westernviscount

Sorry APT i mis-read it. Those metal lima buffers look awful. I know these things can get a bit confusing if lots of people throw different ideas at you. Romford do oleos and are sold here.. https://www.hamodels.net/romford-oleo-buffers-black.html It is years since i had a lima 47 but it was a superb model. I don't recall how it all fitted together I'm afraid. I also had a Hornby 47 which was originally quite rough which my dad repainted into intercity and named it galloway princess. He sanded all the paint lines and fitted flush glaze which was above and beyond really as i am sure i was only 6 or 7 but it must have had a huge impact on me!! In fact i have created a forum about modelling memories which i must include this in!!! Returning to this hobby is such a good thing and i hope your 47 progresses nicely!

Welcome to RMWEB APT. Where did you source the buffers from? Whitemetal often have residual ridges and bumps from the casting process that can taken back with some light filing. Painting the buffer but leaving the shank bare metal should lead to a life like finish. Whichever method you choose, i hope you are successful.

So, I have some misgivings about this stage. It isn't finished yet as i need to tidy up and tone down with powders but i suspect the vans didnt look this shabby in the late 60s early 70s (roof wise that is). If anyone has any photos of a real BG early 70s that would be great. So here is the 3rd stage of the roof complete. Roof grey was painted over the roof, maskol included and then picked away with tweezers and a cocktail stick. Some of the peeling will need to be tweezered away and a dusting of smoke powder added. And here she is so far. One coat of phoenix br blue applied but brush. 4 coats at least to go!! The interior needs finishing in rail grey. Sadly, i cant find any evidence that there was a handle in this position on the doors apart from train sim world but i do feel it adds visual interest so will remain. I found a pick of a van in the "diesels in the landscape" bookazine which shows a BG in the distance with doors open and ramps in place so a ramp may well be the next thing to built. Cheers for now.

Cheers 37! I am really absorbed in this one and can'y wait to get it done either! I've started putting a coat of Rail Blue on this evening and going to start applying the roof grey. cheers for now

Maskol on and drying ready for a coat of BR roof grey.

Some more progress this morning... The droplight window in each door was fashioned from transparent styrene (from packaging) and a thin piece of styrene added for the press handle (not sure what this is called in reality). The body was sprayed with halfords primer and i was happy to see most of the old lining and numbers have been obliterated. I added security bars to the windows on the opposite side. I elected to use the existing glazing for the windows on this side of the vehicle thus no security bars as the are etched onto the plastic windows. I may well elect to make my own windows an security bars if they don't look right. The interior will be painted rail grey on the panels, black for the door and window details and a scraped/worn plywood effect for the flooring. The body will be painted in BR Blue all over and finished with modelmaster decals. I intend to hand paint the body as i don't feel i will be able to fully mask up the interior. I might give this some thought though. At this stage i decided to experiment with a weathered roof. I semi dry brushed some metalic paint onto teh roof as is (without removing the existing paint and weathering) Next, some humbrol orange 100 was dry brushed onto the still wet silver. The intention is to use maskol to cover some of the rusty metal areas, paint with BR roof grey, allow to dry then pick away the maskol mimicking a peeling roof. It is debatable how worn the roof would be on a blue MK1 in 1970 so i need to think about this also. So a lot done but a long way to go also. I must try to reign in my compulsion to race ahead!! Certain projects excite me more than others and i must say i am really enjoying this one. Cheers for now.

Yes JDW the pacer is out of era. It is posed on my layout set in 1970 which as you rightly say is meant to look as if steam still runs. That's why i ended up going back in time in my modelling interests as i love the mix of old infrastructure and practices with the "modern" locos. The R&M layout rings a bell actually. Tonbridge West yard was another "celebrity" layout i enjoyed reading about as a kid and was happy to see it in the flesh a couple of years ago.

A little more progress this evening. Painted the doors BR rail grey as i felt white would be a little too pristine looking. I am not particularly pleased with my black details, opting for acrylic paint so it dried quickly! A touching up of the chalkboards will hopefully sort the roughness! I also started to add the security bars to the opposite side doors along with handles. Waiting on some end detailing part then can crack on with spraying the body and interior.

Hi Folks, A few years ago (probably approaching a decade) i saw an article in MRJ which included a BR MK1 BG with it's doors open and the parcels being taken off. I was so impressed with the creativity of the modeller I vowed i would one day try something like this myself. I was not an active modeller at this time and the MRJ was my Dad's. It was a xmas issue but other than that i cannot remember the issue number or layout name. But, the fact is stuck around in my mind shows how inspired i was. So, fast forward and a layout now exists with an island platform i can park up a semi-static coach. I bought a second hand BG at an exhibition 12 months ago (remember those?) which i intended to add to the fleet but i didn't inspect it closely enough. The previous owner had attempted to weather it by dry brushing brown over the body which i was unable to remove satisfactorily. So it lay around for year without much thought given to it. Naively, I hoped to cut the doors out individually, ruen them around and laminate them with detail. No chance!! So the sides were cut up, removing the doors. Perhaps unnecessary , i clad the other side of the van with scribed plastikard showing the planking and doors. Further to the planking, I added detail in the form of locking bars on the right hand doors. Security bar will be added to the window door later. In anticipation of this project I took a picture of this handily open doored BG at Llangollen in 2016! Never doubt that you will regret not taking that obscure detail pic! You might look strange photographing a rusty stain on a piece of discarded metal...but who cares!! I shaped a piece of 0.5mm plastikard into a curve near to the profile of the MK1. Door shapes were cut, clad with .3mm scribed plastikard, locking bars added and hinges made. The hinges betray a fault in my observations and are just wrong!! A new floor was created and in this shot is still loose. The gap between the tops of the door and the cantrail is made from a slither of .5mm plastikard. l l The guard's compartment was built from plastikard and i don't know whether this is a sin but I consulted the TRAIN SIM WORLD version of a BG as i had no other references!! The Tangled DVD is my daughters...HONEST!!! And up to date. Handles were added to the window doors based on the train sim world reference. Security bars were added using fuse wire and were primed ready for painting. They will remain loose until the vehicle is fully painted and decaled. Bars will be added to the other side. I have ordered some buffers and buckeye coupling casting from MSE and hope to continue with the build at a fair rate. cheers for now.

Hi Folks, I thought i would create a forum dedicated to our personal top modelling moments. I am thinking that first train-set, that first encounter with the prototype that you simply had to model, the magazine article that got the juices flowing, that layout you struggled to drag yourself away from at an exhibition as a kid...or adult, that chat with a friendly exhibitor who explained or encouraged. I shall kick off proceedings: My first proper Model train. My very favourite at the time, the humble, much maligned Pacer. This was a birthday present when i was 6 or 7. I had an oval of track on chipboard i used to place on my bed. Although retired, i cannot part with it. Thanks Mum and Dad. As for inspirational layouts, 3 stick in my mind. The wonderful "Hayley Mills" which i saw in the railway modeller in the early 90's https://www.lynxmodels.net/hayley-mills.html. Next, "Runswick Leamside" which i recall being called runswick Quay which might have been an earlier guise!, a layout i could barely drag myself away from. Then, a layout i never saw and was i suppose quite diminutive which i saw in the modeller, probably mid-nineties; Newcastle Haymarket. A really inspirational layout for me! Infact, i believe the factory units at the back stuck in my subconscious as i did something similar on my layout! https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_02_2018/post-18572-0-52337000-1519630928.jpg Anyway. Feel free to post your memorable modelling influences. Cheers.

Wonderful. I also like your preparatory sketch. I feel inspired to pick up my pencils!!

Totally agree Mark. My favourite is the BR Brake van which is in the lockdown draw along with some Lanarkshire bits and bobs ready to go!! Cheers, Dave

These really are superb Mark. I like your style of modelling! Dapol kits are still brilliant! their simplicity eased my return to the hobby then sustained my interest through more sophisticated improvements. They appeal to the beginner and the expert! Nicely done.

Thanks Basher! So far i have completed a catfish, dogfish, starfish, mermaid, shark, pillbox brake and walrus and all have been a challenge. However, they look really good when completed. I failed miserably in my attempt to get the catfish chassis square! Thanks also clagsniffer! on first look at the instructions i truly thought i had lost my ability to problem solve!!! i just could not do it. Ultimately it is a great kit and apparently this is the simpler version!!! At least the bogies come in one molded piece piece. But i have no idea what went wrong with the instructions but in the case of the Walrus they were promptly put to one side and as Unit basher said, paul bartlett was duly used!!

Covid "lockdown" has given ample opportunity to crack on with a few bits and bobs. Here is an update of some of the engineers wagons i have been finishing. First is the GWR Starfish wagon. Decals were from the general engineers sheet by modelmaster then a wash of humbrol smoke powder and carrs rust tones diluted in decalfix. once dry, a light coat of matt varnish to dull things back a bit. The same process followed with the dogfish. The ballast chute was weathered with talc and some rust powders. loads for both vehicles are ballast. weight was put in the hopper, a plastikard rectangle fitted on top to save filling the whole hopper. I happy to have permanent loads for these vehicles so the ballast is poured in what i think would be a prototypical way, the hopper masked roughly around the edge, sprayed with "wet water" (water andwashing up liquid) the diluted pva droppered on using a pippette.

A pair o' rust buckets!

A couple of "what might have been" shots at Llangollen and Carrog.

Very much looking forward to listening to this one corbs. Great quality podcast.

92214 at Ongar station June 2016. Zoom in on the driver. That expression sums it all up for me. Someone in their element. Sure, he knows he is envied in this moment but that's not it. Pure understanding of the machine, the responsibility, the anticipation. Magic!!

A couple of photos i dug out which i took in 1969 or 1970 at Templefield which would have been a couple of years before closure. I wanted some reference shots of some wagons. The service i was to return home on. looks like two passengers only...including me. A worrying sign. And a sad view of when i returned a couple of years later... by road this time. I wish i had thought to pinch some memorabilia. The BR totem is still in place at this time. I am glad i took these pictures as i later went on to model the station ;-)

Yes, if i did nothing else to the kit, a new roof would be essential. I haven's mastered the technique yet as i get puckering along the sides where i perhaps haven't sanded enough. No, the lowmac is one i am yet to do. I did the JCB intended to be paired with it though. I have struggled with cambrian kits getting a nice square chassis. I use a piece of glass to sit the floor and solebars on. If i can, i also butt this up against something i know to be square then i place gentle weights on top as the cement hardens. Again, my impatience has lead to some pretty poor running wagons. Also, as much as i love the Dapol kits, gibson or romford wheels are always substituted to avoid the wobble. cheers Dave

Hi Steve. I finally visited your blog!! There's excellent stuff here mate. I especially like the weathered plank wagons a page or so back!!! What make of kit are the BRUTEs? They definitely look the part. Dave

Thank SDJR! I love the Dapol brake van kit. it's cheap and It's so ripe for improvements which can be done at virtually no expense (which is one of my primary motivators!!). Yes, i too have a lack of patience when it comes to wanting things done. I find painting and weathering to be the most challenging in terms of taking my time and waiting for layers to dry etc. I enjoy these small projects because there is an end in sight from the outset and i am so familiar with the Dapol kit it is like and old friend! I have one waiting in the wings and hope to improve it further by using my own 3d printed replacement inner end. Cheers for now.

Hi All, As i continue to be on a very infrequent work rota i have checked off quite of few of those not so glamorous jobs i have been meaning to do for...well years really. One of my lock down foci have been a coupe of my kit-built brake vans. One of these was the very first kit i built on my "pre-return" to the hobby. i say pre-return as i had no layout, no prospect of a layout and to be honest i didn't really get back into the hobby for a further 6 or so years after i built it. Anyway, it was looking quite tatty so i took the chance to do a slight make over of this and a couple of other kits. So here it is prior to a spruce up. The paint has chipped away as this vehicle sees a lot of work on the layout. It has also been battered about in storage no doubt and in my naivety, i don't recall priming the kit before painting and i also think i used acrylic paint. I kept the lamp irons as per the moulding which are quite bulky. I didn't glaze the windows either. One of the brackets had broken and the roof appears quite thick. Also, i now realise the roof mouldings is a mirror image of the real thing. soooo.... A new roof was made from 0.3mm styrene, styrene strips for rain strips and plastic rod for the chimney. vents are the torpedo type by no-nonsense kits (phoenix). Lamp brackets were cut as one piece from styrene which i know makes them vulnerable but i didn't have any brass ones in the box! Glazing is fitted to the windows using clear plastic from packaging. The underframe was painted humbrol 32 dark grey and weathered with carr's weathering powders. I also replaced the spratt and winkle dropper, previously a staple with 2 three links, the bottom one a magnetic one. Similar work was done to my unfitted version... A later project, a bit more prototypical, is my LNER standard brake van kit bash from the kitmaster kit. I have previously made a scratch roof but it was too small so that was replaced also. This vehicle has some more detailed underframe parts in the form of styrene footboards, styrene strengthening braces, and the end weights have been removed. This vehicle still requires weathering and new lamp irons. In addition to these "keeping out of trouble" projects, i have also painted and placed a modelu guard in the veranda of my recent Dapol LMS brakevan face lift. i shy away from figures on the layout but i think this one does bring some life to the model. Hope you are all safe and well and making the most of these strangest of times. Cheers Dave

I hope to get my hands on a copy at some point. Congratulations on the article. Dave