Ben Alder

The original releases of the Hornby Stanier, while good models, were blessed with a very dull finish that did not sit well with my other Stanier stock- Comet sides on Airfix cores, and finished with a mix of cellulouse and acrylic spray paints, so they have sat for some time waiting for attention. I will begin by saying that nothing I have done has been original but a straightforward crib from an article in MRJ some considerable time ago, but AFAIK there has not been much said here about this, so I have recorded my efforts. The basis of the process is T-cut, which is applied and buffed off, and which leaves a lovely glossy surface that matches other stock far better than the original finish. Apart from a tiny bit of lining on one coach it did not affect the surface at all, although a Bachmann coach did lose most of its particulars in the process, but that is easily sorted. Some pics of WIP. Firstly some before and after views of the glossing up. Once this is done the next stage is to tackle the prismatic effect of the thick glazing strips. The original article suggested black but I found a crimson worked better- all the clear glazing has to be painted to improve the visual effect - as shown here. The improvements can be seen in these shots. Finally,two shots of in service vehicles- one of the modified carriage alongside an original, albeit not too clear, and of the two I did running together. This was a straightforward piece of work that made a big difference to the models- I also put some Peco interiors in place- and they are now on the layout instead of lying in a cupboard, which is what should be. One less task to do. I don't know if later batches of these coaches had the same problems as I didn't buy any others, being happy enough with my existing hybrids, but it has transformed these two anyway. Richard This is the polished side with the glazing painted over.

The latest incarnation of Hornby's Caley coaches suffer from the drawbacks of their origins; namely a representation of the two preserved coaches attached to their now dated Mk 1 chassis, still with no interior and those brass nuts holding the whole thing together. In the past I have attempted to blend the sides with a more appropriate vehicle, with none too much success, so when the Caley 123 train pack appeared I gave it little attention. It is the same old tooling, and although the engine now has a better motor, it has also acquired traction tyres, which is not a move forwards. However, the decoration is first class, and I got a set with the intention of doing an upgrade to the engine, but came to the conclusion that it was beyond practicallity- not for the first time BTW. The announcement of City of Truro finished any further ideas of modifying 123, but I was pleased with the coaches finish, and decided to do something with them. What follows now is not for the purists- but it gives me an acceptable coach for a minimum of that most precious ingredient- modelling time- and once again involved my stockpile of old Airfix LMS bodies and chassis. Rather than adjust the length of the body and damage the finish, I decided to leave the body as it was. The first line was to join two Airfix underframes to the correct length, but it proved easier to keep the Hornby chassis and fit Airfix ends and roof, to hopefully give a more pre-grouping feel to the whole thing. The coach was dissassembled and all underframe detail removed, and the new ends fitted. Trying out the new profile roof. A comparative shot of the two diffferent end profiles- I think it does make the character change. An interior was also added, but I forgot to photograph this before I stuck the roof on, so here is one of a old Mainline coach that is also being titivated- the old Peco kits being used. To be honest, its hardly seen, but I know its there. Two shots of the interiors as seen from outside- it is better than seeing straight through originally. Some shots of the finished coaches in service, and showing a before and after comparison as well. As I said, a very crude approach to coachbuilding, but it does make the most of the best bit of the original, the finish. I have been pottering about with some other coaches as well, and these will be here soon. Richard

Kenton wrote- " don't think some wait that long they seem to just peel off the packaging and keep going until there is nothing left to break off. So much for standing back and admiring the efforts of Hejan." :icon_lol: :icon_lol: Richard

Thanks for that- I've looked through your blogs and been very impressed with the whole thing- certainly miles away from Peco track and GF steamroller wheels. The Noch leaves are most effective- I got some a couple of weeks ago and was very taken with them in the packet, but to see them in use is most impressive. Richard

I like the grass and trees. You've certainly got a scale effect there- I often think that N is let dowm by too heavy scenic effects. Please detail your methods and materials as I would be most interested. Richard

Tried my best to ignore CofT, but the various images here were too much to resist, so on the basis that it ran in Scotland in the 50's and that I saw it at Aviemore on its recent trip One was ordered up. It certainly is a lovely model and I do like the adjustable loco/tender join- tender pick-up is a bonus, and long overdue IMO. This is something that I add to all Bachmann locos as a matter of course and I would like to think that it is to be a standard from now. Certainly its more important to me than an over-detailed cab that is all but invisible when a crew is fitted.I had some problems with de-railing when running tender first, so took it apart and discovered that tho only extra weight in it was the cast coal on the top, which meant a rather high C of G, so this was discarded and lead added to the chassis top. The sockets for Dcc were removed to give a flatter base for the lead and this now runs perfectly.Looking at various You Tubes and stills of the current engine and applying the 3' rule led me to paint over the bright handrails- it was just too toytrainish for my eyes- and a very light dry-brushing was applied to the brake gear etc. Smoke box,roof and running plates were toned down with an acrylic mix, and it is now in service on excursions and the occasional light train as per ScR's use of HR 103 on the Kyle line.Just what the 60A footplatemen think of the GW's idea of crew comfort remains to be heard! The socket simplified with pickups and motor leads joined. Then with lead added. Next a balsa former for the coal load. Lastly, three shots of the finished job.

I like this approach- it appeals to my bodgers nature- and am impressed how you have transformed a toy into a good looking model.

72020 Clan Gordon in running order- waiting for Markit bogie wheels and an appointment with the weathering airbrush, but now in service. According to the Hengist website, the rear bogie should have coil springs, and I may get round to this sometime, but it doesn't scream wrong to me for the now. The two together- the larger tender makes quite a difference to its appearance. Thank you, Hornby :icon_smile: Richard

I am a quiet observer in the main as well but ?

More or less the same method of fitting I use on my wagon stock. The only difference is that I omitted the bar on the hook end and fitted sprung buffers on this end only to allow more realistic wagon contact. This coupling system is simple and reliable to fit and use. Richard

A not very good photo of the new Clan and my refurbished Jackson Evans version as resurrected last year. I hadn't realised how work weary mine was until I put the two together. Plans for the new one are obviously weathering and re-naming to Clan Gordon, and freeing up the rear bogie. I am also chewing over a repaint, as to my eye, the Hornby finish doesn't quite catch BR green. Currently in the to do pile, but it has been run-in with no problems at all. Richard