OTrail

My original plan was FHT livery, but lack of transfers set me back! I'm still debating whether to move back to HT livery or stick with EMR... both operated on the MML so I'll see where my enthusiasm is. I do have photos of the 180 dynamic lines livery but it's about whether I can edit them to a good enough standard in Illustrator. Yep using a 221, but I'll need to buy a few more of eBay as I'm short a few - I'll also need to sort out the bogies at some point, but will be a job when pay day arrives! I'm in the same boat... loads planned but not enough capacity!

So, it's been longer than expected but I finally have an update - settling into my new job's been eating up a lot of my modelling time, but despite this, I'm still making slow but steady progress... My main focus the past week has been the Meridian - I've finally finished all 3 of the trailer cars for the 5-carriage unit, so I'll walk through my process as to how I dealt with each one. First, the voyager carriage was removed from the chassis and soaked in the IPA dip on-and-off over a day's period, during which I continuously rubbed off the old Virgin livery, using a cocktail stick for "hard to reach" areas: Following the above process, I was left with a stripped carriage, as follows: As you can see above, the aircon unit was cut using a craft knife and moved backwards as per the real thing - aside from the cab, a major challenge with this build has been cutting and shutting the roof per the prototype, however using my experience from my postponed Electrostar build, the challenge wasn't as difficult as I thought! Using a spare Voyager carriage I purchased years ago when I first began the hobby, I cut off the roof and began using it as filler to plug the large gap Following this, I cut and swapped the the main roof section, again per the real thing. Filler was then used to plug any remaining gaps, after which plasticard strips were added to strengthen the already-glued part: The roof was then sanded, and the additional smaller windows drilled and filed into shape: And as a finishing touch, the carriage was primed. All three completed carriages can be seen below: A bit of a close up on the buffet car, the most difficult of the three to sort out given the additional full window! Also shown is a comparison between the Voyager and now-complete Meridian cab - I've now purchased some Lego and other tools ready for resin casting in the next couple of weeks: In all honesty I'm debating whether or not I should sand down the washers some more as they look a little big - I'll have to double check the photos of the prototype but it shouldn't take that long to fix if needs be. So there we are - quite a lengthy update, but the Meridian is progressing well and should hopefully be complete by mid-Jan latest. I have another Voyager chassis on order to accommodate the fifth carriage and once resin casting is complete, I will begin to work on the painting and electronics. The Adelante and 323 will be continued over the christmas period in the next week or so. Thanks for viewing and stay safe everyone! OTrail

Great job mate - guessing it's going in FGW livery? Never knew they had Adelante's that tilted!

Thank you for your kind comments! I would like to do another unit in the future in either HT or MML livery but both are rather complicated! I'll see how I go as I resin cast the cabs and fairings... so watch this space Although I wouldn't be building a 9 or 7-carriage unit - a 5-carriage unit's already enough work as it is!

Not the power cars - the trailer ones are the correct ones as per the 175s and 180s (minus the length so they will need chopping up). In all honesty I think I'll just use the Eurostar ones as it'll be good fun, and at a couple of quid each it'll be cheaper and faster than waiting for CMAC's versions! I'll have a crack at it this weekend, as I'm planning on getting the airbrush out of its two week retirement to test out some spraying, so the 323 will be taken out to be continued. I have some plastic tubing lying around that might work, will need to get some elastic bands from the store now that lockdown 2's ending (at last)!

Hi, thank you for your comments and not a problem! For the 180 bogies, I’m thinking of shortened Eurostar ones - they’re more or less the same given both were built by Alstom, but I may just wait until CMAC decides to 3D print them himself. I also have a 175 lying around in my spares box, but it’s the Shapeways printed version which isn’t as good a quality as the ones CMAC printed himself, so a lot more work will be required to get it up to scratch. That one is planned to use some Turbostar bodies I have spare from my Electrostar project. I’ve just had a look now, and I’m liking what you’re doing with it so far! I don’t think I’ll do any door mods though as I feel as though I’ve done enough modifications to get the chassis to fit, plus I still need to go through the nightmare process of correcting the bodyshell warps over the next few weeks! Oddly enough, I’ve purchased both the reject and original prints, and the reject print had less defects! For the window frames, I might just create some etches on Illustrator and send them off to PPD Ltd - the maker of the kit said he’s been going to do them for ages but I haven’t seen any other parts develop so I’ll have to do them myself. I’ll also resin cast the underframe I made to save me some time later on.

Tonight’s update is very small, but at the same time it’s a major step forward on the Meridian. The transfer artwork has seen the destination blinds added As you can imagine, it took an absolute age to get these right/scale the boxes and text to fit well with each other to look as realistic as possible. All I have left to add are some bicycle symbols, first class “circles” (as per all Stagecoach-company stock) and minor things such as door buttons and the transfer artwork will be complete. In terms of the main unit itself, I’m almost there with the cabs - a bit more sanding/filling will be completed over the next few days on windscreen washers, whilst a piece of plastic tubing will be sanded and bent as appropriate to complete the fairings. I should have another update on here in the next day or so... so until then stay safe everyone! OTrail

Thanks mate, much appreciated! Yeah I completely agree - also a lot easier when it comes to creating the artwork in illustrator

Hi everyone, I’ve been a member on here for years as a “lurker”, having started modelling in late 2014. I also post my workbench content on Instagram under “midlandlondon” but thought I’d give RMweb a go to provide more detailed content as to my modelling work on a frequent basis. So, currently, I have a number of builds on the go. First up is my Class 180, a CMAC models 3D printed kit which I purchased on eBay a few months back (I highly recommend his work, the prints are top quality!). This will be going into EMR’s new “outgoing” livery, which having been revealed in September, easily swayed my decision from being on the fence with either Grand Central or Hull Trains livery. So far, only one TSO has been painted and modified to fit the Bachmann Voyager chassis, with the others to follow in the next few weeks. Alongside the 180, I am constructing a Class 222 Meridian, which will eventually be painted into the now defunct East Midlands Trains livery as 222008 "Derby Etches Park", using a cheap Voyager found off eBay and a spare carriage I've had lying around my spares box for a number of years. Having previously been based on the MML growing up, this has been on my "want" list for many years, but it wasn't until I stumbled across a build of the 222 on here that I became motivated to give the build a go myself, as alas, this amazing unit has been ignored by RTR manufacturers. It's been a really enjoyable build so far, with the cabs and fairings nearly complete and ready for resin casting, just needing a final priming and sanding, whilst two of the three trailer Voyager carriages have been modified to match the layout on the Meridian. On the attached photos, my progress so far (roughly) can be documented (photos aren't in order of construction unfortunately - I still need to figure that out). The cab took a total of two weeks on and off to get right, so resin casting's a must here! I've also been working on transfers, which just need the destination dot matrix displays to be complete, after which they'll be sent to either railtec or precision labels for printing. And finally for now, I have a 323 unit build underway. I started this over the summer but lost motivation due to the never-ending construction of the underframe equipment. However, I have recently been urging to get it back on the workbench as I wanted to experiment with blending paints together. The reason being is this 323 will be going into the London Midland's BTP livery seen on 323221, which will be a challenge! This is a kit from "modern multiple units" on eBay, and whilst I've purchased two (one to be ex-Northern Rail purple and another London Midland), I wanted to complete the London Midland unit first as that's the livery I favour out of the two. I've been using modified Bachmann 166 chassis for the unit, which as a three car unit at 23m length, was a complete like-for-like. I also had all three chassis spare from an eBay purchase I made a few years back, which included four 166 bodyshells and chassis for £40, absolute bargain! So in terms of introductions, this will be it for the time being. Keep an eye out on this page to watch my progress - I also have other builds planned/on the go but these are the ones I am choosing to focus on at present. I may add another one to the main mix in a couple of months... so watch this space. All the best, and hope everyone's keeping safe during these tough times! OTrail

Hi James, I’ve sent you a message regarding an Electrostar query. Cheers

I’ve still been bashing away at the underframe... Not been an easy job given the lack of parts available for this kit but I’ve finally found hope in the form of the Bachmann Class 166. This has been a good source of parts in terms of chassis and underframe equipment - not bad for a £40 redundant project off EBay a few years ago! Current photos of my progress on the DMSO:

Having been in contact with him recently, he has been busy with a house move so it’s been difficult for him to get orders out.

I don’t think it would be that much of a mod as the EMT and GWR versions are both similar in terms of function, the main difference being the appearance. It would also be good to see this on an ex-scotrail version of the Northern White livery.

My original plan was to use a 166 chassis I had spare but unfortunately it didn’t quite fit. Another option I’m considering is constructing new ones out of plasticard but I may give the 153 a go as I have a few spare.

I’m not too sure - I can imagine so but not sure what his username was?

I’ve ordered multiple items from him before (I also purchased parts from his 313 kits) - they can take a while, ranging up to 2-3 weeks sometimes. That being said I ordered the test print around a month ago and it still hasn’t arrived. The main kit I ordered arrived quite promptly (around a week after ordering), so this is slightly worrying.

Surely you could make mods to the ones being sold on ebay (sanding etc)? as they're 3d printed resin

Hi, Does anyone know if a Class 323 kit exists in OO Gauge or if one is planning on being produced? Thanks

Perfect, was unaware of this thanks! Just got to hope Bachmann end up releasing them as spares now. Bit of a thought but would the Hornby Scharfenberg couplings work? The basic mechanism (albeit the design) looks similar so they might fit together

Ok thanks - thought at the time they were going to upgrade it to the same standard as the Class 150

I think this was the new model - was announced as DCC from the get-go

Sadly you won’t be able to remove it without damaging the unit - the way the coupling’s set up is like with the inter-unit electrical couplings on their 150s and 350s. Hopefully Bachmann release an NEM version - likelihood is I will be buying a second 158 and renumbering it though.

Just got the EMT version in the post today and I'm very impressed. The only issue I have is with the couplings - was hoping to couple it up to my Realtrack 156

Hi, great job with the 158 it looks really good! Please could you tell me where you got the destination blind transfers as I'm planning on doing an EMT respray on my Central Trains 158 soon. Thanks

Hello I have decided to construct a Bratchell Class 319/3 in the coming months and I have decided to do 319374 "Bedford Cauldwell Depot" in the now defunct First Capital Connect livery. I have now sorted out my transfers for the model, of which I shall be applying on the model using "Crafty Computer Paper", however I will be applying Phoenix First Group Blue and the lighter shade of blue as an undercoat. Now here's my question: does anyone know which brand and specific type of paint I should use for the lighter shade of blue as seen above the FCC logos on a 319? Thanks