Straits Settlements

Taken me best part of two years to get round to finishing my AJModels L&Y 27; but here it is - finally! Overall I'm very pleased with the way it went. The smokebox door came without dogs, but little bits of Plasticard strip soon cured that. The most frustrating bit has been getting rid of the print lines on the boiler etc; which I haven't fully succeeded in doing; but I'm hoping a bit of careful weathering will help to disguise that. The prototype loco, 52285 was based at Moor Row in West Cumberland; but withdrawn in 1952. So I guess it would never have received the early emblem, but I prefer that to BRITISH RAILWAYS - so Rule One was invoked.

So, do I take it that Peco have started supplying Parkside kits with plastic wheels, as opposed to the metal ones plus bearings we used to get from original Parkside? A step backwards, IMHO.  John D.

On 18/03/2021 at 22:52, tlm said:

MP40058's weathering on his blue one is a dream compared to the Green 2531 D5244 I have just opened - see pics.

 

I bought a pristine 2533 D7661 and the weathered 2531 D5244 at the same time.   D7661 I fitted with an ESU v5 decoder from C & PR (highly recommend their Class 25 sounds by the way), but was awaiting delivery of a Zimo MX644D decoder from Digitrains with Paul Chetter sound file before opening D5244, as I wanted the best available decoder for that one, anticipating the weathering would be at least on a par with their 26s etc. I was already aware from the D7661 installation that Heljan have neglected to include a plug and leads to wire a speaker to the CN6 speake r socket with these locos. The ESU v5 has speaker leads whereas the Zimo decoder does not, but fortunately I had a spare plug and leads from a Class 27.

 

You can imagine my horror when I opened the box and looked at this loco. This is the one I was looking forward to as Heljan weathering has been acceptably good in the past. The “factory weathering” on this loco however appears to have been done by a 6 year old with a toothbrush or worse – it is frankly utterly appalling including fingerprints on the ends !!!!  I will be returning this by insured post tomorrow for full refund for the loco and my postage cost, and trust the supplier will pass on my disgust to Heljan.

 

Gosh; I think that's worse than mine. I think perhaps I might have been able to save mine, with T-cut, IPA and cotton buds, if push had come to shove. But, I shouldn't have to; and, thanks to very swift and pleasant service from Hattons, I don't have to. A replacement, pristine D7662 arrived today and all seems well.

On 15/03/2021 at 16:36, drgj said:

Straits Settlements..

 

Never mind the weathering. I can't believe Heljan have fitted every single part of your locomotive upside down! 

 

Dave

Yep; don’t know what happened there. The pics are right way up in my photo library.

On 04/03/2021 at 19:50, The Ghost of IKB said:

Obviously you can do that, but lets not forget people buy weathered models because they feel uncomfortable/worried they will make a mess and spoil a good model, and theres a price tag for weathered models.  

Please dont pretend this "weathering" is acceptable.  Its probably the worst effort ive seen of factory weathering.

Just received my weathered two tone green version from Hattons (not their fault, I guess) and am quite disappointed. Yes, I should weather it myself; or I should have waited until I could see one before ordering. However, I ordered ‘off plan’, so to speak, based on my previous completely satisfactory experience with a weathered Metrovick from Heljan. I’ve attached some photos. The bits that have been presumably airbrushed are OK, but the job seems to have been spoiled by some very clumsy work with a dirty wash. Horizontal brush or cotton bud marks on the body sides, for example; and what’s that gouge through the yellow warning panel on one end - over vigorous use of a worn out cotton bud? I was inclined to try to make the best of a bad job, but seeing all the correspondence on here, I think I’ll be seeking a refund. In addition,  though Heljan say the loco is good for radius 2, I think their instruction sheet should be much more explicit about how you actually fix the couplings so the loco can pull a train without detailing the wagons and just which pipes etc need to be removed and how best to do that. Yes we can adapt and bodge, but that shouldn’t be necessary with a £160 loco.

Early this year, as it looks like there won’t be an ex L&Y class 27 RTR for the foreseeable future, I acquired a reasonably priced Bachmann C class and an AJModels (via Shapeways) print of the body. On arrival the print looked pretty good, but I more or less parked, as I was busy with other things. When I finally got back to the project, I realised the print lacks the smokebox retaining clips ( or clamps - instead of a dart), which are quite characteristic of almost anything that emerged from Horwich (or Derby and several more for that matter. Andrew at AJM has corrected the CAD at Shapeways; but they’re not going to accept a return at this stage, especially as it’s had a coat of grey primer.

So, before I embark on the DIY route, does anyone know of a supplier of these small items? I’ve looked at the websites of most of the usual suspects and found nothing, but may have missed something.

If there’s nothing out there, the DIY route could involve small pieces of Plastikard micro strips. Alternatively, I have a Bachmann L&Y radial tank that could act as a template for moulding the clamps. I thought of putting a blob of Maskol on each clamp, or maybe over the whole smokebox door, then using the peeled off Maskol as a mould for tiny amounts of  Milliput or Plastic Putty. Has anyone ever tried such a thing; would it work?

many thanks

John D

Funny, I thought the proper engines lived at Upperby, not Canal.

Carlisle

Someone just remarked, ‘...must make a model of it...‘
 

Try this for

Coniston

Inappropriate on here, perhaps; but, line side somewhere near Scout Green, Westmoreland; with the sounds of Peewit, Curlew, Skylark and Spring lambs regularly broken by a seemingly endless procession of ex LMS motive power storming towards Shap Summit.

John D, aka ‘Straits Settlements’

LNW Webb Coal Tank, or Furness ‘Cleator Tank’

Does anyone know if AjModels are still producing their Ex L&Y class 27 and 28 3D prints. I can’t see any recent reports from customers or entries on their blog. I don’t want to fall into the trap of ordering something online from someone who is no longer trading - once bitten, twice shy.

Thanks

John D

Any sign of these 13t hoppers from Parkside yet? Got it into my head they were scheduled for release in June. 

John D

Attached video is of my recently arrived flatboard crab, straight from the box. This is not how it should sound, itherwise seems to run ok. I'v contacted the supplier, but no reply as yet. Any ideas what the clicking might be, and how I might fix it? Thanks

John D

Ah; looks like I'm not permitted to upload a video file. So there's not much for anyone to respond to. Sorry

Attached video is of my recently arrived flatboard crab, straight from the box. This is not how it should sound, itherwise seems to run ok. I'v contacted the supplier, but no reply as yet. Any ideas what the clicking might be, and how I might fix it? Thanks

John D

I'm tellin yers; it's a J21. I can feel it in me watta. (and Eddie Jordan confirmed it)

And some NE 20T wooden-bodied hoppers to go with it?

JohnD

Yes, please; for the Horwich class 27! Or even a class 28. Pre-grouping 0-6-0; long life, from pre 1900 to early sixties; wide-ranging, especially in LMS and BR days, from North Wales to Goole, from West Cumberland to Nuneaton; preservd example. Superficially similar to Dean Goods? Maybe not quite the easy jump I imagine, though. You can have any colour, so long as it's black. Is that a plus, or a minus?

John D

PS, does anyone know if Oxford even read this, or should I email them directly?

John

Ooh I can play that game. Bit perverse of them starting from 6 o' clock (Eastleigh)

7 Swindon Dean goods

8 Crewe Cauliflower

9 Gorton N5

10 Horwich class 27

11 St Rollox Jumbo

12 Cowlairs J36

1 Darlington J21

2 Doncaster J6 or C12

3 Stratford N7

4 Ashford L1

5 Brighton C2X

Yes, please; for the Horwich class 27! Or even a class 28. Pre-grouping 0-6-0; long life, from pre 1900 to early sixties; wide-ranging, especially in LMS and BR days, from North Wales to Goole, from West Cumberland to Nuneaton; preservd example. Superficially similar to Dean Goods? Maybe not quite the easy jump I imagine, though. You can have any colour, so long as it's black. Is that a plus, or a minus?

John D

A good choice, I suspect that this prototype may be the most sorely missed from the (seemingly) defunct Slaters 4mm range.

Hear, hear! I lost £20 earlier this year, attempting to buy a couple from the website, before realisng to my cost that it's gone belly up.

These were widely used in the north east, and further afield - West Cumberland and Furness, for example; and they had a long life, esoecially when they ended up in NCB ownership. Lasted into BR service. Locos - Q6, J94, etc

You might fnd some photos on this site:

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/index.htm

Best

John D

Bearing in mind its about 4 years now "waiting for the machine to be repaired"

It's really not going to happen is it ?

Oh, s***! Wish I'd duscovered this thread a couple of weeks ago, before I ordered a couple of NE hopper kits through the website. Money has been taken from my account, but nothing has arrived. I have emailed to check on progress; no response. So, it's Somerset Trading Standards, then. Probably wasting my time, though. I bet they're overwhelmed with complaints about this. Whether this is fraud or theft, it leaves me angry.

42085_BradfordEx 0945-BradEx-KX_26-8-67 by robertcwp, on Flickr

Nice example of the occasional exceptional longevity of the early lion and wheel crest, more than ten years after its sell by date.

John D

On the subject of wooden bodied mineral wagons, here's one of my efforts:

 

P1010217.jpg

 

A Bachmann 8-plank with fixed ends, originally in BR grey livery.  I painted most of it apart from the insignia in a creamy / grey colour  hopefully representing unpainted wood, then went over plank by plank in various shades of grey / brown to represent weathered painted and unpainted planks.  Picked out the ironwork in various greys to represent the remains of a livery; then the whole lot weathered and rusted etc.

Nice work!

A few pics of some of my non-prototype examples - but Rule One applies. One of the seven-planks started as a bright red Hornby Collectors edition, the other an unpainted Dapol. The five-planks started as 'troublesome trucks' from Number Two son's Thomas and Percy set, re-chassied with Parkside.