ChrisS

It has taken a while but my BR road runner is finally finished - though I'm tempted to weather it a bit. For those that may have missed it or are interested, the full build thread can be found here Till next time.

I wanted the red hazchem plate I've seen on many of these crew vans, but couldn't find what I wanted. Thanks to Steve at Railtec transfers, he very quickly produced a brand new set of hazchem transfers after I enquired if he did anything suitable - amazing customer service. I also managed to finish the number plates. A disclaimer- I purposely made the decision to create a fictitious set of number plates to avoid any comments to the effect that vehicle x had pink wing mirrors and a rust patch below the windscreen. However, i did make sure using the dvla mot checker that my false plate had not been assigned to a random real life vehicle! Except for some weathering, the decoration is now pretty much complete. Despite being a challenge at times, I'm really happy with it. Just keeping an eye open for some suitable figures to populate the crew body.

Rightly or wrongly i gloss varnished the whole 20 before applying the Railtech transfers. I was sort of doubting myself as the gloss finish looked awful and shows up every blemish. It reminded me of when I made the mistake of using yacht varnish on some birch ply home office desks I made. I had to strip them Back and use a clear satin oil which gave a far superior finish. Anyhow, after letting the transfers dry, I then applied a satin varnish coat and was most relieved with the finish. When you look closer there are some minor blemishes on one side (for some reason) but these will hopefully be hidden by some weathering. After a couple of years i'm nearly there with this one. Till next time.

The castings in this kit are so good they don't require much tidying up. After a bit of filing and washing, they were left out in the sun to dry. This could end up being a relatively quick build. All component parts were primed this evening. A minor bit of sanding might be required to the body before a final prime coat but otherwise it all looks good. The intention will be to finish it as an early 80s version with black plastic grille and bumpers, just before they got a face-lift. Back to work and the daily grind tomorrow.

The kit does indeed look good. If I didn't get this kit from my wife, I'd have probably looked for a james bond donor and converted it too. I'm assuming some of their range might be, but along with several other items, this is 1/43. https://promod-diecast.com/product/leyland-sherpa-van-hinged-door-version-prk067/

Thanks for the offer. I already have some on their way from Railtech along with some other bits for other projects too. Hopefully will be with me soon.

Another one of my projects is nearing completion. The Spartan has been detailed and lightly weathered. There are some front track guards to fit, but I'm tempted not to fit the kit guards and either leave off or fabricate a later style of flap. It's seen waiting outside Swindelton awaiting onward travel back to its base. I'm really pleased how this looks. Till next time.

I know that feeling - it's funny how it all comes together, and the sense of satisfaction gained. It's looking good. I still might be tempted by another one!

As my Leyland road runner project comes nearer to completion, my attention has turned to another small project. My lovely wife bought me this kit for Christmas, but I deliberately didn't want to start it till I was closer to finishing the road runner. The parts look really good. In preparation I've already purchased some Railmatch yellow paint and i have some Railtech transfer BR brading left over from the road runner. Unlike the road runner, I've only found a few example photos but hopefully enough to do it justice. Till next time.

Nearly there. I outlined the cab quarterlight window rubbers with a sharp tipped permanent marker and then varnished over the top. This was neater than trying to paint them. A couple of minor details to sort including some number plate transfers. Then I might have to look at weathering it. If you look hard enough you can see the combi grill within the crew van. I saw a photo somewhere, where someone with a sense of humour had added a wear a respirator sign, so thought I'd replicate this. It can be removed as I've not applied any varnish over the sign yet. Till next time.

Thanks Steve - I didn't notice anything pre-formed with the glazing supplied, but it was relatively easy to make my own. Anyhow, whilst walking past the Swindelton yard tonight, i noticed the lights were on but nobody was in. No signs of work being carried out either! Another minor detail completed earlier. I tried to shape it before painting it. The roof vent would be vulnerable, so I drilled the bottom and fitted a pin into it. This should reduce the risk of it being knocked off after I drill a hole and fit it to the roof.

Annual leave is great - just need more of it. Over the last couple of days I've been busy with my 20 re-paint. In the end I applied afew coats of blue before I was happy - in total I've almost used a jar of Railmatch blue on this! Next was masking it up for some black. This was a pain and I was dreading any over spray, particularly on the yellow! Anyhow, the masking seemed to work. I've spent quite a few hours doing all the little details etc. Since taking the photos I've addressed the missing steps at the nose end. I discovered that the lighting in my garage is a bit harsh, so addressing this meant the following photos look better than above. Annoyingly one of the side handrail knobs broke off at some point and is lost. Also I appear to have lost the two lamp brackets from the cab end - I have two bags of pipes and buffers for each end but god knows where the brackets went. Will have to source some replacements or alternatives. I've still got to attach the radiator grilles and spray some varnish in anticipation of adding transfers before I put it all back together - if I can remember how. Railfreight twins no longer. Till next time.

You've almost stolen my thunder - lol My dad randomly gets me bits for my modelling. The period I model is mid 80s to early 90s. A couple of years ago, in his wisdom he thought I could use some very cheap modern Mercedes cars. God only knows where he found them. Anyhow, they were put aside until now, as they had a potential use, not that I'd know what till now. Though cheap and nasty, they did come with some micro LEDs. So I stripped one of the cars and have temporarily installed the white ones in the crew body. I managed to get the black glue off the red ones so will tidy up the white LEDs too. The plan will be to stick a 9v battery in the rear and look for a suitable switch. Though it looks bright in the photo, in reality they are not too bright, particularly under normal lighting conditions. I was contemplating using the red LEDs for tail lights but decided the vehicle will be static so more likely in use by the work gang. I'll have to find some figures to populate it. Other jobs I've boxed off include finally creating some method of securing the crew body to the chassis. Two small screws at the front end screw into the tabs I previously glued into the crew body (see earlier upturned body photo above). I drilled through one of the rear lockers to hide a screw which secures the rear end. I've no idea why I used such a large screw - I could have drilled a smaller hole! I've also done the headlight lenses on the cab and made a start on making some number plates. Between all this work I managed to knock off one of the front wheels, but it was a clean break and was easily glued back on - thank god. That's all for now.

Thanks - nearly there. Just a couple of small bits to try and box off. Once I've finished it, I can finally move on to another kit my wife bought me for Christmas!

Looking good. I hate spraying yellow as I find I need many coats to get a good finish. It becomes an absolute nightmare if you have to sand back and inadvertently remove some of the white primer and expose the darker resin again! I feel your pain re blocked nozzles- I went to spray some satin varnish the other night, and despite inverting, spraying and cleaning after its previous use, it was somehow blocked and not playing ball.

Glazing part 2 - on the home straight. I should mention the crew van body was gloss varnished and transfers added the other week. It then had a coat of satin varnish too. I'd also painted and varnished the frames and window seals separately. There is a recess around the widows that would allow the glazing to be sandwiched between the frame and body, but following filing, painting and varnishing, the recess was not deep enough in places and caused the frames to sit proud. Using the same method on the crew body as what I did for the cab, I covered the plastic sheet in masking tape and using a sharp cut down pencil I traced the outline of the windows from within the body. The windows were individually cut, test fitted and labelled for orientation. On a side note I also painted the cupboards and combi oven. I added wire handles to them too. These were subsequently installed. You can't see much of them when fitted but at least I know they are there. Using tiny amounts of super glue I stuck the frames and window seals to the body first. Using the canopy glue i installed all the windows from within the body. I also painted the door handles as I'd forgotten to do this before varnishing the body. Overall I'm quite pleased how it looks. Till next time.

Focus seems to be on painting several different projects at the moment. Getting there slowly with the class 20 re-paint. A couple of coats of blue now applied but still needs some more. Still looking forward to finishing this. I did originally get a quote for a professional to do it but getting satisfaction from doing it myself. The Spartan has also received a first coat of green and the tracks painted too. Really pleased how this is turning out. In the background above, the road runner is also progressing in its own separate thread. Looking forward to the Southern O gauge show this weekend to get some supplies. Will have to try and resist spending too much money!

I think I might re-visit the front screen at a later date as I think I can improve on it. There was some excess glue hidden under the tape used to hold the screen in place (left side in photo) which i didnt see when initially tidying it up - but for now it's done. Added the wipers and wing mirrors and it still looks quite good IMO. Still to finish the headlights. Looks quite good on the chassis too. Will hopefully be able to start the glazing on the crew body soon. Till next time.

I couldn't put it off any longer, so I've made a start on the cab glazing. I covered the glazing with masking tape and cut the plastic to a rough size. I then temporarily stuck it in place and traced the shape of the windows from within the cab - using a very sharp pencil. After trimming, filing and test fitting many times, I now had all the glazing done. I used a paint brush to apply the canopy glue to the window frames before fitting each window. I tried to tidy up any excess but from experience this glue does dry quite clear. Due to its size i temporarily secured the front screen with tape whilst it dries. Hopefully everything will look good in natural light. I may have to re-visit the front screen as I've noted a dent in the plastic. It's not visible in the photo but I know it's there! The glue in the rear windows has already gone clear in the following photo but you can still see the glue in the side window. On another note.......... Till next time.

Getting very close to the finish line. The original kit wing mirrors were never going to last as they are very fragile. So I decided to mount them on some scrap wire. Oh how l laughed when I realised I'd drilled a hole in the wrong place! I guess the same rule should apply to drilling as it does cutting- measure twice and drill once :-O A tiny bit of filler applied and a small touch up will be needed. Oh well - Till next time.

Hope everyone had a good bank holiday. I've had the luxury of being based in my garage for most of the day and was able to spray a few of the projects that I have on the go. The road runner has had some varnish in anticipation of fitting some decals. The Spartan had a rub down and re-prime. However, what I was most excited about today was getting the first coat of blue on my class 20 Railfreight repaint. It's always a squeaky bum moment to see if there has been any paint bleed under the masking tape but all is good. I was hoping to have done the cab too, but frustratingly when doing the final coat of yellow the other day, the airbrush coughed up a few blobs of paint - so i had to sand back the blobs and do a final, final yellow coat on the cab. Back to work tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback Mark - much appreciated. I've been applying the varnish coat to the cab and body, so hopefully another up-date soon.

Further info here - the models and prices listed are OO but they quoted and up-scaled the Spartan on request. The one I got was an early Spartan but they also do a later version. Their website has further images.

It's a 3D print and quite a good one too.

At the moment im really enjoying my modelling. Something arrived today that I was really looking forward to. I had to wait a couple if weeks but it was definately worth it. It might end up being one of my quickest builds - an O gauge Spartan. A bit of filing on the axles and opening holes in the back of the sprockets was needed for the tracks to fit. I won't secure the tracks or guards till I've done a bit of sanding and painted it. But what a beautiful print! This is obviously a railway forum - so I'd always wanted something more suitable for my warwell wagon (s!), but as yet could not find anything. I have my fictitious narrow gauge MOD trial loco, but i think the Spartan will look just the part when finished. I think Spartans are small and light enough to be carried on warflats but I've seen a photo that indicates they've travelled on warwells too. The Spartan was later seen amongst an MOD consist waiting just outside Swindelton, ready to go to the paint shop. That's all for now.