experimenting one day with the new generation of acrylics that seem to have moved on a whole load since first fettling with them in the late 90s! 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Time for the weathering stage, and accompanied by a lovely bit of Röyksopp, the layers of browns were added onto the luscious triple grey body - starting with shades of Humbrol 113 and Humbrol 251. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I tend to vary the application of the paints depending upon the final look being sought, in this case going for nearly-neat paint, but other times I'll mix a large amount of thinners - you get a feel over time fo the effect you're looking for and how much to thin the paint, it is ideal for a bit of trial and error! Next, a kitchen towel is used to wipe vertically downward and remove most of the paint in one go: 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Thanks to the layer of matt varnish applied previously, the paint will then cling to the bodyside, leaving you the option to remove as much as you like, using cotton buds dipped in enamel thinners - letting you create streaks dirt patches as you wish. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One feature of 60031 noted from photographs of the time, was an ingrained dirt build up on the bodyside around one end of the bodyshell, and this was recreated by rolling a cotton bud around in some thinned paint on the body, with lots of fettling before getting the effect being sought! As well as this, Ben Lui also had a long scrape on the side too - possibly some sort of shunting yard mishap maybe? 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Regardless of how it happened, it was recreated by running a strip of Tamiya masking tape down the side, and touching in the relevant areas with a fine 5/0 brush and three different shades of brown and grey paint to replicate the damages. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60031 in all its glory! The bold blue and yellow of the Trainload Metals markings really set off the triple grey, it is a shame that more of the Metals machines didn't make it far into the privatisation period, '031 was one of the very last! 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The machine would lose one of its Ben Lui nameplates around 1996 - leaving just bolt holes and a few marks where it used to be - presumably liberated 'unofficially' and perhaps still out there on someone's wall, all these years later... 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After reassembly of the bodyshell, the chassis had the full-depth bufferbeams added at both ends, and the tension-lock coupler and self-catering swing function entirely removed, to be replaced with a 0.33mm brass wire loop, drilled into the chassis and superglued in place, to allow the usual bufferbeam pipe detailing to be fitted, yet still haul tension-lock-fitted stock. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A view here showing the somewhat forlorn bodyside on 60031! The scrapes and damaged sector logo add to the character of the machine, whilst it would've been lovely to model the loco in peak ex-works condition, it's fun to do something that portrays the hard life and bad luck they often experienced! 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Up on the roof, the exhaust silencer was painted in several rusty shades, along with a bit of talcum powder mixed in for texture, before being coated with shades of roof dirt, dirty black and my custom black/blue exhaust fume mix too. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A driver was added in the cab - one of the cheap eBay Chinese 1:75 figures was chopped up and painted up, and homemade blinds added in each windscreen too. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60031 was a hard working beast! New to BR's Trainload Metals sector in 1990, the locomotive was allocated to Thornaby and wore the iconic Kingfisher depot plaques, with the legacy of its time there being the scars left on the cabside where the plaques were removed in 1997. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The geographical names on the '60's were most magical - namesake Ben Lui being one of the Scottish 'Munro's in the Grampian mountains of northeast Argyll, and measuring in at 3,710 feet tall. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun little oddities seen on 60031 was the damaged No.2 end - a big punt in on the yellow just inboard of the buffer on the secondman's side - after some head scratching, this was achieved using a soldering iron, and touching in the damage with some spare yellow paint! Completing the story, the real 60031 would go on to lose its remaining Ben Lui plate later in 1998, and then swapped the 'Metals' colours for a shiny coat of EWS red in 2002, along with a new name - ABP Connect. The mighty beast would continue in service until storage by DBS in 2009, after which it would see out the remainder of its years to date in the confines of Toton yard, alongside its many classmates all awaiting their final fate. 60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been great fun bringing this one to life, part of the special club of '60's to retain the original sector colours into privatisation and into the history books, and what a looker it was back then! Cheers, James Can spend hours looking over your work james 👌👌 great work again as always many thanks neil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 More fantastic work James, absolutely love 523! 👍 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted February 13 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted February 13 The big question this week - how weathered is too weathered? 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Now I just love a forlorn freight '47' - parts of the former Railfreight Distribution fleet were in a terrible by the late 90s - the ones that didn't get painted into the lovely 'Euro' colours soon took on an overall palette of grime and ingrained filth - so it was only right to represent these in the growing fleet. But this just looks like an oversplattered rush job right, that can't be realistic? As Gareth Bayer's superb 1998-dated image of 47304 shows, there is a prototype for everything! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I do love taking on a challenge from time to time, and after seeing Gareth's photo, it was only going to go one way..! Alongside this, a myriad of other 1998-dated pics from all angles were downloaded from Flickr and meticulously copied to create this filthy little rotter! I rarely tend to share the prototype pics with my features but with this one so dirty, it felt needed somehow...but anyway, let's get on with the story! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The model started out life as a Bachmann WCRC '47', offloaded cheaply from a mate thinning down the collection, and perfect as a donor model for 47304, with a few choice mods and lashings of grey paint. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the harder parts of the triple grey repaints is just making sure that the paint lines are both in the right place, and not wonky! I use a mixture of measuring the heights with rulers and the rest going by eye - after all, if it looks wrong in 'tape' form - it'll look far worse once painted! I try to get the height right at one end, and then put the Tamiya tape under a lot of tension as it's stretched out down the loco bodyshell and then affixed at the other end. Once satisfied, I'll then put in cut lines around the panel gaps for the bodyside door, using a sharp scalpel. I work from light to dark - undercoat, then yellow, then rail grey, then a light flint grey, and a darker roof grey to complete. And then in a flash, here we are! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once the paint layers are added, I then gloss varnish the bodyshell, and touch up any ragged edges and defects (there are always some!), and add decals from Railtec, before adding a final layer of matt varnish to seal it all in. It may look neat, but there's always a fair amount of hand painting and touch ups, but these disappear under the final matt varnish coat - what a cheat! The weathering begins... 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Almost every Trainload Distribution loco had faded red & yellow diamonds by the close of the 90s - but look carefully and you'll see that each one weathers slightly differently, so we can't just use the ancient generic faded decals from Fox, if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing properly! Light yellow paint and faded pinks were used to recreate the new look on the logos - to be honest the only reason I used the lovely Railtec decal behind was to provide a good marker on where each element of colour should be on the loco! Next, the bodyshell was given an overall fade - my preference is to apply a coat of white or light grey paint, and then remove with kitchen towel - 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It leaves a muted pale body colour, and also adds further fade to the logos too. Every recess will be filled with white paint, but not to fear, as this will soon be filled... 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr ...with a big coat of brown! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bodyshell is coated in two different shades of brown, painted on and wiped away, initially with a kitchen towel, to remove the bulk of the paint. I often go for almost neat paint, but you can get different effects with thinner washes - my advice is to experiment a bit and vary the technique to depend on what final effect you're looking for. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Former Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts (my favourite!) supplies the recommended background music to gently peel back the weathered brown paint layer, leaving slight streaking and dirt gathered in all the recesses on the bodyshell. One of the key differences in 47304 and many other locos tackled before, is the large amount of ingrained dirt on the side of the bodyshell. This is how it went on - 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Firstly, some neat brown paint was mottled onto the body with a large brush, and at the same time, dollops of Humbrol enamel thinners was also added too, leaving a blotchy brown soup on the body. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Then, some really soft cotton buds (Co-Op's are my preference!) are used to roll around sideways on the body, absorbing the thinners and spreading the brown paint around in a haphazard manner on the lower bodysides. It's a case of trial and error, adding more paint until happy, and stripping back again if it ever looked too much, following photos at all time to make sure it isn't 'overcooked'! This was done with a couple of different brown shades, allowing plenty of time for the first layer to harden before moving on to the next. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun details on 47304 was the ghosting left behind from when it previously carried the nameplates Cory Brothers 1842-1992 - which it lost in 1995, and all that could be seen were the rusty boltholes and surface marks on the grey bodysides. These were painted on with a fine 5/0 brush, and a few shades of brown working from light to dark. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Delivered to British Rail's 41A Tinsley depot in December 1964, Brush Type 4 No. D1785 would go on to have a strong association with the North East, seeing spells at Immingham and Thornaby, before going on to be one of Knottingly's fleet of 47/3s seeing service on numerous merry-go-round coal trains during the 1970s. The early 1980s would bring about a reallocation to North Eastern petroleum traffic, serving out of Thornaby, Tinsley and Immingham depots, before finally settling into the Trainload Distribution fleet as part of the sectorisation process, and swapping its Rail Blue for the red diamonds in late 1990. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Humbrol Metalcote Gun Metal was dry brushed on the bogies and cantrail grille slats to bring out the detail on the roof. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 had a lot of interesting marks on the body, with faded yellow ends, lots of paint chips and patches of Rail Blue showing through the grey, which was great fun to pick out with the fine brushes. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There were many strange marks on the loco, luckily this loco was photographed extensively and platforms like Flickr make it easy to find pics from every possible angle. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Distribution logo had a different level of fade on each side, it must've got caught in the sun one side more than another! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One tiny little feature I modelled with trepidation was the wonky end number at the No.1 end - the '4' sits just too far about the '30' - promise it wasn't just an accidental slip during modelling 😂 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Down on the underframe, the usual level of detailing was carried out - screw couplings added, along with a wire hoop at one end for working with tension-lock-fitted stock, and air pipes, a mix of Bachmann ones and 0.45mm brass wires, bent to shape. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Up on the roof, the loco was given a coat of roof dirt, dirty black and a custom mix of black & dark blue. Again, more Humbrol gunmetal was drybrushed on the raised detail to bring it out - very useful stuff! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By the 1990s, the loco had become a Tinsley stalwart, and around the same time as being given the Cory Brothers 1842-1992 nameplates, it was briefly renumbered as 47392. However, both of these were short lived and the loco returned to anonymity again back as 47304 in late 1995. With the onset of privatisation, the loco would pass into EWS ownership upon purchase of Railfreight Distribution in 1997. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date, 47304 would continue in service with EWS for just a short time, being sidelined in February 1999, and sadly to be later cut up at Wigan CRDC in May 2000, a fate shared with so many classmates of the era. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been lovely to add another over-weathered mess to the fleet once again! As with many loco projects, when undertaking these I often have a final destination in mind, and I can see this as part of a hard working RfD double-header at the long automotive train - looking forward to the Revolution Rover car-cubes coming! Cheers, James 42 12 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhysb Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 On 13/02/2024 at 23:15, James Makin said: The big question this week - how weathered is too weathered? 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Now I just love a forlorn freight '47' - parts of the former Railfreight Distribution fleet were in a terrible by the late 90s - the ones that didn't get painted into the lovely 'Euro' colours soon took on an overall palette of grime and ingrained filth - so it was only right to represent these in the growing fleet. But this just looks like an oversplattered rush job right, that can't be realistic? As Gareth Bayer's superb 1998-dated image of 47304 shows, there is a prototype for everything! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I do love taking on a challenge from time to time, and after seeing Gareth's photo, it was only going to go one way..! Alongside this, a myriad of other 1998-dated pics from all angles were downloaded from Flickr and meticulously copied to create this filthy little rotter! I rarely tend to share the prototype pics with my features but with this one so dirty, it felt needed somehow...but anyway, let's get on with the story! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The model started out life as a Bachmann WCRC '47', offloaded cheaply from a mate thinning down the collection, and perfect as a donor model for 47304, with a few choice mods and lashings of grey paint. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the harder parts of the triple grey repaints is just making sure that the paint lines are both in the right place, and not wonky! I use a mixture of measuring the heights with rulers and the rest going by eye - after all, if it looks wrong in 'tape' form - it'll look far worse once painted! I try to get the height right at one end, and then put the Tamiya tape under a lot of tension as it's stretched out down the loco bodyshell and then affixed at the other end. Once satisfied, I'll then put in cut lines around the panel gaps for the bodyside door, using a sharp scalpel. I work from light to dark - undercoat, then yellow, then rail grey, then a light flint grey, and a darker roof grey to complete. And then in a flash, here we are! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once the paint layers are added, I then gloss varnish the bodyshell, and touch up any ragged edges and defects (there are always some!), and add decals from Railtec, before adding a final layer of matt varnish to seal it all in. It may look neat, but there's always a fair amount of hand painting and touch ups, but these disappear under the final matt varnish coat - what a cheat! The weathering begins... 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Almost every Trainload Distribution loco had faded red & yellow diamonds by the close of the 90s - but look carefully and you'll see that each one weathers slightly differently, so we can't just use the ancient generic faded decals from Fox, if a job is worth doing, it's worth doing properly! Light yellow paint and faded pinks were used to recreate the new look on the logos - to be honest the only reason I used the lovely Railtec decal behind was to provide a good marker on where each element of colour should be on the loco! Next, the bodyshell was given an overall fade - my preference is to apply a coat of white or light grey paint, and then remove with kitchen towel - 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It leaves a muted pale body colour, and also adds further fade to the logos too. Every recess will be filled with white paint, but not to fear, as this will soon be filled... 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr ...with a big coat of brown! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bodyshell is coated in two different shades of brown, painted on and wiped away, initially with a kitchen towel, to remove the bulk of the paint. I often go for almost neat paint, but you can get different effects with thinner washes - my advice is to experiment a bit and vary the technique to depend on what final effect you're looking for. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Former Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts (my favourite!) supplies the recommended background music to gently peel back the weathered brown paint layer, leaving slight streaking and dirt gathered in all the recesses on the bodyshell. One of the key differences in 47304 and many other locos tackled before, is the large amount of ingrained dirt on the side of the bodyshell. This is how it went on - 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Firstly, some neat brown paint was mottled onto the body with a large brush, and at the same time, dollops of Humbrol enamel thinners was also added too, leaving a blotchy brown soup on the body. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Then, some really soft cotton buds (Co-Op's are my preference!) are used to roll around sideways on the body, absorbing the thinners and spreading the brown paint around in a haphazard manner on the lower bodysides. It's a case of trial and error, adding more paint until happy, and stripping back again if it ever looked too much, following photos at all time to make sure it isn't 'overcooked'! This was done with a couple of different brown shades, allowing plenty of time for the first layer to harden before moving on to the next. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun details on 47304 was the ghosting left behind from when it previously carried the nameplates Cory Brothers 1842-1992 - which it lost in 1995, and all that could be seen were the rusty boltholes and surface marks on the grey bodysides. These were painted on with a fine 5/0 brush, and a few shades of brown working from light to dark. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Delivered to British Rail's 41A Tinsley depot in December 1964, Brush Type 4 No. D1785 would go on to have a strong association with the North East, seeing spells at Immingham and Thornaby, before going on to be one of Knottingly's fleet of 47/3s seeing service on numerous merry-go-round coal trains during the 1970s. The early 1980s would bring about a reallocation to North Eastern petroleum traffic, serving out of Thornaby, Tinsley and Immingham depots, before finally settling into the Trainload Distribution fleet as part of the sectorisation process, and swapping its Rail Blue for the red diamonds in late 1990. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Humbrol Metalcote Gun Metal was dry brushed on the bogies and cantrail grille slats to bring out the detail on the roof. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 had a lot of interesting marks on the body, with faded yellow ends, lots of paint chips and patches of Rail Blue showing through the grey, which was great fun to pick out with the fine brushes. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There were many strange marks on the loco, luckily this loco was photographed extensively and platforms like Flickr make it easy to find pics from every possible angle. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Distribution logo had a different level of fade on each side, it must've got caught in the sun one side more than another! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One tiny little feature I modelled with trepidation was the wonky end number at the No.1 end - the '4' sits just too far about the '30' - promise it wasn't just an accidental slip during modelling 😂 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Down on the underframe, the usual level of detailing was carried out - screw couplings added, along with a wire hoop at one end for working with tension-lock-fitted stock, and air pipes, a mix of Bachmann ones and 0.45mm brass wires, bent to shape. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Up on the roof, the loco was given a coat of roof dirt, dirty black and a custom mix of black & dark blue. Again, more Humbrol gunmetal was drybrushed on the raised detail to bring it out - very useful stuff! 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By the 1990s, the loco had become a Tinsley stalwart, and around the same time as being given the Cory Brothers 1842-1992 nameplates, it was briefly renumbered as 47392. However, both of these were short lived and the loco returned to anonymity again back as 47304 in late 1995. With the onset of privatisation, the loco would pass into EWS ownership upon purchase of Railfreight Distribution in 1997. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date, 47304 would continue in service with EWS for just a short time, being sidelined in February 1999, and sadly to be later cut up at Wigan CRDC in May 2000, a fate shared with so many classmates of the era. 47304 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been lovely to add another over-weathered mess to the fleet once again! As with many loco projects, when undertaking these I often have a final destination in mind, and I can see this as part of a hard working RfD double-header at the long automotive train - looking forward to the Revolution Rover car-cubes coming! Cheers, James Porn! 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted February 17 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17 Need a line up of all your ratty 47s James, 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 17 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17 6 hours ago, The Fatadder said: Need a line up of all your ratty 47s James, Aha now that would be great fun to pull together! I’ll have to see what I can do! Fitting them in a picture might be an interesting challenge, I surprised myself recently having counted 67 completed Bachmann ‘47’ projects in the collection, eek! There’s a few more in the pipeline/eventual to-do list, but we’re about there with a proportional cross-section of the entire 47 fleet in the 1998-99 timeline, way more than I’ll ever need for a Didcot Parkway operating sequence but everyone’s gotta have their vices I guess 😂 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted February 17 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17 67 47s! thats mad i thought my 37 addiction was bad… 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D6775 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Will you stop posting all these prototype pictures................ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjf4375 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Absolutely stunning James. Really appreciate you sharing your techniques on here. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Great work as always ! looks like a massive heap of dung so you've got it spot on ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I very much like the way you have done the rusted marks where the name plate once was 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 That's up there as one of your best works, absolutely fantastic! The dirt on the bodyside is something I've only ever seen done with an airbrush, I like the way you've built it up with different layers. Any tips you can give me with wagon underframes, I'm struggling with them at the moment! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBM37404 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Ace work on 47304, Had used a similar fade technique on the diamonds for 47283 'Johnnie Walker' which was running about in the early 90s with some faded symbols 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted February 23 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23 On 22/02/2024 at 06:19, sb67 said: That's up there as one of your best works, absolutely fantastic! The dirt on the bodyside is something I've only ever seen done with an airbrush, I like the way you've built it up with different layers. Any tips you can give me with wagon underframes, I'm struggling with them at the moment! Thanks Steve! I've done a few wagon projects on here, I rarely tend to bother with whipping out an airbrush for wagons so it'll normally be a mix of browns, blacks and light greys mottled on the underframe in a semi-random order, all wet and at the same time, so some mixing goes on, whilst on the wagon itself! I'll then often finish off with a drybrushing gunmetal on the hard edges to highlight certain parts and touching in things like the brake levers with off-white paint, so as not to appear too bright! A few can be found here - Dutch OCA Wagons - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/44066-james-makins-workbench-1990s-dirty-diesels-grotty-wagons/?do=findComment&comment=5054424 Accurascale EWS MHA Wagons - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/44066-james-makins-workbench-1990s-dirty-diesels-grotty-wagons/?do=findComment&comment=5081008 Scratchbuilt TUA Wagons - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/44066-james-makins-workbench-1990s-dirty-diesels-grotty-wagons/?do=findComment&comment=4999184 VAA Wagons - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/44066-james-makins-workbench-1990s-dirty-diesels-grotty-wagons/?do=findComment&comment=4923004 The Contents page on Page 1 of this thread has the full listing of projects but hope that helps get a flavour! Cheers, James 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Thanks for those links @James Makin, all have been duly bookmarked! 🙂 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted March 2 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted March 2 The opposition fights back! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Whilst Didcot was a hub for EWS activities, the location saw numerous Freightliner container services passing through, connecting up places like Felixstowe and Southampton with Crewe Basford Hall and beyond, so it's only right to bolster the core motive power fleet with another couple of examples for good measure. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are Class 47s No. 47197 and 47206 The Morris Dancer, modelled in late 1998 condition using the original Bachmann model as donors for a fun repaint project. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr This might be considered a surprising origin! Back at the Ally Pally show last year, East Kent Models (EKM) were selling off the Anglia 47714 bodyshells at just £12 each, and me being me, having a thing for 'Duffs' and unable to walk away from a bargain, pugged away a stack for future projects like this! Here we can see above the printing being scraped away, to form the basis for Freightliner's 47206 The Morris Dancer. Meanwhile, the source of 47197 came from a more unlikely source, a certain RfD 47 body... 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Long-time readers may remember some of my earlier projects, and as the skills and experiences grow over time I start to re-visit earlier things, and my model of 47241 Halewood Silver Jubilee 1988 tackled way back in 2017, that just kept irking me! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I wasn't completely happy with the loco - the side shown here was fine, but the other side that never appeared in the photos was a bit of a blunder - it was on this loco I learnt my lesson on leaving varnish for 30 days+ before weathering - a load got stripped off and despite bodging a repair, I was never fully satisfied. So it was with mixed emotions I stripped off the old bodyshell and set to work - a brand new and much-improved 47241 will appear further down the line. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A complete triple-grey repaint ensued, using Phoenix colours and a custom faded Flint Grey recipe to complete. The yellow and two side greys were sprayed on, whilst the black and roof grey were just brush painted on - a great time saver and you can't tell it wasn't sprayed once a coat of varnish goes on! Next, the bodyshells are coated with gloss varnish, then Railtec decals and a set of etched plates added, before giving a coat of matt varnish - and importantly waiting a month for the varnish to harden - I've learnt my lesson..! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Now waiting a month between stages can be quite boring, so what I'll tend to do is have a load of other projects going on the background to chop and change between, and then come back to it when the time is right. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Armed with some Avril Lavigne, work could start in applying the usual wash stages, some browns and dark greys to represent a mix of road grime and exhaust dirt, brought vertically down the bodysides by rainfall. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The streaking can be achieved by thinning the paint and gradually removing the paint around the area where the streak is intended to sit, following prototype photographs for guidance. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Freightliner's machines were generally kept in pretty good external condition, so only a very light coat of traffic weathering was applied with the airbrush, a sprinkle of brake dust and track dirt, followed up by some roof dirt and a mix of black & blue on the roof exhaust area to complete. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There's something delightfully average about the Freightliner locos, at the time I was never that enthused by them - they were normally recently-repainted in uniform triple grey and so for me the EWS locos stole the glory, but as time has passed, just the thought of any '47' now seems a very pleasant concept! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr My model of 47197 is now set for its new life as a Freightliner machine, having lost its tatty Railfreight Distribution garb and set to take up container train duties on Didcot Parkway when it's all finished. The one thing in common that the machine shares with it's old guise of 47241 is the flush headcode at the No.1 end. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In real life, Brush Type 4 No. D1847 was delivered new to British Rail's 5A Crewe Diesel Depot in June 1965, and would go on to see spells at Glasgow Eastfield, Crewe and Bescot during the 1970s and 80s, before settling down into the Cardiff petroleum fleet as Sectorisation took hold from the late 80s. The machine would gain the legendary Trainload Petroleum colours, which it would later swap for Distribution diamond stickers upon transfer to the Tinsley fleet in 1993. Eventually, the machine passed to Freightliner and a repaint came to the current colours seen here in 1998. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the interesting things about 47197 was that it was fitted with sandboxes and bogie modifications as part of the improvement trials being developed for the forthcoming Freightliner Class 57s. It was also given the classic 'Crewe cut' cab, with the bufferbeam cowling removed and the front welded up to reduce drafts for the drivers. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Finishing touches to the model included drybrushing Humbrol Metalcote gunmetal on the raised surfaces of the chassis and cantrail grilles. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I love economies of scale, so why do just one Freightliner '47' when you can do two..! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The fifth Freightliner 'Duff' to be added to the fleet so far is 47206 The Morris Dancer. There were a few interesting 'namers' back in the day, and this one always caught the eye! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One consistent factor between picking these two machines was the full array of underframe tanks - I had a glut of these leftover from previous '47' projects, so it is a big swapsie's recycling exercise here making the most of the assets available. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Morris Dancer etched nameplates were affixed with matt varnish, my reasoning being that if any squeezes out then it'll disappear under the final coat of varnish, and you have hours of drying time to get the position just right. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There were little damages and marks on 47206, so these were replicated with a small 5/0 brush, gently touching in the marks following prototype pics - on the sides and yellow ends around the headcode panel recesses. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Much like it's sibling covered here, this loco, D1856 was also delivered to 5A Crewe Diesel Depot, just two months later in August 1965. From here, their respective paths separated however - with transfers to Nottingham, Willesden and Cricklewood on the cards, before forging a long career in Scotland, being based out of Eastfield for much of the 70s and 80s, only really moving South as sectorisation took hold. It would find a new home at Tinsley in 1988 under the auspices of Trainload Distribution, receiving those Morris Dancer plates in 1994, and only two years later it would find itself being newly painted into the now-classic Freightliner triple grey, along with its 'Crewe-cut' cab modifications at the same time. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Having been delivered so close together, to then moving apart and becoming united again under the Freightliner banner, the two machines would go on to have a very different outcome after the period modelled. 47197 soldiered on in service with Freightliner until eventual storage in 2005, finally being broken up by TJ Thomson at Stockton in 2008. 47206 meanwhile, would see its Freightliner service cut short, with storage in December 2001. All was not lost however, as it was selected to be part of the later tranche of the Class 57 programme, being converted into 57605, and is still in service today with Great Western Railway, as Totnes Castle. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Creating these two machines has been especially fun, both giving a new lease of life to a dodgy old model and turning a bargain-basement cast-off bodyshell into something useful going forward, quite rewarding considering the outcome is just a pair of very average mundane working locos that I thought were really quite boring back in the day! 😂 Cheers, James 24 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37403 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Not commented in a while but really enjoying the continued progress on your fleet. Out of curiosity, what did you use to strip your problem loco? I wasn't sure if Matt varnish finish caused problems when trying to take paint etc back off. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 46444 Posted March 4 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 4 (edited) On 02/03/2024 at 00:17, James Makin said: The opposition fights back! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Whilst Didcot was a hub for EWS activities, the location saw numerous Freightliner container services passing through, connecting up places like Felixstowe and Southampton with Crewe Basford Hall and beyond, so it's only right to bolster the core motive power fleet with another couple of examples for good measure. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are Class 47s No. 47197 and 47206 The Morris Dancer, modelled in late 1998 condition using the original Bachmann model as donors for a fun repaint project. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr This might be considered a surprising origin! Back at the Ally Pally show last year, East Kent Models (EKM) were selling off the Anglia 47714 bodyshells at just £12 each, and me being me, having a thing for 'Duffs' and unable to walk away from a bargain, pugged away a stack for future projects like this! Here we can see above the printing being scraped away, to form the basis for Freightliner's 47206 The Morris Dancer. Meanwhile, the source of 47197 came from a more unlikely source, a certain RfD 47 body... 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Long-time readers may remember some of my earlier projects, and as the skills and experiences grow over time I start to re-visit earlier things, and my model of 47241 Halewood Silver Jubilee 1988 tackled way back in 2017, that just kept irking me! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I wasn't completely happy with the loco - the side shown here was fine, but the other side that never appeared in the photos was a bit of a blunder - it was on this loco I learnt my lesson on leaving varnish for 30 days+ before weathering - a load got stripped off and despite bodging a repair, I was never fully satisfied. So it was with mixed emotions I stripped off the old bodyshell and set to work - a brand new and much-improved 47241 will appear further down the line. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A complete triple-grey repaint ensued, using Phoenix colours and a custom faded Flint Grey recipe to complete. The yellow and two side greys were sprayed on, whilst the black and roof grey were just brush painted on - a great time saver and you can't tell it wasn't sprayed once a coat of varnish goes on! Next, the bodyshells are coated with gloss varnish, then Railtec decals and a set of etched plates added, before giving a coat of matt varnish - and importantly waiting a month for the varnish to harden - I've learnt my lesson..! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Now waiting a month between stages can be quite boring, so what I'll tend to do is have a load of other projects going on the background to chop and change between, and then come back to it when the time is right. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Armed with some Avril Lavigne, work could start in applying the usual wash stages, some browns and dark greys to represent a mix of road grime and exhaust dirt, brought vertically down the bodysides by rainfall. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The streaking can be achieved by thinning the paint and gradually removing the paint around the area where the streak is intended to sit, following prototype photographs for guidance. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Freightliner's machines were generally kept in pretty good external condition, so only a very light coat of traffic weathering was applied with the airbrush, a sprinkle of brake dust and track dirt, followed up by some roof dirt and a mix of black & blue on the roof exhaust area to complete. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There's something delightfully average about the Freightliner locos, at the time I was never that enthused by them - they were normally recently-repainted in uniform triple grey and so for me the EWS locos stole the glory, but as time has passed, just the thought of any '47' now seems a very pleasant concept! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr My model of 47197 is now set for its new life as a Freightliner machine, having lost its tatty Railfreight Distribution garb and set to take up container train duties on Didcot Parkway when it's all finished. The one thing in common that the machine shares with it's old guise of 47241 is the flush headcode at the No.1 end. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In real life, Brush Type 4 No. D1847 was delivered new to British Rail's 5A Crewe Diesel Depot in June 1965, and would go on to see spells at Glasgow Eastfield, Crewe and Bescot during the 1970s and 80s, before settling down into the Cardiff petroleum fleet as Sectorisation took hold from the late 80s. The machine would gain the legendary Trainload Petroleum colours, which it would later swap for Distribution diamond stickers upon transfer to the Tinsley fleet in 1993. Eventually, the machine passed to Freightliner and a repaint came to the current colours seen here in 1998. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the interesting things about 47197 was that it was fitted with sandboxes and bogie modifications as part of the improvement trials being developed for the forthcoming Freightliner Class 57s. It was also given the classic 'Crewe cut' cab, with the bufferbeam cowling removed and the front welded up to reduce drafts for the drivers. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Finishing touches to the model included drybrushing Humbrol Metalcote gunmetal on the raised surfaces of the chassis and cantrail grilles. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I love economies of scale, so why do just one Freightliner '47' when you can do two..! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The fifth Freightliner 'Duff' to be added to the fleet so far is 47206 The Morris Dancer. There were a few interesting 'namers' back in the day, and this one always caught the eye! 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One consistent factor between picking these two machines was the full array of underframe tanks - I had a glut of these leftover from previous '47' projects, so it is a big swapsie's recycling exercise here making the most of the assets available. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Morris Dancer etched nameplates were affixed with matt varnish, my reasoning being that if any squeezes out then it'll disappear under the final coat of varnish, and you have hours of drying time to get the position just right. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There were little damages and marks on 47206, so these were replicated with a small 5/0 brush, gently touching in the marks following prototype pics - on the sides and yellow ends around the headcode panel recesses. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Much like it's sibling covered here, this loco, D1856 was also delivered to 5A Crewe Diesel Depot, just two months later in August 1965. From here, their respective paths separated however - with transfers to Nottingham, Willesden and Cricklewood on the cards, before forging a long career in Scotland, being based out of Eastfield for much of the 70s and 80s, only really moving South as sectorisation took hold. It would find a new home at Tinsley in 1988 under the auspices of Trainload Distribution, receiving those Morris Dancer plates in 1994, and only two years later it would find itself being newly painted into the now-classic Freightliner triple grey, along with its 'Crewe-cut' cab modifications at the same time. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Having been delivered so close together, to then moving apart and becoming united again under the Freightliner banner, the two machines would go on to have a very different outcome after the period modelled. 47197 soldiered on in service with Freightliner until eventual storage in 2005, finally being broken up by TJ Thomson at Stockton in 2008. 47206 meanwhile, would see its Freightliner service cut short, with storage in December 2001. All was not lost however, as it was selected to be part of the later tranche of the Class 57 programme, being converted into 57605, and is still in service today with Great Western Railway, as Totnes Castle. 47197 and 47206 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Creating these two machines has been especially fun, both giving a new lease of life to a dodgy old model and turning a bargain-basement cast-off bodyshell into something useful going forward, quite rewarding considering the outcome is just a pair of very average mundane working locos that I thought were really quite boring back in the day! 😂 Cheers, James Very nice work once more James. I must admit that I do like 47206. The 'Morris Dancer' nameplates certainly gives it character. Cheers, Mark Edited March 4 by 46444 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted March 5 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5 15 hours ago, 37403 said: Not commented in a while but really enjoying the continued progress on your fleet. Out of curiosity, what did you use to strip your problem loco? I wasn't sure if Matt varnish finish caused problems when trying to take paint etc back off. Thanks very much! It was interesting actually, I wasn't sure what kind of a fight it would put up, but turned out that when agitated with a scalpel that the 3 layers of varnish came off in large sheets, proving very satisfying! This was great for the flat sides on the bodyshell, and the fiddly areas were tackled with some fine emery boards, eventually the entire livery was sanded back to give a complete flat area onto which the new colours could be laid onto. The old filler above exposed again for the first time in 8 years! It's possible to use the chemicals to strip this all right back to bare plastic but I like to keep all the glazing fittings secured to preserve a good fit, otherwise that could've been a good option. Overall, strangely satisfying! It's not the only member of the 'old' fleet that's had a complete overhaul, strip and re-build, another one will be coming in due course in a few loco's time! Cheers, James 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted March 5 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5 9 hours ago, James Makin said: but I like to keep all the glazing fittings secured to preserve a good fit, otherwise that could've been a good option. Just need to strip with IPA, that way you don’t need to remove the glazing as it doesn’t touch it 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted March 6 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 6 12 hours ago, The Fatadder said: Just need to strip with IPA, that way you don’t need to remove the glazing as it doesn’t touch it Cheers Rich, this sounds most useful to know! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted March 6 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 6 4 minutes ago, James Makin said: Cheers Rich, this sounds most useful to know! Will put me on to it, for things like Hornby HST powercars where it was so difficult to remove the glazing without damaging the curved cab side windows. Ive also found it useful for things like removing printing from the inside of glazing. So far I have used the approach on Hornby and Bachmann models successfully. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37403 Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Out of interest James, do you have a preferred primer that you put on locos or stock which you're repainting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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