Rich Papper

Very kind, thank you. Currently turning the air blue trying to get the windows out of a Bachmann 2f. No idea why they decided they needed that much glue. They are held captive by the interior moulding and clips that hold the body to the chassis anyway. On the plus side I'm one side clear and I haven't put a scalpel through my hand yet. Rich

Only that you're clearly more persistent with that website than I am! Thanks Jerry, there's a few other things I've now discovered that might be handy too. I did look - for an etching, for a class 50, under etchings and scrolled down to class 50 and there wasn't one listed. I now get that the others are a different range - but that could be a little more intuitive! Oh well, I know for next time if these ones ping off. Rich

Hello All, Apologies for the summer gap, but the season is once more upon us so better get on with the list! First up: Hornby class 50 buffer steps. Besides all those that have pinged off over the years (rarely have I seen a second hand one for sale that has all 4), I seem to have this problem: Cruel close up. Would struggle to argue that this was 'in gauge'. They seem to snag on everything when being handled and if they don't ping off they end up banana shaped. I have tried reshaping but to no avail. There are tales of etched replacements, and I have hunted for years, but I have yet to find any that a supplier can actually supply! Until I do, I have found these on eBay: They're not perfect - steps are just under 1mm wider than the Hornby part - but I think they will blend in when weathered, and it is definitely an improvement on the above. 3D printed by the looks of it, so need a bit of filing to sit flat, but a more robust material whatever it is. The pile of HAA pieces is edging closer to having some completed wagons. Hopper bodies and frames are currently being weathered. A few more passes and effects before they are reunited, and then a quick waft to tie them together with the chassis. Will still have 6 more to do, but not banking on those before Christmas. And finally this chap arrived today courtesy of Derails Models. Top service (particularly as I'd forgotten I'd paid the deposit - thanks Dan!). Just running in before detail fitting. Hope you're all well. Stay safe. Rich

Hello All Apologies for the long gap. I always think I'll have so much time over the summer to get layouting, but it always seems to disappear in a whirlwind of other jobs. A few pictures from a session in the room today just to prove that all is still extant and working. 43079 bursts from beneath Beckford Road bridge. The Hornby TTS sound in this pair is a bit deafening, but that puts it top of the draw for the small people. Rather mundane duties for 73101 as it leads an oil train off towards the hidden section where it will loop for a bit before re-emerging later. Did manage to make a little progress between juggling the whims of small people. Installed a plinth to sit a Ratio concrete hut on. A bit fiddly to get level as the track on the left is descending and the stabling point on the right is on the level. Just been painted hence the shine. Will be the same sort of colour as the area behind when I've finished with it. Needs some ballast reinstating around it where it has flaked off too. Track here still awaiting some detailing. Plan is to start at the station end and work this way, but if I start fitting details here I may do it in reverse if I'm feeling inspired. Hope everyone is well out there. Look after yourselves. Rich

Very excited by this. Thank you chaps, will be having a few NSE. Rich

While you've got D400 to hand you might want to remove the extra handrails from the front. D400 doesn't, and has never had, the two front handrails above the marker lights that all the other 50s do. No idea why, or why Hornby stuck them on. Looks appropriately grimy either way. Rich

Looking good so far. You have more patience than me in the routing of exhaust pipes under there. I like the look of that Lorider - never seen one before. Rich

I'm liking the building - one is working it's way up my jobs list. What is the chassis to be? Rich

They look great. I'd build the third one the same size - you never know what new items you might need one day! Rich

Hello All Just a small one update but progress being made. Have now ballasted the remaining station area - platform 1 (might be 2 - not sure!) and the stabling siding. The carriage platform is now glued in and there is a small bank behind that slopes slightly up to the buildings. These are resting in place at the moment waiting for me to do the interior for the car park and shop so they can be glued in and lighting connected. Will also add greenery to the embankment at that point - buddleia, brambles and the like. Platform surface has also had a couple of coats of paint, but not yet fixed pending working out where the wiring for lights needs to go. May squeeze some advertising billboards in there somewhere. Probably as a way of procrastinating against third rail protection boards! More soon hopefully. Stay safe folks. Rich

That's a fantastic comparison, thanks for sharing. It does beg the question how many of the changes were seen as 'refinements'. For all the complaints about the Romanian built ones, looking at 020 above - it has recessed marker lights - 069 just has them flat on the front - it has the cab roof shaped to match the angle of the top of the windscreens - 069 just has a curve that's close-ish - it has the cab door handrails shaped and recessed - 069 just has bar welded on the flat side I'm assume all these changes were in the light of experience and made them easier to maintain, clean or whatever - but in terms of the metalwork skill involved, is it just me or is there an element of 'slapdash' about the refinements? Don't get me wrong, they're both handsome beasts and I shall definitely have at least one. Rich

Hi Jonny, A couple of thoughts that might help with track spacing. For the main loops on Catford, I went with the Peco long radius streamline points, with a short ST-203 straight between them: Slight lack of prototypicality (probably not a word!) aside, I know that nothing is going to interfere with anything else on straight or curve. For the curves I cheated yet further! Two of the four corners on the layout use set-track R3 and R4 curves due to lack of space, but have been disguised. One is completely in tunnel, the other is cutting and tunnel so the sharpness of the turn is not obvious. For the most visible curve I wanted something a bit more sweeping, so I brought a pair of adjustable track spacing tools. Not sure the make (Proses maybe?), they have little notches beneath that sit on the rails themselves. One pair is adjustable, so you can set it to the spacing you want and then keep two lines parallel straight or curved. BUT - to get the sweep of the curve I wanted in the space, I temporarily laid some Peco R4 curves on the inside of where the line was to be, then set my spacers to the distance shown in the picture above, then laid the inner line the set distance outside that, and once fixed, the outer the same distance beyond that. So I effectively created an R5 and R6. Still probably slightly sharper than reality, and there are probably a great many more professional ways of doing it, but 10 years on it still works for me! Best of luck with it. Rich PS I'm probably late on one of the comments above - but you can get code 100 concrete sleeper track - it's what I used - visible in both pics above.

Sorry to hear that. I get a lot of inspiration from other threads on here too, but I confess all of my layout planning has always been 'build a baseboard and then shuffle bits of spare track around on it until something looks right'! Good luck with it. Rich

Very pleased to hear news of this. The very best of luck with it gentlemen, I'll certainly have one. Rich

Thanks. An understanding wife is a rare and valuable person. Thing 1 and Thing 2 have their moments too! The timescale on this hasn't quite been at the pace I initially thought, but I did suspect that the arrival of small people would have an effect. I think I said in the initial post 10 years, which will be sometime this Autumn. Still happy with it though, and Thing 1 is starting to show an interest in how things are put together, glued, painted etc. - and he's probably more dexterous than me so worth training up. I will do another drivers eye video soon. I'm waiting to get the station area ballasted. Rich

Thank you. It's a bit of a glorified train set, but it keeps me and the small people happy. Rich

That's a very neat and well hidden arrangement. Is there much friction? Rich

Good Morning, Not much to report in the last month as I've been a bit distracted with the backlog of rolling stock projects that had built up over winter and needed painting. Have now started on the last area behind the station on the upper level. Idea is to get all of this in place before track ballasted and detailed so I can get on with the platform itself so I'm not then reaching over something delicate. As the picture shows it is a bit of a dumping ground at the moment! The red building will be a supermarket - drawing a bit of inspiration from George Woodcock's Llewyd Town here. Street scene in front will then comprise of station building (just about visible chalk outline), parking area, bus stop, and some low -relief shops on the opposite side roughly where the unpainted piece of ply is standing. Need to get the lower level sorted too - this is the only bit of the main lines not yet ballasted. The walls are not yet fixed in place and there is a signal to go in the cutting. A little running too while I'm in here. A view from the footbridge of 50035 and 50032 running light. Stay safe folks. Rich

Good Evening All A few updates on things littering the workbench. First up: HAA progress. Before anything else, I'll admit I'm not going for absolute fidelity with this one. I have always wanted a decent rake and had been collecting the more modern Hornby examples where I found them cheap for a few years, and already had all the detailing bits to add before the Cavalex and Accurascale announcements. A quick bit of maths proved that I wasn't going to be able to afford to replicate in number what I already had, and I have fears with modern batch production that if one doesn't commit to all you want up front, you might not see any others for years. Long story short, if you want a more accurate job see how to do it properly with the excellent Mr Makin here. Varnish issues notwithstanding, I am now on my second set of 6 hoppers. Tubs have been repainted silver (experiments with the first batch proved there wasn't any point in stripping them or getting the decals off beforehand - I couldn't tell). The three here will be yellow framed examples, the frames have been repainted with a Wilko spray can. I'm in two minds about the red colour Hornby have used for the others. I'm not sure it won't look brown when weathered - which I appreciate a great many did - but I am of a mind when weathering that things look most realistic when you start with the colours things should be. So might end up repainting them a brighter shade. The 12 chassis have now all been weathered and had brake discs added. This disks still look a bit to shiny to me. Magnet couplings working well and have now been tested all over the layout being dragged or propelled over every dodgy bit of track I can find. Loriot has now been varnished and gained the very few transfers it's getting. Just a pipe on the bufferbeam and some weathering to follow. Please excuse the 24 in the background. Have been intending to repaint it as 97201 for about 10 years and just as I start to get the stuff together Bachmann beat me to it. Sturgeons are all but complete. They have been tested all over and seem happy, but could do with a little more weight. Varnished and transfers are on. The Sturgeon A and number transfers, and those for the Loriot, were put together by John at Precision Labels. Excellent service as usual - both are particularly small. Again awaiting a bit of weathering and a load - but not much of a load, I think they look good empty. Somewhere I have a Bachmann Brill wagon that may join them. Hopefully more soon. Really should do something to the layout itself at some point. Stay safe. Rich

Just a quick massive Thank You to The Army Painter people. I emailed their customer services after the second can of anti-shine varnish I've had began to exhibit the same signs of bulging at the bottom mentioned earlier in this thread. Not only did they send me a free can, they also gave me some advice on how to shake it side to side rather an up and down - and not for as long as I thought it needed. Also (something else I've learned today) the balls inside are glass. I had always thought they were ball bearings. Apparently vigorous shaking can cause them to splinter, which would cause the nozzle blocking I experienced with the first can. All in all top service though. Now I just need to finish some things that need varnishing!! Rich

Hi Jerry, just had a very pleasant and inspirational few days reading through this thread, thank you. Fairly sure I will never match your levels of quality or productivity but feel the need to get on with some of the big pile of things I was getting around to on the workbench! Thanks again for sharing all these excellent tips and ideas. Rich

Hi Les, Chanced upon this excellent thread while looking for something completely different and read the whole thing. Not at all my scale, era or country but love it - particularly the way you've blended the track in with the loose ballast and used the trees to dictate lines of sight to give greater depth. Looking forward to more, would love to see it if we ever get back to exhibitions. Rich

These look like they're coming together nicely. Good fine detail on the windows - I'd have broken more than a few of them by now! Is that another set of sides at the bottom of the pile? Rich

Thanks - I suspect I have inadvertently used an enamel gloss varnish for the transfers and then tried to spray an acrylic matt one over the top. I'm sure I've done this before but I must not have allowed enough time for it to properly dry. I think it's had six days, but in the shed and it hasn't been especially warm or dry. Luckily it was just the one of them. Good luck with the 56s. Rich

Now looking at the picture above I'm thinking I should paint those couplings. I suppose with no moving parts I could fit them before weathering the chassis and just blend them in. Some experimentation needed.