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pete_mcfarlane

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Blog Entries posted by pete_mcfarlane

  1. pete_mcfarlane
    Some pictures of the detailed Hornby 73 - now with lots of bits of wire and plastic attached to the bogies to represent the various cables etc. The 73/0 has vast numbers of cables on it's bogies, far more than the production loco.


     

     
     
    The roof mounted horns are from A1 and are soldered to a mounting plate to hopefully make them a bit more robust.
     
    It's taken a lot of work to get this far - the 73/0 looks superficially similar to the 73/1 but there are a huge number of detail differences which the Hornby model ignores.
  2. pete_mcfarlane
    I've not had much time to spend on modelling over the last few months, so I've concentrated on wagons. These are a lot easier to work on in small doses, and this has allowed me to finished quite a lot of models that have been lurking half finished or in the pile of unbuilt kits.
     
    These two SECR vans are from the Cambrian kit. I didn't like the axlebox mouldings or buffers, so these were replaced with MJT and ABS parts respectively. I had to keep the plastic brake gear as I couldn't find a suitable replacement for the 9'9" lift link gear on these wagons.

     
    The two meat vans are now finished - a Chivers SR van (l) and a David Geen LSWR refrigerated van ®. These are in the Southern's stone livery and finished in 1930s condition. As with the other Southern wagons the transfers are from HMRS. The David Geen kit took ages because of the fiddly brake gear, but the Chivers van was a doddle. I've now got another one of eBay to do.

    A long time lurker is this Bachmann LNER brake van in 1960s condition (when brake vans were common user and LMS and LNER vans could turn up on the Southern - GWR vans were apparently not liked).
     
    Bachmann's LNER van is basically a BR one with different foot boards, but none of the other detail differences. I did most of the work a few years ago (it's in one of the previous blog posts), but from memory the work involved replacing the axleboxes with LNER ones from MJT, new brake gear to replace the BR van type brake shows and replacement inner ends with no windows in the door (from an old Dapol kit, suitably modified). It also had new ventilators, flush glazing the hard way (from clear plastic sheet cut to shape) and plenty of reinforcing under the chassis when it started to go banana shaped. A lot of work, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

     
    The Cambrian 'Dance Hall' from the previous post is now finished. It's based on a photo of one of these vans in a recent issue of the 'Southern Way' which shows a van in black with red ends (presumably a war time livery). The 'Not to work between Tonbridge and West St Leonards via Battle' boars don't seem to be available as transfers so are currently a few crude blobs of paint. This doesn't look too bad on the finished model - I've not been able to find any suitable transfers.

     
    The Parkside GWR open is now done - not much to comment on this over the previous post, except that I managed to secure the sheet rail properly by super-glueing it to the ends. This made it a lot more secure compared to the original way of mounting it.

     
    And lastly, two ABS kits. An early LMS fitted van and an unfitted LNER 5 plank open. Both have been built pretty much as indented, except for the fitting of an MJT inside bearing compensation unit. I do this with all ABS wagons as it avoids the need to get the sides (which have the axleboxes cast integrally) exactly parallel when assembling the body. I can only manage to get the bodies about 99% square, so this is a simple cheat!

  3. pete_mcfarlane
    The loco has now been painted. First several coats of dark grey (not black) paint and a red buffer beam. The Vallejo red paint covered incredibly well - two coats were enough to get decent coverage.

    The loco is modelled on a photo in the Bradford Barton album on Wainwright locos showing it in Southern livery, but recently renumbered with it's BR number which is still pretty clean. I added the HMRS southern lettering before doing any weathering to get this effect.

    The light colour streaks (Limescale?) were then added.

    Then several coats of thinned matt varnish, tinted with various combinations of grey and leather to give a dirty effect.

    I'm not sure if the area around the new numbers was repainted or just cleaned - I masked it off and painted it black.

    And then applied the numbers. The renumbering on the real thing must have been a rush job - the lack of symmetry is copied from the photo, and they didn't bother to give the loco a thorough clean first.

    Coal was added to the bunker - before varnishing so the matt varnish removes the unrealistic shiny glitter effect that you get with small lumps of coal. I'm still using a tub of crushed coal that my late Grandfather crushed and sorted. The custard tin has a best before date of 1978.

    And this is the loco ready for varnishing, with crew (Bachmann Scenecraft), fire irons, headcode disks and a few spare lamps. The plastic driver will be less shiny after a coat of varnish. He's staring in to space, mentally composing a letter to his ASLEF rep about his cab being full of motor.

  4. pete_mcfarlane
    Firstly, I'll apologise for the slightly dodgy photo, showing the clutter of my work table. This is the current state of progress with my much modified Hornby E2. It now has buffer beams, buffers, and handrails. Various bits of beading have been added from Evergreen plastic strip, and and smokebox door fitted. The latter is from Mainly trains and was intended for a GWR 14XX tank.
     
    Progress is very slow, but steady. This might get finished at some point in 2012. Since taking the photo I've fitted a Westinghouse pump (a very nice cast whitemetal one, which I think came from D&P models).
     
    One of the big problems I found with this project was a lack of decent photos of the first 5 E2s. Most of the available photos of this class seem to be of the last 5, with the extended tanks. I'm mainly working from a photos of 32100 at Stewart's Lane in the early 1960s, so this is likely to end up as 32100. I'd like one of the extended tank batch as well, but I'm not modifying another Hornby model in a hurry.
  5. pete_mcfarlane
    Progress slowed over the Summer and Autumn, mainly due to me being busy at work. But I have managed to finish the E2, which has been lurking part finished in my box of abandoned projects since the late 1990s.

    To recap, this is a stretched and lowered Hornby body on a scratchbuilt chassis. It runs very well, which isn't bad for my first scratchbuilt chassis. As you'd expect for a model that's been worked on for years, it's not quite up to my current standards in places, but I'm very pleased with it. And it looks like an E2, unlike the Hornby original which looks dumpy by comparison.
     
    I'd quite like one of the extended tank E2s, but I'm not sure if I can face building another one this way. It was very hard work!
     
    Also based on a Hornby RTR model is this M7. Unlike the E2 this modern model required next to no work at all - the main additions were the buffers (Gibson sprung ones to replace the weird Hornby originals), new screw couplings, and a renumber as Brighton's 30055. The various end pipes were from the detailing kit that came with it. The trickiest bit was curing a spot of distortion at the front end, where the Chinese lady in the factory didn't stick it together properly. This required a spot of Mek Pak to put right.

    It's weathered as per photos of the real thing which show that the boilers got quite dirty, but the tanks sides were kept fairly clean by the shed cleaners. This was done with thinned Valejo acrylic paints and a paintbrush.
     
    I must finish my Maunsell pull-push set to go with it.
  6. pete_mcfarlane
    Not updated this blog for a while now - I must get a bit better at doing it.
     
    I've built a couple of Phoenix/Branchlines "Goldstar" coaches - a Maunsell Open third and one of the 1935 type brake composites.
     
    I'm not a fan of the original BSL/Phoenix coaches - nasty stamped aluminium sides and some strange pressing that are supposed to be the chassis. However these are much better, having much thinner etched sides for starters.
     

     
     
    I replaced the rather crude Phoenix bogies with MJT compensated ones - time will tell if these are worth the extra time and expense. The brake composite uses Comet underframe castings from their Bullied as these are correct for the later Maunsells. The biggest problem by far was attaching the rainstrips to the roof - eventually I managed to use a combination of superglue and Johnsons clear floor polish to hold them in place.
     
    Next up is the first of some GWR through coaches - a C.54 open third. There's one of these parked by the buffers at Kidderminster Town station, and after a few trips to the Severn Valley I rather like choclate and cream GWR coaches. I can leave all those identical 4-6-0s and Pannier tanks though....
     
    This was my first go at a complete Comet kit and it went together fairly well. My biggest mistake was to cut the chassis to length based on the assumption that the coach was 57' long as it says in the instructions... Once I'd noticed that the buffer beams were too far back I checked the drawing in Russell and discovered that these were actually 58'4" long. Some replacement solebars from Evergreen sorted this problem.
     
    The other deviation from the kit was to use 247 battery boxes, and these look much nicer having a cutout to represent the daylight between the box and the coach floor (which to me is one of the key features of these coaches). I also fitted Slaters sprung buffers and Frogmore lamp irons to the ends (another key feature). All in all I'm quite pleased with the result.

     
    Lastly, a first look on my current coach project. A SR Continental corridor third (the 8'6" wide type). This is based on a Worsley works etch - here laid out on my ironing board.

    And after some basic assembly.

    The first big problem is width - the etch appears to be designed to go together with the side inside the ends. This would make it 2mm too wide - by putting the ends outside the sides I got this down to .5mm too wide, but now the chassis won't fit! Some swearing and alterations are needed.
  7. pete_mcfarlane
    The D&S etched Chatham six wheel coach featured a few blogs earlier is now finished. The lining isn't the greatest, but it's all my own work. The yellow is Valejo acrylic applied with a cheap ruling pen, the black is a 0.1mm fibre tipped drawing pen. Lettering by HMRS pressfix and the Smoking signs in the windows are from a Fox sheet of SECR coach lettering.

    I could do with another of these, and a SER birdcage brake van to replicate a typical branchline train of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
     
    Some more wagons have been finished. Firstly a Slater's Midland cattle wagon, and a 51L Midland long low.

    The cattle wagon was a straightforward built, with only the buffers needing replacing (with MJT cast ones). The 51L long low has been covered in a previous post, and turned out quite well when painted. I think I'll do a few more 51L wagons in future, although they tend to be of fairly obscure pre-grouping types unlikely to be found on the Southern.
     
    I've also finished this trio of ABS unfitted LMS vans. These were built from the kit with only minor alterations - etched v hangers, MJT inside bearing compensation units (as I can never build the chassis quite straight) and a metal roof.

     
    And on to some works in progress. These two brake vans only need a few lamp irons and handrails before they are finished.

    The left hand one is by Cambrian and is the 15 ton version of the standard Southern van. I've tried to build the 25 ton version of this kit twice in the past, and could never get the chassis straight and level. This kit has the advantage of separate axleboxes, so you can remove the bearings and file the holes slightly to adjust things until it sits level. Once that was done, the rest of the kit was easy,
     
    The LBSC Billington six wheel van is from Fincecast and has been a long time lurker on my work bench, mainly because it's a truly awful kit. It took a lot of work to get the body square, and a new chassis using MJT compoents (and 51L LMS axleboxes, which are nearly right). Even now it's not quite accurate.
     
    And finally a glimpse of the David Geen toplight. The sides have been folded to shape, and the bollections (which are separate etches) soldered in place around the windows. Luckily I've not had the time to do anything on it for the last week, so looking at it afresh there are a few mouldings not quite soldered in place correctly. A bit of cleaning up is needed before I continue. So far I'm impressed with the quality of the etches.

  8. pete_mcfarlane
    The J is done bar some touching up of the paint. When this is done I'll take some decent photos and upload them
     
    I've (foolishly) decided to scratchbuild an LBSC I4 for the 2012 challenge. http://www.rmweb.co....-atlantic-tank/
     
    This lead me to dig out my one and only previous attempt at scratchbuilding a loco chassis in 4mm scale. It's incomplete and has been lurking in my box of half finished projects for about 4 years. I had trouble finding a suitable motor and gearbox to fit, due my liking for flywheels and dislike of small open frame motors.

    I've decided to get it finished, before staring on the I4 chassis. After a couple of hours with the Branchlines motor and gearbox data sheet/price list I reckon one of their multiboxes will do, so one is on order.
     
    The frames were drilled out using a hand held drill. Despite this it's far more free running than any of the kit chassis I've assembled.
     
    The chassis goes under this, which is not for the faint hearted.

    A Hornby E2 body stretched to scale length. I've been working on this on and off for for far longer than the chassis - about 12 years. It made use of the Hornby bodies multi part construction - the boiler and footplate were cut in different places, glued back together with plasticard spacers and then carefully sanded to shape.
     
    The tanks were extended with new sections at the front and the skirt under the boiler removed. The Hornby loco sits too high, with the drop in the frames increased - this was removed. The biggest remaining dimensional issue is the side tanks - they are 1mm too low. I'm still deciding what to do (if anything) about that. It needs a lot more work before it's finished.
     
    The other loco project I'm now working on is a Craftsman ex-LSWR T1 0-4-4 tank. This is a bit out of place with the Kent/East Sussex locqtion of my planned layout (although they did work in to West Sussex on the Midhurst branch). I'm really building it as an introduction to etched loco kits, and also to practise my soldering in case I decide to go for a metal body on the I4.
     
    So far so good - this is the result of an hour and half of soldering:

  9. pete_mcfarlane
    I've finally finished building the David Geen LSWR refrigerator van that I bought at Scalefourum in 2008. I'm afraid that in my excitement the photo came out a little blury.

    This was a nice kit, but suffered from poor etched brake gear - most of this was replaced by MJT brake shoes and various bits off a mainly trains etch. I also added a thicker roof - the curved bit of plasticard supplied was too think for the very thick roofs on these vehicles.
     
    One nice feature of the etch was the fold up ladder - you fold up the sides and solder 0.33mm wire through the holes to represent the rungs.
     
    This will be painted in SR stone livery, in 1930s condition, Like previous David Geen wagons, a bit of a mixed bag but one that turned out OK in the end. I've got one of his GWR Toplight brakes in my to do pile, to finish of my rake of through coaches from the GWR. That looks very nice.
     
    I've also built this Cambrian SR 'Dance hall' brake van. The Cambrian kit represents the vans built after 1923 by the Southern, rather than the earlier SECR variety with a shallower underframe.

    It wasn't the easiest kit to build, as my first attempt ended up with the body not quite central on the underframe. After some careful dismantling with a scalpel it was reassembled correctly.
     
    I replaced the strange looking moulded plastic buffers with some more accurate ABS cast ones. I also fitted a MJT inside bearing compensation unit (as I couldn't get the chassis completely level) and used their cast brake shows instead of the slightly crude plastic ones.
     
    I also fitted Finecast etched lamp irons - the ones on the roof supports are less prominent than they should be, but hopefully a bit more robust.
  10. pete_mcfarlane
    Another detailed Southern Region locomotive on my workbench- this time a Bachmann Class 42 Warship. This has been lurking on my bench for a which, but the purchase of some fan etchings from Shawplan last weekend will hopefully speed things on.
     
     
     
    I'm doing 816 in blue (using the Bachmann D812 as a base). There are a limited number of Warships that can be produced from the Bachmann model without major work. It's suitable for the D814-832/866-870 range (except for D830 which had a different engine). Class 43s didn't work on the Southern, and I've not yet figured out a way of modifying the side grilles for D800 - 813.
     
    The first thing I did was to replace the rather crude wheels with Gibson EM gauge ones, mounted on the original Bachmann OO axles. These look much better - I've lost the photo so you'll have to take my word for it until I take another.....
     
    Moving on to the body, apart from the roof grilles and catwalks (which will be replaced), the biggest problem seems to be with the front end. The moulded glazing is a poor fit with areas of unpainted plastic showing. On mine it was also very well glued in, so I resorted to masking it off with Copydex to protect it from damage and paint rather than attempting to remove it and risking damage.

     
    I then carefully filled around the window frames with filler. This will be sanded down and painted yellow to match the rest of the front.

     
    Other work I've done on the front end includes:

    Removing the plastic buffers. These are a bit flimsy and will be replaced with some sprung oval headed buffers from A1. Removing the tension lock couplers and glueing the front cowling in place. This has been blended in with filler and painted Removing the front headcode panels. These don't fit very well and look crude. These also look too small, which I think might be down to the surround (which is part of the body moulding) being painted yellow rather than black. Removing the handrails, which are attached too close to the body.The ones under the window lacked the distinctive centre support.
    I've also drilled out and removed the roof fans, ready to take the etched replacements.

     
    These do look very nice. In the past I never understood the fetish for replacing perfectly good moulded grilles and fans with crude etched replacements, but these are a million miles away from the horrors of the past!
  11. pete_mcfarlane
    Some progress on my coach building.
     
    The two Phoenix Maunsell coaches are now painted in 1930s Southern Olive Green. I've cheated with the lining - it should be a yellow line with a black line inside it, but I've only done a yellow line. My defence is insanity (avoidance of). The lining is from HMRS pressfix, with the corners added by hand.

    The interiors are now added - Southern Pride seats and Slater's passengers. All a little crude, but good enough when the roof is on.

    The Worlsey Works Thanet third is nearing completion (and did you know that Chrome's built in spell checker doesn't have Thanet in it's dictionary?).

    This went together in much the same way as their Continental. I used a Southern Pride Mk1 roof, and replaced the solebars with Evergreen plastic channel. There's nothing wrong with the etched ones supplied in the kit, but I cocked up bending one of them to shape.
     
    Plastic solebars also avoid the fun of soldering the foot boards in to place. The various underframe details are Comet, the battery boxes are scratchbuilt and the bogies are from NNK (now available again and my first choice for SR 8' steam bogies).
     
    Lastly, a model from the box of long term incomplete projects has been completed.This is one half of Pull-Push set 609, and has been built from an Ian Kirk kit (which I bought from Colin Ashby's stand at the Derby show in the Assembly rooms just in case you wondered how long it's been lurking half complete in a shoebox).
     
    This has had quite a lot of work done on it - the body has been increased in height by 1mm, and a scratchbuilt underframe fitted. The roof was reprofiled as the Kirk roof is way too wide and had a horrible thick cantrail, and most of the end detail replaced.
    .
    I have the Parts (including the Branchline conversion kit) to make the driving trailer, which should follow during 2012.
     
    One thing to watch with push pull sets 600-619 is the orientation of the trailer third. The outer end has the corridor connector removed and heavy duty EMU buffers fitted. This varies from coach to coach - some have the end with the alarm gear sealed up and some the other. To make matters even more fun the Southern never painted the set number on the inner end of pull-push sets, so it took a lot of peering at photos to work out which way round my chosen set was orientated.
  12. pete_mcfarlane
    After a gap in my modelling over Christmas and during January, I decided to clear down the backlog on nearly finished models that I've accumulated (as we all do).
     
    These two first appeared in this blog a few years back!

    The Parkside LMS CCT has acquired some rather nice cast buffers of the correct pattern from Lanarkshire Modelling Supplies. The incorrect buffers supplied with the kit were a big weakness, and my attempts at modifying other types were't successful.
     
    The ancient and now detailed Airfix Lowmac has turned out very well - especially given it's status as a refugee from my 1980s trainset years.
     
    The Comet GWR E.148 brake composite was built in a couple of weeks last year. It took about 6 months of elapsed time to paint and finish but it's now done. The sharp eyed will spot that the Comet ganway cover I fitted it with (which looks very LMS) has been replaced by a MJT one.
    This will partner the C.54 Third I did last year. I've also got a Toplight Brake Composite from David Geen to build next, to complete my set of 1930s GWR through coaches. Luckily that has separate etched droplights, as painting the etched in place droplights on the two Comet coaches nearly drove me bonkers. They'd be fine or coaches in later BR liveries.
     
    Lastly, I've finished off the two SR Maunsell coaches I built from Phoenix kits last year. Despite cheating on the lining, I'm pleased with how these have turned out.

  13. pete_mcfarlane
    This evening I fitted couplings to the Dapol ex-Wrenn, ex-Hornby-Dublo banana van. Looks good for a 50 year old toy!

    Also finished tonight is another of the Parkside BD containers, in Crimson with lettering from an ancient Modelmasters sheet.

    This is the latest state of play with the Shock open. It's now on it's wheels, using the solebars supplied with the kit. These were glued to the underside of the plasticard floor and carefully lined up (since there are no moulded lugs to position them against). The shock springs are the very basic ones that Parkside provide with their kits (including lots of non-shock wagons, so I had some spare). Now ready for buffer beams.
    The chassis of the LNER brake van has been detailed. It has had:

    LNER axleboxes - MJT. they don't do these as seperate castings, so the combined axlebox/spring castings had their springs cut off.
    Axleguards modified to RCH type, by carefully opening out with a scalpel.
    New 2 rib buffers - modified MJT
    Single shoe brakes - again MJT
    The trussing removed, as this is wrong for the early LNER vans
    Various spurious holes filled.

    A lot more work than I initially thought!

  14. pete_mcfarlane
    The Comet GWR C54 third and Worsley SR Continental 3rd are now complete.

     
    I couldn't find a decent photo of the compartment side of the C54 in 1930s livery, so for now it's missing the various smoking/no-smoking signs. Not that any of the passengers are likely to smoke, being a mix or plastic and whitemetal....

     
    The Continental is finished in late 1940s condition. As an experiment I used Humbrol acrylic Malachite green, which seems slightly darker than the Precision equivalent but isn't far off some colour photos. I'm assuming this coach has had a few coats of varnish which has darkened the paint....
     
    I'm rather pleased with both of these. The Continental was my fist attempt at one of the Worsley "scratch aid" kits and it went together very well (although lets face it, a slab sided coach with 4 doors is never going to be that hard!). I've got a Thanet 3rd and the one off SECR Continental brake composite in my to do pile and hopefully they wont be far off getting started.
  15. pete_mcfarlane
    Here's another photo of the 2-Bil motor coach.

    Buffers heads now added, using the Slaters rams and some spare plastic heads of (almost) the correct shape left over from a Southern Pride Mk1. The heads were glued to the rams and reprofiled to the correct shape. Not exact precision engineering but they look OK.
     
    Since the photo was taken I've made a start on glazing the motor coach.
  16. pete_mcfarlane
    Another update on the J.

    Pickups are now fitted, and it runs under it's own power. Despite all the earlier problems with the chassis, it's turned out to be a smooth runner. I'm partway through fitting the usual myriad details - handrails, lamp irons and so on. The curved pipes that run down the side of the boiler were surprisingly difficult to do, an took several attempts to get convincing. On the real locomotives the pipe work was a bit wonky looking in places, and it's difficult to get this right on a model without looking like poor modelling.
     
    I'm expecting it to be ready for painting in about a week or so.
  17. pete_mcfarlane
    I thought I'd start a new blog to record my slightly hamfisted attempts at building 4mm loco kits.
     
    The first victim is a Chiver's SECR J class 0-6-4T. These are one of Harry Wainwright's more obscure classes - there were only five of them, and all were scrapped by 1951. I've heard it claimed they were the last 0-6-4T tanks in Britain (although the type survived in Ireland until 1969 due to the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties' peculiar attachment to them).
     
    When finished it will be 31599 in early BR condition.
     
    The chassis is a pretty conventional affair in etched brass, with a separate etch containing the coupling rods, brake gear and a gearbox (to go with Romford gears and a DS10 motor). I'd experimented with the settings on my camera, the combination of an LED desk lamp, flash and macro mode on the camera produced the slightly odd effect in the photo (which reminds me of a German silent film).

    The kit suggests starting with the chassis, but then mentions that it needs shortening slightly to fit the running plate. So I started by assembling the running plate (using epoxy). This needed a bit of filler, but otherwise went together OK. A couple of millimetres was then removed from the chassis etch to ensure that it fitted before soldering it up.

    I used a Comet jig to help with the assembly. I also added extra frame spacers off one of their etches to ensure that the chassis was nice and rigid.
     
    The next step was to paint the basic chassis before fitting the Alan Gibson wheels. These were then fitted using a GW models wheel press. This is my first use of the Gibson driving wheels, and no major problems so far. Once they are on, it's not straightforward to remove them, hence the need to paint the chassis (or at least the bit's behind the wheels) first.

    The moulded plastic gearbox is from a firm called Northyard, who hail from New Zealand. I bought it from Branchlines a few years back and have now finally found a use for it. The huge side tanks will hide a fairly large Mashima 1628 motor driving the gearbox via a length of neoprene tubing. Again this is something I've not tried before, but so far it all seems to fit.

    The motor will intrude in to the bottom of the cab, but with the doors modelled in the closed position this shouldn't show.
     
    So it has taken a week of odd hours here and there to get this far. The rest of the kit seems pretty straightforward, so I'm hoping for a quick build.
  18. pete_mcfarlane
    D816 is one of the examples that retained or were refitted with multiple working jumpers. These have been made from a scrap of plastic and some thin wire.

     
    I've also added the odd footstep under one of the buffers. This came from the etch in the Craftsman detailing kit for the Lima Warships (which claims to cover D813-870 - but actually only covers the class 42 unless you ignore all of the class 43's detail differences ).
     
    It needed some modifications to fit, and one of these etches had to be reversed as Craftsman etched them as mirror images rather than identical. The rest of the buffer beam detailing will be a mix of Bachmann and Craftsman pipes. The oles are there, and they'll be added after painting.
     
    I've also filled the rather large gaps around the bodyside windows. Since I'd managed to damage one of them, it was filed back to the frame and will be modelled as open. This was a bit of a pain to do, so I'll only be having one open window.

     
    The main outstanding piece of work is the speedo. There's a reason why that's been left to last, and it's not because I'm looking forward to doing it
  19. pete_mcfarlane
    I bought this at the Doncaster show in either 1999 or 2000 - I'm not sure which, but it was soon after it came out. It's very much been at the back of the 'to do' pile ever since, and Bachmann have even bought out an RTR version in the meantime.
     
    Brief details of the build;
    DC Kits plastic kit - I used the plastic mouldings but ditched the detailing components as they weren't up to the standard I was after.
    Black beetle motor bogie.
    Underframe detail is a mix of Southern Pride, NNK and scratchbuilt. These units had 1951 type control gear, which isn't covered by the Southern Pride plastic underframe kit.
    Roof detail from guitar wire and SP turned lamp tops.
    End jumpers from MJT.
    NNK etched window frames.

    Since I don't have a layout at the moment, here's a couple of photos of it on my hi-tech photo display stand (which happens to look a bit like an ironing board).

    Overall I'm quite happy with this, even though Bachmann got their one out before I'd finished it.
  20. pete_mcfarlane
    The 2-Bil is nearly complete - I'm currently adding the vast number of rain strips to the roof. No photos as bits of white plastic on a white roof doesn't really photograph.
     
    I've also made a start on my Hornby 73/0. This is it straight out of the box.

    The first step was to replace the overscale wheels with the Alan Gibson rewheeling pack. This is sold for EM, but can be used for finescale OO. The wheel profile is the same, and although the axles are too long this doesn't show. And the wheels came in a week not 4 months

    Next step was to remove the 2D underframe moulding and fill the hole with 40 thou plastic, ready to rebuild the underframe.

    I've also tracked down MRJ 11 from 1986, which has a Monty Wells article on the original Lima 73/1, including converting it to the 73/0. Beautifully written and illustrated as was always the case with his articles.
     
    It includes drawings of both types of class 73 and a list of differences. Based on this, and some photos of the 73/0 on the GC, I reckon that the Lima/Hornby 73/0 isn't quite what it claims to be.
     
    The body has the right grills/windows, but:
     

    It has 73/1 battery trays (although some 73/0 got this type in later life)
    It has 73/1 end jumper cables, missing the extra front end cable on the 73/0
    It has 73/1 bogie sandboxes
    It has a 73/1 fuel tank (the filler is in a different place on the 73/0)
    It has strange small round buffers. The 73/0 were built with oval buffers, and got large round ones in the early 1970s

     
    Some of these I can understand, as they reused parts to keep the cost down. But why the mistakes with the body moulding? It's ended up as a hybrid of the two sub-classes in best RTR fashion. On top of these, the airhorns are rubbish, there's no steps or cabling on the bogies and the side windows are larger than the glazing.
     
    Anyway, all of these should be fixable given a bit of work. There's all sorts of nice moulding work on the body - some very nice grills for example (I never understand why people replace the grills on this model) and it looks like a class 73.
     
    It will be E6001 in 1970 rail blue condition, complete with original oval buffers.
  21. pete_mcfarlane

    LNER wagons

    By pete_mcfarlane,

    Slow progress over Christmas, due to other distractions (food, beer etc) but I've managed to get some LER wagons completed. I bought some old 3H LNER 6 plank wagon kits off Ebay as these seem to be well regarded. In the end they turned out to be pigs to build - the quality of the detail is first rate, but assembling them was a nightmare as the corner joins didn't mate properly and endless filing and filling was needed!
     
    The one on the right was built as per the kit as a Darlington built example. The one on the left is the Doncaster example with a difference shape of end L stanchion. This was achieved by glueing several layers of 10 thou plasticard over the existing moulded stanchion, trimming the excess off when dry and then filing the new angle.

    A third kit had it's underframe replaced with one from a Parkside lowfit, to give a 10' wheelbase fitted example. I've now discovered that ABS do a kit for these, so I don't feel quite as smug as I originally did :icon_rolleyes:
    The cattle wagon is a Parkside kit (for the fitted version) modified in to a 9' wheelbase version, using MJT and ABS components. Sadly I couldn't think of a way of making it go banana shaped like the real thing did due to their weak underframes.

  22. pete_mcfarlane
    The Warship is now finally done. I expected this to take a few weeks when I started it last year, and its taken the best part of a year.
     


    A spot of playing around with Helicon focus produced these black and white images, taken on my 2011 challenge Diorama entry. I'm not sure what a Warship is doing on a South Eastern section branchline, although it does have an interregional parcels headcode. Possibly it took a wrong turn at Reading.....

     
    To sum up what I did to get this far:
    New wheels, from Alan Gibson, fitted to the original Bachmann OO gauge axles.
    Filled the gap around the cab windows.
    Reprofiled the cab roof, and the buffer beam skirts.
    Fitted Shawplan roof fans and walkways.
    Better sprung buffers, and bufferbeam detail.
    Scratchbuilt speedo.
    Etched Lamp irons and better nose handrails
    Fush glazed the bodyside and headcode box windows. One of the cab side windows was also filed out and replacement glazing fitted to have it part open.
    Repainted the ends, renumbered and fitted nameplates. I also painted head code box edges black, which makes them look the correct size (along with the replacement glazing).
    Weathered it to look suitably tatty, with tinted matt varnish.
    Removed the weird cab lighting that Bachmann provide.
    Fitted glazing bars to the cab side windows.

    It was a lot of work, but I think the improvement in appearance, especially around front end, was worth it. It's not perfect, especially as the German inside framed V200 bogies are never going to look completely right in OO, but I'm happy with it.
  23. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm slowly building the David Geen E83 Toplight brake composite, the last vehicle I need for the set of 1930s GWR through coaches to serve by one day to be built ex-SER branchline. The sides were a bit fiddly to put together, but include all of the good feature you want in a kit, including the door hinges etched as a single component per door, corridor handrail spacers and separate droplights.
     
    I've deviated slightly from the instructions and have assembled the basic body before adding the end detail. I'm not 100% satisfied with the joins betweens side and end, but some filler should hide most of the 0.2mm or so gaps.

     
    At the same time I've been building this D&S LSWR long horse box. It's one of the recently produced batch sold by Brasmasters. I built the short version about 10 years ago, and this went together in a similar way with no real problems. Unlike the 16' box I managed to get all of the brake gear in place - either I've got better at soldering or the extra wheelbase gives more room to solder. It's waiting the last few whitemetal castings.

     
    I've also been working on a few odd projects. The Parkside GWR Horsebox is a Parkside kit - I replaced or thinned down the over thick footsteps, and fitted MJT sprung buffers. But otherwise it's as per the kit. Unlike the vehicle next to it, which started out as a Ratio BR Banana van. It now has a new 9' underframe using MJT parts and ABS brake gear and represents a LMS meat van. The body hasn't needed altering.

     
    I've also detailed a pair of the recent Bachmann SR brakevans These are the left hand ducket variety, which for reasons unknown have the stove chimney on the wrong side. This was removed and a replacement made from plastic rod. The axleboxes were modified, as the real thing has a wider sloping front different type to the plate front examples on the Bachmann model (I don't think many of the real thing had this type - possibly they used an atypical preserved example as a base?). This was done by adding plastic strip to either side of the existing box, and then filing the front at an angle. I fitted the brake loops, but not the strangely shaped brake shoe linkages, fitting simple plastic rod replacements instead. Bachmann having cranked theirs, presumably to clear the couplers.

     
    Lastly, and right at the end of my time period is one of the early COV AB airbraked vans. Another Bachmann model, with minor detailing using Shawpan brake pipes. Like the brakevans this will have minor touching up rather than a full repaint.

     
    April should see more work on the Toplight, a Branchlines SER luggage van and hopefully some of these models getting painted.
  24. pete_mcfarlane
    EMU workbench
     
    by pete_mcfarlane
     
    original page on Old RMweb
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:49 pm
     
    A couple of DC Kits EMUs on my work bench.
     
    The MLV was bought at Wakefield a couple of weeks ago. Basic construction is now complete (in 2 weeks, which must be a record for me).
     

     
    Now awaiting underframe and end details. I'm planning on using the Southern Pride underframe mouldings in place of the etches that comes with the kit. I've always thought that the quality of the cast and etched details that come with these kits is a lot lower than the excellent plastic body mouldings.
     
    Power is from a Black Beetle with a dummy beetle added at the non-power bogie end. This involved hacking an extra hole in the floor. I also ended up hacking out the moulded well in the floor at the power bogie end, as this was too shallow and made the unit ride too high. Even now I'm not convinced about the ride height. It could also do with a good scrub to get rid of all the dust from sanding. Most of the moulded on jumper detail is removed and will be replaced with Heljan mouldings.
     

     
    To be finished in 1970 condition, ideally as the blue liveried one, or possibly green with small yellow panels if I can find a suitable photo. Otherwise it will be bog standard blue and grey.
     
    Next up is a 2-EPB. I bought this when the kits first came about about 7 years ago, and it's been slowly progressing.
     


     
    There's nothing actually wrong with the kit itself. The main issue is that the 2-EPB units had 1951 type control gear, and I'm struggling to reproduce this. The etched underframe detial that came with the kit isn't brilliant and the Southern Pride mouldings are for 1957/1963 type control gear, which has some major differences.
     

     
    Some of the underframe gear is adapted from SP mouldings, and other bits are scratchbuilt. I'm not happy with the quality or positioning of some of the bits (especially the scratch built resistance banks after looking at the photos) so more work is needed.
     
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky
     

    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:05 am
     
    being a bit harsh on yourself there, they look great
     
    Mike
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Miss Prism on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:36 am
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky
    Use guitar string, Pete. It won't solder readily, but it will lay straight.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by rich_eason on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:11 pm
     
    The other method I've used with sucess is to use very fine Evergreen rod. Easy to stick where you need too and if you wish to thread it through small upstands a slight dab with mek will be enough to hold it in place.
     
    For straight runs where you are not bothered with visible air beneath the pipe work then tack the starting end with Mek and using a steel rule as a guide continue to stick the rod down making sure that the steel rule does not come into contact with the Mek.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:14 pm
     
    Thanks for the suggestions about the roof cables - will give them a try.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:48 pm
     
    No progress on the EPB, but the MLV is getting there.
     



     
    End and body detail now mostly complete. I've used very of the DC Kits parts for the underframe - most of it is from the Southern Pride underframe set, with a bit of scratchbuilding. From photos the underframe equipment on these units seems to be a bit of a minefield as it changed over time. At no point did it include giant self tapping screws though - I forgot to screw them back in before taking the photos.
     
    End pipes are Heljan ones which are designed for a 33/1 so need a bit of tweaking.
     
    I've come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with the ride height, but that the bogie sideframes were too close together. This is because I glued them straight on to the stretchers on the side of the Black Beetle units (which are set to HO spacing?). Padding them out with bits of 40 thou plasticard seems to improve the appearance no end, as there's no big gap between the body and the bogies.
     
    I've also discovered that these units had at least 3 different arrangements of the battery box covers. The kit represents the most recent (as preserved) so I've bodified them with plastic strip to represent the in c1970 condition.
     
    The main remaining task is to detail the bogies.
     
    The only thing I'm not happy with are the buffers, which are Comet extended Mk1 buffers (as this MLV will be used to pull parcels stick). The moulds look very worn and I was lucky to get 4 usuable ones out of a pack of 12 which is unusal for Comet as most of their castings seem pretty good. They were the only extended Mk1 buffers I could find though.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Dagworth on Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:28 am
     


    Miss Prism wrote:
    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky

    Use guitar string, Pete. It won't solder readily, but it will lay straight. I've never had any trouble soldering guitar string. Solder paste makes it even easier though. I use guitar string for all my OHLE.
     
    Andi
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:09 pm
     


    Dagworth wrote:
    I've never had any trouble soldering guitar string. Solder paste makes it even easier though. I use guitar string for all my OHLE.
    Not being musical and knowing anything about guitar strings, what type of string do you use and what diameters do they come in?
     
    Pete
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by keefer on Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:34 pm
     
    the 'plain' electric guitar strings are usually steel and are usually referred to in 'thou' sizes - can be bought individually in sizes from .008" up to (i think) .020" or .022"
     
    strings any thicker than this tend have a winding wrap over a steel 'plain' core - these are 'wound' strings and tend to be from about .018" upwards (these are the type which look like they could be use for vac. brake pipes!) - these tend to have a steel core wire, with steel, stainless steel or nickel wrap
     
    just go into a music shop and ask for electric guitar strings - when asked for the size just say 'a twelve' for a .012" or whatever - but for .018" or more, make sure you ask for a 'plain' as these come in 'wound' as well
     
    hth
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Alex on Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:38 pm
     
    Perhaps Bass guitar strings would make good vacuum pipes...
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:05 am
     
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops - just needs a few slightly wonky details adjusting. Being able to view digital photos of models is a big help, as it lets you spot things you'd otherwise miss. Like the wonky lamp iron
     

     

     

     
    The slightly iffy Comet buffers have been replaced with some much better ones from ABS. The various etched window frames are from NNK, as are the cast fuseboxes above the shoe beams. Big one of these to NNK for the quality of their parts -the window frames in particular are first rate, easy to cut away from the fret and needed no cleaning up.
     
    Details like Buckeye couplers, handrails and vacuum pipes to be added after painting. I've had no luck in tracking down photos of the blue one, so it will be blue and grey.
     
    One tip to anybody building a DC kits EMU - you can improve the front end appearance by filing down the edge of the roof to make it less thick and closer to scale. I used a half round file, and the filled any gap between the roof and the body with filler.
     
    Another thing I've noticed about the DCK front end is that all three window rainstrips are at the same height, when on a real EPB based unit the middle one is slightly lower, which is quite noticeable. This was corrected after I added the etched window frames by adding new rainstrips above the outer windows.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Phil on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:43 am
     
    That MLV is looking really good.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by mines a pint on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:48 am
     


    Alex wrote:
    Perhaps Bass guitar strings would make good vacuum pipes...
    read an article where these were indeed used but it must have been over 10 yrs ago, assumed things might of moved on since then.
    I'm with Mike on his first comment, even with the wonky roof pipes I'd be incredibly pleased with the results so far.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:56 am
     
    looking great now, well worth the extra effort
     
    go on paint it green you know you want too
     
    btw, whats with the small insulated piece of track on your workbench?
     
    Mike
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:25 pm
     


    michael delamar wrote:
    btw, whats with the small insulated piece of track on your workbench?
    It's for testing kit built loco chassis. The idea is that if they can run over the short bit of dead track without stalling, then all of their pickups are working OK and they can cope with any dirt, dead spots etc that they'll encounter.
     
    Not really needed for testing EMU motor coaches though.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:44 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops - just needs a few slightly wonky details adjusting. Being able to view digital photos of models is a big help, as it lets you spot things you'd otherwise miss. Like the wonky lamp iron
     
    MLV 1.jpgMLV 2.JPGMLV 3.jpg
     
    The slightly iffy Comet buffers have been replaced with some much better ones from ABS. The various etched window frames are from NNK, as are the cast fuseboxes above the shoe beams. Big one of these to NNK for the quality of their parts -the window frames in particular are first rate, easy to cut away from the fret and needed no cleaning up.
     
    Details like Buckeye couplers, handrails and vacuum pipes to be added after painting. I've had no luck in tracking down photos of the blue one, so it will be blue and grey.
     
    One tip to anybody building a DC kits EMU - you can improve the front end appearance by filing down the edge of the roof to make it less thick and closer to scale. I used a half round file, and the filled any gap between the roof and the body with filler.
     
    Another thing I've noticed about the DCK front end is that all three window rainstrips are at the same height, when on a real EPB based unit the middle one is slightly lower, which is quite noticeable. This was corrected after I added the etched window frames by adding new rainstrips above the outer windows.
    Have you finished your MLV yet ?
     
    Ed
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:49 pm
     


    edmac wrote:
    Have you finished your MLV yet ?
     
    Ed
    Nearly - I wasn't happy with the glazing, so now I'm flush glazing it the hard way using plastic sheet cut to shape. This is a bit boring and takes ages, as my patience is only up to a couple of windows at a time
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:21 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
    The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops -
    Hi Pete,
     
    Just seen your thread. The EPB looks really good, (as does the MLV ) but I have a question. I notice that you have drilled out the holes for the door handles and handrails, as well as fitted the roof cabling. Do you intend to paint the model with these details in place? or would you fit them later... Same goes for the door hinges.
     
    Please show us the result when it comes out from the shop.
     
    Cheers,
    Chris.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:37 pm
     


    Gallows Close wrote:
    Just seen your thread. The EPB looks really good, (as does the MLV ) but I have a question. I notice that you have drilled out the holes for the door handles and handrails, as well as fitted the roof cabling. Do you intend to paint the model with these details in place? or would you fit them later... Same goes for the door hinges.
    Depends - the stuff that is the same colour as the underlying body (roof cables, end handrails etc) will be glued in place and painted in situ. Stuff like door handles that are a different colour will be stuck on after painting but before the final coat of varnish. It also helps that the EPB will be plain blue - the MLV is blue/grey and needs most of the side detail left off to allow for masking.
     
    Hope this makes sense.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:00 pm
     


    pete_mcfarlane wrote:
     
    Depends - the stuff that is the same colour as the underlying body (roof cables, end handrails etc) will be glued in place and painted in situ. Stuff like door handles that are a different colour will be stuck on after painting but before the final coat of varnish. It also helps that the EPB will be plain blue - the MLV is blue/grey and needs most of the side detail left off to allow for masking.
     
    Hope this makes sense.
    Yup, Sure does. The only thing that would worry me would be painting the roof cables - especially by air brush. Do you have a method to stop the paint 'gathering' on the cables? Also, whilst I agree on leaving off the door knobs and grab handles, but have you ever had any trouble re-locating the holes?
     
    Thanks for your reply, it is of much interest as I will be painting something similar in a few weeks,
     
    Chris.
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:35 am
     


    Gallows Close wrote:
    Yup, Sure does. The only thing that would worry me would be painting the roof cables - especially by air brush. Do you have a method to stop the paint 'gathering' on the cables? Also, whilst I agree on leaving off the door knobs and grab handles, but have you ever had any trouble re-locating the holes?
     
    Thanks for your reply, it is of much interest as I will be painting something similar in a few weeks,
     
    Chris.
    I don't use an airbrush, so have never had this problem. You do have to be sparing with the paint when brush painting detail like this though.
     
    I've never had much trouble finding the holes. Most of them end up partially clogged with paint, but can be found and cleaned out with a pin (or the .5mm drill used to drill them originally).
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by 5Bel on Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:23 am
     
    Hi Pete,
    Excellent work, good to see another 3rd rail modeller. You say that you are flush glazing with clear plastic cut to shape. Have you tried Replica flush glazing, all you do is cut the bar out of the windows and the new glazing just slots in. It's even easier now that he does a pack for his own MLV. If you want to see some results look at my 4mm workbench thread. It really does make a difference. Replica also do suburban flush glazing which will fit the 2EPB and they do interiors which can be made to fit easily.
     
    Keep up the good work,
     
    Cheers Ian.
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:20 pm
     
    Any updates Pete ?
    __________________________________________
     
    ??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:05 am
     


    edmac wrote:
    Any updates Pete ?
    Nearly done - just a few more windwos to go and some final detailing:
     

     
    __________________________________________
    Comment posted by edmac on Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:40 am
     
    Looks great Pete , hows the EPB coming along ?
     
    Ed
    __________________________________________
  25. pete_mcfarlane
    I'm not a fast worker by any means, but I managed to assemble another coach for my GWR through train in 2 weeks and a day. Well almost - after the C.54 I realised what a brain numbing task drilling out the holes for the hinges was, so this was done a few at a time over the 2-3 weeks before I actually started building the kit. Other than that this Comet E148 brake composite flew together. There's a rather nice preserved example on the SVR, which I've ridden in.
     
    This time I used the whole etched underframe, except for the buffer beams which were slightly too narrow and were replaced with brass strip. Other deviations from the kit include Slater's sprung buffers (missing their heads in the photos), 247 Developments battery boxes and some extra end detailing from strip and wire. I also decided that making my own corridor partition from plasticard was quicker than modifying the etched one provided to get the odd compartment spacings needed. It has a detailed fixed gangway at the brake end, and will have a working paper one at the other.
     
    Photos taken before giving the model a good scrub, and the sharp eyed will spot that I put the body on the chassis the wrong way round for the photos.

     
    My next coach project is back in Southern territory - a Roxey SECR corridor rake composite. Some of these ended their days in two coach sets with Maunsell 'Thanet' thirds. I've had this kit and the Worsley etchings for the third in my to do pile for about 5 years.
     
    The Roxey kit looks very nice - this is the main etching.

     
    I only had time to solder vents and droplights in place today. Next task is to roll the tumblehome in the sides.
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