Signaller69

The recessed cab side doors turned out quite well in the end and the 25 body has had a blow over with primer.

Thanks James, yes a lot of colds doing the rounds at the moment, really not wanted with everything else going on over the last 18 months! Hope all recover quickly and you manage to escape it. I have just under coated a 25 body, it has become a real mission trying to find accurate livery info for the 1971/72 period where most Scots allocated locos were either plain green with full yellow ends or blue with full yellow ends; so it looks like in order to do a green loco with white stripe and full yellow ends (to add variety) I may have to model a Midland allocated interloper; or just do it blue! But then, one of the remaining 2 locos is already earmarked for blue anyway! But it's all part of the game as they say, and looking at books, sorry, "research" isn't such a hardship! Cheers, Martyn.

Hi James, An interesting build with the APCM van, quite a rarity in real life it seems, very nice work. Martyn.

Having scribed the triangular bodyside panels on the production 25, I remembered thinking the cabside doors needed the moulded handrails removing and then thoughts turned to trying to correct the cabside door windows, which need opening out quite a bit. The doors themselves also seem recessed a bit too far on the Hornby loco, whereas on the prototype the recess is only about 3-4 inches judging from photos. So I'm trying some of the resin 24 & 25/0 doors combined with scraping as much plastic as possible away from the Hornby doors and I think it should work to give a better appearance. Given that the 25 needs a LOT less work otherwise than a 24 or 25/0 it has to be worth a shot.....

Many thanks Dave, your comments are much appreciated - it is my hope that they won't "stand out in a crowd" too noticeably; if the eye can be temporarily deceived from drawing a conclusion of "old Hornby 25", then I feel it is all worthwhile. I hope to do something about the cab interiors too (they are still the most obvious give away above solebar level) at some point. Cheers, Martyn.

Also undertaken during the soldering session were the headcode discs, which had short L shaped pieces of brass wire attached to the rear. Once all the parts were sprayed with etch primer (apart from the cab door handrails), the green 24 received its roof fan grille, cab roof vents, cab front handrails and headcode discs. Seen here (rather cruelly) with an SLW version: And a comparison of front ends: The batch of cab door handrails went on to the 25/0 as it is technically first in the queue: Compared to the SLW 24 the Brassmasters cab handrails are a little oversized but no more so than the latest Bachmann class 24s in fairness. (I'm not totally enamoured by the SLW BR blue or WP yellow shades; they don't match anything else from any other manufacturer or my repaints - I'm not suggesting for a moment they are wrong but it grates when the loco is next to anything else! On the left here:) Anyway, the current state of play among the Hornby re-workings (or the 4 currently being worked on at any rate) is that the blue 25/0 needs the roof fan and glazing fitting, the first 24 (lower right) needs cab door handrails, roof fan and glazing, while the second 24 behind has had the chassis mods and headcode boxes removed and the space filled. The 25/1 (lower left) needs the triangular bodyside panels scoring and is then ready for the paintshop: I feel things are progressing now!

Underframe for rat no.4 has had the same lowering technique applied as previously and resin tanks fitted. Another Class 24 in this case. Then some soldering has been undertaken this evening, not my favourite part of the hobby. All parts need a coat of etch primer before their top coats and fitting into place. An Extreme Etchings fan grille (3 parts, laminated): A couple of roof fans from the same source (each a 6 part laminate around a piece of brass rod I had to hand): And some Brassmasters cab door handrails, a rather fiddly case of bending the thinner end bits behind the handrail into an L shape to form the mounting spigots, and soldering to add strength - 2 are seen at left. Doing 8 finished me off for the night, time for a whisky!

Hi Dave, Yes some interesting combinations could be seen in the early 70s especially. When researching the class 100 a while ago I found this image of a DMBS inserted into a class 105 on the Railcar site (click for photo): https://railcar.co.uk/images/5338 (There is one of a 100/101/105 combo somewhere iirc too.) Done as much for increased power to weight ratio as increased capacity it seems. Many DTC/DTS vehicles especially of class 100 and 105 appear to have been stored or withdrawn around this period. Martyn.

Anyway, pop ups aside, the latest 24 has its guise as 5090 applied courtesy of Railtec decals, need to sort the etched parts now.

I must admit photos of the Scottish batch 4 variants seem on the thin side!

I had one for used Bentleys pop up, here's me modding £20 Hornby class 25s, not sure why they think a Bentley is going to appeal (I'd rather have the aforementioned Hornby 25s if I'm honest)! It is something particular to RMweb, I don't get pop ups on ANY other site, thought it was a thing of the past. Glad I'm not the only one who has to put up with it, it makes browsing on here unappealing though I have to say.

Nope, back again when I opened the page today.....

If unsure the same site I linked also has the allocations history and hundreds of photos in date order. I wasn't aware Bachmann had done both body styles (the one I picked up had some damage so was at a price I couldn't refuse!). Cheers, Martyn.

Thanks. Yes same here, hopefully that is the end of them!

They have only happened on here for the past couple of days (I use the phone app), security is ok, but as AlphaZagato says it hasn't happened today so perhaps it was a short term thing?

Oh FB is not without its faults, don't get me wrong, but most of the specific sites are well moderated and idiots are quickly banished. I find it easier to use and more intuitive though, without annoying ads popping up, and such groups as I participate in seem generally very popular and supportive and seem to be growing all the time, which makes me wonder long term how FB will affect RMweb and similar websites? Hopefully it won't.

As far as I recall yes, those of batches 1 & 4 had the arrangement I modelled to suit my needs, batch 4 power & trailer being the type which went to Scotland. Bachmann modelled the batch 2 & 3 style of power twin units. The differences are summarized here: https://railcar.co.uk/type/class-105/variations Martyn.

Hi Stu, Peterhead station (ok, Scotland rather than Cornwall) had a fish loading siding with just a basic shelter - being away from the harbour, lorries drove alongside the loading track and unloaded into the waiting vans, with the roof providing shelter from the worst of the elements. Space was quite tight and the design need not take as much space as a goods shed, being shortened to suit the location. Seen on the right in the Stuart Johnson Flickr image here: Just a thought. Martyn.

Having also missed this up until now, I have a Hornby M7 tucked away with a 439 in mind, and I don't generally even model steam outline but I do like the 439 along with many of the routes they worked in latter days so maybe one day......so following for any further updates on peoples 19s or 439s!

The pop up stupid "help our advertiser" ads every time I visit this site are really annoying. No wonder FB groups are taking over. Just saying.

The last jobs on the 24 before spraying were mainly around the cabs, namely the prominent curved rainstrip around the roof edge, headcode disc marker lights and cabside window vertical dividers. Plus the small aperture (boiler safety valve?) at cantrail level and edging around the water filler cutouts. Followed by a blow over with grey primer and black for the chassis sides/underframe area, seen drying in the sun this afternoon. The etched parts (fan grille, headcode discs, handrails and cab roof vents) will be sprayed with etch primer and topcoat, prior to fitting them once the main colours have been applied.

Indeed, the section on battery box / fuel tank / water tank differences is very useful too. Thanks, Martyn

Ian, Life's too short! Martyn.

Slowly, slowly and all that. Rat no.3 is shaping up with small and fiddly jobs being done as and when time allows, with several more yet to do. Roof grilles and headcode discs should be on their way from Shawplan so, once fitted, this and rat no.2 (the 25/2) should be able to receive their green paintwork; this one will become 5090 in shabby Eastfield c.1972 green FYE livery. This loco had an interesting history, having survived running into the back of an EMU at Rugeley in 1967. Repaired and released from Derby works that October, unusually still in green livery, which it retained after TOPS renumbering as 24090 and carried until stored in 1975, withdrawal following in 1976. https://www.derbysulzers.com/5090.html

Thanks, yes an interesting loco - no.1 end was done in March 1967 with the no.2 end by 1974 it appears. By 1973 it had a mix of both numbering styles applied on different cabs and became one of the locos still carrying green livery with TOPS numbering in 1974.