jono26

Hopefully this should clear up any confusion over the cut away lower cab side. My base model for these two 47's was 47805 in swallow livery which was a later variant with the cut away lower cab side and the buffer beam cowl removed. I used Heljan 47805 as this had the long range tanks and correct boiler Clayton Mk2 port/plates so I thought I only needed to replace the buffer beams with the cowl version. In my time period 87/88 47805 carried the number 47650 and was one of 16 47's based at Eastfield with long range tanks hence making a good base of 651/654. The picture on the right above is how the cab should look in 87/88, only a very small difference but stands out a mile when you know and when it is alongside other 47's. Jonathan

Despite many hours pouring over photos and getting the two 47’s close to prototype I made one very large oversight. Either everyone is too polite or like me you hadn’t noticed but I am very grateful to a wise more experienced member of our forum community for setting me straight and his admission to making the same mistake. Anyway, here is 47651 now revised with the necessary corrections, 47654 is still on the work bench waiting on paint. In case you are still wondering, it is the cut away buffer beam/lower cab side edge which I corrected with a 1mm plasticard section which was templated so I could reproduce 8 identical parts for the two bodies. This looks OK now so I can relax and move on to the next project

47651 and 47654 Some time ago I was working on two Heljan class 47 large logo bodies and under frames which have not had a lot of focus after problems with the first coat of gloss varnish. Having sourced new varnish these have now progressed to a finished state after several more weeks of effort. As this was a first full respray of large logo I am reasonably OK with how they turned out and learned a lot in the process ready for next time. The motors, drive mechanism and bogies all got stripped down and cleaned. I removed the bogie mounted coupling pocket and made up a plasticard mount to fit behind the buffer beam ready to take a 146 (long) kadee. I chopped down draft box so it wouldn't foul the bogies which was then glued on to the new mounting point, (picture below) the lid was secured in place with a small screw. To get the kadee at the correct height I glued in a small strip of 1 thou /0.25mm plasticard on the forward edge of the lid to push up the 146 arm - spot on. With this set up I was able to add all the ETH sockets and pipe work to the buffer beams with no interference from the kadee in operation. These are the first two Eastfield 47's for the layout both have long range tanks fitted and will complement the forthcoming sleeper rake. These are wonderfully smooth runners now compared to before thanks to the many hours stripping down the motor, gears and cleaning the wheels and pick ups. These two locos will be the first recipients of weathering when I get the time so will make another work bench appearance sometime in the future. Jonathan

You didn't say what the wipers were for so here are a couple of options. Dart castings do etched brass wipers, item 1104, which I used on a DBSO conversion. Also try Replica railways who do a set of plastic wipers as part of an accessory pack RA110. Jonathan

Retaining walls were fitted to the back of the layout earlier this weekend and additional gravel added to close any gaps to the wall. I will weather this in once the glue is dry, just a light wash of dark brown acrylic should be enough to blend it in to the existing gravel. Although this is just a low wall I think it frames the edge of the PW/track nicely. I can now add more detailing at the signal box end. Jonathan

Still no Halford primer but I found a small tin of Humbrol grey primer which was sufficient to spray the retaining wall. I can now paint and weather this and fit it onto the layout. I have also clad the platform stairs and lifts in 0.5mm plasticard and then fitted 0.5mm plasticard panels which adds a little interest and is in keeping with the 'new' station building (Dundee style). For the old station buildings I have been working on the arch windows and pleased to have got something suitable scratch built which I think does the building justice. Jonathan

A couple of pictures of the two coaches being shunted on the layout to test the kadee spacing which worked fine. Jonathan

Thanks Eddie. When the patience runs out, and it did many times, I just switch to another work bench item such as the layout buildings or something else less precise or detailed.

Today I completed the build of the Mk2D BFK and FK First all the Shawplan windows were fitted with glue n glaze which were done in stages over several evenings. For the toilet and guards windows I fitted the glazing then the old white window square from the base Dapol/Airfix model was fitted behind. I then did the window decals for 1st class and no smoking. Window bars went in next made from 0.3mm wire fitted onto a plasticard frame. Example below is for the BFK corridor. The brake compartment window bars were braced top and bottom with 1.5mm plasticard square rod. And finally the door handles and grab rails were fitted (the brass on these still needs toning down to remove the shine). When assembling the BFK I have to admit to some extra bodging of the internal corridor compartment wall height as I had failed to take into account the plasticard bracing glued on the inside of the roof. This meant the body was sitting high by about 1mm, so more like a Hornby Mk2E! I will fit the Kadee couplers tomorrow and they are ready for a run on the layout, all I need now are the other coaches to make up the two rakes these belong to. I also noted on these pictures a couple of little tidy up jobs so I will do these once the Kadees are on. Jonathan

While my local Halfords remains closed again this week I decided to move on to another layout build that has been on the list for a long while but due to lack of excitement I kept putting it back in favour of buildings. At the back of the layout between the signal box and the southern end road bridge there is the top of a retaining wall beyond which ground level is 15-20ft lower. I like the idea of the backscene buildings being lower beyond the wall similar to the approach to Aberdeen station where the old fishing industry buildings were located, most of which have now been replaced with office blocks. Fortunately I have enough images of these off google earth which I captured a few years ago before the street view was updated. Picture below shows a long shot of the layout with a postal rake in platform 4 and two push pull rakes in the stabling roads in the foreground. The retaining wall will be of the same Slaters stone sheet as the old station wall (left) but with dressed stone block supports every 70ft. The second picture is a closer view of the section showing a 3.5m gap where the wall runs. I just need to make capping stones for the full length and then its a case of wait on primer. Jonathan

Thanks to Flood for help with pictures and advice I went ahead and made some water fillers from plasticard. Having checked the size of the water filler from pictures it was clear the original moulding on the other end of the Mk2d was not high enough so I built new water fillers from 2mm plasticard rod cut to a thickness of approximately 1mm. I drilled a hole in the middle and fitted a length of 0.6mm rod which was carefully filed down. This is positioned where the roevac vent was removed (Airfix incorrectly put two at the roof panel end). Jonathan

It has taken me the rest of this week to the finish scribbing the block work on both old station buildings. I am pleased I will not have to mark up and scribe so much plasticard again however the effort was worth it. I have added an inner arch section to give some depth to the walls before fitting windows behind and more wall, prototype walls are 2ft thick. Also added a blocked up entrance to the arch on the larger of the two buildings and also the window on the smaller building was blocked up when the station was redeveloped. The building have now been cleaned up to remove all remaining fine plastic particles, there was a lot of sanding and filing, then this will get a coat of white plastic primer. I will have to wait for my local Halfords to reopen sometime next week as I don't really want to drive into Aberdeen for one can of primer. Jonathan

This is the start of the plasticard block work for the smaller of the two old station buildings. This is the building at Aberdeen station which is the architecture I am 'approximately' copying. The granite block work was scribbed into 1mm plasticard then bonded onto the card base with contact adhesive. I then added more detailing/raised blocks at the top but not quite as elaborate as the prototype at Aberdeen. Jonathan

Graham thanks for the get out excuse for not painting the cantrails, I will push on with the final coat of varnish tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of the roof at the panel end to know where to position the water filler. From the pictures I can find all looking up towards the roof am I right in assuming the filler is closer to the roof panel than the vent was? Jonathan

The Railtec decals arrived quickly as always, and I have now completed all the livery, except for the cantrail stripe which I will do tomorrow and then hopefully get a coat of varnish on later this weekend. Still quite a bit to do but the end of this project is now in sight. Jonathan

A lot of small jobs now complete on the under frames, painted black, ETH sockets added, modifications for a bolt to fit the bogie, Replica B4 bogies built and painted and also modified for a bolt fitting to the under frame. Pictures below now assembled with the interiors attached so just waiting on the bodies. First two are the FK and the last one the BFK (still waiting on the cage). The bodies have been painted with a yellow first class stripe and given a coat of gloss and yesterday I made a start on the decals only to discover I didn't have any 'InterCity' decals so a slight delay while I wait on the order to arrive. While I wait on the decals I will give more time to the Heljan Class 47's. These have been progressing in between other jobs and had a surprising amount of time devoted to them in recent weeks. First off, what a pain it is to mask and paint the black window surrounds, despite quality masking tape and thin paint layers applied by brush I struggled to get a neat edge so I think next time it will be a spray job. With all the paint on I gave the body a coat of gloss but suspect my varnish was not thinned enough so I got an uneven coat so this will be re done. As the original engines were second hand many years ago I have given the wheels, pick ups and gears a thorough clean then fitted DCC decoders and spent many frustrating hours achieving smooth running. I still think these could run better so I will play around more with he decoder settings as I am still not that good on programming and its good opportunity to learn. Jonathan

I decided to press on with the new station building / platform access bridge which has taken some time to work out the basic structure and dimensions. What you see below evolved over several iterations and is the finished card substructure ready for cladding in plasticard. The scale building is approximately 125ft wide, 45ft deep and 22ft high so substantial enough to suggest a busy station. To connect this to the platforms are two lifts with stairs behind currently mocked up in card to get the size right. In front of the lifts will be structural supports for the bridge/building, probably reinforced concrete pillars. On the road side / taxi rank where the white golf is parked I left the front entrance area open for now but I will fit a large area of glazing which should be dark tinted similar to Dundee. The old station building to the left will retain the arched entrance to the ticket office and shops. Jonathan

This week I have got the executive grey livery on the two coaches, reasonable happy with the results so I will press on with the gloss coat ready for decals. If you look closely you can still see the join on the roof but I can live with this, next time I won't attempt a roof join. It occurred to me when I was taking stock of progress earlier today after finishing the grey paint job that I had not made up the bogies or prepared the under frame for the bolt fitting so that will be the next job. I use Replica B4 bogies which will have a coat of primer then matt black in preparation for weathering. Jonathan

The old station building base card structure is now complete. These have been layered up with grey card and floors and roof fitted to make the structure more rigid. Next step will be to clad these in plasticard block work which I will have to scribe to get the 'Aberdeen' building look I am after. Picture below shows the position of the new 80's style station building outlined in red in relation to the old buildings. Still liking the idea of a Dundee style building, suitably 80's bad taste but of the era, location and somewhat distinctive. From the line side this just looks industrial but at the entrance side it will have those large angular panels and smoked glass... lovely! Jonathan

The BFK/FK project has been progressing with lots of smaller jobs now completed. The under frames have had brass ends steps fitted and for the BFK a step on the side for the guard. I also added a 1mm plasticard panel on the top of the under frame at each end for the ETH socket to fit into. The frames were given a coat of primer and are now ready for painting. Below picture in primer is quite good at highlighting the details. The bodies have been given a coat of executive light grey and this morning I got the dark grey on the sides and once this is dry I will mask up the sides and do the roof. Still lots to do. Jonathan

This is the next phase of the station building. There will be another 2-3 cm on top of this and a slate roof similar to previous sections with the walls clad in granite blocks. The 4 large windows are part of the entrance hall of the old station with the large arch opening to the right representing the location of a bridge accessing the platforms previously used for parcels etc but removed when the station was refurbished in the early 80's. I will retain the half round window and fit slightly recessed blocks where the bridge entrance once was. Jonathan

While I was in the loft this evening checking measurements for the next phase of the station building I couldn't resist running some trains. I then started thinking about the next coach project so had a dig around in the boxes under the layout and set up the rake shown below pulling out of platform 1. Inverness based 47550 stands in for an Eastfield loco with these currently still on the workbench. Rake consists of 3x MK2D/E FO, BG, 5x Mk3 Sleeper. Jonathan

Mackenzie, Good question, I don't think I explained this at the time of the build. I knew from another thread that close fitted kadees on the coach under frame would go around a minimum 90cm/3ft radius but there was no definition of close. To test this I made a simple plank of ply with a length of flexitrack fitted at the same radius as my layouts minimum radius. I now use this for all kadee spacing and fitting. Picture below shows the Mk3a corridor connections in pull and push modes, still a small gap when being pulled but close enough. This small gap allows the coaches to negotiate my minimum 90cm radius curves. There is plenty of space at the end of a Mk3a between the buffer beam and bogie so space to fit a kadee No.5 and draft gearbox. Getting the spacing requires a small piece of double sided tape to temporarily hold the gear box while you make adjustments to get the ends just touching on the curve. Hope this helps, let me know if you need more info or pictures Jonathan

The BFK and FK have been fitted with brass hand rails, lamp irons and handles on the roof panel and all the holes drilled for door handles, grab handles etc. A quick coat of primer and these will be ready for the first coat of exec light grey. While I was playing with brass I have made up some end foot steps, bogie steps and a guards step for the BFK which is positioned just ahead of the MA unit between the two doors. The executive red stripe decals arrived from Railtec earlier this week so I think I am now in good shape to finish these off. Meanwhile back on the engine build and despite the dodgy airbrush I got the large logo blue and grey livery on to a satisfactory standard. I used Railmatch enamel paints and thinned for the airbrush with Phoenix Precision thinners, no problems. Coat of gloss next then ready for the decals. Jonathan

Interiors given a basic coat of colour and the seats finished and fitted, both passenger interiors are now complete. I had to leave a couple of the seating units loose for now so I can put the screws in to hold the seats to the under frame the these will be glued in. Looks like a lot of work for something that will not be seen that well but it was an interesting exercise and hopefully someone else will give it a go if they are adding lighting. Jonathan