virginhst539

I used Vallejo model air 71.057 Black out a RAF battle of Britain paint set from the aircraft modelling. No varnish over the top yet as it was boxed up awaiting a suitable donor corridor tender for repaint. It was airbrushed on in 3 light coats at around 20PSI. You can get all three coats in in under 5 mins with an airbrush as the Vallejo acrylics dry quite fast on there own or if you hit them with just the air from a dual action airbrush you will see it flash off to a satin finish in seconds, almost totally touch dry.

My model came with them unfitted and no where to be seen in the box. It was secondhand model and a steal compared to the latest 60103 releases. If you are going to airbrush the smoke box I would mask off the green closest to the smoke box just incase of any overspray and just take care not knock them too much as the locator pins and legs on them are a bit fragile. If you choose to brush paint then masking is not an issue. That's the part number and name for them. some reason it wont let me copy and past a web address for them RM10: Medium Handrail Knobs (pack of 12) - Wizard Models Limited

I can only comment on what I have seen but anyway here we go. So there are your rail head treatment trains, in my area its MPV on one circuit and TnT class 67s on the other. Normally doing a day time run and a night run, 7 days a week. On top of this there are also a dedicated team that covers known trouble spots that will inspect railhead condition, remove leaf fall from the track and scrub and treat contaminated rail head areas. Obviously the ones who will detect contamination issues are the drivers who phone it in and the teams will respond to clear it. As for the trees its a bit of a catch 21 situation. People want the trains to run with out delay but they also don't want you to cut the trees down near there property which blocks there view of the railway. There are other things to consider such as sites of scientific interest, areas with protected species sightings, nesting birds and tree preservation orders which greatly limits what can be done in these areas.

caution imposed due to a incident, unfortunately one of the trains came to a stand in a neutral section and could not draw current so another was sent to assist.

Hi @Kingmoor65 I recently converted 60077 to 60103 in its current running condition with the two handrails. Very easy conversion only requiring two additional holes to be drilled into the smokebox door. The brass knobs came from wizard models and I think it was 0.3mm brass wire I used for the handrail itself. The most work was the filling and sanding where the lamp iron was previously but once done and painted you cant tell it was ever there. one think to note when fitting the number plate to the top hinge is to remove the raised bolt heads with a sharp knife to get a nice flush fit. There are some pics over on bottom of page 4 on my workbench. hope that helps

Last few cosmetic bits are currently making there way via the post to get the externals finished off. Air Distributor & Reservoir and Class 73 bogies as I have been informed these are a good match for 999606 with a few modifications. also the bonus of them being pre wired for later light fitting. Also noticed that I have forgot to pick out the edges of the kick boards? in white so that's on the list. Also want to add an representation of the interior but as with all things yellow pictures are very thin on the ground, well for this coach they are and its not often it makes it to my neck of the woods. Been UTU2 62287 up here the last few times.

Looking much better now with the roof repainted. Most of the windows in, just need to get some clear plastic for a couple of them. Calling it about 90% done. Just need to get the bogies made up and try make some jumper cables/boxes for then ends Very happy with how this has turned out.

Managed to catch a look at one of the other UTU coaches last night and the roof looks a bit light. USAF Medium Gray - FS36270 looks close enough so quick 2 min repaint job and its time to rebuild it into a complete coach. Having another look at the Hornby 2022 range and I think I might sell the Mk3 TSGs in favor of the new models for the NMT. I assume they will be much easier to put a pantograph well on unlike the ex Lima one where the roof holds the glazing. And on a longshot has anyone 3d printed the connectors that are found on network rail mk1s and mk2s, had a shot with some plasticard but after 4 attempts the looked naff and no where near as consistent as needed for tarting up all the RTR releases by Hornby and Bachmann.

Expected there would be a touch round the door where the thickness is presumably less. Nowt a pass of black paint would not sort as you say. Nice to see no bleed from the saloon lights so that eliminates the need to open all the coaches for similar treatment

How are the interior lights with the white body? I know the Hitachi prototype model suffered a bit of light bleed especially round the cab doors. I must admit Hornby have got this model bang on the money and I'm actually quite exited for the tartan one arriving now!

Coaches in both variants seem to be the same when looking at the info in the ICRS Uk Combined. Main difference is the 800/1 is Bi-mode where as the 801/2 is electric (does mention it is fitted with emergency Diesel power pack) until today its not something I have looked massively indepth to but i guess we can figure it out when we get to see some pre production pics of the 800/1

just having a look at the Hornby 2022 release video on YouTube and the extra 4 coaches at last is a great addition BUT.... when Simon started listing the types something did not sit right so I done a bit of digging. Looking at the pictures of the celebrating Scotland pack and cross referencing the coach numbers it seems that with the new pack you end up with an extra MC and short a MF. The new Azuma pack due November 22 this is not an issue and the pack balances out as shown in the table attached but is this maybe a wrong coach number on the pre production pictures on there site or is it a case of pair the two new packs together and forget about the other two? yes I know the pack is for a 801/2 so would need renumbered anyway but it seems odd to get the formation right for one and not the other two. Also I would imagine there might be a bit off difference between a MC and MF in terms of underframe and roof layout?

First update of 2022, hopefully we have all settled down after looking at the new prices of many pre ordered models... Finally got round to finishing the decals on this and finished off with a coat of satin varnish. The roof was treated with the closest match from memory i could find which was USAF dark ghost grey. Looks alright to me so will pick out the various details and get a coat of varnish on it as well. New sprey booth in the pictures was a xmas gift from me, too me. The humble mk1 coach looks tiny in it but the 1/72 airfix vulcan the better half got me for xmas is a bit of a tight fit! Lets see what Hornby decide to do with this years releases on monday. Hopefully one of the northern belle mk1s but we will see. Real winner would the the puma helicopter back in the airfx range!

DRS mk1 RU? only because it will be easy to repaint..... watch as they add a Northern belle kitchen car to the 2022 range

Just checked my invoice for the 'Celebrating Scotland' Azuma. £355.99 is the price on it when placed on the 15th of January 2020, Now listed with Hornby at £434.49. Like wise last years pre orders placed Jan 2021 consisting Pride 390, DRS mk1 RU and Sentinel Shunter all in 8 Products coming to a total of £545.32. This order now comes out at £740.47 going off todays prices (03/01/22) with the class 390 + coaches now costing more than the original complete order at around £593. Keeping the Azuma on Order but as for the 2021 pre orders they are just going to have to get binned as I cant justify shy of £200 extra and I don't expect my local shop to absorb the cost when they do arrive and payment is made. There is also the point of this is the price now and depending when stuff arrives it could be subject to another price rise so will just need to wait and see i guess

Well its that time of year again, time to round it all off nicely and proceed to eat far too much food for the next two weeks! Was hoping to have the Ultrasonic test coach all finished but not had a spare 5 mins to get the airbrush out and paint the roof and varnish it. Not to worry pre xmas running session seen newcastleton out at the club room and it was the perfect opportunity to finally run the full northern belle set in all its glory. Actually the first time the full 12 coach formation has been ran and its a belter. Got plans for it in the new year, mainly new close couplings and a bit of a tart up along with finally finishing the kitchen cars when I eventually remember what two paints you mix together to get the correct shade.... And with that I hope everyone who has follow my slightly less sparse posts from the last 12 months has a good holiday period and there will be more posts in the new year............. at somepoint

Said it time and time again. If your going to do a EMU then its got to be either one of the 31* or 32*s. massive range of liverys, regions covered ect... I have no doubt that what ever is shown at midday will be an exquisite model, now where's my wallet.....

Bin Liner containers would be nice, Few different options as well. Wagon wise looking at FYA/FUA, FRA and PFA Intermodal wagons. If anyone fancy's measuring up a prototype of the Powderhall - Oxwellmains in the mean time, one of the containers has survived and now resides at granton near go outdoors...

Will the rails of Sheffield's D9009 come with a sheet of head codes for the various rail tours it has headed? hopefully 1E01 and 1S42 feature as seen on the 52A railtours kings cross runs

Small update, Parts have arrived form A1 models and dart castings so bit of progress. Roof is now finished, vents are a class 33 grill cut to size and stuck on. The aerials on the roof where made form 1mm plastic rod and cut down. The location of the various parts where taken from a helicopter pic of the train stabled in edinburgh so hopefully its not far off. One side has also received the livery elements which are a railtech set. The last part of the puzzle is the mk6 motor bogies which are listed as 8,9 on dart castings. The ridgid bogie sets came in 8,6 or 9 so i opted for the 9 being the closest but as expected they dont quite line up. So if anyone has any ideas for making up the bogies feel free to drop a reply JT

Rather on the ball this week and sorry in advance this ones a bit photo heavy! Since my last update on 999606 its made its way through the paintshop yet again making me wish i modelled serco, railtrack or one of the many RTC liverys as I hate painting yellow with a passion! First off was the underframe. Fuel tank and two water tanks where made up from thick plasticard and glued in place with the strapping for the fuel tank being made up of thin strips of plasticard Additional details such as the emergency stop buttons at the test bogie end are made of various bits of plasticard and mk1 door hinges added to the tops of the tank to act as a bolt plate between the chassis and tanks. Not at all prototypical bit it adds to the water tanks which where otherwise flat. New kick boards? At the doors and shutter where also added at this stage. Next was a couple days building up the yellow and a gloss coat using VMS HD varnish which is my new go to as you can spray it thick and it self levels. Popped it back together and took it down the club for some pics. Hopefully the bogie kits come before xmas so it can have the proper mk6 style bogies under it I'm very happy with it so far, couple rest days coming up so hopefully get the decals on it. JT

Early xmas for me when it comes to all things yellow First box contained my first venture into buying a 3d printed kit, Ex motorail coach which is need on most ultrasonic/structure gauging test trains As can be seen the kit comes in 4 parts with replica railways B5 bogies completing the set. Phone pics really don't do it justice and the level of detail on the coach is something else. Had it sat together loosely and looks like it will need a little fettling to get a nice fit but nothing to taxing or unexpected. Just need Bachmann to do a second run of DBSOs and that completes the line up nicely. Second box contained a pair of NMT bodyshells. Nice and cheap as these are the ones with the dodgy branding on one side which will be an easy fix with any luck. Plan is for one to replace the older livery MTU buffered power car from the R3366 pack with the second going onto the dummy buffered power car Hornby are doing for the class 91s. The ultimate plan is to be able to let me run a combination of the power cars as they do cycle them out for exam once the non buffered power car gets put into the current livery. This will however leave me with a buffered IC and NWR blue band power car body at some point. Might sell them to fund a EX LNER pair with a colas and network rail branded power car but that wont be for a while yet! 999606 UTU5? will be getting an outing tomorrow night so will get a progress update on that up towards the end of the week with some better pictures. JT

The 380 and 318 are stunning! Always been surprised the 31* and 32* classes have never been picked up by a RTR company

Quick update on 999606. Yellow came out a bit dark, thankfully not too much of an issue as it was only a couple of light coats. Quick rub down and a prime the lazy way with the trusty halfords can and its ready for yellow again. Took the chance to fire it all back together for a pic. Taken a bit of a red tint for whatever reason but im not to worryed about that. Next will probably be starting on the underframe bits

GC resprey is a cracker, how easy did you find them to strip back for the resprey?