M.I.B

Back when Archie Gemmell scored the best goal in any World Cup ever...............(that's my one and only football snippet!) 

At the time, Hornby were doing an offer where you got one free "Pugh" coal wagon if you bought any loco. 

The Pugh wagons were a rarity among my pals because money was not so free flowing...I went to the Ayr model show and on one layout my pal and I saw a whole rake of Pughs going around.  About a dozen of them.     "One day when I'm rich I will buy a whole load of Pughs too " I said.   So I did. 

Not that I am rich, but the year after Hornby's offer, these items became available to buy singly and hence they are now as common as muck.  But I have filled them with coal, and may blacken their wheels.  But in memory of that day, unweathered and pristine they will remain.

They are currently sat behind Hornby's recent 72XX thumper, which is due a re-logo to "GWR" and a heavy weather.  I do have a respectably sized 40+ wagon coal train for her to pull as she befits.

Another Castle.  One cannot have too many Castles.........(St Mawes, IKB and Tintagel)

IKB is a renumbered Dapol offering.  It, like Peatling Hall, is only partially through the process, but also needs it's below footplate lining removing (external cylinder covers) and a re-logo to G**W.

 More work in progress is behind IKB:  an ASMO.  Credit goes to Castle of this parish who made one for his stunning "Little Didcot " collection, and I shamelessly attempted to copy, but in GW colours.  Same method - an LNER kit CCT van with plasticard planked sides inserted instead.   This will probably run with a handful of RTR MOGOs and  PARTOs in a van train behind the Heljan 47XX when it arrives.

Above the ASMO and IKB is my Dukedog. 

An ounce of modeller's licience allows me to rename and number the recent Bachmann offering to "TrePol&Pen" - in tribute to my Cornish friends. (Google the poem about TrePol&Pen and you will understand).

The cab windows are probably the wrong shape and there aren't enough rivets on the boiler or something, but sometimes life is too short. 

It has lamps added as well as coal and crew, so only weathering awaits.  The number plate on this cab close up looks like its squint and loose - but it really is square and flush........

TP&P is pulling 4 Triang clerestories and a recent Dapol FRUIT D.  not much to say about the Dapol van other than the shirt-buttons are off, and it has had a compensating weather to hide the T Cut marks.

MIB Snr painted the first brake and the compo in pre-decimalisation days and they are stunning.  Like the 97XX and 94XX mentioned a page ago, these would have been mind-blowing in the days of Hendrix and hippies, but they are scoffed at today.  We are where we are thanks not only to the likes of the Rev Denny, but also to stalwarts prepared run MRCs and to make the most out of what was available back then, regardless of the rivets.  Behind his 2 are my own 2 done a few years ago.    These took an excruciatingly long time to paint...............I respect anyone else who has done such a task.

So back to the cabinet as promised.

Lots of work in progress:

Peatling Hall is a renamed and renumbered Replica Railways model which came with the Hawksworth tender.  Somehow I only got halfway through the detailing process with this one:  renumbering and coal are done, but crew are sat painted in a box ready to fit before a light weather.

Peatling Hall is one of two Halls - Haberfield was shown a while back - it is in it's oil-burning phase.  Peatling is drawing a SIPHON C - a plastic kit of unknown origin which came with the plastic K22 to be shown in a mo.  After a ponder through Slinn's SIPHON bible, I decided to make this one an ENPARTs dedicated van, again something not too frequently modelled.

The SIPHON C was in an Evilbay job lot along with this:

this was also badly built but well painted (!!!) so I repaired and weathered it.  It is a Mailcoach K42 (a 100% plastic kit)  in all over dull brown, with a heavy sooty weathering.  It rolls beautifully now that I have weighted it with tyre balancing weights.   (John Dew - "tire" to you......)

Here is a Mainline SIPHON H (no corridors and external framing) which was an early victim of my airbrush weathering.

Like the Mailcoach K42 it has a heavy sooty finish over the renumbering.

It was nice and quiet today so I got St David finished ready to weather.  I like the effect that Testors Dullcote has had on the engine - one quick spray has knocked the "toy-ness" of the 1980s Hornby paint right back to something quite appealing.

Driver needed another trim before he and the foreman got the correct colour caps.  This crew are a pair of old sweats judging by the colour of their overalls........

So it's off to the cabinet upstairs in the study for St David.

St David will be very very lightly weathered as befits something just out of Swindon and "borrowed" for a Paddington turn before heading back to be the "pet" in Hereford.

Most of my engines have an Old Oak Common history for the period, but of course there are one or two visitors.......

I know I haven't finished describing the contents of the cabinet as it currently is filled,

and I haven't even finished the NPCCS,

but I started on something easy after some enforced time off.  More of that in a moment.

But first the second of two engines that could only be based this close to The Lawn and Brunel's statue.......

The 94XXs like the 97XX condensers were local to the GWR's "far east" and that is where they remained.  The handful of original GWR 94XXs were used for the propulsion of empty carriage stock at and around Paddington and never really strayed far.  Only in BR days did they increase in numbers and be stationed elsewhere.

Bachmann have promised to make a 94XX in OO, but until then MIB Snr's Wills kit from the days of black and white TV will suffice.  It, like his 97XX, is based on the venerable Triang chassis and it too wiggles like Marilyn Monroe when it runs.

By today's standards the paint is too glossy, the Company branding/logos are incorrect for an engine that only served in Hawksworth's time, but with wire rails and handles, real coal, and when Super 4 Triang was what most modellers had - this was the mutt's nuts. 

I could slip this on Ebay before Bachmann finally make a 94XX in the hope of a quick buck, but I could not bring myself to do such a thing.  So It will be run occasionally and I hope Bachmann release any other number other than "9400" to save me renumbering theirs when it comes out.

So, after some enforced time off, I restarted with an easy job to boost morale:  Hornby St David is being time-warped into the late 1940s and detailed before being weathered.   Currently unfinished but weather permitting I may finish it this week. 

So far I have:

Painted out all lining below the footplate ( late 40s style).

Trimmed Hornby's standard left hand drive crew to fit in GWR standard right hand drive positions,

Painted the dials, pipes gauges and cocks in the cab,  (Not super accurate but they get hidden by the crew)

Painted the hand rails green and/or black accordingly.

and

added and painted the front vac pipe.

Left to sort is a TCut of the logo, re-logo (G**W), rust up the bunker sides and then add coal, before Testors is applied and then a light weathering.  Coal will have to be heaped as this is one of the 1980s tender driven engines, so the plastic coal is already high to cope with the height of the motor inside,

The original Hornby box was extremely poor, so I found a suitable replacement, applied a scalpel to trim the polystyrene insert to fit, before trimming the interior of the insert to cope with heaped real coal and the vac pipe on the front.

Hope you are all well and happy. 

If you still have a Mummy or a Daddy, don't forget to tell them that you love them.  One day they may suddenly not be there..........like mine.

So here is the  Before:

and after in respect of the running board removal on the clerestory bogies.

A very pleasing difference and worth all of the effort. And more realistic for the late 1940s as well.

Another tip I picked up from the knowledgeable users of RM Web.  Thanks all for your advice and inspirations.

I started using the 4 colours as suggested in Tim Shackleton's books ( matt black, leather, matt white and metalcoat black) but then  added to the standard palette:  olive green added for bogies and underframe grot, one or two of the Pheonix "rusts".

When I bought (by accident) "sleeper grime" from Phoenix, I did not realise that this was not for dirtying wooden sleepers, but was the colour of grimy concrete sleepers, so I have been using it instead of matt white for a more pleasing effect.  I have recently found out that modern whites all contain titanium, and this gives a much brighter white.  So I will stick to using off whites and beiges instead of matt white when the matt white runs out.

The standard 4 paints were bought in bulk long before the current issues with Leather losing its colour.  I don't use the airbrushing paints for brushing and vice versa because the airbrush ones tend to get a little cross contaminated with other colours on the ends of syringes and stirrers.  This adds something to the colours weathered, but spoils "pure colour".  Hence why these are kept separate in their own little tin tray.

I thin with white spirit, either new pristine, or I have been experimenting with used old white spirit from the brush cleaner jar.   This seems to work well for weathering of roofs and ends, where grubbiness is required aplenty.

Stirring, adding small amounts of paint etc is all done courtesy of the coffee stirrers available from your local high street coffee emporium.......

To transfer paint and thinners into the mix pots, I use medical syringes without their needles.  They get a thorough cleaning after each session, but the seals on the plungers tend only to last for  three sessions before they disintegrate.  I have bought a dozen all plastic bulb pipettes to try out - I will report back.......

I mix the paint in these little screw top pots and often have a couple on the go at any time.  I don't like to throw away paint, so like the rice pan at you local Chinese, I leave last night's contents in there, and then throw the next paint in on top the next day.   I have left thinned paint in these for up to 10 days and it has only needed a shake to bring it back to spec.

I also have one with clean white spirit in it.  I don't like to leave the big spirit bottle open in case it gets knocked over - 4 litres of white spirit can go a very long way.

I paint in the garage in front of the walk through door.  This is best for light  and also because the fumes are naturally extracted off down the garden.  I have overhead strip lighting, over bench bulb lighting, and a spot lamp over the bench when needed for detail work.

I never airbrush with less than an hour to spare :  it takes 10 minutes to prepare the tools and paints, and put the mask and gloves on.  Then about 20 minutes of weathering of multiple items, followed by at least 30 minutes of clean up and pack away.  That way I am not tempted, then run out of time and leave the brush dirty only to find it doesn't work properly the next time.

As for gravity fed versus suction fed - I have only done 2 coaches as complete paints, the rest of the airbrush work has all been weathering.    So far neither has the edge as far as I am concerned.  Both are "double action", which is much easier to use than "single action" - you can bring the air full on immediately, and then drift the paint in and out of the work as you need. 

Finally, I always keep a rubbish bag on the go - blue-roll wipers, paint stirrers and gloves all go in here and as soon as the session is finished the whole lot goes int the outside bin.  Reduces the fire risk, and the amounts of paint and thinner vapours in the shop.

Tricks and tips and tools of the trade:  "Airbrushing the MIB way".

There are dozens of different takes on this - here's mine developed from spraying cars and vans in 1:1 scale, Tim Shackleton's "Weathering Locos" book, and experience. 

This is the compressor purchased from a tools supplier suggested in a post about airbrush buying on this forum (RDG Tools?).  It is light, very quiet, has never run out of air, and came with long air line and two simple but very effective "double action" airbrushes. (Gravity fed and suction fed).  If I remember correctly this lot delivered was about £100.

This is the gravity cup brush -the suction brush came with a spare glass bottle and looks similar.   They have both given good service.  Parts are quite interchangeable.  

I learnt a lot from stripping and re assembling these before I did any painting.  My first big mistake was to take it all apart at once.  Concentrate first on a front end strip and clean, followed by a rear end strip and clean.  This should save you from the fiddle process of rebuilding the trigger components when they all fall out because the front and rear components are stripped simultaneously.

The one "accessory" I bought after I got started was a brush stand.  I opted for a clamp on type one and it has been worth its weight in gold - handling a full brush whilst trying to adjust your mask or change your gloves is not a great idea.  When it is not used it sits in the plastic crate along with the compressor and toolbox containing the brushes and jars and syringes etc.

Buy a decent mask - the silly little paper things you get from B&Q are not suitable, especially for VOCs ( thinners and paint).  A cartridge one like this seems expensive to begin with, but replacement cartridges can be source from Ebay cheaply.  Make sure you buy the cartridges for organic compounds and paints.    When not in use, store it in a clean plastic bag - it saves you inhaling grit and grot which has fallen into the inside of the mask.  And just like the airbrush, take it apart and clean it out from time to time.

Latex gloves will help to keep everything clean - when they get too painty, put a new one on.  That saves transferring paint onto and off work when it is not needed.  I buy these in bulk because packs of 5 pairs is false economy.  Because I also work on cars, I buy these boxes of 100 gloves in cases of 10 boxes.  That makes them very cheap.  I use the same supplier for "blue roll" wipe up paper cloth as well, for the same cost saving reason.

Bits of white card are great for testing out the airbrush and helping to make adjustments to either the settings or to the paint mix (colour and thickness)  They are also great for instant masking to stop over spray ie when painting underframes and bogies.

I've been meaning to re-livery some 2nd hand kitbuilt clerestories (seen here) into these two variants of the brown livery, but I'm currently lacking the modelling mojo to get the job done! I think you might have inspired me to get cracking...

 

Cheers, 

 

CoY

I am pleased to hear that.

I have plenty of GW Lake in Pheonix brush-on, and once my Mainline 57' chassied K42 is painted I will have 3/4 of a rattle can can of Holts Austerity Brown up for grabs.

I think I will need extra GW Dull Brown though because I have another 3 items to paint once they are built: (K15, K38 and the Hornby 57' based K42)

As I was already doing the bogies for the 2 dull brown clerestories, the Austerity, and the late Lake, I thought I may as well dig out the 5 late logo clerestories and do their bogies as well.

After hacking about 9 pairs of bogies with Xuron cutters and files and scalpels, they were refitted to their respective bodies, and then a mix of black, dull coach brown, beige and matt olive green was dropped into the airbrush, and whizzed over the bogies once more, which were then blended into the under frames, already weathered with a similar but not identical mix:

Dull Brown:

Austerity:

Late logo choc and Cream circa late 1940s...:

and Lake circa 1940s summer traffic only emergency stock:

Once more:

And carefully wrapped in acid free tissue paper and re-boxed, they head off to the loft to await the laying of some boards and track........

I hope that you are all happy and well on this day of the 2015 Budget.

Elsewhere in the the 'shop.........

I decided that I would drop the aspiration to run a rake of 4 garter logo clerestories ( long recent Hornby ones-not the Triang ones).  A number of reasons for this included the fact that the panelling on these items is printed on, not moulded, so they are more suited to being very late clerestories, having been through the Works a number of times.

I only had two garter logo engines anyway, one of which, "County of Bedford" wasn't a particular favorite anyway.

So the actions:

1.  Re-date St David to late 1940s - larger tender,and G**W logo as researched elsewhere on RMWeb.   This project will happen soon.

2.  Sell C of Bedford via Evilbay.

3.  Weather one garter long compo clerestory, and use as a strengthener in my rake of Triang clerestories to break up the monotony.  This will need gangway doors adding as the Triang stock is non-gangway.  ( Already done)

4.  Paint the remaining 2 compos and one brake in liveries more suitable for late 40s GWR:   dull brown for one brake and one compo, and Austerity brown for one compo.

The old 1980s RAF Kinloss MRC aerosol paint list throws up Triumph Russett Brown as being a suitable alternative for GW coach chocolate.      However, it doesn't come close!  One version of Russett Brown, made by Holts is however what I believe is a very good "Austerity Brown". 

So a quick buzz over the coach with a Scotchbrite to remove logos, followed by a thin coat of aerosol "red oxide" to cover the cream, and then finally a couple of coats of the Holts...

the photos make it look patchy, but it has come out beautifully.  I will apply the correct orange waist band, and them dull it down a little before weathering.  

 I popped the component parts back together to see how it looked.  The windows come from a coach previously weathered.

To dull down car aerosol, but before weathering, I now use this great product from Halfords:

I have had adverse reactions from the Humbrol aerosols when applied to car paint, but as this is specially formulated for use on car paint, I will keep using this now.

To change the brake and the last compo to dull brown livery, I used a the airbrush for a complete respray.  This was the first time that I have used it to do a complete item as opposed to weathering.  I used the same techniques I was taught for spraying cars many years ago, and it all worked out well - rattle can red oxide on first, then some Phoenix Precision "GWR Dull Brown" thinned with white spirits.  A meager tack coat on first, let flash off fo a minute, and then a couple of heavier coats through the airbrush.

I am quite pleased.

Roofs on all three are done using a mis-match of grubby coloured rattle cans from the Railmatch range.

Here is a colour comparison:

Dull brown and the brighter "orangy" Austerity Brown:

Lettering, lining then weathering to go.....

And the reworked foot board -less bogies as well.....

I hope that you are happy and well.

Anyway the B sets got done, along with the Hawksworths and the Centenary stock and  so we move on.

Prompted by a comment on a thread on the GWR specialist sub forum, I decided that as this is the late 1940s, the running boards needed to come off the clerestories.  I also had a rethink about the garter logo Hornby clerestories, for which I only have two suitable engines in garter logo to match.  So all traces of garter logo have been swept away - more on the loco fleet changes to follow, but now onto clerestory updates and detailing.

Here is a brief "how to" for the removal of foot-boards on late use clerestories:

Tools used - 3 mini files - thin, square and triangular.  Xuron rail cutters.

The stock Hornby long clerestory bogie.  The board runs through axle boxes and spring parts.

So make tiny cuts into the board either perpendicular or at angles to get as much of the profile of axle boxes and springs saved.

Then with the snips cut along the boards in both directions to remove about 90% of the board.

Leaving you to file the profile into the remainder. Here's one half done but before filing to show the difference. 

It is a worthwhile mod.  I will show the completed units on the three clerestories I am repainting from Garter logo to late GW dull brown, and another in Austerity Brown............

Hope you are well and happy.  If you aren't rocking it with Motorhead at Glasto, or Lord March at Goodwood, I wish you a pleasant weekend's modelling.

Final posting for the day:

Some more NPCCS - I have 2 MONSTERs, both of which came in job lots from Ebay.

One is manufactured from a complete kit, whilst the other relies on what seems to be a shortened Hornby chassis with matching bogies.

Not a particularly common wagon at all, but with the West End being the starting point for shows going on tour or returning to London, it's not too much to expect to see two this close to Town.

Both were repaired to various degrees, as you have to with Ebay "job lot" purchases, as well as being repainted and re-lettered.    They too have been whacked wit the weathering stick this last week.

I run three restaurant cars amongst the 5 express passenger rakes. 

"Improved RTR" is the best way to describe, with their repainted roofs, headboards, detailed interiors and weathering.  But as no-one else makes a restaurant/buffet/dining car, these will have to do with all of their inbuilt faults.

Right - I'm off to finish this little lot off - roofs and ends were done the other day, running gear today.

If you are enjoying my ramblings and slowly improving photos, you are welcome to stick around.  If you don't like modified RTR and the occasional kit, there are plenty of posts from the more skilled elsewhere on this site.

I don't have anything against GWR BLTs and West country layouts.  I just wanted to do something different.  Please do not be offended.

Hope you are happy and well.

Onto the mail train,

I upped the Leather and olive green in the paint mix on the mail train running gear.

(excuse the perspective- this shot somehow makes the lettering look squint and the TSO is about to topple over!)

The mail train consists of modified RTR.  The Hornby TPO body has been put onto a standard carriage chassis without the internal operating gear, which always rattled and clanked as it went round.  The catcher has been remade using Evergreen rod and box section, and a net made out of a cut of lpiece of ladies hosiery. 

The TPO is followed by a TSO of similar construction, and as in reality, the TPO has a blanked off panel where the catching mechanism once was.

The chassis for the TPO and TSO retain their LMS style oval buffers and bogies for now.  One day they will get replaced.  TPO also needs truss rod repairs by the looks of it!

The corridor connectors have been moved over to one side as per the prototype, and to match , the adjoining full brakes have each had a corridor connection moved to one side. 

But I am not using K40s and K42s, and instead have used a spoonful of license and backdated some of the excellent Hornby Hawksworth full brakes.  As well as company branding, the Chocolate and cream elements of the mail train also wear the "Royal Mail" scripting courtesy of both HMRS and Modelmaster Jackson Evans.

Elsewhere in the mail train is a dedicated exterior framed SIPHON G from Dapol, with the usual renumbering and re lettering courtesy of the HMRS sheets.

Talking of 97XXs and MICAs.

Currently in the cabinet is MIB Snr's 97XX, which is believed to be a K's kit. It is a hesitant runner and has done much better since a servicing so a little more running may improve it further still.  It also wiggles and waddles like Marlyn Monroe when it runs.

It is not weathered and still remains in quite a glossy state.  It was built before most RM web-ers were born and a zillion years before anyone thought of weathering, so that way it shall remain. 

9707, one of the few converted condensing engines of this class is used for the Smithfield meat trains from North Cranford, which trafficked the London Underground tunnels, hence the odd black piping for those of you unaware. 

The meat train is formed mainly of Wrenn MICA Bs which are slightly weathered, as well as a converted Hornby van to be a  non-refrigerated "MEATVAN" .     The Wrenn MICA Bs have aged a very off-white, so they don't need much weathering at all.

They are followed by a tunnel TOAD with the fully enclosed veranda.  There are 2 of these converted using plasticard - one is Hornby and the other is a Ratio kit.

So where is North Cranford?

North Cranford was a large sub-shed of Old Oak Common, on the Paddington to Bristol line.   North of what is now Junction 3 of the M4 motorway, NE of Heathrow Airport, West of Yiewsley.

Dig deep under what is now the Western International Market and trading estate, built in 1974, and you will find cinders and rail, and smoky brick rubble......

North Cranford had a thriving goods yard to support the local communites at Cranford, Yiewsley, West Drayton, Uxbridge (Uxbridge Branch closed in 1962)  and into Southall.    Meat trains for Faringdon and Smithfield were marshalled here whilst fast parcels and passenger traffic headed into and out of Town.

Milk traffic either went straight into Nestles in Hayes, or further into Town for bottling and cooking.

Tea traffic for Greenford packing plants of Lyons and Hornimans were often marshaled here and formed into small local trains to fill the tea houses up and take their packed goods off for UK and international consumption.

Close by was the Grand Union Canal.

All along what is now the M4 and M40 inside the M25, were hundreds of furniture depositories, taking and issuing furniture removals and exchanging from road to rail, or vice versa: packing or unpacking containers as they went. 

The local brewery produced a well known and popular IPA which found its way all over the globe, as some IPAs did, as well as a good porter and a fine Director's Best. 

So what's not to like:  fast NPCCS, fast passenger, SIPHONS, Castles and condensing 97XXs.  MICAs, ALEs, GRANOs, urban, CONFLATs and lots of milk traffic.    No fields, no BLTs and no 14XX autotrains.

My connection to the area:  My Great-great uncle was born in Cranford, lived there until he joined 16th Bn the Tank Corps in 1918 at the age of 19.  He was killed when his tank was struck by German Artillery fire.  On 1 Oct 1918, the day he died, his unit was withdrawn from the Front and went into reserve, and never fought for the remainder of WW1.  His tank unit was reinforcing US and Australian infantry between Peronne and Cambrai.

His headstone in France reads:  "Never shall his memory fade".

(See 1 Oct 2018 post)

Staying with "foreign" NPCCS, the three LMS CCTs got the treatment at the same time.

A Mainline 50', a Bachmann 50', which has much better paint and decals/finish, but uses the same mouldings as the Mainline,

and the Lima 40' CCT.   

These form part of a mixed owner parcels train, along with some SIPHONS and a Toplight full brake (when its finished).

An now for some NPCCS - the pigeon train returns........

As part of the big carriage weathering session, the pigeon rake got finished off - or so I thought:

Three of Hornby's fine Gresley 61' brakes have been weathered quite heavily with a fairly black mix through the airbrush.  This time it was black with some beige and a tiny hint of H62 Leather.

Roofs got differing amounts:

And the ends got a fair smattering of sooty grubbiness.

The Thompson full brake was done some time ago (Post 3 )  and this session saw the final piece, the Thompson Second brake for Club Officials, being weathered.  Sadly I have noticed in the photos that the end sections have begun to come away from the sides following the stripping apart before weathering.  I will rectify this soon.

Only some of the corridors on this rake have had "Great Little Gangways" corridor bellows added. This rake is coupled fairly clodsely so one bellows per two cars looks fine when coupled despite looking odd when apart.

Underframes and bogies were done with the remnants of the black and beige, which was spruced up a little by the addition of some matt olive green and some more Humbrol Leather.

Back to the cabinet as promised in Post 32:

The parcels rail car and "Parcels Only" BLOATER. 

Once upon a time there was a 14XX and auto coach in the stock box, but I doubt there was much call for this anywhere near North Cranford apart from the Brentford Branch, which isn't a million miles away, but despite this possible proximity, they went off to Evilbay.  I also dismissed the idea of a railcar at the same sort of time.    

The stock and traction remained firmly steam until I spent a terrific day at Didcot courtesy of Castle.  I saw many wondrous things, and rode a couple of footplates, and the rail-car (passenger type) really caught  my eye and imagination when seen up close and personal.

So I purchased the venerable Lima parcels railcar, removed the shirt-buttons, and weathered it using the old fashioned "dirty thinners" method.  I took the RTR couplings off as I didn't think I would ever use this to haul, until I thought of an additional parcels van.  That would be something very often seen ( at night) but rarely modeled.

Here is the result:

The BLOATER is the Parkside kit, the brown is Pheonix "dull" GW Brown and logos on it and the railcar are from the HMRS sets.  The two are joined by a set of three link couplings.

Hope you are all well.

And now for something completely different:

3 Dublo GRANOs.  About as close to a GRANO as you used to get anyway.  Purchased before the current GRANOS were available, these have had a repaint, change of coupling to "Hornby" at the outer ends, leaving the Dublo "claws" in the middle.   

I could dump these on Ebay and buy something newer now, but as my first train set  in the early 70s was MIB Snr's Dublo set from the 40s and early 50s, I'm just going to leave these be as a happy reminder of my huge three rail tinplate circuits...............

Why the sudden burst of modelling activity? - unemployment has raised its ugly head once more.  So instead of getting maudlin, I have had a week's "holiday" and will start the turgid task of finding new employment on Monday.  2 Masters Degrees, CIPS and deadly with a 9mm - anyone got anything going?

Hope you are all well and happy.

The 3 Cambrian ballast hoppers have been lettered up.  A difficult task for GWR but simples for BR(W) - CCT have done a stunning set of decals for BR(W).

I did my best with a couple of HMRS sheets, but exact and perfect they are not.  They lack:  "15 Cubic Yds" and "Return Empty to (name of quarry)"

Buy they'll do. (just noticed a tiny square of decal carrier paper.....) The ballast as before is Greenscene new grey ballast.  The first coat of red oxide inside the hoppers stands out a bit more now that they are weathered and finished. 

The PW train crew van was completed over the winter, including gangers inside.  It's the venerable Ratio kit, and inspiration was shamelessly stolen from "Castle" of this parish, who makes a finer model than I will ever achieve.  It got a weathering today to finish off.

They join the GANES and a recently arrived Bachmann 20 ton TOAD in the cabinet.  The TOAD arrived unpainted, and is now 4 shades of grey, lettered, weathered and marked up for the PW train as a result of my PW train thread elsewhere on  RM Web.

The final PW train piece this week was the re-lettering and weathering of a Bachmann van as a tool van. 

As with everything else in the PW train, it has 3 links and hooks instead of RTR couplings.  The exception is the Bachmann TOAD which has a standard RTR "harpoon and Volvo bumper" to allow the train to join its traction at the head of the train.  The ballast plough TOAD will brake at the rear.

I decided to switch-fire back onto the PW train. 

The GANES were fitted with 3 links, and the RTR couplings pulled out of their pockets.  The bogies were then rotated 180 degrees so that the NEM pockets are fairly unseen.

Painting 3 link is annoying and fiddly unless you have a dental pick:

Poke it in the end link, draw the chain tight and apply paint by brush.

When you are done, don't forget to dip the pick in some brush cleaner, and pop it's plastic tube/sleeve back on. 

Otherwise when you rummage in the tool box,  the pick end will find your finger

Happy modelling for Fathers' Day to everyone out there this weekend.

Is it dark green or bright green????????????????????????

Excellent work with the building re-bash.

Third and final task - prepare carriage stock for weathering.      One or two items will never be weathered ( will explain why when I get back to the current cabinet descriptions).     But the majority will.    The internally framed SIPHON Gs were done last year, and the 7 new NPCCS are in the build phase.  I have 3 of the new Hornby Colletts on order to drop into rakes to mix it up a little in true GW style.  That explains some of the absences.

I loaded up 3 storage crates from the loft, and shifted them down to the garage.This is about 1/2 of the North Cranford carriage stock, which is about the max amount I can handle at one time for weathering.  I am very conscious when bulk weathering that all could turn out out the same, so I make a conscious effort to mix it up a little so that they don't all come out the same level of dirtiness.

As well as un-boxing, which took longer than I thought, there were a few minor repairs and updates to be done.

All of the items are at the same readiness stage:  paint complete, wheels blacked if required, transfers/re-logo-ing done, gangways fitted, and for those carriages in fixed rakes:  lamps added, close couplers added.

So what do we have in this little lot?     (detailed photos to  follow when they are complete):

B sets

2 MONSTERs

 a couple of different externally framed SIPHONs

TPO and TSO

Hawksworths - these have had some "license" applied in the form of backdating the BR(W) livery and adding late GW logos.

at least 3 Collett restaurants

More B sets

Mainline Collets

most of the LNER pigeon train (discussed a while back)

LMS NPCCS

garter logo clerestories - for a bit of time travel behind St David

More B Sets (an urban railway can never have enough commuter stock)

And some Hornby late logo long clerestories.

So the vast majority is late logo GW, with a tiny bit of license in one or two cases, and one rake of Garter logo clerestories.    But not one single shirt-button logo to be seen anywhere.  Not on North Cranford.

The stock is now awaiting some time next weekend.........

Hope you are well and happy.