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James Makin's Workbench - 1990s dirty diesels & grotty wagons


James Makin
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On 06/03/2024 at 12:31, 37403 said:

Out of interest James, do you have a preferred primer that you put on locos or stock which you're repainting?

 

I quite like Halfords grey cellulose primer to be honest! I've experimented with the white for lighter-coloured models but normally go for the grey as it never lets you down! The grey is great also for the sanding/body modification projects judging if you need to add a bit more filler and so on, and it seems to dry pretty quickly too which is a useful bonus !

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Halfords grey is definitely the smoothest of theirs.... I really don't get on with their white which always seem grainy to me.

 

My current favourite is Tamiya fine white aerosol. Seems to me to give the best coverage... dries hard and well for sanding. And has the bonus of being white do I find it easier to spray over!

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2 hours ago, James Makin said:

 

I quite like Halfords grey cellulose primer to be honest! I've experimented with the white for lighter-coloured models but normally go for the grey as it never lets you down! The grey is great also for the sanding/body modification projects judging if you need to add a bit more filler and so on, and it seems to dry pretty quickly too which is a useful bonus !

In an ideal world “ Halfords announce rattle can range of contemporary railway colours “..we can but dream 

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Thanks James,dj and rob!

Certainly not looking at hijacking your thread James but could you link the stuff you use?

Seems quite a few derivates available.

I'll be painting my locos in enamel if that matters.

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21 hours ago, 37403 said:

Thanks James,dj and rob!

Certainly not looking at hijacking your thread James but could you link the stuff you use?

Seems quite a few derivates available.

I'll be painting my locos in enamel if that matters.


Ah no worries!

 

The version I’ve always used looks like this - 

 

IMG_3424.jpeg.4a4389259e44c8d24b0af7a3e49a415b.jpeg

 

I’ve always just ended up buying it from a Halfords store, in the car paints section, but there seems to be something online, albeit possibly the packaging has changed, so can’t vouch if exactly the same item..!

 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/primer/halfords-bodyshop-primer-grey-500ml-709143.html
 

Cheers,

James

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60s are brilliant James! Definitely something great about a big T example.

Are we going to get a Toton style Class 60 line up?

What was your source of yellow paint?

I tried railmatch against a Hornby 60 and it looked far too orange but yours looks to have blended in nicely.

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On 16/03/2024 at 11:21, 37403 said:

60s are brilliant James! Definitely something great about a big T example.

Are we going to get a Toton style Class 60 line up?

What was your source of yellow paint?

I tried railmatch against a Hornby 60 and it looked far too orange but yours looks to have blended in nicely.


Haha thank you! I’d certainly love to do a Toton scrapline recreation with the fleet 🤣 

 

I’ve always used the Phoenix post-85 warning panel yellow in all of my projects where yellow respraying is required, with the ones featured here they’ve all had full yellow panels repainted on top of a grey primer base to wipe out any trace of shades below, as annoyingly the old DB livery donors don’t have the yellow extending up the cab pillars, that would indeed be a nightmare to match in anything other than a full respray! 
 

Cheers,

James

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On 18/03/2024 at 20:48, James Makin said:


Haha thank you! I’d certainly love to do a Toton scrapline recreation with the fleet 🤣 

 

I’ve always used the Phoenix post-85 warning panel yellow in all of my projects where yellow respraying is required, with the ones featured here they’ve all had full yellow panels repainted on top of a grey primer base to wipe out any trace of shades below, as annoyingly the old DB livery donors don’t have the yellow extending up the cab pillars, that would indeed be a nightmare to match in anything other than a full respray! 
 

Cheers,

James

Had good catch up here James👍👍

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17 hours ago, sb67 said:

Fantastic 47's James! I'll never tire of seeing your weathering, all very inspiring 👍


Thanks ever so much Steve! I did wonder if everyone might get bored of the ‘47’s!
 

I know it’s generally things like class 37s and 60s etc that seem to grab a lot of enthusiast attention but modelling the location and time period here, one can’t move for ‘Duffs’!

 

Though having worried about boring viewers, just you guys wait until I get onto the ‘Thames Turbo’ DMU fleet 🤦‍♂️🤣

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39 minutes ago, James Makin said:


Thanks ever so much Steve! I did wonder if everyone might get bored of the ‘47’s!
 

I know it’s generally things like class 37s and 60s etc that seem to grab a lot of enthusiast attention but modelling the location and time period here, one can’t move for ‘Duffs’!

 

Though having worried about boring viewers, just you guys wait until I get onto the ‘Thames Turbo’ DMU fleet 🤦‍♂️🤣

 

Sounds cool.... Looking forward to some turbos!

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lovely class 47s , they have become a favourite of mine these past few years , 

 

sorry if this is a daft question James , but how do you attach the wire hoops you make ? 

 

many thanks

 

James 

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1 hour ago, Clan Mcadder said:

lovely class 47s , they have become a favourite of mine these past few years , 

 

sorry if this is a daft question James , but how do you attach the wire hoops you make ? 

 

many thanks

 

James 

 

Thanks, that's not daft at all! I find the best results for me are to drill through the bufferbeam with a small Archimedes drill to allow a 0.45mm handrail wire to pass through - typically each hole will be under the inside of each buffer shank, to give a good width. Then, I'll bend up the 0.45mm brass handrail wire into the 'U' shape, and push into the bufferbeam.

 

Finally, once pushed in enough, I'll then add some liquid superglue, and just leave it to dry. Once dry, the excess brass behind the bufferbeam can be trimmed slightly, and bent back round behind the bufferbeam out of the way, and then add a little more glue as required, it should then be a rock solid fitting!

 

The wire hoops sometimes need a little height adjustment once you've got it back on rails, but the 0.45mm wire should be bendable enough to allow easily, and then it's on to the fun of fitting the screw couplings and bufferbeam pipework etc to complete! 

 

Cheers,

James

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James...... How do you get on with any shunting using the wire hoops?

And have you ever weathered an 08? some of them were pretty shabby as I remember! 

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20 hours ago, James Makin said:

Though having worried about boring viewers, just you guys wait until I get onto the ‘Thames Turbo’ DMU fleet 🤦‍♂️🤣

 

19 hours ago, dj_crisp said:

Sounds cool.... Looking forward to some turbos!

 

 

agreed - bring on the turbos! would love to see what you have in store for them!

 

 

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As a Rover fan James you've just modelled my favourite loco albeit as 47323 for my era. It'll always be in as new condition for but delighted to see you've modelled a loco carrying those iconic plates. 

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Thanks ever so much for the kind words guys!

 

On 19/04/2024 at 08:14, sb67 said:

James...... How do you get on with any shunting using the wire hoops?

And have you ever weathered an 08? some of them were pretty shabby as I remember! 

 

Good question Steve! My locos mainly will be just pulling trains, so to do shunting with hoops could cause buffer locking - my plan is for the Didcot Yard and shunting stock to be equipped with something like the Spratt & Winkles at a later date. 

 

I've done some limited weathering jobs on '08' shunters in the past - a recreation of 08644 in IC Mainline colours for my very old Cornish layout, and a model of the black 'IEMD 01' that lived on Wells Green, but not much since. I'll 100% be doing some in due course however - I can't have a model of Didcot Yard without the obligatory residents of the time - BR Blue 08804 and 08904, amongst other visitors during the late '90s period.

 

The kind of appearance would be visible from John Cordrey's shot, for example from Flickr of 08804 -

 

8154129374_d098d69f73_k.jpg08804 Didcot Yard 09.05.1998 by John Cordrey, on Flickr

 

Similarly-numbered 08904 also was active around this time, and captured in David Burrell's shot here - 

 

52527432550_c2936aafc6_h.jpgBR Class 08 08904 - Didcot by David Burrell, on Flickr

 

These will be great fun to paint and weather! The existing base models from Bachmann and Hornby have been around an awful long while - suffice to say I don't think it's wise to start on an '08' weathering project at this time, but one day there'll be a need for a reliable set of shunters to power the yard!

 

On 19/04/2024 at 09:19, WCML100 said:

agreed - bring on the turbos! would love to see what you have in store for them!

 

Haha, they will be entertaining! If only Bachmann had done the '165' they'd promised all those years ago, that would make life a lot easier too! Their 166 Turbo is definitely a good candidate for a fun few projects, wish we saw more of them about in model form, the stylish-looking beasties feel a little forgotten!

 

Cheers,

James

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1 hour ago, The Fatadder said:

I assume you need to drill out all the marker lights on the 166?

 

have fun with that!

 

 


That would be grim! Bachmann didn’t model the Wipac light cluster at all, with just the two directional bulbs poking through a flat space, so I’m thinking a proper 3D print Wipac cluster could just replace that bit entirely and save a bit of frustration there hopefully! 😂

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On 21/04/2024 at 06:48, James Makin said:


That would be grim! Bachmann didn’t model the Wipac light cluster at all, with just the two directional bulbs poking through a flat space, so I’m thinking a proper 3D print Wipac cluster could just replace that bit entirely and save a bit of frustration there hopefully! 😂

 


something like this?

 

IMG_0915.jpeg.1b9fbd891382a5c8cb470af4560de78b.jpeg
 

(maybe a tad over scale but a definite improvement on the standard offering. Would also need some yellow paint!) Or the newer LED type works well!

 

IMG_0916.jpeg.65e19fd345f211ea84c386ba34af3a42.jpeg

 

IMG_0917.jpeg.c90f3233b49193da7fc4cedeb6ea2b2a.jpeg
 

 

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