Enfys_Rainbow

I'm still waiting for some bits to enable me to complete the trackwork, and until I get them, progress has pretty much ground to a halt. 

I find that whenever I'm at a loose end modelling wise, I keep coming back to the humble 16t mineral wagon. 

About 6 months ago I picked up 4 old Dapol kits from eBay - the wagon in the previous post was one of these. Despite the softness of the plastic and the often warped pieces, I enjoy building these (and the original, and crisper Airfix ones) as much as those by Parkside. 

The scruffy but retro packaging:

And the contents - note the amount of flash on the side pieces in particular!:

The plan is to base this on a photo on the Bartlett website. 

Thanks for looking! 

Another model 16 tonner, this time from Dapol. 

Hi all, 

The Dapol mineral wagon posted on page 3 is now finished. I've modified the kit to remove the top door and I've intentionally kept it cleaner this time. 

Thanks! 

13 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

OK, OK, I give in, I'll do mine!

 

Mike.

OK good, I look forward to seeing it! 

Bit more progress with the corrugated building. I've tried to represent the ramshackle nature of some structures like this, with a less than perfect roof. Note the cladding is incomplete above the window and door. 

I'm not a huge fan of any of the embossed corrugated plastic sheets, this is SE Finecast (I think), as its really hard to represent the edges of the roof convincingly as the thickness of the sheets give it away, or where pieces butt up to one another. 

For the roof edge, the best compromise I could come up with was to sand the edges to approx 45 degrees so it gives the impression they're thinner than they actually are. The foil visible here is my attempt to represent overlaid sheets. 

See how it all looks after being painted! 

8 minutes ago, 37114 said:

Nice work, I do think the Lima 31 was one of their best models. I have done the roof handrails on both of mine, not as bad or tedious as you think and definitely worth the effort.

Definitely. The roof handrails are underway, I just get really bored doing this kind of thing! 

4 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

I don't know of the prototype you're modelling, but you might have missed the door retaining clips off the handrails, although you are far braver than me in regard to the roof panel handles, I'm still deliberating!

 

Mike.

That looks excellent Mike. I don't believe I've noticed the retaining clips on any of the photos I've seen, however I think we're doing different sub classes. 

2 hours ago, Southwich said:

Awesome work Matt that looks superb! Looking forward to seeing some more progress!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Thanks Will, let's see how it goes... 

Hi all, 

Bit of progress with the Class 31. After many failed attempts, and the several hours spent bending different gauge wire, I've now replaced all the grab rails on both cab fronts. It makes a huge difference. 

Note the headlight is fixed in place with blutac here! 

Next I need to replace all the roof grab handles...I'm leaving that for another day. 

As I'm waiting for a delivery of some bits and pieces before I can make any further progress with the track, so in the meantime I've knocked up this small building which'll be placed in front of the track, so that trains run behind and in front of the various structures. 

It'll be painted to represent a rusting, shabby store building. 

Thanks for looking! 

Thanks Will! 

Tonight has seen the start of a long awaited project to detail and repaint a Lima Class 31.

This has been on the back burner for more than a few years. I actually got as far as stripping the paint, before it was the victim in an unfortunate accident involving a toddler...

I finally managed to obtain a replacement bodyshell around 12 months ago and Mr@Southwichkindly stripped the paintwork for me.

Despite collecting some parts for it, it continued to collect dust...until now! 

I'm not planning on going to town with this - the body will see some basic detailing such as replacement handrails, fan grille, grab handles and some bufferbeam detailing. Other than replacing the noisy and less than reliable motor, the chassis will essentially remain "as is" and I'll instead focus on a repaint...livery as yet undecided. 

Tonight has seen the moulded grab rails and lamp irons removed from the cab fronts and the moulded fan grille also removed. 

I've added a ring of plastic sheet to the hole in the roof for two reasons. Firstly my extraction was less than perfect meaning there would have been a few visible gaps and secondly, it gives a bit more surface area to attach the etched fan to. 

The stubs of plastic rod visible in the cab sides are because the original handrail holes are much too big for the replacements I intend to fit. This way I can re-drill suitable holes. 

This isn't going to be a quick project, but at least it's finally underway! 

Here's an (other) Airfix 16t mineral wagon. 

And another one under construction (slightly modified). 

Hi all, 

While I continue to wait for some bits to allow me to finish off laying the track, I've turned my attention back to some more minerals! 

One of the two from a few posts ago has been turned into a fitted version with the addition of some spare Parkside bits. 

The next one is an old Dapol kit. The underframe was warped beyond belief, so it's a miracle it's salvageable, let alone runs. I've removed the top door for a bit of variation. Just needs buffers to complete. 

Thanks for looking. 

I like it! 

The Caeharris photo is particularly inspiring, and actually played a part in my decision to use a house as a view blocker. 

2 hours ago, Baggies1961 said:

Hi,

Can you tell me who produces the ODA kit? Many thanks I have asked Steve Bell at Railtec if he could make me some up in 7mm awaiting a response.

Cheers

Julian.

Hi Julian, its a combination of a Parkside Pipe Wagon body and the w-irons from a Vanwide kit.

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I wouldn't worry about it, so did BR occasionally.

 

Mike.

Thanks Mike, I'll use that excuse! Still kicking myself though! 

1 hour ago, bazzer42 said:

They don't look so bad when weathered and ballasted but your mods would have improved mine

Thanks Bazzer, they certainly look good painted and weathered! 

I've also managed to get the first of the Airfix minerals painted and weathered this weekend. I fully intended this to be a less rusty example, but I got carried away! 

I realise now that I've applied the stripe the wrong way round on one side - at no point did I notice until now - that's carelessness for you! 

Looks OK considering it was bought pre-built from eBay for a couple of quid! 

Amazingly, despite my total lack of understanding of even the most basic techniques to "make it work", it actually does. 

I really don't like the appearance of the Code 75 points alongside the bullhead track but as I a) lack the space for bullhead pointwork and b) lack the skills to make them myself they serve a purpose. 

I have made a little bit of an effort to visually improve them by removing the tiebar, thinning down the sleepers each side of the tiebar and filling the holes into which point motors would clip. 

A bit of effort but hopefully worth it. 

Thanks for looking! 

Finally some layout progress, instead of just stock... 

The track is all ready now, bar one siding. I changed the plan last minute to a more traditional shunting puzzle because, although I wanted the kickback siding, given the limited size it just didn't give me enough space to sensibly include a building. 

The next step is to get it glued down. Point operation is a very primitive version of wire in the tube, but perfectly adequate for a layout this small. 

Thanks for looking! 

Hello all, 

Dutch and RF liveried wagons are very nice, and a lot of fun to paint, but my original idea for this layout was to use bauxite vans and rusty minerals. 

So I dug out another two and like the others, these again are somewhat recycled as I bought them both badly pre-built and painted from eBay a while ago. 

After a closer inspection once I'd stripped the paint, the one nearest the camera had a split solebar and damaged top doors. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't remove the damaged solebar, so I resorted to glueing and clamping it back together. Fortunately that did the trick and I've not had any issues with the running. The top doors meanwhile had to have the detail removed and a piece of plastic fitted to represent a sheet metal replacement. 

The other one also had damaged solebars which I was able to remove,  so this is now sitting on a Parkside underframe. 

These are the first Airfix minerals I've ever had. Despite their age, I was very impressed with them so managed to buy a few unbuilt ones to add to the stash! 

Thanks Mike, I will contact Peco directly. 

Hello all, 

Some more wagons off the bench. Both of these are Parkside kits, originally built and painted many years ago, then stripped down and repainted. I really enjoy reworking old kits. 

First up:

Based on a photo on the Bartlett site. This particular wagon has been painted, stripped and repainted 4 times over the years! 

Next:

And again, a second repaint for this. The grey door is based on a photo seen on FB. 

And finally together:

The next mineral wagon I do needs to be a lot less "rusty"! 

Thanks for looking! 

Hi all, 

Can anyone tell me if the underframe from the Parkside PC63 BR Iron Ore wagon is available as a separate underframe kit? 

I don't think it is but I'm not 100% sure! 

Many thanks 

On 17/03/2021 at 07:19, 37114 said:

I am posting this as you are after a set (and this is not meant to come across as a plug) but I am selling some on ebay at the moment:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174682717052

Many thanks for that, I'm actually sorted now but you do have a few items I'm keeping an eye on... 

I've finished the Tope this weekend. I scratchbuilt some simple spoil plates and attached them. 

I've intentionally kept the weathering light on this one for a change. Given they were introduced mid-80s, most photos show them to be in reasonable condition with the hopper body itself pretty clean and most track grime to be focused around the underframe and lower section of the hopper itself. It's also quite nice to have a cleaner wagon for a bit of contrast! 

Main markings are by Appleby, while the white stripes are unidentified white transfer stripes I bought ages ago. 

Im pretty pleased with how it looks, and I enjoyed making it - its a bit different - but I don't think I'll be doing a second any time soon! 

Thanks for looking 

One Tope ready for the paint shop complete with wonky handrails... 

I've actually forgotten about the spoil plates, or I'll leave them off and pretend it's an early version! 

1 hour ago, JohnH said:

In 4mm, I have in front of me a Modelmaster sheet 4906 which contains OAA, OBA, OCA & ODA fully made up data panels/numbers. Not sure if they still make them...

Thanks John - interesting, I looked through their range and came up empty handed. 

Thanks @SouthernBlue80s (Steve). I've since placed an order with Fox for individual letters so I'll assemble my own - it's only one wagon after all!