ROSSPOP

Sadly Just Magic kits are no more as the owner died around 2010 and he did not wish to sell hi business. Everything went to the skip.

1 hour ago, hakancarlivar said:

Hello, I am interested in the layout of Ashdon and Midport but cannot find it.  Only the layout itself - not the article. If someone could send it to me (hakan.hessel@gmail.com) or put a copy here it would be good. Do not think there should be any copyright problem as it is only the layout probably owed by the builder.  Or just sketch it for me.

Håkan

Ahh!   The work of Ken Ashberry.

Made in many iterations the last being in O Gauge.

Courtesy of The Railway Modeller. September 1982. Vol 33. Number 383; pages 312 -319

Cheers

2 hours ago, norman said:

Hi John

Good choice indeed.  Does the Zimo give you full control of the lights or have you had to double up somewhere?

 

Yes Norman the Zimo gives full control of lights just as Heljan intended, plus choosing Youchoos immersive drive set up you get much more control including a half power mode on F20 for slow shunting.

John

Your probably right Norman,

However , in the pursuit of realism I have plumped for a hard wired replacement alternative circuit board ( Zimo Adapus) so that I can take advantage of using the prototype GWR railcar sound file from Youchoos using their Zimo MX645Plux22 21 pin decoder.

This is Heljans excellent circuit board designed for a Locksound V5 decoder.

And this is the Zimo Adapus replacement board , rewired by me last evening using Youchoos installation guide.

This is the result of my handy work .

Now to fine tune her and gently run her in with gentle use.....

3 hours ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

 

Sadly , I hear no gear changes within this generic DMU sound file, but I guess it will please some .....

1 hour ago, Maybachmd655 said:

Youchoos have published a decoder fitting guide which is very interesting reading:

 

https://youchoos.co.uk/Index-Resource.php?L1=Guides&Item=OHeljanRailcar

 

A bit more work to fit cheaper Zimo sound decoder.  I can’t find many suppliers of the Loksound 5 with a GWR railcar sound file.  I am tempted to have a go at the Youchoos option when I get round to purchasing a railcar.

 

Regards

 

Simon

 Thanks for the headsup on this one Simon.

Looks to be a very straight forward job/project.

Duly ordered.  Will arrive next Wednesday.........

Out of interest.

Have spoken with John Gymer at Youchoos who is looking into converting the Zimo 21Pin decoder to use with this Heljan railcar.

It will be a lot cheaper than £166 and will have the advantage of having the real preserved AEC NO 22 sound.

Patience may be a virtue................................................................

Well mine arrived from Anticsonline this morning.

Nicely packed and protected.

The only casuallties were an unscrewed coupling and a loose axle box lifting loop  all easily fixed....

Livery is spot on as are the driving controls...........

I like the detailed bogie frames.........

And the roof detailing is excellent...............

Not sure about the shade of GWR Cream though ....but as she was built new in 1940 maybe there was pigment shortages....

She looks well next to my kit built earlier AEC model....

She`s had a quick test on a short piece of track to make sure she runs smoothly and all is ok.

If I was to be really picky .......

The glazing has a thick prism look on the passenger windows.

And the driving side windows look too orange to my eyes.

Otherwise I am very pleased with Heljan`s GWR AEC Railcar RTR offering.

Ooh!  lovely

Nice bit of spaghetti.....

Never take close ups of models...... the glazing is not it`s strongest point, but better at the front.

Passenger windows are ripe for some remedial work using Yorkmodels acrylic glazing sheets if your that inclined. 

I bought mine  as a celebration for surviving Coronavirus at 70 in January so I might superdetail it as a future project

Youchoos have the sound file from preserved No22 which I`ve fitted to my kit built earlier AEC  version.

Thanks for that.............. mine arrives on Monday.

Looks better than a lot of the pre production pics.

It will be the first Heljan RTR I`ve purchased so I hope the motor mechanism is up to the job......

Hattons have emailed me to say they expect to have them 26th February.......... next week!!!

Just an update to say that today ends my legal obligation to remain  in isolation.

I`ve been very lucky and after three weeks of mild/moderate  confirmed Coronovirus symptoms I am 95% recovered.

Much sadness  of mind though to the demise of over 100.000 victims of all ages because of it.

John

Hi there,

Well  discovered the nowadays Nitromors is no where near as potent as in days of modelling yore.

I prefer good old Wilko`s bog standard stripper !!

Rinse off with water.

I use Viakal to clean white metal models.

Rinse off with water again.

Dry.

I use rattle can etch primer Closterman black or grey.

I don`t use Acrylics for my rolling stock preferring Enamels which to my mind are much harder wearing when fully dry.

Hope some of that helps....

One of my old 4mm time favourite kits..................................

My love affair with resin building kits is in the hope they will not be affected by dampness in the garden shed or in the garden perhaps.

So I chose this all resin GWR engine shed kit to do a kit bash job on...

 I thought the doors needed GWR`ising  so remade them with plasticard..

Tidied up the stone work and added internal wall detailing....

...and then put it all together....

Did more stonework tidying using good old Miliput and saliva ( pre Covid)

and then added some slapstick...........

Always been a great fan of kit bashing in the hope of saving time...... not sure it ever does though...

Now working in 7mm scale...this is the worst kit I`ve ever bought.....

A  resin GWR water tower kit  ....

nothing was square or well cast.......

................ so it was out with the plasticard and riveter.......

...and a massive bit of kit bashing as I only ever used the resin cast landing bracket !!!

I`m not a fan of Acrylics so I`ve used the Phoenix/Precision enamel track colour products applied with an airbrush.

Just like paining brass etched kits I`ve used rattle can etch primer products first as I hate seeing paint chipped off  rail heads.

Eventually after ballasting I will use a sharp blade to scrape away the paint and primer from the rails.....

Cheques will be back when the power cuts start !!

I still use them a dozen times per year and I`m with the internet bank FirstDirect .

Waiting for my Christmas present from Scorpio Models who still prefer cheques.

15 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

It's beautiful! Keep it, compare it with the Dapol version. Put it in a display case and admire it...

 

That`s a good idea....I`m still quite fond of the old girl.

It does`nt bother me too much but I`m wondering whether the O Gauge version will still have the OO version inaccurate bogie frames ( based on the earlier preserved example with shorter axle box springs)

Well I`ve just pre-ordered GWR No 10 through Rails of Sheffield for £297 DCC ready......

so...what shall I do with my ancient kit built No 12 ????

On 20/05/2020 at 23:29, Lordy said:

So as always I decided that I needed another industrial loco and the Dapol sentinel is a cracking model however I didn’t like the fictional blue ncb livery in 7mm because the name looked cheap. I did however like the wasp stripes and feel it’s not something I could paint as well they have. As the rest of my stock is crimson I thought I would have a bash at a respray with my trusty rattle can humbrol acrylic spray. I need to detail and lightly weather when it’s fully hardened but quite pleased overall with it!

 

What did you use to remove the printed transfers please ?

John

Mine arrived last week and runs impeccably although as to be expected is susceptible to dirty track and pickups.

Application of Graphite  to the rails will improve performance in the absence of a stay-alive unit.

As for the above sound file....to my ear it ain`t much like the real thing which seems to be all hiss and clanks but no chuffs !!

Great ! Great ! and Great !   Very pleased that Dapol are producing this particular model in 7mm and just enough time to save up me pension after Christmas!!

I`ll need a new Avatar though !!

Any thing will do if your layout/set up never leaves home for others to see.  But if you want to guarantee trouble free running of a model railway layout  that needs to be moved around for others/paying public to look at, plus trackwork you have taken the trouble to be as realistic looking as possible and not wanting to dig it all up to repair a fault, then droppers to every turnout and track length is the best modelling practice in any scale. Of course there is radio control.