Jamiel

I’ve come up with an idea for a TV show, it pulls together two big hits and is called ‘Six Feet Under The Apprentice’. Each week we take one of the loathsome contestants from the Apprentice and re-enact one of the deaths from the ‘Six Feet Under’ pre title sequence. For the season finale we do it with Alan Sugar! As well as creating entertaining TV it would have the plus of ridding society of people of these people. A double win. OK, somewhat influenced by the late Bill Hicks idea for a TV show ‘Let’s Hunt Down and Kill Billy Ray Cyrus’.

A bit of resin casting today as I needed a few more Smiths Heaters for the underframe, and I coast of a few other useful bits at the time. General underframe parts, house doors (I always seem to be low on those), people and bins – some of these already in their boxes. My resin (polyol P23) is somewhat out of date, August 2020, but it still casts fairly well. Flat surfaces are a little less than perfect, and it isn’t as crisp as fresh resin to cut once dried. I cut down one of the heaters to fit the space where I had put the Class 123 detail, and added some pipes and details in brass to follow the prototype and mask the shortening on the heater. Just to the left of the fuel tank at the right of the details here. I have also spotted that I need two horns at the front, they are mounted symmetrically under the buffer beam, easy to add. I am doing this all again for the underframe for the other driving unit, so more of the same to come. Jamie

More underframes and bogies under way. I also discovered from the Facebook Class 123 & 124 Group, that one piece of underframe detail I have done is from a Class 123, not 124, but will not be too hard to replace. Jamie

Having seen a few DMUs on here over the last few months. I thought I would post work in progress of a build I have been doing of a Class124 Transpennine. Worsley Works etches sides, DC Kits Class 303 EMU ends (with a lot of work), Replica Railways MK1 coach bodies, roofs and back ends, Comet chassis, MTK bogie frames, Trix bogie outsides, brass strip. Craftsman DMU detailing kits for the buffer beam details, they are a bit thick, or oversize, but can be soldered on so are quite solid, so I can live with that. Detailing from Comet, A1, MTK, Extreme Etches, Dapol spares (mostly cast off in resin), Evergreen strip, plasticard, a host of plastic and brass sprue/offcuts and whatever is in the box of bits. I think that means it is a mongrel, and not a thoroughbred. I have painted the front ends as I plan to fit the cab windows before adding the cab roofs (cast from a Trix kit, now sold on). The curved cab glass has been cut from Barbie doll packaging (courtesy of my daughter). I feel that the cabs are the ‘face’ of the model and are the most important part to get looking at their best. There will obviously be repainting of the cab when the body is done, but the window edges masked off. The join on the headcode glass needs filling too. Although DMUs are basically coaches with cabs, they do have what I find one of the most fun things to build, DMU underframe and engine details. Some of this is a best guess, but I have put together a lot of photos as reference. Still some bits are always too shadowed to be sure. I have posted lots of details of the build on my Ellerby thread, which I think started four almost four years ago with the cabs, then shelved for several years until I got the Worsley etches. I hope the remainder of the build will be a bit faster, but I am not the fastest modeller and do get side-tracked by work and my university studies at times (lecturer and research study, no spring chicken). Hopefully more to post on this as it progresses, five more cars to do. I am absolutely sure that once I finally finish it, a RTR one will appear within a few months. Jamie

The underframe detailing is there (maybe?). Body sat on. Retracted buffers at this end, waiting for the exhausts, handles and other end detailing. Jamie

Continuing theunderframe work, the other side now. Off to watch the NFL American Footaball playoffs. Jamie

A little more work on the underframe. My best guess, and some improvisation for what is there. I have collaged together the best shots I have of the underframe, but there are still some bits that are hard to judge. I also found that I have some extended buffers, so unsoldered the retracted ones and put on the longer one. They look much better, but it did involve resoldering a few of the pipes as well. More soon I hope. Jamie

Having worked in film and television I have done a lot of work matching shots, and one thing that affects colour maybe more than the colour itself is the camera. Beyond that, the film, camera settings and the time of day (colour of light) which is lighting the subject. I started a thread on this showing examples of models in blue and green shot under different lighting conditions with a DSLR camera. http://www.jamielochhead.co.uk/jpegs/Trains/Colour12.jpg http://www.jamielochhead.co.uk/jpegs/Trains/Colour11.jpg (the forum has decided that these image links are not valid) I hope that is of some interest. Jamie

Thanks for the comments, Geoff. I did start the class 124 by cutting up Replica Railways MK1 coach bodies, but when I hears of the Worsley Works side and ends etches, I changed to that as it makes the detailing of the sides much easier. You project sounds really interesting and like it will be quite challenging too. I now find making brass chassis easier to work with having done a few now, I'll probably double that number when I finish this 6 car unit. Thanks also to Barclay, I hope it was an interesting read. The one big problem I have with the layout, is that I make detailed small pieces for a big layout that currently doesn’t have a home. I always admire those who can get on and have a full working layout, and not just bits, plans and hopes. Thanks for all the likes too. Still as there is no place to erect the shed when I am currently living, small details are my best option, so here are the latest developments. Here is the body sat on the chassis with the bogies in place. I have started detailing the underframe, this is a fun part of the build, although I am aware that whatever I do on this unit will have to be done on a further 3 for the underframe. The pipes down the sides have been added and the fuel tanks (I think) from brass wire and the battery box parts from the Worsley Works etch, used inside out. Strips and tubing added. The battery boxes will from the Comet white metal castings, and possible some resin copies of those. A mixture of cut up resin casts taken from DMU detailing frets (Heljan I think), brass bits, sheet and sprue and the odd white metal parts. The resin parts are being glued using Evostick, but with brass wire threaded through most to anchor then better. I did think of using Araldite/epoxy, but with the wires behind I think they will stick OK. I am trying to be as accurate to the photos as I can be, so rather than putting on sets of boxes that are fairly similar, I am trying to reproduce the underframe details a bit closer than I did on the Class 120 build. Hard to find really good photos where you can see the underframes side on, so there is still a bit of guesswork, and still a bit of nearest moulding used. More soon. Jamie

Thank you for all the likes and reply, and thank you for still following this thread after the many months silence. A bit more progress today. Very poor light for photos unfortunately. Adding steps to the chassis. MJT bogie, with brakes added and outers cut from Trix spares, with holes drilled to fit the bearings. I am making the lifting brackets from the spare pivots for the bogies from the MJT etches, it seems to working quite well. They might need filing back a little, and I will detail then with some bits of plasticard before undercoating. I hate flash photos, but the light was too low to get anything other than a blur from this view. The bogies in position and the body sat on top, plus the cab roof placed in. Anyway, I think a bottle of fizz becons. Happy New Year everyone. Jamie

I did a search and couldn't see these posted before, so hopefully they are new to the thread. Apologies if it is not. The Tinsley film has quite a lot of 16 ton minerals, 60s I presume. In the Toton film below there are some in the distance, lots of wooden wagons, but that is from the 50s. Tinsley. Toton in the 50's.

Sorry for not posting for a long time. I haven’t done a great deal of modelling over the last few months. Work has been very time consuming, and the course I teach on lost the course leader who moved on to another university. He leaves a big gap to fill. I have also been working on my PHD, ‘Mass Transport in Film in the 20th Century’, mostly trains, but ships, busses and planes too. The whole family got Covid before Christmas, which although not that bad when at its peak, it has left me lacking energy. I did do a little modelling though, but a lot of the photos I have taken lacked for light so the exposures are longs and a bit blurry at times. Anyway, here is some progress on the Transpennine Class 124 DMU. The headcode boxes have been glazed. The edges were painted (and tidied after the photo) to stop the lensing effect making the edges glow. Headcode blinds taken from photos, tidied, enhanced and printed and in place. LEDs to light and boxed in. I put a sheet of brass behind the plastic to stop light spill too. MJT bogies underway. Body cut back to fir the cab. In place with cab roof sat in position but not fixed yet. That was all done over the last couple of, months (not a lot I know). The last couple of days I have worked on the buffer beam and chassis. Headstocks cut from brass sheets and front footsteps cut from my box of leftover brass sprue. Clasp coupling from MJT casts (I think) thinned down with the file, and retracted MK1 coach buffer from MJT too. To be honest the extended buffers would better for the cab ends, but I’ll see how they look when finished, I could always cut off the ends, drill out the punts and add longer buffers. I have no idea what the little things outside the buffers on the Class 124s are, but I have made them from offcuts and soldered them in place. The very busy buffer beam (repeated photo to prove it). From behind on the chassis. The front loosely in position. The buffer beam fittings are from Craftsman DMU detailing kits. They are slightly oversize, too thick, but I prefer to use white metal parts rather than glue plastic parts from Heljan DMU detailing sets I have. There is also a horn soldered to a piece if wire to hold it down below the multiple working connectors. I can’t see how it is fitted on the prototype as there is too much shadow in all the photos I have, but it looks OK as it is. I think I may need to fill under the headcode glazing, probably with a tiny strip of plastic extruded when heated over a candle from sprue. Good to be modelling again, and good to be home all week during the Christmas break. Hopefully more soon. Jamie

Kansas City’s running game isn’t funny. It is Helaireious!

A bit of a vintage one this. In a Welsh village back in the 50s three Evans brothers lived and worked. As was the custom back then, they became known by their profession, Postie Evans was the postman, Level Evans worked in the signal box by the level crossing and Porky Evans ran the butchers. Sadly, there was a murder in the village, and Level Evans became the main suspect. He was arrested and put on trail for the death penalty. Postie Evans had to keep doing his deliveries, but his brother Porky was able to attend the trial. A few days later Postie Evans after finishing his rounds was lying in the bath when he heard a commotion in the street outside. His brother Porky Evans was running down the street, waving his arms about and shouting excitedly. It must be news of the trial. He was so excited to hear the news that he ran outside completely naked to hear the result. His brother ran up to him and shouted ‘They’re not hanging Level Evans!’.

If we are playing 'historic rules' then..... Quainton Road Is it still 2020? Just asking.

I agree, does anyone have any idea of what the grey coach might be? It has quite a bit of what looks like Engineer’s Department writing on the side.

Hope this hasn't already been posted.

A bit if touching up with hand brushes, still needs a bit more picking out, and the grey overpaint on the cab sorting. The evening light was a bit harsh, I shall try and get better photos tomorrow. I have painted in the cab inside as well. Jamie

Masking and first coat of Phoenix DMU dull DMU green. Second coat. Masking tape removed, will need some touching up, but not too bad overall. Jamie

Two more thin coats of Phoenix Paint dull signal yellow and I am very happy with the result. I may complain about their spray cans, but their paints are fantastic, the yellow has covered over the grey primer without any problem. Now ready for masking and then the rest of the cab spraying green. White would probably work better, especially if the model were to be finished as straight out of the paint shop, but even this DMU will have bit of weathering, so no worries about quite how precise the yellow is. Not sure if I have shared this before, but this is how I store my airbrush between usage. Stops painting drying causing issues, but it does take a few minutes for the air pressure button to free up, and to be honest I have always finished my painting by then, but work fine for the cleaning. Jamie

Thanks for the replies, good to know others share my experience with the Phoenix cans. A couple more very fine coats of Phoenix primer, this time the can of self etching primer. There are some marks which have been sanded with Wet & Dry on the fronts, and also, I had to poke a scalpel behind the handles to remove any runs of primer. And just to show that I am not against Phoenix Precision Paints, a first coat of the Dull signal yellow, from a tin via the airbrush, really great paint, in a really great tin. I think that the yellow is being a little more forgiving of the sanding at the front, and once the box is made it should break up the space so that any texture is hard to see. Drying ahead of another coat tomorrow morning. Don’t worry it is not going to be a blue grey unit, I have just applied the lighter colour first, this is what it will look like in the end. Not sure of the source of the photos, I have a directory with dozens of reference shots in it on the computer. Having moved during last year’s lockdown we are in a place for a couple of years that is not really big enough for us, and the compressor is a victim of lack of storage, it fell off the box it was stood on in the garage and knocked off he pressure gauge. Thankfully, I never bothered with the gauge and the airbrush and compressor work just fine without it attached. I still find this place pokey though, will stay here until my daughter goes up to big school, one more year, but then off to somewhere with a bit more pace, and a garden for the shed. Still slogging through the marking of student submissions, although I did have a couple of outstanding submissions which picked me up a bit. Jamie

A little more detailing. I used a scalpel to cur a fine piece of Evergreen strip in half to get the edges for the headcode box. And the first coat of primer. I stupidly decided to use the Phoenix PQ5 spray can, as always great paint, complete useless can. I held it at a distance and sprayed, a spatter of blobs of paint. Cleaned the nozzle, the same. I gave up with that and used the Etch primer from a distance with a very light coat. I will build up with that, at least that sprays OK. I hope it covers plastic OK. The Phoenix can of PQ5 is now in the place best for it. Collection day tomorrow. It may need a little sanding/Wet&Dry before the first coat of green, delivered with the airbrush. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never buy cans of paint from Phoenix Paints, Tins fine, in fact really excellent, cans not. Jamie

Detailing around the cab. I only had one of the Replica Railways driving handles left, so the other is a bit rough, wire and sprue. It also took a couple of attempts to get the instrument panel to sit right. I am ignoring the slight ledge at the front as It would affect the glazing. Cab side windows cut from a Barbie box. The little notches at the bottom of some pieces are to allow for the back of the grab handle wire which is sticks out at the back of the glazing recess at the bottom. Whatever the little things next to the driver’s window added to the front. My plan is to detail the headcode box if needed, it should have a tiny lip, but it will take a very fine cut of plasticard to make that, so I may not bother. The back will be made so that I can get a small LED in there and sealed so there is no light spill to the cab. Some sanding a fixing of bits too. I think that given it will be fiddly to get the glazing in place, that I will prime and paint (airbrush) the cab front before fitting it to the body. I will then mask the cab front so that when the rest is painted it doesn’t mess up the glazing. My feeling is that once the cab is in position it will be too hard to get the glazing done properly as that area will be hard to access, and especially to get clips on to hold the glazing. Jamie

A little bit of detailing on the Transpennine cab. To make the vents under the headcode boxes, I cut one etch from my box of my A1 assorted grills (well worth picking up when shows start again) and soldered 4 strands onto a bit of the edge sprue. I then filed down the edges and cut the vents to width. I did have a look for on the web to see if anyone did these vents as an etch, but to be honest, it was probably more fun to make them. Grab rails, vents and light brackets in place. I made the rain strip above the cab windows from 20 thou plasticard cut and then softened into place with Mec. It will all need a little filling of the drilled holes and sanding back. I also have to do the little detail on the right hand front window post. The job after that will be to cut the window glass from some moulded and curved packaging I have saved. After that, detail the headcode box and add the control desk. Very busy at work with the end of year marking, so progress is slow on this, but a nice break from videos and essays. Jamie