Phil Brighton

They said it couldn't be done... and they were right. I have narrowly failed to get my C1 painted and lined in a week ready for its outing to Little Bytham. Cab lining is incomplete, glazing, varnish and a few other little details also won't be present. It now needs to be packed away for a perilous journey up the 1:1 scale East Coast Main Line. I have a couple of days staying away for work prior so I may take a a few bits and bobs with me to see if I can do more if I get a dull hotel bound evening.

Spare time only (I shouldn't be writing this now!) and even that is lacking as I have to work half the weekend. So far so good the Precision Paints green is lovely and covers really well. I just kind of just lazily assumed it would outpull the ready to run stuff as it weighs more but I guess its as much about balance as anything. It struggled with 8 plastic Kirk coaches which the RTR models streak away with.

Hello all, Tony has very kindly invited me up to Little Bytham and I am planning to bring the DJH C1 I am building. I must admit I am not wildly impressed with the haulage capability so far, which surprises me as its pretty heavy and I struggle to get quiet running. Anyway it will be interesting to see how it gets on and if I can get it painted and lined by next week! As far a DJH kits go I have enjoyed the fact that its got quite a significant amount of brass parts as it has given me more confidence with this material and will hopefully lead to trying out a full brass kit.

The C1 just needs a few details adding and it can be painted. Running is good enough but I am not sure why my kit locos are noisy. This is quieter than the other forwards but grinds a bit in reverse.

I think if you go that route you may end up with the same problem I had where I had wonky edges to the toplights where I have used the fluid and it was a pain to clean up. Also I would be concerned about creep under the tape on the main windows. I agree about not painting them before assembly, I didn't fancy doing it that way as I wasn't convinced I wouldn't end up repainting half of them again once fitted together.

Dave, I can tell you what I did but it doesn't make it the right way... First up windows were masked both sides with revel colour stop latex masking fluid. Painted in with a cocktail stick. The whole lot was then sprayed in primer and the outside sprayed light grey. The plan was, as I have done with a Mailcoach Tourist Stock kit, to then use a bowpen to tidy around the windows to get straight edges. This proved too hard as the Humbrol paint was stupidly thin (is it me or is Humbrol paint not what it was?) so I am having to very carefully scrape the paint away from the inside edge of the windows to get good edges. Doing it again I might, after the masking fluid, then use tape to cover the whole window. The down side of this would be that the silver pen I am using for the beading might not take too well to bare plastic. The other fun bits about the kit are that the corridor ends need filing to fit the roofs, the floor is too short and needs extending a few mm and the fairings needs quite a bit of filling and sanding to get them to seamlessly meet the body. All good fun. The absolute bottom line of course is keeping paint and solvent away from those windows!

Preview: Re: My Workbench - Potters Bar and South Mimms Silver Jubilee is almost done - will take better pictures when I have done the transfers and final bits and pieces. I have as ever without finishing what really needs doing (ballasting) started a new project making a DJH C1 Atlantic Is coming along fair rapidly and goes together very nicely. Certainly compared to the last 2 locos I made with were second hand models dismantled and rebuilt.

Tony, Graeme thanks for the comments on the DJH C1/C2 and for pictures. Its all really helpful. In the end after some testing I found the rear wheel did ride up and over on some points. However it was few enough to make me think adjusting the track was the better way and it seems ok now. I suppose it comes back to the conversation earlier about good running. For me running trains is done in short sessions as a way to relax and its not very relaxing if they fall off the track so I guess its worth plugging away at.

Hello Tony. You may or may not remember we met at the York show a few weeks back and you very kindly tried to help me find a small tapered reamer. It is helpful to see your Klondyke build as I am am just getting started on the DJH C1 kit which is in many ways identical. I may not get as nice a result as the Bachmann one but building is the fun bit. Is there any chance you could let us see under the body of your C2? I have an excellent article by Graeme King in BRM that recommends swapping the way DJH suggest doing the rear wheel for a pony truck - which I can see the sense in but am a bit nervous about doing the cut out needed in the chassis! Thanks Phil

Silver Jubilee progress

Rather boring ballasting work is going on but it is nice to really now be getting stuck into scenery. Want to get the major messy bits done so I can run a few trains again. To help stop getting fed up with ballasting I have also started a Mailcoach Silver Jubilee set. Not much to look at now but I think they should come out nicely once painted up.

Thanks for the kind words both of you. I have not escaped the charms of Pacifics though I haven't posted in on this thread before but I have been apple greening an A4.

A few bits achieved over the break, bridge that takes Mutton Lane over the line build from foam covered in plasticard. Now painted and weathered

Hi all, As ever not kept up with posting but I am now at a stage I have laid all the track except that which runs over the coal drops (which are not built yet). I am using Kadee couplers but hadn't really considered installing uncoupling magnets. Since joining the Brighton Model Railway Club and running a layout that used Kadees and magnets at the show I have decided they are a good idea. I will be using small 3mm cubes of neo-magnets, have bought a few and am experimenting to see how best to fit them - this I can do. I am less sure however where I should put them. As funny as my girlfriend found it when I explained my problem - that I don't really have much experience playing trains - I wouldn't mind some advice! If anyone out there would like to look at this track plan below and mark on where they would place magnets so I can carry out decent shunting moves, I would be very grateful. Thanks!

I know the GBL Mallard is old news but here is my conversion to Kestrel. New chimney, handrails buffers and with a Hornby Flying Scotsman chassis and tender.

Thanks for showing the DJH C1 build in such detail. I have exactly the same kit I am just preparing to start. Have you made a decision on what motor/gears you will use?

Nestor, Just been reading you layout thread - I do like Southern region projects. I know I am lucky with the space I have but I am really pushing the limits of what I can fit with the layout so low to the ground. I will regret it all sooner or later when something under the board shorts and I can't get to it!

Hi, Yes I have thought about it and yes I should come along, you meet only a few minutes walk from my house. Work is my excuse but I really should make the effort!

Its been a while since I posted on here and but the layout continues to make progress. The major part of the track laying is now done with the four track to double track junction down. The summer has also been a chance to finish up a Nu-Cast D2. This was from a very cheaply bought but poorly made model that was completely dismantled before reassembly and painting. A train of Kirk suburban coaches is nearly finished after being converted into a couple of articulated sets - with quite a lot of rebuilding of the brake to be an outer suburban train.

A loft conversion might be too grand a term for what I have done. I was in a position that the floor was already down and lighting and power very simple to take up there. The big test will be if the foil insulation is able to prevent the more extreme fluctuations in temperature. Its seems to be doing a good job so far but it's not been a cold winter and haven't yet had it up during a hot summer. Its does however give me space for express trains and there is no-where else in the house that could provide that.

Track laying has begun and I have now got the entire first loop (the up main) completed. The track is glued down with copydex onto very thin cork strips I have cut which are in turn copydexed to the foam. Holes for point motors are cut through the foam and the motors clipped to the points with paper to cover the hole. The wiring plan seems to be working with bus wires run around the side of the layout and droppers coming under and out to meet them. I did however make the mistake of my first (ever) point to be laid being a electrofrog single slip. This caused me no end of trouble as I wired it up backwards and laid it backwards a silly amount of times. Luckly the copydex makes pulling track up very easy and it's working now... There are a few locations where i need to make sure the track is level - bumps I don't notice when running my J50 to test but are given away when a pacific goes over them. Importantly trains are running and this is a good thing!

Well the baseboards are done barring cutting away foam where the ground dips below the railway and a large delivery of track arrived today. I tend to buy nearly all locos and rolling stock second hand to keep costs down but splashed out on the track - ebay prices not being much cheaper than new it seemed to me. Track is all Peco Code 75 electrofrog. I am a bit puzzled that the gap between tracks suggested by my Peco way gauge doesn't seem to match the actual gap produced by the points or the Scarm print out. Its out but about 3mm or so. Am I being thick and their is an obvious reason for this? Also I need to decide how I will fix the track down. I am heading away from pins and am probably either PVA or use sealant - which the Americans seem to like. The loco is a J6 I built from a Nu-Cast kit. The previous owner had build it with a huge amount of glue but it stripped down and was soldered back together. The old Romford wheels it came with clear the code 75 chairs so that's a relief. I am very pleased with the Sprogg 3 unit I am going to use for layout control. Combined with Laptop and Smartphone which I am fortunate enough to already have it gives me digital control with handheld controllers for £60...

Kris, thanks for the suggestion. I have thought about this and I am in two minds. Because of the 4 to 2 track layout I don't think I would just be able to put two extra points in to avoid pulling up any track. Of course the more points I put in the higher the cost. It may well come down to my budget when I do the big spend! More progress has been made on the baseboards. Station side is now all but complete.

Thanks very much. I must admit I am tempted to try to get up to Barrow Hill to see Grantham along with the contributions from the guys on the LNER forum but its a long way from the south coast. The foam is proving very easy to work with and the boards are getting done quicker than I would have thought. Certainly glad I went for this rather than timber frames.

I am sure you will be pleased to hear the wedge is not my doing! I have however been busy building the first section of baseboard. Dow Floormate foam with 6mm ply sides. Legs are also foam attached to ply strips at the joins. The whole assembly is screwed and glued. It seems very strong and level. And finally with my one passenger train so far. Ian Kirk + Mailcoach kits